She heard the cracking of bones before she saw it. The wolf’s form seemed to ripple in an uncoordinated dance of limbs and fur. What in Merlin’s name? Mabel stopped in her tracks, staring at the changing form. He was a werewolf. Dear God, he was a werewolf. How stupid could she have been? As if searching for confirmation, she directed her gaze to the forest’s cieling. The thick shadows of leaves were fading and she saw the thinnest sliver of light peek through the tree trunks. Another noise jerked her attention back to the man in front of her, and she started to obey her instincts to run away. She heard Dory’s voice in her head, barking at her to get out but -

….what if he’d been hurt?

From what little she knew about werewolves, the transformation was not a pleasant sensation. She also knew that a werewolf wasn’t dangerous once they’d transformed back into their human form. Even so, she approached with caution; she kept her eyes trained on his face, not only for purposes of monitoring his expressions as he came out of the daze of transformation, but also because (despite having not witnessed a werewolf change form) she was gratefully equipped with the knowledge that when werewolves came out of their transformation they were not clothed. Healers usually weren’t as bothered with being presented with a patient who was undressed to a certain degree, but then again modesty was hard to shed when one had it practically beaten into them (though after losing her virginity to Dory on the shores of the Black Lake, Mabel seemed to be able to drop her inhibitions with a little more ease; she couldn’t imagine why it’d had that effect, and not the opposite).

Before she could step forwards again, before she could get a good look at the man, a branch came whipping out of nowhere. A white hot pain seared across her face and she yelped as she stumbled backwards. In her haste to get away, she misstepped and felt her back paw twist under her and she gave another whine of pain. His shout of warning had been enough; panic tore through her and she staggered through a clearing nearby before shaking off her own animal form.

Laying in a pool of her hospital robes, she managed to find her wand tucked safely inside her sleeve. Then turned on the spot, and apparated away with a loud crack.

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