A/N: This chapter has excerpts from POA.

"A death omen?" Harry, Kevin, and Justin sat in puzzlement as Lily Moon bore the bad news.

"Yes. The professor was terrified, yet Bennett was hardly surprised."

Neither was Harry, strange as that sounds. Perhaps worry should be the right response, but just yesterday he was told that he's now the Master of Death, whatever that means. Not to mention Melly has a 'touch of death in her aura', according to the ghosts. All that considered, it seems practically expected.

"A Grim is bad news," Oliver commented. "People always die after seeing one. Rough luck, your friend has."

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Harry hoped. "If she wasn't surprised by it then it's probably not so bad. The future can always change, after all."

"Maybe," the others replied, their voices lacking in confidence.

They changed topics soon after. Discussing the rest of their morning classes as they enjoyed their lunch break. When it ended, the Hufflepuffs returned to their dorms to grab the textbooks for their sole class for the afternoon. Which, for most of them, meant the dreaded Monster Book of Monsters.

"This thing's a menace!" Kevin complained loudly as they headed out through the common room. "Honestly, how are we even supposed to use it?"

"Oh," a feminine voice exclaimed, "are you heading for CoMC?" The group nodded to the speaker (Harry recognized as Willamina MacFusty) sitting among several girls at a table. "We have ours tomorrow. Don't suppose any of you have figured out how to open it yet?"

"Not yet," Oliver answered.

"It keeps trying to bite me!" Sally added.

"Shame," MacFusty shook her head. "We haven't, either."

One of the other girls perked up her head. "Wait, I know how."

"You do?"

"YOU DO?!"

"Why didn't you tell us, Sierra?!"

"Sorry," Sierra winced against the trio of witches, "it slipped my mind."

The two groups looked at her expectantly. "…Well?"

"Oh! You have to stroke the spine," Sierra explained. "That calms it down and lets you read it."

That explanation left everyone in varying stages of disbelief. "…Stroke it?" The unknown brunette girl sighed. "Leave it to Mister Hagrid to come up with something like that."

"I don't know…" The unknown blonde mused softly. "That sounds kind of sweet."

The others looked at her flatly. "Lucy, there is a world of difference between sweet and a vicious, biting book."

"You know that's not what I mean, Juliet…"

The third years started tuning out the conversation, instead taking a go at petting the textbook. Sure enough, they relaxed and purred under a gentle hand. Which was both a relief and frustrating at having a book designed like this in the first place.

"Hey, before you all go…" Harry looked up to see Sierra had approached their lot. She seemed apprehensive before speaking. "Just… be careful today, alright? Not sure if I should say this, but Mel told me that someone in your class might get attacked by a hippogriff today."

The group flinched back in surprise. Harry steeled himself at the news. "Did she say who?"

"No. Actually she said that it's only a possibility. Still, be sure to watch yourselves."

"We will," he promised.

The walk over to Hagrid's hut was slightly subdued by the news. Harry tried his best to think positively about the upcoming class. After all, the future is never a guarantee. Not to mention it's only the first day. A hippogriff can't be that bad …whatever it is.

When everyone arrived, Hagrid gestured for the students to follow after him along the edge of the forest. Their destination was an empty paddock. Odd, perhaps hippogriffs are semi-invisible, like thestrals?

"Everyone gather round the fence here!" Hagrid called out. "That's it, make sure yeh can see. Now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books ter page twenty-one."

"How are we supposed to do that?" Parkinson snapped.

"Eh?"

"How do we open them?" She asked, lifting a belt-bound book. Others around the class revealed their own books, equally bound by rope, belts, and spellotape.

Hagrid was taken aback by the group. "Yeh haven' bin able ter open them?"

"You have to stroke them," Megan explained loudly, showing off her own for emphasis.

It took that demonstration for Hagrid and the others to notice that the puffs all had unbound books. "Well look a' that! Well done, Jones. Three points to Hufflepuff. Now, while the rest o' yehs ge' yer books open, I'll get us the Magical Creatures. Hang on…" With that, Hagrid wandered into the forest.

"This is ridiculous!" Parkinson hissed, shrieking as the book tried to bite her. A couple of the Hufflepuffs chuckled at her expense. A fact that brought dark glares from her direction. "Have something to say? …I didn't think so. Think you're impressive because you can open some horrid book about monsters?"

"Can't help it," Kevin answered with a cheeky grin. "See, us Puffs have a way with monsters."

Some of the class gave a shudder to that, Parkinson included, though she tried to hide it. "You- you don't scare me! Finch-Fletchley isn't here to protect you."

"We don't need him here," Kevin answered. "In fact-"

"Ooooooo!" An exclamation from Lavender Brown detracted the retort, bringing everyone's attention to the direction the witch was pointing.

From the other side of the paddock came a dozen strange and wondrous creatures. They looked like nine foot tall eagles, at least their front half did. Their back halves were horse-like. An entirely strange combination, not unlike the legendary gryphon. Harry found himself captured by the intense stares of their orange eyes. They certainly look deadly. The only sense of reassurance came from the thick collars and chains Hagrid held them by. More so as he tethered each animal to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid shouted proudly, gesturing to the creatures. "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

Harry tried to give them a second look-over to appreciate their beauty. Yet he couldn't help but notice the long, razor-sharp talons in the place of front hooves. On second thought, yes, an attack from them can absolutely be that bad!

"So," Hagrid rubbed his hands together, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer…" He waited as a few of them shifted nervously, closer or further, depending on the person. "Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' Hippogriffs is they're proud. Easily offended, Hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

Hagrid continued on, explaining the best way to approach a Hippogriff, and when best to retreat. When finished, he clapped his hands together. "Right, who wants ter go first?"

Most people backed away. Harry looked around at the others, and ended up meeting Kevin's eyes. The other boy grimaced, then looked sheepish as he regretfully muttered, "We have a way with monsters." They broke eye contact as he raised his hand.

"Good man, Kevin!" Hagrid cheered. "Right then, let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak." He led a grey hippogriff away from the fence, removing the collar soon after. Hagrid beckoned Kevin closer, coaching him through the bowing process. There was a moment of worry during the process, but after an intense staredown Buckbeak bowed back. With it, the class released a collective sigh of relief.

Having curried the hippoggriff's favour, Kevin was coaxed into petting and even riding Buckbeak. They watched as the boy nervously pulled off both feats unscathed, and broke into applause when he finally landed. Seeing the display encouraged the rest of the class into approaching the other hippogriffs. Harry took his chance with Buckbeak, as did Draco, and both were able to receive bows quicker than most of the others.

"This is easier than I expected," Draco commented as he stroked the hippogriff's beak. "I bet you're not dangerous at all, are you?"

"Only because we're acting properly," Harry clipped. "Can't imagine what would happen if we offended him. Especially with those talons."

Draco glanced down at their feet. With narrowed eyes he gave a solemn nod. "Yes, that would be painful, wouldn't it?" A quiet fell over them as they patted and fed Buckbeak.

Over time, Harry noticed odd looks being thrown their direction. The most blatant of them being Susan, Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle, and all towards Draco. He could guess why. It was likely the same reason that Nott and Runcorn glared daggers at him this morning during arithmancy. "I heard about what happened last month." The remark produced a sharp nod from Draco. "If you don't mind me asking… Why did you do it?"

Draco didn't meet his eyes, but he did speak. "I did what needed to be done."

"But you can't have been happy about it, right?"

"Of course not!" Draco snapped. Above them, Buckbeak gave an angry huff. "Sorry. Easy, boy."

They stopped talking as they worked to pacify the aggravated animal, soon dropping the topic altogether to avoid any risks. That said, Care of Magical Creatures is followed by an off period, so there was no stopping Harry from walking beside Draco on the way back to the castle.

When few people were nearby, Draco spoke again. "I didn't want to testify against him. After what you told me last term, I was hoping to ask him about it once school finished."

"Did you?"

"Hardly had the chance, did I?" Draco scoffed. "Matilda, MacNair and Rowle interrogated me after Bennett's trial. The entire Wizengamot knew, and soon all of Slytherin did, too." He kicked a loose rock across the lawn. "Mother said that if we aren't careful, my father's actions can drag our entire family down. So I… I did what had to be done."

Silence passed as Harry ruminated over the admission. There isn't much that can be said over a situation like that. "I'm sorry you had to go through that. That must have been difficult."

"...Thank you. It was."

"How is your mum handling it?"

"She'll be alright." Draco kept his eyes to the ground as he shrugged. "Lord Black has been visiting a lot over the summer, and she's been visiting her- my aunt, I suppose."

The slip up confused Harry for a brief moment. "You mean Andromeda?"

"You know her?"

"I see her and her family over the holidays."

"Ah. I suppose with Sirius Black being your guardian that makes sense." After a few more paces he added. "I've never known much about her. I know she was disowned, but… Well, it doesn't matter. Lord Black has reinstated her into the family, though she's keeping her husband's name. It's a bit odd, but I suppose she is married. Mother made the same decision, too."

"Arcturus asked her to change her name?" Asked Harry.

"He's worried about the Black legacy," Draco answered. "We spoke about it, a bit, of what will happen after he eventually passes. Technically I'm next in line after your godfather, but I'm already the Malfoy heir so Lord Black isn't too pleased with me having both. Maybe he's hoping mother and Aunt Andromeda will leave their husbands and go for men willing to fold into the Black name." It came as a light jest, yet Draco's own face scowled soon after the words passed his lips. "That would be terrible, though. No. I'm happy my mother's still a Malfoy."

Harry didn't know how to respond to that, offering a neutral hum as a response. As they walked back into the school Draco changed topics, asking Harry about his summer and teasing about the scandalous rumours he'd heard about Sirius' 'weekend wedding'.