A Magic Stronger Than Darkness ~ Book 2: Forever & Always

Chapter 10 ~ Slip-ups

Per usual, I transformed into my animagus and snuck out of the castle, my pawsteps light and soundless as I padded over the polished stone floors and the damp grass beyond the cobbled courtyard. To my dismay, the scab that had formed on my hand from the use of Umbridge's blood quill had begun to itch almost painfully, especially now that my fur had grown around it during my transfiguration. By the time I arrived at the clearing, my whole paw was burning and throbbing, and it took all of my focus not to use the claws on my other paw to tear open the scab again in search of relief.

Growling softly in annoyance, I pushed through some dying bramble bushes and made my way into the miniature field. Distracted with the sensation in my paw, I was not watching where I was going, indirectly causing my back leg to get caught in the upturned roots of a nearby willow tree. The snare took me by surprise, and in my startled state I lost my balance. Unable to regain my footing, I fell into a twisted heap of fur on the cold earth below.

As luck would have it, Draco had heard the commotion despite his back facing me, the crunching leaves and my hiss of agitation prompting him to leap to his feet with his wand drawn defensively. My boyfriend spun around, his cool gray blue eyes landing on my rumpled form with a mixture of worry and confusion. He immediately ran over to me, glancing around to make sure there were no other threats as he knelt down to help untangle my back paw.

"Veronica, you need to hold still, love. You're making it worse..." He muttered, running a soft hand over the silken fur on my side soothingly.

My fidgeting had only tightened the tendril's grip around my ankle, so I grunted and quit struggling to get free. Instead, I contented myself with lashing my tail from side to side, expressing my discontent with the entire situation while Draco pointed his wand at the root.

"Reducto," My boyfriend murmured the simple incantation.

A small flash of blue light erupted from the tip of his wand, and in the next moment the plant's protruding arm crumbled into a pile of ash.

Now free of my accidental restraint, I shook my head and finally morphed back into my true self.

"Well, that was humiliating..." I groaned as my boyfriend pulled me back onto my feet.

It was plain to see that I had inadvertently managed to twist my ankle when I got caught on the plant, the joints starting to swell as I attempted to put weight on them. I yelped in pain and almost collapsed again, but Draco caught my waist and draped my arm over his shoulder to help balance me again.

"Thanks." I breathed out shakily.

But Draco wasn't paying attention to my words. I turned my head to look quizzically at him and instantly understood why he hadn't heard me. Uh oh...

Draco brushed his thumb over my left hand, the one hanging limply over his shoulder. He had found the scabs that had been bothering me. The ones that the blood quill had left behind...I had done so well hiding them from him until now, making sure I was always wearing my winter gloves whenever we met in the forest, or burying my hands into my pockets when I saw him during class. Oh God, here we go. I winced in response, both from the tenderness of the healing skin and my anticipation of what I knew would not be a good reaction from my protective boyfriend.

"Veronica, what happened?" He asked slowly, his gaze intently trained on the word carved into my hand. I shrugged.

"It's nothing..." I mumbled, trying to pull my hand away from his view.

Sensing what I was attempting to do, Draco reached up with his free hand and gripped my wrist, not tight enough to hurt me, but enough to keep my hand where it was.