A/N: All of the beta love goes to brownlark42. She's like the smell of freshly cut grass.

The day after the Hogsmeade meeting, Draco knocked on the Slytherin Head of House's office door. He had received a terse note at breakfast, asking Draco to stop by. He wondered what Snape wanted. It wasn't often that he was called to his Head of House's office, unless he had been into some trouble. Draco thought back over the week - he didn't think he was in trouble for anything.

"Come in, Draco," Snape drawled as his office door popped open. Draco entered the office and noted it was the same as always. The same disgusting pickled potions ingredients lining the walls and the same gloomy lighting. Snape was sitting at his desk - there was nothing on top of it but a thick book. His hands were steepled in front of him and his elbows were resting on the desk. Snape also looked the same as always, lank black hair curtained his face. His skin was sallow and pale, and his hooked nose dominated his facial features.

"Sit," Snape hissed, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Draco slipped into it and sat ramrod straight, awaiting his Head of House to speak.

"How is your task coming along?" Snape asked, quirking an eyebrow. Draco sighed and closed his eyes. He hadn't thought about either of his tasks in the last few weeks he'd spent plotting with Hermione. He couldn't tell Snape anything about that. Draco was thankful once again for being a werewolf and immune to Legilimency. Snape's prowess in Legilimency was legendary among the Death Eaters.

"Which one?" Draco hedged, opening his eyes to see that his professor had pushed the book closer to him.

"Greyback's," Snape replied, gesturing to the book. Draco picked it up and read the title Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes by Eldon Thaddeus Fleming. He quirked his own eyebrow at Snape.

"It should help with the cabinet you are attempting to restore," Snape snapped. When Draco didn't respond, he went on. "Use your head boy, don't make me spell it out for you."

Draco nodded in response. As much as he wanted to trust Snape, he knew that he couldn't. Not with the most important things, like how he was planning to betray the Dark Lord. Snape couldn't know anything about that. But Snape was helping Draco. He was visiting Draco's mother, which eased Draco's heart more than he had imagined possible. Thinking about that made Draco trust Snape, a little bit. Enough to accept the book and actually want to read it.

"Anything else?" Draco asked. He was in a hurry to get to the Room of Hidden Things and read through what the book had on vanishing cabinets. Snape dismissed him with a flick of his hand and Draco rushed up to the seventh floor of the castle.

Upon reaching the Room of Hidden Things, Draco sat next to the vanishing cabinet and flipped through the book. It was written in runes. Of course it was. He flipped to the index and dug his Ancient Runes textbook out of his bag and began translating. It was long and painstaking work, but he finally had the index translated an hour later. Nothing in the index said anything about vanishing cabinets. What a dud, Draco thought to himself as he tossed the book aside. He had been sitting with his back to the cabinet and banged his head backward a couple of times. What am I going to do? How am I going to fix this damned cabinet?

The door to the room banged open. Draco was grateful he was sitting on the floor and out of eyesight of the front of the room. He quietly began packing up his books, when Hermione rounded the corner. She was beautiful. It took his breath away every time he saw her again.

"Oh, thank gods, it's you," he said as he stood and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"I'm glad I found you here," she replied returning his hug. As she stepped away, she kicked the book Snape had given him.

"Oh no!" she cried out and bent down to pick it up. She read the cover and then flipped through it, her shoulders sagging at seeing it was written in runes.

"Shoot," she muttered. "It'll still be helpful, but it'll be a pain to translate it all." She looked up at him with a smile.

"What do you mean? I translated the index and it didn't say anything about vanishing cabinets," Draco told her. He handed her the bit of parchment he had used during his translation.

"Well it wouldn't, would it?" she asked as she looked over the parchment. She grabbed a self-inking quill she had shoved in her messy bun at the back of her head and began placing a small star next to various lines of his translated index.

"Granger, explain," Draco said, losing patience with her.

She looked up at him, startled by the tone. "Oh, sorry, umm, it says right here," she pointed to a line on his translation parchment, it read 'linking charms page 293'. And she pointed to another and another they were all linking charms, movement through space spells, and disappearing charms.

"I am an idiot," Draco stated drily. How could he have overlooked what she was pointing out? She smiled up at him.

"You have a lot on your mind. Let me help you," she said as she ran a hand down his arm and linking their fingers together. He nodded but was internally kicking himself. He was as smart as she was, how could he not have seen what she had seen immediately?

"Seriously, Draco. It's all right. I am here to help you," Hermione told him.

"How can you want to help me get Death Eaters into Hogwarts?" he asked her. His tone and expression petulant, even though he tried to keep it civil. It was still a shock to him that she had accepted his tasks. She accepted them and then decided what needed to be done next.

"I don't want to help you get Death Eaters into Hogwarts. But it's what you've been tasked with, so I will help you. It's not the task itself, it's you, Draco," Hermione explained. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. "It's you I want to help, Draco. I love you."

Draco's mind went blank when she confessed her love for him. She loves me. She loves me. He almost had a hard time believing it, but not one to look a gift pegasus in the mouth he swooped down and gave her a heated kiss. Pouring each of his emotions into it. He loved her too. He hadn't said it yet, had no plans to say it, but hearing it out of her mouth had set his heart free.

Hermione broke the kiss after a few moments. She looked up at him and he felt lost in her whiskey-colored eyes.

"Let's work on the translations," she said as she backed away with a smile. Draco nodded. They were both top of their class in Ancient Runes. Working together, they would get the necessary pages of the book translated in no time. Draco made a quick copy of the index using the Gemino charm and handed it to her. She flipped to the first spell she had starred and copied the pages. Then handed the book back to Draco who went to the next spell and did the same thing. They sat together in a companionable silence throughout the rest of their free period. By the end of it, each of them had translated three of the spells. That meant there were only fifteen more spells to translate. There were hundreds of spells in the book, but the twenty-one Hermione had picked out seemed like they would be most useful for the vanishing cabinet. It was good progress for an hours worth of work.

The following day found Draco standing in front of the teller's desk at Gringotts with his mother beside him. He had received a missive from Gringotts to present himself to have all the Malfoy family vaults and accounts transferred over to his name and keyed to his wand and handprint. He had been expecting it, but standing here in front of Brodkit, the mean goblin who always handled his family's vault, Draco felt angry. Angry that he had to do this. Angry that he was missing Defense Against the Dark Arts, one of the few classes he shared with Hermione. And angry that at sixteen, he had to gain full control over his family's complicated financial concerns.

Brodkit handled Draco's wand deftly and with reverence, which Draco appreciated. He hadn't wanted to take the time to go down to the main vault, but it was required for the handprint identification. Draco sighed as he escorted his mother behind Brodkit to the carts at the back of the bank lobby.

Once they were settled inside, the cart took off at a breakneck speed heading straight down. The ride seemed to take forever. The Malfoy vaults were some of the oldest in the bank, so they were the furthest down. Draco didn't quite understand how it worked. From what he did understand, the goblins pushed the earth downward to make room for newer vaults at the top as needed. It was a complicated bit of magic that Draco had been interested in when he had first learned of it as a child. His father had put a quash to the conversation Draco had started with Brodkit about it. Draco sighed at the memory.

They finally reached the main Malfoy vault, a place Draco had only been a handful of times. He didn't get to visit Gringotts often, and when he did, he usually only went to the heir's vault a few levels above the main vault. Brodkit hopped out of the cart and led the way to the vault door. There were only a few vaults on this level; they each ringed a large open space that held an honest-to-the-gods white, mostly blind, dragon. As a child, Draco had been fascinated and thrilled when he got to come to the main vault and see the dragon. As he grew older, he felt sad every time he thought of this dragon. Dragons were wild and fierce, but this dragon seemed sad and frightened.

Approaching the door, Brodkit performed some bit of goblin magic and had Draco put both palms on the door. Another spell was muttered by the creature, and Draco's handprints were recorded as Head of House Malfoy. They entered the vault ,and Draco's mother went to the wives section. She was no longer considered a wife of the House Malfoy. She was a widow and had her own widow's vault several levels above the heir's vault. She placed a few pieces of her jewelry in the wives section and then beckoned Draco over.

"Do you think you should pick something for Miss Granger's Yule gift?" Mother asked as she gestured at the jewelry in front of her. Draco was taken aback at the offer.

"No! Mother, this stuff is all yours and will be for a long time!" Draco told her.

His mother looked at him with sad eyes, "It's yours now Draco. To do with what you wish. If you wish me to have access to it for a while longer, I will gladly accept. But I have no plans on imposing on your future wife."

"I - I mean, I hadn't thought that far…" Draco trailed off. Hermione was his mate. He loved her, he had to protect her, and he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But wife? That thought hadn't crossed his mind.

"Not yet, Draco. You are only sixteen, but Mr. Greyback has told me of mates," she reached up a hand and cupped his face. "I want you to be happy, my little dragon."

She hadn't called him that in years. It's what she called him when he was a little boy. He wrapped his arms around her and despite how much bigger he was than her these days. She held him while he cried.

Pup,

Meet me in at the Shrieking Shack at dusk. We have some things to discuss.

Alpha Greyback

Fuck, fuck, fuck, Draco thought reading the missive from his Alpha again. He crumpled it in his hand. It was the middle of the week and the full moon would be the following Monday. They hadn't heard from Lupin yet, and Draco didn't feel ready to face Greyback. He could still hear Greyback crying out the Avada Kedavra at his father. And then hear his father's body hit the ground. He shuddered at the thought. He was having nightmares over it and had taken to sleeping on the couch in the Come and Go Room. He hadn't told Hermione about any of that. She didn't need another reason to worry about him. Or another thing to try and fix for him. She was doing enough. Probably too much. He should work on shielding her from some of his burdens. She was his mate and he loved her and he had to protect her.

It had already been dinner time when he received the owl from Greyback. He slipped into the dungeons to grab his cloak and slip outside before curfew came at 9 o'clock. He sneaked out the front doors and walked along the castle walls until he was in front of the Whomping Willow. The tree swung wildly in an unseen breeze and when an owl got to close, it reached a branch out and swatted at it. The owl hooted and flew off away from the tree. Draco sent a silent Immobulus to the tree and watched as all the branches came to a shuddering halt. He ran forward and hit the knot at the base of the tree to open the trapdoor. He slid inside the tunnel and released his Immobulus once he was in the tunnel.

He took his time walking through to the shack, working on keeping himself calm. He spoke with Reule in his mind. He told him that Greyback was still his Alpha. He would remain his Alpha for the time being, regardless of how angry and upset he was, it wasn't time to show his hand. He was pretty sure Reule was listening. At least that was his hope.

When he reached the trap door at the other end of the tunnel, he paused underneath of it and used his wolf senses to see if he could hear or feel anyone on the other side. He didn't want to use magic and give himself away. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He turned his head so one ear canted up toward the trap door. There, a scuff from a shoe. He sniffed as quietly as he could; he was only getting tunnel dirt, dust and wood from the house above him, and werewolf. Which werewolf? Greyback. Draco shook himself from the slight trance he had been in and pushed the trap door open. He gripped the floor and hauled himself out of the tunnel and kicked the trapdoor shut behind him. Greyback was standing, facing away from him, toward the broken fireplace on the other side of the room. On the mantle were two glasses and a bottle of firewhisky.

"Pup," Greyback said, his voice welcoming as he turned to face Draco. He opened his arms, expecting Draco to hug him.

Draco stood where he was, he did incline his head in respect, "Alpha."

Greyback's face fell and he dropped his arms. He ran a hand over his dreadlocks and turned back around. Greyback opened the bottle of firewhisky and poured a healthy amount into both glasses. He turned and handed one to Draco. Draco took it but didn't sip from it. Not until Greyback took a sip first, with a roll of his eyes. Draco thought it was smart not to trust the man. Once Greyback had taken several sips and nothing happened, Draco took his first sip of the liquor. It burned his throat, but tasted good and warmed his belly.

"Listen, pup, I hope you realize there was nothing I could have done," Greyback started, but he wasn't looking at Draco. He had turned back toward the fireplace and spoke to Draco over his shoulder.

"I understand," Draco said, his voice formal and cold.

"I don't think you do," Greyback replied as he turned back to face him.

"I'm branded with the same mark as you, Alpha," Draco said. "I understand that the needs of our Lord come before the needs of our pack."

Greyback inhaled sharply at that. Draco knew that wasn't Greyback's philosophy. Or at least that was the philosophy Greyback had been trying to feed Draco. Greyback had told Draco that he was playing along with the Dark Lord until he could get what he wanted. He'd said that the pack came first; it always came first. Now Greyback wasn't going to be sure where Draco's loyalty lay. Was it with the pack? Or the Dark Lord?

Draco's loyalty lay with Hermione. She was his mate, and she would always have his first loyalty. Second was his mother, then his pack, then the Order. He had no loyalty to the Dark Lord. But what better way to put Greyback on wrong footing than to make him think that Draco was truly a Death Eater?

"Yes, as you say," Greyback replied slowly. He looked to be thinking hard and was casting an appraising eye over Draco. It looked like he was seeing Draco in a new light and didn't like what he saw.

"Then all is forgiven?" Greyback tried. If Draco was truly a Death Eater, he would follow the Dark Lord's command regardless of his personal feelings on the matter.

"Of course, Alpha. As you said, you had no choice. Our Lord gave you an order and you followed it," Draco bowed slightly in Greyback's direction. He had his pure-blood mask and manners on.

"Great," Greyback replied and downed the rest of his drink. He gave himself a refill and then nodded at Draco. Draco shook his head. He needed to keep a clear mind if he was going to manipulate his Alpha in the way that would make Hermione's plans work.

"Let's discuss Beta duties," Draco suggested. There was a set of worn table and chairs shoved into the corner of the room. Draco levitated them up and over to between where he and Greyback were standing. He made his way over to the chair closest to him and sat down. Greyback grabbed the firewhisky bottle and joined him at the table.

"Yes, let's," Greyback agreed once he sat down. Greyback asked Draco how he was coming along with getting the vanishing cabinet to work. Draco relayed as much detail as he dared, while imparting that it wasn't anywhere near ready yet.

Then Greyback began explaining to Draco that he wouldn't be able to take on most of the traditional Beta duties, being so far away from the pack at school. That said, he did have other duties he wanted Draco to take on. These duties required financial persuasion, and with Draco now the richest wizard in Britain, he was ideal for the job.

Greyback wanted Draco to bring lone werewolves out of the woodwork and either have them join Greyback's pack or their own packs, below Greyback. Greyback wanted to be Chief Alpha of all European werewolf packs. There hadn't been one 400 years. The way to become Chief Alpha was to have the largest pack and have other packs pledge fealty to him. This was what Greyback had pitched to the Dark Lord that he could bring to the table and it was time Greyback started following through.

"I've already grown my pack in the last year by about half," Greyback told Draco. "Packs can't get much bigger than 25 or 30 werewolves, it's hard to sustain. We'll have to start forming smaller packs. Packs that have their own Alphas and Betas, but swear fealty to us."

"That makes sense," Draco replied. This would work perfectly with Lupin wanting to join the pack at the next full moon. "How do you plan for me to begin finding and recruiting these lone werewolves?"

"Two ways actually," Greyback told him. "First, there's the werewolf registry the Ministry keeps. Get your hands on a copy of that. Second, here," Greyback shoved a piece of parchment across the table to Draco. It was grubby and looked like it had been in Greyback's pocket for some time. When he unfolded it he found a list of hundreds of names. Draco looked up at Greyback in confusion.

"As many of the people that I know that I bit," Greyback told him. There wasn't even a hint of remorse in his voice or on his face. Another reminder to Draco that Greyback was a monster. Draco might be resigned to being a werewolf because he was caught in a punishment he didn't deserve by family circumstances. But that didn't mean that he wanted to be a werewolf. If he could go back in time and not get bitten? He would do it in a heartbeat. He just nodded in reply to Greyback and looked back at the list.

"Don't know how up to date it is, might not even all be alive or in Britain anymore. But cross-reference with the werewolf registry and you should be able to come up with some addresses. I'd start with a letter. Maybe hold a meeting or two during your next Hogsmeade weekend," Greyback said. He went on to give Draco tips and pointers on how to coax and cajole these lone werewolves to want to join a pack. Greyback told him he would have to play to his audience. If they seemed like werewolves who wanted Wolfsbane, then promise them that. If they seemed like werewolves who wanted a parcel of land and plenty of running space on full moons, then promise them that. Whatever they seemed to need, use that to convince them, no matter what it was.

Draco absorbed Greyback's lessons. He may hate the man, and despise everything he was trying to do, but he was still his Alpha. And he had been a werewolf for a lot longer than Draco had been. He knew he could learn something from him. Draco had been raised in a world of politics and intrigue. He took the lessons from his father and his mother and applied them here. Don't think about your disgust; think about how much use he will be in getting what you want. The more Draco knew, the better off he would be once he became Alpha.

This Chief Alpha business was worrisome. Draco did not want to be Chief Alpha. He didn't even really want to be Alpha. The only reason he was doing that was so that he could give the Order the best possible use of the pack. What would happen if Draco was successful in forming these smaller packs who swore fealty to Greyback? Was it just Greyback they were swearing fealty to? Or was it the pack in general? What would happen when Greyback was overthrown? Draco didn't know the answer to any of these questions. And he didn't think Lupin would know either. The only person who might know was Mingan. But Mingan was pack now. Would he answer these questions for Draco? Or were they too close to treason? Would Mingan's loyalty to Greyback supersede the grandfatherly role he had taken to Draco?

Greyback was looking at him expectantly. He must have asked a question and Draco had been too busy worrying.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," Draco replied, hoping Greyback would repeat himself.

"I asked if you had any questions pup?" Greyback asked as he refilled his glass for the fourth time.

"Nothing pressing," Draco replied, and he downed the rest of his firewhisky.

A/N: You can find manips on my tumblr crochetawayhpff. Thoughts?