He nodded. He'd been filled full of potions until Madam Pomfrey was satisfied that he was better. Pepperup, anti-shaking and anti-nausea potions, and even a strengthening potion. Harry still didn't feel a hundred percent, but he'd faked his health enough that Madam Pomfrey had let him out. He didn't want to raise suspicion by spending too much time in the Hospital Wing.

"Ron said it was from all the bacon you ate," Hermione said smugly.

"That mighta been part of it," Harry said as he frowned down at his plate. "Madam Pomfrey said I also had a virus."

"You did look really unwell for a few days," Hermione said. "You look better now though."

"I feel better," Harry said.

"Good," Ron said with a grin, "you missed practice yesterday and I had to lead it."

"It wasn't pretty," Ginny said, and Ron made a face at his sister. "He yelled at everyone a lot. We'll all be glad you're back."

Harry looked at Ron, who shrugged. "What? I was under a lot of pressure, ok? The first game's in three weeks and I had to lead the first practice of the year and try to whip everyone into shape!"

Cormac McLaggen plopped down into the seat next to Hermione then, forcing her to budge up and move closer to Ginny. They both shot Cormac a dirty look, which he ignored.

"It was a poor show of leadership Potter," Cormac said, picking up Hermione's cup of pumpkin juice and giving her a wink and a smile as he took a sip out of it. She stuck her tongue out like she was disgusted and turned away from him.

"Hey, I didn't see you stepping up to lead last night," Ron grouched.

"I'm not talking about you Weasley," Cormac said. "I'm talking about Potter not showing for the first practice of the season. What kind of Captain does that? You know, if you're not up to the task, I'd be happy to take it on."

Harry stared at him for a moment. "I hereby declare that if I'm grievously sick or injured and unable to make practice again, that Ron's in charge. If he can't make it Ginny's in charge. Then Katie, then Demelza, then Jimmy, then Ritchie, then Dean, and then you Cormac."

Hermione covered her mouth and giggled and Cormac stood up, straightened his tie and moved off down the table as if the declaration hadn't perturbed him at all.

"Thank you Harry," Hermione said.

"And if Ron yells too much," Harry told Ginny, "hit him with a Bludger or something so you can take over."

"Hey!" Ron said, feigning a hurt look. "What am I, chopped liver?"

Ginny and Hermione both laughed and Harry shoved Ron playfully.

* * *

Harry was worried about going out onto the grounds for Quidditch practice, but nothing happened for several days as they practiced in the evenings after dinner and Harry and Ron grew complacent. They even went down to see Hagrid one evening after practice, and asked him about that ‘strange guy' that came onto school grounds several weeks before at the start of the term.

"Strange man," Hagrid said. "Muggle, but he got a wizard teh charm him so he can see and enter Wizard establishments. Headmaster Dumbledore wants reports on his whereabouts regular like. He's been camping deep in the forest. He disappears fer days at a time though. The Headmaster reckons he's out looking fer werewolves in other parts nearby. Downright shameful if yeh ask me, teh hunt magical creatures. Imagine if poor Professor Lupin was still ‘ere."

"And he thinks there's werewolves here?" Ron asked before taking a drink from the cup of tea Hagrid had made him.

"He does. He says there's two. He comes round me cabin ‘bout once a week teh ask, and I see him in Hogsmeade in the Hogshead askin' round if they've heard of anyone. Everyone's been tight lipped on account of Barry Kendall over at Honeydukes."

"The shopkeep?" Harry asked.

"Yup," Hagrid said. "Bet yeh didn' know he was even a werewolf did yeh?"

Harry and Ron shook their heads. "He's not like Professor Lupin though. He turns into a full wolf on the full moon. This last full moon his family took him all the way cross the country so he'd be far away from that hunter."

"Can't Dumbledore do anything to keep him off school grounds?" Harry asked.

"The grounds are big," Hagrid said. "Too big teh ward completely. From what I understand it took years just teh put up the anti-muggle and anti-appration charms that are up now, an' a whole team of skilled wizards teh do it too. He did go down teh the forest an' talk teh him along with me an' professor Snape. Told him teh clear out an' stay off the grounds or else he'd be facin' consequences."

"But he's been back to your cabin since then," Ron said.

"The forest isn't technically on school grounds," Hagrid said, "an' it's right behind me cabin. I reckon he figures he can get away with it."

Hagrid looked down at his watch. "Look at the time. It's dark out. I'll walk yeh back teh the castle. Gotta be careful nowadays. It's not just the hunter out."

Harry and Ron gave each other a look as they grabbed their brooms and followed Hagrid to the door. "What do you mean Hagrid?" Ron asked, though he and Harry both knew the Alpha was around.

"Well there's three werewolves around, aside from who we already talked abou'," Hagrid said before opening the door.

"Three?" Ron asked innocently.

"The two the hunter followed up teh these parts an' there's another been prowlin' around. I heard him howlin' all three nights of the full moon, an' I seen a hulkin' figure stalkin' round the Quidditch Pitch before then. Looked like he'd dragged somethin' out there when I went out an' looked the next mornin'. Blood all over the grass an' everything. I'm just glad none of the students or staff were hurt. The Headmaster put extra wards on me cabin and even put a charm on Fang to keep him from gettin' eaten."

Hagrid saw them to the front doors of the castle and then disappeared back into the night.

When Harry and Ron were sure they were alone, Ron said, "You woke up in the Pitch with all those gashes on your chest."

"And Hagrid saw him..." Harry shuddered and Ron did too.

"I don't think it's possible to have a normal year at Hogwarts.

"This is a normal year at Hogwarts," Harry said.

"Blimey, it is isn't it?"

"Next year you'll be a vampire and we'll have to cover you in sunblock to get you out for classes and Quidditch."

"Don't joke Harry."

* * *

Quidditch practice ran late Saturday night, and it was nearly dark by the time the team began heading back to the castle. Ginny had gone ahead with Katie Bell and Ron and Harry brought up the rear, lagging behind the others as they discussed the team's strengths and weaknesses. They were almost back to the castle when Harry stopped and stuck his nose up to sniff the air around them. Ron pulled out his wand and stilled.

"What is it?"

"Shh."

They were quiet as they stared into the darkness, and after several minutes, a dark figure staggered out from behind several trees.

Ron squinted. "Is that-"

"Ethan."

Harry dropped his broom and ran to the shaking figure as it collapsed onto the ground. He dropped to his knees beside him just as Ron came up with both of their brooms.

"Whoa," Ron said. Ethan's shirt had a large pool of blood on it and there was an arrow sticking out in the center with white and black striped fletching.

"Gotta get out of here," Ethan rasped.

Harry didn't need telling twice. He listened for any sign of the Flagari hunter for only a moment before he lifted Ethan up, surprised he was able to lift his shoulder's most of the way off the ground.

"Help me," Harry said, and Ron dropped the brooms and went to the other side. Together they got him to his feet and put his arms around their shoulders. Ron used his wand to levitate the brooms behind them as they dragged him towards the castle.

"Where are we gonna take him?" Ron asked.

"Not the Hospital Wing," Ethan said, eyes closed as his head hung limply with his chin against his chest.

"No, we're not stupid, thanks," Ron snarked.

"We gotta get the arrow out," Harry said. "If it's tipped with poison-"

"It is," Ethan mumbled, voice barely loud enough to hear. "Aconite."

Ron grouched about Ethan being heavy several times as they dragged him up the steps and to the oak front doors. "Grow some muscles then," Ethan snarked back as Harry opened the heavy door and stuck his head inside. It was almost nine and most of the younger years would already be inside their dorms. In another half hour the older years would be in their common rooms as well.

"Wait," Ron said, before Harry could begin dragging Ethan into the castle. "Where are we taking him?"

"Dungeons?" Harry suggested.

"Are you crazy?" Ron whispered. "Snape'll find us!"

"Yeah but there's tools in the potions labs. Knives, and ingredients we can brew an antidote with."

"I don't know an antidote for aconite poisoning!"

"Bezoar?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Just get me inside!" Ethan snapped. Harry looked inside one more time, and then they hauled Ethan into the castle and closed the door behind them. They paused so Ron could store their brooms in a cupboard and ward it shut so Filch couldn't get in, and then began carefully carrying Ethan down the long stairwell into the Dungeons.

"Let's use Lab C," Harry said. It was one of the smaller labs that older students were sometimes allowed to use for personal projects. It only had two workbenches and a small supply cupboard that was shared with Lab D.

Harry unlocked Lab C with his wand and they carried Ethan inside and struggled to get him up onto one of the workbenches. Ethan cursed when they nearly dropped him on the floor, and then let out a sigh of relief when he was finally on the workbench on his back, his feet and ankles hanging off the end.

"I hate you," Ethan said.

"You're welcome," Ron gruffed. "What now?"

"Get the arrow out!" Ethan snapped at them again.

"Shut it! I wasn't talking to you!"

Harry ignored the irritated voices of the other two to go into the store room, and came out with a box of spare Potions tools that were available for when a student's tool broke during class.

"Harry can't do it," Ethan said, eyes still closed.

"What?" Ron snapped. "Why?"

"If he gets sliced by the arrow he'll be poisoned too."

Ron cursed and took the knife Harry was offering him.

"Don't cut me open," Ethan said. "Push the arrow all the way through." He grimaced as he said it, as if it hurt just to think it.

"He's gonna bleed a lot," Ron said quietly to Harry, and Harry went back into the store room to see if there was anything he could find to use as bandages. He came back out a minute late with two sheets they sometimes used when they needed to strain chunks of ingredients out of potions before they could be bottled, and began cutting them into strips.

"Ethan, what do we do to get the poison out after the arrow's out?" Harry asked.

"Crush a bezoar, mix it with garlic, and stuff it in the wound. Then sew it up."

"Disgusting," Ron said, as Harry went to the store cupboard again and then began preparing ingredients. Ron transfigured a needle from one of the knives and pulled thread out of one of the sheets, and then took his Quidditch Robe off so he wouldn't ruin it.

"I put a silencing charm on the room," Harry said as he came back over with a mortar and pestle full of the crushed ingredients.

"Help me roll him over," Ron said, and the two Gryffindors lifted him up onto his side. Harry held him there while Ron went to the other side.

"Stand clear so the arrow doesn't get you when it comes through," Ron instructed. Harry stood back and Ron took a moment to prepare himself. He grimaced before he reached forward, gripped the arrow, let go, gripped it again and pushed on the arrow from the front. Ethan yelled as the arrow went through, and then Ron came around from the other side, blood on his hands, and pulled the arrow the rest of the way out through his back.

Ethan groaned and panted heavily, and Ron dropped the bloody arrow on the floor in disgust. "Blech," he said.

Harry ripped Ethan's shirt off and then handed the pestle to Ron who took a handful of the mixture, closed his eyes, and then pushed the mixture into the wound. Ethan screamed in pain again and then Harry took the needle and rough thread and quickly sewed up the hole in Ethan's back so they could lay him down. He went to his chest and sewed it up too, though Ethan had passed out before he was done.

Several minutes passed in silence as the boys stood there and stared at Ethan's passed out form. "What did we just do?" Ron asked, voice high as he looked at the blood all over his hands and shirt. "What the hell did we just see?"

Harry shook his head not certain. He heard what Ron was saying. He'd been disturbed to see the light leave Cedric's eyes in the graveyard, and even more scared and disturbed to see Sirius fall through the veil in the Department of Mysteries. This was on an entirely different level though. There'd been death before, but no blood. They'd never been required to sneak anyone into the castle before or to perform a surgery.

"Harry," Ron said quietly, and Harry looked over at his friend. "Don't make me do that to you, ok?"

"I won't."

"Don't. I mean it Harry."

Harry and Ron stared at Ethan's bloody body for another minute before Harry suddenly felt like he needed to scrub every inch of himself clean.

They washed their hands, took a strip of the sheet and got it wet and then washed as much blood as they could from Ethan's chest and back before wrapping his midsection in several layers of clean sheets.

They waited almost an hour to see if Ethan would wake up again, and when he didn't Harry said, "We can't stay here. Snape comes in and out of these rooms to get supplies to brew on the weekends."

"We could take him to guest quarters."

"Or the room of requirement."

"That's too far, and then we'd have to sneak him all the way back out of the castle again."

"You're right," Harry said. "Where's the nearest guest quarters?"

Ron thought. He and Harry spent a lot of their free time pouring over the Marauder's Map just so they'd be prepared in situations like this, and had done so since Harry had received it in their third year. "Two halls over," he said.

"Snape's gonna kill us when he finds us," Harry commented. "He's gonna find us." It was a certainty. But Snape didn't find them despite that it took them nearly ten minutes to drag the injured man to the nearest guest room. Once Harry and Ron had deposited him inside, they went back and washed any blood that had dripped down the hall behind them, and made sure there was no sign of blood on the door knob of the guest room.

"It's almost eleven," Ron said, feeling exhausted.

"I know."

"How long you think he'll sleep?"

"I don't know. I don't know how aconite poisoning works."

"Idiots," Ethan groaned as he came to. He groaned again. "What did you do to me?" His eyes opened a crack, but it seemed like he was too weak to open them further.

"We got the arrow out," Harry said from his seat next to the bed in the guest room. This was probably the smallest guest room he'd ever seen. It had a bed and a nightstand, two chairs and a wardrobe. It was cramped. "The wound is stitched up, but-"

"What?"

Ron and Harry looked at each other and then back at Ethan. "Nothing was clean. We did it all in a hurry."

"Were's aren't prone to infection. Once the aconite is countered I'll heal in a couple days."

"How long will that take?" Ron asked.

"All night at least," Ethan said. "I can feel the effects lessening already."

"What did the aconite do to you?" Harry asked.

"After you get aconite in your system, you have about ten minutes before it starts to paralyze you. You have an hour, two at the most, before it paralyzes your heart and lungs and you die."

That explained why he hadn't been able to open his eyes since they found him and why they'd had to drag him all the way into the castle.

They sat quietly for a while before Ethan said, "Where were you during the full moon?"

"Inside," Harry said.

Ethan looked at him.

"I couldn't go out. The Alpha's been calling me out all month. He got me outside once and slashed open my side while I was sleeping. He's been sending me dreams of me eating Ron too."

Ethan sighed. "And who did you eat while you were in the castle?"

"I locked him in a cell and warded it shut," Ron said. "He never transformed."

Ethan looked from Ron, to Harry. "You never transformed?"

Harry shook his head.

"Idiots."

"Hey!" Ron snapped at him. "We did the best we could! Where were you? Huh?"

"I was leading the hunter away from here! How sick did he get from not transforming?"

Harry and Ron looked at each other. "Pretty sick," Harry said. "I was weak and I kept throwing up."

"Your body is meant to transform when the moon is full. If you're locked inside with no window for the light to get in and you can't transform, your body is pouring all that energy into transforming with no transformation. The human body can't take that!" He turned and glared at Ron, who crossed his arms.

"Maybe if you'd said something," Ron said.

"I shouldn't have to! He's not an animal that needs to be locked up!"

"Well you didn't do a great job of leading the hunter away did you? And in the meantime Harry and I were left to figure things out for ourselves!"

"He doesn't need your help!" Ethan pushed himself up on his elbows and Ron jumped up off his chair.

Harry stood and put his hands up between them. "Whoa, both of you hold on. I do need Ron, and he's right, we didn't know and we didn't know what to do because you weren't here. Help us figure out what to do for the next full moon."

"I'll be here for the next full moon," Ethan said, and laid back down.

"You sure?" Ron asked, clearly irritated.

Ethan glared at him.

"So you're gonna stick around?" Harry asked. "What about the Alpha?"

"I'm working on it," Ethan said.

"How?" Ron snapped.

Ethan ignored him.

"And what are you gonna do about the hunter?"

"I have a place to hide. I'll be around and out of sight."

"And if we need you?" Ron asked.

With a huff, Ethan said, "Go to the moving willow tree."

"You've got to be kidding," Ron raised his voice, ready to argue again. "You want us to go all the way out to the Shrieking Shack to get you?"

"The tunnel goes more than one place," Ethan said. "Take the tunnel to the left once you're inside. It goes to a cave under the school."

They sat with Ethan until almost five in the morning, and then helped him up and out of the castle. Harry wondered throughout their journey back to the front doors what they would say if someone spotted them supporting a shirtless, bandaged, injured werewolf back out onto the grounds, but they didn't encounter anyone, and all the portraits were still sleeping in their frames. When Ethan was gone, Harry and Ron retrieved their brooms form the cupboard, and then hurried back to the destroyed, bloody lab to get their Quidditch robes.

"There's no way we can clean this in time," Harry said.

"Forget it," Ron said. "Leave it."

They hurried as quickly as they could up to Gryffindor, showered before the other boys rose, and then changed into clean clothes.

"Worst night ever," Ron said as he fell face first into his bed. Harry mumbled as he fell asleep. He'd had worse nights. At least no one had died. He would always count that as a win.

* * *

"What is it you have to show me Severus?" Albus Dumbledore said as he came to the end of the Dungeon corridor. Severus had sent him a message shortly after breakfast requesting his presence. Without a word, Severus unlocked and opened the door to Lab C and motioned for the Headmaster to go inside.

There were bloody bandages on the floor, blood on one of the workbenches, on the door handle, and on the door leading to the supply cupboard. There was a used pestle and mortar full of bezoar and garlic, and a distinctly colored arrow on the floor.

"This confirms it then," Albus said.

"I would say so, yes," Severus said seriously.

"At least two, wouldn't you say so?"

Severus stooped down and picked up the arrow, smelling the tip before pulling it away from his nose.

"If one was poisoned with wolfsbane there's no way he or she would be able to get the arrow out themself."

"Get a count of the students and staff to be sure everyone is alive and accounted for. If one of the students is hurt I want to be certain they receive care."

"What will you do if we cannot figure out who it is?"

Albus looked at Severus and said, "Perhaps it is time for a visit from our friend Remus."

"Wonderful," Severus muttered.

Albus turned and left and Severus threw the bloody arrow back on the floor. "They didn't even have the decency to catch any of the blood in a phial," he sneered. A phial of werewolf blood was worth seven Galleons.