To say that Harry was happy would have been an understatement. To say he was ecstatic would also be an understatement. There were no words to describe just how wonderful Harry felt. No word was good enough.
After they had declared their love for each other, and another passionate kiss, they sat on the edge of the pool with their feet in the water. They sat in silence, merely enjoying each other's company and comfort. Hermione had her head resting on Harry's shoulder and Harry had his arm around her waist. It had taken him too long to realize just how much she meant to him, and he was never letting her go.
He didn't know how long they sat there like that. When Hermione shifted away from him he felt his body scream to hold her again. He looked at her and felt relief when she saw her smiling at him tenderly.
She got on her knees and gave him another light kiss on the lips. "This feels right," she said warmly.
"You've got that right," he said while he kissed her back. "I think I've always wanted to do this, I just didn't realize it."
"Same here," Hermione said while she sat back down. "It really just hit me how much I love you last night."
Harry chuckled. "Last night?"
Hermione raised an eyebrow. "The feelings have always been there, I just didn't understand what they were."
They kissed again, only coming up for air when it was an absolute necessity. When they came up for air for the third time, Hermione smiled mischievously and pulled Harry into the pool. Harry, who still had his clothes on, gasped at the cold temperature of the water. He smirked at Hermione and retaliated by splashing her.
They kept their water war in the shallow end of the pool. By the time they were done splashing each other, they were absolutely soaked. Hermione laughed at the sight of Harry's hair plastered all over his face.
Her laughter was cut short when she looked down and saw the long, hideous scar that cut across her torso.
Sensing her abrupt change of emotions, Harry immediately waded over to her and gently traced the scar with his finger. Hermione barely suppressed a shudder at his touch.
"You're beautiful," Harry whispered. "Never think otherwise. You don't have to glamour these scars anymore. You don't have to hide anymore Mione'."
Hermione sniffed and grabbed Harry's hand. "I don't mean to be so shallow."
Harry grinned and kissed her softly. "You're not shallow."
They played in the pool until they heard a knock on the door. Hermione immediately ran to her clothes and threw the towel around her; she wasn't ready for anyone else to see her scars yet.
"Yes?" she called.
The door opened and Ivy and Kex poked their heads in, both unsure of whether or not they should be there.
"Sorry to interrupt anything," Ivy said anxiously. "But Winky says that breakfast is ready."
The familiars moved to leave the pool room when Hermione scoffed. "You set us up didn't you?"
Kex and Ivy flinched and looked incredibly nervous. "We're sorry that we tricked you," Kex said earnestly. "But you're both so stubborn that you needed a push."
Harry and Hermione glared at them. "So you lied to me and told me that Hermione wanted to talk to me," Harry accused.
"And you convinced me to leave my wands behind and to not glamour my scars," Hermione put in.
Kex looked down shamefully, but Ivy stepped into the pool room confidently. "It was my idea. Can you honestly stay angry with me? Knowing that it was my trick that finally made you two realize just how much you mean to each other?"
"We would've figured it out," Harry said defensively.
"No you wouldn't have," Kex disagreed while he ran up to stand next to Ivy. "We're sorry that we had to trick you and play off of your insecurities, but we aren't sorry that we did it."
Hermione glared at Ivy, but she couldn't bring herself to stay angry. Kneeling on the floor, she held out her arms and the fennec fox immediately sprinted over and leapt into the open arms. "Thank you. But I hope that you don't make a habit out of tricking me."
"I didn't enjoy it either," Ivy said. "But I will do whatever it takes to make you happy."
While Hermione and Ivy hugged it out, Harry glared at Kex for a few more seconds. Finally he sighed and gestured for Kex to come over. Kex quickly ran over and climbed up Harry to rest on his shoulder.
"You're all wet," Kex complained.
Harry rolled his eyes. "Hermione pulled me in the pool."
Hermione giggled and put Ivy down. "You should change before breakfast," she said while she dried off and put on her clothes. "You don't want to give Winky even more work by ruining the dining room."
"Alright love," he laughed.
Silence filled the poolroom and Harry was afraid that he had said the wrong thing. His fears were quickly extinguished when Hermione gave him a tender kiss on the lips.
"I like that," she whispered.
Harry wrapped his arms around her. "You're my love."
It was Ivy's reminder that everyone was waiting on them that finally broke the two apart. Hermione picked Ivy back up and led the way out of the room with Harry on her heels. When Harry went to his room to change, Hermione ran to the dining room.
Luna and Neville were already there eating breakfast. Luna gave Hermione one look before a huge smile broke out on her face.
Hermione returned the smile and blushed slightly. She gave a tentative nod but didn't say anything.
When Harry walked in the dining room, he immediately sat next to Hermione and took her hand under the table discreetly. He didn't count on Sage lying underneath the table and seeing the whole thing.
Smirking, the wolf crawled out of underneath the table and sat next to Neville. "You owe me a juicy bone and the bed for a week."
Neville looked from Sage to Harry and Hermione in surprise. "You guys finally got together? Damn, I bet Sage that it wouldn't happen until our second year. Now I'm going to have to share a bed with him for a week," Neville laughed. He grinned at Harry. "Way to go mate."
Both Harry and Hermione blushed a little before they put their interlocked hands on the table.
"I love her," Harry said simply. "I can't believe how lucky I am that she returns my love."
Hermione beamed and squeezed Harry's hand lovingly. "I'm the lucky one."
Harry opened his mouth to disagree when Kex dug his claws into Harry's shoulder.
"Ow! Kex what was that for?" Harry demanded.
"It's too early to listen to the two of you debate over who loves each other more," Kex complained. "Do that after I've woken up."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Fine."
They ate breakfast slowly. Harry and Hermione kept glancing at the other and smiling shyly. When they did this Luna would look at Neville discreetly and blush whenever she felt Neville look at her.
When they were done with breakfast, Hermione excused herself and went to the library with Ivy on her heels. Even though Harry wanted to stay with her, he knew that the library was her place to think and he didn't want to intrude on that time.
While Hermione did research, Harry excused himself and went to the pool room to practice his Occlumency. With Harry and Hermione gone, only Luna and Neville were left in the dining room. Fay and Sage looked at their partners expectantly before they quietly snuck out of the room.
Neville looked at Luna nervously and chuckled. "About time that they got together, huh?"
Luna nodded in agreement. "I'm glad that they're happy."
An awkward silence filled the room. Luna kept looking at Neville from underneath her eyelashes, but didn't say anything. She could see that Neville was blushing, and it made her smile.
"So," Neville began awkwardly. "How's your partial transformation? Can I help you?"
Luna smiled happily and looked into his eyes. Any excuse to be alone with him was a good excuse for her. "I would love the extra help."
They went to the training room and sat on the cold floor. They began by grasping their animal instincts. They were so practiced at the first step that it only took seconds for them. Once they both had their hold, they evened out their breath and began to search.
"Find the core," Neville instructed quietly. "Find the core of your instincts."
Luna followed the dull tug with her magic. The tug led her to the core of animal instincts. This part was easy for her; it was the next step that was difficult.
"Reach your hand out," Neville instructed.
Of course he wasn't talking about her physical hand. He was referring to her spiritual self, or more accurately, her animal self. Even though they didn't know what they were, they had the spirits of animals; they just had to be tapped into.
Luna bit her lip and struggled to move her spirit self's hand towards her core. Coordinating what her mind wanted with what her spirit did was incredibly difficult. Sweat began to pour down her face while she struggled to move her spirit self.
After a couple of minutes, Luna gasped for air and lost her grip on her core. "I lost it," she panted bitterly. "It's always the same. Why can't I do it?"
Neville smiled sympathetically and grabbed her hand in his. Immediately Luna took in a sharp gasp of air, but didn't move away. "Don't give up, try again. I'll try to help guide you with my own magic."
Luna nodded, closed her eyes and tapped into her animal instincts once again. Once she secured her grip on her instincts, she struggled to reach her spiritual hand out and grab the core. She was beginning to struggle again and just when she was about to lose it she felt Neville's magic steady her grip.
"Now," Neville commanded when he felt her hand was within reach.
Right away, Luna closed her hand around the core. She was surprised at how hot it was and it was more difficult for her to hold onto it than it was for her to grasp it.
"Is it supposed to hurt Neville?" Luna panted. "My hand feels like it's on fire."
"Open your eyes," Neville said happily.
Luna obliged and opened her eyes. She looked down at her hand to figure out why it hurt so much and gasped. Instead of looking at her slightly pale, delicate hand, she was staring at a paw. The paw was covered in very light, almost blond, brown fur and was slightly bigger than Ivy's paw.
"Wow," Luna gasped. Sweat was pouring down her face while she tried to maintain the form while she examined it. "I'm obviously a mammal, I'm small and I have retractable claws. So I'm obviously a feline though I doubt that I'm a big cat."
"Congratulations Luna," Neville said with a true smile. "I can't wait to see what your Animagus form is."
Luna returned the smile and looked Neville in the eye. "And I can't wait to see yours."
They continued to train for over an hour. By the time the hour was up, Luna didn't need Neville's guidance anymore, but neither of them let go of the other's hand.
Everyone stood in the training room wearing their battle clothes and weapons strapped on while they stretched and prepared for the day's duel. They had only a few months left in the trunk, and they were starting to duel seriously.
Harry was strapping his sword that Zux had given him to the belt of his dragonhide pants while Kex watched. The dragonhide battle clothes were a gift to his friends from himself for their fake Christmas. After his sword, which he had dubbed Darkslayer, was secure Harry smiled and picked Kex up off of the floor.
"Will you stay out of the way?" Harry asked his familiar.
Kex scowled and looked away. "I could help," he insisted. "You aren't the only one who has been training you know."
Harry immediately shook his head. "We haven't worked on our combo enough. These are serious duels and I'm not confident yet with the work that we've done."
Kex growled in anger before leaping out of Harry's arms and running towards the secure watching area. He agilely climbed on the chair and curled in a little ball to sulk.
"You've hurt his pride," Hermione said behind Harry.
Harry turned around and smiled when he saw his girlfriend. Hermione's dragonhide clothes fit her in just the right places. With the gift Harry won in two ways. He knew that Hermione was protected and he also got to see how great she looked while wearing it.
"Are you staring Harry?" Hermione asked amusedly.
"Of course," Harry answered shamelessly. "Why wouldn't I want to stare at my girlfriend whom I love?"
Hermione beamed and gave Harry a light kiss on the lips. "Hopefully you'll still love me when I beat you," she teased.
Before Harry could retort, Ivy came running up towards them. She was wearing a small dragonhide vest that covered all of her body except for her legs, tail and head without limiting her movement. It was her fake Christmas gift from Hermione. It had taken both Hermione and Winky to get the dragonhide to fit Ivy without it losing its protective qualities.
"I'm ready Hermione," Ivy said excitedly while she admired how the dragonhide looked on her. "Who knew that scales would be this comfortable?"
"You're using Ivy in your duel?" Harry asked, surprised.
Hermione nodded and secured her quiver to her back along with her bow. "Ivy and I have been practicing something that we want to use against an opponent. I've got a few tricks up my sleeve Potter," she smirked.
Harry laughed and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I know that you've got some tricks. Merlin knows that you surprise me every single day."
Hermione smiled lovingly and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck.
"Save the lovey dovey stuff for after the duel," Neville laughed.
Harry and Hermione turned towards Neville. Neville was walking into the training room wearing his dragonhide armor with Sage trotting on his left and Luna, with Fay on her shoulder, on his right.
"You're one to talk," Harry joked while he pointed to Neville's and Luna's interlocked hands.
They laughed with Harry and Hermione before sharing a light, but passionate kiss. Shortly after Neville had helped Luna with her partial transformation they both realized just how much they loved each other and they had been a couple ever since.
"I can't bear to let her go," Neville said passionately while he looked Luna in the eye.
"I'm afraid that you'll have to for our duels," Hermione pointed out.
Neville gave an exaggerated sigh and took his hand back. Turning to Sage he said, "Time to head to the sidelines pal."
The large, powerful wolf whined and his tail drooped. "No fair," he whined. "Ivy gets to fight."
Neville glanced over at the fennec fox for the first time and raised an eyebrow at the dragonhide. "Knowing Hermione and Ivy, they've been practicing something wicked and they want to try it out."
"Guilty," Hermione and Ivy said at the same time. "We do have something to show," Hermione said slyly with a slight fox grin.
It never ceased to amaze the others just how fox-like Hermione had become during their time in the trunk. She was incredibly tricky to figure out during a duel, she always did something unexpected. What she lacked in sheer power, she made up for in wit and cunning.
"Anyway," Harry interjected before Neville or Sage could respond. "Who would like to go first?"
Immediately Neville raised his hand. Next to Harry, Neville had the most magical power. He smiled and secured his sword that was attached to his own dragonhide armor and tightened the leather straps that secured his shield to his back.
"Okay Neville, who do you want to take on?" Harry asked.
"Do you even need to ask?" Neville laughed while he returned Hermione's sly smile. "I want to see what tricks that you've got up your sleeve."
Hermione nodded in agreement. "Let's do this."
Harry, Luna, Fay and Sage quickly went to join Sage in the observation area. Once they were all within the boundaries, Harry activated the permanent safety runes that Hermione had placed there. While they were getting comfortable, Neville and Hermione with Ivy in tow stood about twenty feet apart with their hands free of any of their weapons.
"May the better fighter win," Neville said with his bright smile.
Hermione couldn't help but return the smile. "No fatal wounds, the first one to incapacitate the other wins."
"Agreed," Neville said.
Before they began, Hermione looked down at Ivy who was fidgeting anxiously by her feet. "You'll do great," Hermione assured her. "You're my ace in the hole."
Ivy smiled gratefully and gave herself a quick shake before she got into an offensive position.
Over on the sidelines they could hear Sage sigh enviously, but neither of them looked.
"On the count of three," Hermione said and Neville nodded in agreement.
"One…two…three!"
Immediately, Hermione dropped to her knees and rolled in the opposite direction of Ivy to avoid Neville's stunner. Before Hermione could stand back up, Neville was rushing towards her with his sword drawn.
Hermione quickly grabbed the bow off of her back and used it to parry Neville's strikes. Because the bow was goblin made, nothing could break it, not even another goblin made weapon. Neville kept on the offensive and kept pushing Hermione back. Before he could knock her bow out of her hands, Hermione grabbed an arrow out of her quiver and jabbed it into Neville's sword hand, forcing him to drop his sword.
Neville cursed and quickly leapt back a few paces before he grabbed a handful of leaves out of his pocket and rubbed them on the wound. Immediately the wound shrunk before it was healed altogether.
"Come on Hermione," he said while he pocketed the leaves. "You could have easily driven that arrow all the way through my hand. No holding back."
Hermione smiled apologetically and grabbed another arrow. She expertly set it in the bow and drew it back. Making sure that she wasn't aiming for a vital point, she pumped some of her magic into the arrowhead before releasing. The arrow flew and hit Neville in the shoulder, barely piercing his armor. From the sidelines they could hear Luna gasp at the slight flow of blood, but Neville and Hermione were too focused on each other to notice.
With a grunt, Neville pulled the arrow out of his shoulder and drew his birch wand. With a precise flick he yelled "Impediment!"
Hermione cursed when she felt her movements become slow and sluggish. Panic began to rise in her when she saw Neville point his wand at her chest.
"Sorry Hermione," Neville said with a triumphant smirk. "Fumunculus!"
Before the spell could hit her and cover her with boils, Hermione closed her eyes and concentrated all of her energy on the bond she had with Ivy. She disappeared with a barely audible 'crack' right before the spell made contact.
Neville looked around confusedly with his wand raised. He scanned the room with his wand raised. "Where are you Hermione?" he mumbled.
As if to answer his question, a sharp pain in his wrist broke through his dragonhide armor causing him to drop his wand. He looked down and was shocked to see that Ivy was standing in front of him with her teeth bared in a snarl.
Neville reached for his wand, but Ivy sent it across the room with a flick of her tail. Ivy smirked slightly and began running through Neville's legs.
"What the bloody hell are you two doing?" Neville demanded exasperatedly.
His question was answered once again when he felt his legs lock together, just barely crushing Ivy. Cursing loudly, he fell to the ground.
"Leg lock curse," Ivy said smugly.
"How?" Neville gasped.
Ivy gave her fox grin. "That's just one of our tricks."
Neville drew his old wand and yelled "Stupefy!"
The fox jumped high in the air to avoid it and rolled off to the side. There was another soft 'crack' as Hermione separated from her familiar. Both were smiling happily that they had successfully used a spell together without a wand. While they were grinning, Neville summoned his birch wand and was desperately trying to cancel the curse in order to allow him some mobility.
"Why is this curse so strong," he mumbled.
"Don't you remember what I told you?" Hermione asked. "When a true familiar adds their magic to our own, a spell can be twice as strong even without the use of a wand."
Neville cursed and pumped more power into the counter curse. While he was struggling, Hermione knelt on the floor next to Ivy and closed her eyes.
"Time for trick number two," Hermione smirked.
From the sidelines Harry and Luna half expected Hermione to Body Merge with Ivy again, but they quickly noticed that Hermione wasn't the one releasing the energy needed to do the merge. Everyone gasped in shock when they heard the familiar 'crack' of apparition, but Hermione stayed where she was.
Hermione swayed and had to use her hands to brace herself. Once she was somewhat steady, she stood up and opened her eyes.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, disbelieving from his spot on the sidelines.
Hermione looked towards him, but not through the chocolate-brown eyes that he loved so much. Instead she was looking through Ivy's black eyes.
"Well this feels weird," Hermione commented while she rubbed her eyes.
While Hermione was disoriented, Neville managed to release the leg locking spell. He pulled his shield off of his back and gently placed it on the floor to the side.
"You aren't the only one with tricks up their sleeves," Neville said seriously.
"Don't Neville!" Sage barked, alarmed.
For once, Neville didn't listen to his beloved familiar. He sheathed his wands and took in a few shuddering breaths.
"What's he doing?" Hermione heard Ivy ask in her head.
"I don't know," Hermione whispered.
Neville suddenly crashed to his knees and started trembling violently.
"Neville!" Luna cried out worriedly. Turning to Hermione she demanded, "What did you do to him?"
"I haven't done anything!" Hermione shouted back.
While Luna and Harry tried to deactivate the runes quickly, Hermione ran up to Neville and placed a gentle hand on his back.
"Neville what's wrong?" Hermione asked.
Neville suddenly turned his head towards her and Hermione recoiled when she saw that his eyes were dark and animalistic.
"What the…" Hermione began.
"Hermione get away from him!" Sage ordered.
Before Hermione could get away from him, Neville's body gave one large spasm. He cried out in agony, but the cry turned into a howl. With more force than Hermione thought possible, Neville knocked her back twenty feet. Hermione cried out in pain when she felt a rib break and she felt her eyes widen in horror when Neville's form changed and his robes tore.
Standing twenty feet away and looking at her savagely was an incredibly large brown wolf that stood over five feet tall. The wolf stared at her hungrily, and before anyone could act, it lunged for Hermione.
chapter 14
Hermione sat on the floor frozen while Neville began charging at her. The robes that he had been wearing hadn't transformed with him like the dragonhide had and were hanging loosely all over the wolf's body.
"Hermione!" Harry called out desperately. "Get out of the way!"
Hearing Harry's voice helped Hermione snap out of her initial shock and roll out of the way just before Neville's massive paws crashed where she had been seconds before. Tears began to fill her eyes as her rib seared painfully.
"Hermione we have to force him out of his Animagus form," Ivy said in her head, her voice filled with the same pain that Hermione felt.
"I know," Hermione said through clenched teeth while she hugged her ribs. "I'll have to cast a homorphus charm; I'll need your help though."
Hermione felt Ivy nod in her head in agreement. Wincing, Hermione pulled out her ash wand and pointed it at Neville who was slowly stalking towards her with his lips pulled back into a hungry snarl.
Before she could cast the charm though, Neville leapt at her again and dug his teeth into her leg. Had Hermione not been wearing dragonhide, there was a strong possibility that Neville would have bitten right through her leg. Hermione screamed in agony and struggled to maintain the body merge with Ivy. Even though the dragonhide had absorbed most of the impact, Neville's teeth still dug into her leg and it hurt.
Hermione aimed her ash wand in-between Neville's eyes and shouted "Stupefy!"
The large wolf that was Neville was thrown back across the room, but he didn't fall unconscious like he should have.
"That wolf is impervious to stunners?" Ivy asked, terrified. "How do you perform the homorphus charm?"
"That's what I'm trying to remember," Hermione panted. "I didn't expect any of us to achieve our Animagus form for another couple months at best."
Hermione hastily stopped the bleeding with her wand, but couldn't heal the wound. Before Neville could charge her again, she struggled to her feet and yelled "Impediment!" while aiming at Neville.
Neville, who was beginning to charge her, began to slow down, but he quickly shook the spell off and began running at Hermione full speed.
Out of instinct, Hermione used elf apparition to get out of the way just before Neville's massive paws could touch her. She reappeared right in front of the protected observing area where Harry and Luna were frantically trying to deactivate the runes.
"Damn Hermione," Harry grunted while he poured his magic into the runes. "These runes are strong; you have to get out of here!"
Hermione shook her head and leaned against the barrier in exhaustion while she kept a wary on Neville who was slowly stalking towards her. "They need to be deactivated from both sides, I've been designing this so that they're impenetrable, I guess I was too thorough."
"Then let us out!" Luna cried while she brokenly watched her boyfriend stalk her best friend like a piece of fresh kill.
Hermione lifted her ash wand to deactivate the runes, but hesitated. "I won't let Neville get you too," she said determinedly while she turned away from the barrier.
"Hermione I can't apparate out of this barrier! You have to let us out, you're injured and won't stand a chance against Neville," Harry shouted desperately.
"I just need time to think," Hermione snapped.
Neville got tired of stalking and sprinted towards the barrier. Right before Neville made contact Hermione apparated to the other side of the room, causing Neville to slam full force into the barrier.
Neville yelped in pain and began striking at the barrier in a fury. Inside the barrier Harry had pushed Luna and the familiars behind him and had his alder wand risen just in case the barrier fell.
"Neville please," Luna begged. "Regain control of yourself!"
Neville snarled at Luna and turned around to sprint once again towards Hermione.
"Averte Statura!" Hermione shouted.
The snarl quickly turned into a yelp as Neville was thrown across the room. Once Neville was back on his feet his eyes blazed in anger. With another howl, Neville came running towards Hermione.
"Hermione!" Harry cried desperately while he watched Neville close the distance and Hermione standing firm.
"Do you remember?" Ivy asked nervously. When Hermione nodded, Ivy sighed in relief and began adding her magic with Hermione's for the spell
"Sorry Neville," Hermione whispered. With a complicated wand movement and Ivy adding her magic, Hermione cast the spell, aiming right for Neville.
The spell hit Neville right in the chest. As soon as the spell made contact, Neville's body gave one big spasm before he collapsed to the ground and transformed back.
Neville coughed violently for a minute before looking around confusedly. He looked in front of him and saw Hermione eyeing him nervously through Ivy's eyes. He was about to ask what was wrong when he saw how she was clutching her ribs and her bleeding leg.
"Merlin," Neville gasped. He immediately got to his feet and helped Hermione sit down. "I'm so sorry Hermione; I thought that I could control it."
"It's alright Neville," Hermione said while she closed her eyes in concentration.
There was the familiar 'crack' as Ivy separated from Hermione. The fox immediately lied down on the floor and limited her movement.
"Where's Winky?" Ivy asked. "You need to get your rib and leg healed; I feel the same pain that you do remember."
Hermione smiled. "Winky is out with Dobby shopping. We'll live until they get back."
Ivy sighed exaggeratingly but didn't complain again.
"Could you release the runes Neville?" Hermione asked. "I apparently did too good a job."
Neville chuckled bitterly and slowly walked over to the barrier. He took his wand and deactivated the runes from the outside while Harry deactivated them from the inside.
As soon as the barrier was gone, Harry sprinted towards Hermione with Kex behind him. Luna stayed with Neville and tentatively reached her hand out to grab Neville's. As soon as he saw her reach out to him, Neville pulled back sorrowfully.
"I'm not safe Luna," Neville whispered. "You were right Sage, I couldn't control it. Because of my pride I nearly killed one of my best friends."
"You're not dangerous," Luna urged him. "You'll learn to control it. I can't imagine that it's easy to hang onto your humanity when you're a dire wolf."
"So that's what I am," Neville said sourly. "I'm a monster."
Without another word, Neville turned and ran down the hall towards the pool. Luna hesitated for a brief second before she got a determined look on her face and sprinted after him. Their familiars watched them sadly, but didn't follow. Instead Sage slowly walked over to Harry and Hermione with Fay perched on his back.
When they got to Hermione, Sage sat down next to Ivy heavily and looked at Hermione apologetically.
"I'm sorry Hermione," he said truthfully. "I warned him that his form felt more primal than yours, but he insisted that he could control it."
Hermione waved away his apology. "Neville has been practicing on his own hasn't he?"
Sage hesitated a moment before nodding. "He enjoyed being the leader of something other than Herbology. Despite all the time that we've spent together, he still doubts himself. He almost did a full transformation the other night, and I felt the blood thirst that he felt so I bit him before he finished. He'll never want to change again after this," Sage said sorrowfully.
"I'm sure that Luna can help make him feel better," Hermione assured the wolf.
Harry glared slightly towards where Neville had run, but he quickly brushed it off and replaced it with concern for his girlfriend. "We should get you into bed so you can rest until Winky gets back. Are you sure that you don't want me to call for her?"
"Don't you dare Harry," Hermione said. "Winky and Dobby never get time to themselves, I will not ruin it."
Harry knew better than to argue with Hermione. As gently as he could, he picked her up bridal style. Hermione whimpered in pain as the adrenaline of the attack began to wear off and she felt the full extent of her injuries.
"I'm right here," Harry soothed her.
Hermione nodded and took in deep painful breaths. "I'm okay," she assured him. "Moving just hurts."
Harry laughed at her stubbornness. "Love, you were knocked back over twenty feet, broke a rib and nearly got your leg torn off by a dire wolf. It's okay to admit that you're in pain."
"It feels like I'm always the one who's hurt," Hermione sighed.
"You haven't been critically injured in years," Harry teased her. "This won't put a bad mark on your record."
Hermione stuck her tongue out playfully. Harry laughed in response and began walking towards her room with the familiars following. Sage crouched down so Ivy could climb on his back and followed sadly.
When they got to Hermione's room, Fay opened the door with a flick of her wing. Harry immediately walked over to the bed and put Hermione down as gently as he could. Hermione winced in pain a little, but didn't cry out.
"We need to get your dragonhide off," Harry said with a light blush.
Hermione blushed as well. "We should wait for Luna."
"I'm your boyfriend Hermione," Harry pointed out. "It's not like we're…well you know."
"Fine," Hermione consented.
Taking care to hurt her as little as possible, Harry gently took the dragonhide shirt that Hermione was wearing. Hermione whimpered slightly, but Harry kept going until he got the dragonhide off. Underneath her dragonhide, Hermione was wearing a sweat-soaked tank-top. After Harry set the dragonhide shirt aside he anxiously looked at the dragonhide pants.
"This will hurt more I think," Harry said sadly. "It looks like Neville's teeth actually embedded some dragonhide in your leg. I'm going to call Winky."
"No," Hermione said firmly. To show that she wasn't budging, she stiffly began to take off the dragonhide.
When Harry saw that her mind was made up he sighed and helped her take the dragonhide off.
"I didn't think that I would be doing this until our wedding night," Harry commented.
Hermione's laugh turned into a hiss when the dragonhide went over her leg. Without stopping, Harry pulled the rest of the dragonhide off. Once the dragonhide was off he helped Hermione into a pair of shorts before he inspected the wound.
The wound wasn't as deep as it was wide. It was about three inches long and about an inch deep. Harry picked out the dragonhide that was on the surface, but didn't feel comfortable going deeper for any more pieces.
With a disgusted grunt, Harry threw the bloodied dragonhide into the trash bin. "How come the dragonhide didn't protect you completely?"
Hermione leaned against her pillows with a sigh. "If I wasn't wearing dragonhide Neville would have probably taken my leg off. Dragonhide is incredibly useful for duels, but it isn't impenetrable. Did you see how Ivy was able to pierce through the dragonhide that Neville was wearing just enough for him to drop his wand?"
"I just wish that it could have protected you more," Harry said while he gently stroked Hermione's face.
"It protected me enough," Hermione responded as she took Harry's hand in her own.
While Harry was tending to Hermione, Neville was pacing in the pool room while his mind was riddled with guilt. He continued to pace until he heard the door open behind him.
"Stay away Luna," Neville said miserably. "I don't want to hurt you."
Behind him Luna smiled sadly and walked towards him. When she reached him she put her hand on his shoulder and gently forced him to turn around to look at her.
"I know that you would never hurt me," Luna said confidently.
"You can't know that!" Neville yowled in agony. "If I'm capable of hurting Hermione, I'm capable of hurting you! You have to stay away from me."
Without waiting for Luna's reply, Neville shrugged her hand off and stomped towards the edge of the pool.
"I'll never transform again," Neville whispered, barely loud enough for Luna to hear. "I'll go back to only being the best at Herbology. If being the best means hurting the people I care about, then I don't want to be the best."
Luna followed him to the pool edge and sat down. She patted the ground next to her. Neville sighed deeply before obliging and sat down next to her. "Don't you dare sell my boyfriend short," Luna told him. "My Neville is incredibly loyal and powerful, which is evident through Sage and your Animagus form. He is compassionate, enthusiastic, and funny and he always puts others before himself. My Neville is a truly wonderful wizard."
Neville rest his head on Luna's shoulder and struggled to fight back tears. "Your Neville nearly killed your best friend in there," he whispered softly.
Luna closed her eyes in pain at the memory. "I refuse to let you give up on yourself Neville. We'll work together on your control. I refuse to lose you like that again."
Neville lifted his head off of Luna's shoulder and looked her right in the eye. "I could hurt you," he began.
"Then we'll work long and hard to prevent that," Luna interrupted him. "We need you Neville. There's going to be a war and I wouldn't feel safe without you by my side, be it in skin or fur."
"I love you Luna," Neville whispered.
"I love you too," Luna replied.
The two shared one passionate kiss on the edge of the pool. They could overcome anything together, and their love would never waver.
After a couple more months their time in the trunk was at its end. They still had more to learn, but they were on a whole other level than any other student in Hogwarts. The four best friends and their familiars stood in the training room, waiting on the other two of their group.
One thing that they hadn't given much thought about was the change in their physical appearances as they were each nearly three years older, though they doubted that the Ministry trace was lifted. Harry and Neville were both nearing six feet and had noticeable muscles. Harry still had a leaner, muscular build and Neville had more of a bulky build. Neville's brown hair now reached his shoulders and he tended to pull it back in a ponytail while Harry preferred to keep his shaggy hair incredibly short.
The girls were both well-muscled, but neither of them was bulky. Their muscles were lean and gave them a more graceful look. Luna had her long hair cut so that it barely reached her chin while Hermione had finally managed to get her bushy mane under control so that it was only slightly curly. Like everyone else, Hermione had adopted a new hair style and preferred to keep her hair at shoulder length.
"What do you think is Dobby and Winky's surprise?" Neville asked after they had been waiting for a while. Beside him Sage grunted in agreement.
"I don't know," Harry responded. Turning to Hermione he smirked. "Hermione maybe you should use Legilimency on them," he teased.
Hermione rolled her eyes. The witch far exceeded everyone at Occlumency and was now close to mastering Legilimency. Even though everyone's mental shields were strong, when Hermione was giving it her all she could break through them in a second.
"You know I never use Legilimency on anyone unless I have permission," Hermione said with a playful scorn. With a sad smile she added, "I know that I'll have to use it on people a lot when we go back to school though. Hopefully Dumbledore and Snape won't notice if I have to dig a little."
"No worries Hermione," Luna assured her. "You're so subtle that we don't even notice you're in our head unless you tell us."
Hermione seemed a little assured. Before anyone could say anything else, Dobby and Winky came running in the room each carrying a large bundle that looked too big for them. Then ran right up to the group and put their bundles on the floor.
"Winky and Dobby is being done with their surprise," Winky said excitedly. "Masters and Misses have been working so hard training, and Winky and Dobby wanted to make something that might help."
"You didn't have to make us anything," Harry said at once.
Winky smiled and began digging through the pile in front of her. Her smile widened when she pulled out a small piece of cloth. The cloth was a dark green and seemed to have holes cut into it. When she held it in front of her, everyone could see that it was a small vest.
"Does Master Harry remember the cloth that Goblin Warrior Zux gave him?" Winky asked. "Winky and Dobby has been using their magic all this time to strengthen the cloth. Winky also bought some more dragonhide and sewed it on the outside of the cloth so that the cloth is protected by physical and magical attacks. Winky made vests for Masters, Misses and their familiars."
Harry gaped and he took the small vest from Winky. "This is the cloth that can shield us from muggle's view?"
Winky smiled proudly. "It can be doing more than that Master Harry. Winky and Dobby put much magic into the vests, they can shield you from muggles when activated, shield from basic spells and they can work like Master Harry's invisibility cloak."
She grabbed another small vest and walked over to Ivy. She helped the little fox into the vest and as soon as Ivy had her legs in the holes, the front closed as if it was zippered. Ivy twisted to admire her vest and seemed to enjoy how the vest magically altered itself to fit her.
"This is really comfortable," Ivy commented. "It doesn't shield as much as my dragonhide armor, but I can feel the magic in it. How do I make myself invisible?"
Winky beamed and handed the rest of familiars their vests. While the familiars were helped in their vests, Winky explained how to use them. "They can block you from muggle's view, but you can still be seen by wizards. To do this, you needs to focus your magic into the vest while just picturing muggles. To become completely invisible you needs to focus your magic into a disillusionment charm in your vest."
Ivy nodded and focused her magic into a disillusionment charm. She was shocked at how easy it was for her to cast it, normally it took all of her strength to cast basic spells without Hermione. She looked around after she was done with the charm and looked expectantly at Hermione.
"We can't see your Ivy," Hermione said excitedly. "You're completely invisible!"
Ivy looked at her body and smirked when she saw nothing. She focused her magic again and canceled the charm. "This is amazing spell work!"
Harry eagerly took his vest from Winky and put it on. The vest immediately closed and Harry tested out the invisibility magic. When he vanished completely he laughed in delight. "I won't have to worry about carrying my cloak around with me now! If we wear these under our robes we'll be able to sneak away without being noticed any time! Winky, do you think Dumbledore or Moody will be able to see through the magic on these vests?"
Winky immediately shook her head and gave Hermione, Neville and Luna their vests. "They is being made by house elf magic Master Harry. No wizard is being able to see through them. Winky and Dobby is unsure about other house elves though, Winky and Dobby didn't want to test them on other untrustworthy elves."
Everyone showered their favorite house elves with praises about the vests, making them beam with pride. Dobby kept insisting that they were all done by Winky, but Winky rebuked him saying that she couldn't have done it without him.
After everyone was done talking about the vests, they all looked at each other sadly. Neville and Luna both carried large satchels on their backs which carried most of their belongings. Even though Harry assured them that the rooms that they stayed in would always be theirs, they were moving back to their homes. Silently, Harry led the way to the foyer. They all generally avoided the area, and now they were dreading it.
When they reached the staircase, Harry stood to the side and motioned for Neville to lead the way. "We'll be up shortly, I want to talk to Hermione alone for a minute," Harry said.
Neville looked from Hermione back to Harry and grinned. "No problem mate, we'll wait for you on the outside."
Harry nodded in appreciation and motioned for Kex and Ivy to follow them. The familiars smirked as well and quickly followed the rest up the stairs. When Harry heard the trunk open and close, he turned to a very confused Hermione.
"Harry are you alright?" Hermione asked in concern. "You've been a little off for a few weeks. Are you afraid of leaving the trunk?"
"A little," Harry admitted. "But I've actually had something else on my mind." He took Hermione's hand in his own and squeezed it gently. "Mione', I love you with all my heart and I wish that I could have taken you on our first date a long time ago."
Hermione shook her head. "We have been on a date."
Harry grinned lovingly. "A dinner made by Winky by the pool does not count. I want to take you places and show you off. I want to cry in the Great Hall that Hermione Granger is my girlfriend. Three years ago, I would have been afraid of making you a bigger target for Voldemort, but even though I can get insanely protective I know that you are more than capable of defending yourself. I want to openly declare my love for you."
Hermione's eyes shone with tears and she kissed Harry tenderly. "And I you. You know that you mean the world to me. I want to be with you forever Harry."
"Forever?" Harry repeated.
"Forever," Hermione assured him with another kiss.
Harry returned the kiss before he took a step back to Hermione's disappointment. Her disappointment turned to shock when Harry pulled out a small box from his pocket and got down on one knee.
"Marry me."