Innocent

c h a p t e r t h r e e

HERMIONE MANAGED TO PLAY of her 'accident' for a stomach bug. No one suspected her for skipping class intentionally. 

"Like it was intentional," Hermione said sarcastically. 

Ginny spun around behind her, dusting off her uniform. The two girls stood in the bathroom looking in the mirror. Hermione touched up on her face. The transformation had altered the lines on her face, and her hair. Now it felt coarser, and more like a mane. She scowled, pinching the sides of her face. Her cheeks were thinner and masculine. Ginny giggled. 

"Hermione, you look fine." But the redhead's perceptive eyes never left Hermione's face. 

Hermione still hadn't told her about the werewolf event. Her face burned in humiliation. After everything, she was burdened with this curse?

She tried thinking of anything else to hold back her anger. She owed Malfoy big time. She was so stupid in front of him. He'd saved her twice. Malfoy. Freaking Malfoy. Now she was in debt to him. Hermione tried fixing her hair one more time before leaving with Ginny. Hermione hated lying to her friend, but for now, she struggled grappling with the notion that she was a werewolf. Ginny tried to drag her to Madame Pompfreys Office over the stomach bug excuse. 

"I'm so glad you came to Hogwarts this year," Ginny said. 

Ginny was almost skipping down the hall in excitement. Hermione tried to catch up, but her hurt leg sagged uselessly behind her. She hid the limp by telling Ginny it was cramps. 

"Yeah me too. I wouldn't skip Hogwarts for anything." Hermione said. 

"I wish I could live here," Ginny said.

"Maybe you should become a professor," Hermione said. 

Ginny brushed it off. 

"Nah, I like this. Being a kid, not like all the teaching stuff."

"You'd be a good professor." Ginny said. 

Hermione heard that a lot, but she wasn't so sure about it. She wasn't so sure about anything. Realizing she was a werewolf had just added a layer of stress on top of everything. There was no running from anything. 

"Alright, I'm going to the library," she said. 

"See you later." Ginny gave her a brisk wave, and Hermione tried to walk as quickly as she could to the library. By now, her limp was obvious. She needed to sit down. Even though the gash had been mended, she felt as if the skin was ripping over again. Hermione hobbled over to the bookshelf, this time looking for anything about werewolves. Unlike yesterday, her eyesight was normal, and her head felt clear. It must have been a build-up to the full moon. She grabbed a handful of books and sat down in a chair. Her leg felt awkward dangling off the edge, but it was better than standing. The first book was thick, and the title had faded off the cover, but Hermione could make out "werewolves" on the side of its spine. 

Werewolves can arise from previous werewolves biting into humans, or a genetic defect. Rare cases have shown some minor cases of werewolves that were never bitten. Instead of the gene being transferred through biting, a strange mutation caused the change to take over their body. 

Hermione felt squeamish as she read the paragraph. She couldn't have been bitten. Her hands felt along her neck protectively. 

There is no cure. Some of the effects of transforming can be removed by ingesting Wolfsbane.

Hermione's hand hovered about the words for a few seconds. 

"Of course, Wolfsbane... How could I forget?" She murmured.