A/N: Chapter 4!!! This is a very exciting chapter. It might be a little confusing so tell me if it is. I can change it then re-upload it, but that probably won't be necessary. I've gotten a lot better about rushing things, but I still tend to rush when I'm in a hurry to get to a good part. I'm so sorry about the long wait, but I got writer's block, then I got up with trying to fix my website and I really haven't had any time to write!

Oh, I remembered what I was going to tell you at the end of the last chapter. The reason that George doesn't just use Floo powder is because Hogwarts is not part of the Floo network. They wouldn't want students sneaking off the grounds. (Or, in the case of Sirius Black in Harry's third year, people sneaking in.)

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Professor Snape led George to a horse-less carriage, like the ones that carry them to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year. He opened the door and motioned for George to get in. George sat down, followed by Snape on the opposite side. The carriage immediately started moving.

George absent-mindedly stared out of his window, realizing he wasn't about to start a conversation with his potions master. Suddenly, George comprehended the strangeness of what he saw in the distant sky. A fleet of dragons (at least he thought they were dragons) was flying towards the school.

"That would be our guests arriving," Snape told him. "Always the show-off's."

George would have called them anything but guests. He counted at least ten dragons with people mounted on them. That would make it about three hundred people. {I figure thirty people per dragon, since they can be quite large.}

"If you think that's a lot of people, I've got news for you," Snape said in the same monotonous voice. "That's only a fourth of their whole group."

"How do you-" George started, but his voice cut-off as he noticed that another carriage was behind them. He knew he probably shouldn't have, but George kept quiet. He didn't want the professor to think he was scared of everything. They reached the train station in good time, and George boarded the train. The conductor looked a little frightened when he saw George.

"So..." he said. "You're the werewolf that'll be riding tonight?" he asked. George nodded. He noticed the man shudder. "My name's Bernie, by the way. You can sit where you like, for now, but once we get goin' I don't want you to be anywhere near me. I'm not riskin' gettin' bitten. You stay back there, you here? I don't trust no potion to stop a werewolf from bitin'. It's in their nature." George nodded again.

"Did 'ya take yer potion, lad?" Bernie asked.

"Yeah."

"Good. S'pose we should get goin' eh?" Bernie pushed and pulled various buttons and levers and the train began to move. Bernie glanced nervously at the darkening sky. "Er- maybe you should go back there now... just to be safe."

George didn't mind. He found this man annoying and biased. "I'll come knock on the compartment door when we're there, lad," Bernie told him.

George opened the door and strolled around the train, looking for his bag that the house-elves had brought. Finally he found it in a compartment halfway down the train. He settled into the seat and prepared for the excruciating pain he was about to have. He looked out the window and saw the sun barely visible now.

"George?" a voice called. George jumped.

"Who's there?" he asked looking around the compartment.

"George, it's me."

"Who's me?"

"Hermione!"

"Hermione! What on Earth are you doing here?! And where are you?"

"I'm up here," Hermione told him, "in the luggage rack." George laughed nervously and shook his head.

"Hermione, you better get out of here. I'll be transforming any second and I don't want to put you in danger. The Wolfsbane potion doesn't always work, you know. Go tell the conductor to turn around or something. You're going to get into a lot of trouble!"

"I'm staying right here, George. You shouldn't have to go through this alone." George wished he could have hugged her. She actually understood how he felt: lonely.

"Hermione, stay right there. I really didn't want you to see this. It's... very painful to transform... don't come down no matter how much I scream. I'll be all right, just don't worry." George felt the all-to-familiar tingling throughout his body. Any second now...

It hit him like a bolt of lightning. There was an unbelievably overwhelming pain surging through his body. He doubled over onto the floor and couldn't suppress the scream any longer. It was a scream that made Hermione's heart falter. Why should anyone be put through this much pain? Hermione watched in horror as George rolled around on the floor, screaming at every move. It looked like he was going into convulsions. Hermione wanted desperately to jump down and comfort him, but she was wiser than that.

Hermione saw George's spine twist and contort into that of a werewolf. His arms, legs and face were growing darker with fur. George stopped moving altogether now, and Hermione feared he might have died. He let out a soft moan and sweat was soaking his face. But soon enough he screamed again and his arms and legs grew skinnier and finally, it was over. George sat up and curled into a ball. Hermione could have cried.

She felt so helpless, just watching George suffer like that.

"George?" Hermione asked. "Are you alright?" The wolf lying on the ground raised his head and nodded. "Can I come down?" The wolf shook his head vigorously.

'No!' George thought. 'I don't want to hurt you!'

Hermione stayed where she was. It pained her to not be able to help George in some way. He looked so tired, all curled up on the floor. Hermione watched over George long after he fell asleep. Finally, she too drifted off to dream land...

There was a sudden jolt and Hermione was knocked not only into consciousness, but right off the shelf she was sleeping on. She saw fire outside. What was going on?

The train had stopped completely now. Hermione stuck her face to the window and tried to make out the shapes. They were... people... carrying torches. It looked like a mob. Hermione's stomach lurched when she realized that the A.W.L. had found them, and they weren't about to let a werewolf just walk away.

Everyone lined up along the train, hundreds of people. And unexpectedly, they started pushing the train, not along the tracks, but sideways so that they would tip it right over. Hermione backed away from the window.

"George!" Hermione called. There was a small wolfish whimper. "We have to get out of here!" She opened the compartment door and was about to step into the hallway when the train was pushed again. Hermione tumbled to the ground. She got onto her hands and knees and crawled away.

She sensed that George was following her as she made her way to the exit. There it was! The train was pushed again and this time, Hermione realized in horror, it worked. It tottered for a second on only half of its wheels, then it rolled right into the forest on the other side of the track. The crowd's cheers over-powered the sounds of Hermione's screams, and George's howls.

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"Hey, Harry," a voice called to him from somewhere. Harry looked around, but it was impossible to distinguish exactly which person the voice came from. The entire student body and staff of Hogwarts School were lined up on the grounds in front of the main doors. Dumbledore was helpless to stop the A.W.L. from checking for werewolves, seeing as they were like an angry mob. It was like the witch-hunts that went on centuries ago.

"Harry!" the voice called again. Harry glanced to his left and saw Fred standing probably fifteen people down the line. "Have you seen George anywhere?" Harry shook his head.

"I don't think I'd be able to spot a unicorn in this mob, let alone another person wearing the same thing as everybody else. I haven't seen Hermione or Ron in at least an hour!"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I saw Ron down near the end of the line to your right. I haven't seen Hermione, though. I'll just catch up with George later." Fred quieted because members of the A.W.L. were approaching with their detection machines. Harry shuddered. How could people be so biased.

Remus Lupin threw a handful of powder into his study's fireplace later that night and said, "Professor Dumbledore, please." After a few seconds, the head of Dumbledore appeared in the fireplace, ignoring the flames lapping at his cheeks.

"Oh, hello Remus. I trust George made it safely? And Hermione as well?"

"Professor, I'm getting worried. The train never arrived at the station. And what's this about Hermione?"

"Never mind about that. What do you mean the train never arrived? Are you sure?" Dumbledore actually felt a slight pain in his stomach. It was a pain he hadn't felt in many of years, the source of which was unease and nervousness.

"I don't know what could have happened."

"Remus, I need you to get a search party together. Quickly. We'll need probably thirteen people. Search all along the railroad tracks on broomsticks and be sure to stay out of sight. I'll meet you there. We must find those kids."

"Yes, sir."

"Wait a second, Remus. Why aren't you a werewolf? Shouldn't you have transformed an hour ago?" Remus grinned despite himself.

"I was wondering if you'd notice. I was going to have a nice surprise for George and all the other people who suffer from werewolf bites. I've been working long and hard on a cure for transforming and last night, I finished it. All it is, is a charm, rather complex, but it's quite effective. The only side affect is a queasy feeling in your stomach and a tingling in your spine."

"Oh, well done! I dare say you'll receive an Order of Merlin First Class for that. And it might just be enough to stop the A.W.L. in its tracks."

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A/N: Okay, so a lot of the things I promised would be explained weren't, like why Prof. Snape was acting strangely. But you'll find that out in the next chapter. I case you didn't realize, the person following George was Hermione (Duh). It was shorter than I thought it would be. Kind of stupid, too.

BTW, if you know any REALLY good Marauders fic, let me know. I've been searching for one, but with no luck. And if you have any free time, check out my website (still under construction). www.geocities.com/morning_twilight13/.