Next chapter! Hope you guys like it. Special thanks go to LovelyAshes, 4littlemckay, Guest, boothaddict77, togetherforever, JessicaRavenGlade, resina and bluebook1496 for the reviews - they are totally appreciated. Also, apologies if there are any typos in this chapter - I did check through it but I caught a cold on the plane back from Peru so I'm not as sharp as usual. Enjoy!

Fenrir Greyback was watching her.

Hermione crouched on the twig-strewn ground, her back pressed against a boulder, and stared into the eyes of the werewolf. He'd dragged her right through the Forbidden Forest and out through the other side, his yellowing eyes fixed on her all the time. The gleaming roofs of the castle glowed in the setting sun, but they were specks in the distance, half-hidden by the canopy of leaves. The dark mass of trees pressed in on every side but one, where a steep, rocky hillside crumbled down onto the ground, miles below them.

She knew she could do nothing. She'd been in a few fist fights before, but they'd been petty, trifling little things that had finished in a matter of seconds. Besides, she'd usually lost and she'd never meant to really hurt anyone. She'd never learnt to fight without her wand.

She stared into Greyback's grinning face. He shifted on his haunches, and the severed arm strapped to his back edged into view. Her stomach turned over.

If she tried to escape, Greyback would kill her. She was certain of that.

Greyback unstrapped the arm and pulled it into his lap. His eyes were fixed on the cloth he was unwinding, but she knew that this would not give her enough time to get away. Greyback was strong, and fast – he'd almost pulled her arm off when they were running through the forest – even if she ran now she'd have seconds at best.

There was a rustling sound from somewhere over her shoulder and Greyback's head snapped up. Hermione whirled round, and her heart leapt into her mouth.

Draco Malfoy was coming out of the forest, his hands in his pockets. There was a bored expression plastered across his face, and the Dark Mark was burning on his arm. He cast a vague, disinterested look in Hermione's direction and turned back to Greyback, who had sprung to his feet.

"I was beginning to think you weren't coming," Greyback growled.

Hermione stared up at Draco. He ignored her completely.

"I have to be cautious," Draco drawled, "the school's crawling with the Order and my name's already been marked. It isn't as easy to get away as you might think."

Hermione's heart sank. Was all Draco's repentance simply him 'being cautious'?

Greyback let out a low, growling laugh. "Did they put you in detention, boy?"

Draco ignored him, but Hermione could see a dull flush creep into his cheeks. "I'm curious," he said, eyeing the arm lying in the dart, "how have you been contacting me? You weren't marked."

Greyback grinned. "Dolohov," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the fallen arm, "got it before the Aurors finished him off."

Hermione felt her stomach heave and clapped her hand over her mouth. Greyback grinned at her.

Draco just raised his eyebrows. "Ingenious, I'm sure. But why call me?"

"Head up to the school. Contact the Auror office and tell them I've got the Granger girl. If they don't give me a thousand Galleons and a full pardon I'll keep her with me at the next full moon."

Hermione went cold. She lost her balance and slid down the smooth surface of the boulder, hitting the dirt with a thump. A full moon with Fenrir Greyback…the best she could hope for was that he'd hold back enough so she could live through it…

Draco, however, seemed to register nothing. His face was impassive, and when he spoke, he sounded almost bored.

"And why should I do that?"

Greyback snarled. "Because if you do, I won't rip you in half."

"But the Aurors will. You're asking a lot, Greyback. What's in it for me?"

Greyback's mouth twisted. "Ten percent."

Draco raised his eyebrows. "I won't do it for less than thirty."

"You're the messenger boy, Malfoy, you won't get a Knut over fifteen! If you'd answered the call earlier I'd have cut you in!"

For one brief fraction of a second, Draco's cold grey eyes flickered over to Hermione.

"Well," he drawled, "there are moments in everybody's life when they're too weak to stand up for what's right. All I can do is be ready for the next moment to come around and hope that I'll know what to do."

Hermione stared at him. The echo of what she'd said all those months before – on the night they'd almost kissed – was ringing through his words. They weren't her exact words, true, but she knew that he was thinking of that moment in the Room of Requirement when he'd told her what had happened to the Khong family.

It was a message, she was sure of it.

He wasn't there for Greyback after all. He was there for her…

Greyback let out a snort of laughter, and Hermione did her best to keep the hope from showing on her face. She wasn't out of the woods yet.

"Make whatever speeches you like, Malfoy. Not a Knut over fifteen."

Draco let out an irritable sigh. "Fine. Fifteen, but I'm extending the pardon to myself. I won't go to Azkaban for delivering your messages."

Greyback nodded. "You'll do it?"

"Of course."

And with one last, split-second look in her direction, he turned and walked back through the forest.

The moon was high overhead, grinning down at Hermione and Greyback like a half-finished smile. Usually, Hermione liked to look at the moon – it's clean, silver light was comforting, somehow – but now the sight of it was filling her with dread.

Greyback was bad enough in the daylight. When the sun shone, he was a vicious, cruel man, but now, when the moon was gleaming down on them, he was far worse. He paced around the crumbling hillside like a caged beast, grinning at her all the time, and more than once he'd gone into the forest and come back with a squirming creature clenched in his huge, hairy hands. He'd eat it alive right in front of her, watching to see if she squirmed.

She tried not to, but once or twice she felt tears sliding down her cheeks.

Greyback tossed the last tiny bone over his shoulder and grinned at her.

"You're a very good girl," he growled, "you've been so quiet. The last little girl I met cried for hours. She wasn't like you at all."

He stalked towards her. Hermione got to her feet, ready to run.

"Maybe I'll keep you with me," he said, his voice so low and quiet it was almost a purr, "I think I'd miss you if I sent you away."

Hermione shifted her weight onto the balls of her feet. She stared into Greyback's eyes and knew, without a doubt, that she was going to have to run. Whatever Greyback had planned was not going to end well for her.

She waited, her breath catching in her throat.

Greyback lunged for her. His huge fingers snagged the back of her skirt as she turned. She felt it rip and heard his laughter as she darted into the trees, heart pounding.

She could hear his footsteps pounding after her, and knew she could never outrun him. He was too big, too fast, too familiar with the depths of the cold, dark forest…

There was a flash of light and Hermione dived out of the way. She heard a bang, and Greyback's swearing voice, and the yells of familiar voices. She kept running – lights flashing all around her, casting strange, bright patterns through the leaves – and soon the voices faded.

The trees, however, did not.

She was alone in the Forbidden Forest.