Harry lounged in the bright midmorning sun. He and Neville had skipped class to fish for chocolate frogs in the lake. They were both huddled under Harry's invisibility cloak, Harry worried that maybe Neville had only invited him because of the magical garment but decided to just enjoy his time.
They laughed together as they watched the giant squid spin about ethereally under the surface of the water and Neville scooted closer to Harry. "Hey," Neville said turning his head in a whispery sussuration of fabric, he looked at Harry, a weird light in his eyes.
"What's up Nevil-" Harry's wrist jerked as something pulled at his line. He reeled whatever it was in and took a peek. A fat, glistening, chocolate frog floundered on the grassy, dry, land. Harry jabbed a fist in the air triumphantly.
Nevilles stomach grumbled and he pushed what he had been about to say back, keeping it locked away in its dark, reinforced containment at the back of his troubled mind.
After they had snacked the two young wizards went about their separate ways, hurrying to their respective fourth period classes. As Harry trundled up the lawn he passed a Defense Against the Dark Arts class in progress.
He watched as Luna and Padma's partronuses sallied about in the late summers wind. The two effervescent apparitions tumbled playfully, making Harry chuckle. He was glad that Padma was finally making some friends after the sudden, mysterious death of her twin sister. Ron sauntered up to her and the two began talking, bashful, often turning their faces away from the other to hide their blushing.
He still had a lot of questions about Ron so he siddled up casually to observe the red haired mystery a little better. Just then, another patronus caught his eye. It was a turtle, but not just any turtle. It had a tail, and was shooting a great geysering spout of water from its mouth! Squirtle! But who would have such a patronus he wondered then stopped short.
Underneath the patronus Kraug stood, hooting and jumping up and down gleefully, proud of herself and her wonderful new friend. The squirtle capered about a bit, all the while drenching the assembled students and their sodden instructor.
'She's not a selfish brute at all!' Harry thought. He was suddenly quite ashamed of himself and his earlier, churlish, behavior. He resolved to make things right with Kraug once the class was over.
He tried approaching her after the bell rang but she was immediately set upon by a gaggle of Gryfindor first year girls, he friends and ever present posse. They laughed and giggled, the raucous proof of their merriment creating a solid barrier of sound in a spherical outlay of sonic physicality around them. Harry trailed casually behind them and waited till Kraug was finally alone.
Finally a large group of the girls broke off and headed into the west tower. The few that were left, aside from Kraug, tore off, laughing and playfully shoving one another, bounding into the forest. Harry scurried up to Kraug quickly while he still had a window of opportunity open to him.
He put his hand on the back of her cloak and Kraug roared in surprise, jumping around to face him, her clenched fists raised above her head in a savage attack position. Harry stumbled back and yelped out an explanation. "Kraug! It's just me, Harry!"
"Kraug?" She asked, hunching down on her knees and knuckles she crawled toward him and sniffed his pant leg. The shaking, nervous boy waited a full minute before Kraug lept back to her feet and embraced him in a tight hug. "Harry! Harry come!" Kraug cried out happily. "Kraug miss Harry..."
Harry scuffed his shoes on the ground, "yeah. Geez, Kraug, I've been a real jerk and wanted to apologize for what I said two months back, on the train ride here..."
"Kraug forgive Harry Potter!" She cried and embraced him in another clumsy hug. But she had accidentally pressed up against Harry's time turner in her thoughtless delight.
The two were zapped back in time viciously, careening about through parallel planes of existence and causality until the stood, dazed and nauseous, on the edge of a large, barren hillside. Hogwarts was nowhere to be seen!
Harry clasped his hands over his cheeks in horror. "Kraug! We've traveled far into the past! Hogwarts doesn't even exist yet! We don't exist yet!" The full realization of this shocking truth toppled him over, literally. He fell upon his rump on the dusty, ancient ground. Just then he heard a scuffling sound off to his left. He turned in dazed curiosity to see a vast system of caves dotted here and there with crude, primitive fires.
Two cave men were fighting each other, snarling and biting, rolling about on the ground. One managed to extricate himself from the others grasp and scuttered over to a fallen haunch of meat. He raised it above his head and ululated triumph before running off with his prize.
Harry began to cry with bitter passion. He knew what he had to do. He placed his hand on Kraugs shoulders, the last time he'd ever touch her. Savoring the moment he waited until he had her attention. She'd been staring about in delight and rapture.
"I'm going to miss you, so much Kraug." He activated the time turner and zipped back to his rightfully place in the chronal continuum.
It was a hard and bitter thing, leaving her behind. He had just gotten her back and so soon the two were split, this time, it seemed, forever. It was for the best, he tried to convince himself. She would be happier, there, with her own kind.
Harry reappeared on the Hogwarts lawn, his vision momentarily occluded by tears and the dazzling sun overhead. When he could see once more he gasped.
Right there, on the lawn, where the lake should have been was a statue. A giant, momentous thing, wrought of gold with inlays of ivory. Towering above him, fifty majestic feet in the air, was the unmistakable likeness of... Kraug herself!
"What have I done!" He yelled, anguished, striken... alone.