May 2006

The three men sat in relative silence in the small dining room after enjoying dinner together. Since the incident at the Burrow weeks ago, there had been an unacknowledged tension in the air and it was the first time since that the three enjoyed a meal together again. Theo had thrown himself into his charmwork, only stopping to detox when Blaise dragged him away from it. Blaise spent excessively long hours researching in the Library to find anything about the strange Fox/Wolf. Neither had been successful. The only bright side of the whole situation was that another corpse hadn't shown up yet. But they all knew that time was just slowly ticking by until there would be another one.

Draco hadn't necessarily been avoiding his friends; he just immersed himself in his work as much as they had. At least that was what he tried to convince himself. Truthfully, he had started doing the bare minimum of interacting with his team as he pored over every detail of his theory again. No new murders apparently meant no new sightings of the Fox. The werewolves had been quiet since the Incident and that put any leads to a halt for the time being. The team had intercepted a smuggler attempting to trade a Basilisk egg, a Dark wizard who had Imperiused a Muggle family, and a Dementor that had terrorised a primary school but none of that helped to ease the frustration mounting from the werewolves.

"So how's your Weasley?" Blaise drawled with a smirk as he finished the desert Milly had presented.

"He's pissy," Theo grumbled, slumped down slightly in his chair, "Says I need to take a break from work."

"You probably should," Draco drank from his wine glass, "The detoxing might not work in the long run. And we don't know the full effects that your experiments have on you."

Theo tsked but didn't offer a rebuttal. Blaise and Draco shared a look of concern. This was pattern for Theo if he was overexposed to Dark magic: moody, standoffish, brooding. They had noticed that since he had started seeing Weasley, the overexposure lessened and Theo had been more careful, more diligent to keep to a regular detox schedule. The mounting pressure to finish this case was weighing down on Theo and it was starting to rear its ugly head. Most Healers were still hesitant to treat them due to history and Theo's Dark outbursts certainly didn't help. The last time it took Blaise and Draco physically restraining him along with binding hexes before a Healer had been able to administer a Sleeping Draught, Stunning hexes had been deflected and three other Healers had been knocked unconscious. Theo had been distraught when he later learned what he had done.

"Theo-"

"Don't, okay? I know. I'm overdoing it but dammit it all, I want this over with. I can handle the small things–the smugglers, the idiots. This…" Theo shook his head and sighed heavily, "This is case is…"

"We know, mate," Blaise patted his shoulder, "We know. But you don't need to kill yourself over it. Ginny's on my case as well about working too much. I've missed several dinners, which normally isn't a problem but I apparently missed our anniversary dinner."

Draco didn't offer any condolences or words of comfort. He couldn't find any that felt sincere. He also didn't trust the wrong words to spill from him. He had kept his theory a secret from them. If Theo and Blaise knew that he was adamant about Granger being alive and that she was the elusive creature…his attention snapped to Blaise suddenly.

"What did you say?"

"I said we could really use Granger and her big brain on this. Her research skills were incomparable. Not to mention her duelling skills during the war were on par with your own, Drake."

Draco smirked as he remembered the last time they had seen her. Blaise had been teasing her and regretted it when Granger had wordlessly–and wandlessly–sent a stinging hex to his nethers with a wave of her hand. He had howled in pain and she told him to be grateful that she had aimed just a little to the left. Draco had later learned that Granger kept her wand strapped to her forearm, the wood pressed against her skin, hidden under the long sleeves she always wore. When he'd questioned it, she had merely shrugged.

"It just made sense I suppose. In a way it's in my hand, by proxy. And it frees up my hands."

With his realisation now, Draco supposed an untold reason was it reduced the risk of losing her wand while Shifting. He wondered if she still carried it with her or if she had progressed even further and rarely used it if at all?

"Draco?"

"Hmm?"

Blaise looked at him in concern, "You okay?"

Draco thought a moment longer on how to answer. Did he tell them? Did he keep it secret? Would they think he was mad? Only one way to find out, he supposed.

"If…if I shared a thought with you, would you sincerely hear me out before passing judgement?"

That got their full attention and both men nodded.

"I think Granger is alive…and I think she is the creature we've been seeing. The Fox."

He waited with bated breath as they mulled over his words. He could see how they were processing this new revelation. How they were reviewing their own observations with a new view. Theo was the first to speak.

"It makes sense. It's a little difficult to explain fully, I guess, but it truly makes sense."

Blaise tapped the table with his fingers, mulling over his thoughts, "You knew her better than all of us, so if you're this certain then I can support it being true. But there's so many questions. When did she become an Animagus? How was she bitten and by whom? And how was it kept a secret from the Order?"

Draco shrugged, "I don't know about the first one. I think Greyback did it. Every time he was mentioned, her whole demeanour would change. I thought it was just because of how despicable she viewed him but if he was the one who turned her, it would make sense. Lupin kept her at that house. She had told me that she hadn't been allowed to see Potter and Weasley for a long time. At least not in person but she was a backup during skirmishes. I thought it was because of other reasons that they kept her held back–her magic far exceeded theirs but why send Potter into a battle and not her?"

Blaise nodded, "If she didn't have control, that would make sense. Considering she was able to Shift outside of a full moon, I'm betting she either did or almost lost control and they didn't want to risk it. Who else knew where she was?"

"McGonagall and Lupin as far as I know. She said she had a messenger but I never learned who it was."

"Have you told anyone else about this?" Theo raised his brows in interest.

"Only my mother. I wanted to be sure before sharing with you two. You can't tell the Weasleys or Potter."

"Of course not," Blaise guffawed, "They'll think we're all barmy! Potter isn't supposed to be involved with the case anymore anyways, so that shouldn't be an issue. Think you can keep your mouth shut to Weasley?"

Theo instinctively punched Blaise in the arm, "Keep your own mouth in check around your Weasley, you gossip-whore."

Blaise rubbed his sore arm in show before turning back to Draco, "Secret's safe with us, mate. But this gives us an entirely new perspective to start researching. Maybe we can finally put this case to rest."

June 2006

Draco tossed and turned as the nightmares raged in his mind. Sweat covered his body as the silk sheets tangled with his limbs. Screaming, flashes of light, and that hideous cackle ploughed through. Until a specific memory barged to the forefront of his mind:

Blood. There was blood trailing into the house. There was a light flickering from an upstairs window and the door was ajar. Was she hurt? Was someone else there? Draco advanced slowly, wand drawn and ready at his side. His boots were silent thanks to a Muffling charm. The door creaked just slightly as he nudged inside. The blood trail was light but speckled up the stairs. He glanced around, ensuring now one was hiding in the shadows before turning his gaze up.

The loft.

He hadn't been up there before. Granger was always careful to keep him on the lower floor. He rarely ventured into any other rooms than the kitchen and her small piano room. But if she was hurt? He carefully crept up the stairs, avoiding every creak he could. There were quiet noises, some shuffling. There was a clatter and some muttered cursing. It was her, she was at least alive. As he rounded the corner and pulled the black curtain aside, he was struck with the sight before him.

There was the usual for a bedroom: a large bed, dresser, and a small bookshelf that was overflowing. There was a door slightly open nearby that led to a bathroom. The colour scheme threw him off. The walls, the bedsheets, the curtains all were black. Sitting on the floor, leaned up against the bed was Granger. A first aid kit strewn across the wood floor. The left leg of her trousers was ripped down the thigh and blood was slowly oozing out, clotting seeming to have already taken effect.

"Granger?"

Her head whipped towards him, her arm flinching to raise before she caught herself and settled her head back on the comforter, "Malfoy. What are you doing here?"

He held up his hand, gesturing to the ring, "It started almost burning. I thought you were in trouble. Looks about right."

Draco set his wand on the floor as he settled next to her, eyeing her injury. She was pale from the blood loss and breathing heavily, almost panting. Sweat trailed down her temple and Draco hoped she wasn't going into shock. Without asking, he carefully pulled back the ripped fabric to inspect the wound. She hissed and clenched her fists, tucking them behind her back.

"What happened?" he asked as he grabbed some cleaning supplies from the kit. He pressed a cloth gently to the area around the wound, attempting to clean up the blood to properly see the damage. She didn't answer his question, just kept her mouth clenched shut as he cleaned. It was a jagged cut, running across the top of her thigh towards her knee, cut deep into the muscle. "Granger, I need to know what happened so I can-"

"I can't tell you," she hissed through her clenched teeth, "I can do it myself."

"Granger, you're about to pass out from shock and blood loss. Use that big brain of yours and be reasonable. At least tell me what to use?"

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying to steady her breathing, "Dark curse. Variation of Slicing hex. Clotting was delayed."

He nodded and picked up his wand, casting a simple diagnostic charm over her leg. The curse was nullified already but he would need to stitch the muscle back together. She only nodded when he told her this and whimpered when he started the Mending charm. It was slow work and Draco knew he wasn't proficient at Healing charms yet. Milly had been pleased with his progress and always mentioned how he should be a Healer. He always scoffed at her, dismissing the idea because who would want to be Healed by Draco Malfoy, now former Death Eater?

It took an hour to stitch the muscle back together and another half hour for her skin. He prompted her to take the Blood Replenishers that she had and a Calming draught, the colour slowly returning back to her face. Draco wiped a cloth along the pink scar that ran the length of her thigh now. He felt disappointed that it wasn't thinner and less noticeable but Granger didn't seem to care. She sighed with relief and finally relaxed. She looked at him with tired eyes and when she started to laugh he just raised a brow at her.

"This whole situation is so ridiculous."

He nodded and resisted the urge to rub her leg in comfort. She had said they couldn't…he needed to remember that. He needed to be distant. "So you can't tell me what happened?"

She shook her head, more of her curls falling from the loose bun, "I would but I can't. Just know that the bastard that did it is worse off than me."

Draco felt his chest clench at that thought. He knew the possibility that she would've had to kill people, obviously he'd had to. But to be confronted with the idea and hearing the implication from her…it unsettled him. Granger was supposed to be good, decent, not killing people.

She reached for his hand and he met her gaze, "I know what you're thinking. It's a hard truth that we both have had to deal with. I told you that I wasn't the same person. I can't be."

"I know," he squeezed her hand before she let go, "I'm not either. But I'd like to learn what new person you are when all of this is over."

The statement hung heavy in the air between them. Since she had set the boundary, Draco had tried desperately to respect her wishes but every time he had to meet her, he found his control waning. He wished they could go back to their hidden life at Hogwarts, where things seemed simpler. He wished they could just whisk away and forget everything, maybe even just stay at her little cottage, hidden from the rest of the world.

"I'm not sure you'll still want that," she whispered and looked away.

"I'm sure I will," he said with finality.

He left no room for her to argue and helped her stand. She waved him off, stubbornly saying she could manage to get to the bathroom to shower and change. As the door closed, Draco stood in the middle of the room, debating with himself. After a few moments and clearing up the mess on the floor, he picked a book from her shelf and settled on top of the comforter to wait.

She could hear them. The other Wolves were close. Too close for her comfort. She scrambled up the tree, careful to not make a sound or for any evidence to show her hiding spot. Moments later, they appeared. It was only three of them, all grungy and reeking of rot. She curled her nose in disgust as the scents started to overwhelm her. She watched as they crept along the ground, sniffing excessively and shoving aside bushes and fallen branches. She determined these had to be some of the lunkheads of Greyback's troup. There was no way these were any masterminds that he had entrapped–and her thinking was confirmed when they started boasting, loudly.

"I can't wait until we catch that little girl," one of them snarled.

"Me either. I'm tired of playing these games though."

"At least we'll get the leftover scraps when Boss is done with her."

She cringed when they guffawed at the thought. She inched along the thick branch as they walked along, still searching for her.

"When do we get to chew up the Potters? I've been waiting on that one."

"We're supposed to be patient. I think soon though."

"Who gets the mutt?"

"I heard Dolohov. Says he needs a new pet to experiment on."

Hermione froze. They were going to attack Harry. They were going to kill his family. Panic started to fill her chest and she felt her claws lengthen in reaction. Quickly she calmed her mind, willing her magic to be patient. It would do no good to let loose now, not when she didn't know when they would be ambushing them.

"I hope it's with this moon. I'm starving for some blood."

Hermione followed to the end of the branch, straining to hear more but the group had moved just out of earshot now. She thought quickly, weighing her options. The protection charms around the Burrow and Godric's Hollow were excessively strong, the Manor as well. There was no way they would try one of them. From watching, she knew that Pansy and Harry rarely ever left their estate except through the Floo. Unless Greyback had managed to infiltrate the Network, they couldn't get in that way either.

The next full moon was only in a few days. Greyback was elusive again and apparently learned from telling the lunkheads anything in case they slipped, as they had just done. But what if it was a trap? What if he was purposefully drawing her out? She had no doubt that it was a trap but also knew that Greyback wanted to hurt Harry and his family. He had been obsessed with Pansy after their wedding. Hermione remembered surveying and hearing how he flew into a rage about her marrying the "Half-blood wretch" and wanting to rip her to pieces.

There had to be someone inside that was betraying her friends. There had to be.

She carefully climbed down, avoiding snagging her fur in some brambles. Ensuring the lunkheads hadn't turned back her way, Hermione took off running towards Godric's Hollow. It would take her two days to make it there. She couldn't risk Apparating. The Protection around the estate would alert of any Apparition within at least a five mile radius. And she needed stealth. If someone on the inside was betraying them, she didn't want any record leaking that she was nearby. She hoped that Greyback wasn't that careful but she knew better.

Hermione only stopped to rest for a few hours and scavenge for some food. She took great care in avoiding crossing paths with Wizarding folk. Muggles stayed oblivious to a random fox skittering around town. Wizards were wary if anything that seemed like a Creature ventured near. Cats and dogs were fine. Small rodents even. But a fox? Suspicious. She stretched her human limbs and lay back in the tall grass on top of a hill, admiring the starlight. Even with everything going on, she would never tire of stargazing. Still harbouring a hatred for Divination, she could admit that there was something soothing in just admiring the constellations and the quiet surrounding her. She remembered the few times she sat in her garden, crickets chirping nearby, Malfoy's arms wrapped around her as they just sat in silence. She wished she could go back and savour those simple moments longer. When she finally gave in to what she deemed a weakness and allowed herself to enjoy having Malfoy, the rest of the world would melt away in those moments.

The next day she arrived at the edge of Godric's Hollow just after sunset. Carefully she crossed the barrier as a Fox. When no alarms sounded, she bounded quickly towards the house. She could see lights flicker inside the Potter house, shadows confirming someone was home. The moon would be full tonight. If they were going to attack, it would have to be tonight. She sat hidden in some bushes, her tail and ears twitching anxiously. She silently cast Revealing charms but was alerted to nothing. A few more hours passed, she still sat unmoving. The shadows in the house bounced between rooms, the curtains drawn for privacy. She could make out Pansy's and James' shadows, noting that Harry seemed to be gone.

Hermione looked up at the moon, dread filling her. Something wasn't right. She could feel it. Something was going to go wro-

The ground shook as an explosion rocked the house, smoking pouring out a broken window. Screams filled the air and panic rose in her throat. Without hesitation, Hermione Shifted back to human, feeling her clothes cover her body and hair flying behind her as she sprinted to the house. She wordlessly cast a Bombarda Maxima and the front door blew back. Wood splinters and broken glass cut into the soles of her bare feet as she ran into the house, turning the corner to find Pansy and James huddled by the broken fireplace. Looming over them were three snarling werewolves, one inexplicably larger than the others.

She screamed at the wolves, catching their attention. She also caught Pansy's, who stared wide-eyed, her lips silently mouthing "Granger?" . The wolves turned towards her, saliva spilling from their snarling jowls. The largest hung back towards Pansy as the other two advanced. Hermione decided she didn't have time to Shift and quickly pulled the small dagger strapped across her back that she kept hidden. The two wolves snapped their jaws and lunged towards her as she raised the dagger.