Not a Monster (Marauder fanfic)

7- Natasha Burne

Sara and Madam Puddifoot apparated just outside the villiage, to avoid being seen by muggles. This meant that Sara had to walk the last 100 or so feet, on her own, up the hill that led to her house.
She had walked the journey, a thousand times before, but that night it felt a lot longer, and darker. Unable to use her wand, out of school, Sara had to rely on candle light, to light the way and avoid falling over.
Without needing to knock on the front door, Sara just unlocked it, and entered, not bothering to announce her arrival, as there was no one inside.
She just made her way through the house, and exited out the backn straight away. Heading for the small forest, directly behind her home. This was where her mother spent most of her time, when she wasn't laying in the garden, waiting for Sara.

The darkness of the woods, made Sara shiver, but she still refused to turn into her true form. Since she knew, that one day, she would be stuck as a dragon forever, Sara avoided transforming, at all costs.
Luckily for Sara, her mother was not too far into the forest, so she only had to walk for about 2 minutes, before she found her.
"Hey mum" said Sara, announcing her arrival.
For most people, finding a fully grown dragon, while alone in the woods, would have been terryfing, but Sara was used to seeing her mother like that.
She actually found it harder to picture her mother as a human, as Natasha had been a dragon for most of Sara's life.

Sara placed the lantern down on the ground, and approached her mother, giving her a big hug.
Natasha tenderly rested her head onto Sara's shoulder, as she hugged her daughter back.
When they finally released each other, Sara took a step back, and rested her body against a fallen tree.
Her mother cocked her head, and flapped her wings, sending Sara a sign that she wanted her to transform as well.
Sara sighed and shook her head.
"I'm sorry mum, but I don't want to. You know how I feel about changing".
Natasha frowned and moved closer to Sara, looking angry.
For a second, Sara panicked, as she was afraid that her mother had lost control.
Being a dragon full time, takes its toll on your mind, and eventually you lose your human mind all together.
Sara knew that the inevitable, would happen eventually. That one day her mother would look at her, with no recognisation on her face. And if that didn't kill her, then the dragon that was once her mother, would.

"I know you want to talk to me. But I don't think me becomming like you, is what you need right now. I think it's best for you, if I stay in my human form" admitted Sara awkwardly.
Natasha didn't take the news well, and roared loudly, allowing flames to explode from her mouth, and into the sky.
As Sara didn't want to upset her mother, she knew that she had no choice but to admit defeat.
She pushed herself off the tree, and closed her eyes, letting her body change, and become the form, that it really wanted to be.
Sometimes her body would cause her pain, until she transformed. And her mother had warned her, that when she reached a certain age, she would be in pain all the time, that she wasn't a dragon.
Sara was not looking forward to this, as she already hated the little amount of time, that she did spend, as a monster.

When Sara opened her eyes she saw her blue scales, and giant wings, and sighed.
"Took you long enough" said Natasha angrily.
Sara shook out her muscles, and adjusted to her new body size.
"You know I don't like doing this" she spat.
"Not even to speak to your own mother, who you haven't seen all week?"
"Yeah, well don't expect this every week"
"Fine. I'll ask my questions as quickly as I can, so that you can go back to being a human"
"Thank you".
Sara swished her tail and flapped her wings, as she got used to the extra body parts.
"What do you want to know?" Sara questioned.
"Well, are you enjoying being at Hogwarts?" Asked Natasha.
"Yes"
"Have you made friends?"
"Yep. A group of boys has let me into their group"
"Boys! Is one of them sweet on you?"
"No! We are just friends. All of us"
"But you do have female friends?"
"Of course. The girls I'm closest to, are two od my room mates; Dorcas, and Marlene"
"And they're nice girls?"
"Yep"
"Do your friends know about this side of you?".

Sara looked at her ugly, scaley, body and shook her head, angrily.
"Don't be stupid. If I want people to like me, the last thing I'm going to do, is tell them that I can turn into a fire-breathing dragon. And will one day be unable to turn back into a human... No one wants to be friends with a monster".
"You are not a monster Sara" replied Natasha.
"Says you. Just look at you, and look at me. We are just two monsters, alone in the woods. The fact that I have no father, is proof, that no one would want to know me, if they knew the truth"
"Don't blame me, I didn't choose this life for us, you know"
"No. Your mother did"
"So you're blaming my mother now?"
"Yeah, I am. If she hadn't upset that guy. I would have had the chance, at having a life. But because of her, I'm going to end up like you. Stuck like this. Forever"
"Maybe you should just turn back. You clearly aren't happy like this, and you aren't this irritable as a human"
"Well, you're the one who wanted me to transform, in the first place"
"I only wanted to talk to my daughter. But if you aren't in a good mood, then you might as well just turn back"
"Fine. I will then".

Sara closed her eyes again, and focused on forcing her body to shrink.
Turning back into a human, was a lot more work, than becomming a dragon. Because, as a Maledictus, her natural form, was a dragon, rather than a human.
"I mean, why would you want to stay and talk to me? I'm only a monster afterall" muttered Natasha, just a Sara was transforming.
When Sara was a human again, she opened her eyes, and saw her mother turn and walk away from her.
Now that her head was back in human mode, Sara felt a lot calmer, and suddenly felt bad, for the way she had treated her mother.
She still had the opportunity to turn back into a human. But her mother no longer had the choice.
"Mum, wait! I'm sorry" she apologised.
Natasha turned her head to look back at Sara, for a moment, before turning back around, and contining to walk away, through the woods.

Sara wanted to run after her mother, but she knew it was getting late, and Madam Puddifoot would be waiting for her.
She yawned loudly, and sighed. She was tired, and transforming back into a human, had taken most of her energy away.
Visting her mother on a Sunday, may not have been the best idea, since she had a full day of classes, the next day.
With one last look at the direction her mother had dissappeared in, Sara picked up the lantern and turned away.
Although it killed her, to leave her mother alone, Sara knew that she had no choice. She had to return to Hogwarts, and live her own life.
Without her mother.