Children of The Moon.

Chapter Five: Rising from the ashes.

When Hermione had demanded she see William Black she hadn't expected to be shown to the rundown shack - for lack of a better word. It was even so small in height that Jacob could only just fit inside it without having to bend over. It was small too, so small she knew Jacob and his father together in one room was probably a very tight fit. The sight of this made her anger deflate a bit, her sympathy for the housing situation getting to her warm, soft heart. Her fingers flexed as the temptation to use magic to alter this house into a more suitable living space rose within her. It was only the few Muggles on the reservation that stayed her hand. She didn't know how she'd explain the sudden two or three storey home that had developed overnight in place of the Black's rundown shack.

"Are you coming?"

Jacob asked, stood in the doorway with his head turned to look over his bare shoulder as he rose one smokey eyebrow. Hermione nodded quietly before jogging to catch up with him on the front doorstep.

She followed him inside and noticed they immediately came to the living room which was open planned with one door to her immediate left which she had a feeling led to the master bedroom. Another door was further along, next to it, that probably led to a bathroom and then a last two doors which probably led to two smaller (very small from the looks of it) bedrooms as well as a screen door in place of a back door. Just beyond the living room, next to the corridor housing all the doors, there was a kitchen with only an archway in place of a door. She didn't know how they had all lived in this house for so long, especially since there was no alterations done to accomodate a man in a wheelchair - aka William Black.

Said man was sat in an armchair, his wheelchair beside him, as he watched what must have been an american football game on the television. It seemed as if Jacob's very prescence was noticable even to Muggles as William's head immediately rose to look their way. Upon seeing Hermione with her son and the posessive stance Jacob had adopted instinctively with Hermione, William's eyes lit up and a big grin made its way upon his face.

"She's yours, isn't she?"

He asked, his excited gaze going to his six foot nine, broad shoulder, and extremely muscular son.

"Yeah dad, she is."

Jacob admitted, his grin mirroring his father's for a moment. Hermione frowned before stalking past Jacob to come face to face with William.

"How dare you?! You meddled in my life. You may have no way of knowing definitely but you suspected this would happen with one of your wolves! What if I had my own life to lead back in England? What if I want to go back and live there?! Would you allow your precious Alpha to come with me or would you keep me prisoner here just to spare the agony Jacob would feel from a long distance seperating us?! You didn't even ithink/i about the consequences and I refuse - brefuse!/b - to have myself and my life meddled with again! I'm a witch, don't think I won't curse you both as a witch and a werewolf because if you wrong me again, I will!"

She snapped, knowing Jacob felt torn between defending his father and comforting his new Imprint.

"You're just lucky I suspected there was something supernatural, something wolfy, here on the reservation and I came here specifically for this reason because my inner wolf wants a Pack. She's lonely and can't stand being a lone wolf anymore which meant being back home in the United Kingdom was out of the question long term as there are no Werewolf Packs out there. I'll stay but don't think I trust iany/i of you, because I don't!"

With that said Hermione finally looked to Jacob and sighing deeply at the extremely torn look on his face. Hermione was a good person, slightly bossy and scary (as Ron had said on more then one occassion), and she hated seeing anyone hurt. Especially if it was because of something she had done. Sighing again she shook her head in resignation before speaking up once more.

"Now, I can use magic to help expand your home. I can make it more suitable to your living arrangements... As you are the Alpha and your father is Chief of the tribe I can even create another building, an extension of sorts, with enough bedrooms for every Wolf in the Pack, some for family members if you wish, along with large rooms for socialising - including kitchen - so everyone can be together."

She offered. She noticed how their expressions seemed to suggest to turn it down due to pride (she suspected they didn't want charity) but then their logical sides kicked in and they began to think about what was best for the Pack as well as how it would make everyones lives easier.

"You know, if you wanted to be able to truly be yourselves without having to hide it from anyone we could always find some kind of clearing in the forest and I could build the suggested Packhouse there were all the wolves and their families along with imprints - basically everyone in the know - could live. I even have a few charms I could put up which would discourage all those who don't know the truth - plain Muggles, I mean humans actually - from coming near the compound. We could then have two extra buildings. One for our own private school just for wolves and those in the know of the secret. That way they wouldn't have to miss so much school and could do so much better in their exams. We'd just have to label it as home schooling and let the proper authorities know so they can arrange the exams when they are due. The other could be a private medical facility, and we could have one of your family members or even Imprints train to become a doctor, or doctors, along with nurses so you can be treated without having to worry about your secret coming out."

She further explained during the thoughtful silence. This idea seemed to go down even better and although she knew all this would probably take her a week - mostly for her magic to recharge - due to how much it would drain her magical core she knew it would be worth it.

"Its an interesting idea," William began cautiously, "but we would have to call a meeting with the Pack, their families in the know, their Imprints, and the Elders to see what they think first and perhaps put it down to a vote."

Hermione nodded, expecting as such, before glancing at Jacob. She was surprised by the look of gratefulness, pride, and affection on his face. She knew she would done the same thing for any of those people in genuine need of help, she had fought a war after all, and so had never thought of doing anything like this as some grand gesture. She was just helping as much as she could, knowing how it felt to be isolated and inferior to others because of something you couldn't control.

She watched as William picked up the landline phone, a very old model she hadn't seen in ages, and began dialing all those of relevance to the Tribal Meeting. When he was eventually finished, Jacob having encouraged Hermione to take a seat on the sofa as he channel surfed to find an appropriate show for his Imprint to watch, he looked over at the young couple before speaking up.

"We'll meet at the Tribal Hall tonight at six pm. Everyone will be there. Some are even bringing family members who don't know the secret - we had kept it need to know - so they can be made aware of the truth. It seems like it'll be a very eventful evening."

For the first time William seemed to look his age as he thought over Hermione's suggestion, everyone elses possible opinions of it, and of course the inevitable consequences for the tribe of La Push - even those who didn't know their secret and never would. After all it would be a very big chance and would affect a lot more then just those in the know or would be in the know. It would have repercussions and it would now be his job to think those through and limit the amount of negative ones as much as possible.

"Okay. Well I need to go home. I'll see you then."

Hermione told them, standing up much to Jacob's fustration, and heading straight for the front door. She had a lot of things to do before the meeting such as writing down the list of spells she would need to do the entire compound as well as make sure her owl and Crookshanks were alright. She'd also love a much needed shower, grab her wand, and get something substancial to eat whilst thinking the entire Imprint bond over. She was also going to have to somehow explain the whole situation to Ron, Harry, Ginny and Luna so they wouldn't worry when she didn't immediately return. Her life had just become a whole lot more complicated and she really needed to sort it through so she could finally let herself comprehend it all.

She doubted she'd reject the Imprint bond. She wasn't going to mess with magic bonds that she knew nothing about. She'd try to research but due to the fact nothing was written down she doubted there was much to know about the Imprint bond. At the end of the day Hermione knew she'd have to decide what she was going to do about the bond - would she let him try to date her? Would she try and see if they could be friends? After all soul mates didn't necessarily mean being romantically together. What were all the other Imprints and their Wolves like? She'd really have to talk to them and see what the current pairings were like so she'd have some basis to start her decision on. She wasn't about to decide without the proper research. That would be far too impulsive and thoughtless - something very Ron. No, she was going to go into it with her brain turned on and as much in the know about the whole thing as possible.

She just hoped she could ignore how very attractive she found Jacob Black as well as how it felt to be pressed up against his chisled body.

"Wait! Let me come with you."

Jacob called after her as he leapt off the sofa and jogged after her to the front door. Hermione paused outside the front door before turning to face him, trying to figure out how to let him down gently or at least find something to distract him with.

"Jacob you need to go back to your Pack and explain why we both disappeared, along with why you have let me go. Besides, I need some time to myself. Transforming to a Werewolf and back to human takes a lot out of me, so I need to go home and recuperate. I've been on the go far too long since the change to be able to be any kind of decent company. No - I don't need you to take care of me. I'll be fine. I just need to rest, some chocolate, and some alone time. Please just let me have that."

She replied softly, trying to make it clear she wasn't rejecting him but that she also needed peace and quiet, alone, as well. He seemed to take it better then she thought and with a stiff nod, as well as sad eyes, he turned away from her and headed for the back door. Hermione did her best to ignore William's stare as she left the house and began her long walk home. So much had happened in such a short space of time. So much infact that she hadn't heard a peep from her inner Wolf which hinted at the fact her inner Wolf must be just as overwhelmed and exhausted as she was.

Author's Note: Wow, I can't believe it has been so long since I updated! I really do apologise and hope this chapter has made up for the exceedingly (and ridicuously) long wait. Please leave reviews, they really do inspire me to write more!