CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Summary: Hermione Granger, one of the brightest minds of her generation, makes a decision that will ultimately change her future plans. At twenty-three, she finds herself moving to a strange town that's a hell-mouth for supernatural beings, pregnant, and in way over her head. And the father of her unborn child? The tall, dark and handsome werewolf, Derek Hale. Rated M for a reason.
Disclaimer: I do not own canon events and characters, they belong to J.K Rowling and the creators of Teen Wolf and MTV. This is purely for entertainment purposes and I am not making a profit from the posting of this. This is set after Season 3, and everything from season 4 onwards doesn't happen; so no deadpool, Beast, Dread Doctors, Wild Hunt or Hunters. Allison still died, Liam will still be appearing, and there is no Kira or Malia. Derek is 22 and Hermione is 23. I'm fudging the time line a bit, too.
Page count: 8
Three weeks later...
"Give that back, you overgrown flea-bag!"
Hermione frowned in confusion as she entered the kitchen, laughter threatening to bubble out of her the moment she became aware of what was going on.
Crookshanks was sat on the surface of the kitchen table, his tail swishing back and forth lazily, a slice of bacon hanging from his mouth and his eyes locked in a staring match with an annoyed looking Derek. He stood in front of the table with his arms crossed over his chest and glaring down at her cat.
In response to Derek's words Crookshanks let out a hiss and narrowed his eyes at the werewolf.
"Don't look at me like that, you ugly, monster. You're fat enough and if Hermione finds out you're stealing food from the plates, you know she'll cut off your supply of treats, which is probably a good thing. You're so fat I don't enough know how you managed to jump onto the table in the first place."
Crookshanks let out a meow of indignation which was so soon followed by a hiss and he reached out to swipe at Derek with his paw, his claws out and looking to make contact with his stomach.
Derek stepped back and his folded arms dropped down beside him before a growl rumbled in his chest and he bared his teeth at her cat. Crookshanks let out a meow, gave Derek what she could only describe as a withering glare, and then jumped down off the table and strutted out of the room with his tail swishing in the air and the bacon he'd stolen still in his mouth.
"Can't you two just get along?" Hermione asked, alerting Derek to her presence.
He turned his head to look at her, his annoyed expression still on his face but it softened slightly when he caught sight of her, an amused look on her face, her hair surrounding her face and spilling over her shoulders in wild curls and wearing one of his t-shirts, along with a pair of stretchy pants and some fluffy white slippers on her feet. Really she looked like she'd just woken up but in reality she'd been in the library for the last couple of hours.
"He stole the bacon right off the plate," he told her, sending a glare in the direction of the living room where he could hear Crookshanks eating said bacon. "That was the last of it."
"Doesn't matter anymore, I've changed my mind," she replied.
"That doesn't surprise me," he said, picking up the empty plate and taking it the sink to be washed. "So, if you don't want bacon sandwiches for lunch, what do you want?"
"Pancakes," she said.
"That's not going to fill you; I've seen how much you can eat."
"If I have bananas, strawberries and whipped cream it will."
"You ate the last of the strawberries last night," he spoke. "I've put it on the list but we're not going grocery shopping until tomorrow."
She frowned. "I really wanted strawberries."
"We don't have any, there's nothing I can do, and I'm not going all the way into town just to get you some. You'll have to have something else."
"Fine, then I want fish and chips."
He raised an eyebrow. "You mean fries?"
"No, I mean chips," she said, making her way into the kitchen and digging through the cupboards until she found the potatoes.
Derek moved to stand beside her and watched as she used her wand to peel the potatoes and slice them into chips, and much to his surprise, she literally set them on fire while they were still sat on the chopping board. She had a concentrated frown on her face as she focused her attention on controlling the flames as to not set the kitchen on fire. It was a few minutes later when the flames died down, revealing golden brown chunky chips which she sprinkled a little salt on and added a dollop of tomato sauce onto the corner of the chopping board.
She cast a Cooling Charm before she picked up a chip, dipped it into the tomato sauce and popped it into her mouth, a sigh leaving her as she leaned against the counter and picked up another chip.
"Forget the fish, I'm happy with just the chips," she sighed.
When she turned around to pull the bread from the cupboard he snuck a chip from the counter and ate it, shrugging to himself when he realised that they weren't actually that bad and the only difference between them and fries was that the chips seemed to be chunkier.
"What are you doing?" He asked, watching as she put some of the chips onto a buttered slice of bread and then she folded it in half and took a massive bite from it, sighing to herself.
"Chip butty," she shrugged her shoulders.
"A what?" He asked confused.
"A chip butty, a classic British dish," she replied. Much to his surprise she held it out for him in offer of a bite. She never shared food. "Try it,"
He looked sceptical. "It's just bread and fries,"
Hermione gasped. "How very dare you!" She fumed. "It's not just bread and fries, because it's chips, and it's delicious. This will change your life. It's not going to kill you," she rolled her eyes.
Reluctantly he took it from her and she turned her attention to buttering another slice of bread as he took a bite. He admitted that she was right; it was quite good no matter how strange it had seemed. He ate the rest of hers and she done them both another one and once they'd eaten, the mess was cleaned up and Hermione left out the kitchen, making her way through her newly remodelled cottage.
Once Hermione had been discharged from the hospital and a few days had passed and Derek was no longer worried for her health, Hermione had called in the contractors to see what they could do with regards to adding in more rooms. The extension magic on the cottage was at its limits and they weren't able to build an extension without altering the structure of the cottage which meant that they had to go upwards, building an entire floor above the ground floor.
For this Hermione and Derek had to leave the cottage for a few days to allow the contractors to do the work, and Derek surprised Hermione with a weekend trip away to a hotel and spa retreat. Scott had happily agreed to watch Magic for her while she was gone, Snowball had returned to her but would disappear for a few days at a time so she knew he would be fine, and she knew Crookshanks could easily fend for himself. She left out plenty of food for him and instructed the contractors to leave the window open so her cat could get in and out of the cottage, and they'd even given him fresh water for her while she was away.
For the days they were away, Hermione spent her time getting massages which helped with her aching body, facials, manicures and pedicures and aromatherapy treatments while Derek was off doing God knows what, but she didn't care, she'd never felt more relaxed. She was a little disappointed when it came time to leave but she was excited to see the cottage and to get back to her zoo of pets.
In order to make the layout of the cottage work with the newly built floor, the library and potions lab had been moved to the first floor which actually worked out better for her, allowing for more space for each room, and the previous rooms had been converted into a further two bed rooms. Derek had been amused and impressed with the way Hermione had decorated both rooms in neutral colours, while ensuring that one of them would be the nursery until the twins got old enough to have their own rooms.
Hermione and Derek had made a deal as he refused to allow her to pay for everything. She had paid for the extension on the cottage as it did belong to her, no matter how much he wanted to go halves with her on the final price and of course Hermione refused. The deal between them meant that Hermione would pay for clothing, the push chair, nappies and things of that sort and that Derek would buy the furniture for the nursery as well as the age appropriate toys.
As Hermione made her way to the stairs in order to head back to her library, she found herself stopping at the nursery when she caught sight of a mess from the corner of her eyes. She pushed the door further open and stepped inside to see one side of the room littered with empty cardboard boxes and packaging and the rest of the room being fitted with furniture.
She walked to the centre of the room to better see as her eyes took in the sight of the almost completed nursery. The floor was covered with the softest white carpet she had been able to find and the walls were bare, waiting to be changed to an appropriate colour once they learned the gender of the babies. On the back wall sat a large solid oak wardrobe and on either side sat a chest of drawers. In the corner of the room by the window sat a rocking chair and a solid oak toy chest sat in front of the window. On the wall opposite and behind the door there were two solid oak cribs pressed up against the wall and the head and foot of the cribs pressed together. Sat in front of the wardrobe was what looked to be a half assembled changing unit, too.
Well, now she knew what Derek had been doing that morning as the furniture certainly wasn't in the nursery the night before. She turned around when felt Derek's presence and he was watching her, leaning up against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.
"How?" Was all she managed, being too overwhelmed that the nursery was one step closer to being finished.
His mouth pulled into a smile. "One of the packs we're allied with has a member that owns a furniture store. They were able to get it here within two days and they helped with transporting the boxes through the woods and to the cottage, and your magic worked like a treat, they weren't able to enter through the door. You were in the library so you didn't notice that I left for an hour or two. I've spent all morning putting them together."
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked. "I could've saved you the time and spelled the furniture to put itself together."
He shrugged. "I wanted to do it myself and I wanted to surprise you."
"Consider me surprised," she replied, her eyes beginning to water.
"Do you like it?"
She nodded, feeling her emotions getting the better of her and she burst into tears, dropping her face into her hands and muffling the sounds of her cries. Derek chuckled at her and crossed the room to take her in his arms and she clung to him tightly. Rumbling sounds could be heard in his chest and they didn't stop until her cries died down. He pulled back from her and took her face in his hands, wiping away the last of her tears and she gave a laugh-sniffle.
"Sorry, hormones," she sniffled.
"I thought as much," he replied, an amused smile pulling at his face.
"Look, Derek, don't take this the wrong way, but how can you afford all of this?" She asked.
She really didn't want to offend him but she knew from furnishing her own home and her previous flat that furniture wasn't cheap, especially solid oak furniture. Even with her job, the reward money from the war and her inheritance from her parents and grandparents, Hermione had been very cautious of the price tags. Now it didn't matter as much as she'd almost tripled her net worth over the last six years, but she was also sure to be aware of price tags.
As far as she knew Derek didn't have a job, after all he was with her most of the time and when he wasn't he was out meeting with other packs and running errands, he barely left her side, and he'd never mentioned having a job either. So how was he able to afford things such as solid oak furniture, spa trips and even his bloody car?
"I'm almost certain you don't have a job, so I can't understand how you can afford to buy things such as this. I know how expensive it is. You're not into anything dodgy are you?"
He snorted at her. "No, I'm not, so there's nothing for you to worry about, and I'm not offended, if the roles were reversed I'd probably be suspicious, too."
"So?" She prompted.
"My family's wealthy," he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not entirely sure how or why to be honest, but they've had wealth even before I was born, and my mother, too. I think it has something to do with investments when my grandfather and his brother were young, and it was before they met their wives. There's a hidden vault in Beacon Hills with all our possessions and bonds."
"Should you really be telling me this?" She asked him with a slight frown.
"I don't see why not, are you going to steal from me and take off?" He said with a raised eyebrow.
"No, I don't need your money, I'm wealthy myself."
He titled his head slightly and moved to once again lean against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. "I thought you might be," he replied. "I know this place was a dump before you bought it, but I also know that buying land in these woods isn't cheap either. Not to mention you paid the contractors in full and in cash, not many people can do that."
"My family had money, too. My parents were both dentists and my grandfather an investment banker. I have my inheritance from my parents and grandparents, the reward money from the war and my wages from my job. With my job being as dangerous as it is I was paid very well, but since my move here, my wage has almost doubled."
"The babies might not have a lot of family, but they'll certainly never want for anything," Derek said.
Hermione nodded in agreement. "But we have to be careful that we don't spoil them, I refuse to have ungrateful, arrogant children. I was forced to spend my childhood with many and I would never forgive myself if my children were raised to be like them."
"You and I both know you won't let that happen," he replied. "Now, off you go back to your books, I need to finish putting the changing unit together, and once I'm done I'll bring you up a chocolate milkshake."
"You're perfect," she sighed, before she left the room and kissed his cheek as she past him, making her way up the stairs and back to her library.
~000~000~000~
Two days later...
It was now early evening and as Hermione made her way to the kitchen to make a start on dinner, she was distracted by the sound of Magic barking loudly.
She frowned to herself and made a detour, following the sounds through the cottage and stepping into the living room at the same time Derek did, both of them looking to Magic confused as he stood at the front door and barking madly.
This wasn't an uncommon occurrence as he usually did it when he needed to go out, but this was different. Not only was he barking, but he was jumping up at the door and scratching it with his paws, seeming to be desperate in his need to be outside.
"That's not normal," Hermione frowned in confusion.
Derek growled out a command for Magic to sit, but much to the surprise of the both of them, Magic ignored him, something he'd never done before.
"Derek, I have a bad feeling about this," she told him, turning her head to look up at him.
"Unfortunately, so do I," he muttered.
They both shared a look before Hermione summoned their coats and shoes and once they were both ready, Derek clipped the lead to Magic's collar and they stepped out of the cottage, Magic trying to pull away from Derek as Hermione locked up.
They walked as quickly as they could, Derek allowing Magic to guide the way but with Hermione it was taking longer than usual and Magic seemed more insistent to get to their destination.
"Just go, Derek," Hermione told him. He made to argue. "No, I'm only slowing you down, you'll be able to keep up with him. He's behaving this way for a reason, animals -dogs in particular- are very sensitive to magical and supernatural auras, just like they are with epileptic fits and natural disasters. They can sense when something bad's going to happen or has already happened. Just follow him and I'll track you. I'll be fine."
He didn't look pleased, but he reluctantly nodded. "Be careful."
"You too, if it's magical you have no idea what you could be up against."
He nodded once more and then dropped Magic's lead to the ground and the dog bounded off into the distance with his barks echoing after him and Derek was quickly on his trail.
Hermione sighed and pulled her wand from her coat pocket, whispering a, "Point Me." Her wand spun in her hand before pointing in the direction she had seen her dog and boyfriend run in.
It took her a little over twenty minutes of trekking through the woods when she heard the sounds of Magic barking and she knew they were nearby. She quickened her steps and continued to follow the directions of her wand before they came into view, seeing Magic's lead being tied around a tree to stop him from escaping and Derek was stood leaning against a tree. When he heard her approaching he turned his head to look at her, and she knew by the look on his face what had happened.
"Dead body?"
He nodded. "I'm guessing it's been dead no more than a few hours," he replied, walking over to her and helping her to step over a large branch, before guiding her over to the body. Derek sent a growl to Magic and the barking dog finally quieted down.
They came to a stop beside the body and Hermione sighed when she saw him, he didn't look old, probably a teenager of around seventeen, eighteen, she thought. His skin was pale, his eyes closed and his black hair had dirt and leaves in it. He lay sprawled on his back with his t-shirt ripped and torn, showing his torso being covered in deep wounds and blood having soaked through his clothing and onto the ground.
"This might be supernatural," he told her. "Those wounds look consistent with claws, werewolf claws to be exact."
She frowned slightly and tilted her head. "I'm not sure," she replied, before getting down onto her knees with Derek's help and he crouched down beside her.
She brought her hand up to the torso of the body, not touching one of the wounds but allowing her fingers to trace the shape as if she was.
"What are you doing?" He asked her.
"Just trying to see if I can get a feel of any sort of aura or presence. Everyone has one, magical and supernatural. It's how I know when you're nearby, I can feel it. I can feel it's you."
"And can you feel anything?"
She shook her head. "No, there's something but it's too faint to be able to pick up on, so the killer wasn't in the area very long or didn't come into close contact with the victim."
Derek pointedly looked down to the body's wounds. "They got close enough to do that," he nodded to it.
"Maybe not," she muttered.
He pulled a face when she lowered her hand and dug her fingers into one of the wounds, trying to determine the width and depth of the wound to help her narrow down the list of suspects. When she pulled her hand back, he was surprised to see that blood coated her fingers.
"Probably has a health condition like haemophilia, if not it could be a type of venom found in the claws of the one that did this. I know some creatures do have venoms that make healing open wounds almost impossible as it affects the blood clotting in the body. Actually, it's probably the latter."
She dug the fingers of her other hand into another wound, searching for anything that may have been left behind, while Magic started barking again and Derek shushed him over his shoulder, but when he didn't listen, he just ignored the dog thinking he wanted some attention.
"Found anything?" He asked, seeming to know what she was doing.
"Not yet," she replied, removing her fingers from that wound and moving onto another.
"Step away from the body and put your hands in the air!"