Into the Stars

I thought that climbing the dungeon stairs was tough, but I was ever so wrong. The Grand Staircase was murder on my body. I was putting so much energy into getting oxygen that the rest of my body felt painfully weak. I clung to the railings as if they were my life support. I reached the fifth floor flight and had to rest. I sat down and leaned up against the door. I closed my eyes and took the deepest breath I could. Then I broke down. I wasn’t expecting to, so it even surprised me. Tears cascaded town my face as I bawled for several minutes.
When I was finally able to catch my breath, I forced myself to quiet down. It wasn’t safe alone at night in Hogwarts anymore. Everyone was afraid of being attacked by whatever petrified Mrs. Norris and Colin. I mentally kicked myself for being so loud just moments before.
Suddenly, it occurred to me that I was hearing noises coming from the other side of the door. Voices. No, pieces of voices. Like groans. Was someone hurt? Were they being attacked? I jumped to my feet and grabbed my wand. Part of me was afraid. What would I find on the other side of the door? A monster? A man? Would I be petrified? Tightening my grip on my wand, I decided I didn’t care. I was put in Gryffindor for a reason. I would face whatever comes, and I would do it like a lion. Holding my breath, I busted through the door. What I saw in the fifth floor hallway made me drop my wand to the floor.

“Nikki!” Allie shouted in surprise as she leapt away from the shirtless Terence Higgs. “Nikki?” She repeated, this time concerned. “Are you okay? What happened to you?” I could do nothing but stare at them in total shock. Terence was Flint’s best friend. Allie obviously wasn’t beating him up. His shirt was off. Oh. My. God. I couldn’t look at Allie. Instead I turned to glower at Terence.
“Tell your BFF if he ever tries to touch me again, I’ll snap his broomstick off.” I spoke darkly through clenched teeth, then added a second thought. “And if you ever touch HER, I’ll snap off yours.” The light brown-haired boy stared at me in confusion. I turned around without sparing a glance for my best friend and took off up the rest of the stairs. I don’t know if Allie followed me, but if she did, I didn’t hear her. I was too busy hyperventilating again.

I mumbled the password to the Fat Lady, who said something about being out so late, and made my way over to the red sofa. I pulled one of the blankets out from underneath and wrapped myself up in it before lying down. I struggled to take deep, even breaths as I waited for the team to come back. Or Allie.
“Nikki?” I sighed but did not reply. She made her way over to me and set my wand down on the coffee table. “You dropped that.” She said. I didn’t thank her. After a few moments, she sighed and sat down next to me. “Nikki, you’re lip is bleeding.” She said sadly, brushing a few strands of hair out of my face. It was? That’s strange. The thought made my blood boil. “What did Flint do, Nikki?”
“He just kissed me.” I told her quietly. She eyed my lip again.
“Must have been some kiss.”
“You know it.”
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
“You’re really mad at me.” She stated. I shrugged. I didn’t want to be angry with her, but it was the worst time I could possibly catch my best friend and my boyfriend’s enemy’s best friend locking lips.
“Why him, Allie?” I asked quietly.
“I dunno.” She whispered. There was a moment of silence before she continued. “He’s in my Muggle Studies class. We were paired up for the muggle video project, and we really got along. We arranged a meeting that night at the Astronomy Tower to talk more. We’ve been meeting there... and a few other places nearly every night, because we knew our friends wouldn’t understand.” She finished with narrow, judging eyes directly at me.
“Well, you were right.” I snapped. “He’s a Slytherin, Allie.”
“That’s like saying “he’s black” or “he’s Jewish”! What are you, racist?”
“Just against Slytherins! He’s Flint’s best friend!” I shouted. A door slammed from upstairs. We looked up at the balcony to see Percy in his nightcap.
“What do you two think you’re doing? Get up here! Get to bed immediately!” He snapped, looking furious. I rolled my eyes at him as we both stood up.
“I need some air.” I mumbled, pushing past Allie.
“Where are you going?” Percy and Allie called in unison, both sounding angry.
“Outside!” I snapped in the same tone. I heard Percy calling after me- probably threatening to alert the so called authorities- but I didn’t listen.
My chest was starting to heave again, and I was burning up. I ran down the Grand Staircase stairs as quickly and as carefully as I could. By the time I reached the bottom, my vision was starting to blur. I just had to get outside. Then I could make my way to the pitch and find Oliver.
I was half way there, and I was beyond gasping. I sounded like an old woman dying. When the world seriously began to spin, I sprinted to the nearest tree and leaned against it for support. All of my limbs seemed to be burning, and I felt as if every inch of my skin was being poked with needles. I’ve had panic attacks before, but this was not normal. Suddenly, my legs began to give out on me and I dropped to my knees. I heard a loud noise, and it rang in my ears for several seconds before I realized it was me, screaming. I fell forward onto my hands and gripped the grass as I tried to quiet my cries. Slowly, my screaming turned into violent groaning. Before I knew it, I was growling. Seriously growling. It was loud, and it sounded very authentic. The pain throughout my body quickly began to fade from my head to my toes.
When it was gone, I was gasping... no, I was panting. It sounded completely animalistic. I squinted my eyes closed for several moments, calming myself. When I opened my eyes, I was expecting to see my hands still clenching onto the grass. I was way wrong. What I saw there on the ground in front of me were two medium-sized paws. It was unusually dark outside, given that the moon was blanketed by clouds, but that was no reason for my only being able to suddenly see in black and white. This confused me, but my first instinct told me to run from the animal. I leapt backward, and when I did, everything became clear...
The first thing I noticed was that I was no longer on my hands and knees, but rather my hands and feet. How could my feet reach the ground in this position? I turned my head to look back, and realized that I was no longer human. A strange, dog-like silhouette had taken the place of my human form. There, at the end of my body where my butt used to be, was a long, curved tail swishing back and forth. I looked back at the paws. My paws. I couldn’t handle this. What was happening to me? I started gasping again, but the animalistic pant had taken its place. I ran my tongue along my teeth, which were now long and pointy. Hey, I was finally able to touch my tongue to my nose! Even all the way over it. I experimented with the new feeling in my ears, enabling me to move them at will. My guess is that they were pointed, seeing as I couldn’t feel them hitting the side of my head. The wind blew and I felt the hair- or fur- all over my body shuffle in response.
Suddenly, I smelt something. It was coming toward me. Oliver. The twins. Even fainter were the smells of Angelina, Alicia, Katie, and Harry. I knew the smell of the boys well, so they were easier for me to pick up. I looked up in the direction. At first, I couldn’t see anything, but then, just as quickly, I saw so much. It was several more yards than I was able to see as human. Everything was much clearer, but again, it was all in black and white. I could clearly make out the seven figures exiting the pitch and heading this way. I could even tell which was which. How was I able to see this far? They were talking, quietly, and I couldn’t make out their mumbles, but again, I could distinguish their voices. Panic suddenly overcame me.
They couldn’t see me like this! I was a monster! I had to get out of there. I had to run. So I did. I ran all the way down to the lake. When I finally made it, I collapsed on the sand bordering it. What was I going to do? I forced myself to take several more deep breaths before I was able to get my head together. Okay. So I was an animal. I was no longer human. But why? Did Flint cast a spell on me when I was running away? It wasn’t likely. My mind was still fully in tact...