Hermione Granger does not fidget. She plans, she waits, then she executes. Like a well-practised spell flowing from her wand, or a most formidable answer to any of her professors' questions.

Yet, as the last of her peas shook off her fork again, mocking, she considered getting up, running away to their common room, and burning the letter in the fireplace.

But Hermione Granger does not back down. She stabbed at the innocent vegetable and with a smile of a job well done, she finished her dinner.

"Are you okay, 'Mione?" Harry asked from the other side of the table, eyeing the utensil like a murder weapon. "You look stressed."

She knew her friends would pick up on her nerves, but she hoped it would not happen so soon. She put a small smile on her face and lied to her best friend.

"I'm fine, Harry, don't worry." When the boy narrowed his eyes at her, she continued. "Really, we just got a particularly challenging essay for Arithmancy and I want to start it as soon as I can" she smiled.

"'Mi, no talking about school at dinner, I thought we agreed" Ron complained, finishing up his shepherd's pie.

Hermione nodded. "Yes, sorry."

Harry still did not seem convinced, but Gryffindor's new seeker got his attention with some questions. Hermione was never more glad for the sport.

As the dinner died down, and students started leaving for their respective common rooms, Hermione stole a glance at the Slytherin table. Her target was finishing up his meal, so she quickly excused herself from the table and took up her pre-planned place on a bench near the way to the dungeons, trying to look as inconspicuous as she could. Unless he had broken through Hogwarts' defences and learned to apparate within the wards, he had to walk by her.

He had to.

He did.

But therein lied the problem. Not in the walking, but in the man accompanying him. Hermione could recognize that irritatingly blond head anywhere.

She had to adjust on the fly, later blaming this momentary lapse in judgement on her nerves. She couldn't let the ferret walk freely and announce to Merlin knows who her little thing with Nott. So she stood up and hoped her voice would not shake too much.

"Malfoy, Nott" she called out to them, and they stopped right in their track. Malfoy looked at her, his face unreadable, but did not utter a word. Nott looked more intrigued. "Yes?" That's all he told her. Hermione was sure these were the first words they ever said to each other. Not a grand colloquy, but it will have to do for now.

"The Headmistress wishes to talk to you. If you would follow me."

They exchanged a look, but to their credit, they did just that. The three of them wandered down a quiet corridor, all preplanned on her part. As they neared an abandoned classroom, she palmed her wand, hidden in her sleeve. She needed the right moment to-

Hermione slammed the door open, and before the men could react, she used her magic to push them inside. Then, with a quick Expelliarmus, she rendered them defenseless. She stepped in the room and locked the door, keeping her wand pointed at them. She wanted to use a Petrificus Totalus, but the look on Malfoy's face banished that thought.

He looked like a man on the gallows. His eyes were lifeless as if given in to whatever fate she now deemed for him. He did not attack her, nor defend himself, just stood, taking in Hermione like she was his last sight in this world.

It made her feel sick.

"Granger?" she heard from Nott. It was the silent question behind her name that made her lower her wand.

An intonation of fear.

"I would very much prefer if I didn't have to hex anyone tonight," she told them finally. "I just want some answers, that's all."

Nott relaxed a bit, but Malfoy still stared at her and she felt like she would go up in flames from the sheer intensity.

Wanting to be as far away from the pair as soon as possible, she picked the letter from its place and proffered it to Nott. "Read it, please," she asked.

Nott looked confused for a moment, before he unfolded the letter, and started to read it out loud.

"Dear Miss Dorothea Nott" his voice faltered, but he continued "Also known to some as Miss Hermione Jean Granger. You are hereby informed that your presence is required for the annual holdings conference as a representative to House Nott, held at Nott Manor on the fifth of November, 17:00. Any questions regarding the event should be directed to the current patriarch of the family, Mr. Theodore Nott."

By the end of the letter, his voice was shaking and so were his hands. He had some feelings playing on his face, but Hermione was too busy to notice. She stared as Malfoy showed his first emotion of the day. Pure surprise. He blinked, faster than she thought possible, then he grabbed his right hand, hard, like he tried to keep himself from doing… something.

She looked back at Nott, who was reading the letter again, just like she did before. She cleared her throat to get his attention. His bright green eyes were so reminiscent of Harry's it made her shake.

"Consider my questions directed." That was all she could say. Then she waited.

After a couple of painfully slow seconds, Malfoy uttered his first words.

"A bloodline charm?"

It wasn't a full question, moreso a suggestion pointed at Nott. He looked at him, then looked at Hermione. "May we?"

She jumped at the possibility of finally getting some answers. "Tell me what to do."

He considered. "I need my wand back, and I need a bit of your blood." She nodded and quickly summoned their wands from the corner they were thrown into, returning them to their respective owners. Malfoy crooked a single eyebrow at her, but quickly hid his wand in his robes.

Nott pointed towards a table he quickly Scourgified. He cut a small wound on his hand, letting the blood drop down on the flat surface, pooling red on the wood. She held her own hand out, and with a practised movement of his wand, he did the same to her.

"Now what?" she asked, and somewhere deep in her head, a little voice chanted how much she hated not knowing things. She shushed herself.

"Now I perform the spell, and we see the results," Nott answered, and before she could get out another question, Malfoy joined the conversation.

"If they connect, your bloodlines are connected. For a full sibling, it would show a circle. For a half one, a curved 'b'. A cross or any other straight lines would mean some amount of familiar connection, like a cousin. If they stay separated, then you are not connected."

He looked at her as he got closer, but stayed still far enough for him to be non-threatening. She wondered how he knew what she wanted to ask. She always liked her answers straight, and if it was not possible, she liked knowing her options.

She tried to put her preconceptions down in this absurd situation and gave a small smile of appreciation to Malfoy. He already had his mask of indifference back on his face, but she could see his hands shake for just a moment. It made Hermione feel better, knowing Malfoy could act decently if he wanted.

"May I?" Nott asked again, and she nodded with determination. "Do it."

He waved his wand in a complicated manner and murmured the incantation. She could only make out the word sanguis, as her focus was strained on the red drops on the table. They did not move for a moment, but as Nott finished the incantation, the droplets pulled together, as if magnetic, and slowly formed themselves into a circle.

Hermione gasped, Nott cursed, only Malfoy stared in silence.

She wanted to prod it like you would roadkill. She wanted to move it, push it, to see if it really is real.

She wanted to scream.

But before her frustration could escape her in a most indecent manner, she looked at Nott. Her new-found brother.

And she hugged him. With one of those bone-crushing hugs she had learned from the Weasleys. After a moment of stillness, he hugged her back, clearly inexperienced, but full of emotions so unslytheinlike she had to fight her tears back. She had a brother.

They stayed like that, for a probably unreasonable amount of time. Just hugging.

"Curfew" was the only thing Malfoy said, and it made her release Nott. Theodore, she corrected herself in her mind.

"We'll have to talk tomorrow," she said, and he nodded.

"After breakfast?"

"Yes."

"Where?" She frowned at the question but quickly puzzled it out.

"Just go back to your common room, and let me in when I knock" she smiled at her brother, who gave her a questioning look.

"Three times" she added. Then, after a quick hug, he left the two snakes and hurried back to her dorm. She had a new plan to execute.