The café that Luisa meant was actually a bistro on a sunny terrace at the far side of the castle; it offered another stunning view of the valley. Part of the dining area had glass walls and ceiling, thankfully for the humans, it was also heated. When one o'clock rolled around, they were already sitting with a pot of tea, waiting for Hermione.

Minerva had been pleased that the threatened forms had been little more than basic details about her background and education. Luisa had explained that it was merely a way to track new arrivals and that even wolves from another settlement or conclave had to go through the process. Her time with the healer had helped to further relax her, the other woman even invited her to a humans only card game of some sort, and it was starting to look like she could fit in here.

Hermione walked through the french doors with an arm full of paperwork, she had taken the time to change into brown trousers and a button up cream shirt that complemented her colouring, but like most of those around her, she was still barefoot. Minerva couldn't help but find it cute and knew that her lips were curving into a smile. Their eyes met across the room and the younger witch hurried over.

"Good afternoon."

Hermione grinned at the formal greeting she had been given, "Hi yourself." She put her free hand on the back of Minerva's chair and dropped a kiss on ebony hair. Then she took the empty seat, still grinning. "Miss me?"

Minerva rolled her eyes but did chuckle in response, "Actually yes. Luisa wouldn't let me order until you got here and I am absolutely starving."

"Typical cat, just thinking about your stomach." Hermione laughed again, leaning down to pop her stack of paperwork under her chair, out of the way. "Did you decide what you want?"

"The salmon sounds good."

"It is but I think I will go for the mushroom pasta. Luisa, did you want to join us?"

"About time you noticed that I was still here."

The wolf blushed, "Sorry."

"That's alright, you only have eyes for Minerva - it's cute, besides I have to go back to work." The healer made her excuses and left them alone. They ordered their lunch from a naked waitress and Hermione poured herself a tea.

"Planning on bringing work home with you?"

"I do, on occasion. Something I suspect that you are also known for." Hermione smiled at her, "I took the rest of the week off, so I can show you around - I can do the paperwork as and when. Did you have a nice chat with Luisa?"

"I did, she invited me out with some of her human friends too."

"That's good, they're a nice bunch. All healed up?" Minerva sighed, this time when she rolled her eyes she meant it - Hermione looked contrite and blurted, "Sorry, I didn't mean to pry. I just wanted to make sure you're ok, you've had a rough couple of weeks."

"I apologise, I overreacted. I'm not used to letting people in."

"I understand Minerva, and thank you."

The older witch raised an eyebrow again, "Hmmm?"

"For letting me know that I bothered you."

Minerva shook her head incredulously, "And that's something you have to thank me for?"

Hermione chuckled, "How else am I supposed to know if I'm annoying you…? Although I suspect that you will let me know if I actually do annoy you, however, I think that if I make you uncomfortable, you'll just keep it to yourself. So until we know each other better, we'll just have to communicate."

Minerva leaned back in her chair and just looked at the wolf for a long moment. "You are far older than your years, my dear."

The younger witch smirked, at both the sentiment and the endearment. "And that's a good thing?"

"Yes." They exchanged happy grins. "So tell me, where did your interest in obscure and challenging Transfiguration texts come from?"

Hermione started to tell Minerva all about her experiences at Ilvermorny; how she had been isolated due to being almost two years older than her peers, and for her intelligence, along with never quite being able to tell them about herself. She had explored all of her subjects, well beyond the normal curriculum and found aspects of several that intrigued her. Transfiguration proved fascinating, she had a natural aptitude for it and read everything that she could get her hands on.

"Professor Archer had an amazing personal library, not only books but also hundreds of binders of old research papers. That's where I found yours, it was startlingly well written and immediately grabbed my attention but I have to admit it took me a few read throughs to fully grasp it."

Minerva finished her tea, "I'm surprised that you could. The professional journals refused to publish it because it was too complex for most of their readers."

"More fool them."

"Did you consider undertaking a mastery or further studies? You obviously have the talent and ability."

"Yes, but I wanted to be home more. Being away from the pack is almost painful."

Minerva considered that for a moment, then spoke in a thoughtful tone, "Luisa said that your kind are incredibly social, that you would need a lot of physical contact and affection..."

Hermione smiled, "You did snuggle me a lot last night, that was more than just nice. And yes we are extremely social. Our very nature is to be close, to work as a team and be there for each other. We all know that any one of us would lay down our lives for another - that if someone needs a hug or a shoulder to cry on, they won't have to go far to find one."

"It sounds… completely alien to me. My family were never particularly demonstrative and as an adult I'm well known for my reserve… However…"

"...Mmmmm?"

"However, the idea has a certain appeal. I have never experienced that kind of acceptance." The reticent woman practically had to force the confession from her lips.

At that moment, the waitress came back with their food. "Thank you." They both said in unison, the wolf nodded and gave a subtle sniff in Minerva's direction before leaving.

"Why do people keep smelling me?"

"Well you do smell pretty good." She chuckled at Minerva's amused headshake. "Your scent is human obviously and a bit like me too because we have been touching, but their noses are telling them that we aren't yet mates - they're just curious - also after this morning you smell somewhat like cat too. They've never met an animagus and most probably have no idea what one is."

"None of your people have tried it?"

"No, there has been plenty of research into applying the idea and other human transfiguration but given our nature, it has never been attempted. It's just too dangerous." Hermione let her words sink in, then twirled her fork around in her pasta and watched the older woman eat for a minute.

"So about tonight… I need more information."

"Uh… formal wear… pretentious food… boring conversation. Basically it's dinner-made-fancy: allocated seating, pre-dinner cocktails, aperitifs, and the whole works. The Council are mostly elderly, old fashioned and will probably want to interrogate you a little. But as I said earlier, I have every confidence that you can handle them. You are a truly impressive woman, with plenty to offer us, and they'll see that."

Minerva smiled at the young woman warmly, "I appreciate the vote of confidence and your support, it means a great deal. You're putting your reputation on the line for me."

Hermione leaned closer and squeezed an elegant hand, "I truly believe that you are worth it."

Authors Note: When I split the story into chapters, this one was always a little shorter. Thanks to Libby for the beta, more coming tomorrow.