Chapter 8
Yang watched as Harry groaned lightly, rolling his neck.
Sleeping on the floor with Harry hadn't necessarily been the greatest idea...not that the two of them had planned on it, but it hadn't been too bad either. She was actually surprised that she had fallen back to sleep after her nightmare. But...waking up in Harry's arms felt...good.
Harry wasn't exactly a threat. Oh, she had no doubt he could be dangerous if he caught someone unaware of his magic, and he was quickly learning how to properly fight. But Harry was at a disadvantage at the moment should anyone attack them.
Yet...she felt safe in his arms.
It was a very confusing feeling for the blonde. Doubly so when she considered the fact that she could beat Harry, and that was without Ember Celica.
In the meantime, her father had been called to Vale. Once more he had taken Zwei with him, leaving her and Harry alone in the house. Considering what they had talked about the previous night, and how late the had both been up, Yang had given Harry the day off from sparing, or reading, or anything to do with adapting to Remnant.
She herself had decided to see what parts she had, and what she needed to build a new set of gauntlets.
Yang loved Ember Celica, but she'd lost half of the weapon with her arm. It seemed...wrong, somehow, to just build a replacement. So the teen had decided to build a new set of gauntlets, she was even planing a couple of upgrades she could make to the new set. The planned upgrades were relatively minor, she'd done a good job building the original set, but they would still help make the weapon more effective. Perhaps she could even ask Harry if there was some kind of magical way he could improve them.
Of course she had to decide on an initial design for them first. And she could make adjustments to it as necessary after she spoke to Harry about it. But she also knew she would need to purchase more materials, and probably take a trip to Signal to use the schools workshop.
The tool her and her father had at home were fine for maintaining the families' various weapons, but not enough for building them from scratch.
She was surprised to find Harry just sitting in the yard with his eyes closed. In fact, it kind of looked like he was meditating.
"Harry?" she questioned, feeling a bit guilty for disturbing him.
The wizard opened his eyes and looked at her. With a smile, he asked, "What's up Yang?"
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm...doing something I've wanted to do for a while," he admitted. She gave him a confused look and he explained, "There's a process back home, very few magicals actually perform it, called the animagus transformation. It allows a witch or wizard to change, at will, into an animal...or rather, a specific animal. One of my teachers at Hogwarts could do it, she changed into a cat. So could my father and godfather, who changed into a stag and big black dog respectively." He grinned lightly. "I never had the time to go through the process, though I did do some research. Voldemort apparently studied how to complete the process, though I never saw him use it. I decided to start it, since I've got some time."
Yang was silent, as she was remembering the words her father had previously told her. To be honest, she'd never thought she could change into an animal...it was just something unique to Uncle Qrow. Then the other night, her father had mentioned her mother could change as well, and she might be able to with training. She had to admit she was curious now. She hadn't even thought about asking Harry. As his magic was so different from the little she'd seen, it hadn't occurred to her that he could potentially change into an animal.
"Do you think you could teach me to do it?"
"Huh?"
At Harry's confused look, she explained, "My uncle can turn into a crow...according to Dad, my mother turns into a Raven."
"That's...coincidental," Harry commented with a smirk. No doubt he was thinking about the names of her uncle and mother...even if he'd never met them.
"It is," Yang admitted. "When Dad and I were talking about our belief in your story when you first came here, he mentioned that there was magic in our own family. He also mentioned that, with training, I might be able to change into an animal myself."
"Well in that case, while I can't make any promises, I'll be glad to instruct you on how to become an animagus," Harry assured her. "Do you want to start now?"
"Sure."
"Take a seat then."
Yang did so, sitting cross-legged across from Harry.
The wizard was silent a moment, a thoughtful look on his face. Finally he began explaining, "The animagus transformation has several steps. The first is meditation, during which you attempt to find your inner-animal. The inner-animal is something you can't determine, it's fixed...and varies from person to person. That said, certain types of animals tend to run in bloodlines. A prime example is your mother and uncle. Crows and ravens are part of the same family of birds. Of course the fact they can change into such similar animals probably stems from the fact they're twins. That being said, it's very likely you'll change into a bird of some kind. But that isn't guaranteed. Occasionally, a family member deviates from the family trend, but I can't think of any examples I know of. I never really looked at the list of registered animagi, nor studied the past trends in the families of those I knew of, not that I could. With me so far?"
"I think so," Yang assured him. "Assuming I can do this, I'm likely to be a bird of some kind, but that's no guarantee."
"Exactly. Now as I said, there are several steps," Harry continued. "As I said a moment ago, the first is finding your inner-animal through meditation. You have to think about finding your inner animal while you meditate. The time it takes you varies. It can take anywhere from a few days, to a couple of years to do. You'll now you found it when you experience a...vivid and realistic vision where you experience being the animal. You''ll also instinctively know what kind of animal you are. The second step is usually the hardest, and that's forcing the change. You need to focus on your inner animal, and try to change into it. There are several different methods for this part, but it usually takes some time. Once you change, you need to keep forcing the change...over, and over again. Eventually, you get so used to changing, that it becomes easy and takes only a thought. But it can take years to reach that point."
"So this is going to be time consuming is what your saying?"
"Essentially," Harry explained. "Though I do need to give you some warnings as well. People often develop...quirks from the transformation. These quirks depend on the animal, and range from minor ticks, to actual physical changes. I'll use my godfather as an example. Sirius became a large, black dog. He had a relatively minor quirk. He tended to growl when angry, and his laugh was very bark like. But he could have become territorial, or even gained a heightened sense of smell from being a dog. Why he developed the traits he did, and why we would develop the traits we do...no one can say. Much like the inner-animal itself, what these traits are, and how major or minor they are, varies from person to person. You could just develop a new nervous tick, you could gain heightened senses, or you could become more territorial or timid. You could even develop multiple traits. So if you find yourself worried about what traits you'd pick up from your inner animal, I'd suggest avoiding trying to complete the process."
"Is that it? Yang asked.
"Pretty much," Harry assured her. "When you find your inner-animal, I'll discuss the various methods for forcing the change."
The blonde grinned. "Awesome," she affirmed, before trying to meditate.
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That night, Harry was awoken by screaming.
Rolling out of bed, Harry it took Harry a moment to realize the screaming was Yang.
Disregarding the fact he was only wearing pajama bottoms, he bolted out of the room, and ran to the blondes.
Opening the door, he noticed Yang was still asleep. But she was thrashing about.
"No Stop!...DON'T TOUCH HER!...NOOOOO!"
He quickly ran over, to the side of the bed. as Gently as he god, he shook her shoulder. "Yang! Wake up! It's only a dream!"
The blondes eyes shot open, Harry noticed they were red. But after a moment, she noticed it was him, and her eye's turned lilac again. Before he could react, Harry found himself being hugged by a crying blonde. Without really thinking about it...Harry wrapped his arms around Yang, just holding her.
"It was so awful," Yang cried into his shoulder. "Adam was...he was just cutting Blake to pieces...I couldn't stop him...I couldn't stop him..."
"It was just a dream Yang," Harry tried to reassure her. "He's not here."
Harry held her until Yang's crying subsided.
When she finally pulled away from him, wiping the tears from her eyes, he asked, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah...sorry for waking you," Yang said lowly.
The two were silent a moment, before Harry said, "Well...goodnight."
As he stood up and turned, Harry suddenly found his wrist grabbed by Yang. He turned and looked at her.
"Could...could you please stay," she asked without looking up at him.
Harry knew he really shouldn't. If Taiyang found him in Yang's bed, he'd be pissed...But Yang looked so miserable and sad. It was a far cry from the strong, opinionated woman he had come to know. "Yeah, I can stay."
Yang scooted over in her bed, and pulled the covers back for Harry to slide in behind her.
Once he was laying down, Yang pulled his arm around her, pressing her back against his chest. "Just...hold me," she told him.
Harry did so.
Fully intending to leave once he was sure Yang was asleep, he never got the chance as he fell asleep himself.
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Yang began to panic as she regained consciousness and noticed the arms wrapped around her waist and the body she was laying back against.
But then, after a moment, she relaxed as she remembered what had happened last night, and that she'd asked Harry to stay with her.
The blonde felt ashamed. This was the second night she'd had a nightmare in a row. She'd thought she was getting better, only having an occasional nightmare since Harry had joined her and her father in the house. And she felt bad for having clearly awoken Harry.
But...just as she had the previous night, she felt safer being held in his arms.
But unlike yesterday morning when she was questioning her feelings, this morning she just wanted the comfort.
Before she knew it...she fell back asleep.
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Harry didn't really want to get up...but he also knew he had to.
He was quire comfortable, and waking up next to Yang felt...nice. He was especially proud that his hand had apparently not wandered during the night.
But not only did he have to use the bathroom, but the wizard was hungry. Plus he didn't want to make Yang uncomfortable if she woke up and he was holding her. He was sure the only reason she'd asked him to stay in bed with her last night was her nightmare. He doubted she had any other reasons, at least not yet.
Carefully extracting himself from the bed, so as not to wake Yang up, the wizard stretched briefly. He then made his way out the door, going to close it behind him, he took one last look at Yang.
She really was beautiful.
Harry shook his head and closed the door.
But walking down to his room so he could get dressed, Harry was forced to admit a thought that really scared him.
While he wouldn't say he was in love with the blonde, he certainly come to care for her as more than a friend. She had gone out of her way to help him, loved jokes and pad puns, and was actually pretty bad-ass. She was passionate and loved her motorcycle and fighting. She was also kind and loving, especially towards her sister if the way she talked about the absent Ruby was anything to go by. Not to mention how attractive she was...With her silky, golden hair; mesmerizing lilac eyes that turned such a vivid red when angry; soft, yet muscular curves; well toned legs that seemed to on for miles...
Harry paused in his tracks.
Maybe, just maybe, he was in love with the blonde.
At this point, Harry was in front of his room. Pressing his head against the door, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Mentally, the wizard asked himself, 'What the hell do I do now?'
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Yes, Harry has fallen in love with Yang at this point, and Yang is beginning to examine her own feelings towards him. In my mind, and I don't think I've made it crystal clear yet, it's been at least two weeks since Harry and Yang met. In those two weeks, they've spent almost every moment together, or at least in close proximity to each other. And while the magical bond between them may not force them to love one another, it is influencing this.
Remember who Yang HAD to imagine just to get off. And while I haven't shown it, Harry's effected the same way.
This doesn't mean that either of them are going to admit their feelings anytime soon however. Both are, and I hope I got this across, still rather unsure of their feelings, let alone how to act on them.
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