Chapter 7: A different werewolf
Remus Lupin felt like absolute shit. Every inch of his body hurt, and his head was pounding. His inner wolf was ravenous: it wanted bloody, raw meat, and a lot of it. Remus cracked an eye open to find Emma checking his vitals. He noticed that his body was still his muscular, taller version. Wait. That shouldn't happen. His body should have morphed back already, especially considering he had been shot. Scenes started flashing in his mind. Sirius being injected with werewolf poison, morphing, biting him. Remus could still feel the sting from the bite wound.
Lupin looked beside him with difficulty and found Sirius asleep next to him. Only then did he notice that his right hand was intertwined with his husband's left hand. He could feel Sirius' sharp, long, claw-like nails. Remus blinked to clear his eyesight. His husband's arm was covered in black fur that seemed to be receding. So were his chest and abdomen. Even his beard was considerably longer and thicker. Sirius rarely sported a full beard, but now, he had hair everywhere. His eyebrows were longer, bushier, and messy.
"Hello, handsome," Emma smiled and took his other hand.
"I-Is he o-okay?" he spoke with difficulty.
Emma filled a glass with water and put in a glass straw for Remus to drink. He did, greedily.
"He is better than expected. Scamander just left. He will be back tonight…" she trailed off. She caressed Remus' hair and face. The werewolf's senses piqued. Remy smelled the air around her hand, and his eyes widened in realization. "E-Emma, are you-?" He looked at her belly.
"Yes, I am. You are going to be an uncle," she gushed.
Remus noticed the glow to her skin and how happy she looked. He couldn't help but smile.
"Congratulations!" he exclaimed.
She went in for a hug, but he pulled her hand to keep her away. "Don't. At least not until I have eaten. You smell delicious, and I don't mean that as a compliment."
Emma blinked and shook her head. "Right… Um… Okay, I have raw venison for you. Neesy brought it in this morning. It is still… warm," Emma made a face. Apparently, the elves had hunt it down in the Potter forest and brought it just after removing the skin. Emma would have never thought that elves would voluntarily kill an animal, but the Potter and Black elves said, 'Anything for master Black.'
Remus' pupils dilated, but he looked down in shame, "Please bring it to me… And then leave? I don't want you to see me like that…"
"Of course, I'll be right back."
Sirius was having a hard time waking up. After the ordeal he had been through, it was a miracle that his humanity hadn't imploded. Padfoot had a theory. His body was only able to survive the rapid, excruciating transformation because he was an animagus that morphed into a dog. His organism was used to shifting. It was used to shrinking rather than stretching, though. Parts of his skin felt like they had been torn when they expanded to fit his larger muscles and bones. Sirius had been conscious briefly, while Remus was unconscious. But soon after that, he felt drained and fell asleep.
It had now been seven days since his transformation. The Grangers had him on IV fluids and nutritional potions, but he wanted blood. He felt Remy squeeze his hand. As much as he tried to open his eyes, he didn't manage to do so. Sirius could smell fresh blood, and he wanted to have some of that. The thought was strange and yet as natural to him as breathing. He could hear the sounds of someone eating quickly, but then it got quiet.
"Love… You shouldn't have done this. Merlin! This could have killed you…" Remus sighed.
Sirius wanted to tell Remus that he was fine, that he would go through it a thousand times for a chance to save his life, but he couldn't speak. His throat hurt too.
There was a knock, and Remus told the person at the door to come in.
"Are you all done?" Emma asked.
"Yes, thank you…" Remus blushed. He had tried not to go crazy on the meat, but he was so hungry that as he ate, blood had dripped down his mouth, neck, and gown. His hands were coated in blood too. "I'm sorry… I tried to eat slowly, but my wolf had different ideas…"
Emma looked a bit shocked for a second, then she schooled her features. "Don't worry. I'll just help you clean up and get you a clean gown."
"Could I put on real clothes? I feel a bit naked…"
"I'll go buy some tomorrow… Your clothes will not fit you right now. We expected for your body to go back to your normal size, but it hasn't happened yet," Emma explained. "You were usually a medium, but I think now you are an extra-large, at least."
"Can you get some for Sirius too? I should have some cash on the clothes I was wearing…" Remus mused about why he hadn't morphed back.
"Oh, I didn't find any. Maybe your wallet fell somewhere along the way? I did find your Auror ID and an old key… I assume from Gringotts?"
"Thank Merlin! That's Sirius' vault key… He'd kill me if I lose it…"
"The man became a werewolf for you, love… I think he wouldn't mind," Emma chuckled.
"Don't remind me… He should have never done this. Sirius doesn't know what it's like to live with all the prejudice, the stares… to be treated like a second-class citizen…"
"He may not know that… but I do," she sighed. Remus looked at her questioningly. "What do you know about Ilvermony? Is it a good school?" Emma asked with a sad sigh.
"Ilvermony? What happened, Em?" Remus frowned.
"Hogwarts is not a good school," Emma said, crossing her arms in front of her. Remus gasped, taken aback. So did Sirius, in his mind.
"Explain?" Remy asked, looking a bit pale. "Do I need to go kick some butts?"
"You might. But not until you recover. Headmaster Flitwick is a nightmare! Draco has been beaten by Crabbe and Goyle three times. Harry was attacked by them and by that horrid Weasley boy. Hermione got hurt because Harry got hurt, and Neville got in trouble too for helping them… We want to transfer Hermione and Harry. We considered Beauxbatons and Durmstrang briefly, but neither of them will accept to be apart from the other… and honestly, we would feel better knowing they are together. Also, apparently, the professor that is filling in for you is a unicorn vampire with a mouth on the back of his head," Emma grabbed a pillow Remus wasn't using and screamed into it.
"Whoa! What? That's a lot of information. Please start at the beginning, will you?" Remus asked. Sirius felt grateful. He wanted to have all the information so he could go beast mode on those bloody kids and whoever that professor was. A werewolf fright would be quite useful. Emma started telling them everything. She needed to vent.
The Great Hall was looking more and more festive as Halloween approached. Pumpkins everywhere, witches' pointy hats, brooms, cauldrons, ghosts, skulls, bowls of candy, and fallen autumn leaves decorated the entire place. Harry had been morose for the last couple of days. Hermione was thinking hard about what to do to cheer him up. If only she could know what was wrong, but he didn't want to talk about it. Neville had just shrugged when she asked, and Draco told her that Harry would tell her when he was ready. That was absolutely useless. As his… wife, but mostly as his best friend, she wanted to help. Stupid boys! She decided to write to her mother. After all, there was nothing her mom could not fix.
Dear Mom,
I hope you and dad are well and that R and S are also well. I'm okay. However, I am worried about Harry, I need your help. He's been really sad these days, and he won't tell me what's wrong so I can fix it. I figured that if anyone can find out what's wrong and tell me about it, that's you. Somehow I feel that once you tell me, I will feel dumb because it's probably glaringly obvious, but I don't-
Hermione stopped writing suddenly and looked up. Draco looked at her with a clear question on his features. His parents! They were killed on Halloween! How could I forget? Hermione facepalmed as her mind began racing. She made the parchment into a ball and started writing again.
Dear Mom,
I hope you and dad are well and that R and S are also well. I'm okay. However, I am worried about Harry, I need your help. He's been really sad these days and, at first, I didn't know what was happening, but it just hit me. His parents were killed on Halloween! The more decorations that are put up here, the more his mood goes down. Can you please ask everyone we know that knew them to share all the pictures they have of Mr. and Mrs. Potter? I think that could cheer him up. Maybe get one of those mirrors so Harry can talk to them on Halloween? Aunt Andy has one, and Uncle Ted has another. Perhaps we can borrow them? Pretty please with a cherry on top? I'll talk to Aunt Andy tonight. If you help me with this, I will even do extra chores over Christmas break! I have straight 100s so far. [She drew a smiley face]
Lots of love,
Hermione
"I'm going to the Owlery."
"You figured it out, didn't you?" Draco looked at her suspiciously.
"Well, you didn't tell me. I am not telling you," Hermione stuck out her tongue mockingly, put her things away, and left.
Draco and Neville chuckled. After about half an hour, Harry came into the Library dragging his feet. His eyes were vacant.
"Oi! Potter! Over here," Draco said, waving him over.
"Mr. Black, shhh!" his grandma said with a pretend angry face.
Sorry, Draco mouthed. Harry approached them and sat down.
"Where's Mione?" he whispered.
"I think she went to send a letter… Seemed important," Neville responded while absent-mindedly underlining something on Draco's notes.
"Hey! Don't do that! Underline your own notes. You are messing up my system," Draco complained. He was very particular about his notes.
Neville paled. "Sorry, I was too in the zone… I need to learn the duplicating spell during the holidays. Maybe gran can teach it to me…"
Neville handed Draco his notes back. "Yeah, learn it and then teach us," he grinned. Draco found that they could cover a lot more by each of them learning and mastering different spells and then teaching those to each of their friends. They were done with this year's curriculum, and they were starting to learn second-year spells.
"Harry," Draco put his hand on the boy's shoulder as he stared into nothing. "Harry?"
"Sorry… You were saying?"
"Nothing, mate… Hermione is worried about you," Draco said, looking at him with a frown.
"So are we," Neville commented, fanning his work with a book to dry the ink. "Is there anything we can do?"
The raven-haired boy sank a bit lower into his seat. "I'm fine."
"No, you are not. When was the last time you smiled?" Neville countered with a frown of his own.
Harry shrugged.
Draco moved to sit next to Harry so he could whisper in his ear. "Look, Harry, Hermione is like a dog with a bone… You know that. She is worried, and she won't let go until you either tell her what's up, or you start looking less mopey…"
"Mopey?! Fuck you, Draco!" Harry whisper-shouted, standing up quickly. His face was red in anger.
"Hey, chill…" Neville shushed them.
"Potter, cursing doesn't suit you. Also, you are mopey. You can't smile to save your life. You keep dragging your feet everywhere you go. You don't want to eat. You don't want to play with us… You didn't even come running with us this morning, and you love running…" Draco replied calmly.
"My parents were killed by a man that may or may not be alive, and justice was never served! I deserve to feel whatever motherfucking way I want to on the anniversary of their deaths! All the stupid decorations celebrating a holiday without any care to anyone who lost people in the war is very indelicate and cruel! And I can curse just fine, Malfoy!" Harry snapped back.
Neville gasped, "You did not just call him that!"
Draco looked as hurt as if Harry had hit him harshly. His eyes were quickly filling with tears. "You know what scarface, at least your parents were heroes and not bloody criminals like my biological father is. Calling me by that name is too low. Fuck you, Potter."
Harry did look like he regretted calling Draco by his former last name, but he didn't apologize. He was too stubborn for that.
"Stop it! Neither of you means that!" Neville looked at his friends' angry stares with tears in his eyes.
"Mr. Potter and Mr. Black 10 points from Gryffindor and Slytherin for shouting profanities in the Library," Eileen had been approaching them as their decibels increased. Now she stood behind Harry with a very disappointed expression.
Harry hated to see any signs of disappointment in the eyes of his family. Eileen, Neville, and Draco were very disappointed, but Draco was also very hurt. Harry's eyes locked with Draco's, and they stared at each other.
"Apologize to each other," Eileen demanded.
"No," Draco replied. "I thought I was a good friend by giving a damn. Won't be making that mistake again," he took his things and left.
"I won't shout in here ever again, sorry," a blushing Harry said to Eileen. Then, he left at a slower pace.
Neville apologized to Eileen and explained the situation in a rush. He then took off after Harry. Neville was usually a level-headed, stay away from everyone else's drama type of person, but he wasn't about to let Harry and Draco ruin their friendship over this. Neville felt they were like his brothers, and if he had to play older brother and fix things, he would.
"Harry, wait!"
"Neville, not now,"
"Don't you dare 'not now' me Harry James!" Neville turned Harry around by his elbow.
Harry's eyes widened comically. Neville never shouted in anger.
"You are going to find Draco right now and apologize!"
"I will not! He told me I was mopey, Neville! MOPEY!"
"The nerve of that bastard!" Neville replied in a sarcastic tone throwing his hands up in frustration.
"So, you agree with him!?" Harry's jaw was hanging.
"Everything Draco said about you not being okay is true," Neville shrugged. He shook his head. "Don't try to change the subject. You know that calling him a Malfoy was the worst insult you could have attacked him with. It's like Weasley calling Hermione a you-know-what!"
Harry looked at Neville like he grew another head. "That's a false analogy! It's not even similar, Nev!"
"You know what? You are right. It's not the same," Neville conceded. As Harry was about to reply, he continued. "It's worse."
"W-What?!" Harry opened and closed his mouth but said no more.
Neville's ice-cold tone put the fear of the Lord back into Harry. "You are like a brother to Draco, Harry. You saw him be destroyed by his father's actions. You heard Martin. He hit a tree until his knuckles were bloodied and raw. He cried and screamed so much… He freaking dies his hair religiously because he doesn't ever want to look like his father at all. You know how much therapy he had to do to get over his father's treatment of him and his mom. Draco was just trying to prevent Hermione from pouncing on whatever has you so down, without you being warned, and you thank him by insulting him like that? It was the lowest blow you could have landed. You, his friend, a friend that's like a brother, someone he trusted… You ripped the floor from under his feet. He was not counting on his family hurting him. There are enough strangers here that try to do just that, and you know it! Draco's a resentful person, Harry. You need to fix this and soon, mate. You both are better than this," Neville looked at Harry in a way that made him feel small and properly told off.
"Why can't the three of you just leave me the hell alone to be as mopey as I want to be?" Harry sighed.
"Because you are family, and we love you. Now, get your head out of your ass, apologize to Draco, and tell Hermione what's wrong before she rips your head off."
"Fine…" Harry shrugged with resignation, avoiding eye contact.
"Harry, look at me," Neville said as his friend looked to his shoes. "Look at me!" Harry obeyed and was surprised to find Neville's eyes tearing up. "I am not good at telling people what to do. I don't like it because I hate conflict. But you guys are like my brothers. I don't want you to hurt each other. I know it sucks that no one is in prison for killing your parents, but that isn't Draco's fault. Whoever hurt my parents is also at large and I don't even know who it is. Put your anger where it's due. Have Lord and Lady Potter push Madam Bones to open their case back up. Ask them to pressure the Wizengamot into having a proper trial or at least an investigation. Now that Sirius's name has been cleared, it shouldn't be too hard to reopen your parents' case. There are probably many other people who lost loved ones that never got a trial."
Harry looked pensive. "You are right. I was a horrible friend today, and that is a great idea. I will write to them-"
"Harry. James. Potter," Neville interrupted him in a tone that he had only heard in Emma, Aunt Minnie, and lately Hermione.
"…Right after I talk to Draco and Mione…" he blushed and looked down.
"That's better, now go. Draco's probably by the lake…" Neville smiled.
Harry started to leave, but he turned and said with a small grin, "You are much better at conflict than you think, Nev."
Hermione ran into Neville as she came back from the Owlery. He explained what happened. It took a lot to calm her down and make her stay so their friends could fix things by themselves, but Neville asked her to help with his Transfiguration Essay so Hermione would stay. She knew what he was doing, but she would be faring worse if she was idle. Therefore, she sat down and corrected the essay in as much detail as possible.
Draco went back to the secluded spot where they saw Professor Quirrell. He hugged his knees and cried. If Harry was a stranger, him calling Draco a Malfoy wouldn't hurt this much. Gusts of cold wind got into their spot. Draco shivered. He hadn't brought his cloak or his scarf, and it was a cold, windy afternoon. He was about to do an Incendio on a group of stones and sticks that they had left from their picnic, but someone beat him to it.
"Incendio," Harry whispered.
"Leave me alone, Potter," Draco hid his face with his crossed arms and turned his body away from Harry.
"Draco, please. I'm sorry! I'm an idiot and a horrible friend. Curse me or hit me if you want. I will not defend myself. I know I should have never said that" Harry knelt in front of Draco with a sad expression.
Draco lifted his head. Harry felt physical pain from seeing Draco's red-rimmed swollen eyes and snotty nose. His stomach clenched.
"Out of everything you could possibly call me… why that?" Draco asked with a small voice.
"Because I'm an idiot. I have no excuse. I am hurt and sad, but it's not acceptable for me to hurt others. Especially when those others are being good and kind to me… Emma and Dan would be really mad at me, Sirius and Remus would probably smack me, and my grandparents would tell my mom and dad… and mom would have my hide from the painting!" Harry panicked a bit. Draco chuckled. Focus! He shook his head, took off his cloak, and draped it on Draco's cold shoulders. "Can you forgive this mopey jerk? You are right, and Neville just told me off…"
Draco stared deep into Harry's friend, looking for deceit. He found none. The boy was genuine. Father Martin's voice floated in his mind: When people apologize and mean it, we must forgive them. Not doing so will only hurt us. But he also remembered Sev talking about boundaries: Make it clear that there are things you will not tolerate and that there will be consequences. He settled for a combination of the two.
"Never call me Malfoy again, or I will take you up on your offer and curse the crap out of you, okay?" Draco lifted a brow.
"I promise I won't. Thank you for giving me a chance," Harry offered Draco his hand and pulled him up into a brotherly hug. "The offer stands if I ever upset you again."
"It better. Now, what's this about Nev telling you off?" Draco grinned in amusement as he took out his own handkerchief to dry his tears and remove the snot. "I would have paid to watch that!"
"I know! I'm telling you, he has picked up a lot from Emma and Aunt Minnie. I felt tiny. Oh! And he gave me a good idea…"
"Tell me about it?" Draco asked.
Hermione was anxious. Things could get violent with her friends. She had gotten dinner, but all she did was push food around. "Nev, we should go find them."
"Nah, they are fine- Look, they're here!"
Both boys agreed to pretend they were still upset. They got their trays and put them next to their friends. Hermione looked at both of them expectantly.
"So?"
Draco broke in a smile first, "It's all good, Granger."
She jumped from her seat and gave each boy a massive hug. "Boys! Don't scare me like that again, okay? No fighting among us. We only act in self-defense and against others… Which reminds me, Nymph sent Sirius' supplies for mischief," Hermione's smile was downright naughty.
"Something tells me we have a lot of to-do lists to write, yes?" Draco asked Harry, who nodded enthusiastically while side-glancing at Hermione.
"Yay! Lists! This is going to be so much fun!"
The boys shared a look and a chuckle and started eating. Plotting Hermione was indeed a lot of fun. Unless you were her enemy. Then it was terrifying.
Crabbe and Goyle had stopped physical assaults on Draco, but they kept with the verbal bullying. By Halloween, he grew so frustrated that Hermione had to rush to finish all the joke's details. They would do muggle pranks first. That way, the boys wouldn't know what hit them. Draco had managed to fill their shampoo bottles with glue and hot pink glitter. They did not shower every day. So knowing when they would struggle to remove pink glue from their hair was up in the air. Ronald had been suspended for a couple of weeks. He would come back for the Feast, hopefully, with a better attitude.
Hermione was happy to put on gloves to deal with the itchy powder once Draco told her about their poor hygiene. It was a waiting game to see them struggle to remove glue from their hair.
Their underwear had tiny pouches of itching powder sewn in so that the pouch would explode when they sat down. Hopefully, it would happen in class. Since the burly boys tended to get up late, they would not sit down to eat. They would just grab something and rush to class. Harry and Hermione were chopping ingredients for their potion under the watchful eyes of Severus.
"Hermione, allow me, you need to chop them at an angle, like this," he demonstrated, "See? If you do it like this, the roots cut with minimal effort, and the cut is clean."
Hermione nodded with a smile and took the knife back to imitate the professor. Severus kept pacing the room and correcting his students. While he helped Anthony Goldstein start over due to an unfortunate combination that had made a hole in his cauldron, a few benches away, two Slytherins were freaking out.
"Bloody hell!" Crabbe started moving on his bench to try to scratch his bum. It was so itchy!
"You too?" Goyle
"Those fucking elves didn't do our laundry properly!" Crabbe replied, starting to scratch his crotch harshly.
Hannah and Susan, who were sitting on the next bench, looked at their classmates in horror. Were they touching their private parts in class?! The more vigorously their hands moved, the more their tense facial expressions would look relieved and… pleased. They were looking at them! Susan and Hannah shared a single thought: Ewwww! The girls called the professor over.
"Yes, Miss Bones?" Severus asked when he noticed that their potion looked fine. "This just needs a bit more stirring, but it looks well," he said.
The girls were blushing furiously and shook their heads. Susan motioned for him to come closer so she could whisper.
"Professor… I think… um… This is so embarrassing," the girl hid her face with her hands.
Snape frowned. Why would a girl be embarrassed in his class? Unless… He whispered back as tactfully as he could, "Are you in pain? If you have your period and need to go to the Infirmary, you may leave."
Susan looked even more mortified. Hanah took over: "No, professor… Those boys are touching their private parts in class, and it's making us uncomfortable."
Whatever Severus had been expecting was not this. He paled and turned around slowly and discreetly to find that Crabbe and Goyle indeed seemed to be touching themselves in class. Severus took a deep breath.
"Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle, what do you think you are doing?" he asked.
Hermione elbowed Harry and covered her mouth with his scarf.
The goons looked embarrassed, but they couldn't stop scratching furiously as they got up. "It's itchy!" Crabbe replied, rubbing his legs together. This made the powder fall to his legs, and he started moving like crazy trying to scratch all over at once.
Since Goyle wasn't exceptionally bright, he too got up and had the same result. "So itchy!"
The students around them began laughing as the kids moved around, scratching against walls, tables, and even the floor. Severus was biting the inside of his cheek to prevent the laughter that was bubbling up from escaping.
"Do something, professor!" Pansy Parkinson helped him focus.
He did a few diagnostic spells, but there was nothing magically wrong with them. He tried an anti-allergy spell with no results. "This seems to be beyond my scope. Go to the Infirmary and tell Madam Pomfrey that the usual spells did nothing. Miss Parkinson, walk with them."
The girl grabbed them both and pulled them away while staring menacingly at Draco. He was cute, but he would soon learn that snakes did indeed bite other snakes. As soon as they left, most students, even Slytherins, exploded in laughter.
Severus allowed himself a chuckle as everyone calmed down. "Students, let that be a reminder that you need to have good hygiene. Carry on with your potion."
"Professor, my slugs are dry," a student complained.
"No, Mr. Finnigan, they are not dry. The instructions say to get them out with this tool and then crush them. By shaking them, all you are accomplishing is for them to get upset and want to attack-"
"My eyes!" Seamus screamed. The slug shot some viscous substance at the boy.
Severus dragged the boy to the eyewash station and warned him to close his mouth and hold his breath as he told the class that this was what happened when instructions were ignored.
Harry was sitting next to Neville, who was trimming a bonsai that he adored. His parents had Augusta buy it for him, and he took prodigious care of it. Hermione had been in her room for a while. Parvati had called her up to say there was a package on her bed, and she was still up there. Harry was curious. It must be something important. He felt himself drifting off to sleep since the Common Room was so cozy. Before he fell asleep, Hermione sat next to him and placed a heavy gift-wrapped, book-shaped something on his lap.
"What's this?" he asked curiously.
"Since you have been brooding… I thought you needed a pick me up. I wrote to your grandparents, and they helped me make you this," she smiled. Neville stopped trimming and looked at them with interest.
"What is it?"
"Open it," she smiled brightly.
He opened it slowly. It was a leather-bound photo album. The picture on the cover showed his mom and dad holding him and moving his tiny hand to wave at the camera. Both Lily and James kissed his rosy baby cheeks, and he giggled. Harry felt his heart being squeezed. Most of their pictures were lost in Godric's Hollow.
"H-How?" he croaked.
"Well, your grandparents enlisted friends and allies, and we were able to get dozens of pictures," Hermione caressed Harry's back in small circles. He broke down in tears, holding the album to his chest reverently. Hermione just pulled him down to lay his head on a pillow on her lap. Neville nodded at Hermione and left without a word. They needed privacy. Most of the other first-years left as Neville whispered things to them.
It took Harry quite a while to calm down. Once he did, they saw the album together. There were pictures of his parents growing up. Many of them at Hogwarts: studying, playing Quidditch, hanging out with the Marauders, and more. There were many snaps of their wedding where his mother looked stunning, and his father looked giddy and proud. Then, a few pictures of Lily at different stages of her pregnancy and a couple of the two of them at St. Mungo's with newborn Harry. Lastly, there was Harry in a boom chasing Padfoot while his mom and dad laughed.
Harry turned to Hermione. She looked at him expectantly. Her eyes were so bright. Harry could have drowned in those pools of melted chocolate. He sighed.
"I love you," he whispered. "This means everything to me."
She smiled shyly. "I love you too, Harry. I am glad you liked it."
"I love it. You are the best, Mione," he hugged her tight and smelled her hair. The smell always brought him peace.
"Harry, I'm going to the Great Hall. I need to see if our plan worked. Meet me there?" she smiled as she stood up.
"Yeah, I'll be right behind you. Just let me put this in my trunk."
Crabbe and Goyle had been forced to go to their dorm to shower thoroughly as Madam Pomfrey found nothing wrong. She did give them a pomade for their irritated skin.
Draco was in the Slytherin Common Room reading when he heard screams and curses from the general direction of his former room. He was still staying over at the Infirmary, and Aunt Andy had made him a makeshift space with privacy dividers. Since he was absolutely clean and organized, neither Healer was uncomfortable with him staying there. He smirked and left to meet his friends for the feast. As he was leaving, Pansy stopped him.
"How are you doing this to them?" she frowned.
"Doing what to whom?" Draco used his best poker face.
"I know it was you, and I will find out how you did it!" she stomped away. But not even she could contain her laughter when the boys came out in their robes with a hot pink glittery sludge on their heads. The more they tried to remove it, the worse of a mess it became. The whole Common Room cackled as Draco subtly left.
Hermione was waiting for him at the Great Hall's entrance.
"Success?"
Draco hugged Hermione and twirled her around as she laughed. "There is no money that can buy what I just saw! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Harry and Neville smiled. "It worked?"
"Like a charm! No, better than a charm! You are a genius!" Draco squeezed Hermione again and did something he had never done before. He kissed her forehead, soundly.
Harry smiled, but he couldn't help but want to push him away from her. Hermione must have sensed something because she discreetly moved away and grabbed Harry's hand as Neville asked Draco all sorts of questions about their success. Hermione pulled Harry by the hand towards the buffet. This and the smell of delicious food calmed him down completely.
"Don't you want to see them?" Harry asked.
"Nah, I just wanted Draco and all of Slytherin to see them. I am positive pink is not their color, though," she chuckled. Harry laughed and squeezed her hand. This was why Hermione was scary. She was so positive her tactics were effective that she didn't even need to double-check.
"I hope the speech is short," Harry complained as they took their trays to the table. Neville and Draco following them. Ronald Weasley was back. He had tried to get them to fight with him. But Harry was not having it.
"Weasley, I thought my Head of House made clear that they wouldn't tolerate things like this. Today is not a good day for me, and I don't want to make yours bad, too," he warned.
The redhead sulked and began gorging on food. Perhaps all he ate hurt his stomach because he left in the middle of the feast, and Seamus mouthed the word bathroom. The speech had been long and tedious. Most students zoned out. As they clapped to shut the headmaster up, there was dry lightning, and the enchanted ceilings went stormy. Professor Quirrell came in loudly and with a terrified face said, "Troll! I-In the dungeons… Thought you ought to know," he stammered and promptly fainted.
Pandemonium broke loose. Kids were screaming and running towards the entrance of the Hall.
"Silence!" Filius had made his voice louder. "Everyone calm down! Prefects, take your fellow students to their Common Rooms. Professors, come with me!"
Slytherins looked confused, terrified, and offended.
"Filius! It's in the dungeons! Slytherin Prefects, take your students to the Library and lock yourselves in, now!"
The Professors left and split. Half of them went to Slytherin's Common Room, and the other half went to protect the entrances to all other Common Rooms.
"Where's Ron?" George asked Fred.
Their eyes widened. He couldn't be so stupid. They began walking towards the stairs. He didn't even hear about the troll, did he? Fuck!
"Harry, did you see which way Ron went?"
"No, why?"
"Damn it! We think he's going to do something stupid to try to convince Hogwarts he belongs in Gryffindor," Fred said with a worried frown.
"I know he's been an ass to you guys, but he's our baby brother. Can you help us find him?"
"Hermione?"
"Fine! He's such an idiot! How are you even related?" she snapped at the twins.
They took advantage of a distraction and left towards the dungeons. "If we die because of this, our guardians will revive us to kill us for being so dumb!" Neville complained.
They split into pairs. The stench was growing worse as they walked. Draco and Neville went into the boy's bathroom to find Ronald throwing up safe and sound. Hermione and Harry went into the girl's bathroom, and she yelled. That troll was the ugliest, biggest, most disgusting creature they had ever seen… or smelled. The towering creature waved its club at the source of the noise, breaking all the stalls in half.
Harry jumped in front of Hermione and did an impedimenta, but the troll didn't even stagger.
Ron, Draco, and Neville ran into the bathroom. The redhead rushed towards the troll, yelling, "I know I'm a Gryffindor and I will prove it!" Ronald started kicking and punching the troll with a vengeance. The troll barely felt anything so Ron did something that no one present could believe. He bit the troll's leg. Fred and George skidded to a halt behind the four friends and watched with horror as the troll grabbed Ron, hit him across the jaw with his cub, making several teeth fly away. As Ron screamed in pain spitting out blood and a string of expletives, he still tried to hurt the troll, but since he was dizzy from the hit, he missed. Trolls are very territorial creatures, and this one was about to show the kids why you should never threaten an alpha in the wild. It grabbed Weasley by the neck and threw him against the wall with all its might as if he was nothing but a mere inconvenience. The boy flew several feet and his head collapsed against the far end bathroom wall. There was a sickening crunch, and blood gushed from Ronald's head. The children yelled in horror.
The twins started throwing hexes at the troll and the rest of the kids helped. They needed to distract the troll. It ran towards them and grabbed Harry by the back of the robe. The boy flailed in vain, but the troll wouldn't let go, so he did the only thing he could think of. He jammed his wand into the troll's left nostril as far as it would go and yelled an impedimenta, which did push the troll back and made it lose balance. George threw a Diffindo at the troll's wrist, and it let go of Harry with a growl of pain. Hermione ran to him and pulled him away from the staggering troll.
Neville's and Draco's quick thinking was the only thing that saved Ronald from being crushed by the falling giant. Hermione had accioed the club, and Harry used Wingardium Leviosa to drop it far from the troll's reach. It began staggering and fell towards Ron, but Neville and Draco were quicker and accioed the redhead. For a few seconds, nobody moved. They half expected the troll to get up, but it didn't. They heard rushed steps. Soon enough, Professor Snape, Headmaster Flitwick, and Professor McGonagall ran inside and looked at all the scene in shock.
"What is the meaning of this?!" Filius growled.
"Not now, Filius! Mr. Weasley needs Poppy and Andy immediately," Minerva said over her shoulder as she cast numerous spells to try to stabilize the boy. She was pale. "This is serious. He has lost a lot of blood and has several fractures."
Fred and George were crying silently, looking at their brother. Hermione was hugging Harry as if her life depended on it. Neville looked green, but he pulled his necklace twice to call for Andy. Draco was too shocked at Ron's state to move. He was breathing shakily, trying not to cry. Draco crossed himself like Martin taught him. The act always gave him some peace.
Minerva left rushing with the Headmaster as he levitated the boy towards the nearest Healer. The twins were running after them. Neville's calling resulted in a frantic Andy who met them halfway and started working as hard as possible to save the boy's life. Back in the bathroom, Severus did a quick succession of spells to ensure the troll would remain incapacitated and bound him. He removed Harry's wand with a grimace and cleaned it. Then, he turned to the kids and opened his arms wide. The four shaky kids rushed into him and held firmly onto his robes. He held them back tightly. Any of them could have ended up like Mr. Weasley.
All children started speaking fast into his embrace as he struggled to understand their sobs.
"Dad!" "It was so h-horrible!" "I was s-so scared!" "Weasley tried to c-convince the school that he's a G-Gryffindor, and he attacked the troll" "I thought he was going to k-kill Harry!" "The twins asked us t-to help find him" "They thought he d-didn't know about the t-t-troll because he came to the bathroom" "but Weasley must have known b-because he attacked it!" "Is Weasley going to d-die?"
"Everyone, calm down. First, here's your wand, Harry. Are any of you hurt?" All of them shook their heads. Snape did some spells to make sure: the kids were extremely tense and agitated but unharmed. Severus sighed. "Now, come with me to the Headmaster's office. I have to call your guardians and parents."
The kids looked relieved at that. They needed their family.
As Severus left the Headmaster's office to floo call all families, he saw Quirrell limping away from the third floor's construction zone. Snape could have sworn he heard a growl. He disillusioned himself and stared at the man. As Quirinus walked, his cape moved, and Severus saw a deep gash on the man's leg. His turban was skewed, and that's when he felt it. The Dark Mark on his arm burned. He could see the corners of the mouth the children had mentioned. Severus canceled the spell and grabbed Quirinus before he left. The man let out a high pitched scream.
"Snape?"
"What happened to you?"
"N-N-Nothing…"
"You are bleeding," Severus said in a monotone. It was a statement, not a question.
"Y-Yes, well… You s-s-see, I was f-feeling worried a-about the kids so I went l-l-looking for the t-t-t-troll, figured s-someone should g-get him out," Quirrell stammered. He was a horrible liar.
Snape stared hard at the man who simply ripped his arm from Severus' grip. That injury was made with something that had claws. Trolls were freakishly strong, but their hands barely had nails, not to mention that Snape knew precisely what had really happened to the troll.
"You should go to the infirmary and get some dittany," Severus advised with a lifted brow as the man repositioned his turban and limped away as fast as he could. However, he went towards the main entrance. Snape wished that he could follow him, but he had scared children waiting and needed to contact their parents. He took off towards his office and made the calls.
Scamander stared at Daniel as the man read his findings. The dose on Sirius should have killed him two times over. Mixing different strings of werewolf poison in the same organism had never been done. The results were shocking. Daniel was not a geneticist, but what Newt found alarmed him.
"Does this mean what I think it means?" Daniel lifted a shocked brow at the magizoologist.
"I don't know. What do you think it means?" Newt countered.
Daniel put the document down on the coffee table and began pacing. Scamander could almost hear the man's brain working.
"Did you-" Daniel took a deep slow breath. "Did you create a new species?! Is that even possible?!" Daniel was growing pale quickly.
"It appears that either it's a new species… or quite and evolutionary jump forward for the current werewolves. I am not sure," Scamander rubbed the back of his neck and looked down.
"How are you so calm about this?!" Daniel pulled his hair. He was freaking out. "Did you tell them? That you have permanently altered the very essence of who they are? The possible diseases they may suffer from? Their life span?!"
"Their essence remains unchanged. In magical terms, the essence is the center of the soul that is attached to a person's magical core. What did change was their DNA," Newt replied.
Daniel whisper shouted, "Their DNA is their essence! This is a motherfucking can of flesh-eating, radioactive zombie worms for God's sake!"
Newt chuckled at this but refrained from laughing at the imagery when Daniel stared at him with cold fury as he took calming breaths. "I need to do more testing and probably invent tests too. This is going to take months if not years to gain some semblance of an understanding of what happened to their natural selves."
"You are hired," Daniel said out of the blue.
"I beg your pardon?" Scamander asked, taken aback.
"Charlus and Dorea have decided to open a hospital. It will take care of magical beings and both magical and non-magical people. You are hired. That way, you can study them properly," Daniel explained.
"I don't think Lord and Lady Potter want me to work for them. After all, I am responsible for this," Newt looked down.
"They will accept it because you are the only one who knows what you did and you witnessed what happened."
"If you say so," Newt shrugged.
The phone rang. Daniel asked Newt to stay because he had a family emergency. Great, Newt thought, don't ask me if I have other things to do. Scamander went back to the room to find Sirius struggling to breathe and Remus writhing in pain next to his husband. Really!? this has to happen when I am alone!? He rushed and began muttering spells. It was fortunate that Emma had taught him how to intubate using a medical dummy. It was similar to intubating an animal. He hoped this was the right thing to do. If he ended up killing two Lords in one night, not even Merlin himself would be able to save him from spending the rest of his years in Azkaban.
A/N: Thank you for reading. The next update may take a while. The end of this semester is upon me and that means countless grading hours. If I get the opposite of writer's block, I may post faster. I hope you are safe and healthy wherever you are. -Lux-