Hermione woke up in a bed feeling uncomfortable. Her discomfort arose not from her surroundings but her skin, which in turn did not have anything to do with her leaking breasts—it happened so often she no longer thought about why they even leaked. No, it was her skin, her human form that bothered her. It made her feel defenceless even if she was capable of wandless magic now.
She mentally cursed the wizard who forced her to change. She wished to go back to being the powerful beast, but in spite of all her pleading, the she-wolf refused to transform. She began to claw at her hands and face with her blunt nails in her pitiful attempt to shed her human shell.
Relax.
The she-wolf's self-assured tone helped her feel less anxious. She longed for the she-wolf to take over again. The she-wolf had forced her human self into the spotlight in the belief that the appearance of vulnerability would work in her favour with the strange wizards, and she was proven correct. They had asked her a few basic questions about who she was and then left her alone.
"Hermione Granger," repeated Babjide. At a nod from her he continued, "Alright Ms. Granger, would you care to explain your unusual circumstances?"
"I wouldn't know where to begin," she said, hating how meek she sounded. She was unsure of herself and on the brink of all out panic. It was bad enough she was in her human form but the she-wolf had also forced her to the forefront. She closed her eyes and tried to come up with some kind of sensible answer to the man's question.
"All I can say is that I am the product of an ugly war," she said after a long pause.
"A war? And what war would this be?" asked the Supreme Mugwump, leaning forward.
"The fight against the evil regime of the one who calls himself Lord Voldemort."
"Ah, the very same Lord Voldemort who was the reason my predecessor was forced to step down?"
She nodded.
"I take it from your statement then that you belong to one of those little rebel groups?"
Another nod. She did not agree with his characterisation of the Order but knew that, as far as the outside world was concerned, they were rebels at best and terrorists at worst.
"I belong to the Order of the Phoenix." Babjide's face remained blank, that name didn't register. She used another, "I fight alongside Harry Potter!"
Emotions welled up within her as she remembered Harry, but it also brought a certain confidence to her. Harry, the fight against Voldemort—this was familiar ground.
"Harry Potter... Yes, I know what group you speak of. As I recall, it was a group founded by Albus himself."
She nodded again, not trusting herself to speak. Gods, the days when they could still depend on the wisdom and guidance of Headmaster Dumbledore felt like several lifetimes ago.
Babjide let out an exasperated sigh. "All these years later your group still continues to chase the same bogeyman," he said with a shake of his head.
"I assure you, Tom Riddle or Lord Voldemort is no bogeyman; he is very much real."
"Yes. I've heard he is a very powerful Dark Wizard, but that is hardly a crime."
"No, but enslaving and killing people is a crime. Or it was... till his followers changed the laws so they could do as they please."
"My experience in politics has taught me that there is always more than one version to any story. It is something I need to often remind myself to ensure I remain fair and unbiased in my role as Supreme Mugwump. From what we know of the situation in Britain, this Lord Voldemort is a populist of sorts... However absurd his ideology, he appears to have the support of the masses and poses no threat to the magical community at large. On the contrary, he has helped developed a revolutionary new potion which is rumoured to have fixed the fertility problem that has been plaguing magical beings for a while now."
She felt drained. Listening to Babjide reminded her of all the reasons why it had always been just a handful of Order members fighting against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. People either did not consider Tom Riddle to be a threat until it was too late or thought him too powerful to bother resisting. It was exhausting constantly having to convince people that Voldemort was an evil mad man who needed to be stopped, that he wasn't an immortal god who could not be defeated.
"So, what brought you to Uganda?"
This question was harder to answer; she felt raw from the hurt and unvented anger when she thought about why she was there. She felt Mpho and Kalisha hug her and realised she was trembling. It took another moment to realise her vision was blurry from the tears running down her cheeks. This show of weakness made her feel ashamed.
Contrary to her expectation, Babjide did not press her for an answer. He surprised her with what he said next.
"The Headmaster shared with me the memories of the night the children discovered you... I do not know why you came here but I think it may be a good thing that you ended up at Uagadou. The school staff have accepted you as their guest and extended their hospitality and protection to you. You can rest assured that you are safe here.
"I've been asked to help you return home. When I leave from here, I shall arrange for a portkey so you may re-enter Britain. However, if you ask me, Ms Granger, I think you should reconsider your decision to return home. You've clearly experienced some trauma and from the way you speak of things, it sounds like life back home is less than ideal for you. Stay here a while, let all wounds heal before you think of moving on," he said, giving her a look that suggested he was referring to more than just her physical wounds.
Babjide had left without asking her any other questions despite his obvious curiosity about her beast. Two days later, he surprised Hermione again when an owl dropped off a package containing a small wolf totem. There was also a note from Babjide, informing her that the object was a portkey for some nondescript Muggle town in Wales, good for a single use, but it would only be activated the following week. He ended the note expressing hope that she would use this time to consider making a fresh start for herself at Uagadou.
Hermione reached under the pillow, felt around until she found the portkey and held it securely within her fist. Part of her was tired enough to be tempted by the prospect of a new and strife-free life for herself. Between the acceptance from those at Uagadou as well as the adoration of her three young friends, she thought she could make a life for herself among these people—much like Remus had done with the Marauders and the Order of the Phoenix. She could spend her life safely hidden away here, but the she-wolf insisted on returning home.
Pack.
Yes, pack was important. She tried to remember why.
"Werewolves are pack creatures; we go mad without a pack."
That was Draco's reason for not completing the mate bond before she left. Thinking of Draco brought a confusing rush of emotions, ranging from feeling loved and cherished, to abandoned and disappointed.
The she-wolf was right. Uagadou was a safe haven, but it wasn't home. Her pack was out there somewhere waiting to be claimed, whether they knew it or not. Once she had a pack, she would stop feeling so out of sorts. Then she would be just as strong as the she-wolf and finally she could exact her revenge on everyone who had hurt her, as well as the ones who had let her down.
"Any news from your Death Eater friend?" asked Oskar.
Draco shook his head. "Which I suppose is a good thing or Theo would've contacted me by now."
"What about Gunnolf; any update on him?"
"No. All I know is that there aren't any tasks assigned to him on the duty roster for the next few days. Fenrir hasn't spoken directly with me since I returned. He's been excluding me from pack matters even though I'm Gunnolf's second, as far as he knows, and in charge of running the pack when the head beta isn't around."
"I wonder why that is? If he sensed any change in the bonds, he would've challenged you by now. He's up to something."
Cora, who had silently been following the exchange between Draco and Oskar, finally had a reason to speak up. "He's planning on splitting the pack. He's at long last realised that the pack is too large."
"Ah, so he has sensed some changes," said Oskar. "Gunnolf's been after him for a while to form a second pack. Nice to hear he's decided to listen."
"Yes, Fenrir finally listened, but, true to form, not closely."
"What do you mean?"
"He wants to take some of the pack to Uganda and leave the rest here at Bleidd. He also plans to remain alpha of both packs."
Oskar shook his head vehemently. "He's even crazier than I thought if he imagines that'll work. He can't keep the packs that far apart if he plans to be bonded to both."
"He can bond with two packs?" asked Draco surprised. No matter how much he learnt about pack dynamics it felt like there was always more for him to learn.
"He could, technically. An alpha may bond with several packs if they so wished, but then the bonds would be far too weak for them to effectively perform their duties as alpha. This may sound like a paradox, but the purpose of the alpha's powers is to serve the needs of the pack."
Draco nodded. Once again, he was reminded of how lucky they were to have an Elder in their pack. Such a shame Fenrir only saw Oskar as just some werewolf who was too old to be of any use to the pack.
"Has he mentioned how he plans to go about it?" Oskar asked Cora.
"From what I understood he intends to let us decide for ourselves."
"Unlikely," said Draco. "Even if Fenrir hasn't caught on to what is going on he must sense the divisions in the pack. I suspect he will split the pack along those lines."
"But the division is between those loyal to him and those who aren't," said Cora.
"Yes, so we need to ask ourselves, why would Fenrir even want a pack of those who aren't loyal to him?"
They fell silent at those ominous words from Oskar. There was no doubt in any of their minds of what Fenrir, the ruthless leader who had not thought twice before offering his pack to be experimented upon or used as cannon fodder in battles, would do to those he believed were disloyal to him.
"So much for waiting till I'm ready," Draco grumbled under his breath.
Oskar gave him a sympathetic look; to Cora he said in a stern voice, "We proceed as planned."
Cora visibly gulped, then looked down and nodded.
It took Draco a few moments to understand Cora's reaction. She was concerned for Zoey, and with good reason. Cora was due to leave with Ginny the following day after which Zoey would emerge polyjuiced as Ginny every couple of days to convince the others that Ginny remained their prisoner. They could pull off this deception provided no one loyal to Fenrir came within scenting range of the fake Ginny. For as long as they were at Bleidd and either Draco or Gunnolf was in charge of managing the pack, they could assign duties in a manner that kept that secret safe. That would change if the pack split. Whether Fenrir chose to go to Uganda or remain at Bleidd, he would want to take his prisoner with him.
Sensing Cora's unease, Draco attempted to reassure her. "Whoever Fenrir may decide to cast out, we can be certain he won't let go of Gunnolf and you. I am sure the two of you can work out a plan that protects Zoey. If at the time it doesn't look like a viable option, you can make it appear as if Ginny escaped."
Cora blinked at Draco. "Cast out?" she asked, her voice close to hysterical. "We'll be lucky if that is all Fenrir will do. You cannot expect us to just leave the rest of you and switch allegiance to Fenrir!" She looked lost, almost scandalised by the suggestion.
Oskar came to her rescue. "Relax, little one"—though delivered in a soothing tone it was a command all the same—"You will not be abandoned. Draco will do what needs to be done when the time comes. Till then, we play our roles as expected."
Although still upset, Cora appeared less so.
There were things Draco wished to discuss about the future of the pack but given Cora's reaction, he thought it best to have that discussion with Oskar alone later.
"Have you managed to prepare Ginny for what to expect once she returns?" Draco asked Cora.
Cora shook her head. "She believes she will be safe once she returns to the Order. I'm worried the shock will be too severe and she may return to her previous mental state."
"The shock? Surely she came to the same conclusion as Hermione about why she ended up a prisoner to start with?"
"I don't know. I've tried to talk to her about her capture, and the events leading up to it, but she usually shuts me off. She either hasn't considered the possibility or is too scared to consider it."
"She needs to be prepared, Cora. We can't go to all this trouble to send her back only for her to end up a captive again because of the traitor in their camp."
"I understand; I just don't want to push her right now. While she is desperate to return to her loved ones, as the day draws nearer, she grows more anxious about seeing them again. She knows it wasn't her fault, but she still feels dirty, because of what they did to her. She's apprehensive about how her fiancé will respond to her knowing what was done to her at Godric's Hollow."
Draco swallowed his groan of frustration. He pitied Ginny. He even experienced some degree of guilt because of the role his family had played in her suffering. It wasn't fair that they were in this situation where they needed to rely on Ginny as heavily as they did.
"You have until tomorrow, Cora. Talk to her. Get her to share details—who was their informant, who came up with the plan etcetera. It will at least give us a list of suspects to investigate from our side. We need to identify the leak on their end not just for her safety but ours as well," said Draco, giving Cora a pointed look before dismissing her.
After Cora left, he turned to Oskar, brows furrowed in deep thought. "We're in no position to split off and start our own pack. We may be able to kill a few people along the way but eventually they will kill us all. Most of the pack is neutral. They don't like Fenrir but they won't fight him. We don't have the numbers, and that's not even taking into account the Death Eaters and Black Cloaks who will happily side with Fenrir to crush any kind of werewolf uprising."
Oskar nodded. "We need to figure out a way to delay whatever Fenrir has planned."
"It's our fourth day here and we've made no progress. I think we need to—"
"...return to Bleidd? Yes, I agree," said Theo, pre-emptively cutting Gunnolf off. He was more resigned to the idea than annoyed with Gunnolf for suggesting the same thing for the umpteenth time.
"Really?" asked Gunnolf doing a double take. He expected Theo to argue against it, same as every other time he had suggested returning so far.
Theo shrugged. "Like you've been saying, there are no tracks to follow and based on all our enquiries with the tribes in the locality, all we've figured out is that you shouldn't come to Africa without a translator."
In the end, even a translator had proven to be of little help in their quest. After a frustrating first day of struggling to communicate with the locals, they were able to find a translator at a hefty fee, yet the man's translations left a lot to be desired. Based on his descriptions, the Mountains of the Moon forest was recently haunted by a vicious beast that had terrorised the locals and scared away every other predator in the region until finally it was captured by the teachers at Uagadou.
"They did also mention Uagadou," said Gunnolf.
"You were present each of the times I flooed the school. Every time they said the Headmaster was unavailable and asked me to call another time."
"It may have something to do with that mark on your arm. Didn't you notice how the locals would react anytime they saw it?"
"No, I didn't."
As someone who prided himself on his observational skills, Theo was a little taken aback he had failed to notice the distaste shown by the locals towards Death Eaters. He had thought the stares were for his wand, which he needed to cast any spell. As the only one who needed a wand during the course of this trip, the entire experience had left Theo feeling wholly inadequate as a wizard.
"Don't feel bad. My senses being as sensitive as they are, I can hear even the mildest change in breathing pattern as well as smelling fear. Werewolves are really good at smelling fear."
"Too bad you're not as good at smelling arousal," Theo mumbled to himself.
More than once in the last three days Gunnolf felt certain that Theo was hitting on him. He did not know the wizard well enough to tell if it was a case of genuine attraction or if Theo was just another hedonistic Death Eater who could not keep it in his pants. Even if the former was true, Gunnolf did not see the point of pursuing anything with someone whose background was so different from his. He may not be lucky enough to have a true mate, but he wanted a mate, someone who would be his partner and share his or her life with him. He could not imagine someone like Theo ever agreeing to be turned, so he chose to ignore his advances.
Pretending not to have heard Theo, Gunnolf said, "We could give the school one last try before we head back."
"That Translator swindled me. The man had to be making stuff up—either that or the members of that one tribe imbibe mind-altering substances. Do you really believe that, of all things, they found a dire wolf in their forest?"
"No, but isn't it an odd coincidence that they found a wolf? Worth looking into."
"First of all, I may not know as much about werewolves as I thought I did till recently, but I've never heard of a werewolf that could stay as a wolf for days on end. And secondly, which is actually the more important point of the two, right until about two minutes ago weren't you pestering me about returning to Bleidd?"
"We're going back with bad news. When Draco questions me I'd like to sound confident that we left no stone unturned," said Gunnolf, admitting the truth after some hesitation.
"Makes sense," said Theo. Silently he acknowledged that they were only indulging in delaying tactics at this point. Like Gunnolf, he too was dreading being the bearer of bad news. He had never feared Draco before; at worst, he had thought Draco was a fool to voluntarily join the Death Eaters when he did. His friend was different now; there was something decidedly dangerous and wild about Draco now that unnerved Theo just as much as it inspired confidence in him.
"If nothing else, we'll find out what kind of creature gets mistaken for a dire wolf in these parts. So what's the plan? Come up with some bullshit excuse to be on the school grounds and take a quick look around for ourselves?"
"Basically, yes."
"Alright then, Mr. Beefcake. You can apparate us to the Mountains of the Moon while I come up with that bullshit excuse," said Theo with a wink, holding his arms out for Gunnolf.