Disclaimer: I've never liked getting in trouble and most likely never will, so i will most definitely say this: I do not own any part of the HP characters, HP world, or anything else that belongs to JKR. Nor do i think that i would want to, i don't much like publicity.

This is my first story on ffnet or any website for that matter. I have written bits and pieces of various ideas here and there, usually when I'm slacking off at work or procrastinating on doing something important. I decided yesterday that perhaps it was time to finally get on with it and post something...thanks goes to MssrBlaze for asking the question that gave me the push to stop being lazy and just write something.

Anyway, on with the story. The Prologue is basically Hermione's thoughts, not sure if i will keep it that way for the majority of the story or if i will switch back and forth between POVs. Most events in OoTP are ignored and all events in HBP and DH are completely ignored since this was started before either book came out. Oh yea, and you know what to do, so do it at the end of the chapter (Review, please).

Man of the Night

Chapter One

Prologue

It was a dark and stormy night…well, not really. It was more of a mostly cloudy and breezy night. Er, well, maybe more than a breeze, perhaps a light wind? Anyway, it was night, that's all that really matters. The rest is just filler.

The night made me think of you, of how I first noticed the effect night had on you. The night seemed to seep into your soul, almost without any apparent knowledge on your part. It would change you so slowly and subtly that it never caused alarm in others.

In fact, many people could not even discern any sign of change if they did not spend much time with you. Unless, of course, it was during the full moon, then everyone could see the night's effect on you. But that change was very drastic compared to the average night. I had known you for two years before I ever noticed anything, not that I ever saw you enough to know the difference honestly, but that's just a technicality. When I did see you, I was often neck-deep Harry's drama du jour.

I could never forget the first time I noticed the change.

It was during the summer before 6th year, when we all stayed at Grimmauld Place again. That was the first time I ever really spent any time with you in which to notice something.

I remember sitting in the study with you and Sirius, all of us lost in books or thought. Twilight settled outside and a new feeling seemed to permeate throughout the room. I couldn't quite put my finger on what the feeling was, but my senses just seemed to take note of 'something'. I glanced first at Sirius, then at you. I noticed no change in Sirius; he still seemed lost in thought, staring out the bay window to the darkening sky.

It was when I glanced in your direction that I felt the change.

The air around you seemed different then it had mere moments before, yet there was no visible sign of what changed. As I continued to look your way, your eyes drifted up from your book to stare out the bay window.

I watched you, enthralled, and put my mind to the task of figuring out what that new feeling was permeating through the room… it was primal, predatious… yet, strangely, exciting not… confident, dominant… merely a presence… animalistic, almost… then it hit me.

The wolf was making its presence known.

I remember being surprised, wondering why the wolf would appear at that moment; it wasn't even near the full moon. I sat there wondering for several moments while you and Sirius continued to stare out the window. Didn't Sirius feel it? Was I just going crazy? It was only when Sirius turned his focus to you that I realized he felt the change, too.

I could see in his eyes that he felt it, but he did not seem overly concerned. He did, however, seem less, hmm…less 'alpha', if you will. I realized, then, that the dominant vibe you were giving off was real. Your normal control was no longer there. No, that's not right. Your control was still intact. It was the roiling undertones that were the issue. I figured you were fighting to control them too as you stared out the window. It was only when Sirius broke the silence of the room that you snapped your attention away from the darkening sky outside.

"How is it this evening, Moony?" Sirius asked you quietly.

"The same it is every night, Padfoot. The same as every night, but different than the day," you replied with a strained smile. I was not too shocked to find that your voice was reminiscent of a growl.

When you glanced in my direction, I took in another change. Your eyes, I noticed, were amber and not the normal dark grey that I was used to seeing. Not wanting to be caught staring too long, I attempted to refocus on the book resting in my lap.

Of course, as soon as you looked away, I went back to surreptiously observing you. As I began to put all of the facts together, I realized that this was not just a one time occurrence; it happened every night.

I was very much intrigued.

Shocking, I know. The little know-it-all was intrigued by something of which she had no prior knowledge.

That night I decided I would learn more about this change that you seemed to face with each setting of the sun. I was very eager to learn as much as I could about you, the man of the night.

Once I was back at Hogwarts, I spent much of my spare time in the library trying to discover the secret behind your nightly change. Unfortunately, a predominant amount of the information was contained in the restricted section. And the restricted section is not known for its cooperative, well labelled tomes. Most of the contents of the restricted section seem to have personalities of their own, generally unpleasant personalities.

It was about halfway through the first term that I was able to assimilate all the information I could. I discovered that this change was a result of being a werewolf…it was the wolf's way of getting out in between full moons.

I also learned that letting the wolf out every night would help lessen the damage it would wreak on your body during the full moon.

After thinking about that for a bit, I recalled something. I have seen you on mornings following a transformation and many times you were a wreck. That led me to believe that you probably struggle against the wolf more often than not - that you try to hold it back each night - and the wolf takes it out on you during the full moon.

Another bit of interesting information I came across was more of an experimental theory, or something, but the idea piqued my curiousity so I took notes, naturally.

The theory stated that if a werewolf were to completely accept and embrace the very root of its nature by willingly offering the wolf a place in its soul when in its human form, he or she could potentially cease the full transformation into a werewolf once a month. They could, effectively, live as a human with some of the more controllable qualities of a wolf, such as the senses and dominance.

The theory implied that the subtle day/night change would continue, with the wolf's dominant, animalistic nature being more noticeable at night, but the senses would be present at all times. I was completely fascinated with the theory and I immediately wondered if you had ever heard of it. I mean, this seemed like you would get all the benefits of being a werewolf without suffering through the change or the complete loss of humanity you experience without the wolfsbane potion. Why would you not want to look into this potential route?

I took copious notes since it seemed obvious that you hadn't looked into this option - if you had, then you would not still be suffering, would you? I would have taken the book out to spend an inordinant amount of time memorizing, but the tome was literally old as dirt. Madam Pince just would not allow such a tender object out of her domain. So, extremely thorough notes would have to do.

After learning and understanding all that I could about your condition, I decided to observe your behavior as much as I could the next time I saw you, which was Christmas break.

I watched you often and tried to analyze as much as I could the differences in your behaviour between the day and the night.

You were so interesting to observe; the subtle were so fascinating.

By the end of the holiday, it got to the point where I had a hard time keeping my eyes off you, day or night.

Soon enough, I came to the realization that my interest in you went far beyond just pure intellectual desire - I was swiftly developing a crush on you.

It didn't shock me too much. I mean, I did have a crush on an older man before, two in fact. In 2nd year, I had that awful crush on Lockhart. That should have been enough to scar me for life, considering the complete git he turned out to be, but it didn't. The following year, I had a crush on another Defense Against the Dark Arts professor: You. I sort of forgot about that crush during 4th year, though, when I met Victor Krum. Perhaps it never really went away?

No, it never did.

Obviously not.

At that self-discovery, I decided that perhaps my constant observation of you probably did not help the situation.

I told myself that since I learnt as much as I could about the mystery surrounding your 'change', it was time to move on to another intellectual challenge.

I vowed to put a little space between us to avoid building my crush on you into something bigger. I decided to finish out the school year focusing all my effort on school work and supporting Harry.

The year seemed to fly by and before I knew it, six months had passed since I last saw you.

Yet every night I still thought of you, no matter how hard I tried not to. That ruddy crush continued to develop rather than weaken, despite my best intentions.

On the last day of my 6th year at Hogwarts, before I had to meet Ginny and the boys in the Great Hall for breakfast, I lingered bed, deep in thought.

I wondered how it would be when I saw you at Grimmauld Place later that day. Would I be able to act normally? Or would you see right through me and know that I had a crush on you? I considered all that I learnt about your 'furry little problem' and remembered the strange contents of that old, leather-bound tome I came across months ago. I wondered how I would bring it up to you, if I even should.

There was only one way to find out….