Disclaimer: I only own the plot; the rest is J.K.R.'s.
Cat-like Instincts
Chapter One: Sleepless
The moon shone as just a sliver of light above her head as she ran swiftly through the forest. She did not know where she was coming from or where she was traveling to, only that while she ran she felt so alive: dodging through trees, feeling the wind on her face, the sound of night's creatures in her ears. She saw a clearing up ahead and decided to stop to take a quick rest before continuing on her run. While sitting under a tree, she looked up to gaze at the night sky with its crescent moon and myriad of stars.
Suddenly, a snap of a twig broke the serenity of the clearing. She quickly stood up and whirled around to face where the sound had come from. Out of the shadows came the form of a man, although she could not see his face. The man began to attack her, using claws and fangs to do so. The aggressive beast in the man called out to use her own animal instincts to defend herself. It was then that she transformed: her wavy brown hair lengthened and became straight, pointed ears came out from the top of her head, her incisors lengthened and were sharper to become more fang-like, her nails grew and became sharp as daggers, her honey colored eyes lightened to become golden with her pupils changing into cat-like slits, and a long brown tail was suddenly moving side to side behind her. She hissed at her on-coming assailant and they began a vicious battle, fangs against fangs and claws versus claws. Finally, she saw an opening that would finish this fierce battle once and for all. So, she lunged for his throat….
Hermione Granger woke up with a start. Breathing harshly, she recalled her extremely vivid dream: her turning into a sort of cat-demon and battling it out with what she thought might have been a werewolf. It was the third time that week that she had the same dream and she was afraid they were becoming more frequent.
"This is just getting ridiculous," Hermione spoke aloud, "I'm starting to sound like Harry with repeatedly having the same dream that seems so real, but I'm worse. At least Harry's dreams actually were real and came from real danger. I, on the other hand, am having totally illusory dreams and have no danger whatsoever to worry about."
However, that was not entirely true. Although Harry had defeated Voldemort at the beginning of summer and the Golden Trio was looking forward to a peaceful seventh year, some of Voldemort's minions were still at large and hungering for revenge. And it seemed that the savage werewolf Fenrir Greyback was behind most of the attacks on the people of the good side. He, some Death Eaters, and a few dementors had been going around terrorizing anyone from muggles to members of the Order.
"Well, I had better get back to sleep if I don't want to look exhausted on my first day of school," Hermione told herself. For tomorrow she was starting her last year at Hogwarts and she had made Head Girl. Hermione just wondered who on earth the Head Boy could be because not only would she have to share her head duties with him, but also a bathroom and a common room in the Head's dormitory.
Draco Malfoy could not get to sleep. He was stretched out on his bed staring at his ceiling in his darkened bedroom. The only source of light came from the crescent moon shining through his bedroom window.
He and his mother still lived at the Malfoy Manor while his father was imprisoned in Azkaban. Whereas Lucius was a fierce Death Eater, still faithful to the Dark Lord and his beliefs, Draco had switched to the side of light a couple months before Voldemort's demise. Draco did not share his father's or Voldemort's beliefs and did not plan on becoming a puppet for Voldemort's use. Dumbledore had ensured his mother's safety and his own. However, before Draco joined his mother in hiding, he decided to make himself useful be acting as Dumbledore's double agent, reporting all that he knew about Voldemort and his plans to the powerful wizard. Then, the day before Voldemort's downfall, Dumbledore put Draco into hiding saying it was too risky for him to remain a spy any longer.
Only a few people actually knew of Draco's change of heart--which did not include the Golden Trio--and he planned to keep it that way. He still wanted to keep his bad boy reputation even if he didn't care about purebloods versus muggles. Draco didn't have to be cruel to muggles anymore, but he wasn't going to announce it to the world. Plus, he still wanted to tease the Golden Trio even though he was on their side.
Furthermore, tomorrow Draco would start his last year at Hogwarts as Head Boy. He couldn't wait to see the shocked look on people's faces when they found out, especially the Head Girl's, which he was sure was going to be Hermione.
And with a little smirk playing on Draco's lips, he finally fell asleep.
Author's Note: In Hermione's dream she turns into a cat-demon. If you couldn't really picture how she looked watch the anime Inuyasha. She kinda looked like Inuyasha in his half-demon state, except Hermione's coloring is different and she has a tail. But, everything else is pretty much the same.