We'll Be The Only Dream You Seek

by Ceilidhchaos

In the summer before 8th year, Head Boy Theo Nott and Head Girl Hermione Granger are dealing with alot of trauma at child soldier therapy camp. Pansy and Draco are waiting for their trials. The four of them end up growing closer over fire whiskey, cigarettes, group therapy and illicit touches. A polyamorous, kinky AU.

24. Nothing's Gonna Hurt You, Baby

Chapter 24

Tuesday to Thursday Night

Summary:

Tuesday to Thursday Night

The final days of Restoration Camp

Notes:

The song for this chapter is "Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby" by Cigarettes After Sex

Content Warning: Discussion of Suicide, Suicide Attempts (Suicide Contagion), Daddy Kink, Breeding/Pregnancy Kink fantasies

"I know that this," Cordelia gestured around, "is a lot, but I don't want any of you to shove down how you are feeling. I want you to get it out, even if what you are feeling is dark or not what you think that I want to hear. Your priority should never be saying what you think your therapist wants to hear. That is no way to accomplish healing. My comfort or any mind healer's comfort should not be something you even consider. Your thoughts should sound something like: 'What are these feelings inside of me? How do I talk about them?' Suicide is an intense thing. It can make people feel many ways, and none of them are wrong. However, I want to give each of you space to talk, if you want, about where you are emotionally today and how I can support you."

Dean raised his hand and started, "I only ever spoke to Dirk Junior a handful of times. I was on the run with his dad last year. He…um…," Dean started to choke up, "he let himself be killed so that I could get away from snatchers. He was…a…really good guy. He loved his wife and his sons. I just just don't understand how Dirk Junior could do that to his mum, ya know? She lost her husband, yeah? But now she's lost her eldest son too, and his little brother has lost a brother and a father. It's just so much worse. I just don't understand why he would do that to his family." Dean looked at Cordelia desperately and Theo knew that the Gryffindor needed her to explain why this had happened.

"Unfortunately," Cordelia sighed, "it's almost impossible to know exactly what pushed him to end his life. I know that's not the answer that you want, Dean. I know you want me to be able to give you an unequivocal answer. And I can't. Often a person is depressed and can't see the way out. Substance use can play a role. Someone is more likely to end their life if they have been drinking, using potions or muggle drugs. People who commit suicide are often lost in their own pain, they may not even consider the impact of their death on others."

Dean clenched his fists on his thighs, but nodded.

Theo caught Draco's eyes and they shared the knowledge that they had both courted death. Theo knew that Draco had thought about dying much more than he ever had.

Are you still thinking of killing yourself? Theo wanted to ask.

Draco looked away as though he had heard Theo's question, which he might have done. Fucking legilimens.

Theo would burn the fucking world to the ground if he did all this work for Draco not to go to Azkaban just for Draco to opt out of life. It was not going to fucking happen.

Theo glanced over at Hermione, who he knew had considered the same escape from her guilt and pain. Had seeing the Cresswell boy dead at his own hand finally driven that desire from her or had the sight lit the fire of her wanting to leave them?

He swore to Merlin that he would follow them into death and kill them again if either of them tried to leave the world before their appointed hour. It simply wasn't permitted for them to do such a thing. He wouldn't allow it.

He would not allow it.

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Hermione hadn't felt comfortable sharing how she felt about discovering Dirk's body in group therapy, but she knew that she needed to talk to someone. So she made her way up to Cordelia's office. The door was cracked and she could hear voices coming from within.

"How could I miss this, Cor? He seemed to be doing so well. Nothing hit my metre."

"Geoffrey, no one is omniscient. We aren't using legilimency on these children. There was no way for you to know that this was going to happen.

"I just feel like I failed. In the worst way a therapist can fail."

"You absolutely can not take this on yourself. These things can happen. How many of these children would have killed themselves if we hadn't been here? I would like you to keep that in mind. We are in the business of saving as many as we can. We can't save them all. You know that."

The voices stopped and Hermione suspected that the other mind healer was weighing Cordelia's words. The silence dragged on for a few minutes and she thought that was probably her cue and knocked on the door as she opened it the rest of the way.

"Hullo, um…Cordelia, are you here?" Hermione queried, even though she knew very well that the mind healer was present.

"Hermione, yes! I'm so glad you came by the office. I noticed you were really quiet in our group this morning. Geoff, we can touch base again this evening, if you like?"

"Sure. Thanks." The other mind healer was obviously still really upset, but was attempting to put a brave face on it for Hermione's sake. Should she have come later?

Just as she was about to ask that, Cordelia opened the door to her inner office and the other healer disappeared into the hall.

Cordelia already had tea and cakes set out in her office as though she was expecting a lot of company. Hermione realised that she was probably not wrong.

"I'm so sorry that you had to find your peer, Mr Cresswell, in such a state, Hermione." Cordelia began, "I did not want to out you as the discoverer of his body to the group this morning in case you didn't want that knowledge spread about, but I am really concerned about how that's making you feel. You have made such exceptional progress this summer. I am unbelievably proud of you, but that was a major piece of trauma. I want you to feel comfortable talking about it."

"I'm sorry I didn't stop him, but I'm also not sorry I wasn't a few seconds earlier," Hermione wiped at her thighs and wished that her feelings of guilt were as easy to rid herself of as her sweaty palms. "He..um…he used the mirror to Avada himself I think. He very easily could have killed me or anyone else that interrupted at the crucial moment. I feel really angry about that, honestly."

"People who are in deep states of grief rarely consider the consequences of their choices. I'm sure Mr. Cresswell hadn't realised that someone was going to have to find his body in that loo. I'm sure he didn't think that his rather elaborate magical suicide method could have hurt or killed someone else rather than him."

"He was selfish!" Hermione cried, not sure if she was angry at the young dead Gryffindor or if she was angry at herself for almost throwing herself off the Astronomy Tower earlier in the summer.

Oh, thank Merlin for Draco interrupting, she might have done it if he hadn't.

"He was not thinking about what his death would do to his family, the rest of us here, everyone. It's cruel and mean and thoughtless. Poor Myrtle even! She's dead and still can't escape the awfulness."

Hermione froze as a terrible thought occurred to her, "Oh my gods, he's not going to come back as a ghost is he?"

"It's fairly unlikely. People who commit suicide rarely become ghosts in the Wizarding World. Although we will have to wait and see if it will be that rare occurrence. The castle's ghosts have been largely absent since the Battle, but they are starting to slowly reappear. Peeves apparently stuck all the pineapples in the kitchens on one of the chandeliers in one of the old ballrooms. You saw Myrtle yesterday. Some underclassmen saw Nearly Headless Nick and the Bloody Baron arguing in one of the third floor corridors last Thursday. Hogwarts may get some ghosts from the Battle, but usually it takes a few months for them to wake."

Hermione imagined seeing Tonks or Lavender or Remus wandering the halls as ghosts and could barely repress a shudder. She wasn't sure that she could cope with that, but imagine Teddy Lupin when he started Hogwarts if his parents were haunting the place. Hermione chewed on her lip.

"I hope not. I really would like to believe that those who died at the Battle are at rest."

"Unfortunately, events like battles are exactly the sort of thing that is likely to cause ghost activity. But let's get back on track. Let me see if I understand how you are feeling clearly." Cordelia paraphrased while holding up fingers, "You are upset that you could have been hurt, and you feel that Mr Cresswell behaved selfishly because he didn't consider the impact his actions would have on others. Is that right?"

Hermione nodded. "That's right. I have been depressed enough to consider ending my life, but I'm doing much better now. Having Theo, Draco and Pansy as friends has really made all the difference in the world. They've been a marvellous support network."

Cordelia hummed, thoughtfully. "Friends," she repeated, tapping her pen on her notebook. "You read those books that I lent you."

"I did," Hermione raised an eyebrow at the mind healer, not sure where she was going with this.

Cordelia looked like she was thinking deeply about what she wanted to say next.

"Well," Cordelia smiled finally, "I'm glad that you feel like you have a support network that has helped you move through the darkest part of your trauma. Do you think that you will struggle with suicidal ideation again, Hermione?"

"No." All Hermione could see was Dirk dead from a self-inflicted Avada, his dead eyes staring. "No, I don't think that suicide will look like a good way out to me ever again."

She would never consider just giving up and leaving her mess for others ever again.

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As she walked out into the hall after therapy, a hot breath on her nape caused her flesh to break out in goose pimples.

"Hermione," Theo whispered in her ear, "I do believe I have been neglecting my Head Boy duties and haven't been properly taking care of the Head Girl." Her body ignited under the sexual innuendo in those words.

"Theo, what on earth are you…" Hermione started, but Theo yanked her inside of a nearby broom closet.

"I'm sorry, Hermione, I have been so absorbed with taking care of Draco that I haven't been taking proper care of you," Theo fell to his knees in the darkened closet that, for some strange reason, didn't have any brooms inside of it.

"Let me show you how sorry I am," said Theo, as he lifted her up onto the cabinet and reverently stroked her over her soft green silk knickers. He spread her legs wide, and smelled the warmth of her arousal. He nuzzled his face into her body, licking and sucking through her knickers, making the fabric even more wet. Before Hermione knew it she was arching and shuddering and moaning under Theo's skilled fingers and mouth.

"Please, Theo, please. I need you, I need you." She felt as though she was on fire, every nerve crying out for Theo.

"What do you need, Hermione? I will give you anything that you desire. Let me take care of you, that's what I want." Theo sucked a bruise into Hermione's inner thigh.

She thought she heard him mutter something about that spot belonging to him now.

Hermione felt electrified by the sensation so close to her dripping core.

"Please-please fuck me. I need you inside me right now. I need you."

"So desperate, so needy, my darling. Don't worry. I will take care of you. I will always take care of you." Theo slid her silk knickers off her legs and tucked them into his pocket. He laid soft kisses along her ankle, her shin, her knee, her thigh, and ran his tongue all over her skin, moaning at the taste of her. He nipped at the tender flesh of her inner thighs hoping that his mouth left marks on the delicate skin. The flat of his tongue licked her apex. He sucked and tasted and licked until Hermione was a dripping, writhing mess.

When she was sure that she couldn't possibly take it any longer, Theo stood, lowering his trousers and freeing the length of him. He held himself in a vice like grip and stroked her opening with the head of his cock. She shivered under his touch when he used the Nott signet to tease the swollen button that begged for his touch.

He filled her to the brim as he slid slowly inside her. The stretch was still something that caused her to draw in a tight breath. She felt so full.

His hands slid underneath her jumper and blouse. His palms ran over her skin, cupping her breasts.

"No bra? So naughty, Ms. Granger." Theo nipped at her earlobe as he slowly rolled his hips into her. The pleasure was overwhelming her senses. She could drown in Theo's ocean eyes and the scent of him.

"Theo, you are the last person who can call someone else naughty." She rolled her hips and pulled a moan from her lover.

"You are mistaken, love. As a hedonist, no one is better equipped to label others as naughty," his voice was husky with pleasure as he touched her in the most intimate of ways. One of Theo's hands came up and stroked the side of her face and their mouths met. Talking was beyond them now as the sounds of their lovemaking echoed in the broom closet. Theo bit her neck as he came in order to stifle the shout that he felt trying to escape.

Hermione came with a low moan, her body shuddering in almost unimaginable pleasure. Sweaty and sated, the two of them just held each other in the darkness. Theo covered his bite with soft kisses.

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It was Tuesday night, but the mood in the castle was so sombre that Luna had decided to go for a walk by the Black Lake. She had difficulty understanding suicide, especially in the aftermath of a war that had taken so many innocent and less than innocent lives. She was struggling to understand why someone would want to add to the death toll.

Why would someone, especially the son of a Muggleborn, do the Death Eaters' work for them?

Perhaps he had never considered that perspective.

Luna was painfully aware that people did not consider perspectives other than their own. It had been the primary vexation of her life after all.

She tossed a stone into the lake as she came off the path. A giant squid tentacle came out of the water and tossed it back.

"Oh! So sorry!" She yelled back, for all she knew she had dropped that stone right on his kitchen table. Did giant squid have a kitchen table? She could imagine that they might.

Luna walked along the edge of the Black Lake, humming to herself. She wondered if there were any wild nifflers out here. She really wanted to tame one.

She skirted her way around a large rock and stopped in her tracks. Sitting next to the shore was a pair of blue boots and a Ravenclaw tie. Luna looked around but there was no sign that anyone else was around. She leaned down and picked up the Ravenclaw tie. It had a little tie pin in it. The sun was setting, so Luna reached into her wand pocket and pulled it out, casting a Lumos. The enamel pin was a family crest. Riordan.

"Oh fuck. Leanne." Luna had met up with the 5th year Ravenclaw a number of times during the summer session, and last year under the Carrows the girl had taken more than her share of the Cruciatus. Luna recalled the shaking in her hands that never seemed to dissipate. She'd wanted to be a healer Luna recalled, but she had been told that the delicate wand work healing required would likely be beyond her now due to the spell damage she had undergone. "Fuck!" Luna dropped to her knees looking around for the younger girl, but knowing exactly where she was in the end. The Black Lake looked like glass in the evening stillness. For a change there wasn't even a Scottish breeze rustling through the trees and churning the waters.

Luna knew she ought to cast her patronus, ought to call for help, but she couldn't seem to do anything beyond sitting on her knees, clutching Leanne's tie and watching the water.

Some time later, it could have been minutes or even hours, the giant tentacle of the giant squid emerged from the water and it was wrapped around something. As it came closer to her, Luna's breath rushed out in a woosh. The squid laid Leanne's body on the grass next to Luna.

It was very gentle for a giant cephalopod, Luna thought. She patted the tentacle and said "Thank you," even though she wasn't sure that giant squids understood English. It was still the polite thing to do, she supposed.

The squid disengaged itself from Leanne's corpse and disappeared back below the inky water. Luna looked at the drowned girl. She thought she had galleons…somewhere, she went through her pockets until she found two. Luna closed Leanne's milky eyes, placing a galleon on each one. It was a good way to prevent her becoming a ghost, her father had always said. It would help her spirit cross over into the afterlife.

"Ouch!" Luna felt something sharp poke her as she leaned over Leanne's body.

Her pockets were filled with rocks. She'd drowned herself on purpose. Luna saw a small bottle of firewhiskey bobbing in the water by the bank. Slowly, Luna decided what she had to do and began carefully removing all the stones from Leanne's pockets and vanishing them.

Leanne had a lot of pockets. Luna was still at her task of vanishing the stones when she heard Blaise's voice calling for her.

Shite. She was very late to meet him to go into the Slytherin dorm to sleep in his arms. She hoped that he wasn't upset with her.

"Lu? Luna?" Blaise called, "Are you out here? Lu? It's full dark! Are you here?"

"I'm here!" she yelled as she found another pocket packed to the brim with stones. Leanne had certainly been thorough.

"Luna, what in Salazar's name are you doing out here at night, it's not safe!" Blaise was saying, but when he looked down at what Luna was doing, he froze. "What's happened?"

"Leanne Riordan from Ravenclaw. She drowned herself. I'm vanishing all the rocks out of her pocket so it can look like a tragic accident. There's no note here, unless she left one in her dorm, the stones are the only evidence she did this on purpose. The giant squid gave her body back which was extremely polite, honestly. The grindylows probably would have eaten her." She knew she was rambling, but she couldn't seem to stop herself.

Luna could hear Blaise gagging at her comment about the grindylows' dietary habits, but she was nearly done with her task so she continued, trying simply to be done with it. "I'm sorry if this is too much for you, but it has to be done. Her whole family was killed in the war, so she's unlikely to have anyone really dig into what has happened here."

"Luna, you are terrifyingly similar to my mother at times," Blaise whispered.

"Don't you love your mother?"

"I adore her," Blaise responded honestly, "She wasn't as engaged a mother as Narcissa Malfoy, but she always made her choices with my best interests at heart."

"Well then, I'll happily accept being as terrifying as she is as a compliment. Can you levitate that fire whiskey bottle out of the lake and lay it next to her body? I'm going to cast my Patronus and summon McGonagall."

Luna already planned to say that she was going to meet the girl here to swim, but Leanne must have been impatient and gotten in the water without waiting for Luna. No one would expect that kooky Luna Lovegood would do something as inappropriate as disguising a suicide, but Leanne deserved to have the end of her life not be surrounded by a swirl of rumour and gossip. A tragic drowning was sad, but not unheard of in the Black Lake. Someone had drowned in the lake every year since her first. It was usually boys though and fire whiskey was almost always involved.

It was a sad accident, but in no way could Cordelia and the mind healers be blamed. And there would be no scandal attached to McGonagall's reign as HeadMistress. Luna would do what she could to see to that.

Blaise watched in fascination as Luna sent her Patronus, and subsequently as Luna lied to Filch and McGonagall, and then to mind healer Cordelia. Blaise admitted to nothing. He followed his girl's lead. The cool way she was able to provide a completely fabricated story was uncanny.

She was quite the woman, his beloved. She should have been in Slytherin. And later after he took her to his bed, he made sure that there was Slytherin in her as well. When she came as she rode him, Blaise looked up into her ethereal face, her blonde hair glowing like a halo and knew that she was it for him.

If he hadn't already been planning a proposal when he returned to school, he began to at that moment. When she fell asleep curled up in his arms, head on his chest, he knew he would do anything for her. She set his blood on fire and he could not wait to have her in a wedding gown.

He kissed the top of her head. The sooner he could make her his wife the better.

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Hermione woke up hungover and sticky. Her legs were tangled with Theo's. She didn't remember coming to bed. There was no sign of Draco nor Pansy in the bed. Had she and Theo slept alone? She remembered coming up to the Heads Dorm to nap for a bit before dinner after the explosive sex in the broom closet.

Then what had happened? Hermione recalled drinking fire whiskey with Theo. There had been no sign of Pansy nor Draco. She had some blurry recollection of riding Theo on the balcony. She felt a scrape and bruise on her sternum. Had Theo shagged her against the stone railing afterwards?

She was so sore that she rather thought that he had. She realised that she was covered in small bruises all over her breasts and thighs. The soreness was pleasurable, but the whole thing was rather a lot. She hadn't gotten blackout drunk since she had been at the Burrow drinking with George. At least she'd never fucked him semi-publicly. She could just imagine Molly's scandalised face, and couldn't help but chuckle. That caused Theo to stir and roll his body so his hard cock was pressed against her ass.

"I love your laugh, princess. Ready for another round? I'm feeling a bit insatiable where you are concerned this morning." Hermione's body felt tender and oversensitive, but she felt the weight of the imminent end of this arrangement, plus feeling the ghost of Theo's cock during the therapy group this morning seemed like an excellent way to stay grounded. She felt the urge to start screaming at everyone like a madwoman. Their time together was ending. Ending.

"Please, Theo, give it to me." Hermione rubbed her ass against his hardness.

"With pleasure, Princess. I'm going to fill you so well you feel me inside you for a week."

That was just what she wanted. "Stop talking and put your galleons where your mouth is, Nott," she snarked, and was rolled on her back in seconds, Theo above her, his knee pushing hers apart. One hand grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the bed above her head.

"Don't call me Nott when I am fucking you Hermione. Do you," He slid his cock deep inside of her, and groaned, "do you hear me?" He nipped at her earlobe hard. He slid himself out of her, rolled her over and put her on his knee. Her face was down and she couldn't use her legs to move, he had her trapped.

"What? What are you going to do Theo?" Hermione gasped as his hand rubbed circles on her arse cheek.

"I'm going to make sure that you remember what to call me when I am shagging you. Sometimes we need a little pain to make the lesson stick. Don't you agree darling?" Hermione couldn't see Theo now, her face pressed into the mattress. She could feel every sensation of him touching her body, however.

"Hermione, what's your safe word," Theo asked, his tone dark.

'Quidditch," Hermione stated. Theo chuckled and then her arse stung as Theo hit it with a resounding smack. Hermione felt her pussy begin to drip with new arousal, not the remains of last night's debauchery. Each strike on her arse made her quiver and ache.

"What's my name princess?" Theo asked as his palm rubbed at the spot that he had been spanking.

"Theo. Theo. Theo," Hermione cried in time with the spankings that he continued to reward her reddened arse cheek with. She let out a moan when his fingers slid inside of her wet folds instead of considering the assault on her bottom. He had three fingers inside of her and was going in and out, curling them to touch the place inside her that had her thrashing over his knee.

"Hold still. You are positively sopping wet Hermione. Did you like your little punishment?" Theo laughed again before moaning deeply as she came all over his hand, the female ejaculate pouring over his knee. "Such a messy girl."

He pulled her off his knee and laid her on the bed, where she melted into a satiated puddle.

"Will you call me the correct name now, Hermione?" Theo asked as he pushed her knees apart with his own. His body covered hers.

She arched under his attention and bit her lip to keep from screaming, as he filled her and rolled his hips. His cock touched every part of her swollen body.

"Yes," she gasped out. "Yes, I understand."

"Yes what?"

"Yes, I understand," the mischievous twinkle in her eye gave her away to Theo as she whispered, "my lord." Something about that phrase set Theo off and made him fuck her with a roughness and abandon that Hermione hadn't felt in her life, her knees over his shoulders as he rode her hard, shagging her into the mattress. She knew when they were done she would have to be covered with bruises, but she could not find it in herself to care.

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It was past midnight and Luna was so tired. Life was just exhausting. She was worried about Blaise who was worried about his mother. She was worried about Draco. She was worried about Pansy. She'd napped in the cool darkness of Blaise's dorm room in the Dungeon, but she could only rest so much before she started to get a little crazy. Maybe she ought to learn magical embroidery or some other hobby that involved a lot of sitting peacefully.

Unfortunately, her exhaustion was just not letting her sleep. The sounds coming from the dorm room that Gregory Goyle had taken over weren't helping either. She wasn't sure if he was laughing or crying, but she definitely heard some shattering pottery. She didn't understand why he was being allowed to behave in such a way. She suspected it was a matter of McGonagall not wanting the Ministry to be involved here at Hogwarts. She doubted any of the Slytherins wanted Aurors in their dormitories for that matter.

Luna could hear someone sobbing. It sounded like a girl. It was echoing down the corridor and sounded like it was coming from the common room. As Luna got closer she heard the dreaded words whispered over and over. "Avada Kedavra. Avada Kedavra. AVADA KEDAVRA!"

The girl was in a ball on the floor, her wand to her temple. Each time she encanted the Unforgivable not even the smallest green flicker appeared at the end of her wand. Luna came closer and kneeled next to the girl. Her long red hair in two braids reminded Luna uncomfortably of Ginny Weasley.

The girl was whispering the unforgivable now between choking sobs. Luna slipped the wand out of her loose grip.

The girl looked up at her and Luna sucked in a breath. She'd seen those eyes before when she'd been abducted off the Hogwarts express, those same lips had sneered at her before she'd been backhanded and thrown in a cell at the Manor. Rowle. Thorfinn Rowle's daughter. She looked like a small broken toy.

"You have to mean it, Aethel. To cast an Avada. And you obviously don't. What am I going to do with you?"

"I want to die," the girl whispered, her fingers making crescent moons on the skin of her forearms.

"No you don't or your Avada would have worked," Luna sighed, why did this keep happening to her? "Do you want to talk about it?"

"We liked each other. We kissed. But he couldn't-couldn't-couldn't keep seeing me, he said. His father's memory. His mother would never understand. It could have been my father that killed his. Could be, my father has no idea. He killed so many muggleborns and blood traitors he can't possibly be expected to remember them all." She held up a letter covered in tear marks. It had the Azkaban seal on it.

Aethel Rowle and Dirk Cresswell, Jr.

Shite. What was the play that Theo had told her about? The Muggle one? Romeo and Juliet. That was the one. Looks like the Gryffindor boy and the Slytherin girl had been trying to conduct a dramatic reenactment.

Luna sighed deeply, and pulled Aethel up from the floor and into her arms, carefully setting the girl's wand out of reach.

Aethel sobbed into Luna's shoulder. "It's my fault he's dead. He couldn't live with the guilt of kissing the daughter of his father's killer."

"If he said that to you, he was a complete fucking arse," Luna snarled, wrapping her arm tighter around the crying girl. If she had still been single she would have fucked that boy right out of Aethel's mind, but since she hadn't talked with Blaise about sleeping with other people, she needed a different tactic. "I know for a fact that your father kidnapped me, hurt me, bloodied my face."

Aethel stiffened in Luna's arms. Luna made soothing noises, stroking the girl's long fiery braids.

"But you know what you aren't, Aethel? You aren't your father are you? You didn't take the mark, right? Didn't get pleasure out of casting Unforgivables. Didn't kidnap me off the Hogwarts Express. Didn't torture Muggleborns for fun."

"No-no. I didn't. I hated the Carrows and did not like my father even and certainly not the Dark Lord. There-there were plans for me to marry Dolohov's nephew and I'm glad that the contract wasn't signed before my father went to Azkaban. Konstantin did take the mark and he was terrifying. He looked up to Thoros Nott." The girl shuddered in fear. "Nott killed his wife and everyone knew. And my father wanted to marry me to a man who looked up to a wife-killer."

"Theo's father is a very frightening man. You were very lucky there," Luna nodded, "it's not your fault what Dirk chose to do. He was a weak boy and you are a strong, young woman."

"Do you really think so?" The girl's voice was still quavering. Luna shook her head and wished that boy was still alive. She'd fucking Avada him herself. She felt the anger that was so easily riled inside of her now pushing to the surface and Luna shoved it back down. It wouldn't help right now. She could go smash some dishes or something later.

"I know so," Luna reassured her, "I know this hurts now, but your father is never getting out of Azkaban. Dirk is gone. And you have two more years of Hogwarts, two more years to fall in love with someone who is worthy of a girl as brave as you are." Despite the girl's marriage contract falling through, which was assuredly for the best, Luna was well aware that the girl would be devastated if she left Hogwarts without an agreement in place. Maybe Blaise or Theo knew someone that would be a good fit for Aethel.

Luna pushed the girl's damp hair out of her face. "How about you come and sleep in one of the spare beds in Blaise's room? Then if you have a nightmare or think about doing something stupid like this I will be right there."

"But-but I wouldn't want to impose on your," the girl exhaled, "intimacy."

"Don't worry," Luna smiled, "There are bed curtains and silencing charms. I'd just have you cuddle with us, but I would need to talk with Blaise first."

"Oh-oh," Aethel blushed, "That's not necessary Miss Lovegood."

"Luna," she replied, "Call me Luna. After all, we are friends now, aren't we?"

Aethel laughed, still with a touch of hysteria, "I think you might be my closest friend. You certainly know more of my secrets than anyone living."

"Well, nothing wrong with that. But you do need to pull yourself together or the rest of the snakes are going to rip you to pieces tomorrow."

Aethel nodded and Luna could see her putting her blank mask back on, but she could also see the cracks around the edges. Her eyes were bright and tired.

Luna helped her stand, and led her back to Blaise's room. "Tell me Aethel, have you heard of Occlumency?"

How on earth did she get into these situations?

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Draco hadn't slept the night before nor had he returned to the Head suite. He was in the middle of the painting and he really should have started it weeks ago, but it needed to be done on time. And time had become extremely limited. If he had to give up some of his precious time with the three of them, then he wanted to complete what he started. If he didn't then he had wasted these final days for nothing.

He was pouring himself his third cup of coffee when Pansy came up behind him and smacked the back of his head.

"What the fuck, Draco," she hissed. "You can't just not come back to the room at night. I looked fucking everywhere for you last night! I finally gave up at almost three. Where the hell were you?"

"First of all, ouch. Second of all, I didn't know that I answered to you."

Pansy's eyes flared, and she did not look as if she gave a flying fuck that they were in the middle of the Great Hall. "Really? You really want to do this right here? I swear to Salazar I will fucking remind you who you answer to."

Draco couldn't help it. His heart was beating like a herd of Abraxans and his breath came roughly. Eyes dilated, Pansy was equal parts livid and aroused. They really couldn't do this here, whatever this was about to be.

Draco rather suspected Pansy wanted to put him over her knee and give him a good paddling. And while he wouldn't mind that in the privacy of Theo's room, the Great Hall was just a little too exposed for his taste.

"I'm sorry Pans," Draco hung his head, "I should have told you I wasn't coming back to the Heads Dorm last night "

Pansy flung herself into the seat next to him and huffed. "Don't do it again. Also you haven't slept. I really don't fancy a repeat of sixth year so please eat at least."

"Yes, mistress." Draco couldn't stop the brattishness of his tone from leaking out into the words. Pansy leaned over and gripped his thigh with her pointed nails causing him to draw in a sharp pained breath.

"Don't," Pansy whispered into his ear, "use that tone with me. Or I swear we will go back to the Heads and I will show you who the mistress is. Do you understand me?"

"Yes," he croaked and looked away. He had to subtly adjust his robe to hide his erection.

The rest of breakfast was less exciting, although very few people came down to eat before their second to last group therapy session. The end of this cushioned time was drawing to a close and everyone was feeling it.

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"I regret to inform you that we had an accident last night and someone from one of the other groups drowned. I know that isn't uncommon for the Black Lake. Fifteen people drowned in the late seventies early eighties when I was here in school," Cordelia shared, looking a bit sad. "That doesn't make it any less sad, though. It's a young life taken too soon. Your Head Mistress would have made the announcement at breakfast, but she was dealing with the Ministry and St. Mungo's. The young person's family needs to be informed as well."

The group did not have the smiles and air of contentment that had been their mainstay for most of the summer. They all seemed tense and awkward. Even Theo and Hermione, who came late, both of them with the appearance of someone freshly shagged. Their swollen lips and wild curls were a mirror image of one another. If they thought their state of dishabille wasn't noticeable, they were painfully wrong. Draco caught the surprised glances from Susan Bones and Hannah Abbott, who looked at Neville in suspicion. Longbottom looked away, a sheepish blush staining his cheeks.

Draco imagined that if he and Pansy both went to Azkaban that Theo and Hermione would console each other. They'd find a way to be happy together. Theo would take care of their Golden Girl. Pansy wouldn't spend more than a few months in the miserable prison, but if there was any logic in the world Draco would get a life sentence, perhaps even the Kiss like his father and Theo's. It made him feel better knowing that Theo would take care of Hermione, she wouldn't go back to the Weasel and Saint Potter with Theo around. He would never allow her to be mistreated by those two tossers ever again.

Draco felt the pang of agony that he wouldn't - couldn't be the one to take care of her like that as well. Hermione had spent her whole life taking care of others, she deserved to be spoiled and supported and loved. She deserved to have time to heal from the horrors of the war, from the things that Draco's own family had done to her. Draco wanted to give all of that to her and more, but fate wasn't on their side. Maybe in their next life?

Cordelia looked a little exhausted this morning, more than any day that the group had run for the entirety of the summer. Draco wondered if she was having to help the other mind healers as well as the students who knew the boy who had killed himself well. She took a long drink of the steaming mug in her hand.

"Good morning everyone. Before we start talking I would like to lead us all in a grounding and centering exercise that I learned at Muggle uni. I know that I could use some centering and I am sure that all of you could as well." She sent her mug over to the snack and beverage table with a quick levitation charm.

"Sit with your back straight. If you like you can slide off your socks and shoes so that you can feel the cool stone of the courtyard beneath your feet."

Draco looked over at Theo who shrugged and mouthed "why not?" The two of them and several others slipped off their shoes and tucked the socks inside.

"Take some deep breaths. In through your nose and out through your mouth. Really feel those lungs filling with air, acknowledge its life giving force and then release it. Release the tension in your muscles. Let your body relax. We are all safe here. Let your toes and feet relax into the stone beneath us. Let your legs and back relax. Drop your shoulders. Stop clenching your jaws. Feel the stress and tension leaving your bodies."

Draco felt like the deep breathing was getting him high, not like Neville's marijuana, but it was changing his head. The fact that he had been up all night was probably playing into it as well. He would need a Pepper-Up Potion before he got back to painting this afternoon.

"Close your eyes and count backwards from ten allowing your body to feel more and more relaxed with each number going by. As your eyes are closed you may see runes or images floating through your mind, letting them flow on by, acknowledging them as they go. Feel the cool morning air on your face, the food or lack of food inside of you, the first peek of the sun on some of us in the circle as it rises over the castle wall. We are here and alive. The castle is strong beneath our feet. We are safe. The world holds us up. We are part of the world that holds up others. Visualise the stones of the castle inside of you, when you think you will fall, you can't because these stones beneath us are inside of you. Before opening your eyes, rest in the feelings of centeredness and calm for a few moments. When you feel ready, bring your mind back to your body and open your eyes."

Draco felt as though his heart beat and breath had synchronised with everyone else in the circle. When he opened his eyes, everyone else was blinking and looking a little more calm.

"Now I want all of you to write in your journals for a bit about how you are feeling right now at this moment. There is no wrong answer to this. Also if you just want to sketch or draw your emotions that is alright too. I want you each to remember that your journals are for you, not me, not the Head Mistress. They are the exploration of your healing journey and as such there is no judgement. You could write 'everything is awful' a hundred times, but I hope you won't. I know I have said all this before, but we are coming up quickly on the end of this special time together, so I thought a reminder might be needed."

Draco opened up his journal and drew. He drew Theo laughing with a drink in his hand and a cigarette in his mouth. He drew the look on Hermione's face when she came, eyes closed, curls wild, head thrown back. He drew Pansy's scowl from that morning at breakfast. He drew his mother's hands clenched on a tea cup. Draco drew and drew and drew.

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"So Miss Granger. I understand you wish to speak on Mr Malfoy's behalf. As his solicitor I certainly appreciate that but I want to get a sense of what you plan to say so that I can plan our defence around it." The solicitor's severe bun matched the serious cast to her mouth.

"I'm planning to discuss Mr. Malfoy's refusal to identify us at the Manor. His difficulties with pretending to hate me due to my blood status, and how his age impacted his clear unwillingness to engage in the task he was assigned, namely to kill Albus Dumbledore. Mr Malfoy was and is a competent young man. He could have killed the Headmaster within a day if his heart had been in the task, but obviously he didn't want to do such a thing "

"And there is no love lost between you and Mr Malfoy? No reason exists for you to perjure yourself for him."

"Draco Malfoy called me a mudblood more times than I can count. I punched him in the face in our third year. So yes we have a contentious history and I have no reason to lie for him."

"Excellent," the solicitor smiled at her, "I think your testimony and Harry Potter's will make all the difference for Mr. Malfoy. Now let's go through all of it again from the beginning, but this time I am going to ask you some clarifying questions."

As Hermione walked out of the makeshift office that Draco's solicitors and barristers were using, she couldn't help but feel slightly hopeful that everything would be okay. The woman in charge was forthright and competent. Hermione thought that she suspected something was going on between Hermione and Draco, but didn't ask because she did not want to know. Her questions about what Hermione planned to say were precise and she had helped Hermione to refine some of her points on the insidiousness of being raised in a Pureblood supremacist household and how difficult it was to escape outside of Death (Regulus) or Imprisonment (Sirius). She hoped that her testimony would help Draco. Hopefully Harry didn't fuck up his part.

She chewed her nails and decided to head up to the dorm to take a nap, maybe in her own bed for a bit. She didn't think they'd even Scourgified this morning. Theo's bed was probably a sticky mess after the way they'd behaved last night and this morning. Maybe the elves would take care of it before they returned to the dorm.

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Neville sent Theo a patronus to meet him in Greenhouse Three. The huge spectral lion surprised the shit out of Theo who had just finished an angry shower wank where he had imagined doing all kinds of rough things to Draco and Hermione that he doubted they would ever permit. Still it had helped to relieve some of the tension. What he really needed was a particularly brutal session with Pansy. He felt so out of control he needed her to take control for a bit.

Once Theo was dressed and managed to get to the Greenhouse, he found Neville looking over a folio of documents which he handed over to Theo for his perusal.

What he had before him took his breath away. He flipped through the pages and pages with trembling hands.

"How did you do this Neville?" Theo's shock made his voice shake, "This is unbelievable."

"Basically I threw my weight around as the slayer of Nagini," Neville smiled, "but Hannah and Susan helped actually. I know they haven't been as open with you guys as Seamus, Dean and me, but they don't think Draco and Pansy deserve to go to Azkaban. And I think that the whole Wizengamot deserves to know the truth about what happened here under the Carrows and what we all did to survive."

He took the folio back from Theo and tucked it under his arm. "I have an appointment to give these to McGonagall before dinner. She's the one going to read them at the trial."

Theo let out a breath, "Do Draco's solicitors know?"

Neville nodded, "Ms. Wright was it? She was very impressed. She said that it was definitely another factor in Draco's corner. I just hope all of this is enough. That shit with Voldemort, none of that was his fault. Lucius Malfoy should be sentenced for Draco's so-called crimes as well."

Theo nodded,"He will get the Dementors' Kiss at Christmas. Along with my father. It will be like a Yuletide present." Theo almost wanted to request watching the execution, but he didn't want to provide his father any comfort in his last moments. He'd love to go watch while holding Hermione's hands, but he would never do that to her. She was still far too fragile to go to a place as evil as Azkaban.

Neville choked back a horrified laugh, "You know I never really had a father that I can remember, but listening to you both talk about yours. Shit, I mean maybe I was the lucky one."

Theo thought of Neville's parents, minds broken by Death Eaters, in the Janus Thickey ward for the rest of their lives. "No mate, you weren't lucky, either." He put his hand down on his friend's arm and was grateful for Restoration Camp. Who would have ever imagined that Theo Nott and Neville Longbottom would be conspiring in a Hogwarts greenhouse to keep Draco Malfoy out of Azkaban?

The absurdity of it all was sometimes almost enough to make Theo laugh out loud, but jubilation would have to wait until after Draco's trial, when Theo knew that they were out of the woods.

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The four of them hadn't been great about having dinner in the Great Hall over the last couple weeks, but by unspoken agreement they had all decided to attend tonight's meal.

Theo was feeling frustrated and restless and had wished that there was time for Pansy to give him a good whipping, but there just didn't seem to be enough hours in the day. This seemed especially true as Draco and Pansy's trials seemed to be coming ever closer. It's like they were a feral hippogriff breathing down Theo's neck and at any moment he was going to be destroyed. He was trying to put on the good face, he really was.

They all tried to pretend it was a normal meal, but it wasn't. There was a brittleness to Draco and Pansy's banter that made him realise that they were both painfully close to tears. Theo was proud of the way that Draco had avoided using his occlumency the last few weeks, but he could see that the pressure on him now was making the urge to shut off his emotions overwhelming.

Theo couldn't fault him. Theo's own skills with occlumency were limited and clumsy at best, but Thoros was no legilimens, thank all the gods of sin and debauchery for that. The bastard had preferred a good bit of torturous bloodletting over tearing apart someone's mind.

Theo shook himself. He'd been thinking of his father far too much lately. The imminent trials should have been all that was consuming him, but it seemed like as much as you looked forward the past was always going to be there to haunt you.

Hermione reached under the table and took his hand and squeezed it. Her warm smile made something inside him break. He knew that originally he had wanted her for the pleasure of it and to bring to Draco one of his most suppressed dreams, but now he simply couldn't imagine a future that she wasn't a part of.

"Knut for your thoughts, Theo," she asked.

"Just thinking how pretty you looked this morning with your head thrown back when you were riding my-" Hermione threw both her hands over his mouth.

"Theo!" She hissed, looking around to see if anyone had heard. Dean and Seamus smiled and laughed at her look of shock. Neville blushed to the tips of his ears. Luna was lost staring into Blaise's eyes and had not heard the exchange. In fact Blaise looked a little breathless. Hermione realised neither of Luna's hands were on top of the table.

Draco had his eyebrow raised, "Granger, if you were going for discretion then maybe you shouldn't have come to the group looking so freshly shagged this morning. Both of you." Draco gave Theo an accusatory look to which Theo just shrugged, grinning.

Pansy on Hermione's other side poked her in the ribs, "Even the absolute innocents that are Bones and Abbott noticed."

"Fuck," Hermione said, leaning back in her chair, her face flushing.

"That embarrassed of me, sweetheart?" Theo said, trying not to let the hurt show through in his voice.

"Theo, it isn't that. I just don't want it to undermine my testimony on Friday." She chewed on her thumbnails absently, "fuck, i need a drink."

Theo thought that he could not have been more head over heels for the Gryffindor Princess, but then she went and said something like that, that making sure things for Draco were okay were more important than anything else. He loved that their priorities were so synchronised.

"You should have been in Slytherin," Theo whispered hotly in her ear, but if he hadn't been as much of a coward as he was about all things emotional, those words would have been I love you.

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Draco walked with Hermione, Pansy and Theo up to the Heads Dorm, but once they were there he kissed each of them before making his excuses. Theo and Pansy were used to Draco's need to slip away and be alone when things got too intense and simply nodded after their kisses, unhappy, but knowing it was the way of things with Draco Malfoy. Years of familiarity had taught them to understand and accept each other's quirks.

Hermione, however, captured Draco's lips for a third, fourth and fifth kiss. She clung to his fingers with her own, and begged him to tell her where he was going, as he explained why they could not go there with him.

"Granger - Hermione, I have a surprise for the three of you and it's nearly done but I need a few more hours working on it before it is truly ready to give to you. Please let me do this." Draco ran a hand through his already mussed hair, his black nail polish chipped and worn. He rubbed at one of the nails absently. "It might be my last chance to make something myself for the three of you, please."

"Mi," Pansy whispered, "Let Draco go. He'll be back later tonight. Won't you Draco?" She gave him a stern look that brokered no arguments.

"Of course, Pans, I don't think I could pull another all-nighter anyway even with Pepper-Up potions," Draco smiled at the other witch, before pulling Hermione's hands to his lips and kissing each finger adoringly. "Hermione, Theo and Pansy will take care of you. right? "

"Of course," Pansy stated, waving him off with a well-manicured hand.

And once Draco was gone, Pansy turned to Hermione and raised an eyebrow, "Now how shall we take care of you, Mi?"

"I certainly have some ideas," Theo put in, smiling with a sultry invitation.

"I'd love to watch you take care of Theo first," Hermione stated, blush staining her cheeks.

Theo and Pansy both froze, staring at her. Theo's mouth opened and closed like a fish, before he shut it with a snap.

"Are you sure, Hermione?" Theo asked, softly.

"It can be…frightening to watch," Pansy stated, her long sharp nails tapping on her short skirt.

"I'm quite sure," Hermione said confidently.

"Alright then. I'll be right back. Hermione, get yourself comfortable in one of the chairs. Theo, prepare the space and yourself, please." Pansy walked into Theo's room purposefully. He was so excited he was nearly bouncing on his tiptoes. He pulled his wand and the couches were all pushed back against the back wall, leaving only one of the high back chairs for Hermione. A flick of his wand and the rug before the fire was rolled up and it went flying to sit against the wall as well.

He led Hermione, who was standing there nervously, her confidence having abandoned her, to the chair and then he vanished all his clothes and sat on his knees before the fire. Hermione noticed that his skin had a light sheen to it, a sparkle that was subtle but still told her that his skin was glamoured. What was he hiding from her? Her magic reached out and Hermione thought that she could break the spell if she really tried, but she couldn't violate Theo's trust like that. Especially while he looked so fit, naked, kneeling, his large hands with that glorious ring on his thighs.

She could see the way he was breathing rhythmically. He kept himself positioned just as he was as two minutes turned into five turned into ten. Hermione thought that his thighs had to be aching, but Theo didn't so much as shift in his position. He was as still as stone.

Pansy walked out into the common area transformed. She had her thigh high black dragonhide boots on and a leather mini dress that barely covered her arse, exposing the fact that she wore no knickers. Hermione fought the urge to fan herself and wished she had thought to grab herself a drink to hide her awkwardness behind.

Pansy had a long riding crop in her hand and Hermione could see that her always sharp fingernails were now like talons. She stopped in front of Theo, and used a single finger under his chin to force him to look up at her. Hermione gulped as a drop of blood slithered down Theo's throat. Theo did not so much as breath, staring up into Pansy's face with a look of such adoration that Hermione felt her own throat tighten.

"Are you going to be my good boy tonight Theo?" Pansy purred.

"Yes, my queen," Theo exhaled with a certainty to his voice that was erotic even while he was on his knees.

"Good boy," removing her finger from Theo's chin, Pansy ran the crop over his chest. Theo's cock was already hard, the thickness nestled against his belly. Pansy touched it with the toe of her boots. Theo inhaled, his cock twitched, but the man didn't make a sound.

He must be waiting for permission, Hermione thought, but permission to do what?

"Stand for me, pet, and put your hands behind your back." Pansy stood back and watched him, her crop tapping against her leg giving a hint to how quickly she expected Theo to follow her directions.

Theo stood much quicker than Hermione would have been able to if she had been on her knees for so long. Hermione watched transfixed as Pansy sliced lines in Theo's chest with her razor sharp nails, and then twisted his nipples harshly before doing the same thing to his back with her nails.

"Have you been bad, pet?" Pansy asked in a voice laced with power.

"Gods, yes, I've been so bad, my queen, so bad. I deserve to be punished. Please." Theo's voice was a pleading desperate thing that Hermione had

Then she began to hit him repeatedly with the crop. Hermione stared in awe. Pansy hadn't even touched his cock except for that nudge with her boot, but Theo's cock was angry and red, pre cum dripping. His head was thrown back in ecstasy as she hit him again and again. Hermione thought he might cum without even having his cock touched. She felt the drool pooling in her own mouth, she'd love to be down on her knees for Theo right now. He looked so glorious as he submitted to Pansy. She was used to him being rough and masterful with her. This Theo, who yielded control, was something special.

This meant they trusted her, trusted her not to run away, and trusted her to be able to witness their authenticity. It was a heady feeling.

Pansy forced Theo to his knees with her crop and the heel of her boot. He sank willingly, but looked like the pain of her shoe on his skin wrote pleasure on his flesh.

"Now that you have been punished for being naughty, I need you to please me." Pansy's wand appeared from nowhere, and with a "Accio chair" Hermione and her seat went flying along the floor to stop just behind Pansy.

"Now, Mi," Pansy smiled, "Do you want a front row seat for my pleasure?"

"Or would you like me to teach you how Pansy likes to be pleasured?" Theo asked, looking through his lashes at Pansy as though he was worried that he might be punished for speaking out of turn.

Pansy patted Theo on the head like he was a good dog and Theo positively fawned under the attention. "Yes, Mi, would you like Theo to teach you?"

Hermione got up and kneeled, ready to learn what Theo and Pansy were willing to teach her.

"Watch what I do, Hermione. Some of my favourite things to do are signing my name with the tip of my tongue, writing runes of lust and pleasure. We need to be worshipping her sweet cunt. She needs to feel our devotion through our mouths." Theo smiled at Hermione reassuringly and then dove in. It was amazing to watch up close. Pansy charmed her nailed slightly less sharp and then gripped Theo's hair tightly, forcing his mouth where she wanted it.

Theo kept going until Pansy's back arched and a rush of liquid covered his face and the chair cushioned.

"Alright, Hermione, your turn, if you want?" Theo looked at her, tilting his head in question.

"Yes, Mi, Theo's made me cum, but you are welcome to try your hand at eating my cunt." Pansy's dirty word choice made Hermione's own knickers feel hot and wet.

"Y-yes. I want to try," Hermione replied.

"Good girl," Pansy responded, stroking her cheek as Hermione positioned herself over Pansy's dripping core. Hermione had tasted herself on the boy's lips before, but it was different from tasting Pansy straight from the source. Hermione wondered with her lips sucking on Pansy's clit if every woman had a different unique flavour.

Trying to focus despite Pansy's hands in her curls and the other girl's moans in her ears, Hermione remembered Theo's advice. Runes. Lust Runes. She could do that.

She swirled her tongue like a quill nib through Pansy's folds, inside her body and over her clit, again and again until Pansy was shaking and making little crying sounds.

"SWEET FUCKING CIRCE!" Pansy yelled as Hermione's face too was soaked.

Hermione looked to Theo smiling, "Does that mean I did a good job?"

Theo couldn't stop laughing, not even when Pansy threatened to spank him. So she did.

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It wasn't quite dawn when Draco returned to the Head suite, but it was very close. He had Scourgified most of the magical paint off of himself, but he felt sore from hunching over the easel for hours trying to get every detail just right.

He knew that he ought to sleep, but he had something else in mind the moment he walked into Theo's room and saw the three of them displayed like a buffet. Hermione's hair was wild across the pillow as she laid on her back. Her nakedness was glorious. There were love bites and bruises of various ages all over her skin. He saw some fresh ones on her inner thighs that looked like Theo's work. His own inner thighs ached where Theo had nipped at him in the shower the other morning. Theo was also on his back and his cock was half hard in his sleep. He must be dreaming something dirty. Pansy was curled in a ball on the far side of the bed with literally every blanket wrapped around her. He couldn't help but smile at her, she looked so small and innocent in her sleep, nothing like awake Pansy.

Draco knew that both Hermione and Theo didn't mind him playing with them in their sleep. He stripped quickly, holding his throbbing cock at the base and trying to let himself slowly come to arousal, but for fuck's sake, Hermione looked so well shagged. Theo's cum and hers dripping out of her, Draco was sure. He loved the way they left a mess instead of charming it away.

He climbed atop the bed, lightly kissing Hermione at her knee, on the bruises that Theo's mouth had likely left. Her legs opened more in her sleep, thighs turning like keys for his own enjoyment. He loomed over her and looked down, darker fantasies warring in his mind. He wondered if she'd ever want to roleplay nonconsent with him, ever want to sob a no that meant yes under his touch.

Draco shoved the thought away. He was probably going to Azkaban by tomorrow night. This might be one of the final times that he got to touch her. That Draco Malfoy had ever gotten to touch Hermione Granger so intimately felt like the dream it was. He certainly didn't deserve it, but as he kissed the spot behind her ear and heard her sleeping breath become more rough, he couldn't find it in himself to stop because he didn't deserve her.

The head of his cock ran along her damp opening, sticky and warm.

Slowly, incrementally, he filled her. Draco held himself up with his forearms, trying not to let his eyes rest on the Dark Mark as he sought his pleasure inside a sleeping princess. He wasn't sure if he was the prince or the villain, but he could feel her well-loved cunt quivering around him.

"That's it, my love. Fuck! You feel so good. Mmmm. I love you so bloody much, Hermione. Fuck. Just keep sleeping, love. Let me fill you up." Draco moaned softly into her neck. Hermione must have been exhausted because she didn't wake as he used her body to completion.

He grunted as he spent himself inside her and allowed himself the little fantasy of Hermione round and pregnant with his heir, leaking breasts large and full of milk. He knew that there was something dark in him, the way that he was even more aroused by the idea of putting a baby inside their Gryffindor princess. He knew that she was on muggle birth control whatever that was, but it was just a fantasy, wasn't it? It wasn't real. It felt real, though, as his lower abdomen tensed, his thighs shook and he pumped Hermione full of his release, barely stopping himself from collapsing on top of her.

Draco thought that he couldn't be happier than he was right now all things considered. This summer had allowed a lot of his dreams to come true. If only Lucius had died years ago. He couldn't imagine how his life could have been. Or if his mother had left with him the first time Lucius had struck Draco. If wishes were fishes, they would fill the sea.

Theo's hard cock was causing Draco's mouth to water, so he carefully lifted himself from Hermione, sliding his spent cock from her body, placing a light kiss on her temple as he went. She snored lightly and he swallowed his chuckle. She looked gorgeous and well loved. He wanted to remember her like this forever.

Theo was still sleeping on his back so pushing Theo's knees apart a little, Draco took up position in the new space he had created. Draco lay belly down on the mattress and he lifted Theo's leg slightly and slid it over his shoulder. Draco looked up and Theo's eyes were still closed, still sleeping Draco believed. Draco kissed the inside of Theo's thighs, rubbing his cheek against Theo's bronze skin. The contrast of his fair fingers on Theo's darker skin always gave him a thrill. They were alike in so many ways that Draco enjoyed this, the one way that they were achingly different.

Draco sucked lightly on Theo's balls, then placed soft kisses interspaced with licks and light touches of his teeth up the underside of Theo's thick hard cock. Draco wondered if Theo would get it pierced like he kept threatening, or perhaps promising, to do. The warm musky scent of Theo was strong in Draco's nostrils as he hovered over the tip of Theo's hard cock. As he slid his mouth downward, Theo's cock tasted of Hermione's cunt and Draco couldn't stop himself and moaned onto the length of his lover.

"Well good morning to you, too," Theo's sleepy drawl sent Draco's eyes flying upward, meeting the ocean blue eyes that he adored so much. "I'm going to fuck your mouth now, alright?"

Draco's mouth was full of Theo's cock so he nodded slightly and carefully went all the way to the base, feeling Theo's tip in his throat. He concentrated on his breathing, wanting to make this as pleasurable as possible.

Theo gripped Draco's blonde hair tightly and his hips began rolling, the leg that was over Draco's back, squeezing him closer. Draco gripped Theo's hips, he was ready, so ready for Theo to cum down his throat. He wanted to swallow it all down. Theo didn't take long. His body shook and his finish filled Draco's throat. Draco swallowed.

"Mmmm," Theo murmured, lifting his leg off Draco. "Come up here, we have a couple more hours before we need to be awake. I want to hold you." Draco settled into Theo's arms, his face on Theo's chest, and drifted off to sleep. He barely heard Theo whisper into his hair, "fuck I love you, Draco. You better not leave me."

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The fact that it was their final breakfast in the Great Hall before everyone had to leave for a few days felt so final. Tomorrow there would be pastries and beverages would be sat out before the majority of the students headed for the train, but there wouldn't be a sit down meal full of groggy comments and early day banter. The summer program had felt like a hundred years and yet like no time at all.

Owls flew into the Great Hall, dropping more letters and packages than they had for the entirety of the summer. Looking up with happiness, Theo received several owls from Draco's legal team. He looked through the paperwork with a smile on his face.

"Is it good news?" Draco asked nervously.

"It's looking very positive right now. It ought to be for the amount of galleons I am shelling out." Theo replied, continuing to review the documents that he had received.

"I could have paid for my own solicitors, Theo," Draco said, scowling.

"You could have," Theo agreed, "But I am way more terrifying than you. And if you go to Azkaban, then I will ruin them. You wouldn't be able to."

Hermione shook her head. Pansy leaned over and whispered into Theo's ear, "I adore you."

Theo felt himself blush under the praise.

Dean and Seamus joined the table. Seamus looked like Dean had put him through the ringer the night before. The Irishman's neck was covered in lovebites and his hair was a mess.

Hermione looked at her two fellow Gryffindors, trying to smother her own laughter.

"You two doing all right?" Theo asked, pleased that his friends seemed to have such a good relationship.

"Not looking forward to going back to our family homes," Dean said, "So trying to make the most of being together while we are here."

"If the dorm wasn't so crazy last night, it would have been better," Seamus laughed without mirth.

"What happened in Gryffindor tower?" Hermione asked, her hands clenched on the edge of the table.

"Peakes happened. He slit his wrists in the night, and then one of the other boys found him and got Pomfrey and McGonagall. The whole thing was quickly healed, but he is now gone to Mungo's. Probably to a long term ward while they figure out if he is going to try again."

Hermione sighed. "Do you think there will be more suicides?"

Luna looked up then from where she was writing in her therapy journal, "Without a doubt. Probably even more among the witches and wizards who didn't get four weeks of intensive group therapy."

Hermione looked like she wanted to say something else, but shook her head and took a sip of her coffee.

Theo was so tired of death, he looked around at the group at the table. He thought they were all terribly tired of people dying.

When will there be enough blood spilled?

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Cordelia looked much more put together today, Hermione thought. She must have taken some sort of pepper up potions or an invigorating drought.

The mind healer went around the circle welcoming each person individually to the last day and offering handshakes or hugs If the person wanted them. Theo surprised Hermione by opting for a hug.

Dean and Draco both went for handshakes. Pansy shook her head and declined physical contact. Susan and Hannah went for tearful hugs from the mind healer, each of them sobbing into her shoulder. Hermione thought about what their individual sessions must have been like. The two Hufflepuffs put such a bright face on everything. Hermione wondered how much of their real feelings they kept hidden. Perhaps Hufflepuffs aren't that different from Slytherins after all. Neville also went in for a hug. He did not cry but it looked like a close call. Hermione shook her head at Cordelia when the mind healer got to her.

"This isn't goodbye," Hermione said, "Because I will be back in individual sessions next week."

Cordelia smiled, "I will look forward to it, Hermione."

Cordelia went to the centre of the circle and put out her arms, "Welcome to our final day together as a group, but as Hermione just reminded me, this isn't goodbye. I will be here next week and for the rest of the school year. I am going to be teaching an art therapy elective for seventh and eighth years as well as a fifth and sixth year class. Atticus and I will continue to provide individual counselling for all of the students here in the summer program as well as other Hogwarts students who might need someone to talk to."

"You all," Cordelia continued, "have built up a toolbox of coping mechanisms and breathing techniques, tools and tricks as you continue to navigate the difficult trauma that you all experienced as part of fighting in a war. This will not be easy when you leave the safe bubble of Restoration Camp, but a lifelong journey with not allowing your past to dictate your future. Even if there are those that would like to keep you confined to the boxes that defined the person you were before the war. Witch. Wizard. Pureblood. Halfblood, Muggleborn. Gryffindor. Hufflepuff. Slytherin. Ravenclaw. Hero. Villain."

"You can't control how other people see you, but you can control how you perceive yourself. These labels do not define you. You are more than the boxes that you are shoved into. You are on a journey and I am pleased that I was part of it." Cordelia smiled. "And I am beyond proud of all of you. I just want to talk briefly about spheres. The sphere of what is in our control and then what is out of our control. After that we are going to do our wishes for one another and then that will be it. The end is in sight."

"So the first sphere is what is in our control, and that's our self-talk, we have talked alot about self-talk this summer, your magic, your words, your self-care which is how much you eat, sleep, drink, your response to others, your boundaries, your attitude and the work that you do on yourself. These are the things that you control. You decide when to sleep or when to reach out to Madam Pomfrey for a sleeping draught. You decide when to drink that shot of Ogden's or when to abstain. You decide when to cut out toxic influences. You decide if you are going to read that article in the Daily Prophet that you know is full of lies and half truths about the war.

"Now let's think about the things that are out of our control. And there are a lot of these, for me too. You can not control the past, the future, other people's perceptions of you, other people's behaviour nor their beliefs, what the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly prints. You can't control the Ministry or Hogwarts or what your professors are going to teach you next year. The best any of you can do is release your desire to control these things and try to control your own reaction to these things. Listen to your bodies. Use your breathing techniques and if you get triggered, take the space that you need, and then reach out to me or the Headmistress so that we can excuse you. She and I are both here to support your success, not set you up for failure. This year will likely be the hardest year of your life since the war. So ask for the help that you need. We are here to give it to you.

"Alright. Now I have talked far too much, but I'm going to explain this activity to you and then we will do it. You are going to take turns standing at the centre of the circle where I am right now. Everyone in the circle will shout out words of things that they wish for you. I think that some of us have become better friends than others during this session, but I like to think that we all have gotten a better understanding of one another and our differing experiences. Who would like to go first? Any volunteers?"

Hermione sighed and walked forward, sacrificing herself as normal, for the good of the group.

"Now what are everyone's wishes for Hermione?"

"Happiness," Neville shouted.

"Respect," said Hannah.

"Her rightful place in history," Luna called in her dreamy voice.

"Good wine and good friends," Blaise announced.

"Whatever her heart desires," Pansy smiled when Hermione met her eyes.

"For all her dreams to come true," Draco stated. Hermione met his eyes and while other people were saying things, she couldn't look away from those stormy grey eyes. She wanted to walk over and kiss him in front of everyone and only the worry that she could ruin things for his trial tomorrow stopped her.

"To crush her goals and have the future she's never dared dream could be true," Theo said.

Hermione turned to look at him and he winked at her.

"Wonderful everyone," Cordelia clapped, "Thank you Hermione for going first. I appreciate your willingness to do difficult things."

As they went around the circle, Draco was wished freedom and happiness, Theo was wished success and a future free from his father's memory, those comments about abuse had stuck with their circle apparently. Pansy's turn was more difficult as the raven-haired witch had not really let people in. Hermione almost died laughing when Hannah Abbott awkwardly wished Pansy new shoes. Theo did start laughing when Susan wished her a manicure appointment.

In the end, group therapy had not turned the ten of them into best friends, but they did have tentative respect for one another. The final circle closed and it was bittersweet.

Hermione found herself already missing it as she walked into the Great Hall with her friends, new and old.

It just seemed like every time something good came into her life it was over before she could blink.

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The conversations were just as stilted during their lunch together. Luna was attempting to explain the difference between nargles and wrackspurts to Blaise and the man was listening attentively and even asking the little Ravenclaw clarifying questions. Theo was impressed with the man's patience. Theo personally adored Luna, but he couldn't imagine listening to her rant about imaginary creatures for an entire meal. Blaise must be planning to marry her, at least he knew what he was getting into.

Draco had made his excuses again after taking only two bites and disappeared to "finish his project."

Standing and going to the podium that had been placed for her. McGonagall announced "Housing plans for eighth years have been of the unused towers has been modified by one of the construction crews thanks to our anonymous donors. There are individual rooms for each of the eighth year students so that you each as adults can have some privacy. As you are here now, you can take your things to your new accommodations rather than taking them home to bring them back Monday. If you need to stay at Hogwarts for mental health reasons that's an option that we have never offered before but is available during this strange liminal time that we find ourselves in. Cordelia and I will not be here tomorrow, but mind healers Atticus, Geoffrey and Elspeth will be. I will return to the castle Friday evening for those of you who need to stay. Professor Flitwick will be in charge in my brief absence."

Hermione and Theo shared a smile. They had advocated for single rooms after all and it was nice to see that McGonagall took their suggestions to heart. Dean and Seamus were holding hands and grinning.

After all the horrible things that had happened the last few days, it was nice to get some good news.

Hopefully the good news would continue tomorrow at the Wizengamot.

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"So I have a surprise for you three." Draco had brought the huge canvas and the easel up to the Heads Dorm and a black cloth he had conjured covered it.

"It's a gift for the three of you and I have already done the charm work. It will wake up when I die in Azkaban." Draco fought back the urge to cry, he didn't want to leave them, hadn't wanted to be absent from the last few days they had together, but he had to finish this painting.

"I can teach you the charm to embed your consciousness as it is in it. Then…" Draco sighed as though it hurt him to push the words out of him, "then our representations can speak to each other. After um…we are all…gone." There were tears in his eyes as he added, "but I hope that the three of you will be around for many years after I am…gone."

Theo was the one that seemed to be unable to see the art through his tears. He kept turning away and wiping at his face. And then trying to turn back to look at it, but the tears continued to pour down his face. Draco wanted to reach out and hold him, but Theo looked like he didn't want to be touched, so Draco stood awkwardly not knowing what to do.

Pansy ran her finger over Draco's depiction of her, "so this is where you have been at all hours of the night?"

Draco nodded, he didn't trust his voice anymore.

Pansy nodded back, her lip trembling.

Draco turned to look at Hermione to get her reaction, but she wasn't looking at the painting at all, she was looking at him with smouldering anger in her eyes, the tips of her hair sparking. Oh fuck.

"You," she poked him in the chest, hard, "are not allowed to just give up so easily! You have a whole legal team fighting for you! I am fighting for you! Theo is fighting for you! Pansy is fighting for you! You have to fight for yourself too! You can't just bleeding surrender, Draco Malfoy!"

Draco let her poke him hard enough times that he was sure that he would have a bruise and then he blocked her finger. "That's enough, witch. You have made your point."

He sighed, his voice quavering when he spoke. "I don't want to just give up. Give in, but I am trying to be realistic about the whole thing. Don't you value logic? Pragmatism? Do you want me to live in denial until I'm carted off to Azkaban? If I hadn't made that painting you would have nothing to remember me by!" By the end of his tirade he was shouting.

"I don't want a painting to remember you by! I want you to be here with me - with us I mean!" Hermione yelled back, "Draco, you are not replaceable by a piece of canvas! It isn't equivalent! I don't want- want-want you to go!" Tears ran over Hermione's cheeks and gently Draco took them in his hands and brought his lips to hers and tried to put everything he felt into his kiss.

I don't ever want to leave you. I want to be together forever. I love you Hermione. I want to make you my wife. I want you to carry my heirs. I want you and me and Theo and Pansy to be a family. I don't want to go to Azkaban, I swear.

But Draco was still a coward and could not bring him to say all those words out loud. It would be better if they stayed unsaid, at least for now.

His kiss deepened. Her mouth opened to him. She moaned and he used the opening to slide his tongue inside her mouth. She arched into him.

Theo came up behind Draco and began kissing along his neck and shoulders. Theo met Hermione's eyes and gave her the slightest of nods.

The two of them pulled Draco into the bedroom. Pansy waved them off, as she was doing the spell to embed her consciousness in the painting just in case her trial went poorly in the morning.

"We're going to miss the goodbye feast," Draco said breathlessly, as Theo kissed his neck and Hermione kissed her way down his chest.

Hermione looked up at him, meeting his eyes as her pink tongue peeked out between her lips to taste the pale blonde hairs that ran downward from his navel.

"Draco, please believe me when I tell you that I don't fucking care." And as Hermione lowered his pants to reach his painfully hard cock, he knew she was telling the truth.

She put her mouth on the end of him and he gasped. It felt like it had been weeks since he finished in her sleepy body this morning. He was so hard, so ready for her. Theo's hand skid under his shirt as Theo's mouth nibbled along his neck, his collarbone.

Pansy met his eyes when he looked up and saw her leaning against the door frame.

"Now this is a pretty picture," Pansy laughed as Theo unbuttoned Draco's shirt, pulling it off as Hermione went up and down Draco's cock. Draco's fingers tangled in her perfect curls. He moaned as Theo put his teeth on his nipples at the same time that Hermione deepthroated him. Draco felt like if it wasn't for Theo's arm around his waist, he would topple right over. Hermione was making his legs boneless. He wanted to tell her he loved her, that he had loved her for years, but he kept it held inside. If he went to prison tomorrow, he didn't want her to hang onto his memory. He wanted her to move on with Theo and Pansy. She had to.

Hermione popped off the end of his cock with a smack and Theo lifted him and tossed him onto the bed like he weighed nothing. The man made Draco feel like a fragile flower and it was a heady feeling. Theo was on top of him in seconds, straddling Draco's lap, holding the back of his head and nipping at his lower lip.

"I'm going to fuck you and Hermione is going to suck your cock and you are going to lick Pansy's pussy until she comes on your face. Then we are going to all get a good night's sleep because we have to floo with McGonagall to the Ministry in the early morning."

"Yes, daddy," Draco breathed out, and then exhaled raggedly in embarrassment. He couldn't believe that he had such a thing; he had no idea where it had come from.

However instead of being offended, Theo growled and had his hand on Draco's throat. "That's fucking right." Draco loved the look of possession in Theo's stormy eyes.

Fuck yes! Draco whispered into Theo's mind. I'm yours.

"Yes you are," Theo answered aloud. Draco wasn't sure if Theo realised that Draco had used legilimency, but when Theo cast a lubrification charm on his anus, as he pulled back enough to lift Draco's legs wide over Theo's muscled thighs, Draco found that he did not care. Theo vanished his clothes and his hard cock rubbed against Draco's. Theo spat on them both and then rubbed them together only for a moment, only until Draco moaned and squirmed. Then Theo laughed and eased one finger and then two into Draco's lubricated arse. Draco couldn't help but arch under Theo's touch. Then Hermione was there too. She was naked now, her breasts rubbed against his hip as she took his length into her mouth again. Her small hands on the base of his cock felt so nice, but not so nice as the wetness of her mouth.

Theo scissored his fingers inside Draco, whispering praise about what a good boy Draco was being for his daddy. Everything felt so good that Draco couldn't find it in himself to be embarrassed even with Hermione hearing every naughty word.

"Pansy?" Theo asked, his voice changing tones utterly to one that could only be described as submissive.

"Right there, darling. I was just enjoying the show," Pansy responded. Draco felt the bed shift slightly as she climbed on. She was wearing one of her little leather dresses, but she'd pushed the hem up over her hips. She sank down on her knees right over Draco's face and he looked up into her sweet folds.

Draco thought that he might die from pleasure, but what a way to go it would be.

He remembered his lessons and licked and sucked Pansy how she had previously instructed him. It was difficult without his hands, but Hermione had one pinned under herself.

Wait. Could he reach Hermione's clit like this?

He found that he could and she moaned onto his cock taking him down to the base causing Draco to moan into Pansy's core and that made Theo double his efforts, his thrusts becoming harder and faster. Draco was a creature of pure sensation. He couldn't see anything. His sense of smell and taste could only focus on Pansy's body. He could hear moans, and the wet slap of bodies, but touch was where his whole being existed. He felt the flood of arousal as Hermione came on his hand, his fingers finally mastering the rhythm on her clit at this awkward angle. His satisfied noise did something to Pansy as she came too on his face, wetness slick and dripping off his chin. Theo lifted his legs up and Hermione moaned and sucked his cock. When he finally came, Draco blacked out.

When he woke up he was curled in between Theo and Hermione, Pansy was behind Hermione, her fingers brushing Draco's scarred chest.

Theo brushed the hair out of his eyes, "Do you need water or anything, love?"

Draco shook his head.

"Alright," Theo kissed his temple, "Then get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."

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