Disclaimer: Alas me no owns Harry Potter. Me wished me owns but me doesn't…Oh well…
The note from the previous chapter stands. DO NOT read this if you consider first cousin relationships as incest. I don't, so there…besides I wouldn't be able to make this go forward if I had done it in another way. So bear with me people…
Chapter 2 – Bits of the Past
A smile was playing in Rosh's lips as he walked slowly towards Katherine. He had spent the hours that preceded this encounter as a wolf wondering around the forest. Being half werewolf, half animagus gave him a different freedom. He had no choice but to transform during the full moon, but during the other nights he did it just for the fun of it. He enjoyed being a wolf and being able to run through the forest without fear. In fact he installed fear. Every animal or creature in the forest would hide every time he howled. And that was what he liked about being a wolf. He also liked when Katherine risked her skin to sneak out to come and meet him there. It had been so for the past 2 years. When they turned 15 Rosh discovered he could turn into a wolf at will rather than just during the full moon. A different feeling also rose between them. One night, about a week before Rosh's discovery, they were on the library studying for a Transfiguration pop quiz when he got a strange urge. He had looked up from his book and stared at Katherine. She noticed the constant stare and raised her head to look at him. Her eyebrow rose and she eyed him quizzically. Without warning he just leaned forward and brushed his lips against hers. It was a shy and innocent kiss, but it was a kiss non-the less. Katherine was stunned by his actions but didn't hit him or did anything to make him regret it. Instead she found herself picturing the moment time and time again. Two days later they found themselves alone in the almost completely dark common room. Once again they eyed each other, green and brown clashing with light brown. He was sitting on the floor and she was on a chair. Slowly she left the chair and soon after that they were kissing again, this time with something more. Something extra neither understood at the moment. Later they understood what complemented their kisses. It was a feeling they knew their parents shared between them. Katherine Black and Rosh Lupin, cousins by blood, were in love.
They embraced and kissed softly when he reached her. They both loved to be in each other's arms and it was like there was no world around them. The forest was quiet and peaceful. At least to them. They wouldn't hear it if a giant bird came beside them and started screaming. They were so lost in their world that nothing else mattered. Everything was perfect. He slowly and gently started placing light kisses all over her face and neck. She practically melted under his grasp but quickly came to her senses. She grabbed his face softy and made him look at her from a distance.
"Rosh, I can't stay here long. Rose caught me trying to sneak out and if it wasn't for Jade I wouldn't be here right now. I have to go to the kitchens to get cakes otherwise I may be in trouble."
"Cakes?" he asked frowning.
"It's kinda of a long story. Oh and Jacob is terrified of you." She said smiling.
Rosh laughed at this and kissed her again.
"Are you going to be ok?" she asked after the kiss was broken. Her hand was softly caressing his face.
"Ain't I always?"
"It's the night before the full moon. You always get restless during those nights." She said, her voice filled with concern as she played with his shoulder long sandy coloured hair.
"Don't worry about me too much. All I have to do is think of you and I'll be fine." He said smiling.
"You always say that."
"It's true. You know you control me." He said smirking.
"That is not my fault. It's natural, I think." She said crossing her arms and looking offended.
"I don't blame you. In fact I should thank you. You've saved me from a lot of trouble." He mentioned casually and gave her a peck on the cheek.
She nodded and gave him a kiss in the cheek followed by one on his lips. Then, smiling, she left the moonlight bathed clearing and headed back to the castle. Stopping at the big oak doors she heard a strong howl that was telling her he was going to be fine. And consequently he was thinking about her, which made her smile wide and her soul feel light. She wanted to shout to the air the three magic words so he could hear her but that would be a bad idea because everyone else in the castle would hear as well. So she simply mouthed the words instead and hoped the wind would take them to him. Then she entered the castle and after a quick passage through the kitchens she returned to the Gryffindor tower. Rose was dozing off and Katherine left her cakes on the table in front of her. Then she went to her dormitory and shared the rest of them with Jade. Katherine had come to realize over the past seven years that Jade could be a great friend. Kat remembered on the day of the sorting that she had laughed with her when Rose tripped. The two were already sitting at the Gryffindor table and Kat just couldn't resist the temptation of causing some havoc. So she just picked the next person being sorted and made her trip hard. She also remembered Rosh's glare but seven years ago she just saw him as her cousin, the wolf boy. Now she risked trips to the Forbidden Forest just to spend a few moments alone with him. Her attention returned to Jade and she smiled at the memory of the day following the sorting when they had been on the fields talking about practically everything. But as much as Jade was a good friend there were still secrets between them. Katherine knew nothing of Jade's parents and vice versa. Of course she had been intrigued because of Kat's last name but Katherine had quickly changed the subject and since then the parent issue was never mentioned again. She had seen Jade's parents at the train station once but had made nothing of it. They were like two orphans that went to a special school. Well, Katherine was orphan and Hogwarts was a special school, but it was fun to pretend reality.
The next day was a full moon and Katherine knew Rosh would be acting strange all day so she had to keep an eye on him. As she walked through the hallways following him she remembered the first time she found out she could control Rosh, the werewolf. It had been the first full moon after their first kiss, about three weeks after that event. Rosh had this policy of not telling Katherine where he was taken every full moon because he was afraid she would do something crazy. She lived with that for about 4 years. After the kiss the urge to be next to Rosh had increased on her and that day she decided to follow Rosh and Madam Pomfrey. After the school nurse returned to the castle Katherine entered the path under the Whomping Willow towards the Shrieking Shack. Waiting for her in the decaying house was a bloodthirsty werewolf. She had gasped at the vision in front of her and the werewolf had immediately turned his attention to her. Fully aware that he didn't recognize her she panicked. He slowly started walking towards her, his bright brown eyes boring down on her like she was just another piece of fresh meat. As she backed away from him her mind was working fast and hard for a way to get out of there, alive. She could try and run to where she had come from but she also knew he was much faster than she would ever be. She would never make it in time. She was quickly running out of choices and it got worse when her back hit a wall. Now she was utterly trapped and the only thing she could do was think that she would see her parents again soon. The werewolf was about six steps away from her, a distance he could make in a second. She gulped and prepared herself for the worst. Thinking how stupid she had been and that this was how she was going to be punished for what she had done in the past she looked into the werewolf's eyes and waited. He gave a step forward and she flinched. He gave another one and she whimpered. A step after the other and he was closing on her. In a last pathetic effort to live she had searched for her voice and announced with a shaky voice.
"Please don't kill me."
The werewolf had stopped two steps from her. He was looking at her suddenly with a different look. It was almost like a lost puppy. The blood thirst she had noticed before was completely gone. In fact, looking closer, it was like he was trying to remember who she was. Then the beast did something that made every bone in her body shake. He licked her. His eyes now resembled more the human side of the beast and she started to relax. The werewolf placed his head under her hand so she could touch him and soon after that she found out he did everything she told him to do if she used a tender voice. If she was a bit harsh he would growl evilly and more than once he tried to bite her. So she learned to control her temper and even though it wasn't like being with the human Rosh, she felt good around him.
And now she was following his every move in an attempt to keep him in check. It wouldn't be the first time he got in trouble during the days of full moon. But the Headmistress knew of his condition so most of the times he was just reprimanded with a small detention. But this day would turn out to be different.
She had been so concentrated on her memories that she eventually lost track of him. Trying hard to think where he could have gone she was in the middle of the hallway spinning around. She stopped when she saw Jacob approaching her.
"Hello there, Katherine. Ready for a new school day?" he asked cheerfully.
She raised an eyebrow and chose to simply ignore him. Without a simple answer she continued on her way to try and find Rosh. Jacob didn't follow her but shouted so everyone would her.
"So you'll go out with me then? Great, I'll take to a nice place. I won't let you down, beautiful."
He smirked as he saw her come to a halt abruptly. She sighed deeply and continued her walk. Jacob frowned. Usually every time he did that she would threaten or jinx him. This time she had more important things on her mind. And everyone in Hogwarts could very well believe they were going out. She didn't care much. She could use that to humiliate him later on. She smiled at the idea. The idea of humiliating Jacob was very good and she started coming up with a plan on her head. However that task was cut off short when she saw Jade approaching.
"Jade, have you seen Rosh?" she asked.
"Yeah. He was going to the library I think."
"Of course, he lost his Transfiguration book."
"Ouch. Professor Dante is going to torture him for that."
"Yeah. No wonder he was practically running. Well thanks Jade." Kat smiled at the green-eyed girl and started making her way to the library.
"Hey, Kat. Are you really going out with Jacob?" Jade asked frowning.
"It was that fast uh? No I'm not. Merlin forbid."
"Good. I would really feel sorry for you. He can get so annoying." The green-eyed girl looked relieved.
"I know. But I'm not going anywhere with him. I assure you. Well see you in class."
"See you."
The two girls went on different directions and Kat was amazed at the speed the rumours flied in that school. It didn't take more than five seconds and already everyone knew the latest gossip. After finding Rosh coming out of the library with a borrowed copy of the Transfiguration book she continued to follow him secretly. Well, not exactly secretly because she knew he already knew she was walking a few steps behind him, keeping him under close surveillance. However he did not seem to care much. Following Rosh lead her to the Transfiguration classroom and she prepared herself for another class with the very hated Professor Dante.
Emanuel Dante had been called to replace Professor McGonagall as Transfiguration teacher when she took hold of the position of Headmistress. Later he had been named Head of the Slytherin House due to Snape's strange disappearance a few months after Voldemort's destruction. Well, more accurately, a few days after Iris and Sirius's memorial service. After Voldemort was no more, Dumbledore left the position of Headmaster of Hogwarts so he could take the position of Minister instead. At first he had rejected the idea but due to popular demand he ended up taking the job. As so it was that Professor McGonagall took over the head title at Hogwarts. She quickly replaced herself and later invited Harry Potter as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher and Sarah Lupin as the new Potions Mistress. The rest of the staff stayed the same.
Now, Professor Dante almost passed as a nice person. However he had the nasty habit of picking on people for the silliest of reasons. His long dark hair was always caught up in a ponytail and his dark brown eyes seemed to shine occasionally. He had a small patch of facial hair on his chin and had the habit of passing his hand over it for long periods of time. No one knew why he did that. What everyone did know was that he was a wonderful Transfigurator. He knew every kind of wand movement necessary for Transfiguration and he could transform anything. But strangely enough he wasn't an Animagus. But perhaps it was a misconception that every Transfigurator is also an Animagus. Even though everyone was dieing to know what he would transform into.
When Katherine entered the classroom and saw him sitting on his desk with a stern look on his face she had a sudden feeling something was going to go wrong. And being the daughter of Iris Renata she was bound to get it right. And when she looked at Rosh and saw him placing his borrowed book on the table she got the feeling it was going to be with him.
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I got 151 reviews for 'Breath' and I have 3 for this one already. Wow! I don't know where that came from…anywho let me thank my friends, reviewers and readers and especially to:
Amilin, known as HarryOfKorea 2 chapters ago:): I'm glad you liked my other story and seem to be enjoying the start of this one. Yes, they are in their 7th year. I decided to start this late in their lives because not only are they more mature but also I can explore events of their past much better this way. You'll see what I mean later on. About the seemingly lack of guilt of Katherine's part…Wait for the 4th chapter. ;) Thanks.
Aria-wolfstar: I did update soon. Yay me! Thanks for taking time to read this after what I did at the end of 'Breath'. I admit I was a bit evil but hey, it was all for a good cause. Now you have this one to read and I sense good things will come of this story. Trust me. I'm glad you like it. And it's rated R just in case…stuff will happen, and you can never be too careful when you have a teenager werewolf on the loose ;)
Snuffles2984: You! Today I wonder how it was I managed to survive before I met you. You are my inspiration. And I'm really glad you like my story. You already know part of the story but of course not all of it. The past is important for this so I can't forget about it. The past tends to influence who you turn out to be in the future. And the past will influence both Kat and Rosh a lot. Thanks for reading and reviewing. ;)
To the rest of you, readers…hope you enjoy this story and some feedback would be appreciated. I would really like to know if my writing is improving or what. ;) Read and review folks.
Cheers