Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

Half-Blood Blessing

Chapter Fourteen: Full Moon Rescue

We attended classes on Monday. Transfiguration was for once interesting. McGonagall had launched us into Animagus transformation and as example she transformed into her cat without warning during the lecture. We were not practicing the actual transformation; it was just a subject of study.

"Mr. Potter?" she asked, my second hands stopped and faded, "I believe you know the transformation?"

"I must protest that I know only a fashion of the transformation it is not a true Animagus form," I said tentatively, unsure of exactly what she was expecting of me.

"Why don't you show us then, perhaps we will be able to see the difference between mine and yours?"

It was not the question I had been expecting, but I stood up on the desk, dropping my invisibility. I jumped and twisted into the dove, then flew around the room and fell out of the air as myself, landing gracefully. Hermione smiled, she really loved magic of all sorts; I think she was almost as enamored with it as I was.

McGonagall nodded. "How long did it take you to learn this transformation?"

"I've been working on it since June. In the great hall though, that was the first instant transformation."

"Please take your seat, thank you for your example." The class went on and I resumed my invisibility if more out of habit then anything. The teachers and Dumbledore seemed ill inclined to force me into Pomfrey's custody as of late.

It continued to rain. Voldemort had been active in the English countryside and the Prophecy dragged at my mind though my scar had not bothered me since the ministry incident last June. The warrant for my arrest had not been revoked but with the ministry near revolution it had not been acted on. I had seen several articles in the Daily Prophet about me; the number of articles suggested that every employee had gotten the chance to publish her opinion. The public's view had wavered for a few days about the trial and subsequent events and had then been distracted by a series of attacks on mostly wizarding villages.

I stood at the door to the room of requirement impatient to go and also distracted. It was the first time I had not been busy with one thing or another since the trial. Through the week I had still felt that presence at my heel, or just ahead of me. It was Sirius, I knew it. The heaviness of his death pulled at me more than it ever had. As I thought about it, each day, it seemed less real and the heaviness that had hung about me since June became merely an absence, an agonizing absence. All I had to do was go back and reach in and pull him back to our side of the curtain. I could see myself doing it, I had dreamed of doing it several times; wasn't that what I had done? Were those dreams or memories, I couldn't remember or I couldn't tell the difference. I had broken free of Remus' grip and run to the curtain and reached through. I had done that, I remembered how cold it was, the air was so dense right there; I could still feel it. Why had I chased Lestrange up to the Atrium? Why had I done that?

"Almost finished," Draco was sitting at the table scrawling off the last words of an essay.

"Ok, Neville, come on," I called, what had I been thinking about? I didn't remember; there was a warmth hovering around my shin but I could find no explanation for it. "It's time to go, the full moon is tonight." Draco set down his quill and Neville came out of his room sucking a scratch on his hand where he had probably gotten into a fight with his Herbology project. Draco muttered a spell to heal it.

We met up with Remus outside his office. He looked haggard, as he always did on the full moon. We trudged out onto the grounds near to the forest and waited. The way Remus walked was already slinking and fluid, predator-like. I had picked up the motion, over the last year, as a constant stride, but Remus's walk was distinctive only at the full moon. We Herons flanked him ready to transform when he did.

The moon rose above the horizon, and we each became our animals. I watched the werewolf carefully. I knew Remus had his mind but the instincts did not disappear even with the potion, the same way a true Animagus had all the instincts of their animal. Neville trotted off into the woods and the rest of us followed. Draco swept down clipping one of my ears with a wing and flew off out of reach. I shouldered Remus and we went galloping through the underbrush. Near midnight, I pulled in front of Remus, stopping him suddenly. I prowled forward knowing Draco was perched above us watching. It was Neville who had indicated we should stop and I went to him. We were well outside the Hogwarts grounds by now and into the surrounding mountains. We crept forward, Remus right behind us. The undergrowth started to thin and yellow light drifted into the forest.

"Where've you taken me?" I demanded, even though I felt groggy with whatever potion they had used and the multiple injuries I had already sustained. I had expected the punishment to be carried out before my father and his court. Perhaps his embarrassment was too great to allow me the honor of that. I was blinded by a rough scarf tied to cover my eyes. My other senses compensated, I heard the barest rustle nearby, a second party to witness my torture, though they must not be with my captors or they would not stand off at such a distance. I could smell something vaguely familiar, wolfish but not, it reminded me of the few times I had knelt before that wizard. A werewolf, that was the scent I was catching, but the smell was not wild, not driven mad, like the ones serving at Voldemort's side. I thought there might be a cat there too, not a wild one though.

"That doesn't matter. Now, traitor what do you have to say?" A spell was whispered, and I was trapped in waves of tingling pain. "The Dark Lord and your own liege are not pleased with you. Will you serve them now?" I think a second cast the same spell on me increasing both power and pain. I could not help shrieking. Despite the pain the thought of a second group nearby held my thoughts.

Then the spell lifted. "There is a werewolf nearby." I said, not intending to speak out loud. "A large cat, too." I heard more of the Death Eaters move away, breaking twigs, clearly moving into a thicker part of the forest.

"That is not important. Where do your loyalties lie? Will you not submit?" The spell was applied again more powerfully than before and increasing. I was driven senseless by the torture, I had been under the curse before today, and I seemed to have a unique defense against the spell, maybe all vampires did, if so they did not speak of it. I would be senseless under the spell, my mind hidden in a safe box separate from everything else, so I was protected from lasting madness. Physical exhaustion persisted but recovery was total, unlike humans held under the curse for too long. Perhaps all vampires were protected like that. It was, at best, unlikely that I would carry such unique protection. I refocused outside the pain and heard something large moving, without concern for sound, towards us. The spell snapped off suddenly and there was a warp of magical backlash. My bonds and blindfold disappeared but I was still temporarily delirious and shaky, I had no way of knowing how long it might last. I saw a panther maul the Death Eater who had cast the spell, and then it transformed into a short human obscured in impossible shadows. He dodged spells with grace and attacked faster than anyone I had seen, including my own kin. After a mere two minutes fighting, the Death Eaters retreated. The young man, I could see he was no more than seventeen, reached down for me and we shifted through space to farther into the forest. I heard the company behind us apparate, thinking we were gone completely. I sensed more than saw two non-animal animals turn and run, and the werewolf was already some distance ahead of them. The wizard half-supporting me changed into a horse and I mounted at the invitation of a dropped shoulder. I gripped the mane, but I think some spell held me or I would have fallen long before we reached our destination. The horse gained on its fellows leading the pack through the forest. I fell into weariness and then a stupor. I did not realize we had stopped until I slipped sideways from the horse's back. Another spell caught me and laid me out on the grass. Feeling that the curse had removed, returned, and I felt the scratches on my arms and one deep slash on my upper arm, as well as the numberless bruises. I saw the shadowy shapes of my rescuers change back to human and come to stand over me. The werewolf was older than the other two who were the same age as the horse shape-shifter. He was the shortest of the group, with wild black hair, and a thin face with delicate features. The other two boys were taller; one with blond hair, and the other dark brown.

The blond spoke, "he's a vampire."

The werewolf touched my lip exposing a fang and then looked into my eyes; his face was too close to focus on. The short boy knelt and on his forehead, under his fringe, there was a scar. That pulled at my memory. I felt the touch of magic on me, and the scratches healed as if they had never been. My senses sharpened, and I tensed; this situation could be as dangerous as being with the Death Eaters.

The Werewolf spoke, "you're safe here. We won't harm you. What's your name?"

I looked at him. "My name is Vox, werewolf. Where am I?"

"You are on Hogwarts grounds," said the short boy with a little venom. "His name is Remus, and these other two are Draco and Neville." he indicated each in turn, "I am Harry."

"I meant no offense, Harry. I guess it is Harry Potter, is it not?" My mind had finally made the connection between the scar and The-Boy-Who-Lived. Harry nodded. I sat up, putting a hand to my head; it was not a headache, just a fuzziness. "Thank you for rescuing me. I openly disagreed with the Lord of the Night and Voldemort and was therefore tortured. Thank you."

"It is against my nature to let harm befall anyone." Harry offered a hand to help me stand. I was unsteady on my feet. "The castle is not far from here."

Author's Note: I would like to inform you of how lucky all of you are. I was almost too exhausted to post this tonight but here it is. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you,

Shifted Illusions