There aren't any pairings now, but there will be some later.  Like I said in the first part, there WILL be slash.  If you don't like that, I'm sorry, you don't have to read this.

I really suck at warnings.  I'll let you know if anything serious is going to happen.

I don't own Harry Potter or anything like that, yet, but I do own the cute puppy.

I've revised this chapter, hope you still enjoy it!

Wolf-Child

            After that eventful DADA class, the group of Slytherins and Gryffindors went to double Potions together.  The Polyjuice Potion still hadn't worn off, and Snape was in a bad mood.  Not only did he have to teach himself, (Hermione) but he had to teach other professors, including Sirius (Blaise).  Harry (Draco) refused to get out of Draco's seat and Dumbledore (Neville) melted Winky's (Seamus') cauldron into a twisted mess.  Fred and George (Lavender and Parvati) were back in his class, and the memory of their last prank was still fresh in his mind.

            Much to everyone's surprise, Harry and Draco both walked out of Potions with detentions.  Draco was shocked.  Snape had never given him a detention before.  True, it had been given to him while he was Harry, but still!

            Harry decided detention was worth the stunned look on Draco's face.

            Draco took his time meeting Harry, Fred, George, and Hagrid by the Forbidden Forest for detention.  The twins leered at him as he approached.  Hagrid clapped his big hands together.

            "Right then!  Since ye two can't be trusted alone in this forest, yer goin with me!  Harry, ye get Malfoy.  Sorry 'bout that, but these two really can't be unsupervised.  Y'also get Fang.  Now, Professor Snape is in need of some fresh ingredients.  Here, Harry, you get half the list, and we'll keep the other half.  Get back here when ye're done.  Oh, an don't forget to send up red sparks if ye get inter any trouble."

            Draco reluctantly took Fang's leash and the trio started off.  Harry read the ingredients off the list while Draco was in charge of the jars to put them in.

            "Watch it Malfoy!"

            "I wasn't doing anything, Potter!"

            "You tripped me!"

            "Listen, scarface, I've been behind you this whole time.  How could I have tripped you?"

            "I don't know, magically?"

            "Potter, you probably tripped over a stone or something.  Now, let's hurry up and find that. . .what was it again?"

            Harry pushed a branch aside and sighed.  "Dittany, Malfoy, we're looking for dittany."

            "Right.  Dittany.  Tell me, why couldn't Snape have just gathered this stuff from the greenhouses?  It would have been a lot easier then traipsing through this forest with only you for company."

            Harry groaned.  "None of this stuff grows in the greenhouses, Malfoy."

            "Well it should.  Maybe we could bring Sprout some seeds or something."

            Draco had been relatively civil.  He would complain and insult Harry, but his insults lacked their usual venom.  Draco seemed bored, something Harry was grateful for.

            "Harry, freeze."

            "What?"

            "Freeze!  Freeze as in: Stop, don't move, don't flinch, and don't panic!"

            "Draco, what is it now?"

            "Something moved, off to our right."

            Harry closed his eyes, counting to ten.  Draco, this is the Forbidden Forest.  Things are always moving."

            Draco shot a dirty glare at Harry before moving toward the trees curiously.  "I wonder what it is. . ."

            "Draco, don't wander off the path!  It's dangerous!"

            Draco glanced over his shoulder with a cocky grin.  "Aww, thanks Potter!  I didn't know you cared!"

            "I just don't want to get in more trouble if I return with you dead," Harry snarled.  Draco just shook his head and pushed through the trees.  With a sigh, Harry tugged at Fang's leash and followed.

            "Whoa, Potter, look at this!"  Draco's voice was hushed.  Harry peered over Draco's shoulder and gasped quietly.

            A huge black wolf was lying in a clearing.  At first Harry feared it was Sirius, but the muzzle was too long and pointed, and the coat was too short.  The quarter moon shone on her.  As the boys watched, the wolf lifted her head and looked at them.  Whining softly, she dipped her muzzle and pushed a smaller bundle of fur toward them, before her head fell back onto her paws.  The wolf whimpered again before her eyes closed and one last breath shook her body.

            "Is she dead?"

            "I think so."

            Fang cowered behind Harry as the smaller bundle of fur uncurled itself and stood up.  Draco and harry both pulled back, shocked.

            The creature wasn't a pup, like they had originally thought.  It was half human, half wolf.  From the waist down, the child was definitely canine, from the thick coat of gray fur to the tail to the powerful paws.  From the waist up, the child was relatively normal.  It had a ruff of fur around its neck, fangs, wolf ears, and stubby fingers with short, sharp claws at the end.  Other then that, the child seemed to be a dirty kid.  Its black hair hung in an untidy mess around its elfin face.  Neither Draco nor Harry could tell the child's gender.

            It barked, wagging its tail.  Dropping to all fours, it trotted over to the boys.  As it pranced around their feet, sniffing at their shoes and touching noses with Fang, Harry and Draco attempted to keep away from it.

            "So, what is this thing, Potter?"

            "What, am I some kind of animal expert now?"

            "Well, you spend so much time with that oaf, Hagrid, surely you must be well-versed in all types of bizarre creatures."  Draco's voice dripped with sarcasm.  Harry growled.

            "Hagrid's not an oaf."

            "But Potter. . .YAAAH!  That thing just bit me!"  Draco was shaking his hand, trying to dislodge the creature.  It had gently bit Draco's hand, barely breaking the skin, but now it let go, dropping to the ground and cowering behind Harry's legs, whimpereing in fear.  Draco drew his wand and advanced on it, but Harry stopped him.

            "Malfoy, it was just a little bite, and the thing's just a child.  It didn't know any better, so don't hurt it."

            "You'll sing a different song when it bites you too."

            "Malfoy. . ." Harry's voice held a silent warning.

            "Right.  What were we looking for again?"

            "Dittany," Harry sighed.

            The wolf-child tagged along at their heels like a puppy for the rest of their detention.  When they finally left the forest, ingriedients in hand, it followed them out.

            "Potter, that thing is still there."

            Harry turned and waved at it.  "Shoo!  Go on, scat!  Go home!"  The wolf-child trotted forward, tongue lolling from its mouth.  It barked and wagged its tail again.  "Shoo!"

            Draco sighed and picked up a stick.  He flung it at the wolf-child.  It whimpered, stepping back.  Draco flung another stick, and it turned and ran into the forest.  A moment later, a mournful howl rose from the trees.

            "Listen, Malfoy, you hurt its feelings!"

            "And you didn't?  Yelling at it after it trusted you, tsk tsk Potter, not a good way to treat an animal, now is it?"

            The boys gave Hagrid the ingriedients and returned to their respective rooms.  The wolf-child was forgotten.

            "We have to care for that!?!  But aren't griffins, especially young ones,  supposed to be highly dangerous if handled by unfamiliar people?"

            Hagrid sighed as Draco started on his usual dissing of the Care of Magical Creatures class.  "Malfoy, Kitten's not gonna be touched by anyone but me.  She knows an trusts me.  All ye're doin today is preparing her food."

            Harry looked at the table in front of him.  Kitten only ate raw meat.  They would be preparing mice and rats for her today.  He grimaced, as did most of the class.  Ron nudged him.  "Kitten, eh?  I wonder how long it's going to be until she breaks loose and attacks Ferret's arm."

            Seamus leaned back in his seat.  "I'll but a sickle on ten minutes."  Dean nodded.

            "Put me in, two sickles for five after Malfoy shuts up."

            "Harry?"

            "A sickle on seven and a half."

            "Great!  I'll be. . . a sickle for nine exactly."

            Nine minutes later, Kitten rusted her cage and flew into the students, snatching at the dead mice.  Girls shrieked as the students fled out of Hagrid's hut into the mud that was the Hogwarts' grounds.

            A dog started barking excitedly, and the next thing Draco knew, he was knocked to the ground.  The wolf-child crouched on his chest, licking his face excitedly.  Harry started laughing, and the wolf-child leapt at him.

            The class didn't know if they should laugh at Harry and Draco or scream as Kitten flew out of the hut.  A moment later, they decided to scream as she sank her talons into Draco's arm.  The wolf-child snarled and leapt from Harry.  It hit Kitten in the side and tore her from Draco.  The two animals rolled over and over, a blur of fur and claws.  When they pulled apart, the wolf-child was standing over Draco, snarling like its life depended on it.  Kitten limped away, feathers scattered over the ground.

            Ron collected his money.

            Hagrid locked Kitten in his storage shed.  After he was certain she couldn't get out, he knelt beside the wolf-child, stroking its head gently.  "Looks like you found yourself a friend, Malfoy."

            "It's not my friend."

            Hagrid laughed as the wolf-child tried to lick Draco's arm clean.  Draco batted it away.  Hagrid scooped it up and scratched it under the chin.  It wagged its tail but wiggled free and trotted over to Harry.  Standing on its hind feet, it nuzzled Harry's hand.  Hagrid laughed again.  "Looks like she likes both of ye!  Have y'ever seen her before?"

            Harry absently patted her on the head.  "So it's a she?  We weren't sure.  Yeah, we met her in the Forbidden Forest yesterday when we were serving our detention.  She was next to a big black wolf who died.  She followed us around for a little, but stayed in the forest."

            "Well, I wouldn't recommend trying to get rid of her.  She's adopted the two of you as her foster parents, whether ye like it or not.  She seems hungry.  Harry, why don't you go get her some food?  Malfoy, you need to get up to the hospital wing.  For the rest of ye, class is over early.  Go have fun."

            Several weeks later, the wolf-child was still following Harry and Draco around.  Dumbledore permitted this, and would watch amusedly as Draco would struggle to keep her face out of his food, or Harry would try to keep her still long enough to put a shirt on her.  Once he got her dressed, keeping the clothing in one piece was another battle.

            Hermione was helping by scouring the shelves in the library for information, and forcing Ron to help her.  After she tore up a library book, they decided it was best not to let Harry help while the wolf-child was with him.

            "Harry, look at this!  It says that sometimes werewolves, while in their wolf form, sometimes mate with real wolves.  The result is a rare wolf/human hybrid. . .oh, but the child always dies young.  No hybrid has ever lived past ten, nor has any been civilized beyond barely tolerating clothing.  For the most part, they act like puppies for their whole lives, more dog then human."

            Ron offered the wolf-child a spoonful of food while Hermione talked.  The puppy stared at it curiously before dunking her head in Ron's bowl of cereal.  The Gryffindors chuckled as she licked milk from her face contentedly.  Ron groaned and pushed his bowl towards her.  "So we know what she is.  Does that book say anything about how to keep her out of your food?"

            Now that she had the bowl of cereal, the wolf-child decided she didn't want it.  She snatched a sausage from Hermione's plate and chewed on it.  Hermione sighed.  "No, it doesn't.  I don't even know if it would be possible."

            The doors to the Great Hall opened and the child's ears perked up.  With a joyous bark, she sprang from the Gryffindor table, tore across the room, and showered Draco in puppy kisses.  With a long suffering sigh, Draco scooped the puppy up and carried her over to Harry.

            "You get her today, Potter."

            "I had her yesterday!"

            "I had her all last week!  You aren't saddling me with her this week."

            Harry sighed.  "Fine.  I'll take her this week, but you have her Sunday."

            Draco scowled and dropped her in Harry's lap.  "Have fun."

            Harry patted her head absently as Draco stalked off.  "He really does like her, he just hides it."

            "Harry?"  Ron and Hermione were surprised at this.  "How would you know something like that?"

            Harry smiled.  "I follow him sometimes, when it's his turn with her, just to make sure he's not hurting her.  When he's alone, he plays with her, brushes her hair and fur, and lets her curl up in his lap.  It's actually kinda cute, watching them."

            The nearby Gryffindors chuckled, picturing Draco with the wolf-child in his lap.  Harry jumped as a hand fell on his shoulder.  "Hello Harry."

            Harry turned and grinned.  "Professor Lupin!  You're back!  Did your Order business go well?"

            "Yes, flawlessly.  I see you've found a canine friend.  Dumbledore has told me about her."

            Harry handed the child to Remus.  He sat beside Harry, placing the little girl in his lap.  His hands stroked her sides, gently feeling her ears and testing her strength.  She whimpered and squirmed, trying to lick his nose.  Remus laughed.  "She's quite healthy, but a little thin.  What's her name?"

            Harry looked at Ron and Hermione.  "Uh, we haven't really named her."

            "We didn't want to get too attached to her, since she's probably not going to live that long.  Hybrids like her never see their tenth birthday."

            "And there's no such thing as a tame werewolf."  Remus handed her back to Harry.  You should name her, and see if you can teach her some things.  She seems to be a very bright puppy.  She can't be much older then five, so you still have some years with her."

            Harry frowned.  Five years with the puppy?  But he'd be leaving Hogwarts in three years.  How would she still see both Draco and himself after they graduate?

~Crawler