Chapter 25

A/N: Thank you so much to AlaskanAppaloosa, my amazing beta who makes all this possible!

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Hermione felt all the blood drain from her face at the question. She hadn't been sure how to approach Neville about this situation. Frankly? Yes, he was her family, and she loved him. But he wasn't... someone she could depend on. That family bond took time to develop, and they just hadn't had that time yet. The Weasleys had been her extended family for years, with most of her spare summer time spent at the Burrow with the family. She trusted them.

Neville... Neville was great. But she didn't trust him in the same way. Not by any fault of his own, but simply because they hadn't been close that long.

But she supposed it was time to face the music.

With a deep sigh Hermione turned to face Neville, her eyes apologetic. "Well... You see..." Hermione hesitated for a moment before just blurting it out. "The Weasleys offered to be my surrogate family in the dracken world." At the hurt look in Neville's eyes, Hermione's own eyes drifted own to stare at her clenched hands. Behind her, Charlie stepped close and wrapped an arm around her chest, glaring at Neville, seemingly daring him to upset her.

Hermione took a deep breath before continuing, "It's just... I don't know Augusta and I know you're my brother but like... they're my family. They've always been my family and I just..." She drifted off, not daring to look up at Neville.

The silence stretched tense and still before Neville let out a sharp breath and finally spoke. "Well. I can't say I'm surprised. I... Don't get me wrong. It makes me upset that you don't trust me and Gran to take care of you like that, but I suppose I understand? I wish that..." Neville cut off with a frustrated growl, and when Hermione's eyes drifted up to look at him, he was twisting his hand in his hair, clearly struggling to keep himself under control. "I wish that this hadn't happened. I wish your dracken could trust us. I wish that I could assure you we could be the family you need."

Until this moment, Hermione had never considered that her dracken instincts had played a role in this decision, but as soon as he said it, she knew it was true. It wasn't Neville's fault, but that family had failed her once already, and her dracken knew it. Her dracken side looked at the Weasleys and saw everything she had longed for her entire life. When it looked at Neville and Augusta, all it saw was a human who had failed to keep her safe once before, and a young dracken who wouldn't be able to protect her adequately.

"I'm sorry." Hermione whispered to Neville, her voice filled with regret. "It's not that I don't love you. I do. I don't want to screw this up between us. I just... I'm sorry."

Neville turned pain-filled eyes to meet hers and said simply, "It's ok. I get it. I... I have to go. I think... I need a bit. I'll floo you tomorrow." With that he turned and left. Hermione promptly burst into tears, which sent Charlie into a flurry of movement. He gathered her into his arms, his orange wings bursting from his back and folding around them to keep her moment of grief as private as was possible, all the while his sharp eyes patrolled the room, daring anyone to take a swipe at what was his.

Unknown to Hermione, Harry and Sirius had been watching the entire exchange. When they saw Neville bolt, they shared a look, both knowing that in this moment, Neville needed someone more than Hermione did. When Harry stepped towards Hermione, Charlie's wings opened to admit him, but stayed curled tightly against others.

"'Mione. We are gonna go help Neville, ok? You have Charlie. Neville has no one unless you count Augusta, and we don't." Harry whispered the words in Hermione's ear, but apparently Charlie's hearing was strong enough to hear it as well because he let out a low growl. Choosing to support another over his mate? Never.

"Charlie. Stop. They're right." Hermione studdered through the tears. "I have you. Neville just got told something heart breaking and hard." She turned puffy red eyes to Harry, swiping the back of her hand across her face to clear some of the tears. "Tell him I love him. Don't do anything to stupid. Remember that you only get one liver."

Harry gave her a cheeky grin in response, "No promises about the 'not doing anything stupid' thing, but I'll send your love. Don't wait up for us." Together Harry and Sirius left, Sirius stepping over to give Hermione a quick hug and a 'see you tomorrow' before they disappeared into the floo. Charlie slowly relaxed as Hermione calmed down, his wings slowly retracting, allowing her to face one of the few faces left behind in the auditorium, namely Arthur Weasley.

"So. Want to explain?" The question was posed without malice, but was clearly a demand all the same. In a rush, the words tumbled from Hermione's mouth, explaining everything. How Neville was her sibling, how she had been taken from her parents, how she had been unable to stomach a relationship with Augusta, how lost and alone she felt. How the guilt about not being able to form those instant familial bonds with her long lost family pressed in on her, crushing her with it's condemnation.

Hermione jumped in shock when it wasn't Arthur who responded to the tumble of words, but rather Severus who spoke from behind her. "I had never taken you for a dunderhead before, don't become one now." She spun around, intending to snap at him, but found him in dracken form still, covered in blood and gore, leaning heavily on Lucius Malfoy. The blonde man had him in a tight, obviously protective embrace, but he nodded when Severus spoke again. "Your guilt is, I suppose, understandable, and perhaps even admirable. But misplaced. Blood does not make family. My own father was an alcoholic who beat me and my mother on a regular basis. He was and is not my family just because he shares my DNA. What makes family is love. Care. Loyalty. Trust." Snape shared a look with Lucius that made Hermione's toes curl in a delicious way. "And that, Ms. Granger. Takes time. Shared experience. In time, it may come with your birth family. For now, feel no guilt assimilating into the family that has chosen you, and please accept my best wishes in the endeavor."

Lucius swept a lank piece of hair out of Severus' face, prompting a smile from Hermione, before he too spoke. "And my best as well. I, for one, am thrilled to know that you will be well protected in a family such as the Weasleys. They are a strong dracken family, and very well respected." Arthur stood up a little straighter at the praise. "I, for one, will sleep better knowing you are well protected in such a family."

If the intimacy of the interactions between Severus and Lucius shocked Arthur, he chose to keep silent. Hermione, on the other hand, had no such compunctions. "Thank you... You two seem... close?"

Severus chuckled dryly at her inquiry, turning dark eyes to Lucius' bright ones. "We have always been close, it was Lucius who helped me through my initial transformation. It was I who helped Lucius when 'Cissa died. We... depend on one another. We are each other's family." Lucius nodded, clearly thrilled at the evaluation of their relationship. Severus turned tired eyes to Hermione, seeming to not have the strength to smile anymore. "Please forgive me. We must go. The executions are... difficult on me. My dracken needs to feed. We hope we will see you again soon." Neither man moved to touch her in any way, and for the first time Hermione looked deeply at both of them, seeing with clear eyes just how tense they both were. Both men had claws and teeth on full display, and Severus' wings were fluttering frantically. Every vein on his neck was tight and throbbing, and he was clearly struggling to keep his dracken under control. Compassion flooded Hermione's psyche, and her heart broke for the man who continued to sacrifice himself for those around him.

"Please. Go. Care for yourself. Be safe." Lucius had already started half dragging Severus to the floo, nodding to Hermione in goodbye before calling out a remote forest in Scotland as their destination.

"He's going to have a rough couple of days." Arthur whispered as he watched them go. "When the dracken gets consumed with blood lust like that... it can take awhile to come down. A long time ago, when we lived as beasts, our entire lives were spent in that state, feral and bloodthirsty. It still lurks, just under the surface." Arthur seemed to ponder for a moment before he continued, "It's good he has someone with him who will understand what he is going through."

The words seemed so filled with meaning that Hermione turned to look at Arthur, spinning a bit in Charlie's arms. "What do you mean?"

Arthur examined her for a moment before speaking. "I only am telling you this, because you are clearly considering Lucius Malfoy for one of your next mates." Hermione nodded, but declined to comment on the choice. "Abraxas Malfoy was always a hard man. It is easy for a dracken male to become... harsh. Demanding, on their mate. It's in our nature to be passionate, and sometimes that passion becomes bent, twisted. Sometimes it turns to something dark, and that's when the dracken counsel steps in." Arthur took a deep breath, seeming to steel himself for the upcoming statement. "When Lucius was, oh, I'd say about seventeen? The dracken counsel was called to intervene in their family. Now, to be clear Hermione, it's not often the counsel is called in for family matters... but this. This was... It was horrific." Arthur swallowed heavily, his eyes distant and sad, "Lucius' mother, Druella, was dracken, but had been unable to produce more children after Lucius. She would become pregnant as normal, but then would lose the children early in the pregnancy. Eventually, it broke her. Her heats stopped, her dracken seeming to know that if they were to lose another clutch, it would break her. Abraxas though... he couldn't stand it. He saw her as... defective. So when she had her first heat in five years and failed to keep the children... he sank into his dracken's feral side." Arthur shuddered in revulsion before continuing. "He killed her that night." Hermione gasped in horror, her hand flying to her mouth, her entire body turning into Charlie's to be craddled more firmly to his chest even as Charlie's arms wrapped more tightly around her, "His dracken... deemed her a defective mate. When they pulled him before the counsel for sentencing... Abraxas was lost in his mind, completely feral, unable to even speak coherently. He was executed as a mercy and as justice. Lucius was there when it was done. He understands better than anyone what a feral dracken is capable of."

Hermione's eyes welled again with tears at the horror Lucius had endured. "Why tell me this?" She inquired of Arthur, who looked at her grimly.

"Because I believe those two, Severus and Lucius, are a soul mate pair. I believe if you are going to take one, you will have to take the other. I believe that you will find that they are both fierce protectors, and intense lovers. But you may also find that their passion runs deep, and not always pure. Severus did not lie about his father being an abusive bastard. He was put down not long before Lucius' own father was. Those men... they are the strongest men I know. They are also some of the most broken. You deserve to know what you are getting into with them." At this Arthur turned to leave, giving Hermione and Charlie time to think about what he had said.

After Arthur had left through the floo, Hermione turned to look at Charlie, who sighed long-sufferingly. "That speech did not have the desired effect, did it?" He quipped, grinning down at her. Hermione's returned grin and simple head shake made him sigh again. "I suppose you just chose your next mate. Mates. I wonder how that works on the total count?" Rather than being alarmed or upset, Charlie mostly seemed amused. "You always were one to take on the lost and the broken. When we hold the next meetings, we'll be sure to focus on Lucius and Severus. At least they're hot."

Hermione outright laughed at this, throwing her head back and nodding. "Yes. Yes they are. Let's go home."