Three strangers walked out of the woods. Vampires, undeniably. Not only because of how beautiful and flawless they appeared, but also because of the way they moved, glided really, and they were definitely not dressed for trekking this deep in the mountains. The woman didn't even have shoes on her, for crying out loud.
"I told you I smelled something divine," the blond one said, dark eyes fixed on her.
"And repugnant," the tall, olive skinned one added, a look of open curiosity directed at Paul.
Hermione shuddered. They all looked at her and Paul like they were unusual insects found at the bottom of a pond. What was worse was that these people - creatures - terrified her. More than Death Eaters or werewolves. Maybe even more than Voldemort. In the blink of an eye, they could snap her neck and suck her dry. She was just a snack to them. A juicy berry picked in a shrub in the woods.
"You, little one," the dark one purred. "Why don't you tell your lapdog to stand down so we can get better acquainted?"
Hermione scowled, her mouth set. Paul growled louder, his tail flicking to push her closer to him. The blond vampire snorted.
"When has that ever worked, Laurent? Let's have a taste, and if she's as good as she smells, we'll keep her for a few days."
"An hors d'oeuvre ?" Laurent chuckled. "I didn't know you had such restraint, mon ami."
Suddenly, they had moved. Fast. So fast. Paul too. He had the one called Laurent pinned under his paws, but that's all she saw before the terrifyingly dark eyes of the blond were staring into hers, his hand around her neck, cold and hard as marble. He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling deeply.
"Aaaah," he moaned. "Just what I needed."
He smiled, his sharp teeth glinting when it caught a ray of sunlight, the wake up call Hermione needed to snap out of her shock. Her hands were free, and if she had difficulty breathing, let alone talk, she cast the strongest bombarda she could muster despite being silenced.
The blond flew several feet outwards and crashed against a tree before falling to the ground, while the third vampire screamed at the sight and ran to help him. Hermione doubted she had killed him, unfortunately, but she took the opportunity to check on Paul. The wolf had only gotten a mouthful of his prey's dreadlocks and looked quite put out about it as he spat them out, all the while still pouncing hid prey into the ground whenever he tried to get up. He had the situation under control anyway, so she refocused on the other two.
They seemed to be a couple, the way they touched, or at least, she seemed enamoured with him. He just looked like a total psychopath. If looks could kill, she would already be dead. He stood, but she must have caused some damage, because his mate helped steady him.
Hermione braced herself for another attack, but the howl of wolves surprised them as much as her. The couple shared a look and… fled. Hermione stared open-mouthed, belatedly casting more bombardas at them in an effort to stop them, but it was too late. She focused her attention on the one they had left behind instead, trying to cast spells to see what would stop him, but without much success.
She thought of trying the killing curse so she could prove to Edward vampires had souls like any other being, but she would need Paul out of the way and for the vampire to be still, neither of which were possible right now.
Finally, three more wolves burst through the trees and circled them slowly, speaking in wolf judging by the sounds they made. So there was a new wolf, just like Billy had predicted. This one was a light sandy brown and smaller than the others. Younger, maybe? It was that one who broke away from the pack and pushed her out of the circle. Then, the others literally tore the vampire apart with their teeth. Past the first scream, the sounds of his body ripping apart was disturbing, and the glimpses she saw made her feel quite sick. She turned around, leaned against a tree for support, and vomited her guts out. That was something she had not expected to see today. Or ever.
When the pack was done, they turned back to their human selves, all naked of course. Hermione quickly looked up.
"Are you alright?" Sam asked her. "They didn't bite you, did they?"
"No. I'm Fine. Just… that was messy."
"You're not going to like the next part, then. You may want to go upwind," he added, pointing to his left.
Hermione nodded and sat with her back against a tree. The Pack was assembling enough wood to make a large bonfire. Of course, they had to burn the pieces, or so her family had told her. They threw him in piece by piece, causing a thick, dark smoke to billow up. Even upwind, she caught a whiff of something too sweet and acrid. Sam had been right, she didn't enjoy this one bit, and her stomach roiled again.
She closed her eyes, knowing she was safe here with the pack nearby, and let her head drop back against the rough bark of the tree.
To think she had just been out collecting herbs… she hoped never to meet another man-eating vampire again.
"Can you teleport back to the reserve?" Sam asked some time later.
She nodded. She had been shaken up, but she had more than enough determination to reach her destination, to be away from here.
"Go to my home. You remember the way?"
Hermione nodded once more and focused. Once at the ward's boundary, she walked slowly to Sam's house, waving at the people she knew and exchanging a few pleasantries despite feeling queasy about the whole ordeal. Her adrenaline high was crashing now and she was shaking all over. When she reached the door, she hesitated. She couldn't just walk in, even if Sam had told her to. He had a girlfriend from what she had gathered the last time, even if she had not met her yet. Sam's cabin was really out of the way. So she knocked.
"Come in!" a woman shouted from inside.
Hermione did, and the owner of the voice suddenly walked up to her, drying her hands on a towel with a welcoming smile.
"You must be the witch. Hermione, right?" she asked without hesitation. "I'm Emily."
Hermione nodded, looking at her scarred face with interest, having seen much the same marks on Bill Weasley's. Only when her host shifted uncomfortably did she realize how impolite she was being.
"Yes. Sorry. Hermione Hale. You must be Sam's better half."
"I don't know about better, but yes." She looked towards the door. "Are the boys coming back?"
"Yes. I took a shortcut, but everyone is fine. Not a scratch on them."
She relaxed immediately and offered her cakes, reminding her of Mrs Weasley. Her cooking was almost as good too judging by the smell, but her stomach was still too unsettled by the attack and she told her so.
"But I would love to take one for later," Hermione added.
"I doubt the boys will leave you any. Here, let me wrap one up." She actually took one of each sort and made a pretty little bundle from a checkered towel.
As generous as a Weasley, too. Hermione thanked her warmly.
"I've never seen you in town and I'm there most days now," Hermione said, making smalltalk until the pack returned.
She assumed that if Sam had told her to come here, it's because they had to talk, or debrief, or whatever it was shifters did after a mission.
"No. People… look," she gestured at her maimed face and Hermione blushed, having done the exact same thing upon seeing her.
"I'm sorry," Hermione repeated. "I didn't mean to, but I have a friend with almost the exact same scarring."
"Oh… Were you able to heal him?" she asked, sounding hopeful. "I heard you do wonders with our people."
"I… Well, no. In Bill's case, the scars were caused by a werewolf, a real werewolf, so they were cursed, and cursed scars can never be completely healed."
Emily had hers on display, impossible to hide unless she wore a balaclava. Hermione felt shitty enough about her actions that she took off her jumper, leaving her in her tank top to show her own cursed scars so Emily would know she understood somewhat what she was going through. Emily hesitated at first, eyes wide, but Hermione coaxed her to look closer.
"This one was caused by a dark curse," she explained clinically because it helped her not feel like a victim, even all these years later. "It will never heal more than this."
"It's… almost purple. Does it hurt?"
"Not any more. This is the best several healers with a lot more experience than me could do. And this," she lifted her arm to show the angry red marks Bellatrix had carved into her skin. Emily's face scrunched up. "It was done with a cursed blade, so it will always look like it was just carved. It doesn't hurt now, but it will always be there."
Emily touched the side of her own face, tracing the scars which were healed more than hers ever would.
"Are mine cursed?" she asked, so low Hermione almost didn't catch it.
"I don't know," Hermione said honestly. "Was it… " she hesitated but it made sense. "Sam? Did he transform too close to you? Paul almost took my arm off earlier when he shifted right next to me."
Emily nodded. Shifters were not werewolves, but was their ability considered a gift or a curse? Magic was always about intent after all. And more importantly, did Sam himself consider his condition a blessing or a curse? The only thing she knew for sure was that he couldn't have inflicted the wound to Emily in person. She held no anger towards him when she admitted he had caused the injury. If the curse was about intent, there was none in this case.
"Can I cast diagnostic charms at you? I'm not promising anything, but I'll do my best if it's possible."
Emily nodded and tilted her face. Touched by her trust, Hermione began casting, looking for any trace of dark magic, because whether they realized it or not, the pack were magical creatures. To her relief, she found nothing worrying, so she cast another spell to see how deep the tissue damage was, then the muscle damage-
"What are you doing!" Sam roared from the entrance.
Hermione hadn't even heard him come in, but the man was already up her nose. Emily was standing between them, hands against his chest as if to stop him.
"I asked her to," Emily said softly. "Look at her, Sam. Look."
Sam did, his eyes flicking up her body, zeroing in on her scars. Hermione cursed and quickly pulled her jumper back over her head.
"She understands," Emily said.
Sam deflated and hugged Emily, the smaller woman almost disappearing in his embrace. Paul walked up to her next. Judging by the way he seemed to be looking through her sweater, he had seen her scars too.
"Who did that to you?" he demanded.
"No one important. They're dead."
"Good. And the leech didn't hurt you, right?" he asked, tilting her chin up.
"No, I'm fine."
"You're bruising," he frowned. "If I had known, I would have attacked him instead."
"Then Laurent would have made these and the blond would be dead," she said as she touched her throat, feeling the tenderness left by the large stony hand. "Damnit, I used the last of my bruise paste on that kid."
"Brady fell out of his chair again?" Paul chuckled.
"Don't laugh. He had a bump the size of a tennis ball. His poor mother was in tears."
But Paul laughed anyway. Brady's clumsiness was legendary around La Push. He was on par with Tonks, and the poor kid was only three.
"Well, I'm glad you find the situation humorous," Billy said, startling her since she hadn't heard him arrive either. "But there's still two vampires out there with unfinished business."
Hermione blinked at him.
"What unfinished business?"
"You," Paul chortled. "If your scent is as appealing to them as it is to us, they'll be back. And we don't even want to eat you."
"Except you, Paul," Jared added, and Paul sucker punched him in the blink of an eye.
"Stop it," Sam ordered and they did so immediately, Jared not seeming to mind his bloody nose.
"Your safest option is to stay here until they are dealt with. Or you can return to your… family. If they follow your scent there, we don't mind the leeches fighting amongst themselves. The less of them around, the better."
Hermione sagged at the news, but he was right. The two nomad vampires who had fled already knew she associated with the wolf pack, so the damage was already done, but if she went back home, she would bring the danger back to the Cullens. She didn't want to make them fight because of her, not when they did their best to live peacefully.
"And of course, you can't go to Forks."
Charlie.
He, more than anyone else, would be in mortal danger with her around.
"But if they follow my scent…" she said, looking imploringly at Billy.
His car, his coat… her smell had to be all over.
"Don't worry. The other blood sucker is around Bella so often the whole place reeks of him. Charlie included."
"Alright, I'll stay here until they're caught "
What a poor euphemism to describe a dismemberment followed by incineration.
"Charlie mentioned there were a few cabins free? Or I could just sleep at my practice?"
"You could stay here," Emily offered.
Hermione glanced at Sam and tossed that idea out the window. As much as she liked Emily, her companion was too much to handle.
"You might as well use one of the free cabins," Billy cut in, noticing the tension between her and Sam. "We don't know how long it will last, after all. Paul?"
"I know just the place. Come on," Paul said as he grabbed her arm, tugging her along.
Emily barely had the time to hand her the cakes she had saved for her with a promise to visit that she was out the door.
"Paul! Not so fast!" she cried out when she nearly tripped over the doorstep.
"Sorry! Got a little excited."
"Shouldn't we stay? I'm pretty sure they're still discussing what happened-"
"Don't bother. They're just gonna go into boring details. We were there, we already know all there is to know. And since I know, the others know too."
"Oh. Right."
They walked in companionable silence for a while. They had spent enough time together that they didn't need to fill the silence with idle chit chat.
"Thanks, by the way," Hermione said. "I know you tried to keep me out of the fight."
Paul shrugged.
"You did pretty good on your own. You're a bit slow, but you sure can pack a punch when it comes down to it. For a girl, I mean."
"You want to try it for yourself?" she challenged.
"You wouldn't."
"No?"
Paul shook his head.
"You like me too much," he said with a wink, flashing his perfect pearly whites.
"I like you like a friend," Hermione insisted, not letting him get away with his outrageous flirting this time around.
"Good enough for now," he shrugged, then pointed ahead at a disused cabin nestled between two others in the centre of La Push. "This is it. What do you think?"
"Needs a bit of work, but beggars can't be choosers." She could see her healer's practice down the slope. "No excuse to be late to work."
"Yeah, and your neighbours are great too. It'll be fun."
"Why? Who is it?" she asked suspiciously.
"That's Jared's right there, and this one is me."
Hermione rolled her eyes. She should have known Billy would keep a short leash on her, but this was ridiculous.