Chapter 101. Longest Night Part 6.

Hermione’s hands and excuses spilled out from her before she could contain herself. “We need to stay together. It’s much safer.” Lucas scowled at her, disbelief filling his glowing jade eyes. “You know what is awakening in me, and you feel safest by my side? I can’t fully control it.” With his last warning, Hermione perked up, she was counting on his lack of control. She had to know where she stood in Lucas’ mind. In an astonishingly little amount of time, with only opportunities given to her, she already found herself actively reaching after Lucas.

She was changing, her curiosity and intrigue leading her down a path of excitement she had no return from. What would he do to her with his inhibitions weakened? Would he quiet her down like he had before? She actively gripped his robes, so she wouldn’t trace her hands along her slightly bruised neck. She liked when he placed pressure on her neck, the tingling feeling of fear mixed with elation at the action tracing all down her spine, making her head feel fuzzy when he did. In the few times he had done it, she had already developed a slight craving.

***

“I trust you.” She whispered, raising her head closer to mine, revealing a blushing red face as she held back the embracement of placing her trust in me. I sighed, her smell making my mind float as I spoke. “Fine.” I muttered in a slight daze, the back of my mind stirring while I licked my dry lips.

“Hello!?” My previous past self cried out, worried over Hermione’s scream. We both watched him before both my previous self and I, instantly jerked to attention. The full moon now raised over the horizon, breaking the chains that held back the beast. I crouched down, the slight pain of my beast waking up and joining my consciousness mingled with the exhilarating rush of power that came with it all. I did my best to hold back both the beast and I to stop from howling along with my past self, instead focusing on Hermione, gently resting her hand overtop my head to keep me calm. “Lucas? Are you okay?”

The scent she constantly emitted now left me salivating. Holding back the now unchained beast in my mind from howling left us both frustrated, needing to release the pent up energy and euphoric power. With my past self only a few feet away, I pushed Hermione down, panting over her body as her smell invaded my mind itself. She let out a hushed whimper, her voice leaking out, forcing me to quiet it down. With just my one hand, I was easily able to wrap it around her entire neck, perfectly pressing down on her vocal chords to stop from making noise, my long nails careful to not break skin.

Her large eyes laid upturned to stare deeply at me, fear missing from her gaze. Her silent expression of submission only fed into my ravenous appetite, hungering for more. My head descended down, like a magnetic pull, drawing me closer to her against my wishes. I tilted my head, the overwhelming need to mark what was mine, to make known to any other creature in this forest to stay away from what was already owned.

Just as I began licking Hermione’s cheek, moving all across her face, the very same scream from earlier snapped me from my trance, and as my past self ran off to help, I jumped back from Hermione laying underneath me. ‘I knew this was a bad idea!’ I whimpered, clawing at the tree just beside us to keep myself in check, Hermione still prone on her back watching silently, wiping the slobber from her face.

After I was done, the tree’s bark shredded permanently, I panted. My gaze lowered to see Hermione now standing up, brushing the fallen bark from her hair. “Reparo.” She whispered, fixing my torn clothing just underneath my feet, picking it up for me, avoiding facing me as she left the cloak. I paused, watching her do the same with my other clothes, picking up my wand without a care, her mind far enough away to miss the splendor of Olliviander’s craftsmanship.

I awoke from my own stupor, hurriedly catching up and encompassing her back in the protection of her cloak. “Don’t touch me!” She slapped my hand away, still not so much as sparing me a glance even as she snapped at me. I held back a whimper as we walked, guilt raging in my gut. ‘I warned her! I tried to keep her away while I was like this!’ I thought, my guilt transforming into vindictive anger, she was mad at me for her misplaced trust.

***

Hermione held Lucas’ clothes tightly against her chest, trying to keep her pounding heart in check. So much elation overflowing from within her at his unhindered actions. She shouldn’t have been so glad for it, but she couldn’t stop her trembling lips raising into a smirk. So much as a touch from him, sent her smirk into a full blown smile she had no way of removing. ‘Why am I smiling? Lucas is just a coward. He is a liar. He never trusts anyone but himself.’ She focused her mind on his worst qualities, but just the thought of Pansy or Chiara by his side made butterflies float in her stomach. She couldn’t like him, he was terrible, but she didn’t want anyone else to like him either.

***

Making it out of the forest, we could see over the horizon, Chiara and my past self wrestling with Lupin, slowly bringing him closer to the tree line. “Follow me.” Hermione ordered, pulling the hood with her as she walked, forcing me to keep pace. We continued to venture just outside the forest, Hermione keeping a close watch on her past self running over the horizon.

“Nyx!!” I heard past Hermione yell just as we reached just far enough to spy past Hermione looking everywhere for some sort of salvation. “Call her.” Hermione spoke, finally turning back to match my gaze. “I figured she wouldn’t come on my request, but she’ll follow yours." I initially shook my head, the only way to call her in my current form would be unmistakable. However, Hermione grasped at my head, her fingers sinking into the fur just behind my ears, her eyes pleading to me. "Please...” She muttered, and with one last glance at past Hermione, her look of identical pleading somehow met my eyes, as if she was still asking me even in the past. I grasped Hermione’s shoulders with my arm, pulling her closer to me as I looked up. “Come to me!”

***

Hermione froze while in Lucas’ embrace again, only needing one arm in his larger form to easily hold her entire body tight to him. She looked up to see his mouth moving, only the wind emitted from lips, dark whisperings in a maddening tongue sent shivers down her spine. ‘Lucas had tamed one with dark arts.’ It was such an obvious thought, but one she never considered. Her subconscious thinking he was so above others in Slytherin that he would be the last among them to attempt anything with the dark arts. Given, all dark arts weren’t ‘evil’ per say, but they all came at costs, either at the caster or another being. She had blocked out the sight of his screaming in agony at feeding Nyx, burying the idea of him using Dark Arts in her mind.

Before she could process this, Nyx suddenly descended right above her, the chill of death frosting over everything in her presence, slicing through the cloak like it wasn’t even there. The only protection given to Hermione was Lucas’ warm fur, making sure she was protected from the cold. Lucas muttered more incomprehensible, sickening words, the crooked feeling in her growing with each strange syllable hushed by the wind.

Just as Nyx left, Hermione gasped, the chill having gone from the air left only that still permeated in her heart from their speech to remain. “You… What did you do, Lucas?” She asked, anger and begrudging worry taking place over the unease she had listening to him. Lucas glanced down at her, his gaze knowing she understood the kind of magic he had used. He let out a sigh, pointing at his mouth with a shrug. “Don’t hide behind the fact you can’t speak English!” She yelled, throwing his clothes down on the ground. She then smirked, a secret she had herself that Lucas didn’t know.

She watched as she shrunk, growing fur all around her body, Lucas’ eyes widened in complete shock, mirroring her widening grin as she changed into an otter. “You can’t hide behind that shield with me.” She muttered, pushing, nay, demanding an explanation from him now.