"For, by your leaves, you shall not stay alone"

Her breath caught as she heard it.

Oh no… Oh please…

Nails scraped lightly on the wooden floor as another paw was heard, causing a board to creak under the weight of it.

Hermione didn't breathe, terrified that any sound would alert the beast to her whereabouts.

This was pointless.

It knew anyway.

She heard another creak, then silence.

A great bang on the door caused the wardrobe to rock and tilt forward slightly.

"Hermione, let me in, please, it's me."

Nathaniel's breathless voice was heard from the other side of the door.

She remained frozen in her position.

"Hermione? Hermione! I would very much appreciate it if you let me in. I know you're in there."

He tried to keep his tone light but it was betrayed by the hoarseness of his voice.

Hermione quickly pulled herself together and pushed herself off the bed, ignoring her aching body.

She placed her hands on the wardrobe before pausing.

Was that really Nathaniel out there? Could this be a trick of Greyback's? Was Nathaniel actually laying out there in the darkness of the woods, dead or dying?

"I won't hurt you, I promise, Hermione. Please."

Licking her dried lips, she cleared her throat before saying, "How do I know you're telling the truth?"

He was about to start marvelling at her lack of urgency before realising where her thoughts must be going.

"In the kitchen earlier I promised to show you pieces I had performed which brought the house down and Hermione, by God I swear if I survive tonight, that oath will be fulfilled."

His statement and mention of survival caused her to shove all her weight against the wardrobe without another thought.

She let out a pained groan as she closed her eyes tightly, the wardrobe beginning to move away from the door.

She heard Nathaniel murmuring quick words of encouragement, his fingers drumming against the door.

After several, painful moments, the wardrobe was back in its place.

She leant against the door, exhausted, before opening it.

Not a second later, Nathaniel, wearing only his coat that she had hung up for him downstairs earlier, slipped into the room and slammed the door shut.

Not a second after that, he pinned her against the door, holding her upper arms tightly as his eyes roamed her face and body frantically.

His hair was wild, some locks sticking to his neck with sweat and blood from a cut on the side of his neck. There was another cut on his face, starting from one side of his head and finishing in the middle of his cheek on the opposite side. His lip was also split.

Beginning to feel uneasy, Hermione tried to pull away.

"What are you do— "

"Are you hurt?"

"What? No, yes, you're hurting me right no—"

"Yes? Where?"

"Well, I cut my cheek, I think, and his nails cut my ches—"

Nathaniel's sharp curse cut through her sentence, startling her, and his desperate eyes held hers.

"Hermione… Have you been bitten?"

She frowned and her heart stopped as she mentally checked every part of her body, before shaking her head and swallowing, relief flowing through her.

She hadn't even considered the fact she could have been bitten.

Nathaniel also looked greatly relieved, closing his eyes for a few moments as his shoulders relaxed.

Finally, he let go of her arms and stood up straight.

He looked down at her and surveyed her again, this time more calmly.

She noticed his fists clench slightly however when he saw the small circles of blood that had seeped through her shirt.

"You need to get out of here."

"What? How? There's no way—"

"Hermione, it's absolutely out of the question that you stay here any longer. He cannot control himself."

She suddenly had a thousand questions that she needed answering but she decided on the most pressing one.

"Where is he?"

She knew who he was referring to and couldn't bring herself to say his name.

Nathaniel let out a weary sigh and he suddenly looked much, much older.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and winced as it pulled at the cut on his face. She also noticed how he was keeping his weight on his left leg.

"I managed to throw him against a rock hard enough to knock him out, but by now…"

He shrugged slightly and pushed his hair out of his eyes.

"If I can get you out of the front door then I can apparate us somewhere else and think what to do then."

"But there's a charm that prevents me from—"

"Yes, I know, but I also know the counter charm."

Something like hope almost began to surface within Hermione.

Licking her cracked lips, her heart beat quickened within her chest.

"All right, what do we do?"

Nathaniel wiped his forehead with his forearm and lowered his voice.

"Be as quiet as you can. It's not too far to run but we still have to be very careful."

She nodded and swallowed her terror.

Freedom was close, soclose.

Nathaniel placed his hand on the door knob, paused, and slowly turned it.

Pausing again, he then quietly opened the door, fraction by fraction.

The hallway outside was dark, and empty.

His hand reached back and found Hermione's own.

Giving it a gently squeeze, a silent confirmation, he then pulled her out of the room and began to stride towards the stairs, Hermione only inches behind him.

A growl came from within the shadows.

They both froze.

The beast stepped out slowly, it's muzzle trembling with unsuppressed rage.

It had waited

It gave a furious bark-growl at seeing their hands joined.

"Hermione… Go back inside your room."

Nathaniel's lips seemed to barely move.

Hermione's entire body couldn't move.

The beast took another step forward, every single muscle tense.

Nathaniel slowly slid his hand out of Hermione's and placed it on her stomach, pushing her back.

The beast gave another growl at the contact, pausing as it bared it's teeth.

Hermione gently rested a hand on Nathaniel's arm, reassuring, thanking, terrified.

And then it all happened at once.

The beast crouched and leapt, almost in the same moment, and Nathaniel pushed Hermione backwards, turning his head to shout, "Go, Hermione! Barricade yourself in! Go!"

Running. Always running.

She slammed the door behind her, catching only a second of Nathaniel throwing his coat off.

It took less time to push the wardrobe in front of the door, the adrenaline surging through her making up for the energy she had lacked earlier.

She backed away from the door slowly.

Whimpers mixed with growls were heard from beyond the door.

She could practically feel the scraping of teeth and nails on the floor, and the walls, and… skin. Bone.

There was one last, painful whimper and then silence.

Hermione continued moving backwards until she felt the bed at the backs of her legs.

She sat, hands trembling in her lap, eyes fixed on the door.

Something banged against the door.

She jumped and placed a hand over her mouth.

The wardrobe rocked and creaked.

There was a bang again, followed by a scrabbling sound.

Then another, until it became incessant.

The wardrobe heaved and groaned, tilting forward further.

Hermione trembled, biting hard on her lower lip.

With one last bang, the wardrobe fell.

Hermione scrambled backwards with a horrified cry, the wardrobe narrowly missing her as it crashed down onto the bed.

Dust filled the air and choked her, causing her eyes to water.

She coughed and struggled to breathe for a few moments, the pain finding her minutes after that.

She held back a whimper as she saw the piece of wood being pressed down onto her ankle by the side of the wardrobe.

Pressing her lips together to muffle her pained cry, she carefully pulled herself out from underneath it.

Yet there was nothing behind her and she fell to the floor, landing hard on her side, causing her to cry out.

She lay there for a few moments, coughing, the dust slowly settling onto her aching form.

Groaning, she heaved herself up, her arms shaking with trying to support her own weight.

Her head shot up as she heard a soft, almost triumphant growl.

The beast was watching her from the wreckage of the door, it's head tilted to one side.

Slowly, almost as if it was mocking her, it crouched down, just poised to pounce.

Summoning what energy she had left, Hermione lunged to the side, under the bed.

The beast landed right where she would have been but she didn't stop, not for a moment, not until she was out on the other side.

Using the window sill, she pulled herself up, still not stopping even though she felt pain in almost every inch of her body.

The beast growled and pounced again, crashing into the wall next to her with it's shoulder.

It narrowly missed her shoulder as it snapped it's teeth for she had already moved again and reached the bathroom door.

Slamming the door behind her, her fingers fumbled with the lock as she gasped at the pain coursing through her body.

Coughing, her throat hoarse, she collapsed to the floor, moving as far away from the door as she could, her back pressing against the bath tub.

She thought it would start banging on the door again.

She was wrong.

One, slow, scraping sound of a claw on wood was heard, taunting her.

Hermione drew her knees to her chest, covering her ears with her hands as her breaths came out in almost sobs.

Stop it, stop it, stop it…

…"Stop it, stop it," She began to whisper as tears rolled down her cheeks, the pleas no longer being only thought.

The noise just kept going, grating against her eardrums incessantly.

"Stop!" She tried to shout as loud as she could, her dry throat restricting her.

Suddenly, there was silence.

Slowly, she moved her hands away from her ears, her rapid heartbeat thudding in her ears.

A furious growl cut through the silence.

She screamed as the door seemed to almost be ripped off its hinges.

The beast stalked towards her, over the fallen door.

Her eyes roamed wildly around the room, searching for an escape, and found none.

Yet she pushed herself up as far as she could, gripping onto the side of the bath tub as she shook.

The beast snarled and swiped it's paw at her to knock her back down, it's claws cutting into her skin from her spine to her hip.

Hermione cried out and fell back down onto her side, her body shaking with exhaustion and silent sobs.

She lifted her eyes as it towered over her, the same triumphant look from earlier shining in it's cold, black eyes.

It pulled it's lips back over it's teeth in what could have been called a smile and began to lower it's head to her neck.

"No, Fenrir!"

The beast's head whipped round to find the source of the command.

Nathaniel stood in the doorway, supporting himself against the frame of it.

Dried blood was spread in various places on his coat.

He shook his head wearily at the great beast.

"No, not again."

The beast stiffened.

It looked back down at Hermione, something passing over it's features, before it snarled and bolted from the room, barely giving time for Nathaniel to step aside.

Nathaniel let out a breath as he leant against the door frame, lowering his head.

Hermione swallowed, wincing as she did so.

One side of her felt wet.

She looked down and saw a little pool of blood forming beneath her.

Nathaniel suddenly remembered the situation at hand as he heard her strained sound of alarm.

"Oh, Hermione…"

Crossing the room quickly, he knelt beside her and gently lifted her upright, resting her head against his shoulder as she gripped at the coat around him.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry… So sorry…" He murmured softly to her as he carefully put pressure on the wound on her side.

She tried to speak but no words came out. Instead, she let out a sob and tried to focus her vision which was becoming increasingly blurred.

"It'll be all right, I promise you…" She heard Nathaniel say as he lifted her gently.

After that all she could hear was a howling from somewhere in the distance.

"This torture should be roared in dismal hell"

It snarled and snapped it's teeth, ripping strips and chunks of bark off the closest trees.

The smell of wet earth and pine filled it's senses, but not enough to rid it of her smell.

It shook it's head furiously before tilting it's head up and releasing a howl of frustration.

The other one would be touching her now, it knew.

The beast huffed and began to pace in the moonlight.

It had been so close, so close it saw the pulse throbbing in her neck, felt her heart beat.

It ceased it's pacing as it remembered the look in her eyes. Pure terror.

Sitting down heavily, the beast rested it's head on it's paws, huffing again at the memory.

Two memories.

Terror was something it loved to cause, to see right before the bite, but not this time.

This time it felt… something else.

The beast shook it's head and snarled slightly at the thought, pushing itself back up and beginning to softly pad towards the other side of the wood.

It smelt deer.

It wasn't enough but it would do to sate it's appetite, for now.

Only a few hours later, the morning sun began to rise and strips of light came through between the trees.

The beast snarled and ducked it's head as the light shone in it's eyes.

Howling and whining, it's back arched as it's bones began to crack and realign themselves.

Hair began to recede in and teeth and nails shrunk.

It was over soon.

And Fenrir the man was left, left to clean up after the monster.

A/N: Thank you so much to forgottenchangeling, Hanable-13, Lover of Fantasy, Axita, Severussnape1984, 0oBellina0o, Ling Ling 2468, Sweet163, cleocleo22 and HudHud9 for reviewing!

I hope everyone's well and has a good week.