Fictional Character One-Shots And Shorts

The Werewolf (Hurt/Comfort/Fluff)

All I had to do was make it past the protective wards of the front gate and I would be safe. Unfortunately that was much easier said than done. The grounds were probably a quarter of a mile from where I stood, more than enough time for the powerful beast to catch me and swallow me down whole.

I was focused on motivating myself to just go for it when I suddenly realized I should have been paying a bit more attention to my surroundings. Another snap of a twig and a low growl from directly behind me made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, a chill running down my spine and it wasn't from my lack of winter clothing.

I turned as slowly as humanly possible to prolong the inevitable, and as my eyes traveled upwards to meet the ghastly, yellow, slit pupiled eyes of the seven foot tall beast in front of me, I instinctively took a hurried step backwards. The werewolf growled menacingly, daring me to run as my breathing became erratic, black dots obscuring my vision as the fear overtook my entire being.

'I'm not dying for Lockhart's bitch ass.' Was my last coherent thought before I took off at a dead sprint towards the castle. If I had been smart I would have stuck to the forest where the trees and brush offered me more protection and obstacles to slow the beast down. However, my spiraling panic sent me in the direction of the school, hoping that someone would spot me out of a window and get a professor down here before it was too late.

The werewolf pounded along behind me, easily covering ground between the two of us as it's claws had much better grip in the ice than my converse did. I could hear it gaining on me in seconds, it's hot, humid breath warming the back of my neck as it prepared to chomp down on my spinal cord to paralyze its prey.

Just as I felt the smooth, sharp bone of the animal's fangs brush my skin I veered to the left, slipping and sliding as I did so but keeping my footing nonetheless. Just as I had hoped, the creature could not hold its own in the slippery snow and hit the ground for only a second before jumping up and barreling after me a second time.

However, that split second allowed me to get ahead by several feet and it gave me the smallest shred of hope. If I could keep doing that I might just make it out of this alive. All I had to do was get to the school grounds.

I glanced back to see how much time I had before I needed to divert the beast's attention again, and found an even more surprising sight. A thestral was galloping full speed towards the two of us, the animal's ears pinned back against the wind and its breath coming out of its nostrils in spurts making it look like a dragon.

I recognized the creature immediately as one that had taken a liking to me in my first year at this school when I had no friends and often hung out with the herd of thestrals that roamed the edge of the forest and grounds. Most of the students could not see the animals and once the stallion of the band had discovered I could, he would often seek me out to play with and had even saved me when I fell from my broom during a quidditch match one time. A rogue quaffle had snapped my broomstick in half and the downpour of rain made it hard for the teacher's and students to see me falling helplessly over one hundred feet straight down. In my panic I had started yelling for my flying friend, knowing he was my only hope and it had worked. Flynn, as I had come to call him, swooped out from nowhere and caught me on his back, taking me safely down to the pitch. There had been quite some explaining to do when I just appeared to be floating midair on the field.

Now, here he was, coming to save me once again. Flynn easily passed the werewolf, close enough to brush shoulders with the beast that preyed on his herd, and on towards me. As he went by I grabbed onto the animal's withers and hopped a couple of times to swing myself up onto his skeletal back as he pushed onwards away from the werewolf.

I watched as the menacing creature became but a small dot behind us as Flynn propelled us forwards as fast as he could go, hooves gripping the ice as if it were dry dirt. Thestrals were incredibly intelligent and I expected him to take me straight into the castle walls but the closer we got to the gates the faster we seemed to go.