The Lioness and the Wolf

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or anything in the Potter-verse.

Chapter 3: Unexpected

It took me forever to go to sleep last night. Was I tried? Yes. But I've never been much for ambient music. And trust me it sounds so much different in real time then it does on the wireless. Birds were chirping, animals were howling. Earplugs, I forgot ear-plugs.

I wonder how much trouble I'll be in if I magicked a twig or leaf or something into some quality earmuffs?

There was a waterfall not to far from where we set up camp. I bathed there early in the morning.

I wore a white tank top that said: REDHEADS ROCK! It was a gift from Uncle Bill. I also had on some simple blue jeans and my color changing shoes.

I tied my hair back, thank goodness Luna bought ponytail holders.

Luna gave me information about the creatures we were supposed to be looking for while were we in the car driving towards our main camp base.

Lorcan was humming the school song under her breath.

Lysander was still going over the pamphlets.

"Ooh look a Fwooper" Luna said.

We all turned to look. Sure enough that looked like the bird who's song drove people insane. I put my hands over my ears.

Consequence or no consequence I'm magicking myself a pair of earmuff by the end of the night.

I saw a building up a head, the first since the gift shop. I figured we'd make a stop there.

True enough, the building was a fuel station but it was also a place to park your car for a long time.

"We're going on foot from here" Rolf said.

I grabbed my clutch bag and got out of the car.

There were even more wonders as we walked.

I saw a couple of Puff Adders and a lot of birds. The Crowned Crane looked interesting and so did the Tawny Eagle.

I tried not to be loud because I didn't want to scare away any of the animals but I saw a family of monkeys in a tree and lost it.

I wanted to pet one so bad. I actually tried to climb the tree but Lysander grabbed my arm. I pouted, naturally but he wasn't as gullible as my father. So I took a lot of pictures, instead.

Lorcan explained they were Colobus Monkeys. They looked so adorable.

Two more rolls of film were used up before the night was over.


Come to find out the Yumboes were nothing but ordinary fairies. I was a little sad about that. But we got to see a lot of other magical creatures. I saw a Boomslang Snake, a couple of Tebos before they went invisible, and an Erumpent. I took a lot of pictures of the last one. Daddy told me about the time he saw an Erumpent horn and the disastrous consequences.

Yesterday something amazing happened. Rolf spotted a Grootslang.

It was a real freaking Grootslang. I didn't think we'd actually find one. A Grootslang is hard to explain. It looks a bit like a giant snake with a baby elephant's face.

I wondered how they went unnoticed for so long. They were odd looking like a hippogriff or hippocampus.

We only had one week left for our adventure and Rolf and Luna were going to spend it studying the new creature.

That gave Lysander, Lorcan and me a lot of time to explore the savannah more.

It was so much fun.

I took pictures of us as well as the scenery. Surprisingly we hadn't ran into any other people. No natives and no travelers. I wondered why that was.

I didn't think about it too much. It felt like I had the whole of Africa as my backyard.


It was late at night. The earmuffs I made barely did anything to block out the sound. And while the starts looked pretty I didn't want to spend my whole night staring at them. I did take pictures though, to show Professor Sinista.

I managed to fall asleep somehow.

It was a loud scream that woke me. I sat up straight and took off my eye-mask thing. I blinked it was a darker than I expected with it being a full moon.

"Where are the twins?" Rolf asked.

I looked around their sleeping bags were empty.

I heard another scream.

Crap.

All three of us jumped up and started running towards the sound. I had my wand out. Oh this was so foolish. Why did the twins go off alone in the middle of the night without me?

We found them and I nearly fainted at the sight.

Lorcan was on the ground covered in blood and Lysander was leaning over him with his shirt in his hands trying to stop the bleeding.

"What happened?"

We need to get to St. Mungo's.

Lysander couldn't string to words together. He was so panicky.

"We need to get to the hospital" Luna said.

"Lumnos" I looked around, what can I use? What can I use?

Oh I still had my sleep-mask on my forehead. I took it off.

St. Mungos's. St. Mungos's. St. Mungo 's. St. Mungo's. Over and over I repeated in my head. I squeezed my eyes tight. I pointed my wand at the mask and said "Portus."

I opened my eyes to see the mask sparkle blue.

"Here grab on. It leaves in three…two…one"

With a jerk behind my navel we left. I know it's harder to make a long distance Portkey but daddy taught me how to make one for emergency purposes.

We landed in the middle of the main lobby. It was like time froze and everything slowed down and then a bunch of healers were upon us. Some were carrying Lorcan off while others started asking questions.

They had to give Lysander a calming draught so he could explain what happened.

"It was late, we were camping in the savannah, neither Lorcan nor I could sleep so we decided to look around for a bit. We took the camera so we could take pictures of what it looks like at night. And then…then this big wolf came at us from nowhere. I didn't even know wolves lived in the Savannah. The wolf pounced on me."

"Were you bit?" Healer one said.

"No just scratched on the shoulder, I think. I'm not sure but the next think I know Lorcan tackled the beast off of me. They were fighting so I scrambled for my wand. When I started sending stunners at it he ran. I didn't know what to do, so I tried to stop him from bleeding."

"Calm down, young man" Healer two said.

"Let's check out that scratch of yours" Healer three said.

"We'll also give you another calming draught. And maybe a sleeping draught as well" Healer one said.

"No, I have to know what happened to my brother."
"We'll up date you and your family as soon as we can about your brother's status" Healer one said.
They all went their separate ways while The Scammanders and I paced back in forth in the small waiting area.

Oh this is so nerve racking. I want to know how it's going.

After a while my eyes started getting droopy. I needed to stay awake. I have to know what's going on. I started counting the number of steps I took to keep me awake. I stopped at seven. Counting in my head didn't lesser my worries.

He is alive he has to be. It's only taking this long because the healers are being over precautious. Of course he is alive. He's my best friend he can't die on me now.

Twenty minutes past. It felt like forever.

"Perhaps you should floo your parents and let them know you're home early" Luna said.

"I think I'll just keep pacing" I said.

So I paced. Back and forth, up and down, left to right, over and over. Over and over I kept pacing.

"I think" Rolf let out a big huff. "Why don't I send for someone to get our things? Having our stuff back will give us something to do besides all of this pacing."

"Good idea. I think they have owls in the fifth floor. Lily you can go with him."

I didn't want to go. But I can't keep pacing here.

They did have owls on the fifth floor. It doesn't mention it on the floor guide.

So I sent a letter to my parents.

Home early. Lorcan was attacked. At St. Mungo's

I guess I'll see you soon.

Lily

I paced in the owler too.

"He's going to be fine" Luna told me when I went back down to where she was waiting.

"I know" it was an automatic response. I didn't know. But I figured that's what she needed to hear.

I don't know how much longer I paced for but suddenly I found myself sitting down.

I blinked.

"What's going on?"
"You fell asleep. The healers are about to let us see him" Luna whispered.

I nodded.

My parents were here. Mom hugged me as soon as I was on my feet and when she let me go dad hugged me too.

I never imagined our trip ending like this.

They let us into the ward. Mom and Dad stayed outside. Lysander was in a new shirt but I could tell he didn't really change. His pants were still dirty and there was still blood on his neck and arms.

Lorcan wasn't in a private ward but he was the only one currently occupying a bed. He was sleep still. He'd look peaceful if it weren't for the scars going across his chest.

"Were you able to tell what attacked him? There aren't supposed to be any wolves in the Savannah" Lysander asked a healer.

I recognized her as healer number one.

"I've told your parents about it last night while you were sleep."

I hadn't even realized it was a whole new day.

Luna had silent tears going down her face. Rolf's eyes were bloodshot.

"Mom, dad, what was it? Did they find out?"

"Werewolf" Rolf muttered.

"NO!" I hadn't meant to shout. "That means… it means, Lorcan…no. It can't be." I started crying. Luna forced me to sit down in one of the bedside chairs.

"It was supposed to be me. I'm the one he attacked" Lysander muttered looking at his brother horrorstruck.