Chapter Ten
Quietly, Draco stepped out of the fireplace into a tidy parlor room that carried the remnants of a breakfast already eaten. He did not know what awaited them at Shell Cottage that morning, hence why he insisted on arriving first. This was unfamiliar territory as he pulled his wand from his chest holster.
"Hello?" Granger called as she stepped out the fireplace behind him. She quickly vanished the soot that covered her arms and hair. Inhaling, Draco caught three distinct smells he did not recognize. Instincts demanded he be on guard. Outside of Granger's familiar jasmine scent, two were decidedly female and floral in nature, and the other was …
Draco growled, and caught Granger's elbow the same time a tall, red-headed wizard rounded the corner. A cursed scar he would recognize anywhere sliced across the man's face. It left the distinct odor of Fenrir on the man. Draco growled at the wizard in warning as he pulled Granger closer to him.
Wisely, the wizard slowed his entry into room. "Whoa, there," he eased, his eyes firmly on Draco.
"Bill!" Granger called with obvious relief. "It's so good to see you."
Bill kept his eyes on Draco, as he responded to the witch, "Too bad your friend there can't say the same."
A light touch on his arm drew Draco's focus from the man across the room to the witch carrying his pups. She had grabbed his forearm. "Malfoy. It's just Bill."
"He smells of Fenrir," he growled to her.
She nodded and gripped his lower arm, firmly applying pressure in effort to calm the wolf within. But she did not understand, he would never relax until he was back and safe back among his kin, with her preferably beside him.
It was Bill who replied, "Yeah, Fenrir did this." He indicated to the scar across his face. "And I heard you killed him. I guess I should thank you." Draco nodded his head at the man, but did not let go of Granger's elbow. Bill continued, "Hermione, maybe you should stay close to him, you know? Just until he warms up a bit."
"Oh, alright," Granger replied. She looked at Draco as if asking for permission. "I'm going to give him a hug. Is that alright?" His wolf hated the idea, but he gruffly consented.
Slowly, he released the elbow he had been squeezing and let her cross the room to hug the older man. Draco noted she purposefully left space around her middle and smirked at the sight. Even unconsciously she was protecting their pups. His pups.
The wizard, Bill, called to others elsewhere in the house, and before he knew it, a set of feet came running down the stairs and another from the kitchen. He easily recognized the other magical creature, the part-Veela, as the blonde witch warmly embraced Granger. The witch herself was swollen with child as Hermione stared in shock at the witch's growing middle.
"Fleur, I didn't know," Hermione began after they parted. "Congratulations!"
"Merci, Hermione. We found out ourselves a bit after the battle in May."
"Not exactly the way we wanted to start our family, but hey, when is the timing ever perfect?" Bill joked as he pulled his wife under his shoulder. He dropped a kiss to Fleur's head.
Draco caught Granger's unsure gaze as she briefly met his eyes. He smirked until the set of feet that had been upstairs joined them.
He hissed as the last to join finally entered the room. The witch, with lax blonde curls, visibly jumped. Her eyes were immediately drawn to him. She froze, on the tips of her trainers, unsure whether to prepare for a fight or to run.
"Lavender?" The shock was clear in Granger's voice as she moved to embrace the witch. Trapped in Granger's embrace, Lavendar Brown wasn't running anywhere soon. "I hadn't heard anything in months, I thought…"
"Yeah, well, don't get your hopes up, yet," Lavender sullenly joked, though she kept her eyes trained on the other werewolf in the room. "I'm still here."
"She's a werewolf," Draco announced, though he suspected everyone in the room already knew. Lavender blanched at the declaration, even if she knew it herself.
"Yeah, and so what?" Lavender snipped back.
Bill explained, "There was a mission before the battle in May. Lavender and other Phoenixes were captured by Doholov in Romania."
Lavender picked up the tale, "The sick bastard keeps a werewolf locked in his dungeons. Thought it was fun to see which of us would survive the full moon with a feral werewolf."
"Oh my God, Lavender. I'm so sorry that happened to you," Granger gasped. Her eyes watered with emotion that easily overcame her these days.
"Five of us went into that cell that night, only one came out," Lavender finished in a dull monotone. "Bastard turned me into one, and kept me there for months. The Order rescued me just last month." She sneered to her former classmate, and the Alpha werewolf across the room, "Why is he here?"
Granger looked back to Draco, before replying, "We need to contact Minerva and Kingsley immediately. I have information that can turn the tide in our favor."
The rest of the day was spent trying to contact Minerva McGonagall or Kinglsey Shacklebolt. As current leaders of the Order of the Phoenix, both were extremely hard to track down. Draco watched as they moved around him, ignoring his presence. Fleur prepared the house for guests, while Bill and Hermione continued calling various safe houses at the fireplace. That left Draco and Lavender out on the back porch facing the shore. Neither one could stand being cooped up indoors, for similar and yet, different reasons.
The salty breeze felt good against his heated skin. Draco crossed his arms and stared at the shoreline, waiting for the werewolf beside him to speak first. It was only a matter of time before she did; he was rarely wrong when it came to these sorts of things.
He did not have to wait long.
"Hermione loop you into something, Malfoy? I can't imagine you'd be here otherwise."
He did not respond.
The blonde werewolf continued, "I heard about what happened to you. How the Dark Lord gave you to Fenrir as punishment, how you killed him and took over his pack as your own." She shook her head with a dark chuckle. "Gods, two years. It must've been lonely not having a connection to the real world. Merlin knows I nearly lost my mind in the months I was cooped up in that hell-hole."
Finally, he interrupted the one-way conversation with a bored drawl, "Don't presume to equate my experiences with yours. You'll not find pity here."
She gave a feral grin as she turned to face him fully, mirroring his stance and crossed arms. "Ooh, you've changed. Guess you would have to take control of such a large pack?"
Draco slid a weary gaze from the shoreline to the werewolf beside him. He was no longer naïve to the ways of his kin. Often on his travels to other packs, he found an ample amount of willing females who offered themselves to him. They were drawn to the status and power he commanded. Biology commanded females to breed with the strongest male available, even if they could not conceive and reproduce. And whether she was fully aware or not, the new werewolf was beholden to the same laws.
Draco turned back to the shoreline and sighed, "You're young, so I'll grant you your ignorance."
She blanched at the slight, "Excuse me?"
His eyes narrowed as he clipped, "Not interested." In fact, he hadn't been interested in any female for almost two months now if he thought about it.
"You're not mated. I would have smelled her on you," she stated pointedly. Her bluntness would be considered rude among others, but among his kin, it was the norm.
"No, I'm not. And yet, I'm still not interested," he dismissed her advance, but he wouldn't be an Alpha if he did not extend the offer he gave to others like her – exiled from others like herself. "There is much you can learn about our way of life, you know. Much more than what you would find here among witches and wizards. I know you feel the call to pack during the full moon." He watched as her eyes widened. Of course she did. "After our business here concludes, you're welcome to come back with me. Meet others like yourself. If you don't like it, you're free to leave." He winked at her, which caused her to blush. "I promise we won't bite."
She laughed, unsure at the joke. "Yeah, and where's home for you now?"
Unconsciously, he glanced through the kitchen window inside to where Granger was, but answered smoothly, "Hidden within the Forbidden Forest outside of Hogwarts."
Lavender bit her lip in thought, but he could smell her anticipation. "Hmm. I'll think about it."
"See that you do."
Draco did not join them as the occupants of Shell Cottage sat down to dinner at the kitchen table. The entire concept was unusual and brought back whispers of a time long forgotten. He grew awkward with the unfamiliar and it only served to paint a stark picture of how different he was from them now. He was used to hunting his meal, and eating it alone in his tent. He looked at the plate Fleur had prepared for him as he, again, sat on the back porch, the light of the half-moon above.
He caught her scent before the back door even opened and instantly turned as Granger emerged from the entrance, a plate in hand. She sat down beside him in the empty chair and placed her plate in her lap.
"It's so stuffy in there," she gave by way of explanation before she tucked into her meal. He smirked as she ravenously tore into the meal; at least she was on her way to gaining an healthy amount of weight.
"Have you taken your potion?" he asked, observing her eat. He liked observing her at odd times, he noticed. Like when she ate, or wrote in her journal, or slept in his bed.
She nodded, her mouth full of food. After swallowing she replied, "Clara gave me enough to last the month. It should be easy enough to brew an additional batch, especially since Fleur is also expecting. She's due in January and is also taking a similar potion. I can easily brew my own from her stores."
"You mean to stay until then?"
Granger sighed, clearly weary from the day and what was to come. He could see the exhaustion around her eyes. "Let's take it one day at a time, okay?" she replied instead. "We finally got in touch with Minerva. She's going to join us after dinner."
"You need to rest. It can wait until morning," Draco grunted at her stubbornness.
"I will rest after we've finished," she insisted. "And besides, I don't know if she'll be here come morning. No, it's best we tell her now." Hermione picked her scone apart.
"You're nervous," he smirked at her fidgeting.
Hermione quickly shook her head as she lifted her plate from her lap and placed it to the side. Leaning forward between her knees, she emptied the contents of her stomach as nausea called unexpectedly.
Something in his heart constricted at the sound of her retching her dinner all over the floor. Lifting from his chair, he moved to gather the curls she valiantly tried to keep from mixing with the bile. He held the voluminous curls in one hand and rubbed soothing circles on her back until the she swallowed shaky gulps of air. While she vanished the mess, he handed her a glass of water to which she took gratefully.
"Have you been able to keep down anything today?" he asked as he lowered to his haunches before, concern in his eyes.
Granger rubbed the heel of her hand into tired eyes. "I had some soup and toast earlier for lunch, some fruit before that."
He frowned, "That isn't enough. Clara says you should be eating more."
She snarled. "You try keeping down solids when your stomach shakes like a leaf," she spat, though he did not garner the frustration was directed at him.
Draco stood then. "I can ask the Veela. Maybe she knows of a potion."
The witch quickly leapt to her feet. "Not yet," she implored. "Besides I'm almost nine weeks, the worst of it should be passing soon. I can manage."
But that was not acceptable for him. "You're to take in proper nutrients, Granger. You can't expect to continue this way for nearly another month."
"I will be fine," she assured him as she stood from her seat as well. She attempted a half smile, "Concerned about our shared investment, are you?"
He frowned, upset that she so nonchalantly saw this as a means to an end, as something immaterial, when it was so much more to him. It was the only link he had to a family he could call his own, to his blood. "No, I'm concerned about our children," he growled before stalking back to the patio door. "Your guest has arrived," he announced to her as he walked back inside the house. He left her puzzled and frowning, but it wasn't long before she re-joined the small party that gathered by the fireplace in the parlor room.
Granger was a shade paler from her earlier bout of nausea, but none seemed to notice. Lavendar quirked a brow at her, before swinging her gaze curiously over to him. He did not meet it.
"Minerva, I'm so glad you could make it," Hermione greeted Minerva as the witch dusted herself off from the fireplace. "Is Kingsley available?"
The older witch pursed her lips as she regarded her former student. "He's in Romania treating with a contingent of neutral wizards. Now, what is this information you so urgently need to discuss? And why did you disappear for over a month without telling a soul where you went? We thought you were captured or worse, until Mr. Weasley conveyed to us your Patronus."
Draco watched as Granger reverted to a solider reporting to her commanding officer. "That's what I need to tell you. I've found a way to change the tide back to our favor." Except, she was literally the key to the weapon that would turn the tide.
Bill and Fleur Weasley eyed her with interest as the room waited.
"Go on," Minerva bade her, over the rim of her spectacles.
Granger indicated to Draco, and he moved to stand behind her. "I left back in August to treat with Malfoy."
"And just how was it, you weren't killed on sight?" Bill asked, intrigued.
Hermione pressed on as she spoke to the room, "As you can see, I wasn't. But most importantly, I was able to secure Malfoy's pack of werewolves to our side. They will join us in battle. He has at least one hundred and seventy-five able- bodied werewolves who can fight."
Minerva gawked at her former student. "And however did you manage to secure such assistance?"
Bill took note of Draco's closeness behind Hermione, his general closeness to her person throughout the afternoon. "He's mated you?" he guessed, fairly certain.
Granger shook her head at the statement. "The terms of our agreement is private, but suffice to say, it will be enough," she assured the room.
Bill shook his head. "I've worked with magical creatures before, Hermione, forgive me if I say if Malfoy's word won't be enough."
"What do you know about werewolves, Weasley?" Draco sneered from above Granger's shoulder.
"I know they only look out for their own," he responded in kind, before replying directly to Granger, "And if you two aren't mated, then Malfoy has little incentive to join our cause. Sorry, Hermione, but you can't trust him."
"Bill…" Granger pleaded, clearly not comfortable with giving much away.
"I'm afraid, Ms. Granger, that Bill is correct," Minerva agreed beside her former pupil. "We had considered treating with the werewolf pack near Hogwarts, but truth is, there is little that binds their cause to our own."
Growling at their suspicion, Malfoy grabbed the slack of Granger's baggy shirt into a tight ball at the small of her back. The resulting tightening of the shirt, framed the minor, but noticeable bulge Granger had been trying to conceal throughout the day. Malfoy smirked wickedly as various gasps sounded in the room. They knew what the small, but tell-tale bump meant. He sneered to the room, "Is this enough proof for you lot?"
"Hermione?!" Fleur raised a hand to her mouth, though none could tell if it were in genuine shock or sadness. Perhaps it was both.
"I knew there was a reason you smelled different," Lavendar sneered. "I just didn't know what it was at the time."
Granger closed her eyes for purchase before re-opening them about the room. Determined, she pulled the shirt free from his grasp and concealed the bump once more, thought it did not stop his hand from skirting under the fabric and around her thickening waist.
Granger countered, before they could interject with their opinions, "I knew there was little the Order could say or do that would convince Malfoy to join us. This was my decision that I, alone, made with Malfoy. And as such, I am guaranteed his allegiance as long as the pregnancy remains viable."
Aghast, Minerva asked, "You understand this means you'll be barred from fighting on the front line? One of our best fighters," she huffed to Bill and the room, "sidelined."
"I understand that, Minerva. I do," Hermione affirmed. "But I determined the benefits outweighed the costs, and that is a concession I am willing to make. But in the long run, this increases the probability of a victory," she spoke to the room. "I couldn't let the opportunity pass. Not when we're steadily losing members."
"Have you really weighed the costs, Hermione? The true costs?" Bill asked, bewildered at the lengths the witch would travel for the Order. "Others will find out about this," he insisted. "My brother and sister …"
Hermione swallowed, but held her ground. "Then they will find out! It's my decision, and it has nothing to do with them." She looked to Minerva, and asked quickly, "How many on our side have we lost since Harry fell?"
She thought for a moment, and then answered, "Nearly twenty."
Hermione nodded. "This gives us back more than enough. And how many are estimated to be on you-know-who's side?"
However, it was Malfoy who surprised them all by answering, "Around two hundred and fifty," he recounted to room. "I've been treating with my kin across the island," he spoke to their stunned silence. "You are not the only one to have completed reconnaissance on the Dark Lord."
Minerva nodded in the affirmative. "Mr. Malfoy is correct. Your werewolves would put us at an advantage for sure." She turned to the former Gryffindor and took a hold of both of Granger's hands. "I know it's too little, too late to ask, but are you sure about this? Pregnancy during such a time can be difficult." She nodded to Weasleys present. "We've kept Fleur safe, but even she can tell you the perils you will face to keep not only yourself, but the babe, safe."
Granger smiled, but did not move to the correct the older witch. She had more than one babe to keep safe. "Thank you, Professor," Granger affectionately addressed the woman by her title, though she no longer held the position. "But yes, I'm sure. I can keep myself safe until the delivery."
Minerva sighed and straightened once more. She was visibly uneasy with the decision, but it was too late to reverse course now. "Well, I shall inform the rest of the Order, then. I'll try to keep the details of your… arrangement with Mr. Malfoy quiet, but these things have a tendency to get out, you know?" she gave as forewarning. Minerva squared her bespectacled gaze solely on Draco. "I won't lecture you, as you both well over the age of consent, but you will keep her safe, Mr. Malfoy," she ordered.
Draco caught eyes with Granger as his fingers spread across her middle. Both knew the order wasn't at all necessary.
an: I love you all so much! Thanks to each and every one of you for the support - Til next time!~L