PRONGSLET AND THE CERYNEIAN GUARDIAN

Chapter Forty-Three

But Artemis warned him that failure to keep the secret would result in him losing all memory about it and if he caused problems for the Potter family, it could jeopardise her relationship with them and it could result in them losing the protection. Cedric swore up and down that he wouldn't dare to tell a soul and that the Potter secret was safe with him. 

However, the arrival of the goddess and her presenting her to Cedric had probably proved to be far too distracting to Cedric because when it came to the Ravenclaw match before the holidays, it had been nothing short of a disaster. Perhaps Cedric was still worried about Cho telling people in the castle about what she had witnessed because it seemed he was avoiding being around her on the pitch. Which only proved to be a problem because she was hot on the snitch's trail throughout the match. Milo managed to actually score multiple times but it wasn't enough because the Ravenclaw Chasers were doing just as much damage.

Then Heidi had been struck by a bludge directly in her face, due to snow glare blinding her. She ended up falling from her broom, but it was Max, who had reached her before she hit the ground but it left their team completely open as Milo went to help Max as she struggled to keep Heidi up. It was embarrassing when Cho finally caught the Snitch, enough that Milo didn't even want to hear the final score. It might as well have been a million to zero because when Milo looked to the stands as the match was called, he could see the majority of Hufflepuff students looking quite devastated and embarrassed too. 

Heidi had to be brought to the Hospital Wing where she had a broken nose, not to mention the bludger managed to knock several of her front teeth out, leaving her with quite a bloody mouth. But to Madam Pomfrey that was child's play when it came to healing, but Max was worried enough that she remained by Heidi's side until the girl was released from the Hospital Wing. 

Milo was hoping for Christmas that he could open up a big box of drama-freedom and climb into it for the rest of the term.

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Sitting on his bed in the Hufflepuff dorm, all of his dormmates had gone home for Christmas, leaving him small presents at the bottom of his bed before they left. He had left his presents on their beds knowing they were going to leave the day prior. But it was now, just him and Paden left behind in the room. While the bowtruckle kept himself entertained by leaping from bed to bed with cheerful chirping, Milo held his Mandrake leaf in between his fingers, twirling it back and forth. 

It was agreed between all the boys that they would place the Mandrake leaves in their mouths at the start of the holiday, it would be easier to hide that way since they wouldn't have to worry about classes or anything in the beginning. Not to mention, Milo had come through with the dew from the forest. Yet as he held the leaf in his hand, Milo felt quite hesitant about it all, just wondering what the consequences were going to be if anyone found out. Especially his mother.

Just the other day, she had brought him into her office and asked him how he was fairing as they hadn't spoken much with everything going on. When he reassured her that he was fine, she told him how proud she was of him, especially with how he was handling everything. It made him happy but it was short-lived as he thought about how he had been lying to her as well. Like Cedric, his mother was the person that he never wanted to disappoint. She meant way too much to him and she had done so much for him that the idea of him disappointing her led him to fall into a panicky state.

She had gone through the animagus process but she had done it under the proper supervision and she registered herself with the Ministry as she was supposed to do. Milo, on the other hand, he was taking the opposite approach, hoping to follow in his father's footsteps, hoping that it would bring him closer to the man that he was supposed to share memories with. 

Then she brought up the idea of the internship and claimed that she thought it was a great opportunity and once again, she expressed how proud she was of him. He was young and yet, it seemed Milo knew what he wanted in life and definitely went after every opportunity that presented itself to him. 

Yet, as he was discussing the internship with his mother, a sudden cold wave washed over him and left him speechless. His mind had trailed to Cedric and the question popped into his mind of where the boy was going to go when Milo was gone for the summer? He had been making plans with having Cedric stay with them in Hogsmeade since he was not welcomed in his parents' home anymore. Milo was sure that his mother was not going to be against it as she had been the biggest support, but would Cedric be willing to stay there if Milo wasn't there?

"Ugh, Paden," Milo called out to the bowtruckle, who went to leap to the second bed but stopped himself as he believed that he was about to be scolded by the boy. "What am I going to do? It's like whenever I take one step forward with something, I get punched in the stomach until I take twenty steps back."

Paden crawled down from the other bed and then made his way to where was Milo was sitting. He climbed up the covers and then up Milo's arm until he reached the boy's shoulder. He sat down and proceeded to rub the side of Milo's face which brought to laugh, mainly because it tickled terribly and it was Paden's form of comforting. 

The bowtruckle chirped softly as if he was attempting to sooth the boy with a song. Milo lifted his hand up to his shoulder and the bowtruckle climbed into his palm before he was brought to look up at him. 

"You're the best, Paden," Milo told him, " although I'm sure that you were already aware of that weren't you?"

Paden chirped in a proud manner bringing Milo to laugh. It felt really good to laugh in that moment before he fell back onto his pillow. The small creature came to sit on his forehead, waiting for Milo's next course of action. 

He needed to talk to Sirius, even if Elspeth had told him to hold off, he needed to Sirius above anything because if his suspicions were correct about Peter, he wanted to hear Sirius' reasonings behind choosing Peter and why he had deemed Remus a traitor if they were all such good friends. Something must have happened and Milo wanted to know. 

"Alright, Paden," Milo pushed himself up, "I need you to stay here and...and..guard this leaf!" He handed the mandrake leaf over to the bowtruckle before warning him not to eat it. It was too cold for Paden to venture outside but he needed to get a move on as he threw on his boots and hurried out of the dorm. 

Of course, sneaking out of the castle and onto the grounds wasn't as easy with the fresh blanket of snow as Milo was leaving behind a trail of footprints. But he did manage to cover them up as he moved along but he needed to move fast. He could see dementors in the distance and he didn't need them or Elspeth getting involved. As he entered the forest, the thickness of the trees slowed the falling snow, allowing Milo to brush the remaining flakes from his hair. He began to look around for any sign of tracks that would lead him to Sirius. 

But at the same time, as cold as it was, Milo hoped that Sirius had found somewhere warm to be. However, it didn't turn out to be the case as he found Sirius asleep inside the log of a dead tree. The dog was shivering but curled up in a tight ball to keep warm. 

Milo approached cautiously before letting out a low whistle to alert Sirius that he was approaching, almost instantly the dog lifted up his head, only to hit his head against the top of the log. The two flinched, Sirius mostly out of pain, while Milo approached him. The boy quickly removed his coat and placed it over the dog before pulling out his wand. 

"Fervens Aeris," Milo muttered and instantly, the hot-air charm took effect, offering warmth to the man as he fell out of his dog form. 

"Th-thank y-you, M-Milo," Sirius said as his teeth chattered. "Thank y-you."

The boy wished he had brought some food or something with him as Sirius was looking terrible at that point. Milo glanced back towards the distance of the castle and knowing he posed a risk of getting caught if he headed back at that moment. He knew he had to do something to help Sirius survive while he had to remain outside.

"Do you know how to hunt?" He asked the man, bringing Sirius to look up at him. "If not, you're going to learn today."