Chapter 7

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Disclaimers: Harry Potter, its characters, spells, etc, is not mine. But the plot of this fic is.

Hehe^^

Author's note: this is my first Harry Potter fic so please inform me if there are any minor or major mistakes within it. R&r's are greatly appreciated. Oh and this will be a slash fic eventually. So anyone who can't handle Draco and Harry together, don't flame me, just leave

To those who will flame me to criticize some grammatical mistakes or something of that nature, then those flames are as welcome as reviews are.

Reviews are greatly appreciated ^^, they give me the confidence to continue what I started.

And, they will get together eventually, I just thought that it would be better if they both started out as friends first then eventually turn into lovers, hehe^^.

Oh and if some parts aren't clear, they will be cleared in the next chapters Don't worry ^^

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^ ^= telepathy

' '= thoughts

( ) = author's notes in the fic

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ANIMAGI

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Draco hastily made his way to the third floor corridor, ignoring everyone he passed. He touched the wall and slipped inside.

It was only a few minutes after dinner and Draco excused himself after only eating a piece of chicken. The other Slytherins didn't even care that he didn't eat much. So Draco was spared the trouble of having to explain things to his housemates.

Draco was about to make his way into his own room, when something caught his eye. There was Harry, lying down peacefully on their living room couch, with his eyes closed and the Animagi book unceremoniously dumped on the floor.

Draco smiled as he made his way to his friend. 'He must've dozed off as he was reading the book,' he thought as he looked down at his friend.

The fireplace was the only light remaining in the room, and it gave the room an eerie glow. But, somehow, it illuminated Harry's face perfectly.

Draco, despite himself, ran his hand through Harry's long hair and whispered softly, "Was it always this soft? I wonder how it feels like when you're back to your normal body." He smiled at the sleeping boy fondly and gently shook his shoulders, "Harry, I think it's time to get up now."

Harry stirred and opened up his eyes groggily. He yawned and smiled at Draco. "Hi Draco." He sat up on the couch and said, "Hey, I'm sorry for acting like a jerk a while ago."

"It's nothing, it was my fault in the first place," said Draco, waving a dismissive hand. He helped Harry rise to his feet and handed him the book he was reading earlier. "I think you dropped this."

"Oh, I guess I fell asleep while reading it," admitted Harry as he took the book from Draco. He looked at the clock on the wall and then said to Draco, "You're here early. Did you even have your dinner?"

"I only ate one piece of chicken," said Draco.

"Just one piece?!" Harry exclaimed. Then he half dragged Draco into their dining room. "I'm not letting you sleep until you've had a decent dinner," Harry declared.

Draco sat down on the chair opposite Harry's and giggled.

"What?" Harry asked as he took out some golden platters and goblets from the cupboard. "What's so funny?"

"You're beginning to sound like a girl," Draco managed to choke out before laughing.

Harry pouted and decided to play along. "Mr. Malfoy, you are going to eat your dinner, or else...!"

"Or else what, my sweet?" asked Draco before laughing again.

"Or else...you'll have to wash all the dishes until they're sparkling clean."

"Alright, alright," Draco said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "You win, I'm eating dinner." He shook his head and added, "I can't remember the last time I laughed that hard."

Harry looked thoughtful and replied, "On the Hogwarts Express, you laughed that much while we were talking about putting a spell on the Prefects' bathroom that would broadcast their voices throughout the entire school in case someone in there was singing."

Draco, who had already stopped laughing, began laughing again. And this time, Harry laughed with him. Sometime later, they had to stop laughing, because their dinner already appeared.

Both boys, not wanting to throw up everything they eat or choke on their food, decided to eat quietly. Dinner quickly ended and both boys placed their, once again, clean utensils into the cupboard.

"Hey Harry, I don't have anything to do tonight and Prof. Dumbledore's already told the teachers that you won't be going to class for at least two days, why don't we get started on that Animagus assignment of ours?"

Harry nodded, "Alright."

Draco got the book about Animagi he had been reading from his room and joined Harry in the living room.

"Have you ever tried it?"

Draco shook his head as he sat down on the armchair opposite Harry. "It's not as hard or as dangerous as Prof. McGonagall once said it was. But I didn't want to try it on my own. What about you?"

"I reread the book several times already, but the thought of trying it never crossed my mind." He looked at Draco and asked, "You'd like to try it out first?"

Draco nodded. "I just hope that whatever animal I become, it's not too humiliating. Imagine me as a rat."

Harry laughed at the thought. "I don't think so Draco. The animal you become is a reflection of yourself. I think that a rat is much too low for you and your personality."

Draco silently agreed. But he could not help but feel uneasy, because he had no idea what his Animagus form would be like. Finally, after a few moments of hesitation, he finally closed his eyes.

Like what he did during their Divination class, he shut out all external feelings. He was there, and yet he wasn't. Nothing connected him with the outside world. It was like being sucked into a void of vacuum. It was a place where one could lose himself.

Animagi transformation is very dangerous. Untrained wizards and witches lose themselves upon the transformation and end up as a wreck, whether psychologically or emotionally. But Draco is not an untrained wizard.

It was empty, the void he was in. There was nothing there to touch, nothing to see or hear or smell. But Draco knew better than to believe what he saw, he was far too strong a wizard to be mislead by such an illusion.

He concentrated all his magical power to himself and could feel the void beginning to move around him. It was no longer empty. And there, before Draco was a silver thread. This is it. He touched it without hesitation and upon contact, he felt himself being pulled away from the void.

"Draco? Are you alright?"

Harry.

Draco opened his eyes and realized that his eyesight became much more powerful. He could see the room clearly and in full detail, although the only light in the living room is the gentle light from the flame in the fireplace.

He blinked. He wasn't sure if his eyes were just playing tricks on him. ^Harry?^

He looked at Harry and saw the other boy sigh in relief. "You had me worried there Draco. For a minute, I almost thought I lost you."

^Why'd you think that?^

"You were already fully transformed, but you weren't opening your eyes and when I called your name, you didn't move a muscle."

^You worry too much Harry. So how do I look like?^

Harry leaned back on the couch and smiled widely at him. "You look magnificent."

Draco stretched his limbs and saw that his hands, no scratch that, he had paws now; his paws had white fur, but had black stripes.

After stretching, Draco leapt down from the arm chair with ease that surprised even him and strode down to look at himself on the mirror.

He was now a full-grown white tiger, with ebony black stripes, silver eyes, long tail, cute ears, a cute little nose and with claws and jaws that could case deadly harm on an unsuspecting victim.

And the best thing was, he felt grace that was not there before. Grace and stealth that makes the white tiger a deadly predator, and all these Draco could feel in his very bones. It was like he was born with it. It felt so natural.

"It suits you very much," Harry said as Draco leapt on to the couch and rested his head on Harry's lap. Harry knew what he wanted, and complied. He reached the back of Draco's ears and scratched that area.

Draco purred, content.

"Now Draco, I also have to try it out," Harry reminded the huge feline. "We can't waste all night just scratching your ears."

The white tiger leapt down from the couch and transformed back into Draco. He sat back down on the arm chair and smiled at Harry.

"You satisfied?"

"Of course," Draco replied with a huge grin on his face. "What do you think?"

"It's perfect for you," Harry replied. "The white tiger form just suits you perfectly."

"Now, it's your turn Harry," said Draco. "I'm excited to see what your form will be."

Harry shook his head and said, "I think you're even more excited than I am." Then he turned serious. He closed his eyes and very much went through the same process as Draco.

"Harry?" Draco asked carefully, as soon as the transformation was over.

Harry moved his head and opened his eyes. ^Draco?^

"You're alright," Draco said, relieved. "Check yourself out on the mirror. I think this form suits you perfectly as well."

Imitating Draco's earlier actions, Harry stretched his limbs and saw that his paws were covered with pure white fur.

He jumped down from the couch and walked over to the mirror.

He was now a full-grown wolf. Not just any wolf. His fur was pure white from the end of his ears to last fur on his tail. His eyes were still emerald green, but were now much more powerful than human vision. The only other thing that wasn't white aside from his eyes, was his nose, which was ebony black.

He had improved eyesight, but what really caught his attention were his ears and his nose. Sound he never noticed before were now so clear. The soft crackling of the fire, the minute sounds of the insects outside their window. He never noticed all these before, but now, they were so clear, that Harry could almost think that the sources of the sounds were just beside his ears.

His sense of smell also improved greatly. It was about a thousand times more powerful than the human sense of smell. (1)

After giving his wolf form a once over, Harry went back to Draco. And instantly changed back to his human form.

"Should we go show Prof. Dumbledore this already?" Harry asked Draco.

Draco was about to nod, but at that moment, another idea appeared in his mind. He grinned and asked Harry, "Do you have the Marauder's Map with you?"

Harry nodded, but he was clueless as to why Draco had asked about it.

"Great!" Draco exclaimed, pulling a very confused Harry into the latter's room.

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Severus Snape checked the Hogwarts grounds at least once every night. And this night was no exception.

He was just passing the Great Hall when he heard some noise coming from the outside. He always leaves nothing unchecked, this noise was no different.

He closed the great doors of Hogwarts and carefully treaded the path outside. It was very dark, even with his wand out, emitting light.

He kept his ears open, suspicious sounds cannot be ignored.

Just as he was passing the greenhouses, he heard the rustling of leaves. He was immediately alert and kept his wand ready.

But nothing came, and he relaxed his hold on the wand. "Must be the wind," he muttered, and continued walking.

Then, all of a sudden, two white forms began running towards him from behind.

He heard the rustling of leaves, but reacted a tad bit too late as the two creatures jumped over him and he tumbled on the ground.

He looked at his attackers and saw, silhouetted against the moonlight, a white wolf and a white tiger.

He turned paler than both boys could have imagined, before getting up, turning around and run like hell, shouting "wolf" and "tiger" all the way.

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"Professor Dumbledore?"

The headmaster smiled fondly as both Harry and Draco entered his office, using the normal way, instead of Apparating. "Yes boys?"

Harry and Draco took their seats and Draco said, "Well professor, both Harry and I managed to change into our Animagi forms already."

"I know," said the headmaster, knowingly.

"You do?" asked both boys simultaneously.

"Well," said the professor, pushing his glasses up his nose and looking at the two boys with a twinkle in his eye. "Prof. Snape was in here earlier, complaining about a white tiger and a white wolf. Am I mistaken in assuming that those two were you in Animagi forms?"

Both boys hung their heads, "You weren't wrong sir." Both thinking that they should have known better than to scare a teacher.

"Well, I'm not punishing you two, for now."

Their faces brightened up immediately. "You're not?"

The headmaster shook his head. "I must congratulate both of you for finishing that task on your own. I will let you rest for a few days before I give you the next part of your training. But, I must say boys, you must've given Prof. Snape quite a scare. He was as white as snow (2) when he came rushing here earlier. Go on, both of you. I think you should go to sleep already."

And with that, both boys left the headmaster's office.

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(1) I watched National Geographic after I wrote this. So I added this little information about the wolf. I watched a documentary about the coyote, but they are in the same family right? So I thought that this improved sense of smell would apply to the wolf as well.

(2) This is supposed to be "As white as paper" but I thought about it and realized that wizards don't use paper, they use parchments. And parchments aren't that white. So I changed it to snow instead.

I hope everyone is satisfied with my decision for their Animagi forms. I was really considering phoenix for Harry, but you can't cuddle up to a phoenix. So I made him a wolf instead.

And I just had to add Snape there because the idea kept on forming in my head.

Waiting for more reviews ^^, they keep me writing.