"Abi, run!" the words tore out of Snape's throat as his instincts kicked in, but the teenagers were too far away from the tunnel's entrance to get to it before the werewolf's teeth sank firmly into Abi's thigh. She let out a terrified scream as she fell to the dusty wooden floor with a hard thud. Blood poured from the puncture wounds and as the wolf savagely ripped his head away from its prey, it took away a huge chunk of Abi's flesh in its mouth. A puddle of crimson blood began rapidly growing around Abi, who was now mercifully unconscious. The wolf let out another howl and bared its teeth; preparing to strike once more.
A different shriek from behind Snape made him duck and once again that damn persistent owl flew into the face of the wolf, obstructing its vision and confusing it long enough for Snape to pull Abi's arm over his shoulder and haul her into the tunnel.
"Come on, come on," he muttered to himself through gritted teeth as they neared the exit. A snarl echoed along the tunnel walls from the room they had just fled, and Snape knew his time was nearly up. The trail of blood Abi was leaking as they went wasn't exactly doing them any favours, he realised. But the exit was in sight, all he needed to do... was run for it. Again gritting his teeth, he tightened his hold on Abigail and barrelled down the tunnel, praying that the narrow walls would slow the animal down.
He let out a yell of sheer relief and exhaustion as they burst out into fresh air... only to find the Immobulus charm had worn off. Back to her usual fighting strength, the Whomping Willow sensed the movement and sent a huge branch sailing in their direction. Snape was sent flying and hit the ground ten feet away with a sickening crunch before everything went black.
Abi lay bleeding out a few feet away from Snape, as the owl that had been attempting to protect them all night soared into the night sky in the direction of the castle.
Light hurt. Noise hurt. Everything hurt. Remus groaned and soon realised that hurt too. He wasn't in the Shrieking Shack; this was the first coherent thought that entered his exhausted head and he forced himself to open his eyes fully. Why was he in the Hospital Wing already? Had he dragged himself over and passed out, forgetting that he'd done so? As usual he was in the private room, kept away from the prying eyes of the other students but he knew that Madam Pomfrey would have been alerted to his awakening and would be along to see him soon.
In actual fact, the school's matron was much to busy to see to Remus for another two hours. The Nighthew girl was still unconscious and it was unclear whether or not she would lose her leg, as a result of her extensive injuries and possible infection she had been sent to St Mungo's earlier in the morning. The Healers weren't holding up much hope for recovery.
Snape was still in the Hospital Wing recovering from several broken bones, the nastiest being in both of his legs, but he was expected to make a full recovery in a day or so. The boy had been very lucky.
Regulus Black had been sent back to his common room with strict instructions not to leave. His worst injury had been a gash up his left side left by Lupin's- Pomfrey stopped herself. The werewolf's claws. It had been easily healed with a drop of dittany. The third year had shown up at the hospital wing during the night, out of breath and shaking, with the news that she had been fearing since Dumbledore had informed her of Lupin's enrolment. Students had found their way into the Shack, and had paid dearly for their curiosity.
She finally swept into the isolation room next to her office and closed the door firmly behind her. Lupin was sitting up on the bed and offered her a tired smile.
"I'm afraid I can't let you go just yet, Mr Lupin," she said, uncertain of how to break the news of his actions to the poor boy.
"I feel fine," he insisted. "I promise not to go to classes today, I'll catch up on sleep."
Her mouth closed into a thin line and she shook her head. "I-"
"It's alright, Madam Pomfrey," came a gentle voice behind her, which nevertheless startled her. The Headmaster's blue eyes looked solemnly back at her over his spectacles - something that she had lectured him for on many occasions, didn't he know how bad it was for one's eyesight? - and she felt relief wash over her. With a nod, she quickly exited the room and went to check on Snape.
Remus stared at the Professor for a long moment before whispering, "Something happened last night."
The truth had been bullied out of Regulus eventually by Lily and Sirius, although he left out his own part in the night. As far as they were concerned, he'd gone to the hospital wing with the same cold that had been going round the castle and had heard what had happened from the professors talking to Madam Pomfrey.
The three of them sat in shock in their usual spot outside. Lily sniffed and wiped her eyes.
"It's my fault," she said softly, "I knew about... I knew what was down there. I thought Sev would just give up on the idea if I didn't pay any attention to it."
Sirius wrapped his arm around her shoulders and gave her a quick hug. "It's not your fault. If it's anyone's, it's mine for leaving Snape by himself and then telling Abi where he was... I should have known she'd go after him."
The weather was deceptively cheery: the sunshine was warm on their faces and a slight breezre rustled through the trees nearby.
"Do you think Abi's going to make it?" Lily whispered, not moving away from Sirius whose heartbeat had sped up considerably.
"Yeah, of course she will," he said with false confidence. He couldn't really imagine life at Hogwarts without her... she'd been there since the start. "We can go down to see Madam Pomfrey after lunch and see how she's doing."
"I think they want to keep it hushed up," Regulus said, recounting the cover story he'd been taught before leaving last night, in case anyone wondered where Abi and Snape had disappeared to. "So it would maybe be best to just pretend you don't know anything. They'll keep Severus up to date on Abi, he can let us know when he gets out tomorrow." As well as the other two Slytherins, he was worried about Remus. Word was bound to get out eventually and he'd be expelled. Dumbledore wouldn't be able to justify keeping him in the school now that there had been an attack. Even if he somehow managed to convince people Remus was no danger, many parents would call for expulsion simply because they didn't want their precious little darlings mixing with werewolves. His parents would likely lead the protests.
"Hey, I've been looking for you lot all day!" came an exasperated yell from behind them. Avery jogged over to them, his usual inane grin plastered across his freckled face. Stopping just in front of them, he took in their moody expressions with raised eyebrows. "Whoa, who died?" Chuckling, he dropped down onto the grass and laid back with a contented sigh. After a moments silence, he squinted up at them. "Something wrong?"
"Snape and Abi-" Sirius was cut off by Regulus frantically shaking his head and cautiously switched to the story. "They... caught some kind of dragonpox. Abi's in St Mungo's."
Avery sat up fully, his smile disappearing. "She must be pretty bad then..."
Lily nodded in reply. Avery looked solemn for a moment then tried to change the subject. Nodding at Sirius and Lily, he said jokingly, "You two are looking awfully cosy... anything else happen in my absence."
The redhead blushed and moved away from Sirius who let his arm fall back uselessly at his side. "Course not."
Sirius glared at Avery. Was the boy's foot ever out of his mouth?
Arman Nighthew stared down at his sleeping daughter, her hair spread out in a brown fan around her head. She looked just the same as she had when she'd come home for Christmas, but he knew inside she was changing. Poison was making its destructive way through her system even as he watched her. Her mother had gone into hysterics on hearing the news; it was a big enough shock to learn that first her husband, then her daughter were magical... now their little girl was a werewolf. A monster, in disguise for 29 days of the month.
Abigail's eyes flickered open briefly and connected with his. The same colour, yet different. Older.
"Father..." she croaked, her throat dry.
Arman shook his head and strode out of the room, his cloak billowing around him. He stopped short just outside the door. Albus Dumbledore looked gravely back at him, a pale faced and thoroughly miserable looking teenager sitting with him. Arman pointed at him, still looking at the old man.
"Is this ... it?" He struggled to get the words out. He reached blindly for his wand, causing Dumbledore to get to his feet and stand between him and the boy.
"Mr Lupin is a friend of your daughter's," he said calmly. "He wanted to see how she was doing."
Arman turned away. "The creature in that room is no daughter of mine."
The boy visibly flinched at the hateful words and sank back further into his seat. The guilt and grief lay like a 50 tonne weight on Lupin's chest. He'd maimed her for life. Now her family were disowning her. And it was all his fault.
It may be my brain going into study avoidance mode, but I can't seem to stop writing ha ha. So here's another chapter for you :) Thank you to the reviewers of the last 2 chapters and the people who have put it on alert!