A Magic Stronger Than Darkness ~ Book 1: Perfect Opposites

Chapter 7 ~ Forest Feline

Increasing my pace, I followed Veronica out of the greenhouse and into a corridor jutting out from the side of the castle. Once I was within a couple feet of the feisty Gryffindor, I reached over and wrapped my fingers around her arm. "Let go of me, Malfoy!" She growled, eyes flashing with fury. "No. Dovefeather, listen-" I started. "No, I'm not listening to anything! Want to know what I'd like to know? Why do you hate me so much? What have I done to you?" She interrogated me before I even had a moment to apologize or explain. "Nothing...you haven't done anything to me. I don't hate you." I confessed when she finally fell silent.
My words were met with a puzzled expression, but Veronica's mouth opened as an indication she would be speaking again. "Then why-" Several students who had been passing by us stopped to listen to our conversation, watching the scene with unabashed interest. I cut Veronica off this time, gesturing at the others with a tilt of my head. "We don't have enough time to talk about it right now, besides, Charms class is going to start soon!" I pointed out. Veronica appeared to catch onto my previous gesture and she lowered her voice when she spoke again. "Then meet me later, two hours after dinner, in the Divination clearing in the forest. Tell me then if you won't do it now." She whispered. I blinked, allowing her words to sink in. Then, nodding, I agreed to her request, "Fine." She dipped her head as well, then glanced down at her arm.

Realizing that I was still holding her in place, I quickly released her wrist and took a few steps away from her. We exchanged a weary look, before continuing to walk down the corridors to Charms in an awkward silence. We kept catching each other's eye every now and then, waiting for the other person to say something, but words never came. About ten minutes later, we arrived at our mutual destination and went our separate ways to our desks, ignoring the scrutinizing gazes that were fixed on us by our fellow students.
During dinner I told Blaise that I was going to go into the forest to see Veronica. "Okay, but why the old Divination clearing?" Blaise asked around a mouthful of hash. Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy all looked over at us upon hearing Blaise's words. "What clearing?" Pansy asked, leaning closer as if to hear some sort of secret. Thank Merlin she only heard the last word of that sentence. I rolled my eyes and shook my head at her. "Nothing, just forget it, Parkinson. I was just thinking of something that happened when I was younger." I answered her question with a lie, causing Pansy to pout while Crabbe and Goyle shrugged and continued to wolf down their meals.

Turning back toward Blaise, I continued what I had previously been saying, making sure to lower my voice some more in order to prevent Parkinson from listening to anything else. "I don't know, but I'm alright with it. It might be a great opportunity to get to know her, and, in time, ask her out like you said." I explained my rationale in a hushed voice. Blaise raised an eyebrow at me, "Really? You hate the forest," He reminded me. I shuddered. "I'll be fine," I retorted, though internally I realized I was probably trying to convince myself of that more than Blaise. "Why wait to ask her out?" He pressed, taking a sip of his pumpkin juice.
I slowly got to my feet. "All good things to those who wait. Besides, I doubt she's forgiven me for being such a prat the past several years. It won't do any good to ask her out if she hates me." I answered. Zabini nodded, comprehending my logic, then winked at me. "Well, I find it hard to believe that Veronica Dovefeather could ever hate anyone, at least, not unless they hurt someone she cared about. But, I will still wish you good luck, mate." He replied. I chuckled, jokingly punching his shoulder as I left the table. Taking a deep breath, I made my way to the Slytherin common room for some rest before my upcoming excursion.

Two hours later, I got up off the dark velvet couch in the center of my common room. Quietly, I checked that everyone was gone. With any luck they'd already be in their dorms for the night. Seeing that the coast was clear and no one would attempt to stop me, I slid out of the common room door and snuck out into the dungeon halls. Lurking within the shadows, I silently crept through the corridors and out into the empty courtyard.

Suddenly, I heard a cat calling, meowing loudly for its master. Mrs. Norris! I froze as she and Filch stepped through the entrance doors leading into the castle. Apparently the pair had been patrolling the grounds, but not doing a very good job of it, considering that they didn't even notice me hiding in the darkness of a nearby pillar. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I continued on toward the greenhouses. Just a little further...

When I finally entered the first tree line of the Forbidden Forest, I paused to intake some more air. As I took some shallow breaths, my attention was drawn to something moving through the bushes a couple yards away, the crisp fall leaves crunching quietly in the still evening air. I tensed, looking around to detect the source of the noise. I knew this forest could be dangerous, especially at night, given my own past experiences during my first year at the school.

Whatever creature was making its way deeper into the trees was able to blend into the woods rather well and I couldn't physically see it. However, I could faintly hear its pawsteps continuing to push forward through the dense undergrowth. Making sure there was still no one watching or tracking me from the castle grounds, I began to follow the sound. It led me straight to the Divination clearing, the place where I was supposed to meet Veronica. The creature finally stepped out of the shadows and into the open, practically glowing as the moonlight shone on its fur. A cat? I thought, staring at it avidly.

The feline was rather large, certainly bigger than a regular house cat, and it was not a pet I had ever seen at Hogwarts. It had golden-brown fur with a cream chest and underbelly, black markings like that of a leopard combined with a tiger, and a long tail similar to a lemur's. It spun around and bared its teeth and fangs while displaying a hunched spine, appearing as though something had spooked it. I took a step back, hoping it hadn't seen or sensed me. However, a few seconds later the feline seemed to calm down and its fur lay flat once more. Something about its eyes captivated me though. They were a beautiful bright blue, shimmering hypnotically as if to summon me closer.

I continued to watch the cat as it crouched down and froze in place. There was a brief second where it seemed as though the creature had become a statue, but then its bones seemed to start shifting under its skin. It wasn't a grotesque scene. In fact, I was rather mystified. What I was watching almost reminded me of the way Professor McGonagall transformed into her animagus form, like she had in our first Transfiguration lesson during First Year. Except, this cat was clearly not McGonagall. In the blink of an eye, the feline I had followed into the forest had vanished, and in its place stood the most unexpected thing. The thing standing before me was really a person. It was Veronica.