Just Around the Riverbend

just a quick thank you to my reviewers...it's too late to really respond. DOn't worry, I haven't forgotten the story, it's just going a bit slower than I wanted it to.

Voracious Reader
Heidi191976
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margaritama
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amd2175

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Lucius had the ‘pleasure’ of waking up to a shrieking female. Then, he felt a sharp pain on his face. He opened his eyes to a furious little witch struggling away from him.

“You perv! How the hell did you get me under the covers with you? We were supposed to be resting so that we could look for Daisy, not trying to get laid in the forest!” she hissed, jerking her blanket away from him.
Lucius did not like that wake-up. He bristled immediately, and rose to his knees.

“Do not presume to know my intentions, you little hell-cat. I happened to think that two blankets together would be warmer than one blanket apiece. You certainly seemed to enjoy it, since you were snuggled up to me like a lonely whore on a Friday.” He snapped back. Her eyes widened, and she opened her mouth to reply, but no sound came out. She closed her mouth again, and Lucius noticed her eyes looked a bit shinier than normal.

“Forget it. Let’s just look for Daisy.” Hermione said, her voice strained. She opened the flap of the tent roughly, and went outside to fix the fire.

Lucius swore softly. He hadn’t meant to snap at the little witch like that…but he didn’t like being rudely awakened like that.

This rough beginning made their trek almost unbearable. The silence was overbearing, and Lucius kept hearing what sounded strangely like sniffling. He couldn’t imagine why fiery Hermione Granger would be upset over something that he- Lucius Malfoy, Pureblood extraordinaire- had said. But she was quiet as she bobbed up and down on the back of Blackfire. She was a horrible horse-rider. He almost felt sorry for the horse.

“I didn’t mean it.” He said suddenly. He saw Hermione’s head come up at the sound of his voice.

“Mean what?” she asked.

“What I said in the tent. I didn’t mean it. I was still surprised after being slapped awake.” He said softly.

“I suppose it surprised me waking up like I did as well. I didn’t mean to hurt you…” she replied.

“You didn’t hurt me. You did, however, surprise the hell out of me. If I’d had my wand closer you would have been taken home in a matchbox.” He said. She snorted.

“As if! Once again your ego swells to match your head!” she retorted. But he could tell that she wasn’t quite as serious as she had been before. She was…teasing him….

“Which one?” he asked, his voice going a bit raspy. Hermione laughed.

“Perv! Once again thinking with your trousers. Now pay attention to the matter at hand! We could have missed seven clues by now!” she said. Although a smirk curled up one side of Lucius’ lips, he agreed with her silently. They could have already missed a footprint while they were going back and forth.

And a footprint could be very important to finding his cousin. He didn’t want to admit it to himself, but he was truly worried about the girl. She had made his lonely existence at the Manor more bearable. But he hadn’t been fair to her. She was still new in this country. She was still alone. He only suffered her presence when he was too lonely to take it anymore. She wasn’t a hired companion. She was family.

And if there was anything he had ever learned, it was that family was a non-renewable resource, but it had the power to make the poorest man feel like a king.

~~

Daisy stretched out lazily on her blanket. She was glad she had taken up the centaurs’ offer to stay overnight at their camp. She had eaten supper with them, and told stories almost all night. They had been intrigued to know about the centaurs in America, and how they had contact with humans, particularly the Native Americans.

The centaurs had enjoyed hearing about her people. One had even said they were like ‘two-legged centaurs.’

Today she was going to have an archery lesson with Arbino himself. He had agreed to teach her a few centaur techniques in exchange for an Indian-head coin necklace she wore around her neck.

“You must see with more than your eyes. Even the wind affects the way your arrow flies. Concentrate on your target, and-”

“Arbino!”

Arbino turned his head to see the twin terrors, and the reason Daisy was in their camp, galloping towards him.

“What is it, you two? I’m in the middle of something.” He said.

“It’s the old tree, Arbino. There’s….there’s leaves!” Jed cried. That didn’t mean much to Daisy, but she saw Arbino’s eyes widen.

“I’m sorry, Daisy-human. We must cut our lesson short.” He said, and took off deeper into the woods. Daisy grunted in annoyance. But she paused when she caught sight of Jed’s back when he turned to watch Arbino leave. It was criss-crossed with angry red whip lashes. They weren’t deep, but they definitely looked painful.

“My gods…” she whispered. Forge caught her staring at his brother’s back, and frowned.

“It’s your fault.” He said. Daisy whirled on him.

“How is it my fault that you two chased me through the woods?!” she hissed.

“You shouldn’t have ran. We wouldn’t have killed you…” Forge said.

“Oh that makes me feel so much better.” She said. “Now what’s so important about leaves on a tree?” she asked, starting to walk in the direction Arbino had run.

“This tree represented our herd for generations. The very first chief of our herd took control underneath that tree. But only a year or so ago, all of the leaves just began to fall without reason. It was spring and they had just come in. We were all convinced it was a bad omen. Ever since then bad things have been happening to our herd. Garita had a miscarriage…Bibber broke an arm…and Arbino’s own son was bitten by a poisonous snake. No one could get to him in time with the antidote…and he died. But if there’s leaves on the tree there might be hope.” Jed said, turning and walking with Daisy.

They walked for a bit in silence, Daisy following the upturned earth where Arbino had ran. They finally arrived at a large clearing, and Daisy could see Arbino’s white coat glimmering in the sunlight. She approached his side, and looked up at the old tree. And old it was. It appeared to be several hundred years old, with a huge trunk and great spindly branches, which were skeletal and bare. The only sign of life on the tree was a tiny sprout on a low-hanging branch. Arbino was standing right under it, looking at it in wonder.

“That tree’s not dead.” Daisy said softly. Arbino looked down at her.

“We thought the tree was dying. The leaves fell when the season was wrong.” He said.

“Not dead….but tired….” She said. She approached the great trunk, and knelt down in front of it, between two lumpy roots. She put a hand on each root, and closed her eyes. Arbino watched as her hands began to glow green, and her lips moved without sound. There was a sound like the wind whispering gently, and his gaze turned up again as a flash of green caught his eye. Above him the dry dead branches were starting to sprout, and tiny little leaf buds began to form. The buds grew and opened, and within minutes the entire tree had come back to life. Even the old trunk darkened with life. Arbino looked down at the kneeling Daisy.

“A Healer of Trees….surely this girl is special…”

~~

Lucius’ head perked up, and he seemed to listen for something.

“What is it?” Hermione asked. Lucius turned his horse in a different direction.

“Magic!” he cried, and took off. Blackfire followed his master’s example, and took off after the other horse, a terrified Hermione clinging to him desperately. He galloped in the direction of the great source of magic.

This was a forest, and magic like he was feeling was not common. He drew his wand, holding the reigns with one hand, and prepared himself as they approached a clearing in the woods.

~~

Daisy’s hands lost their green glow, and her mouth stopped moving, but she stayed in her kneeling position for a few more moments before she stood.

“That tree just needed a boost.” She said, turning to the awe-struck white centaur. “It should be good for a couple hundred more years.” She added. Arbino stepped forward, and put his hand on her shoulder.

“What you have done for this herd is unfathomable. If all humans were like you, the world would be a better place to live.” Arbino said. Daisy blushed. As she opened her mouth to reply, a red flash blinded her momentarily, and when she opened her eyes, Arbino was on the ground several yards away, flailing to get back on his hooves.

“Get away from her, you beast!”

Daisy turned, horrified, as her cousin burst into the clearing, his wand raised, on the back of a large horse.

“No!” she cried, but the sound was drowned out by an ear-splitting bay by Arbino. Jed and Forge entered the clearing almost immediately, their bows drawn and notched, coming to their leader’s side immediately. Arbino finally made it to his hooves, and drew his own bow.

“Humans!” he roared.

Hermione galloped into the clearing moments later, in time to see Lucius shoot an arrow out of the sky with a blast of blue magic. Several more centaurs had joined them, and were surrounding a centaur of pure white. Lucius knocked a few centaurs out of commission with some stunners, using a shield to protect himself and Daisy from the volley of arrows.

“Stop!” Daisy cried. She ran from her cousin’s shield, straight towards the centaurs. “Please stop!” she cried.

“Daisy!” Lucius cried. One of the centaurs, Panero, aimed his bow at Daisy instead.

“I knew the human was nothing but trouble.” He said, and loosed an arrow at her. The arrow went right into her shoulder, and she let out an unearthly scream, and went down hard to her knees before collapsing backwards.

Arbino roared angrily, and knocked Panero aside to breach the protection of his followers. They stopped firing at Lucius.

Lucius jumped down from his horse, and ran to his cousin. Arbino arrived first, and both Lucius and Hermione watched in a bit of amazement as Arbino knelt beside her. The gesture in and of itself was profound. Centaurs rarely knelt for anything. It had to be truly important.

“Get away from her!” Lucius hissed, leveling his wand on the white centaur. Arbino looked up, watching Lucius with his large brown eyes.

“She was never in any danger with us. We owe her too much to ever repay. She brought back The Tree.” He said, gesturing to the large tree behind Lucius. There was the sound of murmurs among the centaurs. Daisy sobbed softly, and reached out to touch Arbino’s hand.

“I’m gonna be all right, m’kay? I’ll be back to visit you guys later…but right now…I think….I need….drugs.” she said, and her eyes rolled back as she passed out. Lucius picked her up, and went quickly back to his horse. Arbino watched him go. The little human had done wonders for his people, and he wouldn’t forget her.

But he had a feeling that this silver-haired human would not let her anywhere near this forest for awhile.

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Le GASP!!!! OH mah goodness! How will this be resolved? I dunno...I just work here....