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Raksha

He smiled a breath taking smile for me, saying, "Dumbledore and Snape said that the spells thrown at you changed your form. This is what you'd look like if you were human!" He sounded excited, and somewhat surprised.

I shook my head slowly, looking at the tall man who stood a professional distance away from both of us. "What- what do you mean? I'm not human."

It was his turn to have a confused face. "Yes you are Sha. I mean- you are right now."

I shook my head again. "No, my human. I will never be human. I am not really a panther. I am Neko. You are my human, my charge. I… I can always go back and forth between forms." Draco's face fell, and he looked at the man. "Snape? What's going on?"

The man hissed, and brought his hands up to rub his eyes. "A Neko? Just our luck."

I growled a little. Neko's weren't exactly well liked in the wizard community. We were regarded as only just better than the werewolves, and that's only because we were few and far between. It was rare for us to have children, even more so for them to be female.

"Nekos are creatures that are able to shift between human and a type of large cat, most commonly lions. Usually they are males, and while some have jobs like protecting a certain community, or a specific town, most have human charges whom they protect through they're childhood. It seems that your protector is a female, which is a surprise. Females are rare, which is why Nekos are a dying breed."

Draco blinked, looking stunned. "You mean, you could have been human our entire time together?" I nodded. "This is…strange. You were charged to protect… me?" I nodded again. He sat back slowly, letting my hand fall from his grasp.

I sat up quickly, not caring when a scandalized gasp came from the healer who reentered the room, or the curse that came from the tall man. I grabbed his hand, cradling it in both of mine, saying quickly, "No, Draco! It's still me, I'm still your Sha, except now I can reply! I'm still your best friend, and I will always be your best friend! It's still me, Draco. I'm still here."

"I know, Sha. I know."