As Remus, Ally, and Professor McGonagall raced up the stairs, they halted at the astonishing sight of two wolves chasing a rat down the staircase. It took a moment for them to register that the rat was Peter Pettigrew. They watched in horror as the rat scampered and tried to get out of the jaws clamped firmly yet gently around the rat body... then transformed back and made the wolf drop him in surprise. The other wolf took a leap and pinned the fat, balding man to the ground, snarling.

The teachers stood in shock as the man struggled to get free. When this failed, he decided it would be a good idea to retransform. A snarl from the wolf did not stop him, although that was its intent.

The other wolf, seeing the rat's purpose, pounced upon him and knocked him into the wall hard enough to render him unconscious. By this time most of the Gryffindor students were there to see the Lupin twins shift out of their Animagi forms and sit on the cold floor... hard.

"Oh my god," said McGonagall as Remus rushed to conjure a box for Pettigrew and Ally rushed to her daughters.   

~*~

"Girls, what happened?" asked an exhausted McGonagall an hour later, after Pettigrew had been placed under arrest and taken away by Fudge.

"Well," started Hermione, ever the diplomat, "We were headed up to bed, talking with the others...."

"Who are 'the others'?"

"Harry, Ron, Lexi, Ginny, Jeremy, and Mariah."

"Continue."

"... when we saw a rat scampering up the banister. Ron recognized him as Scabbers and yelled, 'Get him!' Then..."

Sephie interrupted, "... we grabbed hands because Herm tripped and I grabbed her, and this power slammed through us like, BAM! and the next thing we know, we're wolves! I was all, Wow! but Herm took off after that damned rat..."

"Sephie!"

"... he is a damned rat, Herm! I took off after her, and together we took him down. Now... we're here."

McGonagall peered closely at the girls. "Do you think you could do it again?"

"What?"

"Transform?"

Hermione and Sephie looked at each other. "I think so," Hermione finally managed.

They closed their eyes, and their Professor watched with anxious eyes. "Concentrate, girls."

They thought about it deeply: the thrill of the chase, the heightened senses, and the feel of it being right. They felt the power course through them again and knew they had done it.

McGonagall sat back with worried eyes, although her lips stretched into a smile. "Well done, girls. Now... can you change back?"

The wolves looked at each other and gave human nods odd to see on wolves. They quickly shifted back.

"It was easier when we were holding hands," stated Sephie, flopping back in the chair with a sigh.      

"Much," said Hermione, copying her sister's movement.

McGonagall smiled. "Don't worry, girls; it gets easier with time. Now, I suggest you two go to bed. Meet me here tomorrow morning, we have things to discuss.  Oh, and bring Misses Weasley, Jordan, and Malfoy, along with Misters Potter, Weasley, Malfoy, and Walters along, please."

~*~

Harry was walking through the halls with Mariah when he saw a familiar figure coming out of Dumbledore's office.

"OLIVER?!" he screeched. Mariah let go of his arm in surprise and Harry ran to shake the hand of his former Quidditch captain.

"What are YOU doing here?"

Oliver grinned at his star Seeker. "Well, Potter, that's a long story I'm NOT supposed to talk about.... "

"So... SPILL." That was Mariah, grinning as she came up behind her boyfriend.

Oliver raised an eyebrow and threw a thumb in her direction.

"Ah. Oliver Wood, this is my girlfriend, Mariah Jordan. Mariah, my old Quidditch captain, Oliver."

"Pleased to meet you," they both said. Harry laughed.

"So, in the words of my girlfriend, 'spill.' What ARE you doing here?"

Oliver motioned them both closer.

"As *I* said, I'm not supposed to talk about this, but I think I can trust you, Potter," he said, eying Mariah. "Her, too. Ok, as you know, I've been playing Quidditch professionally for the past few years. That was great, but I want to do something more. It just so happens that Madam Hooch has decided to, er, retire and they'll need a new flying instructor/Quidditch referee. Professor Dumbledore offered me the position, and I just accepted."

Harry clapped Wood on the back. "Great! Now the Slytherins can't cheat!"

The three laughed. "We promise not to tell anyone if you don't want us too," Harry added, semi-seriously. Oliver smiled.

"It'll come out eventually."

"Well, we'll keep a secret as long as we can, but for now, we have to get going. Nice seeing you, Oliver!" With that, Harry and Mariah raced towards the common room. Wood just stood, shaking his head.

"That one was always a little off. Nutters, you know," he said to Dumbledore, who had been listening on the other side of the door.

"Hmmm," was all Dumbledore replied as he shook his head. "Nutters, I like that." 

~*~

Meanwhile, in the Gryffindor common room:

"George! Fred! Angelina! Katie! Come-" Harry began shouting. Everyone turned and looked at him, including Ginny, Hermie, Sephie, Lexi, Ron, and Jeremy. He blushed.

"Oops." His friends came over to him and Mariah.

"What's going on? You know they aren't here anymore," said Hermione.

"Sorry, I forgot. Mariah and I just got some good news that I wanted to share with the Quidditch team, but I forgot we, er, don't have one anymore."

Sephie grinned and threw an arm around his shoulders. "Well, Harry, we'll fix that, won't we?" A significant look was thrown in Lexi's direction. 

Lexi sighed. "Harry, McGonagall came by and said that since you're the only one left, you have to pick the new team."

"I'll hold tryouts in a few weeks," said Harry absently.

Mariah looked at him with concern. "You ok, Harry?" she asked softly.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Fine, Mari." He gave her a peck on the cheek and muttered, "You know, I've got to... go do some thinking. I'll see you later."

~*~

Gryffindor Quidditch Team

Chaser: Ron Weasley

Chaser: Alexia Black

Chaser: Seamus Finnigan

Keeper: Ginny Weasley

Beater: Jeremy Walters

Beater: Sephie Lupin

Seeker (Captain): Harry Potter

"What!!!! BEATER? What the friggin HELL were you THINKING, Potter?!"

Harry refused to flinch. "Your reflexes are sharp, Seph. I didn't realize how good of a Beater you are until you slammed that Quaffle with the end of your broom BACKWARDS and almost took my head off on purpose. You're a Beater, Seph. Ginny is equal to you as Keeper, but there's NO way she's as good as you in Beater. And that's my final decision."

Sephie turned and flounced out of the room, fuming.

"Where the hell does she think SHE'S going? It's 10:30 at night!" said Hermione from her comfortable position sprawled across the couch and Ron's lap.   

~*~

"Goddamn it, you'd think Harry of all people would understand the reasons behind my NOT being Beater," she muttered as she stormed to the broom shed and kicked the door open. She snatched her Firebolt 2002 and the case of Quidditch equipment and walked purposefully toward the pitch.

She opened the case and made ready to take out the Quaffle, but hesitated, looking at the Bludgers warily. She ran a hand over the jumping straps holding the equipment in. With a scowl she mounted her broom, a Beater Club in her hand. She whipped out her wand and muttered the spell to loosen the straps, watching the Bludgers fly up into the air and do a loop, heading for her.

~*~ 

Oliver walked out near the dark black pitch. The quarter moon lent the night little illumination, but he could faintly see a figure up in the air, the Quidditch equipment on the ground in the box. He ducked with ease born of years of practice as a Bludger flew over his head.

"Shit!" he growled. Technically the equipment was for the use of all Quidditch players, but NO ONE  was supposed to be outside, without a chaperone, at night, in hardly enough light to see a broom on the ground, much less a black Bludger. He squinted closely to see Persephone Lupin slamming away on two Bludgers as if her life depended on it. "What the hell?" he muttered.  

~*~

Sephie blinked away some tears as she remembered how she learned to be a Beater....

"Sephie, come on! You wanted to do this…"

"I'm COMING, George…"

They spent the afternoon together on the brooms, swatting the Bludger between them…

 Her musings were interrupted by the pain of being jolted back to Earth by a 50 mile an hour Bludger to the side. There was a sickening crack! as she slid off the side of her broom in shock.

~*~

All Oliver saw was the Bludger heading for her side. Without even the time to cry out, he watched as she was hit and started to fall. Without thinking, he was on his own broom and after her. Without worrying about it, he caught her in her fall about ten feet from the ground.

"You idiot," he said immediately. "What were you thinking… ar- are you ok?" he asked, stumbling over his own tirade as he realized the girl he had caught was seriously hurt.

"Let's go to Madame Pomfrey," he said gently.

"NO! I'll be fine."

"Like hell," he growled back.   

"I'm fine."

"Not."

"So."

"Not."

"SO!"

"You're crying."

Silence.

He looked at her closely. "Those tears aren't from the Bludger, are they?" he asked gently, moving to wipe away one. She jerked her head back.

"Of course they are!"

"These are guy tears."

"How the hell would you know?"

Oliver rolled his eyes. "Ok, I had Angelina, Katie, and Alicia as my Chasers for the majority of my time on the team. I was always go between for 'Lina and Fred. My Chasers are NOT effective if they're mooning over a guy."

Sephie's eyes hardened. "I was NOT mooning."

"Whoa! Did I SAY you were? Come on, Lupin, you're hurt. Let's go."

"But- what about…" she started.

Oliver waved his wand and put everything back. "Come on, I'll cover for you."