Chapter One-

Quinn Rose Shephard

I woke up drenched in sweat; my nightmares getting worse and worse. You might think that things get better the farther away time gets, but in reality, no. Not at all. It gets worse. The guilt is eating at me and the more it takes, the worse the nightmares become. They're horrible. The bodies of my classmates and teachers strewn everywhere, leaving me feeling like I could have done more for them. People cross my line of vision, picking the dead up, taking them away. In a fit of passion, I cry out and lunge at one of the people. He is only 14, so scared. My animagus form leaps from me, transforming my body and mind. No one ever realizes just how dangerous and beauteous a wolf really is until they attack. Poor boy.

Now its not just the survivors guilt eating at me, but the fact that I killed someone. (Ok, so he was in a dream, but dreams are real and scary!)

I get out of bed, knowing from experience that I won't be able to go back to sleep. In past occurrences, I had sat there, not even able to close my eyes, knowing that I'd see the images still. I'd quickly learned that it's best to get my mind off things, so I quickly walk out of the new dorm for the eighth years, and into the hall.

When I get outside of Hogwarts, no longer a school where I feel safe, instead a place filled with horrible, gory memories, I run. My long strides soon turn longer as I shift. Now I'm a large white wolf speeding down the hillside.

The wind rips through the white fur that runs along my back, emphasizing the one time these days that I feel free. Free of the memories, of the guilt, and of the people who always think they can comfort me. I am alone and I won't take anyone's pity.

Draco Abraxas Malfoy

The image of the Dark Mark on my arm lingers in my mind as I wander through the Forbidden Forest, no longer the scariest place I've ever been. No, that title's been long replaced by my head. The things I've done over the past couple of years repeating themselves in endless rounds in my mind have been haunting me since the battle. I helped that man, if you could call him that. I helped him to start the entire thing. If I hadn't disarmed Dumbledore, none of this would have happened. Sure, he threatened me into it, but as usual, I could have chosen not to be a wimp, but I was scared. Scared of loosing my family. (Though I don't consider my father family. He is just a bastard who produced me.)

If only Dumbledore had confided in me that there was a plan, that I could have been safe. Draco stop! a voice in my head told me. Stop being such a selfish wimp. SLYTHERINS aren't wimps. Maybe you got sorted into the wrong house, it sneered. God dangit, this blasted voice in my head, the one my father put there! It won't shut up!

I stop and sit down at the base of a tree. My head falls and my hands reflexively position themselves to catch it and hold it, cradling. I can't cry, I can't cry, I can't - sobs pour from my mouth, sounding like a tortured animal. The sobs turn into howls as my animagus form takes over.

Quinn Rose Shephard

I bolt up from laying in my spot by the lake at the sound of howls. Someone's here. I cock my head, listening. God, the emotion in those howls is not the emotion of an animal. No, this is another animagus, I expect here for the same reason I am. To pour out my soul and get away from nightmares.

I'm not alone, no matter how often I believe I am. Everyone is allowed to roam the halls now. Everyone was hit hard. Filch isn't allowed to do anything about it anymore, we all need time. Time to recover, recuperate, feel whole again. As whole as we can be, at least.

Still though, no one's ever joined me here before.