The Wolf Within

The Wolf Within
A Fanfiction by M. Pantalleresco

Harry Potter and all related material is the intellectual property of Joanne K. Rowling, and I make no claim to it. This story was written for personal pleasure, and I am making no profit from it. Also, I by no means think my story up to par with that of J.K. Rowling, but instead offer it as a tribute to her skill in crafting a world so well as to inspire side-stories like this one. Also, to be perfectly clear, I personally believe that Ron and Hermione have something going on "behind the scenes", but it is not mentioned here...but I digress. The characters ain't mine, I'm just borrowing them. This story takes place during the Prisoner of Azkaban. Enjoy, and PLEASE DON'T SUE ME!!!

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The Library was, for once, almost completely empty. The only exceptions to this were the Hogwarts librarian, Madam Pince, and one young Gryffindor who might as well have lived in the library.

Hermione Granger sat alone at a large table, surrounded by open books. At the moment, Lyncanthropy: Danger or Disease was murmuring to her in soft tones, but she was hardly paying attention to what the book was telling her.

I do hope Professor Lupin is okay. He's the best teacher we've had. Blast it, focus on this essay!

Professor Severus Snape, Potions teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, had taken over for Lupin for the duration of yet another illness period, assigning a large essay on Werewolves. Naturally, Hermione was concerned for the well-being of the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, but never before had she been this concerned.

He keeps vanishing for two or three days, away sick. Odd...I hope he's back soon.

Hermione snapped back to the real world, and back to the tome in front of her. "Werewolves are transformed by moonlight on a full moon, and the two days surrounding it. When in this state, they become feral, unnatural predators, who are very dangerous to humans."

She thought of how handsome Remus Lupin looked, bathed in the pale light from the glowing orb the Boggart had turned into when facing him. Moonlight suits him.

The book interrupted that thought train with yet another passage. "Werewolves have an untidy, almost mangy look in either form, primarily due to the constant changing of forms. Also, because of a wizard's upbringing, there is an inherent distrust in werewolves, and the latter often have a good deal of trouble finding paid work from the former."

She thought back to the first time she had seen Remus, on the train to school. His robes were old and worn, and his hair was almost more dishevelled than Harry's. To Hermione's mind, it gave him a puppy-like look. He's so cute, you just wish you could take him home.

It suddenly occurred to Hermione that she had never had this much trouble concentrating before. Must be all the extra work I've been doing lately. I couldn't possibly have a crush on a teacher...could I? No, it would be wrong. Must be the extra work. Hermione attacked the essay work furiously, determined to finish.

For several minutes, she wrote, and read, and finished off the first draft of her essay. She read over what she had done, and began the work on her final draft, before moving on to the finished essay. All right, what do I have so far? She mentally catalogued all of the details of the wolf's lunar cycle, the niche they occupy in society, and the physical evidence that separates them from both normal wizards and genuine wolves.

She wrote on a fresh roll of parchment. "The primary difference between a real wolf and the lupin form of a werewolf is..." She stopped, and went back to fix this simple spelling error. She had ment to write lupine, meaning wolf-like, but she stopped just beforehand.

Stop thinking about Remus...Professor Lupin! Wait...Lupin...Lupine...

Oh.

FIN