By Salazar and Merlin, he hurt!

His body was one big ache. He awoke to bright lights, disgusting scents, and sounds louder than the roar of a dragon right in his ears. It was too much to deal with all at once. All he could do was curl up and whimper and hope to Merlin that it ended soon.

From now on, at every full moon, he would be transformed into a monster, complete with bestial instincts, until the coming of the dawn.

He thought he felt a touch on his shoulder, but everything was so painful that he could only shy from it. There were voices and they sounded so very loud. He covered his ears but it didn't help at all. His head pounded.

There were hands upon him, pulling his hands from his face. He fought but then they pried his mouth open and he nearly choked on the liquid being poured down his throat. The taste! It was just as overwhelming as the rest of it. He cried and struggled as another potion went down, then another. He lost count but it didn't matter. Soon enough, he fell into oblivion.

Severus didn't know how much time passed. He wavered in and out of consciousness. Each time, his senses screamed at him, but they dulled slowly off. It seemed like years had passed before he opened his eyes and managed to keep them that way.

The hospital wing was familiar, of course. One didn't have enemies like James Potter and Sirius Black without ending up there on a fairly regular basis. Severus slowly sat up and held his head as it began to ache again. The pain didn't burn like fire, but it was still annoying.

He was the only one there, thankfully. Severus wouldn't have been able to bear letting someone see him so weak, and it was weakness he felt permeating his entire body. His limbs felt heavy, leaden, and his head felt full of cotton, as did his mouth. He found a glass of water sitting at his side table and quickly grabbed it, only to have it drop from his weakened fingers. The glass clattered against the floor and Severus winced as the sound bothered his tender ears.

Damn it.

He shifted, shoving his weak legs over the side of the bed and moving to bend and grab the sodding glass. Just then, another sound caught his attention. He tilted his head, frowning a bit. His head swam with the movement. The door to the infirmary opened and Madam Pomfrey entered.

"Mister Snape!" she called and he flinched, hands going reflexively to his ears. Damn it, why was she so loud? Madam Pomfrey rushed immediately to his side with a sympathetic look on her face. "Oh, you poor dear. Just a moment."

She hurriedly fetched a potion and he took it without even thinking. Within a few moments, his senses began to dull. Light and colour were starting to not seem quite so bright, sounds so loud, scents so strong... He could still smell the light touch of lilacs in her perfume, still hear her heartbeat slow and steady in her chest.

"Oh, child," Pomfrey murmured, brows drawing upward with sympathy. Severus frowned at that expression. "You don't deserve this." She sighed. "I've already sent for the Headmaster."

Severus just nodded, his stomach churning.

True to form, it wasn't long before the Headmaster appeared in the hospital wing… seemingly having come down to tell of how harmless the newly infected werewolf would be despite what Severus thought.

"I am dangerous," he stated sullenly.

"Nonsense, Mr Snape," answered the Headmaster, eyes twinkling behind the half-moon glasses. "If you stay inside-"

"Someone will get bitten!" he snapped. Headmaster Dumbledore could promise anything, but the fact that Severus had been bitten was undeniable. "You let that… werewolf into the school!" he spat.

"However, Mr Snape, you must recall that if you had remained inside-"

"He should be expelled. They should all be expelled."

The Headmaster let Severus finish his outburst. After it seemed that Severus was complete, the Headmaster stared at the young Slytherin thoughtfully. "If Mr Lupin is expelled for his unfortunate condition-"

"For being a murderer!" he interrupted angrily.

"Then you, because you are also afflicted, would have to be expelled as well."

This was a valid point. "It was dangerous to have that werewolf running around!" screamed Severus. Severus knew that he was being repetitive, but he could not understand the headmaster's permissive attitude. "It could have bitten anyone!"

Headmaster Dumbledore looked down benevolently, with just a bit of sharpness. "Severus, you must admit that would be only if people were running around after hours. If you had stayed in your dormitory, as you are supposed to, none of this would have transpired." The words were emphasized by a sad shake of the head.

Needless to say, it was a less than satisfactory answer.

Dumbledore summoned a clipboard with a form attached and a quill. He handed them to Severus, who immediately flinched. He had a fairly good idea of what they were.

"You will have to fill these forms to register with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," explained Dumbledore. "Fortunately, they have yet to check the Werewolf registry against the student lists. They have been looking for a rogue werewolf in the forbidden forest. Of course, they will never find them."

On the second day, Lily Evans, just out of Potions class with the splendid Professor Horace Slughorn, came by to visit Severus with the assignments.

She had immediately run over to him, calling his name, when he caught sight of him.

"Miss Evans!" the mediwitch scolded, aghast. "What did I tell you about over-stimulating my patient?"

"She's not over-stimulating me," Severus assured her, wringing his hands.

"No one will tell me what happened to you!" she exclaimed. "All Slughorn would say when I asked was that you were hurt when you went somewhere after curfew."

"Well, I'm not expelled," he grumbled.

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened?" she pressed. "From the way Potter and his mates are acting, I can easily gather who was involved."

Severus winched at the tone of her voice.

"Black wasn't even in classes this morning, and Remus-"

"Oh, he's Remus now, is he?" he sneered.

Lily huffed. "Honestly, Sev, he's a Prefect with me. He's not nearly as abhorrent as his mates are. I don't know why he spends time with them."

Severus frowned at this.

"Anyways, he came down to breakfast all cut up," continued Lily.

"Not cut up," Severus corrected darkly, "bitten up."

"You're still on about that?" she said, sounding cold. "I know your theory. He's ill. They say…"

"Every month at the full moon?"

"He's not a Werewolf, Severus."

He buried his head in his pillow and held back a scream.

What was it going to take to get her to believe him? He'd already been bitten for Merlin's sake!

"Sev?" she said, concerned.

"What time is it?" he asked, trying to distract her.

"Lunch," she told him. His stomach took that as a cue to rumble, reminding him that he hadn't eaten since the night before.

"Can I get anything to eat?" he asked the mediwitch, irritably.

"If you're hungry, I could make you some cream of wheat," she told him briskly.

"I'm not ill," came his indignant reply. "I'm injured. I can eat real food."

She favoured him with an amused sidelong look. "I'm under the Headmaster's orders to treat you as a prisoner, Mr Snape, so your diet for the next few days is at my discretion."

He very badly wanted to tell her that prisoners had some rights to humane treatment including decent food, but he couldn't quite work up the nerve.

"So, are you going to tell me what happened?" asked Lily.

His mouth opened, but the words wouldn't form. If he spoke, he would have to acknowledge what had happened. It would be real then, inescapable, permanent. He pushed it into the deep recesses of his mind where he didn't have to see it.

"No," he hissed, ripping the sheet out of her hands.

Lily relinquished it, wide-eyes.

"Sev…" she wheedled, a persuading smile eclipsing her face. A rush of heat poured into his face, and he wished for a moment that she would sit with him like this on a bed somewhere other than the hospital wing. He flushed. "Did…. Did you get into it with Black and Potter? Did they do this to you?"

He gritted his teeth.

"They did, didn't they?" she said, her smile disappearing. "They should be expelled!"

Severus heartily agreed, but couldn't say so.

"No," he snapped. "Leave it, Lily. Please."

"Yes, well, you're going to tell me sometime," said Lily. He folded his arms sulkily and pulled the sheet over his head in reply. "I'll give you some time if you need it, but please, Sev…"

"Fine!" Severus grumbled. He heaved a sigh of relief.