Night of January 5th. Sergei’s return. Part 1.

The hard ground was cold between Sergei’s claws as he ran, his padded
paws pounding into the ground. The wind blew through his fur. He loved to run
against the wind; it made him feel like he was flying. There were patches of
snow here and there, but Sergei did his best to avoid those.


He could not run as fast as usual, because his front right forepaw still
pained him. He had hurt it… Well, someone else had hurt it for him… almost a
month before, but this particular type of injury took ages to heal. His paw
wasn’t the only thing bugging him, either; there was a pack of sorts on
Sergei’s back, which his Grandpa had helped him fashion out of a deer skin. It
had always annoyed Sergei how he couldn’t carry anything while in his puma
form, but the pack solved that problem.


As he ran, Sergei lifted his eyes towards the sky. It was clear and
bright, and with his enhanced vision, the mass of stars looked even more
beautiful. He looked towards the moon, and the thought of how small he was skittered
across his mind. Compared to that behemoth, Sergei was just a grain of sand. It
was an interesting feeling. He felt this way whenever he looked up at the moon
in this form; he figured that that’s why the wolves always howled at The Lady
Luna.


Sergei returned his attention to the path ahead of him. He was nearing
Hogsmeade station, and there was always someone prowling around. He slowed to a
walk, and moved along the side of the path that had the deepest shadows. The
tracks became visible, and the station platform as well. Sure enough, two
people stood on it, talking. Sergei returned his eyes to his path. Those people
had nothing to do with him, and he could care less what they were doing. He
slinked past the platform, and lunged across the tracks. He froze on the other
side and looked back at the two people. Neither had noticed a thing; good.


Sergei continued down the main street of Hogsmeade. He noticed the stores
that he frequented, and a feeling of nostalgia came over him. With some
amusement, he thought to himself, Come on
now, Serg, you’ve only been gone four months… Try not to get all teary-eyed
here. He did not notice any human smells in the air, nor did he hear
anything. He increased the pace of his walk. Sergei was tired already – it had
been a long trip – and it was time for him to get into his Hogwarts Dormitory
bed.


He was nearing the edge of the town, and excitement started coursing
through his veins. He had been away from school for four months. He hadn’t
realized how much he had missed the Castle. And Katie. He had missed her as
well. Sergei hadn’t known her for very long, but the time he had spent with her
was enough. She was special, and he knew that. He felt sort of bad for leaving
without explaining anything to her, but then again, it wasn’t really his fault.
His father had a fast-changing schedule, and he never knew when Sergei might be
needed. This time, there was almost no notice. Sergei had received the letter
from his father, and had left immediately. Those were his instructions, and he
did not want to disobey. And Katie would understand.


Suddenly, a dagger of pain jolted through Sergei’s forepaw, followed by a
warm trickle down to his claws. Shit, he
thought, the cut must have reopened.
Thankfully he was almost at the gates of the school now. It was time to become
human again anyway. He stopped just outside the gate to the grounds, and gazed
up at the castle. It was beautiful. A few lights still glowed throughout it,
but it was mostly dark. He sighed. It felt good to be back.


Sergei lay down on the cold ground, and rolled over onto his side. He
squirmed around for a bit, until the pack on his shoulders finally came off. He
had attempted to transform with it on before, and there had been some…
unpleasant… complications. Once he was free of the rucksack, Sergei jerked up
onto his hind legs, and took a step forward. His fur faded in one long ripple
down his body. The heavy muscles that had been covering his body shrunk back
into the smaller, human ones, and his tail shrank and disappeared. A warm
sensation spread over his body, as the magic rebuilt his structure. This
feeling faded quickly, however, and was replaced by cold. The wind tore through
Sergei’s bare skin, and he shivered. He was tempted to just transform back, to
be warm again, but he knew that he couldn’t.


He bent down to pick up his pants, and removed the clothes he had brought
with him. As he did so, he winced. The wound on the lower left part of his
stomach was still tender sometimes. He pulled on the clothes from his pack,
careful not to stain them with the blood that trickled out of the reopened cut
on his forearm. As he settled his shirt into place, he bent again, for a
bandage. He wrapped his arm up tightly, and tied it off. All set, he thought, grabbed his pack, and pushed open the gate to
Hogwarts Castle Grounds.





Continued in
“Grounds ==> The Lake”.