Puck woke up the same way he had fallen asleep: confused.

Had his dad really left because Puck didn't have any magic? When he was a kid he had always worried that it was his fault his dad skipped out but as he grew older he found out every kid thought that. Now though it was actually a possibility of that being true and that pissed Puck off. What kind of father leaves his kid because they don't have magic!

Then Harry offered his help, even though he had clearly said that he hated the Ministry of Magic. After hearing how insane Harry's life had been, Puck completely agreed with the other teen's plan to just get out. He was doing the same just on a much smaller scale. Living with the expectations that he was just going to be another Lima Loser, he had decided to escape Ohio and move to Cali. No one would know his past there.

Puck absentmindedly traced one of the tattoos on Harry's back while he still slept. Harry didn't seem like the kind of guy to have them at such a young age, but he kind of understood now. He was really interested in what they represented, but figured he would have to wait on that. He was lucky enough to hear the story of Harry's past so he wasn't going to push too much too soon.

Harry began to stir against him and Puck smiled at the cute groans the boy made as he woke up and stretched like a cat. It wasn't light out yet, but they all knew they had to make up time for yesterday if they wanted to make it to the mountain today.

"Morning, beautiful," Puck said enjoying Harry's blush as the boy moved out of his arms and sat up.

"Good morning. Are the others up yet?"

"I haven't heard anything, but I've only been up for a few minutes," Puck told him, getting up himself.

The made their way out of the tent, and sure enough the others were still asleep. Hulk wasn't back yet either so it was just the two of them standing on the large hill with just the sliver of light beginning to touch the sky.

"Before we get them up what do you say to magic class? We were to tired to do any last night.," Harry offered.

"I say hell yeah. And you were too tired, I was just nice enough to go easy on you," Puck told him. Puck could have been on his death bed and he would still be willing to learn.

"So I was thinking we could practice some spells that will help you out here more. I didn't want to start anything too dangerous while we were still out here, but it might help. If you can promise me that you won't mess around I'll let you have the wand. I know you have the knife to protect you, but I think you can handle it. What do you say?"

"I say hell yeah! I mean- Of course, Harry," Puck corrected himself, trying to tone down his enthusiasm.

Harry laughed and handed him his wand, then transfigured the tent into an archery target. "Now, we are going to practice stunner. There is no particular wand movement you just have to aim at your target," Harry told him, motioning to the archery target. "Well be using this first just to work out your aim, but obviously it is for living things. The stunner doesn't hurt the target, just knocks them out. The duration depends on the strength of the caster and the strength of the target. Some witches, wizards or creatures need to be hit by several different people at the same time for it to take any effect. There is also a spell to wake up someone who has been stunned, and I'll show you that when we move on. Now, the incantation is stupefy. Give a try," Harry instructed.

Puck spent the next ten minutes practicing with the target before Harry told him he was good enough to move to an animal. Harry transfigured the target into a stuffed bear before casting a spell on it that made it move like a real bear.

Harry shrugged. "We used to practice on other people when I taught. I figured you could practice on this before you hex me since you need to know the spell to wake them up and I don't think you could stun me. No offense."

"None taken, man. If I could take you down then you wouldn't be the Savior now would you?" Puck grinned cheekily.

Harry groaned. "Don't ever call me that, Puck, or I will find something equally bad to name you."

Puck held his hands up in surrender. They continued to work with the bear and Harry showed him the reenervate spell. "This will wake up someone who has been stunned, or even someone who faints," Harry told him. Harry sped up the animation on the bear so it would move faster and even attack with it's stuffed paws. Overall the effect was adorable, but Puck knew he was learning something that could save his life.

Puck continued to work stunning and waking up the bear while Harry got out the food and woke the others. By the time it was ready dawn had officially broke it was getting steadily lighter. Puck carefully tucked his wand into his pocket, before going to sit and eat. Hulk trotted up the the camp a few minutes after they started eating and flopped down behind Harry while he ate.

Camp was packed up quick, but instead of turning the bear back into the rock it had been, Harry turned it into a sheath for Puck's wand.

"I don't know the spells to enchant it like mine is, but it will work for now," Harry told him.

It was quiet as they set off. Puck was glad that Finn wasn't attacking Harry anymore. The two seemed content to just calmly avoid each other for the moment, which worked for him. He didn't want to be caught between the two since he was pretty sure whose side he would take, and it would just cause more problems.

As they walked Puck tried to get Harry to give him hints about his animagus form, but Harry refused to tell him information.

"Come on! All I know is that you are not a panther, wolf, flamingo, hawk, llama or snake and that you have fur. You have to give something else! Do you know how many animals there are in the world?"

"You said you wanted to guess. It's not guessing if I give you the answer, Puck."

"Can I ask you yes or no questions, then? Like 10?" Puck compromised.

"Three," Harry countered.

"Eight."

"Five."

"Five works," Puck agreed. "Ok, first question: Do you have stripes?"

Harry shook his head. "No, no stripes."

"Hmm...alright. Second question: Are you bigger in you animagus form than your human form?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Third: Do you have paws," Puck asked.

"Nope," Harry told him with a smile.

"Are you a stag like your dad?"

"Is that a question or a guess?"

"Guess."

Harry thought about it for a moment. "No, I'm not a stag like my dad."

Puck got suspicious at the tone. "Are you a magical animal."

Harry grinned brightly. "Yes!"

"How am I supposed to guess that?" Puck groaned.

"You're the one who wanted to turn it into a guessing game. I told you that you wouldn't guess it," Harry said with a shrug.

"Well, I have one more question left and it's a good one."

"Oh? Let's hear it then."

"I'll let you know when I figure it out," Puck mumbled causing Harry to laugh.

They had been walking for over two hours when Puck caught a glimpse of the horizon. Directly in their path to the mountain was a thick forest, spread for miles in either direction.

"What do we do," Mike asked the group.

"We go around," Finn said decisively. "We all seen what was in the hills, who knows what could be in a forest?"

"We don't know what to the side of us either. Who knows what we could run into on our way around? I think we should go through," Harry said.

"You do what you want, but I am not going through there. Nothing says we have to stay together, I'm sure we could find the mountain without you."

Harry went still beside him. "We?"

"Yeah. Me, Puck and Mike will find a way around and you can go right on through. No hard feelings," Finn said with a smile and turned to walk parallel with the forest in the distance.

"Hey, Frankenteen. I'm going where he goes, so don't speak for me," Puck snarled at the taller boy.

"We'll just all go around," Harry said, stepping between the two glaring friends. "I just thought it would be safer, but we can do it your way, Finn. We're gonna need to pick up the pace though."

Puck was still caught in a staring contest with Finn. He was pissed that Finn would think he would just leave Harry to go by himself. He was even more pissed that Finn thought he could make his decisions for him. A sudden cough had both of them snapping their glares to Mike who looked unconcerned, but pointed to where Harry and Hulk were already walking far ahead.

With a final glare at Finn, Puck jogged to catch up with the fast walking pair. He fell in beside them and the next few minutes were silent.

"Thanks," Harry told him.

"For what."

"Saying you would go with me instead. Thanks." Puck nodded, not sure what to say to that.

They walked until about noon and the forest still had no end in sight, but now they were no closer to the meeting place than the had been hours ago.

"Uh..guys? What's that?" Mike pointed forward to the limit of their sight. It looked like the grass ended and from this far all they could see was brown.

"It must be a field. I told you guys this would work!" Finn shouted.

They continued to walk closer but as they neared it became glaringly obvious that it was not in fact a field. Somehow, right up against rolling grassy hills was a huge desert. They stood a few yards from the line that separated the two completely different landscapes. There was actually an abrupt line with grass on one side and hard, dry dirt on the other. The desert was completely flat as far as Puck could see and dotted with small wiry bushes.

"Ok, I know I don't much attention in school, but I'm pretty sure this is impossible," Puck stated even though the proof was right in front of him.

"Well, it is a magic island," Mike said. "Do we go back or..."

"No this is perfect. The forest stops completely and if some monster to eat us we can see it coming. Plus it's completely flat so we won't have to climb hills anymore which should shorten our walking time," Finn explained looking completely excited.

Harry looked unsure but didn't argue with Finn. Puck was sure that Harry was trying to avoid any more arguments. If they found that many odd creatures in some hills, he couldn't imagine what they would come across in a desert.

Before heading in for the next leg of the trip they decided to have lunch still in the grassy area.

"Hey I gotta take a piss," Puck told Mike as they set up camp.

"Thanks for the update, Puck. I really needed to know."

"Shut up, dude. I'm just letting you know I'm going into the woods for a minute," Puck replied.

He wondered into the forest near the desert line until he couldn't hear the others anymore. When he was done and zipping up Puck heard a rustle of leaves behind him and turned around quickly but didn't see anything. He shrugged figuring it was the wind, and took another step before hearing a low growl to his right but still couldn't see anything.

Puck removed his wand from the sheath on his forearm and walked towards the noise. By the base of a large tree was a small tan animal, still growling but not even looking at him. It was pouncing towards something on the ground. Curiosity satisfied, Puck stepped back to leave but snapped something underfoot and the animal jerked around to see him standing there. It was some sort of cat that he didn't recognize, possibly because it was snarling and running towards him. Puck quickly sent a stunner at the animal but missed, and tried again then hit.

The animal tumbled to the ground, still breathing. Puck felt like a badass for using magic for the first time like this. He was grinning and ready to turn around to go tell Harry when something at the base of the tree moved. Puck cautiously crept forwards to see what the cat had been trying to eat. In the leaves was a snake about a foot long, still alive but covered in blood, dirt and leaves so Puck couldn't really get a good look at its markings.

It looked so sad writhing around that Puck wanted to save it. He sighed at himself before bending down to pick up the snake. He didn't know if it was poisonous so he stripped off his shirt and scooped the hurt snake onto it carefully before wrapping it up and cuddling the shirt to his chest for warmth. Puck noticed the snake head was poking out of the shirt so he started talking to it.

"It's ok little guy. My friend is gonna help you out. Don't worry I got you." Puck continued to mummer in what he hoped was a soothing manner to the snake as he made his way out of the trees. "Ugh. If only the guys on the team saw me now," he muttered. The snake hissed lowly and Puck remembered that Harry would be able to translate.

As he broke the tree line he called out, "Harry. Can you give me a hand?"

Harry dropped the orange he had been eating and ran for Puck. "What is it? Are you hurt?"

Puck quickly described what had happened in the woods while he lowered himself and the shirt wrapped snake to the grass. Harry followed the movement and knelt beside him as Puck carefully unwrapped the snake who was still covered in blood and leaves. Harry started hissing at the snake and running his wand, which made the same light it had when Harry had diagnosed himself with the broken leg the day before. Harry looked at Puck and began speaking to him.

"English, Harry."

Harry chuckled. "Sorry. Better?" Puck nodded. "She's got a few broken ribs and some internal damage."

"Can you fix her? Will she be ok?"he asked worriedly.

"Yes, but she'll be tired for a while so we have to keep her with us or she might get caught again," Harry told him before casting the spells at the snake. Harry continued to talk to the snake. "She's kind of hard to understand because she's just a baby."

"Wow, big baby." Puck ran his finger lightly over the healed skin, completely missing the adoring look Harry sent his way. "Can you clean her?" Harry nodded and the blood vanished, and they began to pick off the leaves. Harry's gasp made Puck look at the other teen only to see him staring down at the snake. Puck understood moments later because underneath the blood and leaves was a set of small rainbow colored wings. They quickly got rid of the rest of the leaves. The snakes scales were a dark midnight blue while her underbelly was a soft sky blue and around her head like a crown were more small multicolored feathers. At the end of her tail was a small fan of rainbow colored feathers that jutted out from either side to come together at the bottom.

"I can't believe it. She's a Couatl. They are supposed to be extinct."

Puck looked up at Harry's awed whisper. "You know what she is?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, when I found out I could speak parseltongue I started learning about snakes, it kind of became a hobby of mine. Something to take my mind off the war. She is a couatl. Her wings are small now since she is a baby but eventually they will grow to over a fifteen foot wing span while her body itself can grow up to about twelve feet long. It's supposed to be mesmerizing seeing them fly."

"They can fly?" Puck exclaimed.

"Well what else did you think the wings were for," Harry laughed. "Whats weird is that she was in the forest. Couatl are jungle snakes and were worshiped by the Aztec for being bringers of light and happiness. When the Spanish came they were all but wiped out because they fought against the invaders. There isn't really much known about them anymore. Some people think there were so few left that they bred into other snake species, but lost their wings and magic."

"Why don't you just ask her how she got here?"

Harry nodded and started hissing at the baby snake again while Puck continued to stroke its scales. Harry's eyes kept flicking up at Puck and he wondered what the snake was saying because it looked like Harry was trying to convince her of something while she shook her head no. After a few more minutes talking Harry spoke in English again.

"She said just after she hatched her nest was attacked, but she fell out before she could be eaten. She went looking for her parents and ended up in the forest. That was how she got attacked. Even as babies they are really fast but because of the cold she was slowed down. She wont be back up to speed for a little while because of blood loss, though. Also, she uh.." Harry trailed off mumbling.

"She what?"

"She thinks you're her daddy," Harry said while blushing.

"She what!" Puck yelped.

"She said you saved and protected her, then were telling her you were there for her. She said that's what daddies do, so you must be hers. She wouldn't listen when I tried to tell her you weren't. She doesn't really understand because she's so young."

"She can understand me when I talk?"

"Couatl are magical snakes. They can understand you even if you can't understand them."

Puck gently scooped the snake and raised it to his face, looking at her in the eye. "You think I'm your daddy?" The snake tiredly nodded her head, and Puck was reminded she had almost died an hour ago. He turned to Harry. "Can you make her a warm pouch to sleep in. I don't want her wings to get hurt in my pocket."

Harry smiled knowingly and ran back to camp before coming back with a small pouch with a long loop attached. "I spelled it to be at a constant temperature so she wont over heat when we head into the desert. There an extension charm so she won't be cramped and another charm so she wont be bounced around when you move," Harry told him while handing him the pouch which Puck was amused to note was colored the same as the snakes scales, midnight blue at the top fading into sky blue near the bottom.

Puck held the pouch open in front of the couatl. "You need to rest until you feel better. You'll be safe in here, alright?" The snake nodded and flicked her tongue at Puck's fingers before sliding into the pouch and curling up to sleep. Puck gently closed the pouch and slipped the sting over his head so it rested in the center of his chest.

Harry picked up Puck's shirt and cleaned it of the snake blood before handing it to Puck. Puck slipped the shirt on, but left the pouch underneath.

"I guess you were a Slytherin after all," Harry told him gesturing to the basilisk that happened to lay right over the sleeping snake. "Thanks for being so good about it. She's really sweet and scared. I can talk to her after she starts to feel better if you want," Harry offered.

Puck thought about it but eventually shook his head and shrugged. "Always wanted to be a dad. Didn't really envision this scenario to be honest," Puck told him.

They shared a laugh as they made their way back to camp where the other two boys watched them approach.

"What was up, Puck?" Mike asked.

"Found a hurt snake," he told them while digging in to lunch, making a note to feed the baby when she woke.

"Oh, did you kill it for him, Harry? That was nice of you," Finn said.

"No! I didn't kill her! Fuck, Finn!" Harry shouted. The boy grabbed his abandoned food and angrily walked away to join Hulk where he was spread out on his side resting a little ways away from the rest. Puck watched as Harry plopped himself down and leaned against Hulk's stomach as he offered the not-wolf some fish.

"What did I say?" Finn asked confused. "I was trying to smooth things over!"

Puck sighed and continued to eat so Mike explained. "Harry can talk to snakes, Finn."

"So?"

"That means they can talk back. I imagine it would be like killing a person to him."

"But it's not a person, it's just a snake."

Puck placed his hand protectively over the pouch on his chest, which Finn misinterpreted.

"Exactly! See Puck agrees. Harry killed that basilisk," Finn reasoned. Puck just ignored him, but didn't correct him about the baby snake. If Finn had a problem with Hulk he didn't know how the boy would react to the winged snake.

They were eager to get on the way and make up time so lunch was wrapped up soon after that and the boys made their way to the line that divided the two environments. As soon as they crossed it was like being thrown into an oven. He quickly stepped back over the line into the grass followed by the others. Puck panted, trying to catch his breath unexpectedly.

"I did not expect that," Harry panted.

"Is there anything you can do, Harry?" Mike asked.

The wizard nodded. "Yeah cooling charms for everybody. They wont keep all the heat out, but we wont bake at least. If you get thirsty, let me know. We need hats to cover our head from the sun too." Harry set about doing all those things before turning to Hulk.

"Are you sure you want to still come with us," Harry asked sounding somewhat reluctant to offer. "I mean you're not really built for the climate."

The not-wolf nodded and nosed Harry's wand. "Alright. This one is meant for a whole house so it should help with the fur. You tell me if you need water too, ok? I don't want you to get hurt."

"Hey, uh Harry. Can you help Max too?" Finn asked quietly holding out the small pink pygmy puff.

Harry gave the tall boy a small smile. "Sure, Finn."

When they stepped back across the line it felt less like an oven and more like a dry sauna. That was probably the worst part in Pucks opinion. It wasn't just the heat, but everything else along with it. In the hills it had been slightly moist with a slight breeze, but here it was completely dry. The dirt even had cracks in it. It took a moment for the group to adjust before they started walked with far less chatter than earlier. They had to stop often for water, so Harry took the time to teach Puck the aguamenti charm, which was thankfully really easy which helped speed things up.

Eventually it became clear there was no way they were going to make it to the mountain that day. It had steadily gotten bigger, but it was still miles away. Harry sent Prongs with a message to the other group when they faced the truth. When the sea turtle turned up, which was weird watching it swim in the desert, the boy, Neville, told Harry that their group had gotten held up as well. No one was hurt, but he would tell them what happened in person.

They made camp as it started getting dark. The wards and tents were set up faster than ever, then the boys collapsed around the fire, exhausted from the hot day.

"Walk through the desert, you said. It will be easier, you said. Well guess what, Finn? This sucks!" Puck snapped at the boy.

"At least we went the whole day without being attacked by monsters," Finn pointed out.

"Cause we were the only ones stupid enough to be in the sun," Harry said with a laugh.

Finn was silent for a moment before he laughed too. "You're probably right." He flopped back into his chair. "Man, I'm baked. If it weren't for those spells I would be a goner. Thanks for that by the way."

"No worries," Harry replied lightly.

"And I'm uh, sorry. About yesterday, I mean. I didn't mean to snap at you like that. It's just..." Finn trailed off.

"A lot to deal with?"

"Yeah," Finn sighed. "I am sorry though."

"Aww. Why don't we all kiss and make up," Puck cut in sarcastically.

"No, thanks, Puck. I think I will leave that to you," Finn said slyly causing Harry to flush red.

"Too true," Puck said with a leer to Harry. "Well, I'm heading to bed," Puck told them before scooping up some fish and a bowl then heading into the tent.

Puck took a seat on his bag and placed his supplies beside him. He gently removed his shirt and the pouch from around his neck and carefully opened it. "Hey, little one. You awake?" He heard a small hiss from inside the pouch. "Come on out. You need to eat and drink up. It will help you feel better. I promise."

The snake rose up from the pouch and into Puck's hand. Puck sat for a moment petting her before raising a piece of the fish to her mouth. With astonishing speed, the snake struck out and grabbed the food from his hand and swallowed in one piece.

"I see your feeling better," he told her and continued to hand her fish.

When the food was gone Puck filled the bowl with water. "You need some water after all that food," he told her as he lowered her head to water and watched as her tongue flicked out to taste the water before drinking. When she was done he moved the half full bowl of water to the side and laid down, draping the snake in a line down his chest and gently stroked her midnight scales ghosting his fingers over the small two inch wings.

"I can be your daddy if you want," Puck told the snake. "I'll take care of you and protect you, make sure nothing hurts you. I'll be the best human daddy to a snake there ever was. You know, give you love and that good stuff." The little wings fluttered at his words and Puck smiled. It was kind of weird, but he meant it. It was a snake, but she was a baby too. The snake slid up his body and her head slipped down around his neck to com up the other side and rest on her tail feathers. She tightened once and then relaxed, seemingly dropping off into sleep. This really wasn't they way he imagined becoming a father again, but he really couldn't say he minded. Besides he would be a badass for real soon and every badass needs a badass snake. And if his snake thought he was her daddy, no one needed to know but him...and Harry.

AN: The couatl is borrowed from D&D with a little bit of tweaking to it's back story.

Thanks for reading and reviewing. Y'all are super duper awesome! I'm fixin' to go start on the next chapter now. here's a hint on whats coming *action* what kind of action you might wonder. find out on the next installment on The Island.