The rays of the midday sun, were filtering through the tree branches and foliage of the forest, as Cassius pushed aside a curtain of heavy branches, letting them swing back and swallow the path behind him.
The forest air was cool and sharp, carrying the metallic scent of moss and something faintly sweet—an aroma he had learned to associate with magic far older than Hogwarts.
Leaves whispered under his boots.
Every step he took was deliberate, weight balanced, silent enough that even the smallest creatures didn't bolt at his passing.
The deeper he moved, the more the forest shifted.
The ambient hum of insects thinned.
The air grew still.
Cassius paused.
Something watched him.
Not with hunger.
Not with hostility.
Curiosity.
He exhaled through his nose, the slow, controlled breath of someone who understood that the forest responded not to force, but intention.
Ahead, through the spears of dark branches, a pale shimmer pulsed like moonlight caught in a prism.
Cassius brushed aside a final veil of low-hanging leaves.
A clearing opened like a secret.
Silver grass glowed under the rising sun, each blade reflecting the ornage starlight as though dipped in mercury.
And at its center—head bowed, mane falling like drifting silk—a unicorn grazed, hooves so light they barely bent the enchanted grass.
Cassius felt his breath still.
It wasn't beauty that struck him.
It was presence—an ancient, wordless awareness.
The unicorn lifted its head, ears tilting toward him.
Its eyes were liquid and deep, silver within silver.
Cassius didn't move.
He let the forest's silence stretch between them.
Even Luna trailing a step or two behind him froze up, though her breathing did hitch at what she was seeing.
The unicorn took a step toward him.
A soft one, careful.
As if the beast was unsure of his intentions in coming here and was judging his and her hearts as it stared on.
Cassius allowed the faintest smile.
"Hello," he said quietly, as if greeting an equal rather than a beast.
The unicorn blinked once, slowly, as though accepting the greeting.
Cassius stepped forward—just one pace—and waited, letting the moment settle, letting the unicorn decide the next move.
Behind him, somewhere in the shadowed lattice of trees, a twig gave a muted snap.
Cassius's ear twitched in its direction, enough to note but not enough to startle.
Luna indeed was watching.
But he didn't turn.
Didn't break the moment.
Ultimately he didnt care, Luna being the person she was wouldn't be petty enough to purposely scare off the unicorn in order to win the bet, she was probably more beside herself watching the majestic beast who'd appeared before their eyes.
The unicorn took another step toward him, nostrils flaring as it caught his scent.
Cassius lowered his hand, palm open, fingers relaxed.
The clearing held its breath.
The unicorn leaned in—
Its breath touched his palm first.
Warm.
Silvery-sweet.
Like exhaled moonlight carrying the faintest scent of crushed lilies.
The unicorn's nose brushed the center of Cassius's hand in a feather-light nudge, as if confirming what its instincts had already whispered: this one is safe.
Cassius didn't lift his hand.Didn't stroke.Didn't reach.
He let the unicorn be the one who chose.
Only having experience dealing with cats and dogs from his previous life, and owls from this one, using the skills he'd learned from them, hoping they would transfer over.
The creature's muzzle pressed more firmly into his palm, the velvet-soft skin shifting with tiny movements as it inhaled him again, deeper this time, as though memorizing him.
Its mane swayed in the filtered sunlight, threads of white-gold shimmering like living strands of starlight.
Behind Cassius, Luna released a tiny, involuntary sound—half gasp, half laugh, a trembling little exhale of awe she didn't dare shape into words.
The unicorn's ears flicked at the sound but it didn't retreat.
Its focus remained on Cassius.
He finally let his fingers curl, slow as ivy growing, until they rested gently against the creature's cheek.
Just one point of contact.
Barely a touch.
The unicorn didn't flinch.
Its head tilted, pressing more weight into his hand, inviting more.
Cassius obliged.
He lifted his other hand, just as patient, just as unthreatening, and let it drift up to stroke the unicorn's mane.
The hair was impossibly soft—like threads too fine to exist in the mortal world—and warm with its own inner magic.
The unicorn closed its eyes.
That was the moment the forest changed.
The air thickened with quiet reverence.
The branches overhead stilled.
Even the sun filtering through the leaves seemed to pause in its descent, holding the golden light in place as though time itself was reluctant to continue.
Cassius let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, though the exhale was barely a whisper.
"You really do like him…" Luna murmured.
Her voice was soft, but it rippled the moment like a stone touching still water.
Not enough to break it.
Just enough to make it ring.
Cassius didn't turn.The unicorn didn't pull away.
Instead, it stepped closer, chest brushing his robes, a gesture so trusting it bordered on sacred.
It lifted its head slightly—an invitation that only someone attuned to magical creatures would recognize.
Cassius understood.
Very slowly, he slid one hand along the unicorn's neck until his fingers reached the base of its jaw.
The unicorn leaned into the touch, breath fluttering in a warm sigh that stirred the fabric of Cassius's sleeve.
Luna took a step forward, her boots sinking into the silver grass with a soft hush.
Her eyes were wide and shining, like she was seeing a story she'd been told as a child but never believed was real.
Her hands were clasped to her chest, pale knuckles pressing into wool.
"He likes you more than the forest lets on," she whispered. "Unicorns know things… secrets we don't. And sometimes they pick people who feel like… like sunlight under the skin."
Cassius huffed a tiny, amused sound—almost a laugh but not quite.
"Is that what I am to him?" he said without looking away from the unicorn.
His tone was smooth, faintly teasing, but with a softness threading through it he rarely allowed anyone to hear.
Luna's answer was immediate.
"To him? Yes."A beat."To me? Still yes."
The unicorn shifted, nudging Cassius's shoulder, almost impatiently.
He responded with another long, steady stroke down its mane.
The creature's tail flicked, brushing lightly against Luna's skirt, and she froze like she'd been touched by a falling star.
The unicorn turned its head then, pressing its forehead—directly beneath the spiraled horn—against Cassius's chest.
A gesture of absolute trust.
Luna inhaled sharply.
"Oh… Cassius… that's… that's not normal. They don't do that." She whispered it with reverence, as if speaking too loudly might wake her from a dream.
Luna didnt know this as it was material learnt in later years, but her perception keyed her into the beasts own feelings, and could feel utmost trust in the people before it, both her, and him.
Cassius placed both hands gently on either side of the unicorn's head.
The creature let him.
Silver light rippled across its horn, faint at first, then brighter—like the sunlight had condensed into one narrow, glowing spiral.
The condition of taming the beast was already completed quite long ago one could say, but now it was apparent the beast wanted to try and go one step further now.