Chapter Six

The sun had finished setting by the time Hermione arrived at the forest; it looked different than it had the last time she'd been there. The trees were covered in leaves and the air was warm; Hermione could hear birds chirping in the trees above, and she could see foot prints from where animals had walked by.

Hermione sighed, even just being back here made her feel at peace. Walking over to the rock she'd stopped at before, Hermione sat down. Looking around her she could see the trees swaying in the breeze and hear a nearby creek; fumbling around in the dark, Hermione searched for her wand; smiling triumphantly when she found it, Hermione stood up. Shaking her head and taking a deep breath, Hermione emptied all thoughts from her head and focused on transforming. As soon as it started it was over, Hermione was down on all fours and wagging her tail. Huh, it didn't take so long this time. I wonder if I'll need my wand the next time I try.

Wagging her tail, Hermione bounded up a nearby hill and started sniffing around some bushes. Impatient to play, she abandoned the bushes in search of something more fun. Leaping over rocks and bursting through bushes, Hermione came to a stop at the same pond she'd found before.

It wasn't until she'd splashed into the water that she noticed someone else was there. Jerking her head up, Hermione started to growl; only to stop abruptly when she saw a black wolf with a white ear staring down at her from a nearby rock. Hermione's tail started splashing water everywhere, This was the wolf from last night, she thought excitedly.

With his tongue hanging out, the other wolf jumped down from the rock and padded over to Hermione. Her ears pricked with longing as he brushed against her side and wandered off into the bushes. Hermione's tail stopped wagging as she followed him; he was stalking a rabbit by a nearby tree. Quivering with excitement, Hermione paused by a bush. She watched the black wolf creep around a boulder and under a low-hanging branch; and just when she though she couldn't take it anymore, he pounced and sunk his teeth into the body. Wagging his tail triumphantly, he brought the rabbit up to her and laid it at her feet. Sniffing at the carcass, they shared the meal in silence; the only noise was coming from a creek Hermione was anxious to see.

As if he read her thoughts, the black wolf sat back on his haunches and looked pointedly at her; as if daring Hermione to make the first move. Tilting her head to the side, Hermione accepted the challenge and took off towards the noise. Angling her ears backwards, she could hear him following her through the trees, thumping over the dry ground as he kept pace with her. The noise from the creek was getting louder, so Hermione slowed to a walk.

As she walked up to the edge of the water, she felt the black wolf brush up against her. Twining her tail with his, Hermione stood there for a few moments listening to the other animals in the forest. She could hear an owl hooting in the distance and mice shuffling around some nearby tree roots. If a wolf could sigh, she would of. It all felt so right to her; so much so, that she almost wished she could stay this way forever.

Turning to face the black wolf, Hermione tilted her head. She wanted play; but she wasn't sure how he'd feel about it. So wagging her tail Hermione jumped at him; he clearly wasn't expecting it, because he jumped about a foot in the air before she crashed into him. He didn't seem to mind though; he rolled around with her on the forest floor, throwing in playful snaps and growls, trying to kick dirt on her and roll her into bushes.

As she was rolling on the ground with him, Hermione's heart began to flutter; This feels so right, she thought. Turning over and nipping at the wolf's ear, she stood up and brushed across his flank. She was getting tired, but she didn't want to leave. So poking him forward with her nose, she padded over to some roots by a big tree and laid down. Tilting his head, the black wolf turned to go; only to freeze when Hermione started to growl. He looked at her for a few more seconds, and then his ears pricked; almost as if to say ohh. Hermione wagged her tail as he curled up next to her. Resting his head on her rump, he started lulling her to sleep with the steady rhythm of his tongue. Raising her head, she looked back at him before rolling on to her stomach and looking back at him. He seemed to take the hint, because a few moments later the black wolf had shifted himself on top of her.

A few hours later, Hermione noticed that the sun was starting to rise; trying not to wake the sleeping wolf next the her she crawled out from under the tree and bounded back towards the rock she'd apparated to. She'd just managed to reach it before another wave of exhaustion hit and she passed out on a pile of dirt.

But it seemed she hadn't been too quiet because back in the forest by the tree she'd just left, there was a black wolf shaking the sleep from his head.

Draco was stumbling awake from beneath tree; he'd been awoken by the cold, and now that he was up he understood why. The sliver wolf was gone, the one he'd spent months looking for only to be snuck up on while he was dozing. Admittedly, she had looked more startled than him, but she'd snuck up on him all the same. And now she was gone, she had reappeared after months, only to disappear again. Then he froze, everything from last night started rushing back. He'd had sex, with a wolf! Shaking his head back and forth, Draco tried to remember his lessons on this. Draco huffed, that stupid wolf was fine; those babies would come out as wolves. As confusing as Draco had found that, he was thankful. Shaking his head once more, he bounded up the hill to go find where he'd left his clothes.

Unfortunately for both Draco and Hermione, they had not been the only ones out that night.

Standing on a nearby hill, Voldemort narrowed his eyes, This was an interesting turn of events, He thought as he strolled back to the Lestrange Manor. Lucius's own son had slept with a mudblood; and not to mention broke the family legacy by transforming before his twentieth birthday. Voldemort laughed, that wasn't even his favourite, And neither one of them knew who the other was. He laughed the whole way back to the Manor. This will be very good, Voldemort though, thinking back to his own plans. He could use this against Draco; all he had to do was think of a way for him to find out.

It was dawn by the time Hermione made it back to her place; she couldn't remember a single thing from last night after finding the black wolf by the pond. Hermione sighed, it was probably a good thing; she was sore all over, and wasn't sure she wanted to know why.

She had woken up by the same rock she had last time, except she was covered in dirt instead of snow. Hermione felt disgusting; all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and go back to sleep, but she was filthy. So, groaning, Hermione trudged into the bathroom for a not so quick shower before she went to bed.

Hermione woke up again a few hours later, only this time in her bed. She sighed, her back hurt from sleeping on the hard dirt floor and running around a forest all night. Sitting up in bed, Hermione smiled; she'd found that black wolf from her dream.

Giggling, Hermione jumped out of bed and skipped down the hall, Today's going to be a good day! She thought popping into the kitchen.

Voldemort was looking down at Draco, kneeling on the carpet; only it didn't quite look like him. He was younger, and didn't look like a snake anymore; he looked about the same age as Draco, but he had an air of foreboding. Draco was surprised to see that Voldemort had hair; he'd never been able to picture him any differently than his snake-like face and bald head. But he actually had hair at one point, and it turned out it was brown and he had a real nose too.

Voldemort was slightly taller than Draco's 6"4, and he was a bit wider; but he didn't yet seem accustom to his body. He kept bumping into doorways and whacking his head on the ceiling.

Voldemort smiled at Draco, "Now son," he said in an eerily tone, Draco flinch. Voldemort'd never called him son before, but it made him feel dirty. "There's no need to call me that," replying to Draco's earlier greeting. "My name is Thomas Gaunt."

Draco shuddered, staring out his window back at the Malfoy Manor, he thought back to that day. His parents had shown up a few minutes later and his mother had taken him home. Lucius stayed to "kiss ass and save our lives" his mother had said; it hadn't took him long to figure out what that had meant, but by the time he had his mother disappeared upstairs.

Sighing, Draco followed her up to the library; it was getting late, but he needed answers. Dragging himself up the stairs Draco paused at the top. What am I gonna say? Draco thought, his mother's nerves were on edge and he didn't want to cause her anymore stress; but he really needed answers.

Coming up to the entrance of the library, Draco faced his mother and asked, "Mother, why is He back?"

Hermione was sitting at her kitchen table staring out her window (yes, her favourite window in the kitchen); the sun was peeking out from behind some clouds. She had taken Crookshanks to the vet earlier and now she had all afternoon to waste. She'd thought about going to see Harry and Ginny, but it was Harry's first day off and Hermione had a feeling that they wanted to be alone.

Hermione sighed, today wasn't turning out as good as she thought it would. Crookshanks was sleeping out his shots and Hermione was alone in her apartment. Fiddling around with the stuff on her table, Hermione decided she needed to get outside; so standing up, and pulling her mess of a hair up into a ponytail she knew exactly where she was going to go.