𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐌𝐀𝐆𝐔𝐒 2008

After The War (2/2)

After the War Part 2 of 2

Lessons with Potter were not half as bad as Draco might have thought they would be. By about the third class, Potter had got a hang of what he was doing, and no longer required Draco’s assistance. But they kept sitting together anyway, having gotten used to each other’s company. And Potter still had the occasional question, anyway.

Draco had been having difficulty with getting more than his head to transform, and even that was partial. He was becoming frustrated and had taken to bringing a Muggle biro pen with him to classes, jotting down everything he could think of: every experience, everything that he had done when he had had even a slight change in his transformation. It was exhausting. Sometimes his hand would cramp because he was trying to write too much too fast, afraid that he might forget some detail. Draco was counting down the number of weeks he had left in the course; afraid he wouldn’t make it in time. At least the biros wrote faster – they were also smaller, easier to carry in his pocket.

Draco was sure that Potter thought he was obsessive compulsive: and this thought was probably compounded by the fact that Potter appeared to be so very lax about the whole thing. He would sit and go through the exercises, but wouldn’t put all that much effort into it. Draco remembered what Potter had said on that second day and wondered if Potter just didn’t care enough to bother.

Well, at least Potter wasn’t succeeding in his non-efforts. If he had, it would have driven Draco completely mad.

As it stood, truth be told, Draco found Potter’s presence to be somewhat calming as he did his exercises. Sapiens had taught them to recognize the magic in everything around them. “To transform,” he said, “One must embrace the magic within oneself, but also draw on the magic surrounding one. It is the magic of the other that allows one to change their form to something other. It is the magic within oneself that allows a person to retain their spirit and their conscience in that other form. Some take to this more easily,” he had assured the class. “Those who are more greedy and want to pull everything towards themselves are more likely to find this a natural exercise. Others will have to work harder at it. Just try to tap into your subconscious, it’s all there.”

Draco had had plenty of practice at being greedy, and he could naturally sense magic in the air around him. It was not until that first time with Potter that Draco had allowed himself to be fully surrounded by the magic around him. Potter was like a warm glow in Draco’s magical eye, radiating magic and life from every pore. Being next to someone so very magical was comforting to Draco – a close friend always nearby – and he tended not to get the same results in his transformation when he tried to draw on the other magical sources around him.

It was a day about a month and a half after Potter had joined the classes when Draco began his exercises, feeling the comforting glow of Potter’s magic as it settled over him, just as it had done that very first day.

But this day, something was different. Draco felt his comfort and realized that he did not need to pull or steal the magic from Potter, but rather to just let the magic that surrounded Draco so warmly go inside of his body. It was an act of acceptance rather than greed that Draco needed, and without thinking he reached down and touched his wand.

And suddenly he was on four – paws – on the floor: he was much smaller than he was used to.

Potter suddenly opened his eyes and looked down. He smiled. “Well, hello there.”

Draco swished his tail in response. He wasn’t sure he liked being down on the floor, so far beneath Potter. He felt vulnerable, like he could be trampled on at any moment. He sat down for a moment and his soft, new paws slid against the floor. Something did not feel quite right.