Hermione Granger and the Centaur Boy

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"It's just unheard of, Miss Granger," McGonagall said. "Centaurs are not admitted to Hogwarts."

Hermione had requested to speak with the headmistress in private. She had been quite shocked when Hermione suggested that Cyrus be admitted to Hogwarts.

"Hagrid is half giant, and Fleur—"

"But they were both part human also. No one doubts this young centaur is as intelligent as you or I, and he may have magical talent never seen before in a centaur, but he's still—"

"Not human," Hermione finished, disappointment written all over her face.

"I advise you to get your wand back," McGonagall said. "And the schoolbooks, too."

"Thanks for listening."

Hermione went up in to the Owlery after her conversation with the headmistress. She heard someone else enter soon after. She had no need to hide, there was nothing unusual about sending out a letter. However, the other person turned out to be Ron, not a student.

"Hey, Hermione, I was looking for you."

"I'm just sending Cyrus a letter. He wants to meet me tonight."

"Where were you earlier?"

"I was talking to McGonagall, trying to convince her that Cyrus belonged at Hogwarts."

"Are you insane?"

Hermione shot him a fierce look.

"How much did you tell her?" Ron asked.

"Everything," Hermione replied. "She needed to understand the situation." She sighed. "I'm so SICK of people reminding me he's not human."

"Well, he's not."

Hermione rolled her eyes.

~~~~~"~~~~~

Hermione and Ron headed into the Forbidden Forest together later that night. She was supposed to meet Cyrus in the same place she had spoken to him before. They were both surprised when they stepped into the forest and found that Cyrus was with a very angry adult centaur. Cyrus looked like he wanted to crawl into a corner and hide from the entire scene.

"It's Raine," Hermione said softly to Ron. "It's Cyrus' father."

"Tell them," the adult centaur said, pushing Cyrus forward.

"My father says I can't see you anymore. Or write to you."

"You had no business ever contacting him again," Raine said.

"I'm sorry sir, but I love Cyrus as my own son, and I just missed him.”

"He is not your son!" Raine replied sharply. "He is not your kind! And you should never have given him this!"

Raine shoved the wand at her. She took it from him.

"You are right, of course," Hermione said. "I should not have given him a wand, but I didn't know what else to give him that was close to me."

"Nothing! You should have given him nothing and let him go!"

Hermione glanced over at Cyrus who seemed to be fighting tears as he held onto a brave face.

"Father, she doesn't understand," Cyrus told him. "She doesn't understand why you feel you need to protect me."

"It's not for her to understand! Her eyes tell her all she needs to know."

"Your eyes do not even tell you all you need to know," Cyrus replied. "She's my mother."

"She is not! Your mother is dead, and you shall not replace her with this inferior creature."

"This what?" Ron said stepping forward. "How dare you—"

Hermione grabbed his arm and pulled him back. "Don't," she whispered.

"He's insulting you," Ron said. "Where was he all those years you were taking care of Cyrus."

"Cyrus was stolen from me," Raine said. "And I owe nothing to his kidnapper."

Ron was ready to rush at the centaur now, but Hermione held him back again. The last thing Hermione needed was to have to levitate Ron back to the hospital wing. She could see herself trying to explain how he got into a nasty row with a huge centaur.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't work this out, Raine," Hermione said, keeping a hold of Ron's arm. "We'll go now."

Hermione led Ron out of the Forbidden Forest and tried not to look back at Cyrus in the process. She only stopped when she and Ron were back on the Hogwarts grounds. It was then that Ron noticed she was crying.

"He's right," Hermione said. "I kidnapped him."

"What? You did not!"

"I just about snatched him from Hagrid's hut," Hermione said. "He would have grown up with his father if I hadn't."

"Hermione, you don't know that. I don't know that. What we do know is that you did an amazing job raising Cyrus. And you were right about him all along ... he's special." Ron reached over and wiped a tear off Hermione's face. She looked up at him and their eyes locked. "He had no right talking to you like that after all you did for his son. He's more yours than he is anyone else's. I don't care whose blood is running through his veins."

Hermione couldn't speak for a moment. As annoying as Ron could be, when he said something that sweet, it got to her. And in a moment suddenly she was a little girl falling in love for the first time all over again.

"You were going to attack a centaur to defend my honor. Isn't that more than a bit mad?”

"Yes, I thought that's what you liked about me. It's what I love about you."

"I love you too, Ron," Hermione replied. She gave him a gentle kiss, and they held each other.

"Mum," a voice said, emerging from the forest.

"Cyrus?" Hermione replied, turning away from Ron.

"I don't have much time, and I have a lot to tell you. Can we go to Hagrid's, alone?"

"Sure," Hermione said. "I'll see you later, Ron. We'll talk."

Hermione and the young centaur walked away together.

"What about your father?" Hermione asked.

"Don't worry. I've taken care of it."

They knocked on Hagrid's door. He saw them, looked around, and let them in.

"Cyrus, yer dad wouldn' wan' you 'ere," Hagrid said.

"I don't want to cause any more trouble," Hermione said. "Especially after being accused of being your kidnapper."

"That was me own fault," Hagrid began.

"No, it wasn't. My father did abandon me. Hagrid you know part of the story, but not all." Cyrus looked at Hermione. "You've always said I was different, and you're right. That's the reason my father didn't know what to do with me at first." Cyrus sighed. "Mother, did you know there was a time centaurs were no better than talking monsters?"

"No," Hermione replied.

"Centaurs were once very wild and horrid creatures. They had no morals or civility at all. They kidnapped women, raided towns, and often had to be handled and put down like rabid dogs. Then one was made special."

"Chiron ..."

"Yes, your myths of him are somewhat skewed, but he existed. He was special, but he was made that way by the grace of a unicorn. He was only the first, not the last. The whole race was saved by this magnificent creature ... creature isn't even the right word for it. See, a unicorn is more that just a pretty horse with a horn. I don't know a word that truly captures what the unicorn is. But it is for these reasons the unicorn is sacred to the centaurs. They are to be respected and loved, but never loved selfishly and never possessed. My father wanted to posses one. He came to love one in all the wrong ways, but she refused any attempt he made at making her his. However, in the end she pitied him, and she gave him a gift, a son."

"You?" Hermione said. But she could tell this was no shock at all to Hagrid; he'd known all along what Cyrus' mother had been. All of a sudden, the pieces fell into place: the mark on his forehead, the changing color of his coat. It should have been clear signs of the unicorn blood in him.

"A unicorn always knows another unicorn," Cyrus said. "I saw one a week after you left me. He looked at me so long, trying to figure out how it could be, and we both knew we were the same even though we were different."

"But why does your father hide it, if unicorns are sacred?"

"Because I represent a great sin on his part. I represent a love that never should have been. And my birth killed my mother, killed a sacred unicorn. He wants no one to know where I came from because then that death would be his burden. And he wants no one else to have me because I am all that's left of her."

"Then why did he abandon you?"

"Perhaps he was hoping that I would disappear. He said he feared me the first time he saw me. He said he feared the unicorns would see what he had done, how he had mixed his own impure blood with theirs. He felt they would decide it would be better if centaurs were made ignorant and savage once again. That night all he saw was a baby that killed a unicorn."

"You know you didn't kill your mother, right? No matter what your father believes."

Cyrus shrugged. "I know why my father cannot really love me and doesn't want me to be loved."

"But you are loved Cyrus. I love you."

"I know," Cyrus replied. "I have to go now."

Cyrus left Hagrid's hut. Hermione sat still for a moment, taking it all in.

"You knew he was a unicorn," Hermione said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Haf-unicorn. What good would it have done?" Hagrid asked.

"We don't know what he is, what he could become. It’s not fair to assume he belongs with the centaurs."

"I only knew 'e wasn't a centaur cause 'e was bleedin' when I found 'im. I'm haf and haf meself, and it's 'ard bein' between two worlds. Cyrus looks mostly like a centaur, so I figured it was the best fit. I thought 'is dad would understand."

"Did you tell Raine where to find him?" Hermione asked.

He nodded.

"Why did you let me keep him so many years?"

"I didn't know 'ow powerful 'e was, until I found the wolf who attacked 'im. 'e's a sad creature. It's like he's nearly dead, but he's not. Won't eat, can't die. Right pitiful."

"Good. That's what he gets for attacking Cyrus."

"That's not fair 'ermione. Can't 'spect a wolf to act like anything but a wolf. When I saw that, I thought it was best his dad 'andle him. So I went lookin', and then I told 'im how I found 'is son."

"His father left him in the middle of the woods where he was attacked by a wolf and you thought he would be a better parent than me?"

"I didn't know about all that stuff with centaurs and unicorns. I didn't know how 'is dad felt about 'im. Thought maybe 'e lost track of 'im, thought maybe 'e missed 'im."

"You should have told me what he was."

"What would it change? Cyrus still isn't human."

"So, what's so great about being human? Maybe he'll be a great influence of good on us all," Hermione said. "I always knew he was special, and now that I know just how special he truly is, I have to figure out how to get him back."