Chapter Twenty

Hermione struggled to wake up, her eyelids felt as though they'd been glued to her eyes; she could see the light streaming through the cracks in her lids from the sun. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, Hermione looked around; she was on the bank of the Black lake, and naked. But that wasn't what worried her, she was covered in blood. Her heart stopped for a moment before she realized it wasn't her own; sighing in relief, Hermione stood up and stepped towards the water.

She couldn't remember much from what happened yesterday, but she remembered enough to know she hadn't wondered all the way around the lake. Hermione frowned, so what was she doing over here? She could see the castle across the shimmering water; the sun was peeking through the early morning mist that surrounded the top most towers.

Hermione stretched in the water, as she washed away the blood; it hadn't dried yet, so it came off fairly easily. Hermione sighed, where were her clothes? Standing up, she wandered back over to where she woke up; after kicking around in the sand for a bit she found her wand. Shaking loose the sand, Hermione transfigured some nearby leaves and twigs into some clothes -they were a little itchy, but they were better than nothing- and set off towards the castle.

She stomped her way through the sand, Hermione liked the way it squished between her toes. She was a long way off from the castle, but she wasn't in a hurry. After yesterday, McGonagall gave her the day off for today; Hermione didn't need to be back until supper. Still, she was sore and tired, and she needed a real bath.

Hermione sighed again, she was really tired and her make-shift clothes were chaffing. She stopped walking, and stripped them off; she'd rather swim than get a rash. Splashing into the water, she spotted a black spot moving around the shore near the spot she woke up. Hermione frowned, what in the bloody hell is that? She wondered, sinking down into the water.

Hermione continued towards the castle; the water was a pleasantly warm temperature and it felt good on her sore muscles. She was backstroking through the water when she bumped into a rock; she spluttered about the water for a moment, before she found her footing. Looking around, she saw that she was no closer to the castle than she was when she started; splashing her fist against the surface of the water let out a scream of frustration. What had she one last night that had gotten her so far from the castle?

Trudging back up to the shore, Hermione transfigured herself some new clothes and apparated to Hogsmeade with a *POP*. It was around noon now, and everyone was out walking around the town when Hermione appeared there. She was lucky it was a wizarding establishment so she didn't need to be worried about the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy.

Hermione walked into Gladrags Wizardwear, she went to the counter to talk to Katie Bell; Hermione'd heard from Pavarti that she was working here for the summer, 'Hey Katie." she smiled, coming up to the counter.

Katie looked up and grinned, "Hey Hermione," she started, but her face dropped when she saw Hermione's lovely leaf strewn outfit, "Bloody hell Hermione! What are you wearing?" she exclaimed incredulously.

Hermione blushed, "That's actually why I'm here," she said, shifting on her feet, "I'm staying up at Hogwarts this summer for my animagus training," Hermione frowned slightly when Katie nodded at that, but then again, gossip was everywhere in the wizarding community, "And I woke up this morning on the other side of the Black lake, lacking cloths and money, so I was wondering if you do tabs here, where I can just come back and pay later…"

Katie laughed, but nodded, "Yeah, we do. Here," she said, stepping out from behind the counter, "I'll help you find something."

After Katie helped Hermione find some clothes, she set back out to the castle; she couldn't believe she didn't think of just Apparating before. Hermione shook her head; even though she was the brightest witch of her age, she just didn't think sometimes.

By the time Hermione got back up to the castle, the sun had started to set and she was starving. Wandering into the Great Hall, she saw McGonagall engaged in a deep conversation with Andromeda; when Hermione approached the table, McGonagall broke away from the other woman and looked up at Hermione, "Hello Miss. Granger." she smiled, with a knowing glint in her eyes.

"Good afternoon Professor, Ms. Andromeda." she greeted, nodding to each women in turn.

Andromeda smiled up at Hermione, "And how was your night Miss. Granger?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione blushed and furrowed her brow before sitting down, she glanced around the room before looking back to the two women, "I don't know, I remember racing through the courtyard with Dragon and then going down to the Black lake...but after that there's nothing. I woke up this morning on the other side of the black lake with just my wand; and I mean just my wand. Oh! And I was covered in blood."

Andromeda blinked and looked over at McGonagall, who cleared her throat and perused her lips, "Have you ever forgotten what happened during your transformations before?" she asked, clasping her hands together.

Hermione rubbed her temples, "Yeah, every time. I wake up somewhere near where I'd been and I can't remember much past the beginning."

Andromeda sat back in her chair and took a sip of her tea, McGonagall glanced at her before shifting in her seat, "Well, Miss. Granger, it seems to me as though your brain is using this animagus change to escape from reality. It shuts of its logical side and goes off on a whim and because of that you can't comprehend it when you're back in human form. All your thoughts and actions are that of your form."

Hermione sighed, "So what you're saying is that until I can learn to combine my two sides, I'll just keep forgetting what happens?"

McGonagall sat back in her chair and nodded, "I'm afraid so Miss. Granger."

Hermione glanced at Andromeda; she was slouched over the table staring intently at McGonagall, absentmindedly swirling her tea with her wand. Hermione just nodded, and got herself some soup. She was in the middle of a spoon full when Andromeda straightened up and waggled her finger, "Not necessarily." She said, getting up and storming out of the Great Hall.

Hermione rubbed her eyes, and went back to her soup. She noticed McGonagall sigh and take a sip from her tea; she assumed that Andromeda was just about always like this.

After Hermione finished lunch she went upstairs to the library; it was clouding up outside so she set up at a table with a lantern. Wandering up an aisle, Hermione glanced at the books; they hadn't added any new ones since she'd last been here, but she still liked looking at the spines.

Hermione sighed, most of the books she'd loved reading back in school were covered in dust. It depressed her; she'd hoped that at least some of the students would see the importance of them. Hermione pulled down the book An Anthology of Eighteen-Century Charms, and brought it over to her table.

Opening up the book, she lit a nearby lantern with her wand. Hermione started reading from the Introduction and didn't look up from her book until her flame started to flicker. Glancing up sharply; Hermione saw that the sun had fully set outside, and Madam Pince had left to go to her chambers for the night.

Rubbing her eyes, Hermione got up and put the book back on the shelf; on her way out of the library she stopped and looked out a nearby window. The clouds had darkened, and were rolling in from the mountains; she could see lightning flashing in the distance and the occasional roll of thunder. As she walked over to her chambers she thought to herself, it's going to be a dark stormy night.

AN: I will be changing the name of this Fanfic to Legend Of The Wolves, so please don't get confused as to why you've subscribed to it :) thanxx

Also, McGonagall's password is the last name of her late husband; I wasn't sure if anyone got that, but just in case you were curious, it's not random.