"I know you are one," Teddy answered.
She frowned. "How?"
"Last night was the full moon. Your wolf is black with yellow eyes," he said, hoping the details might convince her. "You didn't have a potion so you won't remember it."
She let her head drop down onto her knees. Again, there was a long pause before she whispered, "Werewolf?"
"Yes," he answered softly.
Hermione jerked her head up and yelled and the door. "George Weasley, if this is one of your pranks, I'm going to hex you every day for a year!"
George, of course, did not answer.
She turned her sad eyes on him. "Tell me it's a prank."
Her voice was so desperate. He inched to the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry, Hermione."
Her shoulders hunched up before she closed her eyes. She swallowed hard and took in a ragged breath.
He reached out and touched her shoulder. "It will be okay," he told her.
She fixed her dark eyes on him with an unfathomable stare. "Yeah?"
He moved his hand in a slow circle, trying to comfort her. "Yeah... I mean, being a werewolf sucks. Life sucks," he added, thinking of Lilith. "But there are some good parts. Running through the forest as a wolf can be a rush. Harry and Ginny are going to be so happy that you are alive. I think they had given up hope."
She turned away. "That may be so but what am I supposed to do here? Why didn't I just die?"
His hand stilled. "We need you to catch this murderer, for one," he said. "The rest... well, you'll need time to figure that out, won't you?"
She gave a mirthless laugh. "I suppose I've got plenty of that."
He tightened his grip on her shoulder.
She finally turned to look up at him. She flashed a smile that didn't really cover the sadness that still haunted her eyes. "Don't worry about me, Teddy. I can take care of myself. I'll be fine."
He did worry. "I'll show you the werewolf pack," he promised. "I- we all can help you."
She didn't look convinced but they were interrupted by a knock on the door. They both looked at it.
"Harry?" Hermione asked Teddy.
Teddy nodded. "Come in!" he called.
The door cracked open. Harry poked his head into the room. "All clear?"
Teddy was about to answer when Hermione twisted around in her chair. "Harry?" Her voice wavered like she was still on the verge of tears. "Is that you?"
"Hermione," Harry said in awe before darting into the room and towards her.
She jumped from her chair and ran towards him. "Harry!" She buried her head against his chest. "Oh, Harry."
Harry chuckled as he pulled her in a tighter hug. "I've missed you, Hermione," he said softly. "Welcome back."
...
And Part 1 is done! Unfortunately, that also means we have caught up to what I have written so far.
I have written a draft for the next part but right now it is pretty rough. I'm not really sure how long it will take me to polish it enough for it to be readable. If my depression gets the worse of me again it might be a couple months. Hopefully not, but I'd appreciate any prayers that it will stay away ;)
Hope you guys enjoyed part 1! Please tell me what you think so far :)