Chapter 7: Fur for Fun! 1/2

Summary: Motivated, miffed, and magical, Shikamaru Nara was a force to behold. Whoever had placed him here was going to get it, but first he'd have to get through a school for magic. And he'd thought ninjas could be stupid. Troublesome.

Rating: T, and should stay that way.

Genres: Friendship, Adventure, Hurt/Comfort, maybe more, I don't know yet.

Warnings: Language, implied/mentioned child abuse/neglect, hey look...that's angst...in a chapter that was supposed to be funny, non-canon stuff going on in here, probably some OOCness, warnings are individual per chapter, might change next chapter or might not. No slash or yaoi, yuri, Shounen Ai, or Shōjo Ai. Or incest…just…no

Pairings: As far as romance goes, it's canon for both series. Friendship!Shikamaru/Harry&Ron&Hermione&Neville&Fred&George. Mentorship(slow burn)!Snape/Shikamaru. Developing Paternal!Lupin/Shikamaru. I might add more later, if I think of it.

Disclaimer: Don't think they will ever be mine because I don't have the money to buy them.

"Speech"

Emphasis on words/thoughts

(#) A/N at end to explain stuff

Regular text

A Shadow in Wizard's Robes Chapter 7: Fur for Fun!

By: AngelicSilverWolf

'Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.' - Doctor Seuss

Age 7: Four years before Hogwarts

Everything had been going pretty decently up until she came along and unsettled him. In his defense, it wasn't every day that he was stopped by a woman that bore an uncanny resemblance to a dragonfly.

Shikamaru had just exited The Leaky Cauldron with a bag of ingredients when someone knocked into him. He kept his balance, thankfully, but the bag in his hand was a lost cause. Something else to work on, apparently. Losing his grip so easily - he was going soft.

"Are you alright? Oh, my, how clumsy. Please, forgive me," said the woman who had bumped into him. She stooped down and picked up his bag. She offered it to him, long draping sleeves brushing his hand as he took it back.

"Don't worry about it," Shikamaru said easily, unnerved by her manner of dress. She was just so...sparkly. Some of the other jounin he knew might have found it appealing, Anko, but he wasn't that far gone in the insanity yet.

"I'm so glad-" And then the woman actually met his eyes. She stiffened almost painfully.

"Ma'am?" Shikamaru asked warily. Her eyes visibly glazed over.

"A change in fate has occurred. A foreigner from a world far away has made an appearance; a person who should not be here but is. Born to fight, born to kill, he will drastically change the future, but whether for better or for worse has yet to be seen. With the power to destroy the Dark Lord, or bring him to power, the Shadow lies in wait for the sign to either cover the world in darkness or in light. Betrayal by one he calls friend and much suffering has yet to come, but what will tip the balance is not now known. He will exit this world, never to return, and will leave it in either ruin or in a Golden Age of peace, the likes of which hasn't been seen for many centuries." The woman's voice was deep and strangely powerful. Her eyes, while still glazed over and distant, seemed almost manic in their intensity. Then, they rolled up and out of sight.

Shikamaru just managed to catch her before her face made an acquaintance with the ground, dropping his bag yet again (dammit, there went his no bruising policy) and pushing aside his disturbed shock at her prediction. He propped her against a wall and turned away, mind running over the words already committed to memory.

It was about him. No doubt about it, because, really, who else could have been "a foreigner from a world far away"? Add that to the "Born to kill" bit, and he had no doubt. Then, there the Dark Lord...Voldemort, it had to be. But how was he supposed to affect Shikamaru if he was dead? There was one thing that Shikamaru knew for certain, and that was that absolutely no one could know about the prophecy...

It was between him and Voldemort, and that was it. Not that Shikamaru was about to go join the guy, seeing as he was...well, dead, but with the potential to destroy the world, he wouldn't take chances with trusting people not to lock him up just because of a stupid prophecy. He would also have to be extremely cautious with any future friends since one of them would evidently betray him. Adults were out of the question entirely.

He had found, in both lives, that they were sometimes worse than children when it came to making rational decisions. They were biased, paranoid, ignorant, or just plain idiotic. If he was going to have to deal with the fate of the world, or something close to it, he didn't want to do it while also dealing with the ridiculously stupid tendencies of adults around him. Shikamaru liked to hand out reality checks as much as the next person, but there was only so many times he could dislodge someone's head from their ass before it became too much work to do consistently.

He felt that sometimes it was better for all involved if there was a little less involvement from preconceptions, and more involvement from good old-fashioned experience.

...

"You had better not be lying to me, McNair."

"Wouldn't, Malfoy. Heard it plain as day. That Seer woman belted the thing out in public. Muggle public, but still."

"Interesting. Gather those who are left. It's time for a change of plans. And get me any information on the boy that you can."

...

Present Day:

Harry Interlude:

It was weird to not have Shikamaru around for such a long period of time. Granted, at least now they knew that he was resting instead of working, but still. Harry often found himself turning to ask Shikamaru something in his classes, only to be reminded by the blank space next to him of the boy's absence. Neville was certainly missing Shikamaru's presence in Potions, though he valiantly made do with a reluctant Seamus. At the very least, nothing exploded.

Harry hadn't realized just how many people Shikamaru had made acquaintances with. In the span of a few hours, he'd had a number of people approach him about his friend's lack of presence, and most of them hadn't even been from Gryffindor. One of them had been Percy, much to Ron's disbelief. Questions about how, exactly, they all knew Shikamaru had been brushed off once they had all learned that he was fine.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione had all made a mental note to ask their friend later. But until then...

They had promised themselves to do more in their little project after seeing Shikamaru's dedication to his work, and they had trooped down to Hagrid's the previous day, as they had planned before.

They had managed to wheedle a name from the man, Nicholas Flamel, and they had triumphantly marched to the library. Unfortunately, they couldn't find him. Anywhere.

Hermione had brought out armful after armful of books, hoping to find something. Nothing. The man was more elusive than spies in the muggle movies Dudley liked to watch and occasionally mimic (he wasn't very successful, for obvious reasons), but seeing Shikamaru exhausted from effort only strengthened their resolve. If he could go for three days without food or sleep, no matter how unadvised, they could surely stand a few hours of hardcore research with sleep and breaks in between.

They hoped to have something before Shikamaru woke up. Harry was feeling rather low in spirits and he knew that Ron was in the same condition, but Hermione kept them going with reminders and warning glances.

"We can't stop now," she said the day after Shikamaru went into a coma-like state, during the lunch hour, when they were in the library instead of eating. "We've put in too much effort. I certainly won't stop."

Harry and Ron exchanged looks, and the latter sighed.

"I guess," he said. "Besides, we couldn't do that to Shikamaru. I think he'd actually strangle us if we told him all his work was for nothing."

"There is that," Harry agreed. "Though I'm sure it would be more along the lines of death by some deadly potion."

"Shikamaru wouldn't do that," Hermione protested. Ron and Harry exchanged dubious looks. "It'd too much work, and it'd be really troublesome to clean up," she sniffed, corners of her mouth twitching up. Harry and Ron grinned.

"Actually," a familiar voice drawled, "it would be far easier than you'd think."

All three spun around.

"Shikamaru!" they exclaimed together. He raised an eyebrow.

"Was that rehearsed?" he asked.

"You're up! How are you feeling?" Hermione asked, recovering first from her shock.

"Better," he admitted. "I don't have a headache anymore, and I don't feel like I'm about to topple over."

"That's great. But...shouldn't you get more sleep?" Harry questioned in concern. Shikamaru waved it off.

"I can't sleep for long periods of time. These last twelve hours or so were an exception. Normally, I just rest in small and somewhat frequent amounts," he explained. "Hence my naps and cloud watching." Hermione frowned.

"That's strange. How long have you been like that?" she inquired. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Since birth? At least, since I can remember," he said.

"Well, you don't look like shit anymore at least," Ron commented bluntly, causing Hermione to scowl at him. But Shikamaru really did look better. His complexion wasn't waxy or as pale, and he seemed to have more energy. He seemed steady, and his hands no longer shook from exertion.

"I can always count on you to make me feel better, Ron," he said dryly. He glanced at the table that was covered in thick tomes. "What's all this?" he asked curiously.

"Oh! Right, you don't know. The last day of your, um...study vigil, we went down to Hagrid's and managed to get a name from him. 'Nicholas Flamel'," Hermione said proudly. Then her face fell and she sighed. "But we can't find him anywhere. I've looked in every book I can think of, and nothing!"

Shikamaru sat down with a huff and hmmed thoughtfully.

"Can you give me a list of the books you used? Maybe we should try Flourish and Blotts," he suggested. Hermione nodded and set about writing a list. Harry studied his friend closely, looking for signs that anything was wrong.

"So you're really better then?" Ron asked, apparently thinking along similar lines. Shikamaru nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Sleeping so well made my fatigue go away, along with several other problems," he said ruefully.

"Excellent!" a cheery voice exclaimed. All four of them turned to see Fred and George coming to them with smiles on their faces but steel in their eyes. "That means we can yell at you now without getting told off by our consciences for scolding a disabled person," Fred declared, ignoring Madam Pince's scandalized glare.

"I wasn't disabled," Shikamaru drawled. "More like temporarily physically unavailable." Fred's smile turned into a frown of disapproval, and Shikamaru stopped talking, surprise raising the latter's eyebrow a little. The other three first years looked on in slight discomfort.

The twins were usually pretty easy-going, and even when angry there were hints of good humor in their eyes. But...angry seemed to be the wrong word to use here. Upset was perhaps a better one.

"Let's start, shall we? George? Do you wish to have the honor of going first, or shall I?" Fred asked his twin. George shrugged.

"He's gonna get it from both of us anyway, so you might as well," he said. Fred nodded.

"Right. Let's get this over with," he said with a determined expression, which his twin mirrored. Fred turned to look at Shikamaru, who was eyeing him rather apprehensively now.

All that can be said of the matter is that it was loud, furious, a tad explosive, and even the librarian didn't interrupt for fear of the looks on the twins' faces. (1) By the end, Shikamaru was leaning back in his seat with a somewhat embarrassed and chagrined look on his face.

"Promise to never, ever work yourself like that again," the twins finished in chorus.

Ron was openly gaping and Harry knew that his eyes were probably the size of dinner plates. Hermione was a mix between awe, displeasure, and amusement. The latter seemed to be directed at Shikamaru and her companions' reactions.

"Blimey, and I thought Mum was the yeller of the family," Ron muttered as the twins wrapped up their tirade.

"Must run in the family," Harry said faintly. Hermione snickered. Shikamaru slowly leaned forward again, briefly looking - for all the world - his age for the first time since they had met him. Then his face turned back to its usual indifferent appearance and the image was gone. If Harry didn't know any better, he'd say his friend had looked almost wistful, but that couldn't have been right. What in this situation could have made him wistful?

"I promise that you won't have to interfere again; what happened this last time was a mistake," Shikamaru said carefully, as if weighing his every word. Hermione frowned at the odd wording, but said nothing. The twins' faces split into brilliant grins.

"That's all we're asking," George said.

"Wonderful, now I can stop having to think about that," Fred said. They turned to the other three Gryffindor first years. "Sorry about that, but we really-"

"-had to get that off of our chests," George finished.

Harry shook his head. One minute they were lecturing a boy who was usually much more mature than them, and the next they were back to their normal selves. What it must be like to be Fred or George Weasley. He was brought back by a change in topic.

"So, about the prank," George started, when Shikamaru interrupted him.

"Yeah, about that, can I speak to you guys in private?" he asked, standing up. They shrugged and followed him to a corner, where they proceeded to speak in hushed tones. Smiles grew on the twins' faces, and they clapped Shikamaru on the back. The group separated and Shikamaru returned to the other first years with a mildly pleased look in his eyes.

"What was that all about?" Hermione asked him.

"Prank details. I can't tell too much or I'll give it away," he said. There was mischievousness in his voice and a bit of excitement in his eyes.

"It's going to be big, isn't it?" Ron asked warily. Shikamaru tilted his head towards him.

"Why do you say that?"

Ron shrugged. "I know my brothers."

Shikamaru nodded, whether in acceptance of the statement or in answer to the question, Harry wasn't sure, and that was all that was said on the subject before he, quite deliberately, no doubt, asked a question about Nicholas Flamel.

...

"Well? Are they ready?"

"Patience, young grasshopper."

"Where did you learn that? Isn't that a muggle saying?"

"I'm a half-blood."

"That...actually makes sense. Did you two know that?"

"Lee is a half-blood? Of course! Sorry best friends we'd be if we didn't at least know that, Shika." (2)

"Right... Do the house-elves know what their job is?"

"Yeah. Excited little buggers too. Kept calling me 'Master Weasley', or 'Master Fred'. Can't believe we haven't found them sooner, you know. Life would have been better if we'd only known..."

"You two will have to show me how to get into the kitchens some time. But, for now: it's tonight. Finally."

"Well, people are going home in a few days. So, if everything works out, everyone will have some new additions to their bodies to celebrate the holidays. And, if we did this correctly, it should last exactly thirty-seven hours."

"Why thirty-seven?"

"It's a nice, even number."

"...No, it isn't." (3)

"Shika, are we going to sit here and nitpick all day, or shall we get this party started?"

"Let's just...go."

"You heard the man! Fred, George, you know your places. Shikamaru, prep the signal for the house-elves. By the way, I want a mane."

"We can't all have what we want, Lee, but I'll see what we can do. I mean, I want a kick-arse tail, and Shika secretly confided in me that he wanted claws-"

"Don't put words in my mouth, you troublesome person!"

"Now, now, Shika, getting homicidal won't help anyone. You don't have to try so hard to act like the predator we all know you want to be. Besides, we need Fred alive for this operation."

"...Why did I agree to this again?"

"You love us, and you're secretly a mischievous, no-good prankster like Filch calls us."

"That's not all he calls you, I'm sure. Whatever. Time to start- Operation Fuzzy Bits? Seriously? This is the name you came up with?"

"Don't knock it till you try it."

"I officially give up; I don't care anymore."

"That's the spirit! Operation Fuzzy Bits is officially underway!"

...

Hogwarts was awoken with many a scream and unmanly yelps of shock. Students poured into the Great Hall, haphazardly dressed and in various states of confusion and distress. Only...to their surprise, they weren't the only ones.

Snape glared venomously at the world at large. His black eyes had been changed so that they resembled that of a snake's and were now a dark green, and when he opened his mouth, a silvery forked tongue made its appearance. McGonagall had red whiskers and golden pads on her bony fingers, while Sprout was sporting black hair with yellow stripes. Flitwick's nails greatly resembled talons while his hair had been dyed a deep blue, and Dumbledore trilled a little every time he spoke. Some noticed enviously that he didn't have any visible changes.

Slowly, order was more or less established, and students sat down at their houses to examine themselves and their housemates more closely.

Members of each house now had some sort of trait of their house mascot, and occasionally one or both of their house colors. And it affected every single person, so in theory, no one could be blamed for the prank. Every eye, however, was on the Gryffindor twins and Lee Jordan.

The formers' brown eyes were now amber in color, and when they grinned, abnormally sharp teeth made an appearance. Lee Jordan had gotten his desired mane, black with gold streaks, that took the place of his hair, which he showed off proudly. Shikamaru was slouched in his seat while his housemates gaped at the pair of fluffy black ears that peaked up in his messily put up hair. He was also gifted with a smooth tail with a tuft of black hair at the end.

Loud chatter reigned for nearly ten minutes while teachers either gawked at their own extra appendages, glared in sulky silence, or roared with laughter at their coworkers' expressions. Eventually Dumbledore managed to get everyone relatively quiet, his eyes twinkling with mirth all the while.

"Well, this is a surprising way to start the holidays," he said. The students rumbled in agreement, some looking more amused than others. "I don't believe that these new additions are harmful, so we shall have to wait and see how long they last. I myself am quite fascinated and, should the engineers behind this prank ever come forward, would enjoy learning about how it was done. Until then, we shall simply go about our normal days."

Some of the students didn't seem to care one way or another, and the rest were either in good spirit about it, or they were on the more negative side of the emotional spectrum. The majority of the teachers looked resigned or extremely irritated. The only one who hadn't been affected was Professor Bins, and that was because transformations didn't really work on intangible objects. The students were brought out of their moods by the appearance of food, and the sounds of eating filled the hall.

The breakfast period was spent with the students either admiring their new additions, or them trying to get rid of them. Unfortunately for those who belonged in the latter category, there was no doing so. Even the seventh years couldn't get rid of it, they usually ended up only making it worse. Shikamaru, somewhat uncharitably, thought it served them right for trying to mess with something they had no information on.

"How'd you do it?" Ron asked, casually examining his friend's tail. It twitched in response to his pokes. Shikamaru yanked his tail away.

"Poke yourself," he said irritably. Ron just shrugged good naturedly and examined the paw prints on his fingers.

"Wicked," he said. "You never answered my question." Shikamaru eyed him pensively.

"Have you ever heard the phrase, 'A magician never shares his secrets?'?" he asked.

"No..." Ron said slowly.