Disclaimer: I now own a large collection of bruises, but sadly they are not from fighting over the rights to Harry Potter.

Chapter 4

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The next morning Harry woke when Madam Pomfrey stopped by to check his bandages around eight thirty. When he jumped up at the unexpected contact she held him down and softly murmured, "Good morning Mister Potter. Your friends aren't quite awake yet." He blinked up at her blurry figure and nodded before sitting up quietly.

He fumbled a moment to find his glasses before the mediwitch took pity on him and handed them to him with a small wistful smile. With the enhanced senses he'd be gaining he might not be blindly groping for the lenses much longer. But she'd let him discover that on his own.

"Sit up straight and hold still dear," she commanded as she began unwrapping the red stained bandages. Snapping to attention the boy did as she asked and watched in fascination as she inspected the bite mark again. He had to blink and take a closer look, earning another admonition to sit straight, as it looked vastly different from the wound last night. Some of the smaller holes and closed and now only looked red and puffy with scar tissue. The rest were well on their way to being mostly healed as well.

"Is..is it normal for it to heal that fast, Madam Pomfrey?" He watched her face turn grim from memories of other werewolves she'd treated.

Nodding, she replied, "Yes, Mister Potter. As the curse spreads you can expect your ability to heal to greatly increase, as well as your other senses. I would recommend speaking with either Professor Lupin or another lycanthrope to learn what to expect. I have heard that some of the changes can be quite overwhelming at first."

Harry squirmed rather uncomfortably at this. It would be extremely interesting to learn about what new abilities he could expect, however the thought of facing Professor Lupin so soon was a daunting one. It was likely to be a very uncomfortable meeting for all involved. So he only nodded and murmured another 'Yes, Madam' and let her get on with her work.

It was close to nine by the time she was done and by then a thoughtful house elf had dropped off some food for the three children. The smell of bacon, eggs and toast roused Ron, who sat up and groaned as he stretched out. The food was his sole focus at first and he eagerly helped himself to the tray to the side of his bed.

Harry watched amused with his chin propped up on his hands as his friend proceeded to inhale everything on his plate before going back for seconds. The fuss woke Hermione, who woke with a bit more grace than the red head. She shot the boy a dark scowl as he ate with no manners whatsoever and folded her arms as she eyed his plate with all the annoyance she could muster this soon after waking up.

"Really Ronald! You act like you're starving! You ate a full dinner last night so slow down!" The witch huffed at him as he responded with a one shoulder shrug as he munched on a piece of toast with jam.

"S'okay 'Mione," he slurred through a full mouth, much more awake now. Swallowing with a bit of difficulty he smiled, revealing the food still in his mouth, "I'm a growing boy! I need this!"

Harry snorted and Hermione jumped, "I think she might be right mate. Merlin, I hope I don't look like that when I eat." He smiled as his teasing got the other boy to scowl at him and wave a hand irritatedly in the air, "Ah bugger off, Harry!"

Harry just smiled and started counting in his head, curious to see how long it would take Ron to realize. Hermione was already casting him furtive glances as she bit her lip, unsure what to say.

As it was Harry got to twenty before Ron gasped and they were all treated to another sight of his half chewed food. "Harry! You're awake!"

Harry shook his head, "Been awake, Ron. Madam Pomfrey's already been and gone this morning to check on us. She just changed my bandages." He got a little quieter at the end of his reply and Hermione had to fight from tearing up again. There was an uncomfortable silence in the room for all of three seconds before Ron handled the situation with subtle tact and the correct amount of gentleness.

That is to say he handled it with the tact Snape usually handled Neville's difficulty with potions; that is to say, not at all.

"MERLIN Harry! You're a WEREWOLF!" He practically yelled as the toast fell from his hands to land butter side down on the sheets as he gaped at the dark haired boy.

"RONALD WEASLEY!" Hermione roared as she threw her pillows at him. "I thought we talked about this last night!" He yelped and tried to dodge as well as his leg allowed, spilling blankets and food across the foot of the bed.

"Jeez, Hermione!" He covered his head as she ran out of pillows and reached for her shoes on the floor, "Blimey, Harry! She's gone mad!"

Hermione continued to tell Ron exactly what she thought of his intelligence, punctuating her words with blunt objects. It was really rather impressive, Harry thought.

A moment more and he couldn't help it as he began to laugh uproariously at the scene before him. It was too funny, and he was too relieved, to do more than fall back on his pillows and laugh until his sides were sore and he was holding his injured shoulder. Muttering 'ow' between giggles he sat back up and took off his glasses to wipe his watering eyes. When he'd calmed down enough to look at them Harry found his friends both just sitting and watching him. Ron had a look that showed he was wondering about the boy's sanity at the moment.

Still laughing softly Harry shook his head, grinning at the two of them, "Thanks you guys, I needed that." He couldn't have stopped the smile if he'd tried. They hadn't run away screaming or turned from him. Ron was obviously still in shock about the whole thing, and Hermione was probably blaming the whole issue on herself, but they were still his friends after all.

Harry rubbed his glasses with the bottom of his borrowed pajamas to clean them up before slipping them on. Sitting back as much as his shoulder would allow he watched Hermione carefully. Ron, he knew, would probably have a harder time getting over the fact that he was now no longer strictly human, however Hermione was likely to blame it all on herself.

Tears were gathering in her eyes as she looked back into her friends green eyes. Just as she took a breath to start a tearful apology he cut her off.

"Don't, Hermione. You don't need to say anything." But as it looked like she was going to ignore him he growled out, not unkindly, "Really. I don't care how smart you are, you couldn't have know this would happen. It was worth it to me."

She startled a little at his firm tone, but knowing how stubborn he could be wasn't going to try and push it right now. She ducked to hide her face under bushy hair and nodded.

"Alright…I'll try not to think about it."

He smiled over at her, "That's all I ask. Besides," he grinned as she looked back at him, "we need to not to be worrying about it so you can focus on teacher yourself and Ron how to be unregistered animagi's."
At the thought of all the rules, not to mention laws, that would be breaking she puffed up to her normal stature.

"Harry! We'd be breaking about twelve different school rules! Not to mention the laws on-"

"Wicked!" Ron interjected with a huge grin, effectively shutting her up. "Wonder what I'd be? Maybe a dog like your godfather? Hermione's obviously an owl, that's the only thing that would make-ow!"

The shoe hitting his shoulder made him stop to glare at her and mutter under his breath about touchy girls.

"Sirius could help out, give you two pointers about it and such. You'd also get to study advanced transfiguration," he held that out to her and saw the corner of her mouth twitch a little. Knowing he'd caught her he continued on a little quieter, "Plus It'd be nice not to be alone during the full moon…"

Hermione tried, but there was no way she could deny that hopeful face when it was turned on her. With a sigh she nodded, "…fine. But the moment we're of age we're going to register!"

Ron and Harry shared a grin over the top of her head.

So the three of them settled in for a long day in the infirmary, unaware of the black clad disruption headed towards them right then.

A/N's: These an's will be slightly longer today.

Last friday I almost died. I was walking on campus when all of the sudden I couldn't breath right, had pain in my chest, and started to pass out. I got a ride to the ER from my mom and we found out that I had more than twenty blood clots in both my lungs. This weekend has been one of the scariest experiences of my life. They let me out of the hospital monday afternoon with strict orders to stay home and stay quiet for the next two weeks. Luckily with a careful regimen of medication and rest I'll be okay. Sadly I'm missing finals, but happily I have plenty of time and inspiration to write! So expect more from me soon!

Reviews take the edge off of the boredom!