Harry stared up at the large part eagle, lion, and horse creature in awe. Buckbeak towered over the six-year-old, his silvery coat glittering in the morning sun.  His body was that of a magnificent stallion, his hindquarters ending in a stallion's powerful hooves. His tail was that of a lion, and his forequarters were a soft pearl-grey and white feathers, his forelegs ending in an eagle's sharp talons. His wings were furled against his sides. Buckbeak's head was that of an eagle, and like his eagle kin he ate meat.  Hippogriffs were known to be very territorial, proud, and accepted no wizard upon their back unless the wizard showed it some respect first.

Buckbeak was tethered securely in the yard by a stout chain attached to a leather collar about his neck.  He gave a soft half-croak, flapping his great wings. 

James put a hand on Harry's shoulder.  "Now don't be afraid, kiddo. Beaky's a good-tempered hippogriff, right fellow?" He tossed the hippogriff a dead ferret.

Buckbeak caught it in midair and gulped it down.

"What was that you gave him, Dad?"

"It was a dead ferret. Buckbeak likes treats and he eats meat."

Harry wrinkled his nose. "Eww! I wouldn't want to eat that."

"You would if you were a hippogriff, sport." James tweaked Harry's nose. "Now, hippogriffs are proud creatures, Harry. And when you wish to be their friend or to ride them, you have to show them respect."

"How do you do that, Dad? Do you call them sir?"

"No," James laughed.  "You bow to them, like this." James swept the hippogriff and low bow. "And then you wait to see if he accepts. If he does, he'll bow back.  If not, keep away from him, because he could attack you. They're touchy creatures."

Buckbeak immediately bowed back and James nudged Harry.

"Now you try."

Harry made a low bow, copying his father.

"How was that?"

"Very good! Buckbeak, this is my son, Harry," James said.

The hippogriff made a sort of odd cry, something inbetween a croon and an eagle's screech. Then he bowed to Harry as well.

Harry grinned from ear to ear. "It worked! He likes me, Dad!"

"'Course he does.  You're my son, what's not to like?" James ruffled his hair. "Okay, let me put you on his back."

Harry looked uneasy. "Um . . .where's the saddle?"

James paused in the act of picking up his son. "Harry, this isn't like a horse.  A hippogriff . . .doesn't like things being strapped on him. You ride him bareback. Now, up you go!"

He placed his son on Buckbeak's back, just before the wings, sitting up on the hippogriff's withers. "Okay, Harry. Grip his sides with your knees, lean forward, and hold on to the collar around his neck." James instructed. He undid the chain from its ring and gathered it in his hand. "I'm going to walk him a little so you get used to moving with him."

James made a clicking noise and began to lead Buckbeak in a large circle.

Buckbeak followed docilely, his head bobbing up and down. 

Harry found it sort of awkward to hold onto the hippogriff, Buckbeak's back was slick and slippery and he felt himself sliding several times. "Dad, I'm slipping," he called after two complete circles.

James looked back at Harry. "Sit up straight, kid. That's it. And keep your knees bent and squeeze them hard."

"I'm trying," Harry panted. He was, but his legs were too little to straddle the beast properly and he didn't have the strength in his legs to grip very hard either.

"You're doing good, Harry! You ride almost as well as me." James praised. "Do you like it?"

Harry considered. He didn't really, but he didn't want to hurt his dad's feelings. Maybe it would feel better if he were flying. "Yeah, it's pretty cool.  But can I fly with him, Dad?"

James hesitated.  But Harry's pleading gaze totally melted him.  "Ahh . . .okay, but only a few feet." He gave Buckbeak another treat and then signaled the hippogriff to take off and fly.

Buckbeak gulped the ferret, then crouched and sprang up into the air.  James carefully played out the chain, allowing the hippogriff to fly some nine feet in the air before refastening it. He waved at his son from the ground. "Hi, Harry! How do you like it up there?"

"It's great!" he shouted back and he meant it.  He loved flying in whatever medium.

"Now, isn't this a lot more fun than making some boring old potion?" James asked, happy that his son was now smiling and not screaming his lungs out.  Hopefully, by the time the ride was over he would have forgotten all about wanting to go home to Snape and Lily.

Harry had to admit that it was, and he clung to the hippogriff's collar tightly, but he was not afraid. In the air, Buckbeak was graceful and he didn't jounce so and make Harry feel like a Bludger being bounced all over. 

James watched his son ride proudly.  He's a Potter, all right! A chip off the old block.  All us Potters have been excellent fliers and I'm sure he'll be a great Quidditch player too.  Just like me.  He was pleased that Harry loved to fly and had inherited his natural ability on a broom.  He wanted Harry to have more in common with him than with his stepfather, whom James still regarded as an inferior half-blood greasy git.  There were times James resented Severus something fierce, for being with Harry for most of the time, and turning him into some mini potions prodigy.

Or was Lily to blame for that? he wondered. Because she, too, adored making potions, and she was a respected apothecary.  It nagged James that Harry stuck up for Snape and shared his love for that most difficult and, in James' view, most boring subject of wizardry.  He had barely scraped by in potions in school, mostly because he didn't want to apply himself and concentrate.  He had been too busy trying to get Lily to notice him and playing pranks on Snape to really study for class.  Luckily, Slughorn liked him and had never really failed him for missing homework and unfinished tests.

Just then, he heard Sirius calling him from the back porch. "Oi, Prongs! You know that hot babe you used to date-what's her name-Janine Ashby-she's just Flooed you. I think she wants to go out again."

James looked away towards Sirius, calling back, "Not this weekend, buddy.  Tell her I'll call her back after dinner and we'll talk-"

"AHHHH! DADDY!"

James spun around, Harry's petrified scream echoing in his ears, to see his only son tumble from Buckbeak's back as the hippogriff reared, snapping at large owl flying down to deliver a letter to him. 

"HARRY!" screamed his father, moving forward to try and catch his son, but he was too late.

The child landed on the ground hard, one arm folding beneath him with a sharp snap, as he tried to catch himself.

The breath was knocked out of him and Harry remained still, lying like a limp ragdoll thrown by a child in a temper.

Above, Buckbeak pursued the owl across the sky, the chain dangling forgotten from his collar as James ran to kneel beside his son.

"Harry? Oh, dear Merlin, talk to me! Harry, are you okay? Open your eyes!" he begged, gently turning the boy over.

Harry was pale, he had blood on his mouth from where he had bitten his lip, and his arm was bent at an unnatural angle. James, who had sustained his share of Quidditch injuries, knew immediately it was broken.

Harry's eyes were closed and he seemed to be in shock, his chest fluttering rapidly. James felt his heart begin to beat again. His son was alive, though possibly badly hurt. "You're going to be okay, sport. You hear me? I'm going to call a Healer and you'll be fixed up good as new in no time." He whirled and screamed, "Sirius! Floo a Healer-your cousin Andromeda-Harry just fell off Buckbeak and he broke his arm and is knocked out!"

Sirius came running over, saw his godson lying still in his best friend's arms, and cursed and went to call Andromeda, who ran a clinic for wizards. 

Meanwhile, Harry began to stir. "Ughh . . ." His eyes fluttered open.  "Dad . . .wha' happened?"

"Shhh, Harry. Lie still. You had a bad fall and you've hurt your arm." James tried his best to remain calm, but he was quickly losing his composure.  He had never had to deal with Harry when he was sick or injured and he was terrified.

Harry tried to sit up, found that it hurt awfully bad, and began to cry. "Mum! I want Mummy!"

"Harry, calm down. It's all right."

But Harry was hurting and all he cared about right then was having his mother, who had always healed him when he was sick, nearby. "Mummy! I want Mummy!" he began to bawl hysterically and nothing James could do would stop him.

Since Sirius was using the Floo, James summoned his wand, he had stupidly left it on the table inside, and cast his Patronus, a white stag, to summon Lily to the manor. As the stag bounded away, James held Harry close, trying to soothe him, but the little boy was inconsolable.

"Mummy! Da! Oww!" His arm was beginning to hurt really badly and all he wanted was Lily's gentle touch and to see her face.

James, who knew next to nothing about healing spells, summoned a Pain Reliever and tried to get Harry to drink it. "Here, son, this'll help with the pain."

But Harry shook his head. "No! Don' wan' it! I wan' Da!" Severus always gave him potions when he was sick, Harry wouldn't take them for anyone but him or Lily.

"Please, Harry, just take some," James argued, feeling guilty as hell, since he knew he shouldn't have let himself be distracted from Buckbeak and he also should have cast a Sticking Charm upon the little boy before letting him fly, but he had forgotten to do so in the excitement of watching his son ride for the first time.

Harry refused again, nearly knocking the vial out of his hand.

"James! What happened?" Lily came running across the lawn, followed by Severus. They had left their other two children with Remus when James' Patronus had contacted them. 

"He fell, Lily." James began, his face ashen. "Off of Buckbeak."

"Mummy!" cried his son, and reached his good arm towards his mother.

"Potter, you imbecile!" Severus shouted. "You let him ride your bloody hippogriff?" He looked like he wanted to hex James to pieces.

"It was an accident, Snape!" James yelled, in no mood to hear his former classmate say "I told you so".

"Shut up, both of you!" Lily growled, kneeling to take Harry from James's arms. "There now, sweet boy, tell Mummy where it hurts."

"M-my a-arm hurts, Mum!" sobbed Harry. "An' my head . . ."

"All right, love, I'm going to take you to Aunt ‘Dromeda and she'll fix you." Lily soothed, holding her son securely. "I'm going over to Andromeda's clinic." She fixed James with a burning glare. "If you're done playing the irresponsible idiot, Potter, you can come along.  I don't know what the bloody hell you were thinking!" She turned to stride off towards the house, knowing Apparition was too dangerous for an injured child.  Then she called over her shoulder, "Don't kill him, Sev.  He's not worth doing time for."

Severus acknowledged her words with a brief nod, his temper threatening to slip its leash.

James stood up, not wanting to face an angry Snape on the ground. He looked defensive and guilty, like a little boy caught playing with a forbidden object.  "Look, Snape-"

"No, you look, Potter!" Severus growled, his eyes burning obsidian flames. He strode forward until he was almost nose to nose with the other wizard, leaning down to confront James eye to eye.  "Have you no bloody common sense at all? Harry is only six years old! Why did you let him ride a hippogriff by himself? He could have been killed! Where the hell was your head, Potter? Up your arse?"

James flushed, Snape's words stung like a swarm of bees, and he knew he deserved the other man's scorn.  Even so, his pride rebelled at being scolded like a toddler by a man he had always belittled and mocked as inferior.  "He was fine until Buckbeak was startled, Snape! It was an accident, I didn't do it on purpose!"

"You're a bloody jackass! Why weren't you with him? Why didn't you have charms on him so he didn't fall off?" Snape demanded, spittle flecking his lips.  "I'll tell you why not. Because you're an irresponsible, good-for-nothing, poor excuse for a father! All you ever think about is playing with him, you never think about keeping him safe."

"That's not true!" James cried. But inwardly he cringed for he knew Snape was right.

"Don't lie to me, Potter! You're unfit to take care of a goldfish, much less a child! I'd hex the spit out of you, but right now I have better things to do.  Like be with my son." And with that final parting shot, Severus spun about and Apparated away before he broke his promise to Lily and strangled her ex-husband.

"He's not your son, Snape!" James shouted. "He's mine!"

But Snape was gone.  Clenching his fists, his head bowed, James Apparated to Andromeda's clinic as well, praying that his folly would not have grave consequences for his little boy.  Oh God, Harry, I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen.