Hermione shifted into her wolf form almost as soon as Minerva's soft snoring started. She had a lot of ruffled fur to soothe. If this had been a myth or legend, she would have been able to communicate with them telepathically from inside the cave but in real life what she had said earlier was true, wolves cannot talk, except to other wolves.
She padded past the two at the entrance, noting happily that they followed her immediately and seemed more relaxed about leaving Minerva unguarded. The other three wolves joined them, along with one unexpected figure in human form, all panting heavily.
Andrew, glad that you are back safely.
We tracked them back to an isolated property, they had killed the homeowners twelve to fourteen days ago. It seems they wanted the house to hold a high profile captive in secret.
How did you handle it?
We placed the female homeowner's body in chains in the cell and the four bodies from the woods in their beds. Katerina came with us and magically torched the house. If anyone comes looking, they'll find: a captive, four men and an old corpse in the garage, charred and crispy in a nice little package.
Hermione looked up at a young teenager with a happy wag of her tail, acknowledging her presence. The youngster placed a small bag on the floor and unshrunk it with a wave of her wand. A whiff of Minerva's scent came out of the bag. She shifted into her wolf and spoke directly to Hermione. I found these items in the house, I think that they belong to your witch.
Good work. Katerina and thank you. A small brown wolf twitched her ears, wagged her tail with palpable glee and ran back towards the settlement at full speed. The young witch was barely fourteen and it had been the first time that she had left the conclave, much less on a mission of this magnitude. She's adorable.
Speaking of people you find adorable..? Are you sure about this? Claiming a human? Mating with a human?
What? She's hot.
The male wolf rolled his eyes, I'm not going to be the one explaining it to your father. And when you do so, you may want to provide him with more than simply… She's hot.
Give me some credit. Hermione bounced around for a moment, letting go of her excitement and tension. Our posts are covered?
Yes, a replacement team was sent straight away. There's a vehicle waiting for you both in the meadow and the Council of Elders are expecting you to address them tomorrow evening.
Do they know what about?
No… but they've seen this before, so guessing it shouldn't take them long.
Hermione glanced at her old friend, then at the other wolves, who actually seemed not to care. Thank you all.
The figures melted away back into the forest, leaving the dark wolf alone at the cave entrance with daylight fading away and then she returned to the fireside.
Minerva woke up with a start several hours later, for a while not knowing where she was. The first thing she noticed was the lack of manacles around her wrists. She lifted her head, spotting the dark fur of a snoozing wolf near the entrance. Apparently it hadn't been a dream.
"Hermione?"
The wolf shook herself awake and walked over to where Minerva was lying. She collapsed on the edge of the sleeping bag, alongside the older woman's legs and put a surprisingly weighty head on Minerva's stomach. Golden eyes looked at hers and then closed contentedly, accompanied with a heavy sigh.
The Gryffindor raised a hand and shakily touched the dark fur. It was thick, warm and softer than she expected. She gently caressed what she could reach, feeling the different textures, finding that the fur behind Hermione's ears was incredibly fine and plush but that the thick guard hairs over her shoulders were coarse. The wolf rubbed her chin firmly on the flat planes of Minerva's stomach, spreading her scent on the witch and enjoying the contact.
Something occurred to Minerva and she gently tugged at a handful of fur, until Hermione opened her eyes. "Are you naked under all that fluff?" The wolf snorted. "Sorry that was a stupid question." A lolling tongue brushed wetly against a bare wrist, in a gesture that was surprisingly reassuring. "When… you transform, do you need to take your clothes off?" The wolf lifted its head and seemed to smirk but then nodded. Seconds passed awkwardly before Minerva spoke.
"Alright." Hermione cocked her head, curious and enquiring about the sudden word. "I'll come back with you." She whined. "Perhaps I am as crazy as you seem to be but yes, I will agree to become your mate." The tongue made another appearance, lathering Minerva's face with enthusiasm - until the wolf was pushed away. "Stop it or I will change my mind." There was a huff, Hermione lay her head back on the witch and closed her eyes again.
When Minerva next woke up; she smelt something really good cooking and daylight was streaming into the cave. It seemed that she slept far better next to the wolf than alone and the thought was a little disconcerting. "Hey, good morning." It seemed that Hermione was in a cheerful mood too.
"Good morning," replied the older woman with a groan as she got up, stretching her back painfully, "I'm far too old to sleep on the floor, without consequence."
Hermione was standing at the fire turning a rabbit on a makeshift spit but took the time to smirk out a response. "Lucky for you I have a very nice bed back at home." She charmed the mechanism to continue spinning and grabbed the bag she had been given the night before. "Andrew and the others brought this back from the place you were being held. Smells like your stuff."
Minerva raised an eyebrow, "When did they go there?" Hermione outlined what the others had told her and watched the older woman's obvious pleasure when she pulled a large bag with a shoulder strap from within. She grinned when an exclamation of what was obviously joy came from the witch who retrieved her own wand and clean robes with a triumphant flourish. "Thank them for me or remind me to do so."
"I will." Hermione turned her head towards the cave entrance sharply, obviously listening hard to something in the distance that was too subtle for Minerva's ears to register. "Did you want to change while I go and see who that is?"
"Please." Minerva knew that she should have still been apprehensive but the 'big bad wolf' was clearly on her side and the younger woman's body language was relaxed, there was obviously no threat. She was also rather glad that Hermione had left the immediate vicinity; she might have agreed in principle to be with the other witch but wasn't ready to be seen in a state of undress.
A few minutes later she joined the woman leaning casually against the rockface, basking in the early morning sunlight. The day was cold but tolerable in the sunlight, if you happened to be wearing thick robes that was. Hermione, however, was dressed in the same trousers and rather see through white Muggle T-shirt from yesterday - she clearly wasn't wearing a bra and Minerva wanted to slap herself, when she saw lips curl up into a knowing smirk as the direction of her gaze was noticed.
"Hard to tell at this distance but I believe that's my nephew and his friends." Hermione's nod indicated a small group of wolves climbing cautiously down a steep cliff path, just off to one side of where the two women were standing; they were a rag-tag quartet of various sizes and colours, the smallest clearly being a large puppy and the largest, lanky and long legged. The lead wolf carefully carried a bag in his teeth and was picking the path for the group to follow him. "Callum, my half brother's son, is the one in front, he's only nine but has a really sensible head on his shoulders. The smallest one is his baby sister, Evelyn, she's five and follows him everywhere."
"Like a puppy?" Minerva's voice was dry but the younger witch chuckled at the jest.
"Absolutely. She's probably never been this far from home without an adult."
"How far are we?"
"Maybe five miles as the crow flies. Seven by trail, it's not far at wolf speed and well within howling range."
"Is that why your friends left us last night?"
Hermione faced the witch with a half smile, "Partly. They were also satisfied by that point that you weren't going to hurt me."
"Oh please."
"Is it so far-fetched?"
"I never wanted to hurt anyone." Minerva paused, "Although appearances may have… indicated otherwise. Your friends en masse are somewhat overwhelming. I've spent the better part of the last decade fighting my third war and the last fortnight as a captive - I can hardly be held responsible for being defensive."
Hermione shifted closer and carefully put an arm around a slender waist, half expecting Minerva to reject her brief touch. "That's not quite what I meant. Our people have a long history of not getting along and most of us do not have the positive experiences with humans that I do. They tend to think the worst and it's something that I want to change."
"Are there any other humans in your settlement?". She watched as the wolves reached level ground and stepped into the undergrowth.
"Twelve, most are remnants of various Muggle conflicts. Brought here by one of us, who happened to encounter them at a time in their lives when a new start was preferable to continuing on." If Hermione was going to elaborate on it, she was cut off by four children who stepped out from behind a bush, somewhat hesitantly.
The littlest was wearing a pretty sparkly dress and the three older boys were in shorts. "Hermione." The young woman waved at them. "We came to see your human."
"She's not entertainment." Hermione chuckled, taking a proffered backpack from the boy and revealing two warm thermos flasks nestled within. "Minerva, meet Callum, Evelyn, Josh and Zack. Guys, this is Minerva."
"Hi." Said Callum, "My mum sent us here with some hot drinks, she also told us to put on some clothes because apparently humans like people to wear clothes."
It was Minerva's turn to chuckle, "Let your mother know that I appreciate both of those things."
"So you're a witch?"
Minerva nodded, "Yes, I am."
"Awesome."
Hermione laughed, "Now that's done with... Our rabbit should be cooked by now, do you guys want to join us for breakfast? Or is that a silly question?"
The young witch led them all back into the cave, smiling inwardly at the thoughtfulness of her sister-in-law. The kids were pretty unthreatening and at least one of them was bound to accidentally shift during a meal, it would be a good way for Minerva to realise that they were the same as anyone else.
That was how half an hour later Minerva McGonagall found herself with a wolf pup on her lap, feeding the youngster pieces of rabbit off of her plate. The witch had barely even flinched when the girl had transformed, ending up looking very odd with her dress tangled around her animal form.
These children were younger than the ones Minerva customarily dealt with but she engaged with them readily, having missed the contact over the last several years. They were chatting eagerly, telling her stories about the castle that they lived in; built into the entrance of a huge cave, halfway up a cliff and accessed only by a bridge or secret tunnels from below. She would have been ready to dismiss their claims as exaggerated, if not for the nod of agreement that Hermione gave her.
"Alright you lot, time to get home." The dark wolf smiled at the groans she got in reaction to her words. The kids were seemingly too enamoured with their new friend to be excited about returning to the settlement. "I'm sure that Minerva will find time to catch up in a couple of days." A few huffs and growls later they trotted out of the cave and headed home.
Minerva put a hand on Hermione's knee. "They're rather cute."
"I'm glad you think so and it's nice to see you getting so used to us."
"I spent the better part of the night snuggled up to your wolf form, remember?"
Hermione laughed and packed up the supplies that they were going to take with them and stacked the items that stayed in the cave back in their spot. "It was very comfortable, I must admit."
"Perhaps because you were using me as a pillow?" The witch smirked, enjoying the humour that shone in Hermione's eyes.
"Perhaps, but I don't recall you complaining. And besides, I doubt that will be the last time I will be using you as a pillow." Minerva blushed a little, making the wolf laugh. "You ready?"
"Are we going up the side of that cliff?"
Hermione glanced up at the rock face consideringly, "It's a bit steep for two feet, we can go the long way." She could have made it without major difficulty but she was very aware that her mate-to-be was still exhausted and probably a little old for mountaineering.
Minerva cocked an eyebrow at the younger woman and before Hermione could blink, standing before her was a large grey tabby cat. "I must have missed that fact about you or forgotten it." She bent down and stroked the feline gently. "Short cut it is, though I suspect that you really just want to see me naked."
The cat's eyes went comically wide. Hermione laughed, "Fair warning, I'm about to take my clothes off. You can either turn around or not. It's entirely your choice." She raised her wand and the cat spun around. The young woman banished her clothes into the bag which she shrunk and cast a sticking charm to secure it, along with her wand, to her bare hip. Then she shifted into her wolf.
In animal form, Minerva's senses were enhanced. She could smell the earthy, forest scent change - becoming more nuanced when Hermione changed, and she turned around, coming face to face with the wolf, who had silently crept closer. The cat jumped a little, fluffing up her tail in surprise before batting the black muzzle with her paw. The canine seemed amused, especially when Minerva's front paws left the ground and the tabby headbutted against the underside of her jaw, effectively rubbing feline scent all over the larger animal.
The wolf led the way to the subtle trail worn in a zig-zag up the cliffside, hearing the cat's quiet footsteps as Minerva followed behind. It wasn't a particularly hard climb and the two women spent most of it watching each other. The cat had the advantage on this terrain; able to cut corners and leap over obstacles, often walking underneath the wolf to change position. Hermione enjoyed it, pleased that her future mate could hold her own with such obvious relish. The two animals often brushed against each other as they made the climb, with whichever one was in front at any given time making the decisions about the safest path - if nothing else, the ascent proving an exercise in building trust between them.
Minerva got to the top of the cliff first and stopped dead, almost tripping up the wolf behind her. She stood on a high plain; towering mountains visible on three sides, an evergreen forest sloping away on the fourth. The meadow was full of tall grass, blades bowed under the weight of the thick frost and the witch could imagine that it would be full of flowers in the summer. It was one of the most beautiful places that she had ever seen. She changed out of her animagus form and stood up for a better view, walking further into the high valley. In the distance were a herd of furry cattle, looking almost white under their own coating of ice. They moved skittishly, aware even at that distance of the predator standing next to the witch. The only sound was the wind.
Hermione allowed the woman to look around for several minutes before nudging her head against Minerva's leg. The witch was shivering in the frigid mountain air. The wolf wanted to shift and speak to her but mucking around with modesty and clothes was a bit much in this temperature. Once she had Minerva's attention, the canine playbowed at her.
Soon the cat was chasing Hermione through the meadow, the wolf wasn't quite at full speed but kept it at a level that shorter legs could match. Minerva found herself being led across and towards the low side of the plain, where it met thick evergreen forest, but the wolf was careful to leave plenty of room when she skirted the herd.
Hidden in the treeline was a Muggle vehicle, Hermione made a beeline for it, wanting to get her mate into the warm. Reaching the mud splattered green Land Rover, the wolf stopped running and faced the suddenly human form of her future mate.
"Just go ahead and transform." Minerva's words were uttered in a neutral tone and the witch cast a warming charm on herself while she was waiting. The wolf cocked her head but didn't move. "It's alright, I'm sure."
A few moments later Hermione was standing next to the car on two bare feet. The older witch found herself staring transfixed at the very naked expanse of bronzed skin that was revealed shamelessly to her gaze. The girl had full breasts topped by rapidly hardening rosy nipples, her stomach was flat, well-defined with a pronounced V drawing attention to buxom hips and the hair covering her pubic mound was just as dark as the fur of her wolf form. Hermione's thighs and calves were shapely but muscular, with a detailed grey tattoo circling her left leg below the knee. "I knew you wanted to see me naked."
Minerva licked her lips absently, before forcing her gaze back to the younger woman's face and decided uncharacteristically to speak completely openly, "I don't believe that I ever denied it."
Hermione laughed and retrieved her wand, getting dressed rapidly. She opened the door of the car, "Do you know how to drive?"
"No."
"Would you like to learn?"
"Now?" At Hermione's shrug, Minerva thought about it, it seemed that today really was the day for new things. "Don't blame me when we die."