Hermione was waiting patiently in one of the many parlors in Nott manor for Saraphime to arrive. Mulciber said he was going to bring her, but he had warned his Queen that his sister was terrified of witches and wizards and she may refuse to come.
The floo activating caused Hermione to turn toward the fireplace.
Mulciber exited the floo with his arm wrapped around his sister's waist as she clung to him.
Standing up slowly, as to not scare the young girl further, Hermione smiled softly being sure not to show her teeth. "Saraphime, it's so nice to meet you."
"Felan," Mulciber rubbed her arm. "This is Hermione."
The young girl slowly lifted her head and Hermione had to stamp down on her outrage. Saraphime had three scars running from the right side of her hair line down below the left side of her shirt.
"Have I offended you?" Saraphime murmured, sensing the other witch's ire.
"Who did this to you?" Hermione asked, reaching out only to drop her hand to her side.
The young werewolf's lips almost quirked up in a smile. "My sire; his alpha, now my alpha, killed him for turning someone so young."
"How old were you?"
"I was five." This time Saraphime did smile, but only because of Hermione's outrage. "I'm thirteen."
Hermione ground her teeth together. "She's not allowed at Hogwarts and I bet she's on some Ministry registry."
"Legally she died when she was attacked." Mulciber sighed.
"What?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Was the scandal too much for your family?"
Mulciber almost slapped her, almost. "Do you have any idea how hard it is for werewolves in wizarding society?"
"No. So why don't you tell me?" Hermione softly asked. "And if you want, Saraphime, I can teach you magic and or we can work on a better wolfsbane potion."
Showing off her teeth, Saraphime grinned. "I can do better, let me talk to my alpha and I'm sure you can meet my pack."
Mulciber's eyes widened, no one met the Silverback Peak Pack, no one except family.
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Hermione tugged on a pair of dark brown slacks and, tucking in her blood red blouse, sighed as Tom stomped into the room.
"I'm going with you."
Sitting on their bed, Hermione pulled on one dragon hide boot and started lacing it up. "You weren't invited."
"I don't care." Tom growled. "If they are going to follow me, then they will submit to me."
"Tom." Hermione stated with exaggerated patience as she slid her foot into the other boot. "I'm going to learn about werewolves, and you were not invited."
"I am the Dark Lord! Mia, I should be going!" Tom was irate.
Surging to her feet, Hermione look her lover in the eye. "And I am Queen. I am going and unless you want to fuck this up, you will stay."
Tom's eyes darted to her lips.
"We don't have time for that, Tom." Hermione laughed airily, shoving his shoulder. "Now I'll see you later."
Pressing a kiss to his lips, Hermione sashayed over to the fireplace and flooed over to Mulciber Manor.
"You're early." Mulciber smiled, using his wand to banish the soot from her clothes.
Hermione shrugged. "Better early than late. Where's your sister."
"Outside." A wistful look over came the young man's features. "She loves the feel of dirt under her feet."
Laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, Hermione made her way through the, relatively, small manor. Pushing open the back door, she stepped out onto the patio and watched Saraphime as she spun in circles, head tilted back. A smile quirked Hermione's lips, the young werewolf was barefoot.
Saraphime stopped spinning and made her way over to the witch. "Ready?"
Hermione nodded. "Yes."
Taking the young witch by the hand, Saraphime led her into the forest. "My family moved the manor after I was attacked. We used to live in England, but my pack is located in Ireland, which is where we live now. My family loves me. That's why we moved, they didn't want me on any Ministry list. Mother died when I was seven, so did my little sisters."
Hermione closed her eyes and swallowed. Merlin, had this family gone through hell.
"Father died three years ago." Saraphime quickly wiped away the tear falling down her cheek. "He was an Unspeakable."
"I didn't know." Hermione murmured.
Saraphime smiled tightly at her. "I know, Edward doesn't talk about it, cause he'll cry and Father says men don't cry. Even though he cried when I was attacked, when Doyle brought Father Samus' head, and when mother and sissies died."
"What were your sisters' names?"
"Freyr and Freyja." Saraphime's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "They died three hours after birth."
"I'm so sorry, Saraphime." And Hermione really was.
"Mia." Saraphime frowned. "Can I call you that? Or Dark Queen? Or I heard Edward way something about an Angel."
Giggling, Hermione covered her mouth with her hand. "Angel of Darkness and Mia's fine we don't have enough of a following to call me a Queen yet."
Saraphime nodded as they stepped into a very large clearing. "We're here."
Thirty men and women stood in the center of the clearing, talking amongst themselves. They stopped talking and turned toward the approaching girls.
"Alpha!" Saraphime grinned widely, running toward a grey-haired, muscular man. She jumped into his arms and the werewolf spun her around.
Feeling the wolves' eyes on her, Hermione refused to be intimidated. Her magic could rip them all to shreds, there was no reason to be afraid.
"Alpha." Saraphime grabbed his hand and pulled him over to where Hermione was standing. "This is Hermione, she's the one that wants to know about us."
"Nice to meet you." Holding out her hand, Hermione remembered not to show her teeth as she smiled.
Grasping her hand, Doyle nodded. "Little Wolf says you're a friend of the Silverback Peak Pack, is that true?"
"I would like to be," Hermione cocked her head. "But what is friendship without trust."
Doyle regarded her for a moment. "Let's start with what you can do for us."
"What I can do immediately or in the long term." Hermione asked.
Chuckling, Doyle sank down to the ground. "Gather round and lit, let's hear what this witch can do for us."
Hermione sat cross-legged on the ground. "I can teach you magic; I've already promised Saraphime I'd teach her, regardless of what we agree upon here."
"So what you're saying," Doyle leaned forward. "Is you'll teach those who wish to learn?"
"Yes."
"What about wands?!" A woman in the back asked.
Snorting, Hermione rolled her eyes. "You don't need a wand, it's just one more way for the Ministry to control the populace."
"Please continue." Doyle chuckled.
"I know some werewolves view lycanthropy as a curse." Hermione carefully stated. "I'm also aware that some of you wish to have control when you change. I'd like to work on a better, more effective wolfsbane potion.
Doyle nodded; most of his pack were in the latter, some in the former.
"That's what I can do for you now. When we get into power, I plan on revamping all the creature laws." Hermione shook her head in disgust. "You're treated like animals, when it's obvious you're not." She nearly growled. "You can't get a job, go to Hogwarts, shop in stores; hell, you're on a fucking Ministry registry!"
"You plan to change that?"
Hermione smirked. "Of course."
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A/N: A little creature politics for you :)