Title: Twining Transformations
NOTE: These are not my characters, they are J.K Rowling's, and I make no money off of them whatsoever. However, it is my plot (at least hopefully haha).
It is a slash between SS/HP, seen later in the story, so you are warned.
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Chapter 2
The Agreement
Halloween Feast
"Tweet?" Harry asked pleadingly.
"Oh all right, but remember, any mess on my robes and I won't hesitate to throw another ladle at your head."
"Caw!" Harry cried triumphantly, preening and glossing his feathers quickly before settling on his customary spot on Snape's shoulder.
Entering the Great Hall was a sight to behold. Decked out in his customary black robes billowing behind him, Snape had a sneer firmly in place with a dark eyebrow cocked and his snarling teeth gleaming. His hair, recently washed, blended in surprisingly well with the darkened feathers of the eagle sitting proudly on his shoulder.
Harry's yellow eyes took in the gaping mouths, his bird chuckle sounding like a choking cat coughing up a hairball. It only made the two of them look more evil.
Snape took his seat at the teacher's table in the front of the Great Hall, his students glaring malevolently at the bird seated on the table near his folded hands. Dumbledore twinkled in delight at the two forced companions before clapping his hands twice together. The food immediately burst onto the table, and the students soon forgot the picture the two had made upon entrance.
"What do you want?" Snape asked, glaring down into the yellow eyes of the eagle.
"Ish," the bird mumbled.
Snape smirked at the answer. He knew the bird had a hard time pronouncing even the most basic words, and he delighted in teasing the boy- turned-bird to no end.
"I'm sorry, I couldn't quite understand that," he mocked.
"I believe he meant 'fish'," Professor Vector supplied helpfully beside Severus.
Snape glared at the help. Vector shrugged and turned away.
"And how would you like the fish cooked, bird? Raw, boiled, fried-"
He was cut off by Harry's answer. "Caw," he tried.
"That was not one of the-" he began again, but the bird interrupted a second time.
"C-r-Raw," he stuttered, and immediately in front of the bird a plate of salmon appeared.
"Twerp!" he whooped and dug his beak deeply into the raw entrails of the fish. Splatters of blood and guts were thrown into the air and many students –as well as teachers- paused to behold the scene of the ravaging eagle. Many felt slightly queasy at the picture, and could feel the food they had only recently digested rumble discouragingly in their stomachs. Various fish organs flew into the air, and chunk of fat even landed indelicately far down the table onto Dumbledore's floppy hat. An especially large tube of intestine landed into Snape's lap.
Harry paused and withdrew from the carcass, gulping a chunk of meat and looking at his handy-work before noticing that a piece he had missed that had fallen into Snape's lap. He dove down, his talons digging into Severus' legs for a grip and beak yanking at the organ. Startled, Severus attempted to push the bird away, making it close its beak tightly in a valiant effort to stay aboard his lap. Unfortunately, his beak also closed around another organ that was not a part of the fish.
Snape's howl echoed off the rafters and the students watched in abject horror as he leaped into the air, knocking the bird astray and running from the Great Hall, his hand protectively covering his privates. The student body burst into laughter at the retreating figure and went back to their dinners and conversations. The Slytherins only looked confused at the inelegant receding figure of their Head of House, and a certain blonde began plotting revenge.
Shrugging his little bird shoulders, Harry fluttered from the Head Table to land coolly next to Ron, stealing a chicken wing from his plate.
"Hullo Harry," Ron greeted, stuffing his face full of mashed potatoes and a bread roll simultaneously.
"Hi Harry," Hermione said, never once looking up from the large tome propped up in front of her plate.
"Caw," Harry replied politely, motioning his head towards a chalice of pumpkin juice. Ron obligingly set one down next to the bird, watching in fascination as the bird delicately flicked his dark tongue into the juice.
He soon went back to stealing from Ron's plate until he got the hint to make a plate for Harry, and his plate was left alone after that.
"Harry, I'm so sorry," Neville began to apologize, but Harry clucked his tongue together in a soothing fashion, and all was forgiven.
"Still, it's too bad you can't stay in the dorm rooms with the rest of us," Ron said, a piece of gravy dripping from his chin.
"Caw," Harry said, commiserating with his best friend.
No one else mentioned Harry's dramatic entrance with Snape, nor were they allowed to ask if Snape really slept in the nude – Hermione had threatened and cajoled them into silence. Dean slapped a hand over Seamus' mouth, leading him away from the group. Harry would have blushed if he would have been asked the latter question – he had once slyly snuck into Severus' bedroom one night and, before being rudely thrown out, had found out the answer 'in the flesh', so to speak. He had stayed awake the entire night reliving the moment of unveiling...
Poppers and crackers soon went off, startling Harry, and candy showering from the enchanted ceiling. While the other students were grabbing as much candy as possible, Harry waited impatiently before leaping upwards and catching a bat in mid-swoop.
As the students began filing down the hallway, Harry let out a screech of goodbye to his friends and headed towards the dungeons.
He surreptitiously entered through the bird door Dumbledore had installed, and unsuspecting of an attack, was knocked unconscious by a ladle thrown at his head.
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Weeks passed, and from October they descended into November, and Harry spent all of his time with Snape in the dungeons. They waited patiently – and some, not so patiently - until the nights when they were free to fly together in the deep, cold nights.
Only one set of eyes observed the tentative tradition formed by the two, and an indelible air of sadness and hope was stamped into the weakened blue eyes of Albus Dumbledore. The freedom they enjoyed was a stolen, forbidden fruit; the black and the white eagles soaring underneath the understanding moonlight, freedom to express the feelings neither portrayed in actions during the harsh light of day.
The only color to be highlighted in the black bird was the white lightening bolt that slashed across its forehead, while the gleaming white feathers of the second eagle contrasted sharply against the Dark Mark etched on the inside of its left wing.
Dumbledore sighed, turning away from the window to gaze upon the tensionless face of his mistress that lay so peacefully on his pillow.
"Minerva..." he whispered into the silent bedroom. "How I long for this strife to be over..."
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November – after Thanksgiving
"Harry, we are going into Hogsmeade today!" Ron cried happily eating his breakfast, and sitting next to the dark-hued bird.
"Caw," Harry said glumly.
"What's wrong Harry?" Hermione asked gently, forgetting for a moment that Harry couldn't speak. Two sets of eyes turned incredulously to look at her.
"Sorry, I forgot," she mumbled, blushing furiously.
"Eep," Harry said, a coo emerging from his throat in the equivalent of a sigh.
They were all silent for a moment, before Hermione suddenly brightened. "Hey, I have an idea! I just learned this nifty little spell that Professor Flitwick taught me. It allows the user to see pictures presented in the mind when the person is unable to speak. It's usually used for persons that are mute...but I'm sure it would be useful in Harry's case as well, since he does have a human mind..." Hermione said thoughtfully, her voice trailing off as her mind worked furiously.
"Tweet?" Harry asked, his yellow eyes gleaming in curiosity.
"Yes, I think it will work!" she said happily. "Come one, lets go to the dorms and we can test it out," she said, while Ron desperately tried to down the rest of his breakfast.
Harry settled on Hermione's shoulder, playing with the frizzy hair as they climbed the multiple sets of stairs to the Gryffindor common room.
"Jeez Harry, you need to lose some weight," Hermione muttered, struggling to hold on to her books.
"Twerp!" Harry called, and his cry had a hurt tone. He leaped into the air and with a giant whoosh of air, ruffling her kinky hair, and circled lazily before disappearing up the stairs. Ron and Hermione looked at each other, rolling their eyes.
When they finally managed to catch up to the bird it was outside of the dorm room, Harry sitting calmly on the step, his eyes widened innocently.
"Caw-erp?" he asked.
"Blimey Harry, it's not our fault we can't fly," Ron moaned, holding onto his stuffed and bloated stomach.
"Eep," he replied, motioning his head towards the Fat Lady.
"Bird brain," Hermione said, and with a startled huff Harry crawled into the open doorway.
Ron snickered, saying only, "It was Seamus who wanted to change the password to that."
Harry shrugged his shoulders and sat down on the back of the couch they had always liked to congregate on.
Hermione took out her wand, giving a few practice flicks before pronouncing she was ready. She stood before the back of the couch while Ron lounged on the cushions in front of the fire.
"Animus patesco," she murmured, tapping Harry on the lightening bolt that slashed across his forehead.
Where her wand was pressed against Harry's skull a picture floated into clarity above his feathered head, still faintly translucent, and it showed a picture of what was currently being seen in Harry's mind.
Ron gaped at the picture before him, and noticed that as his mouth fell open it was reflected in the tiny screen.
"It worked!" Hermione cried, and it was pantomimed in the picture. "Now, show us what ever you want to say."
A visual picture of how Harry looked popped into play on the screen, and as he opened his mouth to speak...nothing happened.
"Hmm...that's odd," Hermione said, tapping her finger against her cheek while leaving her wand connected to Harry's forehead. "It must be because he does not have a human form right now, and so he can't speak in human tongue," she finally concluded after a few moments of silence.
"You'll have to find another way of speaking then, Harry," Ron said from where he was lounging lazily on the couch.
The picture showed tiny gears turning as Harry thought about how he should tell them what he wanted. Ron snorted, and Harry glared, a brief picture flashing across the screen depicting Ron falling flat on his face on the ground. Ron was so surprised he did just that.
A coughing, wheezing chuckle emerged from the bird's throat while Ron picked himself up fitfully from the ground.
Suddenly, an idea came to Harry – the picture shimmered briefly before an image of Harry, in human form, sat at a desk writing on a piece of parchment, before he held it up for visual inspection from Hermione.
I want to go to Hogsmeade today with you.
"Oh, Harry, I don't know, it seems rather dangerous!" Hermione said crossly.
"Hey, Harry can go if he wants to. He's not a prisoner," Ron retaliated, forgetting his former humiliation for a moment.
I need to buy some Christmas presents.
"Oh, Harry," Hermione said again, this time sadly.
"Blimey Harry, why didn't you say so before?" Ron asked, grinning broadly.
I need your help purchasing them for me. And I need some ideas on getting a present for Severus, the picture of Harry scribbled madly before holding the scroll up.
"Severus?" Ron cried. "Yuk, that's just wrong! When did you start using that name?"
"Why do you want to get a present for Professor Snape?" Hermione questioned softly.
The picture of Harry thought hard for a moment before writing, I need to give him something to repay him back for his hospitality. Besides, I bet he hardly ever gets presents...everyone wants presents.
They were all quiet for a moment, and Harry knew they were thinking about all the years he went without any gifts with the Dursleys. He shrugged his wings, looking away from the pity shining in their eyes.
It's a nice thing to do.
"Why would you want to be nice to Snape?" Ron asked hotly, his eyes flashing with suppressed rage.
The picture of Harry only looked at him with quiet eyes.
"It's OK Harry, we'll help you. We're going this afternoon," Hermione said. Harry bobbed his head briefly, separating his forehead from Hermione's wand, and moved, settling closer to the fire and preening his feathers.
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A/N: I hope my Latin works ok, I had to look it up in a dictionary, and I don't know how to conjugate.
animus : character, intellect, memory, consciousness, often = mind.
patesco : to be laid open, bare, exposed, to be revealed.
More to come...dun dun dun. What will Harry get Snape for Christmas? Only time shall tell!