The Beast Within - Chapter 18

"You have wings?" Ron asked as they waited for their turn to step through the floo.

"And a tail," Harry added. "I think I eat more than you do now."

"Wow," Ron whispered, then he realized what had been said. "Hey!"

Harry gave him a broad smile. Ron opened his mouth to say something but closed it. A smile that Harry didn't like appeared on his face.

"Why are you smiling?" Harry asked.

"No reason," Ron replied turning to face the fireplace.

Harry didn't need to listen to his heartbeat to know Ron was lying. He narrowed his eyes, studying his friend.

"You'll find out soon enough," Ron answered.

Ron dashed forward, brushing passed Nym and Hestia to jump into the Floo.

"Hey!" Nym yelled.

She got a brief, mad cackle in reply before Ron disappeared.

"What was that about?" Nym asked Harry.

"I don't know," he replied trying to think of something.

Why would Ron smile like that? His eyes widened. The last time Harry had been at the Burrow he had tried to breed Molly. The color drained from his face. He had completely forgotten all about that in the mess of things. Was she pregnant? She wouldn't announce that Harry was the father. Would she? There had to be some sort of magic that could make the kid have red hair. A heavy dread settled on his shoulders as he took another step closer to the Floo.

All too soon it was his turn to go through the Floo. Harry braced himself and stepped through. The assembled Weasley family waited for him. Thankfully, Molly didn't appear pregnant. His brief moment of relief was smashed as Charlie rushed him. The dragon tamer was speaking so fast that Harry couldn't understand him. Ron grinned like a bastard in the background.

He hadn't felt the urge to mount Molly when he first saw her. Neither of the Weasley parents said anything about the previous encounter. It was to the point that he thought maybe he had imagined it. At least until Molly gave him a quick motion to her tummy and shook her head.

He had successfully mated with the three dragons. Perhaps he wasn't compatible with humans anymore? That was something to think about at a later time. His mere existence was unheard of. As a result, everyone was flying blind.

If the information that Ron had purposely held back was simply that Charlie would be there then this was a much better surprise than he had expected. He also noticed Hermione lurking in the background. Her eyes jerked away from him when he caught her looking. That would need to be addressed.

"Charlie," Harry snapped. "Take a breath. I have no idea what you are talking about."

"Ever since your visit the dragons haven't changed back," Charlie said, his words still coming out fast. " They've adjusted to their hybrid forms faster than expected. All three of them can speak English. We've learned so much about Dragons in the last few weeks than we have in years. And then the strangest thing happened on the full moon."

Harry felt a chill run down his spine.

"What happened?" Harry asked softly.

"All three enclosures were covered in this golden shell," Charlie explained. "It vanished once the full moon passed. The unfertilized eggs had vanished and the clutch after your visit shrunk."

"Shrunk?" Harry squeaked.

"Their size matches up with that of a developing human baby," Charlie practically yelled. "These will be the first clutches in recorded history that will hatch from a hybrid form."

"But, the babies are fine, right?" Harry asked.

"They are growing at the normal rate of dragon eggs," Charlie reassured him. "If they keep to that timeframe then they'll hatch in about a year. We've improved their enclosures to be more comfortable for the longer stay. They don't like being indoors for too long, so we've used magical barriers for a roof rather than closing them off. You're coming to visit soon, right?"

"Of course," Harry replied easily. "I would have visited before, but they wanted to make sure I wasn't going to go wild in public."

"Did you?" Charlie asked.

"No," Harry answered flatly.

Charlie nodded. He suddenly realized they weren't alone in the room. His eyes brightened when he saw the two Aurors.

"Tonks! Hestia!" Charlie called. "What are you doing here?"

"Long time no see, Charlie," Nym rolled her eyes. "We're the Aurors assigned to the menace here."

Harry took the distraction as a chance to step away. He was grateful for the news, but he was pretty sure that Charlie would monopolize his every moment if he could. Staying inside the Burrow was easy now that he had time to adjust to everything. He found Hermione hiding in Ginny's room. She was pretending to read a book. Ginny slid out of the room once he stepped inside. He ignored the fact that the door didn't close completely.

"The twins said that Charles Dickens was a half-blood," Harry said to break the silence. "Is that true?"

The tension in her shoulders eased.

"Yeah," Hermione replied with a nod. "He chose to live as a Muggle. There wasn't much of a difference between Victorian England and the Magical world at the time."

"Things haven't progressed much at all since then," Harry chuckled. "Seriously, quills? What's wrong with a fountain pen, or a ballpoint? It's been years and I'm still not used to using them."

"They aren't that bad," Hermione smiled at him.

Harry lifted his eyebrows at her in reply. She laughed.

"Are we going to talk about this?" Harry said motioning between the two of them.

"Do we have to?" Hermione asked with a nervous smile.

"It would be nice if you didn't flee every time we're in the same room," Harry said.

"I didn't flee!" Hermione pouted.

Harry just stared at her.

"Fine," Hermione sighed. "I was worried about you. Really worried. I love you, Harry. But it wasn't until we kissed that I realized that it's not love-love."

"I love you too, Hermione," Harry replied. "I get it. Love-love not love-love."

"Exactly," Hermione let out a relieved breath. "You're like my brother."

"Kinky," Harry wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Hermione tossed a pillow at him. He laughed as he easily dodged it. Ginny gave him a subtle thumbs-up as he left. Ron and the twins waited for him, clearly not having just nearly been caught eavesdropping.

~§~

Harry decided that he did not like travelling via Port Key. The changes to his body had made the Floo easier to use, but that didn't help with the strange spinning sensation. It also didn't help that he found himself in the middle of a pile of dizzy Weasleys. Though, he was pretty sure Ginny purposely landed on him considering her tight ass just happened to rub against his crotch.

The little look she flashed him made him let out a little rumble in his chest. It wasn't loud enough for people to hear it. Pressed against him as she was, Ginny definitely felt it. He hoped that it would be enough to remind her that he wasn't exactly human anymore. Maybe that would get her to keep her distance. Ginny nibbled her bottom lip at the feeling showing him that his efforts were clearly wasted.

They got up and dusted themselves off. Arthur, Cedric, and Amos strolled through the air like they were taking an evening walk. It was kind of funny to see the tense looks Amos kept giving him. Harry being bitten by a werewolf had made national news. The details of him being more dragon than wolf was not known to the public. Still, people were uneasy around him. The caution was easier to handle than the unwanted celebrity. At least people gave him space now.

Harry shook his head when he finally turned his attention to the campground around him. Subtle was not a word that the magical world understood. Small castles, wizard towers, and a smattering of other structures that clearly weren't tents filled the area.

Nym winced beside him.

"I am so glad I'm on protection detail," she muttered.

Harry followed her gaze to see a haggard Auror chasing after a group of broom-riding wizards. Similar scenes played out around them. The Aurors looked like they needed a break, a stiff drink, and a hot bath. Probably all three, repeatedly.

They made their way through the crowd with Arthur leading the way. Harry helped set the tents up, not that he had much experience with camping, but he was better at putting things together. The twins could have helped. Instead, they got distracted by the various enchantments on the tent and then even more-so by everything all around.

Harry stepped inside the tent once it was assembled. It was easily he size of the bottom floor of the Dursley's house. The furniture was a little worn and the air was stale, but it was better than he expected. If he was still living with the Dursley's he would have bought one of these and set it up in his room. He could have been living easy judging by the various different versions dotted around the campground.

Ron, Hermione, and Ginny led him out back into the crowd. They saw some classmates, were introduced to their family members, and bought a couple of interesting trinkets. No one seemed to mind Harry had been bitten by a werewolf. The fact that he didn't look any different, aside from the lack of glasses, helped them dismiss the idea. They had heard rumors about Harry for years. Meeting him had dispelled the myths about him being trained by the ghost of Merlin, slayed a basilisk in his second year, lived in a castle bigger than Hogwarts, and killed Professor Quirrell. His being a werewolf was just another in a long line of stupid stories that were clearly lies.

Being around so many people didn't bother him. He adjusted to the myriad of scents and sounds easily enough. The main issue he was having was the variety of food available. His increased appetite made him want to stop by every vendor to eat something. Even Ron bowed out after the fourth stop. The amount of fuel needed to keep his body happy was borderline ridiculous.

Harry had thought that magic obeyed the laws of science. He had been wrong. Having equivalent material helped ease the process of transfiguration, but it was not bound by it. That was why transfiguration started with size-similar objects. It helped with visualization. However, a coin could be turned into a chair. Magic made up for the lack of material. It took a long talk with Nym for him to wrap his head around it considering their previous conversation seemed to contradict everything. She told him to ask McGonagall if he wanted to know the details.

Time flew. Before he knew it, they were heading up to their seats. Harry had never been bothered by heights. Being on a broom meant that he had to look down quite a lot. Now, it almost felt like home. As much as he loved the 'pond' in the basement, this just felt right. He wondered how it would feel to glide on the air currents with his wings outstretched.

It was a shame he couldn't transform at will. Maybe he would be able to in the future. Though he hadn't heard of werewolves that could. He didn't think anyone had thought he could turn into a hybrid form like he had on his first outing. It was something he would need to work on in private, not in a crowded international event.

Harry stopped when he saw a House Elf shaking in fright. Even stranger, there was something about the seat next to her that tickled at the edge of his mind. He couldn't place it, just that it was familiar.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the elf.

She jumped, her hands clutched the arms of the seat even harder.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"Winky be not liking heights," the elf replied, her voice quivered.

"Then why are you here?" Harry asked.

"Master said to sit here, Winky will sit here," the elf replied with a bit of stability returning to her voice.

"Why not that seat?" Harry motioned to the open one that wasn't as close to the edge of the box.

"Master said to sit here," the elf repeated.

Harry shrugged. He turned to rejoin the others when something caught the edge of his vision. A wisp in the air that he had seen dozens of times. It was the edge of an invisibility cloak. Whoever was sitting in that seat didn't want to be seen and was perfectly fine torturing their house elf to take the attention.

He could understand not wanting to be seen. Being a celebrity wasn't something he asked for. Still, he wouldn't torture somehow just to make people overlook him. It wasn't right. Harry didn't know how people usually treated their House Elves. He only knew Dobby, who had been abused. If this person treated their house elf, Winky, she had called herself, the same then they were just as horrible as the Malfoys.

Almost like fate was laughing at him, the Malfoys arrived in the VIP box. Minister Fudge was happily introducing everyone, slowly making his way over to Harry. The added annoyance made the choice easy. Fudge was a couple of steps away when Harry 'tripped'. His hand reached out for stability, straight for the empty seat to avoid hitting anyone. Winky squeaked in shock as Harry 'accidentally' pulled the invisibility cloak off of the man sitting there.

The entire box froze as the man was exposed. Harry didn't know why, until someone let out a scream. He hopped back, blocking whoever this man was from his friends. The wizard didn't make it far before Nym and Hestia hit him with stunners.

"Who is that?" Harry asked as Nym bound him.

"Barty Crouch Junior," Nym glared at the unconscious wizard. "Convicted Death Eater that is supposed to be dead."

A severe looking wizard rushed over to where Nym and Hestia were standing over the unconscious Death Eater.

"Barty," Minister Fudge stared at the man. "Care to explain?"

Harry hadn't heard much about Fudge. His previous experience with the man was a short meeting last summer. Still, the authoritative tone of his voice sounded forced. A quick glance at the people around told Harry that it was probably more to save face than anything.

"Doesn't matter," Nym said. "Mister Crouch, you and your son are under arrest."

The two Aurors hit Crouch Senior with a stunner as well. Nym pressed the tip of her wand into the center of her badge that previously had been hidden. She and the two wizards disappeared before anyone could say something more.

"Emergency Port Key," Hestia said before he could ask. "Auror Badges have them."

"Neat," Harry whispered.

"You did that on purpose," Hestia spoke in a low tone.

"I saw the edge of the invisibility cloak," Harry replied.

The mood in the VIP box slowly returned to normal after a few minutes. Fudge was busy trying to explain to the Bulgarian Minister what had happened. The other man didn't appear to understand a word that was being said. From what Harry could hear, Fudge was spinning the situation to be a sting operation to root out corruption in the Ministry rather than random happenstance.

Harry couldn't help but laugh at the look on Lucius Malfoys face. The man was paler than usual, which was impressive. Malfoy schooled his face into his usual haughty-mask as he took his seat. The blonde woman, who Harry assumed was Misses Malfoy, took a spot beside him. She guided Draco away from the others, which meant the usual encounter was cut short.

The crowd was starting to get loud with the delay. No one wanted to announce a Death Eater had been captured, or that a high-ranking Ministry official had been arrested as well. To everyone else, it simply meant more waiting.

Ludo Bagman came to rescue, stepping up to introduce the teams. His voice went loopy when the Bulgarian mascots entered the stadium. Harry watched as the men, and a few women, around him started to act strange. He snagged Ron by the collar of his shirt before he could jump out into open air.

"What is going on?" Harry muttered.

"Veela," Hermione replied with a sigh.

Harry turned his attention to the coordinated group of winged women. He had to admit they were incredibly attractive. The wind shifted, bringing their scent toward him. Harry felt a hunger similar to the one he experienced in Hogsmeade. He could feel a tingle along his skin as scales started to form along his arms. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and focused on remaining calm.

He gritted his teeth as the tantalizing smell grew stronger. Whatever effect they had was increasing. The heat in his body was being stoked by an outside force.

"Harry," Hermione yelled. "Help."

Harry opened his eyes to see Hermione and Ginny desperately trying to restrain the Weasley men. He rushed forward, his enhanced strength easily moving the group away from the edge. The reason for their sudden bought of unusual behavior made itself known when he turned back to check on Hermione and Ginny. A trio of the Veela hovered just outside the VIP Box railing. They giggled and waved at Harry. One even gave a little wiggle of her tail feathers before flying away.

§What was that about?§ Harry growled.

"Harry," Hestia's voice was hard and had an edge to it.

He cocked his head to the side to look at her. A shimmer caught the edge of his vision. His hand was covered in black scales.

"How bad is it?" Harry asked forcing himself to speak English.

"Not as bad as last time," Hestia replied. "Do we need to leave?"

"No," Harry took another moment to center himself. "I wasn't expecting that."

The tingle along his skin faded as the scales faded away.

"Well," Hermione came to stand beside him. "This has been interesting."

"Yeah," he replied letting out a breath. "Let's hope that was the last of it."

~~
NOTE:
Not sure if there will be another post this week. Holiday break means I might not have much free time.