Life and Magic Will Find a Way

By: Ryu Katanna

Beta:

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter One

Darkness. That was the first thing that registered in the mind of the fourteen-year-old Harry Potter as he came to a slow sense of awareness. The second was the feeling of weightlessness. Like he was floating in the air with no broom to hold him off the ground. Soon the memories of his life and what had happened just before darkness had consumed him started to filter back.

The Dursley's. Hogwarts. His friends. His godfather. The Tri-Wizard Tournament. The third trial. Taking the cup alongside his fellow Hogwart's Champion. Cedric's sudden death, and Voldemort's revival. The connection that had formed between their wands. The purple light of a curse hitting him.

Soon the emotions came back with a vengeance. It had all happened so fast.

The feeling of being helpless to stop it as the traitorous Pettegrew cast the curse that killed Cedric. Weakness as he was pinned to the tombstone of Voldemort's muggle father while he hadn't been strong or fast enough to fight it. Hot pain as the blade Pettigrew held tore through the flesh of his arm to steal from him the blood needed for the dark ritual. Fear as the Dark Lord was revived. Determination to live as he fought against the man who had killed his parents.

Harry thought that Voldemort was now most likely dead again. The backlash as their wands connected and fought for power had hit them both. He could remember the Dark Lords screaming as he threw one last curse at him. Harry hadn't been quick enough. Already in pain from the magical backlash, Harry had not been fast enough to react before he felt that bright purple curse hit him. It had felt like something in his mind and heart had snapped, and it was then that Harry knew no more as his body gave in under the utter agony.

'Am I dead?' Harry wondered absently as his eyelids felt too heavy to move.

'At least I'll be able to see them again. Mum. Dad.' He thought as he finally managed to open his eyes only to widen them in shock as the feeling of weightlessness vanished completely and Harry felt himself fall.

Harry chocked as all the air escaped his lungs as his back hit solid ground. His head smacked down quickly after and Harry felt a wave of dizziness and pain that made any hope he'd had of joining his parents vanish. The pain that racked his body right then was like being smacked with a neon sign that flashed with the words 'Not Dead Yet!'.

Harry hissed with pain as he cursed and moved to take the pressure off of where his fall had implanted a tree root into his tender side. He didn't doubt there would be a rather lovely bruise from that, and his head pounded both from where he had smacked the ground as well as from his scar. Harry's hand came up to gingerly touch his forehead where he could feel his fingers come away with wetness that told him it was sluggishly bleeding from the old curse scar as the wound on his arm. The skin around it feeling hot and fresh.

'It figures that I couldn't be that lucky.' Harry thought to himself before stumbling to get his feet under him to stand.

Hearing the subtle swish of movement from the plants around him, his senses flared to life, and Harry could feel that wherever he was it was not safe. Scrambling to his feet sluggishly, Harry reached for his wand only to find it in two charred and blackened pieces. He knew it must have been the backfiring of the connection with Voldemort's wand that had done this. Brushing the thought of his wand aside Harry chose to focus on the more immediate problem as the movement that had been there was suddenly all too still.

He felt like he was being hunted.

Not knowing which direction it would be safe to run, Harry held his ground as he concentrated. Listening for the smallest sounds, one thing stood out to him. There was a single hiss that turned Harry's mind toward whatever it was being reptilian. The problem was that he could not understand it as he could any of the snakes he had encountered before.

~Hello?~ Harry hissed out softly into the darkness in an attempt to see if whatever it was could understand him, and if it did, if it would respond.

'An animal. More than one... maybe three of them.' Harry thought as a clicking noise answered him that sounded a lot like a growl.

One was followed by another from the other side of him. He knew now that whatever was out there; they were fast. Suddenly there was movement as the plants rustled nearby. It was quick and before he could see anything, he could feel that he was surrounded on all four sides. Harry couldn't help but freeze at the sight that greeted him when his eyes fully adjusted. He had an idea of what these creatures could be. He had learned about them in muggle grade school. The problem was that they were supposed to much smaller, and more bird than a reptile.

Oh, and the fact that they were supposed to be extinct!

Knowing that he has no way to get away from them Harry took a deep breath as he relaxed his body. He had already thought himself to be dead. A moment ago he had welcomed it with open arms. Now he was somewhere unknown to him with what appeared to be something like velociraptors on all sides. Right then Harry just felt numb.

He had fought Voldemort with everything he had. Already he had thought he had died from the encounter. Strangely enough, Harry now felt no fear. No fear of the predators before him. No fear of death. He was just numb and done.

Minutes passed with nothing happening. Harry watched the predators around him. He could swear they looked confused as they made noises back and forth. They were communicating but had yet to attack him. Harry's eyes widened a bit as he found himself speaking parseltongue as he watched them.

~I can't understand you at all, but if you're going to eat me then could you get on with it? I'm rather tired.~ He asked as his shoulders sagged and he slumped a bit from the pain he could feel everwhere.

The raptors looked at him steadily, but now were showing no signs of aggression at all. Harry would have found it strange that four deadly predators that had him surrounded had yet to do anything, but he was too tired and emotionally numb to care anymore. He'd already accepted the thought of dying once. If, after everything he had been through, he was meant to die here then he would accept that too.

He was only fourteen years old, and already so tired of fighting.

Slowly, the raptor in front of him lowered its head to nudge at his arm as it smelled the blood that had started to clot over the slice on his arm. After a moment, the creature stepped back as if seeming satisfied while it communicated something with the others. They seemed to have reached some kind of conclusion as two of them gently nudged him as the four of them started herding him through the brush.

~Where are you taking me?~ Harry hissed as he almost stumbled while letting them do as they wished.

Harry let them lead through the trees. It only took a moment of walking in the inky darkness but soon Harry came to see the answer to his question.

'This is a nest...' Harry thought with some surprise as the creature that seemed to be the leader continued to push him toward it before finally managing to push him into it.

Harry fell to his knees with the force before sitting up to watch the predators that still surrounded him. The four of them soon settled down into the nest with him at the center. They were all so close that Harry could feel the warmth off of their leathery skin. Seeing as he was firmly encased in the nest by them, Harry did not fight it and laid back as the exhaustion started to overwhelm him.

The events of the day flickered through his mind as he allowed himself to relax against the side of what he could tell were dangerous predators just by looking at them. He didn't know where he was, but he did know it must be very far for Hogwarts. His wand was destroyed, and the ambient magic around him felt wild and unfamiliar even as it wrapped around him and cradled him soothingly. Voldemort had done something with that last curse; though Harry couldn't be sure what.

The only thing he did know was that he didn't really feel the need to get back. Here he was, surrounded by these animals that could kill him if they felt the desire, and he felt safe for the first time that he could remember. Truly safe, and free. Free from the Dursleys and their treatment. Free from the Wizarding World and their expectations. Their hero worship for something that he didn't remember.

Yet, for as free as he felt, Harry also felt empty. His mind felt raw even as his heart echoed that pain. He felt like something inside him had been torn away. His magic seemed to be reaching for something, but there was nothing there to connect with. It left him feeling so alone even as one of the creatures chittered to him in a way he could feel was meant to be soothing.

Harry shifted to look up at the night sky as he listened to the breathing of the creatures around him. The stars shone, and Harry relaxed his sore body as his exhaustion caught up to him. Green eyes closed as he started to drift off.

For tonight it seemed that they had no intention of eating him.

What Harry didn't and couldn't have known as he drifted off into sleep, was that his life had been set on a new course starting with killing the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. Just as the venom of the King of Serpents had entered his blood; so too had its own blood from when Harry had struck the fatal blow. The raptors could sense this in Harry, and dare not bite him. They instinctively knew that his blood was a potent poison. Another side effect of this was that, to the raptors, Harry did not carry the scent of prey. Harry, with no real means to understand them, would never know of this, but it was his very blood and magic that spoke to the raptors on an instinctual level.

That alone had been what had saved his life even as the wild magic enveloped Harry protectively and soothed the predators into sleep.

123

Owen Grady was a man of habit in the mornings due to his time spent in the Navy. Most who knew him outside of his fellows wouldn't think so, but some disciplines were hard to shake and had been so thoroughly ingrained into everyday life. One of those habits was his morning routine. He had been up before the sun to get ready for the day and do his morning workout before his shower. He was just about to head out his door after a quick breakfast to get to his girls when Barry called.

"You'd better get over here. I can't even believe what I'm seeing right now." Barry had said before hanging up without telling him what had happened and it hadn't taken long for Owen to be out the door.

He must have made it to the Raptor Paddock in record time with as fast as he took off after that call. There were very few people around when he got there but they all seemed to be quiet and dumbfounded as Owen made his way up the stairs to the overlook above the enclosure. He was set on high alert at seeing a few of the ACU personnel peering over the railing with their guns out, but before he could say anything to them Barry had seen him and motioned him over quickly. Knowing that something was going on, Owen ignored them for the moment in favor of finding out what exactly had happened.

"What is going on, Barry?" Owen asked only to go quiet as he looked over the rail to see what his friend was pointing at wordlessly only to feel his body jolt in surprise.

It was something Owen would have thought to be impossible and was definitely not what he'd thought to find here when Barry had called him. There, curled into the raptor nest with his girls, was a teenage boy who was peacefully sleeping against Blue's side. Owen froze as he quickly looked to see that Echo, Charlie, and Delta were standing around the nest watching the overlook warily. A quick study of his girl's body language told him that they were protecting the nest and the contents within it.

"How did the kid get in there?" Owen asked Barry as he watched the object of everyone's attention shift while he started showing signs of waking.

"No one is really sure. He was already in the nest with them when I got here. I called you first before alerting Asset Containment to the situation. How are we going to get him out of there?" Barry asked as he too watched the raptors' behavior and made the same observation as his friend.

"I'm not sure. You see the way they're positioned?" Owen asked as he nodded down to them.

"They're protecting him. Guarding him like they would a hatchling or nestmate. It's one of the reasons I called you first. It's like they don't see him as prey, no, they're treating him as if he's one of them." Barry replies as the teen hissed and held his arm as he pushed himself up from Blue's side before she nudged him and crooned gently at his the sound of the boy's pain.

Everyone watched as the boy looked at the raptor with no fear as he hissed to her in seeming reply. Owen couldn't help the shock that welled up as Blue, his Beta, treated the boy gently as she shifted to stand. She chittered at him before turning to look up at Owen. This caused the teen to look to see what had her attention.

Vivid green eyes looked up at them. The boy's attention shifted around to see the ACU personnel holding their stun guns and equipment. He shifted back into Blue in slight fear and the girls reacted to that fear with menacing growls as they crowded around him to shield the boy from their sight. Seeing this, Owen turned to the men and barked.

"Back up! You're scaring the kid!" Seeing the men glance back down at the boy many of them did as ordered so as not to further agitate him and the predators around him.

"Hey, Kid! You alright?" Owen called over the rail as he finally took charge of the situation.

For the moment it would seem that the raptors were not a threat to the kid. What he needed right now was to concentrate on getting him out of there. They could ask questions and find out where he had come from afterward. Only then would he take the time to really think about why his girls were acting the way they were toward him.

"Yes, sir!" The kid replied up at him as he peeked out from behind the deadly predator who he treated with no fear.

There was no fear at all with the way the teen pressed into Echo, his most vicious girl as if seeking comfort from her. Comfort that Owen noticed she provided by churling softly and allowing his touch. No, the only fear the boy showed was toward the men surrounding the top of the paddock with guns. Even Owen was regarded with slight wariness.

"There's a gate right over there. Meet me there so we can get you out." Owen pointed in the direction to go before turning to Barry.

"I'm going down. Keep an eye on them from up top. Shout if it looks like we have a problem." He waited on the nod from his friend, and with a glance down at the kid to see he was following directions, he turned to run down the stairs.

123

Harry had woken slowly as he shifted comfortably. Slowly, the events from the night before started to fall into place in his mind. He was surprised when he still felt no fear in the knowledge that the warmth he felt was being provided by a predator that could eat him. No, they hadn't done it yet, and Harry had a feeling that they wouldn't. Instead, the feeling of leathery skin only brought him a feeling of safety as his magic reached out to the creature.

"Tsch." He hissed as his arm throbbed when he sat up only to be distracted a second later as the one with a blue stripe going from the head to the tail nudged him with a chitter.

~I'm alright.~ Harry tried to reassure the animal as he pushed himself up unsteadily.

It was then that he heard the noises of footsteps on metal grating and voices above him. Looking up his eyes connected with those of a solidly muscled man who looked to be in his thirties. Soon enough his gazed shifted to see more men dressed in black and holding what appeared to be guns. Harry pressed back into the side of the animal that had not left his side with a slight jolt of fear as he sought that feeling of safety he'd gotten from the creature as he had fallen asleep and as he woke. This got a response from the other three animals as well and soon Harry was shielded from view by the growling and hissing predators.

"Back up! You're scaring the kid!" Harry heard a voice ordering the others with stern authority followed by many of them moving further away from the rail.

"Hey, kid! You alright?" Peeking out from behind his protectors, Harry looked up to see that the one speaking to him was the man he had first seen when he looked up there before.

"Yes, sir!" Harry called back at hearing the authority and command in his voice.

Harry had no idea where he was or how he had gotten there from the graveyard the night before. What he did know was that Voldemort's spell had done something to him. Harry could still feel the magic in his blood, but the ambient magic from the earth he had learned to recognize over the years had a different feel to it. While the magic around him felt stronger and wilder; his connection to it felt so much stronger than it ever had before. He couldn't explain it, but it felt welcoming, the numb feeling from the night before easing a bit. The only thing that felt safe or right was the predators who he had slept through the night with.

"There's a gate over there. Meet me there so we can get you out." Harry's attention was drawn back up to the man who was pointing away from them before turning to the dark-skinned man at his side and Harry knew that the man was expecting him to do as he was ordered.

Harry nodded before starting to walk in the direction he had been directed. It didn't take long for him to figure out that he had landed in some kind of cage. The trees, brush, and the climate told Harry that he was far from Britain. The four animals didn't leave his side for a moment even as he came up to the gate the man had told him about, and Harry felt comforted by their presence. He could feel the wild magic around him drawing him closer with the creatures, and his own magic reacted to that with agreement.

He could see that the man was already waiting on Harry though he had not opened the gate. Harry was fine with this. He felt safer with the animals at the moment as they had kept him warm and watched over him through the night as he slept. He somehow knew that if they had not harmed him by now that they probably wouldn't. They were creatures of both instinct and intelligence.

The man who stood on the other side of the gate, however, was human and was so far an unknown to Harry. He could tell by watching the man as he studied Harry and the reptilian creatures crowded around him that he had some form of military training. It was in the way he held himself, the tone of voice he used when he spoke, and the way his eyes watched him with the animals. This man commanded attention and Harry felt himself straighten in response as the animals shifted and chittered around him. Their response to the man at the gate told Harry that they didn't see him as a threat.

"I don't know how you got in there and I don't know why my girls haven't torn you apart, but we have to get you out of there now." The man said firmly but calmly as he watched them and Harry shifted closer to the animal with scars on its muzzle unsurely only for it to nudge him gently.

Harry gently patted it's leathery side as he thought about what to do. This man was obviously the one in charge with the way he had called them 'his girls'. He had to be a muggle and Harry felt lost as to how to answer the questions the man would no doubt have. Yet, from the difference in the latent magic of this place, he wasn't sure if his kind even existed here. Really, he knew that he should be eager to get back to Hogwarts.

Eager to leave these deadly creatures that he felt so comfortable with. To get back to his friends. The problem was that for the first time in his life he felt safe. Like nothing could hurt him as long as he stayed here. He couldn't explain it, but he knew he didn't want to leave.

"They're girls? What are they?" Harry asked as his thoughts attached to the topic that was easiest to think about at the moment and he felt a bit stupid at the redundancy of the question.

"They're velociraptors. The one your petting is Echo. Then there's Charlie on your left, Delta behind you, and Blue in front. What is your name kid?" The man told him before asking his name when he could see that Harry was seemingly reluctant to leave the enclosure just yet.

"Hadrian, but everyone calls me Harry." Harry replied after a moment with a name close to his own as he looked between the raptors and connected the names to each of them.

He couldn't know if this man could be trusted yet. Much less where he was. It was all so confusing right at that moment. He just knew that the man was human and most likely a muggle. Harry had learned early in life that other humans couldn't always be trusted.

"Alright, Harry. My name is Owen Grady. Could you come out of there so we can talk? You're making a lot of people very nervous right now, and I really don't want the guys up there getting jumpy enough to shoot at the girls." Owen said as he motioned to the people watching from above with the guns even as he raised an eyebrow at the shiftiness in Harry's eyes when he'd told him his name that spoke of some kind of lie.

"Yes, sir." Harry replied reluctantly at seeing how many people were watching while they held guns over the rails above.

As much as Harry didn't want to leave the sense of security he got from them; he also didn't want them to be harmed by these people in their effort to get him out. Harry patted Echo's side once more before he slowly passed Blue to come up to the gate. Owen stopped the gate from rising completely and left only enough space for Harry to get through without his girls following the boy. Ducking under, Harry swung himself to the other side before Owen quickly pressed the bottom to shut it and came over to pull Harry up to his feet.

Grasping his hand, Owen noticed the teen had been bleeding, and that he was looking pretty dirty and beaten up. There was dried blood on Harry's face and Owen didn't miss the wound on his arm. His clothing looked a bit strange but was dirty and torn. Looking at the way the kid held himself, and the clench of his jaw, he could see that he was trying to hide how much pain he was really in. Owen didn't doubt that the teen had bruises hidden under his clothes with how stiffly he stood in front of the bars.

"We should get you cleaned up and this wound treated first thing. Infection looks like it's starting to set in already. Barry! He's hurt. I'm taking him back to my place for now. Keep an eye out and call me if anything happens." Owen called to his friend as he noticed the man had come down from the overlook after he examined Harry's arm.

"Sure thing." Barry said as he took in his first closer look at the teen who he had found there that morning; though he couldn't see much through the blood and dirt that covered him, and with the way he shied away from everyone's gaze.

"Come on." Owen ordered as he turned to lead the teen to his bike, but stopped as the boy turned back toward the bars where the pack watched them from the other side.

Reaching up, Harry held his arm through the bars as Blue chittered and pressed into his hand. Green eyes looked back at Owen, and the man could tell that the teen really didn't want to go. He could see that the kid really didn't seem to trust anyone, and was oddly enough, more comfortable with the raptors. Harry looked back at Blue before reluctantly stepping away, and allowing the man to guide him where he wanted to go.

Owen knew there were questions that really needed answers, but first, he had to make sure the kid was gonna be alright.

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This is a plot bunny I have had for a good while now. I've struggled with it until recently and must have written it at least four different ways. I absolutely love this crossover. There are far too few, and out of all that I've read, nothing like what I have in mind for this. I hope you've enjoyed this first chapter. Updates will come as I am able, but I already have the next few chapters typed up and waiting for editing.

Let me know what you thought!

Ryu