Marked by the Moon

by Louisa Caraballo

When Draco Malfoy gets punished for not completing his mission for the Dark Lord, he doesn't know what to expect, but becoming a Werewolf was not it. He comes to find out that all the things he thought he knew about them are pretty much false. Now he just needs to convince his Soulmate to get on board. Updates Mondays!

2. Chapter 2: 1998

Chapter 2 is here! I'm so excited about this one. It's a whirlwind for sure, but things just kept adding themselves!

SUPER HUGE SHOUTOUT TO bam2305! You're the VERY BEST AND I COULDN'T DO THIS WITHOUT YOU! Thank you for your comments on the plot and your edits on the grammar.

WIthout further ado: HERMIONE!

---

Wednesday, June 30, 1993

Hermione had just laid back on the couch in her living room, tuning into the television with her parents when she felt like she'd drifted off. She opened her eyes and was sitting on a different couch reading a book she hadn't seen before.

"I've brought you something, love," a man called from behind her.

She shut her book loudly and turned around to see who it was. As she turned she briefly took in the space. She was in a cosy cabin with a fire crackling away. A shock of bright blond hair attached to grey eyes locked onto her own. His eyes widened comically, just as she could feel her own blinking rapidly at him.

"Y-you?" she stuttered. "Why are you in my cabin, Malfoy?"

"It's our cabin, Granger," he said, nonchalantly He held his hand up and her eyes zeroed in on the gold ring glinting merrily. She looked down at her own hand and saw a matching wedding band that was covered with the most beautiful engagement ring she'd ever seen. It was a large blue sapphire surrounded by small opals. This had to be a dream.

"But…" she looked around the room and she could feel him tracking her eyes. She took in a series of moving photos that covered almost the whole wall next to the couch.

The largest one was of him dipping her in her wedding dress and kissing her after a moment, he pulled away and she laughed heartily. She could feel herself flush at the moment, but was quite pleased with how happy they both looked.

Next to that was a photo of him and his friends, lounging on a blanket in a meadow. Theodore Nott was throwing grapes at Blaise Zabini who frowned, playfully grumpy.

The next photo was of her, Dean, and Neville staring at a wild looking plant that was whipping its leaves around. While Harry and Ron seemed like her best friends, they were more like her brother and her crush, respectively. Neville and Dean were her truest friends. Neville had been her first friend and Dean was one of the few people she could talk about being Muggleborn and the experience of being bi-racial both at home and at school.

The rest of the pictures were of her and Draco at different locations all around the globe.

He took a step towards her and placed his hand on her forehead. "Are you alright, darling? You're acting strangely."

"Malfoy, I'm-" she finally dragged her eyes to meet his. She stopped talking as she looked up into his eyes. They were grey, but they had hints of silver and blue in them as well. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and continued to look at him thoughtfully.

His eyes darted down to her lips and then back to her eyes. She wanted to kiss him, and it seemed like he did too. "Even if it's just a dream," she whispered.

He leaned in and hovered his lips right over her own. She pushed herself up and kissed him. Her whole body was overwhelmed with the feeling of his lips pressed against hers. Her stomach swooped in excitement and heard him drop the flowers he'd been holding as he dragged her towards him.

He kissed so well. She moaned and suddenly his tongue was in her mouth. She met all of his passion with her own, throwing herself wholeheartedly into the kiss. After a few more moments, he pulled back, but he didn't remove his arms that were wrapped around her.

"Granger," he groaned, resting his forehead against hers. "I can't believe it's you." This had to be the best dream she'd ever had. She'd never admit her feelings about him to anyone, because they felt ridiculous. He wasn't someone she could love, he was a prat and a bully!

"What do you mean?" she asked, tucking a few braids behind her ear.

"You're… gods you're so perfect… I just…"

"It can't be like this in real life?" she asked softly, "Just in dreams?"

"Would you even look at me if we weren't in a dream?" he asked with a smirk.

She had nothing to lose. "Draco, I'm always looking at you," she whispered. "I see you, I see how you question the things you say."

"I can't, it's… my father…" he trailed off and closed his eyes.

She pulled away a little further and looked up at him. "Well if you ever want to see what the other side is like, you know where to find me," she whispered as she kissed him softly.

"But how would I even?" he asked.

"I think I could love you, Draco Malfoy," she said, "but I don't think now is the time."

"But what if I don't want-" just as he was finishing his sentence she was woken by a loud noise coming from the telly.

---

Wednesday, January 14, 1998 - ?

Hermione had always been attracted to Draco Malfoy, not that she'd ever admitted it to anyone. The amount of time she'd spent staring at him in the library or watched him stirring his Potion was borderline obsessive. Overall she felt like she did a decent job at hiding it. Neither of the boys had ever noticed that she was aware of, even Ginny, who normally was the queen of gossip, hadn't been aware of Hermione's feelings.

Since the summer of Second Year, she'd been having these wildly vivid dreams about him. They were always adults in the dreams, but it felt idyllic. As she laid back on the lumpy mattress in the tent she couldn't help sighing. What she wouldn't give to be holed up in the cabin with Dream Draco right now.

He'd always been fascinating to watch, he-

She shook her head, she liked Ron, even if he had left them. The version of Malfoy that existed in her dreams was just that, a dream. She groaned and sat up, realising that sleep was not going to come. Harry was sitting at the door to the tent, fiddling with the Horcrux.

"Hey Mi," Harry greeted her, "how did you sleep?"

"How do we ever sleep?" She asked with a chuckle, he raised an eyebrow knowingly. "To answer your question, terribly."

"Look, I know you miss Ron…'' Harry said sheepishly and she realised with a jolt that she hadn't thought about Ron in weeks. She did love him, and she was worried for him, but he'd abandoned them.

"I-" she started and then stopped. "I mean I do, but…"

"The fact that he left is getting to you?" Harry asked softly.

"I always thought we'd be together," Hermione said, sitting on the camp chair next to Harry. "But what if this is how he really is?"

"I want to blame the Horcrux," Harry whispered, "but not once has it made me want to stop."

"I know," Hermione said with a sigh. "I've thought about it a lot, it never made me question you, you're like my brother and I knew what we were getting into when we started, why do you think I brought all these books?"

Harry laughed, "Don't pretend you brought the books for me!"

Hermione flushed lightly. "I suppose I did bring them for myself…"

"I don't think I would have survived this long without you," he said, gripping her hand.

"Have you thought much about you and Ginny?" Hermione asked, holding out her hand for the Horcrux.

Harry laughed awkwardly. "I…er well I think Imightlikeboys?" he said quickly.

"You might like boys?" Hermione asked, not batting an eye. If her life had taught her anything, it was to accept people as they are. "Like boys and girls or just boys?"

"I think both," Harry said, "but if we make it out of all this, I think I'd like to explore a bit, we're so young…"

"My parents would have a heart attack if they knew how young everyone was expected to get married in the Wizarding World," she said, bumping her shoulder against his.

"You… You don't care?" Harry whispered.

"About you liking boys and girls?" she asked, turning away from the forest and looking at him. He just nodded, and then averted his eyes. "Harry James Potter," she said firmly. "Love is love. I haven't been called racist slurs in the Muggle and Wizarding World to judge you for that!"

Harry looked relieved. "You're the first person I've told," he said, looking back to the forest in front of them.

"I'm proud to be your confidant," Hermione said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Isn't that what sisters are for?" he asked quietly.

---

Friday, April 10, 1998 - Waning Gibbous

"Gods, can you smell her?" Greyback practically moaned as he held her to him. She quickly did some calculations in her head, the Full Moon was tomorrow. Werewolves were strong normally, but right before the Moon, there was no chance for her. She didn't say anything, watching as Ron and Harry struggled against their captors. She chewed on her own lip and tried to make eye contact with Ron, who was thrashing wildly. Finally Harry looked at her and she shook her head minutely. He stopped struggling and Hermione sighed in relief. Maybe they'd get out of this…

"What's your name, girl?" The Snatcher, who she knew was named Scabior, barked at her as Greyback held her tighter and panted on her neck.

"P-Penelope Clearwater," she stuttered.

He looked at her again. "You look an awful lot like that Mudblood everyone's been talking about," he walked up to her and stroked her face. She tried to flinch away, but Greyback held her firmly.

"I love when they wriggle," he growled.

"Get off of her!" Ron said, as he was dragged up by another Snatcher, with Harry close behind.

"Hmmm. Are you sure you aren't a Weasley?" Scabior asked, eyeing Ron's hair.

Finally he turned to Harry. "A Weasley, a Mudblood, could you be-"

"Vernon Dudley!" Harry yelped.

"Vernon Dudley, hmmm?" Scabior said, stroking his chin. Hermione could tell that he was toying with them. "I think we should take this lot to Malfoy Manor."

Within seconds, Hermione felt them apparating to Malfoy Manor. As she was forced up the long path to the front doors. Hermione started to get nervous when a cold looking Narcissa Malfoy opened the door.

"Who are you?"

"You know me!" There was resentment in the werewolf's voice. "Fenrir Greyback! We've caught Harry Potter!"

(A Snatcher) seized Harry and dragged him around to face the light, forcing the other prisoners to shuffle around too.

"I know 'e's swollen, ma'am, but it's 'im!" piped Scabior. "If you look a bit closer, you'll see 'is scar. And this 'ere, see the girl? The Mudblood who's been travelling around with 'im, ma'am. There's no doubt it's 'im, and we've go 'is wand as well! 'Ere, ma'am-"

…(Hermione) saw Narcissa Malfoy scrutinising his swollen face. Scabior thrust the blackthorn wand at her. She raised her eyebrows.

"Bring them in," she said.

(They) were shoved and kicked up the broad stone steps into a hallway lined with portraits.

"Follow me," said Narcissa, leading the way across the hall. "My son, Draco, is home for his Easter holidays. IF that is Harry Potter, he will know."

(THD, page 456-457)

Draco Malfoy was not his dream self, she reminded herself. The chances of him protecting them were…slim. Moments later, Malfoy swept into the room. He looked good, Hermione couldn't help but note. He had a new scar across his face, but if anything it made him look even more roguish and handsome. He looked strong and like he'd finally been getting enough sleep. Whatever had happened since last year, had done him well.

"What is it, Mother?" he drawled. Lucius swept in right behind him, quickly followed by Bellatrix. He made eye contact with her and she could swear she saw his eyes dilate.

"They say that they have Harry Potter, but we wanted you to be sure," Narcissa sniffed.

"Draco, if we are the ones who hand Potter over to the Dark Lord, everything will be forgiv-"

"Now, we won't be forgetting who actually caught him, I hope, Mr. Malfoy?" said Greyback menacingly….

"What did you do to him?" Lucius asked Greyback. "How did he get into this state?"

"That wasn't us."

"Looks more like a Stinging Jinx to me," said Lucius.

His eyes raked Harry's forehead.

"There's something there," he whispered, "it could be the scar, stretched tight…Draco, come here, look properly! What do you think?"...

(TDH, page 458)

"I want the girl," Greyback sneered.

"No," Draco said firmly. "She's m-"

The next few moments seemed to happen in a blur, before Hermione could blink, she was laying on her back on the floor, under Bellatrix's Cruciatus. She looked over at Draco who was being held back by his mother. If she wasn't sure he hated her, she'd think that he was trying to help her.

She felt an excruciating pain in her arm, but her eyes were locked on Draco's and he looked horrified when his eyes darted down to her arm.

Suddenly, the chandelier was falling and the world went black.

---

Saturday, May 2, 1998 - Waxing Crescent

As they raced away from the Fiendfyre, Draco was behind her on the broom. Normally, she hated flying, but this… this felt so natural. All of her usual concerns about falling and hurting herself faded into a quiet hum. She wanted to fold herself into him, not that she would, but the thought was definitely there. They were on the broom for less than a minute, but the way his thighs and core maneuvered the thin piece of wood was embarrassingly erotic.

When they finally landed outside the Room of Requirement, she sucked in a breath, pretending for just a moment that this was Dream Draco. She gingerly got off the broom, and moved towards Harry and Ron. She grasped Ron's hand, pretending like she wasn't imagining holding the hand of the scarred man behind her.

---

She spotted Greyback across the hall. He was standing over a screaming Lavender Brown. She didn't even think, Hermione rushed him. When she met his back, it was an immovable force. He whipped around and wrapped his large hand around her neck. She tried to scramble to pull her wand up towards him, but he batted it away with his other hand.

He spun and pinned her to the ground next to Lavender. Hermione felt the other girl's hand weakly push her own wand into Hermione's hand. Hermione grasped it firmer and drew it up, this time, when Greyback went to swipe it away, he ripped through her sleeve with his claws. She screamed in pain. It was entirely possible that this was worse than Bellatrix's knife.

Greyback drooled over her and Lavender. He held one hand against her neck, claws digging into the sides, keeping her in place, while he leaned forward and licked one of the gushing wounds on Lavender's throat. He thrust his hips against Hermione and groaned. She was disgusted. She was going to die like this, she was sure.

Suddenly, from nowhere, a blond head appeared over Greyback's shoulder. Hermione made eye contact with Draco Malfoy as he wielded his wand with finesse, throwing Greyback across the room. Draco stalked over to Greyback and stood over him, growling menacingly.

She was sure she was going barmy at this point, she must be hallucinating, because she heard Draco growl, "You are nothing, you sorry excuse for a Wolf. She. Is. Mine."

She was glad that Dream Draco had come to save her in her last moments. It was a lovely way to die, knowing that he cared and that she was his. She gripped Lavender's hand weakly, as tears ran down her face, as the last of the life drained from Lavender's blue eyes.

Then Dream Draco was kneeling next to her, and pulling her towards him. He ran his wand along her arm, stopping the bleeding and soothing some of the pain. "Shhh, shhh, you're okay sweetheart," he cooed, rocking her back and forth. The world faded to black.

Hermione opened her eyes, Draco who was cradling her to his chest. "M-Malfoy?" she asked, wincing in pain.

"You're alright," he whispered. "It's going to be okay, I'm so sorry I didn't get here faster." He gestured to her arm which she was holding against her chest now."

"I-" she stopped and swallowed heavily. "Thank you, I-"

She was cut off by Voldemort's projected voice. Draco helped her up and pulled her towards the gathering group. When they got to the crowd, she made her way towards Ron, leaving Draco behind. When she got to him, he held out his hand for her. She grasped it and looked over her shoulder to see Draco watching them, looking, if she wasn't mistaken, disappointed.

---

Monday, May 11, 1998 - Full Moon

She woke up that morning feeling manic. She'd woken up with the sun and was practically sprinting around Grimmauld Place using cleaning spells and dusting everything in her sight. When Harry had gotten up close to noon, the whole first floor was practically spotless and she had a list of things she wanted to change and upgrade.

"Morning, Mi," he yawned, blinking at the dramatic change from the day before. "Wh-What's happened?

"I don't know, but I have so much bloody energy, I'm hoping we can pop off to the store to get some new linens and such for the house. I've found a spell that can reupholster furniture and I've been thinking we could go with a nice blue and cream palate in here?"

"Er, sure?" he said, looking around the room sceptically.

"I've made you breakfast," she said, promptly putting a plate down in front of him that was laden with all his favourite breakfast foods.

"Thanks?" he said, eyebrows raised. "Are you alright?"

"I'm totally fine," she said with a grin, jogging off to the bathroom to shower.

She stripped off her clothes, and wrapped her braided hair into a shower cap. Once she'd gotten in the shower, she looked down at her arm for the first time since she'd been discharged from the hospital wing. Harry had been helping her change her bandages each day, so she hadn't been forced to look at her mutilated arm.

In the middle of her forearm, "Mudblood" was carved, in messy, stilted letters. On either side of the word were two long scars from Greyback's claws. They bracketed the word in a morbidly perfect way. "The Full Moon," she gasped. She'd somehow forgotten in the rush of post battle. She quickly finished scrubbing her body and got out of the shower.

She made her way back down the stairs and found Harry sitting almost exactly where she'd left him, munching away on his breakfast. "We need to see Bill Weasley," she said quickly.

"W-We do?" he asked, surprised by her appearance.

"Yes Harry!" she said, exasperated by his surprise and confusion. She thrust her arm out in front of him and he looked between her eyes and her arm, still not comprehending exactly what she was on about. She pointed out the window and when he still didn't understand, she practically shouted. "It's the Full Moon. What if I'm a Werewolf?"

"Hermione," he said, setting his fork down, his face looking exactly like the same face her father had always made when he was going to tell her something serious. "You know you're not a Werewolf. They checked. You're probably like Bill though so it's a good idea to go and talk to him about how he's handled the Full Moon."

"Alright, well are you coming?" she asked, folding her arms and tapping her foot impatiently.

Harry barked out a laugh, but upon seeing she was serious, he stuffed a piece of toast in his mouth and made his way up the stairs to change. By the time they were on their way to Shell Cottage, Hermione was practically exploding with manic energy.

They knocked on the front door and Fleur opened it with a smile.

"'Ermione and 'arry!" she said, pulling them each into a hug. "What are you two doing 'ere?"

"Er," Harry said, flushing a bit. Fleur was still, by far, the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. He turned to look at Hermione who was standing arms crossed and frowning at him.

"The Full Moon," Hermione said, thrusting out her scarred arm.

"Ah," Fleur said, knowingly, "come along, Bill is in the back."

They followed her through the house to the back porch, where Bill was doing an exercise routine. "We 'ave visitors!" Fleur called, stopping Bill mid push up he looked at Hermione and she could see his nose twitch.

"Full Moon?" he asked.

She just nodded and sighed, "I can't stop."

He chuckled, "Welcome to Manic Moon Madness as Fleur and I like to call it." Fleur and Harry made their way back into the cottage. "Can you feel the wolf yet?"

"N-no!" she said quickly, "I'm going to be a Werewolf!?"

"Ah, no," Bill said rubbing the back of his neck, "it's more like the wolf is there, but from what Remus said, it's not as strong as if we were Werewolves. It's almost like a conscience, except way louder on the Full Moon. It doesn't make you do anything, it just sort of hovers in the back of your brain?"

"Huh," Hermione said, pacing. "I haven't felt anything like that yet, just sort of have a lot of energy."

"Ugh the New Moon's are the worst, you're so drained and there is no amount of coffee or sleep can pull you out of it," he said, jumping up. "I was about to go for a jog on the beach, do you want to join me?"

Hermione scoffed, "There is no amount of wolfy, moon influence that could get me to jog. A walk along the shore does sound nice though." Bill acquiesced and walked next to her, both carrying their shoes as they walked through the sand.

"So what do I need to know?" she asked after a few minutes of silence.

"Red Meat helps, not just on the full moon, but I tend to like it more rare around now," he said and then noticed that Hermione had scrunched her nose in distaste. "Not a fan?"

"I'm a pescatarian," she sighed. "Do I need red meat?"

"I, uh, haven't really tested that out," he said. "I always have red meat the few days before the moon and it makes me feel better, I suppose you could try not having any?"

She nodded and waited for him to continue. "Remus always seemed to be fighting with Moony, his wolf, it was almost like they were fighting for control of the man?"

"And us?" she asked.

"Like I said, more like a subconscious addition, I don't really notice him except on the Moon, if I'm honest."

"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly.

"No," he said, "I suppose I'm a little itchy, but I've found being outside during the Moon helps. I was going to make a big bonfire tonight and sleep in the gazebo I built," he said pointing to the firepit that was standing in front of a screened in gazebo with a glass roof.

"I don't really fancy camping again," she said with a sigh.

"I'd offer a spot in the gazebo, but that's the other thing," he said sheepishly. "I'm always extremely randy during the Moon. It's… er, not advisable that you stay here then."

Hermione barked out a laugh. "I guess I'll have to see about building my own greenhouse gazebo on Grimmauld's roof."

"I'm happy to help with that. Overall, I haven't noticed much of a difference, although Charlie told me that I tend to be a bit more assertive leading up to the Moon, but being the oldest in the Weasley family, I'm pretty used to leading my pack, you know?"

Hermione nodded thoughtfully. It was only early afternoon, and she was dedicated to finishing the Grimmauld Place decor before the next day, so she dragged Harry store after store, he groaned with frustration by the third one when she couldn't find the exact pattern she'd been picturing for the couches.

"I really don't care which fabric we use, Hermione," Harry said eventually. "We need to find you a project that doesn't involve me," he grumbled when she just rolled her eyes and dragged him along.

They went to multiple fabric stores, a hardware store for paint, an art gallery for inspiration, and an outdoors store to decide on the vision for the back garden. She floated the idea of the rooftop gazebo that Bill had suggested, which was the first thing that Harry seemed genuinely excited about.

"I'll work on the gazebo, you can do literally anything else you want to do," he said as they were making their way through the front door of Grimmauld Place.

"Thank you, Harry!" she said, kissing him on the cheek.

She heard a scoff from the front entry and whipped around to see Ron, looking annoyed at her affection towards Harry. Normally, she wasn't pleased when Ron was jealous, but something about the moon made her practically preen at his possessive edge. She dropped her bags and ran to him, jumping up to pull him into a heated snog.

Maybe Bill was right about the Moon increasing her libido…

Hermione wasn't a blushing virgin by any means. After their Fourth Year, she'd gone to visit Viktor. He'd been a perfect gentleman and hadn't pressured her at all. After the second week, she'd decided that she'd like to progress past snogging. He'd been gentle and kind and taught her all sorts of things. She couldn't have asked for a better first experience. When she'd gone back to England, they'd discussed where this left them. They weren't dating necessarily, the distance and school made it unfeasible, but they agreed to keep in touch.

When she'd seen Viktor at Bill and Fleur's wedding, they'd snuck off for a quick tryst in the fields. Her and Ron weren't anything at that point, and she had already anticipated that the Horcrux Hunt was going to be overwhelming.

The summer between Fifth and Sixth Year, she'd done quite a bit of experimenting with her Muggle neighbour, Christopher. When they were kids, he was one of the few people who spent time with her outside of school. He was a bit more introverted than a lot of the other boys, but when they were together they could have conversations about all sorts of Muggle media that she couldn't have at school, unless Dean was in the mood to talk about it.

Over the summer she'd come to realise that it would be rather difficult to have a relationship with a Muggle. There was so much about the Wizarding World that was different. Plus, she thought that if the situation were reversed, knowing that her partner could do magic would cause resentment. Wouldn't everyone like the ability to cast a spell and complete a task? On top of it all, she'd had to erase herself from Christopher and his parent's minds when she sent her parents away, since they'd all grown up together.

She'd discovered from her time with both Viktor and Christopher. That she was just as interested in controlling as well as being controlled. Christopher, who was an avid reader, explained that she fell into the Switch category. He'd provided her with a few books that she made sure to hide from her parents. She'd discovered that she preferred a bit rougher sex, although a nice slow session could be wonderful as well. She hesitated from calling it making love as she'd never been in love, she didn't think.

Dream Draco didn't count of course since he was just a dream. And although they'd done plenty of snogging and he felt real, even in her dreams they hadn't gone much past heavy petting. Dream Draco had never had sex before, he said he was waiting for her, and he wanted to be able to really touch her. It was all very romantic really. This was yet another indication that this was just a dream as the real Draco was infamously known as the Slytherin Sex God.

Ron pulled away from the kiss and looked over her shoulder towards where Harry had been standing. At first she could have sworn she saw a smug look, but it quickly disappeared when he realised that Harry wasn't standing in the entryway any longer. Hermione pulled Ron back to kiss her again and then pulled him towards her bedroom.

When they'd made it up the stairs, she pushed him onto her bed, straddling his lap and never breaking her furious kiss. She pulled off her shirt, revealing one of her nicer lacy bras.

Ron swallowed heavily, taking in her form. She would probably be considered large to many people, but her mother had always encouraged her to love and appreciate her body the way it was. "'Mione,'' Ron panted, "we should slow down."

"Slow down?" she asked, pulling back from unclipping her bra.

"Well yes," he said, smiling at her, "I don't want to rush you or hurt you, sex can be-"

She couldn't help it, she laughed, louder than she intended. "Do you think I'm a virgin, Ron?" she asked.

Ron sputtered, looking embarrassed and a bit angry. "You're not? Wh-Who?"

She looked at him, even more surprised. "Viktor and my Muggle boyfriend from home," she said, confused by his face that was steadily growing redder and redder.

"I can't believe you!" he said, moving himself away from her.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she asked, getting annoyed at him.

"You've had sex," he said as if it was obvious.

"And so did you and Lav-" she choked in her former roommates name, watching someone die next to you had a pretty scarring effect on a person.

"But it's not like you," he continued, digging his hole even deeper.

"Obviously you don't know anything about me," she scoffed, standing now. "I think you need to leave, Ronald."

"Of course you'd want me to leave," he scoffed and stood, slamming the door as he barreled out of her room.

Fuck Ronald Weasley.

Well not literally as he seemed to hold horrible antiquated views about a woman's worth and sexual relationships. She felt angry tears pool in her eyes as she huffed and fell heavily on the bed. This was not what she'd pictured from their first time, but she wasn't sure if she was all that surprised, he'd always had a hot temper

A soft knock came at her door. "Yes?"she said, pulling her shirt back on. More than a little of her was hoping that it was Ron coming back to apologise.

Harry poked his head into the room, "Er is everything alright?" he asked awkwardly.

"We'll that all depends on how you feel about a sex before marriage and multiple partners," she said with a frown.

"Well you're uh very beautiful and all but-" he flushed.

For the second time that night she laughed harder than intended. "Oh my god Harry NO!" she shrieked after a moment. "I meant as a general rule not you and me!"

"Oh, well then I mean Ginny never wanted to get that far because Molly always told her virginity was Sacred, but I wouldn't turn someone down," he said, settling on the other side of the bed.

Hermione scoffed. "So Wizards believe that rot about virginity too? Why am I even surprised?"

"Let's go out tonight," Harry said after a few minutes, "we're young and we could go to some pubs and you can find yourself someone to dance with and maybe I can kiss my first boy."

"That sounds delightful, but we have to go to the bonfire at Bill and Fleur's," she groaned.

"And if she's to be believed, the two of them will last for two hours tops before they're on top of each other," Harry said, flushing brightly.

"Alright," she said, grinning "let's do it, let's take the town, Harry Potter."

Harry's guess about Bill and Fleur came true faster than either Hermione or Harry had anticipated. After only about thirty minutes, Fleur was practically in her husband's lap. Hermione and Harry excused themselves, the couple barely coming up for air long enough to say goodbye.

When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, they separated to get ready for the night. Hermione sorted through her Muggle clothes that had been hiding in the back of her closet for the past year. She pulled out a black dress that she'd only worn once. It was tight and short, and perfect for pulling dances.

A small voice sounded in her head, telling her that she had a boyfriend, but that wasn't true, Ron had never even asked her out. He just assumed they'd be together, just like he'd assumed she'd wait for him. She rolled her eyes as she angrily waved her wand to cast a few beauty charms. When she was done, she was greeted by a very badarse version of Hermione Granger. Her lips were a dark maroon, and her eyes were rimmed in black. She wore a choker around her neck and slid into a pair of sky high heels. She was pretty average at 5'6", but something about heels made her feel powerful.

When she made it downstairs, Harry was sitting at the kitchen table, a glass of Firewhiskey in his hands. "Well look at you," she said appreciatively. He was wearing a tight black T-shirt and jeans that looked like they actually fit him. "I just need to give you a little more edge," she waved her wand and rimmed his eyes lightly in black. "Perfect," she said, conjuring a mirror.

"Thanks, Mi," he said.

She gathered her bag and the two of them headed towards the door when the Floo whooshed. Harry popped his head into the Floo room and Ron came out, looking between them, surprised.

"What. Are. You. Wearing?" he said angrily, taking in Hermione's appearance.

"A dress?" she responded loftily.

"You will not be going out dressed like that," he scoffed.

"I will be dressing however I damn well please Ronald Weasley!" she said, crossing her arms.

"I came over so we could talk, but apparently you've already moved on," he gestured to Harry angrily.

"That's gross, Ron," Harry sighed, "I don't know how many times we have to tell you, but she's like my sister.

"Sure she is, I'm sure you've had her too," Ron said glaring at Harry. "She's been around haven't you heard?"

"I know you're grieving, Ron," Harry said stiffly, "but that gives you no right to talk to Hermione, or anyone like that."

"I came over so she could apologise now that she's calmed down, but it seems like that isn't happening," Ron sneered.

"Apologise?" Hermione shrieked. "Me? I didn't do anything wrong!"

"Look at you," he said, dragging his eyes up and down her body. "This isn't you, 'mione."

"My. Name. Is Hermione," she said stiffly.

Ron rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, "I'll give you some time to cool off and once you come to your senses, you know where I am."

"If you expect me to be some fucking virginal, submissive bookworm," she said, louder, "you have another thing coming, Ronald Weasley. Good luck finding anyone who'll want to fuck you more than once. I can already tell it would be a disappointing shag!"

"You'd know, wouldn't you? I never took you for a slut," he said with a noise almost like a growl and spun around, angrily making his way to the Leaky Cauldron.

Hermione and Harry stood in stunned silence for almost a minute. Then Hermione let out a hysterical giggle. Harry turned a pair of stunned eyes toward her, but after she continued to laugh he joined in.

"I-" she wheezed out between laughs, "I- think- he- needs- a- reality- check."

"Honestly if he wasn't my best mate, I'd crossstitch 'some fucking virginal, submissive bookworm,' and frame it for your bedroom wall," he said laughter finally calming down.

"Oh my god," she shrieked, his comment sending them into another fit of giggles.

In the end, they decided that tonight was not the night for clubbing and instead changed into comfy clothes and went to a late night showing of Scream 2 at the closest cinema.

On their way home, Hermione looped her arm through Harry's. "I'm glad to have you, Harry."

"You couldn't get rid of me if you tried, Mi," he said, patting her arm.

---

She opened her eyes and looked around curiously. It was pitch black, but she could see amazingly well. . She was in the clearing right outside of their cabin although she was lower to the ground than usual. Whas she crouching? She looked down at her arms and saw that they were attached to a set of golden brown paws. She attempted to move towards the flat surface of the pond to look at her reflection, but found herself tripping over her own feet.

When she'd finally figured out how to move, she looked down on her own face. Before her was a small wolf. She'd had a friend when she was a child who was a bit of a wolf girl, so after a few moments, she recognised that the face looking back was that of an African Golden Wolf. She snorted, ironic. Apparently, she couldn't get away from her Golden Girl persona even in wolf form.

She heard something coming through the forest and turned around as quickly as she could, resting on her back legs, prepared to spring out at whatever was coming into the clearing.

"Mate!" she called and ran over to the white wolf clumsily.

"Hello, mate," the wolf said, rubbing his cheek against her own. "I've been wanting to meet you for a long time. My name is Vali. Where is your human?"

"Vali," she said, rolling the name around on her metaphorical tongue. "My human is in her bed thrashing about. She dreams about you, you know, even when she's awake. She doesn't know that I can hear her, but I can."

Vali snorted and laid down, urging her to lay with him. "Did she fully turn?" Vali asked, quietly.

"No, but she has many Moon symptoms. I'm afraid I don't know very much about all of this, but it feels so right with you here," she said.

"What is your name?" he asked.

"Rougarou," she said, nuzzling her nose into his neck, "or Rou."

"Rou," he purred. "I'm glad you're here, can your human hear us?"

"She can hear what I want her to hear," Rou said with a huffing laugh. "For example she can hear this entire conversation except our name."

"She doesn't know your name?" Vali asked, sounding horrified.

"No, not yet, she doesn't understand us yet. I hope that one day she and I will be like you and your human."

Vali looked at her deeply. "Your eyes look like your human's eyes, a dark hazel that changes in the light. But your fur doesn't match your human's hair"

"No it doesn't," Rou said primly. "But I'm an African Golden Wolf so it fits my human rather well."

She was delighted to find that in this form he was just as thoughtful and kind as in his human form. He asked questions and made jokes and even convinced her to play for a while in the trees. By the time it was almost time for him to wake up, she was rather dreading that she wouldn't get to see him until the next moon.

---

Wednesday, June 24, 1998 - New Moon

"I can't believe you would help them!" Ron shouted at Hermione and Harry who were standing in the foyer of Grimmauld Place.

"They saved our lives, Ronald," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"If not for Narcissa Malfoy, I wouldn't even be here," Harry said frowning at Ron.

"And Draco didn't identify us at the Manor and he saved me from Greyback," Hermione added angrily.

"Oh Draco, is it?" Ron said, face already a beet red. "I don't even know who you are anymore. Do whatever you want, just don't expect me to defend you when you get shite from the Prophet."

He apparated away before either of them could respond. "Well that was…" Harry trailed off. He looked at Hermione who was blinking back tears. "Are you alright?"

She was so bloody tired because of the New Moon and Ron had been so weird about her scratches and the sex thing. They'd barely been able to have a civil conversation. The only bright spot was that Harry had almost ubiquitously chosen to side with her.

All that being said, it sounded more like Ron had a skewed view of her than his belief that she'd changed. Sure at Hogwarts she'd never been blatant in her sexuality, but she'd hadn't been a prude. She wore her skirts just as short as the other girls and didn't keep her buttons primly buttoned as they got older. All that aside, it was very much within her usual character to defend someone who didn't have the ability to defend themselves, even if it was Draco Malfoy.

"I'm fine," she brushed Harry off. "We need to get to the trial."

"Are you su-" Harry started, but stopped when he caught the frown on her face. Ever since the Final Battle, and the argument from the first Full Moon, Harry had been concerned about both Hermione and Ron. Ron was grieving Fred, of course so he tended to stay closer to home, but it was more than that. He still looked at Hermione and Harry like they were going to jump each other at any moment.

When Ron came into the house, he expected her to apologise, something she would not be doing. Hermione wasn't interested in being treated like she was a prostitute for having sexual urges, so she'd taken to going out into Muggle London when she knew he'd be around. He'd never apologised, so she hadn't deemed him worthy of her energy as a romantic partner. Kissing him had never felt exactly right anyway.

Sometimes when she did get stuck in the same place as him, she'd catch the way he looked at her arm. It wasn't quite disgust, but he looked extremely uncomfortable with them. She'd taken to making sure she was wearing long sleeves or a bandage whenever she went out in the Wizarding World.

She followed Harry through the Floo to the Ministry. They'd been granted access through Kingsley's personal Floo to avoid the Media Circus. Kingsley was sitting with Andromeda Tonks and baby Teddy, sipping tea. Harry went straight to Andromeda, taking Teddy and cooing about "his favourite godson."

Hermione took a seat across from Kingsley and used Kingsley's French press to brew herself a cup of coffee. She was constantly glad for the man's African heritage as it always promised a cup of coffee. She, like any Brit, enjoyed her tea, but Merlin, something about a strong cup of coffee…

"Tired?" Andromeda asked softly. Hermione nodded and sipped her coffee greedily. "I wanted to thank you," she continued, "for speaking for Draco and Narcissa."

"Of course," Hermione said, "Harry and I didn't even consider not speaking for them. The reason we're all here today is because of those two."

Andromeda nodded, and Hermione politely pretended not to see the tears pooling in her eyes. Andromeda, like many women of her generation and social status, abhorred the idea of showing weakness in public. She'd reconnected with her sister and met her nephew while they were on house arrest the past two months. Lucius had been held in a cell in the Ministry before his trial.

Hermione had spent almost every waking moment since June's Full Moon working on a plan for the Malfoys trial. She'd looked at the laws and tried to find any example she could to help them have a lighter, fairer sentence. Overall, she was horrified by the way the laws were written. There was no true justice to speak of, it was a lot of crotchety old men who made ludicrous decisions based on their feelings.

Kingsley cleared his throat, pulling her from her musings on the Justice system, "I wanted to give you all an idea on what to expect." The three adults in the room looked at him. "Lucius has already been sentenced to three consecutive life sentences in Azkaban, for his role in the First War, breaking out of Azkaban, and his actions over the past few years."

Hermione silently cheered, she could see redemption for Draco and his mother, but Lucius Malfoy was something else entirely. "What are we facing?" Andromeda asked.

"The Wizengamot is split pretty evenly in both cases. The evidence against both is fairly circumstantial, but most of the trials have ended with harsh punishments," he said, folding his hands in front of him.

"When this is all over," Hermione huffed, "we really need to overhaul the Magical Justice System, it's barbaric."

"I agree," he responded, with a smirk. "We have about twenty minutes before you're expected down there. I have an escort for you, Andromeda if you want to follow me. Harry, Hermione, my personal guard, Dorian will be back up to get you when it's time." Andromeda took Teddy from Harry and followed Kingsley out the door.

"We're doing the right thing, right?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Hermione said, "don't let Ron's attitude convince you we aren't!"

They sat in contemplative silence for the remainder of their wait. If she were honest with herself, she spent the majority of the time trying to decide if she could forgive Ron. She tried not to compare him to Dream Draco, but she couldn't help herself. Ron never asked her about her favourite books, or wanted to talk about them. Emotionally, they were both a mess of course so she tried not to consider that, but that wasn't fair to her either. She gave him the benefit of the doubt but he didn't even try to understand her.

Sexually… One of the most frustrating things about the sex was the lack of it. He seemed to be under the impression that she would be some blushing virgin who'd never thought about a penis before. It was almost like she was a prize he felt like he was given for his role in the war. He didn't meet her where she was.

Sure she was probably a little more dominant than Ron was used to, but Ron was so passive. After Viktor had eased her through her virginity, he'd been confident and encouraged her to take what she'd wanted. The adventures with Christopeher had had helped her really figure out what she liked. She didn't always want to lead, sometimes she wanted to be led.

She sighed, but Harry didn't look up from his own brooding, which if she had to guess was probably about the break-up with Ginny. It seemed like Ginny had just assumed they'd get back together, and was furious when Harry had let her down. She'd tried to corner Hermione and get her to convince Harry, but Hermione flat out refused to do that.

A knock sounded at the door and Dorian stepped in. "I'm here to escort you down to the Courtroom," he said softly. Hermione stood and brushed down her pencil skirt. Harry stood next to her and they followed the dark haired man out the door and to the lifts. She could feel the nerves bubbling in her stomach, but pushed them down.

She stood in front of the courtroom doors, and was ushered into the area for witnesses moments later. She settled between Harry and an anxious looking boy she thought was named Theodore Nott. He looked at the pair of them sharply and swallowed heavily. No doubt he thought they were here to speak against Draco.

Kingsley called them to order and began the proceedings. What followed was a long list of crimes against Narcissa Malfoy, including ten counts of harbouring fugitives, conspiracy to commit murder, conspiracy to incite sedition, fraud, and use of Unforgiveables. Theo stood, shaking and pale and told them about how she'd taken him in after his mother had been killed. He told them how she always protected everyone around her and that she, like many Pureblood wives was bound by her Marriage Contract to do what her husband told her, except when it came to the life and death of the Heir.

Hermione found herself looking at Narcissa, who looked smaller than she remembered. She was dressed in a distinctly muggle looking suit set, something Hermione had recommended to Andromeda to help distance the blond from her former Pureblood Supremacist connections. Narcissa was watching Theo speak, proudly, but looked resigned to her fate. She couldn't imagine leading that life, forced into a loveless marriage, not being able to go against your husband's decisions.

Harry stood when he was called and she squeezed his hand bracingly. He made his way stoically to the front. Theodore Nott sat down heavily beside her letting out a heavy sigh of resignation.

Harry cleared his throat. "This woman you see before you is the reason Voldemort is dead." Hermione could feel Theodore flinch beside her at the name. "Narcissa Malfoy lied to his face when asked whether I was alive or dead. As for her extensive list of 'crimes''" he sneered, "I'd like to see any of you stand up against the pressure the way she did."

The Wizengamot looked decidedly uncomfortable with the Chosen Ones' defence of the woman. By the time he'd finished talking a few minutes later, Theodore, who had been sitting stiffly, had relaxed significantly in his seat. Harry came back over and the Wizengamot called for a closed voting session.

For the next hour, Hermione sat with Andromeda, Teddy, and Harry in Kingsley's office. She spent most of the time holding Teddy, who was starting to get fussy from being out of the house for so long. Overall, he was a wonderful baby, but the Ministry of Magic wasn't really the place most babies wanted to be at any given time.

Finally, they were called back into the voting chambers. Andromeda sat between Hermione and Harry who was holding Teddy. Andromeda gripped onto her hand and didn't let go.

"Thank you for joining us again," one of the younger members of the Wizengamot said sharply. "We will now share our judgement on one Narcissa Malfoy."

Theodore shifted uncomfortably next to her and Andromeda tensed on her other side. "All in favour of a guilty verdict on all counts, raise your wands."

Many of the wands went up, and Hermione felt a pit sink in her stomach. The vast majority of people who were charged with her crimes spent multiple years in Azkaban and paid heavy fines on top.

Kingsley stood, "As the Minister of Magic, I move to separate the fraud, sedition, and Unforgivable counts from the sentencing."

"Seconded!" called another voice.

"Very well," the original speaker responded, not seeming especially bothered by the change. "All in favor of finding Narcissa Malfoy guilty of ten counts of harbouring fugitives and conspiracy to commit murder, please raise your wands."

Almost every wand in the room went up. Hermione wasn't totally sure what this meant. It seemed as though the Wizengamot was willing to be flexible with the verdict, but she wasn't sure what that meant when it came to sentencing.

"In regards to Mrs. Malfoy's sentencing," another voice, this one of an old man who Hermione thought was a Fawley, wheezed. "The Wizengamot sentences Narcissa Malfoy to ten years on House Arrest, two full years without use of a wand, 150 years of monitored wand use, and fines totalling 200,803 galleons."

Hermione felt both Theo and Andromeda relax slightly on either side of her. "That's almost a million pounds," Andromeda whispered to Harry. Hermione could barely hear them as her brain was buzzing. If Narcissa had gotten off with that sentence, she hoped that they could accomplish something similar for Draco.

"We will now take a one and a half hour recess for lunch before the trial of Draco Lucius Malfoy," Kingsley's voice boomed.

Andromeda handed Teddy to Harry as she went to meet Narcissa in holding. She'd offered to let Narcissa and Draco stay at the Tonks' townhouse if the trial went in their favour. Neither Harry nor Hermione wanted to intrude on the sisters' time so they'd agreed to watch Teddy while Andromeda greeted her sister. Narcissa was supposed to speak at Draco's trial and Hermione was sure that she wanted to make sure she was cleaned up before she spoke.

Hermione followed Harry back up the elevators to Kingsley's office. When they arrived, Kingsley was already sitting behind his desk, looking tired. He conjured a playpen for Teddy who was looking sleepily around the office. Harry set him down and the baby was asleep faster than Hermione thought possible. Moments later, food was delivered by Kingsley's secretary. Kingsley set out the take out containers of curry so they could all grab some food.

The adults barely spoke during the break, not wanting to interrupt Teddy's nap. Hermione couldn't help the nerves bubbling in her stomach. She had to force herself to eat, her Healer had been concerned about the signs of malnutrition from the year on the run. She'd never been particularly small, and even during their time in the tent, even though she'd lost weight, she would still be described as curvy.

Over the past month and half she'd noticed that the moon pretty dramatically affected her appetite. The New Moon, like today, really curbed it. She couldn't help but close her eyes after she'd finished her lunch, giving into the urge to nap. She was bloody tired and she wanted to be at her best before she spoke for Draco Malfoy, a sentiment she refused to think about any further.

When she felt Harry gently shaking her, she sat up quickly, wand already in hand. Harry, who had very similar instincts to her own, had stepped back almost immediately after shaking her. Hermione blinked a few times and after deciding that they were all safe, stood and stretched.

"We have to leave in about ten minutes," Harry said, quietly. Hermione conjured a mirror and fixed her makeup, pulling her hair into a half up, half down style. She turned to Harry who was rocking a still sleeping Teddy gently. "You ready?" he asked. She just nodded. She felt like if she spoke she would vomit from her nerves.

They met Andromeda, and an anxious looking Narcissa and Theodore at the doors. Harry handed Teddy to Andromeda and led the way into the room. Theodore and Narcissa followed a few paces behind, Hermione was sure this was another political move, but her eyes were drawn to a pale looking Draco Malfoy.

He had large, dark bags under his eyes. His face looked drained of colour, the scar across his face, standing out starkly. His eyes widened when he caught sight of her and he barely spared a glance at the others. Somewhere inside of her, she was pleased by his attention, but it also brought up a lot of unresolved feelings of inadequacy that she wasn't prepared to examine at this moment.

She turned away from him and settled next to Harry, gripping his hand. Andromeda settled on her other side, Narcissa and Theodore following behind. She looked back at Draco, who's eyes were zeroed in on her and Harry's clasped hands. She felt herself flush but suppressed the urge to let go of Harry's hand.

"We are gathered here today for the trial of Draco Lucius Malfoy," Kingsley said from his seat in front of the court. "Mr. Malfoy is charged with conspiracy to commit murder, use of Unforgiveables, ten counts of harbouring fugitives, and conspiracy to incite sedition."

"We will hear from our first witness, Narcissa Malfoy."

Narcissa stood and walked stoically to the front of the room. Draco's eyes finally left Hermione's grip on Harry's hand and tracked his mother as she walked down to the floor of the courtroom.

"Good afternoon," she said, respectfully. "I am here to explain a bit more about my son's situation. He was forcibly Marked when he was a minor, under threat of death for himself and me, his mother. Upon receiving his Mark, he was tortured and forced to watch my torture. During his Sixth Year at Hogwarts, he received regular threats and painful torture to encourage compliance. At no point was he in charge of who was in our house, and had no role in the rise or growth of the man previously known as Lord V-Vold-Voldemort."

She sucked in a breath after her stutter and cleared her throat. "I would request as his legal guardian at the time, that I and his father, Lucius Abraxas Malfoy take on his counts of harbouring fugitives and conspiracy to incite sedition."

There was some buzzing in the Wizengamot. Kingsley raised an eyebrow and nodded, "All in favour or removing the charges of harbouring fugitives and conspiracy to incite sedition from the trial of Draco Lucius Malfoy?"

About half of the wands were raised when another person stood. "I would request that we hear from the remaining speakers before we make a decision on the charges," the man she thought was Fawley said.

"Very well, do you have anything else to add, Mrs. Malfoy?" Kingsley said, turning back to the woman in question.

"Only that the boy you see before you was one who wanted to protect his family at all costs. Although he may have committed crimes, he's done everything under extreme duress," she said, voice breaking near the end.

Narcissa walked away stoically, sending a small smile to her son. Draco watched her walk away, eyes settling back on Hermione when she'd sat down. Next up was Theodore, who spoke of Draco's unwillingness to complete his task, his terrible mental state during Sixth Year and the multiple times he took the fall for the members of Dumbledore's Army during their Seventh Year.

"I have letters from Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Garrick Ollivander in his defence," Theodore finished. "A copy of each has been provided to you." The Wizengamot spent the next few minutes reviewing their own copies of the provided letters.

Harry stood next and made his way to the front of the room where he told the court about how Draco had lowered his wand when it came to the death of Dumbledore. He told how Dubledore and Snape had conspired to solidify Snape's place with the Death Eaters. Hermione could barely tear herself away from Draco. He'd finally stopped looking at her and was watching Harry with a shocked sort of awe.

Harry moved towards their seats and Hermione stood, steeling herself for the looks that she was already receiving. She didn't dislike attention, but she'd found that she was intimidated by the formality of the proceedings. She made eye contact with Draco. She could swear his pupils dilated as she began to walk towards where he was sitting in the middle of the court.

"Er, thank you for allowing me to speak," she said, clearing her throat. She could still feel his eyes glued to her back. "For those who don't know me, my name is Hermione Granger." There was a light tittering in the group, of course they knew her, but she'd gotten in enough trouble for sounding too conceited in the past and didn't want anything ruining her speech.

"Draco Malfoy and I are not friends," she continued, "in fact I'd say we've always been closer to enemies at worst, rivals at best. He was the one who taught me the word Mudblood," she made sure her arm, where the word in question was carved, was visible to her audience. Looking around the Wizengamot, she could see many faces who looked like they hoped she was going to destroy the man behind her.

"When Harry, Ron and I were brought to Malfoy Manor, he refused to identify us, no matter how hard his Father and Aunt tried to force him. This provided us the opportunity to escape and complete our mission from Dumbledore, eventually allowing us to end the War."

"His refusal to identify us surprised me at the time, but if I'm honest, I'd been seeing the changes in Draco Malfoy long before that moment. I've never seen someone who looked so torn apart as he did during our Sixth Year, it was obvious to anyone who paid attention that something terrible was happening to him. Yet again, it came to the children to fight in an adult war. Because of all of our actions the War was brought to a close."

Many of the members of the Wizengamot shuffled uncomfortably. "During the Final Battle," she continued, "I was being attacked by Fenrir Greyback," she could swear that she heard a growl from behind her, but decided that it was just her subconscious reminding her of the horrible wolf. "Draco Malfoy stopped his attack and healed my wounds to the best of his abilities. Greyback marked me in a way that will forever follow me. Although I am no werewolf, I will bear his scars as well as this carving from Bellatrix LeStrange for the rest of my life."

"Going forward, I urge you to consider yourself at Sixteen and Seventeen. What would you do if you'd been brainwashed for your entire life into one way of believing. Would you have the courage to stand against everything you knew for what you'd learned was right? I see that in this young man behind me," she turned to look at him, and saw there were tears running down his face. "This isn't the face of a scapegoat for your failure to protect us."

She spun on her heel and marched back to her seat, sitting down heavily. The entire room was silent enough to hear a pin drop and Hermione was rather pleased with herself. Draco Malfoy hadn't looked up, but his shoulders shook lightly in his seat.

"We will now take time to discuss the sentence of Draco Lucius Malfoy," Kingsley said.

It was a shockingly short deliberation. It felt like Hermione had just made it out of the chamber, and been wrapped in a hug by Narcissa Malfoy, who was crying and thanking her profusely when they were called back in.

The witch from earlier spoke again, "All in favour of removing the charges of harbouring fugitives and conspiracy to incite sedition from the list of crimes of one Draco Lucius Malfoy, please raise your wands." Hermione blinked a few times when she saw almost every wand raise.

"All in favour of finding Draco Lucius Malfoy Giuly of Conspiracy to Commit murder as well as use of the Unforgivable Curses, please raise your wands," she continued a beat later. Again, almost unanimously the wands were raised, and Hermione felt her stomach fall. This was usually grounds for a life sentence in Azkaban.

A voice she hadn't heard yet, a middle aged wizard, spoke. "The Wizengamot has found Draco Lucius Malfoy guilty of the crimes he has been accused of. That being said, due to his age as well as the clear signs of regret we have decided to adjust the normal punishment." Hermione chewed her lip and gripped Harry's hand nervously. "Mr. Malfoy is sentenced to two years on house arrest, five years of monitored wand use a fine of 5,020 galleons, and the requirement that he sits and passes all NEWTS that he was enrolled in during his 7th year." Hermione felt a swoop in her stomach.

They had done it.

---

Saturday, July 18, 1998 - Waning Crescent

She sat in the hotel suite in Sydney that Harry had rented staring at the generic picture of a beach. A large part of her wanted to go back in time and never to come to look for her parents. But she had. Of course she had. They were her parents. She loved them so much. They'd always been so supportive of her Magic and the choices she'd made.

The whole school year was spent writing letter after letter, keeping them updated on everything that went on. She'd told them all about the good, the bad, and the ugly. In fact, her Mum is the only person in the world who knew about her crush on Draco Malfoy. She let out another sob. Now it was only her that knew her secret, no one else in the world. No one to do her hair or gossip about the boys at school. No one to read books with or discuss the unexpected twists and turns in their monthly Father-Daughter Book Club.

Harry came into the room and sat next to her, wrapping his arms around her. "They never even got to know you," she sobbed, "but they loved you too, Harry."

He didn't say anything, just rocked her back and forth. After a long while, her tears began to slow down and she dried her eyes, wiping them on the sleeve of her long sleeved T-shirt.

"Did you know they wanted to adopt you?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" Harry said, blinking at her.

"Well after I told you about the Dursleys, Mum reached out to a friend she has at NSPCC and mentioned your family life. It was the strangest thing, she like totally forgot about it after their conversation. Mum brought it up to her again and she was concerned and then completely forgot again."

Harry looked stunned. "Wha-Why would they do that for me?" he asked.

Hermione was surprised by his response. "Because you're my best friend, Harry," she said matter of factly. "We started to suspect that someone was erasing the records. There is no way that the Dursleys' nosy neighbours never filed a report about you. From what you said they weren't nice to anyone, especially you."

"Nah," Harry said with a shrug, "no one really noticed me."

"Harry," Hermione said, staring at him, "there is absolutely no way that your teachers, your doctor, OR your neighbours, never noticed what was happening."

He just sort of shrugged and looked embarrassed. "Oh I'm not meaning to embarrass you," Hermione said with a sigh, "I just wanted you to know that even after Mum's friend mysteriously forgot about the investigation, we didn't. We spent the whole summer before Third Year figuring out other ways to help you."

"Why didn't you tell me all this?" he asked quietly.

"Well I didn't want to embarrass you and Mum and Dad didn't want to get your hopes up. All this is to say that they did love you, even if you didn't know them. That's how they were though. They always wanted to help everyone."

Harry looked thoughtful, "I'm disappointed that I never got to know them."

"I just…" she felt her eyes start to fill with tears again. "I'm just so mad at myself. I should have known that Obliviation was irreversible. I should have found something else. I-"

"Mi, you were a kid, honestly, we still are. I've definitely gone back and forth about Dumbledore over the last year, and I'm not sure he was the bad guy, but he wasn't the good guy either. I can only assume he erased your Mum's friends memories and that he knew about your parents. For Godric's sake I'm pretty sure he knew about Malfoy and didn't help him!"

Hermione was crying softly, "I should have told Remus or-"

"Mi, no, we did all we could. I've been beating myself up that I wasn't there for you, that I didn't notice. I was so caught up-"

Hermione let out a wet laugh, "Harry Potter you had the soul of an evil man inside of you, I'm just glad you're here now."

The two of them sat for a while longer in silence, staring out the window. Hermione was glad that Ron hadn't come. Molly was refusing to let any of them leave the Burrow so soon after Fred, but Ron had also made some comments about her being worried for nothing.

"It's not like they've died, 'mione!" he said, annoyed at her pacing one afternoon. "You'll just wave your bloody wand and presto! They'll be back and you can go on your skiing vacations and whatever else the Muggles enjoy."

Hermione had gaped at him. She'd chosen to have this conversation with him alone because she didn't want to set him off about Harry coming along. She'd hoped that he'd come with her and be by her side, giving him another chance to show that he was at least a true friend. Unsurprisingly, he had bungled this one too.

"We don't know that, Ron! They don't have Magic so I don't know how this large of an Obliviation will come off or if it will come off."

"You're the bloody Brightest Witch of Our Age, 'mione, I'm sure you'll do it just fine," he added over his shoulder as he made his way into the kitchen where Harry was preparing dinner

Hermione stared at his retreating figure. How could she have thought she loved him? He wasn't even a good friend. He'd taken her very valid concerns and stomped all over them.

"Let's do something," Harry said abruptly. "I've never been out of the UK, and you need something to distract you for a bit."

She hesitated, but after looking at his eager face she nodded her head.

"Great, let's do the full Sydney tour, all the things we have to see and do from all the tourism books!"

Hermione nodded and stood, following him out of the hotel and into the city. What followed did get her mind off her parents, and honestly watching Harry experience travelling for the first time was pretty exceptional.

By the time they'd collapsed into their beds that evening, Hermione had decided that she wasn't going to give up on fixing her parents. She didn't know what she'd have to do to get them back, but she didn't even have her NEWTS, there were so many more avenues she could research. She'd reached out to the British Mind Experts but she was sure she could find others to consult with.

---

Sunday, September 6, 1998 - Full Moon

School had been… weird to say the least. She'd shown up on the first day back without Harry or Ron, who'd both chosen to join the Aurors. Hermione privately thought that neither of them would enjoy the work.

Harry would do better as a professor, getting his DADA Mastery, but she decided that he needed to discover that for himself. She also thought Ron wouldn't be a good fit for the Aurors, Kingsley and the head of the DMLE, a woman named Aurelia Evers, who was an American Auror who'd been brought over to help clean out the department.

"Thank you for joining us," the stern looking woman said, looking between the three of them. "My name is Aurelia Evans, the new Head of the DMLE. I have been asked to offer all three of you the opportunity to skip the NEWT and entrance exam requirements if you'd like to join the Aurors."

All three looked at her stunned, "If I'm honest, I'm generally against this sort of nepotism, but was encouraged by the Minister to meet with each of you."

"I-," Hermione said after she finished talking, "I'm not especially interested in being an Auror, I'd also like to finish my last year at Hogwarts and earn my NEWTS. Thank you so much for the opportunity."

"Very well Miss Granger, you may be excused then. As for you two, if you're amenable, I'd like to have individual interviews and run a few challenges to see if you'd be a good fit."

Hermione had made her way out of the room and decided to go back to Grimmauld place rather than wait for the other two.

By some magic, both the boys had made it through Evans' interview process. Harry had come home bruised and exhausted. He'd barely eaten his dinner before he went off to bed. She hadn't heard about Ron's experience, but thought that it was probably rather similar to Harry's.

Being back at Hogwarts was nothing like she expected, honestly. No Harry or Ron, and Ginny was mostly ignoring her, which Hermione was sure was because of Harry. So, she spent almost every day with Neville and Dean but had begun to form a better relationship with the Patil twins as well.

She couldn't help but feel disappointed that Draco Malfoy did not join them this year. She'd heard from Luna that he'd decided to take his NEWTS remotely. She'd been holding out hope that maybe things could change now that he was free to be whoever he wanted.

She'd noticed that Theodore Nott and Blaise Zabini were often hanging out in their newly created Eighth Year Common Room. They mostly kept to themselves, but seemed friendly with Luna and Neville. She hadn't gotten up the courage to talk to them yet, but she knew she wanted to soon.

She heard a throat clear behind her seat in the library and turned to see who was intruding on her study time. "Er, hello Granger," Theodore Nott said awkwardly.

"Good afternoon, Theodore," she said . "I'm just about to dive into our Runes assignment so I cannot spend much time chatting."

"Oh," he cringed, "Gods I'm the worst choice for this," he groaned to himself. "Draco wanted to ask if he could send you a letter."

Hermione tried to ignore the butterflies that fluttered around her stomach. "Oh I- of course," she said.

He looked relieved. "Could I work on Runes with you? I've been having a hard time with a few of the more antiquated translations."

Hermione held in her sigh, and nodded. One of the things she appreciated about this year was not having to help Harry and Ron with their homework. Unfortunately, she'd promised McGonagall that she'd work towards Inter-House Unity. Theodore sat down and pulled his bag into his lap.

"So I was working on the extra credit translation for the Hieroglyphics to Elder Futhark to modern English and I got stuck in the third line," he hadn't even looked up from where he was, presumably, fishing his parchment and the book out of his bag.

Hermione gaped at him. Apparently she'd underestimated Theodore Nott. Finally he got his papers out and laid them in front of her. "Right here," he pointed and then looked at her questioningly.

To be perfectly frank, she was still stuck on the idea that she may have found a study partner who was close to her own level. She blinked at him. His face blanked out and he began to pull his parchment back. "Oh I uh, I'm sorry I must have read the situation wrong, I didn't mean to intrude on your study time. I'll just-"

"No!" she practically shouted. He looked a bit stunned by her grip on his wrist and the slightly manic expression that was probably on her face. "I mean I'm glad you're here, I was just surprised, I didn't think anyone else but Dr-Malfoy did the extra credit."

Theo flushed lightly, "Yeah I, uh asked Babbling not to make a fuss about it. I'm not one for a lot of attention in school."

That was the understatement of the century, Hermione thought. If he was doing the full extra credit that meant he was just as good, if not better than her at Runes.

After they'd finished their Runes and started their next assignment, he turned to her. "Feeling antsy?" he asked, gesturing to her bouncing left leg.

"Yeah I, er…." she trailed off awkwardly. A lot of people get nervous about werewolves.

"Oh it's no big deal, I have a good friend who is a werewolf, you should have seen him at the total eclipse earlier this year. The penumbrals seem like they're a little easier." Hermione just stared at him again. Who was Theodore Nott?

"I guess yeah I have been feeling a little less energised than on the past two," she said with a shrug.

"My friend slept almost the whole day of the total eclipse. It really messed up his whole day," Theodore said with a chuckle.

"So you don't mind that he's a wolf?" she asked.

"Ah no, he's had a pretty amazing mentor figure so he's in a really good place with his wolf," he said with a shrug.

"But from everything I've read-" she started.

He held up his hand, "But not everything can be learned in a book, Golden Girl."

She groaned. "Oh, I hate that nickname, I'd say I'm closer to umber but Umber Girl doesn't have quite the same ring to it."

He snorted. "Alright, brightest Witch of Our Age?"

"Ugh, can't I just be Hermione?" she said.

"Only if you call me Theo," he said.

---

That evening she was sitting with Pavarti and Padma, when a majestic owl swept into the room.

"Open it!" Parvati said excitedly. "Maybe it's Ron, apologising!"

Hermione very sincerely doubted that. Ron, even at his best, wasn't one for grand gestures. The owl and the paper were both too high quality for Ron even if he was grovelling. Hermione chewed on her lip but reluctantly pulled the wax seal off the back of the envelope.

She pulled out a piece of parchment that matched the envelope it had come in. She unfolded it slowly, admiring the beautiful parchment.

Granger,

I need to start this letter with a sincere thank you. I believe that your words at my trial irrevocably changed the tides. I find myself forever in your debt, something that a Malfoy doesn't say lightly. I am not sure that words can ever express my gratitude for your words and actions. Know that I will be doing everything I can to change the face of the Malfoy name.

In addition to my heartfelt thanks, I need to lay out a list of apologies to you for my awful behaviour towards you in the past. I could spend hours explaining how my upbringing taught me to see you, but I know that you already know. You've seen the horrors of those beliefs firsthand, something I'm not sure I will ever be able to forgive myself for. Here is a non-exhaustive list of things that I need to apologise to you for:

- Calling you m**b***d for the first time

- Never complimenting you on your ability to outsmart anyone in class

- Wishing death upon you when the Basilisk was free

- Mocking you during the chaos after the Quidditch World Cup

- Hexing you and making your teeth grow

- Commenting on your hair ad-nauseum

- Spreading rumours about you and Potter to Rita Skeeter

- Not apologising to you in person

I find that I don't have the Gryffindor Courage you're infamous for when it comes to this apology. I hope one day to be able to say these things to you in person, but would understand if you never wish to see me again.

I wish you all the luck in your final year at Hogwarts and any future endeavours you take on.

Forever in Your Debt,

Draco Lucius Malfoy

Lord Patriarch Malfoy

Lord Patriarch Black

Hermione gaped at the piece of paper before her. She'd just told Theo that Draco could write here a letter and here was the proof. He must have had it written already before Theo asked.

"Who was it from, Mi?" she asked after Hermione hadn't said anything.

"Draco Malfoy," she whispered.

"WHAT!?" Parvati shrieked, pulling the parchment from Hermione's slack hands. The twins read through the pages and shrieked at the end.

"You have a Life Debt from Draco Malfoy!" Padma said, "Do you have any idea how big of a deal that is?"

"No, but I suppose you're going to tell me," Hermione said with a smirk.

"You could ask for anything and he would almost literally have to give it to you!" Parvati said in awe. "That's a huge deal. I didn't realise he was the Malfoy and Black Patriarch."

"His mother is a Black," Hermione said offhandedly. She wasn't sure she was happy with the idea of holding this over him. Something about the idea of a Life Debt being essentially an all encompassing, undefined promise was intimidating.

"Are you going to write him back?" Padma asked after a few moments.

"I-I don't know," she said truthfully. She didn't really feel as though she had anything to say to him. She hadn't forgiven him for his behaviour when they were younger, even if something did draw her to him. She didn't think she was in any sort of place to even have that conversation with him at this point.

---

Rou found herself in the forest as she usually did during the Moons. She could sense Vali so she ran through the underbrush, soaking up her time in the Moonlight. Finally, she heard him stalking her through the woods. She pretended that she couldn't hear him as he prepared to pounce.

Once he was in the air, she spun around and rolled so that he was pinned under her. "Ah looks like my mate has been practising," he huffed.

"Yes well, not all of us have the ability to get out of our human skin during the moon," she huffed back, collapsing next to him on the forest floor.

"How has she been? Is Hogwarts alright?" Vali asked.

"She's not doing well by any means, but I'm hopeful for her. The Memory Charm on her parents are not looking like they can be removed, but we still have things to discover," Rou said, resting her muzzle on her paws.

"Ah," Vali said quietly. "Parents can be difficult. My human's Father was… is not a good man, but his mother is wonderful, you'd love her."

"Do we have parents?" she asked.

"Well some wolf-blood's do, but many are adopted by others, like my human and I. My albatriark, adopted both my human and I. In the clan he was raised in, a lot of people choose to become wolf-blood, but it's always a choice given to them, never forced."

Rou looked at him thoughtfully. "My human wouldn't like that idea. She doesn't like that I am here."

"She doesn't like you?" Vali asked, surprised.

"I think that's too strong of a word for her feelings," Rou said. "She doesn't understand and she only wants to read books, she doesn't want to understand."

"Ah," Vali said, "I won't lie, my human is disappointed in that. He'd hoped…" he barked out a laugh. "He doesn't want me to tell you, he thinks you'll tell her and she'll decide that he's a monster."

"Oh I won't tell her anything," Rou said playfully. "All she's going to remember is us playing in the woods and curled up together, nothing specific. Mostly she refuses to believe that I'm sentient. I think it's easier for her."

Vali looked at her sadly. "Draco's worried about her. His greatest friend has told him that she's unsettled."

"That's a good word to describe her, she doesn't know what she wants out of almost anything in her life," Rou agreed.

"And her boyfriend?" Vali asked, attempting to be surreptitious.

"Boyfriend?" Rou asked.

"Potter?" Vali asked, an edge to his voice.

Rou barked out a laugh, "Harry? Oh no, Harry is more like her brother, there will never be anything between them."

Vali looked relieved. "We'd thought- Weasley then?"

Rou looked affronted, "As if I'd ever let her be with him. He's a rude boy who doesn't care for her the way he should. No they're not together, and whenever she thinks about it, I send lots of uncomfortable feelings her way."

Vali looked delighted. "So there is no one?"

"Just Dream Draco," Rou said with a huff.

"Dre- She really thinks they're just dreams?" Vali asked, Rou could hear Draco's voice lacing the wolf's.

"She refuses to believe that they're not. She is stubborn. Like I said, she doesn't even realise I'm sentient, even though I've tried to talk to her. She's been hearing things from the older Weasley who was also scratched by Greyback."

Vali growled. "She shouldn't be around another wolf."

"Don't worry, he's mated to a half-Veela," Rou said, placatingly.

That thought calmed both the wolf and the human down considerably. "Do you think she'll ever come around?"

"I hope so," Rou said sadly.

---

Saturday, September 19, 1998- Waning Crescent

That morning, Hermione woke feeling hopeful, it was her Golden Birthday after all. She threw her covers back and saw a pile of gifts at the foot of her bed. She looked off to the side and saw about a hundred envelopes piled on her desk. Well that was unexpected.

She pulled the first gift towards her, it was a poorly wrapped present from Harry. Inside was a first edition of "Memory and Magic," a book she'd been trying to get her hands on. She opened the card.

Mi,

I know it's not the most fun of gifts, but I thought you'd enjoy it nonetheless. Nev said that you'd all be going to Hogsmeade this afternoon, so I'll meet you there for a pint. Happy Birthday!

Love,

Harry

The next one was from Bill and Fleur. Hermione chuckled when she opened a small diorama of the night sky that showed it as it actually would look that evening.

Hermione,

Bill and I wanted to make sure that you were keeping track of your cycle. We're looking forward to hosting you at Shell Cottage soon. We miss you during our bonfires. We're going to be trying for a baby soon, so hopefully we'll have some news for you during the Holidays! From your last letter, it sounded like school is going alright for you. I know it won't ever be the same (nothing will), but that's what we strong, independent witches do, carry on! Happiest of nineteenth birthdays, only one more before you're no longer a teenager!

With Love,

Fleur (and Bill)

From Luna a strange pair of hoop earrings that had small metal creatures marching around the hoops. They looked a bit like they belonged in the "Little Critter" books. They were sort of cute in a very Luna way, but Hermione had made a promise to herself that she would give Luna the benefit of the doubt so she found herself setting them on her bedside table to wear that day.

Hermione,

You always wanted to know what Nargles looked like, so I created a spell that would make them appear around your earrings. The Nargles should move faster and warm up a bit when you're thinking of something or someone that you love.

Luna

Most of the rest of her friends gave her a series of books, one on rare nocturnal plants from Neville, a box set of the Anne of Green Gables books from Dean, even Seamus had gotten her a book on Irish Muggle Fairy Tales based on Wizarding Truth. She was surprised to get a book from Theo, a Compendium on Pureblood Rituals. She smiled at the pile of books, chuckling when she saw the Nargles on the earring practically sprinting around the hoops.

She got to the last gift, which was impeccably wrapped in black paper with gold ribbon. She'd saved this one for last, a small part of her hoping that she'd get something from Ron, maybe he'd finally come around? Maybe they could start over?

She pulled open the card which had a stamp of authenticity from Gringotts.

Ms. Granger,

We at Gringotts have been asked to send this package to you as the sender wishes to remain anonymous. In addition to this gift, the ban that was placed upon you at Gringotts has been lifted, thanks, in part, to a generous donation on your behalf.

Inside you will find a piece of heirloom jewellery that has been rigorously tested by our senior curse breakers for any and all curses. The following are the only remaining spells on the piece:

Protection Ward - should defend against any minor, malicious jinx or curse

Poison Detection - should detect any well known poisons

Anti-Confundus Charm - should prevent a Confundus from being cast upon you

Anti-Memory Alteration - should prevent any memory related spells from affecting you

Stinging Hex - should shock anyone who attempts to touch you without your consent

The giver requested that we list all of the spells and inform you that it is a gift to you with no strings or other requirements. They hoped that you would appreciate the piece. We performed a test with Veritaserum to verify the authenticity of the claim as well as have a binding contract detailing the full agreement that was made.

Gringotts Bank

Hermione wasn't quite sure what to think about the letter. She opened the package and gasped when she saw the beautiful necklace inside. It was simple, but she could feel how powerful it was. It was a simple gold chain, whose links were so small, it almost looked like it was a single strand of gold. On the end hung a small tear shaped sapphire, flanked by two round opals that reminded her of her and Dream Draco's engagement ring. It was all so beautiful and delicate, it was obvious that whoever had gotten it for her had put a lot of thought and care into the piece.

She almost reached out to touch it before thinking better of it. She stood and wrapped her robe around her, peeking over at a still sleeping Pavarti. She smiled softly when she saw that Padma had come to sleep with her as they both often had nightmares. They always said Twin Magic always lessened the sharp edges of the dreams.

It was still extremely early, but she knew that the Headmistress would already be awake. She padded her way through the long, silent hallways, thinking about what she wanted from her life. It seemed that post war, most of her life had been thrown into chaos. Nothing that she'd expected had happened. She'd been forced to re-evaluate her five and ten year plans.

She briefly thought about Ron, but that felt so wrong she could barely handle it. She chuckled to herself. She still held out hope that he'd come to his senses and apologise, but she wouldn't let him ruin her day.

As for her career, she still had many goals. When she was younger she thought she'd like to be the Minister of Magic, but after watching Kingsley navigate the tense political field, she thought she'd prefer something else. She had goals, of course she'd decided that she wanted to take on a job at the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. She wanted to fight for House Elf rights, and make things more equitable for all Magical Creatures.

Finally, she was standing in front of the Headmistress' office. She straightened her spine and knocked on the door quickly walking up the steps when the door opened. ."Miss Granger, what can I help you with at this early hour, on your birthday no less," she said, wrapped in her tartan dressing gown and matching hat.

"I received a gift in the mail, I ran my own tests, and the letter came from Gringotts, but I didn't want to make any rash decisions before I had someone else check it," Hermione said, holding out the package and letter to the older woman.

McGonagall looked at both and waved her wand a few times. Muttering to herself. Finally after a few minutes she looked up. "This looks to be a very rare piece, Miss Granger. It is indeed what the goblins said it was, I would keep the deed and contract with your other important papers. There should be no harm for you to put it on."

Hermione swallowed, feeling a bubble of excitement erupt in her stomach. She reached out with shaking hands and touched the necklace. It felt safe. It was warm, but not hot. It had a quiet thrum of Magic running through it. She looked for a latch, but couldn't find one.

"It should automatically open and close around your neck when you hold it up," McGonagall said softly, "Rare and beautiful Magic is at play with this piece."

Hermione held the necklace up and felt it open and close around her neck. It fell almost perfectly at her sternum. She looked down and smiled softly at the small sapphire that was sparkling merrily.

"You know, Miss Granger," McGonagall started, "often a wizard will gift a witch a set of jewellery as courting gifts. There is usually a set of necklace, earrings, bracelet, and ring. The different pieces are given as the couple moves through their courtship. The necklace is the interest gift, the bracelet the courting gift when they agree to start the formal courtship, the earrings are the betrothal gift, a promise for more, and of course the ring is the engagement announcement."

Hermione gaped at the older woman, her hand going to the necklace she'd just put on. "Is this?"

"No, like the letter and contract say, there are no requirements or other attachments. If you look here," she pointed to a line in the contract that said: This jewellery, and any that follows, need not be taken as a sign of intent or claim unless agreed upon by both the giver, NAME REDACTED and recipient, Hermione Jean Granger. "The giver wanted to assure you that they held no expectations for their gift. I wouldn't be surprised if they have some interest in you, but my guess is that they don't want anyone to know who they are as of yet."

---

Hermione had left shortly afterwards and made her way back to her room to change into some clothing that would be comfortable to go to Hogsmeade. When she entered her room, she found a dress laid out on the bed, Parvati and Padma sitting on Pavarti's bed excitedly.

"We wanted to surprise you before you woke up, but of course you beat us!" Padma said with a laugh.

"Oh. My. God," Parvati shrieked, running towards her. "Is this an-OW!" Hermione could feel that the necklace had let out a light shock. It seemed like more of a warning.

"I'm so sorry," Hermione said, pulling Pavarti's hand towards her, she cast a quick charm to soothe her fingers and looked up at her friend.

"Is that an Interest Gift?" Parvati asked.

"It's…" Hermione sighed and handed the letter to the girls. The two of them poured over the letter and contract.

"Hermione!" Padma said, pulling her to join them on Pavarti's bed. "Although it's not officially an Interest Gift, it is one. There aren't the usual attachments to it, but if you wear it there are bound to be people who think it is."

Hermione swallowed heavily, trying to decide if that was something she cared about. "It's not," she said firmly. "I'm a Muggleborn and proud of that and I say it's not, so it's not!"

The twins looked at each other but didn't say anything else.

"Well, we looked through your closet earlier this week and decided that you didn't have anything suitable to wear for your birthday, so we've decided that our present would be just that," Parvati said after a few minutes.

"And we've been working on our glamour spells if you'll let us work on them. We'd talked about learning some hair spells as well but we know your hair is…" Padma trailed.

Hermione felt a swell of gratitude. Her hair was sacred. She hesitated from letting anyone touch her hair. Knowing that Padma and Pavarti knew and respected that endeared them to her even more.

Over the years she'd learned all the things she needed to to keep her hair exactly how she'd wanted it. Protective styles and specific product recipes had been given a priority in her learning over the years. Her mother and her had spent most of the summer before Fourth Year combing through books looking for ones that talked about hair care that didn't focus on the pin straight hair that was so highly prized in British Wizarding society.

They'd eventually happened upon a braiding shop in Brixton that had a small Magical Sign that was invisible to Muggles. The sign said, "Ask us about our speciality, Morgana's Twists." Hermione had dragged her mother in and promptly questioned the poor shop girl.

"I'd like to know more about your Morgana's Twists," Hermione said breathlessly.

"Oh that'll be from Celeste," the young lady at the front desk said offhandedly. "She's only in on Wednesdays."

It was Saturday, but Jean Granger quickly agreed to bring Hermione back on Wednesday. That morning, Hermione was practically falling out of her chair at breakfast.

"Pumpkin, you're never going to make it anywhere if you give yourself a concussion at the breakfast table," Richard Granger had teased.

"But Dad," she groaned, "we're finally going to learn about my hair."

"She's right, Richard. Her hair isn't anything like mine. We have you and the Magic to thank," Jean said with a grin.

"Now I won't be blamed for my lushious brown locks!" Richard said in faux affront.

Richard was tall and broad, he entered a room and almost everyone took notice. He'd grown up in the East End and was constantly reminiscing about his time spent running through the streets. He'd been influenced to practise Dentistry when he watched the people around him have difficulties accessing proper healthcare. He was quick to say that he'd fallen in love with Jean the moment he saw her at University in the early 70s.

Jean's parents had moved the family to London from Jamaica in the early 60s. She'd always been smart and quick with a joke, but hadn't believed that she ever wanted to get married.

"I still hold that you conned me into our first date," Jean sniffed.

"I did no such thing!" Richard scoffed playfully. "I just bet you that you wouldn't be able to guess what my favourite colour was."

Jean rolled her eyes, as she always did at this point in the story. "No one else I'd ever met said Periwinkle," she said with a chuckle.

"I paid good money for that information," he said, "and it was the best money I've ever spent."

After breakfast they made their way to the braiding shop they'd found and Hermione introduced herself to Celeste. She wasn't totally sure what she'd been expecting, but the woman in front of her was not it.

Celeste was a tall, statuesque woman who had a sharp eye that seemed to take in everything around her all at once. She was wearing a brightly patterned dress that wrapped around her figure perfectly.

"So you're the one here for the Morgana Twists, eh?" she asked, looking curiously between Hermione and her mother.

"Well we have," Hermione looked around and dropped her voice to a whisper, "questions."

Celeste laughed and pulled Hermione and her mother into a separate room. "Questions you say?"

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione said, holding out her hand. "I'm a Muggleborn. This is my mum, Jean. We've had…trouble with my hair."

"It was like she hit puberty and nothing I did could help. We've tried all the usual things that work for my hair, but nothing seems to be settling for Hermione."

Celeste looked at Hermione thoughtfully, "May I?" she asked, reaching towards Hermione's bushy curls. Hermione nodded excitedly and waited as Celeste mumbled things, pulling at individual curls and massaging her scalp.

"We need to figure out which products will work," Celeste said after a while. "Our hair is different from your mother's or your British Wizarding friends. Each Witch or Wizard requires something different and is often specially formulated to work for them."

"Tell us everything," Jean said, notebook already prepared. What followed was the most information either of them had ever received on hair care. Many of the things they were doing were helpful, like silk bonnets or pillowcases, but the products they'd been using had mostly caused chaos on the delicate ecosystem of Hermione's hair.

Celeste ran a series of spells that she explained to Hermione to help them find the exact right formula for Hermione's specialised shampoo (only to be once a week or every other week), conditioner (to be used every other day if she was going for her natural curls), and curl cream (to be used after she left the shower), and braid balm (to be used when her hair was braided).

Jean purchased the specialised recipes for each after Celeste gave them directions on how to brew the different formulas in her cauldron. Hermione then happily sat as Celeste showed Jean how to braid her hair. They'd left the salon hours later with an appointment for the week before Hermione was set to go back to Hogwarts.

"Are you alright, Hermione?" Parvati asked, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Oh yes," Hermione said, she pulled the twins into a hug. "I just appreciate that you're so conscientious about my hair, most people don't even think about it."

Parvati snorted, "We saw the specialised potions you brought at the beginning of Fourth Year. Lav dared Lily Moon to try them and well… there is a reason she got a pixie cut that year."

Hermione gaped at them. "Did it really do that to her?"

"Well hair potions are usually quite specific to the user, if you spent the time and money getting them crafted to you, they were bound to damage someone else," Padma said with a shrug.

Hermione laughed, "I hope she was alright, I suppose that's why she sort of ignored me that year?"

Parvati grinned, "That surely didn't help. Now let's get you dressed and made up so we can get to Hogsmeade."

---

When the three made it to the private room at the Three Broomsticks, Hermione barely felt like herself. She was dressed in a green floral sundress and a pair of chunky black Doc Martens, she'd braided her hair and the twins had given her a brimmed hat that fit neatly on top.

Harry was the first person she saw, and she jogged over to him, wrapping him in a hug. She lifted him and spun him around, giggling when he stuck his arms out on either side like an aeroplane. Dean came next, spinning her around "Ohhhkay, Moesha," he teased.

She chuckled and hugged him as well.

"Happy birthday, Mi!" Neville said with a grin, "The twins did good!"

Parvati and Padma had already broken off to fill up their plates from the small buffet on the other side of the room. Luna came over and nodded approvingly at Hermione's earrings.

The rest of the afternoon was idyllic, she was surrounded by her friends, everyone laughing heartily and joking around.

---

When it was finally time to leave, she made her way out of the private room, stumbling on the door jam. She was caught by someone larger than her. She looked up and into the eyes of Ron.

"Oh! Ron!" she said, happily, "you're here."

He looked down at her and she could see the hint of the boy she'd had a crush on for all those years. "Happy birthday, 'mione," he slurred.

"H-Have you been drinking, Ron?" she asked, pulling away from him gently.

"Had to have some liquid courage to come," he said sheepishly. "I miss you, I know that we can work things out between us."

"I miss you too, Ron," she said softly.

"Can we, er, talk?" he asked.

"Sure," she said, following him out into the streets of Hogsmeade.

After a few steps, he pulled her towards an alley. "I love you, 'mione," he said, smiling at her. "I have since Fourth Year. I just never knew how to say it."

"I-" she started, but he just continued.

"Can't we just forget about our little argument from this summer? Can't you just be mine?" he pulled her in and kissed her wetly.

After a second she felt her necklace warm up in warning. She tried to pull back, but he held her more firmly against him. The necklace sent an almighty shock, causing him to yelp.

"Ron, I can't just forget about this summer!" she said taking a step back from him.

"You were just confused, I know you didn't mean to let Krum or that Muggle touch you, I'm sure you tried to say no, you can't help that they forced you," he said, manically now.

"They never!" Hermione said, affronted. "I was a fully consenting participant whenever I was with them, unlike this kiss with you."

"'mione," he pleaded. "Can't you see we're meant to be?"

"You have a lot of growing up to do if we're ever going to be together, Ronald Weasley!" she said loudly, turning on her heel and marching away from him.

"Well then you leave me no choice," he said darkly. "Obliviate!"

She gasped, preparing for the impact. She felt her necklace heat up on her neck. When nothing came, she turned around slowly. Ron was looking at her hopefully.

"Did you just try to obliviate me?" she whispered.

"No I would nev-" Ron started blinking innocently.

"I will never be with you, Ronald Weasley. I deserve better than that."

---

She opened the door to their cabin, wiping her eyes. Before her stood a dashing looking Draco Malfoy. He had flour all over his dark green sweater and had chocolate smudged on his cheek. He had flour handprints on his trousers and turned to look at her, guiltily.

"I wanted it all to be ready before you got here, but you're ear- Are you alright, Granger?" he asked, face shifting from his goofy grin to concern in a matter of seconds.

She let out a wail and ran towards him. He wrapped her in a hug and rocked them both back and forth. "What's wrong sweetheart?" he asked softly.

"Bloody Ronald Weasley is what's wrong!" she wept.

"What. Did. He Do?" Draco bit out.

"Nothing I shouldn't have expected," Hermione said.

"Sweetheart, tell me," he whispered into her hair.

"He kissed me, but my necklace shocked him away," she fingered the necklace in question. She looked up and watched his eyes darken as she brushed her fingers against the fine chain.

"He shouldn't kiss what isn't his," Draco purred, "hopefully now he's learned his lesson."

"You'd think he would," Hermione whispered. "After I pushed him off he-" she choked on a sob. "He-He tried to obliviate me."

"HE DID WHAT?" Draco shouted, pulling her tighter against his frame.

"But my necklace, it saved me," she said, resting her hands on his chest. He looked between the necklace and her eyes.

"I want to kiss you so badly, but I don't want you to think of h-" he started, but Hermione silenced him with a kiss of her own. She pushed him back towards the wall and groaned when he spun them, lifting her to pin her between himself and the wall.

"Hermione," he murmured against her neck. "I don't want to do it like this, I-"

"I think I'm in love with you, Draco," she said breathlessly.

"Fuck, witch I've been in love with you since before I even knew it was you," he panted, "but not like this. I've planned a whole evening for us. After all, my Golden Girl only has a Golden Birthday once."

He took a step back and straightened his clothing and hair, pulling her to sit at the table. "I just have to finish frosting your cake and then we can start our activities."

Hermione watched as he adorably frosted the cake, sticking his tongue out in concentration the way he would when he was measuring a particularly finicky ingredient in Potions. When he'd finally finished, he pushed her towards the bedroom.

"There is a bathing costume in there, we're going for a midnight swim, Granger."

She walked into the room and laughed out loud when she saw the absolutely ridiculous bathing costume he'd left her. It looked more like a baggy nightdress. She slid the thing on, allowing for another hearty laugh. Even her grandmother wouldn't be caught dead in such a mediaeval contraption. She waved her wand and was pleased to see a Slytherin Green bikini appear before her.

She wrapped a piece of fabric around her shoulders and made her way out to the pond where he was standing, looking out over the water. She felt her mouth water. She'd seen him with his shirt undone before, but she'd never been able to take in the full affect of Draco Malfoy in only his shorts.

He had tattoos. The focal point was the phases of the moon along his spine. His dark mark was completely blacked out in a large swoop, twisting up his arm. There were wildflowers sprouting from the darkness that seemed to blow in a non-existent wind. She let out a sort of squeak and he turned around quickly, letting out a groan at her appearance.

"Did the swimming costume not fit?" he asked tightly.

"That thing was atrocious," she said with a laugh. "This," she gestured to her body, "is a Muggle swimming costume called a bikini. It is much more my speed."

"Fuck, witch," he said, "you're going to be the death of me." His eyes raked over her form appreciatively. She felt brave and jumped into the water before he could say anything else.

She came up for air and looked to where he'd been standing moments before, but found that he wasn't there any longer. She couldn't help but feel a wave of disappointment. Sometimes that happened where he'd just leave mid-conversation with no warning.

Suddenly she felt a pair of strong hands grip her hips. He was raised into the air and looked down to see a grinning Draco holding her up. She giggled, and rested her hands on his broad shoulders. She leaned down and kissed him chastely. He loosened his grip on her hips and she dropped further into the water. She wrapped her legs around his hips.

"You didn't tell me that you had tattoos, Draco Malfoy," she said, huskily.

"You never asked," he smirked playfully. "They all have meaning of course. This is my newest one," he gestured to the ring that ran along his collarbone.

"What does it say?" she asked, trying to decipher the Latin.

"Toujours Pur: Puritas nihil ad sanguinem, Puritas spiritus semper vincet, الوقت الذي يحتفظ به القمر (alwaqt aladhi yahtafiz bih alqamar)," he said quietly. "I've adjusted our family mottos."

"What do they mean?" she asked, trailing her fingers along the French, Latin, and Arabic words."

"Always Pure: Purity has nothing to do with blood, Purity of Spirit Will Always Conquer, Time is held by the moon," he whispered as she traced over each one again.

She looked up into his eyes again and found them watching her heatedly. "Hermione Jean Granger," he said quietly. "I am yours forever. No other witch will do."

She felt a shiver race down her spine. "I wish you really felt that way," she said quietly. She couldn't help but feel like the look he gave her was one of disappointment. After a moment, she disentangled herself from him and then swam toward the shore. "I'm a bit cold, I think it's time for cake!"

She shrieked as he began to swim after her, the sombre moment broken. They ate their cake spread out in front of the fireplace. He told her all sorts of stories about the places he wanted to take her. He asked questions about her hopes and dreams, and as the light started to creep up over the treetops, he kissed her softly.

"One day I'll be able to tell you how I really feel."

---

Thank you so much for reading, it's been so wonderful to read all of your comments! Honestly they make the heck out of my day! See you on Monday for them finally meeting again!

Thank you, again to bam2305 for the Alphabet work!

I love reading and replying to your comments and kudos always flood my brain with serotonin so feel free to let me know your thoughts!