A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of the sweet reviews and to everyone who followed and added my story to favorites over the last week. I love you all and I hope you'll all still love me after this chapter! Enjoy!

Chapter 11

Break You Apart

Harry scanned the street as he walked, paying careful attention to darkened corners and areas that would be useful for hiding in. He, along with two other Aurors had been patrolling the street in front of his home since the Tuesday before.

The assignment had come after Harry had received a frantic Patronus from Hermione saying that Greyback was in front of the house.

They had started that morning, the same as they had for a week. He had gotten up, showered and dressed in his uniform while Hermione went down to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast for them to eat together before he left.

Before he could kiss her goodbye, she had placed a hand on his cheek to stop him. She told him that she was tired of being stuck in the house all day and that she wanted to go visit with Ginny at the Burrow.

He had agreed that it would be good for her to get out of Grimmauld Place for a while and told her to have a good time before he kissed her goodbye. He heard her excitedly running up the stairs to get ready while he walked to the floo.

It had been three hours later, while he was in a departmental meeting, that Hermione's little otter had swum into the room. Her terrified voice had been heard throughout the room even though she was clearly trying to whisper her message.

"Harry! Harry, I don't know what to do...he's here. I looked for Sirius but I think he must have gone to the Den. Harry, Greyback is outside the house, he's just pacing back and forth and looking up toward the window like he can see me! It's like he knows exactly where I am but can't get through. Please, Harry, I need you. Please come home."

Turner had immediately dismissed Harry and sent Ron and his partner along as well. When they had arrived at the house, Harry had run up the stairs calling out for Hermione while the other two had gone to the front windows to look for Greyback.

Harry had found Hermione in his room hiding in the corner next to his side table. The lights were off and she was curled up into a ball as if trying to make herself as small as possible with her wand clutched in her fist.

They hadn't been able to capture the werewolf that day, he had already gone by the time Harry and the others had reached Grimmauld Place. They had gone back to the Auror department to report to Turner, and he had assigned a guard detail which Harry had insisted he be on.

That had been on Tuesday, it was now Friday and he was getting antsy. The full moon was in two days, and he knew that Greyback would be making his move soon.

Harry turned around to make his way back up the street, passing another Auror coming towards him. The third Auror had been disillusioned and was sitting in the park directly across from the house. Harry nodded to the other man and the sentinels continued their march.

He desperately wanted a cigarette and every time he passed the front steps of his home, he had to force himself to continue walking. He wanted to sit on the porch with Hermione and talk about her day, even if all she did was read another book he would never understand.

It had been a week since she had first kissed him and they had agreed to take things slowly. They shared kisses, held hands and he had stopped holding back his 'incorrigible flirting'. He did anything he could think of to make her smile, a task made harder by the bastard he was currently looking for.

He had decided that his favorite part of Hermione being his witch, was that she slept in his bed every night. He woke every morning surrounded by her warmth and the smell of her lavender shampoo. She often had to push him out of bed to get ready for work. He was so unbelievably happy.

As he passed his home for what felt like the hundredth time that day, he looked up to the windows and saw Hermione watching them. She had a frown on her face and he knew she hated that he was out there putting himself in danger for her.

He sent her a small smile and she shook her head, indicating her frustration before she turned and went back to whatever she had been doing.

Harry sighed, back and forth, searching left and right over and over. For hours, he scanned the area and when the sun began to descend, he and his group were switched with three others who would keep watch through the night.

Harry walked up the steps and sat down on his porch, pulling out his long-awaited cigarette.

So far there had been no sign of Greyback over the three days they had been patrolling. He had been bold earlier in the week, choosing to pace on the street in plain sight, but Harry knew he wouldn't risk capture. He couldn't be caught if he was going to take Hermione and mate her on Sunday night.

The thought of the werewolf getting to Hermione caused him physical pain and he was more determined than ever to catch him.

He took a drag from his cigarette and blew out the smoke, thinking again of the small fragile woman who had been hiding in his room. He would keep her safe, no matter how much she fought him on it.

The door opened behind him and he turned to look over his shoulder. Light from the hallway poured from the crack Hermione was peeking through.

"Are you okay?" She asked quietly trying not to draw unwanted attention to herself.

Harry smiled and released a heavy sigh before putting out his cigarette and going into the house.

"I'm alright, love. Have you and Sirius made dinner? Something smells amazing."

She stopped his progress to the kitchen by walking in front of him and wrapping her arms around his waist. She rested her chin on his chest as she looked up at him with concern, and he couldn't help but deflate slightly. He knew she could tell when he wasn't doing well and he had no reason to lie.

He leaned down and kissed her forehead while bringing his arms around her shoulders. "I'm stressed out, 'Mione. I'm wound so tightly just preparing for an attack but Greyback isn't going to show himself and risk being caught. Not when he thinks he's so close to his goal. I don't think I'll be able to relax until he's in custody or dead."

She nodded and closed her eyes, "me either."

When she opened her eyes she gave him a sweet smile and he leaned in to steal a kiss from her lips. He hadn't seen her since that morning in the kitchen and wanted to enjoy holding her for just a bit longer.

When he pulled away, she pecked him on the chin and pulled him by the hand into the kitchen where there was a roast and vegetables waiting.

"Did Sirius help with this too? I can't believe you've been able to teach him to cook."

Hermione laughed, "Yes! He's doing really well, it's been nice to have something to distract us from everything else. He even made a treacle tart for dessert."

Harry's eyes widened at the mention of his favorite dessert and Hermione sniggered while patting his stomach.

"Sit down, you must be starving. I know you didn't eat lunch today." Disapproval colored her tone.

"Yes, dear," he said cheekily and had to move quickly to avoid the smack she aimed at him.

The following morning, Harry rolled on to his side and rubbed his eyes. It was still dark out, and Hermione was sprawled out next to him on her stomach, her hair covering her face. He scooted over closer to her and moved the hair out of her face to kiss her temple.

He chuckled at her soft grumbling as she moved to lay on her side to face him.

"It's Saturday, why are you up already?" She asked while throwing an arm around his waist and threading one leg through his.

Harry pulled her closer and reached for the blanket she had kicked off of herself during the night. He pulled the blanket over them and closed his eyes, hoping to get a couple more hours of sleep.

"Don't think I don't know what you're up to 'Mione, your feet are like ice cubes," he said in a soft, gravelly voice.

He could hear the smile in her voice when she said, "you found out my evil plan, Mr. Potter."

They laid there for another hour drifting in and out of sleep before the sun began to creep past the curtains and they decided to get up.

Sirius was already in the kitchen making tea when they stumbled in.

"Don't you two look bright and shiny this morning," Sirius said teasingly.

"Hush you," Hermione said.

Harry laughed at the two and sat down to make them each a cup of tea.

"Harry, you're not patrolling today, are you?" Hermione asked him.

Harry shook his head, "nope, I'm going to annoy you for the next two days by never letting you out of my sight." He gave her a cheeky smile.

"I thought you might say that," she said while rolling her eyes.

She gratefully took her tea from Harry and asked, "what do you boys want for breakfast? I think there are some danishes and croissants left from the other day."

They all agreed on breakfast and ate while talking about the plan for the day. Harry, of course, would be staying with Hermione and Sirius planned to go to the Den for a bit.

After breakfast, Sirius headed over to Remus', telling them he would be back in a bit and would bring the Lupins back for a visit.

Harry and Hermione went back up to his room and crawled back under the blankets, content to just lay in each other's arms and talk.

"Let's just stay here, Harry."

"We can't hide under the covers forever, love. Where's my Gryffindor lioness?"

"She's more like a little cub at the moment. I just want to stay here where I feel warm, safe and happy. I haven't felt truly happy in so long."

Harry squeezed her a little tighter, "Hermione, you're still that fierce, brave woman underneath. You just have to find her again and let her out but you can stay right here as long as you like. I'm certainly not complaining."

Hermione smiled and tilted her head up to kiss his neck.

She snuggled in closer to him, "when will Sirius sell the house to Narcissa?"

"Well, we anticipate the new house to be built by the end of October or the first part of November. He's already drawn up the papers for the sale of the house and property. When we're closer to moving and begin packing everything we intend to take, someone will come out and appraise the value of the home and it's remaining contents."

Hermione was quiet for a minute before asking in a serious tone, "she's not getting the books right?"

Harry laughed, "no, not all of them anyway. Sirius told her that some of the books will go with us. He wants you to go through the library and choose what goes to the new house."

Hermione sat up straight, knocking Harry over slightly, "Really! Narcissa won't be angry about not getting every book?"

Harry shook his head and smiled fondly, "Yes, really. Sirius knows that books are important to you and wants you to have the ones you want. Narcissa has already agreed to purchase the contents left behind and will be happy with whatever comes with the house. I imagine they'll have someone come and clear it all out to restore the house along with the furniture. Sirius said it was once a beautiful home."

They laid there talking for a couple of hours before Harry suggested they get cleaned up and be productive. Hermione was against leaving the bed but he convinced her that she would feel better once she was up and about.

While Hermione had gone to shower and get ready for the day, Harry had quickly done the same before heading downstairs to floo call to the Burrow.

He tossed the green powder into the fireplace and called out for the Burrow. After a minute, the mischievous face of George Weasley shown through.

"Hello, Harry, what can I do for you this fine day?" George asked.

"Is Gin around?"

George nodded, "yeah, let me go get her."

He watched George's face disappear and after a few minutes, Ginny's appeared.

"Harry? Is everything okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, I was just wondering what you were doing today and wanted to see if you could come over. 'Mione wanted to visit the Burrow earlier this week, but after Greyback showed himself the other day she's been afraid to leave the house."

"Oh, I'm not busy at all. I'd love to visit, just let me finish a couple of chores for Mum. Oh, and I also heard about someone's status no longer being single...thanks for telling me, git."

Harry rolled his eyes at the redhead, "I haven't seen you, witch! Just come over and bring Ron."

Ginny cackled and saluted, "yes, sir! We'll be over in a bit."

When he closed the connection he went to find Hermione, he hoped she would be pleased with a visit with friends, even if it was at Grimmauld and not the Burrow.

It was right after lunch when the floo roared to life and Harry heard the sound of the two redheads walking down the hall.

"We're in the sitting room!" He called out.

Hermione looked at him with a surprised expression when she heard the Weasley siblings coming down the hall, and a huge smile bloomed across her face. She launched herself into his arms and peppered his face with kisses.

"You invited Ginny and Ron over?" She asked excitedly.

Harry could only smile and nod after being covered in kisses and Hermione squealed before jumping up from the couch and throwing her arms around her best girlfriend.

"Oi, what is this? When did I get demoted?" Ron asked, feigning hurt.

Hermione and Ginny rolled their eyes and Hermione released the girl to wrap her arms around her much taller friend.

"Godric, I've missed the two of you!" Hermione said.

"Well it was all Harry's idea, and judging that dopey grin on his face, it looks like you've already thanked him," Ginny said as she winked at Hermione, her face growing red with embarrassment.

Ron shook his head while holding his hands up, "I'm happy for you two, really I am but I do not need to know."

Hermione stuck her tongue out at him and went to sit back down next to Harry, who wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into his side.

"Oh Merlin, you two are so adorable, I can't stand it," Ginny said while plopping down in the chair across from them.

Ron, of course, went straight for the games and pulled out Exploding Snap before challenging Harry to a game.

The boys sat on the floor with the game set up between them and Ginny took Harry's seat on the couch so that she and Hermione could talk.

The four of them caught up and played games for an hour before they saw a streak of turquoise dart past them and jump into Hermione's lap.

"Mia! I missed you so much and Mummy said you needed a hug, so I came to give you one of mine," Teddy said before squeezing her tightly.

Hermione laughed lightly and smiled at him. "Thank you, Teddy. I've missed you too and I'm so happy you came for a visit today! Your Mummy was right I really needed a special Teddy hug."

The boy grinned and hugged her one more time before he hopped down to give out hugs to the rest of them. When he was satisfied that everyone had gotten enough hugs, he sat in Harry's lap to play chess with Harry and Ron.

Tonks walked in a moment later to sit beside Ginny, while Remus and Sirius sat on the floor to watch the chess match.

Tonks looked pointedly at Hermione, causing the bushy-haired witch to wonder what she had done wrong. "Alright Hermione, why didn't you talk those two idiots out of buying my three-year-old a racing broom?"

Hermione laughed and held up her hands in surrender, "I told them it was a bad idea but you know how they are, they're completely unreasonable when it comes to that little boy. He has them wrapped around his little finger."

"That's no lie, all Teddy has to do is turn his hair to match theirs and they're eating out of the palm of his hand," Ginny shook her head and laughed.

"We can hear you, you know?" Sirius said.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You're the worst one!"

They all laughed when Sirius didn't even try to deny it.

The group of friends had spent the majority of their time in the sitting room playing games and talking but eventually, the rambunctious three-year-old had declared it was time to play outside.

Teddy had convinced Hermione to come out as well and she watched with Remus and Tonks from the porch while everyone else flew around the yard.

Harry, with Teddy seated in front of him, flew around the yard. They raced with Sirius, Ron, and Ginny who all had secretly agreed to let him win. When Harry and Teddy crossed the finish line, Harry flew in a victory lap around the garden and then turned a flip which caused the boy to squeal and fall into peels of laughter.

When the flying was done, Ron had gone out to get pizzas and Teddy chased Padfoot around the yard while the rest of their group sat scattered around the yard.

As the sun began to set, everyone went back inside to sit around the dining table and eat while Sirius and Remus entertained them with stories from their Hogwarts days.

Harry watched Hermione laughing and talking to Ginny and Tonks, her smile had been constant since their friends had arrived that afternoon. It had been such a good day, it felt like a weight had been lifted and the whole house felt lighter.

After dinner, everyone agreed to go up to the library. Hermione was sitting on the couch next to Harry with Teddy asleep on her lap. They were listening to Ginny talk about her boyfriend, Ian's transfer to the new dragon reserve that was being built in Scotland. Charlie had been asked to lead the trainers there so he and Ian would be moving closer to home, much to Molly's delight.

Remus had collapsed in the chair near the fire, the werewolf exhausted due to the closeness of the full moon and the excitement of the day catching up with him. Harry smiled and thought he looked a lot like his son at the moment. Tonk's sat at her husband's feet, listening to Ginny and chiming in now and then.

Sirius and Ron were playing chess in the middle of everyone and one would occasionally yell profanities at the other while the other laughed and boasted.

Harry squeezed Hermione's hand, noticing that she looked lost in thought. "Everything alright, 'Mione?"

She looked at him and smiled warmly, "I'm fine. I was just thinking how happy I am to have finally had a day to spend time with everyone without worry or fear creeping in to ruin it. It's been a really great day, thank you."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his side, "you're welcome, love. I'm sorry we haven't done this more often, I guess with everything else going on I never thought of having everyone over."

"It's alright, Harry," she said and kissed him sweetly, "I think I'm going to go down and get the jug of pumpkin juice and the rest of that treacle tart. I'll be right back."

"Alright, love," he said.

She carefully lifted Teddy's head from her lap and Harry laid a pillow down for her to lay him on.

He watched her stand and begin walking to the door when an owl tapped at the window.

Hermione changed her course and turned to open the window for the owl, which landed on the sill and held out its leg for her.

She untied the rolled parchment with a frown, and the owl flew off.

He watched closely as Hermione unrolled the parchment to read what must have been the latest letter from her stalker, and threw it down onto the table. Anger flashed in her eyes and she turned and stalked out of the room.

Harry decided to give her time to cool down and stood up to get the letter to read it for himself.

Tomorrow you will be mine, pretty girl. Tomorrow I'm coming for you.

X

He had just finished reading the short letter and was taking it to Sirius when he heard Hermione's angry voice screaming from below.

"GREYBACK YOU SPINELESS, DISGUSTING EXCUSE FOR A MAN! COME OUT! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE YOU COWARD, YOU WANT ME SO BADLY? THEN COME AND GET ME YOU FUCKIN-"

The moment he had heard her yelling Harry bolted out of the library and ran down the stairs, closely followed by the others.

"Hermione! Hermione no!" He yelled, willing himself to run faster, to reach her in time.

He neared the bottom of the stairs and through the open door, saw her standing just outside of the wards. She had her wand held tightly in her hand and magic sparked through her hair in anger.

In the blink of an eye, Greyback was there and he stood in front of her with a feral smile on his face. She shot off a stunner but Greyback easily deflected it, and Harry watched in horror as the man smacked his best friend across the face, knocked her unconscious and scooped her up into his arms.

"NO! Fuck, no!" Harry screamed as he ran out the door. The werewolf smirked darkly at him just as Harry reached the bottom of the front steps. He reached out to grab a hold of Hermione's lifeless arm, and the werewolf jumped back, grabbed the chain around his neck while he dodged the stunner Harry sent at him and disappeared with Hermione in his arms.

Harry dropped to his knees on the pavement, "No, no, no, no, no. FUCK!" His hands went to his hair and gripped it hard. Tears stung his eyes and a fury like nothing he'd ever felt before consumed him.

He stood up and pushed the hand Sirius had placed on his shoulder away. Breathing heavily he walked down the street scanning the surrounding yards and sidewalks. When he turned the corner he finally found the three Aurors who were supposed to be watching the street, talking and sharing a smoke.

Harry walked to the nearest man and pulled his fist back before connecting it with the Auror's nose. He could hear Sirius and Ron running up behind him, yelling for him to stop but he didn't care.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing?" Harry yelled at the three men, two of whom were trying to hold the third up and stem the bleeding from his nose.

"Did you not hear Hermione screaming Greybacks name, yelling for him to come out?" He continued before Ron pulled him back and pushed him into Sirius' arms.

The three men looked bewildered and none of them said a word as Ron explained what had just happened on their watch.

Harry got free from Sirius' hold and turned around to walk back to Grimmauld place.

He walked in to find Tonks waiting at the bottom of the steps, she had called Turner and said he would be there shortly.

"Tonks, you should get Teddy home," he said shakily.

Tonks gripped his shoulder and shook him, "Harry, you need to calm down alright. I know you're pissed and with good reason, I know you're scared too. You need to get it together and go find her. You won't help anyone in this state, so take a deep breath and start thinking about where he could have taken her. You will get her back."

Harry nodded and wiped the tears threatening to escape from his eyes. "This is so fucked up, Tonks. What the hell was she thinking?"

Tonks shook her head, "I don't know, but she needs you now. You can yell at her when she's home safe."

Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He heard Turner come in through the floo and went to brief him on what had occurred so they could make a plan on how they were going to get his witch back.