Late 1999

Draco remembered the first time he saw the tawny fox sitting beside the otter, both by the feet of George Weasley, in the wizards' usual meeting spot. It was roughly six weeks after he presented the otter with Mandrake leaves.

Even before that night, Draco had noticed a pattern to the otter's presence. It only appeared when Pansy was not there. He had held off telling Pansy about the otter the moment he realized it was an Animagus because he curious and wanted to find out who it was first. His decision was solidified by George not saying anything either. Upon realizing the otter was a witch, he had gotten a strange feeling in his gut.

The fox revealing itself now, on a night when Pansy was once again not present, confirmed his suspicions.

"I suppose I should make sure my hounds don't come after you, either?" Draco addressed the new animal.

He had been surprised, but remained perfectly still, when it stood and moved unhesitatingly to his side. Its nose tilted up and it sniffed his left arm. The fox's lips pulled back, revealing sharp canine teeth as it let out a low snarl at the spot Draco's Dark Mark lay hidden by his cloak.

Draco felt sure the animal could hear the telltale change in his heart rate. He managed a steady voice when he told it, "Yeah, I don't much care for what's under there either, mate."

The fox stopped growling, but remained next to him. Draco slowly moved his hand towards its head, drawn by the soft-looking fur. "Can I?" he whispered. When the little beast did not run away, Draco placed an open palm softly atop it. Staying perfectly still, the fox allowed a few strokes behind its ears before it bound back to George's side.

George was outright laughing, something Draco had not seen him do even once since they had begun working together. He looked down to find the otter was lying on its side, panting out strange chirps.

"Glad I could amuse you," he sneered.

George took a steadying breath. "Oi! Don't get your knickers in a twist, Malfoy. It's just, if only you knew who you were petting..." he trailed off with another chuckle.

Draco looked back to the fox. "Care to enlighten me?"

The fox swished its tail violently and snorted.

Draco saw the fox on and off for a few more months. Sometimes in the company of George, sometimes not. Once, he watched curiously as it ran across a snow-covered field with a black marmoset sitting on his back. Then there was the last time, just a week later. After that, he never heard what became of Neville Longbottom.

He wasn't captured, that would have made for quite the spectacle in the newspapers and at a revel. He just quietly disappeared into the shadows that surround a drawn-out war, the same as countless others. The official government line was that Neville, and so many like him, were presumed dead. Unofficially, a list was kept, and quite the reward would be presented to anyone who found remaining rebels.

Other strange animals came and went. Draco soon realized he had no hope of keeping hounds. He sold them to Urquhart, claiming that his frequent missions on behalf of their cause kept him from running them properly.

He wondered how his parents never noticed the menagerie moving around their estate. It wasn't as if they didn't enjoy spending time outdoors. Narcissa came out to her gardens quite often, but did not venture much past the highly maintained formal areas. Lucius liked to ride his horse, but as he grew older, he no longer deviated from his proscribed path. Draco discerned the guests he allowed access had noticed the elder Malfoys' habits.

The second time the little otter asked for Mandrake leaves, it was with much less fanfare than the first. The mustelid had taken to leaving notes asking for various small things under a rock near the spot Draco and George met. Sometimes the animal itself was there when Draco retrieved the notes, other times it wasn't.

This time he found her waiting for him, calmly washing her ears with a paw. The night was overcast, with the moon occasionally showing itself through breaks in the clouds. He had not cast a Lumos, worried he would be seen, but his eyes had adjusted by the time he arrived.

"I'd like to learn too, you know. It could come in handy," Draco informed her upon reading the note. "Could you teach me?"

He had grown quite used to the one-sided conversations. It had been nearly nine months now, and the witch still refused to take her human form in front of him. A niggling worry had settled in that maybe she couldn't. Maybe she had inadvertently got herself stuck in this form? The risk of it happening was known - dissuading many from attempting the transformation. Well, that and the thought of having a leaf inside of their mouth day and night for a month straight. Along with the necessary meditations. Oh, and the crazy amount of rituals that had to be timed to the phases of the moon. So, in conclusion, one had to be very sure they knew what they were getting into.

The otter moved up right in front of him and cocked her head, inspecting him. He stoically awaited her judgement. She made some strange gestures with her paw.

"I'm not sure what you want me to do," he admitted after a moment's thought. "Is that a yes? Or a no?"

The otter sat down. It tapped a paw on the ground, then went still.

"Do you want me to sit?" He looked around. There was nothing that looked capable of being transfigured into a seat.

The otter nodded. Draco sat straight on the spongy ground, casting a warming spell around him.

The otter inched closer, coming right up to his knees. For the first time in their new history, she let him touch her. Her fur did not feel the way he had been expecting. It wasn't a bad feeling, but it wasn't anything like the fox.

He ventured a scratch behind an ear and was rewarded with a contented hum. Soon he found himself with an otter in his lap, who may or may not have been purring.

"This is definitely a 'yes'. No taking it back now," he said in a low tone, his stomach clenching with a feeling he wasn't ready to name. He smirked at the upside-down creature sprawled across him, her head dangling over his thigh.

Draco considered his options as he stroked her lighter-colored, soft underside, and came to an easy conclusion. It was time to lay down his hand, showing her all of his cards.

"I have to know if you're still capable of turning back into a human before I allow you to help me with my transformation. I've see you help others achieve their Animagus form, so it's not that I don't trust your ability to teach me. Even if it's just one time, I have to know that this form isn't all I'll ever get of you, Granger." His voice hitched at the end of his pseudo-confession.

She stared at him, no longer purring, her body tense.

"What, you didn't think I knew it was you?" he asked quietly.

She huffed at him before squirming off his lap. She slowly backed up a few meters. She wrinkled her nose and twitched her whiskers at him. He wanted to tell her how adorable that was, but thought this would be a poor time to mention it.

Closing her eyes, she wriggled her body in a way that reminded Draco of the times he had seen her shaking off water after exiting the lake. There was an assumption that a person who grew up around magic was not as in awe of it as a person who had not. Most of the time he would agree with that. This was not one of them. With each quick twist of her body, multiple changes occurred, each happening so swiftly, he could not hope to catch them all. Her shedding fur flew off her body, the hairs disappearing before they hit the ground. The otter's tail shrank back up into her spine. Paws changed into hands, the webbing between the fingers receding. Her face morphed as the hair on her head cascaded down beyond her shoulders. It was all over in an instant, leaving a naked Hermione Granger standing before him.

He jumped up and threw his cloak at her. She caught it, arching her brow at him. Draco marveled at her lack of embarrassment as she languidly wrapped the thick garment around her shoulders.

"Really, Malfoy? Did you think otters could write notes?"