A/N: This is for Hogwarts assignment 7, Geography task #4 - write about a fic set in a forest. It's 932 words. Fenrir is going to be a little OOC in this as we never see a vulnerable/softer side of him in canon.

Hermione jolted out of her bed as she felt the wards around her house fall.

Quietly, she slipped from her bed, grabbed her wand and tried to Apparate but couldn't.

They must have put up an anti-Apparition ward, she thought.

Hermione strained her ears but could hear nothing but the pounding of her own heart.

Walking to her wardrobe, she put on some slip on tennis shoes and made her way downstairs.

Everything was quiet, peaceful even. As far as Hermione could tell noting had been disturbed. Until she saw that the front door was wide open.

Using the shadows to cover her, she ducked into the kitchen and found it just as she'd left it.

A noise came from the hall, and Hermione bolted for the back door, unlocked it with a Alohomora, and darted for the forest.

She ran as fast as she could to get a safe distance from the intruder. When she was ahead of them, Hermione would Apparate to harry and Ginny's. She knew that the couple would not mind hosting her for the night after she told them about what happened.

The forest was dense and Hermione found it hard to run far. She hoped beyond anything that she had lost them.

"You can't run from me, little girl," a voice called through the forest.

Hermione shivered.

At least it's someone not out to kill me, she thought.

Fenrir Greyback had sought her out after the war and declared that Hermione was his mate.

"I need to talk to you, little girl," he said sneaking up behind her.

Hermione's eyes widened as she turned around and saw his face.

"Don't run from me, please," Fenrir asked.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't?" she asked narrowing her eyes.

"You fell a pull towards me, don't you? You felt it when I captured you and took you to Malfoy Manor too."

Hermione's breath hitched.

He was right, but she certainly wasn't going to tell him that.

"I don't feel anything. If you felt something then, why did you let Bellatrix torture me?" Hermione asked furiously.

"I can tell that you're lying," he said, sounding amused.

"I'm not!" she exclaimed, noting that he never answered her question.

"Yes, you are," he chuckled, "The sound of your heartbeat became faster. I can hear it with my werewolf senses."

Hermione was intrigued. She had never known that werewolves had heightened senses when they weren't transformed.

"I've got your attention now, haven't I?"

"What is it you have to tell me?" Hermione asked.

"You're my mate. I knew the moment I smelled your scent when we captured that you were meant for me. The pull we feel will grow each time we're around each other until we're unable to deny it any longer."

"I don't believe you. I've never heard of it before,' she said.

"There are lots of things you don't know, little one. I can help you understand."

Fenrir had kept his word and over the next month he told her a little more he visited her. More about how werewolf lore, packs, and eventually mates. He had told her how unusual it was for a werewolf to mate outside of their pack, but when it happened the witch or wizard in question would bring something the pack needed.

Hermione was overwhelmed by the information, and couldn't believe that Remus would never have said anything.

She couldn't deny the pull she felt towards Fenrir when she was in his presence. It was something that enthralled and repulsed her. Her body craved his in the most carnal ways, and she hated herself for it.

Her thoughts drifted back to her current predicament and she knew that there was no way she could outrun him. Not now, not ever.

After researching as much as she could about werewolves and their mates (which was very little) hermione had realised that no matter where she hid, Greyback would always find her. She didn't want to give in, but she might have to.

Even after all the time she had spent with him, Hermione was waiting for the other shoe to drop. There had to be something nefarious about his interest, but she couldn't find anything in his words which would back that feeling up.

Suddenly, something raced across her vision and the next thing Hermione knew, she was pinned to the forest floor.

"Hello, mate," Fenrir said, as he nipped her jawline lightly, "Did you like the chase?"

"I thought someone was about to kill me. I… was relieved to find out it was only you," she admitted.

"I would never hurt you."

And somehow, Hermione knew he was telling the truth. From what she had heard, male werewolves put the safety of their mates above all else.

"It almost killed me when I couldn't protect you from Bellatrix. I had only just found you, and I was about to lose you again. It was the reason I was so adamant that she give you to me after," he confessed.

The admission had made some of Hermione's resolve falter. Up until that point she had tried to keep him firmly as the 'bad guy' in her mind, but seeing the fear in his eyes at the thought of losing her had broken that image.

"I know," she said softly, stroking his face.

He shifted some of his weight so she wasn't squashed under him, and placed a kiss on her lips.

Hermione sighed contentedly.

Giving in had always been her only option. Now, she just had to tell her friends and family.