Hello! Thank you for coming to see the second chapter!

Kaori: First off, we'd like to thank infamous-writer for being our first reviewer.

We'd also like to apologise and explain our behaviour with Draco in Chapter 1. That is about as much as his attraction to men affects the story. It is not about him being gay. This story is 1: A Hermione-Draco fic, and 2: a horror story. We think of him as bisexual in this fic, and he figures it out pretty quickly. His confusion over sexuality was just another way to put more stress on the poor guy. Don't worry, he won't be in a relationship with another guy in this story.

Kaori: Sorry, slash-fans. We'll write another story for that.

Anyway, here's Chapter 2:

Draco didn't pay attention to where he was going. He just let his legs take him wherever they wanted to go. The full moon hung low, as if it were suspended by a thread that could break at any second. Far across the lake the giant squid swam lazily, causing ripples in the glassy, silver-black surface.

He loved the smell of the night, cold and dark and damp. The cold breeze teased his hair, tossing stray blonde locks across his pale, beautiful face. The trees swayed gently in the breeze, beckoning to him like a secret seductress in a dream.

Draco never knew what possessed him to enter the forest.

Maybe it was fate. But Draco didn't believe in fate.

The forest was eerily comfortable. It was dark, and moonlit mists drifted through the trees like ghosts, catching the fragmented silver light that sifted through the trees. It was close and quiet; the only sound was leaves breathing in the wind. Draco didn't bother to light his wand, but he kept it on hand, just in case.

Something moved, just at the edge of his vision. He turned, just in time to see some enormous white creature vanish into the gloom.

Was it a unicorn? Draco had seen one in the forest in his first year, and again in Care of Magical Creatures. He had been captivated by their elegance and grace, hardly believing that an animal so beautiful could even exist. Very carefully, he crept in the direction the white beast had vanished to.

There was a clearing ahead. Draco peered through the trees. A white, dog-like animal stood there, staring up at the moon above. Draco took a step closer and a twig snapped under his foot.

The animal looked up. Draco blinked, and it had gone. He moved a branch out of his way and made his way quietly into the clearing, trying to see where the creature had gone. He couldn't see it anywhere. He was a little disappointed.

A distant howl made the hairs on the back of Draco's neck stand on end. He clutched his wand tighter.

The sound of running feet made him look up. He had just enough time to register a creature with white fur and amber eyes when it was upon him. The beast's fangs sank deep into Draco's left arm. Liquid fire shot up into his shoulder and blood seeped into the white hairs around the creature's mouth. It shook its head violently like a dog worrying a bone and Draco was flung to the ground, on his back. The impact of the hard forest floor knocked the wand out of his hand. The animal's jaws closed tighter and Draco's face twisted in pain as he heard bones crunch. The lupine released its hold and let the mangled arm slide off of its upper teeth. The fragmented white bones were sticking out at angles. Draco's vision slid in and out of focus as the creature stepped onto his chest, leering at him hungrily. He was going to be eaten alive. He grasped around desperately for his wand as the beast crushed the air from his chest. His hand finally found it, just as the beast's teeth grazed his chest.

"STUPEFY!" he yelled. The monster was thrown off of its feet and into a thick tree trunk. He pulled himself up and looked at the great beast in front of him. It was still breathing, but it did not move. Drops of crimson blood - his blood - were spattered across its face. Draco's arm felt as if tiny needles were being pushed through his veins instead of liquid. It hung, useless, at his side. His breath was ragged and gasping.

What was it? It was canine in build, but it was massive, even bigger than Draco. He hoped against hope that its bite held no venom.

The fiery pain in Draco's arm was beginning to spread, burning in his shoulder and chest like poison. He staggered to his feet, willing himself to leave the forest before the giant animal woke.

Somehow he managed to stumble out of the trees into the bright moonlight. He didn't dare look at his arm, afraid to see flesh dissolving off of bone. He heard another lonely howl. The sound froze him in his tracks, as he heard something in his blood cry out to answer back.

He forced himself to move again, reaching the castle doors just as he felt his shattered bones begin to twist. He looked down very briefly and saw as his hand melted and changed, his fingernails stretching into claws. He looked up at the bone-white face of the full moon, and two stray thoughts in his mind connected. His eyes widened.

"No, no, please god, no," he whispered. The twisting feeling spread as Draco wrenched himself inside.

Draco dragged himself into the Heads' living room, sweat pouring from his face. The wound in his arm had gone numb and was beginning to ooze a bloody, pinkish foam. His blood was on fire. Some of the ooze from his arm began to drip to the polished floor. The marble hissed as the foam burned into it.

Hermione was nowhere in sight. Through his numb delirium he managed a smirk. She would probably be more concerned about the damage to the floor than his bloodied arm. He heard voices coming from her bedroom and presumed she was with her boyfriend, undoubtably Weasley.

A wave of dizziness and nausea swept through him. He didn't make it to his room. He crumpled, knocking his head against the hard stone.

"Malfoy!"

Draco's eyes fluttered open. Hermione was crouched over him, wearing a look of what seemed to be genuine concern. "What happened here?"

Draco sat up partway, groggy and disoriented. Sunlight streamed through the picture windows. How had he gotten here? He remembered the forest, yes. And a white monster of an animal. He remembered being bitten.

But the pain was gone.

He looked down at his left arm. It was no longer bleeding. The bones were no longer showing. The skin wasn't even broken. Instead, it was knotted together with masses of pinkish keloid scars.

"Malfoy," she said, more urgently, "What happened?"

Hermione saw a look of dazed confusion drift across Draco's face.

His expression hardened into a visage much more familiar to her. "Fuck off, Granger," he said. He stood, brushed the dust off of his trousers, and strode angrily to his room.

What had happened? His memory was blurry, unfocused. He stared down at his arm, utterly bewildered. He had healed overnight. If it weren't for the blood on his robes and the scars and the burn holes in the damned marble floors, he would have taken it for a dream.

Draco lit the candles in his bathroom and looked in the mirror. His eyes were a little red, but nothing seemed to be seriously wrong with him. Except that the face in the mirror seemed like a stranger's. A thousand questions were spinning in his head.

He gazed deep into the mirror, as if he expected it to give him all the answers he craved. But the mirror remained silent.

As he stared through his reflection in the glass, he began to see something strange. His face began to morph and change, convoluting itself into a dark grey, lupine head with burning, golden eyes like a demon. Draco stared, petrified, as the wolf's lip curled in a filthy snarl. Maybe it was just his imagination, but he swore he could hear the shadow of a voice.

Draco jerked away, rubbing his eyes. When he looked up again, the vision was gone.

Thank you for reading Chapter 2! Question: Is this creepy enough? Is there anything missing? If there is anything seriously wrong, we want to fix it. Please review if you have any comments or suggestions.

Kaori: Review, or I'll bite someone.

She will. Really. It's scary.