AN: Hello everyone! It's been a while and I apologize for that. I have been in the slump of adulthood and that has kind of ground down my creative muses. So I had been missing my Jade/Hermione stories, so here's something new! I have also deleted some of my old stories. SORRY! But looking back on them, they weren't up to par with what I'd like posted from now on. I may revamp them, or they may stay in the vault for me to look back on and reminisce. Anyway! Enjoy this new story and I apologize for my long absence.
The forest was always silent at dawn. A little girl and her father wandered through the foliage, sorting through different plants as they passed. The little girl, a brunette with wavy brown hair, bent down to gather a golden gilded plant as her father kept moving forward in his search. A soft tune was hummed by the girl as she got caught up gathering more herbs, following a small trail where they grew.
In the distance, a high pitched whining could be heard echoing off the trees and it caught the girl's attention. She followed the noise and stumbled upon a young white wolf, its front left paw caught in a hunter's trap. The wolf was digging where the chain was buried in the ground before it sensed another presence, trying its best to sound ferocious when it spotted the child.
"I won't hurt you." The girl said softly as she set down her basket and slowly walked towards the white wolf as it cowered away from her. "I'll help you."
The wolf growled softly as the girl approached before whining again. The brunette tried to soothe the animal by humming a soft tune before finding the release latch on the trap. The metal screeched open and the wolf jumped back, whining and licking the wound on its leg.
"There you go." The girls smiled as she crouched and watched the wolf tend to the gash on its leg. "You should be more careful." The white wolf glanced up and caught the girl's gaze. "Blue eyes." The girl gasped as the wolf limped back. "I've never seen a wolf with blue eyes."
"Hermione!" A voice echoed in the distance, causing the girl to turn towards the call. "Where are you?"
"Coming!" She replied before turning back towards the wolf to find it gone. She frowned before standing, picking up her basket and glancing back once more where the wolf had been.
It didn't take long, tracking her steps back through the trees before finding her father. "Where were you, Hermione?"
"I found a trail of Golden Sage." Hermione answered as she held up her basket proudly for her father to see. "I gathered a bunch for you!"
"Thank you, dear." Her father answered as he set a soothing hand on her head and ruffled her hair. "But you're a child, Hermione, you have to be more careful. The wolves could get you."
"They're not all dangerous, daddy." The girl sighed as they began walking the trail back to their village. "And I'm eleven, old enough to gather herbs I think."
As the two began to exit the forest, a pair of blue eyes watched as the humans walked through the trees. The wolf stayed still in the shrubs until they were out of sight and hearing distance, before turning tail in the opposite direction. The trees began to zip by as it ran into a clearing where the sun shone brightly through the canopy.
The wolf stopped and looked over its shoulder one last time before a man walked through the tree line. "Where have you been?" The white beast closed its eyes as the fur began to shed and it stood on its hind legs. Black hair replaced the snow white pelt on its head until a young girl was standing in its place.
"I was caught in a trap, father." The girl folded her arms over her chest and sighed. "Thanks for the help, by the way. No one answered my calls."
"You're thirteen, Jade." The man had dark hair that was beginning to grey, but a stern look on his face as he glared down at his daughter. "The age where you need to start learning things on your own. You could've shifted and pressed the release yourself."
"I…didn't think about that." Jade averted her eyes to the ground and rubbed her shoulder sheepishly. The man sighed and moved forward, kneeling down in front of the girl.
"I know I wasn't a big part of your life when you were younger." He said gently as his eyes softened and he placed his large hands on her shoulders. "After your mother died…" He paused and closed his eyes briefly. "I promised I would raise you to the best of my ability. You're a wolf, you need to learn to take care of yourself."
Jade furrowed her brow slightly and exhaled. "I understand, father." She met his yellow eyes and nodded once. "I will try harder."
"Good." He smiled softly and ruffled her ink black hair. "Because you're going to be patrolling the border in the forest after your fourteenth birthday. They're moving deeper into the territory and we have to keep them away from our clan."
"They're not all bad." Jade muttered as her father stood and walked into the darker part of the forest. "A girl saved me."
"You were lucky." The man answered as he motioned for Jade to follow him. "If it had been a man, he would've killed you." Jade thought back to the young girl and sighed. "Now come, we have to get back to the pack."
The man seamlessly shifted into a large, black wolf with glowing red eyes before bounding off into the woods. Jade shook her head and felt her change take control, falling forward on her hands and knees. Her shift wasn't as easy as her father's, she'd only just gotten control of her wolf a few years ago.
When she was fully changed, she leapt forward, chasing after her father before disappearing into the darkness of the deep forest.
Ten years later…
The village where Hermione and her father lived was small, but growing. There was a basic general store and a lumber yard, along with a small mining company that was harvesting the iron in the nearby mountain. Still, all in all, there were maybe three hundred people that had settled there.
If you wanted anything other than a small selection of clothes or food, you had to wait for the traders that would travel through once a month. Hermione's father just so happened to be the local doctor, and she was learning what she could from him. When they'd first settled on the land outside of the large forest, there were only fifty or so people, and it fascinated Hermione to watch how everything had changed.
It was hard to flourish so far from a large town, but the people had managed well. They raised their own livestock, and hunted what they needed if it came to that. Lately, hunting had gotten more popular for sport, and several of the men had reported seeing wolves encroaching closer to the village.
Hermione had been told of the wolves ever since she could remember. The forest was vast and after a certain point, it became dark, thick with tall trees and brush that made it easy to lose your way. That's where the wolves lived and usually stayed. No one really knew why they were moving closer to the settlement.
On this particular day, the brunette was sitting in a meadow in the forest where the sunshine was shining through the trees and bathing her in light. There was a book in her lap as she sat up against a tree, a content expression on her face before tucking a stray curl behind her ear. She faintly heard the stomping of feet through the forest and sighed when a man with red hair fumbled through the bushes.
"Hermione," The young man called, frustration in his voice as he brushed off his tunic and trousers. "I've been looking for you for hours!"
"You mean we've been looking." A red headed girl emerged from behind the man and scowled. "Honestly, Ronald, like you have some priority here."
The Weasley siblings all had red hair, and quite the personalities. Ginny, the only girl and the youngest, but her brothers never dared to get on her bad side. Ronald was the second youngest, and currently, pointlessly, trying to court the brunette. There were the twins, Fred and George who were the tricksters of the town; Percy, who worked as the Mayor's assistant, and two older siblings; Charlie and William, who worked in the mine.
"Nice to see you two." Hermione mused as she marked her page and closed her book. "Do you need something?"
"Harry was wondering if he could get more ointment for his head wound." Ron chimed as he trudged over to Hermione who remained seated. "He says it's been burning lately."
"Did you not go to my father first?" The brunette quirked an eyebrow at the tall young man who flushed slightly and shrugged.
"He just wanted to find you, Hermione." Ginny smirked and her brother elbowed her in the shoulder. "Well you did!" Ron glared at his sister and Hermione sighed, standing up to brush off her dress. "Also your father is making a house call in the neighboring village in the plains."
"I'll have to find some calendula flowers." Hermione answered wistfully as she looked deeper into the forest. She turned towards her friends and smiled before stuffing her book into her satchel. "Go tell Harry that his ointment will be ready in a few hours."
"Where are you going?" Ron called as the brunette started walking the trail into the forest. "It's dangerous out there."
"I know this forest like the back of my hand." The young woman answered with a smile as the two red heads stayed near the trail that led back to the village. "Just go tell Harry, you two. I'll be back before you know it."
"But," Ron obviously wanted to go, but he knew better than to argue with Hermione. "Will you be ok?"
"She'll be fine." Ginny rolled her eyes and grabbed her brother by the arm. "Let's go tell Harry and help dad at the inn."
The two Weasleys trudged off back towards the village as Hermione rolled her eyes and made her way through the trees. She checked periodically for the bright orange blossom of the calendula plant. The sun filtering through the leaves got dimmer as the canopy above got thicker and Hermione entered a clearing where a bedding of calendula settled.
Hermione knelt down and began to pluck the plant and place it in her bag. She heard a faint rustling, but paid no attention to it, thinking that maybe Ron had followed to keep an eye on her. So naturally, she ignored the sound and continued to harvest her findings.
"You're not a very quiet sneak, Ronald." Hermione sighed, never taking her eyes off of the plants. "If you wanted to come along that bad, you should've just said so."
The brunette turned when she heard a twig snap, finding nothing but the trees around her. Her brow furrowed as she shrugged and continued gathering the plants. Another rustling put her on edge as she closed her bag and looked over her shoulder again.
"You're a bit far from the village." A voice made Hermione stand abruptly, a shadow moving under a tree with glowing blue eyes, was glaring at her. "Alone, as well? That's not very wise."
"I can take care of myself." The girl spoke firmly, though fear was tingling down her spine. "Why are you out here by yourself?"
"I live here." The figure finally stepped out of the shade of the canopy. "You do not."
Hermione blinked when she saw a young woman, clad in tattered leather and a heavy hooded cape draped around her shoulders. Black hair hung languidly in her blue eyes that were trained on the brunette. Being in the light made the woman's eyes dim from the bright glow they had been before.
"I didn't know any people lived in the forest." Hermione muttered as she kept her bag close to her chest.
"What are you doing here?" The woman wasted no time getting down to the point. "Your village borders ended a quarter mile back."
"I'm just gathering herbs for my friend." Hermione answered as the woman drew closer and began to circle her like prey. "He'd been injured a while back and needs an ointment for the healing wound."
"So get them closer to your home." Blue eyes narrowed as the woman stopped in front of her. She looked down, being three or four inches taller than Hermione. "It's dangerous this deep into the forest. Go back, now."
"I haven't finished yet." The brunette folded her arms over her chest and tried to stand tall. "I just need a few more plants." The woman narrowed her eyes and Hermione swore she heard a growl rumble in her throat. "I promise it will only take a moment."
"You must not have noticed," The woman flourished her arm towards the calendula patch and Hermione looked to find it empty. "You've picked it clean."
"Please, I just need a few more." Hermione brought her bag up and only found it half full. "Do you know where I could find any? This is the only spot I'm aware of."
"Why should I help you?"
"The faster I find my flowers, the faster I'll be out of the forest." The brunette countered and she visibly saw the taller woman tense.
"This way." The cape flowed as the woman turned and walked deeper into the trees. Hermione stood there for a moment. No one she knew of had been this deep into the woods, and according to the tales, only man-eating wolves dwelled in the shadows.
The blue eyed woman took a few steps before realizing the brunette wasn't following. "Are you coming or not?"
"Yes." Hermione moved forward quickly to fall in step with the taller woman. "What is your name, by the way? I'm Hermione."
The woman didn't acknowledge the brunette as she pushed some brush out of the way to reveal a small patch of the orange flower. "Here, get what you need so I can take you back."
The brunette just huffed as she walked past the taller woman and knelt down in the small cluster of blossoms. The woman rolled her eyes and turned away, watching the trees as she folded her arms over her chest.
It was just like a naïve villager to wander too deep into the forest. They knew the legends, knew the risks. Of course, maybe the younger generation didn't believe the stories. It seemed it was almost a challenge to venture deeper into the trees. Jade glanced over her shoulder at the brunette who was humming softly and rolled her blue eyes.
"Are you almost done?"
"Quite impatient, aren't you." Hermione muttered as she closed her satchel and stood, brushing the brambles of plants off her dress. "Yes, I'm finished."
"Good, let's go." The woman turned and grabbed the girl by the wrist before pulling her back the way they'd came.
"Why are you so eager to leave?" The brunette asked in a huff, displeased with being dragged by this stranger. "Don't tell me you actually believe the stories? Man-eating wolves and all that nonsense?"
"You don't?" Blue eyes looked over with a raised eyebrow. "Your people are the ones that came up with those stories. The wolves here don't eat men." The taller woman paused slightly so their eyes locked. "They kill them. You've lost several people from your small village, if I recall correctly. What do you think happened to them?"
Hermione's brow furrowed as she reluctantly followed the forest dweller, this time releasing her wrist so she could walk freely. "I thought they'd just gotten lost in the forest and starved. At least that's what the elders told us."
"So your elders are lying to you." The dark haired woman sighed as they reached the previous meadow Hermione had been originally sitting it. Her blue eyes could see the settlement through the trees and she stopped. "Don't go that far into the forest again. It's dangerous."
"I can handle myself." The brunette answered defiantly as she looked up into blue eyes with determination. "You survive here, I think I can manage a few trips into the forest alone."
A frustrated huff left the woman's lungs before she inhaled deeply, a familiar scent filling her nose. She paused, blinking rapidly before looking down at the woman beside her. The scent triggered a memory that had almost been forgotten. Almost, besides the permanent reminder on her left forearm.
"Just be careful." She muttered before turning on her heel and walking back towards the thick of the forest. With that, the woman disappeared into the trees before Hermione could get another word out.
"What a strange woman." Hermione sighed as she adjusted the back on her shoulder and began the walk back to her home.