Disclaimer: see chapter one.

Chapter six.

I need to find out when she was bitten Lupin thought and looked for the hundredth time through Rena's school records. She wasn't doing very well in any of the subjects involving wand waving and according to Hagrid she was a disaster in Care of Magical Creatures. No surprise there, other animals can sense lycanthrope and loathe Werewolves. I wonder if Hagrid knows what she is…

She was doing brilliant in Herbology and- a little to Lupins disliking- she was simply a genius when it came to Potion making and Snape had even taken it upon himself to teach her advance Potions. In Madam Hoochs opinion "Miss Epans has an instinctive fear and disliking for heights which is what keeps her broom on the ground." Generally the professors described her as quiet, book-smart student.

He thought about her in Defense Against the Dark Arts. All the essays she wrote were clearly above her educated level, she never failed to answer a question, but when it came to practical magical she always tried to make her self, invisible. Not to mention that after she found out he to was a werewolf, and their unsuccessful talk, she had tried to stay as far away from him as possible.

Her lack in skills in practical magic was a symptom that from time to time occurred in children with muggle parents. Their magical skills sometimes developed slower than children with wizarding parents.

Snapes niece. Lupin mused. If he is her uncle by marriage it is going to be almost impossible to figure out who her parents are… or was. I don't think I will be very popular if I start asking questions about the Snape family with the Minister of Magic either. But if one of her parents was a muggle, it means I can probably find some information about them in the muggle-world. Maybe I will have time during the holidays….

Two weeks before the end of the term the gray weather turned chilly and on one morning the day broke to a chiseling snow covered ground. In the castle there was a hustle of Christmas in the air. Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, had decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real. The students were discussing their plans for the upcoming holiday and their excitement of seeing their families again.

Both Ron and Hermione had decided to stay in school to keep Harry company and he was very grateful. What didn't make him happy though, was that there was another trip to Hogsmeade before the end of the term.

Heavily wrapped up their cloaks and scarves they waved goodbye and Harry was stuck with the fact that he was the only third-year left in school. It had started to snow and Harry decided to visit Hagrid, hoping that the visit might cheer him up.

Outside it had started snowing again and thick flakes were fluttering down like feathers from the grayish sky. Feeling lonely and unhappy and the weather matching his mood, Harry decided to take a detour and headed towards the lake.

Even from a distance and with the thick snow, he could see a person standing alone staring out over the frozen pond. He didn't know how he knew it was she; maybe he recognized her huddled form or her raven locks dancing in the wind.

"Hello?" he offered and stood next to her. Her sleeve quickly touched her face and for a moment Harry wondered if she had been crying.

"H...hello, Harry" she muttered. She tucked an irritating strain of hair behind her ear, but it quickly loosened and continued to flap in the wind.

"Er…"Harry said hesitatingly wondering what to talk about.

"Aren't all the third years in Hogsmeade?" Rena asked.

"I can't go. My uncle didn't sign my permission slip and Professor McGonegall is really strict about details like that."

"Hm…."

There was an awkward pause and then she said.

"You live with your muggle relatives, right? I heard somebody mention it."

"Yes" Harry said and grimaced just by thinking about it.

"I live with my uncle as well" Rena said, not really talking to him, but staring out over the frozen lake. She was moving her feet uneasily and digging her hands into her pockets. "My mother was a muggle, my father a squib. A real shock to them that there was some magic in me" she gave an embarrassed laugh.

"Where did you grow up?" Harry asked.

"Scotland" she said, her Scottish becoming more apparent as she spoke about her family.

"Are going home for Christmas?"

Rena shook her head "my uncle is…working." She muttered and stared at the ground. She bent down, picked up a rock and hurled it over the frozen lake. The rock bounced a few times before it skidded a couple of meters and stopped.

"I always stay at Hogwarts for the holidays…I wish I could stay here at summer to" Harry muttered. He mimicked Renas move, but his stone flew even farther and broke the ice with a loud crack.

"Don't you like your family?" she asked.

"I hateem" Harry said solemnly.

"Still….they are you family, families take care of each other"

"You should tell that to my family" Harry snorted "The feeling of hate is mutual, I assure you"

"But they took you in, right?" asked Rena

"I have always wondered about that," Harry said slowly. Why hadn't his uncle and aunt just turned him over to some orphanage?

"Maybe they do care for you….deep down" she said slowly.

"You know what….a few of my friends and I usually gathers in the Great Hall to open our presents and have Christmas breakfast together on Christmas morning. You wanna join us?" Harry said, not really knowing why he invited her, he hadn't even talked to Ron and Hermione about it. "If you don't have any plans I mean…"

"Um…" Rena hesitated remembering the conversation with her uncle a few weeks ago. He had sternly said that making friends with Harry Potter was not a good idea. Mr. Potter had a bad habit of getting in trouble and dragging his friends with him. She should also stay away from Draco Malfoy who would do nothing then bring her difficulty and if he ever found out what she was, she could be sure she would be locked up somewhere.

"Maybe…" she said finally.

"Great" Harry said cheerfully "See you then!"

Harry walked away and Rena crouched down in the snow. Through the snow she thought she could just make out a large black animal walking on the other side. It stopped moving and turned its head in her direction and stared at her intently.

"The Grim…." She muttered and shuddered.

Usually Rena and her uncle would return home for the Christmas holidays. They lived in a large house (hidden from muggles of course) in Scotland's Black Moor. Providing there was not a full moon they would spend a quiet Christmas together not really doing anything.

Rena enjoyed walking in the snow covered moors and feel the chill rub her skin and paint red roses on her cheeks. The cold stinging her skin and the snow crunching under her boots made her feel really alive. She had never managed to convince her uncle to join her on her daily hikes, but he always had the fire ready when she returned.

It had always been just the two of them and Rena didn't even know if she had other family members anywhere. He took pride in teaching her everything he knew and they shared a few laughs of his stories about the faculty and some of the students. Their relationship was awkward, but they found some sort of lonely comfort in each other.

Rena had been disappointed to hear that they were not going home this year, and that she had to stay at school alone. The prospect of sharing a Christmas breakfast with other students had made her look forward to the holiday, and she was deeply disappointed when she walked into the Great Hall on Christmas morning and didn't see Harry or any of his friends.

Thinking she was early she sat down by the long table in the middle of the room a few seats away from some fifth-year Ravenclaws. She waited.

Students came and went and after an hour the food vanished and she sat alone in the Great Hall staring at her plate. Finally she left, not knowing why she felt so miserable and disappointed.

Outside it was still snowing and Rena trudged through the snow, her arms wrapped around her body to keep warm. She saw a couple of students enjoying a snowball fight and happy cheers and laughter filled the school ground. She walked aimlessly, kicking up snow and enjoying the crunching sound it made under her boots.

She knew she was doomed to be lonely. Her uncle had repeatedly warned her of letting people come to close. If anybody discovered she was a werewolf she would be shunned, hated and feared. If the wolf blood took over her body she would change permanently and she would end up wandering in some forest, reject by animals and humans. Was that a future to look forward too?

Rena had been so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice how far she had walked and suddenly she was at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, in the distance she could see smoke coming up from Hagrids hut. She decided to return to the castle and go to the library. If there was nothing else to do she always turned to the books.

Suddenly she became aware of mist like a frost-fog creping over the grounds. Rena looked in the direction of the forest and could see the smog billowing out from between the trees. She could see something coming towards her, but she couldn't identify it. The sky darkened and there was a sickening icy feel in the air. It was as if she suddenly was deaf and the snowflakes seemed to pause mid-air. She heard her heart beat two heavy and loud beats that sounded like the echo of dark drums.

Rena swallowed her breath and closed her eyes, trying to will the pain away. It felt as if blood veins were filled with acid, and her heart pounded viciously against her chest. She clutched her stomach and fell to her knees colors shimmering in front of her eyes.

The Change her mind registered and she looked up in blood filled eyes at the hooded creatures gliding towards her. I have to change.

There was a disgusting morphed sound and a faint change in the texture of reality. Her senses sharpened, she could hear the laughing students perfectly, and her eyes suddenly saw clearly in the dimmed light. She could feel her ears lengthening, her body protested in pain as her skeleton structure changed, her clothes ripped to shreds as her body grew and got covered with fur. She had a muzzle with lengthening fangs sharp as razor blades, her hands changed to paws and she could feel the power of her talons.

The wolf shook the snow off its body, and then it turned its eyes towards the approaching figures. Rena could feel that the wolf-body, her own body, tensed. For a moment she fought with the wolf's instinct and her own human will.

There was a feeling, as if she would never be happy again. Her mind started to play horrid scenes of blood and carnage and she tried to tell her self it was all in her imagination, but it was like trying to talk to a picture. The more she tried to tell her mind that she was just hallucinating, the more real it became. The more real she wanted them to be. She could almost feel the coppery smell of blood and she wanted to use her power to rip, to bite, and to kill.

The hooded black figures were only a few feet away now, and the sight of them filled her with such dread and terror that both the human and wolf decided to flee.

The power of the wolf lasted for only a few adrenalin filled moments. Rena felt she had some control of the fledging animal that ran so filled with fear she hardly knew where it was going.

"L…look, the Grim" somebody suddenly yelled.

"Lets go after it!"
"Are you mad?"

She stood dazed staring at the two figures in front of her. She ran again, racing towards the only safe place she knew. Somehow she made her way back to the castle and to the Ravenclaw dorm without getting sighted. She tried to open the door but was like trying to walk down a flight of stairs while drunk. Paws scraped against the wood and finally she managed to produce a small gap and press her body through the opening.

Rena collapsed in a wet and trembling heap and just by sheer fear managed to turn back into her human body. There was the morphed sound and a horrible burning pain. Her body returned to normal, but the wolf's senses still lingered and the sounds came crashing around her like collapsing walls.

When it was all over she sat gasping in the corner of her room, her clothes torn to shreds and her heart pounding against her chest. She was soaked and shivering from fear and cold.

She knew what had happened.

She had changed during day, and she had changed back. Was this a warning sign that she didn't have much time left, or had those creatures caused it? What if it happened again, what if happened in the middle of the school? What if she had obeyed the little voices screaming for blood? She needed help, but she did not know whom to turn to.

Thank you for reading and please review.