Disclaimer: As always, HP belongs to JKR and the lyrics belong to Evanescence – I am just borrowing them to amuse myself and, hopefully, some of you.

Thanks for the reviews for last chapter!

Here is the next little bit…I am working on the next chapter tonight, Merlin only knows when it will be finished though.

Anyway, enjoy…

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All this time I can't believe I couldn't see

Kept in the dark but you were there in front of me

I've been sleeping a thousand years it seems

Got to open my eyes to everything

Without a thought, without a voice, without a soul

Don't let me die here

There must be something more

Bring me to life

-Bring me to life by Evanescence

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Chapter Two

There must be something more…

Monday at dinner, Hermione is sitting in her normal seat at the Gryffindor table, having a quiet conversation with Ginny about one of Ginny's latest conquests. Harry and Ron are sitting across from them talking about, what else, Quidditch.

"So, have you told Harry and your brother about having a date with Malfoy?" Hermione whispered to her best girl friend.

"Are you kidding? I don't have an immediate death wish! I figured that I would give it a go and see if it even works out first," Ginny whispered back.

"Hey! What are you two whispering about over there?" Ron questioned loudly, his mouth half-full with food.

"Nothing that is any of your business, dear brother," Ginny said.

"They are probably just talking about boys, Ron," Harry joined in with a smirk.

Hermione and Ginny both rolled their eyes at the boys.

"So, 'Mione, we have an evening practice tonight. Are you going to come down to the pitch and watch?" Harry asked.

"Um, I can't, not tonight. I have a meeting with Professor Snape."

"WHAT? You would rather meet with the greasy dungeon bat than watch us practice? What kind of friend are you?" Ron shouted at Hermione, causing Harry and Ginny to gape at him in surprise, along with half of the Gryffindor table

Hermione just glared at him for a moment before she replied.

"For your information, Ronald, it is an academic meeting, which takes precedence over your Quidditch practice, believe it or not," Hermione replied icily. "And just so you know, I am the kind of friend who would be there if I did not have a pressing prior engagement preventing me from doing so. I think the relevant question here is what kind of friend are you to be questioning me like that?"

Ron looked at his plate shamefully, feeling properly chastised. Harry and Ginny each stuffed their faces with food in order to prevent themselves from chuckling at their red-headed, and now red-faced, friend.

"I have to go meet Professor Snape now, I'll see you guys later," Hermione said as she gathered her stuff and got up from the table.

"Bye 'Mione!" Harry and Ginny yelled as she walked out of the Hall.

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"I have written the ingredients and instructions on the board, Miss Granger. I expect you to copy them down and start on the potion immediately, as it will take a week to brew. You will find everything you need has already been collected for you," Professor Snape spoke without lifting his head from the paper he was grading at his desk.

"Thank you, sir."

Hermione set to work copying the list of ingredients and instructions. Next, she prepared the ingredients and set the cauldron on heat. She worked diligently for several hours without a word from Professor Snape.

Finally, at eleven o'clock, Professor Snape spoke up.

"That is enough for tonight, Miss Granger. You can pick up where you left off tomorrow evening."

Hermione cast a stasis spell on the potion and cleaned up her work area. As she was gathering up her parchment, quill, and ink to store in her bag, Professor Snape spoke again.

"By the way, Miss Granger, how is your Advanced Potions assignment coming along? Were you able to gather the necessary ingredients during the full moon as I instructed?"

Hermione froze at his words. Does he know?

She looked up at him, eyes wide, to see that he was still grading papers, no sign of malicious intent on his face. No, he doesn't know. He was just asking to make sure I was able to complete the assignment. Hermione felt relief flood her.

"It is coming along well, sir. I was able to collect everything the other night, no problem."

"Very good, I will see you tomorrow, Miss Granger, eight o'clock sharp," Professor Snape said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

Hermione was exhausted as she left the potions classroom and she couldn't wait to get back to her rooms to sleep. Thankfully, she did not have to do rounds tonight.

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The week passed in much the same manner as Monday – classes, meals, brewing the wolfsbane potion in the potions classroom with Snape, and passing out completely exhausted at the end of the long day.

Hermione would also find herself losing her temper with Harry and Ron more often than usual. For some reason she was much less tolerant of the two of them prying into her life all the time. Now that she has a dirty little secret to hide, things are different.

She was also always tired and losing weight, though no one seemed to notice, except for Professor Lupin, that is.

She had DADA class three times during the week, and each time Professor Lupin would look at her with concern written in his features. After the last class, he asked her again if everything was okay. He said that he was worried about her, but she just brushed off his concern.

She was never more grateful for the weekend than she was right then. No classes, no special projects or meetings, no pressing homework that needed to be completed. No, Hermione just had two completely free days to rest and relax…and avoid people at all costs.

She was so busy during the week that she didn't really have a chance to come to terms with her newfound condition. Now, she was faced with two whole days of no responsibility in which she would use to get herself used to the fact that she is now a werewolf.

The first place she would start is with sleep. She planned on sleeping a lot, as that seems to be a major requirement when one is a werewolf.

In fact, I will work on getting more sleep starting now, she thought as she huddled beneath the warm covers. Today was especially exhausting, having to endure more harassment from Harry and Ron about missing all of their Quidditch practices this week.

You would think that I have nothing better to do in my life than to be there watching every single one of their bloody practices! Do they even realize how often they practice?

The last session with Snape was quite tiring since she had to tie up all the loose ends with the potion, which took longer than the requisite three hours she spent on it each previous night that week.

Thank Merlin that I am all done 'learning' the potion. Now I can get to sleep at a decent hour each night. Until I have to brew the potion again next month, that is.

The next thing she would do is work on her appetite. It seemed to vanish the night she was bitten and it was starting to show. In one week, she lost a noticeable amount of weight – well, at least noticeable to her. Thanks to school uniforms and robes, no one else seemed to notice her drop in weight.

I will start to eat more normally, even if I have to force it down, because I can't have anyone noticing that something is wrong, she thought as her eyes drifted shut and sleep consumed her.

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"Miss Granger, please stay after class," Professor Lupin said as the students were packing up their parchment and quills.

Hermione sighed heavily at having to stay behind. She knew that Professor Lupin was going to ask her if everything was okay, again, and she really did not want to deal with this right now.

It was only a week until the full moon, and it was taking its toll on Hermione.

Harry and Ron made to wait for Hermione as the other students began filtering out of the classroom, but Hermione waved them off. She really did not need them listening in as Professor Lupin asked about her well being. She didn't need him pointing it out to her oblivious friends if they were incapable of seeing it for themselves.

Harry and Ron hesitated, however. They both looked doubtfully at Hermione, thinking that she was either getting in trouble, for what they didn't know, or she was just going to chat with Remus about school work or something. They didn't know why she would want them to leave if that were the case, so they made to stay anyway. Until Professor Lupin informed them otherwise, that is.

"I promise that Hermione is not in trouble, boys, so you don't need to stay as her moral support team" Professor Lupin told the boys with a friendly smile. "I just need to discuss a class project with her, one that you two would have no interest in."

The boys finally left and Remus turned to Hermione, who was staring pointedly at her feet.

He knew something was wrong with the young woman, and while he had his theories on what it might be, he wanted her to tell him herself. He was starting to really worry about her. Over the past three weeks, he noticed that she looked so tired all the time and she was losing weight.

"Hermione," Remus started, waiting for her to look at him.

She didn't, so he tried again. "Hermione, please look at me."

He waited a moment and she looked up at him slowly.

"Please tell me what is going on with you."

She just looked at him with fearful eyes, and he knew right then that something was wrong, and he was pretty sure that he knew what it was.

"I won't judge you, whatever it is, you must know that. Please tell me, 'Mione," Professor Lupin pleaded.

Maybe it was the pleading tone in his voice, or the use of her nickname, or maybe it was just that she so badly needed someone on her side…whatever it was, she found herself telling him what happened on the night of the full moon three weeks ago.

Hermione broke down in tears mid-way through her tale and Remus moved to take her in his arms.

"I'm sorry, Professor Lupin. I don't mean to be so emotional…it's just…how can I live like this, as a werewolf? How do you do it?" Hermione sobbed.

"Shh, 'Mione. It's okay. I thought that might be the case. It will be a tough journey, but you are a strong young woman. You will survive this, I know you will," Remus soothed the sobbing girl.

Since their class was the last one of the day, Remus decided to escort Hermione into his office for some tea by the fire. He settled her down on the soft leather couch in front of the fire as he set about conjuring up a pot of tea and two cups.

"Would you like to stay here and have dinner with me, 'Mione?" Remus asked softly as he settled in beside the still crying girl. He didn't want her to have to face a hall full of people when she was feeling so distraught.

She merely nodded as he handed her a steaming cup of tea. The two of them sat in silence, each sipping their tea and staring into the fire.

"How…how did you know that something was wrong with me?" Hermione asked suddenly.

Remus looked over at her as he took a sip of tea before answering her sudden question.

"I guess it takes one to know one, is what it comes down to. I noticed something that day in Professor Snape's office…I noticed immediately that there was something vastly different with you then. The sudden interest in learning to brew the Wolfsbane Potion, how timid you were, not looking me in the eye, it was all a bit suspicious. Then it came to me almost immediately after you left me in the hallway."

"Oh," was all Hermione could say. After a moment she added, "Please promise me that you won't tell anyone."

Remus was struck by the desperate tone in her voice and felt that he could do nothing but agree. He knew that she understood deep down that she would have to tell people eventually. She just wasn't ready to consider that yet.

"It's not my place to tell anyone, 'Mione."

Silence befell them again for several long minutes. Both of them were consumed with thoughts and neither knew what to say to the other. A faint pop broke the silence as a house elf appeared to deliver the same dinner that was being served in the Great Hall.

"What are you planning to do for the full moon," Professor Lupin asked while they both picked at their dinners.

"Well, I have the wolfsbane potion already prepared, so I will probably just curl up in my rooms during the night," Hermione replied.

"Why don't you come here instead," Professor Lupin said. "No sense in both of us being alone when we will be going through the same misery."

He smiled at Hermione as he waited for her response.

"I would like that, Professor Lupin."

"I think it would be okay if you called me Remus when we are alone. No need for all this formality if we are going to be spending so much time together."

"Okay Remus," Hermione said, enjoying the way his name rolled off her tongue.

Memories of her long ago crush on the DADA professor began to resurface at that moment.

Oh, no you don't! That is the last thing you need right now, you silly cow. The man is just trying to help you with a very difficult situation because he understands what you are going through, and here you are, entertaining old fancies! Just forget about it right now.

You are nothing more than a student in need of help to him anyhow.

Hermione successfully banished all thoughts about fancying Professor Lupin and the two lycanthropes relaxed and talked about many things for the rest of the evening.

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