Jaecyn panted slightly as she carried the injured Gryffindor through the halls. The two girls had yet to speak to one another. Finally the two burst through the doors of the Hospital Wing and Jaecyn sighed in relief.

"Pomfrey" she called out sharply while depositing Ron upon one of the beds. "Pomfrey, wake up!" The older witch burst from her office dressed in a nightgown. Ignoring the nurse's protests Jaecyn nodded towards the redhead, "The boy Pomfrey, him first."

Nodding, the gentle witch set to taking Ron's vitals. With quick flicks of her wand Pomfrey wrapped the boy's leg tightly and kept it elevated. Shaking her head slightly the witch placed a bandage upon the redhead's forehead as his breathing leveled off into a much deeper sleep.

Jaecyn stiffened as the stern matron turned sharply to her, "I'm fine, just a few scratches."

Snorting disbelievingly the older witch raised an eyebrow before restoring light to within the room.

"Jaecyn!" Hermione screeched. "A few scratches, are you insane?!"

The littlest Black shrugged as she glanced down. Her black tank had been thoroughly shredded, along with the flesh beneath. The originally dark jeans were painted red with her blood, and also torn. Scratching the back of her neck Jaecyn rolled her shoulders, "I don't feel it."

Pomfrey was not amused, "That's because they're already healing young one. Mind telling me what happened this time?" Prodding a finger into the dark girl's shoulder the nurse forced the Slytherin to take a seat.

Jaecyn rubbed furiously at her eyes, "Nothing new, Lupin got a little out of hand tonight. I'll be fine in a few weeks."

Chuckling wryly the older witch began to wrap the girl's wounds, "A little, young one? Seems like he ripped you apart this time, did the potion not work tonight?"

The fifth year sighed, "Remus neglected to take it, had more pressing matters to deal with. And trust me, he looks worse than I do." Wincing, Jaecyn looked up at the somber witch, "Do you still have some of my extra clothes Poppy? These need to go."

Nodding, and with a flick of her wand sealed off the bandages. Walking briskly into her office, the matron returned minutes later with a bundle of clothes. Hermione glanced away as Jaecyn changed into a simple tank top and sweatpants. Wincing slightly the brunette whimpered as the nurse cleaned the scrapes on her face.

Sighing, Jaecyn removed her shoes as well, placing all the ragged clothes in the waste basket. Sitting on the bed once again she looked up at the younger girl, "So-"

Hermione pushed Poppy away, "Don't you 'so' me Jaecyn Black. What the hell was that!" Throwing her hands up the matron left the two younger witches in peace.

Jaecyn winced and decided to play dumb, "What was what?"

Furious, Hermione punched the taller girl in the shoulder, "Why didn't you tell us! A lycan Jaecyn!" she screeched. "You're a lycan and you didn't tell us?"

Standing up, her temper flaring Jaecyn got within inches of the brunette. "And what Hermione? Tell you what I've only told a handful of people, my entire life?"

Tilting her head Jaecyn chuckled darkly, "Fine then little Gryffindor, I'm a monster. Was born one, and will always be one. Cursed since birth to bare the blood of my ancestors."

Hermione quieted then, and looked at the dark girl before her. Finally looked, and saw what she had missed. Jaecyn was beautiful, no one could deny that. But Hermione saw past the strong jaw, high cheekbones, and striking eyes. To the wolf's features beneath. The pointed ears, sharpened canines, and arched eyebrows. But most importantly the Gryffindor saw the pain behind the beautiful features. The pain beneath bravado, pain that tore apart the woman before her.

"Is that really what you believe?" she asked softly. "That you're a monster?"

Jaecyn laughed manically, "Do you really need me to answer that Hermione? You saw tonight for yourself how much of a savage I am."

Raising a hand Hermione stroked the taller girl's cheek, wiping the lone tear. "I didn't see a monster tonight Jaecyn. I saw a beautiful creature that put herself between a crazed werewolf, and her friends. But most importantly I see you Jaecyn, a kind, brave, fearless girl. Why does this gift haunt you so?"

The Black tensed and turned from the warm touch, "You don't want to know."

At the girl's further reluctance Hermione bristled once more, "Why won't you open up to me Jaecyn? Why can't you trust me? I want to know, Jaecyn Black so tell me."

Turning swiftly the taller girl forced Hermione backwards, up against the wall to intimidate her. Hands on either side of the brunette's head Jaecyn hissed, "Fine Granger, if you insist. What do you want to know?"

"What are you?" Hermione whispered.

Jaecyn glanced away from warm brown eyes, to the floor, "An abomination. A breed sparked from ancient lines from long ago. A lycan" she spat. "A wolf, a shape shifter, a monster."

Hermione shook her head at the older girl, "Why do you believe that?"

Sighing the Black looked up, "I didn't always, Lupin raised me to love who I am. But than last year happened-" she broke off into a whisper.

"Go on," the Gryffindor urged. "I'm here Jaecyn, I won't leave. Tell me."

Slumping even further the lycan seemed defeated, "It was two Augusts ago, I was alone. Remus was out of the house on auror business. They came late at night, utterly destroyed our home." Jaecyn chuckled sadly, "I was working out in the basement, I didn't have my wand. How many times Remus told me to always have it, and I didn't."

Hermione looked into tear filled eyes and almost broke. Instead she sighed and placed her palm against the Slytherin's cheek.

Leaning into the warm touch Jaecyn continued, "When Remus returned home the door had been ripped off it's hinges. The entire house was ransacked, and I was gone. They searched for weeks, months even, but couldn't find a trace. All I knew was pain, months of pain that dragged by so slowly if felt like years. You heard Sirius tonight, my father was Marius Black. But my mother, Isla Peverell was a lycan. One of the last purebred to live, and it cursed me. A half breed, to be scorned by both sides. Not fully a witch, and not fully a lycan. The men that took me, hated us. Lycans that is, wanted to wipe them from the face of the earth."

Silent tears streamed down Hermione's cheeks as she listened. Pulling the taller girl towards her, she buried her face into the lycan's neck.

Placing a kiss onto the distraught girl's head Jaecyn continued, "They wanted to discover our weakness. Months they only tortured me physically, but it was their words that hurt. They continuously tore down my faith in my blood, and ripped my soul apart. But that wasn't enough, I believe you remember the day Lupin taught about Boggarts?"

At the slight nod of the younger girl Jaecyn sighed, "My greatest fear is of myself. Not of the physical harm those men placed upon my body, but of the cruelest thing imaginable. They'd fully believed they had discovered most everything that could harm me. And they had really, you've seen the evidence. Lycans do not scar easily, due to having accelerated healing." Jaecyn sighed, "But they hadn't finished. They wanted me to suffer, and so I did."

Hermione shook with tears, but she raised her head. "They stole your mind" she whispered painfully.

Jaecyn swallowed thickly, but nodded. "The last thing I had they took. It took them weeks but they found the spells to do it. My sanity was ripped from me, but I was still present. I was hollow, a shell of what I was, my mind completely gone. It was the worst torture I have ever experienced, and it broke me."

Looking up Hermione moved her thumb across the girl's cheek, "How did you escape?"

"In my state of mind," Jaecyn paused to breathe deeply. "I was unstable, and when they returned to physical torture my mind lapsed. It couldn't withstand the pain, and so my body tried to preserve itself. My wolf was forced out, and I killed them. Ripped them to pieces, and tore out of my prison. I wandered for days, never shifting back to my human form. After a week I collapsed from exhaustion in a farmer's field. Thank god it was a wizard's property or I would have been killed."

Smiling softly Jaecyn continued, "Remus had plastered the news of my disappearance far and wide with the help of the ministry. The wizard recognized me, and tried to help."

Hermione held the girl tight as a shudder racked the older witch, "What, what happened?"

"Lupin scarcely got there in time," Jaecyn explained. "You saw Remus tonight, completely infused with bloodlust, intent on murder. I had woken up, and the first thing I saw was that man. Remus broke through the door just as I had lifted the wizard off his feet." The fifth year chuckled, "His stun was so strong it blasted me through the window, but it worked. That was sometime during January that Remus found me. My body repaired itself rather quickly, but my mind was lost. Remus was devastated, he believed I couldn't be rehabilitated."

Hermione gasped, "They were going to kill you? That's horrible!"

Jaecyn shook her head sadly, "It was for the best, I was dangerous."

"But it wasn't your fault!" the brunette raged. "How could Lupin even think that?"

The Black tightened her grip on the angry girl, her own eyes turning to ice. "Remus was making the right decision, I have no anger for him. You must understand Hermione. I am not a werewolf that loses its mind for a few days before returning to normal. I was an extremely powerful, and dangerous supernatural being, without its mind. But Dumbledore disagreed with the Ministry and my godfather, I owe him my life. He delved into deep magicks, and was able to free me. And here I am now, completely tainted and broken."

Grasping the Slytherin's face, Hermione forced the girl to lock eyes. "I don't believe you. You aren't broken Jaecyn Black, and are the farthest from a monster. The men that did that to you, they're the monsters. You are nothing but kind, and pure. Don't let what they did taint the image you have of yourself. The power that your blood gives you is not a curse, but a gift. And it's how you use it that makes you worthwhile."

Jaecyn could only stare. Here was this girl, so much younger than Jaecyn herself, and she'd broken through the fifth year's walls. Tears slipped down her cheeks as Jaecyn smiled. Wrapping her arms around the smaller girl Jaecyn finally began the first steps to finally forgiving herself.

Only to be interrupted when the doors burst open.