Chapter Seven – Transformation

There was a terrible snarling noise.
Lupin's head was lengthening.
So was his body.
His shoulders were hunching.
Hair was sprouting visibly on his face and hands,
Which were curling into clawed paws.

From Harry Potter & The Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

September 25th, 1969 – Night of the Full Moon
The Room of Requirement, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry

Rionach

She stood facing away from the boys, who were beyond some sort of invisible barrier that the room conjured. She wished they weren't there, despite the fact that hundreds of people must have watched her transform at this point. And if she was being honest with herself…she knew that it was mostly Lucius that she didn't want there. The previous night, they'd almost…not connected, exactly, but a respect, a camaraderie, of sorts, had taken root. She feared that when he saw the wolf, she would once again be nothing but an irritating animal that he was forced to look after out of some sort of moral sense of duty.

Eldred, as promised, brought no camera, but he still excitedly pulled out a sketchpad and charcoal, determined to keep some souvenir of the night. Lucius had looked at her, shrugged, and then leaned back against the wall, coldly watching as she paced around the conjured forest, until finally she stopped, standing by the stream.

The moon rose slowly. Rionach could feel the wolf unfurling within, could smell the sweetness of the night, could almost taste the blood that would soon rest on her tongue. Her entire body hummed with equal parts agitation and longing; fear of the pain, and desire for the wolf to run free.

The wolf whispered soothingly in her ear. This pain is for you. This pain strengthens you. This pain is all you have.

She felt the familiar prickling sensation running through the small hairs on her arms and legs, and crouched down, breathing heavily. Her breath started to come out in short, painful gasps as her lungs began to rearrange themselves. She closed her eyes, but her mouth hung open as her jaw began to thrust forward, achingly slow, and her teeth grew longer and sharper, digging deeper roots. A scream ripped through her throat, blood and spit dripping from her mouth, and her eyes burned as the amber sparks in her irises glowed and spread, turning the entire surface a golden yellow.

It will be over soon. Push a little further. Clear your mind.

Her hearing sharpened tenfold as her ears extended, and a muffled cry from beyond the barrier caused her to whip her head around. Eldred had made the sound, his mouth still hanging open and his eyes wide with fear, charcoal smeared on his hands and face. It was Lucius, though, who caught her eye. He was standing perfectly still, hands clasped behind his back, his face smooth and seemingly emotionless, but her new eyes registered the slight tremble in his lower lip and over-brightness of his eyes.

I'm here, I'm always here. I am a part of you.

There was no time to process what she'd seen, because now the bones in her back were breaking and growing back, elongated and thicker, and the pain was so thick that it felt like her ears were filling with water and a thousand knives were digging and twisting into her flesh. Her knees ripped out of their sockets as her legs lengthened, and every bone in each foot was fragmented into tiny pieces, stretching and re-forming agonizingly.

Embrace your true nature.

Her nails were long, gray and razor-sharp, and they dug deep into the moist earth as she threw back her head and howled, deeply and tenderly, the wolf taking her place in the forefront of her consciousness.

September 26th, 1969 – Dawn after the Full Moon

Lucius

He shakily rose to his feet as the magical barrier ebbed away, and the werewolf girl lay crumpled and naked several feet from him. He hesitated, and as though reading his thoughts, a white sheet materialized above the girl and gently floated down to conceal her body. As he strode towards her, the room slowly reverted back to the cottage; grass beneath his feet smoothing out into floorboards, trees winding into furniture.

Eldred had long since left, feigning exhaustion, but Lucius knew that his friend simply wasn't prepared for what they'd witnessed. After the horrific transformation, the wolf had spent hours slamming herself against the invisible barrier, snarling angrily with every failed attempt, clawing at herself out of frustration. The other wizard, unused to actually witnessing graphic violence, had looked rather green as he excused himself.

Pink and orange light trickled in through the long windows as Lucius walked over to the unconscious girl. He considered levitating her to the bed, but was afraid that the sheet would fall off, so he carefully tucked the fabric around the small, limp body and lifted her into his arms. Looking down at her sleeping face, red hair softly glowing in the morning light, he was struck by the strange contradiction that a girl so fragile could have been such a powerful creature barely an hour earlier.

He carefully placed the girl on the bed, and a bowl of warm water, as well as a few bandages, materialized on the nightstand. With his wand, Lucius patched up some of the smaller cuts and bruises, but a rather long one that dragged across her collarbone looked like it needed some extra care that went beyond his level of skill. He cleaned the cut and placed a bandage across and behind her shoulder, gently lifting her up and then letting her fall back onto the bed to wrap the gauze around her back. Her eyes fluttered open at the movement, bright blue spheres flecked with amber peering up from a pale, stretched face.

"What are you doing?" she asked hoarsely, eyes flicking to his hands as he rinsed in a new bowl of water.

"Patching you up, again," he said shortly. She just looked at him, and he shifted awkwardly under her gaze. "As best I could, anyway. That cut across your collarbone is pretty deep. I'll try to find some essence of dittany later. It'll probably scar though, since I'm not able to apply it right away."

She gave a little shrug, wincing at the movement. "What's another scar?" she asked sleepily, eyes closing again. He watched as her expression slackened, her breaths evening out and deepening. He sat in the chair across from the bed, leaning back stiffly, thinking he might just close his eyes for a moment. Classes wouldn't start for another several hours, and he was so very tired…

"Lucius? Lucius…wake up. I've brought Fiorenza."

He opened his eyes slowly, Eldred's worried face swimming into view, another dark figure behind him. He leaned forward and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, then looked up again, running a hand through his hair. Eldred was standing in front of him uncertainly, avoiding eye contact, while Fee stood behind, arms crossed and an irritated expression on her face. Rionach still slept.

"Eldred…" he started, his voice thick with sleep. Clearing his throat, he started again. "Eldred, what's Fee doing here?"

"Maybe the better question is what are you doing here, all day, with her?" Fiorenza asked, her lips tight.

Eldred made a small sound in his throat and gestured to the door, indicating that they should talk in the other room. All three walked out, Lucius softly closing the bedroom door behind him.

Eldred resumed staring at the floor. "I know we were going to tell her together, but when you weren't in class today-"

"What do you mean?" Lucius interrupted, taking out his pocketwatch. "I've only been asleep for…"

"Nearly twelve hours," Eldred filled in.

Lucius nearly swore, remembered Fiorenza was with them, and checked himself. "It was only supposed to be a few minutes. Eldred, why didn't you come find me?"

"I did!" his friend shot back indignantly. "And I even tried to wake you up, but I doubt a screaming banshee could've done the trick. So I left. You're a big boy, you could figure it out."

"As fascinating as your sleeping habits are," Fiorenza interjected coolly, "fact remains that you've been lying to me, Lucius Malfoy."

Lucius set his mouth in a thin line. "Surely you can understand why, Fee."

"Oh I understand," she replied icily. "I understand perfectly well that you had no intention of letting your oldest friend know that your father bought a werewolf, tortured it, Eldred found out, the two of you whisked her away to Hogwarts, and didn't bother to let me in on any of this until you realized you needed me for something." She uncrossed her arms and stomped her foot daintily. "And you made me feel crazy when I heard her growl on the train."

"That's what you took away from this?" Lucius muttered. At Eldred's pained look, he sighed. "Look, I was trying to protect you," he insisted, though the girl shook her head sharply.

"Ever the valiant hero, Lucius," she mocked, strangely echoing Rionach's words from the day before. "You two are in deep water now. And you can swim all you want, but sooner or later, you're not going to have any strength left."

"Suppose you have all the answers, then?" Lucius shot back.

Fiorenza flushed. "Maybe not answers, but I do have enough sense to know that two schoolboys aren't going to be able to keep this secret on their own for long!"

"Stop it, you two," Eldred said sharply, and the other two looked over at him in surprise. "Getting angry about this isn't going to help anyone." He turned to Lucius. "We need her. Rionach will drive herself mad if she stays in here – if the girl doesn't snap, the wolf will. We saw enough evidence of that last night. And you," he added, turning to Fiorenza. "Don't be so hard on Lucius. His own father brought him to a werewolf fight and then tortured a girl our age in front of him. He's had a rough month."

Fiorenza and Lucius continued to stare at each other disdainfully, but nodded their assent.

"It'll also be easier to get food to her, with all three of us smuggling some from the Great Hall, and heading to the kitchens after Astronomy," Eldred pointed out, talking over the discomfort.

"There's a Hogsmeade trip coming up in a couple of weeks as well – we could stock up on food that won't go bad," Fiorenza added. "How long is she staying in this room for?"

The boys exchanged uneasy glances. Lucius cleared his throat. "Ah…see, we aren't sure. She can't exactly leave…she has no magic, but what she knows could destroy my family. And she doesn't have anywhere else to go. The poachers Obliviated any memories linking her to her previous life. All we know is that she was found in Northern Ireland."

Fiorenza sighed impatiently, tapping her fingers on the mantle. "Typical boys. Act first, think later. All right, well evidently we need to find her family. We give her back to them, we Obliviate them, done."

"And how do you propose we accomplish that? Missing Muggle persons aren't listed at the Ministry," Lucius pointed out.

Fiorenza looked thoughtful for a moment, then brightened. "I have a second cousin who's a Squib – my parents won't talk to him, of course, but maybe I could convince him to help us. He lives among Muggles, he must know how their system works. And I can be very…persuasive," she finished, raising an eyebrow at Eldred, who just looked confused.

"Yes, Fee, your talents are infamous," Lucius replied, rolling his eyes. "Who's going to Obliviate them, though? None of us are skilled enough at memory charms for such a delicate task."

Fiorenza shrugged. "We don't Obliviate them, then. We leave her there. Malfoy Manor and Hogwarts are both Unplottable, it's not like she'll find her way back."

Lucius looked unconvinced. "And what if this much too simple plan of yours doesn't work, Fee?"

"Then we figure it out at the end of term. I'll take her to my summer cottage, or something. But that's months away, Lucius. And right now…" Fiorenza trailed off, eyeing the closed doors.

Lucius nodded, his mind flicking back to the fragile girl in his arms, red hair illuminated with sunlight. "And right now, I have a responsibility to make her healthy again."

Fiorenza looked at him gravely. "Yes, you do. We'll help you, Lucius. This is our responsibility, now."

Eldred looked strangely uneasy, but straightened when both his friends directed their gaze at him. "Our responsibility. Yes."

Fiorenza's face broke into a twinkling smile. "Well, now that's all settled, would you fine gentlemen care to introduce me to your lovely guest?"

Rionach

She was fairly certain that she'd died, and an angel had shown up to take her away.

Strange, though, as she never thought she'd see an angel when death finally came. Willingly or not, some of the things she'd done over the past few months seemed…unforgiveable.

But she hadn't thought that it would hurt so much to die. Her entire body ached, like she was being stretched over an open fire. And there was a nasty pain, just below her neck, that was so sharp…

The pain threw her forward into reality. The airy, clean room wavered into view, a breeze from the window tickling her cheek. She smelled lavender.

The 'angel' was a girl leaning over her, who was the most beautiful person she'd ever laid eyes on. Well, that she knew of, but she was fairly certain that loveliness like that would transcend any magical memory barrier. Her skin was milky white and somehow glowed, which should be impossible in such a fair complexion. Long waves of black hair softly swayed as her manicured brows furrowed together over top of violet eyes. She hadn't even known that eye colour existed.

"You're going to be fine," the angel-girl assured her, placing a cool cloth on her forehead. "Lucius took good care of you. That boy should really be a Healer."

A snort from the other side of the bed drew Rionach's attention over to Lucius, who was standing with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. "Don't be ridiculous, Fee," he growled.

A light, musical laugh erupted from the violet-eyed girl's throat. Looking from one to the other, Rionach felt the need to shade her eyes. So much beauty shouldn't be allowed in one room.

"How are you feeling?" Eldred squeaked from the foot of the bed. Pity flit through her; next to the other two, Eldred looked like a scruffy sparrow trying to fit in with two graceful swans.

She opened her mouth to speak, but her throat was so dry that all she could manage was a raspy croak. The dark-haired girl put a glass of water to her lips, and she drank deeply. Running her tongue over her lips nervously, she narrowed her eyes at the girl. "You must be Fiorenza."

She beamed. "You can call me Fee."

Rionach gave a little nod, took another gulp of water, and leaned back. Lucius's eyebrows were nearly knit together. "Is it always like…this?" he asked vaguely.

Rionach went to shrug, but remembered the pain in her shoulder, and sighed instead. "Sometimes. It's never particularly pleasant, but last night's transformation was especially difficult. The wolf doesn't like being confined to one room. She likes to roam."

Lucius inclined his head, as if he understood. Fiorenza tittered beside her, and started pulling clothes out of her bag. They were simple yet elegant, and obviously expensive. "I brought a few things for you to wear, if you'd like. They're all a bit small on me now anyway, but you look quite tiny, so that should be fine."

"I don't need any charity," Rionach started, but was cut off firmly by the other girl.

"You're not exactly in a position to argue, are you?" Fiorenza's eyes narrowed briefly, causing Rionach to wonder about her role in this mess, but the care-free smile slipped back almost instantly.

"I can fix up your face as well – the glamour will only last about twenty-four hours, and if someone touches your face for too long, they'll see the changes, but I'm thinking the chances of you running around snogging anyone are rather low." Rionach stared at her blankly. "Also, we should probably do something about your hair. It's too conspicuous; maybe if we cut it-"

"That seems unnecessary," Lucius suddenly interrupted, as Fee glanced up at him curiously. Rionach saw his jaw twitch slightly, but the movement was so minuscule, she could be imagining things.

Eldred, as seemed to be the trend, looked confused. "What do you care about her hair, Lucius?"

"I don't care," he drawled, looking at the ceiling. "But it's evidently her nicest feature, and if she's going to be seen with us, it would be best if she didn't look completely wretched."

Rionach's cheeks burned as she tried to come up with a clever retort, but nothing came to mind. Fee was giving Lucius a hard look, her eyes narrowing again, before returning to her casual countenance.

"As you wish, Lucius. Now, boys, if you could give us ladies some privacy. I believe the girl is quite naked under those sheets, and we have a lot of work to do."

Eldred blushed to the roots of his hair, and even Lucius had the grace to look mildly uncomfortable. As they shuffled out, Lucius said, giving Fee a pointed look, "We'll be outside if you need anything."

Once alone, Fee gave her a more calculated appraisal. Rionach fidgeted under the other girl's gaze. The moment was broken by the room conjuring a wooden changing screen, as well as a tall wardrobe.

"Ah, how quaint," Fiorenza said, handing her a modest black dress and stockings, and black shoes with a small heel. "Put these on, see how everything fits. We'll fix your face up after."

Rionach let the remark about her face slide, but stayed still, looking down at the sheet covering her body pointedly. Fiorenza took a moment to register what the problem was, then smiled apologetically and turned away.

Grabbing a fist-full of fabric and her new clothes, Rionach got out of bed and shambled behind the screen to quickly change. She held up the stockings a bit uncertainly, but as with the bathrobe in the Malfoys' bathroom, her hands seemed to know what they were doing. She carefully pulled the thin fabric up over her thighs. The dress slipped on easily enough. The fabric was lovely, though a bit loose around her neck and hips. She tried on the shoes, and though they seemed to fit well, she kept them off, unused to wearing something on her feet. She stepped out from behind the screen. The other girl nodded once in approval.

"Good. A little big, but with some regular meals over the next few months, I'm sure you'll fill them out a bit more. Now…sit, and stay still," she instructs. Rionach did as she said. When Fee brought her wand to Rionach's face, she closed her eyes tightly, flinching away.

The musical laugh returned, so she cracked open an eye uncertainly. "This isn't going to hurt, silly girl. You won't feel a thing. But you must stay very still, so I don't slip," she warned. Rionach dutifully stayed completely still, hardly breathing, as Fee muttered a few incantations and moved her wand in quick, small gestures.

After a few moments, Fiorenza stood back and nodded, satisfied with her work. "When I do this again tomorrow, I'll also go over all of the smaller scars along your neck – this is just a test run. It's rather good, though, don't you agree?" she asked, gesturing to the mirror.

Rionach hesitantly stepped towards the mirror, looking down. Hope danced in her chest, but she also feared the result. When she finally did look up, she hardly recognized the girl staring back at her.

She was still nowhere near beautiful – a fact emphasized by the stunning violet-eyed girl shaking out her perfect hair behind her – but she did look quite normal. Her mouth broke into a small smile, which grew wider when she realized that without the scar dragging one corner upwards, the expression was no longer terrifying.

"Thank you," she whispered.

Fiorenza frowned a little. "No need to thank me. I'm not doing this for you."

Rionach's smile quickly disappeared as understanding dawned on her. "Oh…of course not. You and Lucius, then…?"

Fiorenza snorted, still managing to make even that expression look refined. "Don't be silly. Lucius is like a brother to me. But you could easily ruin the lives of both those boys. Honestly, I'm rather shocked that Lucius dared to defy his father in such a foolish way. It's very unlike him. All of this," she gestured around the room, and at the werewolf, "is very unlike him."

"I didn't ask them to rescue me," Rionach replied, resentment creeping into her voice. How many times will I have to repeat that line?

Fiorenza gave her a measured look. "No, you didn't. But somehow, he managed to decide that you were worth saving, putting more than just his family name on the line. I should hope that you will return the favour by ensuring your continued cooperation and silence."

"And if I don't?" Rionach asked a bit recklessly, irritated with her condescension.

Fiorenza's eyes flashed. "Then a certain older Malfoy might receive an anonymous letter containing the whereabouts of a certain lost pet."

The threat left Rionach cold, and unlike with Lucius, she had little doubt that this girl would follow through. She unflinchingly stared into Fiorenza's eyes reflected in the mirror. "I understand," She replied stiffly.

Fiorenza smiled, teeth sparkling. "Excellent! Now, let's re-join the gentlemen, shall we?"

Lucius mentally cursed himself for speaking out about the werewolf's hair. What in Salazar's name was he thinking? Fee could cut it all off and dye the remainder blue, for all he cared. It didn't matter to him. And yet…remembering the long, red-gold strands falling across her face, pulled into a loose braid that tumbled over her shoulder…he had suddenly realized that for whatever reason, he didn't want her hair to change.

Realizing that Eldred was giving him a strange look from the chair opposite, Lucius scowled and pulled out his Astronomy textbook, shaking his head and attempting to focus on the readings for the week. Eldred seemed to give a small shrug, and then reached into his own schoolbag, presumably looking for his Care of Magical Creatures text, as it was the only school book the boy ever seemed to actually read.

As Eldred rummaged through his bag, a sudden reminder flit through Lucius's mind. "Eldred, I have a question for you."

"Mmm?" his friend mumbled, pulling out his book.

"When we were on the train, I used your camera to take a picture of Fee's glamour-"

"Oh, good! I wanted a reminder of my devilishly handsome days," Eldred interrupted, grinning.

Lucius frowned. "No, I mean, sure, but that's not what this is about. A letter fell out of your bag with my family seal on it, and I was curious as to why you would be corresponding with any other Malfoys."

Eldred paled, swallowing nervously. "I-er, that's to say, ah, your mother wrote to me."

Lucius raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"She's, ah, worried about you. Asked if I could keep a close eye on you this year," Eldred mumbled, turning pink.

Lucius opened his mouth to comment on the ridiculousness of his friend's lie, but checked himself as he remembered his mother's strange behaviour two months prior. "Why would she write to you about my well-being?" he asked, still suspicious.

"How am I supposed to know?" Eldred asked huffily. "Maybe because I happen to be your closest friend?"

"I suppose," Lucius said. "It just seems strange…but then, she has been acting a bit odd… Well, in that case, would you mind if I read the letter for myself?"

Eldred shook his head. "She asked that I keep her words to myself, so I burned it once we got to school."

"Shame," Lucius muttered, still frowning. "What exactly did it say?"

The other boy reddened. "I really don't think-"

"Worple," Lucius said dangerously. "Tell me what my mother felt she could share with you but not her only son."

"It was about Voldemort," Eldred said quickly. Lucius's eyes widened, and the other wizard kept talking in a rush. "She thinks that you're going to be getting the Dark Mark on your sixteenth birthday, and that there will be some sort of initiation task."

"Did she mention what sort of task the Dark Lord might have in mind?" Lucius asked tightly.

"No. But...she didn't think it would be...easy, to perform," Eldred said, shivering a little.

Lucius pondered his friend's words, still feeling that something was off, but his attention was diverted by the bedroom doors opening. His mouth fell open in shock at the girl who stepped into the room.

Rionach looked…not beautiful, he supposed, but…striking. Her simple black dress stood in stark contrast next to her pale skin and red hair, her blue eyes standing out more than ever now that there was no longer an ugly scar dominating his focus. Their eyes locked for a moment, and he thought he saw the barest hint of a smile before she looked over to the fire, stepping out of the way for Fiorenza to come out of the room.

"I am rather good, aren't I?" Fiorenza asked proudly, admiring her work.

"Brilliant!" Eldred exclaimed as she beamed at him.

"Well done, Fee," Lucius said, closing his mouth and quickly smoothing out his expression. He took out his pocketwatch. "I'm famished, and supper's nearly over – Rionach, you're going to have to stay here. On weekdays we still have to wear our school robes to the Great Hall, and sit with our Houses. You'll stand out too much. Eldred will bring you some food later. Fee and I will come collect you in the morning."

Rionach nodded, still staring into the fire. "I look forward to it," she said softly.

She didn't turn from the flames as Eldred, Fiorenza and Lucius filed out, the sound of the key turning in the lock following them out. Her hearing, always quite a bit better so soon after a transformation, picked up the light sounds of girlish giggles and amused banter that faded as the trio walked further down the corridor. She sighed, running a hand through her hair and wincing as the movement sent a jolt of pain through her shoulder. Oddly enough, she suddenly realized that she felt much more alone than she had in a long time.