Linspace

Chapter 9

Paul had never felt more at peace.

The sky was a bit cloudy but the moon was still visible enough to offer some light and there was a cool breeze coming from the sea giving a slight chill to the air.

He and Hermione were sitting on the sand in a comfortable silence at the base of the cliffs, far enough from the bonfire that the only sound you could hear was the crashing of the waves on the rocks.

Hermione was hugging her knees to her chest and had her head slightly tilted towards the sky, her eyes closed. Paul could see there was something bothering her but he understood she was in need of some peace and quiet right now so he was content in just sitting there beside her. He kept stealing glances at her taking note of the little things, like her long eyelashes or the golden hue in her hair or the scattering of freckles on her nose barely visible in the moonlight. But his favourite was the habit she seemed to have of biting her lip when in thought.

He startled slightly when she opened her eyes.

"Have you ever felt like you were losing control over yourself?" she asked breaking the silence.

Paul wanted to snort. He had felt like that all right.

"Every day." He just said in response.

Hermione turned to look at him and his heart broke at seeing her eyes glistening with tears. He wanted to pull her into his arms to comfort her but refrained. She gave him a small smile.

"Right, I imagine it's not easy being a shape-shifter."

He choked on his breath and his heart stopped, staring at her with eyes wide as saucers. She knew?

Hermione chuckled at his expression.

"Oh yes, I know. I had my suspicions before but after hearing your tribe's story it wasn't hard to draw conclusions." She said amused before adding "And you were the wolf I saw this morning, weren't you?"

Smart, his little imprint.

He just nodded, still shocked and unable to form coherent words. He felt uneasiness creeping up on him then. What would she think of him now?

Hermione seemed to sense his mood and she touched him gently on his arm and he felt a wave of calm wash over him.

"I don't think any less of you because of that, I know it wasn't your choice. And as I said before, I've seen far stranger things." She laughed a little shaking her head. "It's kind of cool actually, and if it makes you feel any better I think your wolf is quite handsome."

He perked up at those words.

"You think I'm handsome?" he said with a slight smirk.

She hit him on his shoulder rolling her eyes.

"Oh hush, I said you wolf is." She replied, her cheeks darkening and turning to look at anything but him. She was adorable.

Paul couldn't help the wide smile that broke on his face. Could she be more perfect than this? Hearing that she accepted his wolf nature was amazing. He couldn't stop himself this time and reached out to tuck one of her curls behind her ear. He noticed something curious then, she had a tattoo just under the shell of her left ear, some kind of symbol he guessed.

"What is the meaning of your tattoo?" he asked brushing it with the tip of his finger and was delighted when he saw goosebumps erupting on her skin.

"What tattoo?" she replied confused.

"This one under your ear. Why, are there more?" Paul said waggling his eyebrows.

Hermione didn't react though. She actually looked a bit worried now.