Harry landed on the Astronomy Tower, his Firebolt still vibrating slightly from the flight. He swung the broom over his shoulder and began leaned against the windowsill, staring down at the sprawling Hogwarts landscape.
So… he'd really gone ahead and done it.
Natalia was Krum's girlfriend. That fact alone should have been enough to make him walk away. Getting involved with someone's girlfriend was asking for trouble, the kind that could blow up spectacularly if anyone found out.
But then again, Natalia had made it abundantly clear that she didn't particularly care about those boundaries. The way she'd looked at him, touched him, spoken to him… there was no mistaking her intentions. She wanted this. Wanted him. And if Harry was being honest with himself, he was attracted to her too. Very attracted.
The complications could be dealt with later. Right now, all Harry knew was that he wanted to see where this would lead.
He made his way to the Room of Requirement for some relaxing hot bath, spending the rest of the afternoon there in the company of… himself, which was quite a rarity nowadays. Dinner was a slow affair as well. He sat at the Gryffindor table with his friends, slowly eating while his mind raced ahead to what was to follow. Katie was her usual self, and while he indulged her, his mind was truly elsewhere.
Finally, dinner ended. Harry made his excuses to Katie and the rest of his friends about needing to work on something related to the tournament, swung himself out of his seat, and made his way out of the Great Hall.
Curiously, his eyes caught Hermione's for a moment and he saw her sitting by herself. She quickly averted her gaze, though Harry didn't miss the disapproving look she gave him. He didn't bother to think much of it. Her opinions had stopped mattering to him a long time ago, and if there was something he'd done that she didn't agree with, well… that was her problem. He couldn't really be arsed about it.
The sun had already set when he made his way to the grounds, and the sky was clouded, not a star in sight. Even the moon was barely visible, leaving the lake a dark expanse broken only by the lights from the Durmstrang ship in the distance. A small ball of white light hovering overhead, Harry made his way to the spot where he'd left Natalia earlier, his heart beating faster with each step.
He found her already there, seemingly waiting for him.
Natalia stood near the tree line, wrapped in a dark cloak that made her nearly invisible against the forest behind her. She turned as he approached, and even in the dim light, Harry could see the smile that curved her lips. The ball of light illuminated that smile when he got closer.
"You came," she said, and Harry didn't miss the genuine happiness in her voice. It flattered him.
"Did you think I wouldn't?" Harry asked, closing the distance between them.
"I thought you might come to your senses." Natalia's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Decide that the risk wasn't worth it after all."
"I told you I'd be here."
"So you did." She looked him over slowly, her eyes filled with appreciation. "I like a man who keeps his promises."
Right of the bat, then.
Harry could already feel the tension between them, the same tension that had crackled during their earlier encounter and had been brewing for weeks now. He was acutely aware of how close she was standing, how the light caught in her dark hair, and how it illuminated her beautiful face. She'd truly been blessed with the best of genes.
"Ready to see the forest?" he asked.
"Oh, I'm ready for many things," Natalia replied, her voice dropping to that breathy tone that made his pulse quicken. "The forest is just the beginning."
Harry smirked and gestured toward the trees, casting a quick Finite to extinguish the light overhead. The creatures in the forest wouldn't take too kindly to such brightness. "After you, then."
"Such a gentleman," she teased, but she fell into step beside him as they entered the forest.
The Forbidden Forest at night was a different beast entirely. The darkness seemed to press in from all sides, broken only by the very faint moonlight that was somehow filtering through the bare branches overhead. Strange sounds echoed through the trees, some rustling, some clicking, and the occasional hoot of an owl.
Natalia moved closer to him, though whether from fear or to take advantage of the situation, Harry couldn't say. Probably both.
"Stay close," he said quietly as he cast a silent Lumos.
The wandlight cast a soft glow around them, pushing back the darkness enough to see a few feet ahead. Natalia had drawn her own wand, holding it ready but not lit.
"You've really done this before," she remarked.
"More times than I'd like to count." Harry navigated around a fallen log, his eyes scanning the shadows. "The trick is knowing what to avoid and what's just trying to scare you."
"And what's trying to scare us right now?"
"Nothing yet. We're still too close to the edge."
They walked in silence for a few minutes, the forest floor crunching beneath their feet. Harry was hyperaware of Natalia beside him, the occasional brush of her arm against his, and the sound of her breathing in the silence.
"This path," Harry said, pointing with his wand, "leads deeper into the forest. The creatures get more interesting the farther in you go, but also more dangerous."
"I trust you to keep me safe," Natalia said, and the way she said it made it clear she meant more than just physical safety.
Harry glanced at her, catching the heat in her eyes even in the dim light. "Dangerous words."
"I thought you liked danger."
"I'm starting to think you're the most dangerous thing in this forest."
Natalia let out a low, throaty laugh that sent heat curling through Harry's chest. "You have no idea."
They continued deeper, and Harry began pointing out various features of the forest. A patch of luminescent mushrooms growing at the base of an ancient oak, their pale blue light creating an eerie glow.
"Devil's Snare grows in some of the darker areas," Harry explained as they passed a particularly shadowy section. "You can usually tell by the way the vines move, like they're reaching for you. Best to give those spots a wide berth."
"You sound like a professor," Natalia chuckled.
"Hagrid taught me most of this. He knows this forest better than anyone."
A rustling to their left made them both tense, but it was just a small creature scurrying through the undergrowth. Something with too many legs, but nothing threatening.
"Tell me something," Natalia said eventually, her hand finding his arm in the darkness. "Why did you agree to this? And don't say it's just to show me the forest."
Harry glanced at her, knowing that she just wanted to hear it from him. "You already know why."
"I want to hear you say it," she said huskily.
"Because you're stunning," Harry said bluntly. "Because you walked up to me and made it very clear what you wanted, and I'm not going to pretend I'm not interested."
Natalia's breath caught, and her eyes widened slightly.
"Just like that?" she asked. It seemed she hadn't expected him to outright say it.
"Just like that. Life's too short to play games when someone's being that direct."
A slow smile spread across her face. "You really are dangerous, Harry Potter."
"You keep saying that."
"Because it keeps being true." She squeezed his hand, her thumb stroking across his knuckles. "I think I like dangerous."
They walked hand in hand through the forest, and the simple contact sent sparks of electricity up Harry's arm. Every time Natalia's shoulder brushed his, every time she leaned in close to whisper a question about something she'd spotted in the shadows, the tension between them ratcheted up another notch.
"There," Harry said suddenly, stopping and pointing ahead with his wand.
Natalia followed his gaze and gasped. In a small clearing ahead, illuminated by moonlight, stood three figures. They were roughly human shaped but covered entirely in what looked like bark and leaves, with long spindly fingers and glowing eyes.
"Bowtruckles," Harry whispered, pulling her down into a crouch. "They're tree guardians. Completely harmless unless you try to damage their tree."
The creatures seemed to be having some sort of discussion, their thin voices carrying on the wind like rustling leaves. One of them was gesturing wildly with its twig-like arms while the others appeared to be listening intently.
"What are they doing?" Natalia breathed, so close now that Harry could feel her breath on his neck.
"Having a meeting, looks like. Bowtruckles are surprisingly social creatures. They have whole communities in the trees they protect."
As they watched, one of the Bowtruckles climbed up the trunk of the tree they were guarding, its movements quick and jerky. It disappeared into the branches and emerged a moment later carrying what looked like a large beetle. The other two Bowtruckles crowded around excitedly.
"They're sharing food," Harry explained quietly. "See how they're passing it between them? That's actually pretty rare to witness. Usually they're more territorial."
Natalia was utterly absorbed in the scene, her eyes wide with wonder. Harry found himself watching her instead of the Bowtruckles, captivated by the way her face lit up with genuine curiosity.
"This is incredible," she whispered. "I've read about Bowtruckles in textbooks, but seeing them like this—"
"It's different," Harry finished. "I know."
They stayed there for several more minutes, watching the Bowtruckles go about their business. Eventually, the creatures seemed to notice them and scurried up into the tree, their glowing eyes peering down suspiciously from the branches.
"Come on," Harry said, helping Natalia to her feet. "There's more to see."
As they walked, Harry pointed out various plants and fungi. A cluster of Gillyweed growing near a small stream that trickled through the forest. A patch of Mimbulus mimbletonia that Harry warned her away from, explaining how the plant would spray stinksap if disturbed.
"How do you know all this?" Natalia asked, genuinely curious.
"Hagrid, mostly. And Herbology class, though Professor Sprout focuses more on cultivation than wild specimens. But I've spent enough time in here to learn what's what. My friend Neville's been a quite a help too."
"Why?" Natalia stopped walking, turning to face him. "Why come in here so often? It can't just be for fun."
Harry was quiet for a moment, debating how much to tell her. "Sometimes I need to get away. From the castle, from the expectations, from everyone wanting a piece of me. The forest is dangerous, but it's honest about it. No pretense, no politics. Just survival."
Natalia studied his face in the wandlight, and something in her expression softened. "I understand that more than you might think."
"Being a Quidditch star's girlfriend comes with its own pressures?"
"Being anyone's girlfriend comes with pressures when you're expected to smile and wave and be decorative," Natalia said, and there was an edge to her voice. "Viktor is a good man, but he doesn't understand that I need more than just being his accessory."
"What do you need?"
She stepped closer, her free hand coming up to rest on his chest. "Someone who sees me. Really sees me, not just the pretty face or the status or what I can do for them. Someone who challenges me instead of trying to manage me. Someone who… thrills me. Shows me how… flavorful life can be."
Harry's hand covered hers, holding it against his chest. "Is that what you think I do?"
"I know you do," Natalia said softly. "That's why I'm here."
The moment stretched between them, charged and heavy. Harry could feel his heart pounding under her palm, and he could see the way her pupils had dilated in the wandlight. It would be so easy to close the distance, to kiss her right here and now.
"Come on," he said instead. "There's more to see, and then…"
He let it hand as he led her through the trees, navigating by memory and instinct. The forest was a maze to most people, but Harry had walked these paths enough times to know his way around the immediate area.
They emerged into another clearing, this one larger and more open. In the center stood what looked like a fairy ring. Mushrooms arranged in a perfect circle, their caps glowing with a soft golden light.
"Don't step inside," Harry warned as Natalia moved closer. "Fairy rings are tricky. Some are harmless, but others will transport you somewhere you really don't want to be."
"Have you tested it?" Natalia asked, crouching down to examine the mushrooms more closely.
"Not this one specifically, but I've heard enough stories. Hagrid once told me about a student who stepped into a fairy ring and ended up in the middle of a pixie colony. Took them three days to find him, and he was covered in bites."
Natalia laughed, the sound ringing clear in the quiet forest. "I'll take your word for it then."
As she stood, she stumbled slightly on the uneven ground. Harry caught her automatically, his hands steadying her waist. For a moment they stood frozen, chest to chest, close enough that Harry could count the number of lashes over her dark, hypnotic eyes.
"Careful," he murmured.
"Always," she replied, but her hands had come up to rest on his shoulders, and she made no move to step back.
The tension was back, crackling between them like electricity. Harry's hands tightened slightly on her waist, and Natalia's breath hitched.
"Harry," she started, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted by a new sound.
Hoofbeats. Multiple sets, moving through the forest with purpose.
Harry immediately stepped in front of Natalia, his wand held in a completely non-threatening way. "Stay behind me."
Four figures emerged from the shadows, and Natalia gasped. Centaurs. Two males and two females, their human torsos rising from powerful horse bodies. They carried bows, arrows already nocked, and their faces were stern as they approached.
"Harry Potter," one of the males said. His voice was deep and resonant. "You return to our forest."
"Ronan," Harry said, recognizing the centaur. He'd met Ronan during his first year, during that disastrous detention with Hagrid, and then a few times more, and he knew by now that the centaur didn't particularly like being intruded upon. "I didn't mean to intrude. I was just showing my friend some of the creatures that live here."
Ronan's eyes shifted to Natalia, studying her with an intensity that made her take an involuntary step closer to Harry. "Your friend. The one who stands in the shadow of one but walks in the light of another."
Natalia frowned, clearly not understanding the cryptic words.
"We mean no disrespect," Harry said carefully. Centaurs were notoriously touchy about humans in their forest. "We'll leave if you wish."
"The forest is troubled tonight," one of the females said. Her coat was a striking dappled gray, and her eyes were the color of storm clouds. "Mars is bright, and the stars speak of war to come. Blood and fire and death."
Harry's jaw tightened. He knew the centaurs often spoke in riddles, their wisdom drawn from reading the stars and the movements of the planets. But there was an urgency to their words tonight that he couldn't ignore.
"What have you seen?" he asked.
Ronan stepped forward, his hooves making no sound on the forest floor despite his size. "The Dark One stirs. His servants gather in the shadows, waiting for their moment. A storm is building, young Potter, and you stand at its center whether you will it or no."
"I know," Harry said quietly.
"Do you?" The dappled female tilted her head, her long hair falling over one shoulder. "Do you understand what is coming? The choices you will have to make? The prices you will have to pay?"
"No one can know the future completely."
"True," Ronan acknowledged. "The stars show paths, not certainties. But all paths we see lead to the same destination. War. And great loss."
Another centaur stepped forward, this one younger with a chestnut coat. "The planets align in configurations we have not seen in centuries. Jupiter and Saturn in conjunction. Mars ascendant. The old magic is awakening, and with it, old evils."
"You speak of warnings," Harry said. "But what does it mean? When? How?"
"The stars do not give such specific answers," the dappled female said. "But they show us this: before the year turns again, blood will be spilled. Innocent blood. And the Dark One's return will be complete."
Natalia's hand found Harry's arm, squeezing tightly. He could feel her trembling slightly, though whether from cold or fear he wasn't sure.
"And me?" Harry asked. "What role do the stars say I play in all this?"
The centaurs exchanged glances, some silent communication passing between them. Finally, Ronan spoke again.
"You are the lightning rod, Harry Potter. The storm gathers around you. You did not choose this role, but it is yours nonetheless. The question is not whether you will fight, but whether you will survive."
"Encouraging," Harry muttered.
"We do not offer encouragement," the younger male said. "We offer truth as the stars reveal it. What you do with that truth is your choice."
"You have walked among us before, Harry Potter," Ronan continued. "You helped drive back the servants of darkness when they invaded our territory two years past. You showed respect where others show only fear or contempt. For that, you have earned our respect in return."
"But respect does not shield you from fate," the dappled female added. "Nor does it guarantee victory. The road ahead is dark and treacherous. Many who stand with you now will fall before the end."
The words hung heavy in the air, oppressive and ominous. Harry felt the weight of them settling on his shoulders like a physical burden.
"Is there nothing I can do?" he asked. "No way to change what's coming?"
"The future is not fixed," Ronan said. "Every choice creates new branches, new possibilities. But some events are inevitable. The Dark One will return. War will come. These things cannot be avoided. How you face them, however, that remains to be written."
The youngest centaur, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke. His voice was higher, almost lyrical. "The stars show something else. A protection born of love. A sacrifice freely given. These will be your greatest weapons, Harry Potter. Remember that when the darkness seems overwhelming."
"I will," Harry promised, not entirely sure what the centaur meant but sensing the importance of the words.
Ronan's eyes shifted to Natalia again, his gaze penetrating. "And you, daughter of the north. You stand at a crossroads of your own. The path you choose now will shape more than just your own fate. Choose wisely, and choose with your heart, not your fears."
Natalia swallowed hard but met the centaur's gaze steadily. "I don't understand."
"You will," the dappled female said. "When the moment comes, you will know. You all will."
The four centaurs stood in silence for a moment, their eyes distant as if seeing something far beyond the forest. The light seemed to intensify around them, casting their shadows long and strange across the clearing.
Finally, Ronan spoke one last time. "We have said what the stars bade us say. The rest is up to you. Protect what you value, young Potter. The storm is coming, and it will take much from all of us before it passes."
With that cryptic warning, the centaurs turned as one and disappeared back into the forest. Within moments, it was as if they'd never been there at all, leaving only hoofprints in the soft earth to prove they hadn't been a shared hallucination.
Natalia let out a breath she'd been holding. "What was that about?"
Harry was quiet for a moment, staring at the spot where the centaurs had vanished. His mind was racing, trying to parse their warnings and prophecies. Blood would be spilled before the year turned. Voldemort's return would be complete. War was coming.
He'd known it, of course. Had felt it building since the tournament began. But hearing it confirmed by the centaurs, who read their truths in the stars themselves, made it somehow more real. More immediate.
"Harry." Natalia's hand on his arm made him turn to face her. "What did they mean about war? About this Dark One?"
"It's complicated," Harry said, trying to figure out how much to explain.
"I'm not stupid. I know who you are, what you've been through. The Dark Lord who tried to kill you as a baby." Natalia stepped closer, her voice dropping. "Is he coming back? Is that what they meant? But didn't he die back then?"
Harry sighed. "Yes and no. It's all really complicated, but yes, I think something bad's coming. I don't know exactly how yet, but I can feel it. Something's building toward something terrible."
Natalia's eyes bored into his. "Does anyone else?"
"Dumbledore knows. A few others. But it's not common knowledge, and I'd prefer it stayed that way."
"I won't say anything." She moved closer still, until they were nearly chest to chest. Her hands came up to rest on his jacket. "But Harry, if there's a war coming, if you're in danger—"
"I'm always in danger," Harry cut her off gently. "That's just part of being me. But right now, in this moment, I don't want to think about omens or dark lords or any of it."
He reached up, brushing a strand of hair from her face. His fingers lingered on her cheek, and Natalia leaned into the touch, her eyes fluttering closed for just a second.
"What do you want to think about?" she whispered.
"This," Harry said, his voice rough. "Right here. You and me. Nothing else."
Natalia's eyes opened, and the heat in them nearly staggered him. The vulnerability from moments before had transformed into something fiercer, hungrier. "Then stop talking and do something about it."
Harry moved without thinking, crowding her back against the nearest tree. The bark was rough against her back, but Natalia didn't seem to care. She was looking up at him with those dark eyes full of desire, her lips parted, and her breathing already uneven.
His hands came up to frame her face, thumbs stroking along her cheekbones. "This is a terrible idea," Harry murmured, but even as he said it, he was leaning in.
"The best ones usually are," Natalia breathed, her hands gripping his jacket and pulling him closer.
Harry leaned in slowly, giving her every chance to pull away, to change her mind. But she didn't. Instead, she rose up on her toes, closing the distance between them herself.
Their lips were a breath apart when Harry heard it.
A chittering sound, high pitched and wrong, echoing through the trees. Multiple sources, coming from different directions.
"Fuck," Harry hissed, pulling back and spinning around, his wand already raised. His other arm automatically moved to push Natalia behind him.
"What?" Natalia pushed off the tree, her own wand coming up, confusion and frustration warring in her expression. "What's wrong?"
"We need to move. Now."
But it was too late. Shapes were emerging from the shadows, massive and horrifying. Acromantulas. Eight legs each, bodies the size of small cars, and pincers clicking menacingly. Their eyes gleamed with hunger in the darkness, clustered and multifaceted like something out of a nightmare.
Harry counted quickly. Six of them. No, seven. And more rustling in the trees suggested there were others lurking just out of sight.
"Harry," Natalia's voice was tight. "Are those…?"
"The acromantulas I mentioned earlier." Harry kept his wand raised, his eyes tracking the creatures as they formed a loose circle around them. Their movements were coordinated and intelligent. They were herding their prey. "Stay behind me."
"They're enormous. Much bigger than I'd thought."
"Yeah, and they're intelligent too. Which makes them more dangerous than most of the things in this forest."
The largest of the spiders clicked its mandibles together, the sound like bones breaking. It was easily the size of a small elephant, its body covered in coarse black hair. Harry recognized the aggressive posture, the way they were slowly tightening the circle. These weren't just curious. They were hunting.
"I didn't think you'd come this far from your colony," Harry called out, his voice steady despite the adrenaline flooding his system. "Aragog usually keeps better control of his children. Or has the old spider finally lost his authority?"
The clicking intensified, angry now, and the spiders moved closer. One of them spoke, its voice a horrifying rasp that seemed to come from everywhere at once.
"We remember you, Harry Potter. The one who came to our lair acting as the giant's friend. The one who escaped when so many do not."
"And I'd really prefer not to have a repeat of that experience," Harry said, his mind already calculating angles and spells. "Go back to Aragog. Tell him Harry Potter means no harm. Tell him I was just showing my friend the forest."
"Aragog is old. Weak. He speaks of friendship with Hagrid, of debts owed. But we are hungry, and Hagrid is not here. We do not need his permission to feed."
The spiders surged forward, and Harry reacted on pure instinct.
A powerful cutting curse slashed through the air in a crimson arc, catching the nearest spider across multiple eyes. The creature reared back with an ear-splitting shriek, greenish ichor spraying from the wounds. Harry was already moving, pulling Natalia with him as he cast again.
Incendio. Reducto. Diffindo. Spells flew from his wand in rapid succession, each one precisely aimed, each one finding its mark. A spider burst into flames and scrambled backward, its legs flailing wildly as the flames consumed it. Another lost its entire bottom half to the Reductor curse and collapsed sideways. A third took the severing hex to the head and crumpled, and Harry knew none would be getting up anymore.
But there were too many of them, and they were fast. Terrifyingly fast. One darted in from the left, mandibles wide and dripping with venom, and Harry had to cast a powerful shield over both himself and Natalia to keep it out of the way. He followed it up with a powerful slash of his wand in a complex pattern.
The curse would be considered dark by the narrow-minded if they saw what it did. It caught the spider mid leap, and suddenly there was no spider, just pieces falling to the ground in a spray of ichor and gore. Harry grimaced. He'd been trying to avoid this kind of lethal force, but these things weren't giving him much choice.
"Harry, behind you!" Natalia's shout made him spin, his wand already moving.
The blasting curse hit another spider square in the abdomen, and it exploded in a shower of blood and internal organs. Two more were already taking its place, clicking furiously, their multiple eyes gleaming malevolently. They were beyond enraged.
Harry's mind went cold and clinical, falling into the familiar patterns of combat. He'd not learned these spells from Dumbledore, but from the books in the Restricted Section, and from his own desperate practice in the Room of Requirement. Dark magic in the conventional sense, some of it. Dangerous magic. But effective.
Acromantula after acromantula kept dropping, and he'd killed over a dozen with precisely controlled spells that would've made his former friends look at him like he was a Death Eater. However, more kept coming, and Harry finally decided he needed to kick things up another notch.
He took a deep breath as he eyed the sheer number of acromantula around them. It felt like the entire colony had come out, but Harry knew this was but a fraction of what lived in this forest. Yet, the numbers were staggering, and he needed something big. He aimed his wand forward and steeled himself for his next spell, knowing he needed to keep a firm control on it lest he destroy everything around him.
"Fiendfyre!"
A small, controlled stream of cursed fire erupted from his wand, taking the shape of a serpent. It struck the nearest group of acromantula and consumed dozens of them in seconds, the creatures' screams cutting off abruptly as the flames ate through their carapace. Harry immediately recalled the flames before they could spread to the trees. The Forbidden Forest catching fire would be catastrophic.
Natalia was fighting too, he realized. She'd positioned herself at his back, firing blasting and cutting curses at any spider that tried to flank them. She wasn't as powerful as Harry, but she was competent, her spellwork solid and her aim true.
"Bombarda Maxima!" She cried out.
The explosion caught three spiders at once, the concussive force flinging them backward into the trees hard enough to crack trunks. Harry pressed the advantage, his wand a blur as he cast spell after spell. Cutting curses to sever legs. Blasting curses to destroy eyes. Transfiguration to turn the ground beneath one spider into quicksand, watching it sink with satisfying speed.
It was brutal, efficient, and utterly merciless.
One spider tried to drop on them from above, having climbed into the canopy while Harry was distracted. But Natalia spotted it and hit it with a well-placed Reductor curse that sent it crashing to the ground with enough force to crack its carapace. Harry finished it with a cutting curse that took its head clean off, the body twitching grotesquely for several seconds afterward.
"Protego Maxima!"
The shield charm erupted around them just as two spiders tried to coordinate an attack from opposite sides, attempting to overwhelm them with numbers. They bounced off the shimmering barrier, stunned by the impact, and Natalia dropped the shield to hit them both with piercing hexes that punched through their carapaces like they were made of parchment.
The remaining spiders were retreating now, clicking frantically to each other in their alien language. Harry could have pursued, could have finished them all, but he held back. Enough was enough. They'd made their point.
"That's right," he called after them, his voice hard. "Run back to Aragog and tell him what happens when his children hunt students. Tell him Harry Potter remembers his friendship with Hagrid, even if Aragog's spawn don't."
The last of the spiders disappeared into the darkness, and suddenly the forest was quiet again except for their heavy breathing and the occasional crackle of dying flames.
Harry lowered his wand, surveying the carnage. Dozens of dead acromantula, either burnt off or sprawled in blood and gore, their bodies scattered across the clearing like some macabre art installation. Hagrid was going to be beside himself with grief. No matter what, these were Aragog's children, after all, and the old gamekeeper had a soft spot for the ancient acromantula that bordered on the irrational.
"Fucking hell," Harry muttered, running a hand through his hair. "Hagrid's going to lecture me for weeks about this. Probably make me apologize to Aragog personally. And then there'll be the whole speech about how they're just misunderstood creatures and I should have tried harder to communicate with them, never mind that they were literally trying to eat us. And then he'll probably want me to help him explain to Aragog why dozens of his children and grandchildren and whatnot are dead, which is going to be—"
He was still talking to himself, caught up in imagining the inevitable confrontation, when a hand grabbed his jacket and spun him around. Before Harry could process what was happening, Natalia crashed into him, flinging her arms around his neck and smashing her lips against his.
TBC.
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