Chapter 6: Shadows Of The Moon

The Corridors, Hogwarts...

Severus had been on his usual night patrol when the sudden scent of jasmine hit him. He found himself following it as if he had been under some kind of spell. Hermione had been making her way from the library. She had been halfway down the corridor when Snape stepped from the shadows. The sudden knowledge of The Potions Master's presence caused her to drop the two books she had been carrying. Snape peered down at her with an arched eyebrow. His pale skin was highlighted by the pale light of the moon. The amber eyes of the young Gryffindor witch had noted the soft breeze that seemed to sweep over them making his should-length raven hair and billowing ebony robes sway.

"Quite a curious time to be out Miss Granger," said Snape with his obsidian eyes fixed heavily on the young witch. "Especially given what has already occurred with Lupin during the full moon."

Hermione fumbled with her books as she looked at him. Her eyes fixed on the way his ebony-clad chest rose and fell with his seemingly effortless breathing. She wondered briefly what he might have been wearing beneath such heavy robes. It seemed impractical to stay in them all day long. She looked back up into his eyes and the intensity of his gaze made her feel slightly unnerved.

"Cat got your tongue Miss Granger?" asked Snape.

"I-I was just leaving the library," she said still fumbling with her books.

Snape simply stared at the fumbling witch.

"Of course," he replied. "We wouldn't want Hogwarts's resident insufferable know-it-all not to know something."

Hermione narrowed her eyes at The Potions Professor. She might defend him to Harry and Ron but that didn't mean that she still didn't think of him as a rude Slytherin git.

"If you don't mind I shall be going Professor," said Hermione getting back to her feet.

Snape tilted his head to the side in the confused manner of a dog as he looked into her amber eyes.

"P-Professor?" asked Hermione noting the strangeness of the scene.

Snape said nothing as he averted his attention to the moon that loomed in the darkened sky above them.

"She walks in beauty," said Snape seemingly so far away.

"Professor are you feeling okay?" asked Hermione now concerned.

Snape seemed to snap out of whatever it was that had come over him.

"Yes...I'm fine Miss Granger," he said clearing his throat. "Run along now...before I am given the notion to take points from Gryffindor."

Hermione sighed. Snape was hopeless. It was a good thing Madam Pince gave her a pass to get back to Gryffindor Tower. It was the only reason Filch didn't bother to come after her. Then again Filch never really bothered much when Snape was on patrol.

She made her way back toward her common room with her books in tow. Still, she wondered what had been wrong with Professor Snape and if what he was experiencing was a side effect of the attack from Lupin.

Snape had still been staring up at the moon when The Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor made his way down the darkened corridor. He happened upon the curious sight of the Potions Master and wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Get away from me werewolf," said Snape without taking his attention from the moon.

"Severus..." said Lupin trying to muster his Gryffindor courage. "We need to talk."

"I need nothing from you werewolf," replied Snape in an emotionless tone. "What I want is for you to stay away from me."

"I-I understand that you are angry," said Lupin. "But I..."

Snape whirled on the unsuspecting wizard with rage burning behind his obsidian eyes.

"I said stay away," he told the sheepish wizard in a dangerous tone.

Lupin immediately felt fear creep up on him. He had never seen Severus so aggressive before and made a mental note that it had not been the man's normal behavior.

"O-Okay," said Lupin nervously. "I-I won't bother you."

Lupin tried not to look directly into the dour wizard's eyes but he could see the faint red glow behind them. He was more than sure now that Snape was infected with Lycanthropy. The final piece of the puzzle would be the day of his inevitable transformation. Snape stormed away with his ebony robes billowing in the distance.

"You're going to need my help, Severus," said Lupin quietly. "Especially in the coming days."

Snape began to wander the grounds intoxicated once more by the heavy scent of jasmine. He followed the scent toward the Gryffindor tower. The last place Hermione Granger had gone for the night. Finally getting a hold of himself. The Potions Master made his way back to the Slytherin Dungeons.

He had not known where that aggression had come from but he couldn't say that he didn't enjoy the power he had over Lupin understandable given that the werewolf had nearly taken his life in that attack. It was quite an intoxicating thing to see him cower in fear. It brought a sense of justice to the dour man who had lived in fear for much of his life but never cowered. Not even to the dark lord.

As Snape made it toward the Slytherin common room he felt the intense burning in his right forearm. He fought against the sudden urge to fall to the floor as his knees buckled and remained upright. The pain increased but he trained his mind to ignore the pain. He made it to his quarters just in time to change into his death-eater robes. He stuffed the mask into the pocket and made his way quickly out of the rooms after sending a brief signal to Dumbledore about his summons via the floo.

Hermione Granger had just peered out of her tower window in time to see Snape disappear in a cloud of black smoke. She wondered where Snape had gone in his condition and why he would do so in the middle of the night.

SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

ELSEWHERE...

The Beast could see the moon. Her sweet song was not yet loud enough to shake the foundations of his fleshy prison and free him into the night. The scent of the female was maddening. He wanted to follow her and rip apart all that dared to stand in his way. The other wolf had come into his territory. The urge to rip it to shreds and feast on its entrails was only curbed by its submission. It knew to submit to its betters. Raging the beast found itself being quieted by the intense wave of the flesh prison's self-control.

It simply watched and waited as new scents came flooding into its long nose. The stench of fear had been the most potent. It had not come from the prison of flesh but from those around it. The need to bite and tear them to pieces had been deep within but remained untapped as the creature of flesh stood silent as the stars, gazing into the glowing red eyes of something that reeked of fear entirely. The lingering fear was sweet in its pungency. The beast smiled a wolfish smile as it noted the grotesque-looking thing with no nose to smell this fear had been oozing it.

An interesting mound of flesh one might say with no might or will of its own.

Only fear.

The Beast sat back and waited.

It would have its day.