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Prologue…
1st year
Draco Malfoy had expected the day to go like any other. He expected to wake up, take a shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, and ride his broom. But that day would change the life of Draco Malfoy forever. As he headed outside to stroll through his mother's gardens out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flash of black. His head snapped over to it. Seeing nothing, he shrugged and continued on. He walked about another five paces until he saw it again. The flash of black. This time he spun around and raised his wand, shouting, "Expeliarmus!" There was a snarl, a rustling of leaves and the nothing. He knew he had hit whatever it was, because it left a small trail of blood on the ground. He followed the trail to find a small, whimpering little animal. As he got closer he could tell that it was a large cat of some kind. Certainly not a bobcat, it was pure black. He crept closer until it snapped its head up and looked at him. He gasped and jumped back. It had beautiful, golden eyes with flecks of black and emerald in them. He felt that it was a girl, somewhere deep in his being that it was a she. He looked down at her injured leg, and the pitiful keening noise she was making at him. "C'mon," he said finally. "Let's get you inside."
And that was the beginning of Raksha
Chapter One…
6th yr.
Draco's POV
I groaned and fell back onto my bed. Life at Hogwarts was proving to be incredibly boring without the Golden Trio for me to torment. I was scared, too. It was always there, lurking in the back of my mind, the fear. The only time I wasn't afraid when I was with Raksha, and Dumbledore never let me take her into school. And then it hit me. Dumbledore. Dumbledore never let me take Raksha into school. But Snape might. I needed to ask him. And soon. I was going crazy without the comfort of her silky fur pressed against my side and draped over my torso at night. She had grown into a sleek, muscled beauty. She was powerful and deadly, and no deatheater dared to enter his personal chambers without him there to tame her. She was as renowned as Nagini. That was it. I would go crazy without my Sha. With that thought in the front of my mind I stormed into Snape's office without knocking, not acknowledging the two deatheaters who sat across from him. "I need to go to the Manor." Snape did not look up from whatever paperwork he was signing as he sighed, saying, "What could you possibly need from the Manor right. This. Second so badly that you had to interrupt my meeting, Draco?" The familiar condescending drawl of my Godfather's voice could either be the most comforting thing on this God forsaken Earth, or it could make even the stoniest man feel like a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar. This particular time it was the former. Usually, I would let my embarrassment at being spoken to like that rule, or perhaps my anger. But with the thought of my precious companion in mind, I didn't care so much. "Raksha." At her name, the deatheaters stilled, watching to see what would happen next. Snape looked at me for the first time, and I knew his dark, bottomless eyes could see through me, and my thinly veiled exhaust and fear. "Leave us." He spoke, his lips moving only the slightest bit. The deatheaters filed out immediately. "I need her Sev." I let just a fraction of my desperation and fear seep into my words, as I did something any self-respecting Malfoy never did. I begged. "Please, Severus. Please." Snape sighed and dropped his head into his hands, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "I know I am going to regret this deeply…" I didn't let him finish as I grinned a rare smile and grabbed a handful of Floo, practically dancing as I could barely squeeze out a "Malfoy Manor," around my giant grin, so out of place and out of practice on my face
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Almost instantly after I stepped out of the fireplace I was tackled by a giant feline, who immediately nuzzled her head into the crook of my neck, mewling gently. I laughed and gripped her by the scruff of her neck, pulling her away from me as she insistently batted at my sides, trying to get me to wrestle with her. I rolled so that she was pinned underneath me, and she purred, flicking her tail to curl around my ankle. I gently butted my forehead against hers, resting it there and reveling in the soft, steady rise and fall of Raksha's chest underneath me. "You can come this year, Sha. He's letting you come with me!"