Tales had begun to travel around the Wizarding community after so much magical blood shed at Hogwarts. The witches and wizards helping to repair the school had noticed how the ground's energy felt darker like the dark magic used there had seeped into the cobbles and corrupted its roots. They were saying it was cursed.

The Daily Prophet had of course run with it; taking stories from those witches and wizards and manipulating them into tales of horror at Hogwarts. The entire thing had made Narcissa cringe. She'd spent hours and hours chasing a toddler through those halls in the last several months and not once had it felt more haunted than the regular Hogwarts. There were already dozens of ghosts roaming the halls, a couple more hardly made it "Hogwarts: School of Horrors." Narcissa had even talked to several of the new ghosts and other than being completely dull, they were all harmless.

So of course, when Narcissa stepped into the library and was greeted by a shrill scream, she could only roll her eyes and wonder what kind of stories this would lead to the Prophet publishing. The eyes and ears have walls and the library was no exception to that rule.

The scream echoed off the stacks and was followed closely after by whimpering. Narcissa couldn't recall a ghost who roamed the libraries. She'd spent many of her evenings here after her days with Teddy and not once had she seen anyone new. As far as she knew, all the other ghosts stuck to a few ghoulish moans and then went on their merry way. Except Myrtle but there was no way Myrtle had moved to the library from the washrooms where she could harass any and everyone.

Intrigued, Narcissa followed the whimpering. It led her through near a dozen stacks and almost back into the restricted section before she stumbled into a grouping of chairs and tables.

There in one of the broken down, leather chairs, lay Hermione Granger. At first glance nothing was wrong with her. It looked as though she were just taking a nap. Her legs were slung over the left hand side of the arm chair while her head was using the right side as a rest, in a very typical fashion. But upon further inspection, Narcissa noticed how ashen the young woman looked and how her hair was matted to her forehead in sweat. Her whole body was shaking and the fingers of her left hand twitched violently. Her eyes were moving rapidly beneath her eyelids. It was a nightmare.

The twitching in her fingers is what caught Narcissa's eye. The sleeve of Hermione's blouse had risen up to her elbow and now she could see the angry scar that lay beneath. Narcissa couldn't look away. She remembered when Hermione had gotten the scar. She'd been there. She'd watched as her sister in her delirium had carved those words into the muggle-born's skin with a cursed dagger. And she'd done nothing about it. The word made Narcissa's stomach churn. Hermione had been a child and she was now cursed to carry that burden for the rest of her life. Narcissa may not have been holding the knife but she knew she was just as responsible for the nightmare.

Instinct and habit took over as she watched Hermione shake from fear. She moved to the young woman's side before lifting her robes and kneeling down at the foot of the chair. She brushed the sweaty hair from Hermione's forehead and cooed softly to her trying to wake her from the spell.

Hermione's eyes fluttered under the ministrations before she jolted up right nearly colliding with Narcissa. Hermione tried to scramble back in the chair as quickly as she could, still caught int the torment of her dream. She nearly let out a scream when she realized it was Narcissa standing in front of her.

Narcissa remained seated on the floor in front of her knowing that Hermione was remembering the past. She was remembering who had been there and there was nothing Narcissa could do to calm her. She could only wait for Hermione's conscious mind to return to her.

It only took seconds before realization entered Hermione's eyes and she put a hand over her chest to steady her racing heart. "Narcissa," she gasped softly. "You nearly gave me a heart attack."

Narcissa gave her a sad smile seeing the nightmare's fear playing behind the brunette's eyes. "I'm sorry Miss Granger. I heard you scream and thought that maybe a new ghost had taken residence in the library but I was surprised to find you."

"Oh." Hermione's eyes went wide. "I'm sorry to have disturbed you. I was doing some reading and I must have fallen asleep."

Narcissa glanced at the table by her chair and noticed the book. Its spine read The History of Arithmancy and Narcissa had to withhold a chuckle. The Brightest Witch of Her Age was truly living up to her name.

"Well considering the subject, I'm not surprised you fell asleep."

Hermione gave a sheepish smile. "Not my most exciting pick I must admit. Though, it did the trick. I was hoping something dull would be enough to put me to sleep."

"Yes," Narcissa said thoughtfully. "Andy said you've been having some trouble sleeping."

Hermione just nodded. She looked like she wanted to say something but she remained quiet, surely remembering who she was speaking to. She began to gather her things during the silence but Narcissa stopped her when she noticed the tears begin to swell in her eyes.

"Hermione," Narcissa said catching the surprise in her eyes when she realized that this was the first time Narcissa had ever used her first name before she could stop herself. She felt for the muggle born. She'd been through more than anyone her age should ever have to. And if Andy's hints were anything to go by, she was going through much of it alone.

Hermione quickly wiped at her eyes before looking up at Narcissa.

"Are you okay?" Narcissa asked reaching a steadying hand out to grip her shoulder.

"Physically or mentally?" Hermione asked trying to make light of the situation but failing. Narcissa could see her trying to hold the flood gates down. She was wearing a sad smile on her face which she struggled to maintain as the tears pushed harder and harder against her barely maintained restraint.

"Both," Narcissa whispered.

The crushing realization of how truly not okay she was was enough to send the girl overboard. With a single motion, Narcissa pulled the younger woman into her chest in a firm hug and let her sob.

"Let it out love," Narcissa whispered and gently ran her hand through Hermione's hair. She didn't have the heart to tell her it would be okay. She was barely an adult and she'd already felt the weight of the world on her shoulders and lost more friends and family than anyone ever should. It angered Narcissa to think about how easily Potter and the Weasley's had given up on her. The girl returned alone after a month of looking for her parents and received no support or love.

Perhaps she was being a bit harsh but seeing how vulnerable the Gryffindor was and knowing that she played some part in that breaking made her feel all the more angry with herself and the world. Narcissa knew that Hermione had chosen to live here instead of the Weasley's but she also had heard how the youngest Weasley boy had reacted to their quick break and knew that she never would have felt welcome there regardless. Hermione probably felt like there wasn't a soul in the world who cared about her anymore.

After fifteen minutes, Hermione seemed to have calmed herself enough that Narcissa could pull away, sure that the younger woman was uncomfortable with how tightly Narcissa held her. But when Narcissa let go, Hermione seemed reluctant to do the same.

"Hermione," Narcissa said now conscious that this was the second time she'd called the younger woman by her first name. "Do you have anyone you can talk to?"

Hermione sniffled as she took a step back from Narcissa. "No"

Narcissa nodded. It seemed that Andy had been right.

Narcissa gestured to the chair Hermione had previously occupied hoping the brunette would understand and sit.

She did and Narcissa nodded and smiled at her before moving to one of the other severely overstuffed chairs.

"Now Hermione," Narcissa said. "I know we've never been close nor do I ever expect us to become close but I've been noticing some habits of yours that are becoming rather worrisome."

Hermione only sniffled so Narcissa continued. "Andy told me about what happened between you two."

Narcissa waited a moment to see how Hermione reacted to this. There was some hesitation in her eyes and some very obvious fear but she remained silent.

"Would you answer one question for me?"

Hermione hesitated then nodded.

"Are your parents dead?"

Narcissa swore she could have heard a wand drop in the dungeons with how quiet Hermione sat. Her eyes said it all but Narcissa needed her to say it. She needed to be sure.

"Yes." It was no more than a whisper in the wind but Narcissa heard it.

"Then I have a follow up question," Narcissa stated. Hermione just nodded and wiped at her eyes again.

"Would you come live with me?"