Werewolf in Disguise

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In the past, however, Hermione was definitely enjoying life. Nothing more came of her kiss with Remus, but there were times he was slightly more distant to her. Sirius became obvious in his pursuit of her and she realized that what James had told her was true, Remus wouldn’t try again as long as Sirius was after her. There were times she thought she could be happy with Sirius, but most times she knew once he had her, he’d move on. It wasn’t his fault really, it’s just the way he is. The blonde that had been chatting Remus up earlier was also making her intentions quite clear to everyone. This made Hermione jealous, but she hid her feelings well.

Her first full moon was in two days and she was becoming increasingly agitated as the time grew nearer. Remus was, as promised, there for her every step. As she was walking down the hall with them one their way to Potions, they passed a Slytherin who smelled as though she had bathed in perfume. Hermione’s eyes began to water and she was becoming increasingly nauseous. Remus glanced at her and, noticing her predicament, grabbed her arm and led her quickly in another direction, which happened to be the shortcut she thought they‘d passed before. Soon the air cleared and she could breath again. “Remus, what was that about?”

“It would appear your sense of smell is starting to catch up to the wolf’s standards. Your sense of hearing will increase as well before long. With the full moon so close, you’re definitely going to be more acute to certain smells, and before long, noises as well.”

“Oh. Thanks for the rescue then,” she said, smiling nervously up at him. They both seemed to realize how close they were to each other and started to break away when they heard Sirius shouting, “What the hell was that all about?! What did you do Moony?”

“It was my fault Sirius,” Hermione began as Remus looked down at her shocked. “The girl wearing the perfume was starting to make me feel nauseous, so Remus took me another way. What do those Sytherins bathe in anyway?”

“I thought I smelled something funny, too. I didn’t think it was that bad though,” James shrugged as Sirius glared daggers at Remus.

“Come on guys, lets get to Potions before we’re late,” Lily said, trying to distract them all.

“Look,” they heard from somewhere down the hall, “there’s the one I was telling you about, the one causing the problems.”

“What is she on about?” Hermione asked as the girl obviously pointed at her.

“Um, I don’t know, let’s go,” Lily said, directed them to the door once again.

Potions had been going fairly well so far. Professor Slughorn loved Hermione as much as Lily and Snape now and always wanted them together, even though the three had refused to attend his ‘meetings.’ They were steadily moving on to more difficult potions and were going to try the ‘potion of luck’ soon. Snape had been nice enough to her considering what he knew. He seemed to hold a grudging respect for her intelligence, but didn’t make it publicly known.

Time flew by and before Hermione knew it, it was the day of the full moon. She was very nervous by now and it was becoming evident to all her friends. James and Sirius constantly asked her if she was ok and why she was becoming pale, while Lily and Remus tried to divert their attention elsewhere. Peter was talking to everyone like normal, hoping that by ignoring whatever the problem was, which was probably a female problem, it would go away before they left to see Remus that night.

Remus had tried many ways to get the Marauders to stay in the castle tonight so they wouldn’t see Hermione. She was still too scared to let them know about her. A solution presented itself in Transfiguration later that day. Sirius had wanted Hermione to sit beside him, but she sat with Remus instead. She could tell he wasn’t happy, but she needed Remus’ comfort today and wasn’t too concerned about Sirius’ feelings. James was surprisingly sitting with Lily. He had entered last, and that was the only free seat available. Lily looked at him, then around the room, then told him to have a seat as he grinned broadly, but kept silent.

During class, Sirius’s jealousy got the better of him and he was paying more attention to Remus and Hermione, who were sitting across from him. He threw a note to James in front of him, who answered and threw it behind him to Peter who was sitting with Sirius. Peter, not knowing what it was threw it back.

“Boys! We are supposed to be working on mammal to mammal transfiguration! Ten points each from Gryffindor and detention tonight. Now pay attention before your cat becomes something that can’t be reversed!” McGonagall shouted at them. It was common knowledge that she liked cats, perhaps because she herself could become one, and tolerated no funny business during that particular transfiguration.

“Sirius what the hell was that about?!” James asked angrily as they left on their way to the common room to begin on their mountains of homework.

“I’m sorry! If Peter hadn’t thrown it back..”

“Don’t blame this on him, it’s your fault! You do know what tonight is, right? And now we have detention! I thought we agreed not to do anything stupid today,” James continued.

Sirius looked slightly put out and went up to his dorm room.

“Moony, mate, I’m so sorry! You know she’ll keep us til after midnight since we were working with those bloody cats. Will you be ok if we can’t make it?”

“Make what?” Hermione asked innocently. Remus had decided not to tell her about what his friends could do until she was ready to tell them about her. He knew they’d be relentless with the discussion once they found out, so he thought it best to leave things be.

“Oh, uh, nothing really, just guy stuff,” James said.

“You know, I’m really not feeling well, maybe I should go lie down,” she said and then turned to go upstairs.

Several hours later she still hadn’t returned and Remus was getting worried. They would need to head to the Whomping Willow soon and she had to be ready. Lily, noticing his worried looks up the stairs came over to him.

“Remus, I’ll go check on her and bring her down. I’ll tell her to dress fairly warm since it’s so cold outside. Please take care of her for me tonight,” Lily whispered as she kissed his cheek. Remus was speechless. Lily knew?! Of course he thought Hermione would tell her about herself, but why did she tell her about him as well? Or was it James, they had been getting closer, maybe he told her.

“I’ve known for a few years Remus, calm down. I’ve just never had reason to bring it up until now. Please don’t be upset that I know, just take care of her for me ok?”

“Yea sure, ok,” he said numbly. Of course no one would have told her. She was indeed a bright witch who could figure things out for herself. What really surprised him was she acted no different towards him the last few years. His friendship for her was suddenly kicked up a few notches.

Hermione came down the steps looking like death was knocking on her door. Remus walked over to her, thanking the stars that the boys were already in detention.

“Are you ready to go?” he whispered.

“No, but I don’t have much choice do I?” she replied, trying a faint smile.

“No, I’m afraid you don’t,” he said as they walked out of the common room and down to the Willow. Remus took a branch and pushed the knob so they could go in. Hermione was very surprised at the tunnel, but it felt vaguely familiar to her as well.

“Remus, you know those strange feelings of familiarity I get here sometimes?” he nodded and she continued, “I think I’ve been here before. I don’t remember it clearly though.”

“Well, since the tree was put here my first year, I seriously doubt many know of this passage,” he said as he put his arm around her to help her walk.

She felt butterflies in her stomach that had little to do with her upcoming transformation and snuggled a little closer to him. He felt so strong and steady to her. She knew he had scars, scars that she too would have before long, but she couldn’t help thinking he was the most handsome boy at Hogwarts.

Remus began filling her in on what to expect when they reached an upstairs room. He sat beside her and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly as she began to cry.

“I wish there was some way I could make it easier for you Hermione, but nothing I’ve ever done has helped ease the pain. There’s just a monster inside of you that literally crawls its way out.”

They both grew suddenly rigid, even before their bodies met the moonlight, they could feel it was time. Hermione was the first to scream through her tears as she felt her body burn. Her insides felt raw, like they had been dragged over rough pavement, and the feeling was burning its way out to her skin. She tried to grab Remus closer to her, but her limbs wouldn’t respond. She was so scared and in so much pain she curled up in a ball on the floor and screamed louder, tears gushing down her face. Her bones began breaking, some growing and some shrinking, and then rehealing so fast she couldn’t keep up with what was going on and her screams grew louder. She felt raw pain in every millimeter of her body and nothing would make it go away. Her head felt like it was being ripped in two and she tried to hold it together. She felt agonizingly hot jabs all over her skin as the hair began to grow. Vile emotions such as anger, hatefulness, and many others came to her and she tried to push them away. She was certain that nothing she had ever felt had come close to this pain. She found herself wishing she could die and the excruciating pain would be over as she screamed again and cried harder.

Remus was right beside her, going through the exact feelings, matching her scream for scream. He had tried to hold back for her sake, but the pain was just too overwhelming. He didn’t panic, but waited on the emotions to subside slightly, they always did. He hated that part more then the transformation itself. He hated feeling so many evil emotions at once, knowing his body would react and his own mind would go slightly numb. Having his friends with him had helped keep his human mind in control, but they weren’t there tonight. He was afraid suddenly, that he might hurt Hermione tonight. He’d never forgive himself if that happened. He lost that train of thought when another spasm of pain ripped through his body and the transformation completed itself.

He crawled over to Hermione and nudged her with his nose. He was glad to know he still had his human self in control and had no desire to hurt her. He was overcome with sadness at her whimpering though. She was still in pain and the moon had come up over two hours ago. He did the only thing he could think of and laid down beside her trying to comfort her as much as possible.

It took a few more hours before she began to come around. She looked at Remus as she stood up and stretched. Then looked down at herself. Something wasn’t right here, wasn’t she supposed to turn into a monster? Why did she still act and feel like herself? Even those emotions that tried to take over her were somewhat gone. She was, in effect, Hermione, only in a different body. She turned to look at herself in a broken mirror. She was a dark brown wolf. Nothing distinguishable about her, except her eyes were the most startling blue and she felt different, almost carefree. She looked over at Remus, he too was brown, only a few shades lighter than herself. He was larger than her, too.

She walked over and nudged Remus awake. He glanced up at her and slowly stood. They walked around each other, sniffing and wagging their tails. She then nipped his leg and took off running. He chased her around the room, down the stairs, around another room, and back up the stairs before he decided to catch her. Then he let her chase him. She got aggravated that she couldn’t catch him and started to growl menacingly at him.

He stopped abruptly in his tracks and turned back to her, his lip curling in a growl of his own. He started slowly advancing on her as she continued to growl at him. When he was close enough, she moved forward too, angrily antagonizing him. Then they leapt at each other, growling and barking wildly as their teeth and claws scratched and dug into each other. They went over and over each other, each trying to top the other. Remus finally threw Hermione to the ground roughly and held her there by her neck until she quit fighting. When he let her back up, she lowered her head and licked his jaw, showing her submission to him. This seemed to appease him and they calmly walked back up into the room, both exhausted from the chase and the fight.

Remus was really worried he had hurt her and checked her over for bleeding. She could certainly fight, but he couldn’t let her win. He was the only one who understood what being a werewolf was about, and if he had let her dominate him, then there was a good chance, if needed, he wouldn’t be able to control her.

Hermione didn’t know where her actions had come from. One minute they were chasing each other around and the next she was really mad at him. She was never one to back down from a fight though, but she went too far this time. She didn’t feel hurt and could only hope Remus wasn’t hurt either. He had checked her over thoroughly, which not only surprised her, but endeared him to her even more. She’d promised herself she would apologize to him in the morning, if he wasn’t too mad at her.

She curled up on the old bed and started to doze when she felt his weight down beside her. He put his head over her shoulders and soon they fell asleep. When they woke up the next morning, Hermione had her head on his chest and his arms were around her, holding her tightly. Their clothes were badly torn and barely covered enough to keep her from immense embarrassment.

“As great as it would be to lie here with you all day like this,” he said, grinning tiredly down at her, “we need to head back before the others become suspicious. We have to stay with Madame Pomfrey for awhile today and then she’ll let us leave in time for dinner,” he snuggled a little farther into her and kissed the top of her head gently. “I didn’t hurt you did I? Please, promise you’ll never do that again,” he said desperately.

“No, I‘m not hurt. I‘m really sorry, I have no idea what came over me. I just got really mad and that was it,” Hermione said as she slid off the bed and hid her slightly flushed face. Waking up like that was definitely something she didn‘t expect.

They both put their cloaks on and walked, unnoticed, to the hospital wing and laid down beside each other. Madame Pomfrey came out and went directly to Hermione.

“How are you dear? Did everything go ok? Here, take this potion, it will help you sleep, so you won’t be so tired later today. It really is a shame you came in with the flu late last night. Lucky for you, Remus was here to keep you company,” she winked as she walked away.

“Thanks again Remus, I’d be lost without you. Not just last night either,” she said tiredly, “I’m really glad I have you,” and with that, she fell asleep. Remus was starting to nod off as well, wishing he had her the way he really wanted.

When they both woke up it was indeed almost time for lunch. They grinned at each other as Madame Pomfrey brought them some sandwiches.

“This is the worst part of the day,” Remus began and continued after a questioning look from Hermione as she walked over and sat down on his bed. “We’re awake now, but we have to wait several hours before she’ll release us. Sometimes James and Sirius come up and, um, bail me out, but usually, I’m stuck here until dinner time. At least today I have better company,” he said as he threw her a smile.

They sat on his bed talking for hours about everything. Remus told her about his bite when he was only five years old and the extenuating circumstances between his father and Greyback, the wolf that bit her. She told him what she could remember about her parents and her childhood, which wasn’t much, and about her attack. He certainly thought it odd that the wolf in question would just sit and stare at her afterwards, but had no answers for why.

“Well, if you are from a different place, then when you get your memories back, we can keep in touch by owl,” he told her reassuringly.

“That’s right, I never thought of it like that before. That makes me feel loads better,” she said smiling.

Suddenly the doors swung open to reveal a very mischievous set of boys. They walked over to Remus’ bed and sat down with them.

“Hermione, we’ve been worried about you. Lily said, when she came to see you Madame Pomfrey said you had the flu or something. Are you feeling better?” James asked as Sirius looked at her close proximity to Remus, as they were now laying side by side, and scowled.

“Does she already know, Moony?” Peter asked obviously talking about his furry little problem.

“Yes,” Remus replied, “I told her.”

“I’m fine, she just won’t let me leave until dinner tonight,” she replied as Lily walked in then too.

“Sorry, I got held up. How are you both?” She asked as she looked at her two friends sitting happily together.

“We’re good,” Remus answered, knowing she was the only one who knew what was really wrong with both of them. Just then, Hermione’s stomach gave a loud grumble. “Just a bit hungry apparently,” he added, smiling at her.

“I’ll go talk to her and see if you can leave now instead of waiting,” Sirius said, speaking for the first time as he got off the bed and walked to Madame Pomfrey’s office. He returned a short while later with her at his heels.

“How are you both feeling? Good? Are you sure?” she continued when they both nodded, “OK, well you can go on then, just check back with me if you need anything,” she said as she walked briskly back to her office.

The group left to go to the Great Hall, chatting amicably about their day. Apparently not much was missed in classes and their friends had taken extra notes for them. The only problem would come in Aritmancy, the only class none of their other friends attended. Sirius was quiet for the most part and seemed a bit distant from the group, but no one commented on this. Remus would throw him a questioning glance on occasion, but that was all. He figured he’d get to the bottom of it later. Maybe Sirius was still feeling guilty about landing them in detention last night. They all took their seats and began filling their plates.

“Guess what!” James said excitedly.

“You’re getting a haircut?” Hermione responded and he frowned.

“We won the muggle lottery?” Lily guessed.

“You have a plan?” Remus said knowingly.

“Right you are Moony my friend,” James said giving him an appraisingly look. Just then there were shouts from the Slytherin table.

“We were a bit late throwing this together though, eh?” James asked grinning.

All the Slytherins were wearing their school robes, but they had turned into Gryffindor colors. They all looked menacingly over at the Marauders with murder in their eyes, as everyone at the table burst into laughter.

Later that night, Hermione was walking back to the common room. She had been with Remus and Lily on their rounds, but wanted to get back before curfew really started.

“Would you happen to know about this, Granger?” sneered someone from the corner.

“Always lurking aren’t you, Severus?” she asked, knowing immediately who it was.

“Why are my robes not only horrid colors, but also stuck on me?”

“I like the colors, Severus, and they’ll stay that way until you say something nice to a Gryffindor of the opposite sex,” she grinned. “I won’t begin to tell you who came up with that ingenious plan, but now you can tell all your other friends.”

“WHAT?! Say something…this is ridiculous!” he shouted.

“Shh, keep your voice down, Filch is out. Just tell me I’m smart or something, then it will be over for you quickly.”

“You’re joking, Granger. All I have to do is say ‘you’re smart’ or something equally false and the curse or whatever will be lifted?”

“Yep, but you have to mean it,” she said cheekily.

“Fine, I hate Gryffindors!”

“I think you misunderstood the word nice Severus, please try again.”

“Fine, you’re fair at Potions.”

“Nope, try harder. Surely being nice can’t be that hard.”

“You have no idea,” he muttered. “OK, overall, you are an intelligent human.”

Automatically his robes turned to their normal green color and he gave a huge sigh of relief.

“See,” she said, “calling me intelligent wasn’t so hard.”

“That wasn’t the nice part,” he sneered, “saying you are a human was the nice part, mudblood,” and with that he turned and walked away, leaving her fuming.

Her days sped by as the group would all talk happily in a group about every little thing, but the tension between Sirius and Remus was becoming increasingly noticeable and almost palpable. Hermione had heard several rumors about how she was the one tearing the Marauders apart. She was shunned by a lot of the girls and looked at with appreciation by the guys. She didn’t really know what was going on, so she let it go as her being new and possibly competition for some. Remus didn’t seem to take an active interest in her anymore, James was sort of with Lily (after an incident in the corridor when he deflected a hex by Snape but didn‘t retaliate), and Peter had a new girlfriend in Hufflepuff. Only Sirius seemed interested in her, but she couldn’t make herself feel the same way, especially when Remus was around. She and Lily, however, were joined at the hip.

“Hermione, I just don’t understand it,” Lily was telling her one night in their dorm, as they both sat on her bed munching on snacks.

“Well, perhaps he has decided to finally grow up a bit,” she answered knowingly. “You have to admit, the new James is much easier to get along with and you definitely seem to get along well with him lately.”

“I know! He’s so amazing. I’m really worried that he hasn’t asked me out in so long. I mean, I’m ready to say yes for a change, and he stops asking me. What if he doesn’t like me anymore? What if he’s only acting different towards me because he found someone else?” she asked with a very worried and sad look on her face.

“Lils, don’t be silly. I bet he’s taking the time to let you see the new him before he asks you out. I also bet, let’s say a box of chocolate frogs, that he asks you out before Valentine’s Day” she said grinning slyly.

“You’re on! I just hope you win this bet,” Lily said laughing as they continued talking and munching.

The next night, they were all in the Great Hall for dinner, when Peter asked the question the whole school dreaded knowing the answer to.

“So Prongs, when are we doing another prank?” Peter asked.

“Dunno woomtal, defens on whaz appenin,” he replied with a mouth full of food.

“What?” everyone asked.

“He said he didn’t know, it depends on what was happening,” Hermione supplied rolling her eyes at James.

“How do you know what he said?” Sirius asked annoyed.

“I listened I guess, I don’t know, I just did,” she said slowly, why was he getting angry with her?

“Thanks Hermione,” James said after swallowing, “yes, that’s what I said. Nothing much is happening now, so I guess it would be a good time.”

They started to think up ideas and getting more and more excited, while Hermione and Lily were talking quietly together. Sirius was on Hermione’s other side, while Remus and James were across from them. It seemed Remus wanted to put some distance between them, which really confused her.

“It’d be really nice if everyone could just say what’s on their minds,” she mumbled to Lily as she told her what was wrong.

“PERFECT!” shouted James, as several people from other tables looked their way and rolled their eyes. “We’ll make everyone say what’s on their minds!”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea Prongs,” Sirius said.

“Me either,” replied Remus.

“Definitely not,” said Lily, blushing slightly.

“Don’t you see, that’s why it’s so brilliant. It’s not like we have secrets from each other, or anyone really, so it won’t be a problem for us, just everyone else,” he said excitedly.

They finally agreed, hoping to find a loophole that would allow them to not speak their minds at all. If everyone found out about Hermione or Remus‘ condition, they’d be mortified. If James knew how Lily really felt, she’d be mortified, and if Remus and Sirius voiced their thoughts at the moment, their friendship would be ruined. None, however, wanted to give up the chance to prank the rest of the school in such a way.

Working well into the night, they devised a plan that would go into action the following morning. The whole school would be forced to tell what they were thinking, but only when asked. That would avoid everyone talking nonstop all day long, voicing their own opinions on absolutely everything.

As they met in the Common Room the next morning, it was obvious that the Gryffindors were feeling the effects of the spell. Several were arguing about their upcoming chances of defeating the Ravenclaws, while a few more were almost literally fighting over girls or boys of their liking.


It was soon to hit very close to home for the Marauders.