A/N: UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE! WHOO FRICKEN HOO! READ AND BE MERRY!
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A Weasley Named Malfoy
Symptoms of a Full Moon
When the swirling colors finally subsided, the ground rose up to meet her with astonishing force that knocked the wind out of her. She lay there, panting and soaked in a feverish sweat as if she had just run a marathon. She had not quite landed at her intended location, but for her first attempt, it was near enough. She had landed in one of the meadows close to the Burrow, luckily not in plain view.
Weakly, she lifted herself on her arms and pushed herself up. The glass dragon and rose were still clutched in her hand. With a cry of hatred, she threw them to the ground and firmly squashed it beneath her feet before pounding it even more so.
Then, realizing what she had done, she gathered the torn petals and bud and smudged dragon in her arms and held them. She had not meant for the meeting to end as it had. Sure, she had planned on making it brief, but not on a hostile note. Her father was her father, even if he was an arrogant bastard.
He would always remain that arrogant bastard, what could she have expected? To convert him? He who held the name of some of the closest and vilest to the Dark Lord, to be transformed upon seeing one of his many daughters? What had she been thinking?
Perhaps she wasn't as Slytherin as she had thought in the first place. Would a Slytherin ever try and reconnect with such a person, after all they had done? Surely a Slytherin would have sworn revenge, and followed through, not this… lie… she had been doing. Not living in this dream world where that fateful day so many years ago, when her father was suddenly touched by his daughters simple, unfathomable, innocence, would return to swoop her into his arms and care for her and love her as a father should. Instead, he had hidden himself… for seven years he had waited until his father's interest in her had become apparent before kidnapping her… and then seven years after that, only making contact when he thought Malikye was after her. But where had he been the rest of her life?
How could she have been so stupid? So gullible? She was swept up in the romantic idea that perhaps all of them could live together and get along. She could see that now that such a thing would never be possible.
Serena vowed to herself that she would never again willingly go to her father.
She headed back to the burrow and crept in as silently as possible. Luckily, no one awoke. Back inside the bedroom, she pulled out the music box before returning outside once again. She returned to the bench where she and Gail had talked only a day or two previously; she could still see the skid marks in the soil from where her feet had kicked.
With the music box in her lap, she opened it. She allowed herself to be taken by the melody one last time, but the tears that were now shed were to be in memory of what would never be rather than what might have been. She carefully placed the rose, soiled and defeated, into the box, careful that each petal made it inside safely. The glass dragon had been smudged as it was pressed into the soil and now she wiped it as best she could, but it would remain just that… glass.
The final tinkling of the notes sounded and she shut the box.
x
Once again back at school, Serena threw herself back into SUCA work, recruiting people. She gave herself whole-heartedly into the effort, almost with a fury. The amount of students within the army had continued to grow rapidly.
Between classes, complex operations of intercepting the candidate, interviewing them, and feeding them right back into the crowd-- their memory modified-- were taking place. Before Christmas, Serena's pace had been reasonable… but now, every spare second of the day was devoted to interviews and memory modifications, and unreasonably so; there had been several occasions where extra memory charms had been thrown around. This usually caused her to be late, and with her grades on the bend as well… Serena wasn't in great shape school wise. She came back to the common room later and later, she forgot to turn in homework, and she ended up dozing in class.
Through out the day, she began monitoring herself, criticizing every Malfoy stance and glare she happened to do unconsciously. She became distant with the rest of the Gryffindor 4th years, choosing to spend her extra time discussing DEC matters with the rest of those undercover. By the end of the second week back, Serena was exhausted.
She had just finished putting yet another Hufflepuff to the test and deemed them unworthy. As planned, she modified her memory and waited until the girl who had nominated her was to come and 'find her passed out.'
When she came, Serena quickly left the room and started heading back to the common room. That had been the last interview that day and now she was in for yet another heavy night of homework. She groaned inwardly; she had been neglecting homework again.
She gave the password to the Fat Lady and trudged in, weary. It was roughly 10ish, past curfew. The crowd was already beginning to thin out. She dragged a nearby chair over to the window and sat down to work.
But within ten minutes, she was ready to give up and throw in the towel. So her grades weren't excellent, a couple more overdue assignments wouldn't kill her. She threw everything nonchalantly into her bag, ready to head up stairs and hit the sack.
"Serena!" Sighing, she turned around. Wolf had just descended the opposite stairway. She approached him at the bottom of the staircase. "How'd it go?" he asked with worried look on his face.
"Didn't pass… Had some ties with a couple of Death Eaters. Under veritaserum, she admitted that she knew of some activity in going on in the Slytherin house but wasn't about to do anything to stop it. Anyways, tell the one who recommended her, eh?"
"Mmm, I will." A silent moment passed. "Why? Why now?"
"Why I started the whole thing?"
He nodded.
"I… just have a feeling." She ran her hand through her already disheveled hair.
"Do you really think something's going to happen? I mean… he's dead, Serena. Harry really made sure he wouldn't come back this time."
"It's not him I'm worried about… It's a bit more complicated than that." She waved her hand.
Wolf answered this with a knowing look, and a nod.
"So…" He cleared his throat and stood up straighter, the look disappearing form his face. "Um… there's a-- Hogsmede weekend coming up. Did-- I mean, would… if you're not doing anything--" he ran his hand through his hair, "-- go with me?"
She stared blankly at him for a few seconds. Perhaps she was over doing DEC work, because she wasn't focusing properly. "Wait… what?"
Then Wolf did something Serena had hardly ever seen him do; there was a slightly coloring just under his eyes. She suddenly noticed how his long eyelashes framed his golden-brown eyes.
"Me… you… Hogsmede?"
She blinked. There had been a Hogsmede weekend coming up, but with all the events, it had slipped her mind. She didn't really have time to do go anywhere this weekend; she had a whole line of interviews she had to go through. But she'd been working so hard… perhaps she deserved a break.
"Like… as friends?" She didn't know why she asked it, she already knew what he was implying.
He winced, a slight crinkling around his left eye. "Err… no… Like a date…"
She stared at him blankly again. She liked Wolf, perhaps not in the same way he was implying, and she even let herself think he was handsome… and even when she was lost in her deepest daydreams, Wolf appeared there… but it was quickly forgotten. She was a Malfoy after all, and a girl to boot… And stuff like this happened all the time… it wasn't like you wanted to think about it… It just sort of happened, and once it did, you couldn't stop it… and sometimes you didn't want it to. But she didn't like him…
And in the back of her brain, where she had stuffed it profusely many times before, she knew she was in denial. And once again, she beat it back down. She was too busy for this to finally happen now!
The word "No," was falling out of her lips of their own accord, and her hand was coming up to her mouth to stop them.
She had to give him credit on keeping face, but she could see his disappointment in his eyes. She was already talking again. "I mean, I don't mean no… but, um… Wolf… you can't… I mean, I can't… No, I don't mean I can't, I mean… You know I'm busy… Can I get back to you on that?"
But damn her feet, they were taking her backward, away from Wolf. "Um… I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah… sure…"
But she was already making a beeline for the stairs.
Serena, what are you doing? What the hell are you doing? She stopped short.
"Wolf!" She turned around.
He appeared again on the staircase, "Yeah?"
"I'm--I'm not saying no… I'm just… really overwhelmed with the DEC and then… you know…"
"Yeah, I know… I'll see you tomorrow…"
"See ya…"
She watched him as he headed back up the stairs, when she heard the door shut, she groaned. That hadn't gone down to well.
She didn't like Wolf like that… not really, but she could imagine that it might be something more. In the back of her mind, she knew he had a thing for her, but… but…
But what she really wanted was some sleep. She'd think about this later… when her head was a bit clearer.
Once again, she headed for the stairs and up to her dorm, shutting the door behind her.
x
As soon as Wolf shut the door, he slumped against it and groaned. "Idiot." He banged his head against the door.
No, kept ringing in his ears. She had sounded disgusted. She hadn't even given it a second before she denied him… and then to save his pride, she had done the whole 'let me sleep on it' thing.
"What's up, Wolf?"
Rashad and one of the Quads were playing chess on the bed; they looked up when he entered.
"Oh… nothing."
Rashad rolled his eyes at Eric before looking back, "What happened?"
Wolf sighed, he walked over to his bed and threw off his shirt and began rummaging in the drawer for clothes.
"And the wolf slinked away with his tail between his legs…"
"Shut up," he snapped, shutting the drawer harder than necessary.
Rashad tsked.
He pulled on some pajama pants, sighing again. "I asked Serena out."
Ears perked, heads turned, and they all listened in.
"She turned you down?"
"A pity put down more like…" Then he proceeded to imitate her, " 'I'll get back to you on that.' Merlin, if you had just seen her face."
He sat down on his bed, the others eagerly listening. "Go on, give us exactly how it happened."
"Went downstairs, saw her, called her name… I didn't even know what I was doing then." He stuffed his face in his pillow. He mumbled into his pillow, and it was taken away.
"What?"
"I said, and then I asked her and it didn't even take her a second before she said no." They gave him sympathetic looks. "Then she was like: I don't mean no, I mean I'll get back to you… or something like that." He grabbed another pillow and buried his face in it.
Rashad patted him on the back sympathetically before, "Can I have a go then?"
Wolf pushed him away. "That's not funny."
"Say that again Rashad and I'll break every bone in your body," Erik stood up, menacingly, the rest of the Quads followed suit and Rashad backed off, retreating to his own bed.
"Ah… it's nothing. I mean, you know…" Wolf shrugged, looking out the window.
Daren clapped Wolf on the back of the neck. "Ah, don't worry about it… she'll come around."
"Well, we'll hear what she has to say in the morning," Harrison nodded.
"Right… right…night then."
They all retired to their own beds, and soon the room was filled with the sound of heavy breathing and snores.
But of course, Wolf was still painfully awake.
x
It's not that she was avoiding Wolf that morning, she just wasn't feeling hungry. Sure, she had woken up early and was out of the common room before most kids got up, but she wanted to go out for a walk on the grounds before going to class.
She grabbed a couple pieces of toast and an apple and strolled out onto the lawn; the early morning dew was still clinging to the grass. She finished her breakfast down by the lake and was able to walk all the way around the castle before the bell rang to announce she had ten minutes till class. Luckily, she didn't run into anybody.
The morning passed without event. The bell rang once again, announcing it was lunchtime. She quickly picked up her books and left. She headed for the library; she hadn't done her homework last night.
She settled herself in a nice, remote area, in the back of the library and pulled out her charms essay. She noted it was so much quieter in the back, and much less distraction of people coming in and out. She settled back into her potions essay, and soon, she was scratching away.
She had been so confident that the back of the library would keep people from finding her, before…
"Hello love." A hand clapped over her mouth and the whispered, "Silencio," of Warren Ghostwitch was harsh in her ear. His large hands trapped both of hers behind her back.
"Perhaps you thought we had forgotten about you, Miss Malfoy…"
She struggled in vain as he pulled her through a hidden passage and out of view.
x
"Well… I think I spoke too soon." Harrison concluded as he and the rest of the Gryffindor 6th years entered the Great Hall. Serena was once again absent.
Wolf looked away. Why did his chest suddenly constrict? Was the idea of going with him to Hogsmede that horrible? I mean, even as a date? Sure they bantered and fought, but it wasn't just that… Or had it all been in his mind? He growled under his breath. Just the thought of her purposefully avoiding him pissed him off.
Then he turned around and walked out of the Great Hall.
"Oi! Where you going?"
"I'm going to find her."
With a swoosh of his cloak, Wolf began heading back towards the stairs.
Aaron turned to the rest of the 6th years, his mouth in a perfect 'O' and his eyebrows raised.
"It's that time of the month again…"
The boys quickly followed after him.
x
The passageway led back out into the hall and six other burly Death Eaters who bound her hands together and led to what were presumably the dungeons.
With her hands bound behind her, it was impossible to call for DEC assistance; if only she could reach the Children's mark…
She screamed silently in rage, letting out a slew of unheard curse words. She wouldn't back down without a fight. She continued to twist and thrive and struggle, but the six guards and Ghostwitch were not easily moved by her attempts and they continued this way down the corridor.
She was surrounded at all sides, held at both arms, practically invisible behind them. Thinking quickly, she twisted out of their grip suddenly, rammed back ended into the boy behind her and dodged around him, making a break for it.
But her attempt was in vain; one of the guards sent a leg-locking curse at her and she hit the ground hard. She twisted as the boys lifted her up, not being exactly careful—or perhaps they were—about where they placed their hands.
And just when all hope seemed lost, she was suddenly knocked violently to the ground again, and she rolled instinctively away, her wand skittering away from her in the process.
'Erik--?' His name hadn't actually come out of her mouth, for she was still under the silencing spell. She saw Erik tackle the first guard, taking advantage of his surprise and hurling his fist at his face. The rest of the Gryffindor 6 year boys followed, and a fight broke out in the hall.
Serena automatically scanned for Ghostwitch. Upon seeing the sudden attack, he pulled out his wand and began backing away, ready to make a break for it.
"Expelliarmus!"
Ghostwitch's wand went flying, and before he had time to comprehend what had happened, Wolf had landed one on him, before lifting him clean off the floor and slamming him into the wall. Ghostwitch grunted in pain. Wolf made to bash him into the wall again, but Ghostwitch's free hand meet with his face. Wolf, blinded for a moment, dropped Ghostwitch who immediately ran for his fallen wand.
As he past her, Serena moved to trip him. Wolf came bearing down upon him, but Ghostwitch had reached his wand, and twisted around to face him and slashed a gash in Wolf's arm. But then it was all over, Wolf threw back his fist and Ghostwitch was out. There was the loud crack of his jaw breaking, and then the giant staggered—Serena saw it at close range how his eyes glossed over when he suddenly lost consciousness--and fell.
Serena gaped in amazement at the fallen Death Eater, and then looked back at Wolf.
But Wolf had transformed--and he was breathtaking. The raw savagery of a wolf, the pure hatred of a boy fused to become the figure before her. A growl came somewhere from in the bowels of his throat, triumphant. Gold eyes glowing, teeth bared, hair bristling, he stared down at is fallen victim. Serena almost expected him to let out a howl in triumph.
But when he looked to Serena, he had transformed all together again. Savagery became possession and hatred became longing. He had such an aura of power and cool control, and yet utter elegance.
He took her hand and in one fluid motion, she was flushed against him, his arm coming around to secure her there, as if that was where she belonged.
Serena couldn't remember a time she had ever come in contact with Wolf like this. Tension seemed to ripple through him, bristling; she couldn't tell if he or the werewolf were in control. She knew he would never intentionally hurt her… but he wasn't himself. She was very much aware of his form pressed against her and his hand on her hip. He had a carnal edge about him.
"Wolf--"
She tried to push herself away; he let out a low growl that did not seem his own.
"Wolf…" Her voice was a little bit more demanding this time. She tried to pry his fingers away delicately, and eventually he let go reluctantly, but he remained close beside her.
Serena surveyed the damage warily; the seven bodies of her captors littered the floor of the hallway, the rest of the Gryffindors gathered around her, bloodied and bruised.
"Alright there, Strawberry?"
"No bumps or bruises?"
"Wounds, broken fingernails?"
"I'm fine." She hugged them in turn, Wolf growled but remained where he stood.
Daren had collected her wand and returned it to her. The boys watched in silence as she cast memory charms on each of the victims in turn. As she stood up, she spit on Ghostwitch. "Fucking Death Eaters… help me get them into this empty classroom."
One by one they were dragged in and thrown in. Having done that, Serena suggested they split up and get out of there before someone found them. Wolf's hand snaked around her wrist as she said this.
"Wolf, let go."
He immediately released her wrist and backed away.
"I will not go to Hogsmede with you, not when you're like this. Ask me after the full moon." And with that she turned and left them, pocketing her wand.
Wolf made to follow her, but he was held back.
"Come on Wolf, you can talk to her later…" He allowed himself to be dragged away, but kept watching her as she walked down the hall and turned the corner.
x
She was sure the explanation to Wolf's strange behavior had to do something with the moon, which he couldn't help, so she didn't hold it against them, though she had been quite rattled by it.
By the time she had returned to the library, picked up her bag and walked to the potions classroom, she was late. Professor Snape merely said, "15 points from Gryffindor," as she walked in and left it at that.
She walked to her seat, read the instructions on the board and began to work on her potion.
x
"How does she do that?" The 6th year Gryffindor boys were now sitting in History of Magic, Wolf having calm down considerably after they had dunked his head into the bathroom sink.
"Wha'?"
"Memory charms… I can't even cast a memory charm. And even if I tried, I'd probably be hanging upside down in azkaban for it."
"Eh… who knows… that girl can do all sorts of stuff and she always gets away with it. It's cause she's Harry Potter's kid."
Derrik shook his head. "I picked the wrong parents… I wish dad had married Harry Potter."
His twin chucked a ball of paper at him. "I don't. That's sick…"
"From now on, Harry Potter is my dad."
"Shut it." The Huflepuff turned back to sleep.
"Yeah? Well my dad's Harry Potter, I can do whatever I want!" He jumped up and began running around the classroom. Professor Binns droned on without noticing.
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FINALLY updated... So? Eh? Eh? What you think? Little Wolf/Serena tension there for you... AND I didn't end it on a cliff hanger (did I?). Review and be MERRY!
