A story of death and destruction.
Hermione gives Greyback his answers. Compromises are discussed. A ceremony is performed.
Hermione tossed and turned all night, plagued by nightmares. She woke up more than once, terrified of having made the wrong decisions this time, too. She could only hope and pray that she could find the right words to sway Greyback to their side this time. She remembered his dark blue amber ringed eyes locked on her. This had to work, it just had to! Even if she had to give herself over, she would! She couldn't lose Harry again, not like that!
Two hours before her alarm went off, Hermione was already up, dressed and eating breakfast when she heard Nick calling her name. She ran out to meet him. "Nick, hello!"
He hugged her tightly, this child he was responsible for. His godchild. He would fight heaven and hell to protect and defend this girl. He had a feeling that he was seriously NOT going to like what was in store for them. She normally talked a mile a minute, every time he'd seen the girl, up until this past visit. Now, she was almost completely shut down, even from him. He didn't like it, not a single fucking bit! He stood aside to show her the Avengers were there with him.
They all looked surprised. Fury had told them he needed them to come to the helicarrier. He hadn't told them why. It was for a very special purpose, though. They'd find out more when they got here. Now, here was Fury, hugging a young girl, one they'd seen quite often, as a matter of fact. She was practically skin and bones and they could see the haunted look in her eyes. 'What had happened to devastate this child?'
She smiled politely as she was introduced to Captain America, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Thor. The last two Avengers, however, were hugged. Iron Man and Dr. Bruce Banner, aka the Hulk, wondered why they were greeted differently. Fury shook his head at them. They would find out soon enough. Even he didn't have the full story yet.
She led them across the bridge and up to the room containing the Isolation cell and one pissed off werewolf. He snarled at her as soon as she walked in, then his eyes widened as the rest of the group followed her. He eyed them warily, following each along the glass as they positioned themselves around the cage. Fury was glad to see that he did seem to be on his toes after that. Hermione walked over to the TV set high on the wall, unnoticed by Greyback until now.
"Phoenix headquarters." She commanded. The screen turned on and revealed the Order of the Phoenix, along with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. Greyback approached as close as the glass would let him. She turned to face him.
"I'm sure you have questions, Greyback. Now is the time to ask them, before I start explaining why you're here." She looked the werewolf dead in the eye.
"You're lying! My pack isn't dead, I'm not dead else I wouldn't be standing here! The war hasn't been won, not yet!" he growled at her. She sighed and rubbed her forehead.
"Kingsley, bring them in now. They deserve to hear the full story, too. Just those two only, though." She instructed Shacklebolt. He walked out of the room and returned shortly with two young men Greyback was very familiar with. Scabior and McKeon, his soon to be Beta/wolf son and the Gamma of his pack. Upon seeing their Alpha, the young men rushed forward only to stop in confusion as they reached the wall, realizing they were only seeing an image.
"Alpha?" McKeon asked uncertainly. Scabior stared wide eyed at him fearfully. He motioned them to calm down as he stared intently at Hermione.
"Are they being detained as well? Hasn't the Order and the Ministry killed enough of my pups?! This is why I went to the Dark Lord in the first place!" he gritted his teeth angrily. Hermione laid her hands on the glass, lining them up with his fists.
"This is what I'm trying to tell you, Greyback. If you stay with the Dark Lord, the same thing is about to happen again! I told you some hard facts last night. Now I'm going to tell you more details. I'm going to tell you what happened at the Battle of Hogwarts!" she waited until he unclenched his fists.
"The fighting was horrible. The Dark Lord and his forces had just come from the Forbidden Forest, with Hagrid carrying Harry. We all thought he was dead then. Neville tried to kill Nagini. As the Order knows," "Harry showed us he wasn't dead. Then. The fighting resumed as Ron and I tried, with Neville's help to kill Nagini. Ron was bitten, we didn't have time to get him to the infirmary. Neville finally got a clean shot and killed Nagini. It didn't help, though." Here she stopped and turned to the TV screen. "Voldemort killed Harry. You died, Harry, you died." Tears were streaming down her face. Harry was holding back his own tears. "When that happened, I just, I shut down. I backed away and Disillusioned myself. The Death Eaters began rounding up the surviving members of the Order. Your wolves were killing everyone, Greyback. They were winning the battle for Voldemort. You kept looking around. I finally realized who you were looking for when I saw you holding McKeon back from fighting. You were looking for Scabior. You didn't know what happened at the bridge." Here she turned to Scabior. He was looking at her now. "Neville and Seamus were told to blow the bridge up. They had until the wards fell to get the bridge wired with explosives. When the wards came down, Scabior chased Neville across. Halfway over, the bridge blew up and fell out from under him and his Snatchers. Neville almost went down, too. After I saw you looking for him, the Dark Lord commanded the Death Eaters to go retrieve any survivors. I followed them. Something wasn't right. When I got down there, they were torturing the few who hadn't been killed by the fall. I found Scabior. I could tell he was almost gone. It hurt him just having me touch his skin to find a pulse. One more spell that wasn't a healing spell would kill him. After seeing what was happening to the rest, I couldn't let that happen to him. I very quietly stunned him and made sure he was gone before I left him. They had taken the survivors back and I went back to find out what was going on." She walked back to the cage. "He called you and your wolves to the center of the Great Hall and ordered you to kneel. You knew something was wrong, Greyback, I know you did." She stared up at him. "I could see it in your eyes, Greyback. That wasn't what he had promised you and you knew it! You refused to kneel so the Death Eaters stunned all of you and put you on your knees! Then, one by one, they tortured your pups, ALL OF YOUR PUPS, including McKeon, to death in front of you. Then he killed you, after laughing at you for falling for his lies! Is that what you want to happen again, Greyback? Because I can let you walk out of here right now and go straight back to that grisly end! Or, you can change your mind, change your decision and save yourself and all of your pups. It's up to you." She went to Fury next. "After that, I left. I couldn't handle seeing anything like that anymore. I took a muggle flight out of Britain and came to New York. Macusa knew I was here but since I wasn't using magic, at all, they didn't bother me. I looked you up because I didn't know where else to go. My parents are still protected and I didn't want to mess with them, not being in this state of mind. I was getting back to the point where I wasn't waking up screaming every time I closed my eyes. But then, the battle of New York happened and brought it all back to me." Hermione walked over to Tony Stark and rested a hand over his arc reactor. "I saw you sacrificing yourself for your team. I saw you fall back out of the sky. Your team was gathered around you. They thought you were dead. In all probability, you mostly were. Then the Hulk roared and brought you back." Here she laid a hand on Bruce Banner. "That's when I remembered something. I had something with me that could possibly help me bring Harry back. Bring everyone back. I could be Harry's scream of resurrection, like you were Tony's scream of resurrection." Banner ducked his head as Tony clapped him on the back.
Hermione walked back to the TV screen. She pulled something from under her shirt. Harry recognized it instantly. "Hermione? A time turner?"
"Not a time turner, Harry." She flipped it and showed him the back. "MY time turner. I stole it that night at the Ministry of Magic. The night we fought the Death Eaters. I don't know why. I just wanted it back in my hands. Now I know why. Subconsciously, I must have known I would need it in the future."
"I came back to Britain, Harry. I Disillusioned myself again and went to the Ministry. I stood there in the Atrium and just started winding the time back. I stopped only twice and that was to issue two warnings. Scabior and Greyback would have to tell you what I told them, however. I wound it all the way back to that night, Harry. Then I waited until you were there. I followed us down and fought right along with everyone else. I knew if I was going to change anything, though, it would have to be only one or two things and it couldn't be anything too major. So, when the fight was going on beside the veil, I watched and waited. When Sirius was fighting Bella, she shot the killing curse at him. The first time, he dodged the curse and tripped, falling through the veil. This time, I dodged behind him and pushed him into Lucius Malfoy, causing Lucius to drop the prophecy you had just handed over. I cushioned the prophecy, disillusioned it and summoned it. You should have seen your face and his, watching that little glass ball vanish before your eyes." She dug into a beaded bag that never left her side, pulling out the prophecy. Harry gasped. Behind him, Sirius was speechless.
"Hermione, I…I died?" he stammered. She nodded. "You saved me. Sweetheart, you saved me, thank you!"
"You repaid the favor, Sirius, you pulled me out of there before the Aurors got there. You got me to Grimmauld Place and Arthur took me on over to St Mungos. I was dying from Dolohov's curse."
"Hermione, what all have you managed to change?" Harry asked. Hermione took a deep breath.
"Not really as much as I could have. Some stuff I had to let happen, Harry. If I had changed a lot, it would have messed up the timeline too much to fix it. Sixth year went pretty much the same, except you still had Sirius to communicate with. I just tweaked an edge here and there. The fight with Draco still happened but instead of just randomly hiding the book, I guided you to put the book right next to the diadem and also to memorize where the diadem was. Draco still let the Death Eaters into the castle. Harry, I'm sorry. I couldn't save Dumbledore but I did push you into learning Occlumency. You hated Snape all the way through it but you did learn from him this time. I also kept you from promising Dumbledore that you wouldn't tell anyone else about the Horcruxes. You knew we needed help, Harry, you knew that was a task beyond the skills of two barely of age wizards and an eighteen year old witch. When we left the castle that year, I already knew the plan for moving you. I convinced Moody to still let Mundungus Fletcher know the plan but I talked him into having someone else as his Harry Potter. Someone who wouldn't take one look at Voldemort and Disapparate, leaving Moody wide open to attack. That's why Moody is still with us. I showed him my memory of that night but presented it as a 'dream that something bad was going to happen'. I convinced him we had to leave everything the same except who his Harry was. He chose Hestia Jones instead. Fletcher was sent with the Dursleys to their safe house." She took a deep breath and swayed. Fury walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her too thin shoulders. "After the wedding, we still went on the run. Except this time, when we came to Grimmauld Place, we weren't alone. We had help. Between the two of them, Kingsley and Moody got the locket from Umbridge. I already knew the diadem but I had to pretend to research it to keep you from figuring out that I had already been through this once. We still left and went to the woods and we were still caught by the Snatchers. We were taken to the Manor and I was still tortured." Here she pulled up her sleeve, revealing the word 'mudblood' etched into her arm. "I was able to deflect the blade at the last minute and we didn't lose Dobby. He's with Bill and Fleur. We've been here at Grimmauld Place, planning the Gringotts break in. Then I made the mistake of mentioning our current agenda."
"Hermione, how is it that you are you and not a double? I remember when you and I used the time turner in third year. You said we couldn't let our other selves know we were there, something about the time space continuum?"
"I am Hermione but you're right, Harry. When Arthur took me to St Mungos that night, they wouldn't let him into the room with me. I was alone with myself and the healers, I watched myself die, Harry, then I took my spell off and showed the healers my identity. They confirmed I was who I was and decided that, in order to help me fulfill the mission I had set myself, they would keep me there until I 'fully recovered', instead of me coming back to Madame Pomfrey already fully healed. The other me was faded out of existence as soon as I took her place. I've been with you ever since. Like I said, I couldn't change too much but I tweaked a little bit here and there, smoothing down corners but this," she turned and looked at Greyback once more. "This is, by far, the biggest change. This is really the one that matters most, Harry, besides making sure you don't die this time. The wolves were Voldemort's biggest asset in the fight last time, this time I'm hoping we can change their minds and get them on our side. I admit I wasn't expecting you to bring me Greyback but here he is." Greyback stared back at her silently, not giving any of his thoughts away.
"Hermione, can we talk to you, away from him? Perhaps give his young associates here a chance to talk to him?" Kingsley inquired. Hermione glanced up at Nick, who nodded. He'd monitor the wolves until she got back. Hermione left the room and headed for her bedroom. Kingsley, Moody, Harry and Ron headed into the kitchen, leaving Remus, Sirius and Dora with the two young wolves on their end.
"Do you think he'll agree, Hermione?" Shacklebolt was the first one to speak. He'd been monitoring Greyback ever since the connection opened. Aside from acknowledging his boys, Greyback hadn't looked away from Hermione one time. Also, he was surprised to realize that Scabior wasn't actually a wolf. 'How was the boy managing to stay with the wolves, unturned, without them ripping him to shreds?'
"I don't know. What you heard him say earlier is the first words he's spoken to me since he woke up yesterday. Whether he'll believe me or not depends on him. I've done all I can do as far as that. Now, we can only put the rest of the plan in motion. If he won't accept the truth, I'll keep him here for however long it takes. He has a very strong will, I know that. I could feel his magic lashing out last night, trying desperately to get him out of here and taking me with him. He was trying to Disapparate."
"Are you really going to keep him in that cage, Hermione?" Harry was the next one with a question.
"No. Only for full moon. That cage is exceptionally strong but I need to have him able to move around. If I'm actually supposed to foster Stockholm Syndrome in him, I need him to WANT to follow me everywhere I go and trust me when I tell him I need him back in the cage. He won't develop feelings for me if he's constantly stuck in there."
"Why not? It's not like you actually want him around you!" Ron spoke up.
"Actually, Ronald, if he's constantly stuck in there, he'll conclude, rightfully, that I still don't trust HIM, even though I'm trying to get HIM to trust me! It works both ways. I can't tell him I trust him not to hurt me and, at the same time, keep him locked up. I have to let him roam and SHOW me that he won't hurt me!" Hermione rolled her eyes at him.
At the same time Hermione and the Order were discussing him, he was discussing her, specifically with Scabior. The young man who had impressed him with his leadership skills and earned the title of Head Snatcher from Voldemort himself. He hoped to make him both a wolf and his Beta soon. The Snatcher had come from a horrible background and looked at him as a father figure. He had noticed him following his lead around the Death Eaters. He had asked him to turn him. He wanted to be a wolf. They were the closest thing he had to an actual family.
"Scabior, have you changed your mind?" he asked quietly.
"No, Alpha, I still want to be a wolf. I've been working on my animagus form, like you told me to. I'm to the point where I don't need the potion to help me change anymore. I've been using the charm more lately. I've been able to change only once without the charm, though. I still need to work on that part." He looked at his leader and asked him. "Did all that stuff really happen, Alpha? Did we..did we really die?" McKeon looked interested in this answer.
"I don't know. She seems like she's sure it actually happened but I just don't know. I feel like I have vague memories of something like it but whether it really did or not?" Greyback spread his hands in confusion. "Alex, how have the others been handling me not being there? They giving Scabior trouble?"
Alex McKeon debated his answer. Finally he nodded. "They know that he's the leader of the Snatchers and as long as they're in his gang, they have to follow his rules but," he shook his head. "They are getting restless. The Dark Lord keeps telling them it's ok for them to kill and Scabior tries to countermand that order as often as possible. They are getting upset that he's giving them orders that he SAYS is from you but he's not Beta and they are turning to me more often than him to lead them."
Greyback tilted his head back and sighed. 'He'd been afraid of that!' He knew he had to bit the youngster soon or Britain would soon have a very furry problem. That or..he snapped his eyes open. "Alex, do you have the items we discussed the last time?" Alex nodded and patted a small leather bag hanging from his belt. "Good. When they get back, tell them I need the rest of my pups there."
Just then the senior Order members came back. They could hear screaming in the distance but with the door mostly closed, they couldn't hear what was actually being said. "Mr. Shacklebolt, sir, we need the rest of our pack in here. Alpha wants to make sure they are well." Alex politely addressed Kingsley. Shacklebolt looked at Greyback for a long minute, then nodded.
"I'll bring them in but anything more than that has to wait until Harry, Ron and Hermione are back in here with us." He told them firmly.
Back in her bedroom, Hermione was still talking to Harry and Ron, although it was rapidly turning into a screaming match. "Hermione, bloody hell, you're stupid if you let him out of that cage. You think a bloody little bracelet is really going to control him?! He'll be on you so fast, your head won't even HAVE time to spin!" Ron screamed at her.
"Well, I'm sorry if I disagree but I trust Nick! If he says the bracelet will work, then it's good enough for me." Hermione snapped back at him.
"Who is this man, Hermione? Can we really trust him?" Harry asked hesitantly. He knew Hermione too well to know she would blindly trust anyone but he'd also never heard her even mention anyone named Nick Fury before.
"We can trust him, Harry. He's my godfather." Hermione smiled at Harry. At least, ONE of her friends trusted her!
"We'd better get back in there, then. Hermione, just be careful around him, yeah? And don't be too stubborn or proud to ask your godfather if you need any help with him, please?" Harry pleaded with her.
"I've already promised Nick but I'll make you the same promise, Harry. If I feel like I'm in even the smallest danger from Greyback, I'll call Fury and the Avengers in and let them cage him back up." She promised her best friend. They walked back to the other room as Hermione climbed the stairs. As soon as she reentered the room, she could tell there were several times more people in front of the screen than when she'd left!
"What's going on here? Who are all those people?" she eyed all the new arrivals, most of whom were young men.
"Those are my pack. We're about to have a ceremony. You're just in time." Greyback spoke to her for the first time since she'd recounted her story to them. "You're going to need to let me out. I need to be right there at the screen so they can see and hear me giving my permission for this ceremony."
He waited at the door patiently. She glanced at Fury who nodded to Iron Man and Hawkeye, positioned on each side of the cage. They readied an arrow and a laser beam accordingly, prepared to jump to action the moment the werewolf made one wrong move. Hermione pushed a button and the door slid silently open. Then, there was nothing but open space between her and Fenrir Greyback.
She turned her back on him and walked back over to Nick Fury. Greyback slowly walked to the wall, holding the TV screen. He looked at Alex, who stepped forward. "Alex, begin the ceremony!"
"I call this meeting in the sight and sound of our Alpha, Fenrir Greyback. We are here to meet our new Beta. He has been hand chosen to lead us, based on his leadership skills and after he earned the respect of our Alpha. Scabior, step forward." Alex barked. Scabior stepped forward, blinking in surprise.
"Hold out your wand." Alex held out his own wand. Scabior pulled his wand and aimed it at the tip of McKeon's wand. "Do you swear, Scabior, to lead this pack and keep us safely hidden from our enemies, to the best of your abilities? Do you swear to be our chosen leader until our Alpha returns to us? Do you swear, if asked, that you would lay down your own life for this pack?"
"I swear to lead this pack and kept it safely hidden from our enemies, to the best of my abilities. I swear to be your chosen leader until our Alpha returns to us. I vow, right here and now, that I would gladly lay down my own life for this pack." Scabior swore the vow, watching in wonder as a blue strip of ribbon wrapped around his wrist with each oath.
"Scabior, you have asked to be turned and made a full-fledged member of this pack, do you still wish for that? If so, do you agree to be turned as soon as our Alpha returns to us?" Alex asked.
"Yes, I want to be a wolf. I will gladly accept the bite as soon as our Alpha can change me." Scabior wanted that more than he wanted leadership but he would take the leadership role for now. Alex held up a small leather bag, marked with a B. "This is your Beta amulet. Put this on your belt." Scabior secured the bag to his holster belt. "Hold out your right hand, Scabior." He watched as McKeon slid a bone white ring onto his middle finger. "This is a symbol of your new status, Beta. Step closer, please." Alex wove a strip of leather into the red streak of braided hair ending with a phoenix feather at the end of it. "By the power of our Alpha, Fenrir Greyback, I declare Scabior to be our new Beta. He will be listened to, obeyed and treated with all the respect due our Beta or you will catch the wrath of our Alpha! Now, come forward and greet our new Beta, Scabior!"
The wolves were silent until the last statement was made. Then they broke into cheers and howls. They all crowded forward to greet the young man who had been leading them. As the noise died down, Greyback cleared his throat. "I hope to rejoin you soon, but until then, keep following Scabior's lead." The wolves were pleased. Now that the young man was properly titled, they had no problem with him leading them. There was still the matter of him being human and them wolf but that would soon be resolved as well. They quickly exited the house, not liking being indoors any more than they had to be.
"Alex, how long do you think that will hold them? Before they start rebelling again because he's still human?" Greyback knew his Gamma could be trusted to give him straight answers, not like some of the others who would try to lie and save themselves.
"They'll follow him until next moon, possibly two moons but no longer than that, Alpha. Especially if the Dark Lord keeps trying to encourage them to kill. They don't like having to hold back. I can help him hold them for a while but sooner or later, they will turn on him and me for defending him." Alex answered truthfully.
"So, I need to be back within two moons from this coming full moon." Greyback mused. The Beta and Gamma watched him alertly. He nodded briskly and smiled at them. "I'll be back with you soon, boys. Take care and Scabior, whatever you do, DO NOT let him Mark you, you hear me boy?" Scabior nodded solemnly.
As they turned to walk out, Scabior turned back to the screen and looked at Hermione. "Alpha, how was she?" and smiled wickedly at her gasp of outrage. Greyback had wondered how long it would take Scabior to mention her. The pup's eyes hadn't left her since he walked up to the screen. He threw back his head and howled with laughter. "As soon as I find out, pup, you'll be the first to know!"