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Thorne

"I thought we agreed that it's a bad idea to discuss plans for the school's downfall in the library." Jacin grumbled.

"Well only members of our own houses can get into our dorms and we can't risk any of the staff walking in on us while we're talking in a secret passageway." Kai pointed out logically.

"Are you sure about that man?" Thorne asked him, "I've made many of my prank inventions in passageways, and never once gotten caught!"

Cinder shot him an incredulous look. "And you didn't mention this why?"

"I figured you guys already had a plan!"

There was a muffled smack as Cinder face palmed.

"Anyway, we're not going to be just hiding behind one of the bookshelves like last time." Kai said.

Jacin raised an eyebrow at him. "You do realise that's literally the only place you can hide in a library, right?"

"I meant in the normal sections!"

"So the Dark Section then?" Cinder confirmed.

Winter shuddered and hugged at her arms, as though a sudden chilly breeze had swept over her. "I don't like the Dark Section. I went into it once in my fourth year and it was flooded with blood."

Thorne shot Winter a look. Great, she was talking about blood again. He didn't know what was up with Winter's obsession with blood or why she seemed to think that it was all over the place. But hey, she's still the most beautiful girl in the school! As far as Thorne was concerned, that excused most of her weirdness. And she had a lot of weirdness.

"Nobody likes the Dark Section." Kai pointed out, "That's what makes it so perfect!"

""Perfect" isn't the word I would use." Iko muttered under her breath.

"I'm with Iko and Winter: that place is creepier than a dementor." Scarlet said.

Thorne glanced down at Cress, expecting her to make a nervous comment about the section of the library fully devoted to books on Dark magic. But she was quiet, one hand absently clenching at the air above her shoulder, where there used to be blonde hair. She'd been even more subdued lately, ever since Sybil cut her hair short. She'd even stopped singing in class while she worked. More than anything, Thorne missed listening to her lovely lilting voice. He'd been trying to engineer his latest invention solely for the purpose of punishing Sybil. He'd been working on it harder than he'd worked on any of his previous pranks. But he'd still made absolutely no progress. He'd ask Cress for help, since the girl's an absolute genius, but he didn't want her to get into any more trouble than she already had. Just the fact that she thought it was okay for Sybil to punish her like that… it was enough to make his blood boil.

But, though Thorne would never admit it out loud, he sort of liked the way Cress looked with short hair (which now framed her face in pretty waves, courtesy of Iko). In its previous state of practically-touching-the-floor longness, it was all he could really see about Cress. Now, with it greatly shortened, he felt like he was finally seeing her face. Which, as it turned out, was actually very beautiful. Sweet and heart-shaped, with a smattering of freckles across her nose. He already knew her eyes were blue, but now he could see that they were large as well, like they were permanently wide with wonder.

She was just… beautiful.

The Dark Section was (duh) dark, tucked away from any windows or lamps or any other sources of light. Some of the books appeared quite normal, like Moste Potente Potions, but others were wrapped up in thick iron chains, had claws and fangs embedded in the covers and some kind of dark stuff that looked suspiciously like the blood Winter was worrying about splattered on the edges of the pages. Students as young as first years were allowed inside, though most preferred to just flunk their tests than so much as touch a book from the Dark Section. Even Thorne, who knew for a fact that some of these books had defence mechanisms that would make for awesome pranks, didn't dare to check one out. It was terrifying, and gave off some seriously life-threatening vibes, but it was also empty. And that was all they needed.

"So what is this big important theory you have that demands we talk in by far the scariest place in the whole school?" Asked Iko as she edged away from a large volume that was steadily oozing some kind of mysterious black slime.

Kai cleared his throat and addressed the group. "Well, you all know I've been reading up on werewolves to try and figure out a way of getting rid of them, right?"

"Merlin's beard, you are a total bookworm." Thorne smirked.

"Shut up Carswell. Anyway, I found out that in the days leading up to and after the full moon, werewolves start becoming quite sickly. The full moon is only, like, four days away, and, well, Wolf hasn't exactly been in top form…"

Silence followed Kai's statement, broken only by the growling and hissing of the sinister books on the shelves around them. Scarlet was the first to shake off her shock and shot Kai a stubborn glare. "No. Wolf can't be a werewolf."

"He told Jacin and I that he used to live in a community that actually suffered from werewolf attacks." Kai retorted, "It's easily possible that he could've gotten bitten some time during his childhood."

"The guy is scared of werewolves! Remember his boggart?"

Iko raised a finger. "I do! And I also remember that it had green eyes and brown hair, just like him, and even was around the same height and build."

Thorne cocked his head to one side. "Come to think of it, didn't that werewolf we saw have green eyes? And it even acted a bit like Wolf too." He sniggered. "Especially when Kai brought up that werewolves can have cubs."

Scarlet tossed her hands in the air with frustration. "Fine! Let's assume that Kai's right and that Wolf is, in fact, a werewolf. What exactly can we do with this information? You guys said yourselves, that werewolf you saw was only helpful up to a point, and it's not like we can just walk up to him and start asking questions about the school's werewolf-plot. They aren't exactly the most popular creatures in the wizarding world."

"And with good reason." Jacin muttered under his breath.

Scarlet kicked him in the shin. "My point is, Wolf's not going to just up and admit to being a werewolf."

"So… we need more evidence." Kai clarified.

"Yes, because all this stuff we have now is actually circumstantial."

Thorne rubbed his hands together. "That should be easy enough! Like Kai said, the full moon's going to be here in no time flat! We just have to catch him transforming into a lupine monster! Easy!"

Jacin shot him a look. "You do realise he'll probably try and kill us, right?"

"He'll have probably taken that potion Kai mentioned that keeps werewolves sane."

"Thorne, Wolfsbane potion is ridiculously hard to make, and Wolf's not so hot at potions." Kai deadpanned.

Thorne waved a dismissive hand. "Ah, the school'll probably supply it for him."

Cinder sighed. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but Thorne's sort of right. The most solid evidence we can gather is actually seeing him turn into a werewolf. I'm not exactly happy about it, since he'd probably eat us alive if we were anywhere near him when he transforms, but it's our best shot."

Kai nodded. "It'll have to be either me or Jacin, since we're the only Regolith's here and the only people who will know if Wolf leaving his room."

"I'll do it." Jacin volunteered, "I've got the highest chance of actually surviving an encounter with a werewolf."

A wail tore itself out of Winter's throat and she latched onto Jacin's arm. "Jacin, no! You'll die! I don't want to see your blood pouring out from your Wolf-friend's teeth!"

Thorne blinked at her. What?

Jacin smiled down at her fondly. "You won't have to Trouble. I promise I'll be careful."

Winter whimpered and pressed her face into his bicep.

"You'll want to bring a mixture of silver and dittany." Thorne jumped with shock as Cress quietly spoke. "It's the only thing that closes wounds inflicted by a werewolf."

Jacin nodded. "Thanks Cress."

Grinning, Thorne slung one arm around Cress's small shoulders. "There's the genius we know and love."

Her cheeks flushed strawberry red and Thorne's grin widened.

A/N: Cresswell lovers, rejoice! There was a nice chunk of it here!

Kai's theory is revealed, and Jacin's stuck with testing it. Will he survive? Is Kai's theory true? What is Thorne's plan for revenge on Sybil?

Please review!