A/N: Thanks to Nemo for the suggestions on these stories. means a vision. I apologize for the length of time I took getting this posted. I've started driving recently and have several plans to keep. Thanks for sticking with it and thanks to Netshark, WolfieTwin1, Amethyst, Skyeth, Onion, etc. for reviewing.
Disclaimer: Standard. No infringement on copyright intended.
It's dark. I lean back, breathing hard. I can't see a thing, but I feel cold and wet. And I know they're coming for me. They're coming to destroy me. And they'll kill everybody I love.
The faces fly past in front of me. Ron, eyes wide and scared, biting his lip, Hermione, drawn and pale, Harry, trying almost bitterly to be brave, Ginger, pale and scared...I shudder deeply, trying to break the bonds that keep me bound to the wall. Somebody is screaming out of pain beside me. And I know they are coming.
Although he felt the chair beneath him and the air was warmer than it had been for years, the room held an icy chill. The vision flashed before his eyes, flickering in and out. He was in the Common Room. Ginger was in a chair nearby, curled around a book. She glanced up when Wolf's breath started to come in ragged pants and started to say something. But Wolf shot out of his chair and tore out of the room.
He lay gasping for breath under the canopy of his large bed, staring straight up. His green eyes, however, saw nothing but darkness. He was fully awake, but he just wasn't paying attention to anything.
"Wolf?" Harry came into the dormitory, glancing around for Wolf's roommates. "Wolf?" Wolf rolled over and climbed out through the drapes. "Oh, good. There you are. Ginger was really worried when you stormed out of the room like that. Why?"
"I saw a vision that I don't want to come true." Wolf ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out and dug through his trunk for a clean shirt and a nicer pair of jeans. All he came up with was his white "Big Dogs" (his aunt from America had sent it to him) shirt, and jeans that were pretty baggy with only a small hole in the knee. "I'm gonna go to Hogsmeade now. I've gotta pick up something at one of the shops there. I don't really want to talk to anybody right now."
"Okay, I'll give you some space." Harry left, but not until he tossed Wolf a curious glance. Wolf shuddered once as a moment from the terrible vision replayed itself and pulled on the fresh shirt. Wrinkling his nose at the smell of the shirt he'd just had on, he refreshed his deodorant and changed his jeans as well. Pausing only to pull on his tattered sneakers, he wet a comb and ran it through his hair.
The vision flashed briefly before his eyes as his hand touched the cool metal doorknob and he burst into a new spasm of shuddering that left him weak. But he knew the action that he needed to take. He needed to get out of Hogwarts and divert the danger from everybody. Something bad was coming and everybody was completely oblivious. With two weeks left of term, everybody was in a state of bliss and ignorance. Wolf had seen terrible things in his flash of a vision. Terrible things that revolved around him. Things that could hurt his friends. Things that could kill him.
"What do I do?" he muttered to himself, backing away from the doorway and sitting on the edge of his bed. Out of habit, he pulled out the Marauder's Map.
There. The Shrieking Shack. He'd pack, then slip out late at night and run to the Shrieking Shack and use floo powder from there to stay at the Werewolf Hall. Nobody would suspect it, because nobody knew about it. Not even Ginger, who knew almost everything about Wolf except for his werewolf problem.
Dinner and late evening passed way too slowly for Wolf, jittery from the vision he'd received. He couldn't explain it to himself - it was dark and scary and it held a sense of foreboding fear. He knew that it would hurt Hogwarts, shatter the very foundation of the castle, and he had to get away from it. He had to draw it away from the others as well.
That night, while he listened to the others slowly fall asleep around him, Wolf thought about what the vision meant. Why was he cold and wet in the vision and chained to a wall? Who could possibly want to do that to him. Suddenly, the icy name blew itself across Wolf's seething mind.
Voldemort.
Wolf was friends with Harry and he was part of a political mission that could change the fate of werewolves forever. He would be the perfect target for somebody like Voldemort. His palms began to sweat and he shifted restlessly before finally sitting up and glancing at his watch. He had to leave now. Moving slowly as not to wake his roommates, he pulled his bag out from under the bed, slung it gently onto his shoulder, and sneaked to the door and out into the Common Room.
Once he was down the stairs from the dormitories, he pulled out the Marauder's Map, so helpful in helping the others become Animagi. Hermione was sleeping, Ron and Harry were sleeping...Ginger wasn't on her bed...Wolf glanced up sharply when he realized the minuscule figure on the map was slung across the couch. Sure enough, there was Ginger, Potions book lying on the floor beside her. "Mischief managed," he muttered to the map, tapping it once. It went blank.
Wolf crept over to where Ginger was stretched serenely across the couch and picked up the blanket on the floor next to her. Pausing only to spread it over her gently, he crept to the portrait hole.
"Going somewhere?"
Wolf spun on his heel to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing at the foot of the stairs. His mind blanked. "I was, ah..."
"Running away? Really, Wolf, we would have thought you'd passed that stage by now," Hermione said, with an amused grin.
"It's not a phase," Wolf said. "I - ah, I mean - oh, sod it." He sighed and flopped back into a chair. "I saw a vision today. It scared me because all of you are in danger. I need to get out to the Shrieking Shack to talk to Lupin."
"Lupin's staying at the Shrieking Shack?" Ron asked, looking slightly alarmed.
"No, I need to use the floo powder from there. There's no fire here," Wolf said, gesturing at the ashes in the fireplace. Hermione smilingly rolled her eyes and pointed her wand at the fireplace. A fire shot up. "I forgot about that spell."
"Most people do. Let's go."
Wolf stopped them by standing up and shaking his head. "I must go alone. They won't let anybody but werewolves into Werewolf Hall."
"No, you're not leaving yet anyway. First, you're going to explain about your vision." Another voice startled them and everybody turned to see Ginger sitting up on the couch, brushing both hands through her wavy hair to tame it out a bit. She didn't look like the sort that wanted to be compromised with.
Between the four of them, the small group managed to pry the details of the vision from an unwilling Wolf, who protested at every question. When they were done, an hour had passed and everybody was starting to look worried. Wolf, being quietly sullen, sat up and said, "Can I go now?"
Suddenly, all movement in the room stopped as the Portrait Hole crept open. Every head turned as a silvery blond head emerged. "Malfoy? How'd you get the password?"
"Ten Galleons will get you anything. Take them all out, real quiet-like," Malfoy said to the figures behind him, swaggering confidently into the room.
"I'll call McGonagall," Hermione warned. The figures paused. "I swear I will!"
"If you want your friend to live, you won't." Malfoy turned and clapped his hands twice and Crabbe and Goyle entered, dragging a bound and gagged redheaded boy between them. "I believe this to be Rex Donald, a third-year Ravenclaw and a good friend of Ms. Ginger over there."
Rex widened his blue eyes at being in the Gryffindor Common Room. "What do you want with us?" Harry asked, clenching his fists. "You don't go barging into the enemy's Common Room at twelve thirty at night making senseless demands, do you?"
"No, I make completely logical ones. I want Wolf. He's worth 340 Galleons." Malfoy clapped again and Goyle and Crabbe aimed towards Wolf and Harry. Both boys dove away from the taller boys and jumped catlike onto the backs of chairs. Nodding to each other, they used the instant when Crabbe and Goyle turned their backs to tackle them. Wolf "ummphed". He felt like he'd hit a brick wall.
Hermione had taken this instant to whisper a spell. Crabbe and Goyle, afraid of the student wonder, back off in fear, letting Harry and Wolf fall to their knees. "Don't go out that fireplace, boy," Malfoy taunted as the group beat a hasty retreat. "They'll find out about you."
"Okay, that was rather pointless," Wolf muttered, dusting himself off. "Wonder who would want me gone for that much. And find out what about me?"
"Probably nobody." Hermione shrugged and picked up Ginger's Potions book. "But you might want to go to your dormitory now, Gin."
"No, I'll stay out here, thank you. I really don't want to deal with...never mind." Ginger stopped suddenly, a dark look coming onto her face. She bent to untie Rex, who had started to squirm while the group was talking. Wolf leapt over the couch to help her.
"Ian! He did this! He paid Malfoy to capture you, Wolf, so he could put a spell on you, Ginger! I was trying to find you two to tell you when my brother, Juan, told me!" Rex gasped as soon as they had undone the bonds that held the boy.
Wolf and Ginger swapped looks. "Ian?" they both muttered, eyes wide. Ginger finished. "Why would Ian want to do that?"
"I don't know! He's been possessed or something!" Rex leapt to his feet, vigorously rubbing at where the bonds had been on his ankles and wrists. With one hand, he swooped the last of his red hair out of his face. "He's been going crazy for weeks! He snapped on me a few minutes ago."
"I've got to get out of here," Wolf said suddenly. He straightened and walked towards the door. Suddenly, he stopped and saw that Ginger was leaning against the portrait, not permitting him to go anywhere. "Ginger, I've got to! I don't want any of you getting hurt because of me! Just let me go!"
"Go where?" Ginger challenged.
Wolf hung his head and Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked uneasy. "Ginger, I can't explain right now..." Wolf mumbled.
"NO! You explain or you stay here, get me?"
"Ginger, I -- "
"Do you get me or don't you?" Ginger asked, her eyes flashing. "Explain."
"Fine." Wolf sighed, ran both hands through his hair, and glanced at Ron for support. "Ginger, I'm not normal. I'm a...I'm a werewolf." When Ginger paused, not knowing what to say, he pushed past her and crawled out of the portrait hole, unable to hide the fact that his eyes were glittering from the close proximity of tears.
Nobody followed him to the Grand Hall, where he stood for a minute and pulled out the map. Ginger, Rex, Harry, and Ron were all in the Common Room still; Hermione was toying with the potion they'd recently moved to her dormitory. Wolf pulled out a flask of an invisibility potion he'd brewed and drank the bitter brew. Gagging to himself, he continued to the doors in the direction to Hagrid's hut, slowly fading from sight.
The trek to the Whomping Willow was moderately short and Wolf prodded the knot with a long stick, dodging and weaving to avoid the bashing branches. He followed the tunnel numbly, knowing deep inside of him that Ginger, his best friend, thought of him as a freak. He'd kept it from her for so long and she finally knew...but Wolf didn't feel free, like he had when Harry'd found out. He felt pulled down by some unseen chains that tugged at his wrist. With a mild shock, he realized that he climbing into the Shrieking Shack. The potion was starting to wear off as he built a grand fire.
"Werewolf Hall," he cried, tossing floo powder onto the fire. He stepped on and then was thrown into a roiling ride of spins and curves. He landed unsteadily in the Werewolf Hall's fireplace and stumbled to his feet. "Lupin? Where are you?"
The landing room was dark and cold, despite the roaring fire that Wolf crawled out of. He looked around for a short minute then set off at a trot to Lupin's office. The hollow sound of footsteps caught his ear and he whirled. "Who's there?"
Suddenly, a hand slapped over his mouth and he felt a cold metal sensation on his neck that could only mean one thing.
Somebody was holding a knife at his throat.
Disclaimer: Standard. No infringement on copyright intended.
It's dark. I lean back, breathing hard. I can't see a thing, but I feel cold and wet. And I know they're coming for me. They're coming to destroy me. And they'll kill everybody I love.
The faces fly past in front of me. Ron, eyes wide and scared, biting his lip, Hermione, drawn and pale, Harry, trying almost bitterly to be brave, Ginger, pale and scared...I shudder deeply, trying to break the bonds that keep me bound to the wall. Somebody is screaming out of pain beside me. And I know they are coming.
Although he felt the chair beneath him and the air was warmer than it had been for years, the room held an icy chill. The vision flashed before his eyes, flickering in and out. He was in the Common Room. Ginger was in a chair nearby, curled around a book. She glanced up when Wolf's breath started to come in ragged pants and started to say something. But Wolf shot out of his chair and tore out of the room.
He lay gasping for breath under the canopy of his large bed, staring straight up. His green eyes, however, saw nothing but darkness. He was fully awake, but he just wasn't paying attention to anything.
"Wolf?" Harry came into the dormitory, glancing around for Wolf's roommates. "Wolf?" Wolf rolled over and climbed out through the drapes. "Oh, good. There you are. Ginger was really worried when you stormed out of the room like that. Why?"
"I saw a vision that I don't want to come true." Wolf ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to straighten it out and dug through his trunk for a clean shirt and a nicer pair of jeans. All he came up with was his white "Big Dogs" (his aunt from America had sent it to him) shirt, and jeans that were pretty baggy with only a small hole in the knee. "I'm gonna go to Hogsmeade now. I've gotta pick up something at one of the shops there. I don't really want to talk to anybody right now."
"Okay, I'll give you some space." Harry left, but not until he tossed Wolf a curious glance. Wolf shuddered once as a moment from the terrible vision replayed itself and pulled on the fresh shirt. Wrinkling his nose at the smell of the shirt he'd just had on, he refreshed his deodorant and changed his jeans as well. Pausing only to pull on his tattered sneakers, he wet a comb and ran it through his hair.
The vision flashed briefly before his eyes as his hand touched the cool metal doorknob and he burst into a new spasm of shuddering that left him weak. But he knew the action that he needed to take. He needed to get out of Hogwarts and divert the danger from everybody. Something bad was coming and everybody was completely oblivious. With two weeks left of term, everybody was in a state of bliss and ignorance. Wolf had seen terrible things in his flash of a vision. Terrible things that revolved around him. Things that could hurt his friends. Things that could kill him.
"What do I do?" he muttered to himself, backing away from the doorway and sitting on the edge of his bed. Out of habit, he pulled out the Marauder's Map.
There. The Shrieking Shack. He'd pack, then slip out late at night and run to the Shrieking Shack and use floo powder from there to stay at the Werewolf Hall. Nobody would suspect it, because nobody knew about it. Not even Ginger, who knew almost everything about Wolf except for his werewolf problem.
Dinner and late evening passed way too slowly for Wolf, jittery from the vision he'd received. He couldn't explain it to himself - it was dark and scary and it held a sense of foreboding fear. He knew that it would hurt Hogwarts, shatter the very foundation of the castle, and he had to get away from it. He had to draw it away from the others as well.
That night, while he listened to the others slowly fall asleep around him, Wolf thought about what the vision meant. Why was he cold and wet in the vision and chained to a wall? Who could possibly want to do that to him. Suddenly, the icy name blew itself across Wolf's seething mind.
Voldemort.
Wolf was friends with Harry and he was part of a political mission that could change the fate of werewolves forever. He would be the perfect target for somebody like Voldemort. His palms began to sweat and he shifted restlessly before finally sitting up and glancing at his watch. He had to leave now. Moving slowly as not to wake his roommates, he pulled his bag out from under the bed, slung it gently onto his shoulder, and sneaked to the door and out into the Common Room.
Once he was down the stairs from the dormitories, he pulled out the Marauder's Map, so helpful in helping the others become Animagi. Hermione was sleeping, Ron and Harry were sleeping...Ginger wasn't on her bed...Wolf glanced up sharply when he realized the minuscule figure on the map was slung across the couch. Sure enough, there was Ginger, Potions book lying on the floor beside her. "Mischief managed," he muttered to the map, tapping it once. It went blank.
Wolf crept over to where Ginger was stretched serenely across the couch and picked up the blanket on the floor next to her. Pausing only to spread it over her gently, he crept to the portrait hole.
"Going somewhere?"
Wolf spun on his heel to see Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing at the foot of the stairs. His mind blanked. "I was, ah..."
"Running away? Really, Wolf, we would have thought you'd passed that stage by now," Hermione said, with an amused grin.
"It's not a phase," Wolf said. "I - ah, I mean - oh, sod it." He sighed and flopped back into a chair. "I saw a vision today. It scared me because all of you are in danger. I need to get out to the Shrieking Shack to talk to Lupin."
"Lupin's staying at the Shrieking Shack?" Ron asked, looking slightly alarmed.
"No, I need to use the floo powder from there. There's no fire here," Wolf said, gesturing at the ashes in the fireplace. Hermione smilingly rolled her eyes and pointed her wand at the fireplace. A fire shot up. "I forgot about that spell."
"Most people do. Let's go."
Wolf stopped them by standing up and shaking his head. "I must go alone. They won't let anybody but werewolves into Werewolf Hall."
"No, you're not leaving yet anyway. First, you're going to explain about your vision." Another voice startled them and everybody turned to see Ginger sitting up on the couch, brushing both hands through her wavy hair to tame it out a bit. She didn't look like the sort that wanted to be compromised with.
Between the four of them, the small group managed to pry the details of the vision from an unwilling Wolf, who protested at every question. When they were done, an hour had passed and everybody was starting to look worried. Wolf, being quietly sullen, sat up and said, "Can I go now?"
Suddenly, all movement in the room stopped as the Portrait Hole crept open. Every head turned as a silvery blond head emerged. "Malfoy? How'd you get the password?"
"Ten Galleons will get you anything. Take them all out, real quiet-like," Malfoy said to the figures behind him, swaggering confidently into the room.
"I'll call McGonagall," Hermione warned. The figures paused. "I swear I will!"
"If you want your friend to live, you won't." Malfoy turned and clapped his hands twice and Crabbe and Goyle entered, dragging a bound and gagged redheaded boy between them. "I believe this to be Rex Donald, a third-year Ravenclaw and a good friend of Ms. Ginger over there."
Rex widened his blue eyes at being in the Gryffindor Common Room. "What do you want with us?" Harry asked, clenching his fists. "You don't go barging into the enemy's Common Room at twelve thirty at night making senseless demands, do you?"
"No, I make completely logical ones. I want Wolf. He's worth 340 Galleons." Malfoy clapped again and Goyle and Crabbe aimed towards Wolf and Harry. Both boys dove away from the taller boys and jumped catlike onto the backs of chairs. Nodding to each other, they used the instant when Crabbe and Goyle turned their backs to tackle them. Wolf "ummphed". He felt like he'd hit a brick wall.
Hermione had taken this instant to whisper a spell. Crabbe and Goyle, afraid of the student wonder, back off in fear, letting Harry and Wolf fall to their knees. "Don't go out that fireplace, boy," Malfoy taunted as the group beat a hasty retreat. "They'll find out about you."
"Okay, that was rather pointless," Wolf muttered, dusting himself off. "Wonder who would want me gone for that much. And find out what about me?"
"Probably nobody." Hermione shrugged and picked up Ginger's Potions book. "But you might want to go to your dormitory now, Gin."
"No, I'll stay out here, thank you. I really don't want to deal with...never mind." Ginger stopped suddenly, a dark look coming onto her face. She bent to untie Rex, who had started to squirm while the group was talking. Wolf leapt over the couch to help her.
"Ian! He did this! He paid Malfoy to capture you, Wolf, so he could put a spell on you, Ginger! I was trying to find you two to tell you when my brother, Juan, told me!" Rex gasped as soon as they had undone the bonds that held the boy.
Wolf and Ginger swapped looks. "Ian?" they both muttered, eyes wide. Ginger finished. "Why would Ian want to do that?"
"I don't know! He's been possessed or something!" Rex leapt to his feet, vigorously rubbing at where the bonds had been on his ankles and wrists. With one hand, he swooped the last of his red hair out of his face. "He's been going crazy for weeks! He snapped on me a few minutes ago."
"I've got to get out of here," Wolf said suddenly. He straightened and walked towards the door. Suddenly, he stopped and saw that Ginger was leaning against the portrait, not permitting him to go anywhere. "Ginger, I've got to! I don't want any of you getting hurt because of me! Just let me go!"
"Go where?" Ginger challenged.
Wolf hung his head and Harry, Hermione, and Ron looked uneasy. "Ginger, I can't explain right now..." Wolf mumbled.
"NO! You explain or you stay here, get me?"
"Ginger, I -- "
"Do you get me or don't you?" Ginger asked, her eyes flashing. "Explain."
"Fine." Wolf sighed, ran both hands through his hair, and glanced at Ron for support. "Ginger, I'm not normal. I'm a...I'm a werewolf." When Ginger paused, not knowing what to say, he pushed past her and crawled out of the portrait hole, unable to hide the fact that his eyes were glittering from the close proximity of tears.
Nobody followed him to the Grand Hall, where he stood for a minute and pulled out the map. Ginger, Rex, Harry, and Ron were all in the Common Room still; Hermione was toying with the potion they'd recently moved to her dormitory. Wolf pulled out a flask of an invisibility potion he'd brewed and drank the bitter brew. Gagging to himself, he continued to the doors in the direction to Hagrid's hut, slowly fading from sight.
The trek to the Whomping Willow was moderately short and Wolf prodded the knot with a long stick, dodging and weaving to avoid the bashing branches. He followed the tunnel numbly, knowing deep inside of him that Ginger, his best friend, thought of him as a freak. He'd kept it from her for so long and she finally knew...but Wolf didn't feel free, like he had when Harry'd found out. He felt pulled down by some unseen chains that tugged at his wrist. With a mild shock, he realized that he climbing into the Shrieking Shack. The potion was starting to wear off as he built a grand fire.
"Werewolf Hall," he cried, tossing floo powder onto the fire. He stepped on and then was thrown into a roiling ride of spins and curves. He landed unsteadily in the Werewolf Hall's fireplace and stumbled to his feet. "Lupin? Where are you?"
The landing room was dark and cold, despite the roaring fire that Wolf crawled out of. He looked around for a short minute then set off at a trot to Lupin's office. The hollow sound of footsteps caught his ear and he whirled. "Who's there?"
Suddenly, a hand slapped over his mouth and he felt a cold metal sensation on his neck that could only mean one thing.
Somebody was holding a knife at his throat.