Chapter 26: Together Forever

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Draco’s POV

Recap: We reached the school grounds when the moon peaked out of the clouds. I looked down at Claire washed in the moon’s silver rays and gasped. In that moment her eyes had flown open and glowed metallic silver before turning pitch black. Her body jerked up making Haze flap up with a squawk of surprise. It was drowned out by Claire’s wolfish howling.

I heard the cracking of bones before I felt her change. Her howls of pain filled the silent night. The moon rays washed across her body making her ashen skin seem luminescent. I felt her nails dig into my arms, drawing blood. I didn’t want to drop her but she was really making it hard for me not to. I yelled in pain as her nails went deeper into my skin. Drinian came up from behind me and pulled Claire’s body out of my arms and onto the ground. I didn’t want him to but there was no strength in my arms to pull her back.

Claire let out a low growl before her body was sent in to spasms. Her mouth was opened wide but no noise came out as her body arched upwards. The only noise we could hear were her bones snapping and rearranging. I could see her ribs moving in different places. Her arms and legs were shifting into positions that were impossible for a human body to do. She let out a garbled moan between her elongated canine teeth. Claire was in so much pain and I couldn’t do anything but stare. She flipped her body over so that she could retch up everything in her stomach. That was when I saw her spine arc upwards. I thought it would break through her skin from how prominent it was. She let out another groan that had me on my knees pulling her into my arms. I tucked her head into my neck as I tried to soothe her. Claire let out an ear-splitting howl, clamping her hands to her head as if she was trying to hold it together. Tears were rolling out of both of our eyes. I was in pain because she was in so much of it.

“Claire, love,” I choked out in sobs. “I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what is going on!” If I had any part of my heart left to break, it just shattered.

Claire let out one last human scream before the transition finally happened. She ripped off her clothes and tore them into shreds with her claws. Where the clothes had fallen away hair sprouted from her skin. The rest of her bones cracked and moved into positions that were unnatural. With a wolf howl, she was finally turned into a wolf. Claire didn’t look like those hideous beast werewolves that Snape had taught us the previous year. No, she was an actual wolf with a silver coat that shined in the moon’s rays. She was beautiful.

And deadly.

Her lips were raised and her teeth barred as she growled at me and Drinian. I wasn’t afraid though. I knew Claire wouldn’t attack me. She was just giving me a warning to back off. I raised my hands to show that I wasn’t going to harm her. The wolf kept her eyes on us as she backed away from us slowly. I was in awe by her grandeur and gracefulness.

As Claire reached the forest she turned and bolted into the shadows. I ran after her, not thinking about the danger. Drinian called out for me to stop but I didn’t listen. I wanted to make sure Claire didn’t get hurt by the unknown creatures in the Forbidden Forest. I weaved through the trees hoping to see a flash of her silver coat. The forest was so dark that I could barely even see three feet in front of me. I finally saw a light ahead making me run as fast as I could towards it. When I reached I realized it was just a small opening from the trees where the moonlight shone down. Running a hand through my hair, I sat in the moonlight unsure of what to do. Claire was nowhere to be found and I was in the Forbidden Forest alone.

My heart was broken and my soul crushed in just a span of a few hours. It was my fault though. If it weren’t for me just confronting Claire and making her stay with me at the school, none of this would have happened. Claire would be wrapped up in my embrace instead of out running through the forest as a wolf. This was my fault. If anything happened to her…

What? What could possibly happen to me? I was already broken beyond repair. Only Claire could save me, but she was a wolf now. How do I know if she would ever turn back? How do I know if she is even the same Claire?

A branch shattered in the distance, snapping me out of my dark thoughts. I backed out of the moonlight and behind a tree. If I ran whatever was in the forest would hear me. I pulled out Potter’s invisibility cloak from my pocket and tossed it over my head. Peeking from behind the tree, I scanned the forest as hard as my eyes could. I couldn’t see anything though. Another stick broke, but this time it was closer than before. I tried to calm myself so that my breaths came out even. My heart raced as I kept looking out into the dark forest. Then I saw movement. Something was coming towards me fast. I held my breath just as it stepped into the moonlight.

I sighed in relief. It was just Drinian.

I pulled off the cloak as I said, “I have never been so glad to see you.” Drinian let out a small shout in surprise then turned towards me. A smirk drifted onto my lips for a brief second.

“You are still an ass, but the same goes for me,” Drinian gave a huff. I ran my fingers though my hair, thinking of how we were going to find Claire now. The forest stretched for miles and Claire could be anywhere. It was impossible. “Hey did you hear that?” Drinian whispered.

I rolled my eyes, frustrated that he kept breaking my train of thought. I snapped, “No, I didn’t hear anything but your heavy panting. Shut up so I can think.” I thought of all the spells that I could use, but none of them would help. I didn’t even know a simple tracking spell. Potions, on the other hand, would find Claire in seconds and our way out of the forest. But I was a little low on resources at the moment.

Drinian placed a hand on my shoulder as he looked up at the moon. My annoyance with the boy was at its max. I was about to tell him off when I heard it. It was the majestic tune of a phoenix. A flash of gold lit up the dark overhangs.

“Haze?” How did he even find us? Did that mean he could find Claire? “Can you lead us to Claire?” Haze let out a soft whistle before he flew off the tree branch. I could barely see his midnight black wings in the dark, but I could hear their flaps. He flew low so that we could see him from the ground. We followed Haze for several minutes until we came to the edge of the forest. I huffed, “I didn’t want to be led out of the forest. We just wanted to find…” My words died on my tongue as I saw the pale naked figure of a girl curled on the ground. She wasn’t moving. I gasped before I ran to her. I pulled out the cloak and draped it across her body. Her face turned upwards as she dreamed. I let out a breath of relief that she was just sleeping.

Drinian came up from behind me and muttered, “We better go. Dumbledore will probably be waiting for her.”

I gave him a questioning glance as I asked, “Why would he?”

“Didn’t you see Fawkes was waiting with Claire? I’m pretty sure Dumbledore sent him to find out what happened to her.” Drinian told me like I was daft.

Gathering her into my arms, I started on my way back to the castle. “Well you can tell him all about our adventures while I take Claire to the hospital wing. If he really wants to talk to her then he is going to wait until she is better. The old man will probably understand.” I could feel him rolling his eyes at me but he wasn’t about to argue back with me because he knew I was right.

Claire let out a small whimper that sounded more canine than human. I sighed thinking about the future for her and I. We were never going to be the same. But it made me realize that this girl in my arms was my life. I was going to help her go through this. We were going to get through this, together. Together Forever.

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