Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. All characters, places, descriptions, etc (unless original and created by me) belong to her.

Summary: It was a small pack, of course, just the five of them, but together they were something wild. Hermione finds herself in the Marauders' Era with four new best friends.

A/N: Was going to wait until tomorrow to post... But I'm a sucker for heartfelt reviews. kgpatty and ScarlettVixenHp - an old reader and a new one - thanks for your reviews! and as a reward, here's chapter 19 :)

Chapter 19: Canis Habet Oculos, Cor Cervi*

27 September 1977

On the Way to the Shrieking Shack

"I'm going to throw up. I'm going to vomit. Remus, I can't do this."

"Hermione, I do this every month. If I can do it, I know you can." Hermione looked around nervously.

"Where are the others?"

"What?" Remus was taken aback, and Hermione struggled to recover.

"Um, I mean, don't they see you off?"

"Oh, um, yeah, but they can't tonight. They're, um, busy."

"Busy?"

"Yeah…" They walked a couple steps in silence.

"Does someone come get you in the morning?"

"What? Oh, no. Not anymore. Madame Trapner used to get me, but now she lets me make it back on my own." They made it two more steps before Hermione spoke up again.

"Okay, one more question." Remus chuckled.

"Yeah?"

"Um, what about my, um, my clothes." Hermione felt her cheeks heat up. Remus blushed as well.

"Shit."

"What?"

"I didn't think about that."

Remus and Hermione walked out of the front doors of the castle and made their way to the carriages. Remus had yet to explain there was another entrance to the Shrieking Shack, just as he had yet to explain the Marauders role during the full moon. But Hermione wasn't hurt by the omission. Just because she knew their secret, didn't mean they had to share it yet. But she had been hoping they would come around to help just in case she and Moony got out of hand.

They sat quietly in the carriage, listening to the thestrals breathing and watching Hogwarts grow smaller as they neared the Shack.

"Got it!" Hermione jumped, startled by Remus' abrupt outbreak.

"Sorry?"

"I got it. The clothes thing. Here, give me your sock." Hermione raised an eyebrow but pulled off her shoe and sock nonetheless. She handed it to Remus, who quickly transformed the sock into a giant t-shirt. He handed it back to Hermione.

"The clothes thing is an issue, but usually I just, um, don't wear any." Remus struggled to continue. He cleared his throat and motioned to the t-shirt in Hermione's hand. "You can change into that just before. It'll get ruined, but we can repair it each time. It wouldn't hold up if you wore it around, but it should do the trick for covering you until you transform."

"Thank you, Remus." The pink from Hermione's cheeks faded as she smiled at Remus. She turned over the grey fabric in her fingers and looked out the window.

They had arrived.

Remus stood up awkwardly in the small carriage and stepped toward the door. Hermione didn't move.

"Remus," she whispered. "Remus, I'm scared." Hermione's bones felt like they were shivering in her core. She started tearing up.

Remus looked back at her and moved to sit by her side. He put his arms around Hermione and pulled her close, stroking her hair.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," he whispered in her ear. "I'm here. It's okay.

"I know you're scared, Hermione. It's okay. I'm going to be there the whole time. It's going to hurt. I'm not going to lie; it's incredibly painful. But you're strong. I know you can do this."

Hermione looked at Remus with wet eyes. She hugged him with all her strength, closing her eyes and breathing him in. When she pulled away, the tears were gone.

"Okay, I think I'm ready."

The two walked up to the Shack and the carriage sped away, as if even the thestrals were afraid of what was going to take place in just a few minutes. Opening the door, Remus bounded with newfound energy up the stairs to the bedroom. Hermione took her time climbing the stairs.

"Hermione, come on. Hurry up here!"

"Remus, what is so important that I ha–" Hermione opened the bedroom door and stopped in her tracks.

Lined up by size and were an incredibly calm stag, huge black dog, and rat.

Seeing Padfoot and Wormtail in the shack brought her third year slamming back to the front of her memory. Hermione instinctively took a step back.

"Oh Merlin," she breathed. She looked at Remus, who was smiling like an idiot.

"Okay, Hermione, just stay calm. I-we have something to show you." He turned to the animals. "James?"

And suddenly it was James, not a stag. Hermione's eyes widened. She had never seen James transform.

"Sirius?"

The black dog started chasing his tail, and in a whir of fur, Sirius appeared, shaking his hair out like a wet dog.

"Peter?"

With a pop and a fizz, the rat grew to an alarming size and its features faded into Peter's.

All four Marauders were wearing identical stupid grins. James wiggled his eyebrows.

"Ta da! So what do you think?" Hermione took a split-second to gather herself and reminded herself she was supposed to be surprised. Her face lit up, and her smile matched the boys'.

"You're animagi. Oh you smart, smart boys!" She walked up to each Marauder and touched their faces. Each boy smiled with pride. "This is incredible."

"We did it for Remus," Peter spoke up. "We help him through the full moon. Werewolf bites can't turn other animals. We thought we could help you, too."

"Oh, you boys are wonderful." She looked back at Remus. Remus looked like a proud parent showing off his sons. "I just want you all to know how thankful I am for all of you. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without you here."

The boys sat around and chatted while Hermione and Remus changed. Remus transfigured his socks into a shoddy pair of pants. Hermione pulled the curtains of the bed closed to change into her t-shirt.

The t-shirt was enormous and thankfully covered everything. The hem came to her mid-thigh, and the neck was wide. Her sleeve slipped over her left shoulder, her scar from Moony's bite almost completely visible. Reopening the curtains, Hermione climbed off the bed and gasped as she saw Remus.

He was shirtless. His chest, she knew, was scattered with scars. There were fewer than she remembered, but still plenty. What had startled her was his back. Remus had a scar running most of the length of his spine. The line was rough and broken in places, looking as if it had been opened and closed a thousand times.

Hearing Hermione's gasp, Remus turned his head around, hurt flashing in his eyes. Hermione's heart dropped. She stepped up to Remus and gently turned his shoulders so he faced her completely.

"I'm sorry, Remus, I didn't mean to gasp. I just, I didn't know. I mean, I knew there would be scars, but…" Hermione's eyes dropped. "Will I get one, too?"

"Yes." Hermione covered her mouth as she choked on a sob.

"And that's my cue," Sirius said as he stepped forward. He pulled something from behind his back and presented it to Hermione.

"Firewhiskey?"

"Just something to help with the transformation." James groaned behind Sirius.

"Great, just what we need, a couple of drunk werewolves." Hermione and Remus chuckled, and Sirius barked out a laugh. He twisted off the cap and held the bottle out to Hermione.

"Come on, Pup, take a sip." Hermione froze.

"What did you call me?" A blush crept up Sirius' neck. Hermione's response had been unexpected.

"Um, Pup?" He looked at the other Marauders. "We just thought you needed a nickname. Like us. We were going to go with Romulus, you know cause in Roman mythology–"

"He's Remus' brother," Hermione finished. Sirius continued to ramble on.

"Yeah, exactly, but we thought that was a little obvious, and you're not a guy, so. And then we just came up with Pup, cause you're like the newest member and all. So, yeah."

Hermione stepped forward with her arms out to hug Sirius. He put his hands up to stop her.

"You're not going to knock me down again, are you?" Hermione laughed and shook her head. Sirius nodded and stepped forward to meet her halfway. When Hermione hugged Sirius, she closed her eyes, pretending it was the older man.

"Thank you, Sirius," she whispered in his ear. "I love it."

"Okay, guys, five minutes to go." Hermione released Sirius and looked at James. He was moving around the room, picking up Remus' and Hermione's clothes. Hermione thought he looked like a film director, setting the scene. Sirius nudged her and she looked up at him.

"Here, you're going to want this." Hermione took the firewhisky from him and downed a couple gulps. Sirius pulled the bottle from her lips, laughing.

"Whoa, whoa, Pup, just enough to soften the pain. James is right; we don't want a couple of wolves on the loose." Hermione smiled weakly.

"Just nervous." Sirius swayed into her and took a drink himself.

"We're here for you, Pup. We've got you."

James had surprised Hermione. He was completely prepared to deal with the two werewolves. While Remus and Hermione passed the bottle of firewhisky between them, James hustled around the room. He pulled out a standing screen and directed Hermione to stand behind it. She was to transform there to keep her privacy.

It started small at first. Like rain falling, a few drops at a time and then boom, a downpour.

Hermione's skin started to itch and her muscles started to spasm. Remus noticed her discomfort and told her it was starting. She moved behind the screen and fell to her hands and knees with a gasp. She was vaguely aware of Remus trying to talk her through the process, but his words were merely white noise to her.

Every bone moved at once, breaking and reforming. Hermione's vision was filled with white, hot pain. She heard someone whimpering. It sounded like they were miles away.

Every inch of her skin was set on fire, and she was aware of each and every pore as fur pushed through. Her back zippered open as her spine realigned, the vertebrae bumping into each other like nails on a chalkboard. Hermione focused on the splintered wood beneath her hands and watched with macabre wonder as her hands rippled into claws.

Her face shook with incredible force as she threw it left and right. Each throw was accompanied by a shift—her nose, her jaw, her eyes.

The whole process took exactly 54.6 seconds, but it felt like an hour. Hermione was somehow acutely aware of each and every change. She knew what each pain was and what exactly was happening to her body with each crack. And that made it all the more excruciating.

The pain was worse than anything she had ever dared to imagine, but Hermione held on to consciousness as long as she could. Just before she was completely transformed, Hermione succumbed to the pain and passed out.

When the whimpers and cries had stopped, a stag, a dog, and a rat peered behind an aged screen. A pure white wolf was lying fallen on the ground, her damp fur shining with sweat. She didn't stir. The stag stepped forward and nudged her gently with an antler. He stepped back quickly.

A deep growl rose from the floorboards. All three animagi looked at each other as another growl sounded right behind them.

The Shrieking Shack

When Hermione woke up she noticed two things. First, her head and face was throbbing. Second, something close by smelled like blood and-and firewhiskey?

Hermione tried to open her eyes, but only one was working. She sat up in alarm.

"Whoa, whoa, slow down there, Pup." Sirius.

Hermione moved her hands over her body, wincing at the pain. She stopped suddenly, realizing she was wrapped in a blanket, just a blanket.

"Relax, Pup. I'm a perfect gentleman. Didn't see anything. James wrapped you up." Hermione blushed a little at the fact that Harry's father had seen her naked.

"Hold still, Pup. You're a little knocked up. I need to see the damage."

Eyes closed, Hermione hissed as firewhisky came into contact with her skin. She threw a hand out, her nails latching on to Sirius' thigh. Sirius didn't protest and let her dig into his jeans as he cleared away the blood from her face.

"Shit," he whispered.

"What? What is it?"

"It's just, um, it's worse than I thought." He pulled back from her. "James? Can you come here?"

James walked away from helping Peter with Remus and knelt beside Hermione, assessing the damage.

"Shit, Hermione, we've got to get you to Madame Trapner. Sirius, put away the damn whiskey. We've got to go." Sirius huffed but closed the bottle. He stored it under some floorboards and threw the rag he had been using over his shoulder. Only it wasn't really a rag.

"Wait a second," Hermione stopped as James was helping her to her feet, careful to hold the blanket in place. She turned her head so her left eye was able to fully see Sirius. "What is that?"

Sirius looked at the red and gold fabric slung over his shoulder. He looked back at Hermione and shrugged.

"You said firewhiskey works just as well." Hermione laughed and barely winced at the pain.

"You didn't have to bring an entire towel! Don't you need that? Now the whole thing will smell like firewhisky!" Sirius smiled and shrugged.

"Everyone needs a whiskey towel, for all your medical emergencies." His voice was light, but his smile disappeared from his eyes as he looked away from Hermione.

Slowly but surely, the three animagi managed to get Hermione and Remus back to the castle and settled in the hospital wing. Remus had gotten away with just two cracked ribs. He was calling it a victory.

Hermione's eye was swollen, and she had a deep gash across her eyebrow and the skin around her eye. Madame Trapner had been extremely quiet when she was treating it. Besides that Hermione had the spinal tear, a few random cuts and scrapes, and a nasty bruise on her right side. The Marauders kept avoiding Hermione's gaze.

When Madame Trapner finally left them alone, Hermione motioned Peter over to her side.

"Peter, what happened last night? I don't remember anything." Peter looked nervous. He looked around for his friends. He spotted Sirius coming back from the medicine closet with pain potions.

"Um, here. Sirius!" Peter called him over and quickly ducked away when he reached Hermione's bed. Hermione looked over at Sirius.

"Sirius, what happened? Why won't anyone tell me?" Her voiced dropped to a whisper. She was terrified. "I didn't hurt anyone, did I?"

Sirius sighed and pulled the chair by her bed closer to her side.

"No, no, of course not. It was totally fine at first. You were great, Hermione. You got the hang of being a wolf really fast. It took me ages to get used to walking on four paws.

"It's my fault really. Sometimes I just—I give in to the whole thing too much. I forget we're there to help, not play. I guess I just got a little too excited there was another canine."

Sirius stopped talking and avoided her gaze. Hermione reached out to hold his hand.

"I guess I got too close or maybe I was too rough with you. But-but Moony got protective. It was like nothing we'd ever seen before. He got so protective over you. We fought for a little bit, which was fine. We've done it before, but this time… Hermione, you got in the way." He touched her face softly just to the side of her gash. Hermione closed her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, Pup. I didn't mean to hurt you."

Hermione opened her eyes and looked at Sirius. For a moment, he thought he saw a flash of gold.

"It's alright, Sirius. I forgive you."

Remus looked over at Sirius and Hermione and felt a weird rumbling in his chest. He looked down, as if he expected to see answers written across his bandages. It wasn't jealousy he was feeling, although honestly, that was what he was expecting. He looked at the two again, confusion etched across his face. When Sirius reached a hand up to touch Hermione's face, a slow growl erupted from Remus' throat.

The other three Marauders and Hermione all turned to look at him. Remus blushed and waved them off. Peter went off to the cupboards to get more pain potion for Remus, and James moved to his bed.

"The growl—are you jealous?" James nodded toward Hermione and Sirius. He wasn't being accusatory, merely concerned.

"I don't think so," Remus said, turning to James as realization sparked in his eyes. "James, I think I figured it out."

"What?"

"I don't like Hermione. I mean, no, I do, of course I do, but not, you know, like that. She's like, um, like a part of me. Last night proved it. I'm protective of her. There's some kind of bond there. It's like she's mine, you know?"

"Sorry, what? She's yours? But you don't like her?"

"Not like that," Remus huffed, trying to find the words to express himself. "It's like she belongs to me. No, that's worse. Uh, no, it's like she belongs with me, but not romantically. Is this making any sense at all to you?" James laughed, shaking his head.

"Honestly no, mate. But hey, if it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me, eh?"

"I didn't say it didn't bother me."

"What? But you just said you didn't like her like that."

"I'm not jealous. I'm just, um, uneasy. After last night, the wolf doesn't really like Padfoot that close to her."

"Moony, you know he didn't mean to hurt her. She got in the way. It was an accident."

"I know that," Remus said before pointing to his chest. "But he doesn't know that."

"Well, he's just going to have to get over that. We just got them to get along."

"Yeah, I guess so." Remus watched as Sirius handed Hermione a pain potion.

"This is going to scar, isn't it?" Hermione asked, her fingers ghosting over her right eye. "That's why Madame Trapner was so quiet earlier, right?"

"I'm really sorry, Pup."

"Sirius, I told you, it's not your fault. I just, I've never had a scar that I wasn't able to hide before. I know it makes me sound vain, but it makes me feel… I don't know." She looked down at the empty potion bottle in her hands.

"Hey, hey, stop that. Your scars don't mean anything. They do not define you, and they never will. Besides, it's a prerequisite for being a Marauder." Sirius' voice had lightened, but she could tell he was being earnest.

"James, he broke his arm first year." Sirius made a cutting motion across his forearm. "The bone came straight out of his arm. We were so afraid of getting into trouble that we waited too long to tell anyone. By the time he finally made it to the hospital wing, there was no way it couldn't have scarred.

"And Peter, he's got a bunch from an Animagus mishap. He was the first one of us to fully transform. Got so excited he ran into the fire in the Gryffindor common room. It smelled like roasted rat for days.

"Of course, Remus has got plenty. Some of them good memories, some bad, but that's the thing, Pup. We were there. We were there for each other for every scar."

"What about you?" Hermione asked gently. "Where's your scar?"

"Some scars can't be seen, Pup."

"It is a school day!" A voice came bellowing from outside the hospital wing. Seconds later Professor McGonagall appeared. "James Potter, Sirius Black, Peter Pettigrew, you boys better have a good explanation as for why you aren't in class, right now."

"Aw, Minnie, we were just tending to the sickies. Putting in some community service hours with the less fortunate." Hermione swatted at Sirius' hand but chuckled nonetheless.

"Out! All three of you! Off to class! Mr. Lupin and Ms. Granger will be here when you are finished." The three boys groaned but stopped abruptly under Professor McGonagall's glare.

Sirius looked at Hermione as he stood up.

"Hermione, if there's anything you need…" She smiled and nodded before looking back down at the empty bottle in her lap. Sirius started to walk away, but turned around.

"Oh, Hermione?" She looked back up at him.

"Welcome to the pack, Pup."

A/N: *The Eyes of a Dog, the Heart of a Deer