The Unseen

distinctlyME - I'm glad to hear you won't be abandoning my story. I am sorry it was so short...I just let them fall where they may...I try to make them at least four MS word pages apiece. SOmetimes it works...sometimes it doesn't. I hope you like this chapter. It's a bit gory at the end...but hey...a little gore never killed anyone...

strawberry - A FIRST TIMER!!!! I'm so glad to see you. I totally agree with you about the not finishing a story thing. I promise you, that these updates will be a few days apart, but I'll finish it if it's the last thing I do!

smurphy - yes...In this one Bella is bad. But she makes bad look sooooo good. And I can't tell you about the inside eyes. You'll have to figure it out yourself...or wait until he or she is unmasked. James is so cute when he's all self-conscious. I'm sure that most of the students will love him... ANd TObias with pink hair....yeah...the good days...

Lady_Winterheart_Z.C. - Hmm...interesting idea....could be....or maybe not....I can't say....it would ruin....stuff.....and I'm safe to say without ruining anything that she was talking about James. I never thought about that applying to SNape....but I guess it could...and read on....you'll like the end of this chapter...

LolaDiBlack - *Gushes* I love you too...Hmm...it's not a good idea to egg on Fenrir. He might turn on you...but first he'll take care of Ron...um....now.

RyGirl824 - I'm sure James will be great too. He just needs a little self-confidence. I'll see what Hermione can do...

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Hermione sat in her room at Hogwarts, and looked around at her surroundings. The room was rather bare, except for a few chairs, and a table that McGonagall had let her borrow until she could get her own furniture. Hermione felt that would be never, for she had long been shut off of her and Ron’s Gringott’s account, and she didn’t have her own.

She would love to go home and get the furniture from the guest bedroom at home…but she wouldn’t be able to get anything with Ron there.

She decided to leave the room lest she make herself depressed. She reset the wards on her room, and began to walk. She didn’t really have a direction or a plan, but the sheer monotony of the action of walking was calming her down.

With her eyes downcast as she walked, she didn’t notice the dark looming figure walking towards her, a book in front of him. It wasn’t until the collided that they each noticed each other.

Hermione gasped when she struck Severus, and took a step back.

“Headmaster!” she said softly. Severus lowered his book, and raised an eyebrow at Hermione.

“Hermione.” He said silkily.

“I’m sorry sir…I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

“Clearly.”

She lowered her eyes to the floor, and seemed to shrink a bit. Severus tucked his book into a pocket in his robes.

“Are your rooms to your liking?” he asked. She looked up, and he noticed her eyes seemed a bit shinier. He had to remind himself that she wasn’t going to be able to deal with his normal abrasive behavior for a little while.

“Um…they’re a bit…bare.” She replied.

“So furnish them…” This was met with a short, mirthless laugh.

“With what? The furniture that’s at the house my abusive husband currently inhabits? I suppose I could buy some more…but how to pay for it? With the gold from the account that I’m not allowed to access? Perhaps from the personal vault I don’t own?” she said. Severus’ eyes widened slightly at the snappish way she answered. Although it did make him feel a bit better to see a bit of the old spark in her eyes.

“You are going to be on salary as a professor at Hogwarts. I might be able to find it in the budget to give you an advance…provided you repay the loan.” He said. She looked at him for a long time, and he was beginning to think she had gone catatonic. Her eyes pooled with tears.

“How very kind of you, Headmaster…but…I can’t accept that.” She said softly.

“And why not? I’m not trying to make you feel like a charity case. Sometimes witches and wizards need a loan. You can pay it back. I happen to know a place where you can get furniture that is in good shape, but it’s been used before. I furnished my own rooms from that place.” He said, trying to reason with her. There was no shame in accepting help…

“I just…I can’t…” she said. He opened his mouth to say something else, but she held up her hands. “No…I’ll….I’ll figure out something.” She said, and turned quickly.

Severus wasn’t a man to chase after women. So he left her be. She needed time to herself.

Hermione ran swiftly back to her room, wanting nothing more than to curl up in a corner and cry. Her dream of teaching at Hogwarts was fast turning into a nightmare, and there didn’t seem to be anybody that could wake her up.

As she rounded the corner to her room, she noticed the door was open. He specifically remembered shutting and warding the door as she left.

She drew her wand, and with silent footsteps she crept towards the door. She could hear voices whispering, but she couldn’t hear what they were saying. She could also hear a slight scraping noise. She suddenly rounded the corner, her wand at the ready.

She paused, and almost dropped her wand at the sight before her. James and Tobias were in her room, magically moving about furniture. In the time that she had walked away and spoken to the Headmaster, they had furnished the entire room, and were now making final adjustments to the placement of a rather luxurious looking sofa.
“What are you doing?” she asked. James whirled around, and grinned when he saw her.

“Um…surprise?” he said unsurely. Hermione looked around at the room. Her sitting room was completely furnished. There was the luxurious sofa in what appeared to be a soft beige material with cherry wood accents. There was matching side tables, and large matching bookshelves on the wall. There was a kitchenette and a small dining area, both fully furnished. She could see the open door to her bedroom, and saw one of the posters of what looked like a very large bed.

She looked at the two young men in front of her. Tobias was watching her with interest.

She suddenly burst into tears. James jumped in surprise, and was at her side in a moment.

“What’s the matter? Did I not get the right furniture? Do you not like it?” he asked. Hermione wrapped her arms around James, sobbing loudly.

“No! No! It’s *hic* perfect!” she said. “You shouldn’t have…I…would have found a w-way…” she was crying loudly and clutching James like a drowning man clutched driftwood. James wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her on the top of the head.

“I wanted to do this. Consider it Christmas….for the next ten years.” He said, and laughed. Hermione gave a sort of half-laugh/half-sob, but kept her face buried against her nephew.

“James…no matter what anyone else may say…” she started, her voice a bit muffled against him. “You’re an angel…an absolute angel.” She said. James cleared his throat a bit, the uncomfortable prickle of tears at the back of his eyes.

“I don’t know about angel….” He said, and cleared his throat again. “Well…” he said as she pulled away. “I’ll leave you to enjoy your new furniture. Have a nice evening.” He said. She could only nod as the two young men walked out the door.

~~

Hermione was cuddled under the thick blankets James had put on her bed. The mattress was so very soft and squishy that she sank into it like a cloud. The sheets themselves were white satin under a beautiful red damask comforter.

She slept more soundly than she had in years. At least until she was awoken by someone knocking on her door. She sat up in bed quickly, pulling the sheets to her chin. Her first thought was that Ron had gotten into the castle. But that was immediately followed by relief when she heard a voice behind the door.

“Hermione? Are you in there? It’s Harry.”

Hermione threw back the covers, and retrieved the house coat that Draca had gifted her with just that very evening. It was soft against her skin, and she appreciated James and his friends again as she put on the matching slippers and crossed her new suite.

The corners of her mouth turned downward when she opened the door. Harry was in full Auror regalia, his face ashen white, clutching an envelope that appeared to be spattered in blood.

“Mione. I know it’s late….but…something’s happened.” He said softly.

“What is it, Harry? What’s going on?” she asked, an increasing feeling of dread growing in her belly.

“Mione…it’s Ron…Molly sent a call through the floo….she was going to check up on him since you’re here at the school….he didn’t….didn’t answer…so she went through…” Here Harry’s voice broke, and tears began to fall. Hermione’s eyes widened a bit. “There was so much blood, Hermione. We think it was Greyback. He…tore him to pieces…” Harry was openly sobbing. Hermione was shocked silent.

She mourned the man Ron used to be. She mourned the boy she had grown up with and the young man she had married. She really didn’t miss the monster he had become.

Harry held up the envelope. “This was left for y-you. No one else c-can open it. There’s n-no traces of Dark m-magic on it, so I th-think it’s safe.” He said. Hermione opened the door wider.

“Come in, Harry. Please…” she said softly. Harry nodded, and came through the door. She closed the door behind her, and then took the envelope from her friend. She looked at the front of the envelope. Her name was written in neat, rather loopy male handwriting. It didn’t seem to fit the animalistic Greyback at all. She turned it over, and stared at the black wax seal, marked with a stylized wolf head. She broke the seal, and immediately a flash of light blinded her.

Harry grabbed Hermione as she fell, and cursed loudly. It was a trap pensieve. Damnit! He shouldn’t have given her the envelope! All he could do was hold her until the memory was over.

~~

Hermione landed with a thump in her living room. She stood to her feet, panicking. She whirled around to see Ron sitting in his chair, drinking straight from a bottle of firewhiskey. Hermione froze where she was standing, and immediately went into ‘arse-saver mode.’

“Ron! I’m so sorry. Please…you were hurting me…I was just trying to….” But he was looking right through her. She trailed off, and looked down at herself, gasping when she could see right through the tops of her slippers to the floor. Her quick mind came to the conclusion immediately. She was in a memory. But if she was looking at Ron…that meant Greyback was around here somewhere.

She looked up, and gasped when she saw a pair of yellow eyes staring in the window. He was staring at Ron, who was too drunk to realize he was about to be murdered. She suddenly didn’t want to be in this memory anymore.
Greyback disappeared from the window, and the scene around her fuzzed out. She was standing outside, Greyback in plain view at the front door. The large man reached up a clawed hand, and knocked firmly on the door. She gasped aloud when he lowered his hands. He was wearing snug leather gloves, both of the hands magically affixed with three long, lethal, metal claws. Jesus Christ! He looked like some magical Wolverine!

She tried to cover her eyes with her hands, but to her dismay she could see right through her palms. The door to the small house opened, and Greyback struck. The first blow Greyback moved his hand in a back-handing motion, raking the razor-sharp ‘claws’ across Ron’s face. The drunken Ron fell back with a cry, and immediately began to beg.

“I didn’t mean to burn him! I didn’t know he was a werewolf! Please!” he begged. Greyback was silent as he lunged again, burying the metal claws into the top of Ron’s leg and dragging backwards. Ron screamed in agony, and kicked out at Fenrir.

Hermione watched through the open door as Fenrir struck several more times, slashing her husband with painful, but non-lethal blows with his terrible claws.

Then the werewolf stood, towering over Ron’s prone, sobbing form.

“You attacked my cub. You burned him with silver, which is the most painful injury a werewolf can come across.”

“Please-” Ron started, but was silenced by Fenrir’s boot to his face.

“No! Shut up, you weak human!” he snarled. Then his expression changed again. When not twisted into a snarl or some other negative face, it was easy to see that Fenrir had once been a rather handsome man. His face was scarred now, several long silver scars running across his face and down his neck, but they didn’t change his facial integrity. He had a strong chin and thick sideburns on his face that went to his chin without making a full beard. His chin and lip had a light amount of stubble but were otherwise bare, and his eyebrows were rather tamed for a man. He had a head full of shaggy grey hair, just like Phelan, and his eyes were piercing yellow.

The final blow came like a wolf finishing its prey. He went for the jugular in the literal sense, and Ron was dead moments later.

“When I show this to you, little Mudblood…” Greyback said suddenly, looking around the room. Hermione, unaware of the tears streaming down her face, jumped. “I want you to know one thing: For helping my son I will give you a boon. You see…there’s not much that can be done about a silver burn. Salves and ointments won’t help…it’s a magical wound. But a bit of something cold will lessen the pain, and indeed help with the scarring. You helped my son with more than just emotional comfort. Anything that is within my power I will give to you….but only once. Should we come face to face after that I will delight in ripping your body to ribbons. Enjoy your night…”
As the scene faded, Hermione watched Greyback lift the metal claws to his mouth, and lick blood from the flat part of the blade.

~~

Harry had settled Hermione back on her bed, and was stroking her face with a cool wash cloth he had found in her bathroom. Her face was pale and tears were leaking underneath her lashes. He could only imagine what she was seeing.

Suddenly she sat upright, gasping. Harry was on his feet.

“Are you all right, Mione?” he asked. Hermione wrapped her arms around herself.

“Harry…I saw the whole th-thing. But...but there’s s-something I’ve b-been meaning to t-tell you…”
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That's it Hermione! Confession is good for the soul....or something like that...

Now...this is going to be a bit weird....but I always had a picture of Greyback in my mind like Wolverine from the X-Men movie. The one with Hugh Jackman. So...to aide in your imagination of both his face and the claws(in case you haven't seen the movie) here is a link. Now remember....that picture...except with grey hair and yellow eyes. Wicked, yes?

http://www.mutanthigh.com/news/wolverine000505.jpg

Kitty got claws.....