"Human girl! Human girl! This way! This way!" A few children kept tugging at her as they walked through the campsite, she stumbled because they pulled her too roughly, Antonin caught her and yanked her backwards away from their needy hands.
"Don't touch her. You're going to hurt her." Antonin growled, but the wolf children didn't care, rushing ahead of the group of men, and one girl, who walked in silence through the compound, the argument from earlier still unresolved.
"Do you know who it is?" She asked Severus, who was trailing slightly behind her, all of them blended into the dark, a mass of black moving through the woods.
"No, there's been no word." His voice was quiet, but the children ahead of them could clearly hear their conversation, as they became quiet when the wizard spoke.
A wolf boy yanked open the door and then the group scattered when a large figure came out of the building, but a shadow in the moonlight.
"Miss Hermione," It was Donovan, Fenrir's second in command, he was covered in blood, his shirt torn in a few places, his hair slicked back from his face with a sickening mixture of sweat and dried blood. "You came quickly!"
"Beta," She said, addressing him evenly, but stepping back into Antonin, who stopped her from falling backwards with a hand on the small of her back. She gestured to his appearance. "Your blood, or anothers?"
"That's why we've called you here, hurry, we haven't got much time." He reached for her but Antonin pushed her behind him.
"At my pace, werewolf, at our pace."
"Yes, Alpha Fenrir did say you would be like this." Donovan held the door open for them. "In with you lot then."
Antonin entered first with his wand out, but quickly pocketed it when he realized there was no danger waiting for them. Hermione could trust the werewolves, but Antonin never would. A beast was a beast. A large gym was laid out before them, mostly empty now, a few men were scattered around on beaten up couches, the lights were not well placed enough to see them, only shadows that watched them as they passed. Antonin felt Hermione twist her fingers into his cloak, but even with Yaxley pushing her forward her feet were heavy, and they got heavier when they began to hear the screams.
Donovan stopped at a metal door with dents in it, there was a small light that gave the hallway a yellow tinge, Antonin peered into a small opening and could see into the cell only well enough to make out two creatures, a great hulking man, and a slim, sickly one on the floor.
"Open it, then." Severus said, Antonin heard the vials clinking around as he pulled a select few out, he caught a glimpse of a few vials of blood replenisher.
"Is it her?" Fenrir's voice was distinct "You brought her?"
"Yes, alpha." Donovan looked at her nervously and Antonin felt his heart skip a beat, was this a trap?
The door swung open and Fenrir had a curse mark that had cut up his shirt, blood making the fabric tug strangely at the wound.
Hermione made a small noise and his eyes moved from Fenrir to the cell, and in a pile of hay was a lithe and bloodied man, his skin ashen under the flourescent light of his cell with flaming red hair.
"Alpha Fenrir," her voice was tight, it cracked on the syllables "Who?"
"Some member of your Order, I figured you could...convince him. The last thing I want is to kill 'im. It's too close to the moon, the pups can sense him, if he goes between there will be problems during the changing."
"The pups?" She asked and looked down the hallway, but they were alone.
"Children." Donovan explained "The closer to the moon, the more heightened their senses, they know about the new pack member, even if he isn't quite one yet. They will mourn his death, they believe he is one of us already."
Fenrir wiped his hands on his shirt, blood and dirt leaving stains where his fingers were and he stepped aside for her. "Get up, mutt, a visitor is here for you."
Antonin stepped in first and was followed by a timid Hermione who kept looking back at Severus for some confirmation of who was laying in the cell, but there was no way to see any part of him, his face covered with his hands, his body curled up towards the wall. They all waited.
"We don't have much time," Donovan urged "the sooner you-"
"Quiet!" Antonin snapped, if the girl was rushed, she'd get nervous, Hermione knew how to conduct herself.
She got to her knees gently, the hay rustling as her brand new velvet robes dragged along the ground. Her hand was shaking as she reached out and touched the man laying down in the cell.
Her voice was clear, no longer timid even though he saw her other hand fidgeting with the inlay on the edges "Hello."
The man rolled over and reached out as if he was about to strike her. He had a large gash down his face and his neck looked like it had been used as a chew toy. Antonin stepped closer to stun him, but he stopped abruptly before he made contact with her.
"Hermione?"
"Bill?"
"You're dead! You...Greyback!" He reached out for her.
"Protego." Yaxley hissed. "You will not touch her."
Bill's hand met dead air and he recoiled.
"Yaxley!" She sighed, her eyes wandering up to Severus "Out, out, everyone but Severus out."
Fenrir lead the group of men through the twisting and turning hallways of the compound until he found themselves back in the den where she had first met with him. A naked woman with matted brown hair served them mead out of wooden goblets before kneeling in front of the fire waiting for her next order. It seemed like werewolves were unaware that house elves existed.
"It will be awhile, I did a number on 'im." Fenrir said collapsing in a large leather chair "Sit, men." He gestured to the open seating.
Only Yaxley, Rodolphus, and Antonin remained, Rabastan looking after Luna, and the Malfoy's returned home once they got the summons to the werewolf camp. All three of the men fit neatly on the large couch facing the roaring fire, but even so the room was chilled. It was her lack of presence he was sure.
"Why did you attack him?" Yaxley spoke up first.
Antonin knew the real question. Why did you drag us into this?
"Him...and my lost mutt were sniffing around the grounds for somethin', tried to catch the mutt, he got involved, wolf business is wolf business, humans shouldn't get involved." Fenrir held out his empty goblet to the woman kneeling by the fire. She picked up a pitcher to refill it as he spoke. "But the mutt can't control himself, he takes some potion and doesn't realize what he does to his wolf, suppressing who you are...something's gotta give, and so now I have another mutt."
"Why didn't you let him die?" Rodolphus asked "Surely that would hav-"
"Not in my woods, no wolf is alone." Fenrir gestured to the door "Every wolf is welcome to my pack, if we're not together, then we'll be wiped out completely."
"So, if this is wolf business," Antonin asked, peeved. He could hold his tongue no longer. "Why did you drag us here in the middle of the night?"
"The girl, she'll be able to convince him, if she knew the mutt, she would know the newly turned." Fenrir settled back against the chair "The mutt is still here, I can smell him, his guilt. I'll wait for him to come to me."
Antonin felt his stomach churn, he didn't take pleasure in the idea that two Order members were close to where they were. It felt like a trap. He eyed Rodolphus who was tracing the rim of his wooden goblet with his finger before looking to see Yaxley staring at the door they had just come from. Were they led right into a trap? He eyed Fenrir and saw him laying back against the chair with his eyes closed, the now empty goblet dangling loosely between his fingers as they all waited for the other 'mutt' to burst through the door.
"Antonin, Rodolphus, Yaxley." Her voice was quiet, and Antonin realized he had fallen asleep in the sitting room, the fire was coals and sunlight streamed through the windows. They were alone.
Yaxley was on his shoulder and Rodolphus was slumped over on the arm of the couch. She looked exhausted, her hair was pulled back and she had streaks of blood on her cheekbone and nose where she had probably tried to wipe off sweat.
There was a mutter from Yaxley and she was instantly clean and Yaxley sat up, massaging his neck, looking at her blearily. "All good, love?"
She looked down the hallway where he knew the newly werewolf was before turning back to them. "I'd like to sleep for a bit, and then...then I think we can go, he's calmed down a bit."
She yawned and looked at the woman who had fallen asleep on the floor by the fire before giving them all a questioning look, Antonin nudged Rodolphus awake and he looked alarmed.
"Okay?" He asked, startled, looking her over critically.
She smiled "A quick nap?"
"Of course." Rodolphus got up first, offering his hand to her, she took it gratefully. Antonin cursed himself for not thinking to do the same.
She fell asleep curled up against Antonin as Yaxley lit another fire, nudging the sleeping woman awake for breakfast, tea was served a few moments later with meat, because Antonin was sure that's all they ever ate. Every so often the clatter of china would cause her to shift a bit, and he'd try to move her so he could sit comfortably but it seemed impossible.
Severus came in twenty minutes into tea, wiping his hands with a white cloth and looking at the room wearily.
"Yeah?" Yaxley asked as Severus tossed the bloody cloth into the fire.
"Yeah." Severus answered before conjuring up a wooden chair "Yeah."
Sometimes one word could convey so much emotion, the werewolf was stable, Severus was alright, and everything would turn out fine. He poured himself a cup of tea, watching the girl who was now more fabric than skin, buried inside Antonin's robes and her own, only her mouth and nose sticking out as she slept.
"He's willing to turn now." Severus said finally as he poked at the lamb that was in the center of the tea set. "And he's willing to help."
"Obliviate him, and be done with it, the less people who know about her, the better." Yaxley replied, irritated "We might as well announce it in the Prophet if we allow every idiot to meet her."
"As much as I hate the Weasley's, they have the trust of the Potter boy and the cloak."
"Ah," Rodolphus replied "That's what it comes down to then, the Hallows."
"That is the goal, isn't it?" Severus raised an eyebrow and Antonin rolled his eyes.
"The goal is to finish the war and get out." Antonin replied pointedly "If the Hallows is the way, then so be it."
A bang and she sat upright in a flash of fabric, her hair askew, Rodolphus sat his cup down slowly and stood up. "Stay."
Her eyes were blurry and unfocused "Wha'zzat?"
"Alpha Fenrir! Bring out the newly turned!" A voice called from outside, hoarse and feral. Antonin had a bad feeling, and Yaxley stood too. "He is mine!"
Antonin stood up, followed by Hermione, who now had her wand out and was pressed up against his side. Only after a few moments did Antonin realize he was holding her there. Fenrir, who was wearing nothing but a pair of tattered jeans and a robe thundered down the stairs, followed by Donovan and another man who was equally as large.
"Mutt! You've come crawling back!" The door swung open and all the men in the room were bathed in light, and Hermione came face to face with a bloody and feral Remus Lupin.
She looked up at Antonin, confused, but Yaxley was quicker, pulling her behind him and she made a strangled noise of protest.
"Professor Lupin?" She cried "Let me go!"
"Hermione?" Remus called, he sounded hurt, confused.
It happened in a flash, Fenrir tore through the door and with a thud, Remus was pinned beneath the larger man. There was howling and snarling and limbs thrashed before everything went quiet.
"Don't hurt him!" Hermione was pinned between Yaxley and Rodolphus, she pulled away, but Rodolphus held fast. "Do-"
"Do you want to come between wolves?" Antonin snapped "Do you want to die? Idiot girl."
She quieted down at his insult, turning into Rodolphus and hiding her face. Rodolphus looked over her head at him and he patted her hair, his hand still had an iron grip on the girl's arm. Antonin knew she would still try to flee. Her bleeding heart would be the death of them all.
Remus was tossed against the other side of the couch, pushing it forward slightly, Severus stopped it with his foot and raised an eyebrow. "Done?"
Fenrir was bloodied, wiping his hands off on his jeans, his body bathed in sunlight, white scars crisscrossing his torso. "What brought you back, mutt? In heat?"
There was a noise that made Hermione pull away, but after a few moments the fighting started up again. "Go!" Severus roared as the couch tipped backwards, taking the tea set with it. "Go!"
It was Fenrir who stopped them from leaving. "A reward." The alpha werewolf grabbed the weaker man easily, pulling him up so Remus could no longer touch the ground "For the girl who freed the wolves." He threw Remus at their feet with a sickening thud.
Remus was coughing up blood and he groaned, looking up at Antonin looking all the whipped dog he was. Antonin toed him and Hermione turned away from Rodolphus and opened her mouth. He was sure she was going to scream, but instead she closed her mouth and stepped back away.
"Just…" a wave of her hand, that he thought was dismissal, but the wolf at his feet was cleaned "Just...just get him into a bed. Severus." She put a hand to her forehead and let out a shaky sigh.
"He was with you before, I smelled his scent on you." Fenrir said later in the kitchen while she was stirring a cup of tea "It is a gift, your dog back to you."
"And what am I to do with a beaten dog?" She asked, the metal clinking against the china "A dead one?"
Fenrir had the grace to look away from her "The mutt has been sniffing around here for weeks, looking for you, I returned what is yours, problem solved."
"Do you often return things in such a state?" Rodolphus asked, walking into the kitchen followed by Severus "Half dead?"
"Don't provoke him, Rodolphus." Hermione said, and yawned. "Alive?"
"Alive, as much as he hates the wolf, it healed him." Severus replied instead, and she refilled her tea cup, adding lemon and sugar before handing it to him. He continued "We need to rest, tonight will be a test."
"A test?" Hermione looked up at him warily.
"You have two Order members in this compound," Severus said "Three, if you count myself. This will be a test of our little band of thieves, and their ringleader. Do we trust them?"
Hermione looked indignant "Of course we t-"
"Severus tried to turn you in," Antonin cut her off "If we have two other people who are Dumbledore's men, then what will stop them from trying to turn you in too?"
"They're wolves, she is a friend of the alpha and they must be loyal to their alpha." Fenrir said as if it was plain as day "She is in no danger here."
"Since when have you had Remus Lupin's loyalty?" Severus sneered "You think very highly of yourself."
Fenrir let out a low growl and Hermione looked at Antonin with concern, he shifted closer to her unconsciously and she settled up against him.
"If we tell them about you, then they must be kept here ." Rodolphus said gesturing to the compound "Everyone here knows you are still alive, Fenrir can keep them in line."
"I trust Professor Lupin! And Bill!" She said setting her cup back on the counter "Besides, you want to use him for the cloak, don't you? We have to give a little trust to get it."
"The Weasley is fine, it is Lupin who I don't trust, after Sirius' death he's become...unstable." Severus said looking at the door behind him "This is just another incident in a long line of incidents."
"Then," Yaxley cut in "There are two options, the obliviate them both, or keep this Lupin character here under Fenrir."
"A prisoner?" Hermione was aghast "Are we that kind of-"
"Yes." Rodolphus cut in "We are that kind of people, put us at ease Hermione and give us your decision."
Her fingers tugged on his sleeve and he looked down to see her grabbing at him for strength. " Pchelka ," Antonin's voice was low "We cannot keep risking your safety by letting everyone know the truth, it was your idea to hide, this is the consequence of that."
Her head full of curls bounced as she nodded in agreement. "Professor Lupin stays, we tell Bill about his errand this evening. It might be beneficial for him to stay with Bill during the changing anyways, a friend...in a dark place."
Hermione let go of him and walked out of the room, leaving the men in her wake. Antonin looked around the room. "The closer we get to her old life, the worse things become." Yaxley said, crossing his arms.
"I cannot protect her from her past." Antonin shot back, the helplessness he was feeling threatened to overwhelm him, it was frustrating.
"Who can?" Rodolphus added "We can only keep going forward, if it's a collision course, so be it."
Her bedroom was more of a den, with one small bed and plenty of couches. They all woke up at various times, but mostly she slept, sandwiched between Antonin and Yaxley, buried deep into Antonin's robes, only poking her face out every once and awhile when she turned in her sleep. It smelled like fire and fur pelts, pine and crisp winter air. The sun dipped lower and lower as the fire burned smaller and smaller, and finally, when dinner was served by a few women she turned over, her whiskey eyes reflected the firelight and surveyed the room.
"We should have two more place settings." She said as the table as conjured lazily by a half awake Rodolphus, Severus was missing, "I think...important matters are better discussed over dinner."
"Bring the two new additions," Rodolphus asked one of the serving girls "and two place settings for them."
"Please." Hermione added.
Rodolphus rolled his eyes, but she didn't see it because she hid her face back down in the pillow.
Yaxley rolled off the bed and inspected another goblet full of mead. "Don't they have the real stuff here, this mead is no better than water."
"I'm surprised werewolves even have mead," Antonin said, trying to move, but her head was on his arm so he gave up and laid back down staring up at the wood ceiling "You should be so lucky it's not blood."
"Wolves aren't like that ." Hermione's voice was muffled and the pillow "They're not vampires."
"Have some manners, Lupin." Severus' voice could be heard through the doorway and Hermione rolled over.
Antonin had to look away. Her face was hot from hiding it in the pillow, her hair mussed, the button down shirt she was wearing had become wrinkled and the top few buttons had gone missing. She was just out of bed tousled, just out of bed with him .
"Now Severus, I don't think your attitude is warranted on a sick man." The door opened and Hermione stood, followed by Antonin.
"Professor Lupin." She smiled and looked at Rodolphus who also stood "We're just waiting on one more...please take a seat."
She gestured to the table that was full of deer and chicken, potatoes and carrots all laid out neatly in the center. It was quite a spread, but then again, Fenrir did hold her in high regard for some strange reason. The man looked trapped, with Severus behind him, and a room full of death eaters before him, his eyes darted around looking for an escape.
Hermione sat down first, the scratching of wood against wood before everyone in the room followed suit.
"I'm starving," Yaxley said picking at some chicken with a fork "I don't know how much longer we were going to have to pretend to be ominous."
"Oh I assure you, that you were not good at pretending." Hermione cut in "Pass the potatoes."
Severus sat down on the other side of Rodolphus, ignoring the man on the far side of the room, and Antonin served her some deer as she took the wooden bowl of potatoes from Yaxley. "Firewhiskey would be good." Antonin said as she filled her plate and the scent of rosemary filled the air.
"Hermione?" Remus asked as she began to cut her chicken "Hermione Granger?"
"Eat, Professor Lupin." She gestured with her fork "You must be hungry, we all are."
He sank into the chair on the far side of the table as Fenrir brought Bill in and sat at the opposite end of the table, Bill at his left.
"Explain." Lupin snapped, his neck tied tightly in bandages, his ash brown hair was messed up and Antonin could see the beginning of another bandage underneath it. The wolf had barely contained rage. "Explain why you're alive. Explain why you've kept the entire Order in the dark while you're consorting with the enemy!"
Fenrir was up in a flash, towering over the rest of them "Disrespect her mutt, and these humans won't be able to patch you up again."
"Enough." Antonin warned, watching her hand shake as she tried to remain nonchalant, her head bowed as she studied her food. "Dogs don't eat at the table, and you won't eat with us if you continue."
"Manners, Lupin." Severus needled before stabbing another potato "Or you'll eat outside."
She cleared her throat and looked up from her plate, "Professor Lupin, I am not dead, and I am not ignorant of how wolves work either, if you're going to fight with your Alpha for dominance, you will not be doing it at my table. Eat ."
Fenrir sat down and began to pull apart a leg of deer earnestly.
"You did me a favor by reporting that you had seen Fenrir Greyback kill me," Hermione started slowly "and I want to thank you, and the only way I can do that right now is letting you keep your memories. I also want to explain."
"Which one is it?" Lupin scanned the room, his hand was gripping the butter knife tightly, his knuckles were white. "Who started fucking you? Who turned you? I can smell it."
Her face went scarlet, and she bit her lip "Is that what you think I've been doing?"
"It was a real pain to pencil in some time to deal with a shit like you between all our wild orgies with Hermione." Yaxley said and waved him off "We only have a few more minutes before our next one, so make it quick, dog."
"I knew this would happen," She said, pushing her food around on her plate "Professor Lupin, I thought that you would be better than the rest of them, but clearly no matter what I manage to do, I'm always a woman first, and a woman is only good for spreading her legs. It doesn't matter what you think Professor Lupin, it only matters what Bill thinks."
"Me?"
"We're looking to end this war as quickly as possible, and it's not going to happen as long as our Lord is around." Rodolphus supplied "So we're looking for a way out."
"Is this your grand plan?" Lupin said, his amber eyes flicked from her to Antonin. "You're going to replace the Dark Lord once you've-"
Her hand slipped into Antonin's underneath the table and she squeezed it. An unspoken askance of strength, he could never deny her.
"We have destroyed a few...parts of the Dark Lord already, and we are currently in possession of one of the Hallows." She continued, Antonin rubbed small circles in the palm of her hand with his thumb, she relaxed.
"Those are a myth , they don't actually exist, do they?" Bill looked incredulously at the table of Death Eaters.
"A myth has to start somewhere, and we have confirmed that we have the resurrection stone." Rodolphus added. "We will...need your help for another."
"Another? You know where the others are?"
"Well all three," Hermione said "one will be easy, one will be difficult. We don't know what the Master of Death means, but if it means an end to the Dark Lord, then-"
"What changed?" Remus interjected "You used to be brave enough to say his name, now you're not brave enough to disrespect your master? Say it, Hermione and I will know you're the brave girl from Hogwarts, say Lord Vol-"
" Silencio ." it came from Yaxley, even though her hand made the wand movements.
"I'll do it." Bill said quickly "if it will help you, Hermione, I'll do it. One favor for another, you patched me up...you saved my life."
"Your life isn't saved until you accept your wolf, and you may have different feelings once you find out what your task is." Hermione said, her eyes flicking towards the silenced wolf on the other side of the table. "I want you to survive, that's really our only goal, to make it through this."
"A vow?"
Hermione shook her head "I trust your alpha will keep you in line, he's good at what he does."
Fenrir gave her a grin with a mouthful of deer, and she smiled in return, Remus tried to stand up at this but Fenrir's big hand shoved him back down in his seat.
"Are either of these two?" Yaxley waved at them like they were flies "In the know at the Order? Maybe we could ask about how many are left of the you know ."
"Severus?" Rodolphus asked "You're an Order member, do you think either of these two know something you don't?"
Severus looked at Remus carefully before turning back to Rodolphus "I can't be certain, the only ones I am aware of are the Headmaster and the Potter boy."
"I told you," Hermione said to Yaxley "Prof- Severus is probably the highest ranking Order member, there's no secrets that he doesn't have."
"Untrue, but noted." Severus looked at her for a lingering moment and in that moment Antonin felt uneasy.
"Antonin?" She asked and he realized he was glaring at Severus, he schooled his expression.
" Malyushka ." He replied and saw the blush creep on her face but her eyes flicked down the table.
"Okay?" She asked looking at him worriedly.
"What is it?" Bill asked, interrupting them "Do I have to kill someone?"
"No, you just need to get us an item," Hermione looked around the table "Harry's invisibility cloak, and get it before he returns to Hogwarts."
"Done." Bill said proudly and gave her a smile "If it helps you, Hermione."
"Well that's two then." Yaxley looked relieved, so did she.
"Professor Lupin stays," She said timidly "I mean...for his safety, and for his...sire's wellbeing. Is that what it's called?"
Fenrir waved at Lupin with a rib bone "For the new mutt, it doesn't matter if he's here or not, but for his mouth it does."
"Professor Lupin, please understand, I am still on your side." Hermione pressed "but...I am doing things my own way."
"Whatever side she's on, you're on." Fenrir said seriously "She saved your hide once already, we are all in debt to her."
"I'm exhausted," she declared, stabbing at some potatoes "let's just eat and go back to bed."
"We have much to do before we sleep," Severus drawled raising his goblet "to another late night."
"To late nights." The table agreed, and there was the strange thock of wooden goblet against goblet.
Hermione and Severus were in the living room with Rodolphus, attending to children and adults alike, small wounds, complaints, and illnesses as the pack came to see the three wizards that could cure all ills.
"I have to," she explained "Fenrir asked, and it's hard to say no to helping people."
She was bent over a messy boy of about six, inspecting his hand critically with a pair of tweezers, her hair pulled back in a messy bun, the firelight gave her a soft glow. She looked angelic. The kid she was helping yanked away from her and cradled his hand to his chest and she gave him a disapproving glare.
"You won't go around touching split wood like that again?" She asked
"No! And I didn't!" The child snapped and she crossed her arms.
"Go on, I think your mama is waiting."
She set the tweezers down on a nearby table and walked over to Antonin who was leaning against a far wall after a crippling defeat from Yaxley at chess.
"This is the test Severus was alluding to?" He said gesturing to the line of people waiting outside the cabin.
She shook her head. "It's strange, to see all these people living on top of this mountain and realize that most of them can never set foot in a hospital or a school." Hermione stepped closer to him and he unfolded his arms, allowing her to lean into him if she wanted to.
He realized he wanted her to.
"There's so much injustice to these people, I want to help them, but everything I can do is not enough. Fenrir is not some cold blooded monster, he's trying to protect all these people that society shut out. It's exhausting." She was next to him now, leaning against the same wall, inches away from his body.
"You can't save the world, but you're doing a great deal more than anyone else would have." Antonin admitted watching Rodolphus select vials of potion for a beat up man. "You're too soft."
"Some softness is what made the werewolves realize that someone cared about them other than the Dark Lord." She said gesturing to the room "Softness is good, everyone needs a little softness."
He wanted to tell her that he needed her softness, but as she leaned against him, he realized she already knew. "Exhausted." was all she said.
He accepted that. Rodolphus looked over at him but Antonin waved him off with his free hand, the other held Hermione against him, upright, as she closed her eyes and relaxed against his body. No one else had the trust in him that she did. She was made for him.
After a few moments, Severus called for her assistance and she stood back up, walking over to see a small child again, wailing, a rash down her arm that was oozing. "Poison Ivy?" She asked.
Severus nodded and turned the child roughly towards her "Miss Granger will take care of you."
Severus hated children.
She was eating a very messy dessert of berries and chocolate in her room when the moon was highest in the sky. Severus was complaining about the sheer amount of illness that seemed to be present in the camp, but Rodolphus had fallen fast asleep next to her on the bed, his boots still touching the ground.
"Old man," she teased as Rodolphus had laid back before they had been served dessert, but as soon as his head hit the mattress he was out.
A soft knock on the door and her name. "Hermione ?"
"Come in, come in." She said digging into the bowl to get the last bits of chocolate. "Professor Lupin."
The door opened to reveal a stunned Remus. Her room was still full of men in various states of wakefulness, only Antonin and Severus were still awake, Yaxley dozing by the fire, and Rodolphus' soft snores punctuated the pops and hisses of a fresh log burning.
"I thought you'd be alone." He said his eyes darting around the room.
"Hardly," Antonin scoffed "She has no concept of personal space."
"Because you took it from her?" Remus had his hands clasped in front of him, his face was calm, but Antonin could tell he was tense.
"I'm sure Antonin wishes he could give it back sometimes," She looked up at him and he noticed she had smeared chocolate across her chin. "Right?"
"A mess." Severus growled "How is anyone going to take your plans seriously when you look no better than the children covered in dirt outside?"
Hermione quickly wiped her face and turned her attention back towards Remus. Antonin silently cast a scourgify and she was instantly clean, her hair poofed up a bit at the spell and she glared at Severus instead of him.
"Sit down, Professor Lupin, let's talk without your Alpha." She conjured a chair that looked a bit rickety, her wandless magic wasn't perfect yet, Antonin supplied her charm with his own that made it into a plush wingback chair much like the ones near the fire.
"You're okay?" He asked looking over her critically "You are unhurt?"
"Oh spare us, Lupin." Severus sneered "Get to the point, quit wasting our time. I doubt you cared much about her wellbeing earlier when you called her a whore."
"I cannot ask a simple question? Are you her keeper?" Lupin snapped.
"I am fine , and I am clearly unhurt."
"You have a curse mark-" Her hand came up to her collar and Antonin felt her pull away from him. "We have witnesses from the Ministry that said it was Antonin Dolohov that cursed you, that a carefully aimed slic-"
"Enough! We were both present." Antonin stood up abruptly and Rodolphus rolled over on the bed "Do you think I conveniently forgot that I had cursed her? Do you think that I cannot see it every day that I spend with her?"
He paced the length of the room, his thoughts swirling, anger bubbling below the surface threatening to overtake him. He wanted to kill him. He wanted to kill the wolf and take her away from her past life that kept trying to catch up with her.
"I remember, very clearly." Hermione's voice was soft "but we have all done things in this room we regret, show me who is innocent here? I see no one."
"Whatever you did, whatever they told you that you did, it doesn't condemn you." Remus reached out for her and she nudged Rodolphus rather roughly.
"I am not condemned." She snapped "I am not evil. I am one girl trying to make a difference in this war with people that I trust."
"You don't trust me?" Remus asked, his eyes shifted to Rodolphus who was sitting up now, fixing his hair and focusing on the conversation at hand.
She crossed her arms, her eyes alight with that fire that Antonin craved. "I do, that's why I'm keeping you here with Fenrir, I trust you to take care of Bill, I trust you to do the right thing when it comes time. That is my trust."
"Hermione," Remus pleaded "You're young, and these men-"
"Did you come here to insult her or to speak with her?" Rodolphus asked, his voice rang clear in the silent room.
It was at times like this that Antonin was reminded that the LeStrange family was nobility, his posture was straight, his jaw was set, his robes spoke of old money and his tone commanded attention. He noticed now that they wore a matching set, the filigree on her new black robes was the same as his. She looked noble.
"Continue Lupin," Severus waved, pouring himself another cup of tea "I'm sure that you won't be long for this world now."
"Hermione, I'm sure you've been imperiused, or perhaps-"
"That's rich." Yaxley called from the chair, yawning "If only we could have thought to imperius her."
"Professor Lupin." Hermione said, rolling her eyes at Yaxley "I am not going to convince you of something you obviously won't believe. I am trying to end this war, I am trying to get us all out of this alive, that's all. If you think I am brainwashed, or imperiused, or held under duress, then you can leave. These men have saved my life more times than I care to admit, they're my friends, and I trust them."
"Hermione, I don't know what they've told you, they-"
"They're what?" She challenged. "Murderers? We all are, we all are ."
He looked horrified.
She tilted her chin up "And I don't doubt that you're one too. So you can stop underestimating me, because everyone's shit estimation of people is what is losing us this war in the first place. Trust me or leave, Professor Lupin." The title made her realize who she was talking to "Please."
Severus laughed. It was a warm rich sound that made her blush.
"Oh that was mean wasn't it?" She said, looking at Rodolphus who yawned again "I'm sorry."
"You did wonderfully." Rodolphus' eyes were dancing with delight "A LeStrange already."
"You're with him?" Remus sat back down "I thought-"
"Oh, you know, we share." Yaxley said swishing around the empty tea pot before setting it back down "It's just one orgy after another, we hardly have time for anything else."
"Yaxley!" She was scandalized, but even so she was laughing. "Antonin?"
" Pchelka ," He groused. He hated this Remus character.
"Okay?" She offered her hand out to him. She needed him.
"Okay."
He couldn't deny her. He sat back down and Yaxley called for more mead, it would be a long night.
Tucked into Rodolphus whose face was buried in her hair, her body curled around Antonin in some kind of strange sleeping arrangement. He was still up with Yaxley discussing the growing problems at the Ministry. Yaxley lapsed in his complaints about Dolores Umbridge and plucked the goblet from Hermione's outstretched hand before it fell on the floor.
"Lightweight." Yaxley hummed before setting it on the table that was already crowded with pitcher's of mead and empty goblets "Only three and she passes out."
Antonin felt a twinge of a smile and turned behind him to check on her.
"You care for her a great deal." Remus said.
Antonin froze, he had completely forgot about the wolf. "Don't you have somewhere to be that's not here?"
"I didn't believe it, a bunch of convicts turning on their esteemed master for a teenage girl? You had to be getting something out of it, didn't you? But I see now. A daughter, a sister, a friend, a lover ." Remus stretched the last word and Antonin stood up quickly and there was a groan. "It's easy to manipulate a teenage girl, but even more so to project on her."
He hadn't realized his wand was at the ready, but he cared little now, he hated this wolf, he would silence him forever. "Insult her again, dog."
"Remus Lupin." Her voice was hoarse with sleep, with drunkenness "Do you think the brightest witch of her age is just some plaything? Is that what you want?"
She rose slowly, her robes falling off her shoulders, her eyes half lidded, her hair tousled as she focused her gaze on the room. "Do you want to save me from them? I don't need saving. I don't need your pity, and if you insult my friends again…" She let the threat hang, it sounded like a threat, but Antonin knew there was none.
She transfigured Severus' chair into a cot to make him more comfortable, a display of her magic, of her power, and pushed her hair back away from her face. "I protect them, they protect me."
Remus was at wandpoint and Yaxley stood up brushing off the remains of some biscuits. "We ask for loyalty, and that's it." Yaxley said looking over at her. "Right?"
Hermione yawned and nodded before falling back into the bed. "I wasn't asleep, and I wasn't done with my mead either."
"You were done, love, you were done two glasses ago."
"Merlin save the Dark Lord from a fearsome teenage girl." Remus put his hands up defeat "Fine, I'll do as you say."
When they left the next day the whole compound came to see them off, children came to see "Miss Hermione", and some even tugged on the voluminous robes of "Mister Snape."
"I don't think it's particularly fair ." She said as they walked down the side of the mountain "That you won't give me a hangover potion."
"Oh come off it Severus," Yaxley said from behind them "Give the girl a hangover potion, I know you've got doses."
"She'll never learn what a hangover is and why it should be avoided if you keep brewing potions for her to avoid it. Let the girl suffer."
"Just brew me a poison instead then and let me end it!" She whined holding her head, but then stopped.
" Hermione , spare me the dramatics, you're beginning to remind me of Luciu-"
"No." Her eyes were alight. "That's it."
"What's it ?" The group stopped and turned towards her, she was bubbling with excitement.
"The vow, I solved the vow." She said "I'll save you Prof- Severus, I'll save you yet."