Harry spent a few minutes talking with Mike and Finn after Puck went into the tent. Things with the taller boy were still tense and Harry didn't want to cause any more conflict unless he had to so he had accepted the boy's apology with little fanfare. It didn't really matter to him what Finn thought of him or magic as long as the boy stopped being an ass about it. In the interest of peace he was trying to be more outgoing with the others beside Puck, even though he wanted nothing more to follow the tanned boy into the tent.
By the time he made it into the tent Puck was already asleep and Harry barely held in a 'awww' at the sight of him with the couatl sleeping around his neck. Harry quickly got ready for bed. He looked between the two sleeping bags for a moment before deciding to go for it and laying down with Puck again. He cuddled up to the bigger boys side and lay his head on his chest near the sleeping snake. As he got comfy the baby stirred a bit and hissed at Harry.
::Daddy gave me yummy food. He says he will give me loves too:: she told him happily, but still tired.
Harry smiled sleepily at the couatl. ::I'm glad. I think he will take good care of you::
::Daddy is the best daddy:: she murmured before falling back into sleep.
Harry was glad Puck was okay with the snake. For the boy to be willing to take care of her knowing that she thought he was her father was amazing. He had met plenty of people who hated the creatures on sight, especially with the whole Slytherin and Voldemort connection.
He had long since come to realize that every snake species was different. Non-magical snakes seemed to be a bit dumb and with extremely limited vocabulary. They were nice to meet, but if a parselmouth wanted a companion it had to be a magical snake which were hard to find unless you were looking for potion ingredients. Shops wouldn't carry them because of Voldemort which was a shame because Harry had been thinking about finding one as a travel companion when he left after the school year.
To find a couatl was incredible, even in the magical world all the winged snakes had been wiped out, hunted for their parts that were useful in potions. Harry had been shocked to see the baby snakes wings. He had been even more shocked when she called Puck daddy. He had been worried about how he would take it and been unsure about telling the teen especially after hearing about his daughter, but it looked like he was accepting the role with no argument and was frankly adorable cuddled with the snake.
000
Harry woke with a start, not even having been aware of falling asleep. He looked around for a moment not knowing what had woken him. Puck and the couatl were still asleep and it was still completely dark. A tingle at the back of his mind alerted him to the reason. Something was poking at the edge of his wards. Harry quietly moved out of Pucks arms which had encircled him while he had slept. He drew his wand and peeked his head out of the opening of the tent and gasped at what he saw about 15 yards away at the exact edge of the wards he had laid.
It was built like a scorpion, low to the ground with many legs and a shiny black exoskeleton. In fact Harry would have thought it was a scorpion if it wasn't bigger than the Knight Bus, and it's stinger wasn't currently molten red and casting a glow around the area. Even worse, Harry could feel it trying to break into the wards so it had to be magic of some sort. The wards were not meant to keep out a magical attack, they were just temporary. He would have had to spend hours on the wards to keep something like that out permanently.
Harry ducked back into the tent and shook Puck awake.
"What the-"
Harry clamped his hand over Puck's mouth. "There's something outside. Get the the baby safe and get ready to move. The wards won't hold."
Eyes wide, Puck nodded quickly. He was whispering to the snake while putting her in her pouch as Harry slit a hole in the tent on the side between the two tents. Luckily this is where Hulk had decided to lay down and was hidden from the monster so Harry gently shook him awake since he couldn't very well clamp the not-wolf's mouth shut.
The not-wolf's eyes blinked open. "There is something poking at my wards. I don't think it knows were here yet, but it is going to break them. Be ready, but don't move until I've got the others ready, okay?"
Hulk tensed and nodded so Harry moved on to the other tent, cutting that one open as well and slipping inside. Mike was in front of him so he woke up first, then Finn. Harry help a finger to his lips to motion for quiet.
"Get ready and be quiet. There is something trying to break in. We need to be able to move quick." Finn went to say something, but Harry cut him off. "Not now, just be ready to move fast." They both nodded and Harry made his way back to Puck.
"Did you see it?" Harry asked as soon as he entered through the slit.
"Yeah. It's fucking huge. What is it?"
"I don't know but I don't think it's friendly. It's already half way through my wards." A sudden scream from outside the tent ripped though the silent desert. "Finn!" Harry snarled. Harry and Puck ripped out of the tent to seethe boy safe but screaming and pointing that the huge scorpion still outside the wards. Harry sent a silencing spell at the boy. "Are you bloody mental!" he hissed, but the damage was already done. A loud explosion followed the scream and the invisible dome created by the ward lit up as fire spread over it.
Harry looked to the monster to see it send out another fire ball out of its stinger. "Of course it shoots fire," Harry groaned to himself before addressing the others who had grouped around him, including Hulk who was even dwarfed by the monster. "Get to the opposite side of the ward line. Don't try to leave until I say," he instructed. They ran to the other side which put them about 30 yards from the monster with the camp set in the middle. The wards were collapsing fast as the continuous fire blasts weakened them.
"Get ready. When I say, run as fast and as far as you can. I'll hold it off until you far enough away." He turned to Puck. "You too. You can't handle this yet. Protect your friends." The boy looked defiant but nodded. Relieved he wouldn't argue, Harry gave the boy a quick fierce kiss. He cast individual shields on each of them then Harry faced towards the monster as the wards began to tremble. When he felt the first crack he yelled, "Run!"
Without looking back he could hear the three teens sprint in the opposite direction from the scorpion and Hulk stay at his side. Harry cast his first spell to explode the monster, but it bounced harmlessly off the shell and hit the ground instead. "Fuck, not again!" What was the point of training when everything on the island was shielded? Harry dodged a fire ball and ran closer hoping it's close range was worse. He kept throwing spells to distract the monster, exploding the ground around it even if he couldn't damage the creature itself. The continuous fire blasts were ruining his vision, making it harder to see in the dark.
Hulk dodged the car door sized claws and clamped on to one of the creature's legs, yanking with powerful jaws. The creature screeched as its leg came loose, but kicked at Hulk with one of the other seven sending him flying. The loss of the leg slowed the creature from turning as fast and Harry used this to duck around the monster's side and cast a flame dampening charm at the stinger. Fate must have been on his side because the white foam encased the stinger and the glow died down. No more fireballs were being shot out, but the sharp tip of the stinger was still visible. Mentally celebrating the small victory, Harry missed the now extinguished stinger coming at him until it was almost too late. He ducked but the stinger but got caught by the tip of a pincer which tore through his shoulder.
Harry scrambled to his feet and backed away quickly. Distance was safer now without the fireballs exploding around him. It was easier to see now without the constant explosions, but Harry couldn't see anything out of the ring of light created by burning vegetation . The shell was still shining in the light of the bright moon, so he was able to keep sending blasting curses it's way. Hulk ran in out of the darkness to attack again, this time he got caught by a claw and was thrown away where he lay on the desert floor unmoving. "Hulk!"
Harry was distracted long enough for the scorpion to attack. The breath was knocked out of the wizard as a claw hit his stomach sending him to the ground. He was on the ground, groping around for a wand when the scorpion loomed over him, stinger poised for attack.
"Bombarda!"
The scream came from behind him, the explosion hit the ground beside the scorpion. Harry's hand found his wand before the dirt settled and he took aim at the monster's belly. "Sectumsempra!" Slices opened up on the less armored underbelly and it screamed again and quickly backed away before scurrying off into the dark. Harry watched it disappear before collapsing back to the ground panting.
"Harry! Are you alright?" Puck yelled as he fell to dirt beside him, his eyes running over the blood on his shoulder.
Harry nodded to the panicked boy. "I only got clipped." He sat up, grunting with the effort. "Hulk got hit." There were bushes on still on fire from the scorpion so they only had to search the ground for the not-wolf before finding him moments later, still having not moved. Harry ran to him, relived to see his chest moving up and down steadily. He cast the diagnostic charms over the not-wolf and sagged in relieve when he saw nothing was broken, the animal had just been knocked out when he hit the ground. He cast reenervate and the not-wolf quickly awoke, raising his head before whimpering and letting his head fall again.
"Is he alright?" Puck asked.
"He's got a concussion and some bruising but he will be fine with some rest. Can you help me with my shoulder?" With Puck's help he was able to remove the torn shirt and heal the wound. He rotated his shoulder after. "Damn, that hurt. Where did you leave the others? Why did you leave them? I told you to run."
"I know, but I came back when I heard you scream. I just used the same spell you were shouting and it worked," Puck told him with a smug look. "They are a few minutes that way," Puck told him while pointing the the direction they ran. "Mike will scream if they need help. Finn is still kind of upset cause he can't talk."
"Good. If it wasn't for him we might have gotten away without it ever having seen us. He's that dumb blonde in the movies that dies first," Harry told him seriously. It was quiet for a moment witch just the panting of the not-wolf breaking the silence. "Thanks for coming back," Harry told Puck as that sat beside each other in the dirt. Harry leaned his head on the teen's muscled shoulder. "You're kind of brave, you know that."
"Stop you'll make me blush," Puck told him, draping an arm across the wizard's shoulder. "Besides brave sounds so cliche. I'm clearly a badass."
"I stand corrected. Excuse me, Mr. Badass, but we need to get these fires out. I can't see anything outside the light," Harry told him. It was making him uneasy not being able to see if anything was coming. Just months out of the war and he was already losing the training he had worked so hard for after the last two years. Before the island that was what he had wanted, to put all that behind him. Now he was regretting letting his guard down. He really should have known that he wouldn't always be safe. He made a mental note to keep up on more than just medical and camping knowledge in the future.
The pair spent the next few moments putting out the fires and letting their eyesight readjust to the darkness while Hulk rested.
"Puck!" Mikes scream had them running fast in that direction, the not-wolf following not far behind.
Harry reached the scared teens first only to be extremely confused by what he was seeing. Finn was yelling silently, gesturing angrily at Harry. Mike was looking between Harry and a creature that had attached itself to his leg and looked to be nuzzling his knee. A quick lumos illuminated the creature and Harry still had no idea what it was but it didn't look like it was hurting him. It's head came to Mikes knee and it had large rectangle scales in a golden tan in color except for it's belly which was white. The chubby creature had two small pointed ears and a small, slightly down turned, pointed muzzle. On either side of its rather adorable face were two large almond shaped eyes that were looking up at Mike with awe. The two small paws wrapped around his leg had three sharp claws, but were not actually digging into the startled boy.
"What happened?"
"I don't know! Finn sat down and this little guy yelped. I pulled Finn off it and it squeaked at me and just started hugging my leg and purring," Mike said quickly. "What is it?"
"You're gonna hate me, but I don't know. It seems friendly though," Harry pointed out. "Try talking to it."
"Hey little guy. You're ok. You wanna let go now," Mike spoke to the creature in a soothing voice, trying to remove the paws from his leg. That just caused it to hold tighter, though and Mike winced at the grip. "Okay. No worries. You can hold on." Mike looked at Harry helplessly. Harry shrugged, not having an answer himself. Mike sighed and sat down, which succeeded in loosening the grip, but then the creature crawled in his lap and curled up before closing its eyes.
"What is it with this island?" Puck asked. "Half of the monsters want to kill us and the other half want to be pets!" Hulk growled. "I mean companions," he corrected quickly.
"The seal lady didn't want to kill us," Mike pointed out as he began to pet the critter in his lap which started to coo at the boy.
On the side of them was Finn who was waving his hand wildly at Harry. When the wizard finally looked away from the animal in Mike's lap, Finn glared at him and pointed to his mouth.
"Can you just leave him like that?" Puck whispered loudly, getting a chuckle from Harry and another glare from Finn. Harry shook his head and cast a finite at the silent teen and regretted it almost immediately.
"What gives you the right to put a spell on me," the tall teen roared.
"It was probably the fact you couldn't keep your fat gob shut! I told you there was something there and you went and screamed like a little girl telling it we were there. If it weren't for you we could have gotten away before it ever even breached the shields! And here you are yet again yelling in the middle of the bloody desert when we still don't know what is out here! You are putting everyone's lives in danger because you can't hold yourself together and be a man for five bloody minutes! Now shut the hell up, sit down, preferably without crushing another innocent creature with your gigantic body, and give it a rest," Harry told him angrily from between clenched teeth.
Harry turned away without waiting for a response and went to check on Hulk, conjuring a big bowl of water for the concussed not-wolf. Puck came and sat with him a moment later. Harry was still seething at the nerve of Finn he wasn't much in the mood to talk. Luckily Puck must had guessed and didn't say anything. He just sat down and removed the pouch from around his neck before letting the couatl slither into his palm.
::Is it safe now, Daddy?::
"It's ok," Puck soothed the worried snake, petting her scales gently. "You're safe. I told you I would protect you."
::I know, Daddy. I wasn't worried at all.::
"You know, you still need a name. I can't have any daughter of mine walk- er slithering around without a name now can I?" Puck asked, scratching the underside of the snakes chin making her hiss in pleasure."How about Rainbow?" The baby looked back at her wing and then to Puck and shook her head. "Too obvious? I guess Midnight is out too then. Alright, little lady, how about Layla? "
The snake fluttered her wings and nodded. ::I like that name, Daddy. Thank you."
"Alright, Layla it is. Why don't you go tell Harry your new name?" Puck lowered the couatl to the dirt and she slithered over to Harry, sliding up his legs until she was on his lap.
::Hi, Speaker-Daddy. My name is Layla. Daddy gave a beautiful name.::
Harry smiled at the snake. ::Yes he did, very beautiful. I'm not your Daddy though.::
::Of course you're not my Daddy. You're my Speaker-Daddy.:: The snake hissed with laughter. ::Silly Speaker-Daddy.::
::Layla, not everyone can be your Daddy,:: he told the snake.
::But you fixed me when I was hurting, and then your protected me and Daddy from the monster. That's what daddies do. Do- do you not want to be my Speaker-Daddy?:: she asked in a trembling hiss.
Harry rushed to reassure the baby, picking her up and cuddling her. ::No, that's not it at all Layla. I promise. I would be honored to be your Speaker-Daddy.::
::Yay! I'm going back to Daddy now. He will give me more loves.:: she informed him so he lowered her to the ground. Harry groaned and dropped his head into his hands.
"What's wrong? What did she say?" Puck wanted to know.
"She thinks I'm her 'Speaker-Daddy'. You are supposed to take care of her and give her loves and I am supposed to heal and protect both of you, apparently," Harry revealed without looking at the other boy.
Puck's laughter caused him to snap his head up. "What did you tell her?"
"I tried to tell her I wasn't, but she started crying! Crying, Puck! How can I refuse a crying baby who thinks I don't want to be her daddy?"
This just caused Puck to laugh even more. "She already got you wrapped around her tail, man. Looks like I'm going to have to be the one who makes the rules in this relationship other wise she's gonna slither all over you."
"She was crying!"
Puck just shook his head and smiled. Layla let loose a huge yawn so Puck scooped her back up and held out the pouch. "Back to sleep for you, little miss."
::Good night, Daddy, Speaker-Daddy.::
"I need some more sleep, too," Harry told him as he watched Puck replace the pouch around his neck. "I think if we set up the sleeping bags without the tents we would be able to tell sooner." Harry transfigured some bags before standing up. "You set these up and let the others know, I'm going to set up some more wards around the area. We still have a few hours until light so we should sleep while we can."
It took Harry almost a half-hour to set up some stronger wards and by that time the others were already asleep. He collapsed into his own bag and fell into a light sleep, able to wake up at the slightest noise just in case. The scorpion monster never came back, or any other creature for that matter.
Light came far to early in everyone's opinion. Morning camp was silent while they ate and got ready. The small animal was still attached to Mike, following him around as he moved. The boy didn't seem concerned and actually seemed to like the creature. Hulk was all better after the rest and Harry was thankful he hadn't gotten too hurt last night.
They made their way across the desert, the large black mountain growing closer and closer until at noon they finally reached the base. The steep mountain towered over them, and they could barely see the summit. It was made of a dark rock Harry hadn't seen before. There was vegetation around the base, but nothing grew on the mountain itself.
They decided to stop at the base for lunch. Harry transfigured a large child's pool filled with water for Hulk to relax in while they ate. After he finished his own food, Harry conjured Prongs.
"Hey! We made it to the mountain. Are you all here yet?"
A few moments later Flibberty arrived. "Hey Harry. We arrived this morning. I can't wait to see you!"
"I miss you too, Luna. Prongs is going to lead you towards me. Send back either Titan of Flibberty to lead us back to you. That way we can meet in the middle. Alright? Oh, and we have a few...animals...with us so don't be alarmed. They are all friendly." Prongs bounded off with his message while the group got ready to go.
Soon Titan appeared, "Thanks for letting us know, Harry. We're curious to see what kind of animals you would have to warn us about. Luna thinks you found a Klapertifty. Looking forward to seeing ya, mate. Just follow Titan."
After the message ended the large sea turtle turned from Harry and began to swim in the direction it had come from. The general mood was excitement as they followed the Patronus. Harry didn't know what they would do after they met up, but at least they would all be together.
AN: thanks for all the feedback on the last chapter! hope you enjoyed this one as well. please review! it helps when i get stuck to give me a push.