A Moonlit Encounter

It was far too lovely and mild a day for Melania Harper to consider spending indoors. Unseasonably warm, without a cloud in sight, she spent half of the day at the quidditch pitch, which she'd had the good fortune of reserving for practice. Despite that fact, she'd spent a good amount of time shooing away the other teams, having to clear out the stands several times.

"You're not in our House. Get lost, Blake!" she yelled in a huff, climbing off of her broom.

"But I'm not even on the team! It's not like I'm spying," he retorted, rolling his eyes and stubbornly holding his ground.

"You're right -- it's worse than that, you're distracting Jaina. You'll get her all to yourself later, now scram, lover-boy! I've got both Alonsos for the next hour and a half," she told him, loud enough for Kate Nighthook to hear. An apologetic glance crossed her face, and Kate's small nod assured her she understood; there was no way she'd get rid of Sander with a member of the Gryffindor quidditch team sitting in the stands, however inconspicuously.

After lunch, Lainey headed outside again, this time loaded down with books rather than her quidditch equipment. The Easter holidays were nearing, and soon after them came N.E.W.T.s. If she had to study on a lovely day, she figured she may as well do it in the sunshine rather than staring longingly out a window.
Of course, the grounds were lousy with younger students goofing off, and it wasn't much better as she neared the Lake. Fortune seemed to smile upon her, however, as the Giant Squid decided to make an appearance, scaring off a cluster of fourth years. She quickly snagged a prime spot right next to the Lake, under a lovely tree whose particular variety eluded her at the moment.

It was difficult to focus on such a pretty day, and soon enough the loud group of fourth years returned, filling her head with noisy chatter. Lainey gave up on the book and used it for a pillow, making herself comfortable in the grass. Somehow, despite the noise, the day's exertions caught up to her and she found herself drifing off to sleep as the sun started to make its way lower in the sky.

Alex had a slow day, or at least it seemed slow, day of full moon much rather skip this day it were his choice. The day went by in slow motion it seemed, he pretended it wasn't of course. He laughed at Sid's jokes and said a few of his own. Ran into Henry Blackwood by accident, needless to say the Ravenclaw didn't look impressed.

Finally classes were over and dinner hour was coming, he didn't spot Lainey at Ravenclaw table and he became curious when she failed to show at all. They were supposed to meet after dinner.. Lainey had convinced him that it wouldn't be any harm in going through his transformation in the woods while under the wolfsbane potion effect. He would normally disagree.. adamantly. But Lainey had a way of convincing him, ever since spending Christmas at her house and finding out she became a animagus.. and a wolf at that.. She had great influence on him he even admitted it.

He looked around outside Ravenclaw common roon and asked around if Lainey was at the Quidditch Pitch, he got all negative answers.

Night was coming, he needed to be deep in the woods in the next few hours, before the moon reached it's highest point.

"If I were Lain on a sunny day where would I go?" he muttered to himself while walking out the front door to the main grounds.

He sighed wondering if he should just go to the room of requirement, when he caught a familiar sent on the mild evening wind.. Lainey.

So he followed his nose and soon spotted her under a tree by the lake, she was sleeping quite peacefully it seemed.

He chuckled and crouched beside her " Melania Harper.. wakey wakey" he said with amusement taping her shoulder.

Lainey found it very difficult to understand why she'd decided to take a nap using what felt like a rock as a pillow. She groaned, attempted to push herself off of it, and found that her fingers touched paper and leather instead. Reluctantly she opened her eyes, and found a very familiar pair of blue eyes looking down at her.

"'lex," she murmured sleepily, grasping his robes and tugging him on top of her, hugging him. "How'd you find me?"

Alex hugged her back and gave her a slight smirk, he kissed her forehead and smelt her blonde hair. "Full moon soon, heightened sense of smell" he explained in a whisper.

"Not the best to have when a bunch of third years run passed and have yet to take a shower after Quidditch practice. But remarkably handy in catching your sent on a night wind". He said with a wink. "In a nut shell, I followed my nose after ruling out you weren't in the castle" he said.

"So how was your cat nap? Ready for a night in the moon light?" he asked trying to light of the situation.

"It was...spontaneous!" Lainey smiled and kissed Alex on the cheek. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. Now I'm probably all freckly and gross," she joked, making a face.

"Still better than a smelly third year, though! Ready to sneak off?" she winked, reaching down and grabbing his ass playfully, giggling. Carefully, she rolled over so Alex was lying in the grass, and leaned down to kiss him properly.

"We'll have to do a lot of running. I hope you're wearing your trainers."

Alex laughed, she certainly had freckles, but was far far far from gross, quite a looker and he couldn't think more so once she rolled him over in to the grass and kissed her back. As much as he would have like to stay there, they had to move.

"I am ready, can you keep up?" he said being a cheek and asking for trouble and he knew it.

Really he was about to run out of his skin, starting to feel restless as the surroundings got darker. His joints felt twitchy and his heart started to beat faster, it had been a long while since he transformed in the opened air before. He wouldn't admit it, but it felt almost excited. No doubt the wolf in him, enjoying the thought of being free out side. Even though the animal wouldn't be in control.

He ran his hand through his hair restless out of habit, "Race to the forest? Lain?" he said

Blonde eyebrows shot up at the challenge, and Lainey was pushing herself off of Alex and sprinting for the forest almost before the question was out of his mouth. As much as she deeply cared for him, there was no resisting a good competition, ever. Halfway to the treeline Lainey realised she'd forgotten her book, but she was too focused on winning the race that she didn't care, nor did she look back to see Alex's reaction. She could come back for the book later that night, anyway.

Only once she was safely within the forest did Lainey stop and look around for Alex. Already, it was darker beneath the thick canopy of leaves above, all sound muffled and secretive seeming in the gloom.

"Alex?" she called out hesitantly. Her plan to hide in the forest had seemed a lot friendlier in the daytime, and it was too late to go back to the castle. They barely had time to make it a safe distance into the woods as it was, and the Forbidden Forest didn't have students and professors to evade.

As soon as Lainey took off Alex eagerly followed, the movement, speed, the wind it melted away some of the restlessness in his joints. He's forgotten how good it could feel to be free on the a full moon.

Once he made it to the tree line, Lainey's voice reached his ears he turned saw her a ways from him down the tree line again he had to hand it to her, she was fast.

" .. You know, I was so focused on the run I didn't notice which one of us won" he said out of breath yet feeling surprisingly good for just before a full moon.

He took Lainey's hand "Didn't happen to notice which one of us won did ya" he said leading the way deeper into the forest.

"I didn't," Lainey admitted, shrugging. "Ah well, that wasn't the important part, anyway." It was easier to be distracted from her competitiveness when she was feeling so distinctly uncomfortable. There was just no getting around the fact that the forest creeped her out -- she wished she could get into her animagus form right away. There were two downsides to that though: the first, that running in her wolf form would soon leave Alex behind. The second -- that she couldn't hold his hand that way.

Lainey squeezed his hand briefly, trying to reassure both of them. It wouldn't do to freak out. She didn't want Alex thinking that it was his impending transformation that had her worried, when really that was the least of her concerns. Making it deep enough into the woods to do it, without encountering anything dangerous, was her main priority. She had the distinct advantage of being able to change at will, while Alex was at the mercy of the moon. Best not to test how good her fighting skills were as a wolf just yet.

"Lumos," she whispered, picking up the pace. "Come on, we've got to get good and lost before sundown. I have to change before you do," she reminded him, rather pointlessly. There was no way she was more keen on that point than Alex was.

Alex nodded mutely at her point of her transforming before him, he would insist on it if she didn't.

"Sounds like fun" he said in regards to them getting "Good and lost" he felt quite at ease in the forest actually. He had snuck here with Sid more then enough times, plus another thing he noticed so close to full moon, he could hear, smell and almost sense the animals and other forms of life around them. Luckily none of a threatening nature were near them.. for the moment.

"This is strange you know never felt.. like this the night of a transformation.." he wanted to explain further, perhaps he wasn't sure how.

"Thanks for convincing me to do this Lain, if feels much better then the room of Requirement" he said taking a deep breath his heart still beating fiercely like it was full adrenalin. Cooped up in a room with this was most uncomfortable, this was different.

Lainey turned towards Alex, considering him as closely as she could in the semidarkness. It shouldn't have surprised her that he seemed quite comfortable -- after all, the forest was a much more natural environment for a werewolf than the castle -- but she still found herself surprised.

"I'm glad," she told him, the smile on her lips genuine. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad idea, after all. It wouldn't be much longer before he turned, they almost certainly wouldn't get into trouble in such a short amount of time.

"If this works out, maybe we can do this all the time. Take advantage of the space to run freely while we're still in school. We'll have to find someplace once we've graduated," she realised, shrugging. It was difficult for her to see with her human eyes this deep into the forest, but his hand in hers was so reassuring.

The worst part of his transformations was that it robbed her of the ability to physically hold and comfort him. Seeing him in such agony scared her more than the rest -- fortunately, that sort of thing was difficult to detect in her wolf form. She could only nudge him with her nose, and whimper in quiet sympathy for his pain. Unconsciously, Lainey tightened her grip on his hand, thinking about how soon it would be before she lost the ability to hold him.

Alex nodded "Perhaps, though still there is always the risk some might see us" he muttered a he walked. "It is very tempting though" he said looking up at the sky through the trees, it was starting to turn black and the stars were starting to appear, the moon was almost at her peak.

"It's almost time" he said of course not all that eager for the pain associated with the transformation to start, the restless irritation and thumping heart beat that was currently going through his body would soon become more intense. The best way he could describe it was that his bones were set on fire as they changed.

He turned to Lain and kissed her, since neither of them would be in human form much longer "Your the best Lain"

He let go of her hand as the adrenalin going thought him was now making his hands shake, "See you on the far side, Melainia Harper, everything will be fine" he said with a quick smile before he stepped away so she would have room.

With extreme reluctance, Lainey released Alex's trembling hand. It would only make him more anxious to have her near him in human form while he went through his change, and so she quickly stripped off, folding her clothes into a neat pile as fast as she could manage. She hadn't yet mastered the ability to shift with her clothes still on, as some could. With any luck, it'd be fairly easy to find them by smell in the morning.

She turned, smiled shyly at him, and then crouched onto the forest floor, closing her eyes. When she opened them again, the forest came to life around her -- a barrage of sights and smells and sounds that were previously invisible. In her animagus form, it became instantly apparent that there was someone else out there, someone not-quite-human who had passed through fairly recently.

Looking up at Alex, she waited with a mixture of fear and impatience for him to change, moving as near she she dared.

-----------------

This near to a full moon, Rory had no need for words. It was just her and Viktor, and the Forbidden Forest as their playground. On full moons, they were the most dangerous creatures in the woods, and it filled her with the most curious feeling that the Forest was alive somehow, sentient and aware of their nighttime prowls.

She held his hand as they walked -- walked because there would be so much running soon, and there was no need to rush. Her senses were already so much more alert, and there was nothing near them for nearly a mile; they were alone. The thought reminded Rory of other times and places they'd been alone, and she turned towards Viktor, smiling. Even in the near pitch darkness, there was no mistaking the expression on her face -- full of mischief and glee.

Without looking, she could feel her body begin to shake slightly, deep down in her bones. She closed the distance between them and kissed him on the lips, her last human act until the morning light.

Viktor walked silently with Rory through the Forbidden Forest. There was little need for words sometimes, and this evening just happened to be one of them. Oftentimes he would apparate into Hogsmeade, or otherwise take up residence in the Shrieking Shack, and enjoy a good run up to the castle grounds. He made sure to not take the routes most commonly traversed by the students. In a few short moments, they would take their place as two of the most fearsome creatures within the forest, acromantulas notwithstanding.

For now, however, their walk was refreshingly peaceful - a calm before the storm. Their hands were entwined, and the smile on Viktor's face indicated the anticipation he felt to be in his werewolf form once again. The transformations were never pleasant, but he had learned to bear them with the grace of his forebears.

A high pain threshold wasn't the only thing Viktor had acquired from the Solberg gene pool. He also had incredibly good eyesight, and was adept at seeing in the near-complete darkness of the forest. His vision wasn't perfect in his human form - his nightvision as a wolf was at least ten times better - but it would do. Viktor turned to gaze at Rory. He always felt more alert, more alive, on the verge of a full moon. And who better to have with him as a companion but his young and radiant mate? Her cheerfully mischievous face made Viktor chuckle. He vaguely wondered just what was going through her mind at that very moment...

His thoughts were cut short by familiar shooting pains from a place on his body he couldn't quite pinpoint. Then began the shaking. Viktor could feel fur starting to sprout onto slowly-morphing flesh. It wouldn't be long before a full-grown werewolf appeared in the space where the barefoot wizard currently occupied. Upon being kissed Viktor cupped Rory's chin in his hand and reciprocated the gesture. It would be the last thing his human form did for the night. "Good hunting... until the dawn," murmured Viktor, getting in one last kiss before his skull began to twist into a more canine structure.

Viktor's half-transformed nose detected almost instantly that they weren't alone...

A minute or two slipped by before the moon reached its peak, a bright silver disk was now high in the night sky and not a second later the irritating restlessness and adrenalin, turned in to a fire in his veins, he winced and braced himself for the change. The first thing to change were his eyes, they turned black as the pupils dilated. He leaned on a tree, as his hand clenched his forehead hiding his face as it started to morph and black hair started to cover him from head to foot.

He had since day one always tried to resist the agony, and with Lainey with him, the want to resist it increased.. So there wasn't any screaming and they he was grateful he could do it.

Thanks to the potion his mind stayed in control, though he could still feel the wild mind of the wolf away in the back of his mind.. howling and angry it could not be free for once.

Soon the transformation was over and the fire died out.

The young werewolf stood straight, his instinct wanting him to howl, normally he could resist doing this after always transforming out of view of the moon, but this night was clear the moon was bright and large, not to mention he could now detect others near by.. he could not resist, so he let out a howl. Could be taken as a warning to stay away, or as a greeting.. wolf howls were confusing.. even to him.

He looked down at Lainey's form and nodded, letting out a sound from his wolfish throat, letting her know all was fine. He crouched down and nuzzled her. "There are others near" he thought letting out a small growl to his right.

Watching Alex's transformation was painful, but it was something Lainey forced herself to do, and easier to manage in her animagus form than it would have been were she human. It wasn't that she feared him -- having brewed his Wolfsbane herself, she knew he wasn't a danger to her -- but that she had no need to worry about Alex feeling self-conscious. That he struggled less because she was watching, she knew, and she hoped it helped. By watching him, she wanted to find a way to make the transformations less painful -- they were supposed to get easier with time and she wondered if that was strictly from experience or if it was at all possible to control them. Perhaps it went quicker if there was no struggling against the inner wolf, so to speak.

As soon as Alex was finished, Lainey moved nearer to him, pressing herself against his legs in a gesture more reminiscent of a cat than a wolf. It was funny how their forms were the same and yet so different -- when transformed, Alex positively towered over her. To anyone watching, she'd look more like a pet and far less human than him, which was of course ironic because without the Wolfsbane potion, the situation would be completely reversed.

"I know," she thought, following his gaze and nuzzling him back. "It smells like you, except...wrong, somehow. I don't think you're the only werewolf in the Forbidden Forest tonight."

---------------------

Rory shivered slightly as the last vestiges of fire left her veins, and as soon as her head cleared she could smell with perfect accuracy what her human nose had missed. Instinctively, she moved closer to Viktor, back to back so they could not be surprised by the strangers who were roaming their forest.

At the sound of a howl, her hair practically stood on end. There was someone else out there -- someone like them. Without thinking it through, she rose up and answered with a howl of her own, full of curiousity and questions. She wouldn't feel comfortable losing herself in the hunt without being fully aware who else was out there.

"We should go to him...or her. It's unlikely there's more than one out here, they'll be outnumbered. I want to know who else is here, before we hunt." Rory curled her tail around Viktor's ankle reassuringly, although she was reassuring herself as well. She wondered who else could possibly be out with them, so near to the school and village. A student? A teacher?...not likely a villager, unless they had just recently come into town. The possibilities raced through her mind, each suggestion making her more and more impatient to gain an answer to her questions.

Viktor shifted slightly, leaning against Rory in their back-to-back position for mutual protection. If she had not done it, he would have. The nostrils of his nose flared as he inhaled, taking in the scents upon the air. He was excited yet wary for this new presence. Who were they, and why were they so close to the school and the village? They didn’t smell like anyone from their small but growing pack. That alone was merit enough for caution.

The howl from the unidentified wolf made his ears perk up to listen, but he couldn’t make heads or tails of what the wolf was trying to say. Either this wolf was confused – compelled to howl without thoughts to warn or welcome, or didn’t know the language that well. Rory’s return howl was what urged him to toss his head back and let out a peal of notes in a loud and strong howl of his own. Viktor couldn’t quite be sure what was going on in Rory’s mind, other than that she too was curious about this new venturer into the forest.

An affirmative growl and gesture that could’ve passed for a nod left Viktor. ’They sound male... But I agree: we should go to them, if only to sort out tonight’s territory. Maybe with luck we can forge an alliance between their pack and ours.’ He mimicked Rory’s gesture, wrapping his tail around her ankle in an attempt to still any nerves left unnervingly on-end.

’Let’s go,’ Viktor urged, bounding forward. He occasionally glanced back to check on Rory, but on a whole kept on the newcomer’s trail.

Alex became nervous and his ears flattened slightly as two howls answered his. So there were two and they were coming to greet them. He had not met another transformed werewolf before not since he had been bitten. What if these once were wild? Granted Lainey couldn't be infected in her transformed state.. but still he wasn't sure how other werewolves would view her and immunity to the virus or not, she could still be injured.

He looked down at Lainey "Be careful.. they are coming right for us" he said a growl leaving his throat. "One is a male, another female I think.." he mused could be pack members.. But he didn't know much on the exact nature

He moved in to a defensive position in front of Lainey, he could hear them coming. His inner wolf as it was was going nuts.. and leaving him feel even more irritated. He wasn't sure what there howls meant clearly other then.. Curiosity? Well there was no point in running.. natural hunters werewolves, half of it alone was instinct. And it was against his nature to allow himself to be hunted.. so he would stay face them... The idea made him very nervous though and in his wolf form he could not hide it.

Lainey cringed at Alex's feet after hearing not one but two answering howls, the second more forceful than the first. Their meaning was nearly imperceptible, her only experience having been with Alex, and that only a few times. It suddenly became obvious to her how exposed she was, and what a dangerous idea this was.

To stay inside, just her and Alex, could have no other possible repercussions other than the slight risk of discovery. She had no idea of how other werewolves might take to her -- whether they might be on Wolfsbane or not, how they might take to her, or whether or not Alex and herself had accidentally wandered into their pack's territory. Two wolves had responded, but there could be more. Lainey realised too late that her presence might endanger Alex more than help him.

She laid down, head on her paws and eyes closed as she listened for their approach. It soon became obvious that there were only two werewolves coming for them -- although that didn't mean there weren't more out there, waiting. If that was the case, it could be assumed they'd probably taken the Wolfsbane potion, however, so that was a feeble ray of reassurance. Lainey hoped that her unmistakably docile posture would help put their minds at ease -- she knew she'd be no help at all in a conflict, just holding Alex back.

"If they're looking for a fight, we make a run for it. I can't help you fight them off." The thought made her whimper even as she tried not to panic.

--------

The lone werewolf was not very far from them -- or, as it turned out, very alone. Rory bounded after Viktor, only overtaking him in the last few hundred metres; she'd never been content to stay behind him, well-intentioned desire to protect her or not. The sight that met her stopped her short.

"A human?" she wondered dubiously, although it was quite obvious in every aspect of how the duo presented themselves. The male's defensive position in front of the female, hiding behind her mate even as Rory was sure Viktor wished she would at times -- the bundle of folded clothing not far from the pair, confusing the otherwise distinctly wolfish smell -- both pointed to the very strange, unlikely pairing of werewolf and animagus. Rory was, in short, amazed. If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she would never have believed it.

"Have you ever seen anything like that before?"

In any other situation, Viktor would’ve taken Rory’s leap ahead of him to have been one of play. However, he knew her in wolf- and human-form all too well. She didn’t like to even remotely appear to cower behind him whether it was for her own protection or not. At the back of his mind, Viktor couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride that his mate was becoming accustomed to her role as an alpha female.

At the sight of a single werewolf and an animagus, not to mention neat piles of clothing that had the distinct scent of human, Viktor tilted his head. The defensive position of the male in front of the female was a familiar sight. But werewolf and animagus? An unusual pair, indeed. Beady green-yellow eyes darted from the form of a werewolf slightly bigger than Rory to the tiny wolf animagus. Loudly he sniffed, taking in the mingled scents of human, wolf, and most distinctly a sense of trepidation. It took what self-control his dose of Wolfsbane provided to not prey upon the nervousness he smelled.

A mouthful of pointed teeth met Rory’s question in the form of a grin. ”It’s very rare. My mother is an animagus, but I’ve not seen a pair quite like this, no…” The tone of the wolf-language was softer, interested, and on the verge of being impressed. This lone wolf, Viktor assumed, could not possibly be wild. That didn’t stop him from deliberately putting himself between Alex and Rory, however.

Viktor’s eyes took in Alex’s form, clearly sizing him up. He was paying little attention to the docile female behind Alex – she was clearly no threat to them. Viktor leaned forward, using his arms for added support while trying to draw himself up to a full but not thoroughly challenging height. It was his intention to take up as much space as possible in order to display a measure of dominance. He kept his stance neutral – ready to attack or defend on a moment’s notice.

”Who are you? Why are you here?” Viktor asked in a growl slightly more challenging than his body language showed.

Alex growled in protest at the thought of running. " We are natural hunter's Lainey, running will only make it worse" he thought over to her.. "It will be alright" he said trying to to sound reassuring. right before the two other wolves showed up.

He didn't really know how to react to the female wolf who seemed confused by them, at least he knew now they weren't wild. Then the male made his stance, he was bigger and likely a older wolf then them. Feeling like he was being sized up, by instinct Alex didn't back down, the nervousness he felt before was being over shadowed by something else. He remained in a defensive position in front of Lainey, he returned the older Werewolf's gaze however, meeting and perhaps slightly challenging the stance of dominance.

"What does it matter to you?" Alex returned seeing no point in answering the wolf.. what else would a werewolf and animagus be doing in the forest during a full moon other then looking of a secure place to transform? Thoughts of territory didn't really come to him, his human line of thought still controlling that part.

"We don't mean any harm to you" he thought over, though it was clear he didn't trust either of them. He didn't back down despite the submissive nature of the statment

There wasn't time for much more than a pang at her lack of bravery; further discussion was out of the question. The smaller werewolf -- the female, Lainey realised -- continued to stare at her until she was forced to meet her gaze. It was less aggressive and more inquisitive than she'd have thought, although far more confident than her own.

Lainey glanced over at the male, not interested in engaging in a dominance-questioning spitting match with the female, only to realise that was pretty much exactly what Alex was doing. She might have laughed under other circumstances; in their current situation, she was very much aware of the very thin line between Alex holding his ground and Alex posing a threat to the other werewolves. There was a rather possessive flavour to their thoughts that made her think they must be together, too. She could only assume that they would each be as protective of each other as Alex was of her and she him; it wouldn't do to challenge them.

With deliberate slowness, Lainey got to her feet and moved next to rather than behind Alex. Rory watched her intently, measuring the animagus' intention in her movement. It was clear the tiny thing felt very out of place, and for a brief moment, Rory pitied her.

"It matters because we're very near the school," she pointed out, answering the male but eyes still trained on the female. "Two of us hunting might go unnoticed, but four will attract attention. The sound carries out here."

Lainey found herself quite surprised by how easy it was to understand her. She projected her thoughts quite loudly and directly -- it was almost annoying compared to Alex's much gentler, nudging thoughts. The female's felt quite pointy and sharply unfamiliar. She wondered if hers sounded like that, too.

"Do you always hunt here on full moons, then?" Lainey questioned.

"No," Rory replied shortly, not wanting to give away too much information too soon.

"So you're not from the village, then." A simple enough deduction. Meaning Alex must not be the only were at school...

"Neither are you," Rory pointed out, getting irritated. "As this is then clearly not a territory dispute, I think we can all move past that fact for the moment. You both are from Hogwarts, clearly. Your age and behavior suggest it." Lainey sighed loudly, a funny gesture coming from a wolf.

"So what if we are? You must be too...and are hardly in a position to tell on us yourselves," she pointed out, sniffing.

"Tell on you?" Rory made an odd barking sound that somewhat resembled laughter. She closed the distance between herself and Lainey and peered down at her, critically but not aggressively.

"It's clear to me that we're all feeling a bit shy tonight. As you have far less to lose by having your identity known than any of the rest of us, you should go first." Despite the loose phrasing, it was clearly not a suggestion, but an order. Lainey felt a strange compulsion to obey that was not quite just because the female werewolf had a point. There was so much she didn't understand...much of which they could, perhaps, explain to her. She glanced between Alex and the male werewolf before "speaking" again.

I'm Melania Harper... Lainey would have continued, except that Rory's head had visibly jerked backwards in surprise.

"The quidditch captain?" Rory retorted in clear disbelief, snorting. "Oh come on, you can't expect me to believe that Miss Goody Two-Shoes runs arounds with a werewolf. At least make up a name if you're going to lie -- but no, be serious -- who are you, really?"

Lainey hesitated, not quite sure how to react.

"I'm Lainey Harper," she repeated, looking Rory in the eyes. "My clothes and things are over there, if you don't believe me. I might have something with my name on it."

"You'd better not be lying," Rory replied, stalking over to the small pile of clothes. Nudging through them, she could see that the animagus was indeed in Ravenclaw, and a rather tall female. There was nothing she could get at with a name, however -- nor anything yet to blatantly contradict her story.

"Viktor?" she asked quietly, so only he could hear. "What do you think?"

Viktor’s nose wrinkled fiercely, a growl of irritation tearing itself from his vocal chords, more out of response to the body language of questioning rather than the words. Instead of answering the wolf jerked his head the moment Lainey moved, watching her closely out of pure curiosity. Viktor could smell the near-pity Rory felt for the animagus, and on the one hand he supposed he pitied her too. Had she any clue of werewolf culture? It was difficult for him to judge just how old she was. Perhaps a teacher from the school acting as a guide? No. Her behavior is too docile to be a teacher.

A nod of Viktor’s shaggy head, no matter how slight, displayed his agreement with Rory. ”Your pack affiliation is also important. There used to be a hostile pack in these woods.” His thoughts were less aggressive and more cautionary, particularly when addressing the animagus. They weren’t as pointed as Rory’s thoughts as yet, but nor were they exceedingly gentle like his human tone of voice would have been.

“If you mean us no harm...” Viktor growled slowly, taking a few steps forward to Alex. He then stood up on his hind legs to make himself taller. “... then prove it and back down, cub. We harm none except our enemies... and prey.” He then backed up to return to his protective stance in front of Rory, but still remained standing upon two legs.

Viktor turned his head when the question of their hunting space was questioned. ”No,” replied in sync with Rory. He didn’t bother answering the question about the village, too concerned about the potential threat.

A bark of a laugh left Viktor. ”Tell on you?! Hardly.” He eyed the younger male keenly, his next tone meant for him but the words intended for both. ”Even amongst the unintroduced there is a level of confidentiality, on that particular matter. And it would be most courteous to reciprocate.”

An exhalation that could have resembled a snicker was Viktor’s response to Rory’s words. More and more he felt himself convinced that he’d chosen a suitable mate. She was just as much an alpha as he. He watched as the animagus seemed to mull over her options. Viktor said nor did anything upon hearing her name other than sniff the air, placing scent and face to name. He then looked to Rory, as if for confirmation since he could practically smell the surprise on her.

With some reluctance, Viktor lowered himself back to quadrupedal form and followed Rory to the piles of clothes. Perhaps it was he who was now out of place, but he personally believed the animagus. He did have the tendency to be too trusting towards fellow wolves and those that accepted their existence. Rory’s distrusting nature complemented his willingness to trust, making them a well-reasoned duo. He glanced at the items closely as Rory nudged through them. Human scent filled his nostrils even further as the clothes were shifted. Unfortunately he did not recognize the scent, nor would he, for he was not a resident in the castle.

Viktor gave a slight whine to indicate his uncertainty. ”I am not of the castle...” he replied simply. ”But if her name belongs to this pack –“ Viktor paused long enough to gesture at the Ravenclaw crest, ”I see no reason for doubt.”

Alex didn't like it, or rather the wolf part of him didn't like this, he didn't want to back down, but he knew not backing down would only cause needless trouble. He growled to show his protest, but he forced himself to back down. He didn't like being called cub, he was not a puppy, so to say he retreated from the older male quietly... not so much. "I am not a cub.." he returned annoyed but no long challenging dominance

He crunched beside Lainey, feeling bad she was in this situation, he whined softly to her to show his guilt. Though he was thankful these wolves didn't seem to have interest in harming her.

"She is who she says" he growled to the female wolf, annoyed she was bossing Lainey around. Showing power she shouldn't have in his pack, his pack.. yes tat is what it felt like. She had no right talking to Lainey like that.. He did however restrained his disapproval to merely flattening his ears in a type of glare.

"Who are you?" He asked in return, she obviously was a student at the school to know Lainey like that. Yet it had to be someone he didn't know well at all or he should have been able to sense her, even in Human form.

"I have been transforming at the school for the passed year, decided to try the forest if that made things easier. We didn't know you were here" he tried to explain. "Lainey found out and joined me a few months ago" he said nuzzling her again after the thought to show his gratitude.

The whole issue of packs was very interesting to Lainey, although she realised perhaps right now wasn't the moment to ask questions. There was a possessive flavour to Alex's thoughts that made her re-think what he'd told her before, about feeling differently about herself and Kate than before now that he was a werewolf. She hadn't thought through the implications. In any case, it didn't seem that rifling through her things had helped her case much with the female, and Alex seemed insulted by it, so she figured she ought to put an end to it as quickly as possible.

"I have no other way to prove who I am to you until morning til morning, so my word will have to do. Besides -- you can see I'm in Ravenclaw, I'm not stupid. I just hadn't realised I was so....well known. I don't exactly think of myself as a minor celebrity," she pointed out, along with the mental approximation of an eye roll. That, more than anything, convinced Rory.

"Fine. I'll take your word for it." Rory sat back on her haunches and observed the pair for a moment before it clicked. Lainey, a wolf animagus. With a male werewolf. A very protective male werewolf, near her age by the looks of it, who was nuzzling her affectionately.

"Oh my god, but if you're Lainey, then that's got to be..."

"Not so fast. Who are you? And who are you with?" Rory balked slightly at the bossiness of her question, although she had to admit, it was a fair question. And the girl clearly knew very little about wolves.

"My name is Aurora Holland. You probably have no idea who I am."

"Quite right -- I don't." That was definitely too rude; Rory growled and Lainey gave an apologetic shrug.

"Sorry. I just don't like having my name out there -- and maybe his - without knowing who you are, too." Rory gave a short nod.

"Sixth year. Slytherin. Recently transferred here from America?....I usually go by Rory." It took a short moment, but finally Lainey remembered.

"The muggleborn?" Rory hesitated for a moment, but there was clearly no ill-will in Lainey's tone, only curiosity. She seemed to remember insults getting shouted at Lainey in regard to her "half-blood" status leading up to the Slytherin/Ravenclaw match; it wasn't likely that Lainey meant the term as anything other than a statement of fact.

"Yes. The muggleborn." She turned and looked at what she could only presume was Alexander Nighthook, Lainey's boyfriend. It had been a huge scandal that even someone as antisocial as Rory couldn't miss -- the captain of the Ravenclaw quidditch team, dating the captain of Gryffindor's side? To be honest, Rory had been glad for the distraction it provided.

"So that's Nighthook, then?" She didn't wait for confirmation of that fact -- it was only too obvious, now.

"That's fair, then. This here is my mate, Viktor Solberg. He doesn't attend school at Hogwarts." Rory provided no further explanation -- Viktor was quite capable of that himself. She snaked her tail around his ankle again, nudging him slightly to indicate she was finished speaking.