Animal Instincts
Ron Weasley came bumbling down the staircase that led to the boy's dormitory. Sleepily, he stumbled to the fire and took a seat on one of the large squishy armchair. Through half opened eyes he saw something breathing in front of the fireplace. Alarmed, he opened his eyes completely to see a leopard and a kitten lying peacefully cuddling in the orange glow of the warm fire. He sighed in relief, the leopard slowly got up, stretched, then gave a long yawn, exposing each of its razor sharp teeth.
"Hey Willow." Ron said sleepily. Suddenly, the leopard had turned into a sixteen-year-old girl. She was tall with long blonde hair and brilliant violet eyes.
"Top of the morning to you Ron!" Willow Lupin said cheerfully. Then just as suddenly as she had turned back into herself, the small calico kitten turned back into another sixteen-year-old girl. She had long curly black hair and ice blue eyes.
"'Ello Ron." Said Kalli Damia, equally as tired.
"Hi Kalli, so Willow, what puts you in such a good mood?" Ron inquired.
"Nothing like a night of sleeping in front of an open fire to really perk a person up." Willow said cheerily.
She pulled herself up, then immediately plopped down onto another squishy armchair, next to the one Ron was sitting in. Putting her feet on one arm of the chair and her head on the other arm of the chair she stretched and wiggled somewhat catlike until she got perfectly comfortable, then gave a deep sigh and closed her eyes.
"Well we know whose the morning person here now don't we?" Ron said sarcastically.
"Sod off Ron." Willow said calmly with her eyes still shut.
Kalli got to her feet as well, went right over to Willow, and plopped herself right on her stomach. Willow grimaced and gave a slight groan.
"Oye! Get Off!" She yelled in a muffled voice from underneath her cousin.
Ron smirked at the sight of the girls, rolled his eyes, and shook his head superiorly. Harry came down the staircase skipping a few steps then stumbling as he came to the bottom, which he obviously did not see. He walked over to Ron, gave a nod of recognition, then walked over to sit where the girls were still awkwardly piled.
"Oh I see, now you're dumping me for your cousin, this is great!" Harry said in an exasperated tone to Kalli making a ticking noise with his tongue.
"Well, well, what does that say about you Harry Potter? Your girlfriend dumps you for another girl and her cousin nonetheless. This is purely classic!" Ron exclaimed.
Harry flashed him a 'Thanks Ron' look, then he suddenly picked up Kalli, then out of no where, Willow disapparated from the chair and apparated into Ron's lap. Harry nodded gratefully at Willow, then sat down in the vacant chair. Ron looked at Willow with a look of slight surprise, but pure happiness.
"They are so cute." Willow giggled to Ron.
"Uh-huh." He said without even looking at Harry and Kalli. He was only half paying attention to what she was saying and more paying attention to her.
Kalli and Willow walked down the staircase from the girls dormitory together. Willow strolled through the corridor into the middle of the deserted common room. She entered the common room from the stair case and began to quicken pace as she narrowed in on the Fat Lady Painting. When she got to the middle of the common room, she tripped over a large lump on the floor. She did an amazing areole in mid air then did a face plant into the floor.
"Ow, bugger!" Willow exclaimed. "What was that bloody thing."
Kalli Damia stood there, Willow looked up at her to see that she was staring at the floor about two feet away from her sprawled cousin. Willow sat up to the best of her ability, she looked at the spot that her cousin was consumed in. Her mouth flung opened and she gasped audibly.
On the floor was a very large lion. The lion was next to an also large ostrich with a tiny blue sparrow perched on its head. Kalli and Willow both flung themselves backwards and hit opposite walls.
"What are they, who are they...Oh Bugger!" Kalli exclaimed.
"I...Uh...Er...They, us, we," Willow began to stutter, "AAAUUUGGHHH!" She screamed loudly.
"Willow, get a hold of yourself! They have to be someone, Hello In There!" She said into the lions yawning mouth.
Suddenly the lion animagi'd back into Harry Potter, Kalli's boyfriend. Then just as soon, the ostrich turned into Ron Weasley, and the tiny blue sparrow turned into Hermione Granger. Willow and Kalli's mouths both hung opened, Harry was the one break the long silence.
"You didn't think we were going to let you have all the fun, did you?" Harry said smiling at the girls, who were still in shock.
"How...did...you...learn?" Willow said as best she could.
"Animal Instincts Will, animal instincts!" Ron said matter-of-factly.
"Very funny Ron, we're serious!" Kalli demanded.
"We learned by books, lots of books! We have been teaching ourselves ever since the beginning of fifth year, when Kalli came along. And well now, now we have perfected it. Not as well as you have, Miss I've-been-doing-it-since-I-was-five." Ron said referring to Willow and Kalli.
"Just because we are better at animagi than you doesn't mean you should be jealous, oh wait, maybe it does." Willow said to the rest of the gang with a maniacal grin on her face. Obviously she had gotten over the shock and returned to her sarcastic, witty self.
Clicking his tongue Harry said, "Well that silence didn't last long did it?"
Kalli and Willow both glared at him. Harry smiled slightly and mouthed a 'sorry'. Willow got a look about her as if she was struck in the head with a sludge hammer. She started hooting, hollering, and jumping up and down.
"That's it, she is absolutely bonkers!" Ron said with a smile on his face.
Willow gave a very exasperated sigh then rolled her eyes at him. "Ron, do you have any idea how fun this could be? All of us, animals! Not very inconspicuous animals I may add, but animals nonetheless. We could do anything we want to!"
"Uno Probelmo Willow," Ron said, amused with his own rhyme, "Dumbledore knew you and Kalli could animagi, I guarantee you he knows we can."
Everyone looked stumped at this, except for Willow of course. She, as it seemed, always had an idea, whether it be a good one or a bad one. Willow just stood there and grinned, until everyone noticed her grinning and occasional sighs. "What is it?" Harry finally asked.
"You people, really!" Willow exclaimed. "If Dumbledore knows we can animagi, he isn't dumb, that's funny, dumb, Dumbledore. Hehe, But anyway, he knows we're going to use our powers, geez, he would probably tell us to use them. Do you really think he is going to do anything about it?" Then she continued, "I mean bloody bugger, let's do something, explore, make some mischief, anything!"
Everyone looked rather pessimistic at this proposal. Until Harry got a mischievous look himself, "Well ladies and gents, it looks like we have ourselves a group of second generation Marauder's!"
"Smashing idea Harry!" Ron exclaimed. As Kalli leaned over and gave Harry a kiss, obviously voicing her opinion.
Harry looked at Ron who was obviously trying to figure something out in his head. "Okay so we have the famous Harry Potter, the would-be dark mistress Kalli Damia, Willow Lupin…werewolf, 'nough said. Then we have Hermione Granger, a Muggle born genius, then we have me, Ron Weasley, Wow, I feel important!"
"Oh Ron, you know we love you." Willow said reassuringly.
"Speak for yourself!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Thanks Herm!" Ron said, obviously trying to annoy her.
Hermione got slightly red, scowled at Ron and said in a low growl sort of voice, "Don't call me that."
Ron flashed a broad grin, but when Hermione did not return it, he quickly wiped it from his face. Kalli and Willow giggled. "We really should be getting to bed shouldn't we." Ron stated to the group.
"I agree." Willow added, then she disapparated into the girl's dorm room, or that is what everyone hoped.
Ron shook his head noticeably as he stated, "I hate it when she does that." Everyone giggled and then headed to their dorms.
Kalli and Hermione got to their dorm, which they shared with Lavender Brown, Parvati Patil, and Willow Lupin. Lavender and Parvati were on Lavender's bed with the maroon drapes shut tightly around the large four poster bed. Willow was foraging through her dark wood and golden trunk, tossing things through the air as she searched. "What are you looking for?" Kalli demanded.
"Nothing, absolutely nothing." Willow muttered under her breath. She further foraged for something unknown to Kalli and Hermione. "I found it!" She exclaimed as she pulled a small piece of parchment out of her trunk. She had said it so loudly that she suddenly had Lavender and Parvati's nosy eyes upon her, she immediately held the piece of parchment to her chest and glared at them. They then pulled the drapes shut once more and continued gossiping.
"Uh, Willow? How could you find something you weren't even looking for?" Kalli asked giving Willow a wondering look.
"I was looking for something, and I found it!" Willow said, yet again stating the obvious.
"Well thank you, that answers all of our questions! What is it?" Kalli said sarcastically as Hermione just stood there with an agreeing look on her face. Even since Willow turned her into a gerbil one of the first weeks she was there, Hermione made it a habit not to say anything to majorly offend her.
Willow got her usual maniacal grin on her face then slowly began humming and swaying. She then began chanting, " Sight fades out, fool the eyes, give forth the image, live the lives." in a sing-song voice. Then beginning from her feet, she began to disappear. Then after no time at all, her entire body had disappeared. Kalli reached out and touched the air where Willow had been, then she heard a very familiar giggle. "Stop, that tickles!" Cried Willow's voice.
Hermione gasped at the thought of air talking. "Willow?" Hermione asked, quite unsure.
"Yeah?" Willow said normally.
Kalli eyed the spot where Willow had been standing suspiciously, "Since when could you chant?"
"Since Uncle Remus, I mean Daddy, Daddy told me some of Lily's chants, I'm not incredible at them, but I'm not too bad, I do need someone to help me perfect them though, and teach me some new ones of course, right Kalli? Hint hint, nudge nudge, wink wink."
"Oh no, that's not obvious Will!" Kalli said sarcastically, flashing Willow a broad grin.
Willow returned it then asked Kalli, "So how 'bout it Kal?"
Kalli gave a fake sigh then said, "Well if I have too!"
Willow flung herself at Kalli and wrapped her arms around her cousin's middle. "Thank you, thank you!" She cried to Kalli.
"No problem Will, but you really do have to stop keeping stuff this important from me. And will you please become visible again?" She said trying to glare at the place where Willow would be, but knowing Willow, she would be moving on purpose.
"Fine, it's right here, in my...uh...in my pocket." She said quite thoughtfully.
"Oh Will, Oh you didn't, you do know what that means don't you?" Kalli exclaimed trying to be quiet and nonchalant, but failing miserably.
"I didn't mean too, I thought I had put a copy of it in my drawer. Bugger!" She answered Kalli. "Well, I guess it's time for me to send an owl to Uncle Re-, I mean Daddy."
"Well I would guess so!" Kalli said, getting slightly angry at her stupidity, but still trying to conceal smiling out of exasperation.
Hermione just stared at the spot where Willow should have been. Then she reluctantly said, "I will go look up anything I can in the library."
Willow, staring at Hermione, even though no one else knew, "Thank you." She said also reluctantly.
The three girls scattered, Hermione to the library, Kalli to see Professor McGonagall, and Willow to the owlery. Willow walked through the heavy door to the owlery, she scanned the shelves of owls, Harry's great white snow owl, Ron's little ball of feather's Pigwidgeon, and the Willow's large dark gray, light gray, and black tawny, named Featherbrain. She walked toward the owl with a piece of parchment rolled up in her hand. She softly stroked the sleeping owl, it immediately opened its big green eyes, did not see anything, squawked loudly, then took off toward the rafters. "Featherbrain!" she screamed after the owl, "Get back here! It's me, come Feth, please baby!" She pleaded with the owl.
Featherbrain skittishly approached his master. Willow picked up some hay in her invisible hand. Featherbrain tried to land where Willow's arm should be. After missing about three times he made it onto the outstretched arm. "Good boy, good boy." Willow cooed to the owl. She quickly tied the parchment onto Featherbrain's thick leg, when she was done Featherbrain spread his extremely long wings and took off through the window.
"Willow, are you in awake, actually, are you even in bed?" Kalli called over to Willow's bed.
"I'm sort of in bed." Willow said from Kalli's bed, right beside her cousin. Kalli screamed loudly, feel out of bed, grabbing her maroon drapes hanging around her bed, and pulling them off of her four-posted bed. "Sorry Kal!" Willow apologized profusely.
"Don't…do…that…to…me!" Kalli said quietly. Looking at her cousin curiously, "Willow, your reappearing!" She said excitedly. Willow was a very light color white, still very transparent, and very hollow.
"Smashing!" Willow exclaimed.
Kalli squinted to see Willow better, "Well at least we can kinda see you now." She said not to sure if her cousin was visible enough to be classified as seeable. "Come on, let's go to breakfast."
Ron looked up and down their section of the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. "Hey, where's Willow?" He asked eyeing Hermione and Kalli.
"I'm right here." Said an apparently vacant seat next to Kalli. "I had a mishap with an invisibility chant."
"What happened?" Ron asked seriously.
Kalli looked at the spot where Willow was, and could tell from the slight bit of her that she could see that she was quite embarrassed. "She did an invisibility chant, but left the counterchant in her pocket at the time, so until Uncle Remus sends us an owl with the reversing spell, our Willow is going to very, very slowly come back to visibility."
"Until she is half visible, when that happens she will become instantly fully visible, because this is the first time she tried that chant, it isn't very powerful." Hermione added in, then when she noticed the looks of no one knowing where she could have possible have gotten that information she added, "I went to the library."
"How long will that take?" Harry asked quietly.
"About a month and a half according to the books." Hermione replied raising her eyebrows worriedly at the bad news she just brought.
"So what your saying is that Willow turned herself invisible, and can't become visible again until Uncle Remus's owl arrives?" Ron asked seriously.
When Kalli and Hermione both replied with "Uh-huh" in unison, Harry laughed so hard that he nearly had a steady stream of pumpkin juice coming out of his nose.
Harry and Ron both stared hard at the chair where Willow was, squinting to see her better, then breaking the silence Ron said, "Oh, now I see her, a really clear, milky transparent...you know, she's almost looks like a ghost."
"Well thanks Ron!" Willow exclaimed, looking down at herself, the disdain on her face shown that she could not see herself either. "Should we go check the owlery?"
"Willow, you just sent the owl, it won't be here yet, wait a little while." Kalli said soothingly.
"You aren't the one that is invisible!" She roared, "I would like to be able to be seen by the time I graduate!"
Kalli sighed and gave Willow a would-be comforting look, if Willow didn't know her cousin was really trying to work out how on earth to turn her back to normal. Kalli looked apprehensively toward the windows in the Great Hall, hoping beyond hope that the storm would have passed by now. But as she suspected, it was still raging outside as a gall wind was roaring outside. It could take a week or more for Remus's response to get back to them, she only hoped it would take as little time as possible. Having an invisible cousin was a rather disturbing event. Not to mention the comments that she would get from the rest of her classmates. For the most part the Slytherin's let Willow be, because of Malfoy's obvious infatuation with her.
But Kalli cringed when she thought of what Pansy Parkinson would have to say about the beautiful fifth year turning herself invisible. Pansy Parkinson, a pug-faced fifth year girl that led the meanest group of Slytherin girls in their taunting of mainly Hermione as well as Harry. Both of whom in their fourth year were said to be "going out", at least in Rita Skeeper's, a very nasty and crude reporter's, inaccurate opinion. When Hermione was particularly rude to her she had a nasty bit written in Witch's Weekly about her, accusing her of leaving Harry for Vicktor Krum, the Bulgarian Seeker and a Durmstrang student, and breaking his painstakingly warm heart. This in turn led to Hermione receiving a sufficient amount of hate mail.
Willow did not seem to hot and bothered by the recent events, but she did, of course, want to be visible again.
Days passed as Willow moped around the school hopelessly furthering peoples suspicions that she had died but refused to stop attending lessons. After Kalli literally ran into Willow, for what seemed the hundredth time in the meager few days since her mishap, Willow sighed deeply and said exasperatedly, "Why did dad have to take a month at home before he came to teach here, this would be so much easier if he was here."
Kalli looked at her sympathetically then sighed as well, "Well," she began, "he had to collect his things and take care of unfinished business, you know that, I'm sure we'll hear from him soon thought." She finished un surely.
"Yeah, whatever." Willow darkly uttered, unnaturally coldly for the otherwise cheerful and perky teenager. Other students had started to notice her absence, and then just as they noticed that they began to notice she wasn't absent, but just transparent. So of course the jokes and mocking began almost immediately, but Draco, ever infatuated with her, held Crabbe and Goyle obediently quiet, but he himself didn't so much as ask if she was oh-kay, for his reputation was still on the line if he dared to converse with her, a die-hard Gryffindor.
The after only three days Willow's mood turned from depresses ,sour about her situation, to her very perky self, "So Willow, what lead to this turn around?" Harry inquired.
"Well, lets just say I discovered that no matter what every situation has some good." Willow stated, grinning malevolently.
"Uh, Will, what would this good be?" Ron questioned carefully, not sure of the answer.
Willow's smile grew and she began to giggle, "Well, you know, for one, like the fact that I never would have guesses a girl as big as Pansy Parkinson could screech in such a way. Or, oh this one's good, that Crabbe and Goyle make almost the identical thud when they fall flat on there fat faces. And I never would have guessed that Snape would…" Ron cut her off, as usual.
"Whoa, wait a minute, you played a trick on Snape, of all people Willow, have you gone batty." Ron asked in sheer disbelief, "and another thing, are you serious?"
"Well, not completely, but I can pretend can't I?" Willow added slyly. Everyone stared at where she appeared to be as the utter realization hit them of what havoc she had been causing all around the school.
"I should have known all along Willow, I knew it would only be a matter of time before you figured out how to make this the most fun week of your stay at Hogwarts." Kalli slipped in matter-of-factly.
"Yep, of course, but anyway, I'm going to go to bed, you coming Kalli?" She inquired.
Kalli thought for a moment then glanced at Harry, "Yeah, I'm coming up." She decided.
"I'm going to go to the owlery and check one more time before bed, Remus's letter should come any time now, and if we can get her visible by breakfast that's one less day we have to deal with the likes of Pansy." Hermione yelled as she scurried out of the common room.
The two girls walked up their staircase after bidding the guys goodnight, as soon as the door was shut Willow began rummaging through her trunk apparently looking for something frantically once again.
"What are you looking for now Will?" Kalli exasperatedly asked
"I swear Kalli, I just have to check one more time, I swear I put it in this trunk, I just know I did." Willow said close to tears.
Kalli's concern grew quickly, "Willow, his letter will be here any moment now, you know that as well as I do, so just calm down, only another day or two."
Willow rounded on Kalli, her eyes glowing, "No Kalli, not this time, your not the one that's invisible here, oh-kay, I am, and I am going to look for it until I find it even if it kills me." Kalli was thrown backwards by the ferocity of Willow's words, magic seemed to emulate from her voice, forcing her cousin to the floor, as she was pulling herself back to her feet she noticed a small piece of crumpled parchment on the floor between her trunk and her bed side table.
"Um…Willow…" Kalli began excitement rising in her throat as she picked up the small piece of paper.
Still throwing her personal affects around the room Willow savagely replied, "Not now."
"No Willow, I really think you need to, um, read this." Kalli announced shoving the piece of parchment under her cousin's nose.
"But, how, where, Oh my gosh, it couldn't have been, where did you find this?" Willow shouted excitedly.
Pointing Kalli pronounced, "Right over there." Quietly as if stunned with the girls good fortune.
Just as they were about to hug each other, or try at least, Hermione came tearing into the room like a hurricane, "It came! It came! Willow, Willow, it finally came! Remus's letter, this is it right here!" She shouted as she slid to a haul by the girls, Willow immediately threw the piece of parchment behind the curtains and gave Kalli a 'Don't tell Hermione' look.
They opened the letter and all read together, Remus scorned her slightly for her irresponsibility, but Willow could tell he was laughing the whole time he wrote it. The letter's most important feature was a short Haiku, the chant, it read:
Sight comes back, remind of the way, regain what you lack, live for the day
Willow read this as she swayed and hummed, and slowly but surely she became visible once again, to the relief of everyone.
Hermione stared hard at Willow, "Willow are you crying?" she asked sweetly.
"Are you kidding Hermione…" Kalli began, "my cousin cry, hah, that's just the animal in her eyes."
