Title: Twining Transformations

Author: S.Malfoy

NOTE: These are not my characters, they are J.K Rowling's, and I make no money off of them whatsoever. However, it is my plot (at least hopefully haha).

It is a slash between SS/HP, seen later in the story, so you are warned.

--------------------

Chapter 5

Rescue Mission #304

"Ark," Harry muttered, his eyes wandering over the dark inside of his tiny woven prison. The Forbidden Forest was strangely silent and Harry was beginning perspire, his skin itching and feathers twitching uncomfortably in the hot, stilted air trapped inside the bag. Every few minutes though a strong wind would seep through the material, the bag swaying desperately, and then Harry would become chilled before sweating again. Once he was sure the bag did a complete flip around the branch, and squawked shrilly as the bag was thrown carelessly around.

Just my luck. On Christmas Eve and I had to go and get bird-napped; now I won't get to open my presents yet, Harry thought wistfully.

He was morosely pondering the possibility of Snape opening his present before Harry arrived when he heard a dull thud close by. He immediately jerked to attention.

"Caw?" he tried futilely.

He stuck his beak against the thin bag, trying to smell the air through the material and was surprised. It smelled a distinct blend of human and animal...

There was a loud tear and as Harry fell to the ground in a downward spiral he only caught a blur of darkness before his head struck a rock and his mind went blank.

--------------------

Severus was ordered to appear in Dumbledore's offices as soon as physically possible while Albus called upon the other professors.

Since he had already gotten dressed earlier, he quickly flooed to the office and began pacing agitatedly in front of the fireplace while the other teachers were gathered. Minerva had imbibed a bit much that night – owning to the Christmas spirit she said – and had a hard time focusing on the conversation.

Snape smirked; he had a belt underneath his robes with various potions for practically every situation imaginable. He could have given her a hangover potion to clear her head, but decided against it with a malicious smile.

"We have a problem; Harry had been bird-napped," Dumbledore said, his blue eyes serious; the twinkle had fled once the news had been relayed that Harry has no where inside Hogwarts. Dumbledore had made it his own personal knowledge that Harry's magical signature had faded; it hardened his mouth in a stern line and his eyes went the color of steel.

The other teachers drew back at the feral look in his eyes; it had only once had Snape seen such anger, and he was doubly glad he had never been on the receiving end of such power.

"Do we know if he's anywhere inside the walls of Hogwarts?" Minerva questioned a bit hesitantly.

"He is no longer in the castle, I have checked it myself," Dumbledore stated quietly. "We will begin the search the surrounding area immediately."

They all nodded and were assigned locations; Minerva had the Quidditch Pitch; Flitwick the broom shed; Vector the Owlery; Hagrid was sent to Hogsmeade with his crossbow tucked tightly inside his coat; Dumbledore and Snape had taken over the task of entering Forbidden Forest.

They both withdrew their wands and moved stealthily towards the edge of the Forest, and Snape noticed a track of small footprints in the crackled dew. Dumbledore nodded silently; they both realized the only feet that would have been small enough to make the tracks were those of a student.

They followed the trail, each casting a silence spell on their own steps in the rare case that the kidnapper was still nearby. Only upon nearing the Forest did they lose sight of the steps leading inside. Even as the sun began to rise, the Forest stayed dark, and Snape quickly whispered 'Lumos', a light flaring dimly at the tip of his wand.

Dumbledore murmured a quick tracking spell, pointing towards the indented footsteps and a bright light flared briefly before settling to a soft glow. They silently followed the way shown, and it was a full fifteen minutes before the trail of footsteps abruptly ended. Severus' heart was clinched the entire time, dread sitting cold in his roiling stomach. What he saw did not help matters much.

A small bag was tied tightly around a hanging tree branch, with a side viciously slashed open and a small puddle of blood lie dormant on the ground. Snape drew in a harsh breath and his hand tightened painfully around his wand, bending it threateningly.

"Calm yourself, Severus," Dumbledore murmured, never once taking his eyes from the blood. He leaned down, his eyes squinting in the dim light of the fading footsteps and Snape's wand.

"Look here – centaur tracks."

--------------------

Harry was truly frightened in an amused sort of way; in bird form, he was tied tightly to a long stick and held outstretched between two trotting centaurs. They both had identical dark brown fur, with black mane and tail; the only difference is that one had green eyes and the other had yellow.

"Caw-ers?" he asked around the gag tying his beak together.

None of the horse men answered, silently trekking through the forest at breakneck speed. His wings were painfully digging into his sides, the bones squashed and shifting with each step taken.

"Twerps," he growled with a glare.

One of the centaurs he actually recognized smirked back. It was a grey centaur, his face hard and twisted in a snarl and Harry would recognize the bloody face anywhere – it was Bane.

"Cane," he mumbled.

They all stopped abruptly, knowing what he had meant.

"How do you know my name, little bird?" Bane grumbled, his face shoved forward towards Harry's. How he could guess what Harry tried to say was beyond him; but he supposed it was from living in a weird, magical forest all of his life.

Harry tried to shrug, but his shoulders were too stiff to try.

"What is your name then?" Bane questioned roughly, his eyes on the white lightening bolt slashed across his forehead.

"Carry-" Harry began, and then stopped, his face twisted. "C-Harry," he finally spit out.

They backed away for a moment, and then Bane smirked happily. "Ah, Harry Potter, once again coming into our forest!" he cried.

The other centaurs mumbled in agreement, and Harry blinked innocently.

"Caw?" he tried, acting bird-like once more. It didn't fool them. Bane was prancing around happily. "Now the elders will have to listen!" he sang gleefully. "We get to have a bon fire tonight, men!"

The other centaurs cheered - probably because they wanted to eat the charred remains of Harry later he supposed - and Harry rolled his eyes. Why does this always seem to happen to me? he wondered ruefully.

--------------------

Snape sent a flare into the air, letting the other teachers know they were on the trail while Dumbledore set a new tracking spell for the hooves of the centaurs that were clustered in a confused mass around the area. They could make out the general direction they were headed in, and immediately set out for Rescue Mission # 304: Save Harry-the-bird from mad Centaurs.

The duo began walking as quickly as possible, noting the little drops of blood scattered every now and then, and once even found a dark bird feather lying helplessly on the ground. Severus bent down, picking up the soft feather and rubbing it between his fingertips gently, before sticking it deep inside his robe pocket. If Dumbledore noticed, he chose not to say anything, much to Snape's relief.

They traveled well over two hours unscathed as the presence of Dumbledore was a great deterrent to most mischievous animals. Every half an hour Snape's partner sent up a brief flare, letting them know they were still safe and on the trail.

Finally, Dumbledore paused and came to a stop outside of the range of the guarding centaurs, motioning Snape closer into the shadows.

"I need you to transform yourself," Dumbledore said quietly. "We need a brief diversion and then we'll attack once the other teachers have arrived." Albus sensed, with his great omnipotent power, that the pack of teachers were less than half an hour behind them.

So as they waited impatiently, Severus changed into his pale eagle form with the Dark Mark, his clothing dropping to the ground underneath him. He had never quite managed to transform his articles of clothing along into his bird form as Minerva was apt to do.

Dumbledore made sure the troop's footfalls were silent and they gathered underneath that large brush of one tree. Most of the teachers had shown up – Minerva, Flitwick, Vector, Allsac (the DADA teacher), and for some reason, Trelawney. There they made their plan of attack.

--------------------

Harry decided he didn't like being tied to a stake with firewood gathered around him. With his awful luck, the ancient elders had decided they were hungry and in need a good bird burning. So there he was, trussed up and tired, his delicate wing bones aching and his bladder full. The robes closed unnervingly tight around his middle, squeezing his tolerance to a new level.

"Rerp," he tried to point out to any horseman that would listen. "Eerp- caw-eep-lop!" he swore when his presence was ignored.

Then suddenly above, there was a great white eagle that shrieked-loudly- its displeasure at the scene. Mystified, Harry watched with a bright gaze as it circled overhead, its presence sending dismay throughout the pack of centaurs. At that same time when all the centaurs began shouting and pointing skyward, it let loose a bomb of slick white fluid, dripping disgustingly over the faces and into the mouths of the stampeding horde of horsemen.

At the moment the 'bombs' went off overhead and schism of red light went off erratically from the outer edges of the forest. He could hear the bleating cries of the centaurs that rushed away...but not before one of them had a chance to throw a torch onto the firewood gathered around Harry's stifled body.

Shrilly screeching, he let his panic be known. He tried sending a shower of water down to the fire, but only managed to conjure dew, and made himself damp and sticky. So he tried the next best thing – blowing forcefully through his beak and tiny nostril holes.

Up above Severus could see Harry was in trouble, and no teachers were around the help quench the fire, busy struggling with the remaining centaurs that had rushed forward to attack.

He swooped low, still circling, looking for the best angle to rescue the boy. He noticed the fire hadn't yet reached behind the bird and dived down. Using his beak and talons, he ripped apart the ropes binding him to the stake. He wasn't quick enough to avoid getting his tail feathers burned slightly though – and shrieking in outrage quickly flew up into the air, waiting for Harry to join him. But after hours of being tied up in a bag and later tied to a piece of fire wood, Harry was in no condition to fly.

Harry whimpered in pain, his shoulders impossibly tight and his wing muscles cramped. He looked upwards, imploring Severus to help him, his eyes frightened as the fire climbed higher towards the stake he stood next to.

Again, Severus made a spectacular dive towards Harry, his talons clenching onto Harry's slim bird shoulders, and lifted off into the air, digging painfully while he struggled for leverage. Harry tried to make himself as light as possible by holding absolutely still – which meant absolutely nothing in the scheme of things.

It was a tense moment while Severus struggled to rise into the air, his wings outstretched impressively – and then they plummeted straight towards the earth. Landing in a disgruntled heap, Severus pushed Harry off of him and out of the way with his beak, grumbling in embarrassment. Harry was only happy to be out of the mini inferno that was raging on where he had once been tied. He gave a happy sigh of relief, deciding the ground was very comfortable and relaxing for the first time that day.

The other teachers finished up with the centaurs, the camp now deserted except for the eight of them. Trelawney floated over to them, her eyes wide with comic disbelief. She glared briefly at Snape, and then turned to the Harry's bird body, moaning in sorrow.

"Oh, to think that you had almost been burned alive," she groaned, wrapping Harry in a tight embrace, Harry's face pressed firmly against her bosom. Harry didn't know if she was saddened that he had escaped with his life or rather that he had been tied up. He had an instinct it was the former rather than latter.

"Yea, good luck there Harry," Allsac said with a huge grin. He had average looking features, and was a decidedly bland man who taught the exact way he looked. He had brown eyes, brown hair, lightly tanned skin, and was only a medium height with a medium sort of energy. All in all, he was just a mediocre guy who was happy enough with his lot in life.

Harry's muffled greeting came out sounding like "Ballsac" to which Severus wheezed in laughter while Harry grimaced in embarrassment. Allsac waved it away with a smile.

Dumbledore arrived with a tired smile on his face. "Glad to see you're okay Harry. Thank you, Severus, for your fine handy-work."

Severus grunted, his eyes narrowing in suspicion at the double-edged compliment. It was Allsac's turn to muffle his laughter while Snape glared threateningly in his white eagle form.

"Harry, do you know who bird-napped you?" Minerva asked after extracting him from Trelawney's enthusiastic embrace.

Harry shook his head, indicating he had no clue. "Do you have any idea who might have done this to you?" she questioned after the negative answer.

Harry raised a bird eyebrow that appeared from no where before it disappeared again.

"Besides Draco Malfoy," she clarified.

Snape glared at Harry in disgust.

Harry just shook his head again. Minerva sighed in disappointment. Ba...er...Allsac just smiled at everyone. Trelawney predicted everyone's death within the next two minutes due to an explosion. Dumbledore twinkled thoughtfully. Snape growled in the general vicinity of the entire cluster of teachers. Flitwick turned a large tree branch into a floating carpet. Harry decided he needed to relieve his bladder.

As he finished up his business, he arrived back just in time to see Severus changing back into his human form...naked. His mouth dropped open in astonishment while his eyes darkened in lust. Who knew Snape had such a great body? And why hadn't they told him? He wondered in dismay.

This was a man he had respected and admired from afar – make that a long, long distance away in a galaxy at the end of a new millennium. But, Harry always knew that Severus had always saved him when he needed help the most, despite the fact he hated Harry, Harry's father, Harry's mother, Harry's Godfather, Harry's friends – well, basically everyone Harry knew.

Deciding it was high time someone showed some sort of support to the Death Eater spy, Harry dived down and landed right in Snape's naked lap to the surprise of everyone there - except Dumbledore of course. Nuzzling his head against Severus' chest, Harry looked up into his severe face, happiness beaming in little doses of sunlight again. Snape sighed, gave Harry a pat on the head before he gently set him aside, and stood up to don his clothing while the other teachers gave him a bit of privacy.

I really am going mental, Snape decided, trying to ignore the little flicker of warmth that kindled to life inside of his cold heart. He brushed his hand absently across his chest, still sensitive to the warmth from the little bundle of bird that had cuddled against his chest so trustingly with a smile.

--------------------

Light eyes that whirled with madness peered from the darkness of the surrounding trees, a grimace playing on soft lips. Damn Dumbledore and those stupid Professors! I will find a way to get to Harry...the Dark Lord is not going to be pleased. But, maybe he'll find the information that one of his most trusted spies has had Harry in his clutches for months now and never thought to bring it to his attention. Well, if that's the case, I'll finally get to Harry through someone he loves...Professor Snape.

--------------------

A/N: -dun dun dun- (scary music) Who is this unknown assailant, and why are they so bent on revenge? Soon to come...Christmas presents...revenge...love scenes...oh joy!