If you're still reading, awesome! I hope you understand that this isn't just another story where Harry becomes a werewolf and struggles with it. Yes, he was bitten by a werewolf but I'm focusing on what he does about it but it will not be the main plot point; it was simply a required action for something later on that cannot happen if Harry is not a werewolf.
Once again, I'd like to thank everyone for their kind reviews and I hope to have a new chapter up soon.
There wasn't as much excitement about going back to Hogwarts as there had been in September. knew it was because there wasn't as much mystery about what would happen when he got there. He was excited to get back to school and start with his usual routine but today he just felt... Strange. His head ached and his leg felt sore.
Getting up that morning, Harry didn't get the chance to look at his leg because he had overslept and now he was rushing to gather his things so he could get to the train station in time. But even after he got up and for the first hour, he felt sluggish and tired. By the time Harry was fully awake and functioning, he was already on the Hogwarts express.
Harry and Severus were eating a couple chocolate cauldrons when he felt a pain from his calf and the bandage felt wet and sticky. Deciding to be polite, he excused himself saying he needed the toilet so he could examine the bite. But unfortunately the toilets were all taken, so Harry went into an empty compartment and rolled up his pant leg so he could take a look at the bite.
Eileen had given Harry some fresh bandages in case he needed them and he was extremely grateful that he had put them in his pants pocket and not his trunk before the wound was still bleeding. It wasn't bleeding as heavily as the previous night but it was still bleeding and he found this to be concerning.
"I just need a few minutes to... Oops, I'm sorry! Woah, what happened to you?"
Harry glanced up to find Remus Lupin staring at him with wide, concerned eyes. But it probably wasn't often you found someone bleeding profusely on the train and he could understand the concern. Ordinarily, he tried to hide these things but he was still a little bit too tired and feverish to be bothered. Besides, if he sent Remus away, he'd simply report his injury and Harry didn't feel like being hauled off to the Hospital Wing. If he was going to go to the Hospital Wing, it was going to be of his own accord.
"I got bitten last night by a dog in the woods. I still can't understand why it's still bleeding. Severus' mum put something on it and said it should be cleared up by this afternoon but it hasn't even stopped bleeding," Harry said, noticing that Remus' already pale face had somehow turned paler and his expression was clouded with worry and concern.
"You say that as though you weren't sure it was a dog. What did it look like?" Remus asked as he looked closer at Harry's bite mark.
"Um, it was strange, it looked... I'm not sure but like it was part dog, part wolf and part... human? I'm guessing it was a breeding experiment gone horribly wrong," Harry said with a shrug remembering how ugly and odd looking that dog had been. When he didn't think it was possible for Remus' face to get paler, somehow it did.
"Can I take a look?" Remus asked, hesitantly as though he was worried he was overstepping a personal boundary. Harry shrugged, feeling to feverish to even try arguing with the older boy. Remus looked at the would and back to him with an unreadable expression.
"I don't think potions will heal this. Do you have any bandages in your cabin?"
When Harry pulled the bandages from his pocket, Remus smiled and began rebandaging his wound. It seemed like Remus was quite used to doing this because it was obvious he knew what he was doing.
"You know something about this? Why wouldn't potions work?" Harry asked, noting the grave expression on Remus' face. It was like Remus had really bad news to break to him and wasn't sure how to go about doing it. At a closer glance, he could see that Remus was tired and sickly looking; his skin was slightly pale and his eyes seemed to glow with exhaustion. Harry wondered briefly how he was even functioning.
"I'm not 100 percent sure but I think..."
"Harry! There you are! Is that still bleeding?" Severus asked, walking into the compartment, his eyes wide with concern and worry.
"Yeah, it is. Remus thinks he might know why," Harry said, indicating for Severus to sit down while Remus worked on his leg. The situation felt tense and awkward, especially since Remus and Severus weren't friends but at least Remus got on with Severus better than James or Sirius. Severus and Harry both turned Remus who walked over to the compartment door and closed it before he sat down to finish Harry's bandage.
"Do you trust Severus? Because what I'm about to tell you is potentially life changing," Remus watched Severus with a careful expression. Harry glanced over to Severus and knew that he trusted him with details about his relatives and where he was from and what happened to his parents. Severus had remained loyal and respectful in regards to everything Harry had told him and he did trust him.
"Okay, like I said, I am not 100 percent sure but it sounds like you may have been bitten by a werewolf, Harry," Remus said the last part in a rush like he was just trying to get the words out of his mouth before he could change his mind. He seemed nervous about sharing this theory and Harry could understand why.
When Harry looked over to Severus, he was surprised to find that the boy wore a calculating expression and glanced periodically at Harry with more worry and concern than he had the previous night when he had seen his leg still raw and bleeding heavily on the couch. As crazy as the notion was, it seemed almost logical but was Harry ready to believe in the existence of werewolves?
"Last night was the full moon," Severus drawled out, staring at Harry as though he had an answer to whatever question was going through his mind.
"Werewolves actually exist?" Was all Harry was able to say because his mind had gone completely blank for a few seconds and for the first time felt every bit as dumb as the Dursleys told him he was.
"Yes but I don't know for sure. There really is only one way to know for sure and that is if you turn into a werewolf on the next full moon," Remus said slowly, watching Harry with a grave expression. Harry looked over to Severus, expecting to find some time of verification that Remus was joking or at the very least playing a cruel joke but there was no such expression.
"But... I... Why?" Harry stuttered, hating himself for not being able to say anything coherently but his mind was reeling at this possibility and the logical part of his brain was trying to dismiss the notion altogether.
"Look, Harry; it will be fine. I'm sure we can deal with this," Severus said, watching Harry with concern. "How do you feel?"
"Kind of...achy, sore and tired," Harry said, wondering what this had to with anything but when Severus and Remus shared a worried glance, Harry knew it was probably important. Harry looked between them, his heart starting to race with worry and fear.
"Hmm, you should get checked over by Madam Pomfrey later this evening. Werewolf bites do have that effect and if it is a werewolf bite you'll notice more symptoms as time goes by," Remus said, leaving Harry to wonder how he knew so much about the topic. His raised his eyebrow at Remus with a questioning expression and received a nervous smile. Severus must have caught his questioning glance because he soon gave Remus a questioning glance.
"How do you know so much about this?" Harry asked; he was sure he knew the answer to the question but he needed a confirmation in case he was wrong in his assumption.
"I've been a werewolf since I was little. But please don't tell anyone," Remus said, watching Harry and Severus with pleading eyes.
"If you don't tell anyone about Harry, we won't tell anyone about you," Severus said, his voice calm and even despite the fact that he was still watching him with wide, worried eyes. He wondered if he looked as flushed as he felt, was he visibly pale and sweaty? "But how have you hidden this from everyone?"
"I have made arrangements with Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore to get safely out of the castle and to a safe place each month," Remus said, with a frown. It was clear he didn't like having to sneak out of the castle and Harry wondered why he had to leave the castle at all. Couldn't Remus just go to a private room?
"Safely? Are you dangerous when you turn?" Harry asked.
Remus explained to Harry what happens during the full moon and how out of control they become. To keep him in the shrieking shack they had to put Wolfsbane around the door. The plant weakened Remus enough that he couldn't get within a certain distance of the door without collapsing. Remus explained that it was best for everyone because werewolves were aggressive and violent when they turned and would rip harm even their closest friends in that state.
Harry listened carefully and tried not to express the fear he felt but he must not have been doing a good job because Remus stopped talking and gave Harry a sympathetic glance.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," he said suddenly, bringing Harry out of his current train of thoughts. He didn't like feeling so out of control with his life. At least with the Dursleys, there were things he could do to make his life easier and bring down the chances of beating but there was nothing Harry could do about this. If he actually was becoming a werewolf, it would happen and nothing could be done to stop it or make it easier. "But you should go see Madam Pomfrey tonight. If I'm right about this, the bite could bring on high fever, trouble sleeping and other problems that can be treated."
Harry watched Remus with a careful expression; he was still hoping the older boys were going to burst out laughing and tell him they were joking. Because the idea of Severus and Remus coming up with such a scheming together seemed a lot more likely than what they were telling him. Unfortunately, it was obvious by the look in their eyes that this was not a joke.
"Yes, and you need to remember that we do not know for sure that it was actually a werewolf that got you," Remus said, noting the eleven-year-old seemed to grow paler and paler by the second.
"How 'sure' are you?" Harry asked, watching as Remus squirmed uncomfortably for a few seconds before letting out a small sigh.
"Based on your description, I'm about 85 percent sure."
That was a higher number than Harry was expecting. That meant he was convinced it was a werewolf bite but didn't want to say 100 percent on the freak chance that it actually wasn't. Well, of all things to happen, this was certainly the scariest things to have happened to him. How was it possible for one child to have such bad luck? His parents' deaths, getting stuck with the Dursleys, getting stuck in the past and now this? At this rate, Harry would be better off avoiding anything sharp, high and dangerous and maybe he will survive to the end of the year.
It was dark by the time the train pulled into Hogsmeade station. Instead of taking little boats over to the castle, all of the students were lead over to several carriages which seemed to move themselves towards the castle. The ride was actually quite peaceful and was a much-welcomed distraction. Remus had gone back to find his friends while telling them they could talk to him whenever either of them needed to. The invitation seemed sincere and Harry knew he'd be going to the older boy with questions in the near future.
"How are you doing? You haven't said a word since we got off the train?"
Severus' question was enough to pull Harry away from his thoughts of werewolves and other monsters. He had also begun thinking about other 'mythological' creatures that he'd been told didn't exist. Were there vampires? What about zombies, yetis and Santa Clause? So far the existence of magic, ghosts, and werewolves had been confirmed, so what else was true?
"I'm... fine."
Severus didn't seem convinced and raised his eyebrow to communicate to him that he wasn't buying it.
"I'm just trying to figure this out. It's a lot to deal with but you heard Remus; we aren't sure yet," Harry said with a sigh.
"Remus seemed pretty sure; I think we need to do some research and see what we can find about this," Severus said. Harry was intrigued with the idea of doing research on werewolves; if he could possibly become a werewolf, he wanted to know everything he could on the topic so he could deal with this.
The feast was wonderful but Harry didn't have much of an appetite and ended up eating very little food. Severus didn't even try to hide his concern as he watched the younger boy pick sadly at his food; he was simply too lost in thought to keep up the appearance that he was actually hungry.
When the feast was over, Harry and Severus made their way towards the hospital wing where Madam Pomfrey cast several spells and gave Harry a few potions to slow down the bleeding and reduce any effects until the bite healed enough on its own.
Before Harry and Severus left the hospital wing, he remembered something he had asked Remus but hadn't been given an answer.
"Why won't potions heal the bite completely?"
Madam Pomfrey, who was tidying up the bed Harry had been lying on, glance up quickly shrugged.
"Because werewolf bites are cursed injuries and cursed injuries can't be healed with magic and potions. They have to heal on their own."
Suddenly, Harry knew that Remus' 85 percent had been a 100 percent in disguise; an attempt to keep Harry from freaking out more than he had already been.