Authors Note:
Hoping to get more into the Billmione in this one. You guys just blow me away. To be honest I have never seen myself as much of a writer, and the raves this story has achieved is just astonishing to me. You all keep me going with your constant reading and love, and I hope this story becomes every bit of what you all hope for. Thank you for your reading, your reviewing, and everything else you could possibly give. You don't know how much of a confidence builder it has been for me.
Also thanks for being super patient with my super slow ass.
A less important note, while Dom is in fact in the header image currently, it is important to note that the next one he will NOT be present. I don't picture dom as bill at all, while he is a sweetheart and a general ray of sunshine my bill is meant to be ridiculously good looking. Thus being the change in face claim for Bill. Thank you.
And when the gaze of the golden eyed beast landed upon her, she was sure she felt the weight of the earth press against her ribs, pushing the air from the space between her lungs, driving her mad with it's wicked tempting gaze. Oh what it would be like to be a wolf.
Have you read the daily prophet?
You probably should.
Sincerely, Remus
Brilliant. There were only so many things that Hermione cared about as far as news was concerned. When it came down to her actually needing a report, she preferred to keep away from the gossiping hags of the Daily Prophet. The stories within the paper with the ever moving visuals never truly stated anything within miles of being factual, and Hermione being who she was preferred facts over day to day gossip. Now however, it seemed the gossip somehow concerned Hermione.
It was unnerving, to be in the paper and not know what it was saying, or if she'd even need to go to the Burrow the next day. She could feel it in her bones that something wasn't right. It was Remus who had sent the letter, not Harry, and that in itself sent the warning alarms flying left and right. Why would Remus send her a letter? The pair rarely spoke to each other, outside of the usual 'hello' and maybe short conversation on the werewolf equality laws that she'd been so diligently working on. It wasn't easy with the wolves in London maintaining their ways of refusing the wolfsbane potion. There had been a case of a werewolf from America going rampant in muggle London, slaughtering a total of 10 people as well as causing a 30 car pile up. It had nearly done the magical world in, and it had put Hermione's efforts to a slamming halt. There had been an uproar for months, and her werewolf equality laws had been tossed in the trash.
It had been infuriating to her, not understanding what had gone wrong, and why an unchecked werewolf from America had gone on rampage. Contact with America had proved to be very futile, for the man in question hadn't even been registered, so there was no way possible to find out who had turned him or how he'd ended up in London in the first place. It had been a mess, and it still was a mess, with no signs of any improvement. After everything had taken place, the local werewolves in that area who ran a pub known as the 'slaughtered sheep', had neglected their wolfsbane potions. The ministry had tried to reach them but after a while they went completely off the map. Gone.
She had to figure out what was going on, whether her name had ended up in the paper due to the notorious Skeeter or not, if something else had happened in the world of wolves she'd found herself so entangled in. She hoped it was neither, and if it was the latter that there was some good news about the wolves.
Knock, Knock. Knock, Knock, Knock.
She looked up, brow arching at the unfamiliar knock upon the door of the rented room. She hadn't called for room service, and the maid never put any effort into knocking at her room because Hermione always declined.. Hermione most certainly wasn't expecting any guests, and that caused her more discomfort. Moving passed Hedwig, she headed towards the night rest to grab her wand, feeling the heat of it warming to her hand obediently. While Hermione hadn't had any trouble since the first few weeks after the war, you never knew when the few underground followers of the dark lord could strike. After all, most of them were still missing. Though Fenrir Greyback's pack had been all but destroyed by the at the time not so troublesome werewolves of London, It did not mean there weren't others in hiding. Hermione had found out only a week after the wizarding civil war had ended, that she was a top priority.
Hermione drew closer to the door slowly, gazing through the peephole at the person who stood close to it. William Weasley. She had certainly not requested the council of her ex future brother in law, so seeing the scarred vision of a man made her head hurt. After all, he'd been the one to find her the previous day an absolute week just seemed to get more and more interesting as it went. The peaceful prewedding bliss she'd prayed for completely obliterated with each passing second. Her control over her life was steadily leaving her hands, and while she'd never believed in her divinations class (it was stupid) she believed the deceased professor would be in a rant over how the fates clearly had a plan for her. Bollocks. The only plan the fates had for her at this moment was to humiliate her beyond repair.
"I can hear you breathing you know." she jumped, Breathing halting for a moment as she gazed at the Mahogany door in front of her. She wished x-ray vision was a part of her magic, it would have made situations like this much easier. Laser vision would have been good too, in her situation with Ron and Lavender, at least. She could have melted all evidence of their existence from the world and obliviated all who knew them. What a joy it would have been. "I can also hear your heartbeat."
Prick. Hermione hesitated with opening the door a moment longer, partially afraid of what lie on the other side. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, and came face to face with the ridiculously tall werewolf in front of her. He wore a look of satisfaction upon his features, as if he were a cat that had gotten the cream far sooner than he'd hoped. His eyes glinted like a shiny piece of gold within the sun. Odd, was the full moon that close? Hermione was certain it couldn't have been that close, she'd been so diligent with her Lunar calendar with everything in the magical world involving werewolves. Another reason was that, to Hermione's dismay, her cycle had lined up perfectly with the full moon. A rather annoying addition, seeing as all of her investigations were always hampered by severe cramps and a foul mood that could easily rival that of a lioness who'd missed dinner.
"William, to what do I owe the pleasure?" she asked, rocking from her toes to her heel, eyes never meeting his. She was afraid of what she'd find there. Hermione wondered just how rude it would be to send him away, considering the situation and which he'd found her in. It wouldn't have been too impolite to send him off if she feigned still being under the weather. He smiled sweetly at her, making her innards twist in an odd way that she couldn't quite discern. She took a moment to look at him, clearly take in the man before her. It'd been a while since they'd seen each other, the last time being during the battle of Hogwarts. Bill had denied invitation to the wedding, something that had set Molly on a rampage and Ron grumbling on like the mopey bastard he tended to be. When asked for a reason he'd promptly replied 'Just don't feel like attending anymore weddings for a while.' Molly had then proceeded to screech into several howler about how inconsiderate he was being. Hermione hadn't really minded at the time. She hadn't wanted to attend the wedding either. Bill cleared his throat, drawing Hermione back to the current place and time, sweet smile never leaving his face. She couldn't help but notice how it looked absolutely ridiculous.
"Ah, forgive me if I am intruding, but I wanted to be sure you were doing well." he nodded, the high ponytail bobbing back and forth as he did so. It still amazed Hermione that he was so easily able to keep his hair long with Molly's insistence that long hair was for women, not men. Hermione never argued over the fact, no matter how old worldly it was. She supposed part of the reason for his hair being left be was the fact he and Charlie had picked randomly one day to admit to their bisexuality. While it didn't bother anyone in the Weasley family (another reason Hermione adored them) there had indeed been some grumblings from Percy and Ron. It was to be expected, of all the family those two seemed to be the most biased about the roles of man and woman. "Would it be alright, perhaps, if I came in?" he leaned forward slightly, trying to be more eye level with her. Hermione had read about this, something about werewolves liking to wriggle their way into the minds of others by eye contact. Exerting their dominance through eyesight.
It worked, for Hermione stepped out of the way and allowed the wolf to enter her rented room. He smiled once more, stepping through the door and glancing around the room as if it were somewhat different than his. As far as Hermione had seen, the rooms were all the same, yet Bill took her's in as if it were a painting. She watched his back heave as he inhaled deeply taking in the scent of it as if to root out anything astray. Hermione shivered. It was strange to see Bill so close to the full moon, he seemed different. As if he weren't truly there, despite the gentlemanly nature he continued to uphold.
"Did you receive a letter from Remus?" she started, the question taking her off guard. Could he actually smell that well? Hermione fumbled, opening her mouth and closing it. It was hard talking to a werewolf, there were so many non-human things they did that changed the essence of a conversation completely. "He owled me this morning, said he was going to inform you of some things." Bill turned towards her, eyes seeming to shimmer with something she didn't understand, something she probably never would understand. Hermione offered a nod, words not coming to her throat.
"You should do more reading." she gaped at him, eyes widening as her brow furrowed in insult. No one had ever told Hermione Jean Granger to read more. She didn't need to read more, she'd read plenty. She did read plenty. Everyday, seven days a week, and at least 13 hours a day.
"Excuse me?" she hadn't intended for the octave of her voice to be so shrill, but judging by the way the man in front of her cringed she hadn't really succeeded in keeping any hint of anger from it. "I do plenty of reading thank you."
"On werewolves. More reading-on werewolves." he chuckled, turning to look at her. Hedwig took this time to fly over to the man's shoulder, cooing at him like a mother and rubbing against him affectionately. Hermione had indeed read about this in one of the books. Normal and magical animals either loved werewolves, or feared them. "I didn't mean you hadn't read anything on us, just that you may want to broaden your knowledge." he nodded with finality, satisfied that his answer wouldn't set her off too much.
"Oh well I-" she stopped, shrugging and looking at him apologetically. This may or may not have been why Hermione had only been with few men over the years. Her feminality was far too aggressive for most, and many didn't like when their women were smarter than them. For some reason, Bill seemed unaffected by her fiery ways. "I apologize."
"Don't." Bill responded shortly, smile that gleamed to his golden eyes in place. He moved closer, pulling something from his back pocket and offering it to her. It was a pendant you'd clip to your coat, and odd gift, especially considering the circumstances. "Remus told me to offer you one, and since I haven't one ordered, I'll lend you Fleur's old one." he placed the rose gold lamb with sapphire eyes. "Consider it a public invitation to the next 'pack' meeting we hold. Keep in mind, Lavender will probably be present."
Hermione looked from the pendant, that of which had originally been Fleur's, to Bill with wide eyes and lips that longed to protest the offering. She had done nothing to deserve acceptance within to a pack meeting, she'd barely spoken to Bill and Remus once. It didn't seem right. "William I can't possibly-"
"Remus insists." he cut her off, hanging Hedwig off to the coat holder with ease. "You've been the one in charge of the werewolf investigation for months now, we feel we should induct you into our own private investigation as well." he walked passed her, leaning in towards her ear as he did. "After all, you'll learn more from actual wolves than you will the men who study them." He opened the door, grin upon his lips as he turned back towards Hermione. She faltered again, mouth flapping as she tried to find a response that would be appropriate.
"Also, I expect you to accompany me personally to the Burrow tomorrow. Rustle mum's feathers a bit more eh?" and with that, the door snapped shut behind him, and left Hermione hopelessly and utterly baffled.
And, to her dismay, cramping. Mother nature be damned.