Chapter 1
She ran.
She’s been running for a while. She didn’t know for how long, but it had been a while. The sun that had shown in the middle of the sky, had disappeared by the time she stopped to catch her breath. The full moon shown brightly through the trees. A howl broke the silence. She turned her head frantically, only to lock eyes with a pair of golden ones. She whimpered, tripping of a stick in her haste to try and get away. The howling stopped, as a giant wolf made it way closer to her. She shielded her face, knowing this was it. It wouldn’t be the people that gave her the fresh bruises and cuts across her body that killed her, it was this wolf. She waited for the blow, for more pain before nothing.
Only nothing happened. Instead, something cold and damp pushed against her tiny arms. She whimpered in pain, causing the wolf to also whimper. The girl peered out from behind her hands, gazing into the amber eyes in confusion. The wolf nudged her again, whimpering as he lowered himself to the ground.
“Good, Puppy.” The girl wheezed. She slowly reached out and patted its head. Slowly, the wolf crawled closer to curl around the girl, licking the bruises on her cheek, and neck, and hands.
Remus summoned his clothes to him from behind a nearby tree. He dressed quickly, before moving arm to the little girl. He gently shook her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered open for a moment, before she jumped in surprise, scrambling away.
”It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you. Promise.”
”You-Your puppy?” She wheezed.
Remus winced, but slowly nodded. “Yes, I’m the puppy. I’m not going to hurt you, I promise.”
”That’s what they said.” She wheezed fearfully.
”I didn’t hurt you last night.” He pointed out gently.
The girl paused, watching him. “You-Good?”
Remus looked at the girl sadly, the distinct feeling he was looking at someone familiar clouding his mind. Mate. Cub is like mate. His wolf growled. “I am good, promise.” Remus held his hand out and waited. The girl slowly reached hers out to take it. Remus slowly moved closer, looking over her injuries gently. “We need to get you to a hospital.” He whispered gently. “Can you tell me your name?”
”Hermione.” She wheezed.
Remus smiled. “My name is Remus. It’s nice to meet you.”
Remus took Hermione to a nearby muggle hospital. It was there that Remus’s control was tested. For every injury they found on Hermione, a new one would appear. They did an X-Ray, a CT scan, and an MRI. Remus stood by Hermione’s side, holding her hand and reassuring her as the doctors, and eventually the police, asked her questions.
“She doesn’t have anything severely wrong internally. She has a lot of bruising, and some damage to her vocal cords, but that will all heal with time.” A doctor explained to them after hours of testing and exams. “A cop car is going to take you down to the station to figure out what her next steps are.”
Remus nodded, holding Hermione in his lap, as she snoozed against his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair soothingly. The cops escorted them to the station, Hermione sleeping the whole way there. One of the officers made conversation, to ease the silence, but Remus was more focused on Hermione than anything. It was another hour at the station before a social worker arrived.
”Mr. Lupin, you came up in our system as a foster parent.”
Remus nodded. “Yes, my best friend was in hiding and before they left they had me register to foster incase something happened to them, so I could take their son. I wasn’t able to take him in, sadly.”
“I saw that in your file. You requested several to take in a Harry Potter, why?” The woman asked.
”I’ve met his current guardians, they aren’t great people. They bullied Harry’s mum. His mum’s sister is his current guardians, Patunia Dursley.” Remus explained.
”Well, we will have a wellness check done on young Harry, but for now; would you be willing to take in Hermione?”
Remus looked down at the snoozing girl. “Absolutely.” He whispered.
The woman smiled. “I’ll need you to sign here, and here. Then we’ll go over social service check ins and evaluations.”
The night, Hermione was officially released into the custody of Remus Lupin. Hermione waking just as they were leaving the station to receive the news. She smiled so brightly, gripping onto Remus as tightly as she could, and grinning shyly at the social service lady.
”Thank you.” She whispered.