It was so dark outside. I knew I was being foolish travelling this late at night and on foot, especially since Minerva had extended the anti-apparition wards around the castle. She had sound logic but that was of little comfort as my foot broke through the snow and plunged deep into the muddy path buried below. "Curse you Minerva!" I muttered darkly, a quick drying and impervious spell returning my sodden foot back to normal. With a weary sigh I looked up at the castle, barely visible through the shimmer of wards and the tree tops of the forest, a warm welcoming light shining out from within its walls. I sighed and began my trudge again, concentrating solely on putting one foot in front of the other when I heard a light crunch of snow that wasn't in time with my footsteps. I paused, heard nothing and looked around to see if anyone was there, maybe some footsteps, but there was nothing. The silence of the snow covered grounds was almost deafening as I continued up the path - at least I thought I was on the path. My body was tensed and on edge as I saw the gate looming up before me. I paused, reached into my cloak for my wand to unlock the gates and felt as though I'd been hit by a truck. I was sprawled in the snow, my hood had slipped over my face and I felt a large weight on top of me that was - panting? I scrambled to get my arms free to push my hood back and recoiled in fear as I saw what looked like a mangy wolf looming over me. I ran through the checklist in my head of differences between wolves and werewolves, forgetting to breath as I did so. Shorter snout? Well, from this angle, yes! More human like eyes? Yes, those were definitely human and not animal. Tufted tail? There was no chance I could reach round to see that. But it targeted me. Hunted me. And those eyes were definitely not a wolfs. It had it's paws pressed upon my chest, back legs on my robes between my legs. It salivated as it looked at me before lunging for my neck and digging it's claws into my chest. I screamed. I screamed so hard I heard my voice crack, trying desperately to push it off or away. I knew I had more chance of surviving than a muggle but that chance was dwindling fast as I felt the ripped flesh get hot with blood pouring from my veins. I was fighting to stay awake but I looked down and saw a large pool of red seeping into the pure white snow besides me. I touched it, and looked at it in wonder before slipping into darkness.
The next thing I remember was pain. Burning, crushing pain that seemed determined to finish me off with every twinge. Cautiously, I opened my eyes, relieved to find that the act of forcing my eyelids upwards didn't hurt. It took me a second to get my bearings but I soon realised I was in the infirmary of Hogwarts. I tried my voice. Nothing, not even a croak. Madam Pomfrey must have had some detection spell running over me as she came bustling around the screen and began chastising me. "Stay still! Otherwise your stitches will rupture and we don't have enough Dittany left to heal you back up!" she admonished and she waved her wand to check my vitals. "Your voice will come back in time, we need to keep you still for now until Severus returns with more potions," she muttered the last part with an irritated edge, suggesting Severus wasn't moving as fast as she'd like. I relaxed my body slightly and stared up at the ceiling, trying to count the stonework patterns to pass the time whilst my body began the healing process.