Veela and her wolf

10

Daughter of the dark and moon

hidden in mud

Will meet her match with a bird of prey

Their union will be realized in a fury of

Fur joining feathers.

Destined to turn the tide

of the greatest war

Their love will save us all

Hermione

MATE ! MUST CLAIM MATE, MUST MARK MATE!

Hermione's inner wolf was chanting over and over in her head, she couldn't agree more. Seeing her mate for the first time she fell in love. Any hesitation in understanding how her mother could love the Dark Lord went away the second she looked in her imprint's eyes.

She was quickly carrying her precious cargo at a jog to a close by cave she knew to be uninhabited, and far away from anyone. She had discovered it the prior year with Harry when they were running from an out of control werewolf Professor Lupin.

On the way back to the castle's infirmary after that run-in she was stopped by Luna questioning why she had three, what almost looked like pimples in a triangular shape above one her lips to the upper side. Luna mused the Nargels must have tried to give her whiskers, but Luna being Luna was simply smiled at by the polite Hermione and went upon her way disbelieving the underlying truth in the statement. Thinking back on it now, she realized that maybe Luna often knew more than people believed. Her knowledge of unknown magical creatures was something she would want to further discuss with the Ravenclaw.

But first she had other more important things to consider...like the beautiful mate in her arms.

She had been somewhat surprised when she first exploded into a wolf, but then again after Narcissa's letter she did think it was a possibility. What surprised her the most was when she phased back, well besides being totally naked...she had grown significantly to a impressive 5'11 and had grown muscular. It wasn't an overwhelming amount of muscle, more like going from a gangly soft teenager to a adult female cross fitter. She was still undeniably female, just stronger and tougher. All of her senses had grown, she could smell the Centaurs over 500 meters away, could hear the centipedes in the trees as she passed by and she could see clearly nearly twice the distance she could previously day or night. Her intellect and memory were the only things not altered. She was still herself at her core being, just now she was, she didn't know..more? She knew from Haggrid's lectures that the instinctual voice in her head was her inner wolf guiding her. She knew she wanted to be in harmony with this side of herself, so she instantly accepted it and felt truly at peace for the first time in her life. Everything began to make sense, her past, her parents, her school, the temper, the baguettes...even the scents leading up to now.

She had wondered if the previous outburst from her mate would be the last. Much about Veela was kept secret, but they were known to be very possessive creatures of their mates. Wolves were as well, so she knew that she would need to quash any advances by the female population she had indulged in the past and quick. A jealous Veela was sure to be fiery, and she did not want to cause her mate any added unneeded stress. She only had eyes for Fleur.

That one word, Fleur brought a huge smile to the shifter's face as she was running. Fleur Delacour was her mate, this beautiful, intelligent, sexy witch was hers for...how long do Veela's live...for that matter how long do shifters live...? A trip to the library was definitely in order, along with reaching out to her mothers tribe in America.

Her human side wanted to be able to get to know this woman before anything happened physically, wanted to wine and dine her, because she was special to her and deserved everything in the world she could provide. This witch would be her forever, but Hermione knew she had to listen to her wolf. Her imprint was a Tri-Wizard champion and would constantly be in danger in her tasks. She was also a Veela, very sexual creatures and had everyone desiring them constantly. She barely suppressed a growl at the thought of anyone trying to touch her witch. Both of them had not been virgins, of this she was sure, but at one glance everything changed. She didn't care about the past, every other encounter now seemed meaningless, and all that mattered was the future with her imprint. Her wolf demanded that she mark her mate, to lay claim to her as her imprint would undoubtedly lay claim to her. This would soothe her inner beast while her love would be competing and while on Hogwarts grounds around the teenage male population. Her wolf hoped that her mark would be something her mate would proudly wear.

Realizing she had a familial bond, like a surrogate mother with Professor McGonigal was not all together too surprising. The moment she met the professor she felt at ease in her presence. Throughout the years she knew she could come to the professor for a myriad of issues. She was patient with the young Gryffindor and always was quick to reference a text in either the library at Hogwarts or her personal library to which she would let borrow. The only familial love she had ever truly felt was from both her and Molly Weasley.

The professor's camaraderie with her familiar was another thing all together. Crookshanks took to McGonigal almost instantly. Many times Minerva had either half-shifted or fully shifted to her animingus to either explain things to Crooks or to just converse with the usually cantankerous cat. The day Minerva had the elves build the tiny flu network for Crooks was hilarious and absolutely adorable.

After seeing Harry react on the hill she knew that Harry would understand that their chat would be put on hold. Her brother, she hoped would still stay true to who he was. He was a good friend and faithful, a bit emotionally stunted in the way most teenage boys were, but he was a steadfast companion.

She guessed that her being gay was let out of the bag at what happened. How the males didn't ever figure that one out was beyond her, no matter how discrete she had been.. Ron was the worst and always thought he would end up with her. He told her as much often, to which she would normally roll her eyes and walk away muttering 'bloody git' to herself.

She would not hide her mate of that she was sure, she wanted everyone to see who she was mated to. Proud of who her beautiful witch was as a person she could think of no other whom to spend her life with. She could see forever in the French witch, even though it was way too early she knew she was irrevocably in love.

Coming to the opening of the cave she reached for her wand still thankfully strapped to her leg in her holster. She lit up the cave and slowed down to a walk to the back of the cave. Lighting a camp fire she gently placed Fleur down on a soft bed she had wordlessly transfigured from a large boulder.

Standing after placing the witch down on the bed, she undid the strap holding the borrowed cape in place. The Veela's eyes went from the human blue eyes to completely black almost avian shaped eyes. Hermione could sense the Veela was taking over the witch and heard a low purr of approval. Scenting the air she could smell the Veela's arousal and she let out a low growl in approval accompanied by a genuine smile at her imprint.

'Why Miss Delacour you seem to be wearing too many clothes'