A/N: I really didn't mean to make Hermione seem so... Well. Yeah. And my original plan with the shifters won't work, because I'm trying to stay true to the dates. Even if I went with Leah&Hermione, there would be a 8 year difference. I'm sorry, I just... Since I've said Harry is 23, Hermione is 24, and I... that is too big of an age gap. I'm also saying that the Cullens came back early, and so the wolves started phasing in 2003.

And here, we start to learn some of why Hermione is so... strict, and overbearing, and why she isn't with Ron. WARNING: mentions of abuse & miscarriage. Wasn't planned, but it just came flowing out, and it doesn't conflict with what I already had written, and it makes sense, so...

As she was trying to stand up, she was startled yet again by rather young voice.

"Sorry! I didn't mean..."

Hermione sighed. So this was one of the shifters? Why her? Why now?

She raised her head, and nearly gaped. This one, this boy, looked so pathetic. Eyes downcast, ears nearly drooping, even in human form. So obviously a boy. So obviously young. Her heart went out to him, and her maternal instincts took over, just as they did when she encountered anyone much younger than her - even Harry and Sirius, who only acted much younger. She sighed. And that was partly her fault, on Harrys' part. She treated him like a child - but he allowed it! And so did Sirius. And they both needed the care, otherwise... NO, they just allowed it to make her happy. She sighed.

Shaking her head, she bit her lip, before standing up, pulling the wolf up after her. "Hush, now. You are just a pup, after all."

At that, the other shied away, a frown forming, giving Hermione the impression of a wounded pup. "Humph. Not a pup. I'm on patrol, and you are on our side of the border." then he sniffed, frowning. "And what are you? You smell a bit like the leeches, but not quite, yet you smell more like them than humans."

She blinked, before hiding a grin. Hadn't Harry introduced himself to them? "Hermione G...Black. I'm a witch."

The boy burst out laughing. However, as Hermione just stared at him, he gradually sobered, yet with an excited light in his eyes. "Really? A true-life witch? With a broom, and a cat, and a pointy hat?"

"A wand, mainly." Hermione replied. "I hate brooms, and we were only required to wear the hats on special occasions. And I did have a cat..." she trailed off, eyes gazing off into the distance.

Crookshanks... He had been her protector, and best friend, even to the end. He and Ron had never got along, never. But Hermione just put it down to Scabbers. She ignored the warning signs. After all, Crookshanks was fiercely protective of her, just as Ron had a temper. And Crookshanks was half-kneazle, just as Ron was... well, Ron. No, she was young, and naive, and... had thought she was in love with Ron. No, she had been in love with Ron. The Ron before the war, before he had lost family. Before he had started drinking.

She was pregnant, just barely three months. The reason they had gotten married at all. She had came home, tired, from work. Ron was drinking. She had refused to cook, just like she had in the past. She was never going to become a house-witch like Molly, never would have been content staying at home with the baby, not with her career as an Unspeakable.

But she wanted the baby. Oh, how she wanted the baby. And Ron had seemed to want the baby, and seemed to want her - at first. But then she became moody. Sometimes had wanted nothing to do him. Would one day cook, but the next, refuse. One day be content to lie with him, just as they used to, but other days, call herself ugly, and fat.

It should have given her a clue when he had simply agreed with her. When he yelled at her for being slow, or for letting 'the dumb cat' inside. When he nagged her about quitting her job. When he refused to spend the night at home. When he called her 'the old ball-and-chain.

But no. She was pregnant, and hormonal, and in love. She was a fool for believeing the sweet apologies that would flow from his lips. Accepting the gifts of roses and spa nights.

That night was the last straw, for both of them. He was so drunk he started throwing things at her. Mostly pillows, but also books, and beer bottles, and... anything he could get his hands on. She tried defending herself, but her magic was on the fritz. And she was exhausted. She managed to dodge everything, but... he ran out of things to throw, and started in on her with his fists. She fought back, at first, but then... then she couldn't do anything but curl up in a ball, after... After the pains had started.

That was when Crookshanks came to the rescue. The half-kneazle was heavy enough that he somehow managed to bowl Ron over when he came flying unexpectedly out of nowhere. And Hermione had somehow managed to crawl to the fireplace, and mutter the address to Grimmauld Place before she blacked out.

When she came to, Harry was hovering over her, not Ginny as she had expected, and the walls in the background were those of St. Mungos. And then, she just knew. She just did.

And then, being told by Harry Crookshanks was dead, well... She went slightly 'off her rocker' for nearly a year, until Harry forced her to move in with him, after him and Ginny had broken up - over her and Ron, no less.

"...mione? Hermione? Are you okay?"

She shook her head, and forced a smile on her face at the worried boy shaking her. "O..of course." her breath caught for a second. "Just... Memories. Sorry, what were we saying?"

The pup grinned. "You are a witch, and I am a werewolf. I am Embry Call, of the Uley pack."

Hermione absent-mindedly corrected him, just as she would have Harry. "Shape-shifter, not werewolf. You don't shift only on the full moon."

"Wicked! You know of us." Embry grinned, wolvish tendencies obviously in the way his tongue slightly stuck out.

Hermione grinned back, before she thought of something. "How old are you, that your pack has you on patrol? Doesn't your mother have something to say about that?"

She was surprised when he looked down at the ground again, shoulders drooping. "Ma... she doesn't... she can't know. If you hadn't have know, I wouldn't have been able to tell you, either." he bit his lip, worrying at it. "I'm... I'm thirteen."

Her eyes widened a bit. What on earth was this so-called pack thinking? And surely the boys' mother was worried sick! Imagining all sorts of reasons for why her son was out at all hours of the day. She smiled at the boy. "Well, we'll have to fix that, won't we? I'm not bound to your packs' rules. And as a semi-magical creature, your family is not bound by the statute of secrecy we witches are bound by."

The boy looked up hopefully "Really? You would do that for me?"

Hermione nodded, and held out her hand. "Lead the way."

Harry was surprised when he got home from school, and Sirius was the only one in the house, sulking in the kitchen. But he wasn't worried. Hermione occasionally went off on her own, and surely she had her wand. It wasn't until supper time that Harry worried. Hermione was always back for supper, always. The past four years, she had always insisted on making supper. And he know why, even though he didn't agree with it. It was her way of coping. Just like how she had to be overly mothering. Otherwise... Otherwise just didn't bear thinking about. It would be just like the year before she came to live with him.

Harry was just about to fetch Sirius, and possibly the vampires, to send out a search party, when Hermione came bustling in, shepherding a quietly sobbing young boy.

Harry blinked. "'Mione? Wha..."

"One of the younger 'wolves, Harry. We told his mother. She didn't take it as well as he hoped." she paused, looking up at Harry with hopeful eyes, and a puppy-dog pout. "Can we keep him, Harry?"

Harry blinked again, not quite believing his eyes. He had never seen this Hermione before. This hopeful, quietly calm, at peace, Hermione. How could he refuse her? How? Even when it was likely her fault the boys' mother found out... How? And... Perhaps now she would be less... intense in her quest to mother him and Sirius.

He sighed. "Fine, 'Mione. Alright."