The chains clanked as they moved around the wolf, wrapping around each leg and pulling him to the ground until he was completely lateral, though he did try to snap at the chains holding him down. Then, a smaller chain rose from the ground next to his head and wrapped around his muzzle, closing his jaws tightly before snapping toward the ground, forcing the canine to rest his head flat on the ground. He growled softly against the restraints, but otherwise, he was completely immobile.

            “There,” Poppy said as she stared through the charmed window in the wall of the small room containing the werewolf. “That should hold him down.”

            Severus’s stomach churned as he was handed a thin, slimy feeling collar. He glanced into the room, noting the wolf was still down on his side, though the small tail was thumping on the ground.

            “I’ve infused this with a strong dose of lavender, chamomile, ginger, coconut, and just a hint of aconite,” Poppy explained, gesturing to the collar. “Together, the oils might calm him down enough that he may sleep the rest of the night without use of the chains. It’s a theory that hasn’t really been put to test on wolves with no wolfsbane, I’m sure you can imagine why.”

            Poppy hesitated, taking in Severus’s slightly shaking hands. She frowned at him, then reached for the collar.

            “Are you sure you don’t want me to do it?” Poppy asked.

            “No,” Severus said with a shake of his head. “I can do this. I have to do this.”

            “You don’t have to push it. Just because you’re taking Harry in doesn’t mean you have to prove yourself unafraid of what he becomes. Things like this take time and patience . . .”

            “I don’t need the lecture. We’re wasting time. I’m going to do this. It was my idea anyway.”

            Poppy sighed and nodded her head. She pulled out her wand and cast several charms and runes over the doorknob. After a few seconds, it unlocked. The door creaked open.

            “Be quick,” Poppy said. “Seeing someone will probably rile him up and he’ll fight against the chains more.”

            Severus nodded as he stepped up to the door, resting his hand on the doorknob. He gripped the knob tightly before he pushed the door open just enough to slip into the room, and he closed the door behind him before he lost his nerve.

            The window in the room allowed moonlight to shine through, offering enough light for Severus to see everything in the room without stumbling over his own feet. He slowly walked toward the wolf, collar ready in his hands, and the wolf’s eyes narrowed in on him.

            A loud huff from the werewolf made Severus freeze as he sucked in a sharp breath. He watched as the wolf’s whiskers twitched, occasionally lifting his lips enough to show off pearly white teeth. The clinking of the chains as they tightened against their captive was loud in Severus’s ears.

            When the wolf did not move, Severus forced his own legs to move, and he walked a bit closer, a bit unnerved by the eyes tracking his every move. Growling grew louder in the room as he neared the wolf, and while his heart was racing and his hands shook a bit more, Severus ignored the feelings as he paused right next to the werewolf.

            It had been years since he had been this close to these kinds of beasts. Severus felt waves of nausea hitting him repeatedly as he slowly kneeled next to the wolf’s head. All he had to do now was slip the collar on his neck and retreat. All he had to do was touch the wolf who was lying very still, though growling through the chain muzzle.

            Severus slowly reached a hand for the wolf’s neck to slide the collar under him. His fingers were centimeters away from touching the silver fur when he hesitated, his hands shaking even more.

            And it was that hesitation that cost him, as the wolf began thrashing against the cold floor with loud moans and snarls, startling Severus, who fell back and crawled away before standing and retreating from the room. He slammed the door behind him and nearly collapsed on the floor from his shaking knees, and he sat against the wall of the room and tried to catch his breath that he hadn’t even realized he had been holding.

            Poppy was all over him offering words of comfort and a vial of some kind of brown liquid. Severus held his head in his hands before he angrily threw the collar aside.

            “It’s okay, Severus,” Poppy said. “You did your best.”

            “I couldn’t do it,” Severus said. He growled in frustration at his own cowardness.

            “That’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Poppy said. She pushed the vial into his hand. “Drink this or I’ll spell it into you.”

            Severus accepted the potion and sipped it. He quickly realized it was a Calming Draught, and the effects were near instant as he felt his heart and breathing slow and the shakiness of his body ebbed away. He took a few deep breaths, only vaguely aware of Poppy grabbing the collar and entering the room. She wasn’t in there for more than a few seconds when she came rushing back out. She closed the door and cast her multiple spells on it. Severus took another sip of the potion as he watched her.

            “Did you get it?” Severus asked without looking up from where he sat on the floor.

            “Yes,” Poppy said. “I’ll give him a few minutes with it on before removing the chains. Chances are he may still rip it off.”

            In those few minutes, Severus was able to collect himself and stand up once more. He finished the potion before vanishing the glass vial and looking into the room through the charmed window to see the wolf still in the chains on the ground, but he wasn’t fighting them. His eyes were closed, and his tail was still, and the thin collar left the slightest indent in his fur.  

            Poppy came out of her office and stood next to Severus. She waved her wand, and they both watched as the chains vanished, releasing the wolf.

            The werewolf instantly pushed himself up into a sternal position, but that was as far as he went before he laid his head down on his paws and yawned. He closed his eyes once more.

            “Can you imagine,” Poppy said, “a calming collar for werewolves instead of an expensive brew?”

            “He’s calm now,” Severus said, “but he’s still not of sound mind. Anyone who walks in there will be in danger of him attacking.”

            “True. But it works. With a few adjustments and some experimenting, perhaps there can be an easier way of life for werewolves all over. Besides, I’ve heard that the Wolfsbane can be very unpleasant.”

            “As it should be,” Severus argued. He stared at the wolf, noting that his eyes blinked open occasionally to look around the room, as if hoping for some kind of stimulus. It was enough to quiet the wolf for now, but who knew how long it would last.

            “While he’s a bit tamer,” Poppy said, “we should get some sleep.”

            Severus nodded his head.

            Harry slowly opened his eyes, squinting against the sunlight streaming into the room. His head was pounding, and his body ached, and he had no recollection of what happened last night. He looked around the room he was in but didn’t recognize it. He was lying on the cold floor, and he blushed as he realized he had no clothes on. There was an infirmary bed next to him, and he quickly climbed into it, hiding himself under the sheets.

            The room he was in was a small square room, a literal box that had only enough room for the bed and window that happened to be within it. There was nothing else but a door on the opposite wall. There wasn’t even another window looking into his small room. There weren’t even clothes to change into.

            Harry slowly lowered the blanket when it was clear no one was coming into the room yet, and he exposed his chest, glancing at the scars on his shoulder. Two long jagged scars, raised and rough, marred the front and two similar ones stood out on the back of his shoulder. Harry reached a hand to trace the scars, then froze, his eyes widening.

            His left hand was covered in dried blood.

            Harry’s jaw dropped as he stared at his hand. Why was there so much? Had he done something to himself? Or had he injured someone else? He glanced over the bed to look at the floor and spotted a few blood splatters here and there, and his stomach flipped, and he swallowed dryly.

            Harry looked down at his hand and arm, looking for any more signs of injury or having injured. He saw small cuts and bruises here and there, and he pulled the blanket away from his lower half to keep checking himself over. There were a few bite marks on his thigh, as if he had begun chewing at himself, and he knew those would scar like the injury on his shoulder. Around his ankle on the same leg was a very circular bruise, as if something had been shackled to him.

            He felt a tingling on his neck, and he reached up to touch it. He felt a piece of plastic like material and pulled at it. It came apart and he studied the collar like object. When he sniffed it, it smelled strongly of lavender, with a hint of other flowery smells. His neck still hurt slightly, and he wondered if he had bruising there like around his ankle. His eyes stung slightly as he realized he had most likely been locked in chains at some point during the night.

            The door suddenly opened, and Harry threw the blanket over himself and sat back on the bed some, a bit apprehensive about who might be walking through the door. He wasn’t entirely relieved when Severus walked in with a tray full of vials and jars.

            Severus paused in the doorway, his brows furrowing at something on Harry.

            Harry realized he was staring at the scars on his shoulder, and he set the collar aside and pulled the blanket up further over himself, his cheeks heating up as he was practically naked in the same room as his professor.

            Severus cleared his throat as he closed the door behind him and walked over to the bed. He waved his hand and a small stand appeared for Severus to set the tray down on. The first thing Severus grabbed was a hospital gown and he wordlessly handed it to Harry.

            Harry accepted the garment and when Severus pointedly turned away, Harry took that to mean he was expected to put it on now. Harry slipped into the gown, feeling a little better with some covering now, and then he looked down at all the vials and jars on the tray.

            “Are you finished, Potter,” Severus asked without turning.

            Harry didn’t say anything immediately as he considered all the possible scenarios about where he was and what was going to happen to him now. It appeared he was still in Hogwarts if Severus was here too. Harry gulped again before he said in a hoarse voice, “I’m finished.”

            He coughed while Severus turned around.

            The first thing Severus did was pick up a goblet and hand it to Harry, who accepted it and sipped the water gratefully. Harry drank about half od the goblet as he decided what he wanted to ask first.

            “Where am I?” Harry asked when he handed the goblet back to Severus.

            “The infirmary,” Severus answered. “I though the bed and gown might have given that away.”

            “I suspected,” Harry admitted. “You’ve been trying to get me here all week.”

            “And imagine all the trouble you could have avoided if he had simply delivered yourself.”

            Harry studied his hands, refusing to reply to that while Severus began mixing a couple vials together.

            “Why is my hand all bloody?” Harry asked in a whisper. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

            Severus gently grabbed Harry’s wrist and looked at the bloodied hand, then gently turned it over so Harry could see his nails.

            “Looks like you broke a nail,” Severus said. “Probably in one of your fits last night.”

            “What?” Harry studied his pointer finger, which was covered in a thicker layer of blood and had a small wound on the nail bed where his nail was indeed broken. “A broken nail caused this much blood?”

            “Wolves, like most canines, have blood vessels in their nails. If they break them too far down, they expose the vessel, and it bleeds. Don’t worry, it looks worse than it actually is. Blood, even in small amounts, has the tendency to spread and make a mess.”

            “Could I bleed out from that?” Harry asked curiously as he kept studying his nail.

            “If every wolf that broke a nail bled out from it, there would be no wolves in the wild. Or werewolves, so to speak. Staying calm and giving it time usually stops the bleeding, as does applying pressure. Once Madam Pomfrey was able to get a calming collar on you, you managed to calm down enough to sleep for a few hours. Then, of course, you were right back to shredding the room.”           

            “It doesn’t look bad,” Harry said, glancing around.

            “She fixed the room up when you were in the middle of transforming back,” Severus explained. “Here, drink this. It will help the headache.”

            Harry accepted the vial and drank it down, closing his eyes and sighing in relief as the throbbing in his head vanished. Harry felt a finger tilt his chin upward, and he opened his eyes to see Severus examining his neck. Harry frowned at the man.

            “You lied to me,” he said.

            Severus lowered his hand and met Harry’s eyes.

            “You said there would be no cages or chains,” Harry said.

            “There wasn’t going to be,” Severus said. “And there was never a cage, despite what this room looks like to you. Unfortunately, when you took off and missed the final dose of your potion, you transformed into a mad wolf, and chains were needed last night. We tried to help you with the calming collar, but it only lasted do long. Had you taken the final dose of Wolfsbane, it wouldn’t have been needed.”

            “There was a cage in the room,” Harry said, closing his eyes as he tried to recall what happened before he turned. “Last night . . . across from your storeroom.”

            “A boggart,” Severus said.

            Harry frowned at that.

            “It couldn’t have been. My boggart—”

            “Clearly changed.” Severus picked up a jar and unscrewed the top. “As can happen as you go through life and discover things that you never knew terrified you. Chin up.”

            Harry blinked before he obeyed and lifted his head up. Severus rubbed a potion into his neck, and Harry winced as he fought against the ticklish feeling from the cold salve and Severus’s fingers rubbing the potion into his neck. Once his neck was healed, Severus moved to his ankle next. Harry watched as the bruises faded away.

            “You started biting yourself last night,” Severus said. “Where?”

            “It’s just going to scar,” Harry said, his cheeks burning once again.

            “And this potion can minimize the scarring. And take away the pain. Let me see, Potter.”

            Harry sighed and carefully rolled up the hospital gown, being careful not to expose himself as he revealed the few bite marks on his thigh. Several small punctures covered his thigh, along with some blood stains. The bruising was starting to develop green and black coloring.

            “I can put it on,” Harry said.

            “You won’t be able to,” Severus said as he uncapped another potion. “This is specifically made for werewolf bites. It had dittany and just a small hint of silver in it, though not enough to trigger a severe reaction. It will hurt, however.”

            “What do you mean a reaction—Ahh!” Harry ground his teeth together as Severus rubbed the potion into the several bite marks, and he felt the injured skin fizzle and burn as the wounds closed and healed. Harry panted through his teeth and clenched the sheets around him as he endured the pain. He glared at Severus as the professor finished and closed the jar. He hissed through his teeth, “Bet you’re enjoying this.”

            “On the contrary,” Severus argued as he picked up a washcloth and used his wand to soak it. “I am not entirely heartless, Potter. And as it stands, we will have to set aside our differences in the near future if you have any desire of remaining at Hogwarts.”

            Severus sat on the edge of the bed and gently took Harry’s hand and began scrubbing the blood away.

            “You are allergic to silver, by the way,” Severus added. “That is why you could have a reaction to the potion with silver in it. Any more than a pinch would cause severe reactions. It would feel like your skin was burning right off if you had enough contact with it. Did you not see that in all your research.”

            “I think I glossed over what works against werewolves and focused on what controls them—without killing them. The information grew a little slim in that department.”

            “I can imagine. Unfortunately for you, there is a lot of prejudice against werewolves in wizarding society. Your journey forward will not be an easy one.”

            “Tell me about it,” Harry muttered. He waited as Severus finished cleaning his hand before dipping his finger in another salve, which healed the broken nail and pending infection. After everything was finished, Harry felt a lot better than he did when he woke up that morning, and he rested his hands in his lap. “What’s going to happen to me?”

            Severus was quiet as he set aside the tray of potions and jars.

            “You will not be returning to your relatives,” Severus said.

            Harry’s head snapped up at that.

            “Really? I mean, I get why, so it makes sense.”

            “Would you want to go back?” Severus asked, and Harry frowned at the odd question, then he realized something.

            “Madam Pomfrey did the health exam, didn’t she?”

            “You avoided answering the question.”

            “So did you.”

            Harry met Severus’s eyes as they stared silently at each other for a minute, then Severus sighed heavily.

            “We have a lot to discuss,” Severus said as he stood up. “For now, the headmaster has decided to assign you a temporary guardian who is capable of providing Wolfsbane and a place of shelter on Full Moon nights until a more permanent solution can be found. In the meantime, you will continue on with school as you have.”

            “I can stay?” Harry asked with a grin.

            “There was never an option of you not staying at Hogwarts.” Severus waved his hand and a tray of a Full English breakfast appeared. He set the tray down in front of Harry, who frowned at all the food.

            “I can’t eat all of that,” Harry said.

            “I think you’ll surprise yourself,” Severus said. “Besides, as ordered by Madam Pomfrey, you are required to gain one stone before the year is up. So I suggest you eat as much of this as you can. I will return with a uniform for you while you do so.”

            Harry took a bite of toast, and he felt his stomach growl angrily. He was actually pretty famished, and he took another bite of the toast before he was even finished with the first bite. He hummed appreciatively. Severus watched him for a moment before he turned to leave.

            “Wait,” Harry called to his professor.

            Severus paused just at the door, turning to raise a brow at Harry.

            “You said I’ve been assigned a temporary guardian. Who is it, sir?”

            Severus seemed to take in a deep breath before he answered, “Me.”

            Harry’s jaw dropped at the same time as his toast did, and Severus took his stunned silence as a chance to leave the room.