Disclaimer: I no steal! Stealing bad! I copy but change yes? Money? No! Fun? Yes!
"Suspicions"
Morning had arisen brightly making the icy tree branches look like shimmering crystals. Bill had returned to the dorm late at night but had accidentally woken up the twins. He remembered muttering something and then going to sleep. When totally awake, he then recalled what he had said… and was faced with having to justify himself.
"So, why didn't you tell us before?" said George grinning.
"Yeah! No need to keep it a secret! We both think you look simply lo-ve-ly together," added Fred with a snicker.
Bill, now in the common room, saw the twins talking to Ron and Hermione who were simply red with embarrassment. He had told the twins that night: "Oh… I just caught Ron and Hermione on their little date and brought them inside… but then Bella and I thought we heard something… yawns and went to investigate… nothing important…" He then smacked himself on the forehead the moment Ron's gaze met his.
"Thanks for not saying anything Bill," he said darkly.
"Sorry, one of my bad habits you know! It slipped!" answered Bill with a bit of a laugh.
"It's fine, Bill! You now have us to look after the little lovebirds too!" said Fred.
"Don't pay attention to them! They're just jealous because they're the only Weasleys in this room with no girlfriends!" said Ron to Hermione, feeling victorious.
"Hah! That was a funny one!" added Fred sarcastically.
"Yeah, but don't worry! We won't be too evil, I mean, we need someone to play around with now that Bill out of his awkward stage… or is he?" began George now looking at the eldest Weasley.
Bill simply frowned. Who were they playing at? Bella and he were fine! He might not have totally figured her out yet but things were very good. Harry had gone down to the common room and looked around with curiosity. They said their 'good mornings' and began to talk. Hermione went closer to talk to Harry about the next class but Harry seemed strangely tired and more or less interested. Ron had gone over to see him too and asked how his study sessions with the Belladona were doing. Harry told him that it's been a bit slow and he'd need to get more into it.
"But Harry, you've been spending more than enough time with the teacher! I think Bill's seen less of her than you!"
"Listen Ron, there's no need for jealousy fits now. You have Hermione, so aren't you happy enough with just her?"
"Relax mate! I was just saying-" he said frowning.
"What?"
"No need to get pushy Harry!" said Ron giving him a hard look.
"Hey!! There's no need for this ok? We should have breakfast before classes start right? Let's just get going…" said Hermione breaking them up.
They all walked out of the common room as the other Gryffindors followed them to the Great Hall. Harry had been acting very peculiar for a while and it looked like he was pondering every word he'd said to Ron. When Bill looked at him, he saw nothing but the lingering look of sleep and guilt. They split up and Bill went to have his morning tea with Hagrid as the rest went to eat before classes. Once Bill headed to the hut, he could see Hagrid stretching his massive arms and bidding 'hello' to the sun. Bill looked delighted to see Hagrid.
"Hello! You look well this morning Hagrid," said Bill trudging through the thick blanket of snow from last night.
"Not at all Bill! Had some beasties keepin' me up all night! Couldn't sleep a wink! But I'm not supposed to go out at night anymore anyways,"
"Really? Why?" asked Bill.
"Err… Dumbledore's orders. That's all,"
Bill wondered if Professor Dumbledore had told the faculty about the werewolf or if he was keeping the information to himself. The Headmaster could have chosen either possibility because one way would keep the talk about it at bay and the other, could give the teachers some insight on what's going on. He thought best not to ask any questions for now and enjoy his tea while he still could. "Bella's like that werewolf," he thought. "She gets very strange during the full moon… that's for sure."
As things continued throughout the month, Bill could see a rift developing between Ron, Hermione and Harry. They had become distant and Hermione and Ron looked very worried about it. Harry however, always seemed to have others things on his mind. Both groups disappeared quite often and weren't seen in the common room as much as before. Harry was spending an awful lot of time with Bella and on every occasion that Bill came to visit her he would see Harry leave her office. "Don't get paranoid Bill old boy! He's a kid, a student for heaven's sake! It's not what you think it is! You should be ashamed for even thinking it!" Bill continued on his plans with Bella for the next excavation and they agreed on a date to retrieve the key. It would be in mid-December before the winds and snow really began to build up in January.
One day in December Bill was making his usual rounds in the castle when he felt a strange tug on his sleeve. He looked down to see Hermione, her big brown eyes pleading him to follow her. He obeyed and was lead, not surprisingly, to the Library. The girl sat down near a table that held a mess of red poking out of a book. This was of course Ron, who gave Bill a very concerned look. Hermione sat down to gave Ron a cute peck on the cheek but as soon as her lips left him, there was giggling near two tables next to them.
"Oh! Can't people get over it yet?" said Ron blushing.
"Well, I guess Fred and George did their job in spreading the news. So what's up? Why did you both summon me here?" said Bill now sitting down.
"Well… we… we have some distressing news. I hope you won't be angry with us for thinking this but we think we might know who the werewolf is," affirmed Hermione.
Bill felt the air drain out of the room. They had been researching! The long absences from the common room for the week past had been to investigate the true identity of the werewolf! He should have figured that they would now be on the case but he was still troubled by the absence of a small black-haired boy. Had they had the same guess as him? Did they actually see Christopher's scar to which Bill still could not find the few times he looked? If they had proof that the boy was the werewolf then he could tell Bella about it without making her worry about Acacia's safely. The problem would be resolved right away and the boy could receive proper treatment. So Bill leaned over closely to Hermione and spoke softly.
"So? Who do you think it is?" said Bill looking very grim.
"Well, from what we can see, and from what you've told us about what you had seen, it only makes sense! I mean, after discovering what we discovered that -"
"Hermione! An answer please!" said Bill impatiently.
"Well, we believe that the werewolf has been in our school during the semester. That the werewolf is-"
Bill sighed! Couldn't she just say it!
"Belladona Nightshade!"
"WHAT??? That's RIDICULOUS!" he shouted loudly as he stood up.
Everyone in the room turned their heads in his direction and stared at Bill. Noticing the sudden commotion he sat back down and looked back at Hermione.
"I've been with Bella during every full moon! How can she possibly be –"
"Well, if you'd look at this you might understand," said Ron.
They opened a large book called: "Magical Medical Breakthroughs (1290-1990)". He stared at the couple once again and peered into the bookmarked pages. Hermione pointed to a paragraph written under Frederick McKenna MD (magical doctor); a stern-faced old wizard with a short grey beard and spectacles.
"Doctor Frederick McKenna (1970) has recently discovered a new medical charm that can solve many serious problems. The experimental 'spitting charm' has been used to remove whole viruses out of diseased patients without any side effects. The viruses are contained in rooms to make sure there isn't any chance of spreading and are destroyed afterwards. The next move for the MD is to attempt curing the most lethal infections such as Vampirism and Werewolf Bites."
"So? What does that have to do with anything?" asked Bill confused.
Hermione took the book and turned a couple of pages ahead to November 1985. The professor's picture was once again printed along with a totally different review.
"The Splitting charm: A failure in a success? Tests had begun in attempts to cure people with lethal infections. After months of study, the first subject was a brought in; a dangerous patient whose name shall remain anonymous, that had suffered from the Werewolf sickness. On the full moon of April 23rd 1985, the 'splitting charm' was proved to be somewhat effective. The patient taken by the sickness was totally cured from the Werewolf bite but the 'splitting charm' did just what its name defines.
It split the werewolf and the human into two independent parts both able to live on their own. However, the werewolf half did not revert into human form after the moon had gone and was contained at the hospital ward until authorized for destruction. However, there was a fatal flaw in this course of actions. Regardless of a successful extraction of the diseased part, the connection between both was still active. In attempts to eliminate the werewolf half there had sadly been a tragedy on the human subject as well.
It had been noted that the two split subjects both retained minimal characteristics from each other even after the charm had been performed. That alone was the only indication of the link. The human subject retained the sense of awareness of the wolf half and retained the beast's strength. The Werewolf had gained a higher level of consciousness and seemed cured of its pure madness; yet still quite harmful to wizards. The experiment was deemed a failure by the Ministry of Magic for the Lethal Diseases and would only be sanctioned to regular viral infections."
Ron spoke before Bill could take another breath.
"Don't you see? Can't you put it all together? Didn't you say that Bella seemed strangely calm every time she saw the werewolf? And didn't you tell me that she was afraid of dogs because of a bite on her leg? We think it's not a dog that bit her,"
"Oh, come on! She's a Dark Arts teacher! She – she's probably seen werewolves before and just knew how to respond to it!" he staggered.
"Maybe, but even before these incidents we noticed that she's abnormally strong! I mean, she's very small for what she can lift!" said Hermione.
"And – I mean – sure – but… This – this is all just a guess!" said Bill his mind swerving.
"There's no way we can know if she's ever gone through it but yes, this is our guess. She just seems so distracted in class since that night. She's been looking at all 3 of us in a funny way and always out the window. Ron and I started researching in the library for cures or ways to fight werewolf bites when we came upon this book," she continued.
"All 3? Wait! You told Harry?" blurted Bill.
"Did you really think we could keep a secret from him?" said Ron incredulously.
"Something like this? YES! Weren't you all fighting or something?"
"No. We just… don't have the time to see each other anymore," said Hermione sadly.
"Because you're both -" started Bill.
"No! We don't do anything in front of him at all but he still leaves! He's so busy now a day… We didn't tell him about our researching though, but we will as soon as we get the chance. You and Harry are the only two that can find out if we're right," said Ron.
"But... if the werewolf is always a werewolf then -"
"The beast part is drawn near the human part during the full moon," said Hermione.
Bill didn't want to hear anymore of these accusations! That big grey beast was part of his angel? This didn't make sense! He stood up and walked away from the library in deep thought… What know?
He walked through the empty corridors aimlessly. He didn't know what to do. Everything that Hermione and Ron had mentioned did make sense and he remembered the day that they had both decided to take on the responsibility on capturing the werewolf…
"Maybe you can help me. If you see any suspicious students that disappear during the full moon than please tell me about it… and I'll… bring the information to Dumbledore. You're closer to the students that walk around during breaks and things like that. It would be too weird if I went around looking at students for bites or scars,"
Bill remembered those words very clearly and realized that she was already on the look out for it. Perhaps telling him to look around for suspicious students was all a trick to make him believe that it wasn't her other half. As Bill walked, he suddenly found himself drifting near some of the teacher's offices. He paused for a moment as he saw Bella's door and hesitated to go near it. He was more heart-broken than scared. He decided to head there until he heard two voices speak loudly on the other end of the hall.
"What are you saying Snape?" said Belladona's voice as Bill moved closer to Professor Snape's office.
"I'm saying that I should start taking charge of this. It's already nearly gotten to two student and we defiantly don't need two MORE werewolves running around! You aren't working fast enough! That "Beast" is YOUR responsibility and you haven't gotten any closer to getting it than 3 months ago!"
"I have a plan Snape. But I still need time! It's isn't as simple as-"
"NO. I will go and inform Dumbledore that I'm taking charge of this now,"
"You can't!! This is MY business, not of the whole faculty! Or are you siding with Professor Trelawney on how purely EVIL I am??"
"She was right in saying that an EVIL has come to Hogwarts but I don't think-"
"SEVERUS! I'll deal with the werewolf! I've been training myself for this hunt for the past year! You're NOT taking over!"
"We'll see about that…" said Snape.
Bill could hear his footsteps heading towards the door and quickly hid behind a statue. Bella emerged from the office and headed towards hers. Once she was inside Bill dashed away from there.
The week went by slowly as Bill kept all he knew inside of him. He only caught quick glimpses of Bella as he kept himself busy by doing other things. He didn't want to confront her until his mind was sorted out. The last thing he could do was admit all his suspicions to the girl. He could imagine her being insulted or questioning on why he had ever though it up in the first place. However, what if she was what he suspected? It seemed more than so by the way she spoke to Snape.
"A year… she's been pursuing the werewolf for a year… she knew it was there but – but she wants to stop it. And after all, isn't that the point? We're still fighting this monster together, even though she hasn't been totally truthful about it! No, I won't let this get to me! I can't let her down when she needs me most!" though Bill as he returned to Miss Nightshade's door and knocked on it lightly.
Bill had all his gear ready for the second dig. He secretly hoped that they wouldn't find a thing in the following caves so he could stay by her side for longer. After all, the reason he had come to Hogwarts in the first place was because of his job but everything had gotten so personal now, so serious. He didn't want to be called away after they found the key. The door opened and Harry emerged from the office.
"Hey there, Harry! A more foolish man than I would think that you're trying to steal his girlfriend," said Bill smiling.
"Don't worry Bill. I'm not. Doing last revisions before… the mid-term," he said with a broken smile.
"Yeah, I can understand. Mid-terms can kill! I remember," he answered cheerfully.
"You have NO idea," said Harry as he walked right past Bill and hurried along to the passageway to the right.
"May I help you Mr. Weasley?" said Bella in a sarcastic tone flashing a very bright smile.
Bill looked at her sympathetically and entered the room without a word. He put his pack on the floor and walked up to Bella. He took her gently in his arms and held her tight.
"Remember this Bella, I'll always be there to help you," he said with his eyes closed purely feeling the silken material of her grape robes.
"Oh! I'll… remember that," she said softly all the while surprised by his affectionate hug.
Bill had then heard the door squeak and a little black head popped into view.
"Acacia! You have a gift for showing up in the wrong moments," said Bella as she blushed slightly.
"Well, I just wanted to get something from here… I tried opening the door the last time but it was magically locked could you tell me how to open the door so I don't have to bother you next time?" she said sweetly.
"Why would you come into my office in the first place?" she interrogated.
"Well…" she started as she rolled her eyes. "When we packed, remember there were some things I put in your suitcase because it didn't fit in my trunk?"
"Then why don't you just take it all back instead of going back and forth between the rooms?" replied Bella.
"BECAUSE! I – well – err…" she then, looked up at Bill who was giving her the world's most adorable grin. "Because… I don't want everyone to see… Mr. Snuggles… they'll think I'm a baby,"
"Mr. Snuggles?" said Bill looking at Bella.
"That's the name of her-"
"Oh No! Please don't tell him!" shouted the little Hufflepuff.
"He won't laugh Acacia! That's the name of her blanket," said Bella smiling.
"Ah! So…" said Bill now crouching to be in level with Acacia. "So you have a favorite blanket do you?"
"Well…" she said, her cheeks becoming very rosy.
"That's nothing to be ashamed of. Ron still has his teddy bear hidden under a floor board in our house somewhere and I used to have a blanket myself," he said winking.
"You did!" she said with a laugh.
"Yup," he said cheerfully as Acacia's eyes fell on Bella.
"Alright you two, we'll have to break up this little party for the moment. I'll give you the spell to open the door tomorrow, ok Acacia? And here's Mr. Snuggles," said Bella chuckling and pulling a fluffy white blanket out of a trunk.
"Alright! Promise?" she said as she hugged her blanket.
"Yes, I promise!"
"Good! Then I'll see you! Oh! And I'll be checking on your flower every once and a while! Good luck both of you!" said Acacia as she ran away quickly, hoping no one would spot her and Mr. Snuggles.
Bella took off her pretty robe and laid it on her desk while grabbing her coat. She got her things ready but before they left, there was something she had to say to Bill.
"So… you had a blanket?" she asked with an evil grin.
"So what if I did? You know, you wouldn't believe the amazing emotional relief that a blanket can bring!" he said as Bella laughed. "Hey! Don't laugh! It took a lot for me to become this cool," he said with another infamous wink.
"Aww! Poor little baby!" she exclaimed while laughing.
"Oh! So I'm a baby now!" he said with a smile and a pout.
Bella just laughed and went up to him. She grabbed his pouting face and kissed it. Bill loved it when Bella took control, which rarely ever happened. After they finished, she bit her bottom lip and turned around to move towards the exit. Bill sighed and looked at the floor. "Courage man, courage. She needs you… and I need her," he though as he followed after her. The night had been long but the underground adventure had been less dangerous and complicated then the last. They made their way to the northern caves and found they didn't have to use the "Levi-grips" again but simply crawl through the passages and walk through the stone corridors until they reached yet another wall with engraving of 5 flowers in a circle.
"Those are all the flowers we saw in the other caves. Now what?" asked Bella.
"Well, how about you touching each one of those flowers in the order we found them in the southern caves. They're obviously not in order," said Bill as he reached for his note pad that he used the last time.
"Ok. So tell me which ones to touch alright?"
"Alright. First it's the Violets… then the Orchid… the Bluebells… the Rose… and…"
"The Belladonna…" she said as she touched the corresponding flowers.
The wall disappeared and it revealed a silver door similar to the other in the caves. Bill knew what he had to do. He took off his earring again and put in the stone hole. The door opened up instantly and he withdrew the fang. This room was a lot smaller then the other one and only had, at the very centre, a silver box. Bella opened it and saw the key with matching engravings to the collar. There was another note but Bella decided to read it only after they had left the cavern. There was nothing stopping them from coming back if they forgotten anything and this journey, was far shorter and easier then the last. However, Bill was a bit saddened. Finding they key meant that he'd be leaving soon.
The walk back was longer than Bill ever remembered it. It was all over now. They'd achieved their goal and the moment Bella would report it to the Bank he'd be sent away again. He was very quiet during the walk, which was very strange, and Bella had noticed his sudden silence. She abruptly turned around and waited for Bill to idly bump into her. When he realized that Bella was before him she looked into his eyes and asked what was wrong. He told her his troubles and Bella's expression changed dramatically.
"I have to tell my family about it… I can't keep it a secret from them, not after – Not after we've spent so much time and money looking for it," she said.
"I know…" said Bill. "I'm sort of glad you got so sad, this means I've been keeping you happy,"
"What? Of course! I mean -" she muttered.
"Let's go. We still have tomorrow. I'm not leaving right away, unless you send Gringotts the message right now.
"No, I have to get it all organized first. It will take a good two weeks at the least,"
"That's right in time for the next full moon. I will still be here to help you. I don't care what this involves Bella but I will help you capture it the next time. I promise,"
"You know… I shouldn't have gotten you involved,"
"But I am and you can't take on the job of handling it on your own. It's too dangerous! And I don't care if you're a Dark Arts teacher. You're still no Aurore,"
Bella smiled. She then dragged Bill back to the castle and he followed her to her dorm. She then stopped in front of her door.
"You umm… you can come in if you want," she said her cheek becoming pink under her pale skin.
Bill smiled and kissed Bella passionately. He then moved back, smiled sweetly and whispered good night as he turned around and walked away. Bella was left redder than that day Bill caught her dancing in her office. Furthermore, she felt very hot. It was a heat that he alone could make her generate.
