When Romulus left the room, Fenrir looked over at where Hermione was standing. "Won't you say anything?" he asked her as she fiddled with her wand.
"I can't stay here as your mate," she told him softly, looking at him from the corner of her eye. "I have a war to fight in and help end. I can't leave my friends like that. I won't."
"And I won't allow you to go. The Dark Lord is after you and Potter both. While Potter is obvious why, you are not. I refuse to let my mate walk into his trap without bonding first," Fenrir growled as he grabbed her biceps and looked her in the eye.
Hermione looked away first as she waved her wand and an otter shot out of it. "'Moony, I'm fine and perfectly safe. He's after the first Deathly Hallow. Give them all love for me. Harry, if your there, I'll be back soon. Don't worry about me, just stay safe.' Go to Remus."
The otter danced out of the room and the two were left standing in the middle of the room. A knock sounded through the chamber, and Fenrir stepped back as he allowed the door to open to the beta and his family. Two small children hid behind their mother as she stepped into the room, a bundle of clothes in her hands. "My name is Fae," she told Hermione. "And these two troublemakers are Jasper and Julia."
"My name is Hermione." Upon inspecting the girl, Jasper toddled out from behind his mother and over to the stranger. He held his arms up and waited patiently as Hermione bent down and scooped him up in her arms. "Well aren't you just a handsome little man?"
A toothy grin was sent her way as Jasper tugged on her hair. Fenrir watched as Hermione interacted with the young boy, a smile on his face. Jasper was a very untrusting little boy, and the fact that he took to Hermione right away said something. "You will make a great mother on day," Fae told the alpha's mate as she watched Jasper.
"I suppose so," she whispered softly. "I found out at a friend's wedding that I'm a god-mother. The baby was born in January. Though, I'm not ready for children of my own yet. Don't suppose I'll ever be."
Fenrir winced at hearing this, before Fae asked, "You don't want children?"
"Oh I do, just not yet or any time soon. I want to finish Hogwarts first and have something stable set up first. Merlin knows how long that will last though."
Hermione set Jasper back on the floor and took the clothes from Fae. "Thank you for letting me borrow these."
"Your welcome."
Julia who had been watching Jasper have fun, walked up to Hermione and said, "Your pretty."
Hermione bent down and tucked the girl's hair behind her ear and said, "So are you."
"No I'm not," Julia said shaking her head. "Momma tells me I'm average."
Shooting a questioning glance at Fae, Hermione looked back at the five year old. "Well your momma is wrong. You are a gorgeous little girl."
"You think so?" she asked hopefully.
"Yes I do," Hermione told her. "Up until a few years ago, my hair was so bushy it resembled a lion's mane, and I had big teeth. Some of the kids at school called me a beaver, but that stopped when I saved their lives over and over again with my best friends."
"Do you have a lot of friends?"
"Yes, but I'm only really close with two of them. We've saved each other's lives more times than normal."
Fae once again watched as the alpha's mate interacted with her child, wondering just what was happening. Why were her cubs talking to the girl so easily? Jasper didn't go to anyone but Romulus and herself, not even the alpha. Hermione grinned at the two children. "You are both little cuties, but I think your mom wants you all to herself now."
Jasper gave her one last hug before toddling over to where his mother stood. Julia looked at her and smiled softly before hesitantly giving Hermione a hug as well. "Come along Julia, it's time for your lessons," Fae told her daughter.
"Bye.."
Hermione watched as the trio left, standing up and hugging the bundle of clothes to her chest. "Why doesn't her mother tell her that she's pretty?" Hermione wondered aloud, as Fenrir shut the door behind them.
"The parents of the cubs all do that to their daughters. That ensures that when they find their mate that the child has complete trust in them."div
"That doesn't make sense. Why would you want them to only have trust in one person?"
"It's the male's job to protect his mate, and in order for that to happen the female must trust her mate completely."
"What if the male dies though? Then the female doesn't trust anyone to help her. And it doesn't help the girls' any if only their mate tells them pretty. Not to mention it won't install trust. After growing up hearing that they're nothing but average, it makes hearing one say that their pretty sound like a lie."
Fenrir watched as his mate sunk into thought and bit her bottom lip. "Why don't you go and get changed?" Fenrir suggested.
Hermione merely nodded and walked towards the attached bathroom. Closing the door behind her, Hermione locked it and changed as quickly as she could, then conjured a piece of parchment and quill.