I
watched the wolf's yellow teeth come down at me. I was shaking horribly, 'cause
lets just face it: I was pretty damn scared. The teeth approached my arm, and
almost bit. They would have, if it weren't for the pegasus, which nudged the
wolf's head out of my way. I scrambled up as soon as I had the chance, and ran
over to it. My leg swung over its back, and it started to run. Three wolves ran
in front of it, and the pegasus got scared. It reared on its hind legs, and
knocked me off onto the ground. I landed in the mist of four wolves, which
moved closer, and closer. I backed farther away until I hit a tree and couldn't
go any farther. One wolf came in for a bite. I rolled over, but I wasn't good
enough. The wolf had got me, right on the ankle. The cut was no bigger than a
paper cut but it was there. I didn't care about that right now though. Right
now I cared about getting back up to the castle alive, and that's what I planed
to do.
I
stood up quickly, and ran. I ran in the direction of Hogwarts. My pegasus followed
my lead and ran with me, I jumped on it's back and we flew. The wolves followed
on the ground, and my dad's words from last year echoed threw my head,
"If
they want to travel the forbidden forest that's their business; as long as," he
continued "they don't come crying to us when they're almost eaten by a
werewolf."
I
managed to push them to the back of my mind, and focused on getting to
Hogwarts. It was only about 30ft away, and I knew we could make it. I didn't
want to pass Hagrid's cabin, because he'd know that something was up. So we
took the detour around to the back of the school. The wolf pack didn't chase us
after we passed the school boarder.
I
snuck back into the school through the kitchens, after tying the pegasus up at
the door. The clock read half past nine, so it wasn't too late. The feast would
still be going on, but for some reason I didn't feel like going down (gee, I
wonder why?). I went straight upstairs to the Gryffindor tower, nervous and
exhausted. I said the password and went inside to the common room. Here is what
I was greeted with.
"Where
the bloody hell have you been?!"
It
was Hermione, using language that she seldom used, reserving for appropriate
occasions.
"Sirius
is so pissed." Said Harry seriously. "He was afraid you'd been murdered or
something"
"Almost."
I muttered quietly
"You
were gone all day, were did you go?" asked Jamie, her eyes were narrowed
angrily.
"I
was in the forest." I told them.
"You
are so dead." Ron shook his head. "Wait 'till McGonagall gets her hands on you.
You had the teachers in a total state of panic."
"I'd
be more afraid of her father." Said Jamie.
"Where
are they?" I asked quietly, (Yeah, I knew that I was in deep shit here).
"Your
mom went out looking for you. The rest are here." Said Hermione through a
straight lined mouth.
"Look
I'm sorry." I apologized. "I was in a very bad mood this morning. I went to
cool off, and I kind of over slept. Trust me I got more than I bargained for
out there." I nonchalantly rubbed my ankle with my other foot.
"Well
at least you're not hurt." Said Harry.
"Right."
I said, now I was lying through my teeth, and I knew it. "Listen I'm gonna go
get my lecture now, instead of waiting till tomorrow."
I turned on my heal and left through the portrait
hole. I started walking towards the D.A.D.A room. The door was locked, but a
simple spell took care of that. Now the question in my mind was, did I really
want to face these guys tonight? They'd definitely be pissed. The decision was
an easy one to make. I decided I didn't want to see them tonight. I turned
around and went back to the common room. My friends had all gone to bed, so I
didn't have to face them again.
The next morning I got the lecture of a
lifetime, and my parents and their friends grounded me for two months. That is
the only bad thing about having your parents working at your school. They can
ground or punish you whenever they see it fit. I guess I really shouldn't be
complaining though, seeing as this was the first time that they'd ever grounded
me. Anyway, I was not allowed to go to Hogsmead, I couldn't go down and visit
Hagrid, I couldn't go to quidditch matches, and I couldn't date. As you can
see, they were pretty mad.
After
they stopped being mad, they started being worried. They kept asking me if I
was ok, if I needed anything, and I kept saying that yes I was alright, and no
I didn't need anything. Lying through my teeth again. I didn't know why I
wasn't telling them, but I just wasn't. I knew they wouldn't care, but that
didn't stop me from lying to them about something very serious.
"So,"
said dad, when he was finished with his half of the lecture. "Is this clear?"
"Crystal."
I answered.
"And
you're sure, you're ok?" asked mom.
"Very,
can I go now?"
"Sure,
but remember. You're grounded." Said dad. It was when he said that, that I knew
that he was partly enjoying this.
"I know." I said over my shoulder.
The week after my little exploit
classes started up again. Everyone came back, and soon I was known as 'the
runaway'. I didn't really care, seeing as it was easy to ignore. The hardest
part was explaining to Dean that I couldn't date for two whole months ("What!!"
He screamed). He took it pretty well, but was still a bit put out.
Finally
(on the second day back) I got back into my groove, and I was my old self. I
started goofing off in classes again, and torturing teachers, things like that.
One day in D.A.D.A I blew up a desk, so I wasn't surprised when Remus rolled
his eyes and, asked to see me after class. When the rest of the class filed out
I stayed in my seat. Remus locked the door, and came to sit down next to me.
"Sorry
'bout the desk." I said innocently.
"That's
fine." He raised his eyebrows. "Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"Like
what?" I asked. I knew perfectly well what he wanted to know, but for some
reason I still wouldn't talk. I wanted to, but I wouldn't.
"Anything
that happened the night you were grounded for?" He asked again.
"I
don't know what you're talking about." I was going through a mental battle. I
couldn't make my mouth speak the words. It just wasn't happening. Anyway it was
only a nick, only the wolf's tooth touched me. I'm not a werewolf, I told my
self.
"Aphi
let me see your ankle." Remus said this firmly, and I knew he meant business. I
humored him and pulled up my left pants leg, the cut was on the right.
"The
other one." He said.
I
sighed and slowly pulled up my right jean leg. I hoped he wouldn't be able to
see the small cut. He saw it.
"Where'd
you get that?"
"Probably
just a cut from a bramble in the forest." I lied. Oh, why couldn't I say
anything?
Remus
shook his head. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"About
what?" I asked.
"What
is the matter with you?" he looked at me closely. "Did you think we'd care?"
"Listen
I really just don't know what you're talking about."
"Aphi
I could sense it. I know where you got that cut."
"I
know you do.' I said smartly. "I just told you."
He
looked at me again. "I don't know why you won't admit it, but right now we're
going to go have a talk with Madam Pomfrey and your parents."
"What
the hell?" I yelled as he stood up. "I told you. It was a bramble in the
forest."
"Listen,"
he said. "If that was a cut from a bramble it would have scared over by now.
Yours is still open, and will remain so until you go see the nurse and have her
close it. Also you're very moody right now, that happens to some people after
they're bitten."
My
head was whirling. I wanted to, needed to tell the truth. But I couldn't. There
was something wrong with me. I was functioning on a no sense level, something
that I never did. Remus started to pull me out of my chair, and I had to fight
my self to stand up and go with him. We walked into the hall, which was clear,
because people were in classes. Remus helped me up the stairs and into the
infirmary.
"What's
the matter with her now?" asked Madam Pomfrey.
"Look
at her ankle." He answered.
I
was feeling faint now and it took a lot of my strength to lie down on the bed.
Madam Pomfrey looked at my ankle, and rubber her temples.
"This
one gets into more trouble…" She mumbled.
"I
have to go back down stairs." Said Remus. "I'll get Sirius and Less if that's
alright with you."
"Fine,
Fine." She answered.
Remus left and I fell asleep on the bed, while Madam
Pomfrey hovered over me.
(A/n- Ok, for all those people who didn't
want Aphi to become a werewolf, here's a thought for you: 'Maybe she isn't'.
Because in my mind, those wolves were not regular werewolves. Remember how I
wrote before that there were werewolves working for Voldemort, well maybe that
was them…)
-Kendra
Black (aka- Aphi Black, aka-Rouge, aka-Jean
Grey, aka-Shadowcat, aka- Kit Jackson.)
I
felt a lot better when I woke up. I found that the cut on my ankle was healed
thanks to Madam Pomfrey. No one was around, and my curtain was closed. I saw
signs that people had been there, because there were chairs all around. Madam
Pomfrey soon walked in with food.
"Are
you feeling better?" she asked. "Remus said you were having some problems down
in his class room, and I closed the bite for you."
I
nodded a weak yes.
"You'll
be good as new by the end of the day." She told me.
"Thanks."
I said glumly.
She
left, seeing that she'd get nothing out of me right then. But when she left,
almost every one else came in, and they all wanted to know the same thing: why
hadn't I told them the truth? I asked my self that too, but I guess it didn't
matter now that every one knew anyway.
"Why
didn't you say anything?" dad asked me. The others looked at me expectantly,
awaiting a pretty good excuse on my part.
"I
don't know." I admitted. "I'm sorry, and anyway it was only a small cut. I
really don't think…"
"You
don't think it'll affect you." Said Saraan calmly. "But what if it does? It
probably will. It doesn't matter how big or small the bite is, you were still
bitten."
"Nothing
will happen, and I'll be fine." I said once more. "Wasn't even a bite, more of
a scratch."
"Did
the wolf's tooth puncture your skin?" asked mom.
"Yeah."
"Then
it was a bite." She said firmly.
They
all watched me with uncertainty after this remark, waiting to see how I'd
react. I sat up in bed staring them all down.
"You
may be trying to deny this, but sooner or later you'll have to face it." Said
Maxis gently.
"Wait
until the full moon." Dad grinned knowingly. "We'll see what happens."
I
scratched my ankle with my toe, knowing that every thing they were saying was
true. There was nothing, nada, zip, zilch that I could do about it, and I'd
have to accept it.
"You
understand." Said Callisto, almost reading my mind. "Now do you want to tell us
why you didn't say any thing about this in the first place?"
They
were now asking for a, spill your guts confession. These were not my favorite
things to give, especially after lying to everyone for a week.
"Well?"
pressed Hermione.
"Listen."
I said sighing. "I just didn't b-because, I guess there was some guilt
involved, maybe some embarrassment. I knew I wasn't supposed to be in the
forest alone, and I wasn't thinking about the date, or the moon. So yeah, it
was a bit of stupidity on my part. And if Remus hadn't found out I wouldn't
have said a word, and on the full moon I would have been in a lot of trouble. I
knew you'd have been even madder then, but I thought you'd be mad about this,
so I didn't say anything." I stopped. "I'm sorry I didn't say anything, but I
couldn't."
"Did
you think we wouldn't understand?" asked Jamie.
"No."
I practically yelled. "Listen it was just a stupid mistake that I didn't want
to admit to any one. I mean that day I was pretty stupid. I was in there alone,
on a full moon, at night. I just barely got away, Blaze save my life."
"Blaze?"
"My
pegasus. He flew me out of there." I explained.
They
all looked at me once more. I gave them a slight smile, saying that I'd be
fine. And I knew that I would too. I'd accepted it, and life would be fine.
Then
there was also the feeling I had that my transformations would not
be of the norm.
(A/n-
More later)
