Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

All original characters and the following content belong to me.
Full summary available on my profile.

Edited: Fixed some grammar. Made some sentences better. I recommend you re-read if you've read this back in 2011 (because it's been a while. Like, 4 years).

Jackie Smith and the Wolfsbane Curse

One

~ The Man with the Scar ~

In a suburban neighbourhood outside the city of London a little boy lived with a dark secret. His name was Jack Smith. His parents and only friend in the world called him Jackie, and anyone else who spoke to him also called him Jackie. He was an odd boy, according to the adults. Usually quiet and polite, but remarkably ambitious when it came to pet-projects for school or hobbies. But despite the praises he got from teachers and adults concerning his polite demeanour and good grades, Jackie could hear them talk about him and the bad things. Bad things always happened to Jackie wherever he went. He was surprised that Hayley, his best friend, hadn't gone and ran away when the bad things started to happen. In fact, he couldn't remember a day when bad things didn't happen. They just did. It was only when he started going to primary school that it got worse. The glass in the windows would burst, people would get bruises when it wasn't possible for them to get bruises, and the lights would sometimes flicker or go out, and the doors would slam shut or burst wide open. Everyone started to realize it had something to do with Jackie. Because whenever those unexplainable things started to happen, it was guaranteed Jackie was having a bad day. But it wasn't his fault, he'd always tell them. His parents fortunately understood. The bad things weren't his idea. They just happened. But now people would be scared of him and call him a freak. So Jackie kept to himself. If they left him alone, he'll leave them alone. But Jackie hated being lonely.

Lately, however, bad things happened less and less. In fact, whatever happened around Jackie began to differ from the bad things. They were now strange things. Like how Jackie and Hayley got splashed by a puddle of murky water during a rainy day, but they remained spotless under their umbrellas, regardless of the murky water. It was still raining and they still got wet and sick, but their clothes were free of any sort of dirt from the puddle. And now Jackie was able to do all sorts of things with his strangeness.

"Look, Hayley, I'm doing it again!" he cried. Jackie held out his hands, careful to keep the leaves swirling over his palms. They were in his backyard under the big oak tree where his old tree house sat. From the rusty swing set, Hayley quickly ran to his side to stare at the tiny vortex of air that swirled the leaves over his hands.

"Ooh, that's amazing, Jackie! How're you doing it?" she asked him in complete awe. She crouched low, observing the leaves swirl as he held out his hand.

"I dunno, you tell me!"

"You're the one with the weird powers!"

"Well you're the brainy one, you figure it out!"

There was a loud bang on the other side of the fence to the left of the house. It led into the yard of their neighbour. Jackie only caught sight of him sometimes, usually just parts of his body—his neighbour was a large and rather rotund, muscular man, but Jackie had seen the receding blond hair. He wondered why he was home today when it was still only noontime.

"Oh leave it, I'm sure he's not home," muttered Hayley. The shock of the bang distracted Jackie and the leaves fell to the ground as soon as the vortex died. He sighed sadly.

"Aw, I wanted to show Mum that," he said. His mother liked it when he was able to do wonderful things with his strangeness. It was an improvement from all the bad things that usually happened.

"It's okay," consoled Hayley. "I'm sure you can learn it again." She smiled at him as she patted his shoulder. She then punched him hard and coaxed him into chasing her around the backyard.

It was times like these that Jackie really enjoyed. He felt the happiest when he saw that no bad thing was going to ruin everything. Maybe it helped that, since the start of summer vacation, Jackie and Hayley would dedicate their whole day since waking up watching the episodes of the old Doctor Who series. It was a bit of a bore waiting for the new series of the brand new Who to air, the first series having ended in June. They loved the show with all of its spacey-wacey and timey-wimey stuff, and Hayley was an absolute fanatic with her memorizing the many techy and complicated things that the Doctor would say. Many adults would find them in a video store with either Jackie's parents or Hayley's guardian, excitedly chatting about the show on the level of much older fans absolutely baffled them. Jackie would always explain that Hayley was brilliant. She was smart, very smart. Hayley would catch onto things faster than most people. Though there was a time when Hayley's guardian, named Carter Johnson, explained that little Hayley only became that attentive when she helped him study for his police academy exams. The adults joked that she was probably a better detective inspector than Carter could ever become. Jackie looked at her now as they plopped onto the grass beneath the shade of the tree. If Hayley was a cop in the future, when they were grown up and everything… that would be a brilliant future, Jackie thought. Then that would mean Hayley needed to stay far away from the bad things that Jackie would bring along. He grew sad. Would this mean that they would have to stop being friends again?

"Oh, quit being so mopey!" said Hayley, smacking his stomach. "Are you still upset that we won't be seeing each other after summer ends?"

"Well, it is our last summer together before we go to different secondary schools. You're going to that all-girl academy, right? For the gifted?"

"Yeah, but it's going to be dull, let me tell you! I find it interesting when you boys fight over a lot of things. Plus, you're not there, so it'll be really boring without you."

"Yeah, but that's a good thing, Hayley. You can stay out of my trouble and aim for a better future." Jackie winced when Hayley elbowed him. He looked up at the clouds in silence with Hayley. Where would that lead him? Alone and friendless?

"I still can't believe you're going to that reform school—how could you?"

"I had no choice!"

"What? 'No choice'? Are you mad? Think of all the New Who episodes they'll force you to miss as a punishment! Which is really mean because then I can't gush to you about them because I know how much you hate it when someone tells you what happens in an episode you haven't watched yet."

"Hayley! Of all the things you're upset about it's that I might not be able to watch Doctor Who when we go back to school? Never mind that it's a school where there are many properly horrible kids! You know what that means? Bad boys who become bad men, who'll want to do bad things to me because I'm not a bad kid at all! And there'll be a whole plethora of bad things happening to me!"

"I can think of a whole plethora of other schools where you won't end up getting mugged in your sleep! I really don't see why you or your mum and dad had to listen to that stupid woman with her reasoning that you need to be locked up in a cage!"

"Like I said, I had no choice." Jackie frowned and felt the silence sit for too long. He hated it when he and Hayley fought. The back door swung open, with the bell attached on the top of the frame chiming to let them know they had company. Jackie's mother stood at the door, smiling at them.

"Not fighting, are we?" she asked them, although Jackie sensed that she already knew what they were up to. "Well, come on then! Can't have that ruining your day! We've got a whole entire zoo to explore for the rest of the day!" Hayley cheered and ran up to greet Jackie's mother. He sat up and rested against the oak tree that had been standing in his backyard for the longest time—even from before he was born. He felt safe under there.

Hayley waved at him to come along. Reluctant he slowly got up and started walking towards them. At that moment something from his neighbour's side of the fence flew over and landed right in front of him. It was a strange little device Jackie would only see in science fiction shows or books, or even video games. It was shaped like a small remote, with a slim cylinder vial embedded into the centre, a strange bubbly light green liquid glowing at the centre. Cautious, he picked it up.

Jackie knew he had to return the strange little device, so he walked over to the fence and knocked.

"Um… Mr Dursley?" he called nervously. "I think I have something of yours?" He heard steps thump on the grass, getting nearer and nearer to him. Jackie had the strangest feeling. Like something bad was going to happen.

"Oh, thank you. Jackie, was it?" said Mr Dursley. "Just throw it up like a good lad and be on your way."

"U-um… sure…" he tossed the device over the fence. Since he heard no thud seconds later, Mr Dursley must have caught it. He was about to join his waiting mother and Hayley when Mr Dursley said something cryptic.

"So you're going to the zoo, right?" he said loudly. Jackie stopped and turned to face the fence again.

"Y-yeah…"

"Be careful then, would you? One time, for my eleventh birthday, a snake was set loose. So mysterious—the glass just vanished, you know? Which reminds me… I wonder how my cousin is doing. Oh!" He startled Jackie, as though Mr Dursley had forgotten about Jackie still standing and listening to him, now with eyes widened in fear. Mr Dursley bid him farewell, and to have a fun trip at the zoo.

When he joined his mother and Hayley in the car, driven by his father who took the rest of the day off of work, his mother told his father about the strange encounter with Mr Dursley. His father laughed and told Jackie that everything was going to be fine. There was no way a snake would be set loose, especially under those unique circumstance. But Jackie reminded his father of the bad things and the strange things that would happen around him. His father sat with his thinking face on as he drove. His mother gave him a warm smile, telling him not to worry about it. Jackie wasn't so sure if he should be relaxed. A snake being set loose by the glass of its display vanishing. It sounds exactly like something that would happen to Jackie, be it bad, strange, or outright wonderful. He grew even more nervous the closer they got to the zoo.

At the entrance they met up with Officer Carter, who took the day off just for today. Hayley greeted him with a big hug, chatting excitedly about how her day was with Jackie. Carter, or Mr Johnson (Jackie was never sure how to address him when he was off duty), though he insisted Jackie call him Carter, greeted his parents. They proceeded to discuss about adult things, like work and the bills, trash tv and politics, and they would even tease Carter about his love life. As the adults talked as Jackie and Hayley led the way, and he became more enthusiastic about the visit the more they saw the animals in the exhibit. Here and there Jackie would see a lot of people, mostly a large group of kids carrying balloons and wearing party hats. Birthday outings, he figured. He remembered his mother constantly asking him if he wanted a birthday party, but Jackie had no friends beyond Hayley, and he didn't want to bother trying to make new friends. He was the boy who made bad things happen, even if he didn't want to. Naturally, everyone wouldn't want to be anywhere near him.

Which was really a shame. Jackie was one of those lucky kids who's birthdays were in the summer, so he was free to schedule on any day and the only reason someone couldn't come was because of another event preventing the invited from coming. His birthday was on the second of July, right in the dead center of the year, according to Hayley.

That made Jackie realize that, from then on, Hayley wouldn't be around for his birthday. Her brainy school was a boarding school, as was his reform school. They would both barely have enough time to relax after moving back home, and it would certainly be out of Hayley's way to go straight to his house after coming home. It wouldn't be fair to Carter. Even if she was his ward, Carter cared for Hayley like an older brother.

"Let's go to the reptile aquarium!" chirped Hayley. Jackie stared at her reproachfully.

"What? Don't you remember what Mr Dursley told me? The vanishing glass, Hayley!" he yelled. Hayley and his parents laughed. Carter looked absolutely confused.

"What's this about a vanishing glass?" he asked.

"Mr Dursley, our neighbour, told Jackie about a snake that was set loose on him accidentally when he was a boy," said Jackie's mother. She laughed again. "I don't know about you, but that Dudley Dursley's a bit on the curious side. I mean he seems normal all the time, unless Jackie has another one of those episodes."

"Don't talk as if I'm one of those mental people, Mum! And what is it about Mr Dursley and the things that keep happening to me?" he asked her, sounding worried.

"Oh, nothing. Just that, of all the adults in our street, Mr Dursley's the only one who seems rather amused by the things that happen. He doesn't even see you as a bad kid, Jackie, isn't that nice?" His mother smiled at him, patting his head.

"Are we talking about the same Dudley Dursley that I went to Smelting's with? Oh God, I hated that school! And Dursley was a right ol' git who thought he owned the place," said Carter with a frown. "He picked on the first years a lot—in fact, he would pick on anyone smaller than him. But there was that one odd moment I'd run into him, and he was upset with his friends. Sixth year, I think. His blokes were trashing on about his cousin—some bloke named Harry Potter, I think, and Dursley lashed out at them. It was weird…"

Jackie had diverted his attention. On the one hand they were talking about his neighbour, who he knew nothing about. Finding out that Carter went to school with Mr Dursley was news to Jackie. On the other hand, Hayley was trying to get his attention with the snake. She kept tapping the glass lightly, constantly reminding him that it was still there and not vanishing. But it was the appearance of a man in a black trench coat standing by the corner of his eye, talking to a man with red hair that grabbed his attention. As soon as Carter had said the name Harry Potter, the red haired one reacted and looked their way.

"Did I just hear him say your name, Harry?" he said. They stood close enough for Jackie to hear. He pretended to not notice them and stared at their reflections on the glass. The man in the trench coat turned. Jackie took notice of his black hair, which stood up in several places. The man wore round glasses over his green eyes, but as soon as Jackie stared at the man's face he caught something just barely hiding underneath his fringe. A scar on his forehead, with the unmistakeable shape of a lightning bolt.

"I think so too. But don't look. We're here undercover, remember," said the man with the scar.

"The kid's staring at you," said the red haired man. Jackie hadn't realized he'd actually turned to stare. They both looked at him and Jackie blushed. Now Hayley had noticed, especially once she deemed it fruitless to get Jackie to watch the snake.

"E-erm…" he mumbled. He tried to apologize, but he felt scared of what the men would say. "S-sorry…"

"What're you apologizing for?" said the man with the scar.

"Well, staring is rude," said Jackie. The man looked at him peculiarly, looking around before looking back at him.

"What's your name?"

"Jackie," he said quietly. "Jackie Smith."

"Jackie Smith," repeated the man. "My name's Harry Potter." The man with a scar named Harry Potter kneeled in front of Jackie, still smiling at him. They looked nothing alike, Jackie noted. Mr Potter was far skinnier and had a more rugged appearance.

"So, Jackie," continued Mr Potter. "Are you here by yourself?" Jackie swallowed hard.

"N-no…" he told Mr Potter, but when he turned around to introduce his parents, Hayley, and Carter, none of them were there. "What?" he said worriedly, looking around frantically. "But they were just there!" He looked into the snake's aquarium, which hissed at him absentmindedly. He looked around, not leaving the general area, calling out for Hayley and his parents. Jackie could feel himself starting to cry. He was lost. No, he wasn't lost. Bad things happened again, but it wasn't the glass that vanished today, it was his parents and his best friend! Where did they go? And what was he going to do?

"There, there," said the red haired man. "Don't worry, Jackie, we'll find them."

"Who're you?" Jackie asked him.

"I'm Ron Weasley."

"R-Ron Weasley?" repeated Jackie. He'd never met any Weasleys before. He looked at Mr Potter and at Mr Weasley. He sniffed, wiping his face on his shirt. This was the worst! It was supposed to be wonderful things, not bad things! Jackie shouldn't have left his house. Bad things only happened when he was somewhere except home.

Mr Potter held Jackie's hand and led him around the zoo. Jackie began to notice how oddly quiet it was. "Where'd all the people go?" he asked. Mr Potter replied with a smile and a wink. "You know, you're exactly what I pictured my godson to be like, when he's older, which isn't that far off. He's seven," said Mr Potter. Jackie was thrown off-guard, as was Mr Weasley. Then Jackie figured Mr Potter was trying to distract him; Jackie's parents would try to do the same when he had nightmares.

"He lives with his grandmother," he continued. "But I get to see him sometimes and I would tell him stories about his mother and father," said Mr Potter.

"Are Teddy's parents dead?" Jackie asked. Mr Potter and Mr Weasley looked startled and shared a glance with each other. It was a reaction he was used to; Jackie had a knack for surprising adults with just how perceptive he could be.

"Yes, they are dead. They died shortly after he was born," said Mr Potter.

"I see. Are my parents dead?"

They looked at him and Mr Potter gripped Jackie's shoulders tightly.

"I promise you, I'll find them and bring them home."

"Everyone's gone, and I don't know where my family is. Or my best friend, or her guardian. What's happening? Why are bad things always happening?" Jackie felt his throat catch, eyes welling. He wiped his face with his shirt again.

"What do you mean, bad things are always happening?" Mr Potter asked. Jackie took a couple of breaths before explaining to Mr Potter and Mr Weasley about how bad or strange or wonderful things would happen to him. He told them about the lights in the school, the way the doors would bang shut or burst right open when nobody was around, or how some people got hurt without anyone or anything having hit them. Jackie even explained the leaves from earlier.

Mr Potter and Mr Weasley looked at each other. They seemed very serious, and surprised. Suddenly there was a loud crash, and a deafening roar came from the entrance. Jackie was about to look when Mr Potter screamed at him, "Run for your life!" Jackie smiled, even though he knew he shouldn't be smiling. This was too good to be true!

He followed after the two mysterious men, not bothering to look behind him as things exploded and a creature gave a menacing roar. Mr Potter waved something Jackie couldn't see since the lights began to flicker on and off, but an office door burst open and they ran inside. Mr Weasley shut the door behind them and they paused for breath.

"Is there a television around here?" said Mr Potter. With Mr Weasley, he looked around the room behind the desk, where a computer with speakers sat, and in the shelves. Jackie noticed the computer was still on, and it was still logged in. Whoever used this room hadn't been gone long, but if they had just left Jackie was sure to have at least seen them leave. Did they disappear too?

"A what?" replied Mr Weasley. "Those weird box things that show pictures? Why would you need that for?"

"The news! The Muggle news! I know we started charming the exhibits to convince the people to leave before it would attack, but I'm amazed they all left so quickly! I need to know where they all went!"

"And the Muggle news is going to tell you that?"

"Erm, when you say Muggle and I assume you mean people," said Jackie nervously. Normally he'd let the adults deal with things, and he never felt compared to share his ideas unless it was with Officer Carter or Hayley, and sometimes his parents. And still, those situations were a special circumstance—like playing cop or being asked for his opinion.

He sat on the office chair, hand on the mouse and keyboard and pressed on, "Then, naturally, the news would find it interesting that a large number of people had exited the zoo almost all at once. And, I mean, everyone's got a mobile, and some with cameras, so they'll be taking photos, 'cos you told them to leave, yeah? But not exactly where to go after? I'm guessing they'll all be outside, and anyone with a camera phone would be snapping pics and talking about it, so the news'll take notice—but not that quickly, yet. But then there was… whatever that was behind us. That was really noisy, and the lights started blinking on and off. That worries people, so anyone outside—and I'm thinking everyone's outside—would notice and talk about it even more. There's a lot of people here, so it'll start getting a lot of important attention. I mean—attention with the news. The news people would want to cover the story, because now a large number of coppers will be trying to contain the people, who will be confused about what's going on, all while the powers going weird at the zoo and maybe, I dunno, the animals might start trying to escape." Or something much worse that would make two grown men run, wondered Jackie. He shuddered at the thought. Mr Potter and Mr Weasley stared at him in utter shock. It might have been overkill, Jackie felt, but it all made sense. Normally he'd have the sense to hold back and be, well, a kid who wouldn't know better—and didn't sound like a know-it-all to anyone else. Still, they looked confused, so he might as well explain.

"My best friend Hayley used to help her guardian with his police academy examinations. And then we'd play detective sometimes with Officer Carter—erm, Officer Johnson. He's, ah, her guardian."

"Erm, wow, how old are you?" said Mr Potter after finally getting over the shock.

"Eleven."

"And you're this perceptive about things?" continued Mr Potter.

"Well, sometimes. Hayley's better at it. She's the brainy one."

Mr Potter and Mr Weasley looked at each other, still unable to understand what had just happened. Jackie ignored them and focused on the computer. Fortunately there was internet connection, and he searched up the news on the zoo they were presumably trapped in. It had gone quiet outside of the office. Whatever was chasing after them was waiting patiently for them to come out again. The first thing he saw was an online article which had a picture of a large crowd of people on the outside of the very zoo they were in, recently posted. He turned his attention back to Mr Weasley and Mr Potter, who were hastily discussing in whispers about something. Jackie caught the words 'magic' and 'spell' a couple of times, but ignored it.

"Mr Potter, I've got something," he said, motioning for Mr Potter to come to the other side of the desk. Jackie pointed at the screen and let Mr Potter read it in silence. He stared at the object in Mr Potter's right hand. It was a long black stick. A wand. He frowned.

"What is it, kid?" asked Mr Weasley.

"I was expecting a sonic screwdriver."

"A what?"

"You don't know what a sonic screwdriver is?" Jackie felt the weight of the world crush the wind out of his lungs. He looked up at the men disparagingly, "You're adults! I thought all adults knew what that is!" Unless— He looked at their ages. "Of course there was that long period when that idiot got and put the show on hiatus, then no one would have been able to grow up watching it, but then that wouldn't make any sense because everyone would still know about it. I mean they went and put dalek in the Oxford! And the show's just come back and everyone's talking about it!"

Mr Weasley looked at Mr Potter for help, who just emerged from reading the brief article.

"It's, um, some screwdriver device from a television show that kids watch. It's really popular with the Muggles. I forgot what it was called," he explained to Mr Weasley. Jackie gasped.

"What do you mean, you 'forgot what it was called'?" he cried, outraged.

"I dunno! I never really watched much telly!" Mr Potter cried back.

"You're an Englishman! How does an Englishman not remotely know anything about sonic screwdrivers and Doctor Who? How old are you?" demanded Jackie.

"Twenty-four! What's it to you?"

"What? You're the same age as Carter and he knows a lot about the show, even before Hayley and I started watching it!"

"Does it matter if Ron and I should know about this show? We're really busy people—we don't have much time for television!" He seemed to have caught himself. "We don't have time for this!"

"Okay, fine then. Then tell me one thing! Right now I'm thinking 'alien creature', and since you're carrying around what I think is supposed to be a magic wand, then what the heck is that thing that was chasing us outside if it's not an alien!" Jackie looked from Mr Weasley and Mr Potter, and they both seemed to have their voices caught in their throats. Just then there was a growl and a slam at the door. And then barking, and then a howl.

A werewolf's howl.

"You are joking," said Jackie. His heart hammered against his ribcage, the energy from his excitement transforming into disbelief, and then horror. The door was slammed again, nearly off of its hinges as the creature tried to get to them. Mr Potter and Mr Weasley shielded Jackie from the oncoming attack, but there was a clang of metal hitting bone and a dog-like whimper. Padded feet scampered away and everything quickly fell to silence. Mr Potter waved his wand, which Jackie couldn't believe he was using as if it were real—only for it to be real real! The door burst open, much like they did at school, without any strings attached. Outside stood Carter and Hayley attached to his leg. Carter held a fire extinguisher like it were bat, and his face was completely pale. Hayley saw Jackie sitting at the computer and ran to him

"Did you just hit a werewolf on the head with a fire extinguisher?" asked Mr Potter, dubious.

"I just hit a werewolf on the head with a fire extinguisher," repeated Carter, although he didn't seem aware of Mr Potter's or Mr Weasley's presence at the moment. "Oh my God, that was a real living werewolf!"

"Are you alright?" asked Mr Weasley, helping Carter calm down. He seemed a bit tipsy. Curious, Jackie poked his head out of the door to find the werewolf was gone. While Carter did manage to scare it off, Jackie had a feeling that once the headache was gone, it was going to be very angry.

"What the bloody hell is going on?" asked Carter. He was led to the chair behind the desk and was allowed a couple more moments to calm down. "I find myself, Mr and Mrs Smith, and Hayley outside without remembering how we got there, and Jackie no where to be found. And then there's a werewolf trying to kill you!" He looked from Mr Potter to Mr Weasley.

"And it's supposed to be your day off," added Hayley. "You left your gun at home, didn't you?"

"Not now, Hayley!"

"It's a bit complicated," started Mr Potter. He looked at Mr Weasley again. "But right now, we need to move. The werewolf will be back any minute." He let Carter go first, and Jackie and Hayley followed after him.

They found a conference room with two entrances—one on their end, the other leading to the hall on the other side. "Stay here," he ordered. "Whichever way it comes, the other door will let you run before it comes in. Ron and I will deal with this, alright?" He turned to leave, but stopped and looked from Jackie to Hayley. "Don't follow us!" He and Mr Weasley went off.

"Right. No offence, Jackie, but you're a trouble magnet." Carter mumbled. "How are we sure the werewolf won't come for us?" Hayley observed his hands and arms, as well as his face. "What are you doing?"

"I need to make sure you're not hurt by the werewolf," she said. "Which is really weird. I thought they transformed only at night when the full moon was out."

"Some mythologies are a bit different," said Jackie. "Some werewolves don't need the moon to transform."

"Yes, but how are we sure that thing isn't just some rabid wolf from the mammal exhibit?" pointed out Carter. Jackie and Hayley thought for a moment, but Hayley beat him to the punch.

"It didn't behave like how an animal with rabies would usually behave, and normally a hit like that would knock it out stone cold. Sorry to say, Carter, but when you also take size into the matter, it's clear that it's a werewolf. A massive, fluffy, menacing werewolf!"

They were quiet for a moment, wondering if Mr Potter and Mr Weasley were ever going to come back. Eventually Carter asked Jackie exactly what was happening. He told them of the werewolf and the people leaving the zoo through some kind of spell the two mysterious men used and how they reacted when Jackie speculated the location of the crowd of people, not to mention their reaction to Jackie's story of the bad, strange, and wonderful things that would happen around him.

"What did you say he called those people, which I presume are us?" asked Carter.

"Muggles," answered Jackie. Carter leaned back in his chair, deep in thought. Muttering the names of the mysterious men, but repeating several times Mr Potter's full name. "Harry Potter… Ron Weasley… Harry Potter, Muggles, werewolves… Wait, that Harry Potter?" Suddenly he became quiet. Jackie and Hayley didn't bother to speak either. Jackie wondered if Carter was listening for the werewolf.

"I'll be right back," he said suddenly.

"W-where are you going?" asked Hayley, surprised.

"To see something about a werewolf in the zoo." Carter marched off, but before he shut the door he told them, firmly, "Don't leave this room. You hear me? Hayley, you have your mobile?"

"Yes."

"Call me. As soon as you find yourselves in danger, call me."

Hayley pulled out her mobile phone. The time read that it was 3:00 PM. How long were they going to have to wait before any of the adults showed up?

They waited two hours. Two hours had gone by when nothing happened. Whenever they spoke they would only speak in hushed whispers, but from time to time they would stop in case the werewolf heard them. Hayley so badly wanted to call Carter, but Jackie reminded her. They were dealing with a werewolf, who would be able to hear the phone ring. She might endanger Carter.

It was exactly 4:14 when something actually happened. There were several shouts on the outside, eclipsed by vicious growling and barking. Jackie and Hayley froze up, listening intently for anyone—any human to scream in agony, that the werewolf might be victorious.

Hayley's phone rang, making the sound of the TARDIS. Every time Jackie heard it, he would feel comfortable. Right now, however, he wasn't so sure if it was working. Hesitantly, Hayley picked it up, careful to keep her voice down.

"Hello? Oh! Okay…" she pressed a button on the phone. Now Jackie could hear Carter speak.

"Listen, we're going to need you two to help. These guys—Harry and Ron—they're confident that you kids can do it. You two need to barricade one of the doors with all of the chairs in the room—stack them up so that they won't roll away so easily. Then call for the werewolf. It'll come for the barricaded door, and just when it gets stuck in between the frames, I want you two to get out of there, you hear me? Don't wait until it's almost in the room. Just RUN. We'll deal with the rest. Don't hang up, just tell me when you're done."

It took the both of them working together three minutes before the door was properly barricaded. Next they started catcalling the werewolf, calling it an assortment of rude names. At first nothing seemed to happen, until Jackie slipped and tried to keep his balance by grabbing onto the wheeled legs of the chair. Unfortunately, the chair had a jagged edge of plastic for what was supposed to be the height adjuster. He cut his left palm on it, the blood gushing out heavily. His blood called the werewolf within an instant.

Hayley screamed when the werewolf slammed into the door. The chairs moved, but Jackie could hear Carter screaming at them to get out. He could hear his voice from outside of the room. Carter was nearby.

"Come on, Hayley!" urged Jackie. Hayley caught his left palm and gasped.

"It's going to try and eat you!" she cried.

"If I'm lucky! It might turn me into one of them. Now let's go!" The door burst open a crack, splinters of wood flying, and the werewolf found itself caught in a small gap, clambering up the chairs as best as it could. They didn't expect it to be so strong; the werewolf was able to push some chairs out of the way and was almost in the room, the door barely holding itself together. Hayley struggled with the other door, but they got out before the werewolf could reach them. Jackie tried to help Hayley hold the door shut, but it was hard to do with his right hand alone. At least the doors opened inward so the werewolf would need to smash the door to pieces to get through.

Hayley dropped her phone before they could keep running. There was a loud slam and to Jackie's horror the doorknob was coming loose. The werewolf was breaking the doorknob off. All it needed now was to shove a paw through the hole and yank it open.

He grabbed Hayley's hand just as she opened her phone and started to dial. Jackie could hear Carter's ringtone amongst the chaos and was surprised to find it was the high pitch whirring sound he recognized all too well as the sonic screwdriver. As a joke, Hayley made the ringtone of Carter's phone sound like the screwdriver, and the mp3 file would play for a minute before stopping. And then it looped. It got annoying after a while and Carter gave her an earful for it, but regardless of what he told Jackie and Hayley, it seems like he hadn't changed it, and Jackie was glad for it.

"Something's happening!" yelled Mr Weasley, trying to speak over Carter's ringtone, and the howls and whimpers of the werewolf, which writhed in pain. Jackie gasped, realization filling his brain.

"Hayley, it doesn't like the sound of the screwdriver!" he cried. "It's too much! The werewolf can't take it! It's probably the frequency!" They started running and after every hang up Hayley kept dialling Carter's phone. The werewolf did not follow them, which meant that Carter and the mysterious men caught onto what was going on.

"Jackie, I can't keep dialling Carter's phone. What if i—" The ringing in Hayley's phone stopped abruptly. That could only mean that the werewolf had managed to smash the phone out of Carter's hand. Jackie looked at her, worried that she might start losing it. Carter was her only family left; what'll happen to her if he died today?

"Hayley…" Jackie started, wanting to comfort her as best as he possibly could. She looked stunned, her eyes staring distantly into the floor—

"The computer!" she exclaimed so suddenly. She didn't look sad or scared at all. In fact, there was a certain glow about her that took Jackie off guard. Hayley was smiling, Hayley was laughing…

Hayley was brilliant.

"Of course! We can lure the werewolf with my blood and then we can trap him into the office while the computer plays the sound of the sonic screwdriver!" he said.

"And hopefully Mr Potter and Mr Weasley can stop him while he's weakened!"

They ran into the office and Hayley set about scouring the internet for that sound file. Jackie kept looking out of the door to see if anyone was coming. How much longer was it going to take Hayley to find the song?

"What's taking you so long?" he asked her worriedly.

"I'm downloading it! Stupid internet—this isn't dial-up, isn't it?" Jackie pushed her chair away to look under the desk, careful not to get his bloody left palm prints anywhere.

"Nope, this looks like the internet modem I have at home. It must be the connection itself. Some carriers are really bad." He remembered his dad complaining about how long it took just to upload a file he really needed for work and calling up the internet providers to complain in the morning.

"Is it coming though?" asked Hayley, bringing Jackie's focus back. He ran out to the door to check once more, but there was still no sign of the werewolf. Despite Jackie's still bleeding left palm, Carter and the mysterious men must have been doing a pretty good job distracting it.

"Jackie, can we switch? It might come for you in the hallway and it's better if we at least trap it in this room if we can't weaken it with the sonic." Finding it a bright idea, Jackie went back in and took her spot. He noticed that the download was almost complete. One more minute, the window said, before it jumped to thirty seconds, then back up to fifty seconds. Really? Jackie thought. Computers! Can't live with them, can't live without them.

Jackie looked up to see Hayley standing at the doorway. She held her right arm slightly out in front of her. It looked odd. It was like her arm muscles had gone stiff and she was holding and flexing out her arm to wake it back up. Jackie caught a glint of something shiny in Hayley's left hand.

"Hayley, don't!" he yelled as soon as he realized what she was about to do. But it was too late. Hayley slashed her arm from her elbow to her wrist. The howl of the werewolf told them that it knew of a brand new prey, bringing back the appetite it lost when Carter's phone rang. Jackie was about to jump off of the chair and run to Hayley to pull her into the room and barricade the door when she looked at Jackie harshly.

"Mind the download!" she told him viciously. Jackie winced. Hayley might die, or become a werewolf, and he'll never see her again. The last thing he wanted was her mad at him before they were separated for good.

The download was almost complete. The final two percent left. As soon as it became one-hundred Jackie right-clicked to open the folder holding the mp3. He clicked it, only for the media player to take its time to open. He looked up to tell Hayley when he saw a large paw appear in the frame of the door. It swung and slammed Hayley against the frame of the door. Jackie screamed, accidentally alerting the werewolf to his presence. Moving quickly, Jackie ran to Hayley and dragged her into the room, trying to kick the door closed before the werewolf could get in. But he wasn't fast enough. He only managed to pull himself and the unconscious Hayley to the farthest end of the room. He put his left hand over Hayley's cut on her arm. He couldn't believe she did that. Sometimes Jackie thought that Hayley was too brilliant. He cried, hugging her tightly. They were going to die…

And the most wonderful sound started coming from the computer. Like a wheezing breath, but only better, the engine of the Doctor's TARDIS played on the media player. Jackie wasn't sure if Hayley had downloaded a file that contained the wrong track or not. The werewolf paid it no attention and was about to approach them, but Jackie felt confident. And then the winds grew around him and he started to feel strange. His vision blurred and his heart began to race, to beat faster than it usually did. The werewolf kept striking at him, but it was like a protective bubble kept it from hitting him. With each strike, Jackie grew more tired, but when he would hear the sound of the TARDIS from the computer he would feel his strength come back.

Suddenly he could hear Mr Potter and Mr Weasley shouting words in another language. Jackie's breath ran short. He barely caught the werewolf fall on its side, knocked out, and Carter running to him, just in time to catch him. He knew Carter was calling out to him, trying to wake him and Hayley up.

But Jackie slept, listening to the TARDIS until it faded from his mind.