Inner Beasts
*****
“She’s not improving, Severus,” Eir snapped as soon as the potion master emerged from the floo in response to the summons he’d received. He quirked an eyebrow even as he banished the soot from his robes, then followed after the irritated goblin healer as she hurried into the depth of the now very familiar halls.
“And you summoned me why?” Severus inquired. “I was under the impression that your healers were very capable of dealing with such issues. Surely a Cruciatus or two would not be above your abilities.”
“Don’t start with me, Lord Prince,” Eir snapped, waving away the pair of goblin guards that had made their way towards the pair menacingly when Severus finished. It was obvious they were unhappy with his tone towards what he supposed amounted to their queen, as she was mated to their king, but it was hard to break such habits as distain for ‘creatures’. Even with his general ambivalence with the goblins, he’d be the first to admit he may have spent too long around the prejudice purebloods he had aligned with the last time.
“My apologies,” he grumbled, still following the healer as she bustled along.
“Actions speak louder, wizard,” Eir growled, pushing opened the door to Arianna’s Hall, as those in the know had taken to calling the healing hall the Goblins had dedicated to the woman and her plots.
It was a rare day when it was empty, at this point, and today was no exception. He ignored the last of the Aurors recently cleansed and still recovering. A few others that had been cleansed previously inhabited the halls and the bandages he glimpsed explained why they were there. Some raid to secure more to cleanse or other such event must have gone wrong. He knew eyes were following him to the secluded area to the back of the hall, separated by heavy screens and privacy charms that put the simple training ones he was familiar with to absolute shame. These were even more effective than the Auror level ones he had seen. Yet once he passed the boundary, he could understand why.
The woman who lay on the bed, thrashing violently, was not the redheaded spitfire he was familiar with. Her normally lightly tanned skin was pale, yet upon closer inspection, he noticed a fine spattering of scales on the skin, adding to the paleness and covering the flush he was sure she had as soon as he stood within reach of the bed. She was practically a furnace. Her nails were long, bordering on talons and he could see the nubs of horns peeking through her crimson strands. Growls erupted intermittently.
“She’s trying to shift,” he said bluntly.
“You knew about this?” a familiar voice asked.
Severus glanced over to see Lucius being attended by a pair of glaring healers. It seemed his old friend was incapable of respecting his healers, regardless of their ability or species. Then Severus winced when he realized he was not blameless in doing similar.
“I imagine the prolonged Cruciatus did not help her control,” Eir said dryly, interrupting before Severus could say a word.
“He gave her breaks,” Lucius muttered, almost pouting.
“And still held her for a week, utilizing it consistently,” Eir snarled at the man, causing him to blink in shock and flinch back in surprise when one of the healers applied a salve to a cut with perhaps a little too much pleasure.
“She called him a no-nose son of a pig rapist, then clarified she was speaking of his love potion abusing mother,” Lucius offered.
“And what did he say to prompt such language?” Severus asked, curious. That level of vitriol was not easy to believe coming from the epitome of a Hufflepuff.
“After she kept him on his toes in negotiations, he suggested Potter was a weakling puppet incapable of a thought of his own, with no hope of defeating him, and had deserved his reported treatment at the hands of his relatives,” Lucius admitted.
Severus winced. That would do it.
“And now she’s feeling the effects of torture in the only way she knows how,” Eir said, quickly spelling a set of ropes over the thrashing form to prevent her from falling off the bed after a particularly violent turn.
“By becoming something too powerful to torture,” Severus said with a sigh. “You know we cannot prevent her if she truly wants to turn to her Animagus form. I’m surprised you’ve had the luck you have had with containing her.”
“She has added some containment magics to this hall in preparation of allowing Scamander to examine her form,” Eir said bluntly, shooting a poisonous glare at the blond still being treated. “And if anything that happens here today is repeated to those she does not wish to know, I will know exactly who leaked it. The Goblins will gladly seek retribution.”
Severus smirked when he could see Lucius gulp in fear. The blond must be truly shaken if he was allowing such emotion to show. Even if they were friends, he was not called the Ice King for nothing. Hence his son’s reputation as the Ice Prince of Slytherin.
“You have my word no news of this will reach unsavory ears,” Lucius promised.
Severus knew he would get nowhere in that promise and left Eir to berate the man for trying to out-word goblins to focus on Arianna.
Her skin was literally rippling as she tried to fight the emergence of more scales and a fine sheen of sweat covered her skin and scales. It made him wonder if the obvious fever was the result of injury or her will trying to contain her magic.
Severus set to work, waving his wand over the woman to determine what the most pressing problem was. If he could repair any major damage, she may relax enough to allow treatment for the inevitable nerve damage and prevent a full blown change. They would have to work quickly, too, as he was sure she’d wish to attend the Wizengamot meeting later. She wouldn’t be flying anytime soon, but she should be recovered enough to sit through a meeting if they managed to reverse this quickly.
Then she started muttering to herself and he tensed.
“That’s parseltongue,” Lucius interrupted Eir’s rant to point out.
“Yes, Lucius,” Severus agreed, already moving to focus on her head. “She’s a speaker, as is Harry. Potter blood.”
Severus froze when his mark twitched.
“Lord Prince?” Eir asked warily, having caught the shock.
“My mark,” he said. Then hurriedly waved her over to see the black ink twitching more as Arianna kept muttering in the snake language.
“He locked it with parselmagic assuming he was the only speaker alive,” Eir concluded, gently grabbing Severus’ arm when he nodded in agreement. She manipulated the limb with healer’s hands, gentle but firm, as the tattoo reacted to the words Arianna spoke. “Of course she would discover the best clue we’ve had in these while struggling to contain her Animagus after being kidnapped for a week…”
“Potter luck,” Severus grumbled, easing his arm back so he could go back to assessing the witch on the bed in front of him. “I’m afraid the standard calming draught won’t be enough, but if we can get her soulmate here, his presence and a strong one could prevent a full change. She’ll need time to calm further to retract the horns, but that might be for the best.”
Severus could almost feel Lucius’ curious gaze burning into his back.
“Do they know?” Eir simply asked.
“I suspect she does,” Severus admitted. “I’ve noticed a distinct lack of protesting when they’ve been working on clearing out the Room and as they’ve sneaked off to eat in the village. As for him, I am uncertain.”
Severus was not immune to the fact that they’d taken care to avoid names, but he also knew that if Charlie were to arrive, Lucius would know even more. And with how little anyone trusted the former Death Eater, it would cause some problems.
“I am on the side of the Lady Aiaia,” Lucius said firmly, proving once again he was quite capable of reading the room and any tensions he came across. “I will not divulge her secrets. As she has provided safety for my family, refused to leave without me when faced with torture at the hands of the Dark Lord and my wife’s sister, she has earned the loyalty of the Noble House of Malfoy. Summon this soulmate.”
Severus turned to study his friend closely, wary. As much as he did not like Black or James Potter, he had to admit to some affection to the Potter children. They were much more Lily than James and it had taken Harry taking him to task over the summer for him to see that and take a hard look at his actions in regards to the raven-haired teen. And his lack of actions with the redhead that looked so much like Lily. He was not impressed with himself. Regulus less so and he had spent a good chunk of time working to get his husband to forgive him. Even though he was unsure if he had succeeded.
He’d spent more than one night trying to woo his husband out of the Chamber to share a meal in his rooms with the door warded to the rafters. The pregnancy hormones and the man’s sometimes overwhelming anger at Severus’ previous actions made it difficult, and he succeeded only about half the time.
But their remorse also proved just how loyal they were to these two children now. Harry was much like James in some ways, yes, with his Gryffindor need to jump head first into trouble, but he was also like Lily in his defense of his friends and his willingness to overlook prejudices to make friends with others. Severus was not immune to the budding friendships between him and the Longbottom and Lovegood heirs. Of his efforts to befriend Draco, even after years of rivalry. Or his continued defense of his best friend Granger. Even if she was an insufferable know-it-all and borderline bully herself.
Arianna was her mother. Her father shined through in his dedication to his studies despite pranking the school with regularity and his need to head the charge in any situation, but she was Lily in all other aspects. Severus had often wondered how the shy girl he’d spent many a day with as children had ended up in the house of lions and not badgers herself, but then he’d wound up on her bad side after that fateful encounter by the lake and he discovered quickly she was just as fierce as her reputation declared. Lily had just never had cause to show that side around him. Arianna was that fire mixed with Slytherin cunning, Ravenclaw drive, and Hufflepuff dedication.
It was a heady mix and enthralling to the extreme. It really was no wonder that he followed them, with not one care to the bridges he was burning by turning his back on both sides from the previous war. The coming war would be interesting if nothing else.
And he would not jeopardize the last blood of Lily for a friendship from school that had led to him being used as a spy by both factions and almost cost him his husband and future children.
“Your vow,” Severus demanded. Lucius simply raised an eyebrow to show his surprise. “You will give me your vow or I’ll have no compunctions of obliviating you as soon as she’s stable.”
Lucius blinked but nodded, reaching into his robes for the wand the goblins had retrieved with their rescue and held it high.
“I, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy, do swear upon my magic and my life that the secrets of Lady Aiaia will be kept safe and I shall not spread them to anyone the Lady herself does not approve of. So, I swear, so mote it be,” he intoned.
Severus studied him a moment more before he summoned his patronus and muttered a quick message to Charlie.
The doe bowed at him gracefully and darted away. Severus watched it with a bittersweet smile. He’d almost expected it to change now that Regulus was returned to him, but it seemed he still saw Lily as his sister by bond, if not blood. And she had made a gorgeous doe to Potter’s stag…
He hoped Regulus and he struck the same graceful picture when they stood side by side in their forms. His black panther had been a bit of a shock, but he was not surprised in the least when Regulus took after his infuriating brother… Grims. The pair of them. Severus had to suppress a surprising giggle at the unbidden thought of the pair of them as puppies together.
“Now we just wait,” Eir said, turning to work on Arianna as much as she could while the woman thrashed and whimpered.
*****
Theseus descended on Gringotts with a vengeance. Knowing his sister-in-law’s former charge was again in need of healers was not allowing him much patience and the goblins were quick to lead him through the lobby and into the tunnels that would take him to the Hall.
He met Graves on the way and the more reticent man simply nodded at him as he matched his stride.
“He’s going to die,” Theseus said bluntly as they walked, the goblin in front of them almost running as he led the much taller wizards. There was little doubt the poor youngling was terrified of them and would be a bit scarred from the trip, but Theseus decided he just didn’t care at this point.
“I think Newt’s already scouting the creatures we’ve moved to see who would be interested in getting a piece,” Graves offered.
Theseus almost stumbled in shock at that. He knew his little brother was protective, but to ask his beloved creatures for help with vengeance? Even after all this time, he was constantly surprised by the quiet man. Tina was always telling him to really get to know his brother as he was, not as he thought he was, but apparently, even decades of good relations was not enough to peel back the layers of protective misinformation Newt gave off…
“I’ll help,” Theseus settled on.
“I do believe there will be a line,” a gruff voice interjected as they approached the door they were now very familiar with.
Theseus nodded to Artair and offered an arm to clasp forearms with the man in the more traditional greeting the former knight was accustomed to.
“No more shadows, my friend,” Theseus said, steel in his tone. “We will not let this stand and everyone will know that the bastard tried to torture her into his circle. It’s beyond time the Scamander seat was occupied. She will have more allies in the Hall later. Should she be able to attend.”
“If you think for a second she will let us make her skip, you have not spent enough time around her,” Charlie announced his presence.
“If you think Eir won’t spell her to the bed again, you do not know the healer,” Artair said with a smirk.
Charlie just laughed then nodded, the relief evident in his giddy mood.
“Get in here, dunderhead!” the snappish voice of Severus Snape penetrated the thick oak door, illustrating his frustration and capabilities to project when needed. Charlie quirked an eyebrow at them. “Now!”
Charlie didn’t hesitate again and dashed past the hulking figure of Artair to enter the Hall and to the familiar corner they normally sequestered the notoriously difficult patient in, Theseus and Graves on his heels. They ignored the interested stares as they darted through privacy charms and froze at the sight of Arianna convulsing on the bed, pearly scales thick over her entire body and long hair caught on horns. Charlie was across the room before anything else registered, hands tangled in red strands and voice offering soothing sounds even as he dodged flailing limbs.
With the scales confirming his suspicions of her Animagus, Theseus watched in bemusement as Arianna instantly quieted, offering a rumbling thrill of question that he suspected was a noise more likely to come from her Animagus than the witch. He’d spent enough time around his brother to know the species she obviously was, though to be fair, it would take a particularly dense person to not recognize an Antiodean Opaleye. How she’d managed to hide such an Animagus from his intensely curious brother, he’d have to gloat over for a bit. How the witch had wound up with such a form was another matter.
But he was shocked out of his musings when Charlie reacted to her noises. He rumbled back. In a similar but deeper tone. And started showing patches of his own black scales in his efforts to hold Arianna to him.
Well, blast.
“Might I suggest we remove ourselves from the pair of dragons about to emerge?” Severus suggested, already pulling away rapidly and dragging Eir with him. Theseus thought the plan sound and made to grab for Graves, but the man had already darted farther into the room and closer to the two by the bed.
“Bloody idiotic men with Gryffindor tendencies,” he cursed as he darted after his brother-in-law.
“Arianna,” Graves called urgently, maneuvering close to the pair of redheads and catching Arianna’s unseeing gaze. “Hey, doll, focus here,” he ordered, snapping his fingers and instantly gaining the attention of the two partially transformed magicals. “Transform later. We need you human so we can treat whatever’s causing this and I know for a fact dragons are almost impossible to treat.”
Theseus winced when Arianna whimpered again, causing an answering growl from Charlie, very clearly illustrating just how quickly the dragon handler had lost control of his faculties in response to Arianna’s distress.
“I know, barm,” Theseus immediately interjected, stepping up behind his friend and running a gentle hand down Arianna’s hair. “I know it hurts, but we can make it better if you just hold on a bit longer to your human side. I know it’s hard right now and you want nothing more than to be big enough that no one can hurt you or take you away from Harry again. I know that feeling of utter fear for a sibling. But you being in pain will just make him hurt for you and worry.”
He knew he was manipulating her. Knew she was not all there mentally at the moment, but he also knew they needed her human. The hall was occupied with a few more in for cleanses or other injuries accrued from their efforts to ferret out traitors and the odd Death Eater encounter. It would be catastrophic if they had to evacuate and then try to explain to all those curious people, not a few of which he pegged as Aurors, why a dragon had literally grown in their healing hall.
And he did know how it felt to have a sibling disappear for months and years only to appear out of the blue in danger and pain. Newt was usually very good at avoiding such issues, but it didn’t mean he was impervious to injury, especially with the circles he’d run in early in his career as a magizoologist in his efforts to rescue his beloved creatures.
“I need you to be human, love,” he muttered again, well aware of the snarling Charlie breathing down his neck, but making a conscious effort to ignore him. If he could get Arianna calm, he had no doubt Charlie would calm as well. “If you’re human, we can fix you up and you can still attend the Wizengamot meeting in a few hours, right, Healer Eir?”
It was a pointed question and his tone was mildly disrespectful as he almost demanded agreement. But he would deal with insulting the healer later as long as Arianna stayed human for them. He held still as Arianna studied him intently, her eyes flashing between her dragon red and her human blue as her lungs heaved in air like they were a Pegasus preparing to take flight. She still struggled against the cushioned ropes Eir had spelled around her, but she had yet to snap them. And as she studied him, her breathing slowed.
Frantic eyes darted around the room, stopping briefly on each of their faces, and the distressed noises coming from her weakened, losing the dragonesque tone until she whimpered softly then went limp on the bed. The dragon features faded away until only the familiar creamy skin covered in freckles was left. Charlie whimpered before shaking himself. Theseus could see the moment his mind returned to him by the absolutely hilarious shade of red he turned.
“I am so sorry,” he muttered, sitting back on the bed to lean against the footboard and bury his face in his hands.
“Quite alright,” Theseus denied, pulling back himself so Severus and Eir could pounce on their patient. “Did you know?” he asked while Severus spelled a few potions into his patient.
“No,” Charlie immediately denied. “When it showed on my test, I wanted to find out what I would be but we’ve been so busy with the vaults, I haven’t had time. But it explains how I get along so well with the dragons at the reserved. My boss frequently commented about how the dragons always seemed more at ease with me. If my Animagus is one and they could sense it, it makes me rethink every interaction I had with some of them.”
“And you knew about her?” Theseus clarified.
“Yes,” Charlie agreed. “She shifted for the first time just after she escaped her prison, in response to an explanation of Harry’s time at school. It was a charged afternoon and you lot arrived not long after she shifted back so it got pushed to the bottom of the trunk in favor of more pressing issues.”
“More pressing than a magical Animagus brought out by high emotion and when it was suppressed for a long time?” Severus snapped at them. Theseus was not amused when his caustic tone caused Charlie to flinch back farther into the footboard.
“I’m assuming removing Harry from the custody of those idiot relatives of his and ensuring he was able to survive the blocks, malnutrition, and other injuries he suffered both at Privet Drive and Hogwarts would satisfy you as just cause to forget?” Theseus snarled at the man, each detail etched into his brain.
If he was still beyond furious at the trials the younger Potter had endured, he could only imagine the rage filling Arianna. Add in possible guilt for not getting to him sooner and shame at missing the manipulations involving the pair’s godparents, and Theseus was not surprised in the least something like this slipped. If it had been included in any of the files and the to-do list she’d had when they intervened, he would have moved it up.
Then his brain latched on to one of the bullet points that had stumped them at the time; Adaya. Arianna had listed that she needed Newt to assess someone called Adaya.
“Is Adaya her dragon form?” Theseus questioned when Severus stayed silent.
Charlie only nodded, staring at Arianna. Severus and Eir were almost done but it seemed Charlie was shaken at the events.
Theseus did not hold back on his string of expletives.
The muffled chuckling drew his attention after a few minutes though, and he narrowed his eyes in confusion. Then went in search of the source. He found a mirror tangled in the sheets by Arianna’s head, the connection still going strong judging by the splash of color he could see.
“Harry?” he shouted with horror, staring at the smirking face of the young wizard the colors made up. It did not take a genius to see the lingering lines of worry and pain on the raven-haired boy’s face, even through the mirror.
“She promised to leave it on,” he greeted, staring at Theseus unflinchingly.
Theseus felt himself pale as the realization set in that the boy had heard everything and seen a good chunk of it.
“As much as I applaud her dedication to keep you in the loop, Harry,” Theseus said softly, glaring at Severus when the man made a move to take the mirror. “The fact of the matter is that your sister now requires Eir’s help if she wants to go to the Wizengamot later. As the older sibling myself, I have a strong suspicion that Arianna is much like me and will never ask for privacy, even when she may need it. And there are some things no younger brother wants to see or hear about their older sibling.”
Theseus well remembered the tantrums Newt had thrown when he’d managed to get himself injured on the job, but even the magizoologist couldn’t bring himself to leave his side until the healers had needed to fully undress him. He suspected Harry would be similar. And if the spreading blush was any indication, he was not wrong.
“Right,” Harry muttered, breaking eye contact to fumble with something in his hand. “Well, let me know how it goes. And have her call me as soon as she can. We’re coming up on exams in a few weeks so the professors are pushing hard, but I can still talk while I revise.”
Theseus chuckled, well remembering the fervor of Hogwarts in the weeks leading up to the winter break. While it paled in comparison to the OWLs and NEWTs the teens would face in the spring, the professors still needed a good gauge of how they’d progressed since the start of the year so they could fill in all gaps before the more stringent exams. And with the nightmare of a DADA professor, he had little doubt the other professors were trying to keep the students’ minds off the odious woman.
“I’ll be sure to do so, Harry,” he promised. “Now, get back to class.”
“Yes, Uncle Theseus,” the raven-haired teen said with a pout before disconnecting.
Theseus gave a weak smile but turned back to the redheads in front of him.
“She’ll be fine,” Eir answered his questioning grunt.
“Good, because I’m going to kill her,” Artair growled.
“Hey!” Charlie protested.