Need [ dramione ]

Chapter 10

4 November 1998 - Full Moon

Draco isn't expecting to see Granger again for at least the rest of the day, if not the next week. She had been furious with him, and whatever conversation they needed to have had clearly been postponed.

His reasons were perfectly logical, and they all made sense in his mind, but discussing such things with a werewolf only an hour from shifting... well, no one had ever really called him smart.

He would just have to bring this up again as they neared the New Moon. He knows her cycle well enough to gauge at what point it would be safe to be near her again, and until then, he would be avoiding her - he has no urge to be attacked by a werewolf, particularly on the actual date of a Full Moon.

Of course, that doesn't change the fact that he wants to know how she's feeling the entire day. With the Full Moon reaching it's apex only a half hour or so before the rise of the sun, he had expected that she might even spend the entire day shifted, and yet... Well, notes.

He needed to put together some sort of journal to start taking notes, and soon.

That way, he would be able to figure out what to expect, and what not to expect. The Full Moon at the start of December would be during the day, as it had been previously in September, so he knows she has experience with that, but-

He feels completely in the dark, and he knows it's not his business, that he's not a werewolf, but something about Granger, something about everything happening to her, something about the dreams, the desire, it-

There has to be a reason, an explanation, a-

Something pulls him, from out of nowhere, into a classroom, and he knows that this hallway should be empty, that all of them were unused and damaged from the previous school year, which is why he often uses this hallway to get around the school, so-

He stumbles a few steps as the hand that grips his arm releases him, and as he straightens up, brushing at his robes casually while secretly withdrawing his wand, he turns to see Granger standing there, no wand in sight, but claws...

She has claws. Werewolf claws. And teeth. They should most certainly not be that sharp.

A glance out the classroom window tells him the sun is down, so if she was going to transform further, she would have already done so, but-

The Full Moon is not visible, but he knows that it's at almost full strength. She had only been at her full power for a short while, and she had mentioned expecting a leftover response, but...

She had mentioned, before, that she was planning to return to the shack. Clearly, that plan had been abandoned, given that she is now standing in a classroom with him, her back to the door that is now shut.

He looks from the door, back to the window, and then to Granger. He can tell, in just a glance, that she's struggling with control, struggling with anger, or...

Or, she's just a werewolf about to completely lose it on him, and all he has is his books from Transfiguration and his wand. Great.

"Granger," he says casually, trying to gauge exactly how much of her is still... aware.

After all, she hadn't attacked him in the hallway, had clearly been waiting for him, and had pulled him into a classroom. Even Granger wouldn't have that much intelligence if fully transformed.

"Malfoy," she spits out, still staring at him. "I should have gone to the Shrieking Shack."

Her statement, because that's what it is, a statement, is so clearly obvious, he doesn't even know how to respond, other than to shrug and say, "Yeah."