Chapter 3
In the past four years that I've been at Hogwarts, I've learned many things. How to avoid detention, how to escape from Filch, the school's caretaker, and how to avoid girls out for my head. The most important thing is to never be late to a meeting with the centaurs.
I had gotten special permission from Professor Dumbledore to skip classes for an entire day to meet with the centaurs. The leader of the herd was dying and it was my job, as his adopted daughter, to lead the council on deciding the next leader. Triton was a good leader and an even better father, but he wasn't immortal.
I made my way to the forbidden forest dressed in a black dress with white lace, a black ribbon on my head, and no shoes on. Tempa, my adopted mother, hugged me when I arrived. She gave me a sad smile, and walked towards the fire pit. I followed her, nodding to other centaurs.
A tent had been erected for my father, who was lying on a bed of grass. It was in here that the council would decide, with my father's approval, who the next leader would be. The tent was small and had to be altered magically to fit all fourteen council members. I walked in and sat at the head of the group, next to my father. No one objected, though they gave me strange stares.
"Let this council meeting come to order," Tempa started, pounding a gavel on a tree stump. "We're here to discuss the future of the herd and the person charged with leading it."
"Yes we all know that, Tempa. No need to say it," Ouran said. He was a young centaur with curly brown hair. I narrowed my eyes at him.
"My father, your leader, started every meeting with those words. You dare question my father?" I said in a menacing tone. Ouran backed off.
"I think our new leader should be someone young and full of new ideas," said Palomar, an old centaur with a silver tail.
"I agree with Palomar. The next leader should be someone that we know will take the leadership seriously. Someone with a true interest in the safety of this herd. Any ideas?" I asked. It was silent for a moment.
"Some of us have been talking, Cora, and we believe that you should be the one to guide us. You know everything there is to know about the herd," Palomar said. I stared.
"Me? You all know that I'm at Hogwarts every single day of the year. I can't lead, someone else has to. I would have thought you'd ask Kincaid to do it," I said, not believing my ears.
"Kincaid is a boy. He's not fit to lead the herd," Ouran said.
"And you think you are?" I asked him. He turned red.
"Kincaid is three summers my senior and Triton's son by blood. He is an obvious choice for leader."
"You're right, Cora. Kincaid is the perfect choice for leader. I don't know why we didn't think of him sooner," Palomar said. Looking to the bed of grass, he saw my father nod his head in approval. He left and went outside to make the announcement. There was a great cheer at this news and I smiled.
Outside there was a large crowd of children prancing in circles around Kincaid. One little girl put a wreath of flowers around his neck. Kincaid looked confused, but smiled and thanked each person that congratulated him. Our eyes met and I smirked at him. I had grown into the habit of smirking whether or not I was around Sirius.
A loud wail came from the tent. I rushed inside to see Tempa kneeling over Triton's body. One look at my father's face told me everything I needed to know. I fell to my knees, not caring that the other centaurs had gathered to see what was wrong. Hot tears ran down my face and I knew I couldn't stay in the tent any longer.
I ran blindly through the forest, not caring where I went. Tripping over several roots had taken me to a small grassy clearing where I unfurled my wings. I had not used them in so long, they had cramped up. Stretching them wouldn't hurt anybody. After a running start, I took off.
It was dark outside by the time I landed in a tree to rest. Dinner had already passed, and most of the kids would be in their common rooms. I didn't want to go inside, but I didn't want to face the centaurs either. I finally decided on sleeping in a warm bed and walked to the Gryffindor common room.
There was no one in the room and the fire had almost gone out by the time I reached the tower. I sank into one of the chairs by the fire and laid there. I didn't even hear someone come up behind me.
"Where have you been?" a voice asked me. I turned around and saw the sleep deprived face of Sirius Black.
"I got permission from Dumbledore to go to a funeral," I told him, staring at the fire.
"Whose funeral?" I was silent for a moment.
"My dad's," I whispered. I felt tears run down my face as Sirius hugged me.
"Cora, I'm so sorry. How's your mom taking the news?" he asked me.
"I don't know. I ran out of the house the moment his heart stopped. I've been wandering Hogsmeade for hours," I said. I was slowly losing my sanity and Sirius could sense it. He pulled me onto the loveseat with him until I stopped crying.
We sat like that for a while, until Sirius mentioned that we had school in the morning. I was reluctant to get up, but forced my feet to carry me up the steps. There were mumbled complaints from the girls in my dorm. Lily Evans, a fourth year like me, closed the curtains surrounding her bed.
Everyone stared at me as I walked down to breakfast. I wasn't surprised since my eyes were still red from last night no matter how much makeup I put on. Remus and James didn't say anything when Sirius dragged me over to them. James climbed over the table to give me a hug and Remus gave me a water lily. Sirius all the while had his arm around my shoulders and was softly comforting me.
Before breakfast ended I walked to the hospital wing, hoping that Madame Prince had something for a headache. When she came back with my medicine, she suggested that I lie down for a bit. A bit turned into a few hours when I realized I had fallen asleep. I saw a stack of homework lying at the end of my bed.
I met up with James, Remus, and Sirius at lunch. They didn't ask where I had been, but simply knew without my telling them. Several girls stared at me, whispering things to their friends behind their hands. I didn't care, so I ignored them, only looking up when lunch was over.
The walk to potions was quiet, but nice. Sirius was holding my hand as we walked to the dungeons, causing whispers to fly across the room. I sat with him at the Marauders' table and got out my books. This was one of the many classes that I didn't have with Peter so I was glad for the awkward silence.
Professor Slughorn came in the room and gave me a sad smile. He was one of the few teachers that knew about my centaur family. I returned the smile and put my cauldron on the table.
"Everyone, gather your books and follow me. I have a special treat for you," he said, heading towards the door. Sirius and I looked at each other, then got up.
Professor Slughorn led us to the forbidden forest and told us to go foraging for plants. He split us up in groups and gave us a list of plants to find. When he finished speaking, I walked in the direction of the woods, with Remus, James, and Sirius at my heels.
We reached the meadow I found the day before and started looking. James tried to lighten the mood by retelling stories of the pranks he had pulled with Sirius and Peter. I laughed along with him and for a moment was happy. Remus picked up on this and started doing cartwheels. Sirius and I were on the ground laughing, holding our sides at Remus' attempt to do a cartwheel.
I was getting to the last thing on our list when the ground started to shake. Sirius held onto my arms and waited anxiously with me. A cluster of bushes shook and a trio of centaurs came into view. The youngest centaur was a little girl of about eight summers. She came towards me, putting a crown of valerian on my head.
"Thank you," I said to her. She smiled at me, and left with the other centaurs.
"What was that about?" Sirius asked me.
"Remember on weekends when I say I'm in the library? I always come here. Even when we were first years," I told him.
"So all those times I asked you to go prank someone with us, you were here?" James asked me. I nodded and he shook his head. "I will never understand girls."
"Just like you'll never get Lily Evans to go out with you?" I asked him, smiling sweetly. He started chasing me around the clearing and almost tackled me, except I jumped out of the way.
"Enough horsing around. We need to get back to the class," Remus said. I pouted, but followed him. An arm held me back though.
"Can we talk?" Sirius asked me. I nodded and followed him back to the clearing. I sat on a tree stump while Sirius started pacing. He finally stopped.
"Cora, I don't know how to put this. It's taken me a year to say it and I can't find the words," he said, mostly to himself.
"What is it Sirius?" I asked him. He began pacing again.
"What if she says no?" Sirius was talking to himself again.
"For Merlin's sake, Sirius, tell me what's wrong!" I said, grabbing his arm. He turned on me. I shrank back.
"What's wrong is that I like you. I've liked you since last year, when you came back from your father's funeral. You looked so sad and beautiful it broke my heart," his voice was a whisper now. I waited, then touched his face. He looked me in my eyes.
"I like you too, Sirius. I was afraid that you didn't like me back, that's why I never told you. But I'm really happy that you feel the same way," I said. He smiled and leaned towards me.
I've never been kissed, but it wasn't anything like the way I imagined it. Sirius was sweet and gentle, and his lips moved with mine. My arms wrapped themselves around his neck and his hands intertwined themselves in my hair. I felt like flying, I was so happy.
We broke away, and he leaned his forehead against mine. I smiled at him. He led me back towards the group. Surprisingly, our group was the only one that finished early. Professor Slughorn was nowhere to be found, so we just hung out. I could tell James was dying to ask questions and Remus had a small smile on his face. I winked at him and settled in the crook of Sirius' arm. James saw this and for a moment, he was quiet. Then a huge grin broke on his face.
"Well it's a good thing this is our last class, because it's taking the others forever to find the plants," Remus said after a while.
"Should we go find them?" I asked. He nodded and we all got up.
I don't know how long it took to find them, but it was dark by the time James found footprints. We followed them, and were surprised to see our classmates and teacher hanging in nets strung up in trees. I dragged Sirius behind a bush as a centaur walked by. There was one centaur that I recognized very well.
Ouran was giving directions to the other centaurs gathered. A gleaming sword was strapped to this side. A few held torches in their hands and were pacing in circles. Ouran seemed mad.
"I don't care if you checked there 60 times! Just find her, and whoever is with her," he shouted to a young centaur.
"It's a cou," I whispered with sudden realization. The boys looked at me.
"They know I'm close to their leader and are planning to use me as bribery so he can give up his position," I explained. I shrank closer to the ground as another centaur walked past us.
"Where do you think she is?" he asked another centaur. I stood up.
"Right here," I said and fired a spell at him. Both he and his friend fell to the ground.
"Guys, go untie the others! I'll deal with them," I yelled. Remus and James ran to the nets, but Sirius stayed by my side. I gave a weak smile, then turned to Ouran. He lifted his sword out of his scabbard.
"I'm going to enjoy this, Halfling," he said. I charged at him and he met my attack.
I ducked under his arm and shoved my fist into his knee. He howled in pain and swung his sword at me. I jumped back, but the tip of the sword cut my cheek. I can't do that again, I thought, I'm no use to anyone dead.
A loud thump came from behind me. I turned around and saw Remus helping a group of kids out of a net. He nodded at me, then ran into the woods. He came back with James and Sirius, their wands raised. Ouran looked up from his swollen knee and backed away.
"Obviously Tiberius failed to help you with your anger issues," I said to him. He scowled at me.
"This isn't over, Halfling" he said, and limped away.
"Did the others make it out of the forest all right?" I asked Remus. He nodded.
"I told them to stay near the tree line."
"Good. It will be easier to spot them then," I said. "Let's go."
They were waiting for us, as Remus said, near the tree line. The other students looked scared, and Professor Slughorn was going around making sure everyone was okay. Finally, he turned me.
"I believe some sort of reward is in order for these students. They did save our lives, you know. As a treat, there will be no homework for the rest of the month." There was a loud cheer at this, but I could tell something was wrong.
I didn't say anything, but simply followed the class back to the castle. I was not, however, going to go that easy.
"Ms. Jones, if I could speak to you for a moment?"