Kiss of the Wolf

I

Zoe shot a glance at the darkening sky overhead. The faint outline of the full moon could just be seen in the russet sky. Shivering slightly in the brisk October wind, she pulled her jacket a little tighter round her shoulders. The coolness of the wind caused her teeth to chatter and fingers to become numb.

"Its already bad enough that I had detention," she thought bitterly, "but having to walk home as well..."

Her thought was interrupted as she let out a cry of frustration and switched her book bag from one arm to the other. Her high school was eleven miles away from her home. Normally, when the final bell rung at four in the afternoon, Zoe would have taken the bus home. However, being put in detention for two hours on the grounds of insubordination had caused her to miss it. When her teacher finally let her leave, the sun had already started to set. Unfortunately for Zoe, this meant that she would have to walk the eleven miles home, the last five of which was mainly encompassed of woods.

McKenna Manor, Zoe's home, was located in the middle of nowhere. Isolated by one hundred acres of woods, the nearest village was eleven miles away. Zoe was greatly dreading her arrival at home. She knows what will happen when she gets home. Her mother, a stern and society-loving woman, would be standing in her designer robe just off of the stairs. A sick sweet smile would be plastered on her face until Zoe, who would have probably came back around two in the morning, closed the door. Then, all hell would break loose. Her mom would yell for a bit about what time it is and why she came home on foot and why she didn't call. Soon, she would wear herself out and then announce that she was going to bed. Her father, however, would remain stony and silent until her mum had gone to bed then he would take a cane out of the hall closet and give Zoe one or two good whips on the knees and back. Then he would leave her there, withering in pain and that would be the end of it.

Just off of the estate, the woods grew thicker and not many dared venture in. Huge hills presented a daunting task for anyone wishing to climb them. Zoe, being an only child, had grown up here. Always being a bit adventurous, she had explored much of the surrounding terrain and was not easily lost. Not much was hidden in the forest, but on top of one hill rested a castle. It was centuries old, and was in a terrible state. Zoe doubted that anyone had visited it in the last decade, as the forest around it had grown so thick that she had a hard time getting through it.

A few drops of rain splashed on Zoe's nose, causing her to jump out of her thoughts. She quickly looked up towards the sky. The sky was no longer light; it had turned into a great swirl of clouds that loomed darkly over her head. A few more drops fell, then came a torrent of water from the clouds above. Zoe dug into her bag, hoping desperately to find her umbrella so that she can walk the next six miles dry. Sadly, she remembered that it had gotten stolen earlier during the week. She continued to dig further and found a small flashlight, which she took out and switched on.

As the ruins of the old castle came into view, the rain pounded down harder. The closest Zoe had ever gotten to them was a clearing where the forest became thicker. The sky had darkened so that now the only real light was that of the moon. Zoe's flashlight started to flicker slightly and she sighed. She glanced once more at the castle. No matter what shape it was in, it would at least provide some sort of shelter. Besides, it would delay being punished. Deciding to take shelter in the castle, Zoe made her way off the dirt path and through the woods.

An hour later, she came to a clearing. Up ahead, the forest grew thicker, as expected. She battled her way through it, hearing dreadful noises as she went. Finally, the forest took a turn and she found herself at the bottom of the huge hill. As she climbed, she found her progress limited by the nagging thought that she was missing a terribly important appointment. A tiny voice rationalized this in the back of her head.

"What appointment?" It said. "An appointment to be beaten for being late maybe, but that's all your are really missing."

Eventually, wet and exhausted, Zoe reached the top. The castle loomed in the distance. A huge lake stood off to the left side of the grounds, while the dark forest she had left only a short while ago was to the right. A mild dash across the otherwise open grounds and she would be safe. Zoe pulled off her glasses and tried desperately to clean the rain off of them. So far, she had managed well but now it seemed as if everything had gone terribly blurry despite the rain. Zoe replaced them on her face and began to trudge across the sloppy grounds towards the ruins. Staying close to the forest, (She had had enough water for one night.), she found herself fighting the horrible thought that she was missing a terribly important appointment. She felt as if she was being torn in half. One part of her was trying to get her to go back, while the other was pushing her forward. Halfway across the grounds, a wolf's howl caused her to pause. It had sounded close, and Zoe's heart kicked up a notch.

She started to walk faster, shooting glances over her shoulder as she went. Now she could hear twigs and bushes snapping in the woods adjacent to her. As the noise became closer and closer, she broke into a run. Suddenly, something looking very much like a huge dog jumped on her from inside the woods. She screamed as she fell to the ground. It snarled viciously, claws digging into her clothes and flesh. Zoe's screams became louder as she fought more desperately to get the horrible thing off of her. She pounded at any visible part of it with her fists, but made little progress as it seemed to be made of muscle, bone, fur and teeth. At one point, she managed to grab hold of her book bag, which had fallen to the ground when she had fallen. But as she swung to hit the beast with it, the creature lunged and sank its teeth deep into her upper arm. Once again she screamed. She was going to die out here, she just knew it.

"At least you wont have to face your mum and dad," said the voice in the back of her head.

Zoe made one last attempt to stand, but failed, falling on her wrist which emitted a loud crack. Pain spread through her other arm and confusion filled her thoughts. The creature made towards her again, ready to finish her off, to sever her jugular vein, when...

"IMPEDIMENTA!"

A voice resounded across the grounds, cutting through the slight roar of the rain. A ray of red light shot over her head and hit the creature, which howled and fell limply to the ground. Zoe couldn't think or see, her glasses had fallen off and everything was blurred. But...no...it couldn't be...she could see a great more deal of light then she could before. Almost as if the castle had lighted up. But that idea was insane. Only one other option then.

"I am dying," she thought, moaned, "And now I am walking towards the light."

This didn't appear to be right either as a few seconds later she heard the pounding of footsteps, the worried murmuring of a voice and then...nothing at all.

II

Minerva McGonagall couldn't remember when she had had a worse day. It might have been that day, six years back, when the Weasley twins had set the Gryffindor common room ablaze, but she highly doubted it. As she made her way down the steps of the main staircase, she grumbled to Professor Flitwick about the newest addition to the staff, Professor Dolores Umbridge.

"That women is the worst," she said, "today, she suggested to me that I might be getting too old to teach Transfiguration as a Ministry consensus revealed that no other school had a teacher over thirty."

"Indeed, she is. Don't mind her though," Professor Flitwick squeaked.

"Really. Hogwarts High Inquisitor. Who ever heard of such nonsense? I don't know who she is trying to fool, everyone knows that it is just a way for the Ministry to interfere with Hogwarts business. And her ideas of punishment! A few of my students have complained that she..." McGonagall dropped her voice to a whisper, "uses a Blood Ink Quill."

Flitwick let out a slight gasp. "Weren't those outlawed at Hogwarts?"

"Since before I was a student here."

"I remember using one once by accident. Nasty bit of work, those are." Flitwick cringed slightly at the memory and unconsciously rubbed his left hand.

" I really wish Albus would just stand up to the Ministry. But he refuses to, says that it is not his way and..." She broke off and turned towards the entrance hall door. "Did you hear that?"

Flitwick, too, turned and craned his ear. "Yes. It...sounds like someone screaming."

McGonagall listened again as another scream rang faintly in the hall. Flitwick and her exchanged glances. She ran the last bit towards the door, flung it open and ran as fast as she could. At first she couldn't see anything but as the moon passed from under the clouds, things became clearer. A girl was on the ground being attacked by what looked like a wolf.

"IMPEDIMENTA!" she shouted, flinging her arm towards where the attack was happening. A red beam shot out of the end of her wand and hit the thing squarely between the shoulders. It howled and fell limply to the ground. McGonagall ran towards the girl, hurrying for she knew she had limited time. The Impediment Curse did not last long and the thing would be up and about soon. The girl's face was ashen white, mixed with diluted red where blood had been drawn. Her hair was matted and her side was bleeding badly.

"Stupefy," McGonagall muttered. The sooner she could get the girl inside, the better and if she had to stun her to do it then oh well. "Mobilicorpus." The girl's body became bound to hers as if by invisible strings. As McGonagall trudged towards the castle, she could hear the wolf groaning slightly. But by the time it had fully regained consciousness she would be inside. The light from the entrance hall flooded the path as the door opened. McGonagall could see Dumbledore framed in the doorway, Flitwick bobbing at his side.

As McGonagall reached the doorway, Dumbledore raised his wand and allowed the girl to fall into his arms. A crimson stain slowly spread up his robe sleeve. He took one look down at the girl and then back at McGonagall.

"Madam Pomfrey will be unable to heal these injuries," he said quietly.

"Albus?" McGonagall asked but did not finish as the unspoken question passed between them. She nodded and turned towards Flitwick. "Alert St. Mungo's that the girl's condition is grave."

Dumbledore marched towards his office, McGonagall walking at his side. "She's watching the Floo," he said simply as he reached his office. "Even mine. She must not know that a muggle was inside Hogwarts." All around his office, various paintings were springing to life. They began to question Albus, but a stern look from McGonagall silenced them. Dumbledore moved towards Fawkes and gently grabbed his tail. "We need to hurry." In a flash of fire... man, phoenix and girl, disappeared.