The howl echoed through the forest as Harry ran flat out toward the sound. Twigs snapped under his paws as he ran through the forest. Trees as tall as skyscrapers whipped by his vision as he ran, his breathing deep and even despite the speed of his movement. Exhilaration rushed through him at the feeling of physical power, he felt like he could take on an army single-handed.
Scents filled his lungs as he moved, covering the ground at a pace that would have been impossible on two legs. His paws made the softest of thuds as they hit the ground despite his size and pace. The cool air pulled at his fur as he burst from the forest onto an outcropping facing a vast sea.
The moon hung low, dipping beneath the line of the horizon, and so bright it felt like the sun on his chilled fur. The white perfect beauty of the moon's light almost felt like a physical touch along his fur, streaking downward in a stroke as it covered him.
Harry froze staring at the large moon, losing himself for a moment in its pull. Even when he heard the soft rustle of something approaching from behind it was difficult to pull his attention away from the moon's mesmerizing beauty. Harry turned just as a black wolf emerged slowly from his left, not stopping until he was just a few feet away.
The wolf's teeth pulled back, almost in a grin and a familiar male voice echoed in his head. "Beautiful isn't it?"
"I–I want to run until I catch it." He admitted, staring at the other wolf assessingly before turning back to the large moon. The water created a rippling reflection of the moon, the waves making it seem as if the moon beckoned him.
Harry was acutely aware of the other wolf coming even closer to his side despite his gaze on the moon. Harry tensed slightly bracing himself despite the fact he didn't think the other wolf was going to attack him. The black wolf stopped when he was shoulder to shoulder with Harry, both of them staring at the moon.
"I'm dreaming, aren't I?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. Are you?"
His lip curled a small growl emerged at the answer. The black wolf shifted and made chuffing noises, his mouth opening wider.
"Why did you bring me here? Why do you keep fucking with me?"
"I'll leave that to your mate." The black wolf replied.
Despite himself, Harry could feel his lips pull back to flash his teeth in amusement. Fucker. "You being an arsehole doesn't help me understand what's going on, or what I'm supposed to do."
"Protect your pack." The wolf told him obliquely.
"You're terrible at this." Why did he always have shit luck with mentors being allergic to answering a question in a useful manner?
The black wolf sat, his eyes still focused on the moon. "It's my fault– all of this."
"What did you do?"
"I–"
"It's not your fault." The feminine voice preceded the white wolf as she approached them, going to the black wolf and nuzzling him before sitting so close their fur seemed to mingle.
"Your fault or not, tell me," Harry said quietly, the edge of a growl in his voice. He wasn't about to fuck about on another quest with shitty information.
The black wolf remained silent as the white wolf spoke. "We were the first, Lycoan and I, a long long time ago. We discovered how to explore other realms, we ran among the stars. We were happy for a long time but we became lonely, we wanted more– we wanted a pack." She turned to look at the large moon. "The moon had watched over us so long, she loved us, so she gave us a piece of her magic so that we could create life."
As if in coordination she fell silent and the black wolf spoke. "Akela was our first– our daughter. She was bright like the moon, even brighter than her mother." He stopped and nuzzled the white wolf briefly. "There were so many more after her. We had a pack then– so many keeping pace with us as we raced through the forest. But Akela was special, she was —"
"Everything." The white wolf finished. "She was everything and when she explored other realms she met a wizard, Aurelian."
A low growl emerged from the black wolf. "He was important in your world, the son of some king. As far back as we have been aware of your world's existence, you stupid things have been involved in some war. Aurelian was injured in one of them, dying. Akela begged us to save him, I should have dragged her home until she forgot all about him."
"But you didn't." The white wolf said softly.
"No, I didn't."
Wake up.
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Harry jerked awake at the growl from his wolf, his nostrils flaring, scenting something in the air. He slipped from his bed on silent feet, stalking forward slowly.
Enemies
Yes, he could tell, could sense them, moving about on silent feet through the lower floor of Grimmauld. How had they gotten past the wards? How had they gotten in his fucking house?
Anger made his muscles tense, and he could feel his incisors lengthening. Harry had reached the door of his bedroom, moving it so incredibly slowly, cursing inwardly that he hadn't spelled the hinges before this, they were loud.
Just as he was about to step into the hall, he realized he had completely forgotten his wand. What the bloody hell was wrong with him? He stood still for a brief moment, all his instincts urging him forward, to find the enemies in his den.
A clatter broke the tense stillness and it was a jolt to his system, making him dash out, to search for his enemies. His claws lengthened as he jumped down the first turn of the staircase. He wasn't even worried about not having his wand, a deep seething confidence whispered to him that his enemies wouldn't be able to stand against him. When he reached the bottom of the stairs another noise echoed through the large house the tinkling of shattering glass.
There was a loud pop that echoed then Harry heard the screeching of an irate house elf.
"What is the meaning of this!" Kreacher's high-pitched ranting reverberated through the house. Elf magic rippled through the entire structure as Kreacher started attacking the intruders. They were all in his study.
Harry ran flat out from the stairs after hearing the confrontation. When he burst into the study Kreacher was in the corner of the room shooting spells trying to push the dark-clothed wolves back. Just as in their wolf form, magic seemed to slide off them, hardly managing to push them back. Kreacher's bulbous eyes looked even more frantic as the wolves gained slowly on his position despite the strong magic that was being thrown at them.
"Stop!" Harry roared incensed.
The intruders froze where they stood, their eyes wide with terror on Harry, and at the same moment, Kreacher's spell finally managed to grab them and tossed them out the broken window facing the street.
"Fuck. I needed to talk to them Kreacher!" Harry yelled as he followed them, Kreacher had blasted them clear across the bloody street.
"I saves the master but does he say thank you Kreacher, no of course not, poor Kreacher just trying to help his irritable werewolf master…" Kreacher's muttering faded from Harry's hearing as he jumped out the window and landed on the street before taking off towards the attackers running down the dark street.
Street lamps flew by as he ran, his bare feet pounding the rough pavement. The moon was almost full, the light warming his skin just like in the dream.
The dark-robed figures must not have been familiar with the area because they turned down a dead-end, bricked wall on three sides.
He had just turned after them when he heard the frantic whisper.
"Don't let him speak, don't let him speak!"
"Wha-" He had barely opened his mouth when all three were on him, pummeling and ripping at him. Just like the night that had begun everything. His hand shot out clamping on the neck of one and Harry squeezed, he could feel his claws digging into the throat, and the wolf's screaming cut off abruptly.
Harry could smell their fear and it was intoxicating. One went for his throat and Harry backhanded him into the brick wall with a sickening crunch and the intruder slid down to the ground no longer moving. The last attacker backed up abruptly breathing hard.
Every sense was on high alert as Harry fixed on the attacker backing up. The side of his mouth curled up as he advanced on his enemy, his pack was coming. His mate was coming. They could all hunt together.
"Why were you in my house?" Harry growled.
The attacker jerked his mouth opening at the same time as he rushed at Harry. Unlike the other attackers this one had a knife, Harry laughed at the small blade, grabbing the guy's wrist. Ferocity roared through him as he twisted the wrist backward, when he was done with these three, no one would invade his territory again.
"I had to." The attacker whispered as Harry slipped the knife into him, bringing it up and twisting it. He yanked it out roughly, blood spattering him as he turned his head to look at his pack.
Harry met Remus's eyes first, able to see the wolf inside him fighting to be free. How terrible it must be to be trapped, forever hobbled. Remus stepped in front of Sirius, who looked a little shell-shocked as he stared at Harry over Remus' shoulder.
"Harry." Hermione's horrified voice snapped the spell that had been over him since he woke up, aware of intruders in his house. His hand came up and touched the warm blood that streaked his face.
"Hermione." He stepped toward her and she stepped back. His bloody hands were black in the moonlight, the soft light revealing just how little of him remained untouched by the blood of his enemies.
A scuffle broke out as Sirius tried to shove Remus out of the way, he didn't care whose blood Harry was covered in, "Get the fuck out of my way Moony."
Remus though kept his golden eyes firmly fixed on Harry, half in awe, half in trepidation. Remus didn't know how Sirius and everyone couldn't see it, how Harry reflected the moon's glow as if its power rushed within his veins lighting him up. The wolf inside Remus, always wild and savage had stilled inside him, attention fixed on Harry waiting to see what the Alpha would do. Sirius shot a stinging jinx into his back with enough power behind it to show he meant business, but Remus barely flinched, standing immovably between Sirius and Harry.
"Bloody hell. You've gotten a bit more murderous since we last worked together mate." Ron's wide blue eyes shifted between Harry and the bodies "Merked three people and didn't even get a shiner?"
"Shut it, Ron," Harry muttered his gaze going back to Hermione again, but she wasn't looking at him, she was looking at the bodies he had left lying behind him. It was a struggle to muzzle the wolf inside him, its fur bristling in offense at the knowledge his mate was displeased. Didn't she see how well he defended his territory?
Fuck.
Hermione's wand raised, pointing shakily in his direction, and for a second his throat closed. Both Harry and the wolf froze, unable to believe she would–
Hermione would never–
The spell shot out, rushing past Harry. "Evanesco." Hermione vanished the bodies behind him, before looking at everyone again. "We need to get back to the house before muggles notice."
Right on cue sirens sounded.
"Fuck. We meet back at the house." Sirius grabbed onto Remus both of them popping out of sight.
A look passed between Hermione and Ron before Ron looked back at him and stepped forward, casting quick scourgify before grabbing Harry's bicep, the pull of the apparition squeezing them both.
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Harry sat still facing Sirius and Remus, but all his attention was on Hermione to the side of him. Harry tried not to be obvious about breathing through his mouth, but with his senses still riding high from the chase and fight, it was all he could do to keep his reactions contained. Hermione hadn't spoken since they all made it back into the drawing room, her gaze downcast biting at her lip.
Sirius leaned his head against the sofa, his gaze on the ceiling while he blandly said," So let me get this straight. An entire pack of werewolves attacked you, you look like you've been through a paper shredder and somehow you thought —why talk to my godfather or his husband who's a bloody werewolf?"
"Well it sounds a bit unreasonable when you phrase it that way," Harry said.
Ron quickly choked off a strangled laugh, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Boy—" Sirius began dangerously, starting to get up off the sofa, but Remus put his hand on his chest, giving him a look and he collapsed back with an irritated huff.
Remus looked briefly toward Hermione, who was still staring at the ground nibbling on her lip before speaking. "I think I understand a bit more–" Remus paused squeezing Sirius' thigh when he started to speak before continuing. "Because I can feel how different you are. I've been a werewolf almost my entire life and traveled to different countries meeting different packs and I've never—never come across anyone who felt like you do."
"That doesn't matter!" Sirius threw off Remus' attempt to calm him standing up to stalk towards where Harry sat in an armchair. "You have me! You have Remus! But you —you—" Sirius threw up his hands spinning about.
Some things stayed with you, even as you grew older, and even now approaching thirty the two people Harry instinctively reached for when he needed help were Hermione and Ron. Sure, he could give a million reasons why he hadn't wanted to bring in Sirius and Remus. They had just gotten things settled between them after years of denial and excuses. They had Teddy for the summer from Remus' previous relationship with Tonks. Harry had been afraid of how his wolf would react to Remus — and that first visit had been exactly the train wreck he had expected.
Harry was still bothered quite intensely by the sense of wrongness from Remus' wolf, but he had a better handle on his own wolf to control it. The unease he felt with Hermione's behavior tonight was also quite a good distraction. Harry wanted to back her against the nearest surface and demand she tell him everything that she was thinking because he knew it was about him.
"We have a handle on it, we're doing some investigating and I got a good lead on someone who may be able to help us," Ron interjected trying to deflect some of Sirius' ire.
"You found Lissette Marchetti?" Hermione finally spoke.
Ron grimaced. "She's dead. But after talking with several of her classmates, many had a strong suspicion she was pregnant toward the end of her seventh year."
Elara.
As soon as Ron mentioned the pregnancy the puzzle pieces clicked in Harry's mind and it felt right. That's who the wolves had wanted him to find. The baby. Elara.
"Do they know who the father is?" Remus asked.
Ron paused sucking in his breath looking between Harry and Hermione. "No one could give me a name, but I have an area in Manchester I'm going to investigate… They said she hung about a Russian bloke several times in Hogsmeade like on dates. Tall, white-blond hair and blue eyes."
Mikhail Morozov.
After some further discussion, and trying to look repentant while Sirius chewed him out again, Ron took his leave first, followed by Sirius and Remus.
When the door closed behind them he turned around, struggling to control the aggressiveness of his response. Hermione was not happy with him. "Alright, then. Let me have it."
"What?" She looked at him but her eyes were unfocused, something going on in that big brain of hers.
Harry advanced on her, liking it when she planted her feet and didn't back up. "Whatever is going on in your head."
Hermione's arms were wrapped around herself as she stared at him, her brows knit together as if struggling with a complex equation. "How do you feel Harry?"
Was she worried he was hurt in some way? Vaguely insulting but okay then. "Fine."
"Where's your wand, Harry?"
"On my nightstand in my bedroom why?"
She swallowed hard and nodded to herself. "Okay." She nodded again. "Okay. Well I guess, I should be going too." She tried to step aside and he blocked her.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you asking me these things?"
"We can talk later about it– it's late and I'm tired." Hermione stared over his shoulder as she spoke, aggravating him.
He controlled the snarl the wolf wanted to make, gentling his voice instead. "What's wrong Hermione? You're making me worried."
She gave a burst of unamused laughter at that. "You're worried?"
"Yes."
"Do you remember Stan Shunpike?" She asked out of the blue.
"Stan Shunpike." Harry mouthed to himself. "Knight bus conductor Stan?"
"You were fifteen, being attacked by thirty death eaters in the air, and still —still when you thought Stan's eyes looked blank, you refused to cast a stunning curse because he would have died in the fall. You cast expelliarmus instead—causing everyone to realize who you were—because you refused to be the cause of his death."
Hermione's hands came up shakily, running through her hair. "Last year during that attack on Shacklebolt, you didn't kill a single attacker despite the injuries you took! Even I wanted you to bloody kill them!" Her eyes watered.
"You ran into an attack without your wand! You were still bloody showering with it last month when I stayed the night after we hit the pubs!"
"Hermione I—" Harry cut off not sure what to say to her.
Hermione nodded as if this was some type of confirmation. "The other times I was in your presence you struggled the entire time, you breathed through your bloody mouth! But now– now— you're moving differently like you did when the wolf was in control, but you're still speaking like you—mostly. Harry. Where are your glasses?"
Shit. Harry touched his face finally noticing the lack of spectacles.
Hermione ran both hands through her hair pulling it back briefly, and looking at him. "I thought it was physical changes, and maybe occasional aggression. But it's you that's changing. Harry, you never would have killed people because they broke into your house before."
He took a step toward her and wanted to snarl when she back up another step. The scent of her was all around him, vanilla and anxiety. Worry. Desperation.
He met her dark brown eyes and kept advancing toward her until he had her against the wall. Her chin tilted up as she stared back at him. There was a fine trembling in her muscles, the pulse at her throat beating hard.
Harry leaned down his cheek brushing hers, feeling his incisors lengthen. His voice was guttural as he spoke, the wolf and him in tandem. "No one invades my territory, threatens my people."
He leaned closer to her, his skin touching hers. Hermione was so soft in comparison to him and she smelled so bloody good. The scent drifted to him so subtly that if all his concentration hadn't been focused on her he might have missed it.
Desire.
Regardless of her worry and quibbling over some dead wolves in an alley, Hermione wanted him. That was really really good because he was going to have her. Her hand moved suddenly and his hand snapped out to wrap around her wrist, keeping her from pressing the portkey on him for the third time.
"I've had quite enough quality time with the Hogwarts' squid." He pinned her hand against the wall, hearing her heartbeat accelerate. Fear had a bitter bite that made him wrinkle his nose at smelling it from her. "Don't be scared, mate."
"I'm Hermione!" Hermione said irately, shoving against his chest with her free hand. "And I want my bloody best friend back! Right now!"
"I'm here." He grabbed her other hand pinning it behind her back. Anger had edged out everything else on her face, exasperating witch.
"You're not though! Why did I even wait so long? Why did you let me wait so long! Now I'll never how we could have been together!"
He gave her a little shake, hoping some sense would rattle back into her brain. He was right in front of her and he was going to bite her right now if she wanted to be together. Hermione wanted to be together? Bloody fantastic. He also wanted to be together.
He looked down at her his mouth open to tell her that when he noticed the watery glint of tears in her eyes. Fuck. He had never handled Hermione crying well. He released her hands carefully watching her just in case she decided to send him back to the black lake, backing away carefully. The tears started slipping down her cheeks as she watched him, each wet track like a stab in the gut. She wasn't happy with him.
"I just want you to be you!"
"This is who I am now." The things that had changed with the wolf hadn't changed him. It had removed some of the strange ideas that had trapped his human side. Hermione wanted him to regret killing those wolves and while he had meant to question them first, he had no qualms about them being dead. She wanted him to fight his attraction to her? Why? She was attracted to him and they had both pointlessly ignored their attraction to one another for bloody years.
"I can find a cure Harry, I know I can."
He shook his head at her, this was who he was now. Just as the rainy night Hagrid had broken down the door had changed him forever. The night he had been bitten had changed him forever. There was no going back, and he didn't even want to.
"You've fought for magical creature rights for years, and now you want to cure me? No. It's fine, if that's the way you want it to be, Ron can help me figure everything out."
"Harry–"
He shook his head at her backing further away towards his own front fucking door. "No, with the way I feel about it you— I just think we should stay apart awhile." He reached for the doorknob behind him.
Hermione rushed over to him her hand outstretched. "No wait, Harry–"
He slipped out, leaping down the stairs, slipping away into the darkening night, giving control to the wolf that was raging inside him.
Mate.
Yeah well, that's not working out for us, Scooby.
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Their shorter snout could easily distinguish from regular wolves werewolves, more human-like eyes, the tufted tail, and their mindless hunting of humans whilst in wolf form. A werewolf could not choose whether or not to transform and would no longer remember who they were once transformed and were very aggressive; they are known to kill their best friends or loved ones. There is dispute about spouses however, with multiple reports of werewolves not attacking their human spouses, leading to speculation the mating instinct may be a stronger drive than their hunting drive Werewolves are able to recall everything they had experienced throughout their transformation upon reverting to their human form.
Lupine Menace p176
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The world seemed to be on fire in the twilight, the setting sun sending reddish-orange rays over the hidden house deep in the English countryside. Hermione approached it cautiously, her wand out and ready for anything that may happen.
She felt the slight shiver of the boundary ward as she crossed it- Harry hadn't bothered to set it to keep people out - merely to alert him when someone crossed the barrier. Was he really that confident no one would find him or seek him out?
It had taken her two weeks since their last disastrous encounter to track him down. Harry was no longer returning to Grimmauld and Kreacher, as always, was singularly—spitefully—unhelpful. The only reason she had found this house had been with a less-than-legal locating charm that she only knew from her previous work in the Department of Mysteries.
The urgency to get in and put her plan into motion made her approach the door with barely a pause. "Alohomora!" The door swung open as she hurried through with her bag.
She looked around cautiously, heading deeper into the house until she finally settled herself into the corner of what appeared to be a sparsely furnished drawing room.
Hermione couldn't hear him, but she knew she was running out of time to get the ward up. She hurriedly knelt to start scratching the protection runes onto the floor in a circular pattern. The hairs on her neck stood up as some sixth sense told her he was looking for her. Harry was close.
Just as she finished the ward, there was a rush of wind that made her curls move, and suddenly he was there, standing in the shadowed doorway. Time up.
She sat down on the floor and crossed her legs as she looked at him, her heart clenching. Couldn't a witch have a freak-out without losing her bloody best friend?
"Hello, Harry."
Harry laughed and there was a hint of wildness in it as he stalked toward her, finally moving into the light of the room.
"I told you to stay away." He didn't seem to be in a forgiving mood.
The dimness of the room made the scars covering his face look even more menacing. The lightning scar from Voldemort was barely noticeable amongst the marks the werewolves had given him. The longest was the claw mark that went from the top left of his head down across his face before disappearing under his shirt.
"You're my best friend."
"Don't. We're not kids anymore, Hermione. You don't get to step into my life if I don't want you here."
"You do want me here and I'm not leaving."
"Yes. You are. Right now." He didn't have time for this shit on the first full moon.
Harry came and reached down to make her stand up and his hand hit the ward.
"What the fuck?"
"It's a modified shield charm." She gestured to the marks on the floor. "It is bound by the Runes and prevents anyone from passing until I remove them or its protection is exhausted."
Harry glanced over at the clock on the wall. "We don't have time for this. You need to leave. NOW."
Hermione tilted her chin stubbornly as she looked up at him. Becoming a werewolf definitely hadn't helped his temper any. Harry Potter apparently decided how things were going to be and that was that.
"I'm staying. I'm sorry for what I said before. I just— the idea of losing—" Even saying the world in connection with him made her heart twist. Harry Potter was hers.
Harry leaned towards the ward, pressing his hands against it. "I can't control myself around you, Hermione. You're worried about who I am now? It's the full moon—I don't know how much control I will have."
"If you hadn't stopped talking to me and disappeared I wouldn't have had to do this.."
Harry's head lift, his eyes closing as he sniffed the air. "We're out of time. Your ward better be as good as you think, Hermione, or I'm going to be very angry with you."
"Well, since you'd probably eat me if it failed, I don't think I have to worry about you being angry later."
He looked at her, his green eyes gleaming and wolfish. The magic of the moon had already caught him. She could see the subtle shifting of his body as the magic started drifting higher to cover him. His voice emerged in a low growl. "I wouldn't bite you too much, mate."
Hermione's eyes widened as Harry fell and suddenly there was a large black wolf in front of her, its bright green eyes fixed on her.
The wolf came closer, brushing its body all along the boundary of the ward, turning so often to snap at it, its teeth making a clicking noise. Hermione had seen transformed werewolves. They had characteristics that made them easy to tell apart from their natural counterparts, but she had never seen a wolf as large as the one Harry transformed into.
A low rumbling growl emerged from the wolf, and he backed up several paces before running full tilt at the ward, twisting to the side so his shoulder slammed hard into the ward. Magic sparked and crackled, little ripples moving outward, but the ward held.
He backed up again, lunging forward to slam against the ward. Over and over, until tiny cracks started appearing in the ward. "Harry." She whispered.
The wolf had just been about to charge again when it paused cocking his head inquisitively at hearing her whisper. This time as the wolf approached and his whole body shuddered, his fur ruffled, before slowly it receded, leaving behind his skin. His body spasmed several times and it torturously slowly became human again. Hermione backed up to the other side of the ward horrified as she watched his paws stretch back out into fingers, unable to go further without breaking the barrier she had built.
Before this, she had thought the issue was just that Harry was an extremely powerful werewolf. A werewolf with destiny but still a werewolf. It was not possible for a werewolf to shift back into a human before the full moon set.
Harry was something else. He rose gracefully to his feet, and she had to force herself not to look below his waist. He moved and, of course, her eyes immediately dropped down and she clapped a hand over her eyes. BLOODY FUCKIN HELL.
She split her fingers just a smidge so she could see him. He cocked his head, looking down at her, and laid his hands flat on the ward, little lightning streaks of magic reaching out. Echoing the first day, he asked her," Do you want to run?"
Her hand tightened on her wand, and he followed the movement with his eyes. Looking at her clenched hand before meeting her eyes again. He leaned his head forward, his hair falling to frame his face as he looked down at her. "Don't you want to be by my side, Hermione? Isn't that why you came?"
It was why she had come. She would never leave him to face something like this alone. "Y-you want me to run then?"
He smiled at her, the animal inside him rumbling. "It would be fun."
Her hand slowly relaxed, leaving her wand on the floor, and Harry stepped back, watching her. Her brain felt too full of random thoughts and yet at the same time empty. She bent down and deliberately smeared the rune protections, the cracked ward dissipating to nothing, then stood trembling faintly.
He moved closer again, their bodies pressed against one another, and she could feel his erection pressing into her stomach. His hands reached for her, one trailing down her arm, past her wrist, to grasp her wand and pull it firmly away from her. His other hand reached up to push her hair behind her shoulders, before leaning forward to inhale her scent. His voice emerged as a growl. "Run then mate."
The sane part of her mind started spitting out alternate plans. Grab her bag, there was a portkey in it. Try to yank back her wand. Running blindly shouldn't even be an option. It was the stupidest thing she could do and practically guaranteed she was ending up with a bitemark by the end of the night.
But the reverberation of his growl scattered her again, and her body leaped into action, running flat out. Her feet thudded against the floor as she practically flew out of the cottage, leaving the door open and banging against the wall. Her hindbrain was in charge and it was screaming at her to run, and so she did, heading for the dark forest beyond.
Her breath came in pants as she ran through the dark wood, dodging trees and jumping over fallen branches. When a loud howl ripped through the night, she froze for a moment, chills breaking out on her skin. She knew it was Harry. He was coming for her.
Hermione ran even faster, her hair flying behind her, and she burst into a meadow. Her heart was beating so hard it hurt, and she could barely breathe. She stopped when she realized she was exposed, about to turn and run back into the forest, but Harry stepped out of the shadows of the trees and she froze for a second before taking a step back.
"Caught you."
She turned to run, but he was on her in an instant, his hands bracing her as he lowered her to the ground. She was on her hands and knees and he was over her, covering her. His hands moved over her body, one tangling in her hair to move her head to the side, exposing her neck to him, while the other slid between her legs.
He kissed her, then his tongue came out, licking the skin at the curve of her neck. "Mine?" He asked gutturally, freezing above her.
Hadn't she always been?
"Yours." And his teeth pierced her skin.