A/N Thanks to everyone who commented, and for Louey06, for her excellent question (everyone was phased, but there was no time to waste with shock in the life-or-death situation).

And now, without further ado, back to the story.

Chapter Four:

St. Mungo's

Machines beeped. Healers whispered. A young boy watched worried from the next bed over. Three young men watched from outside the door, fear in their eyes.

When a healer opened the door, the young men swarmed him with questions.

"How is she?"

"Dumbledore said …. The last healer said she thought it looked like a werewolf bite. Are there werewolves at Hogwarts? Is she a…werewolf now?"

"What`s wrong with our sister?"

The healer rubbed his forehead. "Your sister has a large, possibly of werewolf origin, bite on her left arm. We are unsure of if it has affected her yet. It may not be a werewolf bite, because she shows no signs of any wolfish qualities as of yet. When they found her, the sleeve was still mostly intact, so it is possible the wolf saliva did not have contact with her blood. Right now she is in a delicate coma-like state, and it is uncertain when or if she will be waking up."

The brother in the middle started to cry.

Early the next morning, the room was quiet. The Asian girl slept on, bleeding all the while, her little roommate occasionally glancing over for any odd signs of change between sleep cycles. An old man with a long silvery beard entered the room accompanied by four teenage boys, and one crying redheaded girl. One of them, the one with glasses and usually tidy hair and appearance (but not this morning), looked immensely sorrowful and guilty.

"Will she be all right, Professor? She`ll wake up, right?" the melancholy boy with shaggy black hair said.

"Her current state is still being determined, but she will most likely survive."

The redhead tried to regain composure, placing fresh flowers on the table, but there was no hiding the tear-stained spot she`d left on the shirt of the boy with untidy black hair. He didn`t seem to mind. He was too busy watching his shaggy-haired friend, who had remorsefully glazed eyes. None of them could bear to look very long at the sleeping girl in the hospital bed who was pale as death itself.

When the others began to leave, the shaggy boy was the last to go, staying a moment longer while quietly holding back tears. He spoke softly as he placed the girl`s wand on the table next to her.

"Come on, Mattie. Wake up. You can do it. Please don't die. You can`t die." Sirius took one last look at the lifeless, bleeding, dark-haired girl and walked away, tears brimming in his eyes. Sirius never cried. Not even when he ran away from home and went to live with James. But his tears hit the ground as he opened the door and left.

I woke up surrounded by sterile white walls and shiny equipment, my wand on the small nightstand next to me among some flowers. I was alone in the room besides a lump in the bed next to mine (a person?). The room looked nothing like the semi-friendly work place of Madam Pomfrey. Why was I here?

Oh, Right. The guys are amimungi. Remus is a werewolf. Rem… bit me. Oh my gosh. Am I a werewolf?!

I needed answers. Fast. Or I was going to freak. Actually, it was a bit too late for that. "Hello? Is there anyone who can hear me? Hello!"

The lump moved. It sat up, and was revealed to be a little boy, about ten years old. "Are you okay? Why are you yelling? What`s wrong?" His eyes were wide with terror and confusion, and I realized I must look like a crazed, ragged ghost, trailing wires as I sat up. Also, the jolt of movement sparked a wave of worse agony from my mummy of an appendage.

"Sorry, I didn`t mean to scare you, but do you know where we are?"

"We are on the first floor of St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. I`ve been here for three days now. You got here yesterday night. I was kinda wondering if you were alive or not, `cause you`ve been laying motionless for a long time. What happened to your arm, is it really…?"

I shifted uncomfortably, trying my best to keep the kid`s question, and the searing pain in my arm, from getting me to crack. "Huh. Last night?" If felt like she`d been sleeping for ages. "What`s your name anyway? Mine`s Matilda, but unless you`re the ghost of my mum, you can call me Mattie."

"I`m Ricky, regrettably not a ghost or your mum. My older brother sent home an enchanted textbook from school about monsters that bit me, and my mom freaked out and sent me here just in case. The only reason I`m still here is that she convinced the healers the book was not enchanted, but alive. So they`ve been testing for all sorts of muggle and wizard diseases, curses and stuff, but they told me I can go home tonight."

Attempting to sit up again, I brushed back the black bedhead mane out of my face. "You're going home tonight? Well, great news. So am I."

"Really? You just woke up, you can`t know that."

"Oh, I think I can…" I winked. "I`m going back to school, because I'm awake, and I feel fine. My arm can heal at school, and I`ve got a quiddich match coming up that I am not going to miss because a little bit of excess liquid won`t stop gushing out of my arm."

Ricky `s eyes widened. "I heard you got bit by a creature in the forbidden forest! One of the healers said it looked like a werewolf bite!"

"That`s ridiculous. I was trying to find a kneazle in the forest for Care Of Magical Creatures extra credit…"

"Is a kneazle like a niffer?"

I couldn`t help but recoil in abhorrence. "Ugh, no. Niffers are crazed hedgehogs, to the point of almost bloodthirstiness. Kneazles are like cats, sort of. Anyway, I heard something behind me, and accidently jinxed a fox in self-defense, which provoked it into biting me...Speaking of, is there any way I could talk to the healers? I feel fine."

Ricky bit his lip thoughtfully, which seemed startlingly familiar…Almost like something Lily once described to that I get when I'm planning. Right before the strike of brilliance. "Well, the quickest way to get healers to respond and get in here is…" He grinned evilly. This kid was really beginning to remind me of myself. "…Dying."

"So I just stop my heart." I got what he meant now. The kid is a genius.

I pulled off the little wires recording my heartbeats. Good `ol muggle technology.

Two healers rushed into the room. "Is she…oh, you`re awake!"

I sat attentively and attempted to look as healthy and normal as humanly possible, ignoring the jarring sting and profuse bleeding I had inhibited with motion. "Can I go back to school now? I feel fine. Plus, my arm can heal at school. Madam Pomfrey can handle it, she`s good with that sort of thing."

They looked hesitantly at each other. "Your arm is healing faster than we`d originally thought it would, considering it`s a cursed wound and all. Are you sure you feel up to it?" I nodded, hoping they wouldn`t remember I`d only just regained consciousness. "Hmm, I suppose so, since Poppy has treated worse successfully. What do you think, Amos?"

The shorter, stouter healer thought for a moment before replying "Well, I`ll contact Dumbledore, but it should be alright…"

I leaped out of bed, in part to prove my health and also in part to wake myself up. "Thank you! Thanks so much!" turning to Ricky, beaming, I saw he was regarding this with a delighted curiosity. "We`ll both get out tonight! I`ll send you an owl when I get to school, I promise!"

Ricky jumped up too. "You will? Really? My brothers never send me anything, no letters or even cards at Christmas…besides cursed textbooks, that is. I`m going to Hogwarts next year, my birthday`s in May. My brother Fabian` s in Ravenclaw and Aiden is in Hufflepuff, but personally I feel like more of a Gryffindor! My little brother is seven, but I think he takes after Fabian more than anyone else; it might be too soon to tell, though. "

Grinning, I couldn`t help but wish I could trade one of my brothers for this kid. "I should have known you were a lion. Gryffindor`s are the best, I would know, after six years of first-hand experience. My three brothers were in it too, but they graduated a bunch of years back. I think I know Fabian… he`s a sixth year, right? Fabian Macmillan?"

Ricky smiled ear to ear. "That's him!"

"He wasn't the textbook sender, right? I could beat him up for you, if it was."

"Nah, it was Aiden, and he probably already got an earful of a howler from my mum. Thanks for the offer."

The healers began to insist we quiet down, lecturing us about disturbing the peace while guiding us back to the beds.


Several hours later, after Ricky and I had parted on the promise of writing each other soon, I was stepping out of the fireplace in Dumbledore`s office.

"Thanks for getting me back, Professor, I really appreciate it. I have to go catch up on my homework now, so…"

The Professor`s eyes twinkled. "I`m sure Miss Melody Williamson and the others can wait a bit longer before you surprise her. I need to talk to you about something first. What happened the night of your accent?"

I am NOT giving away Remus` secret. He`s my friend. But I also couldn`t feed him the bogus line about extra credit, since he would see through that in an instant. "I snuck into the forbidden forest on a dare, and I thought I heard one of my friends following me. So I sort of zapped in the general direction, and it turned out to be a fox, which bit me. I managed drag myself up to the castle and knock on the door before I passed out from loss of blood."

Dumbledore chuckled. "How loyal of you to stand by your friend Mr. Lupin, even after he bit you."

Before I could protest or lie more, he cut me off. "Miss Bell, I know about Mr. Lupin`s lycanthropy, and I am aware about the conditions under which you were bitten. And I am sure you are probably wondering if you have become a werewolf too."

I stood staring at him, amazed. Wow, he`s good.

"The test results came in this morning. You`re completely lycanthropy-free."

"But… how? He bit me."

"True. But you were wearing a long-sleeved cloak. Remus` teeth pierced skin, but the saliva never touched you, or had the chance to mix with your blood, since it had not yet soaked through your cloak. Had your cloak ripped, you would almost certainly be a werewolf, but luckily for you, you had a very sturdy sleeve. Madam Manlkin used very good fabric."

"Thank you, Professor Dumbledore. I`m sorry for going out of the castle at night without permission." I chose my words carefully, not revealing any crimes he might not be aware of.

"Your very welcome, Matilda, but I`m afraid I must deduct fifty points from your house nonetheless. You may go now. I expect all of your classmates have returned from their last classes by now."

I beamed and walked briskly out of his office, before he could possibly worsen my sentence further. Breaking out in a run halfway to the Fat Lady, I could hardly contain the rebellious excitement from bubbling up in my voice when I finally reached the portrait. "Troll`s blood!"

After giving me an inquiring look, the Fat Lady decided it was better not to ask where I had been, and opened with only an elevated eyebrow.

The common room was a quiet roar of discussion, crammed full of almost all Gryffindors in the school. Lily, Alice, Mary, and Melody had snagged some seats by the fire, and were playing Exploding Snap with the Marauders. I discreetly shut the portrait behind me, but just as I was about to plot my triumphant return, a loud explosion erupted from over by my friends, where Peter had accidently set Mary`s skirt on fire. Lily managed to get the flames out quick enough, but not before I let out a shout of fear, and James met my eyes across the room. I saw his mouth move, unable to make out the words, and then watched as one by one, my friends all turned around, the Marauders and Lily going silent and slack jawed. As I crossed the crowd to join them, my roommates, James, and Pete beamed madly with apparent mirth and surprise, while Remus and Sirius, equally amazed, and drew back with wide eyes as if I was an illusion.

It wasn`t the entrance I would have chosen, but it would have to do.

Putting a hand on my hip, I felt a sly grin creeping across my face as I asked, "So, did anybody miss me?"