Padfoot's Rival

Disclaimer: The usual: Harry Potter is not mine, etc.

As always, thank you, saiyanwizardgurl, for being my beta - I cant believe I forgot to tell in when I first posted the story!

Padfoot's Rival

The moon was fading. It was time to go back. She whined, and when the other wolf looked at her, she pointed with her white muzzle at the sky and heard him whining back, almost like he agreed that they should go. It sounded as if he understood what she meant. It is true, then. Our presence does calm him. His mind isn't completely wolfish now. She looked at their other companions to see whether they thought the same. The stag nodded, and the big black dog suddenly leapt at her and pressed his nose to hers, then licked her muzzle and gave her another Eskimo kiss, tail wagging happily. She gave a howl -the closest thing to laugh she could manage as a wolf. Padfoot obviously noticed the indication that at least a part of Moony realized what was going on, and was getting really excited. The stag cocked his head, almost dropping the rat that was clinging to his antlers. Empress could almost hear James' voice in her head. , "Oh, get a room already!" She gritted her fangs at him, but since she was actually enjoying Sirius' attention, they continued with the Eskimo kisses until it was time to go back. Padfoot, his girlfriend, and the other two began directing Moony to the Shack.

It was not until then that they realized how far from the school they had gone this time. Angela knew it was her fault - she had insisted that they should go deep into the Forbidden Forest and try to see centaurs. She had never seen any, and it was not likely that they would have been very friendly towards her had she gone there as a human. Animals, however, were another issue, so she and the Marauders had been able to go near them and look at them closely. Unfortunately, finding the centaurs had taken long and had brought them deep into the Forest. They still had time to go back safely, but they had to hurry. I'm even going to have time for studying for final exams before breakfast. Many of her fellow Ravenclaws used to say that no exam could frighten them after the O.W.L.s they had the previous year, but Angela was always careful when it came to studying.

She made her four legs run faster and enjoyed the cold air filling her limbs and mussing her white fur. It was great to be a wolf until she suddenly tripped on her own front leg. Looking downwards, she saw that her right front paw had entangled itself among the root of an old, almost uprooted giant tree. Great. She tried to pull it out, but to no avail. She transformed and began disentangling her arm, but it was not easy because she had to do it with her left hand. Damn!

Suddenly, she heard a barking in the distance and recognized it immediately. She changed back into Empress and replied with a bark of her own. Not even a minute later, Padfoot emerged from behind the trees and realized what the problem was. With a soft pop, Sirius appeared on the dog's place, and knelt to look at the root. "Merlin, Angela, how did you manage to entangle yourself like that?" He tried to divide the roots but failed. "Now try and clench your hand in a fist; maybe we can slide it out - "

"I tried that."

"Then try again." She did, but she could not break free. "Bloody tree! We need a wand to get you free."

"You've got a point." She looked at the sky that had gone visibly lighter. They did not have any time to lose. "Sirius, go and help James lead Remus back to the Shack. When he's transformed, come back with your wand."

Sirius stared at her, horrified. "I'm not leaving you alone in the Forbidden Forest!"

Angela smiled. "Don't worry; it's not like I'm going to stay as a girl. James can't handle Moony without you there. Go, and don't worry about me at all. What do you think could possibly happen to a harmless, kind, white she-wolf?" She imitated a puppy whimper, and Sirius laughed.

"You forgot to say 'pretty'", he teased, and he leapt to his feet. "I'm coming back as soon as I can."

"I'll be here," she answered and smiled when Sirius touched her nose with his, just like their canine selves had done earlier.

Padfoot disappeared, and she sighed. There was no point in trying to disentangle her arm, and she did not want to be seen by any of the inhabitants of the Forest, at least not as a human, so she changed back into Empress. Why had she agreed to that ridiculous nickname, anyway? One moment passed, then another, and after ten minutes or so she felt bored. It was really boring to stay under a half-fallen tree with her paw locked in its roots. Her sharp canine hearing told her that there was no one near here who could see her so she became Angela again and tried to disentangle her arm without any success. This tree is worse than the Whomping Willow!

And then she heard it. Bark! Bark!

Sirius! She grinned and tried to penetrate the twilight with her look but then scowled. Something about this barking did not sound right and without thinking, she transformed just in time so that Hagrid, who stepped into view only moments later, saw only the white she-wolf. "Oh, poor lil' thing," he muttered. "How did yer come here?"

He pointed his pink umbrella at her, muttered something that she did not quite catch, and suddenly she was laying on the cold ground, free. I suppose this explains what happened to Hagrid's old wand. She stood on her legs, or rather, tried to stand up, but she fell back on the grass with a terrible howling. Great, now my hand is broken. She tried to think of a way to get out of this mess: she could not walk on three legs as a she-wolf, but if she transformed, so that it would be only her arm broken and not the paw she needed to walk with, Hagrid would know about the whole Animagus thing. Her best option was to stay where she was and wait for Sirius to come. Hopefully, Hagrid would be gone by then.

Unfortunately, Hagrid had other plans. He carefully approached her, humming something under his breath. She cocked her head curiously and realized that he was actually singing a lullaby. Angela was so curious to find out what he was up to that she let him come near her and suddenly found herself cuddled against his broad chest. Hagrid is cuddling a wolf? He is now officially beyond crazy, she decided.

"Don' be afraid, lil' thing," he muttered. "I'm gonna take care of you."

She growled menacingly, but besides his little startle, Hagrid gave no indication of letting her go. Empress now remembered his great affection to big and dangerous animals as well as his compassion toward any suffering creature. She luckily fulfilled all conditions of becoming his newest charity project. Well, I suppose I'm going to let him take me to his hut and treat my leg. But as soon as he leaves, I'm going to change back and go to Madame Pomfrey - she can heal my arm in a minute. Another bark interrupted her mental process, she looked over Hagrid's shoulder and saw Fang, who was happily wagging his tail at her.

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It was almost noon when Hagrid finally left his hut to take care of the thestrals. Empress stretched her long furry body - Sirius always said that she was fluffy - and thanked Merlin that it was Saturday and that there were no classes today. Fang nudged her with his nose and she gave him a cold look - the same cold look that had made James Potter name her Empress. He used to say that when she had transformed for the very first time, the white she-wolf had given him such an imperative glare that he wanted to bow low at her, so he called her 'Empress.' The boys had agreed that she could be quite terrifying sometimes, so the name stuck. Unfortunately, her best glare had no effect on Fang - he just came closer and licked her back. Well, that's enough, she decided, and almost retched when she inhaled the scent of the potion that Hagrid had applied to her paw. She concentrated hard on becoming human again...

But nothing happened. Startled, Empress closed her eyes and then opened them again, raising her paw in front of her face to check. She concentrated again, harder. Again, nothing happened. For the first time for more than a year, she was stuck in her Animagus form! Panicked, she tried again, and then again -

Oh no. Why did it have to be me? she thought miserably. Me, the person who has a sense of responsibility? You, who should have been in Ravenclaw Tower last night, a tiny voice somewhere in the back of her head reminded her. Yes, but it's only on the nights of the full moon when I misbehave, only then, Angela defended herself. I never take part in the Marauders' pranks! Oh, and I suppose that you never go on midnight flights with Sirius Black on his broom? That's just a boyfriend thing, and I certainly do not deserve to be stuck as a she-wolf for infinite time just because of that! She felt something wet and warm on her fur and looking down at herself, she saw a big black dog's head nuzzling against her side. Terrified, she did the only thing she could think in such a situation - she screamed. Unfortunately, the sound that came out of her muzzle was nothing but a long howl.

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Why did it have to be me? Angela thought miserably after a long and boring day of lying on the soft rug in Hagrid's hut with nothing to do but breath in the disgusting smell of the potion that Hagrid had applied to her paw four times - her keen canine senses made it even more disgusting - and think about how it had come to this. It was her fault, of course. All of it. The boys had wanted nothing but to roam freely without any destination, but no, she had to lead them deep into the Forbidden Forest to see the centaurs. I should have listened to them, she thought, feeling more forlorn than ever. If she had listened to them, this would not have happened....

Suddenly, she heard voices outside - familiar voices that were arguing.

"I still think we should go and search through the Forest." It was Sirius' voice, loud and angry, and beneath the anger, there was fear.

"We did search through the Forest, Padfoot," James' voice reminded him. "We searched every place there, and we found no trace of her. We searched the whole castle as well, and to the same avail. She isn't at Hogwarts."

"Then where is she?" Sirius almost bellowed.

"I don't know," James admitted.

"We should ask Hagrid."

"And tell him what, Sirius?" Remus' voice joined the others. "Hello, Hagrid, have you seen Angela Peters? Or a cute white she-wolf, for that matter? We can't ask him without raising his suspicions - even he is going to suspect that there is something wrong."

"So what are you two telling me?" Sirius snapped angrily and more loudly; they were obviously approaching the hut as Empress caught hold of their scents. "You want me just to leave her only Merlin knows where?"

"We never said that, Padfoot," Remus replied calmly. "Look, let's try to come with a story that could convince Hagrid that we have a legitimate reason for searching for a white wolf. If she doesn't make an appearance by tomorrow morning, we have to tell Dumbledore about her disappearance."

The other boys did not answer; they were probably terrified by the very idea of that, but they had no other choice, at least not one that they knew about. Empress took her chance and howled in the silence. A moment later, the door crushed open, and all four boys burst into the hut. Sirius saw her first, hurried towards her, knelt, and buried his face in her soft fur. "I was so afraid," he whispered. "I thought something had happened to you."

It did, sort of. The other three boys also came to her and sighed with relief when they saw that she was alive. "What happened to your arm?" Peter asked. "I mean, your paw - what happened to it?"

She simply huffed. "That is a good question, Angela," Remus said. "What happened to your arm? Is it - broken? Did you break it?" She nodded.

"Why are you here? You gave us quite the scare!" James told her angrily. "And why haven't you changed back?"

Empress merely stared at him. Four pairs of eyes widened simultaneously, and all the boys started talking at the same time.

"I don't believe it," said James. "I can't bloody believe it!"

"But how is that possible? You've never had problem with changing back," Sirius exclaimed.

"Are you going to be stuck like that forever?" That was Peter.

"Of course not, Wormtail," Remus said, and looked at her again. "You really can't transform back?"

She shook her head.

"Maybe it's the potion that Hagrid is applying to your arm," Remus continued. "How many times did he do it?"

She raised her healthy paw and tapped Sirius' thigh four times.

"Oh Merlin, four?" Remus groaned. "Great. I think it is due to the potion," he continued. "I've read about Animagi who were treated with veterinarian medicines and remained stuck in their animal form until the medicine was still in their bodies. I'd say that you'll be human again in about three or four days. Do not let Hagrid you treat you with the potion anymore, or it would take longer.""

What? Four days? I can't remain a wolf for four days! We're having exams in less than two weeks.

"Maybe we should try a charm that forces her into revealing her true form," James suggested, and all four of them tried simultaneously change her back into human form again. Again, nothing happened.

A loud bark startled them, and they tucked their wands in their pockets just in time. Hagrid and Fang entered the hut, and Hagrid's big face lightened up when he saw his young visitors. Sirius looked at Fang and grinned, preparing himself for the dog's attack - Fang had always liked to lick his ears to death. Instead of throwing himself at Sirius that time, though, the dog paid him no attention. In fact, Fang even pushed him aside and began drooling over the she-wolf that was lying on the rug. Sirius was so surprised that he could not say anything.

"Oi, Hagrid, who is that?" James grinned. "You new pet, huh?"

"I found her in the Forbidden Forest, her paw was broken" Hagrid explained, beaming. "I couldn't jus' leave her there, so I took her with me. That's good because Fang is quite interested in her."

James looked at the dog and his eyes doubled in size when he saw Fang licking under Empress' tail. The she-wolf was trying to push him off, but when she had one paw less than he did, it was a difficult task. James hardly kept himself from laughing when Sirius grabbed the dog and shove it aside of Angela, throwing it unceremoniously onto the floor. Fang growled menacingly, but Sirius paid him no attention because he was busy glaring at Angela. Is he going to make a scene of jealousy to a she-wolf? James wondered. Judging by the look in Sirius eyes, he would do it. Angela returned the glare and growled at Sirius.

"Yeah, Fang has quite a liking to her," Hagrid continued. "So I can keep her here. They would have lovely puppies, don't you think?"

"Oh, yes, very lovely," James agreed. Beside him, Peter was looking at Empress, mouth agape. Sirius looked murderous, and Remus was clearly making an effort to keep his face straight.

"Oi, Padfoot, what do you think?" James could not resist asking. "Don't you think they'll have puppies that are simply adorable? Or do you think that the little ones would be ugly?"

That was too much for Sirius. He leapt at his feet, muttered some excuse at Hagrid, glared at Empress again and left the hut, slamming the door shut behind him. "Is he angry at something?" Hagrid asked.

"He just doesn't like puppies very much," Remus answered very seriously, and this time James howled with laughter.

"Don't say anything," Sirius warned when his friends finally left Hagrid's hut and joined him. "Do not bloody say anything."

"That thought never crossed my mind," James assured him, and the four of them headed toward Hogwarts.

"This stupid dog!" Sirius suddenly exploded. "He is so silly that he can't even recognize that she is not a real animal. That stupid thing was licking under her tail!" he bellowed.

"I assure you, Padfoot," Remus interjected, "there is only one dog that she wants to lick her under her tail."

"You've got a point there: there is only one dog, and it's not Fang. Damn it, Moony, I put up with Davis, Midgeon, Peabody, and at least five more guys liking her. I even put up with Snivellus bloody Snape! But I'll be damned if I take it from Fang!"

He turned abruptly and walked away in another direction, still muttering angrily. His three friends looked at each other and burst out laughing.

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So, that's it. I know it's not very good. I'm not good at humor stories, but today was a lucky day for me, so I got excited and it just happened. It isn't a complete failure, though, is it? Please let me know what you think!