Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, ect.
AN: So we get into the main storyline, Lavender will be taking a more central role from here on out, the angst, love triangles, petty jealously, and Ron bashing are at an end (well mostly).
AN: I will go ahead and drop a spoiler on you, I hate Ron/Hermione pairings and I refuse to write one so fear not.
AN: Thanks to my reviewers who helped me decide which way this story would go from here on out, my story plots are usually pretty fluid, I change my mind a lot and have been indecisive about whether Harry would be a werewolf or not. I have finally made up my mind now and I hope you all like it.
Hogwarts Head's Office, 1/3/1997, 17:43
Harry and Lavender had been called to the headmaster's office after dinner that night, Harry assumed that Dumbledore wished to talk about their condition or some such.
The first day of school had gone normally with the exception of Daphne slipping him a note to meet her on the seventh floor tonight at eleven, he was certain she wished to give him the veritaserum and set up the capture of Malfoy. Harry was looking forward to finding out Malfoy's secrets, the fact that the ferret could be involved in such a deadly attack on another student and still remain in the school really galled him.
The man sitting across from him was starting to speak so Harry put Malfoy to the back of his mind for now and gave the headmaster his attention.
"Mr. Potter, Ms. Brown, thank you for meeting with me this evening.
"Now in the past we have had students infected with lycanthropy and kept the fact a secret, we will not be able to do that in the present political climate," Dumbledore began.
"Yes sir, that's why we've been moved from our house dormitories," Harry said dryly.
"You are correct, during the holiday's Lord Brown's primary bill didn't gain a majority vote, however, Lord Diggory passed a bill with the board of governors requiring any student infected with lycanthrope to wear a tracking bracelet while on school grounds," Dumbledore said.
"And if we refuse?" Harry asked neutrally.
"You will be expelled from Hogwarts and will not be able to take your N.E.W.T's since werewolves are banned from entering the ministry of magic," Dumbledore explained patiently.
"Since when?" Lavender asked in outrage.
"Rufus passed an executive order over the winter break, this order was to ban any creatures the ministry deems as dark from entering any government building which unfortunately includes the Ministry and St. Mungos," Dumbledore answered sadly.
"So basically we don't have much choice," Harry said angrily.
"These bracelets only activate during the full moon, they alert me if you get out of containment," Dumbledore assured him.
"Fine, where are we going during the full moon?" Harry asked sourly.
"The shrieking shack, I have put up additional protections to make sure neither of you can leave. Ms. Brown will have to be placed inside a cage as we are not sure of your condition as of yet," Dumbledore explained.
"You're going to put me in a cage," Lavender said indignation clear in her voice.
"Just for the first full moon, if Mr. Potter transforms then we will have no need for the cage in the future," Dumbledore said placatingly.
"Remus is fairly certain I will transform," Harry said candidly.
"I believe that as well but I must take precautions in case you do not," Dumbledore said sympathetically.
"What about the wolfsbane potion?" Lavender asked.
"We will be procuring you both doses of the potion a week before your second full moon. Unfortunately, the potion doesn't work until a werewolf has changed naturally at least once," Dumbledore explained.
"Alright, is there any more bad news you want to drop on us, sir?" Harry asked in exasperation.
"No, here are your bracelets, I have to watch you put them on," Dumbledore said sliding two bracelets made out of bronze across his desk.
Harry picked up the larger of the two, it was a plain bracelet about two inches wide with the Hogwarts crest stamped into its center. Harry opened the clasp and placed it on his left wrist, there was a flash of blue and the bracelet shrank down to fit his wrist perfectly before the clasp closed itself fusing the bracelet into one seamless bronze band.
"Those will not come off as long as you are inside the school boundaries," Dumbledore explained as the two students were putting them on.
"Is that all headmaster," Harry asked irritably.
"Yes, you two are free to go," Dumbledore said.
With that Harry and Lavender left his office, Harry was seething inside but held his temper as best he could.
"You look furious," Lavender said as soon as they were in the hallway.
"Yes, these bracelets are complete bullshit," Harry said angrily.
"At least they aren't going to put you in a cage," Lavender said sadly.
"Yeah, I don't agree with that either," Harry admitted.
They started walking towards the library, students they passed gave them a wide berth. Word had gotten out about their condition and the student population was avoiding them both like the plague.
Harry didn't really mind as there wasn't much difference to how other students usually treated him. He knew it was harder on Lavender as she was a very social person and being treated like a pariah was taking a toll on her.
"What are you doing now that you don't have detention six nights a week?" Lavender asked as they turned down the corridor that led to the library.
"Self-study, recreational reading, keeping an eye out for Luna's latest shenanigan," Harry said as he made his way into the library.
Lavender split off and sat with the Patil sisters while Harry made his way to his usual table.
Harry took out his study guide for D.A.D.A and began the essay for the week, McGonagall had been very thorough in his assessments every week and he had almost convinced her to sign off on him taking the N.E.W.T a year early. He had already gotten permission from Professor Flitwick but McGonagall was keeping him in suspense.
"Good evening Potter," Hermione said before taking a seat across from him.
"Granger, what can I do for you?" Harry asked evenly.
"I need a favor, I know your all chummy with Greengrass so I was hoping you could acquire something," Hermione said seriously.
"Depends on what you need and if you have the coin," Harry said expectantly.
"I need a book, it's almost impossible to find," Hermione said tentatively.
"Give me a title," Harry said impatiently.
"It's a very dark book called 'Secrets of the Darkest Arts by: Owle Bullock'," Hermione whispered nervously.
"Wow, that is some dark shit Granger," Harry said surprised.
"You know of it?" Hermione asked.
"Yes, there was a copy in the Black library, Sirius sent it to the vault when he caught me reading the introduction a couple of years ago," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Do you think you can find it?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, but it won't be cheap," Harry warned.
"That's fine I will make Neville foot the bill, it's to help him anyway" Hermione said dismissively.
"Mind telling me what you need this book for, the stuff in there is nothing to play around with," Harry asked.
"I can't say, but I only need the book for research," Hermione said before standing up.
"I'll let you know what I find out," Harry said as he opened his textbook.
Hermione nodded snd left to go sit with Neville on the other side of the library.
For the next few hours, Harry completed all of his homework and read up more on next week's D.A.D.A.
"It's almost curfew," Lavender's voice said from his right.
Looking over he saw her standing with Pravati, checking his watch he noted he had ten minutes to get to his dorm.
"Right, I lost track of time," Harry said as he put his book and essay into his bag.
"I'll see you tomorrow Lav, good night," Pravati said as she followed Hermione and Neville out of the library.
"Where is your dorm anyway?" Harty asked as he stood up.
"Second floor on the east side," Lavender answered as she fell into step beside him.
"Mines there too, down by the statue of Farquaad the Filthy, I wonder if they're trying to tell me something," Harry said thoughtfully.
Lavender turned to him and took a sniff, "you smell clean to me," she said blushing slightly.
"Thanks, you're really getting some use out of that nose of yours," Harry said with a grin.
"It's pretty useful, I'm just glad I don't take herbology. Dragon dung would be murder," Lavender said cringing at the thought.
"Ugh, now I'm glad I dropped it," Harry said checking his watch and seeing he had five minutes before curfew.
Lavender stopped in front of a painting of a fairy brushing her hair and said, "This is me, good night Harry."
"Good night, Lavender," Harry said walking across the hall to the statue of an ugly little man with flies all over his face.
"Treacle", Harry whispered and the statue sunk into the floor revealing a door.
Harry stepped inside the door to his new quarters, there was a room about the size of his old dorm decked in blue and bronze hangings, a four-poster bed, a wardrobe, and a small desk. Directly across from the door Harry came was a smaller door that led to a small bathroom with a loo and a walk in shower.
Harry was actually very happy with these accommodations as his old dorm didn't have an ensuite, he had been forced to use the Ravenclaw communal showers.
Dropping his bag on the desk chair Harry plopped on the bed, he would love to turn in but he had a meeting in less than an hour.
R.o.R, 23:02
Harry arrived a bit late, Peeves was on a rampage on the fourth floor so he was forced to take a roundabout route.
There was a small oak door in the wall across from the tapestry so Harry knew Daphne was already here waiting for him. Taking a breath Harry pushed the door open and was surprised at the form the room had taken.
The room looked like a cliche medieval dungeon with damp stone walls, water dripping from the ceiling, torches mounted in iron brackets set into the wall giving off insubstantial light, chains hanging from the beams overhead, and a blonde-haired teen was chained to an uncomfortable wooden chair in the center of the room with a small table in front of him with a small vial of potion resting on its surface.
" Your late," Came a female voice from the shadows when Harry shut had the door.
"Peeves impeded me slightly, this is very cheerful," Harry said gesturing to the room.
"I acquired the potion, I had just planned to meet with you tonight but luck was on my side and I caught the ferret sneaking down the hallway," Daphne said stepping into the light.
"I am impressed," Harry said honestly.
"You should be, now before we wake him up and start the interrogation, I would like to know if it's true that you're a werewolf?" Daphne asked.
"We don't know for sure yet," Harry answered.
"Well it doesn't matter much to me personally, but we might have to keep our dealings a bit more discrete from here on out," Daphne said after some thought.
"I figured as much, actually while we're on the subject of dealings, I had someone approach me about a very dark book do you think you can find it?, Harry asked.
" What book and for who?" Daphne asked.
"The book is 'Secrets of the Darkest Arts' and you wouldn't believe me if I told you who," Harty said with a grin.
"Yes I can get the book, it will cost at least eighty galleons though," Daphne said.
"Just let me know when you got it, I will relay the price to the customer," Harry said in a business-like tone.
"Very well, now lets see what the Ferret has been up too," Daphne said after making a note in her notebook.
Daphne reached into her purse and threw Harry an executioner's mask then she donned a plague doctor mask.
"The masks will distort our voices," Daphne said to Harry's curious expression.
Harry slipped on the mask and tried out the new voice, "Well that's just creepy," his voice was really highpitched and reminded him of the villan in Roger Rabbit.
"Yes, I wanted to really mess with his head," Daphne said sounding like a deranged chipmunk.
"These voices will give me nightmares," Harry said with a shudder.
Daphne lifted Malfoy's head by grabbing a fist full of his hair, The boy's jaw was hanging open and Daphne pointed to a small table with a potions vial on it.
"Put three drops on his tongue," She said in her evil chipmunk voice.
Nodding Harry opened the vial, it was plugged with a cap that had a dropper on the underside, Harry quickly dripped three drops on Malfoy's tongue before capping the potion.
"You can have that if you want it," Daphne said before letting go of Malfoy's head which slumped back onto his chest.
Harry nodded his thanks and pocketed the vial before he drew his wand and revived their prisoner.
Malfoy groaned as he slowly regained consciousness, his eyes were fully glazed over so he looked like he was drunk.
Daphne took out a roll of parchment and a dictaquill and set it on the small table before tapping the quill with her wand. The quill balanced on its point ready to write anything it heard.
"Interrogation of Draco Malfoy, Draco sate your full name," Daphne commanded.
"Draco Abraxus Malfoy," Draco said tonelessly.
"Are you a death eater?" Daphne asked.
"Yes." He said robotically.
"Are you currently on a mission to assassinate Albus Dumbledore?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Draco replied.
"Are you responsible for the attack on Katie Bell on the twenty-ninth of September nineteen ninety-six?" Daphne asked.
"Yes," Draco answered though this time he looked to be trying to fight the potion.
"How did you accomplish this when you were not in the village?" Harry asked.
"I purchased the necklace a week before school started, the day before we were to board the train I visited the 'Three Broomsticks' and placed Madam Rosmerta under the imperius curse. I entrusted her with an enchanted galleon and the necklace. I ordered her to obey any command I sent through the galleon.
"On the day of the Hogsmeade trip I sent her a message that ordered her to imperius a student and command that student to bring the necklace sealed in an envelope to Albus Dumbledore," Draco explained in the same toneless voice.
Harry was actually pretty impressed, that took a lot of forethought to pull off and if it hadn't been for Katie's friend it might have worked.
"What are your plans for the vanishing cabinet in the room of hidden things?" Harry asked.
" I need to fix it to bring death eaters into the school," Draco said sounding a bit more lucid.
"Why are you doing this?" Harry asked quickly.
"The dark lord says I either kill Albus Dumbledore by the end of the school year or he will kill my parents and then kill me," Draco answered emotion was creeping into his voice.
"Do you have any collaborators inside the school?" Daphne asked.
"Professor Snape, he took an unbreakable vow with my mother to help me complete my mission," Draco spat out.
Daphne tapped the quill making it stop writing, the potion had run its course and was wearing off now, she pointed her wand at Draco and cast a silent stunning spell.
Harry took off his mask and shook his head, " that was more thought out than I expected," Harry said happy to hear his own voice again.
"Yes, this should get Astoria out of that contract. Would you like a copy?" Daphne asked.
"Yes, if you wouldn't mind," Harry replied.
Daphne tapped the parchment with her wand duplicating it then handed the duplicate to Harry.
"Alright, let's wrap up here and get back to our beds," Daphne said as she pointed her wand at Malfoy and said, "obliviate."
Great Hall, 1/4/1997, 08:23
Harry felt a bit tired this morning after the late night interrogation.
Sitting in his spot he poured himself a large cup of coffee and sighed in contentment when he took his first sip.
He was going to have to rethink his exercise regimen as he wasn't struggling at all to complete his daily runs, most likely a side effect of the werewolf bite.
"You look tired," Luna said as she took her seat.
"I had an important meeting last night," Harry said.
"With who?" Luna asked curiously.
"Daphne," Harry said as he took a swig of coffee.
"That's nice, oh look Lavender's about to join us," Luna said a mischievous glint in her eye.
"Ugh, you're just trying to wind me up," Harry said tiredly.
"I am not, if I was trying to wind you up I would tell you about the dream I had where Colin was my professor and-
" That's enough Luna, I can still scare him off if you annoy me," Harry warned her.
"Your no fun," Luna pouted.
"Did I tell you Fleur is getting married?" Harry asked changing the subject.
"Yes, I already have the perfect yellow dress for the wedding," Luna said excitedly.
"That's nice, I met her fiance the other day," Harry said.
"And you didn't tell me?" Luna complained.
"You've been spending a lot of time with Colin and I'm telling you now", Harry defended.
" Yes, I'm sorry I've abandoned you," Luna said sympathetically.
"Don't be, it's been peaceful," Harry assured her.
"You're just a big grump this morning, how did your meeting with Dumbles go?" Luna asked.
"Awful, me and Lavender are required to wear tracking bracelets and Lavender will be put in a cage on the full moon," Harry said sourly.
"That's awful," Luna said indignantly.
"It's humiliating is what it is," Harry said indignantly.
"Good morning," Lavender said as she sat beside Harry.
"Good morning Lavender, have you ever heard of the girl's network?" Luna asked innocently.
Lavender blushed and nodded before glancing at Harry warily.
"Don't worry about him, I already filled him in months ago," Luna said dismissively.
"And I think it is an invasion of privacy, makes me feel dirty, to be honest," Harry said grumpily.
"Why?" Luna asked.
"Alright, what if Peeves went around spying on all you girls while you took a bath?" Harry asked curiously.
"I see your point," Luna said looking nauseated.
"And then reported his findings for every boy with two sickles to read about?" Harry continued.
"You've made your point, now you're just being mean," Luna said.
"Oh, Harry do you mind helping me with my transfiguration homework?" Lavender asked clearly wanting to change the subject.
"Sure, I have a free period this morning," Harry said.
"Thanks, this whole self Transfiguration theory is confusing," Lavender said gratefully.
"So Harry when are you going to ask her out?" Luna asked innocently.
Harry who has just taken a sip of coffee sputtered and glared at the smirking blond.
"Luna!" Harty exclaimed.
"Ask who out?" Lavender asked curiously.
"You of course," Luna said matter of factly.
"Luna I will find a way to ban chocolate pudding at all mealtimes," Harry threatened.
"Empty threat, the school would collapse without pudding to keep the nargles appeased," Luna said knowledgeably.
"So when are you going to ask me out?" Lavender asked expectantly.
"Depends, when are you free?" Harry asked his face feeling hot all of sudden.
"This evening provided I get my Transfiguration homework done," Lavender answered shyly.
Harry was starting to feel very nervous, "would you like to have dinner tonight, just the two of us?" Harry asked.
"Yes, that sounds wonderful," Lavender said blushing slightly.
"Okay... I'll meet you in the entrance hall at five," Harry said as the wheels in his head started turning and he quickly put together a plan.
"Okay, Lavender said smiling at him.
"Alright then," Harry said feeling excited and nervous in equal measure.
"You're welcome Harry," Luna said smugly.
Room of Requirement, 1/4/1997, 17:21
"I remember this place from last year, but the room is a lot different," Lavender commented curiously.
"The room changes into whatever you want it to look like," Harry said as he took in the current configuration of the room.
One whole wall was nothing but windows looking out over the forest as the light slowly faded away giving them an excellent view of the crescent moon surrounded by stars, there was a large fireplace with flames crackling away merrily on the other wall, the other wall had a large silk hanging in a soothing blue color with little fish moving around it making Harry think of an aquarium.
There was a small table in the center of the room set for two with candles lit around the room and a small sofa sat facing the fireplace. This didn't feel like a romantic setting so much as a relaxing one.
"This looks wonderful," Lavender said approvingly as she inspected the wall hanging watching the embroidered fish flit around.
"Well I asked it for a place where we could eat and get to know each other," Harry admitted.
"Well I like it," Lavender said happily.
'Pop'
"Master Harry, dinner is being ready," Kreacher said as he appeared next to the table with two covered plates.
"Thank you Kreacher, could you also bring us a couple of butterbeers?" Harry asked.
Kreacher snapped his fingers and the requested drinks appeared on the table.
"Thank you Kreacher, that will be all," Harry said kindly.
The elf bowed before disappearing with a soft 'pop.'
"Are you hungry?" Harry asked Lavender as he pulled a chair out for her.
"Starving," Lavender admitted as she took the offered seat.
Harry took his own seat and removed the cover from the plate, the smell of beef hit him in the face.
"Oh that smells divine," Lavender said as she removed the cover from her own plate.
"I've been craving steaks since... well you know Christmas", Harry said delicately.
" I have too," Lavender said as she cut off a piece of her steak and groaned in appreciation.
Harry copied her actions and took a bite, enjoying the juicy piece of heaven.
"Are you scared about the night of the full moon?" Lavender asked after a few minutes of eating in comfortable silence.
"I am, I've seen the transformation before and it's not pleasant," Harry admitted.
I read up on it today, and the description was awful, I am terrified" Lavender confessed.
"It only lasts for about a minute, Remus says that after the first time it isn't as bad," Harry said after putting his fork down.
"Do you really think you'll turn, the book said it is rare to happen when bitten by someone who wasn't transformed?" Lavender asked.
" If you were a common werewolf that would be true, according to Remus and his nose you're an alpha which means your a stronger wolf, that means you have a more potent bite," Harry explained.
"Oh," Lavender said weakly.
"Don't worry about it, if I change I change, can we talk about something else?" Harry asked gently.
"Okay, I heard a rumor that there will be a ball around Easter," Lavender said excitedly.
"From who?" Harry asked happy for the change of topic.
"Pravati, she says that the prefects have been put in charge of organizing it to boost student morale," Lavender explained happily.
"Huh, I thought after all the trouble from the Yule ball they wouldn't be eager to try again," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Yes, two members of old pureblood families caught shagging in the rose gardens didn't go over well with the school governors," Lavender agreed.
"It didn't help that one of them was a Triwizard champion," Harry pointed out.
"Yes, that overshadowed the tournament until the second task," Lavender said with a giggle
"Harry, why are you being so nice to me? I have basically ruined your life if your turn," Lavender asked bringing the subject back to their predicament.
"It won't ruin my life, and I have always been nice to you," Harry said nonplussed.
"You have, I was very nervous when McGonagall told me you would be tutoring me," Lavender confessed.
"My reputation preceded me then?" Harry asked slightly embarrassed.
"Well you were assigned to tutor me because you put two Gryffindor's in the hospital and I was worried it was a house rivalry thing," Lavender said softly.
"Oh," Harry said.
"I found out pretty quickly that wasn't the case," Lavender assured him.
"Well I was nervous about tutoring you as well," Harry admitted.
"What? " Lavender asked surprised.
"Luna figured it out before I did, that I had a bit of a crush on you since last year," Harry said blushing slightly.
"I figured that much out, I hope you've noticed that I like you as well," Lavender said softly.
"I have, this whole thing is new to me though," Harry told her.
"What is?" Lavender asked.
"I don't have a lot of experience with dating," Harry confessed.
"But I saw you with Hermione at the party," Lavender said confused.
"Well yeah, I followed Sirius' guide on how to be a gentleman, but I don't like her like that. She asked me to go with her to piss off Ron," Harry explained.
"Well that definitely worked, he was a complete arse the whole night," Lavender said amusedly.
"I'm sorry you got stuck with him for the party, I was all for helping Granger after he made you stop tutoring with me," Harry said sheepishly.
"It's in the past, I don't really want to think about him anymore," Lavender said with a shrig.
"Fine let's talk about something more fun, what do you like to do in your free time?" Harry asked after finishing his last bite of steak.
"I like to draw, though the only thing I can draw very well is clothes," Lavender said with a grin.
"That's probably a good thing for a budding fashion designer," Harry pointed out.
"If I can get a job with my condition," Lavender said sadly.
"You could always go to France, they're a lot more open minded about part humans," Harry said thoughtfully.
"I've actually never been to France," Lavender said.
"Oh, I grew up in Southern France," Harry said fondly.
They stayed in the room chatting until the warning bell rang signaling they had ten minutes to curfew. They were both reluctant to part ways but felt that tonight they had gotten to know each other a lot better.
They walked down to the second floor and Harry stopped in front of Lavender's dorm.
" Thank you for tonight, I enjoyed it a lot," Lavender said before placing a kiss on his cheek and ducking into her room.
Harry just stood there for a moment grinning stupidly before he headed for his own dorm.
'I should do something nice for Luna,' Harry thought as he got ready for bed.
Great Hall, 1/19/1997, 09:12
Harry was starting to feel very apprehensive, the full moon was this coming Tuesday and he was already starting to feel slightly ill. His energy levels had been really low for the past few days and he kept getting splitting headaches.
Lavender was showing similar symptoms and slept a lot, their friendship had been growing stronger over the last couple of weeks since their dinner together. Neither one of them was rushing to go headlong into a relationship especially with the full moon getting closer.
Harry was hoping that everyone was wrong and that he would just be a partial werewolf but with all the symptoms he did not have high hopes for that outcome.
On other fronts Luna had landed herself in detention, she had been caught out of bounds with Colin two nights ago in a broom closet. She had been avoiding him since then scared that she was in for one of his 'big brother lectures' as she liked to call it. Harry easn't to angry about it to be honest, she turned sixteen next month and he knew she wasn't stupid so it really wasn't his business.
Then there was the news he had received from Astoria in the hallway a week ago, the girl had thrown her arms around him and thanked him profusely for getting her out of that contract. Harry was happy for her and hoped if her father entered her into another contract he chose a better husband for her.
Malfoy had been looking worse than ever of late, he was obviously getting desperate to fix that vanishing cabinet. Harry was tempted to just go and destroy the thing but Sirius pointed out that it was best the boy was occupied for the moment, if Harry destroyed the cabinet there could be more incidents like with Katie Bell.
Harry had sent him the copy of the interrogation which he had shared with the order, this had resulted in Harry being called to the headmaster's office.
Dumbledore had been very upset Harry had invaded Draco's privacy and tried his best to make Harry feel bad about it. Harry however felt quite the opposite and told the headmaster as much as politely as possible. That conversation lost Dumbledore what little respect Harry still had for the man. Dumbledore had been in the process of giving him detention when Harry pointed out that the headmaster had no proof he was actually involved.
Harry pointed out that he would just file an appeal with the board of governors for unjust punishment, the headmaster would have to show what evidence he had which would out little Malfoy in the process.
The headmaster had been annoyed when what Harry had said fully sank in, and dismissed him rather rudely from his office.
Harry did receive some rather good news yesterday, Professor McGonagall had granted his request to take his D.A.D.A N.E.W.T this June with the seventh years.
"Good morning Harry," Lavender said sitting down beside him looking exhausted.
"Still feeling ill," Harry said as he slid the platter of bacon towards her.
"Like you wouldn't believe," Lavender said as she took a strip of bacon and nibbled on it.
"Remus says chocolate helps with the headaches," Harry said thoughtfully.
"Hm, I will have to try that," Lavender said searching the table for anything that contained chocolate.
"There won't be anything with chocolate in it until lunch unless you want to sneak down to the kitchens," Harry said with a grin.
"Where are the kitchens?" Lavender asked.
"Come on I'll show you," Harry said standing up.
"Now?" Lavender asked as she got up as well.
"Yeah, you need to know where the kitchens are and now I want some chocolate," Harry said as he led them from the hall towards a door a group of Hufflepuffs were coming out of.
"Are we even allowed in the kitchen?" Lavender asked keeping pace with him as they descended a set of stairs.
"Technically no, but I won't tell if you don't," Harry said as they came to a stop in front of a painting of a bowl of fruit.
"You're a bad influence on me, how do we get in?" Lavender asked expectantly.
"Tickle the pear," Harry instructed.
Lavender reached up tentatively and tickled the pear in the painting with her index finger. She watched as it squirmed and giggled like a baby until it seemed to shift into a door handle.
."That was so cute," Lavender said with a grin.
"Hm, I never noticed," Harry said as he pulled the door open.
Lavender gasped as the room came into view, there were hundreds of elves scurrying about chattering amongst themselves as they tended to five long tables replenishing food and topping off pitchers of juice. Along the walls were massive ovens and humongous stoves with dozens of burners, pots, pans, and massive kettles hung from the walls and the ceiling overhead, the smell of food filled the kitchen which looked to be the same dimensions as the great hall above.
"What can Hopsy be doing for young mister and miss?" A small female elf asked.
"We were wondering if you could get us some chocolate eclairs," Harry asked hopefully.
"You's be the new wolfies?" The little elf asked as she snapped her fingers and a large platter of eclairs hovered over to a small table.
"Yes, how did you know?" Harry asked.
"Wolfies always be in kitchen for chocolate before moon gets big," Hopsy said as she directed a jug of milk to rest beside the eclairs.
"Oh," Harry said.
"You's be welcome here, I must be getting back to bacon making," The elf said before scurrying away.
Harry led them to the table and the both took a seat and grabbed an eclair.
Lavender took a bite and Harry could have swore her eyes rolled back in her head, she let out a moan of appreciation that had Harry's mind picturing something else entirely.
"These are amazing, I swear chocolate bever tasted so good," Lavender said breathily between bites.
Harry took a bite of his own and understood what she meant, he had always enjoyed chocolate but the taste was so intense now it was almost orgasmic.
"Thank you for showing me this, I think I will be coming here a lot," Lavender said as she took another ecclair.
"Yeah, I bet they could fix me a nice rare beef roast," Harry said thoughtfully.
"You don't like they way the meats cooked at dinner either?" Lavender asked.
"No, it seems so dry, I have to drink a gallon of milk to wash it down," Harry admitted as he poured them a glass of said beverage.
"Oh, I found out there will be a ball before Easter break," Lavender said excitedly.
"Really, I thought I heard Padma and Anthony discussing it the other day," Harry said between bites.
"Pravati managed to pry the information out of Ernie McMillan, he has a big crush on her," Lavender explained.
"I forgot you were head of the Hogwarts rumor mill," Harry said with a smirk.
"Actually I am being replaced. Most of my old sources in the other three houses want nothing to do with me now," Lavender admitted sadly.
"That's awful, who is trying to take your place?" Harry asked curiously.
"Romilda Vane, little backstabbing bint that one," Lavender said viciously.
"Don't know her, at least Pravatti hasn't abandoned you," Harry said trying to lighten the mood.
"That's true, she's been really cool about all of this. So has Padma now that I think about it," Lavender said thoughtfully.
"I'm glad, I didn't have many friends to begin with so I didn't have much to worry about when word got out," Harry admitted.
"You only really talk to Luna and Greengrass," Lavender said after thinking about it.
"Pretty much and Daphne is more of a business associate than a friend," Harry explained.
"Huh, I always thought you two were friends," Lavender said in surprise.
"That's just mutual respect, I help her out from time to time and she does the same," Harry explained.
"You know there was a rumor she was behind that attack in Hogsmeade, the one on the boys, not Katie," Lavender clarified.
"I can neither confirm nor deny that," Harry said cryptically.
They stayed on the kitchen for a bit longer before Lavender decided she needed a nap
Library, 1/20/997, 17:45
"I found the book," Daphne cut into Harry's reading.
Harry looked up to see her sitting across from him.
"How much?" Harry asked taking out a slip of parchment and a quill.
"Seventy-five plus a ten percent commission," Daphne said easily.
"So eighty-two galleons, fourteen sickles, and nine knuts," Harry said righting the price down and taking out his money pouch.
"Exactly, Daphne said as she watched Harry count out the coins.
When Harry had the right amount he slid it across the table.
" I will have the book Friday, meet me in the room that morning at ten," Daphne said putting the coins in her own money pouch.
"Thanks, I'll be there," Harry assured her.
"Pleasure doing business with you Potter," Daphne said before she stood and took her leave.
Harry scanned the library and quickly found who he was looking for, getting up he wandered over to their table and took a seat.
"Potter what can I do for you?" Hermione asked quietly as Neville looked up curiously.
"Your book has been found, the price is eighty-five galleons," Harry said matter of factly.
"That much for a bloody book?" Neville exclaimed.
"It is very rare and hard to find," Harry said dismissively.
"Fine, when will you have it?" Hermione asked cutting Neville's rebuttal off.
"Next weekend," Harry answered easily.
"Alright, I'll take it," Hermione said.
"Excellent, I'll let you know when," Harry said as he got up and headed back to his seat.
Shrieking Shack, 1/23/1997 18:38
Harry sat on the torn and battered sofa, he and Lavender had been escorted here about thirty minutes ago by Madam Pomfrey and they were both waiting nervously for the moon to rise.
"I'm scared Harry," Lavender whimpered from the large cage she had been locked in that took up a good portion of the sitting room.
"I am too," Harry admitted softly.
Harry had been experiencing muscle aches all week, he felt like he had been fighting the flu and he was very apprehensive about tonight.
Lavender reached her hand out between the bars and Harry gently took it squeezing it to help ease her worry.
"It's going to be okay," Harry assured her gently.
Lavender's hand jerked in his own and she released him stumbling back into the cage and falling to her knees clutching her stomach.
Her face was screwed up in pain, she screamed out in pain and tears started running down her cheeks. Harry could hear the sickening popping sounds as her bones started rearranging themselves, her torso started elongating and widening at the shoulders and Harry watched as her clothes ripped outward exposing her chest that was already sprouting snow-white fur.
Her face started stretching outward as her blonde hair seemed to draw inwards and thick white fur started replacing it and covering her face as well, her skull grew larger as a long wolf snout replaced her mouth and nose, finally her ears seemed to move across the side of her hear and grow tall and pointy, she opened her mouth to scream revealing long deadly fangs and released a familiar hooowooo.
The change took a little over a minute and now where Lavender had once sat, was a massive snow-white wolf, she stood about three feet at the shoulder blades and was probably about seven feet long, her head was massive and it looked as if she could bite his leg off with one chomp. she was sitting on her haunches whimpering pitifully her amber eyes locked onto him.
Harry noticed she had sprouted a small tufted tail and with her white coat it reminded him of a poodle.
Harry felt a nasty spasm in his stomach as if he was having a cramp for a second before it stopped and he fell to his knees and vomited all over the floor. His head was splitting for about a minute or so and then just as suddenly as it started his discomfort stopped.
Shaking his head to clear his vision he stumbled to his feet and looked at Lavender, she was watching him curiously, Harry didn't feel any malice in her gaze which was odd in this situation, werewolves were generally aggressive towards humans and he clearly wasn't going to chan-
Suddenly pain exploded through his stomach, he felt his body stretch and his clothes tear away revealing raven black fur covering his stomach, he felt more bones rearranging in his back and he was forced forward, he threw his arms out to catch himself only to see they weren't his arms anymore, they were already covered in raven black fur. His arms had widened as his muscles had expanded, his hands had changed to massive paws with long wicked claws adorning each toe.
Harry felt his face stretching painfully and he cried out but not with his voice, instead, a bloodcurdling hooowooo echoed throughout the room.
The last thing he remembered before the wolf took him over was the scent of the female so close by.
Harry groaned pitifully, his body hurt so badly that he didn't want to even blink. He was laying on a hard floor, he could feel the cold air on his back and knew he was completely nude. He was wrapped around something soft and warm, he could smell what it was immediately.
He could feel bare soft skin pressed against his own and knew he was wrapped around Lavender's nude form holding her tightly to his chest.
Forcing his eyes to open Harry groaned again as the insubstantial light of the shack felt like a spotlight in his current condition. He was lying on the floor inside the cage Lavender had transformed inside, the door was missing and the metal around where the door was once attached was twisted and deformed.
Lavender's whimpering brought Harry's focus back to their current position and Harry was suddenly very conscious of her body pressed against his in the spooning position, his left hand was resting on her stomach, his right arm was wrapped under her head his hand was covering her right breast.
Harry tried to gently extricate himself only for her to snuggle into him.
"Don't move your keeping me warm," Lavender mumbled softly.
"We need to get up," Harty whispered into her hair.
"It hurts to move" Lavender groaned pitifully.
"I know," Harry said quietly.
"So you are a werewolf," Lavender said sadly.
"Yeah, I thought for a minute I wouldn't change," Harry said remembering the events the preceded his change.
"How did you get in here?" Lavender asked.
"No idea, the last thing I remember was howling," Harry said trying to remember.
"What on earth happened to the cage," Harry heard a voice exclaim from out of his line of sight.
"It broke," Harry said croakily.
"Well, this would be compromising if I didn't know that you two are too exhausted to move," Poppy said dryly.
"I tore up my clothes," Harry defended weakly.
"Same here," Lavender added.
"I figured as much, here drink this," Poppy said handing them both of them a vial of pepper up potion.
Harry fumbled to sit up enough to drink the potion and groaned in appreciation as it started taking effect.
Poppy handed them each a set of plain robes and they both stood up, careful to avoid each other's gaze as they had both seen each other naked at some point or other this morning.
"Yes, my shoes survived," Harry said happily as he slipped his feet into his trainers.
"You both have the day off from classes today so you can rest up," Poppy said as she touched the door with her wand and led them outside.
The tunnel under the whomping willow had been sealed up last year, Dumbledore thought it best that students couldn't sneak out of the castle that way. Now that there were two werewolves using the shack every full moon there was no way he would open it up after the Sirius/Snape incident of seventy-six. Harry couldn't really complain as he was mildly claustrophobic and didn't fancy crawling a mile and a half through an earthen tunnel.
The party of three passed through the gates twenty minutes later, Madam Pomfrey was humming to herself while the two teens were very quiet pondering what happened the night before.
"I'll see you two later, if you're still feeling ill when you wake come and see me," the matron said as they were climbing the staircase.
Madam Pomfrey parted ways on the first floor while Harry and Lavender continued to the second floor.
"I hope things aren't going to be awkward now," Harry said quietly.
"They won't, it doesn't really bother me as much as it should," Lavender said softly.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," Harry agreed.
They arrived at the entrance to Lavender's dorm and stood there for a minute before Harry pulled her into a hug, Lavender returned it snuggling into him for a moment before they let go of each other.
"I'll see you at dinner, that pepper up is already wearing off," Harry said tiredly.
"I hope the next one is easier," Lavender said before she stepped into her room.
Harry stumbled to his room and flopped on his bed, he fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming about running through a forest and chasing the white wolf.