A/N: Thank you guys so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! Really, it means so much that you are enjoying the story and my take on Fenrir. I finished a special Valentine's Day story today, called Saltkin, so go check that out if you want! You can also follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter nine and be on the lookout for chapter ten soon!


Hermione woke up the night after the first werewolf ceremony with her face pressed against a very hard and very naked chest, arm wrapped around her back, holding her close. Her head felt a little funny and her mouth was a bit fuzzy, while the memories came pouring back in.

She sat up, staring down at her future mate, horrified at the way she'd practically thrown herself at him. "How much did I even drink?" She whispered to herself, wanting a hole to open up and swallow her so that she wouldn't have to face Fenrir.

A clearing throat from her left made her whip her head round so fast that she felt a bit dizzy. "Err, sorry about that Hermione." Remus said, a sleepy Teddy resting on his lap. "I forgot how much different human tolerances are from werewolf ones. It didn't seem like that much mead, and you were having such a good time."

Standing up, she was met with a scowling Fenrir. "Leaving so soon mate?" He asked her with that voice, that voice that made her want to lay back down and start snuggling again. Shaking her head, Hermione wanted to scream a bit. She wasn't acting like herself, and she didn't know what to do with that.

Forcing herself to not care if she hurt Fenrir's feelings, she bade him goodbye. "Thank you for the first ceremony, Fenrir. I will owl you this week to hammer out details for our next meeting." She said, trying to keep it clinical. Tearing her eyes away from his muscular form, Hermione turned to Remus, offering him a hand so that they could apparate away together.

When they were back home in Grimmauld Place, she immediately began to cry. Remus was confused, but wrapped her in a hug. "Hermione? What's wrong? I thought everything went really well last night."

"I don't know what's happening to me, Remus." She whispered, feeling scared.

"Let me go put Teddy down, and I will come to your room. We can talk this through." He promised, giving her hand a squeeze. Hermione nodded, before heading up all the stairs to her room, eager to just crawl into her bed and sleep for several hours. Fenrir had been a nice pillow, but sleeping on the ground wasn't exactly pleasant either.

When Remus entered her room a few minutes later, he brough freshly brewed tea, and chocolate. Seeing Hermione tucked in her covers and looking so entirely pitiful pulled at his heartstrings. "Tell me what's wrong Hermione. I feel like this is all coming out of left field."

"I just...I don't know what it is about Fenrir, but he makes me act like not myself. Everytime I am around him, I go a bit gooey in the head and it makes me act like a different person." Hermione said in a frustrated huff. "I am Hermione Granger - I don't just let people grab me and kiss me like that, or let someone feel me up in front of all those strangers. I just think that the pull of my mate is overriding my feelings."

Remus could see where she was coming from, but he thought that it was maybe less sinister than she was thinking. "Hermione, I know this isn't going to be easy for you to hear, but...I don't think it's the mating thing that's making you act this way. I think you just genuinely like Fenrir, but you didn't expect to, thus the conflict."

"How do you mean?" She asked, pulling herself up so that she could sip her tea without spilling on herself. The chocolate, as usual, did make her feel better.

"Well, take me and Nymphadora." Remus said, his fingers spinning the wedding band that still resided on his finger. "I was definitely acting...not like myself around her. I was nearly unable to talk, she made my mind go a bit fuzzy, and my heart race. When you love someone, you will change little things. It's just because it's so new and exciting, but that doesn't mean it's a bad thing."

Hermione looked helpless when she realized it was true. It had been the same with every guy she'd had a crush on before.

"And while, I know that you and Fenrir don't love each other, it's obvious that you are attracted to one another. And perhaps, someday, you will come to love one another too." Remus continued, with a soft smile on his face. "Obviously, you care about him, if you are reacting so strongly."

Hermione so hated it when she was wrong about something. It was true that if she didn't care about Fenrir, she probably wouldn't have reacted this way at all. And she could admit that she was attracted to Fenrir, not just his looks, but his aura and his personality as well. She was learning that he was so much more than just the savage everyone made him out to be.

Looking at Remus, though, she had so many questions for him. After all, he was the reason why Remus was a werewolf. "How can you stand to spend time with him? After what he did to you?" She asked quietly. "And, let him hold Teddy?"

"I was so angry at Fenrir for so long." Remus said slowly. "But I've learned now that he had so much hurt in his past. I think his desire to build up his pack was just because his family neglected him once he was turned. He wanted to surround himself with people like him. It doesn't make it right, but I've forgiven him. And my father didn't help matters, either."

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed together in confusion. "What did your father do?"

"He was one of the most vocal werewolf opponents. He was the author of some of the most vile anti-werewolf legislature that Wizarding Britain has. He thought werewolves were all blood-thirsty savages, instead of seeing that almost no one chooses to be turned." Remus said. It was obviously something that weighed heavily on him.

She grabbed his hand and gave it a tight squeeze. "I promise you that I will do everything I can to get the harmful legislation repealed." She pledged to her friend. "And I will prove to the whole Wizarding World, that werewolves are just like everyone else, except for one night out of the month."

Hermione was determined. Of course, the cause was a little closer to her heart now, but she would have done it anyway. She was determined to give Remus, Fenrir, and herself, a better life than what they had now.

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Striding into the Ministry of Magic, Hermione walked with the kind of purpose that could only come from someone who had a meeting with the Minister himself. Of course, Hermione and Kingsley Shacklebolt knew each other on a personal level, it didn't make her intended purpose any easier.

Hermione didn't expect to just be handed a job. She wanted to work hard for one, and earn her spot in the Wizarding World, and that's why she'd worked so hard on her schooling her whole life. She was going to take the NEWTs in just a few short weeks, and she hoped that she lived up to the expectations that had been put on her, to finally prove that she was the brightest witch of her age.

She knew Kingsley wanted her to take a position in the Auror Academy, like Harry and Ron intended to do. But, she was tired of fighting, and it had always been her intention to fight for the rights of magical creatures and beings, and others who didn't have full rights, like muggleborn witches and wizards.

Once she was seated across from Kingsley, and they could no longer chit chat about the weather any longer, he finally steepled his fingers, and looked at her curiously. "To what do I owe the pleasure, Miss Granger?" He asked in that booming voice of his. Kingsley had always seemed larger than life to her - when they first met in her fifth year when the Order of the Phoenix met at Grimmauld Place, to right now at this moment.

"I wanted to tell you that I intend to find work in the Care and Regulation of Magical Creatures Department." Hermione said bluntly. "During the previous...administration, a lot of laws detrimental to werewolves were passed, and I intend to get them overturned." She said, her jaw jutting out confidently, though inside she felt anything but.

Kingsley gave her a warm smile. "I am sure that Remus will appreciate that, Hermione, but don't you think that job might be better suited to someone who is a werewolf? Don't you think you can make more of an impact in the Auror Department?"

She cleared her throat, and looked down in her lap. "That's just the thing...it's my intention to...become a werewolf, at the next full moon." She snapped her eyes shut, not wanting to see the inevitable blow up that the Minister was sure to have. But, instead, her ears were just met with silence, and none of the creative swears that she'd come to except from the man.

Cautiously, she looked up at him, biting her lip nervously. He was looking at her in complete shock and confusion. "What do you mean you intend to become a werewolf? Hermione, that is taking it much too far. Nobody wants to become a werewolf in the first place. How did you even get Remus to agree to it?" She could see his brain still whirring with all the questions he had just fired out.

Hermione was surprised that he even thought she could get Remus to agree to it. She hadn't even considered the possibility that her words could be misconstrued so. "It's not Remus." She said, swallowing thickly. "I recently learned that I have a mate. A werewolf mate. And we've begun the process, to be completed during the full moon."

Kingsley immediately looked concerned. "Hermione, are you being coerced? Made to feel like you must do this? Because you would have the full support of the Ministry, should you ask for it."

It was in moments like this that Hermione was so glad to have friends like Kingsley, willing to go to extreme lengths to make sure she was protected. Still, she remembered her conversation with Remus that morning. Was the whole process happening faster than she would like, yes, but it wasn't something that she was resisting. At least not anymore. "I am not being coerced, Kings. This is my decision." She told him, with a small smile.

"Just who is your mate, Hermione, if it's not Remus?" Kinglsey asked, in curiousity. "I wasn't aware that we knew any othere werewolves, but you must have come into contact with one, if they identified you as theirs."

This was when her cheeks turned bright pink. It was one thing to tell Kingsley that she was going to be mated to a werewolf, but it was another to tell him that it was a wanted criminal. "Fenrir Greyback." She said quietly.

This time, Kingsley really did explode in a shower of explitives. "Hermione, are you sure you are safe?" He asked, once he'd calmed down a bit.

"Yes, Remus is helping me." Hermione said quietly. "Harry supports me as well."

"Well, I suppose if Remus is...assisting, then I should have no reason to worry." Kingsley bit out, clearly on edge. Hermione got the feeling that he would be worrying, quite a bit. She just hoped he didn't try to do anything rash, anything that would hurt her mate in her name.

"So, do you think I will have any trouble getting that job?" Hermione asked, nervously. "I wasn't sure if it would be considered a conflict of interest."

Kingsley ran a hand down his face, before shaking his head. "No, so long as you don't work on any changes that would benefit Greyback solely, you should be fine." He revealed. Glad that she didn't have to make any changes to her career plans, Hermione stood and wished Kingsley a good day. He gave her one last stricken look, before wishing her good luck. "I hope you know what you are doing, Hermione. I can't say I support it, but, I trust you to make good decisions. Good luck."