Chapter 16

A/N: The incantation is a combination of "Animal" (which, according to Google, is the same in Latin and English), and "Factus", Latin for "make". To make one an animal. I tried to keep with JKR's Latin tradition of incantations.

I sat with McGonagall that very night. I had turned in my paper, and gotten an Outstanding. She sat with me in the transfiguration classroom after dinner, looking over the book one last time. After drilling me for a while, she finally sat back. "Now repeat after me- no wand. Animafactus."

"Animafactus," I replied. She had me repeat it a few times before she let me take my wand out, so that my pronunciation was perfect. I practiced with my wand, but I wasn't able to produce the spell that night.

It was February by the time that the spell actually did anything useful. Quite a few times, I had said the spell and been immediately stopped by McGonagall, danger imminent. I was with McGonagall, as usual, when I waved my wand and said, "Animafactus." Almost immediately, my point of view began to change. I didn't register that I was changing at first, but then I realized that I was on all fours, and when I looked down, I saw paws. McGonagall clapped sharply.

"Good job, Miss Harcourt. Excellent work."

I nodded slightly, sitting down and wagging my tail. I had a tail. A fluffy one. I turned around to look at it, seeing my soft gray-gold fur, pale in the torchlight. I turned back around, staring at my feet. The paws were soft and small, and I was sure silent. I trotted over to McGonagall. My head was level with her knee when I held it as high as I could. Closing my eyes, I concentrated, and slowly sat back on my human heels.

"Wow." McGonagall nodded. I stood, straightening my skirt. "That was… incredible."

"The transformations will come easier in time. You'll have to practice."

"Oh, I will," I grinned. I found empty classrooms at night, changing back and forth, from human to animal. I hadn't told anyone, not Parvati, Neville, or Draco. I wanted to brag about it, obviously, but McGonagall warned me about that. My animagus form would be too distinctive, too recognizable. If anyone knew me as a fox, they could attack me before I could change back and retaliate. However, I was a stealthy hunter, prowling the halls and night, dashing into empty classrooms when someone was coming, smelling, seeing. If the girls in my dormitory suspected anything, they said nothing. I was careful to make sure they were all asleep before I practiced, though.

I continued to practice with McGonagall, transitioning smoothly in the Transfiguration classroom. That was on my mind as Draco approached me one day before lunch.

"Are you alright?" he asked. I shrugged and nodded.

"Yeah, fine. Why?"

"You just seem a bit… off. Are you avoiding me?"

"If I was, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry." I smiled at him. "I'm just really wrapped up with classes right now. Say, the Valentine's Day Hogsmeade trip is coming up, yes?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Well, I will do quite the opposite of avoid you there, if you like. We haven't had a real date in a while."

He nodded, seeming relieved. "Alright. I thought you were cross with me."

"No, just very absent-minded." I lightly kissed him on the cheek, then went to the Ravenclaw table. Valentine's day was close. I had almost entirely forgotten about it. I silently reprimanded myself. I was so focused on becoming an animagus that I almost forgot about Draco. I sat down after lunch to write a letter to Uncle in Windhithe. My letters had grown sparse, and I needed to fix that. I wrote about my classes, friends, and a little bit about Draco, all handsome lies, of course. I sent it, then sat on the stairs outside the owlry, staring over the grounds. It really was beautiful here. The forest was dark, the lake quiet. It was cold, and I wrapped my coat tighter around me. It was almost Valentine's Day. I shuddered, shaking my head. Being Draco's girlfriend had become second nature by now. It had gotten me a little information, but not much. Not enough. I didn't know if it was worth it. But I was in too deep now. The troubling part was, I didn't entirely mind. I wasn't disgusted by his touch, like I should be. I longed for him sometimes. I banished those thoughts from my head as soon as they appeared.

When I appeared downstairs again, Draco was waiting for me, leaning against a wall at the base of the stairs.

"Hello," I said, bouncing down them.

"What were you doing?"

"Sending a letter, why else would I be in the owlry? Don't worry, I praised you to no end to my Uncle." I stuck out my tongue at him, then wrapped my arms around him and pulled him close. "Warm me."

"You're shivering."

"That's why I need you to warm me. You're such a useful mammal."

"You're… welcome?"

I pulled away from him, my hands and face pink and itching with warmth. "Now, I have a paper to write. I have come to despise everything Dementors."

"That's unfortunate. Need any help?"

"I don't think so. I'll be in the library if you need me." As I walked away, I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He was still, staring absently down the hall. I frowned. I would make up lost time on Valentine's Day. In the meantime, I had homework to do. Draco didn't have deadlines.

The Dark Arts, however, did. My paper on dementors focused on how to repel them, though in class, what Carrow mostly talked about was the actual process of sucking out someone's soul. I handed him the scroll of parchment. He leered down at me, taking it slowly from my hand. "And what did you learn about this is Salem, Miss Harcourt?"

"Oh, um…We learned the patronus charm last year, but we didn't learn as much about the actual dementors," I lied. It was the only way to explain how much I knew about it.

"And would you mind demonstrating that for us?" There were whispers around the room, and most of the people not in the DA looked doubtful. I closed my eyes and murmured held up my wand.

"Expecto Patronum." A silver corsac bolted around the room once and vanished. Carrow clapped a few times, then resumed his lesson. Draco looked at me in disbelief.

"That was a corporeal patronus."

"Like I said. Standard lesson. Every witch at Salem can perform the charm." I shrugged ant turned back to the front of the class, scratching out notes with my quill.