Occupational Hazard

Nocturnal

-Wilder

You said I cried wolf

Again and again

Then called it desperation, but

Maybe this is my way

Of letting you know

That I'm here

Whether you're coming

Or not

Occupational Hazard

"Who's turn is it to stun?" Hermione asked before she went to unlock the door. The werewolf within had begun to thrash and howl again feeling their presence.

"Mine." Taffy said over Draco's shoulder. She fastened the strap of her gloves and made to grab her wand.

"Ok, here we go." Hermione placed her hand on the iron door just as she had the previous five times. She raised her wand to unlock it and Draco stood on the other side facing the door, wand drawn just as they had been doing all night.

The door creaked inward, and the werewolf was already snarling within. He was much larger than the others and he was already pulling on the chains charging at them, somehow he was more vicious. His front fangs and claws were more pronounced and through its growls Hermione cautioned against the drool and saliva spitting toward them. Taffy flinched trying to get all her measurements jotted down but it wasn't quick enough as the werewolf charged again.

"This is the last one." Hermione reminded softly, her and Draco's wands were aimed at the werewolf on either side of her. Taffy reminded herself that she couldn't have been safer. She tried to focus as it continued to pull against its chains and then they heard it.

The two rear chains snapped out of place from the stone floor and in the span of three seconds it charge forward causing them all to reflexively jump back, except Taffy yelped dropping not just her clipboard, but also her wand.

"Zalisma!" Draco shouted next to her, the spell missed as the werewolf ducked and continued its charge pulling on the remaining two chain links.

"Reparo!" Hermione shouted on her other side; she was trying to reset the chains back in place, but it didn't work.

"Granger! Don't waste your time on the chains!" Draco shouted as they fumbled to get up. Taffy didn't dare lunge for her wand that had rolled way too close to the werewolf.

"Zalisma!" Hermione shouted as their backs hit the wall. The spell did manage to land but it was too weak. Her magic was drained after all the spell work and stunners from the previous volunteers.

"Get out!" Draco shouted at them, opening the door as the werewolf backed up only enough to kick off and charge one last time. They just made it out the door when it's body slammed against the closing door having broken free from the remaining chains. Draco and Hermione turned back to grab and pull on the single bar of the door. The werewolf was free from the chains and had begun thrashing against the door.

"Taffy, my wand!" Hermione shouted as her wand had tumbled onto the mosaic floor.

"Shit, mine is in there!" Draco said gripping the bar and struggling to hold the door shut. Taffy ran over to the wand and noticed that Haze had caught onto what was happening. He had begun howling and thrashing from within his own cell. She grabbed the wand and ran back over to Hermione where they were still struggling to keep the door closed since the werewolf had now begun trying to grab and open it.

It was too late, the werewolf had managed to grab hold of the door and rip it from its hinges, Draco and Hermione stumbled forward, almost falling into the room from trying to keep their hold on it. Taffy stood in the center of the lobby, Hermione and Draco both fallen on the floor, she stood there with a wand that wasn't her own, and Haze howling just behind her. She froze as the werewolf before her turned to face her from within the room, dropping the iron door with a thud to the ground.

'This was a bad idea. I knew this was a fucking bad idea.' Haze thought pulling against the chains. He knew something was wrong. He could feel it. When the werewolves first arrived, he could feel them. Haze could sense the command flow through them all to transform, like a single pulse that had begun to beat in tandem among his brethren.

He knew what they were, he knew why he could feel them, why they howled and reached for each other. There was an urge to release themselves, to run alongside each other under the light of the wonderous moon. He missed the feeling of being amongst his own.

Haze also knew the cravings and the pull of human flesh and blood. Teasing the werewolves by walking right into their space was testing fate. Haze had hoped it would all go well, and that Hermione had taken every precaution, just like she always did.

But this last one was different. He was the youngest werewolf, Haze could tell from his behavior, it was vicious and untamed. He remembered his first few transformations and how much damage he caused wanting to explore and run toward the horizon of the moon trying to keep it in his sites.

He heard when the first chains broke, and he knew he had to get out there. Pulling at his own damn chains, Haze swore then that he wouldn't let them do this to him again. The chains dug into his ankles as he pulled harder and yanked at them. He knew he could try to enlarge his legs and force them off, but that was harder to do without the light of the direct moonlight.

It didn't matter, he pushed through forcing his ability to control the transformation. He strained as his body mass began to double and the chains snapped off. From beyond the door Taffy yelped, he raised his head back up to the door several yard away. Charging forward, Haze slammed his body against it trying to force his way through, the stones crumbled around the door. He continued the barrage and then something Draco had told him during one of their training sessions came to mind.

"Ok, so after basic charms and defenses we'll see how your wandless magic is."

"Wandless?"

"Yeah, all wizards have the ability, it usually manifests when you're a child, it's an indicator that you have magic in your blood. It can be anything really. My first bit of magic was actually when I was about 7, I exploded a vase during a rather stupid tantrum. Anyways, most simple things can be done with wandless magic pretty easily. Like levitating things, conjuring toys, opening and closing stuff. It's like an instinct."

"I don't think I've ever done anything like that so young."

"How did you know you were a wizard then?"

"My mom told me." He said simply.

The memory faded as he took a step back and concentrated on opening the door. Draco had said it was simple and just a matter of desire, and he couldn't think of anything else he wanted more in that moment.

"Taffy my wand!" he heard Hermione shout from the other size. He howled desperate.

'Concentrate. Open. Open. Open' he repeated trying to draw from his magic, but he only felt himself strain his werewolf abilities more, feeling himself growing. He thought of Taffy, what if she got infected? It clicked, he found the pool of magic to draw from and the door burst open.

He didn't hesitate and leaped over Taffy and straight into the towering werewolf that had nearly made it through the open doorway. The tackle sent them both tumbling back into the cell. Haze quickly got back on all fours and snarled at the werewolf before him who was getting back up. They faced off then, Haze blocking the entrance to the lobby. Behind him he could hear Hermione, Draco and Taffy gather.

Haze snarled and barked at the creature, his brethren, his family. He had managed to capture the creatures attention and it charged toward him. It began to snarl and swing at him, then his fangs went straight for his neck. The force of him slamming Haze into the wall.

"Stun them both!" he could hear Draco shouting from the lobby.

"No! We're only strong enough for one more spell, we have to make it count." Hermione reasoned. Haze kicked the creature off him now knowing they were looking for an opening. The werewolf seemed to draw it's attention back to the witches and wizard just outside, their blood calling to him. Before he had a chance to charge again Haze had an idea. He positioned himself between the door and the werewolf again.

"Haze move!" Taffy cried from behind him. He stood his ground, the werewolf barked and snarled at him, but Haze mustered every bit of command he could muster and slammed his from legs into the ground and roared. The sound of it vibrating and echoing off the walls.

This feeling he knew, this command he knew, but he had only ever felt it being used on him. The werewolf cowered backward and whimpered at the pressure Haze now had over him. He pulled back slowly into the lobby, the werewolf still whimpering into the corner. He remained still as Taffy stood before Haze and aimed her wand at the creature within.

"Zalisma!"

"No, we are not going back in there." Draco tried not to shout as Hermione finished repairing the hinges on the door, locking it again. She had tried to reason they could still get the samples from it, but Draco was vehemently against that idea as none of them had the energy for much more magic.

Taffy was huddled against one of the walls, drained from the spell still, Haze had crouched on the floor next her so that she could lean on him for support, to which she gladly accepted. Being that he was still in werewolf form, Haze half expected Draco or Hermione to make him reenter the room, but he didn't want to leave Taffy, and they didn't say anything to him. He sensed them looking at him now, but he only paid attention to Taffy at his side, her eyelids opening and closing slowly. She would fall asleep right here if they let her.

"I should get my medical bag; I can give us all some of that potion I gave you a few weeks back. It should help." Hermione said leaving. Haze paid her no mind as Taffy leaned onto his back now fast asleep. He heard Draco lean against the wall across him and slide to the floor. He turned his head away from Taffy to look at him. He hadn't known Draco for long, but it was long enough to know he was calculating, thinking about what just happened.

"Wandless magic." Draco said more than asked, Haze lowered his head slightly to acknowledge his theory. He smiled, glancing at Taffy, who had nestled into Haze's fur like a pillow. "Good work." Draco said leaning his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

*Head Auror loses it again*

In the next episode, Granger and Malfoy try to make the best of a bad situation. Harry is angry all over again and the study might be in jeopardy, but that's a story for another time. Tune in to see what's next for our newly paired duo.