Note: Oh I'm SO SORRY I FORGOT TO UPDATE ON FFN! Please accept my sincere apologies and enjoy these three upcoming chapters (Ch 22, 23 and 24)

Hermione pushed open the portrait door and stepped into a warm and noisy common room. The laughter and chatter of her housemates, so incongruous to the rising panic in her chest, left her feeling momentarily unmoored. She scanned the room but she saw no sign of them.

She found Charlie sitting slumped in an old armchair by the window, arguing half-heartedly with his chess pieces.

"Charlie, have you seen Remus, James or Sirius? Any of them?"

He looked up distractedly. "Wh - hm? No. I mean, they came here after dinner I think, but dunno where they are now."

Hermione ran up the winding set of stairs to the boys dorms. She called out their names.

The fifth-year boys dorm, which looked identical to hers, save for the Quidditch posters and the various items of clothing that were strewn about on the beds and floor, was empty. A tall red-haired boy walked in from the adjacent bathroom and when he saw her, he jumped and gave a short girlish scream. "Merlin. Hermione! What are you doing here?" exclaimed Will Prewett, flushing as red as his hair.

"Sorry. Have you seen James or Sirius? Or Remus? They came back after dinner but I can't find them."

"They went downstairs a moment ago. What's this about?"

She dashed out without answering.

Heart in her mouth, she ran along the corridors towards the east courtyard. They must already be on their way to the Whomping Willow - she considered alerting a professor, perhaps Dumbledore. But his office was in the north tower and by the time she got there and explained (if he was even in his office) it would be too late to warn them. If Remus was discovered … Not only would he be expelled, but the entire Hogwarts staff would be investigated for harbouring someone the Ministry didn't even view as human. Remus' condition would be forever attached to his name; he would be an outcast, his life would become a series of closed doors, forever treated as though he was a hair's breadth away from senseless evil, as though he wasn't the quiet boy who loved Charms and Potions, who was thoughtful and loved to read, whose third-hand robes she'd repaired year after year, who in turn was fiercely loyal and sometimes mischievous, no doubt influenced by his friends' natures; a boy, a friend, whose life was about to be ruined.

She needed to get to the Whomping Willow.

Hermione Disillusioned herself and began to run faster. The sun would have only just set, there was still time.

The courtyard was cold and empty but it wasn't fully dark yet. There was no sight of the moon, still hidden by thick clouds. As soon as it showed, she knew that was when Remus would transform.

She was still partially in disbelief that he really was a werewolf. How had he become infected? When? And by whom? Why had she only noticed his symptoms now? Was she truly that oblivious to the concerns of her friends?

But no, she thought, hurrying out of the courtyard. She was certain he'd never looked as he did tonight at dinner, pale and feverish. She would have noticed. Everyone would have, if it had been regularly occurring, month after month.

When she reached the greenhouses, she slowed. The Whomping Willow was visible just beyond, in a clearing that bordered the edges of the Forbidden Forest. Its branches were swaying, though there was no wind.

Suddenly, as she approached, she stopped and squinted. There were figures moving at the edges of the Forest - two boys accompanied by a large black dog. One of them was James - she could spot his sandy shock of hair a mile away. The other boy, who was shorter, had to be Remus.

Hermione looked around the edges of the clearing for any sign of Malfoy and Avery, but she could not see them.

The boys walked closer to the Whomping Willow and then stopped just out of reach. The dog, or perhaps wolf, given its size, leapt forwards. The tree groaned and creaked; its limbs began to twist and churn and a thick branch swept along the ground towards its target at break-neck speed. But the wolf was faster. It streaked along the grass in a dark blur and in a few short seconds it had reached the base of the trunk. Hermione watched as it pressed a paw into the bark and then, to her surprise, the tree shuddered and stilled completely. The boys began to move quickly towards the wolf and … vanished behind the trunk. She squinted harder. Where had they gone?

She was standing in the shadow of the greenhouses, perhaps twenty metres away. Hermione was about to run towards the tree when she saw two poorly Disillusioned figures running at a distance, their forms wavering, their invisible feet trampling the wet grass. They were heading straight for the tree.

At this rate, they would reach it before she would.

She cursed and started running in earnest. The Willow wouldn't be still for long, she knew.

The Disillusioned figures reached the tree and disappeared. Hermione pushed her legs to move faster. She had just reached the trunk when she heard the branches begin to shudder.

She found an opening in between the roots where they must have all fallen through; it was dark and she couldn't see the bottom, but she had no choice. She jumped in, feet first, and not a second too late. There was a thwack behind her as one of the tree's limbs landed heavily where she'd just been standing. The sounds of the belligerent tree became muffled as the roots closed up above her and then she was in darkness.

Lumos.

The light revealed a rough dirt tunnel. There was no sight of Malfoy and Avery.

She cursed again and hurried down the tunnel.

She didn't know how long she'd been running before eventually the ground began to slant upwards. Her school shoes scrabbled against the rocks and dirt and she leaned on the wall with one hand to catch her breath, the other still holding her wand aloft.

At the top of the incline, the rough hewn floor smoothed out into wooden slats. There was a ladder propped up at the end of the tunnel, illuminated by a lit gas lamp.

She climbed it.

There was a hatch at the top and she lifted it cautiously, peering out.

The first thing she saw were wooden floorboards, old and splintering. She slowly climbed out and found herself in a dark dilapidated room, barely furnished. The walls were made of dark timber. Parts of it had rotted away and there were cobwebs and dust in every corner. A large pianoforte stood sombrely in the centre of the room, its keys yellowed and broken.

The hatch closed audibly behind her.

"What was that?" someone hissed, just outside the room.

The door creaked open and she met the pale faces of two very stupid Slytherins.

"Oh, it's you," said Malfoy with a sneer, relaxing his wand, at the same time Avery said, "What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? Do you both have a death wish? What is this place, anyway?"

"Shh, quiet!" Malfoy hissed again, looking behind him into the dark corridor.

She clenched her jaw. "We need to get out. Now."

"Shove off, this isn't any of your business, Mudblood," whispered Malfoy viciously.

"So you know, then? How'd you find out?" asked Avery, with a suspicious frown.

She ignored his question. They didn't have any evidence of Remus yet. It was her mission now that they didn't get any tonight. "We have to go." She glanced out the window nervously. Night had well and truly fallen. She peered closer at the silhouetted rows of houses in the distance. "Are we in … Hogsmeade?"

"Never mind that. Shoo, Mudblood. You're not needed here," said Malfoy angrily.

"If you're here because of what I think you may be here for, then you two must have troll blood–"

"Excuse me, what did you just say–"

She ignored him and gestured at the patch of dark sky visible through the window. "Look - the moon isn't out yet. But if Remus is what you think he is, if he is actually a werewolf, then what are you doing here? Do you even have a bloody plan other than to get mauled?"

Avery's thin face twisted into an ugly sneer. "Oh, we've come prepared." He slipped his hand into his robes and drew out a gleaming knife.

She stared at it. "You plan on stabbing a werewolf with a knife? Have you gone mad?"

"No. Merlin, open your eyes. It's made of pure silver. An heirloom with certain … properties. Should things get hairy, we have the means to protect ourselves. You, however, don't. So I suggest you leave."

"Or don't," added Malfoy. "Perhaps we can get rid of more than one kind of filth tonight. Potter and Black are Animagi, did you know? Unregistered Animagi." He grinned maliciously. "They're so fucked."

Hermione's eyes widened. Did werewolves not attack Animagi when they were in their animal forms? This must have been how James and Sirius were keeping Remus company. Prongs. Padfoot. Moony. The pieces were clicking together. "Are you two just going to wait until he transforms? Why can't daddy dearest insist on a lycanthropy test instead, Malfoy? Does he know what you're doing?"

Malfoy flushed angrily. "He can't go in and test people at random. There needs to be probable cause, Granger."

"So he doesn't know you're doing this? Sneaking out underground, to this godawful place, chasing a bloody werewolf on a full moon, you absolute imbeciles–"

"Shut. It. Granger. Or we'll leave you here in a full body-bind."

She rolled her eyes as she lifted her wand higher. To her gratification, Avery began to look a bit wary. "You know I'd beat both of you with my eyes crossed. We need to leave n–"

She cut off abruptly.

There were sounds of distant laughing coming from the end of the corridor.

Malfoy and Avery tensed and drew their wands up higher. Silently, the two of them crept closer to the sounds.

Hermione began to panic. This was not ideal. This was - how could she stop this? She glanced back out the window. She thought she could see the outline of several clouds in the sky. Which meant the moon was just behind, waiting.

She silenced her footsteps as she followed them. They glared at her when she did, but there was nothing they could do now. Not without giving themselves away.

Perhaps she should Stun them. Hermione's wand twitched as she considered it. But how would she able to levitate both their forms back down the hatch? Especially if Remus transformed? Could she do it quickly enough?

That was, if Remus was a werewolf. A small obstinate part of her was still in denial. What if this had all just been a mistake, a silly misunderstanding? She clung on to that bizarre hope.

As they moved down the corridor, that hope began to curdle and recede as she noticed the horrifyingly long and deep gouges on the walls and on the floors, angry gashes that had evidently been made by a large beast - its paws had to be bigger than the size of her own head.

Hermione began to tremble a little. She was gripped by indecision. Or rather, by the imperative feeling of needing to decide, right here, right now, what she was supposed to do. She could no longer pretend with 'ifs' or 'maybes'. Remus was a werewolf and she was here, trapped in this house, on the night of a full moon. Hermione wanted to run back, leave these two idiots behind …

The laughter became louder.

"Do you think they managed to follow us?" came the voice of James, behind the door at the very end of the corridor. It had been left slightly ajar - she could see light spilling from the gap onto the old floorboards.

"No, surely. Although, who cares? I'd like to see their faces when they catch sight of Remus," came the answering voice of Sirius. Both James and Sirius chuckled again.

"That's not funny," said a tired voice. It was Remus.

"You alright there, mate? I think this has been the worst we've ever seen you. He won't be coming to Hogwarts, if that's what's gotten you down. James' old man has got the best in the country working on it."

"And I don't think they followed us here, mate. They'd be stupid to."

Hermione gripped her wand tighter. She had just made the decision to step forwards into the room and warn them when suddenly there was a loud groan.

She froze. Beside her, Malfoy and Avery had frozen too. Silently, Malfoy brought out something shining and silver from the pockets of his robes. It looked like a glass orb, filled with some sort of liquid …

But she didn't have time to think. The groan became a blood-curdling scream and she stepped back involuntarily in terror.

Through the door she saw the shadows of the boys begin to morph, simultaneously shrinking and growing until she saw the unmistakeable outline of a pair of antlers.

The sound of claws gouging wood, the floor beneath them shuddering - the scream became a low drawn-out whimper of animal pain. Then, stillness.

Hermione grabbed Malfoy by the scruff of his neck and began to back away. Slowly. He didn't resist.

Suddenly, they heard a sniff. They froze again, though every instinct was screaming at her to run. Hide.

Something sniffed again, vigorously. Until it stopped.

The terror that she was sure the three of them all felt in that moment was indescribable. Unimaginable. It was a deep primal sort of fear, one she'd never felt before - sharp as knife down her back, all her senses honed on the sounds coming from behind that door.

A growl, loud and dangerous, rended the air.

She turned to sprint and saw Malfoy and Avery still rooted in place, their eyes wide, their features paralysed in fear, still clutching their silver trinkets.

"RUN! RUN YOU MORONS RUN!"

The boys turned and began to run.

The creature growled again and there was the sudden sound of commotion behind the door - the sound of something large knocking into something else - but she didn't really stop to analyse.

They were sprinting but they had only gotten several feet down the corridor when they heard a crash and the sound of a door being ripped off its hinges.

Hermione glanced behind her and almost stumbled when she saw the snarling form of a long-limbed creature, as tall as the door frame, standing on its hind legs; pale and half-covered in hair, its teeth bared.

Malfoy let out a shrill scream when he saw the creature behind them, tripping over his robes. Avery threw his knife just as a large black wolf leapt out from behind and threw itself in front of the creature. The knife, spelled to be accurate, landed in the wolf's back, sinking deeply into its long fur. The wolf yowled and slumped to the floor.

"Impedimenta!" she cried.

The spell hit the creature right in its chest. It jerked back and then shook itself, snarling, before it surged forwards.

They wouldn't be able to outrun it. In a split-second decision, she aimed her wand at the ceiling.

"Bombarda maxima!"

The ceiling exploded, hitting the werewolf. Debris rained down, large chunks of plaster and timber creating a makeshift blockade. She hauled Malfoy to his feet and began to run again.

"Get to the tunnel!" she screamed in his ear.

Avery was already ahead of them, heading into the room with the piano. Behind them, the werewolf let out a blood-thirsty howl before tearing into the debris. It was almost through - they had only seconds to get out.

They tumbled down the corridor and into the room. To her horror, Avery was kneeling beside the hatch, fumbling. He hadn't gotten it open yet.

She ran to it and shoved him aside. "Alohomora."

She lifted the latch and tugged. Nothing. She almost screamed in frustration before she aimed her wand at it again and blasted the bloody thing to pieces, leaving a large crater in the floor.

The house was still shaking, the growls coming closer. She could hear the creature stumbling, being held back by something that was shoving it into the walls.

James.

She prayed for his safety.

The three of them jumped into the hole. Hermione landed painfully on the broken pieces of the ladder that had been there before.

"Run. Keep moving."

The boys needed no encouragement. The sounds of fighting were still loud behind them.

They'd been sprinting in the dark, slipping and stumbling on the dirt and rocks, when suddenly there was a howl. It echoed through the tunnel - long, loud and menacing.

Hermione began to Bombarda the walls again behind them. The sound of rocks crumbling in the dark only added to her fear.

"Stop it! You'll cave us in!"

"Then run faster!"

They had to be near the end. Her heart was pounding in her ears, she was almost choking on her breath but she forced herself to breathe, pumping her arms and legs as hard as she could.

Avery was far ahead of them and the tunnel was now fully shaking; rocks and clumps of dirt were beginning to fall in her face.

And the creature was still behind them. They could hear its panting now, its low growl rumbling towards them in the dark.

Malfoy yelled. She looked back. A section of the tunnel had fallen on him, pinning his leg.

"Granger! Help me!"

The werewolf had almost reached them, she could hear its jaws snapping just behind the rubble.

"Granger!"

She ran back and seized his arm, pulling. As he broke free, the snarling face of the werewolf emerged just behind; they stumbled together backwards and her wand was knocked out of her grip.

In a panic, Malfoy threw something in his hand. It was the orb. It missed and shattered behind the werewolf, releasing an eerie white mist.

The wolf sniffed and then growled angrily, its black eyes focusing with utter hatred on Malfoy.

She pushed him aside just as the wolf lunged, its jaws closing on air.

In desperation, aided by her magic, Hermione launched Malfoy several feet down the tunnel, towards the exit.

The wolf turned its eyes to her.

She took a step backwards...

It lunged.

Hermione had never thought in a million years, that this was how it could end. Underground, in the dark, at the hands of one of her friends who'd turned into a werewolf; brought here by the scheming of two bigoted Slytherins, one of whom she'd just saved.

Something surged through her veins, rising through her like a tidal wave. A preternatural calm settled over her, driving away the pounding in her ears.

The smell of earth and powdered silver faded and was replaced with the smell of something sharp and bitter, like ozone; like the smell of rain on concrete, lightning in a thunderstorm; like ashes long ago cooled. In this moment, she could almost feel the particles in the air, the soil beneath her feet; could sense the swaying of the Whomping Willow above her, the light of the moon touching its leaves, the pinpricks of stars in the sky. Her own breathing, slow and measured.

The werewolf stopped, mid-lunge, inches from her neck. Instead of shredding her to pieces, it began to sniff the air strangely.

She felt its breath on her skin, displacing strands of hair.

"Remus?"

There was no understanding or recognition in its red-rimmed eyes, however.

She cautiously took a step backwards and summoned her wand into her hand.

The wolf remained still, crouched.

Hermione eyed it carefully as she took another slow step back.

Then, the wolf did something even stranger. It lowered its head and retreated, backing away into the darkness, until all she could see was the glint of its eyes, and then nothing.

.

She found Malfoy and Avery clutching each other at the end of the tunnel.

When they saw her, she didn't miss the relief that flashed almost imperceptibly over Malfoy's face. As though he had half-feared her to be dead.

"How do we get out! The hole's closed!" Avery was in a panic.

Still feeling oddly calm, she said sarcastically, "Are you a wizard or not? Use your wand."

"I'VE TRIED! WHAT SPELL, GRANGER?"

Malfoy was looking at her with a mixture of confusion and hysteria. "Have you gone mental?" He gripped the front of her robes and shook her hard.

She brushed him away, rolling her eyes.

She tapped the knotted roots with her wand. They parted easily to reveal the cold night sky.

Almost crying in relief, Avery scrambled to get himself out. Malfoy hoisted himself up and then, to her surprise, turned to give her a hand.

She took it and as she crawled up onto the wet grass, she tapped the roots once more, sealing it shut.

However, still shaky and infused with adrenaline, panting into the night air, they had forgotten something quite important.

The Whomping Willow.

There was no time to scream, no time to react, as the tree bent itself in half and slammed onto the three of them with a sickening crunch.

She woke to the sensation of extreme itchiness.

Her eyes felt as if they were glued shut and, with great difficulty, she peeled them open. Blinking away the blurriness, she saw a familiar vaulted ceiling. The infirmary. The last time she had woken up here, she'd been dying.

It was difficult to tell what time of day or night it was. The light that fell through the long stained-glass windows had a subdued quality, as though the sun had either just risen or just set.

Hermione tried to move her head and found the muscles in her neck too stiff.

"Oh, you're awake! Goodness, how are you up already, I've given you enough Dreamless Sleep to take down someone thrice your size!"

Madam Pomfrey arrived at her bed and started to cast a diagnostic charm.

"Is that your familiar?" asked Pomfrey, looking at something sitting on her bedside table.

Hermione turned her head slowly, painfully.

It was a cat. A grey tabby. It had been sleeping next to her, its body curled around itself. The cat opened its eyes just then, as if it sensed her looking at it, and yawned.

"Um, no," Hermione said in confusion. Her brain felt like it'd been stuffed with cotton.

"It's been standing guard for over an hour. I assumed it was yours."

"How long has it been?" Hermione rasped, still staring at the cat. It stared back, its green eyes unblinking.

"It's been a good six hours. Now, just lie back and rest. I can't give you anymore Dreamless Sleep but you shouldn't move right now, you're in the process of re-growing twenty different bones."

Hermione winced. "What happened?"

Madam Pomfrey pursed her lips. "The Headmaster is waiting to hear from all of you when you wake."

Hermione glanced at the bed next to her; she could see Malfoy's white blonde hair, his neck covered in a brace. His eyes were closed.

"You were found by a centaur, of all things. Apparently, you'd been flung by the Willow almost to the edges of the Forbidden Forest. Now, what you three were doing there in the middle of the night bears a lot of explaining, but I've pushed everyone out until you've recovered."

"Just us three?"

Madam Pomfrey paused, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Yes. Is there something you wish to tell me?"

"No." Hermione shrank back slightly from the matron's penetrating look.

Pomfrey wasn't convinced. "If there are more students who have been injured, you must tell me now."

Hermione remembered the way Avery's knife had sunk into his fur, the way his body had slumped. She opened her mouth. "Perhaps–"

The doors to the infirmary flung open.

"What is going–" Pomfrey gasped.

"Madam Pomfrey, I found them on the grounds, walking back up to the castle."

Hermione would recognise that smooth voice anywhere.

"Mr Riddle, help me put this one into bed. What in Merlin's name has been going on?"

Hermione watched, wide-eyed, as James limped into view. His face was scratched and bruised, his nose appeared broken. There was a wide gash on his left arm which was bleeding profusely, dripping down his wrist and onto the floor. His other arm was holding up Sirius, who was unconscious. The boy's black hair was matted, his robes soaked with blood.

Madam Pomfrey gasped again when she saw the knife between his shoulder blades. "Who stabbed the boy?"

James lifted his eyes and then blinked slowly, sagging with exhaustion.

"Never mind - later. Just lie down, dear. I'll be with you in a second."

Riddle helped Pomfrey lower Sirius onto a nearby bed, face down. She summoned a variety of potions which flew to his bedside table, clinking together slightly, and set herself to task with a flurry of diagnostic charms.

As she began healing Sirius' injuries, Riddle flicked his eyes to her and then to the sleeping forms of his housemates.

His gaze was cool, assessing.

"You may go dear. I'll be calling for the Headmaster and their Heads of Houses when they've sufficiently recovered. I don't suppose you know what happened?"

Riddle shook his head regretfully. "No, I'm sorry to say. I was only up early to study when I saw through the window James Potter dragging his friend across the grounds."

Hermione narrowed her eyes slightly. The Slytherin dorms didn't have a view of the grounds, nor was the library open at this hour.

"Right. Well, no need for you to stay, dear–"

"Actually, do you mind if I do? Those boys," he gestured to Malfoy and Avery, "are my friends. I'd like to stay for a moment, if that isn't an imposition."

Pomfrey nodded, distractedly. "Of course, of course." She had removed the knife and placed it on a tray. When her back was turned, Hermione observed Riddle as he bent his head slightly to examine it.

The knife was an heirloom of Avery's. But even if it was discovered to be so, he'd thrown it in self-defence. Neither Avery nor Malfoy would be in trouble - perhaps some housepoints for breaking curfew and venturing near the Willow.

Then she remembered: where was Remus?

Her mind felt sluggish. Her eyelids began to drift downwards, as she listened to the busy sounds of Madam Pomfrey, uncorking potion bottles and opening jars of salves. The last thing she saw was the green eyes of the tabby, still sitting on her bedside table, staring imperiously down at her.

When she woke again, it was to the feeling of sunlight, warming her skin. James and Sirius were sitting by her bed, looking none the worse for wear.

There was no sign of the cat.

"Hermione? Are you awake?"

She coughed. "Where's Remus?"

"He wasn't injured, he's fine. But he doesn't remember much, which is strange, since he usually remembers everything," said Sirius with a frown.

"Are you alright?" James reached over to brush a curl from her face but she found herself turning away.

"How are you two not in bed and I still am?" she said grumpily.

"Well, most of our injuries were superficial. The knife in my back only cut through muscle, missed all the important bits, apparently. You on the other hand, and the other two," Sirius' face darkened momentarily as he jerked his chin over to the beds on their right, "had to regrow a lot of bones. You had six broken ribs, multiple fractures just about everywhere else. The other two had something similar, except maybe worse since they both fractured their thick skulls as well."

Hermione looked down at her body. It was in a full cast, no wonder she felt so stiff. When she looked up again, she saw that Riddle was still there, sitting two beds away, next to Avery. His head was bent, reading a book. She had no doubt he was listening in.

"Does everyone know now, then?" she whispered.

"Well, not yet. Dumbledore is about to come down here after lunch though. I expect we're going to go through bit of an interrogation," said James ruefully.

"How did you end up at the Shrieking Shack, anyhow?" asked Sirius.

"The Shrieking Shack? That's where we were?"

James shrugged. "We've been going there since before the Willow was planted. Now you know why people think it's haunted."

"So how'd did you find us?" asked Sirius, again.

"I followed them - they saw you at the Whomping Willow. I wanted to warn you, or stop them, or do both, but then it was too late. Remus changed and then, you know the rest." She was tired, her mouth felt dry.

"You knew, though didn't you?" she suddenly accused, glaring at them.

"Knew what?"

"You knew what they suspected, that they'd been trying to follow you when you go out. Why didn't you Disillusion yourselves?"

James shifted uncomfortably. She thought she saw a flash of guilt in his eyes.

"I never thought they'd find out about the Whomping Willow, or that they'd be stupid enough to follow us in, given what they suspected," replied James, looking down at the sheets.

"But why weren't you more careful? If they'd been mauled or killed …"

"Then it'd be their own bloody fault!" said Sirius, angrily.

She shook her head exasperatedly. "But now, everyone's going to find out. Remus will be expelled. There'll be an investigation. Both of you are going to be in trouble for being unregistered Animagi - I'm fairly certain they saw you both transform."

James looked worried.

Sirius leaned in and whispered, "They haven't woken up yet, no one else knows."

"It's only a matter of time," said James, slumping. "Poor Remus."

Sirius sighed and put his head in his hands. "I know. He probably feels terrible right now, we'd better go check on him."

James agreed, standing up.

Hermione felt her heart clench painfully at the thought of Remus. She grasped James' sleeve. "Don't say or admit anything yet. Not until they wake up."

James just shook his head tiredly.

"Promise me."

.

When they left, the only visitor that remained in the infirmary was Riddle, who sat quietly, still reading his book.

Hermione cleared her throat.

"Riddle, can I speak to you for a moment?"

He looked up. Without replying, he stood and walked towards her bed.

"I know you heard everything."

He merely raised an eyebrow and waited, neither confirming nor denying it.

She swallowed, with difficulty.

"I … I have a proposition."

He tilted his head to the side, a glint in his eye. "What sort of proposition?"

"Remus, he ... he shouldn't be shunned for the rest of his life for something afflicted on him as a child. If Malfoy and Avery tell everyone what they saw, he'll be taken out of school. He's got nowhere and no one to turn to. I just want – that is, would it be possible to get Malfoy and Avery to keep it a secret? If you told them to?"

"I see." His expression was inscrutable. "It seems you're actually asking for a favour."

Hermione swallowed again. "Possibly. Yes."

He bent down and whispered in her ear. "Are you asking me to Obliviate my friends? So you can save the skin of a werewolf that nearly mauled the three of you to death?"

She flushed at the sharpness of his words. (When was the last time he'd spoken to her so directly?) "No. I'm not asking you to Obliviate them, Merlin. And all of our injuries are from the Whomping Willow."

"So what are you asking me?"

Hermione took a deep breath. Gathered her courage.

"If you could get Malfoy and Avery to swear to secrecy, what would you want in exchange?"

He examined her silently. When he spoke, his voice was low and quiet.

"I'm curious, Granger - why shouldn't Lupin be punished, along with Black and Potter? If he had bitten you, who would you blame?"

Hermione looked at him in disbelief. "Does that matter?"

"Would you blame Lupin?"

She narrowed her eyes. "No."

"And why is that?"

"Because it wouldn't have been his fault."

"It wouldn't have been his fault? So, if he bit any of you, it would have been an accident?"

Hermione paused. She could sense something simmering beneath his controlled exterior. "I - what are you getting at?"

"Yes or no?"

She bit her lip in agitation. "Remus isn't in control of what happens when he turns. He thought he was in a secure place. So yes, it would have been an accident if he did bite someone."

"Even if they died?"

"… Yes."

"So, in essence, you're asking me to cover up something that could have resulted in death on the account that, had it occurred, it would have been an accident?"

Her mouth fell open.

Riddle's dark eyes were gleaming, like an owl that had seen its prey. There was a trace of what looked like contempt, or perhaps amusement, staining the edges of his mouth.

"Why did you give me that brochure?" she asked suddenly.

"What brochure?"

"Don't. I know it was you. Why did you do it? Were you hoping I'd get mauled? Well, considering how it all turned out, are you satisfied?" She gestured at the cast.

"Granger. What is this brochure you're talking about?"

"Someone slipped me a Ministry brochure on how to identify werewolves yesterday. It's how I found out. Stop pretending - I know it was you!"

Riddle's brows were furrowed. "Show me this brochure."

"I don't have it with me right now! Look, it doesn't matter." She took a deep breath, forcing herself to be calm. "You know what I'm asking."

"Do you?"

She glared at him. "Yes, Riddle. I do."

"I'm not so sure. If you truly knew what you were asking, you'd be acknowledging that you are, in fact, a hypocrite." He leaned forwards again. "Can you face that truth? You demand it from everyone but yourself. You're the judge, jury and the executioner in your own self-righteous world." His mask had fallen away finally, revealing the dark fury that had been roiling just beneath since their argument in Dumbledore's office.

Hermione grit her teeth. "You've already bound me to secrecy. What do you want in exchange?"

He smirked coldly. "A debt that may be called in at a later date."

This was the worst answer he could have possibly given.