Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognize, and probably some that you don't. The plot, however, is mine.

(A/N: Le gasp! It's actually a week and a day before the two-month mark since I last updated! Aren't you proud of me? Anywho, read the chappie, which, from the reviews, I guess you want. Then I'll talk about what's happened since, etc, etc. Happy reading!)

Chapter 19: Loss of Control

Two weeks later, their research was still turning up dull. Ron argued it had always been dull, but at Hermione's glare and the frequent slapping of his head, he stayed silent. The way he looked at all the books Harry had brought in indicated that he thought that the books would look better soaked in kerosene and dropped into a salamander's nest. Sometimes, Harry agreed with him. Silently, of course.

Hermione, in addition to badgering the whole group about the research they were doing on mythology, had brow-beaten Harry into teaching her what exactly he had done with Spell weaving. It had taken a few days for Harry to learn how to explain it right, and another few before Hermione grasped the concept. When she had asked, frustrated beyond belief how he had gotten it so easily, Harry supposed that the Beast Council's gifts had something to do with how he had learned so fast. Not one to be daunted with lack of unhuman understanding, Hermione abandoned Harry and went to the books, trying to figure out how do successfully weave spells together.

All the wands that had been collected in Diagon Alley from the DA members were sent back via owl, as no official action had been taken against any of them for using underage magic. The Ministry of Magic, some of their owls informed Harry and thus the whole group, was still trying to figure out how the Dementors had gotten out of control, and how they got destroyed. The Ministry-controlled newspaper, the Daily Prophet, refused to believe that Voldemort was at full strength (the sighting at the Ministry of Magic was told as giving proof that Voldemort was alive, but after a duel with Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter, the Dark Lord was supposed to be terribly weakened), and told their readers that some illness had overtaken the Dementors, but not to worry, because the Ministry had everything under control again. The death of about two-hundred Dementors was not remarked upon.

The Death Eaters caught in the Magi-Ball were questioned by Harry late at night in a side-tunnel with Veritaserum. They were brought out, one at a time, force-fed the truth serum, and awakened. Under Harry's piercing gaze and his well thought-out questions, they sang like songbirds, and gave Harry Gringott's account numbers, Death Eater plans, and in one case, the revelation that they still slept with a teddy bear. Harry carefully recorded everything, and made plans in his mind.

Once the potion wore off, they were in worse trouble. Harry had changed both physically and mentally over the summer, and used that to his advantage. He'd had to break at least the index finger in every Death Eater before they willingly signed a declaration that they were Death Eaters, joined willingly and not under any curse or duress, and accounted for their crimes. The newer recruits gave in easily, although they did not have much to account for, and for their cooperation, Harry healed their broken bones. Some of the Death Eaters, however, were not so quick to succumb to pain. The farthest Harry had gone was breaking every single bone in one Death Eater's arm, and he had been starting his way down the other arm before the Death Eater gave in.

Afterwards, Harry was sickened by what he had done, but knew that he couldn't let any of them just walk away under the corrupt administration within the ministry. The thought that innocent lives were going to be saved due to his actions didn't stop him from throwing up after every "interview," sick to the stomach by what he was doing. But he didn't let the Death Eaters know that, for by the next prisoner; Harry had regained his composure, and let his face slip into an icy-cold expression. The indifferent look Harry plastered on his face as he was breaking bones was at odds with the churning in his stomach.

By two weeks after Harry's birthday and the Death Eater attack, each one of the involved Death Eaters had been Obliviated by Harry, and transported out, only to reappear near magical public places with their declarations signed in blood, signifying that everything in the declaration was the truth. With their own blood, they were condemned, and since Fudge wanted his office, he couldn't let something like this slip by. Each Death Eater was given a lifetime sentence in Azkaban by Fudge, despite the concerns that the wizarding prison wasn't as safe anymore. Harry knew that soon, Voldemort would break them out, and the cycle would start over again.

"Found anything yet, Harry?"

Harry barely repressed his sigh of aggravation. "No, Hermione, I haven't, not in the last five minutes since you asked." From their seats in the Common Room, the other three Marauders looked up, surprised. For the past three days, Hermione had been on a studying rampage. Preferring not to listen to her rants, the others had grudgingly followed along. Until now.

His tone made Hermione bristle. "And what exactly does that mean, Harry?" Her eyes narrowed.

She and the others were surprised when the normally calm-natured Harry stood up, and slammed his book on mythology on the table. "That is quite enough, Hermione." His quiet voice sent chills down all of their spines. "I have put up with you for three days. The only reason I'm reading this damn book is because it is preferable to listening to you ranting at me."

Ignoring her gasp of surprise, Harry continued. He knew he was being hateful, but something inside him had snapped. He suspected the wolf in him was seeing another trying to take his place as Alpha, and he couldn't allow that to happen. "You will stand down. If the others wish to research, they may do so, but you do not have the right to force them."

Ron was about to interfere, when his inner fox shut him up. Then he realized that he was seeing the Alpha male instinct emerge in Harry, and the fox inside him knew he was no one to challenge his Alpha's authority.

Ginny sat quietly, guessing what was happening. She also knew that she was not one to try and usurp authority over Harry. The only one who could was Remus, and she knew that he too, realized he was no Alpha. She shifted in her seat, wondering why her form was so restless.

Moony knew that although he could be Alpha, his time was gone and past. He was content just being a member of a Pack again, and the werewolf in him knew that Harry was his Alpha.

"How dare you…" Hermione hissed like an angry cat.

"I dare because I am Alpha, cat! You are not, and it's about damn time you realized that little tidbit of information!" Harry growled menacingly. He was quite unaware that his eyes were starting to glow, and his teeth were beginning to sharpen and grow.

Hermione could only stand a few seconds of Harry's intense glare before hissing at him and retreating to her room. The other Marauders watched silently as Harry stared after her for a second, before marching out of the Chamber, into the tunnels that he had forbidden the rest of them. After that particular stunt, no one felt quite up to disobeying his orders.

"Well…" Ron started, breaking the silence. "That was interesting." Remus and Ginny nodded in agreement.

Ginny couldn't help but stare off in the direction that Harry had taken. Why, she wondered, did both she and Ethiopian Wolf within find that display, for lack of a better word, hot? And since when was the Chamber so warm?

"Fawkes, what is happening?" Hedwig asked, shocked at the scene she had just witnessed. "Why was Harry so mean? That is quite unlike him."

The Phoenix sighed. "Hedwig, do you not see? Use more than your eyes." Fawkes advised.

The white owl's eyes widened as she realized what was going on. "You mean it's…"

Fawkes nodded. "Yes. It is normal for Animagi to have a brief episode where they act like their forms while they're still human, but because of the time period…" Fawkes trailed off, glancing meaningfully at his companion.

Hedwig sighed. "I'm guessing we're not going to tell the master?"

"Hedwig, Hedwig, Hedwig," Fawkes chided gently, although his eyes were sparkling. "Now where is the fun in that? Let them figure it out for themselves. I think this whole argument has been brewing for quite a while, and the upcoming events will allow them to get this whole thing off their chests, so to speak."

"I fail to see the things you speak of on their chests. Their clothes are relatively clean, and I can't see any unusual bulges protruding from their shirts."

Fawkes just laughed, and started teaching Hedwig the meaning behind some of the more common idioms.

The next few days were fraught with tension. Hermione generally ignored Harry, except for the few occasions when she hissed and growled at him. During those times, Harry simply lifted his lips in a snarl that made Hermione quiet down.

Ron tried to convince both of them to stop fighting, but Hermione merely hissed and spat at him, and Harry told him in no uncertain terms to stay out of it. Eventually, Ron gave up, and joined Moony, who had resigned himself to watching the small feud going on between the two.

Ginny also stayed out of it, too concerned about her own problems. Lately she had found that her temperature was high most of the time, but she didn't have any of the usual cold symptoms. In fact, she felt perfectly fine, except for the occasional itch. Thinking that this was not perhaps the best time to bring up her possible sickness, Ginny stayed silent, and watched Harry. The past few days, Ginny had found herself more often than not staring at Harry. Once he caught her at it, and held her gaze for a few seconds before she looked away.

Hermione was stubborn, but knew that sooner or later, she had to realize Harry was right. She had been a little too demanding of her friends, and Harry was Alpha. Even her inner-kneazle knew that. Her inner-kneazle had also been panicking lately, sensing that she was surrounded by canines and their relatives. It was not good for her nerves. Her frazzled nerves resulted in her study craze and the subsequent argument. But right now, Hermione wasn't in the mood to admit she had been wrong.

Harry was sure he was slowly going crazy. His wolf senses had lately picked up a scent so divine it had wreaked havoc in his brain. Every time he decided to apologize to Hermione for his harsh words, the Alpha within rose up in defense, and the scent came to his nose again. This reduced his humanity a little bit due to the ensuing chaos within his body, and let his wolf out a little more.

Fawkes and Hedwig watched it all with great amusement. Or, they did, until Hermione gave into her cat instincts and caught Hedwig. It was only due to Fawkes' intervention that the poor owl wasn't eaten. After that, they waited eagerly for the day the Marauders were back to normal.

The next day found them all, except for Remus, in their Animagus forms. Shadowfang generally paced throughout the chamber, and when Dots hissed and spat at him, he growled back. Swiftpaw found that he loved being petted, and since there was only one left in the Chamber who had fingers to do that, he sat curled up in Remus' lap, watching the interaction between wolf and kneazle. Remus discovered that Swiftpaw's fur was quite soft, and petting the fox was a great way to occupy his mind. Firefur made it a habit of watching Shadowfang, occasionally looking around the chamber, and ignoring the itch-turned-ache that seemed to spread throughout her body. It didn't hurt, but it was uncomfortable.

Shadowfang was going crazy. The scent from before was, if possible, even stronger and more desirable, and was absolutely everywhere. He had tried to find somewhere where the scent wasn't, but it was futile, and he ended his search after the realization that he didn't want to get away from the scent. For all that it was driving him insane, it had become addicting, to where he didn't think he could imagine not liking it.

That night, Shadowfang was looking over his territory, when his senses twitched. That damned addicting scent was coming closer, as was that enchanting somewhat-wolf. It clicked in his wolf brain that the she-semi-wolf was the source for the scent that had been driving him crazy for the past few days.

Shade looked up, and felt a heat creep up in his belly. Although the female in front of him was not fully wolf, she looked… delicious. >How may I help you, my lady?>

The female laughed alluringly at him, gently flicking her tail back and forth. >You may call me Firefur, my dear Alpha.>

A wolfy grin spread on the Alpha's face. >Well then, Lady Firefur, what can I do for you?>

Firefur gave the Alpha a smile that caused blood flow problems within the male. Shade could only stand still as she walked slowly around him, making sure he could smell her. His sensory input was overloading, and Shade was quickly loosing reason.

>I have an…> Here she paused, and the corners of her mouth went up, causing Shade to take a deep breath. >…itch… that I think you can help me with. You can help me with it, can't you?> Shade had troubles breathing as Firefur ended her circling so that her tail was brushing his nose and her scent was the strongest. The sultry tone she was using didn't help either.

Shade, somewhere in his subconscious mind, knew he was fighting a loosing battle. So, he gave up. >I… I believe I can, Lady Firefur. Such a… beautiful and delicious lady like yourself should not have to suffer such inconveniences.>

He let his Alphaness shine through as this time he circled the female, who lay down on the ground, panting and quivering. Shade grinned. >Ah, so this is your first heat, isn't it? Should I be honored you chose me?>

Firefur hadn't expected to have her own game turned on her. >You… you are Alpha… would not… go to other… please…> She managed between gasps as the heat inside her became too much for her to handle. She supposed that his near proximity had set her off. Although it wasn't a bad thing… for some deep reason, she liked everything that was happening to her.

>Very well, then.> Shade placed himself behind her, and looked at her tail. It moved almost subconsciously. The wolf licked his lips, feeling something triumphant rise inside him. That feeling led him to bite gently on her neck. She thrashed, and squalled, but Shade held her firmly down with his front paws. He took a moment to savor her sweet scent before he rose up.

Before he could do anything more, two streaks of red light came towards them, and he knew no more.

Hermione sighed, and lowered her wand. She had broken out of her animalistic trance just seconds before, and was glad she got here in time. If she hadn't stupefied them… she knew that Harry would've carried it around with him the rest of his life, and his and Ginny's friendship would probably be severely strained, if not broken. As it was, they would have a hard enough time repairing what had just happened.

"Good work, Dots. How did you know?" Moony came up beside his student, holding a sleeping Swiftpaw, and gently set the fox down.

Dots smiled. "When I was a kneazle, I was freaked out because I smelt a strong Alpha wolf, and the scent of a semi-wolf in heat. It didn't take that long after I woke up from my animal state to figure out which was which."

Moony sighed, looking at the pair of wolves a few feet away. "I remember a somewhat similar incident shortly after the original Marauders became Animagi. A few days before a weekend, they acted… differently. Padfoot… he acted a lot more playful, and growled when someone he didn't like came near him. Prongs seemed more majestic, and he pranced around a lot. As I recall, that was the weekend when Lily declared that she would rather date the giant squid than him." He smiled at Hermione's giggle, and both knew that he wasn't going to mention the last of their group, the now ex-Marauder.

"That weekend, they spent it all as animals, and didn't act a bit human at all. Later, they told me that a few weeks after an Animagus transforms for the first time, there comes a point when the Animagus is taken over by their forms. James mentioned something about how it was the most dangerous part about being an Animagus, because there's no telling what will happen when you lose control. The good thing is, the loss of control lasts only a few days."

Hermione and Remus were silent a bit, and both looked at the stupefied wolves lost in thought. "I only hope that we'll all be alright after this." Hermione said softly. Remus put his hand on her shoulder comfortingly, and they said no more.

The day after would later be described by Ron as complete and total chaos. Upon the young Animagi's reinstation of control, Ron tried to murder Harry for what he had almost done to Ginny. Ginny, completely and totally embarrassed by her behavior, ran to the girls' room and wouldn't come out. Hermione restrained Ron from killing Harry, and proceeded to lecture Ron on how horrible it was to kill your best friend for something he wasn't completely responsible for. Remus sighed and broke the impending argument between Hermione and Ron up, and failed to coax Ginny from her hiding spot.

Harry… as soon as he woke up, he rushed into a side tunnel from the Main Chamber, and locked himself out. He couldn't face anyone as the knowledge of what he had been so close to doing overwhelmed him with guilt and embarrassment.

To chase away his thoughts, he threw himself into training, pushing his limits to exhaust his body and mind. But still, as he punched and slashed his imaginary opponent, he couldn't stop thinking about how he had almost raped Ginny.

Ginny shivered as she pulled her covers closer to her body. She buried her face in her pillow as she recalled every moment she experienced in Firefur. The incredible heat and the uncomfortable itching... The uncontrollable desire to… well… it was better not to rile herself up again. What scared her most was that she had begged for it, and that she relished the lack of control that had made her so bold.

Worst of all… she still wanted Harry. Even though she would probably never talk to him again due to embarrassment, she wanted him to finish what she had started. Ginny knew that she had had a major crush on him for most of her life, but after last year, she had given up on him even noticing her. Now… it was all different.

Ginny shivered again and pulled her covers tightly around her, trying to regain the heat that she had felt once before.

"Why is Master so upset? He was just doing what the fire-female asked of him." Hedwig asked the Phoenix beside her on their favorite perch.

Fawkes sighed. "I'm not sure if you know this, Hedwig, but humans are able to mate year round. But sometimes they don't want to mate before they have been involved in a complex human ceremony called marriage, where a couple is officially recognized as being mated to the other."

Hedwig shot an annoyed glare at Fawkes. "I know all that, Fawkes. I'm just curious as to why all the humans think it was so wrong of Master to try to mate with the fire-female."

"In the human world, if a girl is forced to mate, it is called rape. It… stains the honor of both involved. Humans view rape as a horrible crime."

Hedwig looked horrified. "You mean Master would have been in trouble?"

Fawkes nodded. "That would be an understatement. He'd be even more so because it is against the law to be an unregistered Animagi."

The avians took a second to think about their Master being in that much trouble. Inwardly, Hedwig acknowledged the fact that it was good that the kneazle-girl had stopped her Master from getting into trouble. One thing still bothered her.

"Fawkes, why was the fire-female in heat and not the kneazle-girl at the same time?"

The Phoenix looked at the owl incredulously. "You mean you don't know?"

Hedwig ruffled her wings, annoyed. "If I knew, would I be asking? I knew that the fire-female was in heat, but I don't understand why the kneazle-girl wasn't. Since the kneazle-girl is older, shouldn't she have been in heat too?"

Fawkes, being a male, really didn't want to talk about it. But, because Hedwig was still a bit ignorant of the human world, he forged on. "It's because it's Ginny's, or the fire-female as you call her, special time. Her body is young, yes, but if she mates she can produce young. I'd rather not delve into the mysteries of femininity, but let's just say that the human females go through a week each month of something very similar to an owl when the mating season is passed and she did not have any eggs."

Hedwig took a moment to process this information. "But I didn't see the fire-female dance the Dance of No-Eggs, or sing the Song of Spring." She stated, confused.

Fawkes twitched.

There's your chappie! Didja like it? I know that there were some... somewhat explicit content in there, but if you're reading this, I trust that you at least hold some degree of maturity. Kudos to those who guessed before I said it that Ginny was in heat. Note: I'm not an animal expert, so please don't hold me think me as such.

So, how've y'all been? Over here it's been a hectic one month, two weeks, and six days. First, you know that Dual Credit class I told y'all about? Yeah, my teacher's evil. We just had a midterm over Dracula, Frankenstein, and Jekyll and Hyde. I finished reading all three of them two nights before the final, and the only one I liked was Dracula. It didn't say "Tears made salty trails as they slid down her cheek" instead of "she cried" as it kinda did in Frankenstein and J&H. I recommend that you read the sparks notes for F and J&H, and read Dracula in whole, book form, if you ever need to. Dracula is a good read. Just... if you're easily scared, you might want to read it in the daytime.

Also, I turned 18 on February 28! Whoo! I've yet to do all the things that that age is entitled to (I meant going to a club, silly people ;-) ), but I will. Of course, as I tell my friends,I still act immature. Maturity is to be greatly prized, which is why I don't use it that much, and only bring it out for the most serious of occasions. ;-)

One last thing. SPRING BREAK IS HERE! Yeah, it just started for me. Since I live near a coast, I've been to the beach, and it's great. I mean, a week long of just lazing about? My dad says it's nothing new for me, and I stick my tongue out at him. :-P But hey, during SB, it's actually allowed and permissible!

Ok, that's all for now. I'll work on the next chappie some time soon! Please review! It makes me a happy author to see that I'm liked (or not, if that's the case, but I accept that I can't please everyone) and happy authors brainstorm more often. See where I'm going with this? You want me to be a happy author ;-).

Well, see you later! For those on SB; be safe, and don't do anything stupid. TNWM!

Ceres K.