Title: Little Spark of Madness
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in anyway, that belongs to JK Rowlings. I don't make any money from this either. I just do it for fun :) All original characters are my own, those would be the ones that you don't recognize from the books.
Also my lovely readers, I have a poll up for this story! Please go and check it out and let me know!
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
My what large ears you have….
-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-
Gryffindor Common Room
February 14th, 1977
Once Christmas passed everything returned back to normal. Christmas day her Aunt had fire-called the Headmaster over for breakfast, and to hand off the horcrux. Other than that it had been fairly uneventful.
The only difference since returning to school was that Hermione had avoided the past two Hogsmeade trips. She cited personal safety after her last visit. It wasn't too far from the truth since most of the other students avoided the visit as well.
She was making sure everything was in her bag before walking down for breakfast. Lily came down the stairs with her bag slung over her shoulder, "Are you ready Hermione? I want to get breakfast early so we can get to the library early."
The red head practically pulled Hermione out of the portrait casting nervous glances towards the stairs that led to the boys dormitories.
The curly hairs witch just chuckled at her friends antics, "Lily what are you so scared of? You know we have open first period, I am sure we will find seats."
Lily nervously stuttered as she glanced back at her friend who she was pulling along behind her down the corridor. Finally once they were standing outside the doors to the Great Hall she stopped and turned to Hermione. "Look. Every year James does some extravagant show on Valentines Day to get my attention. I'd be lying if I wasn't extremely nervous about his plans this year. I mean..."
"You mean since you started accepting his advances?" Hermione grinned knowingly as Lily flushed. "Well Lily, I guess I should warn you that James, Sirius, Harry, Remus and Peter all got up really early today. They left right as I got downstairs this morning."
Lily paled before turning to see the boys in their usual seats eating.
Hermione took her arm and lead her over to where they sat, "It will be fine Lily."
Lily glanced at her as they arrived and sat down quietly.
Sirius looked up and smiled at Hermione, "Morning Love."
Even Hermione felt it was odd that the boys weren't doing anything. She looked at each of them. They were all reading their charms textbooks. While this was not out of the norm for Remus it definitely was for the other three boys.
"Um good morning Sirius. What are you boys up too?" Hermione looked at Lily who was about to pass out if she didn't breath.
Sirius took a bite of toast before looking back to his book, "Oh you know we have that charms exam today."
Lily swallowed, "You are studying? Willingly?"
James looked up at her, "Of course. Good morning Lils." Turning his attention to the others, "Hey Pads? Scut? Did you finish the part about which you use in doubt? Did you use fairy wings or toad excretion? I was thinking it was the fairy wing ya?"
"Morning." Lily responded with an unsure tone in her voice. As she watched the boys agree on fairy wings, which was actually to correct response.
The girls shared a look before deciding to just eat. Each girl grabbed their breakfasts before they began to eat in silence. After a moment the girls relaxed and pulled out their own texts. Breakfast continued on with occasional questions and conversation but nothing too extravagant until the morning owl post came through.
James and Sirius received more than a few gifts from other girls, Remus and Peter had received a few as well.
Lily smiled as she received a few causing James to frown at her gifts. Hermione received exactly six gifts. Sighing she looked at who they were from Zabini, Lestrange, Lucius, Nott, Gaunt, and Lady Black on behalf of Sirius Black?
Opening the gift from Walburga she halted and looked over at Sirius, "Um Sirius?"
He just smirked at her unaware of the gift in her hand, "Wow Love, I didn't think you would be upset about not getting a gift from me this morning." He winked at her "Don't worry, Love, I just wanted to give you your gift in person."
Her cheeks pinked slightly as she shook her head, "Um no, it isn't that Sirius. I technically did get something from you."
He perked up and she silently chuckled at how his head tilted like when he was Padfoot. "What do you mean?"
Reading the packaging once more, only this time out loud. "From Lady Black on behalf of Sirius Black."
He rolled his eyes and sighed, "Well that is obviously not from me. What did she send you anyway?"
She passed the box to him unsure if she should touch the bracelet inside. When Sirius saw the black bracelet he scowled and grabbed the lid closing the box. "Don't wear that. It links you to whoever gave it to you. They will know what you are feeling, the Blacks used it to woo women in the past that could not be bought. I am not sure if I would know what you are feeling or if she would.
"Great." She rolled her eyes before looking to Sirius as she grabbed the gift from Lucius, "Do you think I am allowed to toss these before even opening them?" She popped open the long box Lucius had sent her and saw a single yellow rose that must have come from his garden. "Oh pretty, I'll need to tell Lucius thank you."
Remus frowned, "You want to toss them, but opened the one from Malfoy?"
She smiled and glanced around them, "Lucius, Sirius and I have come to an understanding about this whole thing. He is on our side, I think he just wants to be friends." She held up the yellow rose as if it explained her point, "Yellow roses symbolize friendship and that he cares. It is the most platonic gift he could have gotten me. Especially since not getting me anything would apparently be an insult." She glanced at the other gift, "I am scared to open those."
Sirius nodded as he grabbed the remaining gifts, "Follow me I have an idea."
They walked out the front of the school over to near the forbidden forest. Finally he laid out the remaining gifts, "Open them one by one use your wand though. Don't get too close though."
She nodded and pointed her want at the gift from Nott, "It opened and she frowned seeing a grotesque looking brooch. Remus waved his wand over it and looked at her, "No curses or charms. It is clean even if it looks like it belongs in a crypt."
She nodded and moved to the next. There was a hair barrette from Gaunt, a bottle of perfume from Lestrange and a quill from Zabini. When the quill came out though Remus shook his head at the item, "What ever you write with that will copy to a journal. It is a set and since the journal isn't here I assume he has it."
She frowned at the quill, "Something to spy on me then." Sirius looked at it, "Snap it then."
James shook his head, "No, if he finds out it would not be good. No, just leave it in your chest and never use it."
Lily just grinned, "Oh no, she should use it. You do have a charms exam coming up. Also we have a 6 page report that was just assigned in Muggle Studies so just use it for that. You'll use it so he can't complain, and he will learn all about muggle studies. Seems like a wonderful punishment." She started chuckling.
James was looking at her like Christmas and his birthday just came at the same time. "Oh Lils you are amazing!"
She flushed and smiled as he slung an arm around her shoulders in a hug.
Suddenly he stopped and looked at Lily, "Can I take you somewhere after dinner tonight? Please?"
She flushed and nodded her head before walking off with James arm still around her. Hermione was smiling after them when Sirius' arms wrapped around her waist from behind. "Can I take you out after dinner as well?"
She just smiled and nodded, "Sirius can I ask you a question?"
He just nodded and looked at her, "Sure Love anything."
"This morning, at breakfast. I was expecting something grand, from James to Lily, I mean. He has never missed an opportunity to do so. Why didn't he?"
Remus just chuckled, "He gave Lily want she has always asked for. A nice pleasant breakfast with no pranks."
She let out a small laugh, "She was so nervous."
Remus and Peter chuckled, "Well we will be on our way. See you two."
Finally Hermione was alone with Sirius. He grinned down at her, "Was that all you wanted to ask?"
Shaking her head, "I wanted to ask you for help."
Frowning, "Always, Anytime Love, what do you need. Are you okay?"
She just smiled thinking how different he was from last year. "Um well I am still stuck with my Animagus form. I stopped trying last year after Harry turned into a stag. I want to finish, but I don't know what I am doing wrong."
Sirius nodded in understanding and took an a more studious approach, "Okay, James said that you saw your paws, and that you were small right?"
She just nodded and he grinned, "You need to feel it then."
Looking up at him confused, "Feel it? What do you mean?"
He glanced around them before grabbing her hand, "You cannot tell anyone about me training you?"
She just nodded as he pulled her along behind him. She wasn't entirely sure where they were going until they walked down a set of old stone steps and Hermione saw the whomping willow tree. He looked around for a moment before shifting into Padfoot and darted under the tree barely missing the swinging branches. He grabbed a stick that was near the base and hit the notch in the tree stilling the branches. He turned and let a low yip and she knew she was supposed to follow him.
Once they were beneath the tree he shifted back into a human and grinned at her, "Alright we can train here without anyone seeing."
She looked around the shrieking shack and noted that it was cleaner here than she expected. There were large red pillows along the wall. A wizard if chess set at a table on the far side of the wall. "Um this looks more like a clubhouse than where Remus comes to transform. So have you given Harry a nickname like Padfoot, Prongs, Moony and Wormtail?"
Nodding his head as he looked around the room, "We call him Scut. He is quite talkative with it. Still getting used to it though."
Frowning she looked at him, "Scut? What on earth does that mean?"
Shrugging, "A Stag tail is called a Scut, they use it for a lot of things. Warnings, Food, Being okay. Harry is a natural with his, he used it without knowing." She chuckled at the thought before stilling wondering what they might call her.
Sirius grinned, "So as for the room we hang out before the full moons ya know. It helps him unwind. I put indestructible charms on the furniture so they don't get destroyed. I just reinforce it every month." He walked over to the large red pillows and brought two for them to sit on.
He turned to her placing his hands on her shoulders, and pushed her down to site on the pillow before sitting on his own facing her. "Okay, now class is in session." He grinned.
Holding her hands he took on a serious look, "You've seen your paws right? I want you to go back to that place and then tell me everything you see."
She nodded as she wiggled in her seat a bit to get comfortable before closing her eyes. It took her a few minutes but finally she could see what she'd been looking for. In her mind she glanced at her arm, but there wasn't an arm. It was a short but thin forearm covered in dark brown fur near her paw. "My arm, or rather paw is small and covered in fur. It is dark brown, but it turns into a darkened red as it gets closer to my shoulder. The fur on my belly is dark red too. That is weird to say."
Suddenly Sirius' voice broke through her haze that she was in, "Look at your paws, focus on them. Do you have claws? What do they look like? You might have to flex your paw to see them."
Glancing down she saw the white claws extending from her paws, "They are long and sharp, they are just out though I am not doing anything."
"Visualize the floor of the shack under you, see the old wooden floor beneath you."
Scrunching up her face as she tried to remember the floor when she heard Sirius again, "You are almost there Love. You are so close, just visualize it, the wood grain with splinters in the wood."
She breathed in and focused on putting the floor beneath her paws, she was trying so hard to focus on it while trying to listen for Sirius' voice.
"Feel your claws against the wood grain, feel your claws splintering through the wood."
Hi voice sounded so far away, but she extended her paw out in front of her pushing her claws into the floorboards her mind had created before dragging her paw back towards her.
She was feeling tired as the vision before her started to blur a bit. She tried to keep focused on it, but it kept leaving her like before.
Blinking she looked up at Sirius who was grinning like a mad man, "I just couldn't hold it, it started fading again. Although I felt it this time, the wood I mean."
He just nodded, the grin never left his face, "Oh I know you did." He pointed to the ground in front of her and her breath caught in her chest.
There were five new claw marks in the wood before her. Looking at her hand she saw bits of sawdust on her nails, "What?"
"Your nails thickened and sharpened into claws, when you did it in the vision you really did it. Your face changed slightly too, it got slightly longer and more narrow. It changed back pretty quick though." He was so excited that he jumped up from his sitting position, pulling her up with him.
She stumbled and fell into his arms as blood rushed back to her legs from sitting on the pillow. "Woah!"
He just laughed and held her up before spinning her around. "Oh Chipy brought us lunch by the way."
Looking up at him confused, "Lunch? We just had breakfast Sirius?"
He just nodded, "Ya six hours ago."
Her jaw dropped as she looked out the window, "OH MY GOD I MISSED HISTORY OF MAGIC!"
Barking out a laugh as she ran around grabbing her bag, "You have learned so much more here today though!"
She glared up at him, "While that maybe so I can't miss class!" She turned and stormed towards the tunnel under the shack to head back to the whomping willow.
She heard Sirius grabbing his stuff before running after her, "Love wait! I am sorry, but you were so close. You were actually partially transforming. Honestly though a few more tries and I think you will have it." He held a wrapped sandwich out to her.
Biting her lip as she took the sandwich from him, "Just don't let me skip class again."
He nodded, "Cross my heart! Tonight! Let's meet after dinner." No classes to be missed."
She nodded, "Alright."
Beaming at her, "Perfect. I have a surprise for you anyways."
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
The rest of the day passed by fairly quickly, Lily had luckily taken notes for Hermione although she didn't miss much in History of Magic.
Sitting in the great hall with her friends she couldn't help but notice Lily and James were definitely sitting closer together. She looked over to Harry who had clearly noticed them as well as he watched them with a smile.
Picking up her fork as she took a bite of her pudding before looking back to Sirius who was deep in conversation with Peter about something.
Looking over at Remus she smiled, "So have you found anyone you wanted to spend today with?"
He flushed and shook his head, "Oh no. I um can't do that."
She smirked and made a note for herself to make sure Remus got out there and started dating. Sure she loved Tonks, but Remus could be happy in the meantime.
After dinner Sirius grinned at Hermione, "Do you have a thick cloak with you?"
Frowning she shook her head, "No I will need to go back to the dormitory for it."
He nodded and stood up before holding a hand out to her, "See ya later mates!"
She just grinned as he lead her from the great hall and back to their common room. He waited patiently at the bottom of the steps as she went up noticing that he had a pretty think cloak on.
Going to her trunk she pulled out her thick cloak and a scarf just to be on the safe side.
Heading back down she smiled as he took her hand and he pulled her from the common room. They'd been walking for a minute, she'd pulled her cloak on when they left the castle and headed out to the pitch.
Once they got there and he grinned at her before pulling the scarf that she'd brought from her hands before wrapping it around her neck, "Alright, do you trust me?"
Her stomach plummeted at the words and she looked at him skeptically, "Yes, on most occasions. However, the fact that you are asking me makes me worry."
He held out one hand as if worried she was going to bolt, "Okay, I've only seen you on one once and you were screaming at your brother. I just really want to show you something that you might like." He nervously pulled what she thought was a toothpick out of his until he whispered "engorgio" and she realized that the toothpick was actually his broom.
"Oh No. Nope. Nada. Non. Sirius Black it is no secret how I feel about brooms. Someone better be close to dying for me to get on one." She tried backing away from him but her back hit the pillar of the stadium.
Setting the broom down, "I didn't even think about this today when I asked you to come out with me. I was going to take you up to the astronomy tower and have dessert." He took a breath, "When you asked me for my help though it changed. I started thinking about when the guys and found this spot while doing laps on our brooms. It is too far of a walk though, but I really think you will like it."
Her shoulders dropped slightly as she looked between the broom and Sirius. He must have seen her hesitation at out right denying him again because he continued, "Please? I promise I won't let anything happen to you."
Nervously looking at the broom that he'd brought before taking in his face. "No funny business, no rolls, loops, sharps turns, steep drops, none of it."
Hopping up and down she nodded her head furiously, "I swear of Godric's… um… well on my Gryffindor honor!"
Rolling her eyes as she watched him pick up the broom again and straddled it. He held a hand out to her to help her on behind him but she just turned and sat sideways in front of him on the broom. Wrapping her arms around his torso before burying her face into his chest. "Don't drop me."
He grinned for a moment seeing her as he wrapped one arm around her to keep her close to him chest, the other hand on his broom. "You know I really like you in my arms."
She just nodded and he seamlessly took off with only a squeak from her. She just focused on breathing in his scent. Ceder, Leather, and cake? He smelled like cake. She grinned remembering he had originally planned dessert and the astronomy tower.
She was brought out of her thoughts when she felt his warm arm leave her waist, "Sirius!"
His chest rumbled as he chuckled, "Mione, we are on the ground."
She popped her head up and sure enough his feet were on the ground, since she was shorter hers were still dangling though. She grinned up at him sheepishly before releasing her death grip on him. Sliding off his broom she looked around at the forest surrounding her, "How far out are we?"
He shrugged, "Maybe a mile or so. Don't worry there aren't any dark creatures in this area, come here I want to show you something!" He hopped off his broom and took her hand as he ran with excitement through the February snow. It wasn't too deep due to all the trees, but there was still enough.
Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a large cliff in front of her with a small waterfall. There was a small pond of water beneath it that didn't look too deep before a small stream took the water away. Probably to Black Lake. The trees were dropping all around with little icicle hanging down, smiling over at Sirius. "It is beautiful, it is like a winter wonderland."
"I am glad you like it. It is peaceful here, we come here to hang out in our other forms a lot. It is soothing being away from the school and the other students." He walked over to a boulder casting a drying and warming charm before sitting and nodded to the area in front of him. "It might help with your concentration."
She nodded and walked over to him as she sat across from him. "Okay."
He smiled, "But first." He pulled out a box the size of an apple and reversed the shrinking charm on it. It grew to the size of a pastry box and he opened it revealing two pieces of chocolate cake.
Handing her a piece, "I was quite serious about dessert."
She laughed taking her piece as they watched the waterfall and spoke about their day. After they were done and the cake was put away Sirius got up and walked behind her. She tried to turn and look at him but he put a hand on her shoulder, "One second Love."
She saw his arms go over her head and she saw a necklace as he brought it closer and did the clasp for her before pulling her hair out. "There."
She smiled and looked down at the small circle charm with an 'H' engraved. "Thank you Sirius."
He smiled and nodded, "It is charmed to always fit your neck size."
She glanced down at the golden chain in confusion. "Neck size?"
He nodded, "I have a feeling your animagus form is going to be small, it will resize to fit so you won't lose it."
Nodding in understanding, "Oh I see. Thank you, that is very thoughtful."
He nodded and once they were settled in he told her to close her eyes.
A few hours later she opened her eyes and smiled at Sirius. "I felt it as if I was using my claws again against the stone."
She stopped talking and looked at Sirius who seemed to be in shock. "What?"
"Um we might have a problem Mione." She thought he might be joking but a smile never graced his face.
"What is wrong Sirius?"
He just pointed to the water next to her so she leaned over to look at her reflection. Gasping as she saw her ears. Reaching up her hands gently touched her tall pointed ears that were covered in a dark auburn fur tuffed out at the tips. At her gasp she also noticed her canine teeth were more elongated that normal and pointed. "Sirius I can't go back to school like this!"
"Okay, Okay just breath. Let's go back into meditation and focus on your human ears and teeth. Ears first though, teeth would be easier to hide if you get tired." He tried taking her hands, but she was shaking too badly as he noticed tears in her eyes, "Mi? Breath okay. Sometimes there are parts of our other form that we get stuck with for a bit until you learn to control it. Your ears look really cute though."
Shaking her head, "This is second year all over again!"
He looked up at her confused before he realized she was probably talking about something from the future. "Love, look at me. We can fix this." he said in a calm voice.
She began to worry her bottom lip forgetting about her pointed canines until it pierced her lip and she gasped when the taste of blood hit her. Letting an animalistic growl as she jumped up from the boulder. She slapped her hand over her mouth hearing the growl.
She was more shocked when Sirius reacted to her growl by growling back. Their eyes met briefly as she stepped away.
Suddenly Chipy popped into view, "You stay away from my Miss right now." Holding her hand out to Hermione. "You need to come with me to your Aunt Miss Hermione."
Sirius looked shocked that he had growled at her, even more at his sudden urge to snog her senseless. However, he just nodded reaching for him broom, "Ya probably a good idea. Look Love, I am sorry about growling back at you…. I um." He looked down at Chipy, "I can take her back."
Chipy shook her head, "You didn't mean to hurt my Miss, but she needs to get there now. You will take longer. She will see you later Mr. Sirius."
With a pop Sirius was left alone by the edge of the pond were they had sat. Getting his broom he hopped on and made his way back to the castle worried about Hermione.
-0-0-0-0-0-0-
And the end of another chapter. Please review :) and please go check out the poll on my page :)