This is the last installment of this story. Many thanks to everyone who likes it! Why did I write this story? Well, I feel like Hermione is a very misrepresented character and I wanted to show her as a person. Sometimes in fanfiction, I think people tend to focus on one side of her personality, so I tried to go for all of Hermione. I feel like I've done a good job, but I'm sure others will disagree with me. Please enjoy the last part.

Note: The Granger family has some interesting notes about it. Jill's original name in my hand-written notes was Polly but for some reason I thought it was Jill when I was typing up the first part. (I guess I was in a Chronicles of Narnia kind of mood…). Great Aunt Michelle, who can never remember anybody's name was modeled after my bad habit—I have such a hard time with names sometimes! Another habit made into a character was Jane—I like to suck on peppermint sticks when I'm stuck and don't know what to write. The Head's personality was modeled after my French teacher's…man was that woman terrifying. (It's amazing how a five foot tall bony woman can be remembered as a towering giant breathing fire because you forgot to do your homework.)

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Warnings: Spooooky. Not really.

Heretic

Part the Fourth

The problem of where she would go was bothering her all the next day. It was yet another day of walking and walking and walking. She had ripped off the bottom part of the heavy cloak so that she could walk easier and she was glad of it because she was carrying her jar of blue fire. She didn't need the heat it gave off during the day but she had found a little lid for the jar and so she had clamped it on.

A jarred fire. It still struck her as amazing. She was so proud of it, it was her jarred fire.

The walking was a little slower but her and Crookshanks were still going about. She had no idea where they were headed or what direction. She thought the mountains were getting nearer, so it might be that they were going north.

"The northernmost city of Annwn is Fal." Hermione recited. "It's a great city of trade. Nobody likes to go North on account of all the superstitions. Somebody said there were giants in the mountains! I wonder if that's true!" She glanced down at Crookshanks. "You know, I bet all the things I've ever said didn't exist must really exist. But there was never any proof before. But now there is."

Sunlight poured through the gaps in the trees and areas were lit up with a strange green light. It was magical all by itself. Hermione found this day a little better and thought that perhaps with enough practice she could make each day better and better.

Maybe they would find a place where they could sit and be alone and not be bothered—but that wasn't right. Hadn't she said that they should stick up for themselves? There must be something she could do. Maybe there was a rebellion somewhere.

Hadn't Firenze himself talked of Albus Dumbledore rallying people? Of course, she had no idea where Dumbledore was or what they might be rallying for, but maybe she should try to look. But she was faced with the question of how. She couldn't just waltz into a village and tell them she was looking to join the local rebellion and wanted to know where to sign up for it.

There must be a way…

But Crookshanks was leading her. He had to know where he was going. He had never just let her follow while wandered aimlessly. Maybe he knew where the local rebellion was.

Maybe he's secretly Albus Dumbledore.

Hermione giggled at that thought. But hey, stranger things had been true. She was a witch, Crookshanks wasn't actually a full-blooded cat, and…and…

And the Granger household can't stick up for itself…it just let me go…

"I won't start feeling sorry for myself!" Hermione spoke determinedly. "If I start, I'm sure it'll be hard to stop. I just can't. I can get through this. I just need to keep going."

But as the day wore on, Hermione began to feel sick of walking. Her feet hurt, her legs ached, and she was so thirsty that she got down on all fours at one point and began lapping up water from a stream, just like Crookshanks. She desperately wanted something to eat but she didn't really see anything on hand—other than Crookshanks.

No matter how hungry I am, I will not eat my own cat.

That didn't stop her from feeling hungry. She carefully looked for berries as she walked along but saw none. She decided that as soon as the sun went down, she was stopping for the night and getting some sleep.

Maybe I can find something tomorrow…

When it at last went dark, Hermione sank down to her knees and put her jar down before lying down and promptly falling asleep. It felt so good that she didn't care that there was a rock sticking into her back. Maybe she'd roll off of it in the night. As it was, she couldn't imagine moving again.

A fearsome howl pierced the air and Hermione shot up in her sleep. The howl had given her goose bumps and her heart was thumping in her chest. Crookshanks was still sleeping.

It's nothing, it's just a wolf.

JUST a wolf? JUST a wolf?

Okay, maybe it is something but we should just act calmly. Crookshanks is here, and we've got the magic wand and this jar.

The howl rippled through the air again, but this time it felt closer and Crookshanks woke up as well. Hermione's whole body hurt from walking all day and the rock that she hadn't rolled off felt as though it had left a very painful bruise. Crookshanks was on all fours, back arches, tail straight, and began hissing in a matter that Hermione deemed far too loud and attention getting.

"Crookshanks!" She said the name in an earnest plead but Crookshanks behavior didn't change.

What do I do now?

Pick up the jar.

Hermione grabbed the jar and realized that the faint blue glow might very well attract other animals so she tried to hide it with her cloak. Her heart froze completely as she heard a sound that was unmistakably an animal moving through the trees towards them. Crookshanks growled fiercely but Hermione didn't feel any better.

She scrambled towards a tree and had her back pressed against it when from the other side of the trees, she could see two glowing yellow eyes. Fangs, black fur, and a red tongue.

Hmm, definitely a wolf.

Oh, I'm so glad we decided! Now we're all saved!

This isn't the time for sarcasm!

The huge, ferocious looking animal's eyes were locked on her and Hermione desperately wished she had thought about stealing one of the Guard's weapons or something when she was back at the prison. It leapt forward and Hermione winced and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting to feel teeth at her throat, but there was a cat-scream and a pained howl and she opened her eyes to see Crookshanks, claws sunk deep into the wolf's face and holding on for dear life.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione yelled and started forward but took a step back when the wolf tried to go towards her again, even with the cat attached to its face that was clawing like hell.

What do I do!

Crookshanks is trying to protect me but there's no way he can kill a wolf, half-magical or no!

She grasped the jar in her hands and an idea formed. It might not work, but it was definitely worth a try.

"Move Crookshanks!" Hermione ordered and Crookshanks leaped sideways off the wolf's face. The wolf, seeing its opportunity went towards Hermione who wrenched off the lid and threw the jar forward.

The fire sailed out of it and landed on the wolf, which yelped in instant pain and the fire began to spread. The wolf took off into the darkness and they could hear its pained cries. Hermione was breathing heavily and she went over to Crookshanks.

"Oh, please say you're alright! I won't know what to do without you!" Hermione dropped to her knees and put her arms around Crookshanks. The cat began to purr. Hermione smiled in pure relief and hugged the cat. "That was awful, just awful! A wolf!"

Crookshanks struggled for a moment before Hermione realized he wanted to go free and she let him. Crookshanks ran over to a tree that had low branches and began climbing it. He stopped and looked very hard at her.

"Oh!" Hermione got up, her body, now not feeling frightened, remembering just how sore it was. "You want me to climb a tree. Honestly…"

She didn't know how she did it, but she managed to get up in the tree fairly high. She couldn't fall asleep or she'd fall out and that wouldn't do them any good. She kept awake by reciting things. She recited the names of trees, flowers, plants, cities, roads, exports, imports, rivers, mountains, and then began reciting books she had read—not by memory of course, but just reciting what she could remember from them, which turned out to be an awful lot.

When the trees were flooded with a dim, pinkish light, and it was clear that it was morning, Hermione climbed down from the tree and moaned. She felt worse now. She really wished she could get some sleep but she wanted to get as far from this area as possible—what with all the wolves running around.

Crookshanks led her to a bush first thing that contained berries that Hermione knew she could eat. She had no sense of propriety at that moment and found herself stuffing the berries into her mouth. When she finished doing that, she and Crookshanks went on.

She could hear the sound of a river and Crookshanks seemed to be leading her there. She wondered how wide the river was and if it would be particularly hard to cross. She sincerely hoped not.

"The last thing I want to be right now is tired and wet." Hermione informed Crookshanks importantly. "That would make me just miserable and I don't need any help there—oh I am complaining, aren't I?" But Crookshanks had stopped for a moment and then started going forward with a curiosity to him. Like he wished to sneak up on someone.

Hermione went quiet, sensing his need for it. They stepped out from some trees and she saw the river—which meant water—but also saw that it was rather wide. On the good side of things though, it was a shallow river, probably a foot deep at most. That wouldn't be so bad. If she hiked her skirts up, tying them up by waist, and carried her cloak in her arms, she could reach the other side and—

Her line of thinking stopped because there was somebody already by the banks of the river. A weary looking blonde man who was looking at a torn up coat with a hint of dismay to his face.

Hermione almost gasped when he pulled out a wand and said something she couldn't quite make out. More extraordinary was that the coat mended itself like new. She completely forgot herself and took a step forward, which made noise because she was walking on rocks now. The man looked up sharply and Hermione had a sudden sense of foreboding. Maybe he wasn't friendly, maybe he was someone horrible…

Crookshanks hissed softly at him and the man's wary expression turned into a gentle one.

"Oh, it's you." The man smiled. He had pale skin and blonde hair, and these large grey eyes that were rather unusual to Hermione, who was used to the many brunettes and all the shades there in at the Granger House.

"Huh?" Hermione didn't understand what he meant.

"You gave me quite a turn last night." He pulled his newly-mended coat on. "But I'm glad that you did. I didn't realize that there would be wanderers this far north…"

"What…?" Hermione's brow furrowed as she tried to think of what he was talking about. Maybe he was a vagrant. "I don't remember meeting you last night."

"I'm sure you do." He seemed rather convinced. "I looked a little different, fangs, covered in fur."

"What!" Hermione jumped a little. "Are you saying…are you saying…that you were…" An impossible idea occurred to her and she remembered not so long ago, at the breakfast table, Great Uncle Henry trying to make a point with a butter dish.

"It's quite simple." He picked up the butter knife. "So there's one werewolf right? And it's this stick of butter. Then I take the knife—a good symbol for a wolf's fangs—"

"Wonderful Harry." Michelle encouraged him.

"And it bites another person so…" Henry took some butter onto his knife and put it on a piece of toast. "So now this piece of toast—a good symbol for the person—"

"Excellent, utterly delightful." Michelle interrupted.

"Is spread through with the werewolf disease. And that's how it spreads!"

"My name is Remus Lupin—a werewolf." Remus held out a hand to her. "How do you do?" Hermione looked at him warily. "I'm quite safe, I can only turn into a werewolf at the full moon and right now, it's day time."

"Well…" Hermione went forward and shook his hand briefly. "How do you do, Mr. Lupin? My name's Hermione Granger."

"Granger?" Remus blinked. "Do you mean…the Granger family?"

"Yes, but I don't want to talk about it." Hermione did her best to look very prim and proper. "So you're a werewolf, then? But you're also a wizard. I can tell, I saw your wand, I have one too."

"Yes." Remus smiled. "I'm a wizard and I'm guessing you must be a witch." Hermione nodded proudly. "So young too…what are you doing wandering out in the woods?"

"It's better than being burned at the stake." Hermione stated simply.

"I'll agree with that." Remus seemed to think this was practical. "I'll tell you something Miss Granger, I'm from the mountains, but once a month, I go to a place in the forest where I'm not likely to meet another human and become a werewolf. I have to, I don't get a choice, you see. But I try to avoid hurting anyone. I live in a castle in the mountains—its run by a man named Albus Dumbledore."

"Albus Dumbledore!" Hermione exclaimed in wonder. Remus' eyebrows rose. "A centaur named Firenze told me about him…"

"You've met Firenze?" Remus blinked in surprise. "I won't have to tell you about him. He teaches kids magic, the ones that we can find who can use it. I could take you up to the school if you'd like Hermione."

"What about the Guard?" Hermione questioned.

"The Guard doesn't go into the Northern Mountains." Remus chuckled. Hermione wasn't sure what was so funny. "Everyone's very superstitious about these mountains, but they're actually quite pleasant. There's other children there, around your age."

"Oh." Hermione wondered if that was supposed to be an incentive to go. She had never really had friends before and who knew if these kids would like her any better than the last lot. "I don't know…I mean, I just met you and you are a werewolf. How do I know I can trust what you're saying?"

"That's a good—" Remus started to agree but Crookshanks jumped into his lap. He looked vaguely surprised. "I haven't seen too many cats take kindly to me…"

"He's half-Kneazle." Hermione replied promptly.

"That somewhat explains it." Remus petted the ginger cat that purred and gave Hermione one of Crookshanks' looks.

"Oh Crookshanks! You're so impossible!" Hermione pursed her lips but then she laughed. "Crookshanks has good judgment. If he says we should go with you, then we should."

"Wonderful!" Remus looked enthusiastic. "I have a horse waiting for me a few miles away—so I wouldn't accidentally attack it. We'll both fit on it just fine."

"What about Crookshanks?" Hermione inquired, picking up her cat.

"He can come too, Hagrid says that cats make him sneeze, but I'm sure no one will mind him being around." Remus replied.

They got up and went off together, towards the North. Hermione thought of all the things that had happened to her, about the house, and the family, and finding out she was a witch, and meeting a werewolf. She wondered vaguely if she would trade away all that for a normal life.

Then she glanced down at Crookshanks and thought about all the adventure and how for twelve years of her life, she had done nothing but study. She thought about how she had never had any friends before Firenze and Crookshanks. And she had never had courage before them, either. She had stood up for what she believed in and there wasn't a better feeling in the world.

Some things you just wouldn't trade for the world!

The End

Ah! It's finished! It's like six in the morning here! I've been listening to my Potions CD. (That's Potions: Relaxin' with Final Fantasy, for those of you who don't know.) I thought it was good mood music for this one. Especially 'Balamb Garden'. I know, I know, it was a bit different from Doppelganger, maybe it wasn't as emotional, but I still feel like I did a good job. (Good back story!) The third story in the series will be Adversary, and though I can't tell you who it's about, I'm sure you can take a wild guess. It's really good too! I promise! (Actually, next to Doppelganger, it's probably the one I'm most excited to write—I mean, I'm excited to write them all, but this one I'm totally in love with!) Please tell me what you thought of the story! See you all in the next story!