A Half Furry Little Problem

School: Hogwarts

House: Ravenclaw

Prompt: 12 Days of Christmas – Day 1, Partridge in a Pear Tree

Written for The Golden Snitch Forum

Hey all! Today marks the beginning of our Christmas Fanfiction Frenzy! We are currently participating in a 12 Days of Christmas Challenge, so until Dec. 15, you'll keep getting updates from us about some Christmas stories. Hint, hint, there will be a Jily story!

This story isn't really about Christmas, but it's my story for a prompt, so just bear with me!

Bill hobbled towards the marble white steps of Gringotts. He looked at the towering – and slightly intimidating, in his opinion – structure above, and felt a pang in his stomach that worried him. Gringotts had always been his second home.

So why was he nervous now?

I know the answer to that, he thought grimly. Today was his first day back at work since he had been attacked by Greyback.

He shuddered. His entire life had change ever since he came back from Dumbledore's funeral. He suddenly craved meats that would take days to arrive, and hours for Fleur to cook properly. He had even neglected his gravy and specialty sauces, all because he wanted blood on his food. On everything. Bill deeply admired Fleur for doing her best to fulfill his needs, but it still wasn't enough.

Remus visited him a lot, and Bill felt he was the only one who understood what it felt like to be part wolf. He is a wolf, he thought. But Remus's presence didn't unsettle him. On the contrary, he quite enjoyed having Remus with him. Sometimes, he made Bill's pain fade away.

Bill resurfaced from his thoughts and gazed back up at the building. Surely his, er, problem, couldn't have reached too many ears, could it? Besides, who could count on goblins to remember any wizard things. Sure, Bill had a few goblin friends, but half of the Gringotts staff knew his name. Nothing would happen.

Tentatively, Bill stepped forward and began to climb the stairs. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed the two goblin guards shuffle away from him slightly. It's nothing, he told himself. They're probably just stiff from standing all day.

Right.

He pushed open the doors slowly, hoping to make his presence unannounced. Unfortunately, his robes caught on a hinge and he fell, landing on the marble floor with a huge, resonating, thud. All voices immediately stopped, and a few goblins ended up going too far to avoid being hit by the careening door.

Bill stood up, and brushed his robes off, and looked around at the now silent goblins, before grinning at them all. Before he had a chance to say hello, however, everyone returned to his or her work, determinedly avoiding his eye.

A goblin rushed towards Bill, keeping his eyes averted, bouncing on the balls of his feet, as if in a hurry to leave. It was one of the goblin cursebreakers, one of Bill's colleagues, Borgad.

"Oh, hello, Borgad, how—"

Bograd interrupted him. "Mr. Weasley, there has been an emergency break-in, and the thief is victim of a wrongly done Flagmento curse," he said, then hurried away.

Bill frowned. What kind of break-in had occurred without him knowing? And since when did Borgad call him Mr. Weasley?

Bill had just pulled his wand out of his pocket when his other colleague, Axel Stylk, came hurried up to him. Bill hesitated, wondering whether Axel would treat him the same way Borgad did.

"Bill!" he said, his face breaking into a wide grin. Bill smiled back, mostly with relief that he wasn't completely neglected.

"Axel! How are you?" he said.

Axel's smile faded. "Not so well. Mum's been sick, I had to check out for a week, and then you didn't come back, after. . ." his voice faded away, as he glanced at Bills' scars.

"Yeah," he finished awkwardly. They stood in silence for a minute, before Bill seemed to remember what he needed to do.

"Axel, I have to go. A curse's gone haywire, I gotta go fix it."

"Of course! I'll come along. But, I need to talk with you later, OK?"

"OK." They ran off.

"Reverso!" Bill cried for what must've been the millionth time. The thief groaned in pain once more and rolled onto his side, the curse still not broken. Bill groaned in frustration, and almost punched a wall, before he noticed everyone around him was whispering hurriedly. He pretended not to listen, but he caught snippets of conversation.

"Heard he got bit ... "

"Powers affected … "

"Drinks blood … "

"No, that's vampires, you idiot!"

"Dangerous … "

"Werewolf … "

It was that last word that caused Bill to lose all patience. He had endured these whisperings for the last 3 hours, and he couldn't take it anymore. He whirled around at everyone and screamed, "I KNOW, ALL RIGHT?!"

Everyone fell silent. Some looked uncomfortable, some ashamed, some even frightened. Bill was overcome with anger.

"I KNOW, I GOT BITTEN, I'M HALF A WEREWOLF, AND YOU CAN WHISPER ALL YOU WANT, JUST KNOW THAT I CAN HEAR YOU!"

He heaved some more and continued.

"YOU ALL DON'T KNOW WHAT IT'S LIKE, DO YOU, HAVING TO DEAL WITH THIS EVERY DAY, IT'S JUST A DANGEROUS DISEASE FOR ALL OF YOU!"

Axel stepped forward timidly. "Bill – "

"DON'T TRY TO CALM ME DOWN, AXEL! I'VE SEEN YOUR REACTION WHEN YOU'RE NEAR ME, YOU ALWAYS FLINCH WHEN I STEP FORWARD, YOU ALWAYS—"

But he didn't finish those last words, for he had doubled over in pain, his thoughts cloudy and vision blurry.

Axel stepped forward again, this time concerned, but backed away when Bill screamed in pain, and tries to punch Axel in the face.

Bill couldn't see, the pain was blinding him, and he was screaming but no one was helping him . . .

Bill dodged curse after curse that Rowle sent at him, finally deflecting a Stunning spell which hit Rowle straight in the chest. He stood up, breathing heavily, looking around wildly for anyone else to duel with. Then suddenly, his wand was knocked out of his hand and someone leapt on top of him.

"Hello, there. You look delicious," rasped an unpleasant voice. Bill managed to turn his neck and his face contorted in horror when he saw the ghostly face of Fenrir Greyback, his yellow teeth showing in a leer. Greyback's nail dug into Bill's skin, and Bill struggled helplessly to loosen Greyback's grip.

He could smell Greyback's putrid breath now, and before he could yell for help, he felt a piercing pain in his neck and let out an ear-splitting scream, which got lost in the sounds of the fight. He could feel Greyback's claws on his face, though his voice had gone hoarse from yelling.

Finally, the weight on him left, leaving him sprawled on the ground, covered in his own blood. He saw a dark figure step over him, and weakly called, "Help…"

"Help . . ."

"Bill? Bill!"

"Help me . . ."

"Bill, wake up! BILL!"

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

Bill woke up so suddenly he sent the food tray in his lap flying. When he came to his senses, he could see Fleur, his mum, and his brothers all starig at him in horror.

His chest was heaving, and Fleur stepped forward and said, in a quiet voice, "Bill, are you all right?"

"I – yeah, I'm fine," he said, still slightly confused. His mum stepped forward.

"It's all right, honey," she said soothingly. She held up a smoking bottle. "Here, drink this."

"O-OK," said Bill, still confused from his nightmares. Immediately, his eyelids drooped and he fell back against his pillows . . .

After Bill recovered (he still wasn't sure exactly how), his life went the same as usually. Now Gringotts didn't feel like such a home for him. No one except for Axel would talk to him, or even look at him. He spent most of his day breaking minor curses, for he now discovered that he did not enjoy spending time with his colleagues anymore.

When his family was listed as a target for having contact with Harry, Bill was secretly relieved when he couldn't go to Gringotts anymore. He now carried his wolfish instincts with him as a burden, earning prejudice, fear, and lust from the community. He never felt quite as home in the wizarding world anymore, and how he resented himself for being a half-werewolf.

Hmmm... Looks a little rushed...

Oh well! Parvati out!