HEATHER BLACK AGREED TO DO THE THING THAT NOBODY ELSE COULD TO DO.
Use her animagus form, and protect Harry Potter for fifteen years.
As an owl.
As Hedwig.
***
Travis McKinnon wanted nothing more than to do something useful.
So he used his animagus...
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IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT—and all the students were asleep.
She was expecting it—the agony, almost as if her bones were expanding inside of her.
Which she supposed they were, but she didn't remember ever feeling this much pain when the spell was first cast.
The whole day of the 19th of December 1995, Hedwig had felt extremely afraid and nervous, and she could almost feel that Trevor was feeling the same way.
Both of them had forgotten what it felt like to be human—but tonight, they would both remember again.
As she soared towards the Forbidden Forest, she focused on flying forwards and tried not to think about the pain exploding in her body.
The moment she found a clearing, she dropped there and slammed against the ground, skidding several metres, before she came to a stop and whimpered as the agony grew—and she couldn't keep track of her thoughts anymore because all she could think about all of a sudden was the pain.
And then she heard a croak from beside her, and there was Trevor—how he had gotten there, she did not know—but she didn't care in that moment.
For all she knew, she could have laid there for only seconds, or hours, or years—because she could not remember anything with the pain crackling in her brain. She could not keep track of time.
Instead of closing her eyes, she opened them and focused on the stars—counting them...
And then the pain began subsiding—fading away, and she regained control of her mind and reorganised her thoughts.
Almost suddenly, the night sky became darker and she found that she couldn't see as well anymore in the dark.
Was this how humans saw the world?
It was extremely dark.
She did not move.
And then she saw him.
A familiar boy—his blonde hair dishevelled and his eyes brighter than she remembered, and she reached out a hand and touched his face.
A hand—not a feathered wing. A hand.
"Travis," She breathed, pushing herself to sit up with her other arm, the leaves crumbling under her hand.
To speak—even talking felt so strange, the words almost foreign upon her tongue.
"Heather," The boy replied, his voice so soft—so beautiful, but almost unfamiliar to her, "We're—Merlin, Heather, this is real. Heather—," He began to smile, and he pulled her close and embraced her.
He had forgotten what it felt like to be able to do this—to hug others, and feel the warmth and comfort.
She had forgotten the feeling of being so purely happy—and she stretched her fingers tentatively before pulling her arms around him, too—hugging him back.
"I know," She murmured, "This is real. Trav, this is real—the spell is broken."
Heather Black and Travis McKinnon embraced for the first time in fifteen years—human once more.
They were friends that had not been far apart from each other physically—but they had been separated by their duties and split by their forms.
But they were together again—and that was all that mattered in that moment.
Author's Note:
AHHH THEY FINALLY TURNED BACK YAY!
A bit of a shorter chapter this time, but I thought this was the right place to end it. Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you all liked it! Vote and comment to let me know if you did!
