For Her Greater Good

A/N: I'm sorry that it's so darn short, but here's the newest chapter!

Another important note: I'm tackling some gritty realities about mental illness in this fic. Both of my main characters have mental illnesses, and both have gone through some serious traumas. But it's important to note that this story is about healing and healthy management of those illnesses, and while there may be dark, rock bottom moments like the start of the previous chapter, this is supposed to be a relatively happy story with a happy ending.

Content Warning: all the same as the last chapter

Hermione stumbled as she landed in the sitting room of her home, and she caught herself on a nearby chair. She quickly checked herself to see if she had gotten Splinched. Seeing that she was still whole, she breathed a sigh of relief, and looked around the room, taking in the new deep purple shag rug she had stumbled over on her arrival.

Her gaze caught on the multitude of family photos adorning the walls and shelves, and she smiled even as she regretted the relative lack of new photos of her among the set. She kept looking around the tidy room, and noticed a handwritten note on the end table nearest her usual landing point.

She awkwardly walked over to it, grateful that she didn't have to stop to catch her breath so often now, since she had recovered a lot in the past two weeks since... the incident. She still had a long way to go, and her arm still hurt to move, but she was just grateful that she'd make a full recovery.

She picked up the note, and read her father's carefully tidy handwriting. "Hermione, please don't forget to take your medicine again today. I moved a couple doses of your tablets into the drawer of this table since you always appear next to it. Takeout leftovers are in the fridge if you don't feel like cooking. Love, Dad. PS: I left the magic stuff where it was."

Hermione smiled at her dad's obvious care for her, and his continued wariness of all things magical. He had been around proper magic since she was 11, but he was still worried that touching her magical items could cause them to stop working. 'At least he isn't scared that it would hurt him,' she thought, her smile growing.

She opened the drawer to see that he had already gotten the doses she needed prepared and bagged, so that she only had to take one bag out. She did, and closed the drawer back. She went into the kitchen, and poured herself a glass of water. She took both of her pills, and washed them down with the water, then opened the fridge.

She pulled out the leftovers her dad had mentioned, a pizza he and her mum must have ordered and eaten before Hermione had gotten home last night, as she had unintentionally fallen asleep at Iris's bedside. Her stomach rumbled, and she decided to eat a piece cold to settle her stomach instead of waiting to warm it up like she usually did.

She stuck one piece in the oven to warm it, and dug into another, as she put the remainder back into the fridge. She ate, and once she was finished, she returned to the sitting room and sat in one of the cozier chairs, waiting for her mum to arrive. She pulled out a book she had borrowed from the library, a new addition to a series she had been following since the summer between her second and third years.

Thankfully, it wasn't long before Hermione heard the key turning in the lock. She placed a bookmark in the crease of the pages and closed the book, careful to avoid bending any of the pages. Her mum came into the sitting room, and sat across from Hermione.

Erin sighed. She ran one hand over her pale face, bags under her eyes just barely visible. She sat silently for a moment, worriedly twirling her curly red hair, then said, "So, my little otter, how's your friend?"

Hermione blushed at her mum's childhood nickname for her, but she decided to ignore the embarrassment to focus on her best friend's needs. "Mum, she's BAD. I told you that I thought she might have been neglected by her aunt and uncle, right? It turns out they were worse than that."

Erin's hand flew to her mouth. "Oh my God! They didn't?!?"

Hermione choked back a sob. "Even worse. They didn't just hit her. They worked her to the bone, and starved her. After they realized she was trans last summer... Their son tried to rape her. Iris said they told him to do it."

Erin had a few tears running down her cheeks, but she nodded encouragingly. "Go on," she whispered.

"I don't know the specifics, but I feel like she was holding back as much as she could. It was probably even worse than that," Hermione was crying now. "Mum, I think they'll kill her if she goes back. Please, let her stay here this summer."

"Of course, Hermione. I would never turn away a child in need, you know that." Erin smiled weakly. "She tried to kill herself, that's why she was in the hospital. Does she have a therapist?"

"Not yet, I was hoping Derek could help her. He's been great for me. Something else... I promised Iris I wouldn't tell you, but I have to. Iris has been starving herself, so we have to make sure she eats enough." Hermione sighed, wiping the tears from her face.

Erin got out of her chair, and walked the short distance between herself and Hermione, engulfing the emotional teen in a strong hug. "Have you told Iris that you love her yet?" She asked quietly as she released Hermione.

Hermione's eyes widened, and she opened and closed her mouth several times in surprise. "I... How did you know?"

Iris was sitting in a chair next to her hospital bed, reading a book the nurses loaned her. It was a dimestore paperback romance from the Muggle world, but it was miles better than sitting around doing nothing.

After a particularly graphic scene, her face burning, she put the book down, not even bothering to mark her place. Maybe doing nothing WAS better. She couldn't grasp why any girl would want to date men when women were so much cuter. Especially after that description of... being with a man. Nope. Not for her.

Iris stood up, stretching. Somehow, she was still sore from... the incident. She snatched up the damnable book, and walked from her room to the nurse's station, trying to work out the soreness. She glared weakly at the nurse who loaned her the book. "This, is gross. Nope. Take it back."

The nurse laughed. "It's supposed to be a little gross," she said, but she did take the book back. "What kind of books would you normally like to read?"

Iris shrugged. "Nonfiction, I guess."

"Ravenclaw?" The nurse guessed. At Iris's nod, she continued. "I think I have exactly the thing for you." She pulled out a small book, titled Forgotten Magicks. "This doesn't actually teach you how to do the magic it describes, but it is a fascinating dive into how magic was supposedly used in the time of the ancients."

Iris's eyes lit up, and she snatched the book up, which left the nurse giggling. Iris barely managed a "thank you" before she dashed back to her room, not hearing the nurse laughing louder or seeing her smile at making even a small improvement in the life of her patient.

Iris sat down in a chair by the window and began to read. The first chapter was about coven magic and rituals that predated the invention of wands and staves. She became so engrossed that she didn't notice Hermione enter her room half an hour later, until Hermione put her hand between Iris and the book, and Iris jumped, nearly shrieking in surprise.

After calming herself, Iris laughed alongside Hermione. "Sorry, I didn't notice you come in!" She giggled.

Hermione smiled, and wrapped Iris in a hug. "Good book?"

Iris muttered, with her face buried in Hermione's hair against her shoulder and neck, "Very!" She nestled deeper into Hermione's hair, not noticing the other girl biting her lip. Iris felt like she was in heaven with Hermione, and then suddenly, something clicked, and she thought, 'Oh! Oh, gods above, I love Hermione.'

Hermione gently separated herself from Iris. "Good news, my mum has agreed that you can stay with us, definitely for this entire summer and possibly next summer too."

Iris smiled her trademark lopsided grin, not aware at how it made Hermione's knees weak. "Sounds great," she replied. "And... I thought it over. You're right that I need a therapist, and probably actual medicine too, not potions."

Hermione sighed in relief. "You have no idea how much I wanted to hear that. When you get to my house, I'll help you get in touch with my therapist. If you don't like him, I'm sure he knows other therapists who are in the know about magic."

Iris hugged Hermione again, reveling in the feeling of being close to her. "Thank you so much. You're the best friend a girl could ever have." She just barely avoided blurting out exactly how she felt. As she pulled away, Hermione bit her lip in thought, as if pondering what to say, before she shook her head slightly and smiled sadly.

"I do try to be, but don't forget that you've been a good friend to me too," as she took Iris's hand. She looked Iris in the eyes, and looked like she wanted to say something, but instead, she pulled Iris into another hug.