Chapter 1

Lyra's POV:

'Why is it so bright?' I muttered when my eyelids started opening.

'She should be treated like any other student would be, expelled,' said Snape's voice that I've come to hate.

I turned in my bed to face the voice's direction, my eyes adjusted to the brightness. I saw Dumbledore and his usual twinkling smile, 'You could, if she was in your house, seeing as she is not, it's still up to McGonagall, Severus,' and then he noticed me, all awake. 'Ah, Miss Chen, you're up,' he said cheerfully.

Madame Pomfrey came out of her office immediately, hearing what Dumbledore had said. 'Miss Chen,' she exclaimed. I tried to sit up, 'Lie back down right now!' she almost screamed. Slightly alarmed, I followed her orders.

Snape looked sour, as though someone fed him something rotten. McGonagall's eyebrows were knitted in frustration, before she could say a word though, Snape started 'As I was saying.'

'It's up to me, Severus,' McGonagall quickly cut in.

'All you Gryffindors, running off doing foolishly brave deeds without ever thinking about the consequences,' Snape commented. I could feel my insides heating up.

'You listen here,' I said, trying to sit up, completely forgetting Madame Pomfrey's warning. I glared at Snape, McGonagall tried to stop me from saying anything else but I completely ignored her.

'I recall I'm still your professor, Miss Chen,' Snape said, returning the glare. That made me completely lose whatever self-control I had.

'If you ever insult Gryffindor again, I swear I'll-' I shouted at him. Before I could complete the threat, McGonagall and Madame Pomfrey rushed over, trying to calm me down. Dumbledore stood at his original spot, not moving, slightly pleased.

At that very moment, Cedric burst into the room, held back by both Morgan and Jason. On a regular basis, I would wonder how he made it up to the Hospital Wing with those two holding him back, but now I was probably too worn out and angry to worry about anything else.

Snape, Dumbledore and McGonagall turned to look at Cedric and the duo, demanding an explanation. Madame Pomfrey on the other hand shouted 'That's it, you're all disturbing my patient, she needs rest, now out!' waving her hand at the three professors and the trio. I heard Morgan say 'I told you so,' to Cedric.

Snape hurried out still looking sour, McGonagall let out a long sigh before walking out in her usual straight, rigid posture. Dumbledore gave me a wink before following the Professors out. Morgan and Jason nudged Cedric, urging him to leave before deciding he was probably a hopeless case and left the Hospital Wing behind the Professors.

'You too, Mr Diggory,' Madame Pomfrey said gently. I was a bit amazed at how fast her expressions could change.

'It's okay, Madame Pomfrey. Let him see me,' I told her. She tried to protest. 'You let the professors in,' I countered.

'Yes, that was different, you were still asleep,' she tried explaining. But I wouldn't have any of it. Hey, I just woke up, I was pretty cranky.

'He's not going to aggravate me, Madame Pomfrey,' I pleaded. Madame Pomfrey frowned before giving up. 'Okay, just a while,' she said, signalling for Cedric to come in.

Without hesitation, Cedric dashed over to the side of my hospital bed, Ron was still sleeping opposite me, that boy was probably a heavy sleeper. 'What happened to you?' he asked, stroking the cut on my cheek.

'Umm…' I muttered, trying to sit up once more before earning a warning glare from Madame Pomfrey and lying back down. Cedric's eyes trailed down to my arm, where three long gashes made by Lupin's teeth were unmistakably showing.

Cedric reached out to touch it, but I shifted away. 'It's a werewolf bite,' he said blankly. I nodded, suddenly taking a great interest in my fingers. Cedric used a finger to lift my chin up so I had to look at his grey eyes. They had this crazy mixture of pity, sadness and curiosity in them.

For a moment we stared at each other, the only sounds that could be heard were Ron's snores. Madame Pomfrey came out of her office. She took one look at us, hesitated for a bit and then gently told Cedric I needed rest. He sighed before nodding and walking out of the Hospital Wing. Before he went out of the double doors he shot one look at me that shattered my insides.

X

The next to visit was Lupin. Again, after convincing Madame Pomfrey (Slightly tougher business this time), she grudgingly let Lupin in.

Lupin conjured a chair and sat beside my bed. After a moment of silence, he finally said, 'I'm sorry, Lyra,' before sighing. He looked like he wanted to find the nearest hole possible and hide inside it.

'You didn't know what you were doing Lupin,' I told him, trying to put as much softness in my tone as possible. Then I corrected myself, 'Professor Lupin.'

'No longer a professor, Lyra,' he said, managing a weak smile. 'You resigned?' I asked, almost shocked. He nodded. 'Why?'

'Well, I've caused you quite a major,' here he paused. 'Problem,' he continued, the word rolled off his tongue bitterly. 'And nobody would like a werewolf near their kids,' he added. I kept quiet.

Lupin looked at me with pity, 'This is going to affect your future, Lyra,' he told me.

'So I suppose I'm going to be expelled one way or another?' I asked, slightly worried.

'McGonagall wouldn't do that,' Lupin assured me. I felt like a ton of rock was lifted off my shoulders.

Silence came again. This time I was the one to break it, 'What is it like?' Lupin looked at me, 'Being a werewolf and all,'

'You'll know soon enough, Lyra. In my time it was terrible, but now they have Wolfsbane potion, it lets you keep your memories during the transformation,' He answered. 'On the other hand, it tastes terrible,' he said, managing a weak smile.

'So, I'm assuming you forgot to take it last night?' I said softly. Lupin nodded.

'Without it I'm dangerous, fatal to everyone who comes near me,' Lupin looked like he was on the verge of breaking down, despite the smile.

He stood up and turned to leave. 'I'm sorry, Lyra,' he said again. Then he was gone.

Lupin's words were still running around my head. I'm dangerous, fatal to anyone who comes near me. I looked down at the three gashes on my arm.

Dangerous, fatal, I've turned into something that could hurt anyone close to me.

Especially Cedric.

A/N: Well, hello there everyone! I've pulled myself together and managed to write this, though I doubt I'll be writing anything else for the next two weeks, kindly blame end-of-the-year exams... Anyway, enjoy!

I'll also like to thank IdaRose89 for the review! You could say it drove me to write this chapter :3