Wow, sorry it's been so long since I've updated! Writer's block! Hopefully you like this chapter, it really didn't want to be written.
When Greyback stumbled painfully back into consciousness, he immediately was aware of the fire shooting up his arm. His entire body ached, so much that the mere idea of moving seemed impossible. His very bones seemed to be throbbing, every muscle torn from their foundation. He was dimly aware that the agony was concentrated most in his arm. While Greyback dare not open his eyes to the blinding sunlight, he knew it must look bad. It felt raw, and the searing pain felt like poison racing up his arm into the rest of his body. In fact, he would describe it as acid, singeing whatever it touched.
He opened his eyes, then shut them at once. Why was the sun so bright? He lay there a while more, then realising that no help was coming, slowly opened his eyes again. The sun glared at him as brightly as it could, but Greyback ignored it. He slowly, ever so slowly, sat up. What he saw shook him.
His arm. His arm was bleeding and broken. It looked as though a small chunk was gone from his forearm and the elbow was bent at an unnatural angle. Greyback was surprised he hadn't died of blood loss.
Using his good arm, he pushed himself to his feet, holding his delicate right arm away from him. His brain felt fuzzy. His legs were lead. Then a idea came to him, a simple one, yes, but a plan nonetheless.
Find the wand..
Greyback was stumbling around the forest floor, looking for his wand and dripping red onto the leaves when he remembered.
"Agghh!"
It had been a werewolf that bit him.
He fell to the ground, barely registering his bruised and battered knees colliding with the hard earth.
"Argghhh!"
It bit him.
But he couldn't.. no. He would go to St. Mungo's, they'd patch him up, and he'd be fine. Maybe not good as new, but fine. Maybe it hadn't even been a full-fledged werewolf that attacked him. Maybe it was a.. a half-werewolf! Yes, a half-werewolf.
Then he remembered the other part of the previous night.
"Aylin." He whispered.
Where was she? Was she safe? He wished desperately she had gotten away, or had forgotten to come at all.
"Aylin!" Greyback called, his voice hoarse. Silence.
"Aylin..." Maybe she had gotten away in time. Greyback shifted his attention to a more pressing matter.
Well, he couldn't stay here forever. No matter what Aylin said, Greyback was bleeding, and he didn't trust the creatures of the Forbidden Forest to stay away from an easy, injured target.
There it was, right over there. His wand.
Greyback got back to his feet and limped towards it. He too it in his good hand, then wondered what to do now.
Well.. Apparating was the only thing to do.
He spun on the spot, almost tumbling back to the earth, and focused with all his power on Borgin & Burkes'.
His eyes were closed, but he felt the familiar sensation and knew it had worked. He opened his eyes, saw that he had arrived somewhere in Knockturn Alley, then crumpled to the cobblestones.
When he awoke, he felt.. numb. The pain certainly wasn't gone, but it felt like most of his body had fallen asleep. It was an uncomfortable kind of numb. At that moment, Greyback realised he was awake. He opened his eyes, and decided he must be in St. Mungo's. He had been there a couple times as a child, and it looked similar to the hospital in his memories.
As Greyback looked around the room, his eyes fell on his wrapped up arm. It appeared to be floating or resting on some kind of invisible surface. It still ached, but the scorching pain was gone. How long had be been here anyway?
At that moment, a Healer walked into the room. She was middle-aged and blond, a little on the thin side and almost completely coated in something glittery. She started when she saw Greyback looking at her, then put on an artificial smile.
"Good morning.." She summoned a clipboard, then read off, "Mr. Greyback. It's nice to see you awake finally."
"How.. how long have I been here?"
"Well.. you were brought in Friday morning, and it's Monday now. So you've been sleeping almost four days."
Greyback sat bolt upright. "Four days!"
"Yes, four days. A man named.. Burke brought you in. Said he found you bleeding on the ground. Miracle you're still alive, what with.. well, you know." The Healer's face seemed to tense a bit. "I'll go get my supervisor, I'm not really qualified to.. I'm just here to check up on people and make sure they're not dead pretty much."
She practically vanished from the room, leaving Greyback with a very sour taste in his mouth. He didn't like her. He threw himself back onto the bed, angry that he had slept for so long, like a slug.
"Well, well, Mr. Greyback. I was wondering when you'd be up." A man with shiny brown hair entered the room this time. He wore lime-green robes. Greyback assumed he was Glitter-lady's supervisor. "My name's Bob Rontoman. Now before I say anything, could you tell me exactly what happened? Or do you have any questions?"
Greyback didn't know if he liked this Healer, but he decided to talk. "Uh, I was out in the woods with my.. my friend. And I was waiting for her, and I heard howling, then I saw the wolf, so I ran. It caught up with me." He faltered, unsure of what to say next.
"We thought so. How did you get out of the woods?"
"Apparated."
"Quite the feat for someone in your condition. Now.."
"Wait, did anyone find Aylin?"
"Aylin?"
"Yes, Aylin Vance, she's my friend. I don't know if she got away or not."
"I don't know," Rontoman said. After seeing the expression on Greyback's face, he quickly added," I can check later."
"Check as soon as you can." Greyback wasn't going to wonder any longer than he had to.
"I will. Now, I'm going to be blunt. There's no cure."
What Rontoman was speaking about was obvious to both of them, but Greyback didn't believe it. After all, that sort of thing just didn't happen to normal people. "What?"
"There's no cure to lycanthropy, and you were infected. You'll have to live with it for the rest of your life. I'm sorry."
"Ly.. lycanthropy?"
"Yes.. lycanthrope is the technical term for werewolf."
"No. No no no no no. I can't be a werewolf. They're animals.. they're monsters. I'm just a normal bloke. You made a mistake."
"I'm sorry, but.."
"YOU MADE A MISTAKE!" Greyback yelled, half lunging at the Healer. He fell back onto the bed, suddenly dizzy and too exhausted to protest much more. "I'm.. I can't be.." Greyback didn't want to believe it, but there wasn't even an argument. If a werewolf bit you, you became a werewolf. End of story. Then he realised that he had just tried to launch himself at the Healer. Was he beginning to act like the wolf?
"I know it's a bit of a shock, but it's true." Rontoman was saying quietly. "Now, please listen."
Greyback nodded quietly, still trying to take it in.
"First off, I'm a lot more sympathetic to werewolves than most others, so I'm probably the only person who will listen to your questions. There aren't any pamphlets or books out there on how to be a werewolf. There's no cure, so you'll have to learn to cope with it. Now, possibly the most important thing- get a calendar."
"I already have one."
"Good. One thing you never want to do is forget when the full moon is. Secondly, find yourself somewhere secure to go on full moons. Trust me, you do not want to transform in your flat. Not only would you destroy all your possessions, but it would be incredibly dangerous."
Greyback nodded dumbly. "Why would I destroy all my stuff?"
"Werewolves have no control over themselves when they transform. The wolf takes over and goes after humans. If there aren't any humans, they will demolish pretty much everything in their path. You will attack yourself, and I'm sure you'll end up with some bad scarring."
"What? Why-"
"Werewolves are bloodthirsty. That's just the way it is. Now, you can either come here after a full moon or lie low for a few days and heal up."
"Okay.. when do I get to leave?"
"A few more days, I think. You were in really bad condition when you came in here, and it will take a while for your arm to heal completely. If you want you can come back here if it bothers you too much."
Greyback bit his lip, most unlike him. "What about my job? How am I supposed to make a living?" Once he told his employers what had happened, he was sure to be sacked.
"I don't mean to sound harsh, but that's your problem. Lycanthropy is a valid reason to deny a person a job, and most employers won't hire one. I'd say the best thing to do is some odd jobs for someone. Probably not a regular job, since you'd be out so much."
Greyback shook his head, uttering words most Slytherins considered reserved for Hufflepuffs. "That's not fair."
"That's the way it is."