A/n: I own nothing. Thanks to Anne for beta-ing. Enjoy!
Deep in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, six fierce predators stalked elusive prey with cunning and stealth.
Well, mostly.
I am NEVER getting the hang of this, Harry Potter grumbled in his thoughts while the four paws of his wolf form picked itself up after yet another missed rabbit, the third one that night. It wouldn't be nearly so bad if I'd seen that tree.
From behind he heard coughing noises that sounded awfully like snickers and whined, pawing at his nose. They're not going to let me forget this.
"That," a familiar voice said behind him, "was priceless."
Inwardly, Harry moaned. They're really not going to let me forget this.
Searching for something else to think about, Harry's ears detected the unique slithering sound of a basilisk, dragging longer than any regular snake. He wolf-grinned, his tongue lolling, and let a long hiss come out of his mouth. "Hello Sangre."
He felt the familiar sensation of her tongue wrapping around him in an odd scent-hug. "Hello Harry," she answered, "why are you and your Pride out so late?"
"Hunting," he answered nonchalantly, and shifted back into a human, letting her tail wrap around him. "How have you been? Getting enough to eat?"
"Enough to survive, eggling," she replied, her hissing voice holding the undertones of amusement.
"Translation for the illiterate?" Ginny's voice demanded laughingly, coming up and sketching the great snake a small bow. "Nice to see you again, Sangre."
"And under better circumstances," the basilisk replied lightly, then, realizing only Harry could understand, said, "Tell your mate it is always a pleasure to see her."
Harry was glad it was dark; blushes were harder to see at night. "She's not my mate!"
Sangre's only reply was a long hissing laugh. Muttering about basilisks who thought they knew everything, Harry relayed the message.
Ginny raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why do I feel like I'm missing part of the conversation?"
"You're not," Harry said quickly. A little too quickly.
Luckily Redwing saved him from further embarrassment by plummeting out of the sky and shifting into Ron before hitting the ground. Sangre's tongue lashed out, flicking back just an inch from Ron's face, making the redhead yelp and fall backwards into a bush. "Your nest-mate is lucky I know his scent," she told Harry sternly.
Harry nodded; Ron could have easily been a snake-snack. "You shouldn't do that," he informed his friend as Ron struggled out of the bush, pulling twigs from his hair. "Sangre thought you were food."
Ron finally noticed the large basilisk. "Sangre's here."
"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Hermione said acerbically, rolling her eyes as she stepped up to Sangre and ran her hand along the snake's scales. Sangre greeted her warmly.
Ron glared at her. "Will you quit it with that bloody nickname? I don't do many things that stupid."
"Says the boy who ran around in only his underwear when he was nine."
"Oi! You dared me to do that!"
"I didn't tell you to tie a towel around your neck and proclaim yourself King of the World. That was all you."
Ron turned red as Harry and Ginny cracked up.
Draco and Luna showed up at the same time, both looking distinctly more ruffled than usually. "What'd we miss?" Draco asked his brother as soon as Harry got his breath back.
"Remember when we were nine? And Ron tied that towel around his neck?"
Draco laughed. "Oh yeah! That was hilarious! Didn't the twins give you a wedgie?"
"No!" Ron exclaimed, going red from neck to hair.
"Yes, they did," Luna corrected vaguely. Ron glared at her; Luna seemed unaffected.
"So," Ginny began slyly, shooting a sidelong glance at the two blondes, "where were you two?"
"Not hunting," Harry snorted.
Draco socked him in the arm, Harry punched him back, and soon both were rolling around the forest floor.
"Same place Neville and I were, I bet," Meghan said, appearing out of nowhere, followed by a madly blushing Neville.
Ron covered his ears. "Need to know basis! Need to know basis!"
"As in, 'he didn't'," Hermione added between giggles.
"It is good to see you well and rejoicing with your nest-mates," Sangre said happily between bouts of laughter as the Pride jovially tried to embarrass each other more.
"It's been hard to find time to be with them like this, lately," Harry admitted as Draco told the story of him getting caught in a tree. He made a rude hand-gesture at his brother, who returned it with interest.
There was small rustle nearby as everyone with good ears detected little feet hopping.
"Shh!" Harry shushed, "We be huntin' wabbits."
"Wabbit season?" Hermione asked.
"Duck season!" Draco countered.
"Wabbit season!"
"Duck season!"
"Wabbit season!"
"Wabbit season!"
"Duck season!"
"BANG!" Hermione mimed shooting.
Draco spun around. "You're ditttthpicable!"
Harry and Meghan snorted and choked on laughter. The others just watched them, confused.
"Muggle joke," Hermione explained when they calmed down.
"Human joke," Harry said to Sangre, who nodded.
"Back to hunting, eggling?" Sangre asked as Ron and Luna changed into Redwing and Starwing and took off into the sky.
"Yes. Wish me luck?"
"Good luck, my eggling."
Harry turned back into Wolf, giving Sangre's tail a lick as she slithered past and back into the forest.
The rest of the Pride shifted and split up into the wood as well; after all, the game was still on.
Wolf's ears perked as he picked up paw steps nearby. Too big to be a rabbit, too small to be a threat. The wind was blowing away from him, so he couldn't identify the smell with any amount of clarity. The wind shifted and he wolf-grinned again as the scent hit his nose.
He dropped low to his belly and stalked, going slow. Wolf pawed his way into a bush and got ready. The steps were coming closer…closer…closer…NOW!
He pounced playfully, howling triumph. Lynx yowled and together they rolled down an incline, each trying to pin the other.
Draco and Hermione, both spying in a nearby tree, grinned at each other. Draco held up his hand like a microphone.
"I can see what's happening."
Hermione grinned. "What?"
"And they don't have a clue," Luna intoned as she swung up onto a nearby branch.
"Who?" Ron asked as he joined them: none were sure if he was playing along or if he was genuine.
"They'll fall in love and here's the bottom line…" Meghan giggled.
"…our trio's down to two." Neville said, grinning.
"Oh," several people dead-panned at the same time, to giggles and shushes of the others.
Wolf and Lynx both shifted back by mutual agreement, Ginny perched on Harry's chest.
"I can see the headlines now!" she crowed triumphantly. "'Boy-Who-Lived beaten by Youngest Weasley'! You'll have to pay me handsomely to keep this to myself, Potter."
"You can have all the gold in my vault," Harry said, mock-somber. "But I hope that because I'm your Pridemate you'll let me off the hook."
Ginny flapped her hand and sighed in playful defeat. "Oh, fine, this one time. However, cross me again…"
Harry nodded, "I'll keep it in mind."
She broke into fits of giggles and rolled off him...
...much to the disappointment of the more romantic of the Pride, still watching from the branches.
"Oi!" Ron nearly shouted, before several members hastened to cover his mouth, "That's my sister we're spying on!" he said in a softer voice when they let him go.
Draco shrugged. "And that's our brother. Sit back and enjoy the show."
"Going hunting tonight was a great idea," Ginny said thoughtfully, staring up at the sky.
"I'm glad I thought of it," Harry agreed.
Ginny lifted herself up on one elbow and glared. "I thought of it!"
"I know."
It took Ginny about half a second to realize she'd been had. When she did, they both went flying up, and the rest of the Pride was very amused by a chase that culminated in Harry being pinned (once again) by an irate Lynx.
"Okay, okay! I give!" Harry held his hands up in defeat. The red lynx on his chest nodded smugly before jumping off and changing back into Ginny.
"Thought you might," her mouth said. Her hands said, The Pride is watching.
"Oh, you think you're so clever," he retorted. Where?
Tree to our right. "Pure fact, Mr. Potter, pure fact."
He rolled his eyes as they moved subtly closer to the tree. "So funny, I forgot to laugh." On three. One…two…three!
Harry leapt into the air and grabbed a shoe, tugging hard. Draco came tumbling out of the tree to land on the ground with a splat, quickly followed by an equally surprised Hermione. Between the two of them, Harry and Ginny made quick work of pulling the Pride from their hiding place.
They watched as the others dusted themselves off, but missed the traded look between Megan and Neville.
"Get 'em!"
The entire Pride took off after Harry and Ginny, who ran like their lives depended on it. They split up, came back together, split up again; all the time avoiding the others. Finally Harry grabbed her arm and pulled her behind a tree.
Perhaps it was a leaf on the ground that caused the next chain of events. Or maybe the sole of Harry's running shoe. Or maybe, even, the tail of a certain meddling basilisk. Either way, the next thing that happened was monumental.
Harry slipped.
His weight pulled Ginny down and, interestingly enough, the end result was her lips pressed firmly against his. So Harry did what any red-blooded teenage male would do: he kissed her back and things multiplied.
It was the determined snap of a twig nearby that broke them apart. They both realized with horror that they had been practically snogging. Wide-eyed and panicky, they scrambled to their feet and bolted in opposite directions.
The Pride was astounded.
"Did he just…" Meghan started, confused, "And did she just…" she tried again, "And did they just…"
"Yep."
"Wow."
"Yep."
For the whole rest of the day Ginny resolved to simply avoid Harry as much as humanly possible. Unfortunately fate decided against her, as she came down for breakfast to see Harry engaged in a wrestling match with Ron that ended with Harry shedding his shirt. The rest of the day followed in similar order until Ginny was ready to explode.
Finally they ended up running into each other in front of the Great Hall before dinner. Literally.
Harry, being the larger of the two, was left standing after the collision. "Sorry!" he blurted to the girl he'd just sent sprawling. "Sorry! I'm sorry! Oh, Gin…Er – Hi." He blushed.
"Hi," she said weakly back as she let him help her up.
"So about last night…"
"Motion to say it never happened," she responded quickly.
"Seconded."
"All in favor?"
"Aye."
"Aye. Vote unanimous, motion approved."
They grinned at each other, relaxing slightly, and went to sit with the rest of the Pride. Life returned to normal.
Well, mostly.