Heart Scars ||| Remus Lupin

Twenty

Adhara walks into the room of requirement fifteen minutes before she was set to meet James.

She conjured up the room where she had left the vial filled with the ingredients. It was sitting in the windowsill, reflecting the moonlight.

The room was transformed into a cozy cottage setting, with dark blue couches and chairs, and dark wooden tables. A fire was going in the fireplace, and Adhara immediately relished in the warmth.

"You're early." James waltzes into the room, his invisibility cloak in one hand and the map in his other.

"So are you." She counters. He checks his watch before throwing himself into one of the armchairs. Adhara slowly sits across from him.

"They miss you." James whispers after a moment of silence. The storm hadn't started yet, but she wished it would. She didn't want to have this conversation with James, she actually didn't want to have any conversation with James. She had only let him come to ensure her safety. She couldn't protect anyone if she was dead.

"Stop it, James. I won't change my mind." Adhara narrows her eyes at him, but James being James, doesn't stop.

"Come on Ara, you and Remus were hanging around in secret before, nothing has to change." He exclaims. She scoffs.

"Nothing has to change? Everything has changed, James. I'm not safe for him anymore."

"That bullshit. That mark changes nothing, you're still the same girl you were before you got it." He snaps.

"I'm not, though." Adhara smiles sadly. James goes to retort, but a crack of lightning and a boom of thunder stops him. They both stand and make their way over to the window.

Adhara picks up the vial that held the potion, which had turned a blood red. James holds up a robe and his wand, preparing for when she changed back.

"Amato Amino Animato Animagus." She chants one last time as she places her wand over her heart.

A pain immediately runs through her body. It wasn't nearly as bad as being crucio'd, but it still hurt. Her heart started to bet erratically, but after a moment she realized that it wasn't her heart that was beating erratically.

It was the feeling of two hearts beating.

She suddenly started to shrink, and she let out a whimper of pain. But after about a minute, all the pain stopped.

She was close to the floor, really close.

She looked up, and James was standing above her, grinning like a maniac.

"Holy shit!" He exclaims as he picks her up. She begins to thrash in his grip, wanting to be put down. He doesn't set her down though, he just moves her side to side, looking at her.

"Look at that tail." He laughs. Adhara lets out a growl as he grabs her tail and holds her by it. She tries to scratch him, but she can't reach him as she hangs upside down.

"Hold on, let's give you a look." He rushes over to a wall, where a full body mirror was leaned against a table. James flips her back over, holding her where her armpits would be.

She was a racoon. A racoon with grey eyes, a ringed tail, and little claws. She didn't know why she was shocked, it was her patronus after all.

James was frowning as he examined her in the mirror, and she knew why. Even in her animagus form, she looked sickly. Her ribs were on display, her skin clinging to her bones. Adhara was sure the other raccoons would not find her attractive.

"I'm going to hold up a robe, and you're going to change back." James says as he puts her back on the ground. He grabs the robe and closes his eyes, and Adhara focuses completely on trying to change back into her human form.