the_debt_of_time

otter but was not. As soon as she discovered this, she tried to summon a Patronus and
watched, shocked, as the silvery otter she had come to know and love morphed into a
slightly larger beast with slender limbs and a tail as bushy as her hair. It now made sense
why an older Sirius had been surprised to learn that Hermione's Patronus was an otter—
because Mia's Patronus was certainly not.
She closed her eyes and felt the wind cover her skin, felt the glow of the moon
against her back and the dirt shift between her toes. She focused on her inner animal, but
also reached out with purpose to Moony, to Remus, who was in the Shrieking Shack at this
very hour. She reached out to Prongs and Padfoot, knowing that the boys had followed
Remus out the doors of the castle; unable to join him in the shack just yet, they had instead
retired to the actual Forbidden Forest to practice their own transformations.
Something inside of her pulled and tugged in multiple directions and she realised
quickly it was not just one bond but many. In her meditative state, she could feel and see
them clearly. A golden string that tied her to Sirius—a Soul Bond prepared by emotions
triggered by memories, provoked by kisses in two different decades, and left unsealed. A
lighter, silver string connected her to James—a Familial Bond, as her mother had explained
it, prepared by her sisterly love for Harry, provoked by her gift from Sirius, and sealed by
the Potter's official adoption.
But there was a third string, something almost invisible as though it existed but had
yet to be awakened. Something that reached from her out to Remus, far away in the shack,
but did not end there as it extended back into the Forbidden Forest where she lost it.
Another bond?
Letting go of the thought took time, but she released it with effort, knowing she
had to have a clear mind to complete the transformation.
Mia let out a deep sigh of contentment and acceptance, and she felt her body shift
beneath her. Hands became paws, and she dug sharp black claws into the earth, feeling the
way the dirt shifted under her touch. Her vision increased tenfold, and she could see the
forest ahead of her as though she were looking through a pair of omnioculars. She could
feel her ears shift upward, and the sounds of nearby whispering voices were heard as
though they were right outside the door.
Outside the door?