Disclaimer: I'm not doing anymore disclaimers in this story. I've said those kind of things enough times already. If people really mistake my writing for J.K.'s.. Then I guess maybe I should come up with my own series and make a fortune, hmm?
If they hadn't already known from watching the ways the foul woman treated Hagrid, the fact that seven students in the course of two days had been banned from taking Defense Against the Dark Arts would have tipped them off. Almost as soon as each of them had entered their respective DADA classes, Delores Umbridge had crossed her arms and declared that she wouldn't have such distractions in her classroom and they were to march themselves right off to someplace far from her classroom. Bringing it to Dumbledore's attention hadn't done any good, as the toad had merely said she had a right to keep distractions from the other students and if Albus had a problem with it, she would go straight to the Minister. Needless to say, Umbridge hadn't made any friends with her newest ruling.
On the plus side, the seven were now outside near Hagrid's hut waiting for their first special class. Hermione had been a good enough reason all on her own over the two days since they had awakened for why the class was necessary. Her feline type had been categorized as a cougar, possibly triggered by the aggressive feelings she had when Peeves had dared to mess with -her- potion. The real bonus from her transformation was that Parvati and Lavender no longer chattered their inane gossip when she was around.
Ginny had been tagged as an otter when they had found her coming out of the lake with a fish snagged in her teeth the previous day. While normally such a sight might have disgusted them, something about seeing the otterish Weasley with a self-satisfied, silly grin and a fish in her mouth had only made them laugh. The Giant Squid had even raised a tentacle to wave farewell to her, seemed the poor thing actually liked it when people would go and visit it in the lake.
They hadn't figured out just what Harry was yet. He seemed to be a blend of several different things and all they had learned about Ron was that causing him to scream like a little girl when playing with his fear of spiders was painful. It had been in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast that very morning when they had learned this. George had thought it would be interesting to see if Ron's arachnophobia remained or if he would eat the spider before he realized what he was doing.
To further the experiment, George had transfigured Ron's fork into a fat, hairy tarantula while his brother was contemplating using the utensil as opposed to his fingers that morning. The reaction, while painful, was completely worth it in George and Fred's eyes when Ron leaped straight up from his seat with a screech so loud, high pitched and long that it had shattered every glass item in the hall that hadn't been cast with an unbreakable charm. Of course the laughter hadn't come until later as the six others with enhanced hearing had been on the floor clutching their ears in pain. Even those normal students closest to Ron had been forced to cover their ears from the sound.
As they sat or stood around the clearing near Hagrid's that had been chosen for their new class, they spoke softly to one another. Fred and Ron were poking at Harry, speculating on anything from Crumple-horned Snorkacks to goat-bats for his breed. George was... Well, George was braiding Ginny's hair while she chatted with Hermione. It was rather amusing to watch as he nodded his head and occasionally added his own comment. And it was kind of creepy to see that, for all appearances, he was actually capable of keeping up with their girl talk. Draco was leaning against a tree, arms crossed and a bored expression on his face. The look was most likely feigned though, as his eyes were trained on the girl-talk trio and seemed to be amused.
Their relatively quiet moment was soon interrupted by a familiar voice. "Well, when Albus owled me to say that there was a problem I could be help with, he certainly wasn't kidding."
Seven heads spun toward the voice and several reactions happened at once. "Remus!" "Professor Lupin!" "Snuffles!" For someone had spotted the large, Grim-like black dog standing beside Remus Lupin. "Grrr!" The last one drew attention as it came from the previously calm Draco Malfoy. The same Draco Malfoy that now seemed to almost fly across the clearing to tackle the werewolf known as Remus Lupin in an aggressive manner that was reminiscent of Hermione's attack on Fred several days before.
Remus seemed to be expecting something like this, however and he rolled with the tackle, flipping Draco over his head as they landed. A short scuffle later and the more experienced werewolf soon had Draco face-down on the ground and was sitting on his back to keep him pinned there. The stunned looks caused Remus to chuckle as they waited for Draco to calm down.
"And I can see now that he was right. Mr Malfoy, you are not just any dog as the others have no doubt teased you. Your reaction to my mere presence is not something a dog would do when confronted by a werewolf. It is, however, what a wolf would do in defense of his pack to my presence."
Ginny snorted softly, disguising a giggle. "You mean he sees -us- as his pack?" Her comment caused snickers from the boys while Draco hid his face in the grass.
The werewolf didn't join in the snickers, though from the chuffing sound coming from 'Snuffles' he was indulging in a laugh at Malfoy's expense. "From what I was told of the situation, it seems reasonable. His first moments as his mind adjusted to the change were spent in the infirmary with you six constantly nearby. Your scents, constantly present during the transformation were probably like when a wolf cub is first born, associating the scents present in the den with those of his pack. As a werewolf, I understand him better than I understand the rest of you right now..."
The snickers fell silent under the cool amber gaze of Remus as he reminded them of just why he was there. Who better to help them learn to control their new impulses than a former Professor that had spent most of his life controlling similar impulses? Dumbledore was too brilliant sometimes.
"I'd have thought Malfoy would take the lone wolf mentality as opposed to impressing upon his 'enemies' as his pack mates, though." But then again, Hermione was rather brilliant as well.
"That is something that only Mr Malfoy would ever be able to answer." After finally making certain that Draco knew he wasn't planning on hurting his pack, Remus stood and helped the young man to his feet.
Despite the questioning looks now placed upon Draco, he refrained from answering in favor of straightening his robes and blatantly ignoring the others.
Taking a moment to look over the group, Remus only raised a brow slightly at George who was finishing Ginny's hair before smiling. "Now, I think I know what we should do first." He turned his gaze to Harry and Ron. "Let's all go to the Astronomy Tower..."
-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-:-
Thirty or so minutes later, the group of nine was now standing atop the Astronomy Tower as Remus drew his wand. "Now, just to be on the safe side, I think I'm going to require that all of you," And here he pointed at Fred, George, Ginny, Hermione and Draco. "Take out your wands and keep them trained on Harry and Ron. Be prepared to cast i Windgardium Leviosa /i as soon as they scream..." He grinned. "Harry, Ron... Don't scream unless you truly can't fly. Don't panic while you try to coordinate yourselves but don't wait too long to let us know there's something wrong."
Ron was bouncing slightly with excitement and had been since they had started up the tower. Harry seemed unnaturally serene for someone that was about to jump off the tower. When both turned to face the grounds, Hermione cast a quick cushioning charm on them, just in case.
"On the count of three: One... Two... Three!" On three, they threw themselves off the Tower with all the enthusiasm of Oliver Wood devising a new Quidditch program!
Ginny's breath hitched as she stifled her own scream at the sight and everyone hurried over to get a better view. Far below she could faintly see Sirius in human form, wand trained upward toward the two falling boys. She thought her heart was going to burst from the force as she dug her short claws into the railing. Then, like something out of a dream, first Ron and then Harry seemed to visibly relax and wings spread wide before they went soaring back up instead of falling downward.
"Ginny, breathe!"
Startled by Fred's sudden reminder, Ginny gasped loudly before gulping in some much needed oxygen. "I don't think I should have watched that... They're trying to give us all heart attacks, I know it!"
Laughing cheerfully, the twins pulled Ginny away from the ledge and back down the stairs with a comment about meeting them when they decided to land.
"Yes, I think we should go back to the clearing now. I'll call them down in a bit." Remus ushered Hermione and Draco down the stairs and back outside in time to see Snuffles playfully chasing Ginny back to the clearing. He walked slowly back, watching as Hermione and Draco exchanged glares and seeming as if they were both fighting instincts. The amusing thing was, Hermione was fighting the urge to attack Draco and Draco was trying to force himself to attack her. Remus merely shook his head and, true to his word, called Ron and Harry down as they reached the clearing.
Landing was something they would definitely need to practice.
"Now that we have that out of the way, we need to work on impulse control. While I've noticed that none of you seem to have a problem controlling yourselves when you are aware of what you're doing, you all have trouble with the sudden impulses. This is something you will definitely need to work on or there's going to be some very..." Remus stopped, a faint bit of color rising to his cheeks. "Well, it could result in Hermione and Ginny having to spend some time in isolation."
At his words, the boys merely looked confused. Being a bit more perceptive than the males, Hermione and Ginny shared identical expressions of horror...
A/N: Thanks to my wonderful reviewers. I hope that you all continue to enjoy the tale. More hints of certain things will be dropped, but they'll be skirted around. I don't intend on writing any smut. Sorry to those that wanted it.