A/N: Thanks to MuggleJane and Krissy for being my awesome betas! Thanks for all the reviews!
Disclaimer: JKR owns the world and characters of HP, not me. I'm not making any money!
Chapter 7
Hermione felt someone shaking her awake. Groggily, she opened her eyes. Remus was looking down at her, a pained expression on his face.
"Remus?" she asked sleepily.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked abruptly, folding his arms. He stared down at her, waiting for her reply.
Hermione sat up, her fingers playing with his blanket. She avoided looking at him. "Ummm."
"Look at me," he growled.
"I locked myself in here! There was nowhere else to turn. Please, Remus, don't be angry," she pleaded, finally looking up at him.
His expression softened a bit when he saw the fear in her eyes. "You could have gone back to your bedroom. What were you even doing out? I thought you had locked yourself in."
Hermione pulled her knees up to her chest, the blanket still covering her. "Remus, please don't be angry."
He sighed, shaking his head. "I am angry. You've invaded my privacy for no reason, Hermione. I thought I could trust you."
Hermione raised her eyebrow. Could he not remember what had happened last night? "I had a good reason!" she protested.
Remus shook his head. "Oh, and tell me. What was it?"
Hermione slowly got off the bed, not realizing she had taken her pants off during the night. She stood before Remus in her tank top and knickers.
His eyes widened at the sight of her, and he stumbled back a step. He swallowed the lump in his throat, squashing down the emotion bubbling within him.
She blushed, but pushed the thoughts away. It was no time to think about her being slightly naked in front of Remus. "Do you not remember what happened?"
Remus paled. "What do you mean?"
Hermione took a deep breath. "You tried to attack me last night." She held her breath, waiting for his response. She knew he would regret it, and blame himself for being so irresponsible. She would just have to make him realize it wasn't his fault.
Remus shook his head. "No, no. There's no way I would do that."
"Here," she said softly. "Look into my mind."
She felt him enter her mind. She could tell he was being hesitant. Knowing he wouldn't go looking for the memory, Hermione thought of it and pushed it forward. She felt a surge of emotions crash through her, and she fell to the floor from the force of it.
Remus withdrew from her mind and stumbled backwards. His face was one of horror. "Hermione… I—"
"No! This is what you wanted! Remember that. You're the one who wanted to keep me here. 'It's so safe here!' That's what you said. You didn't bother to tell me that it was the full moon and you were going to turn!" she shouted angrily, getting to her feet. She quickly grabbed her jeans off the floor and pulled them on. She glanced at the flower, and watched as a petal fell to the ground. "And the flower! And all the pictures! Were you in love with her, too?" she asked angrily, not caring that she was probably hurting him. Anger was fueling her, coursing through her veins. How dare he act this way when it wasn't her fault?
"Get out," Remus growled. His hands clenched into fists at his sides.
"Pardon?" she asked, not believing what he had just said. Was he really kicking her out?
"Get out!" he shouted angrily, taking a threatening step towards her.
Hermione stumbled backwards, and then ran out the door. She ignored the tears pouring down her face. In the back of her mind, she could hear the sound of something being smashed.
She ran towards the front door, ignoring the onlooking house-elves. She pushed the door open and ran out into the cold.
She quickly ran out towards the woods, not caring that she didn't even know where she was. Tears blurred her vision as she pushed branches aside, going deeper into the forest.
There had to be a road somewhere. It was only a matter of time until she found one. She would find the other Order members, and it would be all right.
After running for ten minutes, Hermione stopped, pressing her hands to her knees. She gasped, trying to catch her breath. Looking around, she realized that she was completely lost in the middle of the woods.
She shivered and cursed herself. In her haste to leave, she had forgotten her sweater. She was now standing in the woods in nothing but a tank top, with the wind blowing harshly. It was too cold for September.
"Brilliant job, Hermione," she huffed to herself. Tears welled up in her eyes as she realized what an idiot she had been. She shouldn't have shouted at Remus like that.
"Talking to yourself? That's a sign of madness," she heard a gravelly voice say.
Hermione whipped her head in that direction and gasped. A large man appeared from behind a tree. He looked at Hermione and then smiled, emitting a small growl.
Hermione immediately recognized him. "Greyback."
"At your service, milady." He mockingly bowed to her. Looking up, he grinned in satisfaction at the look of fear in her eyes. He began to approach her.
Hermione stumbled backward, once more cursing her own stupidity.
He growled, and then lunged at her. Hermione tried to run, but she didn't get very far. Greyback took her down, his large body crushing hers. He growled into her ear, his hot breath causing the bile to rise in her throat. She pushed at him with her hands, but he only pressed her into the ground harder.
"I've been waiting for days. I knew Lupin had you, that pathetic excuse for a wolf. But now, you're mine. I've caught you, the Hermione Granger." He chuckled. He pinned her arms above her head and sniffed her neck. "You smell lovely. I'm sure the Dark Lord wouldn't mind if I had a little taste before handing you in." He lowered his mouth to her shoulder, and licked the creamy skin there.
"Don't touch her!" a voice shouted, and there was a flash of red light. Greyback flew off her, and Hermione sat up. She gasped in pain, clutching at her sides.
Looking up through her tears, she saw Remus wrestling on the ground with Greyback. She watched in horror as they both bit and scratched each other. It was hard to see who had the upper hand.
Suddenly, Greyback detached himself from Remus and quickly Apparated away.
"Remus," she said, her voice shaking. She looked at him, worried.
Remus stood and turned to look at her. She took a step towards him, and stopped when she saw his expression. Remus swayed, and then collapsed on the ground.
Hermione ran towards him. She shook him, hoping he would open his eyes, but nothing happened. She cursed herself again for not having any magic.
Looking around, she saw Remus had ridden a horse out to find her. She went over, grabbed its reins, and brought the horse towards Remus. Summoning all her strength, she grabbed Remus and managed to pull him up on the horse. She quickly climbed up too.
She clutched her sides and groaned. Greyback must have broken a rib or two. She gasped, and then shook her head. She needed to focus on getting them back.
Grabbing the reins, she urged to horse to go back to the manor. They raced onwards in hope that they would get back in time.
