What Solana showed them was like experiencing an earth-quake for Hermione – her footing seemed lost on the mud of the forest as she kneeled down, in front of the other unicorn, laying gracefully just a few feet away from them. She looked in the copper eyes of the royal creature as she nickered in appreciation, nodding her approval in their way.

Hermione scooted closer, and suddenly, felt the connection: it was if someone had cut through her skull, the unicorn's presence in her head was that intense. She had no idea what he was talking when Draco rambled on and on how he was able to understand Solana, but now, everything was clear. It was warm, comforting even as the creature showed pictures in her head, of crescent moons and heavens and stars and constellation, darkness and the little shining planets on the sky.

So that's how Hermione got to know her name: Selene. The name of the moon's Greek goddess. It was fitting and she wished she could have got more of the ecstatic connection, but Draco rudely interrupted.

He shook her shoulders with such sheer force that she felt dizzy.

"What?" she asked in a weak voice, her eyes still focused on Selene as she tried to reach her with moving her long neck, but wasn't able to. Looking down at her hooves, she saw it: her legs were curled under her in a twisted angle, bones stuck out, never able to hold her up, let alone move from their position. Hermione – even unconsciously – squeezed her left hand with her right, familiar with the unicorn's pain – but it still wasn't a same for her. Thankfully, she was able to stand and walk around on her own feet.

"You're zoning out," Draco barked in her face, the nerves just seemed to hit him now from their former dispute. He was tense, snappy and ever so impatient. "I asked you three times if the unicorn was able to get into your head or not."

Hermione nodded and put her hand on his left, stroking his knuckles to get him to let her go, "Yes, yes she did," and finally looked in his meticulous irises, her heart leaving out a beat, "Her name is Selene. And she's disabled."

Draco grimaced, looking down at the magical being with sorrow to which she arrogantly snorted at and turned away, as if irritated that he dared and felt sorry for her. Hermione giggled at the proud unicorn's reaction, slightly leaning into Draco's chest for support, "It seems she doesn't want your sympathy."

Their foggy breathes mixed as they stopped for a moment in each other's embrace, for Hermione to gather some strength and go forward and for Draco to let her go. Ever so nice, Solana gave them a little push with her enormous head, her even bigger horn missing Draco's blonde head just an inch, "I swear she wants to kill me," he sighed heavily.

Hermione giggled weakly, "At least she's being subtle."

And that seemed to be the cue as she started peeling off his arms from around her dirty, damp robes and wobbly climbing towards Selene on her knees. They were out in the cold for two hours now, in the end of December and the sun had set twenty minutes ago – she was exhausted, but it was not one of those moments of going to bed without accomplishing something.

At least, a few years ago, her goal was simply to read a book, from cover to cover, but know it was getting a chance of survival. Because she wasn't an idiot – clearly, the Brightest Witch of her Age title must meant something – and see the opportunity in this situation.

She was – at first – worried that Selene wouldn't let her touch her, because of her ulterior intention, but there was no resistance from the creature… She curled her head in her lap almost immediately, closing her shining copper eyes when they touched. Hermione was entranced, stroking the line of unicorn's nose and then all the way back to her horn. It was nothing like silk like she had imagined as a kid when she fantasised about magic; it was thick fur, so thick that her fingers were impossible to spot as they ran through it.

She sighed and Hermione smiled, already fond of the pressure of the unicorn's presence in her skull as she looked through her memories, gripping onto the most important ones: when she would sit in her room, in the darkness, mesmerized by the little flame she was able to conjure in her palm; the moment she got her Hogwarts' letter; days with Harry and Ron; the calmness of the library when she snuck out of her dorm at the dead of night; about the war and Bellatrix Lestrange – during which, she shuddered and stopped with her activity. Understanding her reaction, Selene let that one slip, but that didn't mean she was finished.

She looked into the details of her life – nowadays, her struggles, her time with the reformed group of Slytherins, with Ginny, Luna and Neville, and especially paying attention to the feelings she couldn't get rid off.

Selene envisioned her love towards a certain blonde like a little flame – the same they saw when she was four, holding it in her palms, growing gradually as the weeks passed and warming her up from both the inside and outside, but sadly, it was no cure for the damned Essence of Spurius.

But suddenly, as if a knife would have cut through their thread of connection, there was a breach.

Selene backed away from her mind alarmingly fast, touching every of her passing thoughts out of desperation, seeking something for evidence.

And that's how Hermione knew the unicorn realized what she wanted from her. And when she opened her eyes, the unicorn gazed into hers, the coppers widened in fear of the promise of her thoughts.

Hermione shook her head, "I wouldn't." Then, she rethought, to Selene's chagrin, "More like I wouldn't dare do it without your consent. But—,"

Yet again, there it was: the damn lump that always wanted to force her to cry. She looked down, her gaze lingering on her left forearm, even though she couldn't see much in the darkness, much less with blurred eyesight.

She sighed and turned back towards Draco, who was half-asleep, in between Solana and the tree neighbouring their own. He leaned to the vast trunk while Solana looked after him – not just him, looked after everyone as she seemed to be Selene's guardian –, standing above them with her eyes going from side to side as she studied the silence of the Forbidden Forest.

Her voice was raspy when she spoke, "Solana, can you wake up Draco? I can't perform magic," the words tumbled out of her mouth, even though she was even afraid of confessing it to herself. There was a reason why she didn't show off with her exceptional skills in the last month: precisely, on the nineteenth of November, she simply woke up and noticed the change: she was unable to light up her room with a lumos. And ever since – she hadn't had much use of her wand.

Obediently, Solana licked Draco's face to get him to get up. At first, the Malfoy heir just murmured something unintelligible, but after the second lick, her white-washed eyelashes fluttered open and he scooted away from the unicorn, scowling and being definitely irritated and obviously disgusted.

Solana and Hermione snorted out of amusement, and the witch called him over to her tree.

"Why do you need my assistance for something as simple as lumos?" he asked, but performed the spell without any problems. His eyes widened when Hermione started rolling up the sleeves on her left hand, pushing it towards Selene.

"I can't use magic, Draco," she said, prepared for his anger, which didn't come. She turned towards him, her eyes widened when all Draco did was nodding, "You knew about that?"

"Hermione, I'm not an idiot," he stated the obvious and turned away, not being able to look not just at the scar itself, but even at the thick bandage that covered it. He sighed knowing full well that it was now a bloodied, dark mess on her skin. "I noticed that you can't lift with your hand and can't move it a long time ago. The poison blocked your magic in November, and that was… expected."

"Expected?" she echoed as she rolled the white cloth off her hand. The unicorn in front of her watched her intensely, her copper eyes stuck to the surface that just came to be visible, "It wasn't mentioned in the Book of Lethal Poisons."

Draco shook his head, "Yes, it wasn't. Remember, what you have is an alteration. Snape's version is a way more…," he stopped in seek of the right word.

"Nastier," Hermione supplied and Selene nickered in nervousness when seeing the mudblood scar on her arm. She sighed.

He nodded, "Yes, nastier. But that doesn't mean it's not worrying…" Both knew what he meant: the end was drawing near for her.

The unicorns looked at each other, and both of the war veterans could see the silent conversation going on in between the surprisingly intelligent creatures. The minutes ticked by extremely slowly, Hermione waited with baited breath, and side-glancing at Draco, she knew he was trembling out of barely suppressed excitement. Both knew that was the moment they had been chasing in the last few months. They both knew the unicorns would determine the future.

One more minute ticked by.

Hermione needed to exhale the pent up air in her lungs, keeping her eyes focused on Selene. The unicorn slowly turned her head towards her and gave her a nod. A little nod – barely perceptible, and that was enough of assurance.

She let a smile slip on her lips, "Thank you."

This chapter was utter struggle. And I'm sorry, I will answer the reviewsI swear! I'm just pretty much buried under learning stuff and some rocks. So, if you want to give me some ultra-mega-superpower, please, write a review. It'd be totally awesome! (yeah, I watched a very potter musical, thanks for asking ;D )