Hermione stayed with her pack while Harry left to meet with other members of the Order. She could not decide how she felt about Draco, Harry and Ron working together, but they were all capable men who seemed to have matters in hand, the same could not be said of her pack. She needed to seek out Magorian and obtain his blessings, though the centaurs were not likely to let them stay in the Forbidden Forest considering they had refused the Order.
The centaurs made her wait until nightfall before giving her an audience with Magorian. The leader of the centaurs listened in silence, his face a blank unreadable mask, as Hermione repeated what she said to his representatives that morning. If Hermione had to guess, things weren't looking too favourable for her pack.
"Our enemy is strong, and neither one of us is capable of defeating them on our own, but if we worked together, if everyone affected by the Death Eaters came together to form an alliance, together we may stand a chance," she said in summation.
Hermione felt like a bug being scrutinised by a far more superior being as Magorian only stared at her for a while before he spoke.
"We spared your life the last time you encroached on our lands... or so I thought. But, it was your fate to live so we may one day fight in your army."
Then Magorian did something that shocked Hermione as well as his herd. He bowed his head in a show of respect.
"We will not follow the Order, or the Death Eaters, but we will stand with the Promised One."
There it was again. It's what Gunnolf had called her and Oskar had believed her to be. Sure, she was obviously different from the other werewolves, but could she really be "...the Promised One?"
"Yes. While your friend is destined to be the downfall of the Dark Lord, it is you who will ensure we never return to such times again. You have your own path to follow now."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione, struggling to keep her frustration in check. She never understood why the centaurs, and just about anyone who practiced divination, felt the need to speak in riddles when they could save everyone a lot of unnecessary grief by stating in simple terms what they had to say.
Before her human could begin to lecture the centaurs on the subject of effective communication, the she-wolf took over.
"Speak plainly," she ordered Magorian, who shocked them once again by answering instead of punishing Hermione for her insolence.
"You cannot follow the Chosen One. He has his path and you have your own destiny to fulfil," said Magorian. "Your pack is free to stay in our forest," he added before dismissing her.
Hermione's reunion with the Order did not take place until the following day. Harry returned to the Forbidden Forest sometime in the early hours of the morning looking exhausted but pleased. He took Hermione to the command centre, where some of the Order members had stuck around when they heard news of Hermione's return. As a security measure, they now only got together when called for an assignment so she would only see those involved in the night's missions.
One by one, Hermione met with the handful of Order members present before they had to return to their respective safe houses. She was disappointed the Weasley family were not there, in particular Arthur and Molly who had acted as her surrogate parents in the wizarding world.
Overall, even though it was an emotional reunion, it was not what she expected it to be. Everything was different now. She felt out of place with the Order—not because she was different and certainly not because home now meant Draco and their sons. No, that could not be it, most certainly not... It had to be Magorian's cryptic revelation that was making her feel out of sorts.
Whatever did Magorian mean when he said she had her own path to follow—was she not supposed to follow Harry anymore? Did it apply to the Order as well? How was she meant to stop another dark wizard from ever rising to power again—is that even what he meant when he said she would ensure they would never return to such times again? She would have liked to ask Magorian these questions, except he and his herd had galloped away soon after. Seriously, what was even the point of a prophecy if it offered no clear answers on what one was meant to do!
A little lost in her own thoughts Hermione was startled to find herself being crushed against a broad chest.
"Bloody hell, Hermione," was all he could get out, choked with emotion.
Ron.
Hermione relaxed as soon as she knew who it was. Ron was not good at expressing his emotions, not with words anyway, but the man always knew just what kind of hug any situation demanded. Hermione could not stop the tears from flowing as she found herself once again in Ron's caring embrace. She wrapped her arms around his torso, squeezing back.
Gods, she could not remember the last time they were together like this. Things had become tense between them ever since he began to date Padma. She grew resentful that he had moved on while she remained hung up on him. As a result, she had been a terrible friend to him and let their friendship suffer due to her unrequited feelings. It was liberating to be able to hug Ron without it awakening a hope for their relationship to turn into something more.
Harry stood watching them, teary-eyed, from a couple of feet away. Ron held one arm open and beckoned to him, "Get in here, mate. What're you waiting for, a personal invitation?"
Harry did not need to be told twice. Soon Hermione was sandwiched between her two best friends and just like that, the Golden Trio was back together again.
Ron could not stay for long, as he needed to join his family; Harry later told her about Molly's actions earlier that night. However, in the short time he was there a couple of things became clear to Hermione: her friendship with Harry and Ron was strong enough to survive anything life would throw her away and, she was no longer in love with Ron.
"Hermione?"
She looked up at Harry; everyone else had left so it was just the two of them now. He came and sat beside her on the bottom step of the staircase. The sombre expression on his face told her it was time for that discussion they had put off so far.
"From what Ginny and Draco have told me, I have an idea of what you've been through, Hermione," Harry began without any preamble. "Anything you may have done—anything you feel you had to do to survive—you know I won't judge you. I want to help... I understand you may not be ready to talk about what happened, I want you to know that I'll wait—however long it takes—I'll wait till you're ready to tell me—"
Hermione was touched by her friend's perceptiveness. He was right, she was not ready to relive the last couple of months of her life by recounting them just yet.
"—But there is one thing I need to know right now—just so I know how to deal with him. I need to know where you stand with Draco."
"What do you mean?"
"He clearly cares about you—I don't understand it ... not entirely sure if I could understand even if you explained it to me, but, I don't doubt that he cares about you. I need to know if this thing was just your way of coping—I guess I'm asking if you feel—"
Harry appeared to struggle with phrasing what he needed to ask before finally blurting, "How do you feel about Draco, Hermione?"
How did she feel about Draco?
Hermione thought of the months spent at Bleidd. She remembered the sick feeling of discovering her childhood bully was the wolf who had raped her; remembered how scary and devastating it was to learn that she was pregnant. After Bleidd, she remembered the crushing abandonment she felt as she waited for Draco to act on the mate-bond and rescue her. The she-wolf would not let her forget those feelings, just as she would not let her forget who Draco was—the boy who had called her a Mudblood... the cruel boy who started a war because he wanted her kind dead... the horrible boy who had tried to kill Harry, kill Ron, kill Professor Dumbledore...
"I'm in love with him," she replied in a calm and steady voice, remembering not just the boy from Hogwarts but also the man she had gotten to know at Bleidd.
"But, I don't know if I should be," she added after a brief pause.
Brow furrowed, Harry looked at her in obvious confusion.
"I'm in love with him," she repeated, ignoring the angry snarls of her wolf and refusing to give her control, "but I've had so little control over my own body for so long—" Hermione hugged her knees and spoke in a voice barely above a whisper. "I don't know if I can trust my own feelings anymore. I want to be with Draco, and Wilbur and Martin—Goodness, Harry, I have two sons now! And even though I never planned to become a mother, it has been the most—"
Hermione tried to put into words what being a mother was like, but failed.
An arm wrapped around her shoulder and drew her close.
"It's been the most something," she said, resting her head on her friend's shoulder. There was no single word to describe what motherhood had been like. "I never thought I would love them as much as I do. I thought it would be easy to leave them. I thought I was doing what was best for them—I was wrong. I miss them, all three of them. They're my family, Harry. Sure, you and Ron are my family too, but my place is with—" And suddenly Magorian's words made sense.
She had left her sons at Bleidd, because she believed their rightful place was with their father and hers with Harry and the Order. She had been wrong about it all; she had her own path to follow.
"You want to go back to him?"
She nodded against his shoulder, teary eyed.
A few minutes of thoughtful silence passed before Harry spoke.
"Convenient of you to give birth to twins—"
She gave him a blank stare.
"This way," he went on to explain, "Ron and I won't need to fight over who gets to be godfather."
Her jaw dropped at the unexpected response.
"Hermione, if the last few years have taught us anything, it is to seize any chance at finding happiness while we can. I've always trusted your judgement and if you want to be with Draco, you should."
"You're okay with this?" asked Hermione, bewildered by Harry's calm acceptance of it all.
"Like I said, he seems to genuinely care about you, I doubt he'd be willing to help us otherwise—he may be changed but he's essentially the same bloke who sees to his own interests first. And I can't hold any old grudges after he returned Ginny to us—I'll always owe him for that," said Harry, his eyes reflecting the gratitude he felt.
"Ginny told us that you and Draco are mates, that—" Harry paused suddenly, staring at her in wide-eyed bewilderment.
"What?" she snapped at him.
"Okay, I wasn't going to mention this, but why do you go from sniffing me to snarling at me?"
"What! I do no such thing," she protested.
"Umm... yes, you do," insisted Harry, looking at her sideways as if questioning her sanity. "You keep doing it. The sniffing, though strange, is harmless I suppose, but the snarling—what's that about?"
Hermione squeezed her eyes shut in embarrassment; apparently, she had not kept her wolf in check quite as much as she believed she had.
"It's my damn wolf," she replied, mouth drawn into a tight line.
Harry's response was a raise of the eyebrow almost as impressive as Draco's. It made her chuckle.
"I'm a werewolf, Harry," she confessed reluctantly, not because she was ashamed to be a werewolf. She had avoided the topic of her lycanthropy so far because she did not want to talk about how she came to be one.
She gave Harry no time to ask any of the questions he would naturally have after hearing her declaration. "My wolf doesn't like the thought of me returning to Draco," she explained. "She wants me to find a different mate. She's been sniffing you because she thinks you're hot and would be a good mate."
This time, both eyebrows shot up.
"Uh, Hermione... I'm flattered, obviously, but... this is very confusing. Very," he said blushing. "I'm not sure what to make of—By Merlin, Hermione, I've never been much better than Ron when it comes to figuring girls out. Are you saying you were coming on to me?" asked a wary-looking Harry, leaning away from her.
"No, you prat"—she delivered a swift slap to his knee—"I've just got this... entity inside me with a mind of her own."
Harry looked like he was beginning to question her judgement.
"I realise how mental it makes me sound, but I don't know how else to explain it. There are times my wolf just feels like an alien being, not an extension of myself," she told him.
"Why is that?"
Hermione shrugged. "Not sure. This is all still fairly new... I probably need time to learn to control my wolf."
"You said your wolf isn't happy about returning to Draco?"
She nodded.
"Yet you definitely want to?"
She nodded again.
"But the wolf is in actual fact you, right?" asked Harry.
When she responded with yet another nod he began to tug on his hair the way he did when he was trying really hard to solve a mystery.
"So why does your wolf not want to return to Draco?"
Hermione let out a sigh. There was no way to make Harry understand without telling him some of the things she did not wish to talk about.
Without going into too many details, Hermione told Harry about the days she spent as Fenrir's prisoner in Uganda waiting for her mate to show up. She told him about Draco's failure to protect their sons, who Fenrir used to force her compliance. She touched upon the repeated rapes that were meant to destroy her bond with Draco, and how she felt when he still did not show up.
Harry listened to why her wolf was unwilling to forgive Draco. There was kindness in his eyes and not even a hint of confrontation in his tone when he eventually spoke. "Hermione, I can understand your anger over being abandoned—though I cannot understand how Draco was meant to find you when he didn't even know you were taken captive, let alone where you were held."
"My wolf is adamant that my true mate would have sensed my distress and found me; that he didn't, means either there was never any bond ...or he's just an unworthy mate."
"I can't say anything about his worthiness as a mate—I don't think I even fully understand what it means to be a mate in the sense you're using the word—but, when I spoke with Draco I got the feeling he'd do anything to find you. He reached out to the Order, just to get some news on your whereabouts and left for Uganda once he heard you were there."
"I know. I also know he was tortured by the Death Eaters during the last revel so he would have been a little preoccupied."
Hermione's tone received a shake of Harry's head.
"That was beyond torture, Hermione... even by Death Eater revel standards it was a new low. Draco was meant to die that night." Harry shared with her the scared whispers they had heard of what had transpired during that night.
Hermione was horrified to hear what Draco had lived through...
...but her wolf was unrelenting. So he's weak, just a weak and unworthy mate.
"What do you plan to do, Hermione?" asked Harry. When she did not respond, he continued. "You didn't come here seeking the Order—us crossing paths, was a mere coincidence—and your wolf doesn't want to go back to Draco. What are you going to do now? Return to Uganda...? Stay with the Order...?"
Hermione remained silent; she had yet to decide what to do next.
"Draco's been trying to contact me. I've ignored him so far because I needed to know where you stood. Should I at least let him know you're here now?"
Hermione shook her head. Until she gained complete control over her wolf, there were two men she needed to avoid: her mate and her sire.
Over the course of the next few days, everyone was waiting for something or the other.
Hermione worried about Gunnolf. What had happened to her beta? Knowing he went to visit his contact at the Ministry, sending a patronus was not an option; all she could do was wait to hear from him.
Draco waited to hear from Harry or Theo about what had happened and if they had carried out the mission at all. He also waited for his tracking teams to return with a trace on either Hermione or Gunnol but on all fronts, there was no news.
The Weasley men waited for Ginny's nerves to settle so they could breathe around her without giving her a fright. They waited for Molly to acknowledge the line she had crossed when she cast an Avada, but the matriarch was only sorry for not killing both of her daughter's tormentors.
Harry and the rest of the Order waited eagerly for the wizarding world to talk about the revival of the resistance. They listened to the radio and searched the papers for news of their exploits, but there was no mention anywhere. No one was talking about the kidnapped Death Eaters, or the attack on Malfoy Potions, or the resulting fallout from losing over a year's supply of Fero. Instead of the fear and panic they had anticipated, it was business as usual.
Meanwhile, the Death Eaters waited for the Order's next move, looking over their shoulder, expecting an attack that never came. They were rattled. Between worrying about an ambushed from the Order and worrying about pleasing their insane master, the Death Eaters had not known a more stressful time in their life.
The three captured Death Eaters waited—to be interrogated by the Order or rescued by their fellow Death Eaters. Each was held separately, locked up alone in their personal dank cell, with no light, food or water, and forced to sleep in their own filth within the cramped space. There was no one to talk to and nothing to do, except wait. They cursed the Order for their cruelty—forgetting how they had condemned many Halfbloods and Muggleborns to far worse—and waited, hoping the next moment would end the endless nothingness, but no one came for them.
Theo Nott was the only one who made any notable progress that week. He used his contacts and money to ensure he was the one to inform the Dark Lord of Lucius Malfoy's treachery. It would earn him a powerful enemy in Lucius in the future, for now it earned him the Dark Lord's favour. Theo shone for a second time that night when news of his father's kidnapping came to light. In a grand gesture, he led the charge on every known Order location and even though the raids yielded no results, except for the destruction of a few abandoned properties, the Dark Lord and senior Death Eaters liked that Theo was finally taking a more active role in their organisation. He cemented his reputation when he procured a potions factory, which would solely produce Fero to replace their destroyed stock in a month's time. Within three days, Theodore Nott went from being one of the lowest ranking Death Eaters to becoming a part of the Dark Lord's inner circle.
Busy pulling strings and calling in favours to aid his rise to the top, Theo had forgotten about Gunnolf until the Dark Lord called for Greyback. He watched Greyback complain about Draco and then be punished for losing his prisoner. The Dark Lord ordered Lucius to bring back Ginny Weasley and threatened Greyback with dire consequences if he failed to bring Draco to heel himself.
It was critical for Theo to stay close to the inner circle, he could not leave Britain now, but he also needed to monitor Lucius and Greyback. That is when he remembered leaving Gunnolf, or someone pretending to be him, bound in his office.
Soon as the Dark Lord concluded his torture session and dismissed his followers, Theo informed Greyback he had one of his men in custody. He led him to Gunnolf, gambling on the slim chance that Greyback had yet to discover where Gunnolf's loyalties lay. If the bound man was in fact Gunnolf and if Theo was wrong, Greyback would kill Gunnolf for being a part of Draco's group. Since they were at the Ministry, Theo was confident he could prevent Mr. Beefcake's death; it was still a relief when Greyback's reaction to a trussed-up Gunnolf was to rage at him for restraining his top man.
Gunnolf did not immediately follow what was going on, but Theo, crafty wizard that he was, dropped enough clues during his shouting match with Fenrir, he understood Theo wanted him to spy on Fenrir for him. If Fenrir had the support of the Death Eaters, everyone with Draco, including the pups, was in danger. They would need someone on the inside to stay ahead of their enemy. So even though his alpha was waiting for him in the Forbidden Forest and he had no desire to follow Fenrir anymore, Gunnolf returned with him to Bleidd.
During the days following the explosion on Coleshill Street, while things remained quiet in the wizarding world, the same could not be said of the Muggle one. Conspiracy theories ran wild over the true cause of the incident.
The current Muggle Prime Minister had no reason to suspect wizards were responsible for the explosion in Birmingham even though his predecessor had told him about the existence of the magical world. Cooperation between the Ministry and the Muggle world had ceased once the Death Eaters gained control, so the Muggle PM never received a visit from the Minister of Magic or saw any evidence to make him think the outgoing PM's revelation was anything but a poor attempt to take the piss out of his successor.
With the entire Muggle world talking about the incident and all the speculations floating about, it was not long before the MACUSA caught wind of the mystery. Being strictly against exposing their world to the No-Majs, the MACUSA sent their agents to fix the breach before notifying the ICW about the incident as well as the British Ministry of Magic's failure to deal with their own mess. The ICW was contemplating what action they ought to take against the Death Eater-controlled government of wizarding Britain for their breach of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy when the terrorist group known as the Order of the Phoenix claimed responsibility for the attack.