Unofficial Portkey Archive

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing of the Harry Potter universe, and I make absolutely no money writing this junk. I certainly don't own the lyric bits, either.

A/N: Well, you've convinced me to end Pig's suffering. Too bad, I was having so much fun. Things are turning a bit darker here, but it's always darkest before the dawn, right? I hope you enjoy this chapter. It's only an average length chapter, about 5600 words, but it's got a lot of nice, heart-wrenching, angsty-fun goodness. As always, enjoy!

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Chapter 47: Vault Number One

Lay beside me, under wicked sky.
Through black of day, dark of night, we share this pair of lives.
The door cracks open, but there's no sun shining through.
Black heart scarring darker still, but there's no sun shining through…
no, there's no sun shining through…
no, there's no sun shining.

Never free…
never me…
'cause you're unforgiven, too.

Excerpt from the song, 'Unforgiven II' by the band, Metallica.

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Far below Diagon Alley, within the deepest bowels of a labyrinth of passages, laid Gringotts Vault Number One. Inside of that vault, a terrible, pitiful scream echoed throughout the cavernous chamber. The vault was empty, except for two hobgoblin guards stationed at each side of the entrance and the young, inconsolable half-demon who was pounding and scratching at the vault's massive door.

The hobgoblins stood nearly perfectly still, except for the nervous glances they sent to each other as they bore witness to the young elder's sudden, frantic attempt to escape. They were under strict orders… nobody in, nobody out… until word came either from the Director himself or from the arch-elder who had placed the young half-Oni in the vault in the first place. Hobgoblins weren't the type of beings to be fazed by very much, but the distress of the young elder was eating away at their composure. Every once in a while they would glance at the distressed young girl with uncharacteristic compassion in their eyes… however, they remained unmoving.

Streams of her blood ran down the iron door as she vainly tried to claw her way out. Her knuckles were raw and torn from beating on the unyielding surface, and her claw-like fingernails were cracked, broken and oozing blood from the torn skin beneath them. Tears were coursing down her cheeks as she took a deep breath and screamed at the top of her lungs, "SHISHIII!"

The hobgoblin guards shifted uncomfortably on their feet.

She had been there, floating high above the black lake while her body was safely ensconced within the highest security vault below Diagon Alley. She had been watching them… following them… just as she was supposed to be doing. Waiting for the time when she would finally be released to realize her destiny. She had witnessed Washi banishing the soul fragment from within the white marble tomb, and followed their actions into the Black Lake. She remained watching until she saw her lion's battered form drop into unconsciousness just after her eagle's soul had fled from the area beneath the lake.

She returned to her body, but found no way to get to him… no way to save her Shishi.

Her mournful cry was still echoing throughout the chamber when a slight flash of blue light announced a new arrival inside of the vault. Just behind Kotone stood Kyuushuu, dressed in his usual flowing white robes with a long white fur cloak draped between his large, feathery wings.

Kotone spun around quickly, fell to her knees, and began pleading in her native language, "Please, Father, he needs me! I saw him… he is dying! I must go to him!"

Kyuushuu looked sympathetically down at Kotone and said in his soft, effeminate voice, "I will admit, this situation was unforeseen, and the delay could complicate our plans, but he will survive this, given time. You have only been here for a few hours, and you want to leave already? It is now your job to watch, not to act… you know that you must not leave this place… you know that you must not be seen until it is time. Your time will come, are you so anxious to end your life?"

In any other situation, Kotone would have bowed down and remained silent. She knew all about Oni traditions and customs, just as she knew the hierarchy of the elders, but at that moment, she really didn't care. She lunged forward and clutched at Kyuushuu's robes, leaving bloody smears and handprints down the front of his garments. She fell flat on the floor and cried onto the hem of his robes, "Please! I am begging you, Father… let me go to him! No one will see… no one will know! I promise! I swear it!"

Annoyance briefly flared in Kyuushuu's amber eyes. This was not the behavior he expected from an Oni. Knowing that he had already said what he wanted to say, he was just about to leave when his eyes landed on the bloody trails seeping down the vault door. His gaze scanned down to his feet, where he saw Kotone's trembling body. He watched curiously as the girl's tiny form heaved with each sob that escaped her. He then looked at the smear of her blood that stained his robes from his stomach down to where her tiny hands were still clutching at the hem.

He wondered… he puzzled… why was she so consumed with the state of her charge? He wasn't dying, and she knew it, so what was causing his Oni daughter to abandon the old ways? Kotone didn't even react quite like this upon the death of her own natural mother, although she was somewhat under duress at the time. He thought to himself that maybe… perhaps the old customs were becoming outdated. Emotions… attachment… the prime sources of mistakes for those with such grave responsibilities… but also the forces that drove mortals to perform above and beyond their means and the catalyst for soul bonds to take place. He looked more closely at his daughter and was surprised to discover that a bond did exist. Her mortal half had somehow bonded with her charge.

He had not forgotten love. It was his forbidden love of a mortal, the wife of the wizard who had originally contracted him to defend his keep, which caused him to break the old customs. It was selfish of him, and that selfishness was the catalyst for a thousand years of strife, of heartache for the family that he had annexed and to all that knew them. The cycle was nearly complete… why did this one, the last of the legacy of his weakness, have to abandon the old customs, just as he had so long ago?

He already knew the answer… love… a mutual love between two lost souls, born of despair and understanding… forged in pain and hope.

He now understood… she couldn't create that kind of bond willingly… it couldn't be forced into existence, but naturally formed… but still…

Kyuushuu sighed resignedly and closed his tired eyes. The plans would have to be changed.

"Remember, child… you must not be seen," said Kyuushuu softly as he stooped down, took one of Kotone's trembling, bloodied hands and pried it from the stained hem of his robes. In a flash of blue light, they were gone, leaving behind a deafening silence in the massive, empty vault.

The two hobgoblins glanced at each other. If one didn't know any better, they would have sworn that smiles appeared on their normally impassive faces.

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Benjamin Bones and Christiana Coddington stood unmoving on either side of Dumbledore's tomb, both keeping careful watch on the area where the Hogwarts Anti-Apparition wards were breached, although they had seen nothing out of the ordinary during the time they had spent there. The acrid stench of sulphur and brimstone, the only indicator that something unusual had happened there, had long since dissipated.

Ben was quite accustomed to spending long hours standing watch over a place, but the relatively inexperienced Coddington was shifting restlessly on her feet.

"How much longer are we gonna stand here?" she whispered to Ben over the tomb as her shimmering outline plopped heavily onto the grass.

The outline of Ben's disillusioned form shimmered slightly as he looked around and answered in a similar whisper, "Let's give it another half hour… I have a strange feeling something's going to happen."

Although he mentioned it to no one, Ben thought that he knew exactly what, or more accurately who, had caused the breach in the school's wards. There was only one person he knew of that seemed to be able to ignore the basic rules on the physics of Apparition. If Harry Potter felt it necessary to Apparate directly onto the grounds, then something important was going on… something significant was happening… he was sure of it.

As if on cue, Ben was startled out of his thoughts by the loud sounds of chaotic splashing from the lake directly behind them. Ben spun around with his wand raised just in time to see a huge tentacle rise from the water. The tentacle appeared to be holding something as its length extended from the water, reached directly over the tomb, and gently laid its burden on the grass right in front of the two aurors.

As the large tentacle retreated back into the water, Ben immediately lit his wand and trained the light on the bleeding, nearly naked form of Harry Potter.

"Merlin's beard!" exclaimed Ben as he dispelled the disillusionment on himself and rushed to Harry side.

Christiana also dispelled her disillusionment as she slowly stood while staring down at the unmoving young man, "Is… is he dead? Who is he?"

Ben was already in the process of casting a series of healing charms on the worse of the gaping wounds as he answered between spells, "It's Harry Potter, and he's not quite dead yet… I'm not saying that won't change, though."

Christiana moved closer, trained her wandlight on the young man's face and then said in a terrified voice, "That's not Harry Potter… he… he hasn't got a scar."

Ben's eyes glanced up to the boy's forehead and he paused for a brief moment when he saw that she was right. He resumed working on him as he said, "Well, maybe he is an impostor, but he'll be a dead impostor if I don't get him stabilized right now. Send a patronus up to Poppy, and then to Minerva."

Ben finished closing the large, jagged tear along the boy's side before he noticed that Coddington hadn't moved. He looked up at the young auror and saw her staring blankly down at Harry wearing an expression that suggested she was trying very hard not to be sick.

"What's wrong with you? I said send a Patronus up to the castle!"

Ben saw her eyes darting between the blood spurting weakly from the boy's ripped open arm and the vicious-looking spear that had pierced cleanly through his thigh. He sighed when Christiana suddenly spun around and fell to her knees, violently throwing up onto the grass. Ben let out an annoyed grunt and flicked his wand behind him, sending his own ram patronus speeding up to the castle.

He gruffly mumbled something about 'bloody green recruits' as he resumed casting the necessary healing spells. He opened the front of his robes, but found that he had already used his vial of blood replenishing potion on the Granger girl the night before and hadn't had the chance to replenish his supply.

Ben looked at his green partner, who apparently was green in more than one way, and asked, "Do you have your potion belt on you?"

She fumbled beneath her robes for a moment, slid the belt from around her waist, and without turning around handed it back to him as another wave of nausea hit her.

Ben pulled the vial of orange liquid from the belt, popped the cap with his thumb, and poured the potion into Harry's mouth as he massaged the boy's throat to help the swallow reflex. He tucked the empty vial into his pocket as he closely examined Harry's ripped-open arm. He knew that there was nothing he could immediately do about the gaping wound, so he hastily conjured a thick gauze bandage and carefully wrapped the arm. He had just severed the barbed head from the shaft of the spear in Harry's leg when he sighed in relief as he heard the harried voice of Madam Pomfrey coming from the direction of the castle.

"What's all this about?" Madam Pomfrey sternly said as she approached the aurors, "Who's hurt this time…" Madam Pomfrey looked down at the bloodied and unconscious young man and said in a very tired voice, "Potter? Oh, Merlin, not again! Quickly, get him to the room just outside of the infirmary… we don't need more problems by him being seen!"

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Hermione's body was sitting motionlessly under Harry's invisibility cloak when a set of tentacles silently emerged from the lake. One tentacle set down Harry's Firebolt onto the grass next to her, the second placed a golden goblet right next to the broom, while a third tentacle gently added a wand to the other objects. The tentacles slipped back beneath the surface of the lake, and then a few moments later, Hermione's eyes flew wide open.

Hermione took a deep, shuddering breath, and then fell face first onto the grass. Her entire body trembled and twitched uncontrollably as she heaved and coughed, trying desperately to pull air into her protesting lungs.

It took her almost ten minutes to get to the point where she could draw a breath without feeling as though her lungs were about to be expelled through her mouth. She attempted to sit upright, but only managed to roll awkwardly onto her back. She tried to get her arms and legs to move where she wanted them to, but they didn't seem to respond properly, resulting in jerky, spasmodic movements. They felt oddly numb and curiously out of place. Hermione let her head loll to the side, and she could just see the pile of items she had placed there minutes before.

Hermione had guessed, as well as Harry, that his touching of the cup horcrux wouldn't affect him the same way that the locket horcrux had. They had spoken beforehand about the protections that Voldemort might have placed around the cup, and she had to agree with Harry… just grab it and watch what happens. Revealing spells were notoriously ineffective underwater, as was with most charms. The complex and precise wand movements involved in most charmwork couldn't easily be accomplished given the subtle shifts and wavers that occur while immersed in water. That's what made the second task in the tournament all those years ago so difficult, and Hermione inwardly thought it was quite brilliant of Voldemort to use that inherent disadvantage by hiding the horcrux so deeply underwater. It severely limited the range of spells of anyone trying to retrieve it.

When she saw the red bolts of magic streaming out from the fountain, she knew exactly what was happening… and she also knew that there was nothing she could do while in her soul form. Her first instinct was to return to her body, but then what? She would stand less of a chance than Harry did against the spear-wielding Merfolk.

She knew that it was 'possible' for her soul to possess another's body, the Soul Magic book said as much. That was one Necromantic ability that she never thought she'd use, but when she saw the Merfolk attacking Harry, and the trouble that he was having casting and maneuvering underwater, even while in his state, she knew she had to try something desperate… and possessing the Giant Squid was the first thing that came to her mind.

Possession in any circumstance was a dangerous endeavor, and even the book stated that the action should never be taken lightly. There was always the chance that the invading soul could be overpowered by the subject, trapping the possessor in the other person's body. Of course, the book only mentioned the possession of other humans and mentioned nothing about possessing any other type of creature.

It was certainly a strange experience for her, suddenly having more appendages than she knew what to do with and seeing in two different directions at once. It took her a few minutes just to figure out how the squid breathed, and another few minutes of experimenting on how to manipulate the tentacles in order to move. She almost envied Kotone on how the little girl could control her tail and hair, and even her wings when she had them, and how it was just second nature to her. By the time she managed to get back to Harry, he was already unconscious, drifting lazily downwards as the Merpeople closed in around him. She managed to wrap a tentacle around Harry as gently as she could, and at the same time grabbed Kotone's wand that had fallen from his hand and the cup that rested on the bottom of the lakebed. The Merfolk had no chance to keep up with her as she used her remaining tentacles to propel her out from the Mervillage towards the shore.

Slowly, Hermione could tell that she was gaining more control over her own body. It was almost as if her short stay in the squid caused her soul to forget how to control her natural body. Several more minutes passed before she could manage to sit up, and a few more after that before she felt that she could safely stand without falling over. She still felt somewhat out of balance as she managed to collect the broom, wand and cup, shrink them, and store them in the bag.

After carefully concealing herself beneath the cloak once more, Hermione made her way to where she had placed Harry. She had hoped the two aurors that they had seen guarding the area earlier were still there. She remembered that Benjamin Bones had some training as a healer, and knew that he was trustworthy enough to take care of Harry. She just hoped that she got Harry to him in time.

As she neared the tomb, she saw the procession of people heading back to the castle with Harry's body being carefully levitated along as Madam Pomfrey kept at his side casting a series of spells. Hermione followed silently behind at a discreet distance, but realized when the procession reached the castle door that she wouldn't be able to catch up in time to make it inside.

As luck would have it, Ben was the one who opened the door and held it as the group of people moved through. Hermione hurried as quickly as she dared, but saw the last person enter through the doorway while she was still about twenty feet away. Ben was just standing there, looking absently out over the grounds while he held the door open. As quietly as she could, she crept up to the opening and carefully squeezed through.

Hermione let out a silent sigh of relief, but couldn't stop the gasp of surprise when she heard Ben whisper, "You should be more careful, Miss Granger, I could see your matted footprints in the grass. They're taking your friend up to the room outside of the infirmary."

"Thanks," whispered Hermione in reply, "and he's not my friend, he's my boyfriend."

"As I said," chuckled Ben quietly as he closed the castle door, "It's about bleedin' time… now stay behind me."

Hermione had only gone a few steps when she heard Ben quietly ask, "What happened to Harry's scar?"

Hermione didn't quite know how to answer, "I… he… well, in an impossible to explain way, we managed to get rid of it."

"So, it is the real Harry, then?" asked Ben before he carefully said, "Then you wouldn't mind telling me where you kids have been staying these past few days?"

Hermione suddenly noticed that Ben still had his wand in his hand and that it was pointed discreetly at her… and she instantly knew exactly why he was asking, as he already knew the answer.

"On a small island in the Caribbean," answered Hermione quickly, "we think near Bermuda."

Ben nodded and immediately pocketed his wand. They both remained silent until they got to the double doors to the infirmary where Coddington and McGonagall were having a heated discussion about whether or not it was the 'real' Harry Potter.

"But what if it is a Death Eater?" asked Christiana urgently, "We've got a castle full of muggleborns and their muggle families who can't defend themselves! We could have a real mess on our hands if he…"

As Ben reached the door to the room where Harry was, he opened it wide enough for Hermione to enter, turned back to the two women and said pointedly, "I'll be in here for a while. If it is a polyjuiced impostor, it'll be wearing off soon. I'll let you know as soon as I'm sure. If it is a Death Eater, I'll handle him… in his condition, I don't think he'll be too much of a bother to anyone."

Hermione silently sat herself on the floor in the corner of the room and watched as Madam Pomfrey hovered over Harry, expertly tending to the gaping wound on his left arm.

Ben walked up to the bed and asked, "So what do you think, Poppy?"

Madam Pomfrey harrumphed and said tiredly, "I think that Mister Potter here should find another way to pay for his room and board rather than engaging in activities that lands him…"

"Poppy!" said Ben in a gasp, wearing an expression of genuine shock, "What in Merlin's name does money have to do with him being injured?

Madam Pomfrey paused and hung her head for a moment. She took a deep breath before resuming her work on Harry, saying, "I'm sorry, that did sound a bit heartless… I know he's destitute now, the poor thing… I still can't believe that his family would steal James and Lily's bequeathment… you know I really didn't mean anything by it, it's just that he's here so often… and now…"

Ben patted her shoulder kindly and said, "I know… Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No, you've done enough already, and I'm nearly finished here. His leg should heal up nicely… the other injuries are a little touchy, though. The gash on his side was pretty deep, and damaged a few of his internal organs, and he may not be able to use his left arm for a while… if at all. He'll sleep through until the morning, at least. I'll be able to tell you more then, once we see how he reacts to the potions."

Hermione could tell that Madam Pomfrey was trying to sound positive, but her eyes told a different story. Harry was in worse shape than she was letting on, and the fact that Ben allowed her into the room told her that he was worried, too.

Madam Pomfrey picked up her tray of potions and supplies and walked to the door with Ben right behind her. Before Ben walked out into the hallway, he gave a small, encouraging smile to the room and then quietly closed the door behind him, leaving Hermione alone with Harry in the dimly lit room.

Hermione settled back against the corner and silently watched Harry on the bed. She felt like crying, but her eyes remained curiously dry. She couldn't remember a time where he had been so grievously injured, not even when he returned from the graveyard after Voldemort's return.

Hermione closed her eyes and tiredly rubbed the itchiness away with the heel of her palms. It probably wasn't the best idea for her to fall asleep where she was, but she wanted to hear Madam Pomfrey's assessment when she returned in the morning. With her eyes still closed, she absently reached down into the bag beside her, running her fingers along the embossed badger of the cup.

Hermione was startled when she noticed a flash of light through her closed eyelids. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was no longer alone in the room with Harry. Walking towards Harry's bed was the small form of Kotone, although Hermione's eyes were firmly fixed on the other being standing silently in the center of the room.

The man was very slender and very tall, possibly as much as seven feet. His long, white hair fell into a perfectly straight plait down the center of his back… right between the two white, feathery wings that protruded from behind his shoulders. Just peeking out from under his white fur cloak she saw an intricately embellished hilt of some sort of sword that was strapped to his back.

Hermione could only see a small portion of the man's profile from where she was sitting, but she could tell from what she could see that the features of the man's face held a fair, exotic kind of beauty that would be impossible for her to describe to anyone else. His face seemed to radiate beauty, just as Kotone's face seemed the polar opposite. Almost none of their features matched except for their ears the shape of their eyes. Kotone's were a striking shade of violet, while Kyuushuu's were a violent shade of golden yellow, but they both looked sad and tired. She had just caught a glimpse of his piercing, amber eyes when he shifted his head slightly to the side, and just for a moment, she thought he looked directly at her.

The man suddenly spoke, saying something to Kotone in a language that certainly wasn't Japanese. For a moment, Hermione thought that she was mistaken about the man's gender as his voice had a decidedly feminine quality about it, but his mannerisms and the way he seemed to carry himself left no other doubt in her mind that he was a male.

'Kyuushuu… Kotone's Oni father,' Hermione thought to herself as she sat with her eyes transfixed on the exceptionally impressive Oni warrior.

Upon hearing her Oni father's words, Kotone quickly glanced around with an unmistakable look of panic in her eyes. The young girl opened her mouth to speak, but Kyuushuu said something to her in his strange language, causing Kotone to visibly relax as she turned back to face Harry.

Hermione watched as Kotone leaned over Harry and placed her forehead against his, just as she had done before in the alleyway in London and at Grimmauld Place with both Ron and Harry. A moment later, Kotone's tail began twitching under the dirty, gray nightdress that Hermione just noticed had reverted back from the white and gold kimono that she had transfigured days earlier. The young girl suddenly let out a coarse, strangled cry and began convulsing violently while Kyuushuu just stood impassively nearby.

Hermione couldn't stifle her quiet gasp as she saw the growing bloodstains appear on Kotone's nightdress on her left sleeve and around the right side of her waist. She also noticed the stream of blood running down her left leg where it emerged from under her clothing. The little half-witch let out a final, pained cry and summarily collapsed onto the floor.

Kyuushuu stooped down and scooped Kotone's unmoving form into his arms. Then, much to Hermione's surprise, he turned and looked directly into her astonished brown eyes. For several heartbeats, their gazes locked. As she looked into his surprisingly fierce, amber eyes, she expected to feel something similar to the 'connection' that Kotone used to communicate with others, but Hermione felt nothing out of the ordinary until she clearly heard Kyuushuu's voice in her mind.

'Your mate is safe now. The -dobunezumi- the secret betrayer, sends a messenger to your mate. Once it has arrived, you must take him away from this place quickly and finish what you have started.'

"Why are you taking Kotone away from us?" whispered Hermione aloud, "What are you doing with her?"

Kyuushuu's eyes seemed to soften slightly, but also seemed to be looking deeper into her soul. Hermione couldn't suppress a sharp intake of breath as a wide, radiant smile appeared on his lips. She had never before seen anyone radiate that kind of comfort and warmth with a simple smile. It made her feel safe… and strangely loved, not in a romantic or familial sense, just a pure kind of love that made her breath still and her heart swell within her chest.

'I see… you love her, also…' said Kyuushuu in a soft, knowing voice, 'it is clear that the Lion has made a very wise choice. You also have my blessing.'

Suddenly, his smile disappeared and the ferocity returned to his eyes as he spoke in her mind again, 'No one must know of what has occurred here. No one must know of my own or my child's involvement here. I see the question in your soul… why can't I relieve your mate's burden? Why can't I help if my purpose is to 'hunt' the dark ones? Suffice it to say that it's against the rules, so to speak,' then a shadow of his smile returned, giving Hermione a slight bit of comfort, 'I'm sure you can relate to that.'

When Kyuushuu's eyes drifted down to the bag sitting on the floor by Hermione's side, she wondered if it was only her soul that he could see beneath the cloak, or if he could actually see through it. Either way, he could probably see the bit of Voldemort's soul attached to the cup in the bag.

'I would suggest that you perform your duty while your lion rests, and I will tend to my own. Farewell, I-Iguru.'

With that, both Kyuushuu and the unconscious Kotone disappeared in a silent flash of blue light.

Hermione carefully rose from the floor and cautiously approached Harry's bed with the bag clutched in her arms. She slowly raised the white sheet, but couldn't tell if there was any change to Harry due to the thick, bloodstained bandages that covered his wounds. Rather than disturb them or him, she replaced the sheet, stepped to the closed door and pressed her ear against it. Once she was sure that nobody was loitering in the hallway beyond, she cracked open the door and quickly slipped out of the room.

Several minutes later, Hermione opened the door to the Room of Requirement and walked into a bare twenty-by-twenty room. After securing the door, she shrugged off the cloak and set it down along with the bag against a wall. She withdrew Hufflepuff's cup, strode to the center of the room and sat down on the stone floor. She placed the cup on the floor before her, drew her wand, and placed the tip against her forehead. A few minutes later, a final peal of the bell resounded against the walls of the room as another shard of Voldemort's soul was sent to the underworld, never to see the plane of mortals again.

Hermione quietly placed the cup back into the bag and draped Harry's cloak over herself. She briefly entertained the thought of staying in the Room of Requirement until the morning, but she wanted to make sure she was with Harry when he awakened. She left the Room of Requirement and returned to the chamber just outside of the hospital wing, back to sit in the dark corner.

She didn't get any sleep… her eyes were much too busy shifting between Harry's motionless form and the spatters of Kotone's blood that had fallen to the floor as Kyuushuu held her.

She hoped Kotone was alright.

-----~-----

Pigwidgeon didn't know how long he was lying on the fur rug. It might have been minutes, it might have been days… he didn't know, nor did he care. He didn't stir until he heard the flapping of large wings from somewhere in the room.

A flutter of white suddenly landed in his field of vision just a few feet in front of him, which didn't differ very much from the abundant whiteness of the rest of his surroundings, except for an odd streak of green in the center of his vision. As his eyes focused, he saw a pair of amber eyes looking at him curiously before he came to the realization that it was Hedwig standing in front of him with a large, green lizard firmly clutched in her beak.

Hedwig didn't seem very pleased to see him, but after a few moments her glaring eyes seemed to soften in pity. With a resigned 'hoot,' Hedwig dropped her midnight snack on the rug right in front of Pig, obviously offering her meal to him. Hedwig then clipped the string holding the message onto Pigs leg with her sharp beak and relieved him of the little roll of parchment. Hedwig then spread her magnificent wings and rose into the air, dropping the parchment onto the glass coffee table before she shot back out through the door, probably to find a meal to replace the one that she had just surrendered to Pig.

As soon as Hedwig cleared the doorway, Crookshanks nosed the kitchen door open and looked quite surprised to find the annoying little owl sitting in front of the fireplace and looking around dumbly. He studied the little bird for a moment, and then let out a disgruntled 'meow.' He disappeared back into the kitchen and returned a minute later pushing along the small paper cup of water that Harry had kindly left on the floor for him. Crookshanks nudged the cup along the floor with his pug nose until it bumped into the edge of the bearskin rug about a foot from the exhausted little owl.

Pigwidgeon let out a soft, grateful 'hoot' as he quickly devoured the lizard. He then hopped over to the cup of clean water and, within moments, drained the cup dry. He let out an oddly high-pitched burp, then tiredly fluttered up onto the soft cushion in one of the suspended egg-shaped chairs and promptly fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

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A/N: Fun Fact: I had originally had Kotone watching the entire scene impassively, but then thought… could Kotone really sit idly by and watch Harry almost get killed without acting irrationally?