Phases of the Moon

Chapter Three

"I'm so high, I could hear heaven...Oh, but heaven, no, heaven don't hear me,"

-- "Hero", Chad Kroguer

Hogsmeade was completely different at night. The air seemed to drop a bit, enough to make the breeze chilly enough for a light jacket. The sky remained cerulean a bit longer over the village then it would have anywhere else.

Business boomed in Hogsmeade when the night began to fall.

Madam Rosmerta was up to her head in orders the night of Hermione's birthday. For some reason, Monday was the busiest night of all. She scribbled down the orders of many Hogwarts professors, and local witches and wizards that had come for a quick pick-me-up after a long day's work at the Ministry.

The Three Broomsticks was buzzing with wizardry gossip and the latest articles from the Daily Prophet, so nobody noticed the tall, dark haired girl that entered and took a seat farthest from the door.

"Butterbeer, please," Hermione said as she laid her purse down next to her. She rummaged into it for three galleons, which is how much the drink cost. At least, that's what it had cost the last time she'd been there.

Ages ago.

The bottle was slid right in front of her. My, god, Hermione thought sadly, they don't even remember me. Drunken wizards who needed to rid themselves of stress had replaced all of her memories of laughter and romance as a teen.

"Hermione?" sang a voice behind her. Madam Rosmerta never forgot a customer, and she recognized Hermione immediately with the same bushy hair, and those eyes. "Haven't seen you in a million dog years," she said.

Hermione hung her head and nodded. "It's been a while," Madam Rosmerta whipped out a rag and started to wipe off the bar table.

"I know who you're looking for," she sang. She took a couple of more empty glasses and put them in the bin for cleaning.

"What?" Hermione said, even though she knew that Madam Rosmerta knew very well who her destination was for this visit to Hogsmeade.

Madam Rosmerta smiled a quick smirk and took her hair out of her pin. Her dark curls cascaded her face, which Hermione thought didn't age one bit since she last saw her. "He's in the Shrieking Shack, Hermione."

Hermione pushed her Butterbeer aside, and grabbed her purse. Though the wind had gotten colder, she didn't have time to put on her jacket and tie it up. It hung loosely around her arm as she made a mad dash towards the Shrieking Shack before Remus was going to transform.

Hogsmeade was wearing out the crowds by the time she had made it to the Whomping Willow. Hermione hated this place, climbing it gave her the most painful scratches. All this aside, she threw her jacket to the side to make her journey easier.

"Oh," Hermione gasped at the feel of the cold wind on her bare arms. She latched onto the treetop and pulled herself through the gap. She closed her eyes as she felt herself slide through it, and she landed on the floor with a thud.

She kneeled down on the floor to sort herself out, and found she was lying next to Remus. He was staring up at the ceiling as though he could see right through it. He looked calm. A goblet of Wolfsbane Potion lay empty, next to him.

"You don't come here anymore," Hermione said softly. "You -- You stay in your room, and wait until it passes," she stared at his grey streaked hair and soft, tired eyes and his chiseled, bare chest. He turned away.

Remus shook his head lightly, and rolled over on his side. Hermione still kneel next to him. "I don't come here anymore, you're right. But I had to come up here tonight, and pay my respects. I've been thinking about them lately. I've lost all my friends, Hermione. Do you realize that?"

"Well, you still have Peter," Hermione said helplessly. "Peter's alive, isn't he?" Remus inhaled and made a sound that was a cross between a snort and a strangled cry.

"He's a Death Eater, Hermione. Is that really living?" He lay down on his back and threw a sideways glance at her. "Well, you live with one of the loyalist -- You tell me."

Hermione shook her head furiously and wisps of her loose ponytail had flown out. "Don't just turn you back on me, Remus." This did it. Remus flipped himself around to look at her, his face bland and without expression.

"Really? Can dish it out but you can't take it, huh, Hermione?" He stared at her, not knowing whether to kiss her or kill her. He had longed for her since she left; he longed for her everyday, but the nerve of her...

She stared at him, wiping away the hair from her eyes. "Remus, I--"

Hermione never finished that sentence as the full moon parted over the Shrieking Shack. The change was almost horrific. He immediately sprouted grey fur to match his grey streaked hair, his eyes sunk in and grew almost beady, and his face grew in length to have a very distinct snout. He roared and howled into the moon and ran for Hermione.

"Remus, Remus, no," Hermione screamed louder then she ever screamed before and backed into the wall. The wolf howled loudly and began to scratch at the surrounding walls. He looked evil and menacing and she knew he didn't remember who she was. He wanted her blood.

She ran from the wall that she braced against to the entrance leading back to the Whomping Willow. She was pounding at it, trying to get out, screaming like she was being murdered. "God, help me," she pushed open the door finally, and managed to close it behind her.

Hermione stood at the top of the Shrieking Shack, hearing Remus cry and howl in agony. She was breathing heavy and neglected to notice it was raining hard again. Her hair had become cemented to her cheeks, and her clothes were soaking. She slid off the trapdoor, and began her journey home.

"Look what the wolf dragged in," said a menacing voice behind her. Hermione spun around to see Draco looking smug, horrified, and most of all, wet. His own blonde hair had been mopped down and his eyes were flickering, although Hermione couldn't tell what emotions they were bearing.

Draco's eyes fell to Hermione's arm, which was slashed into a big, deep, red mark from Remus. He ran his palm over it, causing Hermione to grimace in pain. "How did you find me?" she breathed. She slipped in a puddle, but Draco held her up with one arm placed on the small of her back. He lost his smirk. He took off his jacket and slid her arms through it, to keep her warm, despite the fact he was now shuddering.

"Where else would you be?" he said as a matter of fact. "I know how fond you are of that werewolf," Hermione hugged the jacket close to her and shook her head softly. She knew that Draco didn't approve of her friendship with Remus. Hell, he wasn't stupid -- he probably knew that they had more then a 'friendship'.

Draco slid his arms around Hermione's waist to keep her steady in the slippery puddles. "Let's go home. I still haven't given you your birthday present." With a small pop which didn't make any significant change in sound to the shattering storm in Hogsmeade -- they Apparated.

Home never looked more comforting to Hermione. The way the rain hit soothingly at her windows and the lightning illuminated her room. She lay down on the bed, not bothering to change into dry clothes. "I got it here," said Draco. He entered the room with a small parcel.

"This was my mother's. She was saving it if she ever had a daughter." Said Draco. Hermione grinned at the sentiment of it, and took the package.

"How did you get it?"

"Dad gave it to me after she died. He told me to save it for a very special girl. So, here. Enjoy." Draco helped her open it, and Hermione gasped when she saw a crystal pendant that glowed a magnificent scarlet.

She fingered it lightly and took it out of the box. "Draco, thank you," she paused. "Why does it glow scarlet?"

"This heirloom is passed from the women in my family. It originated with my great-great Grandmother, Lucille DeAlloy. She went to Hogwarts, too. She was in Gryffindor, and she got it to glow the Gryffindor colors. Of course, after her, the women in my family went to Slytherin, so no one ever wore it. But I think it's fitting for you."

Hermione pinned the pendant onto her blouse and watched as her hands begun to glow crimson underneath the pin. "Draco, it's beautiful," she kissed him lightly on the lips and he returned the favor.

He pinned her beneath him and started to roam her body when--

A soft hum filled the room. Draco pulled off his sleeve and his Dark Mark was oozing from the sides and had begun to glow, much like Hermione's new pendant. "Fuck." Draco muttered. He gave Hermione a small peck on the neck. "I got to...leave. I love you."

He left immediately. Hermione, now sobbing, ripped off the pin and hurled it across the room. The glow suddenly faded; and the pendant shattered to a million pieces.