Lost Cub

Chapter Five

"No one really knows what happened," Draco admitted. "Dumbledore claims that the Dark Lord -- V-Voldemort -- killed your parents, and tried to kill you. But the Dark Lord told his Death Eaters that he was only going to scout out your house. He wasn't going to make a firm decision about what to do with you until you were older. But he went, and never came back. The next morning the Wizarding World was celebrating that he'd died, because the Killing Curse bounced off of you and hit him."

Hunter blanched. "I killed a person?"

"He's not dead," Draco said quickly and reassuringly, as Blaise and Pansy stared at him. "And it was his Killing Curse, not yours. He took precautions -- we're not exactly sure what kind -- so he wouldn't die, even with the Killing Curse. You didn't do anything wrong," he said gently.

Hunter relaxed and bit his lip. "Where is he now?"

"No one knows," Draco shrugged. "Why do you ask?"

"I want to ask what happened," Hunter said quietly. He also wanted to make up for almost killing Voldemort, but he didn't want Draco to know that. "Why were people happy that someone died?"

"Because Dumbledore spread that the Dark Lord wants to kill Muggleborns and Muggles and put Purebloods in charge of society," Draco said bluntly. "He does hate them, but he wants to protect the rights of Dark creatures, like werewolves and vampires, and stop bad feelings towards Dark Wizards."

Hunter was a Dark creature?!

"What makes a wizard or a creature Dark?" Hunter asked nervously.

"I don't really know the difference between Dark and Light magic," Draco admitted. "You could ask Professor Quirrell, the Defense teacher; he's supposed to know that sort of thing."

Hunter was already going to talk to Quirrell, partially because he was curious about the fake stutter, and partially because he wanted to know more about the subject.

"Oh!" Hunter blushed. "I wanted to ask this earlier, but I forgot. What's a familiar?"

"You don't know what a familiar is?" Pansy demanded.

"I was raised by Mum's Muggle sister," Hunter said shyly.

"Oh you poor dear," Pansy crooned.

Draco rolled his eyes. "A familiar is a pet that's connected to your magic, so you can sense each others' feelings and sort of understand what they're trying to tell you, and what you're trying to tell them. You can have more than one familiar; Merlin was known to have ten. Sometimes a familiar can read your thoughts, and you can read theirs."

That sounded amazing. "How do you get one?" Hunter asked curiously.

"Well..."

A while later, there was a knock on the door and a round-faced boy appeared, looking anxious. "Sorry," he said tearfully, "but have any of you seen a toad?"

Hunter frowned concernedly, and Pansy cooed again. "No, sorry. Have you tried looking in wet, warm places?"

The boy relaxed and said, "No, I haven't. Thanks," he added shyly.

"What's your name?" Hunter asked softly, and Draco made a quiet scoffing noise beside him.

"Neville Longbottom," the boy responded quietly.

"Pleased to meet you," Hunter said gently. "You can sit with us once you've found your toad, if you want."

Draco sighed irritably beside him, and Hunter cast him a stern look. He sensed a kindred spirit in Neville -- a shy, broken boy.

"Thanks," Neville said, taken aback. "What's your name?"

"Hunter," Hunter blushed. He didn't say his last name.

Neville smiled shyly. "Nice to meet you." He glanced curiously at the others.

"Draco Malfoy," Draco sighed. Neville blanched, and Draco said, "Calm down, Longbottom. Hunter likes you, so I'll try to be friendly."

"I'm Blaise Zabini," Blaise said patiently. Neville relaxed.

"Pansy Parkinson, cutie," Pansy grinned. Neville blushed.

"Um, I'll go find my toad, now," he said quickly, closing the door behind him.

"Why'd you befriend him?" Draco asked curiously.

"Because he's like me," Hunter said quietly. "He's shy." He also looks like he was hurt by someone close to him, repeatedly.

"He also lost his parents around the same age Hunter lost his," Blaise pointed out. "His parents were supposedly cursed to insanity by Draco's aunt, her husband, and her brother-in-law."

Hunter gave Draco an alarmed and concerned look, but before he could say anything, the door opened again, revealing a bushy-haired girl.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said bossily.

"We haven't seen one," Hunter said shyly, "but I told Neville he could probably find it in or near the loo; it's wet and warm, toads like places like that."

The girl gave him an interested look. "Where'd you read that?"

Hunter blushed. "I was supposed to write an essay about toads during fifth grade." He'd gotten a C-, because he wasn't allowed to get anything higher than Dudley's solid C in school.

"What's an essay?" Draco asked, puzzled.

"Four to five pages of a certain subject," the girl said briskly. "I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"

"Hunter." Again, he left out his last name.

"Draco Malfoy," Draco said again. "Are you related to Hector Dagworth-Granger?"

"I don't know who that is," Hermione admitted.

"So you're a Muggleborn?" Draco asked, clearly stifling a sneer. Hunter glared at him, reminding his friend that his mother was also Muggleborn.

"Yes," Hermione said haughtily. "Is that a problem?"

"No," Hunter said gently. "My Mum was Muggleborn."

Hermione studied him for a moment and then her eyes widened. "Are you Hunter Potter?" Hunter blushed, but that was answer enough. "I know all about you, of course, I got a few extra books for background reading-"

"Not everything you read about the Wizarding World is true, Granger," Draco warned. "The books that talk about Hunter are completely false. He was raised by his Muggle family-" he wrinkled his nose "-and it doesn't seem like he was spoiled. He's also incredibly shy and the only thing he knows about our world is that magic exists. That's it."

Hunter flinched; they certainly didn't spoil him.

"What's wrong?" Blaise, Pansy, and Draco exclaimed all at once.

"Do I need to hurt someone?" Pansy demanded.

"No!" Hunter squeaked quickly. "I'm fine."

Hermione bit her lip with concern. "It doesn't seem like you are."

"Leave off, Mud-" Draco began, before glancing at Hunter and stopping. "Sorry."

"It's okay, Draco," Hunter mumbled. "She's concerned." Unlike his aunt and uncle. "Since we're both new to the Wizarding World, do you think we can help each other?" he asked hopefully, changing the subject.

The girl beamed. "I'd love to, I don't have any friends yet, you don't mind, do you?" she added to Draco, Blaise, and Pansy.

Blaise rolled his eyes. "By the time we get to Hogwarts, Hunter will have befriended everyone except Ron Weasley," he chuckled.

Hermione wrinkled her nose. "He is rather rude. He's in my compartment; he refused to leave."

"You can stay with us," Hunter said with concern, the squeaked and glanced at Draco anxiously.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Fine, you can stay, Granger; but only because Hunter likes you."

Hermione beamed.