A/N: This one is dedicated to all my reviewers... Even though technically all the chapters are dedicated to the reviewers! Anyway, I couldn't do this without the inspiration I get from the great reviews! Thanks everyone!
To Kd7sov... I didn't have all the toad's security measures because, as I've mentioned in previous author's notes, I haven't actually read the 5th book yet. Sorry, I just didn't know about them. And Umbridge didn't see Hermione or the twins because just before that I had Hermione pull the twins further into the crowd of onlookers to help prevent them from attacking her.
After Dolores Umbridge was fleeing the castle and as Dumbledore was rehiring Remus Lupin to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Severus Snape was nearing the end of a task that had taken him all night to accomplish. He was getting completely pissed. Sitting on his favorite chair in his private quarters, Severus was still wearing his Zorro costume from the night before. Despite the costume, it was doubtful that he would ever learn that it was not an intelligent decision to make a bet with Minerva McGonagall. But his gambling problems were not the reason he was getting drunk. The sheer fact of the matter was that he had failed. And not only had he failed, but he had failed at his best subject!
Nearly an hour later, Severus found himself staring into the mouth of an empty bottle of scotch. He stared at the bottle with a confused expression before deciding that maybe he should call a house elf to bring him more. Looking around the room revealed that he was alone. "Where the bloody hell are all the elves?" He asked the bottle. "Santa's Helpers my arse..." He somehow managed to stand and peered cautiously behind his chair to see if an elf were hiding. No elf, but he did spot a bottle of brandy sitting on his desk and forgot about the worthless excuse for Santa's Elves as he stumbled over a rug on his way to the desk.
Spotting a piece of parchment on the desk, Severus seated himself and snatched a quill. Scribbling a long note onto the parchment, he pushed up on the brim of his Zorro hat and rose from the desk. Taking the parchment and bottle of brandy in one hand, he staggered to the door and out into the corridor where he spotted Pansy Parkinson talking to Blaise Zabini.
From what he could hear, Pansy was trying to convince Blaise yet again to get all of the boys out of their dormitory so that she could sneak in and learn just how much of an animal the resident Slytherin Wolf was. Even Severus knew that wouldn't help, Draco was paying the other boys in the dorm to make certain Pansy didn't accomplish her goal. As Pansy's shrill whine grew louder, Severus decided it was time for him to intervene as the Slytherin Head of House.
Swish! "Eek!" Pansy suddenly found herself pinned against a wall with the tip of a sword wavering dangerously close to her throat and an annoyed Professor Snape glaring at her from behind a black mask. "Umm... Is there anything I can do for you, Professor?" Her timid squeak only served to rattled Severus' already rattled mind. She was frightened, who wouldn't be with the tall form of Severus Snape towering over you as he swayed unsteadily and held a sword point at your throat?
Narrowing his eyes, Severus stared hard at Pansy. "Yes... You can keep your... Filthy fingers off the wolf..." Seeing her frightened look turn rather confused, Severus forced an explanation out of his intoxicated mind. "Have you noticed that he sparkles? Silver! In the shadow of all places!" He moved the sword, waving it around for emphasis and Pansy edged away. "That means he's pure! Pure I tell you! He doesn't need a little tart like you tarnishing him! No! When you've got a pure silver you need another precious metal for it!" Giving a nod, certain that his point was clear, Severus swirled away, his Zorro cape swishing emphatically as he stumbled down the corridor.
"What the Hell was that about?" A bewildered Pansy turned a confused and frightened look to Blaise.
Blaise was leaning against the wall, his tall, dark form hidden in the shadows. He had been silently laughing since the moment Snape had opened his mouth and at Pansy's question all he could do was burst into loud laughter.
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The next day, anyone that went down to the dungeons for Potions found a long note on the door. The writing was difficult to make out, but the fact that it was signed with a large Z beneath Snape's signature and held in place with a dagger made them pay a bit of attention. Apparently they were given a lot of summer homework type work and potions classes were on temporary hiatus...
A party was later held in the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor common rooms while the Ravenclaws mourned the loss of more learning and the Slytherins mourned the fact that a former Gryffindor and werewolf was made their temporary Head of House.
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It was the evening before the night of the full moon and Sirius was leading the group informally known as The Animalities through the 'Pre-Moony Crash Course' as he called it. Basically the entire course went something like this:
"Everything that Moony's taught you about self-control... Forget it. Just have fun!"
Sirius had grinned. It wouldn't be as fun without Prongs and, though he hated to admit it even Wormtail, but he intended to enjoy the night of Padfoot and Moony with the larger group.
"Now, first things first." Sirius strolled around the half-circle of students. "Into your animal forms. You're about to be given your new nicknames." Who better to name The Animalities than the Marauders? Of course since Remus was currently working up the courage to down his wolfsbane, he wasn't going to be much help in the nicknaming department.
Within moments a group of animals filled the clearing and Sirius put on his most serious expression as he walked back and forth. Hmm, well... Better start with the easiest first, he decided and walked over to Harry.
Walking around the glossy black pegasus, Sirius made a show of inspecting him from the top of his shaggy head to the tips of his sparkly silver hooves. He stopped facing Harry and traced a line over the lightning bolt blaze on his forehead. "I hereby dub thee... Bolt."
Harry's emerald orbs rolled. "Gee, could you be any more lazy in thinking of a name for me?"
Sirius just gave him a cheeky grin and moved on to Ron. "Hmm... I've never thought of having a bird in the group." He pondered the situation as he inspected the golden eagle. Unlike traditional golden eagles that were brown with golden markings, Ron was a shade of red that glimmered gold in the light. It was rather like looking into a galleon filled bank vault in the dim lighting the goblins provided at Gringotts.
"Ronald Weasley, I hereby dub thee... The Galleon Glider. Or just Galleon for short." Ron preened at this. After all, galleons were no laughing matter!
Bolt and Galleon stepped aside as Sirius moved to Ginny. This was a bit harder. Not only was there no real distinguishing feature about the otter, but she was a girl! Giving a girl a nickname was on par with being asked for a serious opinion on what you thought you should name their child! Sirius' drew his brows together and pondered hard on the little otter.
"Bloodpaw."
Sirius' voice startled Ginny after his thoughtful silence and the suggestion of nicknames was a bit disturbing as well. Automatically she found her gaze moving down to look at her paws. Sure enough, the way the deep red sparkled on her dark paws made it look as if they had been dipped in blood. She turned her head up to look at Sirius. "A bit morbid, but I think I like it."
Looking slightly relieved, Sirius smiled and made it official. "I hereby dub thee Bloodpaw." He patted Ginny's head and moved on to the twins. To his untrained eye they were identical. "Oh now here's an easy task." The sarcasm was unmistakable and caused a few chuckles.
Sirius circled the twins quite a few times as he considered. This wasn't an easy task that could be lumped off as Fred, Forge, Gred or George... No, the twins needed good nicknames and Sirius would be the one to give them.
"What do you think, Moony?"
Or maybe Remus could do it...
Remus lifted his head, looking ill as he had finally managed to drink the potion. He gave a slight shrug, as stumped as Sirius. "I don't know... Left and Right?"
Sirius threw a stick at Remus and scowled. "A fat lot of help you are."
"If it helps any, Sirius..." Hermione's mental purr was amused. "This one is George." She pushed her paw against George's shoulder, leaving a faint print against the ginger fur.
Eyes brightening instantly at the inspiration provided by Hermione, Sirius patted George upon his head. "I hereby dub thee..." Sirius paused dramatically. "Prints!"
A couple of groans met that, but George seemed okay with the nickname and moved to stand beside Bloodpaw, Galleon and Bolt. Bloodpaw immediately started dusting the pawprint off of Prints' shoulder.
Fred now found himself under intense scrutiny. "Can't give you anything too similar sounding to Prints. But we don't want anything obvious either like Stripe or Cattail..." Sirius pursed his lips and then brightened. "Ah ha! We'll stick with the twin theme, sounds different, but a similar meaning." He cleared his throat. "I hereby dub thee... Tracks!"
Remus laughed. "I haven't seen you this into anything since the last big prank you pulled on Severus when we were still in school, Sirius."
Sirius stuck his tongue out at Remus and turned his intense grey eyes on Hermione. "Well, the first thing that comes to mind is Fluffy..." Seeing her start to bristle at the idea, he hurried on. "But seeing as I enjoy having all my manly bits in place, we'll find something more fitting."
Walking around the smaller, though still large cat, Sirius gave her the same scrutiny he had given the others. Her fur did have a less glossy, though still shiny look that made her seem rather fluffy, but the evil glimmer in her amber eyes completely rid him of the urge to make that her official nickname. The fur on her chin, throat and belly was a lighter shade than the rest, which was a tawny golden brown shade. The tip of her long tail and the tips of her ears as well as the few cougar markings on her face were a dark chocolate brown. For the life of Sirius, aside from Fluffy or Chocolate Chips, nothing came to mind and neither name was very Marauder-ish. Figures that she would just seem like an ordinary cougar.
Rubbing at the light trace of stubble on his jaw, Sirius peered at the female cougar thoughtfully. Let's see... Female, feline, wild, aggressive, powerful... Duh! You can be so slow sometimes, Padfoot! Sirius mentally berated himself for not thinking of Hermione's name sooner.
"I hereby dub thee... Wildcat!" Sirius seemed pleased, despite another lazy name... Though admittedly this lazy name had taken longer than the last. Wildcat rolled her eyes and joined the group which all turned to examine the bored, though slightly amused, wolf known normally as Draco Malfoy.
"Never thought I'd see the day that a Malfoy would be given a Marauder-ish name." Sirius shook his head before doing the slow circling examination routine.
Draco's snow white fur seemed to absorb the light and reflect it back blindingly. When the wind caused the branches to sway over the clearing and cover him in shadows, he shimmered silvery. It was an interesting effect, as far as Sirius was concerned and he was tempted to call him Sickle for the color. But he knew that Ron's Galleon to Draco's Sickle would cause fights he didn't feel like dealing with, so he didn't even voice the thought. He stopped, looking into the silvery eyes of the wolf. Hmm...What name could he give that a Malfoy would actually find acceptable. Though now that he thought about it, he only had to give a name that Hermione liked because he had discovered that Malfoy saw Hermione as his pack leader. That certainly made it a bit easier.
"I hereby dub thee..." Sirius paused, uncertain as to if he had selected properly for his cousin. "Moonshine."
Draco's muzzle curled up in his trademark sneer. "Isn't that rather... Girly?"
Sirius looked bored. "Well, if you prefer, you could be Pearl. Or perhaps Cloud. Maybe Snowflake?"
Scowling, Draco lowered his head and padded over to the others, sitting next to Hermione. "Fine."
Smiling now, Sirius turned to Remus. "Moony! I am pleased to present... For the first time... Bolt! Galleon! Bloodpaw! Prints! Tracks! Wildcat! And Moonshine! The Animalities!"
Remus smiled, rising to his feet and clapping as each stepped forward as their new nickname was called.
Ginny chirped, "Now all we need are instruments and a catchy theme song!"
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By request of Remus, the Animalities waited near the edge of the Forbidden Forest while the moon rose. The Shrieking Shack was just far enough away that they could barely make out the screams as Remus transformed into Moony. They all shifted uncomfortably at the sounds. This caused Bolt to whicker at Galleon because Galleon couldn't see as well in the dark and was perched on Bolt's back. An eagle shifting wasn't very comfortable when the talons caught on the skin beneath fur.
"Sorry..." Galleon muttered and soon a howl pierced the air in the distance, cutting him off.
Instinctively, Moonshine rose to his feet and howled in response. It wasn't quite a werewolf howl, but it was enough to guide the werewolf and Grim-like dog toward the group. Tracks and Prints rose to their feet as the two Marauders arrived, curious glances given to the werewolf.
Though Bolt, Galleon and Wildcat had seen Moony before, the varying circumstances only now afforded them the chance to admire him. He was larger than Moonshine, his tail a bit shorter and his fur a dark grey color with light brown highlights. His golden eyes were a more intense color than the twins and the fangs in his slightly short wolf muzzle seemed to be wicked dangerous compared to even the larger teeth of the felines present. All in all, he was an impressive figure of a werewolf.
"So what do the Marauders do when out on the full moon?" Prints was the one to finally break the silence.
Moony and Padfoot exchanged glances before Padfoot's voice came to them. It wasn't the same as when an Animality spoke, apparently animagi communicated more like animals and it took them a moment to realize what he was saying.
:Well, when we were in Hogwarts we didn't have the wolfsbane potion, so we mostly stuck to the forest... But now, I don't see any reason why we can't go and play in Hogsmeade.: The large black dog gave a canine grin, tongue lolling out in amusement.
Moony grinned, the gesture slightly intimidating. :That sounds fun, I've never gotten a chance to do that, though I know you, Prongs and Wormtail used to wander in there sometimes.: The werewolf was easier to understand, though still not as easy as the Animality projected telepathy.
Turning swiftly to lead the way, Padfoot took off in the appropriate direction, as he was the one that traveled in this form most often and knew the way best. Galleon opted to take to the dark skies and fly toward the town by following the lights so that his talons wouldn't hurt anyone that carried him and Bloodpaw, her short otter legs not offering as much speed on land, took his place on Bolt's back, clinging to his mane. Then they were off.
It was the first time the Animalities really got a chance to run without worrying about any consequences and they loved the feeling of freedom. Wildcat, Prints and Tracks would fall back from time to time as their bodies grew tired from the run, then they would overtake the others easily as their more human endurance kicked in. Bolt took to running around the group as his longer legs, better endurance and different build allowed him to run circles around him. It turned out Padfoot's name choice was a bit better than anyone had thought. Moonshine took to racing with Moony, the wolf and were becoming slightly more friendly now that they had met face to face. Bloodpaw chirped and squeaked happily as she rode the pegasus and from overhead they could hear Galleon screech every now and then to let them know he was still there.
After a thoroughly enjoyable run, they reached the outskirts of Hogsmeade. The felines were panting, their species not quite up for long runs at such speeds and Galleon was waiting for them from his perch on a low branch. He turned his piercing blue eyes on the group. "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought that a stamped was coming this way."
Bloodpaw threw a pebble in his direction, but missed.
:Now, I don't know about you, but the best way to start the night is with a visit from The Grim...: Padfoot's voice was slightly malicious as he stalked silently into the village. He kept to the shadows and stopped near the Hog's Head Pub, waiting. The others moved quickly into the shadows. Sure enough, within fifteen minutes someone wandered half-drunk out of the pub.
Padfoot crept out of hiding and sat. That's all. He just sat... And stared. As the drunk stumbled closer to the dog, a soft growl was heard. The drunk stopped, lifting his head up. A gasp was heard. "The... The..." Unable to even say the word, and aside from the slight attention gaining growl Padfoot didn't so much as move, merely staring at the man. Giving a shriek of terror, the man backpeddled as fast as he could and ran back into the bar where they heard the panicked shouts of "The Grim! The Grim!" but when someone else looked out there, Padfoot had already returned to the laughing group of animals waiting.
:With that said and done... Let's have fun: Even Moony was more relaxed at times like this and soon the group spread out to play with the people that wandered around town at night.
And so the night went. Bolt amused himself by preening in the moonlight, causing a few late night strollers to admire the black and silver pegasus. What they didn't notice was the hybrid form of Wildcat hiding around the corner as Bolt turned bright green eyes on the couple. They gaped as the pegasus' eyes glowed and then ran screaming when it reared up, wings catching flame and hooves raising sparks on the ground while fangs grew in the equine mouth. Running until they couldn't breathe, the couple turned back only to find nothing there. Bolt and Wildcat both found this hilarious and pulled it on several groups of people that night.
Bloodpaw managed to slip into the Three Broomsticks when no one was paying attention. She returned carefully carrying a couple bottles of butterbeer in her short forelegs and holding a wooden bowl with her teeth. Thanks to Bloodpaw's craftiness, the group got to experiment with lapping up warm butterbeer, a novelty Moony found amusing. No one ever did find out if Bloodpaw had paid for the butterbeers or not...
Moonshine and Moony found a certain comraderie while both pretending to be werewolves. Turns out most people can't tell the difference, something Wildcat didn't understand at all. One or the other would come round a corner and startle a person only to have them turn and see the other one. It was made even more amusing when the person would turn to run to the side only to see The Grim staring silently at the scene. Padfoot and Moonshine definitely got a kick out of that, though Moony felt a bit guilty each time.
Prints and Tracks made use of a similar trick, though their's was a bit more annoying. Somehow they managed to make more than one person think they were surrounded by a dozen tigers as the two seemed to be everywhere at once. It was hard to tell if they were using a duplication charm, speed, or just the human tendency to exaggerate encounters to accomplish this task. Either way the twins found it amusing...
Then the real fun of the evening occurred.
About halfway between moonrise and moonset, who should they happen to see come waltzing out of one of the seedier shops in the distant side of Hogsmeade than Lucius Malfoy. Surprisingly enough, Moonshine lowered his head, snarling furiously and hackles raised at the sight of his father. Everyone was surprised at this, but no one questioned him.
"We need to do something to him... All of us as a group."
Moonshine's request lead to a hasty plan and it was soon put into action. Padfoot was set to go out first. After all, The Grim appearance that he gave off was always enough to get wizards and witches to pause.
Lucius walked along, humming to himself and wondering if he should drop by Hogwarts to visit Severus. He didn't even get time to contemplate it when he heard something coming from up ahead. Placing one hand lightly atop the snake's head on his cane, Lucius slowed. He didn't stop though, at least not until he found himself ten feet away from a massive black dog.
Stopping, Lucius's silver eyes met the unblinking stare of the dog. His lip curled up into a sneer and he pulled his wand from the end of his cane. Raising his arm, he was just about to throw a hex at the beast when it bared it's teeth at him. Lucius didn't even get a chance to speak a spell before he heard deep growling coming from behind him. While he didn't want to turn his back on the dog, the growling was a bit disturbing and, against his better judgment, he turned.
Staring at Lucius, long fangs gleaming in the moonlight were two tigers, both growling deep in their throats. Lucius took an hasty step back only to be stopped by a harsh bark and a snarl. He turned again, expecting The Grim to be staring at him, but the black dog was gone and in it's place was a white wolf that shimmered like a ghost in the moonlight. Before he had time to wonder what was going on, the growls at his back rose in volume and were joined by one from each side. Whirling, he caught sight of a cougar seemingly walking out of a wall to confront him and, even more frightening, a werewolf coming from the opposite side.
Momentarily panicking, Lucius spun. His wand pointing to each of the mysterious animals in turn. Then he heard the thudding of galloping hooves and he felt a moment of relief when it seemed all of the animals turned toward the sound. His moment of relief soon turned into fear as the flaming black and silver apparition rode closer. A demon covered in spikes with a flaming head rode on the back of a demon horse, the burning wings seeming to give it greater speed as it charged straight toward him.
A burning sword rose over the demon's head as it drew closer, the metal shrieking in the still night air. Just when Lucius thought it was going to run him through, he felt something crack into the back of his head and he knew no more.
Galleon dropped the brick he had carried in his talons and perched on a nearby roof. His night had been relatively boring, though he would never admit he had been peeping in people's windows and when the chance to crack Lucius in the head arose, he took it. He couldn't wait until the Christmas Holidays when he could safely tell his father. "You know, I think this was a good night after all."
The others nodded smug agreement as Bloodpaw slid off Bolt's back and poured some firewhiskey on Lucius' robes and some into his mouth. She threw the bottle away as Wildcat rid them of their Halloween Costume charms. Feeling that their night in town was over, the group headed to spend the rest of the full moon playing in the Forest.
Though not as openly happy as the others, Moonshine felt satisfied as they headed into the woods. He never would tell them why he had requested such tricks on his father, but considering who it was he had asked, he didn't think they would really care. After all, no one really liked the Malfoys...
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November was almost over when the call came on a Saturday evening. Seven students, though not all friends, found themselves once more down in the dungeons. Professor Snape looked a right awful mess, but he assured them that this time the potion was tested, proven and would work. He roughly pushed the cups at the students and glared at them, daring them to so much as say a word.
Draco was the first to drink, always trusting of his godfather. The bitter liquid slid down his throat and he felt the oddest melting sensation... Mostly on his bum! He actually glanced over his shoulder to see and watched as his tail melted beneath his robes and out of sight. His muzzle was soon gone and the fur that covered his body as well. His senses dulled back to that of a normal human and then Draco Malfoy was back once more.
"Finally, I don't have to be lumped together with mudbloods and blood traitors anymore." He was safe saying such things with Snape right there and, with one final sneer, Draco breezed out of the dungeons.
Almost reluctantly the others drank the potion. One by one tails, wings, fur and feathers melted back into nothing. Ron grew to his normal height once more and Hermione, Fred and George shrank back to their normal sizes. Claws and talons vanished and freckles came back into sharp relief while eyes and hair resumed normal coloration. A few adjustment charms and clothing fit once more, though shoes were noticeably missing. A sense of loss came as instincts shifted back to normal and senses dulled.
After a moment of silence, Hermione finally spoke. "Umm... Thank you, Professor."
Snape's only response was a nod before he told them to get out of his sight. "And don't forget that your regular schedules start again Monday!"
It was a silent group that returned to Gryffindor Tower that night.
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Things had returned seemingly returned to normal overnight and one would think that Draco had never been forced to spend so much time with a group of annoying Gryffindorks. Insults flew back and forth and even a number of hexes were cast. It was as if the last few months had never happened.
One morning, two weeks after they were cured, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George and Hermione awoke to find the strangest thing. Right in front of their faces as their eyes. Resting gently on each pillow was a book. Not just any kind of book, but a photo album. Covers were curiously opened and smiles broke out and soon the all six had carried their books down to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Can you believe that tricky bloke?" Ron exclaimed, holding up his golden-red covered book to show the writing on the inside of the front cover. They all read the same: Thank you for such wonderfully amusing moments this year! -Albus Dumbledore. Pictures courtesy of Colin Creevey.
"That sneak. He said that no one was allowed in while we were in the Hospital Wing!" Hermione was more amused than anything else, pointing to one of the first pictures in her book. It was of her spring out from behind a privacy screen and attacking Fred.
"That really hurt, you know." Fred pouted, though brightened as he showed the picture of the drowned rat Hermione in the lake.
Ginny was frowning, because that picture took place in the same time frame as one in her album of her sitting on the sofa brushing her fingers through Harry's hair. "Colin can't have taken all of these pictures. Some of them are happening at the same time in different places."
"I can explain that." They turned to see a grinning Colin behind them. "Professor Dumbledore told me it was OK to tell how I got them all once you had gotten your books... Especially since I'm giving it back to him now." Colin reached into his pocket and pulled out a gold chain from which a tiny hourglass hung. Hermione's jaw dropped with surprise and then she started laughing as Colin waved and skipped out of the common room to take the time turner back to Dumbledore.
The group spent the rest of the day looking through their photo albums and pointing out their favorite pictures. Some were in all of the books, and a few pictures were only in some of them. A favorite was the one of 'Fredina' that every book came equipped with. Ron, peeking at Harry's book found a picture of Harry and Ginny kissing at the costume party. "Hey! I don't remember that!"
The next page was one that had them all staring in a mixture of amusement, awe and horror... Colin Creevey, the sneaky little devil, had managed to catch a picture of Dolores Umbridge fleeing the castle! In the background you could see his little brother practicing spells and one 'accidently' setting Umbridge's hooded cloak on fire! The photo Umbridge threw the cloak off, stomping on it with oversized, green webbed feet. She was a hideous creature, green and slimy and covered in mangy green fur. Large rat ears were on the toad's head and she had a hairless tail. Her wide toad mouth screeched something in the camera's direction before twitching her whiskers and running away from Hogwarts! The six Gryffindors cheered!
Two of the pages in Hermione's book were crowded with pictures, ones that she quickly flipped so that no one would see...Not that it did her any good as it turned out that Fred and George had similar pages... It was just after the pictures of the Hogsmeade trip, though how they had missed seeing Colin there, no one knew. It was Hermione and the twins in their hybrid forms kissing beneath the full moon. It seemed that Hermione was now a part of two trios...
The last picture in all of the albums was the same, seven hybrid students were sitting on one of the walls and chatting. It didn't seem to matter that one squished near the middle was wearing different colors on his tie than the others, someone that didn't know the group would have thought the seven were the best of friends. It was the day before they were given the cure.
"You know..." Ron started, staring thoughtfully at the last picture. "He wasn't a bad bloke. Not really."
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Seemingly hundreds of miles away, yet really very close, a certain blond youth was peering at that exact same picture. Pale fingers brushed gently over the image before the album was closed. Reaching for his wand, the youth cast a quick spell and the book shrank until it resembled a tiny charm. Pulling a silver chain from his nightstand, the minisculealbum was carefully affixed to the necklace and an unbreakable charm was cast.
The chain soon hung aroundthe young wizard's neck and was tucked out of sight beneath his clothes. Patting down the green and silver robes, the tiny weight of the charm felt strangely comforting near his heart. A tiny smile formed on pale lips. In a small way, he felt that he was back with his pack.
Feeling rather wolfish, Draco Malfoy snatched up his broom and made his way out of the Slytherin dormitory for Quidditch practice.
A/N: Don't worry! It's not quite over... There's still the epilogue to come! (Sorry, it was posted for about twenty minutes, then I realized I forgot the bit about Umbridge's picture and removed it so I could add that part. The chapter is complete now.) See you in the epilogue!