Hermione breathed in deeply and tried to find her centre. Having just been tortured for a second time in almost as many weeks she was feeling incredibly weak. At her feet lay one Ronald Weasley, previously considered a friend until he decided to place her under the cruciatus curse because she refused to be his girlfriend. Despite having kissed him in the thrill of the moment when Ron remembered about the house elves Hermione felt nothing. If she were being perfectly honest with herself; any affection she may have felt for him vanished when he left her and Harry in the tent to find the horcruxes on their own.
Feeling slightly traumatised and almost certain that Harry would believe whatever sob story Ron told him above any recollection of the actual events that she would give; Hermione decided that a much needed family visit was exactly what she needed. She would go and visit her godfather in America who had been her legal guardian since the end of 4th year when her parents died in a terrorist attack on their way to a dental conference in America. She had already been with Uncle Gid as she was wont to refer to him since her time as a precocious two year old that couldn't quite pronounce his name.
Uncle Gid worked for the FBI as a profiler and as such Hermione knew that on short notice she was unlikely to find him at either his home or his cabin, and was much more likely to find him behind his desk in the Quantico FBI base or out on a case. She just needed some comfort and to get away from England; and so, without much thought to her appearance or the reactions of those she was leaving behind Hermione apparated to the entrance of her godfather's work place.
Swaying slightly with fatigue on her way to the elevator, Hermione failed to spot a young gentleman carrying a leather messenger bag and a cup of coffee; and bumped straight into him. Already unsteady on her feet the young witch found herself sprawled on the floor at the gentleman's feet covered in the coffee that had spilt as a result of the collision.
"Reid, what have we said about watching where you are going, you need to be more observant in situations not already laid out on a crime scene board. I'm sorry miss are you – Hermione! What the hell happened to you? Why are you here when you have a key to my place?"
Hermione looked up wearily and managed a weak "Uncle Gid!" before collapsing from both exhaustion and the internal injuries that the cruciatus curse had caused.
When Hermione regained consciousness she was in a hospital bed hooked up to multiple monitoring devices with her godfather, Jason Gideon, on her right hand side and the young gentleman she had bumped into on her left hand side. He looked to be a tall, skinny gentleman a few years her senior with shaggy brown hair and intelligent brown eyes. He seemed to be watching her so Hermione decided against pretending to be asleep until he left and just turned to face her godfather.
"Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?" asked Gideon worry etched clearly across his features. "You had us worried there for a day or two."
"How long have I been out, Uncle Gid?" Hermione questioned tiredly not quite up to asking why the unknown man also sat vigil at her bedside.
"Three days, nine hours and thirty seven minutes" the unknown gentleman answered before Gideon had the opportunity. "You should have been out longer considering the extent of your injuries and you certainly shouldn't be conscious considering you flat lined twice, each time when I tried to leave the room. But nonetheless you seem to be making a remarkable recovery since Gideon had me stay in the room with you."
Hermione merely raised a questioning eyebrow at her godfather who shrugged before answering her silent enquiry. "Hermione, this is SSA Dr Spencer Reid; the gentleman you bumped into and the newest member of the BAU. Reid, this is my goddaughter, Hermione Granger."
Despite her weariness, Hermione's intelligent mind couldn't help but recall what the young profiler had said about her flat lining whenever he left the room; so Hermione felt compelled to question the occurrence. "What do you mean I flat lined whenever you tried to leave the room? Does that mean you haven't left the room for the better part of four days?"
All of this was said quickly with palpable concern at the probability that his own well being had been neglected. "Don't worry I managed to satisfy my needs without causing you to flat line again. Everything I need is in this room now."
"That's all very well and good Dr Reid, but surely you wanted to leave the room. Aside from that, it isn't fair emotionally for you to feel responsible for my well being. When I am allowed to leave the hospital I will look into it; that way you can get your life back without me impeding it."
As Hermione was ranting, Gideon watched her irises flash gold before he felt a rising wind. Despite knowing that his pseudo-niece had magic, it was still awe-inspiring to watch it in action; what worried him however was that the wind was clearly also affecting his newest profiler. He went to warn his goddaughter but was undermined when the young genius interrupted him, his own eyes flashing gold.
"Mia, my emotional well being depends on you being okay because, since you bumped into me I have felt this strange connection to you and when I dream at night I see glimpses of the horrors of your past; so when I wake up I am glad to be in the same room as you so that I can make sure that you are alive and relatively unharmed."
"What did you just call me?" Hermione questioned in a whisper.
"Mia, because when I dream of you that is the name you like rather than Mione and because it means mine in Spanish so it just feels right based on this new connection. I know that you're scared of what this means because I am too, but my mother always said that if something feels right in your heart you need to go for it; so will you go for this with me Mia?" His words becoming quieter throughout his speech.
"As crazy as this seems, yes, because everything within me is telling me to trust you and because Uncle Gid already does but we will need some major adjusting."
And just like that, Jason Gideon witnessed the birth of an extremely rare connection; the acknowledgement of two souls that are made for each other and knew that life could never be classed as boring from now on.
This may become multi-chaptered but may not. It will depend on whether I get inspiration to carry on with it. I have always loved the idea of Hermione and Reid being soul mates. It just makes so much sense to me.No apologies for the Ron-bashing, it was purposely done so that Hermione felt she had reason to disappear without telling anyone.