Shadow Claw: The Life Story - The Fourth Chapter

Ch. 30 - Recovery and Attack

Hey hey hey! Been a while, but here it is. I'll be updating more, hopefully, it's just I've been massively busy and school is almost over for the half term, where I get a week off, but I have alot to do. I'm sorry if you were expecting more action-packed chapters, but this story is getting long and I didn't have it in me to do that. I really need to finish it too, because then I can focus on Russet and Warrior Cats: Tails of Dark, so maybe I can finish Russet at some point, or put it on hold, idk, but until I finish Shadow Claw #4, #5 will have to wait for a while.

"It's been another month, Pierce... what if she never wakes up..."

"She will, Shade. Hear her heart."

A warm head pressed against me and a low hum escaped warmly. My head fell to the side and, turning over, I reached for the source and pulled it closer. It wrapped its strong arms around me and my hum grew. I mumbled a few incoherent words, and I felt a smile kiss my cheek.

"She needs to go back to school, Shade." I heard my mother in the background. I shook my head and cuddled Shade further, who picked me up into his lap, rocking me. Everything was starting to come back.

"Definitely not." My eyes snapped open, and I felt defensive immediately, taking on my true form and backing away from my family. I snarled when Shade reached out a hand, my teeth nicking his hand. He scowled at me, swiftly yanking his arm back before I decided to eat him instead. I huffed out through my nose like a bull and scraped the floor as if I had hooves. I snarled again, but my father gave me a scolding look and my snarl died to a short growl.

"See? She's docile." Pierce said, approaching me. He went to ruffle my ears and I snapped at him, managing to lock my jaws on his hand and shake furiously. He yelled out, shifting himself and pinching my ears with a loud snarl. I whimpered, my sensitive ears pounding painfully, and I tried to shake his hold off, all the while lowering myself to the ground. "Bad girl." He let go finally and I pawed at my sore ears, turning away from them with a loud grumbled, lashing my tail harshly.

I felt Shade's hand on my tail and I resisted the urge to pounce on him like a mouse. "Shadow, baby?" He whispered, sliding closer and stroking my obsidian fur, causing me to purr deeply and rub myself over him. What was with these weird emotional changes? Perhaps I was confused - but I still wanted to kill Umbridge. "You're confused, calm down, baby." He uttered, hugging my head to his chest, and I whined, pawing him lovingly.

It was only then I noticed I wasn't at camp... I was in the Hogwarts Hospital Wing. Huh... How on Earth...?

"James and Jenny are here. Apparently alot happened over the two months you were gone." I mulled it over and nodded, "True. I was in a forest for one, and unconscious for another." I replied, and licked his cheek. He smiled and kissed my nose, "Good girl. Pierce, Svana and I must return now. I promise you'll be safe here." He rubbed my cheeks, and I whined loudly before he gave me a sorry look and left with my parents.

Jenny and James came rushing in all of sudden. James leapt on me, yelling and hollering about Fred and George and fireworks and Nifflers, while Jenny was scolding me about frightening her for two months straight. I chuckled and shifted back, hugging my two very best friends. "I missed you guys." I grinned. Jenny laughed, "How? You were unconscious."

We all fell silent, our eyes blinking and blank.

"True." Our in-sync voices rang out, and we all laughed and chuckled and giggled.

*

"So what happened while I was out?" I murmured on the Hospital Wing bed, discreetly watching Madam Pomfrey spoon some weird blue liquid into a boy's mouth.

James started, "Fred and George put lots of stuff around school, and sold us all Skiving Snackboxes. There were fireworks, and there's really bad gas somewhere, and a swamp in a hallway some place, and two Nifflers were put in Umbridge's office and Fred and George left, and we did our exams, and you missed them, but I'm guessing you won't need to do them because you're all fabulous and stuff, and then, and then-" He paused to take a massive breath. I chuckled.

Jenny continued onwards, "Trelawny has been fired, but she still lives here. Dumbledore left, Umbridge is Headmistress now and she's got Draco and Crabbe and Goyle and some other idiots like Pansy on her side. Draco and I had an argument about it, because he's a jerk now, but he always was-" I stopped her rant, "What actually happened, at school? Did I miss anything that was so important that we all might die?" I laughed.

James nodded, and I gawked at him, "WHAT?!"

Jenny looked grim, "Hagrid wants us, Harry, Hermione and Ron to look after his half-brother Grawp, who's really violent. Snape stopped giving Harry Occlumency lessons, and we have a Centaur called Firenze for Divination now. Also, Hagrid visited the giants in the mountains with Madame Maxime, but they won't join us because there was a new leader or something, and now Hagrid's on probation, and... well, Umbridge attacked Hagrid, Snape's on probation now I think, Dumbledore's disappeared, and Harry's having even more weird dreams." She was breathing heavily. "Oh yeah, Gryffindor won the Quidditch Tournament.

"What about Nova?" I asked.

"She's fine. Apparently Claws don't take exams, which I now feel leads to your education being useless, however I won't ask, but there's actually a more pressing matter at hand." She paused to glanced at James, who was doodling on his arm with some pen he had stuffed down his trousers. Where did he get that from?

"What? What happened?" I growled.

Jenny swallowed, "Harry had a vision last night about the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry of Magic. He says Sirius has been taken. Lupin isn't at Grimmauld Place, neither is Moody. Just Kreacher. Harry is in Umbridge's office right now!" She looked extensively worried. I frowned deeply, "And Dumbledore's Army, the DA?" I questioned and she shook her head, "That's why Dumbledore is gone, where to, we don't know. Umbridge and the Minister are completely overtaken by the thought we're all plotting to put Dumbledore as Minister of Magic."

I nodded, "Right, let's get to Harry. I have a feeling Hermione will have something up her sleeve." I said sternly, and they nodded, all of us zooming through the empty corridors to find Umbridge staring hard at Hermione, her head held high and her pride still going strong. Neville and Ginny were there too, and so was Harry, in a chair with the fire crackling in the back.

"Go on, tell us, Little Miss Question." Umbridge looked frightfully savage. She was turning into an animal with the pressures.