Harry Potter and the Cursed Bite

Chapter 1: The Night That Changed Everything

Buckbeak landed smoothly onto the grounds right outside of Hagrid's Hut. The Groundskeeper wasn't in his home, choosing to lament the disappearance of the hippogriff in Hogsmeade. The only presence that was outside the castle that night was that of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Sirius Black and Buckbeak. The attempt to save Harry's godfather and the condemned hippogriff was a success and now all that remained was for Harry to say goodbye to only opportunity at a home and family.

"Thank you both. I'll be forever grateful for this." Sirius exclaimed moving towards Buckbeak in an attempt to leave.

"But Pettigrew got away, and with him your freedom." Argued Harry.

"One day we'll be a proper family Harry, I promise. Until then you'll have to stay where you are."

Sirius moved closer to Harry, pulling his godson into an embrace that conveyed every emotion he couldn't put to words. His sorrow for being absent from Harry's life, his grief for his best friends, and the hope that one day they could repair those feelings.

"Besides," he began pulling away slightly to speak directly to Harry," the ones who love us never truly leave us. They can always be found here." Placing his hand over Harry's heart. He briefly glanced at Hermione, before returning his gaze to the young man in front of him.

"Don't let that one go, she's something special." Sirius finally turned away and mounted the hippogriff, leaving Harry there blushing and babbling, chuckling at his godson's reaction.

"Until we meet again." called Sirius before ordering Buckbeak to take off and head off into the night.

Harry stood there for several moments staring at the receding shape of Sirius Black, lost in his own reflections, before being brought back to by Hermione.

"Harry, we need to head back to the hospital wing before Dumbledore locks us out."

Harry gazed at the sky once more, content that there had indeed been accomplished before nodding and beginning the walk back to the castle with his best friend.

"Do you think we'll ever have a normal year at Hogwarts?"

"No!" they both exclaimed at the same time and began laughing lightheartedly. They had only made it a few feet further towards the castle when the sound of twigs snapping behind caught their attention. Whirling around, the two teens were greeting by a glowing pair of eyes shining through the thick underbrush of the Forbidden Forest.

"Professor Lupin?" Harry called, hoping to somehow reach the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, but to no avail. The werewolf before them simply crouched lower to the ground ready to strike before letting out a blood curing growl.

Hermione grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him towards the castle, hoping that they would be able to outrun the professor and make it to Dumbledore for him to help bring the man to his senses. They were cut off by the dark creature, blocking their only path to freedom. In a split second decision, Harry headed towards Hagrid's Hut and pulled Hermione inside, hoping that the small building would be able to hold.

The wolf mercilessly pounded against the walls and doors of the small hut making it abundantly clear that the structure wouldn't until dawn.

"Harry, what are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure. Do you know any spells that will work against a werewolf?"

"A few but I don't think they're strong enough to have any effect on a werewolf."

His head sank, desperately trying to come up with a plan. He pondered their current predicament for a few moments before deciding on what he believed was the best course of action. Realizing that a lot was at stake with this plan, he looked over at his female best friend, who was staring at him questioningly.

Hermione saw that Harry was coming up with a plan for their escape and saw the briefly crestfallen look of her closest friend as he decided what the best course of action was. She wanted to ask what he was thinking but was pulled into a firm hug before the question even began to form on her lips. The intensity and the strength he held her with frightened her. What had he come up with that prompted this kind of response?

"Hermione?"

Hearing the fear in his voice she pulled away. Instead of seeing a look that matched the sound of his voice, she saw a look that was of determination, of bravery, reminding her of why Harry was so special to her.

"I have a plan to get us out of here Hermione."

"What is it Harry?"

"What I need you to do is run to the castle a get professor Dumbledore."

"How am I supposed to get to the castle with Professor Lupin outside?"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of that."

With those last words, he gave Hermione a hesitant smile, before running to the backside of the hut and bursting through the other door.

"Hey! Over Hear!" he yelled attracting the beast's attention to him as he began to head off into the forest. Hermione busted out of the Cabin looking desperately as Harry managed to dodge a massive claw that came dangerously close to cutting arm.

"Harry No!"

"Run! Get Dumbledore! Hurry!"

Hermione had been rooted to the spot, unable to move because of the fear that over whelmed her body. Harry's last statement brought her back to her senses, so she began to run as fast as she could towards the school. She looked briefly, only to see Harry duck underneath the lunging werewolf before disappearing into the forest and out of sight.

She quickly sprinted into the castle, towards the hospital wing, hoping that Professor Dumbledore was somewhere nearby. As she rounded the final corner, she saw the elderly headmaster walking toward. Relief began to fill inside as she headed straight for the man. If anyone could help with this situation, it would be Dumbledore.

"Professor Dumbledore! We need your help, please hurry." Hermione pleaded, gasping for breath after her long journey to get there.

"Ah, Miss Granger. I hope you and Mister Potter were successful with your mission tonight."

"Please sir, Professor Lupin has transformed. He's out on the grounds of the school!"

"I can assure you that the situation is being dealt with as we speak. We are making sure that poor Remus won't hurt anyone while he is still under his affliction."

Hermione was getting exasperated. She needed Dumbledore to understand that the situation was much worse than he thought.

"May I ask where Mister Potter is Miss Granger? I asked for both of you to arrive-"

"That's just it sir," began he distressed teen "Harry's out there with-", and that was the last thing she got out before a blood curling scream coming from the Forbidden Forest echoed throughout the grounds.

"AHHHHHHHHH"

"HARRY! NO!" Hermione's knees buckled underneath her when she heard the scream. It was most definitely Harry, and the fact that she had left him all alone with the rampaging wolf shook her to the very core.

Dumbledore immediately began to understand the severity of the situation the young women attempted to explain to him. "Where did you last see Harry?"

"He was running off into the forest. He distracted Professor Lupin so that I could run up here and get help."

As she said this, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape came into view, having heard the yell while they were patrolling the castle.

"Severus. Minerva. We must act quickly. Young mister Potter is being accosted by Lupin in the forest. We must hurry or I fear we may be too late."

At those words the last semblance of composure Hermione had left was gone. She had lean against a nearby wall in order to keep herself standing. It was all she could do to keep from passing out from the sense of dread that surrounded her. Even worse than that was the guilt. The guilt that she had left Harry to fend for himself. Gilt that while she was perfectly fine, while he was seemingly in mortal peril, nearly brought her to tears. She would've completely broken down right there if it hadn't been for a reassuring hand that grasped her shoulder.

"Do not blame yourself Miss Granger," came the voice of McGonagall behind her. "We will find Potter and bring him back safely. For now why don't you go inside the hospital wing and stay with mister Weasley." She somberly made her way through the door into the infirmary, where her other best friend would be waiting for her.

Inside she saw Ron, exactly where her and Harry had left him hours ago, or moments ago in the case of Ron. When he saw her enter he immediately cheered up. Seeing her back meant that they weren't dead or caught, which could only mean that Sirius was safe.

"Hermione! Thank god you're alright," he said with a bright smile. This cause Hermione to smile briefly at her and Harry's triumphant attempt to rescue Sirius. The smile would have persisted had she not remembered what had happened mere minutes ago.

"Harry", she whispered softly, allowing the sadness that had taken outside to begin to fill up inside her once again.

"Where is Harry, Hermione?" Ron almost hadn't noticed Harry's absence, figuring that his best mate was probably still talking to Dumbledore after completely his mission. It had been several minutes since Hermione had returned, and still Harry was nowhere to be seen. Ron started to begin up on Hermione somber nature and began to worry about his other best friend. "Hermione… What happened?"

She let out a long sigh, attempting to regain her composure. Ron needed to know what happened. He had a right to know and Hermione knew she had to be the one to tell him. She only hoped that he wouldn't hate her too much after what she did. Hermione recounted every aspect of their story, from freeing Buckbeak right from under the minister's nose, to Harry conjuring the Patronus that saved himself, her and Sirius, Sirius' final goodbye and escape, until finally she recounted the event of how Harry willingly led the werewolf away so Hermione could get help.

"It wasn't your fault Hermione." Ron knew that the events of that night were eating away at her. He couldn't stand to see her beat herself up over Harry's predicament. "We both know how he is. He would never live with himself if something happened to you, even if he gets hurt in the process."

Hermione wanted to thank Ron for him for not blaming her, but at that moment the infirmary doors burst open. Madam Pomfrey leading the way, followed closely by McGonagall and Dumbledore, with Snape following shortly behind them, levitating a stretcher which carried the body of the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Harry!" cried Hermione, as his tremoring body was lowered onto one of the beds in the wing. She immediately got up from her spot next to Ron to see what had happened to him, not realizing how bad the situation really was.

The first thing she noticed was that the front of Harry's school robes had been slashed open, revealing four long and deep claw marks which ravaged his chest from his left shoulder down almost to his right hip. She was so close to him examining his injuries, that when Harry began convulsing, she jumped back in fright as tears streamed down her face. She couldn't imagine the amount of pain he was going through. He managed to grab ahold of her hand. Needing something to anchor him to the world around him.

"Her-mine-ne" he managed to struggle out, which brought her closer to him so that she could hear him.

"Harry, I'm right here. Everything is going to be fine, you're going to make it through this."

It seemed as though Harry hadn't heard her as he spoke again.

" … shoulder-", was all he managed to sill out before consciousness left him, finally allowing him some peace. Confused at this last statement, Hermione pulled back the tattered robe at his shoulder, only to cry out at what she saw.

She immediately through herself on a nearby bed sobbing uncontrollably at how unfair life was to her best friend. Seeing the exchange, Dumbledore maneuvered to see what caused the young women so much distress. What he saw greatly shocked and saddened the esteemed headmaster.

There, clearly visible on the boy's shoulder, amongst the pieces of tattered cloth and dried blood, was a bite mark.

Author's Note: Hey guys, so I hope that you found the first chapter of this story as satisfying to read as I was writing it. I hope to take this story from here all the way to the end of the fourth book, and then hopefully to the seventh book if everything goes well.