Wolf's child 9

Although the grounds had been turned white by November's and December's snow, the forest was as dark as night, giving the whole forest a sense of danger. Within these woods, a creature lurked.

'Raikou' had adjusted well to his new lifestyle, but he missed his friends. After two months since his escape, Dumbledore had given up on the forest as a place of hiding for the boy-who-lived. This allowed Raikou to wander around the grounds more freely. Although he still had to be careful.

He watched the students during the day. Interacting with each other. Good-natured snowball-fights. Children just being children, unlike him. In the other world he had been forced to grow up way too fast. As a wolf he had been forced to grow up way too fast. He had noticed that during the last months he remembered things more clearly from his 'other' past. Mainly death and destruction.

He felt a longing to be part of those children, of that innocence but he couldn't . He had seen too much to really connect to them. That and Kiba and the others were counting on him. Cheza was counting on him. He had to find her, if only for her sake. Raikou remembered a fragment of his other life, when he and Hige had wandered around the base were Cheza had been held. Hige had somehow triggered an alarm, forcing the two to split up to avoid the security-teams. Using his (then imperfect) transportation skill, he had accidentally entered Cheza's chamber. Her body was in a crucified position, several tubes led from her body to machines. It was an inhuman torture. He would be damned if he would let her suffer like that, again.

And then there was that person, the man who attacked the unicorns. The man didn't stop , Raikou protected the mythical creatures, and as a result the group slowly but surely learned that the predator wasn't going to harm them. The wolf was allowed to sleep with the group, although Raikou barely had to. The moon supplied him with enough energy. The group also accepted Harry as one of their own, when the wolf-boy actually appeared. Harry was more comfortable in his wolf form but certain tasks where easier on the nose if you had less wet hair.

He also found himself to be of interest in the eyes of the centaurs. At first they ignored him, aside from calls to head back to the castle. As time went on and the boy clearly avoided the school-grounds they became more interested. Harry hadn't shown them that the wolf and he were one and the same.

Raikou watched the castle from the forest. It was a magnificent building even when he had seen it a million times. Many students had gone home during the holidays. A few students remained including a family of red-heads, who were very familiar to the wolf. The youngest was the one Harry had saved when he had fallen from his broom. Also the twins kept trying to enter the forest, only to be chased out again by the large half-human. If Raikou was in his human-form he would have smirked because as he watched, the two devils tried it once again before his very eyes.The wolf was hidden in the darkness, unmoving as the two walked past him. They never saw him.

A scent in the wind made Raikou growl. The attacker had returned once again. Making his way to the man, he watched him from the shadows. The man was on guard, but didn't see him. Raikou's natural color plus the darkness of the forest made it nearly impossible to see the predator.

The man walked to the place of where the unicorns were resting. Their protector right behind him. Unseen and unnoticed. The bushes rustled and moved on their right. The twins popped out. Not noticing the man at first, "Oh...eeh.. Hi there, professor Quirrel. We didn't see you there." "Weasley and Weasley, you two shouldn't be here!! Ten points from Gryffindor each." "Eeh..professor..what are you doing here? And why aren't you stuttering?" The two were suddenly very aware that their teacher didn't act like before. They drew their wands. "KILL THEM!" a different voice shouted. The teacher nodded at the command and with lightning fast reflexes the wands of the teenagers left their owner's hand. "You just had to stick your noises in businesses that doesn't concern you," Quirrel spoke, "I'm sorry but I can't let you live. AVADA KADAVERA!!"

The twins looked in shock as the green beam came closer and closer. A black blur appeared and tackled them. The beam passed harmlessly overhead. "George, are you okay?" his twin shouted.
"Somehow. What happened?"
"You blasted mutt!! Why do you always get in my way!!"

The scream tore the redheads back to their current position. Their teacher was attacked by a snarling and growling black wolf.
"Do you suppose we should help?" one asked.
"It looks like he has everything somewhat under control. Let's go."
The two ran like hell back to the castle, forgetting all about their wands.
Raikou was the better in the fight as always, since he didn't rely on a wand. His opponent always tried to aim at the agile creature so it was a matter of not being were the professor pointed. After Raikou managed to bit down on the wand-arm of his opponent the fight was technically over. The man was unable to deal with the pain and fell unconscious. Raikou knew he should end the life, but at the moment he was still concerned about the two redheads he'd saved. They didn't have their wands with them.

Taking the pieces of wood in his mouth the young wolf disappeared into the forest again, letting his nose guide him. Hoping the two boys wouldn't run into more trouble. The said boys ran as fast as they could, their knowledge of the forest coming in handy.
"THERE!!" one said while pointing ahead, "The end!! Now we can warn Dumbledore!!"

A small blur suddenly blocked the path. The twins stopped, the green eyes of the midnight-coloured wolf shone brightly in the darkness of his fur. The two reached into their robes. Instead of the weapons they expected, they only grasped air. "We lost our wands!"
A growl from the predator brought their attention to it. With a movement of its head the wolf threw the sticks it carried at the twins. Recognizing them almost instantly, the twins rushed to grab them.

This choice of action brought them within range of the lethal maw of the beast. Raikou's nose smelt something, his eyes narrowed, his mind said 'easy prey!', he couldn't help himself, the wolf pounched. Screams echoed throughout the forest.

"Let us go.", "Come on, this is wrong on so many levels", "This is so undignified." Raikou ignored the calls as he carried the two back to the castle. With the top part of both cloaks in-between his teeth the twins were dragged with him. He dropped them near the staircase to the entrance, he looked at them and backed away. The twins stood up and also regarded their saviour. The two bowed and smiled.
"Thank you," Another voice spoke. By the door stood the girl from the troll, "I never thought I could see you again."
"You known this guy, Granger?"
"Well no but he saved me from the troll at Halloween. It cornered me in the girl's lavatory. Then he came and saved me."
The twins looked at the girl, the other twin and to the wolf, "you don't suppose..."

"He likes saving people..." "because he saved us..." "Too."

The wolf turned around facing the forest. He looked back to the three children. He ran to the dark shadows of the trees. His fur hiding him from sight as he approached the woods. He turned around to see the door close. The children were safe, for now.

The wolf darted into the darkness in search of his prey. Just like many times before, Raikou arrived at an empty spot. The teacher had vanished once again. His blood visible against the dark-green of the local plantlife. Its scent stained the natural odors of the forest. The scent and blood left a trail, a howl of fury erupted from the wolf's throat, it was leading towards the unicorns. The creature rushed forward as fast as his four limbs allowed. A smoldering fire was visible in Raikou's eyes. The time of playing was over!!

Throughout the forest an angry and, at the same time, sad howl was heard. Inside the castle three people looked up from what they were doing. A girl drew the curtain away from the window and looked outside, staring at the dark and frightening forest. On the floor above her, two boys did the same thing.

Harry looked over the piles of freshly dug earth. The graves of the unicorns were simple, just like the horse-like creatures were simple themselves. At small nudge on his back made him turn. A sad smile appeared on his face. The black wolf disappeared in to the woods followed by several golden and silver animals. The attacker got away but not all unicorns were gone.

Some of the unicorns stayed, their horns glowing. The graves became illuminated by silvery light, flowers grew all over the place except for a pitch-black rock were two emeralds revealed themselves. Creating the image of a dark creature looking over the graves of one of the purest creatures on Earth.