Before I get too far into the story, I want to note something. I have been looking at the lunar schedule, and I have noticed that J.K. Rowling didn't follow it for the third year. However, I intend to follow the lunar schedule it as closely as possible.

ANYWAYS, I said that I was going to have one of my absolute favorite characters in this chapter. Well, I lied. He's actually my FAVORITE character :)

The boy named Mutare Nurla was lost within his own mind. The memory of the rabid wolf kept playing over and over in his head. He could still see it ripping his father's throat out. He could still remember how it got so close to doing the same thing to him. If Mutare hadn't desperately put up his right arm to defend himself, he had no doubt that he would be dead as well.

If the wolf hadn't caught fire from the fireworks the Selwyn family had shot at it, Mutare knew that the wolf would have killed him. He had no regret about the danger that he had put himself in though. He had done it to save Iona. But then . . . then there was the picture still branded in his mind. When he had so stupidly thought it had been over, that it was okay to sob his heart out over his father's corpse, he had turned to find the burning wolf was getting back to its feet.

He had never expected to see an enraged wolf that seemed to have come directly from hell itself charging at him, the fire in its eyes only matched by the fire that was slowly consuming its own body. Mutare had frantically searched his father's body for the hunting knife he had known his father always kept on him, and in a final, desperate attempt to keep himself alive he had frantically swung the knife at the wolf from hell.

By all rights, it shouldn't have worked like it did. Mutare was just as surprised as everyone else when he managed to kill the wolf. If he was honest with himself, he had thought that even if he had hit it the wolf simply wouldn't die. He had thought it was just immortal or something. And when it did die . . . Mutare could have sworn he saw it changing shape, as if it had been becoming more 'human'. Sure that one man had said Mutare had imagined it, but he still felt like it was real. Mutare let out a shudder as he hugged his mop closer to him, not even attempting to fight back the tears.

He was currently curled up on a fancy-looking bed, staying in one of the Selwyn mansion's guest rooms. This room by itself had become his new home. He only left it to go to the bathroom and to eat. How many days ago had the event happened now? He had lost count. Fighting back the urge to bury his face in his hands and cry Mutare grabbed a calendar off of the wall, and he focused on it.

Let's see . . . the incident itself happened the night of the 3rd of July. Mutare wiped away some tears as he counted the number of marks he had made on the calendar. It was . . . the second of August now. After he offhandedly noticed that it was a full moon tonight he put the calendar back on the wall, cringing when the movement of stretching to put the calendar back on the wall caused his right arm to let out a throbbing pain.

Mutare bit back a yelp as he focused on that arm. Thanks to the white t-shirt Mutare was wearing the bandage on his arm was very plainly visible. He clenched his teeth together when he felt the strange prickling sensation in his arm again. It had started last week, and it had gotten worse and worse as the week had gone on. It wasn't that painful, but his arm itched like something awful during that time.

Granted, he had been getting worried about himself over the past week. The itch was only one of quite a few new and unsettling things he had found happening to himself. He had found himself growling whenever something irritated him, which didn't take much at the moment. And last night he had to actually fight an urge to howl at the almost-full moon. While the Selwyn family - and the other guest they had been entertaining since last week - had assured Mutare that he had just caught some sort of cold and that he'd be okay, Mutare knew better. Colds couldn't make him howl at the moon.

He couldn't help the yelp that escaped his lips when he heard a tired yet kind voice from the doorway. "Scratching will only make it itch more."

Mutare immediately turned to look at the doorway, and he blushed when he saw the guest that the Selwyn family had been entertaining leaning against the doorway. The young-ish man looked about as rough as Mutare felt. Their untamed brown hair was speckled with gray, and as he straightened out his shabby clothes he smiled at Mutare. Just like always the man's eyes seemed to radiate kindness and safety.

Eventually Mutare looked down at his arms, and was surprised to find he was absentmindedly scratching the bandages. He blushed as he forced himself to stop, and the man laughed when Mutare apologized to him, calling him 'Mister'. "Please, call me Lupin."

Mutare again apologized, and Lupin gave him a sympathetic smile as he walked into the room. This was a new situation for Mutare. He had gotten used to daily visits from Lupin, but this was Lupin's second visit today. It wasn't that he didn't trust Lupin of course. Even Mutare knew that Lupin was someone you could trust. It was just . . . odd.

Lupin soon asked how Mutare was doing, and Mutare gave a sigh. He knew Lupin was really asking how Mutare was coping. "I . . . I don't really know. I-I want to say I'm doing okay, but sometimes I just get really . . . I just, I have times where it really unsettles me. Sometimes I just . . . I think I might be losing my mind."

He saw Lupin give him a very gentle smile before replying. "No, you're not losing your mind. You're just having difficulty coping. So uh . . . is the medicine helping with your cold?"

Mutare immediately nodded at that. Ever since Lupin had begun staying with the Selwyn family, he had been giving Mutare a strange drink. While the drink was odd itself - as Mutare had never seen anything like it before, and it seemed to release a weird blue smoke - it certainly was doing the trick. While normally Mutare would never have touched it . . . it wasn't like these were 'normal' times anyways.

It wasn't like he didn't believe it was medicine though. After all, it certainly helped. Besides for the itch in the arm and some odd traits - that being the growling when irritated and the attempt to howl at the moon - the medicine got rid of all the traces of his illness.

As he usually did, Mutare yet again thanked Lupin for the medicine. Lupin smiled as he stated that it was no trouble, but to Mutare's surprise Lupin then sighed, as if he had made a very difficult decision in his head.

"Anyways, I have something important I need to tell you."

Mutare immediately began listening, as he instinctively grabbed his mop to ensure it was nearby. Lupin gave a small smile at that, which got Mutare to blush. He couldn't help it. Ever since his father had been killed, Mutare brought his mop everywhere with him. He just wasn't himself if he didn't have his mop with him anymore.

"Did you notice anything . . . bizarre about the black wolf?"

The question was completely unexpected, but after shaking off the shock Mutare gave a timid nod. "I . . . I think it was just too . . . too aggressive. I mean, it might have had rabies, but it . . . it wasn't foaming at the mouth or anything. I-isn't that a sign of rabies? I mean, there must have been something wrong with it since a lone wolf would never attack a group of five people. And . . ."

Here Mutare blushed as he shook his head, trying to end it with that. He didn't want to bring up the fact that still haunted him. To his surprise Lupin gave him a kind smile and waved him on. "'And'?"

". . . when I killed it, I . . . that one man said I had lost so much blood I had begun hallucinating, but . . . I could have sworn the wolf was . . . changing. I-it almost looked like it was changing into a human. It was just so . . . so weird. B-but I . . . I guess I must be wrong. I mean, that sounds like a . . . a werewolf or something."

Mutare couldn't help but blush at that. He didn't want to believe that the wolf could have possibly been a werewolf, but . . . it had attacked them during a full moon. From the few things Mutare knew about the mythological creature, a werewolf would transform into a wolf during the full moon. He didn't hear anything about them turning back into a human if they are killed, but . . . it wasn't like a normal wolf would do that.

"I agree."

Huh? Mutare looked at Lupin in shock, but Lupin had his eyes closed in thought. Eventually he opened his eyes and looked at Mutare. "From what you're saying, I agree that it sounds an awful lot like a werewolf. It mindlessly charged at a large group of people, and when it died you feel like it was changing into a human. A single wolf - even one with rabies - would have given a warning growl at the very least before attacking. And of course, after death transformations tend to be beyond the capacity of regular wolves."

"Are you . . . are you actually saying . . . it might have been . . . b-but I was always told that . . ."

As Mutare fumbled with words Lupin gave a sigh and clasped his hands together. "We have both come to the agreement that it was not a normal wolf, and that the chances of it having been a rabid wolf is very slim. Now, what do you know about werewolves?"

Mutare cocked his head in confusion, but nonetheless answered. "Uh . . . they are human until the full moon, when they become wolves. And uh . . . I'm not sure what else is different about them."

He couldn't believe it when Lupin nodded. Was Lupin really taking this seriously? But . . . but werewolves didn't really exist, right? Yet even as Mutare told himself that, Lupin continued speaking to him in a very serious voice. "And when did the attack happen?"

"On the day of the full moon?"

"Not just that, though. It specifically happened when the full moon was out, right?"

Mutare nodded, still too startled and confused to do otherwise. He soon saw Lupin sigh before he shook his head. "Why is it so hard to believe? You are the one that brought up that it almost seemed like it was a werewolf. Do you think it could really, truly could have been a werewolf?"

Mutare almost said 'of course not', but managed to stop. If he was honest with himself . . .

"I . . . I really think I could. But . . . but why . . . why are . . ."

That was the moment that he understood what was going on. The fact that Lupin had so conveniently appeared right when Mutare had gotten the illness with medicine to help him . . . how had he not noticed how coincidental that was? And of course, there were Mutare's strange new habits, such as growling when irritated and that urge to howl at the moon. Now he knew what to call it. He had become 'wolfish'. But . . . it couldn't be.

"Can a werewolf . . . are they born like that, or-or . . . or is it something a human becomes?"

Lupin clearly knew that Mutare had caught on, and he let out a sigh. "It's a sort of disease. The only way for lycanthropy to be transmitted - and this is a guarantee - is for a werewolf to bite someone during the full moon."

The news hit Mutare hard. He looked at his bandaged arm, and he shuddered as he felt the prickling sensation in his arm again. So he was now a werewolf. This . . . this was crazy. He gulped, trying to imagine what was going to happen tonight.

"Look, Mutare."

Mutare immediately turned to look at Lupin, and his eyes opened wide when he saw Lupin had rolled up his sleeve. He didn't need to ask. Lupin's entire arm was riddled with scars, some of them being bite marks and some of them being scratches. "You mean . . . you're a werewolf too? B-but . . . how many werewolves bit you?"

Lupin let out a light hearted chuckle before he rolled up his sleeve. "Well, most of these are actually self-inflicted."

Mutare immediately looked at Lupin in shock, which caused Lupin to quickly explain - to Mutare's horror - that werewolves usually went into a rage-driven frenzy when they transform. Lupin was going to say something more, but Mutare didn't wait for him to do so.

With a savage growl Mutare punched Lupin in the face as hard as he could. He felt his hand throb as the startled Lupin hit the floor, but Mutare immediately pounced on top of him and pinned his arms in place. With another savage growl Mutare grabbed the bewildered Lupin's shoulders and forced him to hold his face right in front of Mutare's. "You mean to tell me we are going to go berserk in a few hours!? WHY ARE WE IN THE SELWYN MANSION!? DO YOU REALIZE THAT IONA AND HER PARENTS ARE IN DANGER!? We have to get out of here as fast as we can! How could you -"

He was startled into silence when Lupin let out a snarl of his own. "Of course I know that! Do you really think I'm the type of person to just let something like that happen!?"

"THEN HOW ARE WE GOING TO KEEP FROM HURTING THEM!? Do you want us to bite them, is that your plan!?"

Mutare didn't expect the rage that crossed Lupin's face. There was a loud bang, and Mutare found himself flying through the air and into the other wall. He barely had time to recuperate before he found Lupin standing in front of him, the shadow of a wolf upon his face. Lupin opened his mouth to speak, but to Mutare's surprise Lupin froze and shook his head. When Lupin looked at Mutare again Mutare was surprised to find Lupin was calm. "Do you remember how I said lycanthropy is a disease? How do you ease the effects of a disease, Mutare?"

"Medicine of course, but what good"

Mutare almost heard a ding as he realized what Lupin was saying. The medicine! Lupin had been giving him the medicine all along! As he felt his face turn a vibrant shade of red Lupin nodded and got down to eye level with him. "Yes. I've been here supplying you that medicine the entire time. I've been drinking it as well. Thanks to its effects, we won't lose our minds when we transform. We will be staying outside after supper, and will stay there until tomorrow morning. I would never put the Selwyn family in that kind of danger. Okay?"

"I . . . I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't realize . . . I-I was just . . ."

Mutare couldn't figure out how to say it. Here Lupin was doing so much for him, and he had just attacked and accused him of doing something so terrible. To his surprise Lupin laughed before he helped Mutare to his feet. "I apologize for snapping back. You just caught me by surprise. I should have realized right away that you were only worried for Iona and her parents. To be honest"

At this Lupin beamed at Mutare with a sparkle in his eyes. "I was told how you attacked the werewolf head on. When I met you, my first thought was 'how the bloody hell could you attack anything?' But now, well . . . now I know."

While Mutare wasn't sure that made what he himself did any more acceptable, Lupin smiled and nodded to the window, where the sun was slowly making its descent. "Thanks to our condition, we tend to get more aggressive around the full moon. I should have taken that into account when I so foolishly chose to wait until the day before the full moon to explain this all to you."

Both Mutare and Lupin turned when the door creaked open. Mutare sighing as he saw that there was no one there. While Lupin loudly stated that it was alright, and that there had just been a little misunderstanding, Mutare quickly told him that there was just something wrong with the door. "It keeps opening like that every now and then. I think it must be the wind or something. Anyways - uh, I'm really sorry about that, but . . . how did you toss me halfway across the room?"

To his surprise Lupin immediately brightened up as he reached into his clothing. "That is the other reason I am here. Mutare . . . there's an entire world being hidden from you at this very moment."

Huh? Mutare cocked his head, but his eyes bulged open as he saw Lupin grab out a wooden stick and point it at Mutare's mop. "Wingardium Leviosa"

Mutare could only stare open mouthed as his mop rose from his bed. As Lupin moved what Mutare now realized was some sort of wand, Mutare watched with amazement as his mop slowly flew over to Mutare's position, floating directly up to the point that Mutare tentatively grabbed it.

"I . . . I don't believe it. Was that . . . was that magic?"

The very amused looking Lupin nodded with a smile on his face, and Mutare could only let out a 'wow' in amazement. As he tried to come to terms with this new find Lupin spoke again. "Indeed. Now Mutare, I want to explain this to you. The Selwyn family didn't want to overwhelm you, so they put a spell on you. This particular spell makes it so that if you see or hear magic, you instead see or hear it as a 'normal' event, or you just don't see or hear it at all. There is magic used all around this mansion, and yet thanks to this spell you have more or less seen this as a normal mansion. I can lift the spell, though. Do you want to see that magic?"

Mutare couldn't help the excited smile he gave Lupin. After taking a deep breath and ensuring that his mop was nearby, Mutare nodded. "Show me."

I am currently looking for a new job. The job I currently have is okay, but not what I want. In between working my current job and looking for a new job, I don't have much time to work on writing. But I still DO work on writing, even when I have little to show for it.