A/N: Soo...this was supposed to remain a oneshot, but I just had a little idea and kind of ran with it. I think it will end up being around five chapters, but I don't have a set update schedule and Slip is my first priority, so I don't know how regular updates will be. I think that chapter one can still be read as a oneshot, so only continue on if you want to :) Thank you all so much for the reviews, favorites and follows...I am kind of posting this on a whim, so I will try to respond to chapter one reviews tonight or tomorrow.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter two and be on the lookout for chapter three soon!
Hermione had slept in fits and starts, her dreams haunted by wolves, howling and nipping at her heels, and a mysterious stranger, dominating her mouth with fervent kisses and nips. She wasn't sure if she'd woken up fearful or aroused.
A veritable pounding at the door woke her up, and she threw on her silk robe before answering the door to her studio apartment. It was Ginny, her smudged makeup and wearing Harry's shirt leading Hermione to believe she'd spent the night at Harry's apartment just down the hall from hers.
The redhead swept into the room. "Are you only just waking up, silly head? It's nearly ten." Ginny said, before turning to look at her friend with a discerning look. "Hermione Jean! Is that a hickey on your neck?"
Hermione internally cursed, having completely forgotten about the marks that Professor Greyback had left on her the night before. She hadn't even done anything to try to hide the love bites, and she only hoped they didn't look quite so severe as they did the night before. She covered the side of her neck with her hand, cheeks flushed. "No." She tried to lie, even though she knew it was hopeless.
Ginny wrenched her hand away, showing the abused flesh, before letting out a low whistle. "You naughty girl." Ginny teased with a smirk on her lips. "If you didn't want to go to the party because you had a date you could have just told us." Suddenly, her eyes light up with poorly disguised glee. "Is he still here?" She asked, before marching around the privacy divider that separated Hermione's bed from the rest of the room.
To her obvious disappointment, all she found was Hermione's empty, rumpled bed. Hermione rolled her eyes at the girl's obvious disappointment. "What are you doing here, Ginny?" She asked, trying not to sound rude, but annoyed at having her morning routine bothered.
"Ron was so hungover that he asked mom to make a fry up." Ginny rolled her eyes are her brothers obvious lack of self control and her mother's need to enable him. "We are all going over, so I hoped you'd come too."
Hermione bit her lower lip. "I don't know." She cautioned, thinking of the midterm that she had coming up the next day, and how much she had left to revise. Not to mention the awkwardness that lingered between her and the Weasley family.
"Come on, Hermione. You and Ron have been broken up for over a year now!" Ginny complained, perhaps not seeing the cold way that Molly Weasley still treated her. She had dated Ron for about two months; the relationship had become too serious too quickly, before it fizzled out into mindless arguments. "Everyone will be there. Even Bill is coming."
The brunette did perk her ears at that. Ginny's older brother Bill was a PhD student in the animal behavior department, if Hermione remembered correctly, working with wolves as well. She wondered when she'd become surrounded by all things lupine, but she was only just noticing it all now. "Fine, alright, just let me get changed."
There wasn't enough time to shower, so Hermione pulled a jumper on with her jeans, and quickly tried to apply a little makeup to cover the hickeys on her neck. They looked every bit as red as they did the night before, but Hermione felt a little thrill of pleasure zing up her spine when her fingers traced the bruises. To her disappointment, the makeup wasn't able to cover them as well as she'd hoped. Sighing, she decided that she would just have to rely on her unruly, wild hair to cover them and pray that Ginny was so distracted with Harry that she didn't remember to ask about them.
Less than half an hour later, she was squished into Harry's car next to Ron and Lavender, wondering why she'd agreed to take the short trip to the Weasleys' home. Ron seemed to be over his hangover enough to make out with Lavender throughout the drive, though he pulled away when Ginny began to ask her about her mystery man.
"Come on, Hermione, aren't you just going to tell me who it is? I mean...he must have been a good shag by the state of you this morning." Ginny said, staring at her from the mirror.
Hermione groaned, wishing she could be swallowed up into the fabric of the back seat. This was not the conversation she wanted to be having, especially in front of her ex-boyfriend who still inexplicably thought that everything she did was for her attention. "You don't know him." Hermione said firmly. "And we didn't shag, he just walked me home from the library." She replied, wondering when her sex life became gossip fodder.
"Are you just trying to make us feel bad about not walking you home from the library?" Ron asked, rolling his eyes at her. "Hermione, you really need to lighten up. It was Halloween."
"I don't mind that you went out for Halloween. I had a very productive evening at the library." Hermione said, scoffing at the idea that it was - once again - all about Ron.
"And then you had one hell of a goodnight kiss from the looks of it." Ginny said proudly, giving Hermione a supportive grin from the front seat.
"What does that mean?" Ron asked, his face turning a bit red. He seemed to detest the idea that Hermione would enjoy any man after him.
"Nothing." Hermione said firmly, glad he hadn't noticed the way she kept rearranging her hair to cover one side of her neck. She gave Ginny a firm look to suggest that if she opened her mouth about the hickeys she would be in trouble.
Luckily, before any further conversation could be had, they had arrived at the Weasleys' home, and they all tumbled out of the cramped car. With Lavender there to be the focus of Molly Weasley's attention, Hermione was able to enjoy the brunch. And really, Mrs. Weasley was a wonderful cook, so it would be a shame not to enjoy the omelet and sausages that had been served to her.
It was a lazy Wednesday morning, as Hermione didn't have class until her evening lab, so she tried to relax a little bit. Only, when Bill Weasley came to sit next to her on the couch, she suddenly remembered the reason she'd eventually agreed to come with. "Hi Bill, how is your research going?" She broached the topic, trying to seem casual.
"Good, we are just finishing up our observations and then I can begin writing my dissertation in earnest." Bill said, with a smile. Obviously it was something that he was passionate about, and Hermione thought about how it satisfying it would be to complete the amount of research that he did.
"That's wonderful Bill." Hermione congratulated him. "You are studying wolves, right?" She asked, trying to keep her voice casual, but feeling anticipation run through her body.
"Yeah, studying pack dynamics." Bill replied, excited that someone was actually interested in what he was studying. Hermione knew that all of the Weasleys were rather interested in their own interests, but not really learning about other people's interests.
Hermione really did think that it was interesting, realizing that she didn't really know how packs operated at all. But, she was more interested in learning about a particular Professor in the department than whatever Bill was studying. "Say...Bill, do you know a...Professor Greyback?" She asked, suddenly finding the edge of her jumper very interesting.
"Fenrir Greyback?" Bill said, the shock absolutely evident in his voice, and Hermione felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. This certainly wasn't the way that Hermione had expected things to go.
"Fenrir Greyback?" Ginny parroted Bill before sitting down next to the pair. "Who's that? Hermione, is he your mystery man?"
Bill choked on the bit of water that he was drinking. "Hermione, have you been seeing Professor Greyback?"
"Well someone gave her all those hickeys didn't they?" Ginny asked, and Hermione couldn't stop herself from punching the younger girl in the arm.
"Oh, honestly, Ginny, must you share my business with everyone? I wish there was some way I could go back in time and never answer the door for you this morning." Hermione huffed. She looked into Bill's eyes, guiltily, before subconsciously fixing her hair, unintentionally revealing the love bites to his eyes.
"Fuck, he's marked you." Bill said, his eyes narrowing in horror. He moved his large hand to her hair, hesitating before pulling her hair back, revealing the bright red marks to his eyes.
Hermione felt her heart speed up as fear snaked through her belly for the first time since the night before. Fenrir had ignited something in her blood, but she'd been nervous and on edge the whole time he walked with her as well. "What do you mean he marked me?" Hermione asked, hearing her voice sound a bit more shrill. It sounded like it would better apply to the wolves that they studied, rather than a human.
But that was preposterous, Hermione scolded herself. Fenrir wasn't part wolf after all...werewolves didn't exist. Then she remembered that howl outside her bedroom window the night before and the way it sounded a bit unnatural.
Bill grimaced, before shaking his head. "I'm sorry, Hermione, it's nothing. I didn't mean marked in a particular way." He backtracked, but it didn't sound very convincing to her ears. "If I was you, Hermione I would keep as far away from Professor Greyback as possible." He said sternly.
She barely managed to resist rolling her eyes in annoyance. Bill wasn't her older brother, and she was certain that she could make her own decisions on the good looking professor who she couldn't get out of her mind. "And just why is that?" She cringed at the haughty tone of her voice. She was the one who'd asked Bill about Greyback.
Bill looked off towards the empty fireplace, unable to maintain eye contact with her for any longer. Hermione could see the long scar down one of his cheeks, and wondered for the second time just where he got it. Finally, he sighed and turned back to her. "Because he's dangerous." Without any more explanation, Bill stood up from the couch, leaving her there alone with Ginny.
"Oh, I would definitely go see him again after a promise like that." Ginny said with a smirk on her face. "Just who is this guy anyway, Hermione?"
"I told you, he just walked me back to the apartment." Hermione said with a blush, knowing that he did much more than that. "I doubt I will see him again, and Bill's glowing endorsement of him doesn't really make me eager to seek him out."
Hermione wished that was the truth, but she couldn't deny that she was intrigued. She nibbled at her lower lip, thinking about how wild and masculine he'd looked last night, the way he teased her, insinuating that he was the big bad wolf. She couldn't help but wish that she would see him again, even if just for one more intoxicating kiss.
The worst was that she knew exactly where to find him, should she so choose to seek him out. The invitation that he'd extended her the night before sent a shiver up her spine and heat to pool in her belly. If she wasn't so frightened of...the possibility, she'd probably even consider taking him up on it.
Before she could think about Fenrir Greyback a minute longer, Mrs. Weasley was calling them all to gather around the table for breakfast. She pushed the heated look in his striking blue eyes to the back of her mind.