Just after dawn, Hogwarts Lake

Kiba sighed as he finally exited the Hogwarts castle, satisfied that he hadn't attracted any unwanted attention from nosy Professors or other students. Kiba hadn't transformed in a while and he was getting rusty, so he decided that today would be a perfect opportunity to do so. Walking across the short cut grass that was damp with morning dew, Kiba made his way to a spot shaded by some trees were he would have sufficient cover from wandering eyes. Kiba drew his wand and held it lazily in front of him, disapointed with himself that he still needed to have his wand like this to transform.

Shutting his eyes, Kiba concentrated on the sharp pain that seemed to be stabbing at his ribcage. He pushed the pain further around his body, wincing as he did so, but otherwise keeping his concentration. The pain pricked at his fingertips and he clenched his jaw as a wave of nausea swept over him. Not breaking his concentration, Kiba pushed the pain further and further around his body until he felt the strange feeling of his insides shifting and he fell forward, catching himself on all fours. Where the boy was previously standing, now stood a happy looking chocolate brown fox.

The smell of nature invaded Kiba's now extremely strong nose and the damp grass cooled his paws. He could never get used to the sudden change in his senses. It was too much too suddenly. Kiba stretched his legs and flicked his tail around in excitement. Not only had he transformed quite easily, but he didn't faint or chuck his guts during the process. Kiba felt like he was on a sugar-rush, but that was normal for him when in his Animagus form. Without really thinking about it, he yipped happily before bounding off through the grass, boucing as the grass dampened his fur.

Even though the transformation had been one of Kiba's easiest ones yet, he knew he couldn't stay in this form for long. Once the nausea set it, it would be all over pretty soon. He continued to run through the trees for a good half-hour, chasing the odd small creature, until he began to pant heavily in exertion. Being close to the lake, Kiba snuck around like a true sneaky fox until he reached a section of the lake that looked suitable. Not ever in his human form would he drink from the lake, but there was something about his Animagus form that made him not really care about drinking the lake water.

Kiba lowered his furry head and began drinking the water, listening and smelling everything around him. He could heard a few birds in the distance and could still smell the scent of fresh grass, and a person? Kiba's head whipped around so fast that if he wasn't in his fox form, he would have surely fallen over. He flattened himself against the ground to try to hide himself, which was probably useless, as he saw none other than Amara Báthory. 

Amara was always up by 5:30 in the morning. She'd take her time brushing her hair, as it was not an ordinary job, take a shower, get dressed and go for a walk  on the lake's shore. She often took her easel and painting supplies with her in hope of catching a great sunrise to paint. She walked to the Entrance Hall, and from the door looked for a good place where you could see the sunrise from. She spotted a large rock formation right on the shore of the Great Lake. She started to walk leisurely towards it, while taking in the fresh cold air of the morning and enjoying the peace and quiet of the early hours.

It took Amara about twenty minutes to reach the place she had seen from the top of the stairs. When she arrived, she dropped her easel and utensils on a rock, and climbed all the way to the top, once there she relaxed her posture, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and filled herself with the clean air, enjoying the cold breeze on her face. "If only it wasn't populated... Sweet Circe, how beautiful would that be?" she thought to herself.

She  came down, and settled her easel right on the shore of the lake. She tied her canvas to the easel, to avoid any unpleasant surprises from the wind, she already had her canvas blown away several times, and usually when she was two brush strokes away from finishing. She started sketching the beautiful image of the sun coming out from the mountains afar, concentrating hard and mostly oblivious to her surroundings.

Right at the time when she started blocking in the main colors, she thought she saw something furry and brown, with a stuffy tail from the corner of her eye. As any animal or creature immediately sparked an interest, she put her brush aside and started slowly walking around the rock formation where she thought she had seen the creature go. She looked around, but saw nothing. Disappointed, she started walking back to her easel, but only two steps away she heard a soft lipping sound from just around the rock near her.

She slowly leaned forward looking towards the water, and her expression instantly lit up as she saw a small fox, probably adolescent with soft looking brownish fur, drinking water from the lake. Her mouth slowly shaped as an "O" as the little fox noticed her presence and, amusingly, unsuccessfully tried to make itself one with the earth to avoid detection. Dozens of ways to try and get closer to the fox passed through her mind, but she had only an instant to decide what to do before the fox would run off, probably never to be seen again. Instinctively, she took a small step forward, just so the fox could see her entire body, and very slowly started to lower herself into a squatting position. When she was all the way down and settled into a comfortable position she easily extended her arm forward, waiting to see if the little animal would come to her.

It was incredibly hard for Amara to not literally jump the poor animal and hold it into deathly grip... She kept imagining herself rubbing her face in that soft looking fur, and passing her hands through it, petting it and hugging it. Her heart rate was so elevated that she suddenly felt a rush of adrenaline, urging her to get up and tackle the fox, but what little was left of her rationality in that moment, told her to take it easy and wait.

Kiba was ready to run for the hills, sprint away as fast as his little furry legs could take him. Only one problem though, from past experience he knew he couldn't stay in his Animagus form for too much longer. He could feel the beginnings of nausea prick at his insides and his head was throbbing slightly, all sure signs that this little trip was coming to an end. But, he wasn't ready to allow anyone in on his secret, not yet anyway. Kiba turned to run away, but his head spun with the movement and he had to hold on to his transformation with all his might. Right now, he didn't care if the girl was watching him act like a drunk animal, he just didn't want to transform right in front of her.

He hoped once Amara saw him, she would shriek like a little girl and run away like some girls do when they see a wild animal, but she had her arm extended towards him, oh dear. She wasn't going away any time soon. Kiba growled and his ears pressed against his skull, warning the girl that he didn't want company. He felt his insides shift slightly and he quickly turned up the concentration on keeping his form. In order to keep himself from turning back into a boy right in front of her, Kiba lowered himself to the ground and shut his beady eyes, willing the pain to subside. He kept his ears and nose alert for any advance by the girl, but it was not like he could avoid it anyway, so he just stayed where he was, looking like he was sleeping peacefully.

Amara watched the little fox take on quite an aggressive form , she was surely disappointed, she even considered using her charm on it for a few second, but immediately after, it's stance changed,  it seemed to somehow be fighting off pain.  She watched it lower itself to the ground while slowly closing it's eyes. The moment Amara processed what was happening, she swiftly launched her petite frame forward, landing on her knees, one foot away from the animal and badly scraping her shins and knees at the same time. Before the fox had had time to react, Amara pushed her upper body forward,  painfully landing on her front, but happily, managing to bury her hand deep into the fox's back of the neck, therefore immobilizing it.

"Feisty" she though to herself, as the fox, clearly did not like the gesture; it was growling and desperately trying to escape her grip.

The girl managed to get up on her knees while still having a hold on the fox. She held it firmly but with a gentle touch, holding its head higher, she gave it a nudge to lay down on the ground and she slowly brought her other hand onto it's chest and neck, slowly caressing its fur. She tried to look for some visible wounds, but could not find any.

When the fox seemed to have relaxed a little, she slowly began to loosen her grip, while still petting it with the other hand. She moved her free hand slowly to it's ears, petting it lovingly, hoping to have calmed it down by now.

Before Kiba even knew what was going on, he was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and held down. What was with this girl?! Did she not know that when a wild animal growls at you, you get the heck outta there? Some people didn't listen to common sense. Kiba tried to away from her, but blimey she was strong for a girl, and he was no match for her at his size. He tried to bite and scratch at her hands, but she held him in such a way that made it impossible. He lashed around hopelessly like a fish out of water and his tail swished violently. With every movement, he could feel more and more of the pain he experienced when transforming. This was not good at all.

It was already weird enough that the girl was holding him, but then she started petting him like a dog! She had him pinned to the ground and was inspecting him? What did he look like, a puppy? Although it was incredibly awkward for him, Kiba stopped trying to fight her off. It was useless and he was only making it worse for himself by losing concentration on keeping his fox form. A low growl rumbled in his throat as his last attempt to tell her to back off. At his surpise, she seemed to be letting him go, although she still had her hands in his fur.

Kiba didn't like to be petted. Sure, it was like getting a massage and was totally relaxing, but it was strange to be treated like a pet. As Amara's grip loosened, Kiba turned his head incredibly slowly until her hand was close to his face. Then, without really thinking what he would do after it, he bit her on the side of her hand, drawing blood easily with his sharp teeth.

She registered its head moving slowly towards her hand and knew what was coming next. She soon felt its sharp little fangs bury themselves in the side of her hand. Luckily however, Amara had a lot of experience with bites and scratches, and she was quite resilient to pain. She didn't jerk her hand away, instead watched the fox deep in the eyes and waited for it to withdraw its teeth.

"Now why would you do that, little one? I mean you no harm... I promise. I was trying to see if you're hurt and might require help" she spoke as fondly as her tone and personality could allow it.

Eventually the fox let go of her hand and looked away for a moment as if trying to decide on the direction it would run off. Amara slowly grabbed it with one arm from under its front legs , making sure to keep its head away from her face with the other. She got up on her feet with the fox in her arms and quickly moved over to the other side of the rock, where she had left her easel. She sat down on the ground, fix secured in her arms, with her back leaning on the rocks. The animal didn't have much of a fight left in it, so she decided to just stay like that for a while.

While it seemed calm enough she quickly grabbed her robe from the rock above her head and put it around the fox. With its legs now secured, she could free one of her arms. She slowly passed her hand through its fur, reveling in its softness and slowly lowered her head to the fox's back, until she was only inches away from it. She buried her cheek in its fur, while gingerly caressing the fur under its ears.

"Perfect..." she found herself saying out loud. "If only I could do this forever... she continued mentally.

Kiba was starting to panic when he got little to no reaction from the girl. Did she not care if he bit her? If he could've scoffed, he would have. He bit her for nothing? Great. Kiba hated having the taste of blood stuck in his mouth, but something about his fox instincts enjoyed it. But, still, it was thoroughly revolting. He was surprised when Amara picked him up and wrapped him like a baby. He fidgeted slightly, but that only decreased his ability to keep in his Animagus form. This would have to be a new record for Kiba, never had he ever stayed as a fox for as long as this. He was proud of himself, but on the other hand, he was incredibly scared that he would lose his grasp on the tiny bit of his transformation that was keeping him from turning back into a boy.

Pain pricked at his insides and Kiba had to clench his jaw to prevent from hurling, if foxes could even hurl? He didn't know, but he was sure he would find out soon enough. If Kiba was in his human form, his cheeks would be bright red with embarrassment as the girl caressed his fur again and then hugged him. He couldn't stand it anymore, the pets, the hugs, the awkwardness and the pain, he had never felt such intense pain! His insides were shifting back and forth as he tried with all his might to not transform. He felt queezy and like someone was stabbing his stomach with a fork.

A wave of nausea swept over him and he couldn't hold on any longer. The next few seconds seemed to play out in slow motion as the fox turned back into a boy. He was still in the awkward position in Amara's arms and he quickly acted to push away from her and fall onto his hands and knees, hurling violently on the grass next to them. Kiba's head spun as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and slowly looked up at her, his cheeks burning red and his brow sweaty. The stunned silence seemed to drag on forever before Kiba chuckled half-heartedly and spoke in a scratchy, low voice.  "Goodmorning. Lovely day, isn't it?"

Amara was enjoying the feeling of the soft fur on her cheeks, when suddenly the fox seemed to tense up and started fidgeting in the blanket as if in pain. She quickly lifted her head and arms to let the fox breathe, wondering why did it seem sick when she didn't find any evidence of injury.

In just a few seconds the fox in her arms soon grew taller and its fur turned into skin; she could soon see legs, arms and... a face. Slowly, Amara's usual expressionless face turned into one of horror. Her eyes grew bigger, her mouth opened, and there was pure shock in her eyes. She was mortified. As she watched the boy pushing away from her lap and rolling to the ground on his hands and knees, the girl was still in the same position, with the same expression. Thousands of incoherent thoughts were savaging her mind, and none made it to her rational side of the brain. Her heart beat so fast it felt like it was going to explode any moment. She didn't even register that she should feel somewhat disgusted seeing a person vomit, right next to her.

The boy eventually stopped vomiting and he looked at her. His flushed face could mean so many things, but she was not able to search through her memories and find the right scenarios. She simply stood there, not moving, looking at him like staring Death right in the face. She heard him chuckle, and she blinked, but her expression was still one of mortification.

"Goodmorning. Lovely day, isn't it?"

She thought -no, she wanted to believe that her ears were playing tricks on her, because he could not have possibly just said that. She closed her mouth, relaxed her eyes and brows, got up to stand on her feet and looked at him while shaking some grass off her skirt. If looks could kill, hers would've completely wiped his existence off of the planet. She straightened her back, shook her hair to lose the few strands of grass caught in it and opened her mouth to say something while still giving him a look from hell. She didn't even know what to say, the right words were not coming to her at all. Her hands took the form of fists, arms tense along her body as she took a step forward.

"You! You- you..." she tried saying, but soon found herself with too many words on the tip of her tongue and none seemed to make it out of her mouth. She gave up conversation, and grabbed her wand from her thigh holder. She pointed it at him with a sadistic smile on her face, while moving towards him with slow steps. She could feel her anger grow by the second, her blood was boiling, something inside her urged her to harm him, to cause him to bleed, to revel in the sight of his blood. She felt she was seconds away from giving into her rage, when suddenly the image of Elena came into her mind. She stopped, her posture relaxed and she put the wand back into its place. She gave him another icy look, and simply walked past him, with big sure steps, hurrying towards the castle.

Some ten steps away she stopped, turned furiously around and Accioed her belongings and art supplies, while doing so, she made sure to squint her eyes at him and then she remembered his face. She was sure he was a Gryffindor, in an older year, a sort of troublemaker but she didn't know much else about him.

Kiba cringed as the girl gave him the biggest death stare he had ever recieved in his life. Oh merlin, she was mad. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly and opened his mouth, no doubt to say something else totally ridiculous. Quickly realising that he had nothing worthwhile to say at the moment, Kiba rose to his feet and placed his hand in the pockets off his sweatshirt. He rocked back on the heels of his feet and waited for something to happen. Do doubt a scream would be her first reaction. But it wasn't. She charged at him like an enraged bull, and he was the red flag. But she was walking, not running, her horns were her wand. And he was Kiba, flesh and bone that could really be damaged by someone casting a spell in rage.

"Wait, hold on! Don't kill me!" Kiba gasped, shutting his eyes as she came closer. He waited for impact. For some type of harming spell to hit him, but it never came. He opened his eyes just in time to see her summoning all her gear and walking off hastily. Oh Godrics socks, he couldn't let her leave and tell all her little girly friends what he was. He launched after her, a bit shaky on his feet and his head was still spinning, but he caught up to her easily. "Hold on, don't go! Listen to me, please!" He said desperately, grabbing her arm to stop her walking away.

"Hold on, don't go! Listen to me, please!"

She felt his hand closing around her arm, and she stopped. She slowly turned around to look at him, her face only inches away from his, looking up in his brown eyes, her lips pursed, and spat:

"Do not presume to touch me, sir" she took a breath and straightened her back, while her face turned again to its motionless cold expression "One might say that at this point, after your purely malicious behavior earlier, I might be entitled to hex you into oblivion" she paused and looked away her cheeks tinged with red and continued in a small voice "You should've revealed yourself as a human the moment you saw me, that would've been the proper thing to do..."

She looked at him again, and nudged his hand off of her arm. She took a step back and folded her arms waiting to see what he wanted from her.

Kiba frowned at the girl, did she have to act so cold? If his secret wasn't on the line here, he would have yelled right back at her. But, if he was going to be asking a favour from her, he couldn't be rude. He could stand up for himself though. "Well, excuuuse me." He said with an eye roll, "But, I didn't know you would start snuggling up to a wild animal, who does that? I was growling at you, don't you know that maybe I was, I dunno, telling you to leave me alone? You made me bite you, do you know how gross blood tastes when you have heightened senses? Not good, not good at all."

After that little rant, Kiba felt like he would faint. He was feeling incredibly light-headed and his vision was blurring. He sat on the ground with a huff and held his head in his hands. "Do you know how much it hurt to stay transformed like that for so long?" He breathed in deeply to steady himself as the world spun around him. "But nevermind that, can you just not tell anyone? Please?"

Amara watched the boy roll his eyes and she suddenly felt like watching one of her sister's tantrums... from when she was five years old. She dislike the immaturity of the gesture and silently scoffed. She listened him go on and wondered why he he would dislike the taste of blood, especially in his Animagus form, foxes were omnivores, were they not? She could never properly explain her connection and obsession with animals, not now that he was a human, and neither did she care to explain herself, not to him or any other thing called human. She watched him, silently, as he sat himself down on the ground, apparently dizzy or uncomfortable.

"Do you know how much it hurt to stay transformed like that for so long? But nevermind that, can you just not tell anyone? Please?"

She relaxed her posture and took her bag of art supplies from her shoulder. After searching inside it, for quite some time, she pulled out a small vial from the inside, and threw it at the boy, hoping he would catch it.

"The chemicals in the paints often get me nauseous or dizzy, if I paint for too long. It should help" she said as coolly as ever. "I would not presume to share private information with anyone, regardless on whether or not it has been forced to my knowledge. I do not often speak with people," to that she scoffed "and even if I do, I find no purpose in sharing an information that has not been asked for, nor do I believe my life, my discussions or my actions are up for public knowledge. Are we done here, sir?"

After clumsily catching the vial, Kiba narrowed his eyes at Amara as she blabbed on about, well, he wasn't exactly sure. She was using a very formal tone that was completely different to the soft, loving voice he heard from her earlier when he was a fox. He was kind of stunned and wasn't concentrating at all on what she was saying, rather more how she was saying it. He examined the vial quickly after catching her say something about helping dizziness. With a shrug, Kiba downed the potion, or whatever it was, hoping he heard right and it wasn't something strange that would kill him.

"Y'know, I liked you better when I was a fox." He said quickly, pulling up some grass and watching it fly away in the morning breeze. "You were a lot nicer and you didn't use big words or that posh accent of yours." He looked at the girl with a small smile gracing his lips. "I'm Kiba Attwood, nice to meet you."

"Y'know, I liked you better when I was a fox. You were a lot nicer and you didn't use big words or that posh accent of yours. I'm Kiba Attwood, nice to meet you."[/i]

She listened to him talk with the same cold demeanor and she found herself thinking "You would not understand the first thing about me Mr. Attwood". She was intrigued however by whatever "big words" and "posh accent" the boy might've found with her, she barely spoke five words while he was a fox after, how could he tell the difference? She frowned. She was now obligated to make his acquaintance since he had introduce himself first, she did not like that at all.

"I am Amara Ecaterina Báthory. I insist that you do not call me anything other than one of my two first names or Miss Báthory, otherwise communication might prove to be... deficient" she said in her usual monotonic voice. She was almost ready to leave when a memory of her father came to her mind and she found herself shaping her mouth in the shape of an "O", as if finally figuring something out.

"I just remembered. My father always told me, as long as I am asked for something that does not fall into the lines of my obligations as a student or a normal human being, I should always try to figure what would my advantage be in case of accepting the request.  It is irrelevant that it is not in my habit to usually share information, that could change at any time. So, in this case, Mr. Attwood, might I ask, what would I benefit from keeping your secret?" she asked him calmly with no sign of malice in her voice.

Kiba stared at Amara with wide eyes, he couldn't believe his ears. She wanted to know what was in it for her? Seriously?! If he wasn't 'acting nice' at that moment, Kiba would've yelled at her with very colorful vocabulary. Who did she think she was? Miss high-and-mighty. Kiba jumped to his feet and took a few steps toward her. "Are you serious, you can't just shut your mouth and not mention it?" He growled, his hands clutching into fists, "You said before that you don't really talk to people, so you're going to go out of your way to say something? You're unbelievable!" His voice was elevating now at an alarming rate and he was almost screaming at the poor girl.

He was getting really fired up now, something he hadn't done in a while. Perhaps he just needed to blow off a bit of steam. "Who do you think you are? You're no one special, just a small girl who thinks she's better then everyone else." Kiba wished the words back instantly, that was a low blow. Taking a deep breath, he tried to calm himself before speaking again. "Just don't tell anyone." He said through his teeth. "Alright, Miss Amara Ecaterina Báthory." With a lazy wave of his hand, Kiba turned and headed off in the opposite direction to the castle, needing to take out his anger on something else, rather than the girl.