Enjoy :) and please leave a review! (not my favourite chapter, quite jumpy but kinda necessary)
- HermionesPolyjuice xo
Chapter 15
Hermione's eyes must have widened even more at the sound of a gruff voice in her head because the other wolf made a sound that would have been a chuckle in human form.
"I won't bite," they said inside her head once more.
"What's happening?" Hermione thought, wondering whether the other wolf would be able to hear her.
"Yes, I can hear you. Telepathy is something some wolves are able to do. You might struggle for a bit," the other wolf told her.
"I've never read anything about this," Hermione thought, completely taken by surprise by the fact she could hear another wolf inside her own head.
"It's not something commonly documented. And it's only been recent that this has become possible," the wolf explained.
"How has is come about though?"
"No one really knows." The two wolves stared at each other, still separated by a metre of grass.
"I've never seen another wolf near here, you must have moved recently."
"Yes, only a few weeks ago."
"I see, and you're still quite a young wolf. As in, only recently you were transformed."
"A few months ago," Hermione shuddered at the memory.
"It gets better. I kind of enjoy it. Plus it's only 1 night a month."
"Yeah, I guess so. You can't help but remember who you are though."
"You can't change who you are on the outside but that doesn't change who you are on the inside. So what if you're a werewolf? I've been one for nearly five years now and no one, not even my family know. It doesn't change things."
"You haven't told you family?" Hermione was shocked at the thought of someone not telling their loved ones who they turn into each month.
"Why should I? Like I said it doesn't change who I am."
"Surely that's exactly why you should tell them." There was silence in the heads of the two wolves. The elder one knew that the younger one had a point but they had gone so long without telling anyone it almost seemed counterintuitive to suddenly spring it upon the family.
Hermione then did something that shocked her, she moved even closer to the other werewolf and began to sniff at it, walking around in circles. Although it had the distinctive werewolf smell, she could almost pick up its human scents, sandalwood and cinnamon, something that seemed oddly familiar. Once she had completed her circling she stood still and allowed the other wolf to do the same.
The other wolf hesitantly began to walk around Hermione, and just like she had identified the human's smell; mowed grass and ink. The wolf frowned at Hermione, why did it seem so familiar? Did they know each other as human forms?
The wolf finished their circles around Hermione and once again they stood a small way away staring at each other with curiosity. But Hermione couldn't stand it, she hated that she might know this werewolf as a human and hated the fact that they could potentially be listening to her own thoughts. So she turned around and took off the direction she had come, back towards Enisala. The other wolf watched her disappear, confused. They wanted to chase after her but knew that it could be overwhelming for a young wolf to have too much contact with another wolf for one night. So with a somewhat sad look in their eyes they turned around and ran off, back through the fields.
Hermione found the oak tree easily enough what with her excellent senses and knowing that she had a couple more hours until sunrise, curled up at its base, hoping to get a bit of sleep. But sleep didn't come. Her head was spinning and her brain working in triple time going over what had happened with her meeting with the other wolf. Just as the sky started to lighten she decided that she was going to ignore what had happened and forget about it, at least until the next full moon.
[-||-]
Hermione was relieved when she was back in human form. Stretching her aching muscles she pulled on some clothes and started the trek back to her flat, yawning every minute or so. She trudged along the high street, glad that it was still early and no one was up and reached her flat. She opened the door and was greeted by the most wonderful smell of breakfast.
She climbed onto a stool and rested her head on her arms, ignoring Draco's cheerful humming until he placed a large English Breakfast in front of her. She perked up and picked up her cutlery and started to eat. She was half way through before either of them spoke.
"You look exhausted, Hermione. You're going to go back to bed after and sleep at least until lunch," Draco told her.
"But the potion," she muttered weakly
"Don't worry about the potion, I've got it covered. You're much more likely to make a mistake when you're feeling like this," he said sternly. Hermione didn't even have the energy to argue and so once she had finished her tea made her way to her bedroom. She didn't even change before climbing under the covers, asleep within seconds.
Hermione awoke with a start a few hours later and took a little while to work out just where she was. Satisfied she was safe, she collapsed back down onto the pillow letting out a deep sigh. Her muscles ached, her head pounded, and her joints were stiff. She pulled her duvet up to her chin and closed her eyes. She must have fallen back asleep as she jumped when she heard a gentle knock at the door. She peered over her duvet at the door and smiled a little when she saw Draco peek his head through the gap.
"Ah you're up. How are you feeling?" he asked walking gently over towards the bed and perching on the end.
"Like I've hit a wall," Hermione grumbled sliding even further into the bed, making Draco smirk.
"How was last night?" he questioned. Hermione hesitated for a second, did she really want to tell him the truth?
"The usual," she sighed.
"Rough?"
"Yeah, the transformations don't get any easier, and being a werewolf, well it requires a lot of running and it's exhausting" Hermione admitted. Draco looked at her, his face filled with concern and pity.
"Don't look at me like that please Draco."
"Sorry," Draco mumbled. The duo sat there in silence, Hermione almost falling asleep once again before Draco jumped up and practically dragged her through to the kitchen for some lunch. Hermione curled up on the sofa and gratefully accepted the plate of toasties Draco put down in front of her. She smirked at the food.
"You know me way too well," she mentioned picking up a piece of food and taking a bite. Draco just shook his head as he laughed.
"That I do, Miss Granger," Draco said with a smirk.
Later that afternoon, Draco found himself moving from the sofa next to a curled-up Hermione to watching the potion to cooking some dinner. He enjoyed the peace and quiet and the time to get his head set on straight. He wouldn't deny there were feelings for Hermione and he was kind of gutted what Hermione had mentioned the other day, but he understood it. He wouldn't push anything. If she didn't like him like that then nothing was going to happen. He had to respect her wishes. But obviously it was going to take some time until those feelings completely disappeared. He stood by the window, watching the girl sleep. She had been through so much and he admired it. She was so strong and it surprised him at how proud he was of a…mudblood. He cringed at the thought of all the horrible things he had said to her. How could he have been such an arse? Hermione murmured in her sleep before her eyes fluttered open and she looked over at Draco, a smile spreading across her face as they made eye contact.
"You ready for some dinner?" he asked from his spot by the window. She nodded slowly. Hermione stood up and stretched. She followed Draco into the kitchen, pleased that finally she was able to let herself slump following the full moon. They ate in companionable silence for a while.
"I don't remember you being this exhausted after the other full moons," Draco suddenly said, looking over at Hermione who was stifling a yawn.
"Yeah, well some pepper-up potion and a brave face meant you didn't see the truth," Hermione admitted honestly.
"You should have let me look after you, Hermione."
"That would have meant telling you though."
"And it's hardly been the worse thing since you did tell me, eh?"
"I know, Draco, I know that. But it was hard, Remus was the only one who knew and that was only because he saw it happen," Hermione muttered quietly, her eyes filling with tears. Draco watched her for a second before standing up, walking around the table and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"It's fine, Hermione. I understand. But I'm glad you finally told me," he murmured.
"You made me admit it, let's be honest," Hermione said looking up at him with glistening eyes.
"Yes, but you weren't going to tell me out right. Plus, I honestly think it was the best thing to have happened," Draco said looking into her dark eyes. Hermione hesitated for a second and then nodded.
"Yeah, I reckon it may have been," she whispered almost inaudibly, resting her head against his chest.
[-||-]
A certain man, however, spent the entirety of the day reflecting on his experience from the previous night. Never had he come across another werewolf in these neck of the woods and it was both exciting and somewhat worrying. Her scent was so familiar, and it wasn't long until he felt that he may know who it was.
"Holy shit," he exclaimed as it clicked. Of course, he wasn't certain, it was hard to be certain about something like this but he had a hunch. It made everything make so much sense. He started to pace around his kitchen, thinking about the poor girl. He was meant to be meeting up with her on Monday, but he already decided that he was going to have to cancel. Both of their senses would still be very strong, and he knew that she would realise what he was. He hadn't told anyone what he was and although a part of him wanted her to know it was him and for her to know he was there for her, he wasn't ready to experience her wrath and surprise at not telling anyone for five years. And he knew she probably didn't want him to know it was her either. He slumped into his sofa, thoughts whizzing through his mind a million miles an hour.
[-||-]
Hermione awoke the following morning feeling significantly more refreshed and ready to tackle the day after sleeping for 16 hours straight. She got out of bed and made her way to the bathroom, ready for the hot water of a shower to beat down on her and relieve the stress out of her shoulders.
"What are you going to do today?" Draco asked as they sat down eating their breakfast.
"Not sure yet, probably won't stray too far what with the potion and all. Maybe go pick up some more books," she added as an afterthought.
"More books? Hermione, we don't have any space for any more books," Draco said looking over at the sitting room where the whole of two walls were covered with piles of books and he knew that her room was the same. Hermione blushed.
"You can never have too many," she mumbled under her breath.
"Hmmm." But Hermione caught his smirk and smiled to herself.
Hermione did, however, restrict just how many books she bought, much to Draco's relief when he caught sight of her carrying just four under her arm into the living room. Draco dramatically rolled his eyes from his spot on the sofa. Hermione lobbed one of her books at his head, which he managed to catch easily, without any effort. He looked at the book and scowled.
"How to get off your arse and get a job. Really Granger?" Hermione laughed.
"Well, I don't know about you but I'm getting pretty bored sitting around all day every day," Hermione groaned pushing Draco's legs off the sofa and sitting down.
"Bored? Me? Never." Hermione rolled her eyes. "What other books did you get?"
"Just some muggle fiction ones," Hermione responded showing Draco the three classics: Sense and Sensibility, Oliver Twist and Wuthering Heights.
"They sound…great?" Draco said hesitantly.
"Don't judge until you've read, Malfoy." Hermione grabbed back one of the books, flicked to the first page and disappeared behind the tome.
[-||-]
"Hermione!" Hermione sat up with a start. She had lost herself in Wuthering Heights for the past few hours and was surprised to hear Draco shouting her name through the flat. She noted down her page and put her book down before heading to the sitting room.
"What?"
"Put a smile on your face, Granger and come over here," Draco said, a huge grin across his face. Hermione's eyes widened having spotted where Draco was stood. She ran the few steps towards him.
"It worked? It actually worked?" Hermione squealed with delight peering over the cauldron.
"Yeah," Draco beamed. They shared a quick, and slightly awkward, hug before Hermione jumped to action summoning vials and ladling the potion away for future.
"Lets hope it actually works in a few weeks," she muttered, more to herself than to Draco.
"It will, Hermione. If it looks like how it's meant to, it will work. There's no way such a complicated potion like this could look how it's meant to and not work."
"Yeah, let's hope so." Once Hermione finished bottling away the potion she eyed the room.
"What now?" Draco asked as he watched her looking around. Hermione didn't respond but rather cocked her head, her eyes flicking around. She pulled out her wand, flicked it and a few piles of books in the corner shrunk and then disappeared. She then conjured a small cabinet and promptly placed all the vials of successful Wolfsbane into it.
"Right," Draco said with another roll of his eyes, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Hermione.
"When can we start the next batch?" Hermione asked eagerly looking at Draco with sparkling eyes. Draco raised his eyebrows.
"Maybe give it a few days. I think we might need some more supplies and I wouldn't mind a rest from potion brewing," Draco responded almost glaring at Hermione.
"Humph." Hermione crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked back at Draco with an intense look.
"It takes a lot of time and effort Hermione, we just finished this batch give it a week and we'll start on the next one and maybe with greater quantities," Draco said. Hermione sighed.
"I guess it couldn't hurt to take a few days. Maybe we could find the local magical community rather than going all the way back to London," Hermione suggested with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, we'll explore tomorrow. I'm not going today, Hermione. It may take a while to find it and it's going to be dark in about an hour," Draco added slumping onto the sofa.
"Fine," Hermione grumbled. She flicked her wand, vanishing the cauldron, ingredients and fire that were all still set on the worktop. She too then collapsed onto the sofa, summoning a couple of bottles of beer, uncorking one and handing the other to Draco.
[-||-]
Hermione woke early the next morning, a good few hours before Draco rose from his bed. She was very fidgety by the time Draco reached the kitchen at 8:30. She was excited to explore the magical community, getting somewhat sick of just the muggle area. She practically forced the food down Draco's throat before pulling him out of the door at a run.
"Chill out, Granger. It's not going to go anywhere," Draco hissed, rubbing at his arm where Hermione had just released him.
"Sorry," Hermione mumbled. They walked down the high street in silence, pulling their jackets high against the brisk wind.
"Where are we going?" Draco finally asked, practically shouting against the howling wind.
"I don't know, where do you think?" Hermione responded loudly.
"Maybe we could try apparating, it's bloody freezing," Draco suggested. Hermione considered it for a moment and then agreed, it was rather cold and as they had no idea where they were going, apparating wouldn't exactly be the worst idea.
"What do we think about?" she asked.
"An alley like Diagon Alley, I can't imagine it would be much different," Draco suggested but Hermione could sense the hesitation in his voice.
"OK, maybe together just in case." Draco nodded in agreement. He took hold of Hermione's hand in his large gloved one and thinking of a magical pull they disappeared with a loud pop.
It took them three attempts until they found what they were looking for. They landed a little unsteadily in the middle of a bustling street and judging by the many coloured cloaks and some pointed hats they knew they had found a magical street. They shared a grin and made there way down the crowded street, keeping their eyes down and coats up.
It wasn't long until they found an Apothecary and pushed open the door. Hermione had made a list of what they were going to need for the Wolfsbane, including ingredients for pepper-up potions and other essential potions they could start brewing to build a bit more of a stock. She ripped it in half, handed one part to Draco and continued around the shop picking up the ingredients written on her bit of parchment. It took them less than 10 minutes to collect everything and meet at the cashier. Hermione's heart sank a bit as she saw the shop owner tallying up the price. She was going to have to find a job very soon. No way could she afford all of this for much longer. She had an amount of gold in Gringotts to last her maybe a couple more months but by Christmas she was going to start struggling unless she got paid sometime soon.
Fortunately for her though, Draco noticed the panicked expression that had flitted across her face.
"I'll pay for all this," Draco whispered in her ear. Hermione opened her mouth to protest but before she could say anything Draco interrupted her. "Just as long as you cook for the rest of the week."
"I…um…thanks Draco," Hermione responded with a smile. Draco paid, Hermione put the ingredients into her magically enhanced bag and together they left the Apothecary out into the chilly Autumnal day ready to explore their closest magical community some more.
(A/N: hope you enjoyed it! I am currently working on ch18 so hopefully won't be too long until I update again, maybe Friday? Anyways I love reading your thoughts so don't forget to give me a review!)
