28

Chapter 28: Outcomes and Fates Changed

Hagrid quickly made his way back through the brush and to the clearing where he had left Harry only to stop dead in his tracks at the sight that met him.

There in the middle of the clearing sat Harry, Fang and the unicorn mare. The unicorn looked exhausted and judging by the pile of torn cloth stained the pearly silver of its dried blood she had lost a good amount of blood but it seemed that Harry had managed to stem the flow quite well.

With a small relieved smile flitting about his face Hagrid stepped into the clearing and chuckled in amusement as Fang leapt to his feet and bound over to lick his large hand.

"Hagrid!" Harry called out in relief as he grinned up at the large half giant from his position beside the unicorn mare where he was pressing a length of torn fabric to the largest of its wounds. "Did you get them?"

"No," Hagrid grunted out as a scowl crossed his face as he thought of the monster who would willingly do something so horrible. "Bu' he'll be feelin' it in the mornin' I'm sure. I managed to nick his side with me arrow."

"Good," Harry said with a small scowl which only proved to look adorable on his small face before a soft whinny drew his attention back to the mare who was currently looking at Hagrid with fear in its eyes. "Hey now," Harry cooed out as he stroked down it's neck with his silver stained fingers. "That's it, you're okay. Hagrid's nice, he'll help make you feel better."

Much to Hagrid's shock and astonishment the mare quickly calmed under Harry's ministrations and ever turned her head to nuzzle at Harry's palm much to his delight.

"I think I've gotten the bleeding down pretty well but I'm not sure. I've just been applying pressure," Harry told him nervously.

"I shoulda known," Hagrid murmured to himself in amusement as he made his way over to the pair and began to ruffle through his pockets for the appropriate supplies. Soon he had the appropriate bandages and some wound cleaning potion that was safe to use on magical creatures placed down on the ground beside them.

"Righ' Harry. You wai' like tha' until I say. When I do, you pull those off an' grab some of this here," Hagrid said quickly as he motioned to a pile of gauze with his large hand as he uncapped the vial with the other. "I'll pour summa this on it then you put tha' there back on. Alrigh'?"

"Okay," Harry said quickly as he shifted so that he could better reach the gauze.

"Righ' then... Now!" Hagrid said and grabbed the potion quickly as Harry pulled the cloth strips away. As the wound became uncovered the blood began to slow build up and prepare to well over the crescent shaped gashes. In one swift motion Hagrid poured the light blue potion over the wound and once the flow of liquid ended Harry gently pressed the new handful of gauze onto the wound. "Goo' Harry. Very good," Hagrid said with a bright smile before he reached over and began to prepare the bandages to wrap up the wound. "Give it a minute an' then we'll wrap 'er up, she'll be good as new!"

"Really? Just from that potion?" Harry asked curiously causing Hagrid to chuckle.

"Yep, tha' potion'll clean up the woun' and help it ta heal. If it were deeper then we'd use a differen' one," Hagrid told him happily.

"That's really cool," Harry breather before turning back to Hagrid and cocking his head to the side. "Hey Hagrid?"

"Yeah?"

"Why don't you teach the Creatures class? You'd be really good at it."

"Well, I would love to 'Arry, bu' I can'. Since I was expelled I can' teach."

"But Care of Magical Creatures doesn't need a wand. You should be able to..." Harry trailed off uneasily and decided that after exams he would get Hermione to help him look into the subject. "So she's going to be okay?" Harry asked in an effort to change the subject as he saw the pleading look that was currently on Hagrid's face.

"Yes, she'll be fine," Hagrid said with a warm smile as he gently pat the unicorns side.

With a grin Harry prepared to respond only to be silenced by the rustling of the nearby bushes.

Instantly Harry tensed and grabbed onto his wand once again as he aimed it towards where the disturbance was coming from and watching from the corner of his eye as Hagrid did the same with his crossbow.

Harry tensed as a group of figures slowly began to emerge from within the foliage, each extremely tall, bare chested and armed with a handmade bow and a quiver of arrows. As they stepped further from the foliage Harry was shocked to see that each of them were attached from the waist down to the bodies of horses.

Centaurs.

"Bane, Firenze, Ronan!" Hagrid greeted them as he lowered his crossbow and took a step closer to the three centaurs with a small relieved smile upon his face. "Wha' are you doin' here?"

"We were looking for the unicorn mare," The largest of the three, who had red hair and a beard along with a chestnut body that stood half a head taller than the other two who were both around the same height, said with such a sorrowful voice that Harry ached to offer a hug of comfort to the stranger.

"I didn' think tha' you bothered with the 'fate of the stars'," Hagrid asked with an amused twinkle in his eye.

"Yes, we do look to the stars for guidance," The youngest of the trio said with his own amused smile while the last of the three snorted. His hair was so pale that it appeared almost white as it was bleached in the light of the moon, his eyes were an astonishing blue that made Harry think of Charlie and his body was a gleaming palomino that stood out against his companions darker colorings. The last of the three had dark black hair along with a beard and a sleek raven black body that melted into the shadows left behind by the night. "Then again, even the stars are undecided on the outcome for what is to happen here. It should not shock us however, for the Little One does make it a habit to write his own story," he said while throwing a small smile towards where Harry was currently positioned causing him to blink in shock.

Was it just him of could he hear the capital letters in 'Little One' as though it were some kind of a title? What exactly was going on here?

"So the mare is safe?" Came the gruff voice of the black haired centaur as he crossed his arms over his chest, his gaze resting on both Harry and the centaur.

"Yes sir," Harry spoke up before Hagrid could respond. "Hagrid and I have patched her up and she should be perfectly fine. Hagrid gave her a potion that disinfected the wound and started the healing process and I kept pressure on the wound to stem the blood flow. Besides being weak and dizzy for a few days she should be perfectly fine."

"That is good," The first centaur said with a smile as he gazed at Harry with a fond look in his eyes. "The stars shine brightly upon you Harry Potter, even despite their inability to tell your tale. I look forward to see what your story entails Little One."

Harry spend a large portion of the next day ensconced within the third floor corridor with Fluffy and Hedwig.

After Hagrid had escorted him back to the castle covered in the silver unicorn blood and dirt with a few twigs tangled in his hair and minus one shirt, a fact which nearly gave his poor professors a heart attack he was quickly ushered to the medical wing where he was given a thorough check up before being monitored for the rest of the night and early morning for any negative effects of coming into contact with such a great amount of undiluted unicorn blood and high amounts of stress.

Finally, after a good ten hours of peaceful sleep and a nice late breakfast, Harry had been given strict orders that he was not to go to class that day and to instead spend his time doing something fun and relaxing. Harry was relatively certain that this was due to a conspiracy of the teachers to allow him a day of peace outside of Dumbledore's manipulations but he was glad for it.

So, instead of spending his day attending classes and reviewing for exams he instead spent his time cuddling with the overgrown three headed puppy known as Fluffy and his darling Hedwig as he contemplated the events of the previous night as well as his latest dilemma.

How on earth was he going to make a friend in Slytherin?

Of course he couldn't just ask them the next time he saw them in Astronomy or the Great Hall, they would more than likely wind up feeling pressured and resentful, possibly even thinking that it was some sort of a set up.

He would also have to be careful of what he asked them to do, studying would make them wary of being used for grades, the lake would be wary of pranks... No, he needed something neutral where they could talk without any pressure. Maybe invite them to join him for lunch?

Lunch would work.

Now, how should he go about asking? He would have to ask on neutral territory where there would be no pressure from teachers or other students. Maybe he could pull them off to the side discreetly after Astronomy? Hmm...

With a sigh Harry burrowed himself further into the warm fur at the base of two of Fluffy's necks as the third rested over top and Hedwig lay cocooned in his lap. He was quite comfortable at the moment, perhaps a nap would help Harry relax and think better.

Yes, a nap sounded perfect right about now...