Chapter 9: Born Of The Blood Moon

The Corridors, Hogwarts...

The time had finally arrived. The song of the moon had been loud in the sky as The Beast raged against its fleshy confines. The heart of Severus Snape beat thunderously in his ebony-clad chest as he made his way briskly through the corridors. The Potions Master began to sweat profusely as his robes billowed in an angry black cloud behind him. Hermione Granger had been well on her way to Gryffindor Tower like so many nights prior. She caught sight of the ailing Professor and raced over toward him. Snape nearly lost his footing as he made his way out toward the grounds. Lucky for him, Hermione had been there to catch him despite the difference in weight and his towering height.

The images of a distant plane with a bright red moon flashed as he stumbled down the corridor. The full moon had given off a warm white glow as a low breeze set in chilling everyone around. The sweet stench of decayed flesh seemed to beckon.

"Now is the time my son." said the booming voice from beyond the plane. "Go forth and hunt for your prey."

Snape staggered seemingly blinded by the sudden burst of red he saw. The light from the moon became instantly bright and too vivid. The scents that had been all around

"I've got you Professor." said the clever young Gryffindor witch.

"Something's wrong," said Snape finding it difficult to breathe.

"You're burning up," said Hermione.

The Potions Professor's lank raven hair had been soaked with sweat. His clothes had been damp as well.

"You're trembling," said Hermione.

"G-GO..." said Snape sternly. "G-GET AWAY FROM ME."

He pulled away from the rather concerned young witch with enough force to knock himself to the ground. He began a slow and agonized crawl away from both the school and the young witch.

Remus Lupin had been having his own issues with the rather large red moon that loomed over them in the sky. He tried his hardest to get to Snape knowing the Potions Master was a potential threat not having ingested Wolfsbane's potion to keep his human mind active in beast form. The pain-wracked werewolf. His shifting eyes noted the appearance of one Hermione Granger trying to aid the ailing Potions Master. He had a flickering recollection of her attempting to assist him before the wolf took over and tried to consume her.

"NO!" shouted Lupin making a mad dash toward the fallen Snape and the kneeling Hermione.

The effects of his own transformation had begun but they had been far enough away from the castle to avoid unnecessary victims. Lupin suddenly dropped to the ground snarling as his eyes glowed red and blood dripped from his mouth as his teeth shifted. A snout grew from his mortal face stretching his jaws out further than they were meant to go. His heart pounded thunderously in his heaving chest and his muscles and bones contorted.

He had not been alone in the agony as Snape's bones contorted and shifted ripping his ebony attire to shreds. The sweat running cold down Snape's pale back now exposed to the elements. Hermione had been frozen in terror. She found herself trapped between two shifting man-beasts. It had been true. Snape really was a werewolf and from the looks of the powerful muscles and ebony tail, he was much more powerful than Lupin. The Potions master's pale flesh instantly became a deep silver color and his lengthy raven hair was like a mane at his shoulders. His long pale fingers darkened to match the silver-gray of his exposed flesh beneath the thick course ebony fur that lined his body. His ears were long and covered in dark fur.

Hermione watched in silent shock as Snape's sallow pale face contorted into a long and menacing snout complete with a large black nose. His teeth became sharp ivory daggers. The transformation seemed to be the most painful for Snape as he let out faint whimpers taking in as much air as possible. Lupin seemed to get over it much quicker, standing at an impressive height with his short gray fur covering every inch of his thin body. He had less muscle mass than Snape, considerably so and Snape's eyes glowed a deep red as Lupin's became more dog-like.

The nervous young witch noted that the changes in Lupin still allowed one to see the traces of the man he is without the full moon while Snape had completely changed aside from his long hair and haunting gaze. The Potions Master loomed over Lupin as he stood on incredibly powerful legs teeming with muscle.

Lupin's thatch of fur gave him a sense of decency as it covered his nether regions keeping at least that bit out of sight. Snape had not been so lucky. His state was more primal than Lupin's, his nether regions on display like that of a male dog, possibly too large to conceal with a thatch of fur. Snape made his way over toward Hermione sniffing the air around her and tasting it with his tongue.

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Beast-mind:

The female. He could taste the fear in the air around her. There was a sweetness in it that beckoned to him. Her presence made him feel bold. He walked around her proudly displaying his power and appeal as if he had attempted to woo her in some way. She made no sudden moves. Not one cry or whimper as He sniffed her closer. She was untouched and fresh as spring water. A wolfish smile crept across his black lips. Then the scent of the other caught his attention. A low growl erupted and he turned his attention to the trembling dog whose black eyes had been on the female. She belonged to HIM! No other would claim what is rightfully his.

Hermione watched attentively as Lupin inched forward. It immediately drew Snape's attention and he snarled viciously at the gray werewolf. His back arched in an aggressive stance. The determined witch knew nothing of what was happening, but she did not dare move or make a sound for fear that either one would attack her.

Were-Lupin:

The Hermione girl is fine. She must not know how much danger she is in. This new wolf is not like any before it. It's strange like the scent radiating off it. He seems to think she is his property. If that is the case then I cannot allow him to harm her. She is only a girl. He has no right to harm her.

Beast-mind:

The Female's mine! No one will claim her but me! This shaggy dog MUST GO! I shall have to rip its throat out if it believes it has a claim on my female. SHE IS MINE!

Hermione watched as Snape blocked her body from view with his own. He did not seem to like the way Lupin was looking at her. Snape snarled and Lupin advanced. Much to the young witch's horror, Snape advanced on Lupin. His eyes glowed with hate and bloodlust as he leaped into the air and attacked the grey wolf. Lupin let out a dog-like yelp as Snape sank his sharp dagger like-teeth into his ear. The shaken young witch had not known what to do. The fighting beasts seemed to want dibs on her. As the fear continued to course through her she darted her amber eyes toward the forbidden forest. It was the only place that they didn't block with their massive bodies.

Against her better judgment, she waited until the man-beasts were completely distracted before she took off hoping to lose them both amid the trees. She ran as fast as her human legs could carry her with her lungs burning and her breath short. Heat crept over her tired body. She had been running for so long she had not paid any attention to where she had been going and stumbled over a lengthy root from an old tree sticking out of the ground. She tuck a not-so-flattering tumble and ended up skinning her knee and the sides of her arms as well as he right hand and cheek in the process.

Debris from the ground filled her wild bushy hair and soiled her Hogwarts uniform. She had been a little disoriented and winded from all the running. Cautiously Hermione tried to get to her feet but felt only the pain from her skinned knee. She held back tears as she crawled her way toward the trunk of a nearby tree and leaned her back against it.

The Forbidden Forest was a dangerous place. It had been even more dangerous at night. The witch had managed to keep hold of her wand and lit it checking where she ended up. Her amber eyes could see nothing but thick tangles of trees and dirt. The scent of the leaves had been heavy in the air and there was no telling which direction she had gone from Hogwarts. She guessed by the looks of things she had inadvertently traveled deep into the forest when she had only meant to skirt the outer regions in a bid to go around Snape and Lupin in their werewolf forms.

She had been alone, cold and the smell of her blood was bound to attract the creatures that lurked in the forest. It was only a matter of time before she was dragged off into the unknown and eaten. Hermione cast a low-warming charm in a bid to keep herself warm. She was resolved to repel whatever approached in the darkness with her magic until she could no longer hold her wand. This was quite the fine mess she had gotten herself into and for once she couldn't put the blame on Harry or Ron.

Were-Snape:

She's gone. How can she be gone?

She was supposed to be here where I wanted her.

The stupid dog ruined everything.

The scent of blood got the snarling beast's attention.

It was fresh and innocent.

It seemed to beckon to him. His heart thundered in his massive chest and he took off toward the scent of blood.

Yes.

The Hunt Must find the prey.

Must rip the prey to shreds.

Must please The Father.

The scent of blood seemed to be coming from the forest.

Were-Lupin:

The Hermione girl, I've lost her. He seems to be hot on her trail. The whiff of blood. Perhaps that's hers. Perhaps he's after her. I must stop him. Stop him before he hurts The Harry Boy's friend. I cannot allow The Black Wolf to harm The Hermione Girl. He's headed toward the forbidden forest.

Upon noticing that Hermione had disappeared both Were-Snape and Were-Lupin took off toward the forbidden forest. Snape on the trail that the scent of her blood left and Lupin after the snarling beast. He had not wanted to fight with it but it seemed they would have no choice if he thought to hurt Hermione.

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The Forbidden Forest...

Hermione had not known how long she had been out there. Hidden in the shadows of a large tree trunk. All she knew was that she was cold and frightened. She wished Professor Snape had been his normal self. He would have found her and they would have been halfway back to Hogwarts by now. She didn't doubt that he would have saved her from Were-Lupin and the strange creatures that inhabited the forest. She wished she could go back and save him from Lupin's bite but alas Dumbledore had taken back his time turner after Sirius Black and Buckbeak were saved.

As the witch pondered what atrocities were awaiting her in the forest she heard the heavy sound of shuffling that surrounded her. The shuffling seemed to grow more frequent and closer. She closed her eyes. This must be what Ron meant by giant spiders. Her grip on her wand tightened as she was prepared to cast hexes in every direction until she tired herself out when she heard the howling.

Snape and Lupin had found her it seemed. She didn't want to think about what either one of them would do to her if they caught her. But it seemed a choice between being eaten alive by giant spiders or torn to shreds by werewolves.

Were-Snape leaped toward the tree where she had been hiding. Hermione heard more frequent shuffling followed by hissing and snarls then slashing of flesh and then more of the same. It appeared the spiders had surrounded the two werewolves and Hermione. She could hear more signs of a scuffle and then snapping, rapid as if precise snapping.

Closing her eyes tighter Hermione could hear the sound of frequent distant shuffling. Then snarling and whimpering followed by heavy steps. When she opened her eyes she found herself face to snout with Severus Snape in wolf form. He snarled and she resolved to meet her fate head-on like a true Gryffindor.

Snape seemed to be winded, slightly weakened by what appeared to be an all-out brawl with rather large spiders. The clever witch had been amazed to find that both wolves had killed nearly 30 spiders in all. She looked at Snape and Lupin who had been laying on the ground whimpering as he nursed his right arm.

"Professor Lupin?" said Hermione.

She took a step toward him and heard the deep vicious growl from Snape.

"I-I'm just going to heal his arm," said Hermione holding up her wand.

Snape snorted and stretched lazily amid the bodies of spiders and began chewing on their flesh. Hermione would have been grossed out by the prospect of The Potions Master eating giant dead spiders but it was better them than her at the moment. She cautiously made her way through the blood and spider corpses.

She looked at Snape whose eyes had not left her even as he chewed through a deadly giant spider's head. His teeth slashed at the flesh and beady black eyeballs. Hermione tried not to think about it as she turned her attention back to healing Professor Lupin. The gray werewolf seemed to be losing steam and looked to her more like an injured dog than a dangerous werewolf.

Snape snarled as Hermione gently looked over Lupin's wounded arm and cast a few quick healing spells. She was no madam Pomfrey but it would do the job until proper medical care could be given. At the very least Lupin wouldn't bleed to death. Once finished the cautious young woman made her way back to the tree and sat back down taking time to heal some of her own wounds.

Snape crawled toward her on all four paws and tilted his head in the manner he had in his human form in the corridors.

"Is there something you need Professor?" she asked cautiously with the big beast.

Snape simply snorted letting his large black nose wander as he took in deep inhalations of her scent. Hermione had been stunned when Snape began licking her wounds before she could finish healing them. The young witch didn't know what had been more strange, having her potions master's tongue on her bare skin or that he had just been eating spider corpses beforehand. She simply made up her mind to take an extra long show when she got back to Hogwarts and never speak of this again.

On another note, Snape's long black tongue had been wet and warm against her bare skin. It seemed to send ripples of heat down her spine as she watched him. Snape let out a low grunt and nudged his rather large black head into her abdomen. Hermione arched a confused eyebrow in his direction.

"Y-You want me to pet you?" she asked.

Snape looked semi-insulted, but simply nudged her again.

She was amazed to find that she had been wounded on the abdomen as well beneath her robes.

"How did you...?" she started to ask but trailed off when she felt his warm wet tongue against her bare flesh and oozing wound.

Snape's saliva apparently had very effective healing properties as she noted the wounds disappeared with not even a scar left as a reminder.

"If you could do that why didn't you heal Professor Lupin?" she asked the ebony beast.

Snape looked at her as if he wanted to rip her to shreds.

"Alright," said Hermione throwing up her hands. "I get it."

Snape continued to lick at her exposed flesh.

"I-I think they're gone now," said Hermione relieved that she had not felt any more pain anywhere.

Snape didn't seem to pay attention and kept licking her. Hermione laughed noting how his tongue tickled.

"Professor Snape," said Hermione not sure how to respond to his licking.

He suddenly stopped and made his way back over to the dead spiders and lied down.

Before Hermione knew it she had dozed off and when she woke up Snape's rather large husky form had been wrapped around her as if in a bid to protect her and keep her warm. She shook her head watching the big ebony wolf sleep. It occurred to her that she had never known Professor Snape to actually sleep before.

The first lights of dawn had been just over the horizon and Hermione could see a recently reverted, Remus Lupin huddled and shaking rather frequently.

"Professor Lupin," she said momentarily forgetting that she had been near Snape.

Lupin put a shaky finger to his lips.

Hermione nodded.

"Could you cast me some clothes?" he mouthed to her.

Hermione nodded a second time and flicked her wand.

She turned a few leaves that had been lying on the ground near her into a replica of the attire Lupin commonly wore from memory. Snape had stirred and uttered a low growl. Looking at him, Hermione deduced in a very calculated risk that Snape would not actually harm her. He seemed if anything to be even more protective of her than when he was a human. And just as he had been suspicious of Lupin in his human form he outright did not trust him in his werewolf form.

Hermione spelled the clothes to reach Lupin and sat back down next to Snape who resumed his sleeping. She wondered why Lupin had returned to normal during the morning and Snape had still been a werewolf. It had been rather curious.

Were they different species of werewolf?

They certainly didn't look the same.

Lupin had been more of a humanoid wolf and Snape had been more of a wolf that could walk upright.

Or rather more wolf than man aside from his body.

As the witch pondered the question Snape whimpered and moved away from her.

Hermione Granger's curious eyes widened when she noted that his silvery-gray fur was turning pale.

Snape groaned as his body contorted and his limbs shrank and his mass decreased. His tale shrunk until it disappeared and his claws retracted until they became fingernails. The extra muscle mass had become hard and lean. Lupin made his way over toward Hermione when he saw that Snape was changing back. He had no idea the state of mind the newly transformed werewolf would be in.

As if locked in a desperate struggle Snape crawled along the ground and rolled down a small hill until he was out of sight. Hermione looked down concern filed across her face.

"I-Is he alright?" she asked.

"Severus, will be fine," said Lupin. "It was his first transformation."

"That doesn't mean that what happen was common," said Hermione.

"No," said Lupin in agreement. "It's not...in fact Hermione I have never seen or heard of anything like this happening before."

Both the wizard and the witch made their way down the hill to see the ailing Snape.

Hermione caught sight of the Potions Master. He had been lying on his back completely naked and out cold. She wished she could avert her eyes from his crisp pale form but found that she couldn't for worry that he might have been injured. As she looked him over she found that he had not been much different from his wolf form when it came to his nether regions. She quickly suppressed a smile and conjured a pair of black trousers for him from a nearby leaf.

She waved her wand and spelled them on him. No sooner had she finished, did Snape's obsidian eyes spring open.

"M-Miss Granger?" he asked confused and seemingly disoriented. "W-What...?"

"She's here to help, Severus," said Lupin before he could finish his question.

"L-Lupin?" asked Snape still very confused.

"We have to get you back to Hogwarts." said The Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor. "And you and I need to have a long talk with Headmaster Dumbledore."

Snape tried to sit up but found that he had been too weak to move. Hermione and Lupin helped him to his feet and supported him as they made the journey back to Hogwarts. Snape had been running another fever and seemed to really be out of it. Hermione wondered if he was having problems ingesting the dead spiders that he had eaten as a werewolf. She knew they all needed to see Madam Pomfrey when they returned after the night they had.