Shadow Claw: The Life Story - The Fourth Chapter

Ch. 20 - Just. An. Animal?!

I spent the night with Shade in our cave back at the clan - oh, man, not like that, you dirty minded freak - and we cuddled, of course only after I'd lectured him on the fact that if he ever called me cute again, I'd rip off his balls and shove them up his nostrils so that he'd be coughing jizz for the next few months, until I got Sara to remove them and stick them back on with super heated glue. He'd swallowed and nodded slowly, checking himself to make sure he still had his balls.

I had to return to Hogwarts very early the next morning, however, as I knew I could not stay out of Umbridge's sights for long.

"Baby, please..." Shade whined, and I giggled, "No. You don't want Pierce seeing me and you, do you? He'd do his nut." I kissed him slowly, but he roughly responded and I breathed a moan, "I love you Shadow." He teased my body with his touch, but my mind was as clear as it could get. "Love you too, Shade." I giggled once more before pulling away and slipping out of our cave, unnoticed by any early-wakened Claws.

*

By the time I had got back to the school, I only had ten minutes to convince James and Jenny I'd been at school the whole time. Trust me - it wasn't easy.

"Yes. I. Have." I growled

James pouted with a finger on his chin thoughtfully, "Where did you sleep?" He questioned, as if he was interrogating me.

I narrowed my purple eyes to slits, "Library."

"Hmph." Jenny and James huffed, but I rolled my eyes and licked them profusely, to which they groaned and rolled around. I laughed and pounced on them, "What's Umbridge been up to? Did she find out about the puking pastilles?" I grinned and James shook his head, "Nah, the old hag. She couldn't tell a nougat from a lollipop if she had extreme binoculars." He giggled boyishly and Jenny chuckled, "Umbridge did put up a notice called Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. It states that all student groups and clans and organisations are disbanded and only reformation permission is allowed from Umbridge. It also says any organisation outside the allowance will automatically have the students expelled." She explained and I nodded with a frown, "Did she find out about, you know what?" James looked confused, but Jenny shrugged, "We don't know."

"Quidditch was cancelled. I have to play with Draco, because Umbridge gave the Slytherin's permission for the Quidditch team to play again." Jenny sighed and I shook my head, "What's the point of that if none of the other teams can play?" I exclaimed furiously. Jenny shrugged once more, "She doesn't seem to understand."

"Doesn't understand anything, that woman." James muttered wrinkling up his nose in distaste.

"We got Potions soon." I said gently, trying to calm myself. "It's my only lesson today."

Jenny gawked at me, "Hold up, hold up!" She yelled, "This has been going on every year, Shadow. What is it? Like, a learning disability or what?" She asked loudly, and I growled at her to keep the noise down in case Umbridge came and set up a Decree for no shouting. "No. In fact, technically I'm not really a student, Jenny. Yeah, I'm in Slytherin, but Claws were never supposed to possess magical properties." She drew her head back in confusion, and I began to explain.

I sighed as I started, "It's only in the last twenty years that Claws have been known to have magical properties. It's great because we're much stronger, but we're naturally resistant to magic, so there are many things we either can't do, or can't react to. That's why Nova and I can't be controlled by the Imperius charm, and that's why our lessons are literally unnecessary. We literally don't need any more information than we're born with." Jenny nodded in understanding, flopping back to the grass the courtyard. "Lucky." James mumbled.

I chuckled, seeing Nova and Hawthorne standing in an archway, their faces beckoning me to come. "You two go ahead. I'll catch up." I nudged them away, and they hugged me before walking off to Potions. I shook my head in amusement, and padded towards the two. "What's up?" I asked, sitting down. The two exchanged glances, "Nova, this isn't my subject..." Hawthorne mumbled softly to her, but she growled at him, "Stay." The male looked dejectedly down, hanging his ears. I rolled my eyes at him, but knew Shade and I were the same, if Shade being a little more dominant.

"We overheard Umbridge speaking to the other teachers about getting rid of us. Claws." Nova started nervously and I growled lowly, but let her carry on, "She wants us either to stay human in school grounds, or expel us completely because we're... animals." She muttered, and I shuffled my wings with an enraged snarl, "Just. An. Animal?! I'm glad you notified me of this. Hawthorne, you better get going before she thinks there's an uprising, and Nova, see if you can get any more information before lunch." The two nodded, said their goodbyes to one another with nuzzles and licks then parted ways.

"You guys mated, didn't you?" I smirked as I padded beside my friend.

Nova coughed and spluttered, "Wh- no, not-I-I I mean, why-..." She paused and dropped her head, "Yeah."

I chuckled, "Nothing to be ashamed of. You two love each other. I saw it coming." I uttered.

Nova lifted her ears. "Really?" I nodded, "He is a lovely guy, and-" She giggled, but then stopped in her tracks, "I mean, there is one thing that bothers me..."

I knew what it was.

"Perhaps, it's that Hawthorne had a mate before you, and had a kit that you loved, but said kit was... erased." I chose my words slowly and carefully, keeping my voice even and unemotional. Nova swallowed visibly and nodded, "Lost." She choked. I nudged her cheek, "It's alright, Nova. Shade was most likely with many females before me. It's just, now, I trust him and I know he'd never do that to me. I love him." I smiled at her and she lifted her head with a small nod.

"You think so? You don't think he still thinks about the other one?" She murmured hopefully, but with guilty eyes as if she was being selfish. I nodded, "I suppose not. It's likely that she died in birth. Get closer to Hawthorne - he's really a good guy, and you two just need to open up. Trust him - let him ear your trust, though." I said to her softly, and she did a little leap of happiness, "Alright then. Thanks, Shadow."

"No problem. I'll see you at lunch." We shifted, fist-bumped then jogged off to lessons.