Fred and George
The twins took the animagus challenge like ducks to water. That was due, in most part, to the fact that it was actually a challenge. Professor McGonagall once told Molly Weasley that her biggest frustration with the twins was that they were too smart for their own good. They could easily do the class work, and that was the problem. However, now that they were trying this whole animagus thing, they had settled down quite nicely in class.
The research bit was actually pretty easy. It was the attempts to transform back that were difficult. Fred had better luck than George, as Transfiguration was his strong point. George had come to him on several occasions and asked for help getting rid of his tail. Fred was also in dire need of help when it came to the anatomy and physiology part. George took after Charlie in that he completely understood animal care, magical or otherwise. The two often sought help from Hagrid and hoped that their siblings exhibited the same forethought.
With time allocated away from their startup and weekly visits with Minnie, they figured out that they could master their transformations as early as late summer. While they wouldn't be the youngest animagus in history- that spot was still held by the Marauders- they would be impressively young. The best part, they both agreed, was that Molly was insistent that they wouldn't make it very far. She thought they would get bored by Christmas and be done. Boy, were they ready to prove her wrong.
Neville
Neville stared at what he found. Large, powerful, predator. How? How could he live up to this? How could he be this animal? He would have completely understood if he were a rabbit or a gerbil. But this? This thing? How was that possible? And then there was the height issue. He was going to have to get over his 'no-flying' policy. That was certain. The positive side was that he could scare the pants off of the others.
It wasn't native to England, so that could be problematic. But if he ever went to France, he'd be great off there. Long life spans, protective of family, the longer Neville researched, the more he could understand the 'beast within,' as Padfoot and Moony often called it. Thinking about all the physiology gave him a headache, mostly because it was nothing like mammal physiology. At least it was helping his scores in Care of Magical Creatures.
Ginny, Harry, and Ron
"I don't like it." Harry announced.
"I don't like that you're upset over something this arbitrary." Ginny shook her head.
"Well, I want you to match my animagus." Harry pouted.
"She's a Weasley. We all 'match.' Kinda." Ron shrugged.
"It's not fair! You all match! For all we know, Hermione matches… someone. Probably. Why do I have to be all alone?" Harry pouted even more.
"Pretty sure Neville is all alone. We all know no one else is a barn swallow." Ron scoffed.
"He's not a barn swallow! You've got to stop calling him that!" Ginny slapped her brother.
"I guess that's true." Harry said, suddenly feeling better.
"You're an idiot." Ginny smiled affectionately.
Hermione and Draco
"You know that this fight between the three of you is crazy, right?" Draco asked.
"It's just, it's difficult. It makes me wonder why Pettigrew went all the way through with it. He knew that he was a rat. He knew that! Why would he keep going?" Hermione asked.
"Are you saying it's a rodent? Because, quite frankly, everyone is very curious as to what you saw. We all exchanged notes after you stormed out. Your's is the only one we're unsure of." Draco needled.
"No, I am not a rodent. Honestly." Hermione reprimanded. "It's… well, from the outside, it's much better. For me, though, it's too much. It's worse than being a rodent."
"What could be worse than a rat?" Draco exclaimed. "Wait! Is it a snake? Is that what happened?"
"No, I'm not a snake." Hermione giggled. "That's you."
"Only in heart. I am not, in fact, a snake." Draco smirked.
"Jerk. You know what I meant." Hermione giggled even more. "Thanks, Draco."
"For what?" Draco asked.
"Trying to cheer me up. You don't have to do that." Hermione said, smiling softly.
"You are my friend just as much as those two wankers. You have your reasons. They may be bad reasons, but they are your reasons." Draco said. "It's not my place to judge."
"Thank you anyway." Hermione repeated, placing her head on Draco's shoulder as they looked out over the Scottish countryside.
Gabs: So, while I was taking care of Kat this week, I wrote this. Thanks so much to Cheeklilwhit and missgrangerthebookworm for reviewing. It's probably the only reason I went ahead with a part two.