Chapter 3 - The Werewolf and the Werecat

By: Starr

Disclaimer: I own only Kayla and Nicole, everything else is NOT mine.

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Kayla stopped in front of Dumbledore's office, panting. She leaned against the stone wall outside, catching her breath from her run.

~Does he know?~ she wondered, turning to enter the revolving staircase

Then Kayla realized that she had no idea what the password was. She knew it was most likely some muggle candy because it had been Snickers the last time she had been sent to see him.

"Starbursts?" she guessed. "Reese's Pieces? Milky Way? Skittles? Twix?"

At her last guess the gargoyle jumped aside to allow her to ascend the revolving staircase. She shakily climbed onto the bottom step and let it carry her up. She nervously wound a few strands of hair around her finger. Some of the shock was wearing off and she was beginning to realize she had no idea what to say to Dumbledore. You just don't come out and ask if your dorm mate is a dark creature.

She didn't have any more time to think about it, though. She was soon standing in front of the huge oak door to Dumbledore's office. There was no turning back now. She tentatively knocked on the door.

"Come in!" Dumbledore called cheerfully.

Kayla quietly opened the door and walked into the office. She had been in there several times before, but it always amazed her. Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, chirped at her from his perch. The many portraits of past headmasters and headmistresses smiled down at her from the walls, some calling out greetings. Dumbledore himself was sitting at his huge oak desk, drinking tea and eating lemon drops.

"How nice to see you Miss Parker. Please have a seat. Would you like some tea? A lemon drop perhaps?" Dumbledore asked.

"No thank you, sir." Kayla said, settling herself in an armchair across from Dumbledore.

"What brings you here today, Kayla?" questioned Dumbledore.

"Well, it's about the new transfer student, Nicole." Kayla said. "She was acting strangely last night, when she went to touch the doorknob to the bathroom she drew her hand back like it was burned or something. And today in class, she got the strangest look on her face when Professor Snape told us we were going to study werecreatures." Nicole said. She paused and glanced up at Dumbledore.

"Please continue." He said mildly.

"Well, this afternoon after class I went to the library. I looked up gold in some DADA books and one of them said something in the index about it. When I found the page it was mentioned on it was in a section about werecats. The book said they were allergic to gold, like werewolves are allergic to silver. What's a werecat? The book didn't really say anything else about them. Is Nicole a werecat?"

Dumbledore sighed. "You are certainly clever, Miss Parker. Yes, Nicole is most certainly a werecat."

Kayla's eyes widened. "What does that mean? Is a werecat anything like a werewolf?"

"Yes and no. I know you know a lot about werewolves, being one yourself and all. Werecats are a little different. They only transform on new moons and blue moons. Obviously, they don't change into wolves, but large cats, usually resembling tigers, but some resemble other big cats, like lions. Werecats are allergic to gold, like the book said. Otherwise they are much the same as werewolves. For example, it is also painful for the to transform, like it's painful for werewolves to transform." He explained.

"How did Nicole become a werecat?" Kayla asked.

"She was bitten, like yourself. I'm not at liberty to tell you the details, though." Dumbledore said.

"Can I tell Nicole I know?" Kayla asked.

"Yes, and I fact I hope you do. I think you two will be able to relate to each other and maybe become friends. However, you must not tell anyone else about her. She will tell them if she wants them to know. The teacher know of course, and Madam Pomfrey, but no one else must find out. Also, you will need to explain to her that you're a werewolf." Dumbledore said.

"I'm amazed at your cleverness, Miss Parker. I was worried you might figure out Nicole's secret, but I had no idea it would take scarcely over twenty-four hours. Look at the time! I have a meeting to attend with Professor McGonagall. If you would be so kind as to return to your dormitory?"

Kayla nodded numbly. She told Dumbledore good-bye, then headed to Gryffindor tower in search of Nicole.

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Nicole was lying on her bed in the dormitory doing her Potions essay. She had changed out of her school robes and into a pair of muggle jeans and purple long-sleeved T-shirt. She yawned and shut her book, intending to finish the rest of her essay later.

Just then Kayla came into the room. Her face was flushed, as though she had recently been running, and she had a peculiar look on her face - a mixture of worry, excitement, and something Nicole couldn't quite place.

"Nicole I need to talk to you in private. It's very important." Kayla said.

Nicole shrugged. "Okay." Nicole shut the dormitory door, since they were the only two in there, and then put a Silencing Charm on the room.

The two girls sat down together on Nicole's bed, shoving her books and papers to the floor. Nicole lay down on the bed, propping herself up with one arm. Kayla sat uneasily on the edge, looking distinctly uncomfortable.

"What's up?" asked Nicole.

"Nicole, I know your secret." Kayla said.

"What secret? I don't know what you're talking about," Nicole laughed, her amber eyes glinting.

"I know that you're a werecat." Kayla said.

The response was immediate. Nicole bolted upright so fast Kayla could feel a slight breeze. Her eyes got a frantic look in them.

"What?! Who told you? I can explain! Please, don't tell anyone! I'm happy here, I don't want to have to change schools again!" cried Nicole.

"Wait, hold on a minute. Nobody told me, I figured it out on my own and Dumbledore confirmed it. And I won't turn you in as long as you don't turn me in." said Kayla. Nicole looked both relived and confused.

"What do you mean as long as I don't turn you in?" asked Nicole.

"You're not the only one with a secret, ya know. I'm a werewolf, I was bitten when I was eight." Kayla explained.

"Wow, this is a big shock. What else did Dumbledore tell you?" asked Nicole.

"Just that you were bitten by a werecat and he told me what a werecat was, I'd never heard of one before." Explained Nicole.

"Well, we're really rare. I've only met one, and that was when I was bitten. Do you want to hear the story?"

Kayla nodded, so Nicole continued.

"Well it all started when I was nine . . . . ." Nicole said

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Flashback

A nine year old Nicole was playing on the trampoline in her backyard. She had begged her mom for just five more minutes and her mother had consented. She giggled as she bounced higher and higher, her brown ponytail swishing behind her with each leap.

"Nikki, time to come in!" yelled her mom.

"I'm coming, Mommy!" she yelled back, sliding off the trampoline. Nicole sat on the ground and pulled on her sandals. It was a hot night in late June. It was fairly dark because there was no moon out. Nicole loved nights like this. Nice and warm.

She finished putting her shoes on and stood up. She started toward the house, but turned around when she heard a growl. It was coming from trees behind their backyard. She immediately thought of her tabby cat. He must still be out. She had better put him in the house.

~I thought Mom put Sunny inside~ she thought.

However, the shape emerging from the trees was way too big to be the family's kitten. Nicole gasped as she realized it was some kind of big cat. A tiger maybe? But, it couldn't be a tiger. It was way to massive, and it was a shining silver color with inky black stripes. Huge teeth were bared menacingly. It began to run toward her. She screamed and began to run towards the house, trying to escape the monster.

However, her little legs were no match for the huge cat's. She stumbled over a stray tree branch and sprawled onto grass. It jumped on her back, scratching her and sinking its huge teeth into her tiny arm. It bit at her, tearing at her skin.

"Mommy, Daddy, help!" she screamed.

The back door flew open.

"Nikki!" her Mom screamed. Nicole heard her Dad run out of the house.

"Stupefy!" she heard her father yell. She heard the sounds of people running toward her.

That was the last thing Nicole heard before she passed out.

End Flashback ******************

"The next thing I remember is waking up in my room. My parents were crying and when I asked them what happened they said a werecat had bitten me and that the doctor said now I was one, too. I didn't know what that meant at the time. I figures it out at the next new moon, too." Nicole said, a tear running down her cheek.

"That sounds like what happened to me except it was a wolf in the forest." Kayla agreed.

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Flashback

Eight year old Kayla grinned as she ran through the Forbidden Forest. Her parents were visiting her older cousin up at Hogwarts. She had given them the slip in the Great Hall and wandered off to go exploring. She loved nature and was known to disappear and go off to investigate the world around her.

She loved the forest. It was so big with so many places to explore. A full moon was shining in the sky, giving her plenty of light to see by. She climbed trees and used logs as balance beams. She investigated clearings and even found a turtle in a hollowed out log. After a half an hour she decided it was almost time to go in. Her parents had no doubt realized she was gone by then and if she didn't reappear soon she would be in huge trouble. Suddenly she heard a low growl behind her. She turned around and there it was - a werewolf.

She stood rooted to the ground, too shocked to run. The wolf was scarcely five feet away, showing its sharp yellow fangs, its bright amber eyes eyeing her hungrily. All she could do was shriek in terror.

It jumped onto her, sinking long teeth and huge claws into her
flesh. It's brutal attack lasted only for a few minutes. Eventually
she passed out. Something must have scared the wolf off because it
left her there. It was long gone when her parents and Dumbledore
found her half an hour later.

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"I never found out who bit me." Kayla said.

"Neither did I," said Nicole. There was an awkward silence for a few seconds.

"I guess we should stick together, you know, since we're the only werecreatures at Hogwart's." said Kayla.

"I think so, too," said Nicole.

"I just wish I know who bit me. It's not that I'm all that mad at them. I understand they couldn't control it. I just hate not knowing."

"Me too. I-"

But Nicole was cut off by a loud knocking at the door.

"Hey, let us in," Lavender yelled from the other side of the door.

"We need our Divination books," Parvati added.

The two girls smiled at each other and hugged. Nicole got up, unlocked the door and removed the Silencing Charm. The two girls got into their beds and soon they were both fast asleep.

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I hope you liked it! I know it was kind of confusing. The next chapter will be up later this weekend! Please review, but don't flame!

By the way, I made up all the facts about werecats. If anyone has any ideas for this story, please say so in a review. Thanks!

01/24/04 - I redid parts of this chapter as well to try and make it more realistic. I'm still not happy with it, so be forewarned that it may be rewritten again in the future.

~Starr~