In-depth summary: Three years after a gruesome lost battle, the Wizarding world is left in chaotic limbo. With Voldemort in hiding, trying to rebuild his power, Hermione is trying to restore hope when her own is destroyed. With nobody left, she makes the drastic decision to recreate the past for the future she believes should have come to be. Traveling 27 years to the past, she builds alliances with the werewolf clans, Marauders, and works toward the ultimate goal. Hermione/Remus
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The Werewolf Tamer
Prologue
Three years after the loss of the Final Battle, the Wizarding world was a chaotic place. Six years had passed since the finish of Hogwarts, and everyone had to suffer the problems faced in school in the outside world, too. After Dumbledore's death, seventh year had been wrought with pain and suffering, grueling tasks and wavering faith. Along the way however, friendships and love had been built.
Ron Weasley had found comfort in the arms of Luna Lovegood, who helped alleviate the pressure of being part of the Golden Trio, a large player in the coming war, and a boy who had to grow up too fast. Luna's odd personality and wisdom about the world provided Ron with both a lighthearted existence and a better understanding of what was going on around him. While he still had the emotional range of a tea spoon, Luna accepted that about him and worked around it, instead of trying to change him. Likewise, Ron soon found himself enjoying Luna's oddities, rather than seeing them as flaws. It was this connection that grounded Ron and kept him from becoming so far involved with the War that he lost sight of being himself.
Even Harry Potter found love in the days where Hogwarts no longer felt like a safe haven. Susan Bones was there when he needed friendship and companionship most. Finding in Susan somebody who could properly understand him and comfort him, Harry was finally blessed with the one person who seemed to complete him. Outside of his best friends, she became the most important person in his life. Standing behind his decisions, as long as they weren't rash enough to get him killed, Susan was soon recognized as Harry's partner in everything. He kept no secrets from her, but instead found peace in the knowledge that she knew him inside and out. While she became a large target for Voldemort, she was also kept hidden and safe to the standards of only Harry had ever been. There was rarely a time when they were seen separate and Harry finally experienced a part of his life that wasn't dark and gloomy. In the best words of explanation, Ron dubbed Susan as, "Harry's normality," because she was the one thing in his life that kept him "Harry" and not the "Boy-Who-Lived".
When the days of school were set behind them, the Golden Trio became important members of the illustrious Order of the Phoenix, where they planned to defeat Voldemort in any way possible, and trained as Auror's in preparation. It was in that first year of freedom from school, that Hermione became interested in the idea of gaining trust with the werewolves. She went to Remus Lupin, he being the only werewolf she had ever known, and proposed a plan. How much good would it cause if she could find a way to tame werewolves during the full moon? With the Wolfsbane potion quickly losing effect on the senses of those who had used it for most of their lives, a new antidote had to be found. Hermione chose not to look at how to cure them, but instead at how to tame them. For if she could give them a promise of being safe, then the Ministry could no longer strike them off as creatures instead of humans. Therefore, she would gain more of their confidence than Voldemort ever could. It was only acceptance that they seek, and if she could offer it to them, she could put a large dent in Voldemort's growing forces.
The first year was a constructive one for many. Harry married Susan in a large ceremony in the backyard of the Burrow, though it was kept secret from all those who weren't widely trusted and very close to them. It was the happiest day of his life, as he stated to Hermione more times than she could count and she had every belief that it was the whole and honest truth. From that day, hope had been rejuvenated, for wasn't it said that love would bring the downfall of hate? The days no longer seemed so dark, and a certainty for victory consumed the Order members and all the good people of the Wizarding world. While hunting Horcruxes, investigating Death Eaters, and doing their best to get around the set and often crooked ways of the Ministry, Harry and the Order battled Voldemort's reign at every turn.
A breakthrough came in 1999, when Hermione had success with Remus as her partner in their werewolf taming project. While being under only half the influence of Wolfsbane potion, he was able to teach her the different pitches in voice of his species, to better understand what state he was in. Hermione learned it as if it were a language, and while she couldn't imitate most of it, she was able to learn how to speak to him in a way that would calm him, and understand his every meaning. It was widely known that werewolves attack humans out of nature, but Hermione was quickly learning it was out of fear of being killed themselves. As they were being brought up to believe that they were destined to be hunted and destroyed.
Early on in their research, it came to be that Hermione fell in love. Finding her equal in Remus Lupin, both in mind and spirit, she found herself bonded to him in more ways than one. While they shared a dream for the future, a hope for wizardkind, a thirst for knowledge, and a deep seeded protection and trust for their friends, they soon found themselves connected at the heart. Marrying early that year, Remus and Hermione Lupin further proved to the werewolf clans that a brighter future could be set for them. Voldemort soon learned that slowly, his army of werewolves were traveling away from him, to find refuge and hope in the werewolf trainers.
It was also during this year, that Ginny Weasley found love in an unlikely suitor. Blaise Zabini, a former Slytherin, had offered his assistance to the right side, shortly after becoming an Auror for the Ministry. While not quite accepted at first, he proved himself to be a strong ally, helping the likes of Harry, Hermione, and Ron various times before finally being inducted in the Order. Time being of the essence, a marriage formed between them shortly before the Final Battle in 2000. Blaise made the decision not to hide his allegiance or his marriage from the Wizarding world and while he was shunned by various friends and family members, he kept his promise to both his wife and the Order. He fought for justice, not power.
While breakthroughs had been made, there were also numerous losses. Neville Longbottom, a strong member of the Order and an Auror trainee, was killed in Diagon Alley during a shocking Death Eater attack. While trying to shield a group of children from the chaos and mess of curses and hexes flying, he was hit repeatedly by the Avada curse. Also killed was Percy Weasley, during an attack at the Ministry while fleeing to alert Auror Headquarters, he was struck down by simultaneous stunners that knocked him back and out a window. It was said that the stunners killed him before the impact of the ground. And lastly, Fred and George Weasley were killed in action while scouting a group of Death Eaters on an Order mission. Having followed them to a safe house, they were found out and ambushed. Going out in a blaze of glory, fitting the twin Weasley boys, they not only destroyed the safe house, but took every Death Eater in the place down with them. A memorial for those lost was erected on Hogwarts grounds, citing them as heroes who died for what they believed in.
It was three years until the Final Battle reached them, and it was a bloody, grueling battle that reached far beyond any in history. The entire Weasley family, save for those who had perished, stood on the fields of Hogwarts, ready to fight to the death for the cause. Ron Weasley, standing proudly beside Harry and Hermione, made a final promise to his girlfriend Luna that when the fighting had ended, they would be married in a world of freedom. Students from Hogwarts joined to fiercely save the world they grew up in and not the one it was quickly becoming. Familiar faces milled through the army of good. Those of DA members, Aurors, tamed werewolf clans, what was left of Harry's Hogwarts class, professors, Gropp, and Order members.
It seemed as though the battle was in Harry's favor. With the Horcruxes found and destroyed, Voldemort was far more vulnerable than he had expected. The battle raged for hours, neither wanting to back down and admit retreat. And when Harry finally met Voldemort in the middle, the side of good looked ready to cheer with victory. Many Death Eater's had fallen, though they were woven across the ground with the bodies of the likes of Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, Charlie Weasley, and many, many others. The Golden Trio had seen the fall of Molly Weasley, though she fought valiantly until the end. And poor Hagrid too was taken, as he fought with his brother Gropp against the trolls and giants trying to attack from the sides. However, it was not until a very important person in Harry's life had been killed that the battle turned for the worst.
Susan Potter, who had made it nearly until the end, was struck down by a vicious green curse just a few short feet from her husband's side. Her lifeless eyes and limp body fell from the air in what seemed like slow motion, gaining the attention of all those around her. Overwhelmed with shock and grief, Harry abandoned his post against Voldemort and stumbled his way to his wife's side. It was as he was cradling her lifeless body, tears streaming down his cheeks, that his will and power seemed to deflate entirely. The battle and courage he once possessed had been stripped from him entirely, and the loss of so many became Harry's final straw. Voldemort saw an advantage and he mercilessly killed Harry while he wept against his dead wife's hand.
Horror and disbelief gripped the likes of Harry's army and they stood uncertain what to do. With bated breath, they waited to see what Voldemort would say or do in the moments after Harry's demise, only to find him drained of energy and barely able to stand any longer. With a victorious laugh, he fell to his knees and shouted out for all to hear, "See your hero now, you pathetic fools? You have chosen your side and now you see it was the wrong one! I will rule you all!" he bellowed, before apparating away in a lackluster manner.
Overcome and uncertain, Hermione stared down at her best friend's dead body, agony tearing at the strings of her heart, before coming to the decision that he would not die in vain. Death Eaters still roamed the ground and while they all seemed to be laughing in victory, they were far too sure of themselves. Hermione turned her wand on the first one she saw and gathered her pent up hatred. Screaming the Avada curse, she destroyed him or her, she wasn't sure for the mask hid their face. And with one last ferocious battle cry, she announced, "It is not over!" With what little hope they had, the Order and army stood behind her and battled fiercely until the last of Voldemort's forces apparated away in retreat.
While Voldemort had killed Harry, he had not won overall. With Harry's death came a loss of his power. Drained and nearly powerless, he was forced into hiding until he could build himself back up. Hermione and Ron stood in Harry's stead, making it known that the War was far from over. However, during the three years after the war the Wizarding world did not get any less chaotic, but more. Voldemort's Death Eater's still roamed the lands, reeking havoc whenever possible. Their attacks become more targeted and they soon began picking off vital members of the Order and people known for being high supporters of Hermione and Ron, who were standing as the heads of the Order since graduation.
It was a little over a year after the battle that took Harry, that the Zabini couple were killed. While in Diagon Alley a Death Eater attack fell upon them in a rush of action. Spectators said that they were looking solely for Blaise and Ginny and when they found them, they struck ruthlessly. Blaise was killed while shielding his wife from the oncoming assault, and fell only after being numerously stunned, hexed, and finally cursed. Ginny, becoming enraged by her husband's death, ran headfirst into the fight, taking four Death Eater's in her stead before she too was cursed to death by green.
Death Eater attacks were on the rise and Order members had to be more careful where they went and who they spoke to. Thankfully, McGonagall, Moody, Tonks, and Kingsley Shacklebolt were still big players in the Order and, as of yet, alive and as well as could be expected. The Ministry was in shambles and Auror's soon became free agents, most of them pledging their allegiance to the Order. Voldemort was still in hiding, though word came that he was gaining his power back more and more. Hermione and Remus kept up with training werewolves, not only to show that they believed there was a future ahead, but because they were unwilling to admit defeat in any way. Nearly the whole of werewolf clans, save for those nearest Fenrir Greyback, took part in Hermione and Remus' training program. There was hope yet.
It wasn't until early 2003 that a large dent had been put into plans for the future. While sitting down to dinner with his wife and one year old daughter, Brooke, Ron Weasley's home was under attack. Taking out his wand, he ordered Luna to take their daughter and get herself to the fireplace, where she could then floo to the Lupin household for safety. Rushing through the house, Ron was engaged in a fight for himself and his family almost immediately. Injured constantly, he refused to lay down and die until he was sure his family had made it out. Unfortunately, as he was backed closer to the living room, where Luna was running toward the fireplace, floo powder in hand, he had to watch as she was killed, shielding her daughter in her arms. Roaring in rage, Ron turned his wand on Bellatrix Lestrange, who cackled insanely over the death of Luna Weasley and held her wand to the young baby Brooke, who cried terribly in her mother's shielding but dead arms. Undaunted, the cruel and savage woman cursed the young child and then laughed in Ron's outraged and heartbroken face as she left him in his desperate mourning for all of a few minutes. After enjoying his pain, she killed him too, leaving the house with a foreboding dark mark hanging in the sky.
Hermione was forced into the position as sole director of the Order after the death of her last best friend. She was barely given time to mourn, as destruction soon took over the streets and the people of the Wizarding world were beginning to turn on one another. Society was crying out for a hero and she was thrown into the limelight faster than she could say "rest in peace". Her work in training werewolves made her the last person to see any sort of bright future and people fed off of it. With Remus by her side, she did her best to reassure those around her that there was still fight left in all of them. Becoming sure that there was a spy in her Order, she turned it upside down, searching for a leak. Too many of her closest friends and allies were being killed in places that Voldemort's forces shouldn't know about. She came up empty handed, but learned only to trust the fewest of the few.
Shortly after Ron's death, an attack on Bill and Fleur Weasley left them unable to have children in the future. Fleur was harmed internally by a powerful hex and it was soon realized that the Weasley blood line was all but diminished. Not long after, the couple left Wizarding Britain, to return to Fleur's home in France in hopes of gathering themselves. While still pledging themselves to the Order, they were in need of a grieving period and nobody could blame them. Arthur Weasley checked himself into St. Mungo's indefinitely, after losing far too many for him to coherently exist in the world. While he was offered solace and comfort in the presence of all those who were left, he felt living in a world where all but one of his children was dead and his dear "Mollywobbles" was gone, he simply couldn't be of any help any longer.
Hermione found herself as the poster girl for the end of Voldemort's reign. Pressure became a regularity in her life and she was never without a duty to perform. Finding herself left in a world where the only person that mattered to her any longer was her husband, Hermione battled against the idea that hope was nearly lost. Remus soon became her only life line and saving grace. Holding her up when all seemed to be lost, he shielded her from the destruction that went on just outside their home. While she put on a brave face for the Order and the citizens of the Wizarding world who criticized her anytime another was lost or another attack happened, she admitted only to herself and Remus that she was scared to her very bones. Optimism seemed to be Remus' strong suit and he never let her down when she wallowed in fear. Instead, he held her during her darkest hours, stroking her hair and wiping away her tears, while whispering words of encouragement and telling her that he believed they would defeat him.
"Don't ever let them tell you that what you're doing isn't enough. You instill hope, Hermione. You give the Wizarding world hope, even when it seems all of it has died. There aren't many who can do that, love," he would tell her. "You are brilliant, and there's no need for a prophecy to tell us so. If anyone can defeat Voldemort, then I believe it's you. Harry... he was brave and he sacrificed so much for the betterment of the Wizarding world. He didn't deserve to die. I loved him as I did his father, and I want to believe that he's in a better place. With Lily and James, and Sirius! And his Susan, of course, because he loved her so." He'd clear his throat, his voice unusually scratchy with emotion, for talking of Harry and the loss that did him in would always give him his own fears. "We're all that's left, Hermione. I'm the last Marauder, you're the last of the Golden Trio, and it's up to us to finish what was started. We can't rest until Voldemort is dead."
And his words would always push her on another day. The light of hope that had dampened would be re-lit and Hermione would find herself with a new resolve to keep fighting and going until the bitter end. She drew off of Remus and all that he encompassed to reassure herself and others that the end was coming and it would turn in their favor. Were it not for him, she was sure, she would have been done in already. Be it from her own depression, or a Death Eater attack on her finally gone right for Voldemort, she wasn't sure. Every day Remus seemed to be saving her life or vice versa, for they were surely the biggest targets of Voldemort's by then.
It was the loss of everything and everyone that mattered most which would throw Hermione over the edge. With her best friends dead, the Weasley family in shambles, the Order getting smaller each day from losses, and hope dangling on a very thin string, Hermione had nobody but Remus left. On the fateful day that her husband was taken from her, Hermione's resolve was finally broken. The flame of freedom, hope for victory, and deep seeded trust that whatever happened, she'd at least have Remus, had been diminished. Perhaps a small bit of her sanity was taken too, as she became consumed with only one thing in life. Destroying Bellatrix Lestrange for killing Remus. It was in her need for redemption that she ran across a spell. Throwing all she knew about time travel and the laws that state nothing can be changed out the window, Hermione made a drastic decision out of depression and loss. Gathering resources and all the knowledge she'd need, Hermione decided that the future she lived in could not come to be. But to change it all, she had to go back further than just two months, when Remus was ripped from her. No, it'd be twenty-seven years into the past for her, to the very first day of Remus' seventh year. At twenty-three years old, Hermione would go to a time where she didn't exist at all, to change the whole course of history as she knew it.
The knowledge she possessed would make her dangerous and a liability. The power she held in her grasp was unattainable and nearly unmanageable. With revenge coursing through her blood, blind hope that she could save them all prevailing in her mind, and a love for her husband and his belief in her, Hermione set out to give justice to all that deserve it. Even if it means giving up the one person who made her whole: Remus.
A/N I know what your thinking (if you've read my other stories)... how does she do it? How many stories is that, Amanda? How can you possibly keep all of them going? Well... I believe I'm a miracle worker... lol, at least when it comes to being able to juggle various stories, plot lines, and characters all at once. This will not detract me from my other stories, I assure you. This story already had five more chapters written to it, and more is to come. I also have a D/Hr story, if you're interested, that has yet to be posted. It's called, "Secret Life," and has about fifteen chapters already written. I could start posting it too... Hmm...
In any case, I hope you've enjoyed this story. I thought it was a wonderful plot line, and I've never found a story that involves Hermione being a werewolf tamer. The main plot circulates werewolves and changing the past, while, of course, trying to mourn and grapple with seeing her husband 27 years younger and alive. I really hope you've liked this, please review, I'd love to know what you think!
Much Love,
-Amanda