A/N: Well this is new! I started This chapter right away so I wouldn't run behind! I feel accomplished! (And the fact that this is a major accomplishment in my life right now has got to say wonders about me -_-)
As always; Enjoy!
"You're a Black Panther! A fucking Black Panther! Holy Shit!" Draco exclaimed.
"Hey! A child is in the room! Mummy says no swearing in front of me!" Izzy said, bringing Blaise and Draco back to reality.
Leo walked over and licked Izzy's cheek, making the girl laugh as Draco said, "I'm sorry Iz, I forgot." Still laughing, she replied, "It's ok Drake, I won't tell Mummy."
Leo changed back into human form and collapsed on her bed laughing. "You should have seen your faces!" she exclaimed, trying to catch her breath, "They were priceless!"
"It's not every day your sister turns into a big black cat!" Blaise said in his defense, which made Leo laugh even harder.
"Actually," she said, "it is for you now that my scars are gone! I love lounging around and exercising in my form. Oh, and just a small tidbit, there is no cat species of Panther, panthers are really leopards or jaguars that don't have very noticeable spots. Not all "panthers" are black either."
"Wow, ok. I can't wait for our parents to see this. They just might shit themselves!" Draco laughed shaking his head. "Well, I want a shower and it is a certain little girl's bedtime. Come on Iz, let's go wash you up and get you to bed." With an adorable pout firmly planted on the young girls face, she said goodnight to Blaise and Leo and headed to the door. Draco bent down and gave Leo a lingering kiss goodnight and nodded to Blaise leaving right behind Izzy.
"I think I'm going to have a shower too," Leo said. "But before you leave, I want to know if you really are ok with Draco and I.," she asked Blaise. He looked at her surprised, but it soon turned into a charming smile.
"I meant what I said before Leo. I knew that he liked you and I'm really happy that you two are together. I care for you both though, and don't want to see either of you get hurt."
Leo smiled at her brother and nodded. "I won't hurt him, and I know he won't hurt me." He nodded and hugged her.
"Night sis. I'll see you in the morning." and he was gone, too.
"Miny can you get out some night clothes for me? I also need you to get my tattoo cream out for after my shower," she said on her way to the bathroom.
After a refreshing shower, Leo was in bed and on her way to her first night of sleep without dreams in longer than she cared to remember.
Draco got out of the shower to find Blaise waiting for him. He knew that this was coming, but he honestly didn't know what to expect from his longtime friend.
"Are you sure?" Blaise said, eyes burning into Draco's. "Are you absolutely sure that you want to do this, after everything she has been through. Are you sure your ready to be what she needs?"
He didn't even have to think about his answer. "Yes."
Blaise smiled and said, "I knew you would be. I just needed to make sure you did too. She has faith in you Draco, we both do. I can't be more happy that you two are together. You're the only one that I could think would even come close to being good enough for her." he laughed.
Draco laughed and sighed in relief. "Well, at least I have the approval of the brother and I'm positive that our parents will be over the moon." he thought."Hell, Mom and Maria will probably start planning the wedding as soon as they find out."
Blaise left soon after and Draco crawled into bed and fell asleep dreaming of what the school year will be like with Leo at his side.
The summer passed quickly for the three teens, who hardly spent time away from each other. Leo taught Blaise and Draco about animagi. They caught on quickly and both found themselves roaming the grounds with Leo in their own forms.
Draco turned out to be a leopard like Leo, although he was a snow leopard. He is a white-blonde color like his hair and had faded golden spots. Draco's best feature was his bright blue eyes in this form. Not completely like his real eyes, for they had flecks of electric blue in them, as well.
Blaise became a dark brown jaguar. As a jaguar, he was a little longer and broader than the other two. He was mainly spotless, except you could slightly see some on his legs and paws. What was really bizarre about his form was that his eyes completely changed from his normal color. Instead of the deep brown eyes, he has as a human, he and the most beautiful amber color.
The trio thought it amazing that although they were different in their own ways, each classified as the panther genus.
Delighted with their new forms, the guys repaid Leo by teaching her how to fly and play Quidditch. She quickly got over her fear of heights and was flying circles around them in no time. They found that she had the perfect skills to be an amazing chaser and agreed that she was to try out for the Gryffindor team.
They were upset that they wouldn't be able to hang out as much when they go back to Hogwarts, due to being in different houses, but they understood that just because her name, appearance, and familial bonds changed it didn't mean her house would too.
Leo spent her summer days educating Blaise, Draco, Izzy and, surprisingly, their collective parents about muggle electronics. She told them about all the interesting things muggles came up with in place of having magic. She took them to movies, bought them TVs, taught them about the wonders of driving, and showed them all of the latest fashion. Draco and Blaise had already found the wonders of muggle clothes in their 5th year, but the older couples had yet to see the amazing possibilities outside the realm of wizard garb. Leo still thought it amazing that she could get Lucius Malfoy into a pair of slacks and a polo shirt.
She showed them how to use simple household products and found it amusing at how amazed they were at each new toy. It reminded her of Arthur Weasley and she couldn't help herself but laugh when she walked into the den to see Lucius and Draco struggling to play a video game called 'Halo' on the Xbox she bought for the family.
It was August 20th and Leo was sunbathing by the pool while the guys were inside playing with the Xbox. She heard the fluttering of wings and looked up to see Athena swooping down to her with three Hogwarts letters in her beak. As soon as she caught them, Leo ran to the den to hand them out.
"Guys! Look at what just came in!" she shouted as she sprinted through the door. They paused their play-through and took their respective letters from her. They opened their envelopes at once and took out their letters.
"Oh shit! I'm Head Boy!" Draco exclaimed at the same time as Leo screamed, "I'm Head Girl!" They looked at each other and laughed as Leo jumped into his arms for a hug and a congratulatory kiss. When Draco and Leo detached themselves Blaise swept Leo up for a hug of his own.
Once she was back on the ground she turned back to her letter. As she continued to read her smile disappeared. Seeing this, the boys moved behind her to read, as well.
"You're getting re-sorted?! Is that allowed?" Blaise asked.
"I'm not exactly sure, I've never heard it happening in Hogwarts; a History. Dumbledore said that I will have to come in sometime this week to be re-sorted if I don't want to do it in front of the whole school," she said, looking up at him. "He also says that it won't affect my Head Girl status, so we are both Heads, even if I become a Slytherin," Leo said.
The door opened and their parents walked in along with Severus. "Before you ask," Severus said, "I just found out this morning and as your close family friend, I wish to congratulate the two, three, seeing as Blaise is a Prefect, of you. I knew that you would be in high ranking positions." Severus smiled and Leo couldn't help but laugh.
"As Head of Slytherin, Miss Zabini, I wish to say that if you know what is good for you, you will be in my house this time next week!"
"Wow Sev, you really know how to lay it on thick, don't you?" she asked sarcastically as she gave him his customary hug.
"Hush you." was all he said in return. "You do realize, Kitten, that I actually have a fighting chance to get the 'Brightest Witch of the Age' into Slytherin. Right, where she belongs." he said. Leo just laughed. Then her eyes got a special shine in them that Severus knew to be trouble. "What are you planning to do Kitten?" he asked, eyes narrowing.
Leo smiled at him and he felt her occlumency wall slamming up. "At times like this I bet he wished he never taught me occlumency." she thought. She spun to the other adults in the room and said, "I think now is as good a time as any to reveal my animagus form to you." She looked back at Draco and Blaise, who, too, had mischievous looks in their eyes, and nodded to them. When they had nodded back she transformed.
Both sets of parents gasped as where the young woman they had come to love once stood, was a jet black leopard. The large cat stretched, looked up at Severus and winked. He couldn't help but laugh at her antics, but when she rounded on Draco he stopped abruptly. She slowly circled around Draco as if he were her prey. Before Severus could do anything to stop her she pounced Draco with her own catlike roar.
He heard the screams of the women behind him as two bodies fell to the ground, only neither was human. "Draco is an animagus too?! When the fuck did this happen?" Severus thought. Once he got past his shock he looked at what Draco was. "Another leopard, imagine that." He couldn't help but laugh at how the two pounced on each other like they were kittens instead of large grown cats.
Once they had effectively pinned each other a couple times, they faced Blaise, who was laughing as well. He crouched down and moved in circles as they did and just as they lunged at him he jumped over them, transforming mid-air. Severus could hear the chuckles behind him from the amused parents and couldn't help but wonder how the teens kept this from them.
Blaise being a feline didn't surprise Severus, who was expecting another type of big cat. What did surprise him, however, was that he took the form of a dark brown jaguar. The resemblance between the siblings was uncanny in their feline forms. You would be hard-pressed to tell the difference at just a glance.
From the exclamations behind him, he wasn't the only one who found this fact delightfully odd, yet fitting. He couldn't wait to see what mischief these three will come up with for their last year of school. He had a couple surprises for them along the way, as well.
It was three days after Leo had received her Hogwarts letter and she was now waiting outside Dumbledore's office for Severus. He was to escort her up where she is to be re-sorted in front of the Heads of Houses. Leo was torn, she used to be a die-hard Gryffindor but there was something inside her that told her she should be a Slytherin. She knew from Harry's experience with the hat, that the final decision was up to her, but she didn't know where to go.
She heard footsteps behind her and whirled around, her wand at the ready, to see who it was. She still felt weary of the school after what took place there just a few months earlier. Severus stopped short at the sight of her wand and said, "It's just me Kitten. I'm sorry I'm late. I was brewing some of the potions the hospital wing needs for the new term."
Leo took a breath and tucked her wand back in its arm sheath. "I'm sorry Sev, I'm still a bit jumpy. There are too many bad memories in these halls." she sighed. "Although there are quite a few good ones, too. Come on, let's just get this over with. The guys are taking me out for ice cream after this."
With a wave of his wand, the gargoyle jumped aside, revealing the stairs to Dumbledore's office. She remembered when Dumbledore came out of hiding during the final battle. He distracted Voldemort long enough for Neville to kill Nagini and Harry to land the final blow to Voldemort. Afterwards, he revealed that his death was staged to make Voldemort more trusting of Severus and think he had a fighting chance.
As they ascended the steps, she grew more and more worried. "Has he told them who I was? Do any of them know what happened to me?" She was about to voice her worries but the door above them swung open to reveal a smiling Dumbledore. Leo knew that Severus had told the old man not to say anything by the look on Dumbledore's face and she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Please come in Miss Zabini. Thank you for coming to us on such short notice." he winked at her and she just couldn't help but smile. She looked around the room to see her teachers and was thankful that they were all alive. She trusted each of them with her life, and it was then that she decided that they should know the truth.
Smiling, she said, "Hello Professors, it's great to see you again. I realize this might be confusing to you and I apologize. I myself have had a hard time wrapping my brain around the situation, and once you know more, you will come to realize why that statement wounded my ego." Severus barked a laugh surprising all but Dumbledore, as he was too busy laughing himself.
"Excuse me, but just who are you? We already have a Zabini child here that is your age, yet you are new. Care to explain?" McGonagall's harsh Scottish voice broke the laughter.
"Of course. You do have a Zabini here, Blaise Zabini, my twin brother. What none of us knew, save the old coot to your right, was that there were, in fact, two Zabini children here." Everyone looked at Dumbledore, whose blue eyes were at full twinkle, for confirmation. He simply nodded and motioned for her to continue.
"This second Zabini child is me. I was here under a different name and a glamour charm, with no knowledge of my true identity until this past June. I have been taught by each of you for the past six-plus years. I took a leave of absence last year due to my contributions in the war. Tell me, Minerva, have you heard from a certain young Gryffindor girl that normally writes to you every summer." Leo asked. She saw the confusion on her second favorite professor's face and decided another way might help.
"The glamour that was put on me at birth hid the features you see now and some of my personality traits that tie me to my real family, but it did not hide my voice. Shall I give you another hint? How about this," she cleared her throat and thought of Harry not doing his homework. "Harry James Potter! How dare you not do your homework and expect me to let you copy mine!" she smiled as recognition dawned on all three faces at the same time. "Ah, I see that you all recognize my voice. Can you put a name to it, Minerva?"
"Hermione? Oh dear, is that really you?" Minerva asked. When Leo nodded in the affirmative the older woman started to cry. She grabbed Leo in a very tight hug and said, "Oh dear child! I was worried about you. I had a sinking suspicion that something was going on when I received no answer to my letters."
"I'm sorry Minerva, I have moved into Zabini Manor and have taken the name I was born with. I'm now Leonada Maria Zabini, but I go by Leo. So much has happened, things that I have hidden from all of you for the past two years." Leo pulled away. She felt like she couldn't breathe.
She turned away from the others and into Severus, who hugged her as she tried to gain control over her emotions. "I can't do it Sev. The words won't come out. They will see me differently, they will pity me. I can't take it if they pity me." she looked up at him, tears in her eyes. "You tell them, I can't." and she hid her face back into his chest.
Severus looked to Dumbledore, who was told of the situation. He nodded and Severus took a breath, then pulled back to look Leo in the face. "I'll tell them Kitten, but you need to face this. Remember your motto, Refuse to Sink. Fuck sinking Kitten, now is the time you need to start swimming."
She smiled at the reminder and nodded. "You give them the gist of it, I'll answer the questions. Deal?" she asked. He smiled at her and nodded. Straightening up he looked at the confused faces of his colleges and wished beyond any hope and dream that the words he was about to say were anything but true.
"As you all know, Leo was in a relationship with Ronald Weasley while she was Hermione Granger." They all nodded, "Well he turned out to be an abusive partner and repeatedly beat and raped Leo over the course of the past two years. Each time he would threaten to kill her if she told anyone about the abuse. Which is why you are only finding out now."
Leo took a deep breath and steeled herself for the sad looks of pity she just knew she would get, only to turn around and find faces burning with shock and fury. Most noticeably Minerva's. "How dare that despicable fucking shit-faced asshole! There is no excuse for being that horrible. I knew that there was something fucked up about that boy but I never imagined that he would do this! That miserable fucktard will pay for this, I promise it! I'll kill him" she raved. All Leo could do was stand there and stare, as did most of the others in the office. As mad as they have all seen Minerva McGonagall, this was the worst.
"Now, now, Minnie, we can't just kill the boy. We, unfortunately, have to follow the law and turn him in." Dumbledore said, trying to placate her. Seeing that everyone in the room was about to say something he raised his hand and said, "But, that doesn't mean we can't torture him for a little bit before we do turn him in." This shut everyone up.
"Now, before we plan anything further, we must know what house Miss Zabini will be sorted into. Leo, if you please." He said gesturing to a chair in front of his desk. Once she sat down he placed the old sorting hat on her head.
"So, you found out your true identity, at last, have you?" the hat whispered in her ear. "Well, you still are a right mix of things aren't you. You have the bravery of a lion, the loyalty of a badger, the brain of a raven, and the cunning of a snake. But, my dear, it is the heart that counts, and while you will always have a place in Gryffindor, it is time you follow where your heart truly lies." At that point, she knew exactly where she was to go, even before the hat said it.
"Slytherin!" the hat declared.
Leo jumped up with glee, almost tackling Severus to the ground when she hugged him. "I'm so proud to have you home Kitten! Now instead of being Gryffindor's Princess, you will be Slytherin's Princess," he said with a huge smile on his face that shocked all in the room. They all knew the two became friends while working for the Order. They never realized they became this close. It seemed Leo now held the heart of everyone on staff at Hogwarts.
When Leo let go of him she turned to her former head of house and said, "I'm sorry Minerva, but Slytherin is my home. Always has been, I'm just returning now." she hugged the older woman. "Look on the bright side, I will always be a feline." Leo winked at Minerva's confused face and transformed into her leopard form.
Shouting with surprise, Minerva jumped back. Then after catching her breath, she gave a hearty laugh. "Feline you may be, but you know as well as I that you more closely resemble your true Head of House in this form then you do mine. Just with that little stunt, you showed everyone how Slytherin you really are." she nodded for Leo to turn and when she did she saw Severus in his tiger form. He had a beautiful black and white coat to go with his deep black eyes.
Growling she leaped at him, taking him to the ground and bouncing back up. She bumped his head with hers and then bit his ear. He swiped at her but she had backed away. She transformed back into her human form, looked at his glowering feline face and said, "That is what you get for ruining my attempt to make Minerva feel better. Now, you can lick your wounds later, we got revenge to plan!"
Everyone laughed as Severus growled at her and turn back into his normal form. Her appearance may have changed but she was still a swotty know-it-all at heart.
Once Severus transformed, he rubbed his bleeding ear saying, "No wonder Blaise and Draco keep asking me for more scar cream. You, my dear, play rough. I truly believe there is no better place for you at Hogwarts than Slytherin." Leo just winked at him and smiled.
Dumbledore coughed slightly to get everyone's attention. "Now, for our plan, I say we see what the Slytherins have been cooking up for him in the defense of their new found Princess. The Gryffindors can have their turn to deal with their own, then the teachers and staff can get him next. After all of Hogwarts has had their turn, we can see how his mother feels about his long-term abuse of the girl she sees as a second daughter. When she is done with him, if there is anything left, and the family has gotten their share of revenge, we officially press charges through the Ministry." Dumbledore said, eyes at full twinkle.
Everyone laughed and was in agreement. They looked to Leo to make sure that the plan was ok with her. "Draco, Blaise and I get first dibs, then I want to see how Harry and Ginny react to the truth. If they take action, your plan goes after them, if not then you can have him after us. Agreed?"
Surprised that she wanted Harry and Ginny involved, they all nodded. "Good, now if you'll excuse me, I have an ice cream calling my name." And with a dazzling smile and a wave of her hand, Leo was out the door and down the stairs before anyone could ask her to stay.
A/N: I wanted them all to be dark-colored big cats but there aren't that many. They all belong to the Panthera Genus (specific big cat species). While I decided to change Draco to be light colored, like his hair, he is a specific (and endangered) leopard, a snow leopard.
Draco and Leo are Leopards (Leopards Leo, ;) get it?) While Blaise is a Jaguar, and Severus is a Tiger. Each looks different in their own way but they are all big cats.
Hermione was the apple of everyone's eye (bar most Slytherins), so when people realize Leo is Hermione she will become the apple of everyone's eye again. This time including the Slytherins. That is why everyone wants to beat the shit out of Ron as their own personal revenge.
A/N June 25, 2014: I'm so sorry for letting my readers down. I know many of you are frustrated that I have not updated this story in almost a year, and my excuses are not very good. I stopped writing at the start of my senior year of high school because of the busy schedule I had to keep. I then reacquainted myself with an old love. He is in the army and most of my time outside of school and dancing was dedicated to him. We are moving into our apartment on July 2nd and getting married on July 3rd. I am busier now than ever before! Once we are settled, I will start writing again and hopefully, my dear readers, the wait for a new chapter will be forgiven. As my wedding will only be a courthouse marriage, I will not have a honeymoon yet, so once we are unpacked, I can continue to write.
Please accept my sincerest apologies, and I thank all who reviewed and kept faith in my return. Hope to see you in a couple weeks!
