Hello all, I want to start off by apologizing for the long hiatus I took on my writing.
As I mentioned before my client that gave me ample time to write passed away, then my family and my roommates family got ill.
Well both my grandparents passed away within a couple months and my roommate/beta lost her brother and her father.
It has been a long time getting back into the writing mood for me.
Now, onto the good news! I got a new job!
I will start May 10th and I will have every weekend off, so HOPEFULLY that means I will have more than enough time to work on my stories.
For now I hope you enjoy this chapter and I want to thank every single one of you for the love and patience
you've shown me during this time! All your comments helped me get through the rough patch I was in
Beta love to starkiss666
Hermione woke with a start, scrambling out of bed she clutched her wand tightly in her hand, someone had tripped her wards. Walking through the tent flap she held her wand straight in front of her, a slight tremor to her arm as she took a shaky breath. That breath caught in her throat when she met the eyes of the person, well, her eyes met his but his didn't see her. She watched as his hand went up and prodded the ward bubble that surrounded her campsite.
Lowering her wand arm she continued to watch him, she wasn't surprised when she saw Sirius pop into existence next to him. She sat down and watched the two of them while they conversed about her wards.
"Well, Padfoot, you were right, there's definitely blood wards set up here. The problem is, there's no beginning or end to these wards, normally you can find the seam where the caster started the spell but this is just solid. There's no place to break through, if it is the bird you're looking for, you won't catch her here. I'm sorry"
Hermione grinned as the man explained the problems of breaking through her wards, she should've known Sirius would get him for help. After all, every magical werewolf has a 6th sense, the ability to see magic, if anyone would be able to figure out her ward stones it'd be him. Casting a tempus she took one last glance at Remus and Sirius, locking the picture of them like this, young and whole, in her mind before she disappeared back into her tent to freshen up and work on warding the horcrux box and creating the duplicate ring.
Remus was still prodding at the blood wards as Sirius paced behind him. Every time he touched the wards his magic stirred; it seemed this person's magic curled almost tenderly around him. He made a decision and attempted to walk through the wards, they weren't hostile in nature as far as he could see. He knew he shouldn't have been shocked when he was able to walk right through but instead of seeing what he'd hoped, he was just deposited on the other side of the person's camp, well, from what he could assume. He cracked a small smile at this person's way of thinking, someone who wasn't attuned to magic wouldn't even have noticed they'd walked through the ward boundary and out the other side. Shaking his head, he called for Sirius before the two of disapparated back to Sirius's flat. He was bound and determined to spend as much happy time with his friends as he could before having to go back to the cold, hate filled packs.
Hermione had just finished charming the horcrux box when she heard them disapparate. The box had a multitude of charms on it, including, but not limited to, an undetectable extension charm, feather weight charm, an unbreakable charm along and an imperturbable charm. The hardest charm she mastered was keying the box to not only her magic but Remus and Harry's as well. She was able to tie it to the Potter family magic as she was Harry's blood sister in her past life. Something she'd never regretted, even after their falling apart as it meant keeping him safe.
What Remus hadn't realized is when he walked through the wards, they were able to collect a piece of his magic for her. This was a something of her own creation, it was originally intended for when someone passed through it the ward would collect a sample of their magic, so she could use it to set the wards against this person's magic so next time they tried it would make them forget what they were doing there, and if they continued to find them it would end up killing them.
This time she collected Remus's magic and used it on the wards of her horcrux box. It was a fail-safe, if she was to die before collecting everything and destroying them, something that was a good possibility, this box would only open to the Potter family, Lily included, or Remus. While she trusted Sirius with her life she knew how hot headed and paranoid he could be, he wouldn't believe the note without proof.
She'd spelled a piece of charmed parchment to stick in the lid of the box. On it was a list of horcruxes, their locations, how to destroy them, how she knew about them and how to take the charms off the box so they could be destroyed all as one instead of having to fight each horcux individually. She included a note that she wrote to Lily asking her to pass it on to Harry when he got older if she wasn't around to watch him grow.
Shaking herself out of that thought she shrunk the box and shoved it into her beaded bag. Slinging the bag around her neck she checked herself over. Bellatrix's wand was in her pocket, her new cocobolo wand was in the waistband of the black jeans she was wearing. She had her hair braided back in two French plaits and she had on one of the short-sleeved t-shirts. Her scar was red and raw from her scratching at it while she worked but she couldn't be bothered to hide it.
She was going after the ring today; she knew it had a deadly curse on it as well as a compulsion charm to make the finder put it on. Digging through the few potions she had she finally found the one she was looking for. A mind shielding potion, invented by George Weasley after the war, it was neon blue in color and she knew from experience tasted disgusting but it would keep her from feeling the effects of the compulsion charm as strongly. The potion would only stay in effect for 15 minutes so she put it in her pocket making sure it was handy for when she found the ring. Taking a deep breath, she twisted on the spot and apparated to Little Hangleton, stumbling on her landing she fell to the ground. Huffing she climbed off her knees and brushed the dirt off, glancing around she noted the town was very run down. Many of the shops that lined the streets had their windows boarded or broken out, a chill ran through her as she took off in the direction of what could only be the Gaunt shack, she could feel the dark magic rolling into town from it. It was likely what had scared off many of the muggles living there without them knowing why.
She was no stranger to the feel of dark magic washing over her person but this just made her feel slimy, inside and out. As she drew closer to the shack, she cast a small detection spell before setting up a muggle repelling charm and a notice me not. Taking a breath, she double checked the vial was still in her pocket before walking up to the shack. Her detection spell hadn't shown any defensive wards or traps on the shack but she knew better than to think Voldemort had left it completely defenseless. As she reached the door, she gagged at the decayed snake body that was crudely nailed to it, she didn't fear them per say but she wasn't a big fan of snakes after facing off with nagini and the basilisk.
Flinging the door open she waited a second to make sure she hadn't set off any latent traps that her detection spell had missed. When nothing happened, she stepped into the decrepit main room of the shack. Glancing around she quickly noticed a single door on the far side of the room and went to open it. Inside were a couple thread-bare blankets, and a singular shelf, she continued to glance around the tiny room, it had probably been designed as a broom closet or even a small pantry but as she looked closer, she noticed carvings in the walls and on the inside of the door. They were crudely done, as if with a rock or stick, and looked as though a young child had done them. Stick figures were the main focus of the carvings, along with suns and rainbows, each drawing had the initials M.G. carved below them. The one that looked to be the newest judging by its details looking more lifelike, was a man on a horse and a girl staring out the window at them. It all clicked into place as she realized this had to have been Merope's "room", and the drawings were her way of keeping a journal.
Hermione glanced around the cramped space again, shaking her head she moved to step out of the tiny room, as she moved her foot struck something. She peered down at the floor and noticed a floorboard that was raising just a fraction above the rest. Gulping she crouched down and prodded the board with Bellatrix's wand, when nothing happened, she reached down and started to pry the floorboard up only to rear back in shock falling on her bum as the entire board splintered and flew up, sharp pieces of wood embedded themselves into her cheeks and forehead making her cry out in pain. Ignoring them she scrambled backwards as a cloud of miasma started seeping out of the hole in the ground as the walls of the shack started shaking. She didn't make it far before the cloud formed a hand which latched onto her leg, she screamed when her pant leg started disintegrating, melting into the flesh of her shin. She sent a silent reducto at the hole in the floor, making the miasma disperse and giving her a chance to climb to her feet.
She could feel the pull of the ring drawing her in, grabbing her potion, she flipped it open and downed its contents before casting a bubble head charm and a protego and rushing towards the hole, as her fingers closed around the ring box the miasma came back, breaking through her shield and wrapping its ghostly hand around her wrist, dirt and debris was falling from the ceiling as she let out another scream refusing to let go of the box, she quickly yanked her arm away. She watched as black blisters started to rise on her skin, biting her lip hard enough to draw blood before levitating the ring out of the box and replacing it with her duplicate, she tossed the box back into the hole and cast a quick reparo causing the miasma and shaking to immediately stop, she wasted no time pulling the stone out of the ring and throwing the metal into her warded box. She whimpered as she stuck the stone in her pocket causing a couple of the blisters to rupture, but she ignored the pain and immediately left the shack, jumping when the door slammed shut behind her. She gave the shack one last look before apparating back to her camp, landing in a heap on the floor beside her bed she let the tears fall as she sent a nonverbal accio for the last little bit of dittany she had in her beaded bag along with a general cure all that she hoped would stop the spread of the blisters covering her leg and arm.
Taking the potion, she sighed when the burning feeling numbed away to a dull throb, with shaking fingers she used a hasty diffindo and sliced her jean leg off, shimmying out of them she hobbled to the shower and turned it on, sitting on the hard floor she gingerly put her leg in the tepid water, hissing as it pelted the burns, unable to use her wand she gently peeled the melted fabric away from her leg, gagging when flash came up with it in a few spots. Once she was finished, she gently debrided the wounds before shutting the shower off and magicking her leg dry. She found the small pot of dittany and scooped out the last of it, applying generous globs to the wounds on her leg before wrapping them tightly with a well-placed ferula. She did the same to the blisters on her arm, letting out small whimpers when the bandaged tightened themselves around her arm before siphoning the blood and wood out of her face and healing them with a charm.
Wandering back into her room she took in the state of the jeans she had been wearing, she was upset at their loss but decided to hack off the other leg and make some shorts out of them, once she was done, she pulled them on and was startled when her perimeter wards tingled, alerting her someone was close. Palming her cocobolo wand, she exited the tent and relaxed immediately when she realized it was just Remus. She laughed quietly when he wandered near her wards and stopped before conjuring a chair. She tilted her head to the side and watched him closely.
"Sirius told me not to come back without him, but, well, I felt drawn to this place and your magic. I don't think you're here to hurt us, I'm going to feel awfully stupid if you're not even here right now." He muttered the last part under his breath but luckily, she could still hear it. She let out a tinkling laugh and conjured her own chair sitting it right in front of him, she was going to revel in the fact he was here, alive and well and seemingly willing to trust her.
"I don't really know why I feel that way, but my magic recognizes yours and it doesn't feel threatening at all. I just, I really wish you would show yourself so I could be 100% sure that you're not here to harm me and mine. I know you recognized Sirius and I heard from him you were able to charm Moody to let you out of the magic suppression cuffs, you can't be all bad if he felt like he could trust you."
Hermione's gut twisted painfully, she had respected the Auror in her old time before his untimely death, it had made her feel guilty when she stunned him, but she couldn't let them send her back, or experiment on her. She knew too much to let them get into her head. Shaking out of her guilty thoughts she focused on the young werewolf in front of her. Her mind provided a memory she had long forgotten existed as she listened to him prattle on.
*Flashback*
Hermione was running for her life; she had stumbled upon a half-transformed Fenrir Greyback as he was busy tearing out the throat of one of her classmates. She sent a stunner at him, knowing full well all it would do is piss him off. He went flying from the force of the stunner only to hop back up at stare at her with glowing eyes. His blood-filled mouth curved into a semblance of a smile as his eyes raked over her form.
"Oh, I'd hoped to find you again little mudblood, you smelled so good at Malfoy's I almost took you for myself."
Hermione shuddered at the thought and slowly started backing out of the alcove, only for his deep rumbling laugh to make her pause.
"Oh, little rabbit you shouldn't run from a predator, makes me want to chase you."
Her mind whirling a mile a minute she sent the strongest slicing hex she could do at the wolf before turning tail and running down the hall. She whimpered when his anger filled roar hit her ears and she could hear his footsteps thundering behind her. Pushing herself to her absolute limit she continued racing down the halls, taking the next right she saw she skidded to a stop when she saw the ceiling had caved in blocking her way. Spinning around she started to make her way out of the dead end only to come face to chest with Greyback. He grabbed a handful of her hair and tossed her against the far wall, she cried out feeling a couple fingers snap when she attempted to buffer the hit.
She felt rather than heard him stalk up behind her, he let out another chuckle, "Oh how I missed the sound of those cries little rabbit, I can't wait to pull more of them out of you as I rip you apart."
His hand wrapped in her hair again as he picked her up, dangling her in the air, she kicked and snarled trying to get away while ignoring the burning pain in her scalp. She was pulled close to the disgusting man and she gagged at the smell of his breath as he ran his tongue from her collar bone to her ear.
"You taste as good as you smell, a perfect bitch in heat" he moaned out the words and she fell still, her eyes widening as she took in his words.
"I'm going to tear you apart little one, one way at a time." he shoved her against the wall and with his other hand started tearing at the buckle in her jeans. She started screaming and struggling to get away when he finally got the button open on her jeans, he covered her mouth with his effectively quieting her screams and cries, she could feel the vomit rising as he nipped her bottom lip trying to force his tongue in her mouth.
He had just stuck his hand down the front of her jeans when he was suddenly ripped away from her, she fell to the ground and threw up bile. Coughing and crying she glanced up to see Remus fighting Greyback. Her eyes widened as she took in the glowing eyes of both werewolves, Remus's face was contorted into a horrifying snarl as he threw punch after punch at his maker.
"I've waited years to kill you Greyback, I will NOT let you TOUCH MY PACK!"
He punctuated the end of his sentence with a swift punch to Greybacks gut, causing the older wolf to double over to catch his breath, he brought his knee up clocking Greyback in the face. Hermione watched in amazement as Remus wiped the blood off his face and hands before leveling his wand at Greyback. He didn't waste any time whispering "sectumsempra" his spell hitting Greyback right in the throat, his eyes widened before his head rolled off to the side and his body fell the opposite way. Remus wasted no time hurrying over to Hermione and looking her over his eyes still glowing in the dark hallway.
"He didn't hurt you too bad, did he?"
She shook her head still trembling from the fear the disgusting wolf had put into her, she hadn't ever considered they might attempt something like that, she hadn't been prepared for it. She wordlessly held up her hand showing him the disfigured fingers on her non-dominate hand. She whimpered when he gently held her wrist and he told her to breathe as he mended the broken bones, adding a ferula for good measure to keep the mending bones from shifting.
"What did you mean by your pack?" she whispered as he continued healing the small bumps and bruises, she'd obtained during the run and battle.
Remus sighed, "When you first stood in front of me in the shrieking shack, you were putting yourself between someone you thought was a violent Azkaban escapee and someone you know was a werewolf. You were willing to sacrifice yourself for my pup's safety. Harry has always been seen as part of my pack since the day he was born, he will always be one of my pups, you doing that made Moony see you as pack."
Hermione gaped at him, "Moony can do that? Non-werewolves can be pack?"
Remus smiled indulgently at her inquisitive nature, "Yes, now, we need to get back to fighting I need you to find Harry and keep him from doing something Potter-like. I'll tell you more after the war is done, okay?"
She nodded and hugged him, he stiffened slightly before relaxing and hugging her back, he pressed a small kiss to the top of her head before telling her to be safe and heading back to the fight. That was the last time she'd seen him until Harry uncovered his and tonk's bodies in the great hall.
Snapping back from her flashback and making a split-second decision she stuck her hand through the wards, wrapping her fingers around his wrist and giving him a tug, letting him into her sanctuary. She knew the risks she was taking; a werewolf's mind was so chaotic she wouldn't be able to obliviate him if things went wrong, but she wasn't known as the brightest witch of her age for nothing, she had a few variations of langlock up her sleeve that would keep him from uttering anything to anyone about her.
She didn't wait for him to say a word or let him catch up from being yanked through her wards, she flung him into her chair and sent a mild incarcerous at him gently tying him to the chair. She leveled her cocobolo wand at him as he gaped at her.