The thing of this year seemed to be the need to escape from his life. Harry vacillated between doing a dozen unrelated things at once and hiding from his responsibilities to recharge. There wasn’t even really anyone that he could vent to about all of this, because most of the problems overlapped with one or more of his friends, and he really had no idea which adults he could trust with the majority of his problems. That meant that he was internalizing most of it, and he realized that he had no idea how hard it was to not have a good support system until he couldn’t lean as fully on his.

This had led to frequent bouts of wandering around the muttering to either himself or Diggory’s ghost, the only person who was unaffected by all of this, even if he did hate Harry and want him to fail miserably. This, in turn, had led to people staring at Harry even more openly than usual and renewed whispers about his sanity or lack thereof.

And that had led him to take his wanderings, musings, and all of the rest of it outside whenever he was able to. That meant that any free time he had that wasn’t devoted to studying, planning for the future with one or more of his friends, or getting ready for the coming Quidditch season was spent outside where less people would notice him.

He had taken to avoiding the Quidditch pitch, the lake for the most part, and the area around the greenhouses, as there were usually people there. He was also avoiding Hagrid’s hut at all costs, as he was fairly certain that he couldn’t trust the half-giant as far as he could throw him, and Harry doubted he could budge his former close friend, even with magic. No one in the world was more loyal to the Headmaster, not even Professor McGonagall, who seemed to have been Dumbledore’s right hand woman forever.

Harry was quickly running out of places to hide from the world. He supposed that was probably normal, as he was at school, where all of the students were supposed to be under at least general supervision at all times, and where said students flocked to any area with even false freedom in droves. Now he was trying a new place, standing a few feet inside the forest, halfway between the lake and Hagrid’s hut, leaning against the tree he had tied Buckbeak to on the night Sirius had escaped the law for the final time, as it turned out. He was faced towards the school so that he could see anyone approaching well before they got to him.

It was a good thing, too, because he had barely been here five minutes when a shadow quietly entered the tree. “I really don’t think you want to come over here,” he said loudly in the direction of the shadow, not even waiting for it to resolve itself into a person. “Go find somewhere else to break whatever rule you’re out here to break.”

While she seemed to be making herself rather at home in this new school, Sibes was still finding herself missing home. She missed the constant chill in the air and the dark auras that surrounded most of her peers at Durmstrang. Here, there were so many innocents. It was strange. It was difficult to justify harming someone who didn’t deserve it, so there were less targets at Hogwarts. This was leading her to explore the forest more often, giving in to the pull of her animagus form. The tiger’s instincts were calling her to hunt, and she couldn’t deny them. Sibes knew there was something bad in that forest, as she’d discovered it with the panther, Nyx. However, the beast could not be deterred, so she vowed to keep close to the edge of the forest this time.

Dressed in dark jeans and a tight black tank that was more than a little see-through, the Russian took off through the school, ignoring the wolf-whistles that followed her. Perhaps she was asking for them with the flash of a silky red bra that showed through the shirt that barely counted as clothing, but she didn’t much care. She liked the attention, and she’d claw out the eyes of anyone who dared to touch her. Walking to the forest with ease and determination clear on her pale features, she was rather surprised to notice another human within the trees. He spoke before she’d even made it into his line of vision, and her nose flared. The tiger senses took over as she smelled the air, scenting the boy and storing his distinct smell in her mind to be labeled once she found out just who he was.

”And why would I not want to come nearer to you?” she growled, striding out of the shadows and into view of the dark-haired boy who looked rather familiar. Of course, being raised in a home of dark arts, Sibes knew of the famous boy-who-lived. Anyone who could incapacitate a supposed ‘dark lord’ was worth knowing about after all. She looked him up and down, flicking her long black hair out of her face as she assessed the male before her. ”I was wondering when I might run into the famous savior of the wizarding world…” she muttered, lip curling in slight disgust, though it wasn’t at the boy as he would soon learn. ”As if you would choose to save the pitiful masses, to become an orphan before you even got to establish real memories of parents who would give everything for you.” The way she spat the words made it clear how wrong she found the whole situation to be.

With a scowl she added, ”Only a coward would attack and kill a mother who was protecting her flesh and blood. And no one wants to be famous for thwarting a coward.” She bitterly thought of her own family, and the fact that if she were in such a situation, they’d happily sacrifice her to save themselves. If Ivan had been able to kill her to save her mother when she was dying in childbirth, he would have. Hell, he would have sacrificed her for the mere chance at raising his son. She’d meant nothing to her parents, and yet her father still lived. This boy meant everything to his mother, and she was struck down without seeing him grow. Life was a cruel mistress.

Harry had heard there was a new girl in Slytherin who already carried the air that she owned the place, even more so than a normal snake. This must be her. No one else who was old enough to know better would willingly walk into the forest completely on their own unless they had some sort of death wish. Harry wondered if that meant he had developed a death wish at some point, but he would worry about that later.

The fact that she openly appraised him and then spoke to him in such a manner would have confirmed this girl as the one who was captivating the school. Sadly for both of them, Harry was no longer thinking about who she was in any way. He was seething, sparks practically flying from his eyes as the little brain function he was left with suddenly flowed into trying to find a reason not to maim her and leave her here for the beasts of the forest without even bothering to find out who she was.

The thing that probably saved her was the fact that everything the black clad girl said caused his head to spin even more. He had never heard anyone talk so openly about the fact that he shouldn’t be famous, at least not anyone who gave an actual reason, and one that probably made sense. He had also never heard anyone at all, possibly short of Dumbledore, refer to Voldemort as a coward. If she was willing to say the former to his face, she was probably willing to say the latter to the famous murderer. That was a level of intriguing that Harry wasn’t sure he had ever dealt with before.

Still, he couldn’t exactly let the slight go that easily, especially if this girl was going to form some sort of competition within the hierarchy of the castle. Harry needed to send a message before anyone had even seen them together, to make sure things got off to the right start when they officially got started.

He slowly moved forward so that all of his weight was on his feet again and he was in something resembling a proper dueling stance. His hand found his wand and grasped it tightly in the pocket of his robes. A look of steely anger covered his face, which he found was entirely honest. He might be intrigued by this girl, but he also thought he might hate her already. “What in the name of all that is good in the world makes you think you have the right to talk about my mother in such a familiar way when you never knew her?” he asked icily, his words full of threat and challenge. Harry wouldn’t almost be disappointed if the girl didn’t rise up and strike at the opportunity here.

”Knowing my own mother gives me that right,” she growled, thinking of the terror that was her family life. ”The fact that she was allowed to exist for so many years of my young life while your caring mother was ripped from yours so early is a travesty to that which we define as ‘family’.” She did not intend to further educate this boy, or anyone else, on her family life.

The girl sighed at the wand being pointed in her direction, finding herself rather bored with it all. ”I could slit your throat before you even thought of whatever spell you want to use,” she said with a yawn. The boy was interesting, at least. He took action first and thought about it later, it would seem, and that usually made for a lot of fun happenings.

Sibes flicked her hair behind her shoulders, giving the boy a nice view of her bra before leaning slightly forward and licking her canines. ”I know what I’m doing out here, but tell me, oh chosen one, what brought you to the forest today? You know there are… beasts who lurk amongst the leaves…”

Sometimes Harry forgot that he was a celebrity and that every detail of his life was available for public consumption, including probably some things that he didn’t actually know himself. He had never had the stomach to read much about his parents or himself or anything else in the history books where he was mentioned. Still, this girl seemed to have her facts right, and she also seemed to have a point. She also didn’t really seem to want to talk about mothers any more than he did, so Harry decided to let it go.

Taking a good look at her lithe, athletic form and the dangerously sharp claws at the end of her hands, and decided that she was probably right about that as well. His hand slowly moved back out of his pocket and into the open. This girl was odd and a little bit frightening, Harry would have to either avoid her or at least be very careful.

“I’ve spent more time in this forest than anyone besides Hagrid, probably ever. Certainly more than anyone besides Hagrid who’s around the castle now.” He shrugged nonchalantly and leaned back against the tree again, though he was ready to grab his wand at a moment’s notice if he needed to. “I think I know where I can get away with going and what to listen for in case it’s time to run away screaming.”

“So, you have me at a disadvantage. You seem to know quite a lot about me, but all I know about you is that you mom is dead, but not as long as mine, and that most of the school seems to be buzzing about you for some reason.” He gave her a sympathetic smile with that last bit. Harry was all too familiar with the feeling of the school buzzing over him. “What do I have to do to find out a bit more and level the field?”

Well, the boy had a brain at least. His show of leaving his wand alone was a sentiment to that, and she tilted her head in amusement at him. The idea that he thought he could handle himself in the forest was laughable, however, and brought a smirk to her lips. ”You think yourself so knowledgeable about this forest, do you? You should remember that human senses are slow. Some things might not give enough warning for you to get away so safely,” she purred, pacing around him in a predatory circle.

Most of the school was talking about her? Really? Well, that was interesting. She knew she had a few people talking, but she wasn’t positive that she’d made that big of an impact. ”It is not my fault that I know of your fame, pet,” she purred. ”To know more about me than you do, you will have to give up something in return. I may know of you, but it is nothing that the world does not know at large. I want to know more. I want to know things they don’t. Tell me your secrets, boy. Let me into your world…”

Her claws rested on his shoulders as her body pressed against his back, lips grazing his earlobe as she spoke, sure he’d be affected by her closeness. Sibes let her tongue sneak out of her lips to lap at his lobe, a growl sounding from deep within her chest. ”I will tell you that there is a lot more to me than meets the eye. There is a lot that you would never guess about me.”

From the way the girl spoke, it was almost like she meant that she was the dangerous thing in the forest, but that was ridiculous. And what was all this rubbish about human senses? From what he could tell the new girl was just as human as he was. An idea sped through his brain, but he quickly let it go. They were out in the daytime, weren’t they? Besides, the last time he had accused someone of being a vampire, Hermione hadn’t spoken to he or Ron for a week because of how ridiculous she thought they were being.

There was a time a few months ago, before the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, when someone stalking around him in such a predatory manner would have unnerved him. Likewise there was a time just a few days ago, before the spontaneous snogging with Vinter, when Harry would have been completely unnerved by a girl flaunting her state of partial dress at him like this. Both of those times were gone now, and Harry was growing up. He was fully in control of the situation, just waiting to see what would happen.

“What makes you think I have secrets?” he asked, going for nonchalant.

Any effect he was going for was broken as she was suddenly up against him and he stopped breathing for a minute. He lost her words entirely and had no idea whatsoever what she had said as he tried to figure out why her tongue was in his ear. Her growl sounded not angry, or violent, but something different entirely.

He spun quickly, showing off his reflexes and moving away just far enough to keep the claws from hurting him as he moved to face his challenger, or whatever she was. The look on her face broke his confidence however, and he looked at her a little bit more meekly. “Okay, so there are secrets,” he allowed, kicking at the dirt between them a little bit. “What makes you think I’ll share them with you but not with my best mates?”

Sensing the boy’s discomfort, Sibes allowed a smirk to grace her blood-colored lips. It was amusing how he thought he could remain out of harm’s way. She slunk towards him once again, enjoying the waves of fear that radiated from the Gryffindor. ”You will share your secrets with me because I have no reason to use them against you. I am someone with no bias, no loyalties. I can judge your secrets fairly. Is this not what you need?” Of course, there was also the fact that she could turn him on, as she was sure he noticed given her state of dress and the closeness she kept insisting upon.

The Russian tilted her head at him, long black hair falling loosely in the light breeze. ”You’re confused and overwhelmed and your friends are only adding to it. That’s what friends most often do, you should know. Your sense of loyalty is clouding your judgment, mighty lion. So many conflicting emotions… You seem more like a confused kitten than a proud beast.” She licked her lips and pressed her body against his, chests crushing against each other as she looked up into his emerald eyes, so much like her own. ”I could help you find that inner animal again, pet…”

The girl’s voice was a purr as she leaned against him, hands wandering to his hair and playing in the mess she found. Messy, but not tangled, his hair was soft like fur. She liked it. With practiced ease, Sibes slid a leg between his and leaned in ever closer to the boy. She wanted to touch him, to feel him. Her lips craved to taste him, her tongue to battle with his. He leaned her face up toward his, standing on her tip toes to better reach his face. ”Tell me what is going through that brain of yours, pet, and maybe I’ll tell you what’s pulsing through mine.”

With that, she pressed her lips against his, grasping at his lower lip with her teeth and growling against his mouth. Perhaps he could escape her grasp if he wasn’t too stunned, but she doubted it. She had him just where she wanted him, and he tasted wonderful.

Harry’s face grew thoughtful much quicker than he would ever admit if someone asked him about it later. It was true that he had more questions than anything else in his life lately, and that it seemed like everyone had an angle on all of it. Even with his closest friends it was sometimes hard to tell just what was going into answers and thoughts from other sources. Maybe having a truly neutral opinion available would help sort certain things out.

Then her body was pressed against his, and he hadn’t noticed in time to move away, and it would be awkward if he moved out of her range now, not that he was sure he wanted to pull away anyway. No matter how bad of an idea most of this likely was, the dangerous sexuality that oozed from the Slytherin was magnetic.

He was utterly confused about the long animal metaphor she was on, or whatever it was, and before he could figure it out she was doing something that seemed to be halfway between a kiss and an attempt to eat his bottom lip. Harry had never met anyone as strange as this girl before in his life, and that was saying something since his extreme fame seemed to bring out the strangest in people.

When he felt he could do so without risking some sort of bodily harm he pulled his lip out of the girl’s mouth and stepped out of her range one more time. “I guess it’s not a secret to you like it is to everyone else,” he began, hoping to catch her attention before she decided to close the gap again, “but I don’t have exactly the level of control of my life that everyone thinks I do. It seems like every time I turn around I’ve lost someone I trust for guidance, and there is no way in hell that a sixteen year old should literally have the fate of the world on his shoulders.”

He took a few gasping breaths, trying to regain some of his composure. “I’m sure you want a secret you can do something with, whether that something is helping me, helping yourself, or stirring up some kind of trouble.” He stopped again, thinking of what would qualify and deciding to go straight to the biggest thing that weight on all of it. “No one has ever told me the story of the night my parents died, and that is at the center of everything going on. I’ve gotten the short, polite version. I’ve gotten bits and pieces that were well suited to a certain situation or goal. I’ve never gotten the full story. If anyone is willing to tell me the full story or help me piece together the full thing that’s going to go a long way towards helping me figure out what my plan is.”

Letting the boy pull away from her this time and keeping herself from tangling him up again, Sibes listened to his musings. What he said was true, in all honesty. He shouldn’t have to deal with the shit that he’d been dealt, yet that was what life threw at him. Perhaps he needed to let it out sometimes and actually complain a bit, but he sounded rather… whiny in her opinion. Yeah, he’d been dealt an unfair hand, but life was rarely fair. She could easily point out the unjust ways in which most everyone had been treated by the foul temptress that was life, after all.

Choosing to keep her opinions to herself and listen, the Russian focused on what he would reveal. He knew what she wanted, and that made her grin. It was a bit scary when she did that, but she figured he’d need to get used to her frightening demeanor sooner rather than later if they were going to have any further dealings with each other. Her breath caught in her throat at his words, and her emerald eyes grew wide with wonder. The boy didn’t know what happened to his parents! Of course, everyone knew the story, but that’s all it was, it seemed. A story.

The fact that the truth was unknown set off so many alarms in her mind that Sibes felt as if her head might explode. Things had just gotten much more serious than a snog in the forest, and the Russian was well aware of this. ”That is quite a secret, pet,” she purred, looking at him with such an intense gaze that she was sure a weaker person would cower in fear. ”Information like that could change the world. That story is known by all throughout the magical realm! If you were to discover some hidden truth… Do you realize what havoc you could cause? So many questions would come about… And depending on the details… You could change history, pet.”

Her eyes were bright with desire at the very idea. There was nothing Sibes enjoyed more than destroying perceptions people once had. Proving others wrong was always satisfying, especially when it had to do with something they’d believed so truly for so long. If the Potters’ murders hadn’t happened the way history said, that would be a heavy blow to the whole community, and this boy would have leverage that he never even dreamed of.

”You should know I take no sides, pet. I am strictly out for myself, though I do hate the ‘pureblood’ agenda or whatever you might call it. I also despise humanity. We, as a species, are destroying the world, and none too slowly either…” her disgust was clear in the sneer on her face. She shook her head and continued. ”There is another secret I might divulge to you. If you include me in whatever plan you come up with to turn this world head over heels, that is.”

Harry shook his head, half to himself and half to the Slytherin. She didn’t get it. Of course, the entire wizarding world knew that Voldemort had come to his parents’ house killed them, tried to kill him, and failed. That couldn’t be the whole story, though. Everyone even knew that he had been left to live with his muggle relatives, but did anyone know why, aside from Dumbledore, who might be the world’s best liar? He wondered. He wondered a dozen other things about that Halloween night and the beginning of November that followed, many of which would probably just have bored this girl. He needed to ask at least one of them to prove his point, though.

“You don’t know as much of the story as you think you do,” Harry said, trying not to sound superior or lecturing, as she might go back to using her claws on him if she did. “For example, did you know that my parents were apparently in hiding because they knew that Voldemort was targeting them? Or that it may have been because of a prophecy that could completely change this entire war? And those are just the pieces that have been fed to me when it served a purpose for the grown-ups. The first one I know is true. The second part...”

Harry still didn’t know what to say or think about the second part, but it was becoming more and more clear that it was at the center of this. If there was a prophecy, Harry needed to know every detail about it, not just what was said but to who and when and who overheard and what everyone did about it. Everything. If there was no prophecy and it was just a tool the Headmaster was using to control him, he needed to know that to, because everything would change. Again.

Harry was still completely befuddled by half of what the pale girl said. Either she legitimately hated human beings and wanted everyone gone, or she was speaking in some kind of code without filling Harry in. He would need to figure that out before he could fully trust her. Until then, she could at least be useful as she was a Slytherin who had actually never been seen with him before. Still, he was intrigued by whatever her secret might be and was sure he could find some kind of place for her in his plans, even if he couldn’t trust her yet. She was incredibly dangerous, physically and mentally, to anyone who came across her. That was a start, at least.

“I assure you, when it’s time to upset the basket of plans that the old people on both sides have, there will be some kind of important role for you,” Harry said. “So long as you keep the connection between the two of us a secret. It would raise too many eyebrows and questions if people knew we were talking.”

She listened and simply nodded along with the boy’s words. It seemed true enough that people didn’t know what they thought they knew, and it would definitely cause waves whenever the truth was revealed. The fact that this sixteen year old boy was smart enough to realize that not all adults were trustworthy and not all ‘truths’ were so honest was something that made her smirk, and even if he didn’t quite understand everything that slipped from her own lips, he understood enough about the world for her to take great interest.

His promise that she would be involved, however covertly, in his plans to turn the world on its head had her eager to show him her ultimate secret, and the smirk curled into a true smile as she exposed her elongated fangs. Her nose was shifting, ears morphing and sprouting fur, and her pupils grew more cat-like as well. ”Get ready for a mind-blowing secret, Potter,” she growled before her lips became a tiger’s muzzle and she was on all fours, long tail sprouting from her back side and swishing happily in the open air.

It was odd for her to let the transformation go so slowly, but it didn’t bother her now, as she was so used to it by this point, so she figured a bit of slow-mo would benefit the situation. Potter would probably get a kick out of it and she was greatly enjoying the expression on his face. Once she was the tiger, she sat back on her haunches and lifted a paw, bringing it to her mouth and cleaning her fur as if this was the most normal occurrence in the world.

Sibes stood and stalked about in a circle, first to show off her form, then to actually circle the raven-haired boy in a somewhat predatory manner. She cocked her head at him and dug her claws into the ground, wanting to show him her power in this form but sensing no animals nearby. Oh well. Hopefully he figured it out on his own, as her muscles twitched beneath her fur and she let out a slight roar that had a few birds flying out of their hiding places in the taller trees.

The tiger leapt easily up so that it was on two legs and she transformed back into her human self, this time doing so at a speedy pace so that she was standing where the tiger had been mere seconds before. Her emerald eyes peered at the boy with daring clear in their depths. ”That a valuable enough secret? Don’t tell anyone, pet. I’m not registered…” she hissed the last bit, hoping she’d been right to trust this boy. ”So we’re hiding our conversations. What else would you have me do, oh fearless leader?”

Harry had to actively work to keep his jaw from dropping. He had no idea what he had expecting the new girl’s secret to be, but it wasn’t this. He thought that you had to be some kind of genius and hero to be an animagus of any kind, registered or not. His past experiences had told him this, if you cared to exclude Wormtail, and Harry did, from everything, whenever he could. Besides, he assumed that Padfoot and his father had done literally all the work in allowing their useless friend to turn into a rat when they needed him to.

Still, he had to think about this at some point, because Harry was fairly certain this girl didn’t fit the image of an animagus that he had in his head, yet here she was changing into a tiger and back while he struggled to keep himself under control and not lose his mind or something. No matter what he decided, he seemed to have underestimated her abilities as a witch, and that was saying something since he was already impressed with her power before. He would have to find her as much to do as he could, maybe even eventually in the open down the road.

“The best kind of animagus is an unregistered one as far as I can tell,” Harry said in an offhand tone, his mind half on his godfather and half still on whether he could someone use the girl in front of him to gain some kind of actual advantage in this war that he had been drug into. Sadly, even with this secret gift he was fairly certain that it was too early for him to do more than sit back and try to keep all of his people alive until things were really moving again, and to delay that serious stuff as long as he could, if that were an option.

“For now the two things that I need most are information and people, so your role is the same as anyone who thinks I know what I’m talking about,” Harry said, giving a mock bow at the last part. He knew the number was small and would be smaller yet at the slightest slip. “Keep your eyes and ears open and pass any information on to me that you think I might find interesting. You can get to a lot of places and people that I can’t. Hopefully that will help.”

His mind went to leaving, but then he thought of something else. “We need to develop a signal you can shoot at me in a class if you have information that you want to pass on to me. Any ideas?” Harry thought the signal in class thing was a brilliant way to keep things secret, as long as no one cracked it. Thank Merlin they were in the same year.

The Russian female was rather pleased with the way the boy reacted to her secret. His approval made her oddly happy, and she couldn’t help but smirk as he spoke. It was nice to have her skills acknowledged as well. She was very capable of getting to know different sorts of people, even if it was simply getting to know the way they fought. She could also get herself into a lot of different places and situations that would lend to overhearing useful tidbits. Yes, Sibes could definitely prove herself a useful component of whatever little war was going on.

The next issue was this little signal thing. Well, she had one idea, but he probably wouldn’t like it much. ”I know a little spell that mimics a poke. Of course, coming from me it generally draws blood,” she growled, slinking up beside the boy and reaching out to slide one sharp claw along his arm. If they did go with the poking charm at least he’d know for sure it was her. After all, not many people drew blood with a simple prod.

The petite girl leaned up against the raven-haired boy, purring as she looked into his eyes that were so like hers. ”There are other ways I’d like to get your attention too, pet, but I’m pretty sure those might draw a bit more attention than desired.” With that, she leaned in and licked the Gryffindor’s cheek, grinning wickedly at her new play thing.

Harry wasn’t exactly crazy about the idea of being poked until he bled as a signal, but it was something he was uniquely prepared for, so it would likely work better than anything else that might escape the notice of Hermione and Snape if it needed to. Trying to sneak things by probably two of the five or so cleverest people in the castle, especially when one of them was an experience spy and eavesdropper, really was a pain.

He showed her the faint scar on his hand from Umbridge’s torture quill last year. “Poke the first ‘s’ if you need me immediately and we’ll meet in the closest classroom. Poke the second ‘s’ if it can wait and we’ll meet that night, in this spot, one hour after curfew.”

He was about to ask the girl if that made sense, but stopped short as she was suddenly up against him again, a claw running dangerously along his arm and her voice a husky purr in his ear. He wasn’t entirely sure whether this was what it was like to be courted by a tiger or if she was threatening to eat him. Either way, the licking made Harry a special kind of uncomfortable and awakened his Gryffindor braveness far more than it probably should have.

Reaching up, he moved her face away from his and angled it so that he was looking her in the eye. “I don’t know who you think you are,” he said with his best tone of icy power, “but the licking thing is gonna have to stop. I’m not some kind of treat for you to sample however you want.”

He thought of pushing her away and leaving, but decided that was probably too dangerous given the current situation, so he just went on pushing his luck. “And if you insist on clawing up my arms, you better know a decent healing or concealment spell. People will notice if the most famous person in the castle starts showing up with extra scars.”

The Russian girl was rather shocked to see the scars on the Chosen One’s hand. Obviously her painful pokes wouldn’t be that big a deal if he had somehow been forced to carve that mantra into his own flesh. An interesting concept, to never tell lies, though it seemed rather foolish for someone in the Gryffindor’s position. Manipulation usually required bending the truth, and he definitely needed to manipulate the masses.

Sibes approved of the plan that the wizard presented, even if it was more thought out than she had intended. She just thought she’d be prodding his side and they’d meet up later on at some point. This would be a much more sophisticated way of doing things, and yet it somehow seemed less fun. Perhaps this was due to the thought that the boy would be much less likely to jump and squeal when she poked his scars than when she pokes his tender side.

The shock was obvious when his green gaze met hers and he demanded that she stop her licking. It seemed the boy had sprouted a spine and it was utterly surprising, really. So he didn’t want to be her property. That was disappointing. ”You know, pet, you are going to make me sad. Not trusting me to leave behind no permanent marks… Do you really doubt my skill?”

Shaking her long, black locks, the Slytherin smirked at the Gyffindor and slowly paced backward and away from him. ”Alright then, pet, I can take a hint. I’ll send the signal if I have anything worth sharing. If you need me, you know where to find me,” she purred, turning on her heel and slipping easily into her tiger’s skin and slinking into the shadows.