Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; None of the original story and/or characters are mine in any way nor do I make any money from these writings.
A Chance at Life
Chapter 11: Meeting Hoochs
February 13
It had been almost ten days since the Ministry hearing and the gossip mill was still going strong. Somehow a reporter had gotten wind of the existence of 'true' muggle-borns and the British wizarding world was buzzing with the discovery. Now everyone was moving heaven and earth trying to find the 'only' true-muggle-born among them; according to Eileen the Daily Prophet had even gone so far as to offer a reward for any information concerning his whereabouts. Severus thought the whole thing was a riot.
Harry just ignored it. He already had enough to do training Severus, evading Harold, finishing his carvings, and setting up the final security wards around their property.
After a very enlightening meal with Nagnot that day (they were on a first-name basis now), Harry had returned home to talk things over with Eileen. She had been horrified by Tobias' actions but had taken the danger to her son very seriously. She had even started joining them in the evenings for training. In a way Harry was pleased about it, for it brought them together as a family and didn't make Eileen feel so isolated anymore. He felt like they were truly becoming close friends now. Harry now tried not to call Severus 'Sev' anymore, in an effort not to emphasize his closeness to Severus, but it still slipped out from time to time. She still became sad when Severus didn't let her touch his hair or hug him for too long, but things were going well overall.
Now, if only the gossiping would stop he would be even happier.
HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS
February 14 (Wednesday, 1am)
Harry had promised Eileen that he'd gather the Deadly Nightshade this full moon for her, though they'd decided not to tell Severus to keep him from throwing a tantrum. Harry had gone in enough potion gathering expeditions with Professor Snape that he'd memorized where the herb grew; the Forbidden Forest was one of the few places in Scotland where it grew in abundance and he knew the forest well enough to be relatively safe while in there at night.
He didn't care for potions, he only brewed them when he absolutely had to and he had learned so much about the subject because it had been a necessity, but he had no love for the art. However, he did understand his family's love for potion brewing and was happy to be able to keep them happy. Harry actually knew enough to hold his own in a conversation with a potion's master as long as it didn't get too specialized, so he was able to at least discuss the subject well enough with his family to keep them content.
He was wearing daggers on both legs, his wand was in his arm holster, and he was already carrying Gryffindor's sword on his hip. He also had the herb pouch tied to his belt. He knew he could not physically touch the plants or they would be useless as potion ingredients, but he had enough practice at it that he was not worried about the task itself. He was far more worried about what he might encounter in the forest instead.
By now, Harry was well known by the bigger animals there, including the thestrals, unicorns, acromantulas, and the occasional hippogriff. Surprisingly, he hadn't run into any trouble while he gathered the plants. He'd sensed the presence of two beings near him but they had no malice he could detect, so he pretended not to know they were there.
He had just finished his task and was about to head home when he heard a howl…a werewolf howl. He felt the fear from the two beings near him and quickly tied the pouch back onto his belt before calling out to them. "Youngsters, come here please, there is a werewolf nearby. I will see you to your land's borders, hurry!"
Harry tried to sound reassuring and calm, so as not to panic the young centaurs (he thought they were centaurs anyway). He heard rustling in front of him and then he saw the upper body of a terrified red-headed centaur-child, followed by a golden-haired one.
"Come! I will escort you to the nearest boundary; there should be a guard near enough to show you back home." Harry told them as he started running as fast as he could, he knew they would have no problem keeping up with him. He then left the narrow trail he'd been using and plunged into the dense trees on his right side, trying to get the youngsters home by the shortest route he knew.
About 40 feet from his destination he saw and heard an arrow embed itself into the tree trunk right beside his head.
"…Guard, I found these younglings in the forest, please see them home, there is a werewolf coming this way!" He called out; though he couldn't see the guard, he knew he was there. The young centaurs had bolted right past him when they'd seen the arrow, so he turned around and was about to head back to the trail in order to apparate home when he had the sudden impulse to turn into his animagus form. He didn't wonder about it, he just did it… just in time to get barreled over by the biggest werewolf he'd ever laid eyes on.
Harry had never seen one so big, he was bigger than Greyback, and he'd been bigger than Moony, who'd been on the large end of the scale. Harry quickly tucked his tail between his legs and lowered his belly to the ground, whining softly to show he was no threat. He'd never been so relieved that he had a canine animagus form, at least this way he could somewhat understand the werewolf's vocalizations.
Harry laid there on the ground while the werewolf paced around him, sniffing him here and there. He even had a unique coloring for a werewolf, a dark golden brown; most werewolves' coloring ranged from almost-white-grey to black. Then they were joined by another werewolf, this one smaller and leaner, with silver-grey fur.
At least Harry thought it was another werewolf until he saw her eyes, her pupils were elliptical - like a cat's, and he realized she was a lycan. As she approached, the werewolf took a step back and barked excitedly at her. She sniffed at Harry as well and looked him over for a long minute before nodding her head and nosing his side to get him up. Harry got up hesitantly, not really sure what they wanted with him, but he didn't want to try running away unless he absolutely had to, nor did he wish to hurt them. So, flanked by the lycan and werewolf, they moved back to the trail Harry had been heading to earlier.
The lycan transformed into her human form; Harry politely kept his eyes firmly on her golden ones and away from her nudity. He recognized her: she was a young Madam Hooch. Her light-grey hair was longer and looked more like molten steel than the chrome color he remembered, but he was sure it was her.
"You have been around our kind before." It was a statement not a question. "You are not afraid of us and you were not surprised by my transformation." She continued as she scratched the werewolf behind an ear. She wasn't very tall, probably standing around 5'5" while the werewolf was about four feet from paw to shoulder, his head lowered for her to reach his ear easily.
"My brother likes you, which you should be proud of, he has never allowed anyone near him in this form, other than me of course. Will you run with us tonight, wolf?" She asked politely and Harry seriously considered the offer. He missed his old runs with Moony and he wanted to learn more about Hooch. In his original timeline she had disappeared as soon as Voldemort's return had been acknowledged by the Ministry. Everyone had assumed she'd been another early casualty of war but now he wasn't so sure about that. He accepted.
He had fun unlike he'd had in months. He enjoyed training Severus and Eileen but it couldn't really be compared to this. This running around, playful tussling, and general roughhousing reminded him of the good times he'd spent with Moony, but this werewolf was refreshingly different as well. He was much more playful and wasn't afraid to toss him around. The lycan simply sat back and watched them, the few times Harry had tried to include her the werewolf had growled at him and placed himself between them until Harry gave up trying to approach her. They had finally fallen asleep a few hours before dawn in one big mass of fur, somehow with Harry in the middle once again. He woke up later when he heard pained whimpering from the werewolf beside him.
Dawn had come. He stayed beside the werewolf, nosing him gently to let him know he wasn't alone. Remus had always told him how physical contact made the transformation less painful. When it was over Harry transformed back as well. He heard a gasp but didn't acknowledge it as he looked around for something to transfigure and expanded his senses to see if he could trust these people. He relaxed a little more when he couldn't find anything threatening though.
Harry soon found two twigs big enough and silently transfigured them into two large cloaks. He threw one in the lycan's direction and knelt next to the werewolf to cover him up. He was a young man, about 19 or 20, maybe about 6 feet tall with light golden-brown hair and sharp features but still handsome.
"We have never seen you here before." She stated as he heard her putting on the cloak, the question clear.
"I'm new around here; Harry Potter, muggle-born." He clarified so there wouldn't be any misunderstandings. He gave her a small formal bow, wand-arm behind his back and waited to see if she would introduce herself.
She looked at his face for a few seconds longer and then picked up her sleeping brother with ease, carefully carrying him over one shoulder. "Follow us please. I am Rolanda Hooch and this is my brother, Kyle. I'm a 5th year at Hogwarts; my brother just prefers to spend his full moons with me though he's already graduated…my brother's really gonna beat himself up for tiring himself out so much he missed seeing you in your true form. I'm sure he would like to meet with you again..." She said with a mischievous laugh.
"I am not opposed to the idea…How about I meet him for lunch in a couple days? I will be at the Hogshead this Friday from 12-2. Considering he's unconscious at the moment, it will be up to him if he chooses to show up or not." Harry proposed. After all, the more allies he had in his corner the less they were likely to be tempted by Voldemort.
As he headed for home he wondered what Eileen and Severus will think about his new acquaintances.
HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS
Harry was a soft-hearted idiot! Severus was so furious he was shaking. He could not believe what Harry was doing, had he completely lost his mind?
When Harry had told them he had an appointment for lunch on Friday he had remained silent though he hadn't been too happy with idea. But then Harry had started spouting off about werewolves and lycans and Severus had to contain the urge to strangle him.
He'd already felt a bit apprehensive when Harry had started talking about becoming friends with the centaurs, and he'd even accepted his friendship with the goblin, but this confirmed his suspicions: Harry was blind when it came to how dangerous magical beings could be. Perhaps it was because he was muggle-born, maybe he didn't want to believe what was common knowledge but that didn't change the fact that he was placing himself in dangerous situations for no good reason!
Just because a dark creature didn't kill you on the spot doesn't mean he wants to be you best friend…and now Harry had a lunch date with a werewolf!
Severus had made up his mind: Harry was not going and that was final!
HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS
February 16
Eileen sighed before knocking and entering her son's room. Severus had been ignoring everyone the last two days, though he did answer Kura every once in a while. Eileen had tried everything she could think of to get him to talk to her, but whatever it was he found so unforgivable about werewolves, he was keeping to himself.
The past two days had been torturous and Eileen had stopped trying to intercede between Harry and Severus. Once Harry had given up trying to talk sense into him and he had resorted to ignoring Severus in return. They were both acting like petulant children, but in a strange way she felt comforted by Harry's behavior. It showed her that he wasn't perfect and that for all his maturity he still had a little more growing up to do. It also made her happy that he felt comfortable enough with them to show this part of himself.
"Honey, can we talk? Harry just left." Severus was sitting on his bed, reading Born a Human-Vampire: A Guide; he had taken to rereading that book whenever he was frustrated or angry.
Severus put down the book and looked at her a moment before nodding.
"Was he still angry at me?" He asked her, looking depressed.
"I don't think he was ever angry, just frustrated. What is the problem?" Eileen asked him as she sat down on the end of the bed. Severus huffed, jumped out of bed and started pacing in front of her.
"Harry! I mean, what kind of person goes to a forest during a full moon to collect potion ingredients and then ends up spend the night running around with a couple of werewolves? What was he thinking? Where is his sense of self-preservation?"
Eileen chose not to comment and just allowed him to vent, it seemed like he needed it. She had never seen him so emotional before. He was waving his arms around erratically and almost stomping his feet in frustration.
"…and he ignored my advice not to go! He doesn't know anything about this random werewolf. What if he doesn't show up alone? What if he gets kidnapped, or attacked, or hurt?...and then…" He trailed off and stopped moving, looking at the floor, his shoulders hunching as he sighed.
"He laughed at me…I asked to go with him so I could protect him and he laughed at me." His voice so low it was almost a whisper and though Eileen couldn't see his face, she could hear the hurt in his voice.
"Honey, I'm sure he wasn't laughing at you."
"It's not that, I know he wasn't making fun of me…It's just…he dismissed my offer to help without a second thought. Why is it so absurd to want to protect him like he protects us? I know I'm still young but that doesn't mean I will just let him go off and do stupid things on his own. If I can't stop him going into danger, I want to least be there to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."
"Severus, I know you hate to be reminded of this but you are only a child, and Harry is more than capable of taking care of himself."
"I still say he's still acting like a fool but I won't always be a weak kid." He turned to face her with determination burning in his eyes. "Soon, I will be able to protect him and when that time comes, I won't allow him to push me away again."
