Just Around the Riverbend

Yay! NEW CHAPTER....

Heidi191976
VoraciousReader
angeles
Anathema
lilishannah
margaritama
Alina

And on a brighter note...in only FOUR more reviews I will have reached THE NUMBER !)))....wait....I mean 1000 (DAMN SHIFT key111....gah....I mean !!!)

Now on to less random things...

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Fenrir stared at his son in disbelief. Never had he seen a wolf under the rays of the morning sun. The wolf always receded. But this….this was both amazing and threatening.

“Can you understand me, boy?” Phelan nodded his wolf head several times, but then began to scratch himself behind the ear again, his tongue lolling out happily. “Snap out of it, you little freak!” his father snapped. Phelan stopped scratching behind his ear, and went down on his front paws, snarling at his father. Fenrir narrowed his eyes at the wolf. He wasn’t quite a match for the boy in human state. If he attacked now he’d have him. But would he think of that?

Fenrir’s sharp eyes darted around them, looking for anything he could use as a weapon. He saw a decrepit old crate, falling apart in its age, and lunged for it immediately. He jerked a piece of lumber loose, the nails sticking in the soft old wood, and he turned back to his son, who was already advancing on him. Fenrir swung the wood like a baseball bat, hitting Phelan with the flat, un-nailed side across the face.

Phelan yelped loudly, and let out a pitiful yowl when the nail-end of the wood struck across his flank. He shot forward painfully, and grabbed his wand from the pile of clothes that had been ripped off of him, and then headed down the alley and away from his weapon-wielding father.

“And if you come back, be prepared to fight me to the death!” his father snarled after him. Fenrir looked up to see the people still looking down on the alley with terrified fascination. “Do you want me to come up there?! Mind your business!!” he barked, and the sound of several windows slamming could be heard.

Phelan ran awkwardly through the street, but as soon has he passed out of Knockturn Alley he wished he knew how to get back to his human form. Screams met his emergence, and he had to dodge early-morning traveler’s spells on his bad leg. Several red Auror Summoning Flashes went up, and he ran as fast as he could, his injured leg throbbing unmercifully.

This was the beginning of a VERY bad day.

~~

Hermione stood at the door to the baby shop with Snape, both looking distinctly uncomfortable.

“Oh gods above and below give me strength.” He grumbled. Hermione rolled her eyes, and then pushed open the door, allowing him to come in as he held his son. Several mothers in various stages of expectancy, and a few already toting their precious bundles, looked over at the strange trio that had just stepped through the door. It was at that very moment that Severus was glad Hermione had suggested coming to a Muggle shop first. No one knew him here.

Hermione consulted what she had deemed ‘The List.’ It was a concise list of everything that little Cole would need for a while. She had discovered with horror that Snape didn’t know how to change a nappy, and had in fact been basically hosing his son down to clean him off. He didn’t realize that now the toddler was afraid of sink hoses. Hermione’s first stop was at the beds. Cole was a small toddler, but he was a little old for a crib. So he was getting a toddler bed. There was enough support to keep him from rolling out, and he would be able to use it for a few years before moving to a real bed.

Severus watched silently as Hermione fetched an attendant to claim all of the items they needed, and watched in fascination as she quickly and efficiently began going through ‘The List.’ He would have never known what to do. After settling the furniture, Hermione had moved on to the clothes. Although Severus hadn’t wanted Cole in too many Muggle clothes, he had agreed that a few pairs of little jeans and tees, and some good little trainers would be all right. After all, toddler’s robes could be a bit awkward to maneuver in.

Hermione snorted when she read the caption on one of the shirts.

“What’s amusing?” Severus asked, moving a bit closer. Hermione held up the shirt, and bit back a grin when Severus narrowed his eyes. The shirt, plain black with white lettering, read: My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad. Hermione laughed as she put the shirt back, but paused before she could pick anything else up.

“Bring Cole here.” She said. Severus looked at her.

“Why?” he asked. She rolled her eyes.

“Because I need to see what size his clothes are, you twat.” She snipped. With a low growl Severus stepped forward, and Hermione reached around to check the tag on Cole’s little shirt and pants. With the appropriate size in mind, she began pulling clothes from the racks and putting them in a basket.

Once she had a good base, they finally moved to the toys. Severus glared incredulously at the little Muggle toys. He looked down at his quiet son to see how the boy reacted. His sad black eyes seemed to sparkle a bit more but he said nothing and made no noise, nor did he try to escape his father’s hold.

Severus put the little boy down near a display of stuffed animals, watching to see what the toddler would do. Cole looked at the display, and then back up at his father.

“Go on, boy. Pick one.” Severus said softly, and stood back up to see if the words had any effect. Cole looked at the toys again, before he toddled towards the display, looking at each and every toy. When he reached forward, he tugged a little giraffe from the shelf, and hugged it close, a little smile forming on his face. He then walked back to his father and grabbed his robe with his free hand. “Very well, it’s yours.” Severus said softly, and picked the boy up again.

They finished up at the store without incident. Their trip into the Magical world didn't even take half as long, because it was only a few items that were needed for Cole's comfort as a wizard's child. Both were quite aware of the stares they got, and Severus was damn near ready to hex the next person who whispered when he passed. In the ignoring of all of the other patrons, neither Hermione nor Severus noticed the flick of green in the corner, nor the soft but distinct sound of a quill scratching parchment.

~~

Daisy aimed her bow at the deer, her tongue sticking out slightly. She let the arrow fly with the slightest ‘twang’ of the bowstring, and watched as the deer took several disoriented leaps before striking the ground, the arrow sticking neatly from its neck. Arbino stepped from the shadows, a proud grin on his face.

“First try! Very good, little two-legs!” he beamed. Daisy grinned.

The press would have a field day if they knew what she was doing. Hunting. To some it might seem barbaric, but to Daisy it was just a way to gather food. She had no problem killing an animal for food. Senseless killing she despised and she prayed vigorously if her arrow missed its mark and her prey suffered needlessly.

Her cousin wouldn’t like this. She felt guiltier and guiltier as each hour passed. If she didn’t return home soon, she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to face her cousin.

Arbino sensed the change in his two-legged companions emotions.

“Is everything all right, little Daisy?” he asked.

“I…I have to go back…” she choked.

“I understand. But know that if you should ever need us, we are only a forest away.” He said. Daisy nodded.

“I don’t want to say goodbye….because it’s not really. It’s just a ‘see you later.’” She said.

“I will tell the herd, Daisy-human. You go face your cousin.” He said. Daisy nodded.

“Oh…you can have the deer.” She added, and Arbino threw back his head and laughed.

“We will make use of it.”

Daisy walked away, her heart pounding in her chest at the thought of going back. She was surely in for some kind of spanking. She knew without a doubt that her father would have fetched a switch for this infraction, and she would have been sitting gingerly for a few hours. Her cousin was quick-tempered, and would have been stewing in his anger for the past few days. Had she made it worse for herself by running? What was he going to do when she got back? Would he strap her like that French fuck-face had? Would he use some kind of paddle? Or….here she shivered and began to pray…would he use a cane?

She was almost to the point of talking herself out of returning…

~~

Phelan limped through the woods, finally back in his human form. He had been running and shifting across country all day, occasionally Apparating to avoid the Aurors and other people. He had discovered that he could shift back to his human form merely by concentrating on it, but he could return to his wolf form, much like an Animagus, by concentrating as well.

He had nicked some overly large robes from a clothes line in the country, and was at present traipsing barefoot through the woods. His leg wound was mostly clotted, but his other scratches and his various bites were paining him. He had exerted much energy this day, and without any sort of recovery from the Full Moon, he was nearly ready to drop.

He leaned against a tree, holding his wand loosely in one hand. His head snapped up when he heard footsteps, and he quickly scrambled up the tree he was leaning against, watching from the branches. His heart nearly jumped from his chest when he saw the very object of his hate, the little mudblood cousin of Lucius Malfoy, walking through the woods. She was unprotected! She was alone! He could rip her throat out easily!

But wait! He wasn’t the son of Fenrir Greyback for nothing…How could he make this work to his advantage? He had no idea why she was in the woods, but she would most likely be heading back home. Back to Lucius Malfoy. His father often talked ill of the senior Malfoy, referring to him as a cowardly ponce. He could always use this little slip of a girl to get to her cousin. The head of Lucius Malfoy could be a useful item to get back into his father’s good graces….until he could kill him, that is…

The girl was distracted, and had he chose to kill her she would have been dead beneath his claws by now, despite the bow and arrows she carried, or the wand he could see poking out of some little bag at her waist.

Once she had passed, he carefully climbed down from the tree. He shifted to his wolf form, and carefully took his wand in his mouth. With a carefully thought spell, he lit the tip of the wand on fire, pleased that he could still control the instrument in his wolf form. He ran with the flaming wand in his mouth, giving Daisy a wide berth so that he could come around way ahead of her. He put the tip of the wand to the forest floor, and dragged it along the ground. He ran through the forest ahead of her, lighting the dry leaves aflame as he went.

~~

Daisy was oblivious to the danger ahead of her, and shivered again at the thought of her cousin striking her. She was afraid…

Suddenly she stopped, her head raised, and she sniffed.

“Something’s burning. Something’s burning!” she cried, and looked around, finally seeing flames ahead of her. “Oh shit.” She said, and then took off to the side, trying to go around the fire. There were flames everywhere as she tried to dodge between them. She coughed relentlessly in the smoke, tiring quickly. She tried to turn back the way she had come, but the flames had surrounded her. She belatedly drew her wand, and tried to make a path, but the flames were engulfing faster than her wand could douse.

~~

Lucius paced back and forth in the library, and Hermione tried futilely to read a book. She finally looked up, annoyed.

“Lucius, don’t worry. She’ll be fine. What could happen?” she snapped. Lucius whirled to give her a piece of his mind, but was distracted when he looked out the window. His face lost all malice, and was replaced by a look of dismay.

“Daisy!” he cried. Hermione looked out the window, and dropped her book.

“Oh my gods. The forest is on fire!”

The two Apparated on the terrace, both staring in horror at the smoke rising from the forest.

~~

Phelan watched from the treetops as Daisy was surrounded by flame. He watched her choke mercilessly on the smoke as she tried to douse the fire, and grinned as she fell to her knees. He acted immediately, and jumped from the tree branch, wincing when pain shot up his leg. He jumped into the circle of flame with her, using his lycan strength to high-jump over the hottest part of the flame. Daisy turned to him as he landed, her eyes widening as she recognized him.

“Come on!” he said, and grabbed her in his arms. He hopped through the flames easily, taking her away from the fire. Daisy, weak from inhaling the smoke, saw black blooming at the edges of her vision. Her last coherent thought was that she’d had nothing but rotten luck in this country.

He emerged from the forest running, his own eyes stinging from the smoke, and nearly ran head-first into Lucius Malfoy himself.
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