Gunpowder & Cinnamon {Fred Weasley}

Chapter Fifty Two

"How is it that we all went off in search of the same thing, and you were the only one to find anything..let alone the centaur colony?" Fred asked Eleanor.

"Well, they found me pretty much so I can't take the credit there."

"And that isn't all true either." George said. "I found this really nice flower here."

"George, that flower is poisonous." Eleanor sighed.

George shrieked and threw it away from him making her laugh. "Just kidding."

He gave her a look as she smiled innocently at him.

"Anyways," George wiped his hands down the front of his shirt. "How are the centaurs going to help us find the stone?"

"I don't know, but they told me they would help us. Given the past relationship between wizards and centaurs, I think that was incredibly nice of them so I wasn't going to question it."

Fred went to open his mouth to respond when suddenly they heard the group greet a familiar face. They looked over to see Firenze arrive along with several other centaurs. Eleanor smiled as they neared the old Hogwarts' professor.

He greeted them kindly especially Harry and Hermione.

George leaned into Fred to whisper. "I feel like we were the only people not invited to a party...this is weird."

"Now it's weird to you? Your girlfriend communicates with the dead but standing in a forest with centaurs is weird to you?"

George didn't have a comeback right away. "Yeah well...your girlfriend knits."

"And it's saved our arses plenty of times, hasn't it?"

Eleanor made sure not to stare at the centaurs out of respect but it was hard to do since they were so fascinating to see up close.

Harry tried to explain to the situation to Firenze but as soon as he mentioned the Resurrection stone, the centaur raised his hand not needing to hear any more.

The group fell silent as Firenze claimed he knew the whereabouts of the stone.

Eleanor's eyes widened. She wasn't sure what the stone could actually do for them Even if they were capable of contacting spirits beyond the reach of the Wagner family, it wasn't guaranteed that the spirits could actually stop Voldemort from possessing the family members if they left themselves vulnerable.

"How did you come across the stone?" Harry asked confused. He couldn't believe that it had been found after he had left it behind during the battle.

"Do you know how uncomfortable it is to have a stone lodged in one's hoof?" Firenze questioned.

The group looked down to their feet and shook their heads.

"One time I stepped on a sharp rock." Ron announced.

Everyone stared at the youngest male Weasley.

"I thought it would be a similar feeling." Ron said his ears turning red as Hermione placed her hand on his shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Moving on!" Sirius said trying to bring back the attention to the reason why they were running around the Forbidden Forest.

Firenze led them along through the forest as Harry tried to explain the situation. When the centaurs heard about the potential of Voldemort rising again, it did not go over well.

"How could this even be possible?!" One of them asked angrily. He turned his head to Eleanor and she immediately grabbed Fred's arm moving away from the creature.

"Easy there, we're not exactly thrilled about this either." Fred said. "We don't know how all this works but we're trying to find a solution with the little information that we have. We need the stone to see if we can get any more help or information on how to deal with this."

Firenze brought the group to where the stone was kept. Eleanor had never witnessed the stone, but she had heard Harry speak about it, now seeing it with the Deathly Hallows symbol etched into it. The centaur handed it to Harry placing it in the young man's palm.

She could see Harry's hand shake as he held the stone again, she figured he thought he would never have to see the stone again. That he would never have to worry about such a thing for the rest of his life.

Nixie walked over to him and placed her hand under his to steady it. From where Eleanor stood she couldn't hear what she was saying to him, but after a minute of whispering, Harry gave a nod with a look of determination on his face.

Eleanor watched as Harry flipped the stone in his hand three times.