The infirmary was unusually quiet that afternoon. Aside from the petrified students and the new addition to the group of patients, there were few people around. Some curious onlookers tried to peek in to find out who the new victim was and what condition they were in, but Madam Pomfrey promptly shooed them away.
Among the patients who remained, there was someone who preferred to stay hidden. Behind closed curtains, Hermione huddled in her bed, feeling an unbearable shame. She couldn't stand the idea of others seeing her in this state. But, to her misfortune, the person she most wanted to avoid… had arrived.
"Hermione…" I called softly.
A startled shiver ran through her body.
"Red?! What are you doing here?!" she exclaimed in alarm, clutching the blanket and pulling it over her head.
"What do you mean, what am I doing here?" I replied, feigning innocence. "I came to see my girlfriend in the infirmary. Isn't that logical? Or did you expect me not to worry about you at all?" My voice took on a hurt tone. "Do you only consider me your boyfriend for appearance's sake? Do you… not even believe what we have is real?"
"No! I…" her voice was weak, full of insecurity, but she didn't move an inch from her hiding spot. "I don't want you to see me like this…"
I sighed, though a mischievous smile crept onto my lips.
"Hermione… I already know what you look like. The girls told me… kitty." (Red)
"RED!" she shrieked, a mix of fury and embarrassment in her tone, clutching the blanket even tighter. Fortunately, I had already cast silencing charms in this small section, so no one else could hear us.
I laughed in amusement and, unable to resist, ran my hand over the blanket, gently stroking her foot… or rather, her furry little paw.
"Remember when you refused to wear the cat costume for the Halloween party?" I asked teasingly. "Looks like divine justice."
"This isn't divine justice, it's a cruel joke!" she sobbed indignantly. "I bet this is all your fault."
"How could it be my fault? Though I'd love to take the credit…" I chuckled with malice. "But let's face it, this happened because you rejected my costume idea."
To provoke her further, I tickled her.
"Let go of me!" she kicked, trying to push me away. "I'm your girlfriend, you can't treat me like this!"
"If you were really my girlfriend, you'd let me see you," I said with mock drama. "You can't leave me in suspense like this, not knowing what's wrong with you…"
"You're going to laugh…" she murmured in shame. All she wanted was for me to leave and not see her until she was back to normal.
I leaned in a little closer, lowering my voice.
"Hermione… even if I laugh, what does it matter? You said it yourself: I'm your boyfriend. And as your boyfriend, I have the right to laugh at you… just as you have the right to tease me. But as long as we still love each other, none of that matters." I gently stroked her leg again, feeling the softness of her new fur. "Don't hide from me. Neither your beauty nor your flaws will change how I feel about you. Because you are you, Hermione. My girlfriend. Mine… no matter what form you take."
Beneath the blanket, her body trembled slightly. I had managed to move her, at least a little. Her friends had already seen her, as had Madam Pomfrey. And she knew me too well. She knew that, in her current state, I wouldn't stop until I discovered the truth… with or without her consent.
The blanket slowly began to slide down from her head, revealing first her messy hair and the adorable cat ears sticking out from it. Her timid eyes peeked out soon after, glimmering with a golden hue in the dim light of the infirmary. Finally, her face was fully exposed, covered in a fine layer of fur, with whiskers that twitched subtly with her uneven breathing.
To Hermione's eyes, my expression remained stoic, unreadable, professional. There was no reaction on my face as I looked at her. Her trembling hands relaxed little by little when she saw no mockery or disdain in me. But she was mistaken…
I didn't laugh. I didn't tease. But neither did I remain indifferent.
My gaze was captivated by her new form. Her feline eyes, her vulnerable expression, her hybrid body… all of it stirred something primal within me. Something that had lain dormant, born from my time in that forest with Elise and rekindled by my recent experiences in nature with my arachnid daughters as I experimented with them without even realizing it. This thing, created by my abilities, had been lurking beneath the surface, waiting for a chance to emerge.
And now, before me, Hermione was not just Hermione. She was something more… something wild. Something that made my blood boil and awakened a part of me that I had never wanted to control me.
"Red…?" she asked with a hint of unease as she noticed my pupils narrowing into thin vertical slits.
But before she could say more, I pounced onto the bed.
A choked gasp escaped her lips as my shadow loomed over her, trapping her beneath me. My breathing was heavy, uneven, my hands gripping the bed on either side of her head… or rather, my claws.
Hermione paled at the sight of them.
Not just my claws. My teeth were sharper. My tongue, as it instinctively slid over my lips, was long and pointed. My posture was that of a predator over its prey, and the worst part… the worst part was what emerged from my back.
Dark tentacles, reddish at the tips, writhing with anxious violence. They were not imaginary. They were not mere remnants of an aggressive aura. They were real. Tangible. Bestial.
"R-Red?!" she stammered, her voice trembling, a plea hidden in every syllable. Her breathing quickened, and her body tensed beneath mine.
I could smell her fear.
My tongue slid along her furry neck in an instinctive, almost reverent gesture, as if I were claiming her taste, savoring her, marking her.
"W-what are you doing?" her broken voice barely managed to escape her throat.
My lips curled into a trembling smile. My rational mind was giving way to the roar within me, instinct was tyrannical.
"You're driving me crazy..." I whispered in a husky voice. "Hermione, I want to mate with you like I never thought I would. I want to fuck you savagely!" I said, inflamed, with a very evident erection that seemed to want to burst through my pants.
I was very aroused, I don't know why, but the idea of fucking like a pair of wild animals excited me more than expected.
"No!" she immediately screamed, writhing under my weight, but the silencing charm prevented her plea from reaching outside ears. "Red, this isn't right! This isn't right!"
Her panic reached me, but it might have only excited me even more. My breathing remained ragged. My heart hammered in my chest with unrestrained fury.
"You're my girlfriend... my mate..." I murmured with feverish intensity, unable to stop myself. "And I'm going to fill you with kittens..."
"Please, Red, no...!" A choked meow escaped Hermione's lips as my hands touched her body, unbuttoning her clothes, almost tearing them.
The worst for Hermione wasn't just the paralyzing fear that consumed her. It was the betrayal of her own body.
Despite the terror she felt, something within her reacted instinctively to my presence, to the way I dominated her with my body, to the intensity of my hungry gaze. Her breath wasn't just short from panic, and that terrified her even more.
She didn't want this. She didn't want to feel this way. But her body... her new body, half beast, half human, seemed to tell her otherwise. As if something primal within her pushed her to yield.
And that only made her more desperate.
"I'm sorry, Hermione…" I murmured hoarsely, my eyes scanning every detail of her terrified expression. "But I think you've awakened my furry side."
I laughed internally at that statement, as clearly Elise had already taken care of that a long time ago.
Hermione sobbed, her shaking hands pushing against my chest to no avail.
"Please… stop… I'll do anything…" she pleaded in a broken voice, fear reflected in every word.
But I didn't move. Not yet.
"All you have to do is let yourself go, it will come naturally" I said in a voice that was getting more and more guttural.
"Please…" she pleaded once more, her face drenched in tears. "Let's wait a little longer… to do this…"
Her voice was fragile, broken, almost choked with sobs. Every word she spoke was tinged with desperation and a resistance that was waning more and more.
"I don't want to wait. I just want to have you." My voice came out deep, while my own body acted on instinct. The fabric of my clothes was tearing without me even noticing, falling apart under the wild movement of the crimson tentacles that sprouted from my back.
"I-I will…" she whispered, her body shaking violently against mine. "But not now… please… give me time… just a little more time… I'm not ready yet… I don't want it to be like this."
Her cries muffled against my chest, her tears soaking into my warm skin.
My claws dug a little deeper into the bed as I looked down at her, my sharp pupils analyzing her with a mix of desire and frustration.
"Are you saying you want to have sex with me?" I asked, licking my sharp teeth with my elongated tongue.
She nodded between sobs, her expression pleading, completely vulnerable.
"Y-yes… but please… wait for me… just a little longer…" Her voice was barely a whisper, a last attempt to appeal to what little humanity was left in me.
"Well… I guess we can wait a little longer." I said, trying to control my wild excitement.
The truth was that the "cat-like" Hermione had awakened something in me I didn't know was so strong, something primitive that roared to come out. But seeing the anguish in her eyes, her palpable fear, made me hesitate. It wasn't worth doing it this way. I could pounce on her, I could make her enjoy it, but seeing her cry like that tore me apart inside. She wasn't prey, she wasn't an enemy. She was my girlfriend. Maybe, due to Elize's influence, there was something in me that understood this wasn't right, even though the temptation still burned within me.
"Thank you..." She whispered, the fear clearly reflected in her gaze.
She didn't dare look me directly in the eye, and that tore me apart more than I could admit. Then, she began to cry uncontrollably, much more than before. Now it seemed like there was a breath, a relief. She no longer felt so cornered.
"I'm sorry, Hermione..." I sighed, holding her tightly and using my magic to calm her. "I didn't think seeing you like this could make me... become a beast."
I held her in my arms, watching her slowly recover, like a feline wreck finding its place. Eventually, she almost fell asleep, her tears ceased, and her breathing became calmer.
"Red..." she murmured through her sobs, closing her eyes and letting go of the last of her tears. "I'm scared... I don't want you to be like this..."
"I know, I'm sorry..." I replied softly, wrapping her in tenderness. "It was sudden... I'll try to control it. But if I can't, I want you to know that even if I become a monster, I'll be your monster. And you'll be my little kitty. We'll be together, and I'll make sure everything is okay."
I gently took her hand, using [Calm] so she could rest peacefully, hoping those thoughts of despair would fade from her mind for a while.
I knew this wouldn't be easy to resolve, not in the short term. I could see the mark of despair, doubt, and fear on her face. Maybe I had gotten carried away more than I should have. But I couldn't help it, I liked my little kitty more than I realized. Sometimes, I wondered if I could keep her like this, but then, I realized those thoughts were dangerous. I didn't want to think like the evil version of myself.
I needed to wait, let the relationship evolve naturally. Let her accept everything else that was happening with me first. Everything had to be done with patience... and then, I'd convince her to transform into her feline version from time to time.
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