Y/N had just finished setting up his and Barnaby's tent and wiped some sweat off his brow as he sat on one of the logs they had placed around the campsite. The lake enclosure they were staying in had a temperature consistently in the high twenties Celsius, for the creatures that would emerge from the water from time to time. For this reason Y/N and Barnaby sat topless, only changing into shorts after they'd finished their swim for the day.

Barnaby had got the fire going, placing steaks and sausages over a makeshift fireplace grill as he pulled two cans out of his bag, gently tossing one over to Y/N before opening his. They held them up, cheering each other before both sipping on the bitter brew.

"Dinner shouldn't be too long" Barnaby said with a smile as he took a seat across from Y/N. Y/N sat staring out at the lake in front of him, Newt happily sitting on his shoulder, hugging into Y/N's neck.

"You've been quiet today mate. Everything ok with you?" Barnaby asked worried.

Barnaby Lee was the son of Death Eaters. His childhood had been painful, his parents cruel and distant. After they had been sent to Azkaban following Voldemort's fall he had stayed with his paternal grandmother who had been no better. When he started at Hogwarts he had fallen in with the other two Slytherins who were children of Death Eaters, Merula Snyde and Ismelda Murk, before his Slytherin room mates had shown him a different way.

His life had changed once he became friends with Dean L/N and Rowan Khanna. Dean was kind, and supportive, and genuinely cared for his friends, very different to Merula and Ismelda.

Barnaby's caring nature and love of Magical Creatures emerged once he felt he could let his guard down with his friends in the 'Cursed Crusaders'- the unofficial nickname of Dean's large group of friends- and Barnaby had discovered people accepted him for who he was, not for who his family were.

He first met Y/N after Jacob's release from the cursed vault when the abuse Y/N had long suffered was revealed. He had gone one day with Dean and Penny to visit Y/N while he was recuperating in St Mungoes. He wanted to let the boy know his parents had been the same and that he would be ok, and he instantly bonded with the then eight year old. He grew close quickly with Y/N and would catch up with him whenever possible.

His nickname for Y/N of 'little bro' was genuine and sincere. This is the reason he knew something had deeply upset the boy. He hoped Y/N would confide in him.

Their first day in the Reserve had been long, as they swam in the dark cold depths of the lake biome, and Y/N had been unusually quiet, only talking to mark off areas when needed. Now they were sat and finished for the day Barnaby was hopeful Y/N would open up.

"You know you can tell me anything little bro" Barnaby said with warmth as Y/N turned from staring at the horizon.

"After detention last night Hermione and I were sat in the common room alone. We were close and talking and we nearly... kissed"

Barnaby's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't expected that. But then again Dean and Penny started dating in third year, and given his... experiences... Y/N was a hell of a lot more mature than Dean and Barnaby had been at his age.

"But you didn't?" Barnaby asked, Y/N shaking his head.

"A girl from my Quidditch team, Katie, interrupted us. Hermione ran off. She hates me now"

Barnaby was even more shocked.

"Why do you think she hates you? Did she tell you that this morning?" He asked puzzled.

"No she wouldn't talk to me at all. She couldn't even look at me" Y/N replied sadly.

"So she was embarrassed" Barnaby replied. Y/N's head shot back around.

"What?"

"She was embarrassed?" Barnaby asked. "Your first kiss, being interrupted. Was she blushing this morning?"

Y/N felt a cross between the biggest sense of relief and the largest amount of stupidity as he slowly nodded his head.

"It makes more sense to me than her just hating you little bro. Maybe just try talking to her when we're done in here?"

Barnaby smiled seeing Y/N smiling happily, Y/N replying quietly:

"Thanks B"

-~-

Barnaby had gone down not long after dinner, leaving Y/N to sit quietly by himself. He sat with Newt on his shoulder, smiling at the tiny Bowtruckle happily eat his dinner, a woodlouse, as he glanced out to the Plimpys playing happily in the shallows. Y/N smiled. They really were adorable.

The 'sun' was beginning to set, casting beautiful orange hues over the gently lapping waves of the lake. It wasn't real of course, but each biome had its own artificial sun mimicking day and night for the creatures. The Magical strength of will it took to create this place. Y/N knew that Dumbledore, Newt and a few others had created it all and words couldn't express Y/N's awe at the Reserve's majesty, nor at the magical strength and skill needed to bring it into existence.

Y/N felt greatly relieved after his talk with B. At the very least it gave him hope that perhaps he hadn't lost his best friend. Now he just wanted to get back to her and talk.

They had started in the Lake Biome as it wasn't as deep or as long as the Ocean Enclosure, so would be the easier of the two to search.

Barnaby had explained that he tracked the Magical inhabitants of the two enclosures, as they were underwater, through a tracking spell similar to something the muggles called 'radar'. Magical pings would show on a board in the ranger station, identifying creatures within the enclosures. It was a heavily modified version of the Magical trace the Ministry used to track underage witches and wizards.

Three days prior Barnaby had picked up an enormous ping, far too large for any creature in either of the enclosures. They needed to know what was down there. Y/N thought back to his conversation with Barnaby earlier in the day.

"So you really think some creature got in here that shouldn't be here B?" Y/N asked in surprise.

"Yeah, it's the only thing that could spike the magical signals the way we picked up. Albus and I are both concerned. Fortunately the enchantments to stop the magical creatures attacking each other seems to be working on it as well, but we still need to know what could be in here, and figure out how it got in here. If there's a problem where an animal got in, some of ours could get out. And that could be disastrous for the Statute of Secrecy."

"Any idea what could have caused the signals though?" Y/N asked as a feeling of excitement grew in him.

"No that's what I can't figure out. It's something big."

"Could it be a Kelpie?" Y/N couldn't hide the excited smile on his face as he asked, causing Barnaby to laugh.

"Nah I doubt it little bro. Not even Nessie is big enough to cause that disturbance. Don't worry you'll see one one day."

The duo were swimming lengthways along the enclosures, about halfway down depthwise, in a grid formation. They were using the Sonarus charm to read any pings they got back. Once they had cleared an area they magically sealed it with wards to stop any creatures passing through where they had already checked.

The sun disappeared over the horizon and Y/N sighed, wondering what Hermione was up to, if she was ok, as he wished the Plimpys good night and nonverbally cast lumos. He climbed into the tent he was sharing with Barnaby who was already asleep and snoring. Y/N placed Newt on the small cushion between the pair he was sleeping on as he held a finger out the bowtruckle hugged. He laid on top of his sleeping bag and smiled at his small friend.

"Night Newt. I've got to put a silencing charm up now for my nightmares but I'll see you in the morning".

He cast it as the Bowtruckle smiled and laid down, Y/N extinguishing the light at the end of his wand.

-~-

Hermione was sat at a table in the Gryffindor common room, staring out the window down towards Hagrid's Hut. She knew he was literally there, right now, but she couldn't see him. Couldn't speak to him. She sighed. She really, really missed him.

"Two guesses who you are thinking about" Lavender said with a smile, snapping Hermione out of her thoughts.

"Sorry Lav. Miles away."

"It's ok" She smiled. "I'm sure he misses you too."

Hermione sighed again as she turned back to the window:

"I just wish we knew what he was doing. I hope it's nothing too dangerous."

"I'm sure it's fine. Plus he's got Barnaby to keep him safe."

"More like he's keeping Barnaby safe" Hermione giggled. "He did fight you-know-who".

"I still can't believe that" Lavender answered in a shocked tone. She suddenly got an idea.

"Harry?" She called out to him and he walked over from speaking with Ron, Dean and Seamus. She pointed at a chair across from the two girls and smiled.

"Have a seat Harry."

He did and looked at the two girls, Lavender's smile making him nervous. Lavender asked calmly:

"Did Y/N really fight you-know-who?"

Harry looked at Lavender with a hurt expression as he answered:

"Yes he did. Don't you believe me Lav?"

"I do. But I think Hermione needs to hear it again. Remind her how brave Y/N is."

Harry's face lit up and he started gushing:

"He was incredible guys. As soon as we saw Voldemort my scar started hurting like crazy. I fell to the floor in pain. Y/N jumped in front of me. Didn't even hesitate. He said to me 'get out of here Harry I'll hold him off' He was unreal."

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth. She didn't realise Y/N had told Harry to run.

"That's pretty amazing Harry." Lavender smiled.

"I'm not even done yet. Y/N started firing spell after spell at him. I haven't even heard of most of them. Some of them hurt Voldemort and sent him back, others were deflecting and hitting trees and they were exploding and falling it was like a Hollywood movie."

Harry stopped his excitement to catch his breath.

"Then Voldemort got closer and closer even with the spells. After Y/N used the killing curse Voldemort roared and it sent sort of a shockwave at us. Y/N did everything he could to hold it off with a shield and Voldemort got closer and closer to us. Just as he was about to pounce on us, you know what Y/N said to me?"

"No what?" Hermione asked. She was completely enthralled by the story.

"He said to me 'Harry run!' Even when it looked like it was over he was only worried about me."

Harry smiled momentarily before looking down saddened.

"He's my best friend. No one has ever looked out for me like he has. When he saw, what he saw, the other night... It was my uncle. Hurting me. That's why he offered to kill them."

Lavender and Hermione both reached out to grip Harry's hands simultaneously. Neither of them had any idea Harry was abused by his family.

"It's ok guys. Y/N said to me in my head that I didn't have to thank him. That he was my brother. I've never had a brother before. But I really do now."

Harry smiled as his eyes began to water. Lavender squeezed Harry's hand as she turned to Hermione.

"So Hermione, think Y/N will be ok to handle anything in there?"

Hermione chuckled. That must have been Lavender's plan all along. She gripped Lavender in a tight hug.

"Yes Lav and thank you. You really are my best friend. Well, best friend I didn't try to kiss anyway"

Lavender laughed as Harry sat there wide eyed.

"You tried to kiss Y/N?"

-~-

It had been two days since that first night in the enclosure and Y/N's mood had improved considerably. The pair were about three quarters through the Lake biome and hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary yet. The pair were both tired though, they had been swimming non stop for close to ten hours a day.

Y/N had skipped his morning workout while they were there. He was getting more than enough exercise in and their food was much more limited than his usual caloric intake so he conserved energy where he could.

He'd had a great time making friends with the creatures in the Reserve, especially the Grindylow pack.

They were small water demons but Y/N thought they were adorable. He'd accio'd them a few fish and had made friends for life. They had even taught him the Grindylow universal greeting that different packs would use with each other.

Bar weep grana weep ninny bong

It was a mouthful and didn't have an English translation, but he committed it to memory. It would be useful if he ever decided to go swimming in the Black Lake.

The pair finished for the day and exited the lake to dry off. Y/N had been giving Barnaby grief the whole time, Barnaby had been swimming in a wetsuit while Y/N just swam in trunks. Sometimes having an unnaturally high pain threshold came in handy.

Barnaby sat down to cook dinner as Y/N picked Newt up from where he had waited patiently on the shore, placing the tiny creature on his shoulder as he sat across from his older friend. A small smirk crossed Y/N's face.

"So B, hows Liz been?"

Barnaby blushed and Y/N smiled to himself. For a big strong Slytherin Barnaby was surprisingly sweet. He had been in love with Liz Tuttle- another Slytherin, another member of the 'Cursed Crusaders', and another Magizoologist- for a long time but hadn't admitted his feelings to her.

"She's good" Barnaby smiled. "She comes back from Asia in the summer and she's gonna be working with us in the Reserve next year."

Y/N smiled widely as Barnaby blushed even deeper:

"That's awesome man. You gonna tell her?"

"Yeah maybe. So Grindylows are pretty cool hey?"

Y/N laughed at Barnaby's attempt to change the subject.

-~-

It had been three days since Y/N had gone into the Reserve and Beatrice finally had the opportunity she had wanted. It had been quiet so far, she and Cedric had watched over Hermione but none of the Slytherins had even so much as looked at her. Maisy had told them the snakes were all TERRIFIED of Y/N. Beatrice was relieved. She adored Y/N like a little brother and thought highly of Hermione as well. She would have hated to see him expelled from Hogwarts because of a snake's stupidity.

She was currently in the library and Katie Bell was sat in there, her friends leaving shortly before as Beatrice walked up and sat across from her. Katie looked at her with an arrogant smirk before going back to her book.

"So I hear you're interested in Y/N?" Beatrice asked.

"What's it to you?" Katie asked as she looked up with a smirk. Bea took an instant dislike to the girl. She snapped rudely:

"Just keep away from him"

Katie laughed at the older Hufflepuff, replying: "He's a little young for you don't you think?"

Beatrice's eyes narrowed:

"Listen smartarse, he's like my little brother. He isn't interested in you, so just back off and keep away from him!"

Katie smirked again.

"Oh I'm sorry. I didn't realise he had a girlfriend?"

"He doesn't that's not the point. You know he and Hermione are-"

Beatrice was quickly cut off.

"What just friends? He tried to kiss her and she ran away. Looks like he tried to shoot his shot and it missed. Poor guy must be heartbroken. But don't worry, I'll be right here waiting for him to pick up the pieces when he comes back. All those nights we'll spend catching up at Quidditch practice- I've made sure Wood doesn't allow anyone who isn't on the team near us. So much alone time..." She smirked again "...with Y/N"

A vein popped in Beatrice's neck. She was gonna smack this bitch. She shot up out of her chair.

"Now listen here you little bit-"

Beatrice stopped as she felt a wand stick into her neck. She turned her head to see Katie's older sister.

Erin Bell.

Gryffindor.

Head girl.

Total bitch. Fucking hell!

"Everything ok sis?" Erin asked as she glared at Bea. Katie turned on the charm immediately.

"Totally Erin. Was just getting to know my future in laws. You did say he was like your brother right?"

Katie smirked even more as Beatrice's lip curled.. Katie spoke again:

"Let's go get lunch Erin."

She got up and left with her sister, only turning to wave and giggle, muttering:

"Ta-ta"