Chapter 91. First Night Out

Bones crackled like dry twigs, muscles tore and reformed on top of each other. Nails lengthened, teeth sharpened, my entire body was on fire, growing fur across every last bit of skin covering my body. Power welled within every morsel of my newly grown form. My body was just the same as when I had transitioned before with the potion before, however this time I felt much different. I was awake, yet another being inside me was as well.

A more primal animal that pointed and pushed me to his will, and right now, we both desired one thing. “AAAHHWWOOOOOOO!!” I let out a massive howl that shook the very Chamber surrounding me. The feeling of empowerment was intoxicating, and electrifying. An addicting sensation of excitement, and pure wonder at what I could do next with my new felt strength. Taking a deep sniff of the air, I could smell an exit I felt the beast had used previously. ‘I knew I wouldn’t be trapped in here, for some reason.’

I lowered myself to all fours, and took off towards the scent of fresh air. I panted as I exerted my body, enjoying the feeling of running at full speed, twisting and turning through the numerous network of pipes and cave structure underground. It wasn’t long before I was met with a drainage gate near the edge of the waters to the black lake. I easily pushed the rusted gate open, ignoring the loud creaking noise it made, before slamming it back into position.

Taking a deep breath of the air, I could smell so much, a whole new world beyond sight surrounded me. After taking a moment to enjoy the feeling of superiority, I decided to head off to the meeting place we had set; the stable. Silently running near the edge of the water, I made my way to the forest, a sense of familiarity overtook me. I had done this before, or to be more accurate, the beast had. Locking him in the shack I had used before was useless as he was free to escape any night he pleased, perhaps even in the Chamber he was free to leave at his own will.

I felt a bit complicated knowing that, on one hand he could raise death and destruction, on the other, he hadn’t done so for almost three years. 'I most likely hunted for Gaynor back when she was raised in the shack, maybe-' A sudden powerful scent of butterbeer and Thestral's filled my nose, my complicated thoughts pushing aside my sense of smell until it was too late. I jumped over a large bush near the water’s edge, and into the tidepools, there stood a golden haired girl with her pants raised to her thighs, staring up at me in silence with wide eyes, Luna Lovegood.

We both studied one another, my beast surprisingly not wanting to eat or change her. I had no desire to do either of those to her. No, a greater desire overtook me as the smell of butterbeer filled my lungs. She gasped as I slowly, without a sound, stalked over to her. Her soul was just a burning red fire, with just a hint of blue near the edges of the flame. I had no clue what that meant, and to be honest, I didn’t care at the time. I could hear her racing heart, her held breath, smell the fearful sweat in her palms. All of her I could take in, driving me further towards her.

Only inches away from her face, our eyes got lost in each other's gaze, the overwhelming smell of calming butterbeer pushed the need I had been slowly dipping myself into, over the edge of my control. Without a thought, I stuck out my tongue, and licked over her lips and face. Luna sputtered, losing her footing on the slippery rocks, and grabbing my fur to keep her balance. She then looked at her hands, and back at me, watching as I tilted my head, before licking her again, the overwhelming desire to continue doing so couldn’t be stopped.

Luna hummed, keeping her mouth closed, but telling me to stop with the timbre of her voice. I did, thinking that being here wasn’t the best either, the shore was only a few steps away. I easily carried her under one arm, Luna letting out a small yelp of surprise as I moved her over to the dry shoreline. Setting her down on the grass, I circled her a few times as she sat up, following me with her glowing gaze, her azure blue eyes alight in the moon’s glow.

Moving in front of her, I slowly made my way overtop of her instead, looking down at her as she laid on the ground. Licking her lips and face again, I was prepared to go further, but a sudden break in foliage in the distance caught my attention. I perked up, staring at the direction it came from. It was Filch’s cat, prancing around as she looked for students to scream at. Instantly I gathered myself, realizing what I was doing, the beast was already affecting me, I ran away from Luna, still lying still on the grass.

Racing away, beyond her intoxicating smell, I panted while resting my body on the large trunk of a tree. ‘What was that? What was I about to continue? We've met a few times this past month. She's been great with Gaynor, and I like that she’s similar to me, but… Just focus! I’m still in control!’ I held back the desire to go back to Luna by scratching at the trunk of the tree, relieving some stress. The bark of the large tree sheering off in my anxiety. Low hanging branches cracked and snapped with ease under my new-found yet familiar strength. 'Had I done this before? No. I... I don't think I have...' I thought to myself, the feeling of the negative coming from the beast unleashed throughout my mind. After I was done, I took a deep breath, glancing at the sorry state of the tree before heading to the abandoned stable.

Rushing through the forbidden forest, I felt free, alive, the bright moon making everything as clear as day for me. Small creatures ran at the sight of me passing by, granting me a rush of power over those beneath me in the food chain. By this point I knew that these feelings were the beast inside, but I couldn’t help my enjoyment of it. Anything to keep the idea of what I had just been doing from my mind was welcomed in open arms.

At the stable, I was pelted by the powerful sweet smell of everything that stirred hunger within me, like maple syrup candy covered in whipped cream. It overpowered the lingering scent of parchment and ink, making it hardly noticeable by comparison. I gulped as I slowly entered the stable, following my nose towards the dimly lit room. “Don’t try it!” I heard a voice growl out to me from the room, sounding distinctly like Chiara. Her changed language proved to me that she had indeed changed as well.

“It’s me.” I responded back with a scoff at her scared but protective voice. “Lucas?” Hermione asked after a moment of silence, I gave a snort of assurance. The door slowly opened, and there I could see a shimmering silver fur that sparkled like diamonds, her glowing eyes like twinkling stars. The beauty of her form mixed with her inebriating scent made everything within me stir, clawing with my entire mind to lick every inch of her body. “Are you truly awake?” Hermione asked, now hiding behind Chiara instead.

Snapping my vision to her, Hermione’s very soul smelled of parchment and ink, and burned with only fierce red, no blue flames to be seen. As I studied her distinct smell, wondering if I had accidentally slightly transformed enough to smell her soul earlier, the gnawing in my mind asked to pounce her down to the ground again. Both her and Chiara.

Realizing I was staring for too long, I slowly nodded, keeping my eyes wide to avoid enhancing my sense of smell, and looked back at Chiara. She had moved closer to me, taking small sniffs in the air around me, interested in what she was picking up. “Is that… Luna?” I was astonished that she knew what Luna smelt like, but realized that they were both fairly close with one another. I gulped, and turned my head away, not able to say a word of what I did for the pure embarrassment of my actions.

Taking my silence as guilt, Chiara quickly began sniffing me all over my body and face for any sign of blood. “I just ran into her on the way here. That’s all.” I huffed back while pushing her snout away from me, uncomfortable with the idea of her noticing a certain telling fragrance I wasn’t aware of. “She better be okay.” Chiara let off a low growl, her usual shy and meager self, bolstered in her new form. I let out another huff of a sigh, full of disinterest, while on the inside trying desperately to keep my beast wrangled to stop myself from jumping either girl.

“Let’s just go.” Finding it best to exert myself as a way to keep my body and mind occupied, I led the way out of the stable. Chiara rushed out behind me, leaving Hermione alone in wait for us to return. While darting through and around trees, jumping over large roots and undergrowth, and ducking under low hanging branches, we made it to the edge of the woods. Just beside me I glanced at Chiara, truly the strength in her form gave her courage, I saw no hint of her usual fear in her determined gaze. Following said gaze, I looked over at our target, Hagrid’s Hut, and lying just behind it, through Hagrid's large garden of gourds was Buckbeak.