A/N:
Surprise! I'm back from a completely unintentional hiatus and have spent the last few weeks planning out the next half of the story. (I've also edited the earlier chapters over on AO3, getting rid of silly mistakes like changes in tense etc, so please go and reread if you feel like it!)
I can't promise weekly updates going forwards, but I can guarantee there won't be another 2 month gap between them 3 Thank you all for your patience, and enjoy!
Much love xx
Chapter 30 - Connection
"Right. Well," Hermione struggled to find anything to say, realising that Draco's gaze, so suddenly captivating, had dropped to watch the movement of her lips. She pressed them together and gulped, a heated flush spreading across her features.
With her heartbeat pounding in her ears and making it difficult to think, she was only vaguely aware of the excuse she uttered to get out of there, away from the weight of molten silver. "If we're all decided, that is to say we, um, we know the plan for, well, for tomorrow night," she began backing towards the door of the classroom without removing her gaze from Draco, who appeared frozen to the flagstones. "I'll just head back to the dorm. Rest. Yes, rest. Goodnight."
Feeling the doorknob at her elbow, she spun quickly and yanked the door open with more force than necessary, flinching at the sound of it clanging against the wall as she fled down the hallway.
"Shit," she hissed to herself, feeling her face continue to burn.
Not paying full attention to her feet, she stumbled on a raised flagstone, managing to catch herself against the wall but knocking a disgruntled portrait in the process. "Sorry, I'm sorry," she panicked a hasty apology, but the medieval witch had already made her way out of the frame, grumbling as she went. Hermione sighed and closed her eyes as she slid to her knees and leant her forehead against the wall, cradling her stinging hands in her lap.
Without the presence of familiar, soothing scents to bolster her - and she had to admit that Draco's scent soothed her more than Ginny's or Bill's - Hermione's strength waned and she knew it would prove difficult to lift herself from the floor and keep moving. It was too close to the moon for that and she knew that once she made it into her bed, it would be a miracle if she managed to get out of it in the morning.
"Come on," Bill's half-amused voice, accompanied by his arm around her shoulders, interrupted Hermione's bemoaning of her own feebleness. "Up you get. You've just had a shock. Can't blame you mind, it being Malfoy and all, but let's have a chat about it, alright?"
Hermione rolled her head to the side and cracked open one eye to find his blue orbs glinting knowingly at her. "Bill," she groaned, impressing her weariness on him.
"I know, 'Mione. Just come on, not for long. I've sent Gin away so we can talk properly."
Hermione groaned again but nodded her head and allowed Bill to help her up and lead her slowly back towards the disused classroom, kicking the door closed behind them. His familiar scent, soothing as it was, was completely overshadowed by the scent of freshly cut grass which told her that Draco was still in the classroom without having to open her eyes. She sighed in grudging acceptance at the recognition, understanding it was futile to force the prominence of his scent to the back of her mind any longer.
"Salazar! What did she do to her hands?" Hermione scoffed at the concern in Draco's voice but sobered when his hands on her wrists sent warmth shooting up her arms and down her spine. "What happened, Granger?"
"Fell," she murmured, concentrating on the pattern of his thumbs moving over her pulse points. "Wall," she clarified as she opened her eyes, intending to take her hands back but finding the movement impossible at the look on his face.
Draco gently pulled her away from Bill and into one of the chairs scattered around the room. He took his Hawthorn wand out of his robes, the wand that Harry had defeated Voldemort with, and ran it over the cuts on her palms, his lips moving soundlessly around the word of the healing spell.
"Thank you, Draco," she said quietly, receiving a grunt of acquiescence along with a nod of his head which made his soft hair fall into his eyes. "Did you know?" she couldn't help asking, but regretted it when his head snapped up to meet her gaze.
"Did you?" was his only counter and she could only shake her head sheepishly. "Well then," he said as if that solved the matter.
"Hermione," Bill began, sitting down in a chair across from them. "I know what you're aware of in theory. Malfoy, what do you know about this? Wolf packs, Alphas and the like?"
"Mostly what Granger's told me about you lot. She was turned by Greyback and now views your family, Potter, my Aunt and Teddy as her Pack. You're her second because of the wolf thing," Hermione observed Draco flinch a bit and shift his eyes away from Bill before he continued. "She cares, overly so, about you all."
Bill nodded thoughtfully for a moment as he considered what to say, then leant forwards with his elbows resting on his knees. "Packs like ours are rare. Perhaps it formed because of 'Mione's compassion or her inherent closeness with us all, or maybe because I was already there as a de-facto Beta; I'm not sure. But even Packs amongst Werewolves are rare since they're usually such solitary creatures. When a Pack does form, it takes shape much like a normal wolf pack would with an Alpha pair, a Beta pair and then the others." Bill held his hands up to form two sides of a pyramid.
"And the Alpha pair take primary care of the entire pack and the Beta pair assist them in doing so. That I do know. It makes sense," Draco jumped in with a shrug before scowling. "What doesn't make sense to me is what the hell just happened."
"Well I think that would be pretty obvious, Draco," Hermione snapped, turning a scowl that could match one of his own on him. "I'm sorry if you didn't want this, but I sure as hell didn't intend for it to happen."
"That's not what I'm saying, Granger! Salazar," he brought his hands up to press tight circles into his temples. "I'm just not sure how because you're, well... You're you aren't you? And I'm me. And that just doesn't work because you're so much better."
Hermione blinked at him open-mouthed, even when Bill began talking again.
"That's just it, Malfoy. That, right there. You care for her enough..."
"Care?" Draco scoffed, interrupting Bill. "It's not care, it's just the fucking truth. "Look at everything I've done compared to everything she's done. She shouldn't have to put up with me if I was the last man on earth!"
"Yet you'd still protect her and be there for her despite giving up everything you could have. You'd do it for her."
"Of course I fucking would!" Draco shouted, eyes going wide as he suddenly realised the full implication of his admission.
Hermione reached out and tentatively wrapped her hands around his shaking wrists, stroking his pulse points, the veins prominent beneath translucent skin, as he had done for her earlier. He looked at her, shock turning to despair before becoming apologetic, and she squeezed his wrists slightly before sliding their palms together and entwining their fingers.
"It's alright, Draco," she tried to reassure him. "This doesn't have to change anything."
"Hermione," Bill warned.
"No, Bill," she stopped him without moving her eyes from Draco. "Nothing has to change. I'm here, he's here, we can carry on as we are."
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bill open his mouth again to argue and turned her head sharply, eyes flashing. "I said no, Bill." Her Beta shied away from her, looking down at the floor as she turned back to Draco. "Not until we're both ready."
X - X - X
"You know it's already done, 'Mione," Bill tried again on their way out of the castle before sunset the next night, Ginny on their trail. "You can't deny what's already been decided."
"I'm not denying it, Bill," Hermione sighed, unwilling to fight when all she could focus on were the ripples of pain rolling through her body that came with an itch under her skin, making her restless.
"But you said, last night..."
"I said that nothing has to change until we're both ready. That wasn't me denying it," she turned to look up at him and smiled wearily. "I'm aware that there's a connection between myself and Draco. Even before he managed to break the fidelius on Shell Cottage he had somehow managed to access the girls' dormitories in Gryffindor tower, so obviously there is a link there. Not to mention that scent of his. But he's just not ready and I won't push him." She stopped and waited until Ginny stood next to her as well. "Neither of you will push it either, understood?"
The two of them nodded in agreement and Hermione started walking again, continuing their path towards the Whomping Willow.
"Bill, you'll need to be ready to levitate something onto the knot later," she pointed out just as she cast a wordless wingardium leviosa on a nearby rock herself. "No doubt my wolf will still want to return here before sunrise."
She motioned Bill and Ginny into the tunnel ahead of her then jumped down, her bag falling off her shoulder and landing on the floor of the tunnel beside her as he knees buckled. She groaned at the jolt it sent through her body and Bill doubled back, passing her bag to Ginny and helping Hermione to her feet again.
"The sooner I shift, the better," Hermione found herself muttering into Bills chest as he held her close to his side.
"Well it shouldn't be too long now. Let's just get back out of here first, hmm?" He chuckled and Hermione felt the vibration of it in her chest.
They made their way up into the Shrieking Shack, to the room that would be Hermione's den in ten hours or so, and set out everything they would need in the morning. Then, they made their way back down the stairs and through the tunnel, the knot in her stomach loosening with each step.
"I bet it feels better tonight, doesn't it?" Ginny smiled at her as she helped Hermione out of the tunnel entrance. "Knowing that you won't be stuck in there."
"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "I didn't even realise how tense I was just thinking about it."
"Still, best to get to the trees before you change. Come on," Bill ushered them in the direction of the forest, the sky growing darker above them.
The three of them found a clearing not too far into the forest and sat, leaning against the trees waiting for the moon to rise. Bill and Ginny chatted amongst themselves, catching up on what the other members of their family had been up to, but Hermione focused on breathing through the pain, letting the comforting sound of their voices wash over her.
She clenched her eyes closed and shifted to her knees, gritting her teeth and growling against the pain as it grew, coursing through her bones and muscles as the time to shift came closer. Bill moved across the clearing to her and grasped her hands, digging her fingers into the soil as her body began to shudder violently.
"Change now, Ginny," her Beta ordered his sister. "She's close."
Hermione felt the sensation of Ginny's magic close to her as her friend changed into her animagus form. It was joined briefly by the calm of the newly risen moon, just before her joints began to crack and pop under the pressure of her transformation and she screamed into the night.
Freedom. She was in the open air, surrounded by the scent of the forest and able to run with her pack again. It had shrunk to two this time, but she was pleased to sense her Beta back with her. She blinked her large, jade eyes open and found him sat back on his haunches in front of her. She stood and shook out her fur before nosing at his face, the roughness there grazing her snout.
The other was with her again, the new one; the one who'd kicked her. She cocked her head curiously at the horse, her pack mate, and it lowered its neck so that it's nose touched the ground in front of her, conceding. She huffed and turned to the forest, looking back to her companions for the evening and motioning them ahead of her.
It was time to run.
And run they did, all through the trees, twisting and turning and leaping until she sensed a tiredness in her pack mates. She settled in a clearing where she could see the moon through the trees and howled her joy at the freedom she'd had that night. They would need to rest until morning, and she wanted the comfort of her den.
Back at the edge of the forest, her Beta and the other set off around the treeline so she hung back and huffed, looking longingly across the open space ahead of her. She wanted that final opportunity to stretch her legs to their limit.
"We need to go this way, 'Mione. Do you trust me?" Bill was walking backwards away from her, the pale horse continuing further ahead without pausing. She couldn't let her pack wander alone so, huffing once more, she set off after them.
They had almost made it around the edge of the forest, so close to the entrance of her den, when a cold wind began to blow from the castle, bringing with it scents that drew her. Scents of flesh and blood and a sweetness that came with sleep.
"'Mione?" her Beta called as her legs began to carry her towards the scents. "Hermione!" he repeated, sterner, and she shook her head free of the stupor she'd fallen under.
She turned back to her companions, away from the tempting scents and the two of them moved towards her, circling her and crowding her with their scents. The scent of pack. This was all she really needed.
"Come on," Bill said, holding a hand against her shoulder while the horse lay its neck across her back. "Race you to the tunnel?"
At the excited tone of his voice, she growled low and sprang forwards, dislodging the horse and causing it to whiny, shaking its head. She soon heard the hoofbeats pounding the ground behind her, but there was no way she'd let them beat her to her den.
"That's it, 'Mione. Keep going, we're catching you," she heard Bill holler from behind her and she turned her head to look, barking out a laugh at the distance between them. Still, she put on a burst of speed and dived into the tunnel beneath the already still tree and didn't stop moving until she was panting and burrowed in her blankets, drifting into a contented sleep once her companions joined her.
The grey, Scottish morning allowed them to rest long after sunrise, only waking when the rain began to beat on the roof. Hermione shifted deeper into the blankets for warmth against the sound but stilled almost as soon as she'd moved, letting out a groan as she felt the twinge of her overexerted muscles.
"Ginny," she tried to say, licking her parched lips and clearing her dry throat when she made no sound. "Ginny?"
Her friend heard her the second time and reached a freckled hand out to entwine her fingers with Hermione's.
"How you feeling?" she asked, eyes still closed.
"I need to stretch and take my pain relief potions, then I'll be fine," Hermione croaked her reply, smiling when she felt Bill's fingers begin combing through her unruly mane.
"Do you want me to leave you in my sister's capable hands?" he whispered, voice heavy with sleep.
"Let's just stay like this a while longer," Hermione decided, unwilling to leave the comfort of her den and her pack just yet.
She'd just started to doze again when her eyes shot open wide and wary, her hearing picking up on the sound of someone on the stairs.
"What is it?" Ginny asked, noticing the sudden tension.
But then the door opened, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief; first at the scent of the visitor and second at the sound of their voice.
"Room for one more?" Draco asked, poking his head through the crack in the door.
"Come on in," Bill chuckled, shifting at the same time to put a more noticeable distance between himself and Hermione.
She also noticed that he patted the space next to her, and she rolled her eyes at him as Draco took the invitation, holding his knees to his chest as he sat facing her by her hip.
"Looks like you had a good night," he said, placing a hand down next to hers, millimetres between their fingers. He smiled as she nodded at him then continued, "I had an interesting one, too. Look."
Hermione could tell that he was putting on being smug to hide his nervousness without having to look at him, but she looked anyway as he had asked, only to find him sticking his tongue out at her.
"Is that…" Ginny began, wonder lacing her voice. "I know you said you would after last month, but you've actually done it!"
"I don't know why you sound so shocked, Weasley. I was quite serious when I said I would."
"Wait," Hermione furrowed her brow. "What have you done?"
"He's nicked a mandrake leaf from somewhere," Ginny squeezed Hermione's hand pointedly, grinning mischievously at Draco.
"I do not nick, but yes," he answered Hermione's wide-eyed expression. "In one month and an electrical storm's time, I'll be able to help you during the full moons."
