CATALYST

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry

Scotland, UK

September 24th

2022 A.D.

"LET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

Tannis and Lincoln weren't threatened by Athena, especially when she was locked inside a containment shield. She had woken up just as they had raised the field, turning a portion of the hospital wing into a prison cell by way of a small yellow crystal that was almost plugged in to a holder. It was a very helpful little device that was used in the off chance that someone contracted something contagious and needed to be kept separate from everyone else. Of course, it had never been used to hold an angry young Anomaly captive before.

"Athena, we understand what your going through and we are more than willing to be accommodating but I can't allow you to harm any of my students." Tannis said in his natural negotiation tone.

"She's not a student!" Athena growled, still pacing behind the slightly bronze looking shield.

"She lives within these walls, she gets the same protection as anyone else."

"Besides, you have any idea what Albus would do to you if you actually killed Aurora?" Lincoln added.

"I wasn't gonna kill her! I was just gonna leave her medium rare!"

"Again, not something he'd be too happy about."

Outside the hospital wing, Albus had been doing some pacing of his own. He had been wrestling with himself on whether or not to enter that room for the better part of 10 minutes now. Her scent was still strong in the air and causing his body to tingle with adrenaline. He had actually charged up the stairs with nothing but the thought of ravenous sex in his head but had managed to fight off his urges before actually entering.

Now he was trying his hardest to figure out how to handle this unexpected situation. He couldn't just stay away from her at all times. How could he protect her by doing that? And he refused to betray Aurora. He had seen and felt exactly what it was like to be betrayed, courtesy of his own father and he wasn't planning to follow in his footsteps.

He knew what he had to do, now he just need to find the strength to actually do it.

He took a deep breath allowing her smell to electrify his entire body, then grabbed the door handle and entered.

"When I get out of here I swear I am gonna -" Athena's words disappeared and she was left staring at Albus. She seemed almost in awe of him. "Albus..." she breathed.

"Hello Athena." Albus said simply before turning to Tannis and Lincoln. "You mind giving us a minute?"

They both headed for the exit but not before flashing looks of warning at Albus. They closed the door behind them.

Albus waited a second then flicked his fingers upwards causing the yellow crystal to pop out of it's socket. The shield dropped instantly.

Athena stayed planted where she was but took a deep breath of air, inhaling his smell. It sent a shiver down her spine and made her feel almost giddy. Just like she was to him, his scent was overpowering. It went way beyond anything natural and was more like some kind of industrial chemical that caused euphoria but was actually poisonous to breathe.

They simply stared, each waiting for the other to make a move.

"So..." she finally smiled. "how do I look?"

"Like a new woman." he answered quietly.

The little girl that he had rescued was long gone and standing in her place was something he never thought possible; a woman even more beautiful than Aurora.

"I am a new woman." she grinned, not taking her eyes away from his.

There was a pause of silence between them that Athena didn't seem to like.

"How are your powers working?" she asked.

"Fine...now...yours?"

"Fine...strange that your abilities went haywire the day we met and then started working once I started to change...don't you think?" she mused taking a few graceful steps towards him. Her anger and aggression had completely vanished and seemed have been replaced by a sort of aroused zen.

"Maybe it was being away from this place...all my friends."

"Maybe...I don't think so anymore. But you were right about one thing...I don't feel alone anymore." she moved closer to him.

Part of Albus screamed at him to keep his distance but his feet remained rooted in place.

"Good. The door isn't your only support Athena, we're all here. But, part of having friends is tolerating them." Albus said.

Athena laughed quietly. "Oh come on, I wasn't really gonna hurt her...I know how much that would upset you..." she stepped forward again, now close enough him that he was forced to look down at her. She stared back up at him with the same longing in her eyes. "I never want to upset you Albus..." her voice was rhythmic and seductive. "I want to make you happy..."

She leaned into him, pressing her breast against his chest and pushing her lips forward.

"And how will you make me happy?" Albus whispered, unable to take his eyes away from her. He felt his own lips being pulled towards hers.

"I'll do anything you want me to..."

"Anything?"

"Anything."

Albus leaned even closer but not to kiss her. He turned his head at the last second causing his lips to brush hers before moving closer to her ear causing her heart to flutter.

"Grow up." he whispered.

Athena was suddenly blasted off her feet and across the room. Albus flicked his fingers causing the yellow crystal to slide back into it's socket and raise the containment shield once again. Athena got to her feet looking outraged.

"What are you do -"

"I told you when I got here that you were grounded. Just because you died and aged a few years doesn't mean I've forgotten about that!" Albus smiled, he had successfully denied his own evolutionary instincts.

"YOU ASSHOLE! WE WERE HAVING A MOMENT!" she screamed.

"Yes well, why don't you use that moment to keep you company because until you change that attitude, your still grounded!" he said arrogantly before leaving the hospital. He lit up a cigarette, trying to cloud the still present scent and took a lung full of smoke.

Leaning against the wall outside was Lincoln who already had his eyebrows raised. "Congratulations...now you just have to do that every single time you're in the same room with her."

"You could have warned me!" Albus breathed out.

"Your cousin's the physic, not me. Was it as hard as you thought it would be?"

"Harder."

"Her pheromone levels will drop after a week or two."

"She didn't actually hurt Aurora did she?" Albus asked quickly before taking another drag on the cigarette.

"Nah, Aurora's a trained fighter. Athena a powerful girl but she doesn't have the discipline to properly use it yet... You did good." Lincoln smiled.

"Thanks...now if you'll excuse me, I have to go tip a bucket of ice water on my balls." Al actually serious about that.

Athena had ceased her attempts to try and shock her way out of her cell less than an hour later and was apparently now simply being left alone until she calmed down. The first few days after waking were always the hardest for a new Anomaly. After waking up from death, they always felt a strange guilt about not living up to their full potential sooner. They felt like their early years had been a waste and would disregard them soon after.

Newly empowered and alive for the first time, they would often seek out anything that would make their heart beat just a little bit faster. Of course, nothing could compare to finding an equal and producing a child to carry on their legacy. The act itself was supposed to be nothing less than earth shattering but the fact that it also meant that there would be a new addition to the species made it next to impossible to resist.

Albus was able to do it because his love for Aurora was acting as counter-weight to his burning desire for Athena. She had no such leverage and wanted nothing more than to remove her competition and copulate. For some females it was compared to a serious addiction. Even thought they had never actually experienced it before, their own bodies would tell them that they needed it. And much like a drug addict, Athena was now in the first stages of going cold turkey. She was aggressive and confrontational about being denied what she believed was rightfully hers. Soon she would enter desperation, when her hormones would peak and she would literally feel like she might die if she didn't find a mate.

Then it would pass and she would feel depressed. Like a failure for missing her opportunity but that would also pass.

Albus was never forced to endure this rights of passage because his brain and therefor everything else in his body had been scrambled by a dark curse for over five months. His body was still recovering from being subjected to such punishment that it simply didn't function properly when the time came.

He still had the uplifting sense of being reborn and living for the first time, he had experienced the sudden shot of arrogance from being gifted with such incredible power and he had even found an outlet for his aggression by stopping criminals, but the overwhelming need to continue his species never fully effected him. Instead it turned inwards and created a terrifying monster inside of him...one that would lay waste to anything it thought it had to. The aggression that Athena was feeling now was the same violence that Albus unleashed against the Cleric's, the Ministry and even his own family. During those few days he had killed more people than most Death Eaters had in six months.

Despite the design flaws, Anomalies were a brilliant creation. They were given abilities to defend their own lives and the natural programming to reproduce just like any human being was only at a much stronger level. They would overcome many of the obstacles that normal people fell prey to simply by instinct. There was no need for cheesy pick-up lines or dinner dates, meeting the parents or proper etiquette. They knew what they had to do and exactly how to do it. Love rarely, if ever, actually came into it.

In some strange way, Harry was actually glad that he would never have to go through these things. His marital issues were certainly the biggest fracture that his world had ever received but if he'd tried to combat them while going through some kind of epic mating cycle, he would have probably ended up killing himself. At least, that's what he thought after Sophia had explained everything to him.

She had told him about her experience with that kind of powerful longing and just how badly it could turn for some of them. Lincoln had actually gone out and tried to find a mate but fallen short because of the Cleric's. During his desperation, he had slept with eight girls in six days and had to pay for two abortions shortly after. Mainly because he was sure that the women had been caring some kind of STD at the time. An Anomaly would never allow the chance of damaged offspring to be born.

They may have looked human but they had the brutality of evolution drilled into their bodies by nature itself.

Now, it was Harry's turn to experience some brutality. He was going to do as Ginny had asked and confront Ron. He was expecting a certain amount of agony, either morally, mentally or physically or all of them but he also knew that he deserved everything he got.

That's thought didn't make it any easier to walk into the bathroom that Ron was using.

He was standing in front of the mirror, washing out his mouth after brushing his teeth. He noticed Harry enter but didn't look at him. He didn't even say a word.

"Ron..."

"Harry." he replied flatly.

"I'm sorry." Harry said honestly.

"You think that means anything to me?" Ron scathed, whipping his face with a towel and heading towards the door.

Harry stood in his way, blocking the exit.

"Get out of my way."

"No...we need to sort this out right now." even at his current age, Harry was still forced to look up at Ron who towered above him.

"You want another smack round the face, is that it?"

"If that's what it takes!"

Ron wasted no time in laying another massive right hook into Harry's cheek sending him to the floor. He glared at him for a second before heading for the door again.

"It's your fault!" Harry yelled.

Ron stopped in his tracks. He was frozen by Harry's words.

"You want to know why we did?" Harry asked, breathing hard.

Raw hatred began to consume him. Ron turned and grabbed Harry by the throat.

"I was your best friend, your brother-in-law and I betrayed you, I understand!" Harry managed to finish just as Ron brought another crushing blow into his face. This one split Harry's lip open causing blood to trickle down his chin.

"You wanted her for so long!" Harry continued as if the pain wasn't even affecting him.

Ron smacked him again. "SHUT UP!"

"We were all happy!"

Another punch, this one opening up Harry's cheek.

"But that doubt never really left your mind!"

This time Ron laid a massive boot into Harry's stomach in an effort to get him to stop. "SHUT UP!"

Harry groaned but continued. "You never believed that you were good enough for her!"

He smacked him again, but Harry wasn't going to stop.

"You always thought there was something between us! Something you couldn't have!"

Another punch. Ron's face was bright red with murderous rage. He wanted to kill him.

"And then we started to believe it too!"

Harry's face was almost completely covered with blood. Ron had opened up several cuts on his face and possibly even broken Harry's nose.

"We gave into that belief!"

He smashed Harry again, this time rattling a tooth out of his mouth.

"We were wrong!"

Ron stopped with his fist ready to strike again. Harry noticed for the first time just how heavily Ron was breathing and that he now had tears falling from his eyes.

"We knew it the moment we had done it! We hated each other for it but more than that, we hated ourselves! We never should have doubted...you never should have doubted..."

Ron gritted his teeth and moved his bloodied hand towards his pocket, extracting his wand. He pointed it at Harry and he could see the words coming out of his mouth before they ever did, but they never came. Ron had stopped.

"Do it..." Harry moaned quietly, clutching his stomach. "I deserve it...you deserve it...I told you, I'd do whatever it takes to make this right...if this is what it takes...then do it!"

Ron still didn't speak. He just looked at Harry like he had put a dagger through his heart. He would have followed his friend into the deepest levels of hell which only made this so much more painful.

"I BETRAYED YOU! I BETRAYED YOUR FAMILY!" Harry screamed. "I'M THE VILLAIN! BE THE HERO! DO IT! "

"CRUSI -"

Ron's wand flew out of his hand. He looked up wide eyed to see Albus standing in the doorway. He looked somewhat impressed but not amused.

"I hate heroes." he flicked his fingers.

Ron was blasted through the air so hard that he smashed straight through the wooden wall of one of the cubical and slumped to the ground covered in kindling. Dazed and racked with pain, Ron managed to slowly raise his head and look up at Albus.

"In house fighting is certainly whimsical today." he looked from Harry to Ron. "I never really expected this little team up to go smoothly but I leave for a little while and you lot start to tear each other apart! Will you people please get your fucking brains into gear!"

Both Harry and Ron were stunned at the fact that Albus was angry at them for fighting.

"Yes, he fucked your wife! Get over it! Don't think your any different from the ten thousand other people that have been betrayed at some point this week!" Albus growled at Ron. "You cheated on your wife! Deal with it! Don't think that you're any different from all the other silly wankers that have messed around behind their wives backs!" he said in the same tone to Harry. "If you two are determined to rip each other limb from limb then I'm inclined to let you. I'll just drop you off in the Arctic so that you don't interrupt any classes!"

Harry tried to pick him self up but the beating Ron had given him was a little more painful than he originally thought.

"I have got a lot of shit to deal with at the moment and I don't have time to break up your little therapy sessions! You can sort this out once I know that we're actually going to live long enough to see Rose's graduation!"

Albus turned and walked out of the bathroom leaving both men bewildered. As he left, two incredibly frightened third years froze in there tracks just as they were about enter the toilet.

"This ones out of order." Albus smiled before walking past them.

Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry

Scotland, UK

November 4th

2022 A.D.

Scorpius was sitting against the wall outside the hospital wing reading a book. Although Laura Pomfrey had set up a temporary infirmary down in the dungeons near the potions classrooms, students were still running to the usual place when they got hurt. Albus' friends were now taking it in turns to stand guard at the door when they weren't in lessons.

"Hey handsome." Rose smiled while walking towards him.

"Hey." he said receiving a kiss on the forehead. "Was this as boring for you when you did it?"

"Yep." Rose said taking a seat next to him. "what are you reading?"

Scorpius turned the cover so that she could see.

"Moby Dick?" Rose looked surprised and impressed. "you do realize that's a muggle book right?"

"Yes, I do. Al recommended it to me." he marked the page he was on and closed the book. "it's a bit weird. I keep expecting them to pull out wands at any second but they all use harpoons and stuff."

"It's a good book." Rose laughed. "I read it when I was about ten."

"Ten...and it didn't scare you?"

"No. I liked the psychological undertones more than the actual monster."

"I love having a smart girlfriend." Scorpius smiled, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "he also said I should read Hamlet."

"Shakespeare? I didn't realize that my cousin was so cultured."

"You read that as well?"

"No. I went for Romeo and Juliet during the third year. It was very relevant at the time."

Scorpius laughed. "I'm glad we didn't turn out like them!" he lent in for another kiss.

They were interrupted by Laura Pomfrey who was escorting a sobbing student towards the Hospital Wing. Scorpius and Rose stood up quickly. The small boy was whimpering and holding his left arm which seemed to be swelling up at an alarming rate.

"Err...I wouldn't recommend going in there."

"I just need to get Cooling Cream, there's none down in the potions stores!" Laura huffed.

"What happened to him?"

"Venomous Tentacula." Laura said quickly. "I can treat it but I need to stop the swelling!"

"All right! I'll get it." Scorpius opened the hospital wing door and went inside.

It was eerily quiet. The only real movement came from the smooth bronze rippling on the containment shield. Scorpius quietly and quietly moved over towards a small cabinet and started search for the Cooling Cream. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Athena crouched in the corner of her 'cell'. She slowly raised her head and looked up at him.

It was obvious from her red eyes and wet cheeks that she had been crying.

"I...I'm Scorpius..." he really didn't know what else to say.

"Please let me out..." she whispered.

"I-I can't...I'm sorry..."

"Please..."

"Albus is going to let you out in a few days...when you can...control yourself..."

"Please..." she whimpered as fresh tears started to fall from her eyes.

"I'm sorry..." Scorpius couldn't stand to be in there any longer. He just grabbed about seven different bottles and tubs from the cabinet and left the hospital wing as quickly as possible.

Scorpius came out looking even more pale than he usually did. He had expected her to still be violent and angry, not crying in despair. He felt a great wave of pity for her fall over him. Part of him wanted to go back inside and take down the shield so that she could at least go outside and walk around a little.

Another thing he wasn't ready for were her looks. He had been fully expecting a beautiful young Anomaly but he couldn't find words to describe how incredible she looked, even with tears streaming from her face.

"Here." Scorpius dumped the supplies in Laura's arms.

"Are you all right? She didn't try and hurt you did she?" Rose asked worryingly.

"No, it's fine." he lied, still fighting the urge to go back inside and free her.

November 10th

Scorpius didn't go back inside the hospital wing after that. He was sure that her pheromones and scent were actually affecting him even though he wasn't an Anomaly. He had felt a great deal of guilt about not staying with or freeing Athena and had shortly after, made the decision to stay away from her.

Amelia, Rose, Lily, Violet and Lynx had taken over watching the Hospital Wing door after that since women were immune to Athena's lure.

Every once in a while, there would be flashes of blue light from the cracks in the door. She had either gone back to trying to blast her way out of the field or was simply 'playing' with her power. Either way, they left her to it.

But during that afternoon, there was a lot more activity from inside the Hospital Wing. Blue flashes of light were coming out about once every two minutes, as if she were putting on some kind of electrical show. The dark thunder clouds outside the castle rumbled and almost seemed to cheer her on.

They had kept her prisoner for fifteen days and now that her scent had become a lot less potent, Albus decided it was time to let her try and control herself.

He entered the Hospital Wing and stopped just in front of the shield. Behind it, were about a dozen empty plants and glasses where nobody had actually been able to go inside and retrieve them. Even the house elf's didn't want to take the chance.

Blue sparks erupted from just behind her bed. She was crouched next to it, allowing lightning to jump from one open palm to the next. "What do you want?" she asked in a grumpy tone. Even though she didn't actually look at him, he could see that she wasn't showing any signs that she'd been crying recently and now just looked annoyed.

"I want to see if you can behave yourself."

"Stop treating me like a child!" She hissed.

"Act like an adult and I won't." he snapped his fingers causing the crystal to jump out of it's holster. The shield dropped instantly. She didn't seem to care. "Daddy's calling."

"What?" she growled.

"Zeus, the thunder God, father of Athena...there's a pretty big storm outside."

"I know, I can feel the static."

"How do you think you'll react to the lightning?" he asked.

"I don't know." she grumbled.

"Let's go find out."

"What's the point? You're just gonna stick me back in here after."

"Actually, Laura Pomfrey wants her hospital back...so I'm just going to have to trust you." Albus said quickly.

Athena finally looked up at him. "How do you know I won't try and fry your little princess?"

"Like I said...I'm trusting you."

Athena stood up and walked over to him. He got a heavy whiff of her scent that made him feel aroused and anxious at the same time. It was still pretty strong but not nearly as bad as before.

"Fine, let's go." she simply walked past him towards the door not seeming at all sexually interested in him any more.

They managed to avoid any large groups of students that would probably faint the moment they came close on there way out to the grounds.

Rain had already started pouring down and the heavy claps of thunder were twice as loud outside. Great strings of lightning lit up the sky above them as they moved out away from the school. They were almost completely soaked by the time they had moved away from the castle but it didn't bother them. Rain was a part of the world and Anomalies had a great amount of respect for nature.

Athena seemed almost excited about the amount of electricity in the air. She stopped and closed her eyes, letting the rain drops hit her face. She was smiling.

Suddenly a massive bolt of electricity shot down from the heavens and stuck her in the chest only she wasn't thrown backwards or hurt in any way. In fact, she was laughing. The lightning struck her again almost wrapping itself around her before disappearing.

"Tickles." She giggled.

"Seems to like you." Albus remarked.

Athena raised her hand to the sky, like she was actually calling the lightning down to her. A massive bolt hit her again but this time, once the flash had died she was gone. There was nothing but a black burn mark on the ground where she had been standing.

"Athena!" Albus yelled, looking around frantically.

Another bolt hit the ground, this time directly behind Albus. When it vanished, Athena was stood there with a cocky grin on her face. "What?" she said simply.

"Did...did you just travel on a lightning bolt?!" Albus asked in awe.

"Well, at least something around he will actually let me ride em." she remarked crassly.

"Athena..." Albus sighed. "you know that can't happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm with Aurora!"

"She's a human!" Athena shot back.

"I don't care!"

"Well, you should." Athena suddenly disappeared into the sky on another Lightning strike. A second later she shot back down on a another bolt behind Albus. "your going to live about a hundred and fifty years longer than her!"

"That's if I actually get to live to see my eighteenth birthday." Albus mumbled.

"We age three times slower than human! When she's eighty, you'll look about thirty!"

"So you're saying I should give up on her now because we'll look different ages in eighty years time?"

"I'm saying, you deserve better!" Athena sighed.

A thunder clap shook the area.

"She makes me happy!"

"So could I!" Athena yelled. Her wet hair was plastered across her face and somehow only managed to make her look even more desirable.

"You only want to be with me because your body is telling you to! You'll gain more control over yourself as time goes on -"

"And what if it isn't just hormones?" Athena asked. "What I actually want to be with you!"

"You don't!"

"How could I not?!" She yelled as thunder rumbled around them. "You saved my life, you told me the truth about my mother, you stopped my nightmares! I wanted to be with you long before I ever grew up!" her voice shook with the truth.

Albus didn't know what to say to that. He had been expecting her sexual advance but not this.

"Is it so hard for you to see?" she asked sadly as rain and thunder continued all around them. "I'm in love with you!"

"No! No your...your not!"

"How do you know?!"

"Because...you can't be!" Albus really had no evidence to back up his statement or prove hers wrong.

"You found me days before I matured! We had been searching for each other! We're part of the same prophecy! We're suppose to be together!" she cried.

"What?!" Albus blurted. "Just because the Prophecy said -"

"Not the Prophecy! The door!"

Albus was stunned into silence.

"It told me that we would be together! It said you would love me like I love you!" she tried to move closer to him but he backed away. "we're destined for each other!"

Albus suddenly felt a anger and frustration fill his body. He was already a slave to fate. It had mocked him by letting him believe he could change the future, only to see it come true right in front of his eyes. Now it was trying to control who he gave his heart to as well.

He hated destiny.

"The door lied!"

"It doesn't lie!"

"Well, it must have been because I'm not leaving Aurora!"

"Why not!" she demanded.

"Because she's having my baby!" Albus roared.

Athena looked like she had been stabbed through the gut. She took a step back clutching her chest. "What?"

"Aurora's pregnant!"

"No...she can't be..." Athena whimpered.

"I can assure you that she is!" Albus yelled. "Nothing is going to make me leave her! Not fate and not you!"

Athena dropped to her knees. She looked ill, like she was about to vomit. The look on her face was full of pain, like she had been forced to watch her mothers death again.

Albus wished he hadn't said anything now. He knew what he had done and he hated himself for it.

He had just broken her heart.

"Athena...I'm sorry..." he said walking towards her.

Before he could reach her, she raised her hand to the sky and was gone in explosion of lightning. This time, she didn't come back.