A/N: Thank you wonderful people who have supported me so positively the last chapter and through all of my stories. You have helped me greatly to get over the nay-sayers that seemed to have popped out of the woodwork during the last chapter, and it makes me happy to know that the majority of you are both kind enough to review and review with your account. That makes me very happy.

School is back in session, so chapters won't be coming every day. I realise I spoiled you there for a while, but neither I or my lovely betas are able to keep that up forever! (Sorry, we're not Orion Black… I know... so disappointing!)

Beta Love: fluffpanda, The Dragon and the Rose, dutchgirl01

One Step Forward, Two Decades Back

Chapter 37

Phoenixes, Wolves, and Bears (Oh, My!)

"Bloody hell," James burst into the trio's waiting room like an unwanted house guest.

Sirius came panting in just a couple seconds behind him. "H… H… Damnation," Sirius panted. "Have you seen my twin?"

Severus lifted one brow, his quill freezing over a stack of first year essays. "Hn?"

Sirius waved his hands, gesturing. "She's about this high. Brown fur. Long tail. Squeaks?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but," Remus said as he came gliding in with a stack of scrolls to go over. "But Our Most Royal Conflagration With the Sharpened Beak chirps and warbles and sometimes yodels thanks to Master Shattenjäger."

James and Sirius slumped together. "Maybe not right at this moment."

"What?" Severus and Remus stared at the two suspicious-looking Gryffindors. Their narrowed eyes bled into gold almost immediately.

James and Sirius waved their hands frantically.

"See, we were trying to transfigure each other," James blurted.

"The spell, um..." Sirius bit his lip, "ricochetted."

"You let a spell," Severus started.

"A human transfiguration spell," Remus continued.

"Hit a newly-regenerated phoenix?" Severus finished.

James and Sirius looked altogether pathetic and woebegone.

"She has been ignoring us lately," Sirius whinged.

"And that excuses you from hitting her with a human transfiguration spell, how?" Severus rumbled, his knuckles turning white as he grasped his quill.

"We forgot she was there!" James blurted. "We got into a blazing row, and—"

"Just flung spells around a room like a couple of complete imbeciles," Remus said, tapping his quill feather against his face.

"You are both absolute idiots," Severus informed them.

James and Sirius sputtered in indignation.

Severus' deep black eyes bored into them. "She had finished with her grading hours ago. Do you think she flew into that room just to give you the silent treatment? She wanted to spend time with her twin. Perhaps, she wished to watch what he did every day with his best mate. And because you didn't hear her say so, you think she was ignoring you. How utterly juvenile."

James flushed red and looked like he was going to say something rash, but Sirius put his hand on his shoulder and shook his head. "He's right. I'm an imbecile, and we turned my twin sister into an otter."

"We have to find her before McGonagall finds out! She'll give us detention until we're forty!" James frantically insisted. "Come on!" James dragged a protesting Sirius off by the ear.

Severus and Remus simultaneously closed their eyes, grasped the bridge of their noses and shook their heads in disgust.

Minerva glided in from her study, carrying a squeaky brown otter in her arms. Hermione was snuffling her face with her whiskers and squeaking up a storm of commentary as though she was speaking in the Queen's English.

"So," McGonagall said, sitting down in the nearby chair. She stuffed a crawfish into the otter's mouth with a bemused expression. "Who do have to assign detention to until they are forty?"

Severus made antlers with his fingers pressed to the top of his head. Remus cupped his hands like dog ears and wiggled them.

Minerva sighed. "I swear to Merlin, I'm going to murder my own House, starting with those two."

"Azkaban wouldn't really suit you, Master," Remus said.

Hermione placed her webbed paws against her face and snuffled her nose.

"Hermione would miss you," Severus said, passing Hermione a clam from the bowl that had just appeared on front of them courtesy of some very efficient house-elf.

Hermione snatched to offering greedily and squeaked in happiness, gnawing on the clam with her jaws.

Minerva wilted. "You're so adorable."

Hermione stared at her with wide, shining, grey eyes. She squeaked adoringly into Minerva's face.

"Ugh," Minerva gasped. "Clam breath! Are the papers graded yet?"

"Ready for your final look over, Master," Severus and Remus chimed.

"Good," Minerva said, chuckling as Hermione wriggled up against her and squeaked. "Let's take our furry little friend here to Barberry and see if he can trigger her reversion. He was always more delicate about it than I was. Then we can meet with the other masters about what you found in the Come and Go Room."

Hermione gave a sad sound, with whiskers drooping and her soul in her eyes.

"Or we could visit the centaur first and assist them with bringing in their fish from the the river and emptying their crab traps," Minerva supposed.

Hermione squeaked excitedly.

Severus and Remus grinned. "Excellent!"

"Only you, Hermione," Minerva chided. "Could want to stay an otter just so you had a perfect excuse to go swimming with the centaur foals."

Hermione chirped decisively.

Minerva shook her head then clapped her hands together. "Let's go!"

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

April 14th, 1976. Full Moon 100%

"There you go, my apprentice," Barberry said with a warm smile, tapping the otter on the nose.

Hermione appeared in the otter's place with an almost sad expression.

Barberry chuckled. "Such a sad face for one liberated from being an aquatic mammal," he noted.

Hermione shrugged. "It was fun."

Her master smiled at her warmly. "I'm sure it was."

Barberry gestured for the trio to sit in front of him, and they took their seats in a semi-circle at his feet, looking up at him. It had been that say since they were twelve, and the casual intimacy between them had not changed.

"First, I bring news from the other masters," he started, smiling as the three perked. "The diadem you brought to us was indeed the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, and it was thoroughly cleansed. The magic that lay within remains as pure as it was the day Rowena Ravenclaw crafted it. It is priceless beyond measure and we have squirreled it away into a very special vault in Gringott's in conjunction with the Aurors until the more sinister matter of what you found embedded in the diadem has been fully investigated."

Barberry sipped his tea and sighed. "After viewing your memories, I can only confirm that it was, indeed, a Horcrux— an abomination of terrible evil. We must presume that Hermione's visions of a possible future are far too accurate and dangerous to be ignored. This means we must presume that there are others out there, and this was confirmed after I spoke with Lord Orion Black just this morning."

The trio exchanged worried glances.

"Lord Black brought us a diary that had been hoarded by the recently incarcerated ex-lord Abraxas Malfoy. It was labeled Tom Marvolo Riddle. The Young Lord, Lucius Malfoy, had it sent to Lord Black on the moment his safety was compromised under a timed and specific conditional spell," Barberry explained. "Lord Black has been working with the Aurors since he received it, and after finding the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff wrapped in leather in the old vault of the former Lord Abraxas Malfoy, we are very much worried about the location of the other Horcruxes from Hermione's visions."

"So they are true?" Severus asked worriedly.

Gilford shook his head. "Think of the visions as a possible map, Severus. Time is fickle, and it is often something that plays by its own rules. Consider how many things we do in a single day, where we could have chosen to do something else, yet did not. Think of all the things we do differently, yet find ourselves in the exact same place as someone else. There are differences. There are possibilities. In this case, Hermione's visions of a future in which Tom Riddle nearly succeeded in destroying the Wizarding world are, in fact, strikingly similar to the world we're living in right now. But we already know that some things are definitely not the same. You, my apprentices, are all proof of that. My being here, perhaps, is also proof of that, as it is obvious that I do not play a part in Hermione's vision of the future, nor do any of the masters we all know and work with today. You, Severus, were never friends with Remus. Hermione never knew either of you as friends and comrades."

"I can't even imagine that," Remus said.

Severus nodded in clear agreement.

Hermione's hand trembled. "It was such a lonely time for me," she said wistfully. "I did have friends, but, they weren't anything like Remus and Severus. I can't imagine not having this. I can't imagine not being here."

"You are here, Hermione," Barberry said gently. "We are here; all of us are together. Any maybe Magic has guided us to this place to live the life that should have been yours."

The trio exchanged glances and nodded.

"Once we have ensured that Fawkes' nest is stable and protected," Barberry said, "they should be ready to hatch. That remains our priority so Fawkes is no longer compromised by the ransom of his nest. The eggs seem to be stable and growing in size, even the smaller ones. Lord Black has been good enough to offer his services in helping build and ward a safehouse of sorts— a rookery— where their presence can be concealed. The other masters have also agreed to assist in the tending and guarding of the nest, so it will never be only protected by either Fawkes or Hermione, depending who is sitting on it at any given time."

The trio looked greatly relieved and nodded to him.

"How many eggs survived, Master?" Remus asked.

"Twenty one total, Remus," Barberry said with a grin. "Can you imagine? Zabulon was a handful all by himself."

"Three didn't make it," Hermione said, her face terribly sad.
"The eggs were too weak, even with the tears to help them."

Severus placed his hand on Hermione's arm supportively. She smiled at him gratefully.

"Now, my apprentices, Auror Moody has requested our assistance in a matter of great importance," Barberry said. "The cleaning of the diadem went so well that he would like to do another on the cup and the diary under the watchful eye of the Auror specialists in case something goes wrong. Far be it from us to demand anything of Fawkes he wasn't willing to do on its own, we should not rely on him to be there to take things out in a blaze of protective rage. Moody would like for you, Hermione, to cry upon the Horcruxes, then they can deal with what comes out."

Hermione tilted her head, exchanging looks with the trio. She nodded after a moment. "It sounds like a good plan," she said.

Barberry paused. "There is another thing I think we should all prepare for."

Three sets of curious eyes bored down on Gilford.

"Once the eggs are hatched, the Masters are planning to have a chat with Albus Dumbledore to… test out the waters," Barberry explained. "Before this happens, I would like you to, if you can, Hermione, help us find what other Horcruxes there may be hidden— hopefully in the same place you had in your vision of the future. If we check those places we may be able to gain control of a dangerous situation before it becomes the nightmare we have all seen."

Hermione nodded in fervent agreement.

"There was a locket," she recalled. "Such an evil thing. It was a locket that originally belonged to Salazar Slytherin. It was in a cave by a seaside where Riddle's orphanage used to take the children during the summer. Harry went there with Dumbledore. It was dark cave by a churning sea, containing a lake filled with Inferi lurking under the water. The only way to get to the cave safely was by magic. Even when inside, Dumbledore spilt blood to open the way to even greater horrors."

"What is worse than a lake full of Inferi?" Remus asked.

Hermione's face grew haunted. "Harry said Dumbledore had to drink a potion from a basin. The potion had to be consumed, or it would just reappear back in the basin. He never said why they couldn't just fish it out. Dumbledore drank it all, suffering terribly for it. It made him so very thirsty, so Harry tried to conjure water for him. But the cup that had been left by the basin refused to hold anything other than the potion for which it was intended. He went to the edge of the lake to scoop up some water for him… and that is when he found out about the Inferi."

"Couldn't he have crafted a cup from a stone? Frozen the water to make a chalice? Something?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't know. I wasn't there. I gather he was very upset because Dumbledore was in so much pain and Harry probably couldn't think straight in his panic."

"Then what happened?"

"The Inferi pulled him under, trying to drown him,," Hermione recollected. "Dumbledore recovered his wand and cast a wall of flame around them, driving the Inferi back. Then they escaped on Harry's broom and went back to Hogwarts. Headmaster Dumbledore didn't survive the night, though. Death Eaters came to the school that same night thanks to a pair of magical cabinets, one of which was located in the Room of Requirement. "

"Death Eaters had magical cabinets in Hogwarts?" Severus asked with a scowl.

"Draco Malfoy was given the task to kill Professor Dumbledore and find a way to get them into Hogwarts undetected," Hermione replied. "If he didn't, his family would have been murdered. He tried other ways— poison and a cursed necklace, but they failed. The cabinet was the last resort, but it worked. Dumbledore fell from the Astronomy Tower that night, and we found out shortly after that the locket was a fake. R.A.B. had liberated the real locket in the hopes of destroying it."

"Regulus?" Severus asked, stunned.

Hermione nodded. "My baby brother gave up his life to try and destroy the Horcrux, but Kreacher couldn't do it. It took eighteen years for the locket to be destroyed, and that was a whole different story."

"I will presume that whatever caused Regulus to become a Death Eater and then turn on Riddle in that timeline has not happened this time?" Gilford surmised.

Hermione nodded. "He did it after he graduated," she said. "After he had taken the Dark Mark."

"Surely Sirius would have prevented that?" Remus asked, horror written all over his face.

Hermione shook her head. "That Sirius hated Regulus from the moment he was Sorted into Slytherin. The only person he hated even more was Severus. His hatred for the rest of his family paled in comparison."

Hermione looked haunted. She twisted a tendril of hair with her finger unconsciously in agitation.

Gilford poured tea into cups and then passed them around. Hermione sipped her tea thoughtfully for a few minutes before continuing.

"The ring was once the ring of Marvolo Gaunt," she said. "Harry gave me a vivid description of its former location from a Pensieve memory belonging to one Bob Ogden. It was a run down shack in the middle of nowhere, just outside the village of Little Hangleton. There was a dead snake nailed to the door. The ring had been stashed under a floorboard— one of the few prized possessions of Marvolo Gaunt, before Tom Riddle, the grandson he never knew he had, came back to murder him."

Hermione's eyes grew dark. "There was a compulsion on the ring that fed on Dumbledore's greatest hidden desire: being reunited with his sister and parents or perhaps a dream that they would be given life again in whole. Harry wasn't entirely sure because so much of this information came to him in the middle of the war. He had a lot on his plate. The ring contained a withering curse. Even strong magic could only isolate the curse to his hand and slow it down. Eventually, it would have killed him."

"Ironically reuniting him with his parents and sister," Remus whispered.

Hermione nodded slowly. "The last two Horcruxes—"

"There were more?"

"That would mean… seven times?"

Hermione gave a grim nod. "The last two were living Horcruxes. One was a serpent named Nagini… the other was Harry himself— created the night his mother threw herself in front of a killing curse to save his life. It ricocheted, and destroyed Voldemort's physical body. Until one of his servants managed to resurrect him several years later, via a ritual that gave him a new body."

"This is much to consider, Hermione, thank you," Barberry said. "You three should go situate yourselves in the garden for the moonrise. As much as we all love Tuft in all his glory, he has a habit of trying to eat the feather pillows I'm so very fond of."

The trio grinned.

"Let me know if there is anything else you need from me, Master," Hermione added.

Barberry patted her hand with his. "You have already done so much, Hermione. Now it's up to me, Minerva, the other Masters, possibly your Lord Father, and the Aurors to handle the rest. They will tell us what needs to be done, once everything has been confirmed."

Hermione, Severus, and Remus nodded and stood, setting their empty teacups on the tray. "Goodnight, Master Barberry," they said together.

"Goodnight, my children," he answered. "Have a good romp."

The trio dashed off to make their way to the garden as Barberry sighed deeply, leaning back against his chair with a heavy weariness.

The vision of the possible future was very bleak, indeed. They would need to tread lightly and watch over each other even more intently to make certain the Dark Lord's rise never came to pass. Surely if Magic had made it so they had such a grand opportunity to change what could be, it would not choose to simply snatch it all away?

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Sis!" Regulus stuffed his head into Hermione's feathers with an excited exclamation. "I hear them!"

Hermione and Fawkes stared at the youngest Black with groggy expressions. The warm heat from their combined flames had but them both into a mutual doze. Hermione nailed Regulus on the forehead with her beak.

"Aw, ow!" Regulus bemoaned. "Come on, sis! This is a day of a lifetime!"

Fawkes preened Hermione's headcrest and chirped lazily, adjusting himself over the nesting box. The rookery had been constructed with a infinite care for the comfort of the birds, and once all the eggs had been transferred there, Fawkes and very carefully filled the nest, moving the collection of down to shelter them as the eggs seemed to grow into themselves, awoken from their stasis by the presence of those that would be their parents.

Perhaps, due to the sheer number of eggs, it had taken a while for them to even consider hatching. Zabulon, who seemed utterly delighted to have the prospect of siblings, had joined in the vigil for the eggs, and even shared his flames to keep the large nest warm. He had even "assisted" Regulus is donating quite a bit of his bear woolen undercoat to line the nest, much to Regulus' distress about his dignity of being an unbecoming half-naked bear. And, while Remus had been worried about becoming defurred thanks to phoenix fire, Tuft had shown a strange nuturing side of himself for his bird-pack and cuddled around the nesting box full of eggs, almost as if the werewolf knew something wonderful was coming and he wanted to be a part of it too.

Tuft had lovingly curled around "his birds" and licked each egg as he turned them over equally, showing a tending that seemed to carry over from Remus' knowledge of how to tend incubating eggs. He curled his tail around Fawkes and Zabulon, snuggling his head into their feathers as he sat his vigil, ears swiveling to hear the tiny peeps that were coming from inside the shells. His tail would thump rapidly when her heard the tiny sounds from within.

Hermione and Severus, stuck as wolves for duration of all full moons, curled up with him, making the nest probably the first and only phoenix nest tended both by phoenix, werewolf, wolf, human, and one semi-naked bear, not excluding the check-ins of one silver tabby, a plump English robin, a number of owls, one smug-looking Kneazle, and Treacle, who wasn't about to be left out either.

Everyone was fairly certain that the poor chicks were going to come out in the the dead of night, singing like robins, preening like cats, howling to the moon, and having an irrepressible drive to deliver the post amongst other traits that came inherent with phoenixes.

Tuft heard the noise first— the shuffling gait of stealthy feet that were trying remain as quiet as possible. Perhaps, had they been human, the ruse would have succeeded, but Tuft was not unobservant when it came to members of his pack, whether they had fur, feathers, or some combination thereof. The werewolf rose from his curled position around the eggs, his lips curling back from his teeth in a menacing, yet silent, snarl. His ears pinned back flat against his skull, hackles raised, and tail lowered straight from his back in a stiff line.

The change in Tuft alerted Fawkes, who pecked Hermione on the ear to rouse her. Hermione shot her head up, ears flicking and then flattening against her head. She whined softly, nudging Severus, who was instantly up and alert when the pressure of her body against him changed. Fawkes began to move their collection of down and fur over his nest, concealing the eggs. Then, he settled on the next and seemingly disappeared, his plumage changing from the bright red and orange of his normal, vibrant self into the relatively muted colours of the nest.

The snarls spread from werewolf to wolf to wolf, and the trio padded silently out of the Rookery, staying to the shadows as their ears and noses told them all they needed to know. Sagacity flew off on silent wings, heading towards the main estate, knowing that Master Barberry and McGonagall would be within. As the footsteps grew closer, a golden glow filled the eyes of each wolf before they disappeared into the undergrowth surrounding the rookery.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

"Cain, I don't feel right about this," the darkly-clad young wizard said.

"Malcolm," Cain whispered, "you won't be feeling anything but wonderfully rich when we get ourselves our own breeding pair of phoenixes and have so many galleons to our name any pain we could have imagined will seem like nothing."

"This is Master Barberry's estate," Malcolm insisted. "The wards were attuned to us when we visited with Master Armstead. They'll know. He'll know."

"And, by then, we'll be long gone," Cain reassured his reluctant associate. "Master Armstead is entirely too busy cooing over his latest barmy project in the laboratory to bother reading his own mail, anyway."

"Why this night, Cain?" Malcolm asked.

"It's the only night they suspiciously didn't ask for someone to help them guard the nest," Cain said. "We know Barberry is in the manor. We saw him. Where he is, his apprentices are. That leaves the nest currently unguarded."

"The full moon," Malcolm said, fidgeting nervously.

"You pay far too much attention to silly rumours, Malcolm," Cain scolded.

"Werewolves are not silly rumours!" Malcolm protested.

"Please," Cain scoffed. "Do you really think that Master Barberry would take such a risk as to harbour an actual werewolf on his grounds? His apprentices made the bloody Wolfsbane Potion, for crying out loud. Even if there was a werewolf here, it would be on the potion and thus docile as a lamb."

Malcolm looked dubious and decidedly less-than-convinced by his partner's blithe reassurances.

Cain fixed Malcolm with a stare. "Do you really think I'd be out here if I thought there was any real threat, idiot? Remember what you said before? We deserve better than being paid a paltry sum to be Master Armstead's mail sorters. Once we have those eggs, we'll be able to live off the spoils for the rest of our lives, mate."

The pair made their way to the charming little building that looked like a stone cottage built into the hill itself. Orchard trees, heavy with tempting-looking fruits, rose high all around them. Bushes, also laden with berries of all kinds, rustled gently in the breeze, sending the rich scents of ripened berries floating through the air.

"There isn't even a proper door," Cain snorted as he walked closer. "What idiot doesn't even put a door on a place he wants guarded?"

Malcolm was looking around uneasily. "Our master always said the seemingly unguarded path was often the one leading to quicksand."

Cain scrunched his nose up in disgust. "Of all the things he spouts, you remember that tripe?"

Malcolm frowned.

The pair made their way around twisting corridors into a center circle. The inner corridors were formed of living roots of the tree above, and luminescent moss was providing a soft glow of light everywhere. The way was disorientating, and they passed the very same "window" many times. The windows, too, were formed of roots.

Cain, getting tired of running in circles, pulled out his wand and began to carve his way though.

"What are you doing?!" Malcolm hissed.

"Getting to the bottom of things," Cain replied with a sneer. "I'm tired of these bloody mind games."

Malcolm put his hand on Cain's shoulder. "Cain, no," he insisted. "When I complained, I never meant for this. Do I want to be more than an errand boy, yes. But this? Stealing phoenix eggs? They say phoenixes can sense the heart of people. No phoenix is going to want to stay around someone who stole them as chicks and wanted to make money off them!"

Cain grabbed Malcolm by the throat and shoved him up against the roots. "Then we cut their bloody wings so they can't fly away. You've seen what that guy in Knockturn wants for just one feather. A single feather! Imagine what he'll give us for an egg or a chick! Now pick up your wand and help me cut through this sodding wall." He shoved Malcolm back against the wall again, going back to cutting through the roots.

Malcolm stared at the floor, his hand reaching for his wand. He stared at the wall Cain was carving, and pulled out his wand, pointing it at the wall. His lips pressed into a line, and his eyes closed. "Expecto Patronum," he said, flicking his wand in an spiral.

A strange insect that resembled the petals of an orchid formed in the vapour and then zoomed out of the open "window" to the outside.

"What the hell are you—" Cain blurted, only to realise that Malcolm was pointing his wand at him. "Who did you send that to?"

Malcolm regarded him levelly. "Our master, to whom our allegiance must be first."

"You idiot!" Cain yelled.

"I took my vows very seriously," Malcolm said, his entire demeanor having altered from the nervous quivering man into something far more controlled.

Suddenly, Cain used wandless magic to fill the corridor with vivid, blinding sunlight. Malcolm looked away, covering his eyes instinctively, and that was enough.

Cain blasted Malcolm so hard, the smaller wizard violently smashed into the wall, breaking the remainder of it open and exposing the nest beyond.

"We could have been rich," Cain seethed at him. "But you just had to be a hero. Diffindo!"

Malcolm's body thrashed in agony as blood began seeping through his robes in multiple places.

"Now, you can just bleed out as poor as you ever were," Cain said spitefully. "That is the fate all traitors deserve."

Malcolm stared at him, bright red blood trickling from his mouth. "You would know, wouldn't you, Cain?"

Cain's face darkened and he raised his wand to inflict another spell upon his once-associate. "Avada—"

Cain screamed as a wolf's powerful jaws snapped over his wrist, grinding down until the bones snapped like twigs. He reached into his robes and took out a glass flask and flung it into the wolf's face.

The black wolf yelped, face burning with some sort of smoking acid, and let go of his wrist. Cain kicked the wolf to the gut, multiple times, yelling.

Another wolf snarled and leapt at him, and Cain had his wand in his opposing hand, awkwardly pointing it, but desperate to do so. "Stupefy! STUPEFY! STUPEFY!" he screamed, hitting the wolf squarely twice to the face after the first one missed. The second black wolf fell to the ground, unmoving, its black eyes filled with pure rage and hate.

Cain cradled his wounded hand and started toward the next, but this time, a huge wolf, larger than he had ever seen, rose up in the shadows of the room. Foamy slaver dripped from his teeth as he snarled.

Cain glanced at the other two wolves and then back to the standing one. Short muzzle. Tufted tail.

Werewolf.

"Fuck!" Cain cursed. "Incarcerous! Stupefy! Diffindo!" he yelled in succession.

The wolf nimbly dodged the ropes, but took the stunner directly to the face. The werewolf, however, was not amused, nor was he even slightly disabled. He leapt, his mouth open to deliver his final judgement upon Cain Grimshaw with a mouth full of jagged teeth.

The Diffindo hit the werewolf square in the face, slicing down the werewolf's muzzle and shredding his ears. The wolf yelped in pain, but his eyes glowed a bright gold. Blood dripped from his shaggy head and fur.

Suddenly, the werewolf was joined by an even larger, shaggier animal. I black-furred grizzly bear rose up tall beside him, mouth open wide to expose huge, dripping canines. The grizzly roared, towering high above the not-exactly-small werewolf.

Cain fled, but not before pointing his wand to the ceiling and causing it to start caving in.

The bear and the wolf leapt over the nest, covering the precious eggs with their bodies, shooting glares of hate at the fleeing wizard. Their priorities, however, were clear, even as the rubble, broken tree roots and damp earth rained down upon them and caved in their only way out.

Cain burst out of the corridors and fled out the same way he had come in, running for his life. Unsure regarding how long his distractions would keep the animals from digging their way out, he didn't exactly plan to wait around long enough to find out.

Blood dripped from his cradled hand where one of the black wolves had maimed him. He tried to Apparate.

Unlike before, however, the wards had changed. He couldn't Apparate out.

He stumbled off into the dark of the orchard, determined to get far enough past the wards to where he could successfully Apparate out. He tripped a few times over twisted roots in the dark, but he managed to get back up and continue on. He ran for the tall stone walls that marked the end of Barberry's estate. Just a little farther, and he would be free.

As he neared the stone walls, however, a harsh rumbling sound startled him badly. Stone bricks went flying in all directions as a massive, black paw swatted the wall away as easily as one could rip a single sheet of tissue paper. Wickedly curved claws as long as his forearm glistened in the moonlight. One paw followed another— a shoulder and then a head.

Lips pulled back from a snarling leonine muzzle as steaming, molten saliva dripped from its fangs, setting the nearby grass on fire. One shoulder simply nudged the remains of the broken wall aside before the rest of the beast's massive bulk pushed through. A goat's head bleated, its sideways pupils focusing on him, fire trailing down its horns and down its back.

Cain suddenly felt a hot wetness trailing down his legs. Fear caused him to shake violently despite himself. All his encyclopedic knowledge of offensive and defensive spells flew right out of his mind. Not that they would've done him any good. Chimeras were notorious for their invulnerability to, well... pretty much everything.

Chimera— the likes of which he had never seen, and he… he was no Bellerophon astride Pegasus. Looking into the enraged, utterly terrifying countenance before him, he was pretty sure the stories of Bellerophon were nothing but a sodding lie. No one had managed to actually kill the chimera. The incontrovertible evidence was right before him.

Cain gave a cry of overwhelming fear, stumbling backwards before turning himself to flee back towards the estate— willing to face whatever lay there waiting for him as long as they could beat off the bloody chimera.

He ran.

He did not, however, get very far.

Crushing pain hit him square in his back as a giant paw slapped him into the air. Jaws grabbed him as scalding, molten saliva burned rivers across his skin, causing him to scream in agony. Even so, he saw the familiar figure of Master Armstead running towards him.

"Master," he pleaded. "Help me!"

The white-bearded elder wizard had his wand out, but he did not point it at the chimera. He pointed it to himself.

"I renounce you, Cain Grimshaw," he said. "Betrayer of our most sacred oath. I will protect you no more. It is obvious that you have learned nothing from me, so all that I have taught you is yours no more. Begone from my presence. May your magic fail you forevermore for your willful breaking of our Covenant."

"No! No! Master, please!" Cain screamed as the jaws tightened around him. The goat's head curved around and breathed a pale green gas into his face.

Cain Grimshaw descended into the fathomless blackness of unconsciousness.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Two black wolves, a mud and twig-infested werewolf, and a dusty bear made their way out to greet the giant chimera as he threw the limp body of Cain Grimshaw at the feet of Auror Moody. They licked at his leonine jaws, nuzzling, growling, grunting, and making happy sounds of affection and worship. Each rolled on their backs subserviently, exposing their vulnerable bellies to the chimera in perfect agreement as to who was the boss in their newly-discovered relationship.

The chimera flopped down, running his tongue over each of his eager supplicants, using his giant teeth to efficiently clean the branches and twigs off of them. As Auror Moody grunted, running his wand over the unconscious Cain Grimshaw, Orion flopped over on his side and let them snuggle up against his thick fur.

Regulus was headbutting him excitedly, making bear grunts and roars. Orion yawned and pinned his bear son down with one paw and used him as a giant furry pillow, seemingly unimpressed.

"The nest is fine," Barberry said, coming out of the rookery. "Fawkes and Zabulon are putting it to rights. All of the eggs are undamaged."

"Thank, Merlin," Minerva said as she fixed some of the broken and damaged roots with her wand.

Another Auror was kneeling down beside a stretcher containing Malcolm. "Apprentice Sullivan?" the Auror said clearly. "You're going to be okay. We'll be Apparating you to St Mungo's now that you have been stabilised."

"Master?" the wizard grunted painfully.

The elder wizard with shining silver hair and full beard that made him look like St Nicholas gently took his hand. "You did very well, my apprentice. I'm sorry we did not get your Patronus in time to prevent you from becoming injured."

Malcolm shook his head. "I didn't think he'd actually go through with… I'm sorry, my Master."

Master Armstead squeezed his hand soothingly. "You did everything I asked of you, my brave young man. Rest now, my apprentice. We will speak later when I visit you at St Mungo's."

Malcolm gave a small smile and leaned back against the stretcher with a sigh of relief. Two other Aurors lifted him up and vanished with a sharp crack of Disapparation.

Minerva had Dittany in her hands and was applying it to Tuft's torn ears and his lacerated muzzle. Healing pink flesh swiftly replaced the injured tissue that had been damaged by Cain's spells. After Tuft was cared for, she poured some into a cloth and gently cleaned Hermione's muzzle where the acid had burned into her fur and skin.

Hermione's tongue slipped out and gratefully licked Minerva as her tail beat softly against the ground.

"Hold still, love," Minerva said, dabbing the healing salve on her apprentice's face.

Orion, as if sensing his daughter's squiggling need to move, used his free paw to pin his wolf-daughter to the ground for Minerva.

Both Hermione and Regulus squirmed a little but seemed to realise that resistance would be futile.

Severus belly crawled over to Minerva and lay his head into her lap.

McGonagall smiled down at him, gently rubbing his soft ears.

"Well," she said after a moment. "Time for those chicks to get a move on and start hatching."

Severus licked her hand in gratitude, his tail beating enthusiastically against the ground.

Moody shook his head. "If we're all done coddling each other, someone needs to give me a formal statement about what the hell just happened here tonight."

Sagacity hooted from a nearby tree branch, announcing his august presence to the Auror.

Moody glared at the owl. "So I suppose you're a Hungarian Horntail in disguise, right?"

Sagacity hooted softly.

"Likely story," Moody said, scowling.

Barberry stood up after tending to Tuft. "Tea, Auror Moody. We shall not say anything more until we have tea. You might as well come with us. Orion, my very large and highly destructive friend, you owe me new garden wall."

Orion flicked his snake tail and yawned toothily, exposing all of his very pearly white incisors.

Gilford paused. "Better yet, put in a new gate. I'll call it the Chimera Gate. Be sure it's extra menacing with lots of pointy wrought ironwork.."

Orion rumbled his approval as Regulus, Hermione, Severus, and Tuft all flopped over him in a large furry pile.

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

A/N: Hrm… looks like hatching time is fast approaching! 21 chicks that promise to be quite a handful (wingful?) Hrm, whatever will they do with so many fluffy lintballs underfoot?