Werewolf in Disguise

I'm so sorry it took so long to get these chapters up. I'm a bit disappointed with the lack of reviews *cries to herself* but I'll keep posting for those that do seem to enjoy this story! Thank you so much!



Hermione walked into the kitchen and sat down with the others. She was freshly showered and changed into her normal attire, which she honestly didn’t like as much as the clothes she shared with Lily. She had made a list of owl order items, including hair care products, that she would order soon, since she was sure she wouldn’t be allowed to leave.

“But if it slips about her condition, then the Ministry will find out and she’ll be in even more trouble then if she just registered to begin with,” Molly said.

“Yes dear,” began her husband, “but we would also have to tell them about Bill and all the extenuating circumstances. She won’t be able to continue the work she and Remus have been doing.”

“Um, guys…” Hermione began, but was cut off. If they would only let her explain her situation, then there wouldn’t be a need for this conversation and the time they were wasting.

“I still don’t see the big deal with not telling anyone. Remus and Bill have been contained easily enough and no one has found out about Bill in the last year. He works at Gringotts for Merlin’s sake,” said Harry.

“Guys..” Hermione tried again.

Sirius and Remus were sitting at the end of the table watching as everyone continued to talk about Hermione’s situation. Since she was home, the decision had to be made about letting the Ministry know of her condition, or keeping it a secret. The only problem seemed to be, they were leaving Hermione completely out of the conversation.

“This doesn’t look good, Moony,” whispered Sirius, starting to grin a little as Hermione tried one more time to interrupt.

“You’re right Padfoot, I give her a few more seconds until she explodes, or worse,” agreed Remus. “Here it comes…three, two,” he began counting down.

Suddenly there was a very loud growl followed by an even louder bark, causing everyone to scream.

“WOLF!” screamed Bill as Moody drew his wand and fired a binding hex at the new arrival. It was easily ducked and the wolf angrily turned towards Moody, snarling and showing teeth as it advanced. Sirius had his wand drawn, but unlike the others, his was pointing at Moody, while everyone else looked too stunned to move. Ginny, who was right behind Moody, stared wide-eyed at the approaching animal, as Harry began drawing her behind him. Other wands were slowly being drawn and pointed hesitantly at the wolf. Only Remus and Sirius seemed to notice who was missing from the table and all the others were ready to defend themselves from the opposing dark creature who suddenly appeared in front of them and looked downright scary. Several were gathering their wits and starting to make a move as the wolf growled even more viciously in her own defense.

Remus slammed his hands down on the table, making it shake as he roared, “THAT’S ENOUGH!”

Everyone’s attention jumped in his direction including the wolf‘s, who he began speaking to. “Pup, cut it out already before you get hurt. Everyone put your wands away before Sirius hexes you all.”

It was then that they noticed his wand trained on them, and they looked cautiously back and forth between the wolf and Sirius. The wolf slowly approached Remus, who refused to break eye contact, and growled at him as well, still perturbed at having been yelled at.

Remus looked affronted and asked sternly, “Did you just growl at me, Pup?” It growled again, but stopped advancing. “You know I can dominate you, wolf or not, so cut it out right now,” he said even more sternly, with a voice that clearly stated he was not to be questioned.

Everyone was staring at the scene unraveling before them. They feared for Remus, but he seemed to be holding his own. He also seemed to have a familiarity with the wolf and that confused them as well, even the ones that had noticed Hermione was now missing.

The wolf lowered its head and backed away, turning slightly. As Remus relaxed, along with everyone else at the table, the wolf suddenly turned to leap across the chair, landing on top of Remus as he fell onto the floor. Several people gasped, and more drew their wands again. They heard Remus groan and then laugh, with Sirius laughing madly as well. When they moved around the table they could see that the wolf was licking Remus relentlessly.

“OK! I give up already, get off me!” he was saying in between peels of laughter as he gently pushed at the wolf.

The wolf moved away and looked at everyone else, all of which were wide-eyed and confused, but still had their wands trained on the wolf. Suddenly they heard a door burst open and an unhappy looking Snape come billowing into the kitchen, blissfully ignorant of the wolf. The wolf slowly crouched down, as if stalking its prey, and crept towards the new arrival. It’s lip curled up and a low growl could be heard deep in its throat. Snape immediately looked at the wolf, then at all the shocked and scared faces, then he turned to Remus and Sirius (who did not look scared in the least), and back to the wolf.

“If you really think you can fool me twice, then you are sadly mistaken and not nearly as smart as I gave you credit for the first time. Perhaps this time I won’t hesitate to curse you,” he sneered at the approaching wolf as he, to everyone’s complete surprise, crouched down to it’s level. “You really shouldn’t be scaring everyone,” he whispered so only it could hear.

He suddenly jumped up looking murderous, drawing his wand, and wiping his face with his sleeve. “IF YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN I WILL KILL YOU!” he screamed at the wolf, who started wagging its tail and cocking its head from side to side.

Suddenly it turned around, grabbed Sirius’ robes, and began tugging. He started laughing and immediately transformed into a big, black dog. He then sprung on the wolf, who turned around and ran through the kitchen door with Padfoot hot on her heels. They could be heard tearing through the house, knocking things over with tremendous, and ominous, sounds.

Remus, who had stood earlier as Snape came in, walked out the door and could be heard shouting, “OUT OF THE HOUSE, BOTH OF YOU! NOW!”

As he came back in, all eyes turned to him, including Snape, who looked half murderous and half amused. “You should have better control over your dogs, Lupin,” he sneered.

Remus snapped back, “Sod off, Severus!”

“What was that?” Tonks asked, her voice shaking slightly.

Ron suddenly spoke up, “Hey, when did Hermione leave? Where is she?” Everyone else started looking around for her and Snape shook his head disgusted.

“Surely you all aren’t that dense. Did you not just see her leave with that mutt?”

“That was Hermione?” Ginny asked. “She’s not an animagus, is she?”

“Rather ridiculous story actually,” said Snape again, as Remus glared at him. “As I recall, it took her a long time to figure it out as well.”

“What do you remember?” asked Harry, gritting his teeth. He was sure Snape was going to make a condescending remark about his best friend and he didn’t want to hear it, but he did want to hear how Hermione turning into a wolf just now was possible.

“She overheard a conversation between two people that could have put her in a lot danger. She was trying to hide when she suddenly transformed. I happened to be in the area and got to see her as she tried to figure it out,” Snape replied grudgingly.

“So that’s how you knew who she was when you walked in just now. I bet you were one of the people putting her in danger in the first place,” Harry snarled.

“Don’t speak of what you don’t know, Potter. That habit has gotten you into enough trouble,” Snape snarled back.

“Well, at least now you don’t seem to hate her as much,” Ginny said, only slightly afraid of Snape’s reaction.

“It’s hard to hate someone who saved you from yourself,” Snape replied quietly, he then looked around quickly, almost as if afraid he had spoken the words out loud.

“How, exactly did she do that,” Harry asked, his tone much calmer now.

“If you must know, Potter,” he sighed, “she’s the one who convinced me to…trade sides.”

“How could she do that if you didn’t trade sides until after the prophecy?” Harry asked, thoroughly confused.

Snape sighed deeply again and said, “When I realized the prophecy was directed at Lily, I kept hearing a voice I didn’t recognize in my head. It wasn’t until my memories returned recently, that I realized they were Miss Granger’s words I was hearing. Nevertheless, Dumbledore understood what I did not, and…” he broke off. No one at the table spoke for several moments, some too shocked at what Snape had said, since they had never heard the story, and didn’t know that Snape had overheard the prophecy, and others were shocked that it did appear that Snape was human after all, with actual feelings and emotions. If they were shocked at his answer, it was nothing compared to how they felt at Harry’s next comment.

“So that’s why he believed you and trusted you completely, but wouldn’t tell anyone else the reason? He knew it was Hermione, but obviously couldn’t tell anyone else that,” Harry said.

“Very good deduction, Potter. Not always as ignorant as you seem,” Snape sneered, regaining his usual demeanor.

“That’s enough you two,” Remus said quietly. “Yes, Hermione is an animagus, which is what she’s been trying to tell you, but no one will listen.”

“She’s a bit scary actually,” Ron said.

“There’s obviously more to Miss Granger’s trip then she has divulged. However…” Snape was cut off by Remus.

“That is her story to tell, Severus, not yours,” he said menacingly.

“Yes. I imagine there are parts of her story you’d like kept quiet from everyone,” Snape sneered.

“That’s enough from everyone!” Molly said, standing up and taking control of the two men. “Let’s go find them and get this over with.”

Everyone left the kitchen and walked to the garden. They saw a dog and a wolf tackling each other over and over, only to run in circles and do it again. Suddenly, the wolf pounced on the dog, bringing it to the ground as they resumed their human forms.

“I had forgotten how much fun that was, Gyps!” Sirius said through his laughter as his arms curled around her.

“What are you talking about Padfoot, we do that all the time,” Hermione laughingly joked with him.

He rolled her over onto her back and gave her a huge hug, before stroking her face tenderly. “I’m so glad you’re back and that I finally get to remember you. I can’t imagine life without you, Gyps,” he said lovingly as she hugged him back.

“OK, get off, you’re killing me,” she laughed as he sprang to his feet and helped her up. They were oblivious to the onlookers and were quite shocked to turn and see they had an audience. An audience who didn’t know what to make of the obvious closeness of the two, or the name…Gyps?

“So, this is what I’ve been trying to tell you all evening,” Hermione said sheepishly. She hadn’t meant for things to get this out of control, but once she started she couldn’t stop.

“Can we, um, finish this back in the kitchen,” Harry asked, looking a little amused, but more concerned about what had just taken place.

As they all walked back into the kitchen, Remus came up close behind Hermione, “that was quite the show, love. I’ve never seen them so speechless.” He didn’t realize the effect he was having on her. She could feel his warm breath on her neck, his voice close and soft, and the endearing term he used without realizing it. Shivers went up and down her spine as she closed her eyes for a second.

“Thanks,” she said, a slight blush the only give away to what she was feeling.

They were the last ones to walk back into the kitchen and were walking around the table to take their seats when Fred mischievously got the room’s attention and said, as though Christmas was coming early this year, “So, Hermione, you do realize, or at least I hope for your sake you don’t, that you actually licked Severus earlier, right?”

Several people snickered, and others, like Ron and Harry, looked disgusted. Hermione, who just happened to be passing behind Snape as this comment was made, patted his shoulder, making everyone’s eyes widen, and said grinning, “he’s harmless really. But my wolf fears the business end of his wand and promises to not do it again.”

Not only were they surprised that she touched his shoulder and said what she did, but that he did nothing about the contact. There was no sneer or snarky remark made, and not even a wince at her touch. The only reaction they saw, if they looked closely enough, was the slight lifting of one corner of his mouth.

“Yea, lick Remus, he just laughed! Maybe his wolf likes your wolf,” George said chuckling. Very few knew how right this comment really was, but Remus took it in stride, “let’s just say my wolf has gotten used to the stubborn, hard headed other wolf.”

“Hey!” Hermione said and playfully swatted at his head as he ducked away laughing.

“Can we please finish this conversation tonight?” Harry asked. It seemed only a few around heard the unhappy tone in his voice. Hermione was thoroughly concerned that she had somehow offended her best friend and decided that talking to him would be the best thing to do, not right now, but soon.

They finished discussing Hermione’s condition and, since they finally let her talk, she explained how she could transform at will, but had no choice the night of the full moon. She told them how, even on the full moon, her transformations were not painful and she still held complete control over herself. This was very impressive, and relieving, news to all, especially Bill who still felt guilty. They decided the best thing to do would be to keep her condition from the Ministry at all costs.

Hermione was to spend her first night back in her own room, alone. This was new to her, as she had gotten used to either being in the boys dorm with Remus, or the girls with Lily. Thinking along this line brought even more tears to her eyes. Sighing wearily, she slowly got out of bed and headed downstairs for a cup of tea.

Walking down to the kitchen she saw the lights were lit and walked in. Sirius was sitting at the table with a cup of tea already in front of him. She was sure that his tea had a bit extra in it and decided she could probably use the extra something at this moment. She poured herself a cup as he grinned knowingly up at her.

“Hey Gyps,” he said softly. “Why are you up so late? Must be bad if you‘re drinking my tea.”

“Can’t sleep,” she said softly as well, “I got so used to either being in your dorm or mine with Lily that I can’t sleep alone just yet.”

“I see.”

“How did you do it, Padfoot?” she asked a few minutes later.

“Do what?”

“Get over them. I come back to this time to the realization that James and Lily aren’t here. It’s like I lost my brother and my sister without closure, you know. And then there’s Peter. I never would have thought that of him, never. It’s all so unreal.”

“I know, we were all shocked. Who would have thought it would be Peter?”

“And then there’s you and Remus. You spent 12 years in Azkaban. 12 years! And the whole time Remus was alone. He lost everyone that night. Lily and James died, he thought Peter had too, and you’d been arrested. How did he deal with it?”

“I was mad at Sirius,” came a voice from the door. “That’s the only way I dealt with it. My anger at him, thinking he could actually betray them, was the only thing that kept me going for awhile. Eventually, I just buried it all so deep I didn’t feel anything at all.”

“Same here,” Sirius said, “I was concentrating on Peter so I wouldn’t miss everyone else. I knew I was the only one left who knew the truth, and when I realized how close he was to Harry, I knew I had to act.”

“Knowing you then,” she said thoughtfully, “was almost like knowing someone else. I’m glad to see a little life back in your eyes now. Azkaban really did a number on you.”

“I’ll say. But I’m slowly recovering. It’s helped having Remus, and now you.”

Hermione started to finger the pendant around her neck, thankful she got to keep it. “I’m going to give Harry the shirt, I guess he should have it,” she said absentmindedly.

“I’m sure he’d appreciate it,” Sirius said quietly as she continued to drink her tea.

“Maybe some sleep will help you adjust,” Remus said some time later.

“Yea, you forget that I just woke up a few hours ago. My full moon was last night, remember?”

“I’d forgotten about that today. Did you like your wake up bath?” Sirius asked grinning.

“Um, no, can’t say as I did,” she said grinning back at him. “But I guess you’re right. I should try to get back to this schedule. Moon’s three weeks away, right?” she asked as she stood and walked to the door.

“Goodnight, my boys.”

“Goodnight,” they called back to her.

“Well, we’re still her boys,” Sirius said chuckling softly as Remus lowered his head.

“So, Moony, how bad are you going to mess this up?”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, ok?” Remus said seriously as he too went upstairs to bed. On his way down the hall he heard voices.

“Harry? Harry, are you ok?” Remus could make out her voice easily, he could make her sweet voice out in a crowded room if need be. Along with her smell and any other part that makes up who she is.

“Harry! Wake up!” he heard her say louder as he walked to Harry’s room.

Hermione was shaking Harry’s shoulder as he thrashed around on the bed, sweating. Remus walked over and slapped Harry hard across the face.

“What the…” Harry yelled as he woke, visibly shaking all over.

“Harry! Are you ok?!” Hermione asked eyeing Remus with contempt.

He looked at Remus as he rubbed his cheek and said, “Thanks. It was another one of Voldemort’s dreams, I just don’t know if it was real.”

“Tell you what, Harry,” Remus said, his face etched with concern, “remember your dream and we’ll go back over it tomorrow with Severus, ok? That is, if no one is in immediate danger.”

Harry looked at Hermione, then back at Remus, “no, it should be ok. Maybe he can tell us if it’s real or not. Thanks again guys,” he said.

“Do you want someone to stay with you, Harry?” Hermione asked.

He seemed to really consider this for a minute before he answered her, “No thanks Hermione, I’ll be fine.” Then he grinned, “well, maybe I did bring you back so I could have you to myself.”

He started laughing when Remus looked hard at him and said, “now is not the time for that reminder, Harry”

“I’m fine. Go to bed you two and thanks again,” he added with much more confidence than he felt.

“Good night,” they both quietly called as they walked out of his room and shut the door.

“Do you really think he’s alright?” Hermione whispered.

“No, but he won’t tell us that. We’ll let him think it over and see what he has to say tomorrow. Hey, are you ok?” he added as he saw her wipe a tear away.

“I’m fine, Remus. It’s just hard, adjusting and all. Coming back only to lose those that I love and then to get thrust into my reality in this time.”

“Come here,” he said as he gently pulled her into his arms. “It will get better, I promise you that. You still have Sirius, and me.”

She looked up at him slowly, wondering if she really did still have him. He wiped another tear away as he stared into her eyes, and slowly lowered his head. Just like their first kiss, she met him halfway. Pouring all of her hopes and emotions into it and kissing him with all she had.

“I…I can’t. I’m sorry,” he said as he suddenly pulled away from her and walked quickly down the hall.

She stared after him as more tears fell down her cheeks.