Chapter Twenty-Two

Hermione looked over at Professor McGonagall, as she started talking, "Miss. Granger, nice of you to join us. I trust everything is well?"

Hermione sighed, but nodded, "Yes Professor, I was just wondering if I missed anything today."

McGonagall smiled, "Not at all Miss. Granger," she started, but then frowned, "What would make you ask that?"

Hermione sat back in her chair, "Oh, I was in the library all night and just woke up; apparently it's almost the middle of the afternoon." She heard Andromeda laugh at that, and looked over at her.

"Of course you were," she laughed again, "But we were actually just talking about some more advanced lessons." She started, glancing over at McGonagall, "We know you can already transform at will, but the ministry doesn't; all they know is that you're a very bright witch for your age. I believe you're even noted to be the brightest." Andromeda said, causing Hermione to blush.

McGonagall frowned slightly at Andromeda before turning to Hermione and sighing, "We'll need to postpone your lessons while we devise a new schedule." She said, clasping her hands together on her desk, "In the meantime, try not to let any of the other instructors here at Hogwarts see you transforming." Hermione nodded and got up to leave; saying good-bye to the two women, Hermione descended the stairs from the office.

She was just passing by her old Charms classroom, when she felt a strange wave of dizziness pass over her; collapsing to the ground, Hermione felt her brain go fuzzy and it felt like something was sucking at her middle.

As her eyes drifted close, she was vaguely aware of the cold stone floor under her head, and was more focused on the new scene forming in her head.

The snow was falling and swirling, as she made her way through the forest; sniffing at the air as she went, there was no trace of her mate. Picking up the pace, Hermione felt herself rush through the bushes ahead of her and come out in front of a wide open, snow-filled landscape.

The snow was up to her tail, and it was falling so thick she could hardly see her own nose; yet she still pressed on. Her mate had gone out hunting this morning, and hadn't come back yet and as the best tracker in the pack; it fell to Hermione to search for him.

She dug her way through the snow drifts and jumped over patches of ice; she'd been searching for hours and all she could find were bits and pieces of the trail. She knew she would have to turn back soon, or risk freezing to death, but she wasn't ready to give up on him.

The next time she blinked, instead of seeing white, Hermione saw the castle wall she'd been facing when she'd collapsed, what was that? She thought, hauling herself to her feet. She knew she'd been a wolf, but she didn't know who this pack was and she most certainly didn't know who this mate was. Hermione sighed, and edged herself along the wall, she just had to make it up the stairs, and then she could go back to bed.

As she pulled herself up the last few steps, Hermione saw Dragon come padding out of the library, "Were you looking for me?" she asked, as she got to the top of the stairs. When he heard her voice, Dragon turned towards her and barked. "Well, I'll take that as a yes then." She smiled, as she walked over to the room she was using.

Sitting down on her bed, Hermione rubbed her temples; what on earth had just happened to her.

Draco was about to get up when he saw another book shoved in the corner of the compartment. When he pulled it out, he felt some of the corners turn to dust. Frowning, he set it gently to the floor and looked at it; it looked pretty old, and the writing wasn't legible on the cover.

Draco scowled, but opened this book as well; it wasn't anything like the other one he just read. This one was just some stupid book on Fiends. Growling slightly at the book, he tossed it back in. He was about the leave again when he heard it thump against something farther inside.

Draco looked back and began to rummage around inside, when his hand brushed against the other book he pulled it out and smirked. It was the book Pagan Magic; these things were just getting stupider and stupider. He cracked open the book and scanned the pages, but he couldn't find anything useful; throwing the books back into the compartment, he resealed it and stood up.

As he was putting the books back on the shelf, he felt a weird calm pass over him and he began to fall to the ground. Blinking slowly, he found himself covered in snow when he reopened his eyes.

Rabbit. It was all he could smell as he plowed through the falling snow; he'd been out here for hours, but he finally caught scent of some food. Angling his tail towards its source, the rest of his hunting pack fell in behind him. Draco could feel his heart start to pound as he stepped lightly towards the rabbit.

He could almost taste the soft meat in his mouth as he prepared to pounce; wiggling his haunches slightly, he jumped, and felt warm liquid fill his mouth. He lifted his head triumphantly and trotted over to a tree stump. They'd only been able to catch a squirrel and a pheasant, and when you're feeding a pack of wolves, that's not a lot.

Adding his rabbit to the other animals; He turned to look at the other wolves around him. He knew their scents as well as his own; they'd grown up together, and learned how to hunt together. He'd even made his first kill with some of them; he trusted them more than himself, yet he felt like there was something coming, maybe not from them, but there was definitely something coming.

Draco shook his head clear; when his eyes focused, he was back in the library. He frowned, and finished putting the books back on the shelf. When he was done, he transformed back into a wolf, and left the library.

As he was passing by the stairs, he saw Hermione hauling herself up them, one by one. When she got to the top, she called out a greeting, so he barked at her; it was only polite after all.

Hermione held the door open for Draco as he followed her into her room. He saw her sink onto the bed and rubbed her head; she looked pretty tired. But then again, she stayed up through all hours of the night. She seemed to be getting ready for a nap, so Draco jumped onto the bed and curled up near her pillows. He hadn't gotten much sleep either, and a nap sounded like a good idea right about then.