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Chapter 1

There was something different about Forks. There was a feeling of magic in the air – not the type that was prevalent at Hogwarts. It was more subtle, yet untamed and free. The moment she stepped foot in Forks, she knew that this would be a nice place to live. She would miss it when it came time to leave, but if she was lucky, that would not be until some years later.

She looked up from her book, admiring the house. It was wonderfully large, spacious and, more importantly, secluded. The nearby woods offered plenty of running space for her and Hugo. The past few days had been perfect. No full moon for another three weeks.

"Mummy!" she heard Hugo shout as he stepped onto the front balcony. "You said we could go to the beach today. At 10:30 – that's what you said. It's 10:20 now, and I'm ready. See!" He paraded in front of her in his bright red swimming trunks sans shirt. "Are you going to get dressed or what?" Hermione had to smile at the look he gave her, obviously admonishing her for running late.

She pulled out her wand and transfigured her pajamas into a navy one-piece swim suit. "I was just waiting for you, Hugo. Are you finally ready to go?" He looked annoyed, as she knew he would.

"I'll get the keys," he said. She grabbed a pair of shorts and a shirt, not wanting to drive down to La Push in just her swim suit, as well as her beaded bag. She hardly went anywhere without it since the war.

With Forks beings so small, the drive was mercifully short and Hugo finally stopped bouncing around to get all his swimming gear together. She grabbed her book and went to help Hugo carry his stuff. "No way, Mum. You're not going to read on the beach. Aren't you going to swim and play with me?" He presented his most dangerous face: a combination of sadness and hopefulness. It was deceptively sweet, as even at 4 years old he'd quickly learned his power over her and used it to his advantage.

She sighed and put the book back in the car. "That's not fair, you know," she grumbled. Hugo just giggled and walked a little straighter. He really enjoyed bossing people around and anytime he could change his mother's decision was a small victory.

"Will you teach me how to swim today? I'm almost 5, and big boys are supposed to swim."

She nodded her head. "As long you follow instructions and don't go where it's too deep, I'll teach you how to swim. Otherwise, you'll have to wear your floaties."

"Okay – last one there is a flobberworm!" He raced down to the beach. She wished he'd learn to be more careful, but he was too young to really understand. As a werewolf, he had unnaturally fast speed for a small boy, and someone could notice. Fortunately, the beach was almost abandoned today. There were just a few people at the other end, too far away to notice anything with their human eyesight. "I'm winning!"

At that, she put on a small burst of speed and caught up to him very quickly. "It's a tie," she told him, noticing his pout. He took every competition very seriously.

The morning passed very quickly. Hugo had been in a cheerful mood all day, running and splashing about. He had surprised her with how quickly he picked up swimming. He abandoned his floaties as soon as she let him and began swimming back and forth in the shallow area where he could stand.

"Mum, look at this! Isn't it pretty? This one's for you," He brought her a large seashell with various shades of pink and red.

"It's very nice, sweetie. Thank you." She kissed him on the cheek, and he just grinned.

"I'm going to get some more. There's lots over there," he said, pointing further away.

"That's fine. Just stay in sight." He nodded and ran off.

Hermione closed her eyes, thinking of all the things she still had to do. Her parents would need assistance packing if they were going to get here by next week. That wouldn't take too long but getting into Britain undetected would be a bit dangerous. She also needed to get Hugo used to the woods near the house; he needed to have that area memorized. She had limited potions ingredients and had yet to find a discrete seller in the Seattle magical shopping area.

Hugo was the priority, though. She couldn't help worrying about what would happen in three weeks' time. She really hoped she could find a solution. It seemed to get worse every time.

Hearing Hugo's gasp, she quickly turned her face ready to run to him at any moment.

"MUMMY! MUMMY! Run, it's a monster!"

Her reflexes finally alert, she almost admonished herself for having relaxed so much, and tried to jump out of the way. Too late though, a huge wolf-like creature pounced on her. He bit her arm savagely, nearly ripping it off. She kicked him off just for another monster to attack her as well. She pulled out her wand and quickly stunned both creatures. She could tell one was already stirring, but Hugo's whimpering had her more worried. She could see another one of those large wolves running directly to him.

She quickly apparated to him and tossed him her beaded bag. "Get the shield, baby. You know what to do." She apparated directly in front of the beast, pulled her arm back and punched as hard as she could. She obviously caught it by surprise. She apparated again, behind it this time, grabbed one of his legs and bent it roughly until she heard the bone snap. But that wasn't enough – he'd scared Hugo. She grabbed it by the ears and brought his head firmly down to her knee so that his jaw made a loud crack. However, this only seemed to enrage him more as he clamped his jaws on her shoulder. Just before he could tear it off she shouted "sectumsempra!" It dropped to the ground, blood pouring out of its shoulder and wailing in agony.

"Petrificus totalus!" And the beast stilled. She quickly turned to her right shooting off the same spell again seeing a large black wolf – nearly as big as a horse – running at an incredible speed towards her, growling ferociously.

"Mummy, are you okay?" asked Hugo.

The black beast growled even more angrily, but she ignored it and concentrated on her son. Poor Hugo had never seen his mother fight before, especially like that, and Hermione knew he was very scared. Unfortunately, it wasn't over as she could hear more of those growling, angry beasts; they would be here soon.

"I'm okay, sweetie. Just keep the shield up. I can hear more coming." It sounded like four or five more were on their way. She conjured ropes around the nearest wolves, tying them together very tightly and spelled the ropes to be unbreakable. She didn't know how much their thick hide protected them from magic and wasn't taking any chances if the body-bind spell wore off. Fortunately the other wolf was still unconscious.

"Hugo, look in my bag and pull out the blue dragon. If I tell you to say 'Portus,' I need you to do it right away – without question, understand?"

"Yes, Mum. And then I wait for you safely at home until you get there," he repeated automatically, obviously not wanting to leave her alone with the scary monsters.

"That's right. Be sure to keep holding the shield, so –"

They were here. Four beasts were running their way. She was pretty sure that no normal werewolves could run this fast. These beasts were nearly as fast as unicorns. She really wasn't sure what to think of them, but now wasn't the time for curiosity.

She held her wand up and stunned the nearest wolf. The second one was obviously angered and put on a burst of speed. Just as she was about to stun that one as well – something unexpected happened. A tan wolf jumped in front of it, growling angrily.

There seemed to be some sort of disagreement because all the other wolves started growling again. Another one made its way towards her, but again the tan wolf jumped in the way. He was protecting her, she realized, though she couldn't understand why. Maybe it was the only reasonable one out of the whole lot. It's not like she started the fight, after all!

But she was done playing nice. She wanted answers, and she wanted them now. "I know you can hear me and understand me," she said which caused the wolves to still for a moment. They were still much too close for her liking, though. "I want all of you transform back right now." She waited a moment. No one did.

She'd give them a little motivation.

"Your friend over here," she indicated the one who'd scared Hugo, "is bleeding profusely. He has approximately 10 more minutes at this rate of blood loss. Then he'll die. If you want him to live, you'll behave. That means transforming right now. I want to see the faces of those that attacked me and my son." Her voice was cold and emotionless.

The one who defended her immediately transformed. He was naked.

"Where are your clothes?" she asked, too surprised to maintain her emotionless demeanor.

"They rip. I have some shorts down that way if you want me to get them," he said softly. His manner was shy and confused, and she thought she detected an urge to please her. It was strange.

Noticing she had been silently staring at his naked form, she responded, "These will do for now." She conjured up a pair of sweat pants, hoping they'd fit his large frame.

She proceeded to conjure up large pants for the rest of the wolves. Still, no one else transformed. Furious, she growled out, "If you don't transform and get dressed in less than a minute, your friends are going to learn at what temperature wolves burn." Her wand ignited and the flame seemed to finally persuade them. They began transforming one right after the other.

"Mum, there's a naked lady!" shouted Hugo, shocked.