Hermione woke up the next morning, eyes sore and throat raw from all the tears she cried throughout the night. She well and truly let herself wallow in her self-made pity party for hours, and after practically passing out from exhaustion, Hermione knew she had to pull herself together.
Yes, she loved Charlie, more than she ever thought possible, but she meant what she had told him. She wouldn't pretend she was ok with his daughter's temper-tantrum. He was a grown man, and he needed to figure out what he wanted next. She would never come between a father and his daughter, but she also wouldn't compromise her own morals and sense of self-worth.
Giving herself a small shake, Hermione forced herself out of bed. Her first order of business was a shower to wash the heartache off. She was Hermione Granger, gods damnit, and the one thing she knew about herself was that she would persevere.
Shower complete, Hermione decided to throw herself into her work. It had been a while since she'd been down to the reservation to speak with the Elders. Since her first visit, she knew there were now three members of the tribe that had the shapeshifter gene. She hadn't been there for Sam's first transformation, but with both Jared and Paul, she had been able to use her magic to help them transition easier.
Hermione had been heartbroken the first time she sat down with Sam Uley. It had taken her a few meetings with the elders before she was even allowed near Sam. Understandably, they were hesitant to share their tribe secrets with her. After several visits of Hermione sharing her own personal history, a tentative relationship was born.
She could tell immediately that Sam was going to be a strong Alpha. He walked into their meeting, shoulders back and head held high, with the aura of a warrior. Sam immediately reminded Hermione of Harry, and because of that, she knew they would be close friends.
In those first few hours, she learned more about the young man than she expected. He told her of his anger at his father, how he couldn't control it, and how ultimately that bubbling anger trigger his transformation. Hermione could only listen in horror as Sam recounted the minutes after his first shift. How the anger immediately turned to fear and horror. He was a monster, a freak of nature, not worthy of living. All those things his father said to him.
He told her of how he stayed in wolf form for days, unable to calm himself enough to switch back to his human body. And only after stumbling into an Elder meeting, was he able to finally balance his emotions enough to change back.
His life had changed in the blink of an eye, and each time his anger got the better of him, his wolf would shred through his clothes within seconds. Sam knew his hopes and dreams were over, and because of his new reality, he ended his relationship with the only good thing in his life.
With tears streaming down her face, Hermione only had one thought. Before she knew she was standing, her arms were already wrapped around the giant man—her body dwarfed in comparison. She had made both him and the elders a promise that day. She would find a way to make the transitions easier on the pack. She wouldn't let anyone else go through the pain that Sam had.
And she had. She started small with Sam. Giving him a small vial of Calming Draught, she told him to take one drop the moment he felt his anger taking control of his body. Her experiments paid off. With the use of the draught, he was able to control his temper and his shifts.
Hermione used the same principle when the next two boys shifted, only this time she was there for them as well. She got the call that Jared had transformed late one night after a dinner date with Charlie. She kissed him softly on the forehead before leaving a note telling him she was called into work.
Hermione had made her way quickly to La Push where Sam met her at the boundary line. She parked her car on the side of the road and followed him into the surrounding woods. There, she found a beautiful wolf, smaller than Sam, whining slightly. She made her way to him slowly, her voice and movements calm.
She spent the better part of the night coaxing the giant wolf to return to his normal self. In the end, she had used the warmth of her magic to embrace his body in a way that made him so calm, he nearly passed out. Once he was in human form again, Hermione gave him his own vial of Calming Draught and gave him the same instructions as Sam.
Paul's was both better and worse. Sam and Jared knew Paul would be the next to transform and had already warned Hermione of his anger issues. In preparation, Hermione worked on combining the Calming Draught with the Elixir to Induce Euphoria. She believed that the two would work together to balance his already unsteady emotions.
When he transformed in a fit of rage, Hermione had already been at the reservation. It hadn't taken her long to find the pack along with their new member, however, before she could get close to them, the new addition started growling and baring his teeth. She knew she was safe with both Sam and Jared but trusted her instincts to stay back a bit.
Before Paul could leap at her, she cast a stunner at him and watched him fall to the ground. The other two wolves looked at her in shock, but she just rushed forward. Hermione spelled the combined potions into the downed wolf, and they all looked on in fascination as Paul quickly turned back into his human form. She conjured a cloak to cover him and helped the boys get him back to the elders.
In the months she had lived in Forks, those boys had become so important to her, and she knew they were just what she needed. Of course, she'd make her visit official by meeting with the Elders first, but then she'd make her way to Sam's wood shop. A day with the pack would help her get her head back on straight.
As Hermione made her way out the front door, she forced herself to not look at the house next door. The house with the man that held her heart in his hands. The house with the man that had the ability to break her. No, Hermione was her own woman. She was strong, and she would not pine for him. He could make his own decision about them, and hopefully for both their sakes, Hermione would still be willing to listen.