Chapter 3:

It was sunny when I went outside for Care Of Magical Creatures class. I had been held up in Transfiguration which was nowhere near Hagrid's hut. There were a couple of Slytherins with me but I could tell I wasn't late; the Golden Trio was still coming up behind us.

"That's it. Come on. Come closer; less talking if you don't mind," Hagrid said and right away a lot of kids began shushing others. And they did it to us Slytherins especially; we however didn't pay any mind to them. "I've got a real treat for you today! A great lesson! Now follow me," he said, leading us toward the greenest part of the forest.

We all followed behind and I was with Mina who thought nature was a special form of art. She kept pointing out the cool birds flying in the sky. I couldn't help but smile. Her acting like a kid reminded me of my brother sometimes.

"Alright, less chattering you lot." Hagrid said. "Form a group over there," he instructed pointing at a tree stump. "And turn your books to page forty-nine."

"And exactly how do we do that?" asked a familiar rude voice from the front.

"Just stroke the spine of course," Hagrid said to him in an exasperated tone.

"Your boyfriend is a complete turd." Mina told me.

I stifled a giggle; that was what he was, except for the boyfriend part. "He's not my boy-" There was some sort of rocks in the middle of our path and we had to step over a gap. I tripped on it and heard some people laugh around me. "-friend." I muttered getting up.

Mina helped me get my books while I dusted myself off. "You're such a klutz sometimes," she joked with me. I made a face at her and proceeded walking. We walked past Longbottom who was struggling with his book and I remembered to stroke my book at the last minute before attempting to open it. The book made a weird humming mixed with a sort of tummy growling sound but I couldn't help but smile.

Granger said something and Malfoy immediately made a comment. "Wait 'til my father hears…" he said and I rolled my eyes. He really needed to get off that high horse.

"Shut up, Malfoy." Potter said, saying what I was thinking exactly.

He suddenly made a face and pointed behind Potter exclaiming, "D- d- d- Dementor! Dementor!" Everyone turned around and he began laughing along with some of his friends.

Granger led Potter away before he would say anything and Longbottom came back, his robes with holes and his tie half gone. "I guess his book was hungry," I commented to Mina and she shoved me away playfully.

"Don't be mean, Serena." She said and moved up with some other people, leaving me by myself. Malfoy turned around at me and smiled a little. 'I guess he heard what I said,' I thought.

Before I could dwell on it anymore, Hagrid appeared and gave a little cough. When he got our attention, he turned around and said, "Ta- Ta- Tadaa!"

Something growled and everyone backed up, silence falling upon us. My back hit a tree and I grew a little angry. What was causing all the fuss? I wanted to see! "Move over!" I said shoving someone so I could get closer.

"Isn't he beautiful?" he asked and I gasped as it moved closer to us. Hagrid threw something to him which he caught. "Say hello to Buckbeak."

"Hagrid!" someone exclaimed. "Exactly what is that?"

"That, Ron, is a hippogriff." Hagrid said.

'Hippo?' I thought. No way did it resemble those muggle animals. It- Buckbeak- was amazing.

I stared at its long and huge limbs and body. It was even taller than Hagrid! It had a bird's head along with the features of wings with gorgeous feathers. Its bottom half resembled something of a horse and bird-legs combined. It had big talons that slightly dug into the earth. Its eyes were probably as big as half my fist and a deep amber color. Not to mention it had a tail.

"First thing you want to know is that they're very proud creatures. You do not want to insult a hippogriff. It just maybe the last thing you ever do."

Hagrid clapped his hands together and I averted my gaze. "Now who'd like to say hello?" he asked us and everyone backed up, moving me along with them.

I stared into the Hippogriff's eyes and I looked back, its gaze almost challenging. 'I want to get close to it!' I thought; I always got my recklessness from my dad.

"Well done, Harry. Well done," Hagrid said, breaking me out of my revere.

'Wait- what?' I thought. I wanted to be the one who was picked.

I guess Potter hadn't noticed everyone behind him had backed up because he looked around confused. His friend gave him a little push and he went up cautiously.

"Now, you have to let him make the first move." Hagrid advised him. "So step up, give him a nice bow, then wait to see if he bows back. If he does, you can go and touch him. If doesn't, well, we'll get to that…" Hagrid said and the devious Slytherin part of me wished that Buckbeak didn't bow as well.

It was getting a little hot, so I took my cloak off and leaned on a tree as Hagrid got near him. This was going to be a show. Harry began to bow looking at Buckbeak a little. The hippogriff growled and spread its wings out. "Back off Harry, back off!" Hagrid insisted and Harry immediately did, not getting up from his bow. "Keep still," Hagrid cautioned. And Potter did exactly that. After a moment of contemplation and its weird growl it also bowed.

My eyes bugged out my head. This was so NOT fair! "Well done, Harry. Well done." Hagrid said throwing Buckbeak something as they both straightened from their bow. "Right, I think you can go pat him now," Hagrid said and Potter looked at him, afraid again. It made me smile a little. "Go on, don't be shy."

Potter neared it, his hand coming out to reach for its beak. Buckbeak growled and Potter seemed to flinch. He had been walking a little fast before, but now he was slower, walking tentatively. I found myself caught up in the suspense somehow and chewing on my lip. How I wanted to be up there right now.

"Now let him come to you." Hagrid cautioned. And sure enough, also with caution, Buckbeak went to Potter's hand. I could see his shoulders relax and everyone began to clap. He turned around and I saw him smiling.

'Damn, he's lucky.' I thought. 'And a bit cute,' The Slytherin part of me thought and I slightly blushed when his eyes made contact with mine.

"I think he may let you ride him now."

Potter turned to Hagrid and exclaimed, "What?" His voice had gotten a bit deeper than last year, I noticed. Ignoring his complaints, Hagrid flat-out picked up off the ground and planted him on Buckbeak. I was beyond jealous now. Hagrid said something and quickly swatted Buckbeak on the rear.

Without warning, Buckbeak took a running start and everyone rushed to move out of its path. I was momentarily shocked and found myself being pulled away by Malfoy before I could get crushed. He grabbed my arm so hard I thought it would come out. There was a thud as we landed on the ground near the stump, me hovering over him. I had never been this close to him or any boy for that matter and I stared at him wide-eyed. He stared at me right back, our breaths mingling against each other.

And then I noticed Buckbeak flying off.

Untangling myself from him, I got up just in time to see Buckbeak's beautiful wings unfold as he flew off through a clearing in the forest. I sighed, a little part in awe and in relief that nothing had happened to Potter. They disappeared in the clouds together and didn't come back for at least 10 minutes.

When he came back, I felt myself clapping a little along with everyone else, but I wasn't one of those people going up to him or something; that was for his friends. I stood there staring in awe at Buckbeak, which was such a vicious creature.

"Why are you clapping? What's so special about that anyway?" Malfoy asked me.

I gave him a look and then shook my head with a shrug. "It just is," I said and I felt him glaring at me so I went to go find Mina.

As I soon as I left him, he began walking toward Potter and Buckbeak. "You're not dangerous at all you great ugly brute," he sneered at it, turning around to flash us a smile. I stared at him like his was crazy.

"Malfoy, no!" Hagrid said, but it was too late; the damage had been done.

Buckbeak stood on its hind legs and spread its wings out. People around me screamed and sucked for cover as if Buckbeak was about to come after them. Buckbeak clawed at Malfoy and hit his elbow as Malfoy fell on the ground.

"Buckbeak!" Hagrid yelled trying to calm him down. When he started to stop flapping his wings, Hagrid threw some meat which he went to fetch.

"Oh, he's killed me." Malfoy moaned with his usual dramatics.

Hagrid tried to say something to him when Ganger yelled, "Hagrid! He has to be taken to the hospital!" Hagrid nodded and picked Malfoy up.

"Class dismissed," Hagrid called over his shoulder as Malfoy muttered about how he dying.

Everyone started going after that, but I picked up my things slowly, still lingering with my gaze on Buckbeak. I looked at Potter who was petting him slowly. He caught my eye and we held eye-contact for a second. His friends Granger and the redhead called him but he just waved them off. Before I knew it, the forest was empty except for us three.

My gaze shifted to Buckbeak and he stared back at me, unblinking. I found myself staring into those hypnotic eyes and being drawn to Buckbeak. He stepped back a little, startled at my approach, but we were just a yard away now.

"Do you want to touch him?" Potter asked me, and my eyes flickered to him momentarily. At first, I didn't know how to respond; I had never talked to anyone out of my house except for a project or two. And besides, this was THE HARRY POTTER. He must have taken my silence for a yes, and walked toward me. Behind him, Buckbeak followed, stopping two feet away from us. I looked again at Potter cautiously, what if I got hurt like Malfoy? "Why don't you bow? That's what Hagrid said to do."

I reluctantly nodded and faced Buckbeak. I made eye contact with him and bent down, a part of me feeling a little foolish. Buckbeak narrowed its eyes and then growled, his wings flapping. I shot a panicked look at Potter but he encouraged me to stay down. I kept my ground, my bow going a tad lower, my eyes falling down a bit.

A branch broke under Potter's steps as he walked toward Buckbeak and he managed to pet him, calming him down. Buckbeak seemed to realize I was no threat and after one last growl and look at Potter, he also bowed.

My eyes widened as he smoothly bent his powerful limbs and his head. "Wow," I breathed, straitening up. I shot a small smile at Potter; I still wanted to touch the Hippogriff though. "Now what?" I asked him.

Harry instructed her to come to Buckbeak slowly and laughed inwardly at her scared expression every time Buckbeak growled. The girl seemed harmless enough, and she reluctantly managed to pet Buckbeak, a smile breaking across her face. She had cream colored porcelain skin and waist-length blond hair put in two ponytails. She noticed he was staring at her and shot him a peculiar look. He looked away and petted Buckbeak on his wings, taking out a twig stuck between the feathers. "I suppose I can't ride him," she said with a slight longing in her voice.

"No, I think Hagrid should be here to approve of that." He said then extended an arm to her. "I'm Harry Potter," he said.

She smirked a little and said, "I know," Then she shook his hand and said, "I'm Serena Williams. Nice to finally meet you Mr. Famous." She joked.

"You too," he said. "From what I hear, you're one of the only ones I know who is muggle-born and chose to be in Slytherin; much less enjoys it."

"Well, not all the Slytherins are that bad. And being muggle-born means nothing special to me." She said and looked around, realizing Buckbeak was walking away. "We should probably get to lunch," she said grabbing her stuff and watching the place Buckbeak had disappeared as if he would come back anytime. He nodded and also grabbed his stuff, following her out of the forest. "You live with muggles too, right?" she asked him after a moment of silence.

"Yes, but they aren't exactly my parents." He said. Serena had just entered into the magical world two years ago, but did not know much about Potter's background except he was the-boy-who-lived from a killing curse when he was just a baby.

Serena furrowed her brows, but didn't remember hearing that he was a muggle born. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"My parents are dead," he said softly. "That night that I survived, my parents died to protect me." She nodded a little and Harry was thankful she stayed silent; it was nice for a change. "I've lived with my aunt and uncle ever since."

"Oh," she said, as they headed near the Hogwarts castle. She felt a chill on her back and looked up to see that the sky had turned dark. In the far off distance, she could see black kite-like things hovering near the edge of the lake. Harry noticed what she saw.

"Come on, let's go inside." He said, his voice shaking a little. Both of them felt a chill running down their spines and they took off immediately as the words left his mouth. Though they knew the Dementors couldn't possibly be behind them, they didn't stop until they reached the first stair case in the castle. They were panting by the time they realized the other had stopped.

"Why did we just run?" Serena asked, wondering if Potter had an answer because she had none.

He shrugged. "We should just forget it and get to class."

Serena nodded, but the chill didn't go.

Hey so I uploaded another chappie. Sorry if things have been going a little slowly with the plot, but I'm getting there. I still have to work Serena into Potter's story and then it'll get good. Ive got a bit of writer's block. And I'll come back to this story ASAP. leave a review if you want. :D

~Peaceout S.N.