Author's Notes: The Rotten Writer, here, once again with a record breaking update as far as speed goes… I think. With the exception of the first few days where those chapters were already pre-written this has gotta be my fastest update yet.
Anyway, this is just the aftermath, so to speak of the ending from our last chapter and should hopefully set the tone for future advancements with our favorite Soul Bonded quartet. Next chapter will include Halloween and then the Christmas break with the chapter after that.
Not a lot more to say except WOOHOO! Broke 1,000 reviews last chapter so I'm uber excited and I want to thank everyone that commented and some I've even discussed aspects of the story with, which has helped me develop some new ideas in how to proceed with things. Thank you all and keep questioning and pushing me to improve, I love it.
Disclaimer: I still own no part of Harry Potter and would greatly appreciate if no one sued me for playing around with JK's characters and world. Thank you.
Here's Chapter 33 of Soul Scars. Enjoy.
Soul Scars Part Three
The Greengrass Problem
By,
Rtnwriter
Hermione Granger opened her eyes and stared blankly at the animated Hollyhead Harpies poster that was in her direct view on the wall beside the bed. She was lying on her left side and, aside from opening her cinnamon colored eyes, she made no other movement as she took stock of her current situation.
More lightly dressed than she'd ever been, almost, the comforting, steady presence of two of her bond mates in the bed with her had suddenly taken on a very different feeling. The sensation of silky skin against her legs was an entirely new experience. The arm wrapped around her waist and the steady, warm breath brushing against the back of her neck were both very familiar.
The hand gently cupping her budding left breast was even a somewhat familiar occurrence, but after last nights surprising revelations, she wasn't entirely sure how she felt about what that implied.
Honestly, three girls in one bed, even those as large as their dorm rooms or Susan's bed at the Boneyard, it wasn't unusual for a hand to get caught in a top or to land across one of their chests when one of them shifted around in their sleep, and over the past two years, none of them had ever made a big deal out of it when it happened.
Hermione carefully shifted around in the bed until she was facing the blond that had been behind her, leaving Daphne's arm wrapped loosely around her middle to study her bond mate's peacefully sleeping face while her mind went over everything that happened the night before.
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How this had happened, she had no idea. One moment, she and Daphne had been in the middle of, easily, the worst argument they'd ever had, and she was trying to coax some kind of information out of the other girl. The next moment her brain shuddered to a grinding halt as an impossibly soft pair of lips covered her own and Daphne was kissing her.
Daphne was kissing her!
The thought echoed loudly in her mind as one of the hands cupping her cheeks slid around, beneath the heavy braid Susan had made from her hair, to caress the back of her neck.
Why was Daphne kissing her?
Well, obviously, the girl likes you, her own voice whispered in the back of her mind.
But what about Harry?
We'll figure that out later, right now you need to kiss her back!
But, I'm not interested in girls!
Who said anything about 'girls'? We're talking about Daphne.
Daphne is a girl.
So? She is our bond mate first and foremost, girl second.
From the moment the kiss began, only a few seconds had passed as Hermione's mental debate occurred at an extremely high rate of speed. Not quite fast enough though. Whether she wanted to kiss Daphne or not, Hermione knew that pulling away could be extremely detrimental to the other girls mental state and, just as she'd convinced herself to try kissing back, Daphne's eyes flew open and she suddenly jerked back.
"Oh, Goddess. I-I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…" Daphne's voice trailed off into unintelligible muttering as she spun away and ran across the room, her honey blond hair streaming out behind her like a flag. She practically flew onto the bed and sat up against the headboard, her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around her legs and her face buried in a pillow as a muffled sobbing sound escaped her.
Slowly, Hermione turned her wide eyed stare to look at Susan who, she noted absently, did not seem as shocked as Hermione felt. She got as far as opening her mouth to speak when her vision went white and a searing burst of pain ripped through her head, causing Susan and Daphne to cry out even as it drove their bond mate to her knees.
"-ione… Hermione!"
"… true fear…"
"What?"
Hermione opened her eyes to find herself lying on the floor in the recreation of Susan's bedroom as provided by the Room of Requirement, with Susan kneeling next to her and a throbbing pain pulsing behind her eyes.
"Dobby!"
A crack split the air and Hermione groaned, her hands coming up to clutch at her head as Susan spoke to the energetic little elf. There was another, quieter, crack and then a soft hand was tugging at the one Hermione had clenched over her face.
"Here," Susan muttered in a soothing voice as Hermione felt a vial touch her lips. "Headache relief," she said and Hermione gratefully opened her mouth, dutifully swallowing the potion that passed her lips. She gagged at the taste, but in moments the pain in her head receded and she was able to sit up, one trembling hand accepting the mug of hot chocolate that Susan helped her drink to wash the taste from her mouth.
"Thank you," Hermione whispered once she was able to open her eyes without pain and Susan gave her a watery smile before helping her to her feet. A glance over to the bed showed that Daphne hadn't moved, save to lift her head, wide, tearful eyes watching her carefully.
With Susan's help to steady her, Hermione walked over to the bed and sat on the edge. When Susan went around and climbed in from the other side to sit in the middle, Daphne tried to draw away from them, but was stopped by the headboard. Hermione closed her eyes and took several deep breaths, taking a few moments to carefully organize her thoughts before speaking.
Finally, she opened her eyes and looked directly into Daphne's icy gaze. "You kissed me," she said.
"I'm sorry!" Daphne blurted out. "I didn't meant to. I just… I wanted…" She trailed off when Hermione raised one hand in a stopping gesture.
"I'm not talking about just a few minutes ago," she said. "I'm talking about before, last year, while I was petrified." She leaned forward her eyes never leaving Daphne's widening gaze and whispered quietly, "I remember."
Daphne said nothing and simply stared, unable to look away as shock, fear, and shame shattered her Occlumency shields and flooded across the bond.
"What do you remember" Susan asked, a little confused and the brunette turned her head to look at her.
"I remember being petrified," she explained. "Most of the time it just… just hurt. I couldn't see or hear or feel my body, but the bond hurt, so much. But whenever you two, or Harry, were around, I could hear you talking, and that made it hurt less."
She paused and licked her lips, her mouth feeling dry.
"I remember you coming to visit me in the Hospital Wing late one night," she continued, turning her attention back to Daphne. A moment later she suddenly grinned and barked out a laugh. "I heard Dobby blast Lucius Malfoy across the wing!"
That got the other girls, both, to laugh, though Daphne's was weak and shaky.
"You sat by my bed and you told me the truth about how you grew up. You told me your greatest fear. And then you kissed me."
Daphne shook her head, violently.
"That's not possible," she insisted. "Petrified victims can't hear."
"'And that is my true fear. That, I think, is what has been holding me back from our bond. The fear that I will truly come to love all three of you, but that I will forever be apart from you all. Married to a man that I cannot feel a true attraction to, and married to two, beautiful women, that will never be attracted to me'."
Daphne's mouth dropped open as she heard her own words quoted back to her and she finally had no choice but to accept that Hermione did hear her that night, and her biggest secret was out there, in the open.
"Morganas tits-"
"Susan!"
"Oh, stuff it 'Mione. You dropped a 'fuck' back there when you two were arguing," Susan snapped off at her favorite bookworm, whose mouth opened and closed soundlessly several times while Susan directed her attention back to their blond.
"Daphne, is that really what you've thought all this time?"
Wordlessly, the girl nodded.
"See?" Susan burst out, startling the other girls with her sudden volume. "This is exactly what I mean. We need to be more open with each other. If you'd only said something…" Susan moved around so she was sitting next to Daphne and pulled the other girl into her arms.
"All right," she said, after making herself comfortable. "No more hiding crap, right now. I'm going to ask you a question, and I want a simple, yes or no answer from you, understood?"
Daphne attempted to protest but Susan simply talked over her. "Understood?" she repeated, arching one brow at the flummoxed blond in her arms, who finally sighed in defeat and nodded her agreement.
"Daphne, do you consider yourself to be a witches witch?"
There was silence for nearly a minute before they heard a very quiet, "yes."
At Hermione's questioning look, Susan explained. "Witches witch is, obviously, a term for the wizarding world. The nonmagical equivalent would be a lesbian."
Hermione nodded to let her know that she understood.
"So, all this time, you've been worried this bond has trapped you into a life where you could never be completely happy," she muttered.
"Daphne, why? Why didn't you tell us? Why not talk to us?" Susan asked.
"You know just as well as I do how badly our world views such things, Susan," Daphne whispered. "I couldn't even admit it to myself until we woke up after Hermione and Neville were attacked last year. My mothing forced me to actually say it out loud for the first time that night.
"Bones is an old family, and I have no idea how they would react, and I know the muggle world doesn't have much of a better view on same sex relationships, either. If I said anything, and found out you were disgusted, or hated me…" She broke off and shuddered, miserably.
"Well, I don't know about the Bones family, but Auntie always taught me never to judge others by who they are but by their actions." She shrugged one shoulder. "Hell, for all I know my aunt could be a witches witch, herself. She's never dated, that I've ever seen, and never mentioned any men that she found attractive."
"My parents taught me pretty much the same," Hermione said, moving over to sit on Daphne's other side from Susan, trapping the blond between them. "Yes, a lot of nonmagical society is against same sex couples, but I was always taught that as long as they're happy and no one is being hurt, or forced, then it's none of my business, anyway."
They lapsed into silence after that as relief filled Daphne and Hermione found herself turning this new information over in her mind. A minute later Susan moved, catching Hermione's attention and she turned her head, just in time to see her tuck her fingers under Daphne's chin, tilt her head up, and then lean down to capture the startled bond's lips with an extremely gentle kiss.
When she pulled away, Susan giggled at the surprised expression on both of the other girl's faces.
"Just so we're clear," she said, "I've always been equally attracted to both boys and girls. So, even if you never are attracted to Harry, or if Hermione doesn't feel that way about the two of us, you will always have me, Daphne Greengrass."
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After Susan's surprising declaration, there hadn't been much more in the way of talking. The three girls had sat in bed for some time, each of them silently consumed by their own thoughts until they had, eventually, drifted off to sleep.
"You need to stop that."
The quietly whispered words pulled Hermione out of her thoughts and her absent gaze snapped into focus to find a pair of icy blue eyes staring at her. At the questioning look in her eyes, the arm Daphne had wrapped around her middle came up and, very gently, almost hesitantly, she cupped the bushy haired witches chin. Placing her thumb beneath her bottom lip, Daphne gently tugged it from where it had been trapped between her teeth.
Hermione blinked in surprise, her mouth dropping open slightly. She hadn't even noticed that she had been chewing on her lip.
"It's a habit," she admitted, also in a whisper.
"I know. I've noticed for a long time, now. It's ridiculously cute."
Hermione blinked again.
"Cute?" she squeaked and Daphne let out a quiet chuckle as she nodded.
"Last year, when Harry was hurt by that bludger of Dobby's. Walking to dinner that night, that was when you first said that I belonged to all of you and that you all belonged to me, remember?"
Hermione nodded.
"You were chewing on your lip, then. I… I almost kissed you, that time. That's why I kept looking away from you."
A strange feeling made its presence known to Hermione at that declaration. An unusual churning sensation in her stomach that she couldn't quite name and she found herself shifting a little uncomfortably in her spot in the bed. That action had her acutely aware of the feeling of Daphne's legs again her own, and the skin of the other girls arm where it brushed against her side in the gap that had appeared between the waist of her shorts and her thin top.
"I'm straight," she blurted out and then immediately groaned, slapping a hand over her face. "Wait, let me try that again, please?" she almost begged as she peeked between her fingers. Daphne's expression was unreadable, but she nodded silently for Hermione to continue.
"I've known about… about sex and how physical relationships work since I was eight," she tried to explain. "You know how much I love to read and I don't always read textbooks. Some of the books I found growing up were really not appropriate for my age, but they were words on paper, I read them anyway. Even knowing that, intellectually, I can't honestly say that I was ever really attracted to anyone until pretty recently, but even back when I first learned about it, I always felt I would be attracted to men."
Daphne nodded again as her face became even more impassive and she started to pull away, but Hermione's arm snaked around the blond's waist and pulled her back.
"I'm not finished," she said, allowing herself a small smile at the flicker of surprise that flashed across Daphne's face before it vanished. After waiting a moment to see if Daphne would pull away again, she relaxed her grip, but left her arm wrapped around the other girl.
"I don't think I've ever actually considered the idea of… of kissing a girl o-or being with a girl," Hermione murmured as a telling warmth grew in her cheeks. She did her very best to ignore that and pushed on, never letting her eyes stray from Daphne's. "That kiss, last night… I'll admit it wasn't at all unpleasant… but I also can't say I would particularly want to do it again, either.
"I guess… I guess right now, all I can say is that I don't really know how I feel about all this, for me. I don't care that you like girls, or that Susan likes boys and girls. I meant what I said last year, and last night, you belong to us and we… I belong to all of you, too. I'm not going to turn away from you two. You and Susan and Harry, the bond we have is more important than that.
"Really, all I'm asking is that we carry on, and just… just give me time to think about all of this. I can't make any promises other than I won't make any hasty decisions. I promise, I'll really think about it, and when I know how I feel, you'll be the very next person to know, okay?"
Daphne's silence after she finished stretched long enough that Hermione found herself fighting the urge to fidget, nervously. Finally, the blond let out a long sigh and nodded.
"I'm not going to lie to you. That isn't what I hoped you would say. But I'll take 'not now' over 'not ever' any day." Hermione opened her mouth but Daphne quickly placed two fingers over her lips before she could speak. "I know, it very well could be 'not ever', but I choose to hope that you just need time to come around. Please, just let me have that."
Sheepishly, Hermione nodded, reminding herself that there was no harm in letting Daphne hope, as long as she made sure not to string the girl along. She would think very carefully over how she felt and get the girl an answer as quickly as she could, one way, or the other.
"Also, I promise not to push you, as best I can. Now that it's all out in the open, honestly, it'll be difficult not to flirt, at least a little. But I'll try."
"You can flirt with me all you want," a sleep roughened voice came from Daphne's other side and she turned onto her back under Hermione's arm so they could both see Susan, laying on her stomach, slowly lift her head and blearily open her eyes.
"Did I say that out loud?" she asked a moment later and both girls nodded. "Oh." She seemed to think about that for a moment before bobbing her head. "I stand by my statement."
Daphne grinned and started to lean toward the redhead before she paused and glanced at Hermione who rolled her eyes and lifted her arm from around Daphne's waist as she gestured toward them.
"Oh, go on and kiss her," she said, laughing slightly as Daphne's grin widened and she proceeded to do exactly as she was told. Leaving them to it, Hermione slipped out of the bed and went to change back into her uniform from the night before, that would do until they got back to the dorm and could get clean clothes.
Just before the door to the changing room closed, she heard one of them idly wonder aloud, "so, does all this mean that I have a girlfriend?"
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"Ladies, your wands," Professor McGonagall said by way of greeting when she arrived at the room at eight o'clock, precisely, that Sunday morning. She stood in the open doorway, one hand outstretched with the girl's wands held loosely in her grip.
"So, I trust the issues have been resolved?" she asked after each girl had collected her own wand and tucked it away. The three of them exchanged a look, small smiles turning up the corners of their lips.
"To be fair, not entirely, Professor," Hermione admitted, "but I think we can honestly say that we all have a much better understanding of each other and we should be doing much better going forward."
"That is good to hear, then." She favored the three of them with one of her rare smiles before she drew herself up and controlled her expressions. "I trust you three are capable of finding your own way back to your dormitory?"
They assured her they could and she bid them a pleasant day before leaving them to make their own way back to the tower. At first, Hermione expected things to be different, or to feel different, somehow. Instead, as they started walking Susan fell into step on her right side with Daphne claiming her left side just as they always had.
"We're not together," Susan said after a minute of walking and Hermione turned to give her a quizzical look. "Daphne and I," she explained. "We discussed it really quick while you were changing and decided that we, that is the four of us, would be better if Daphne and I didn't start a relationship right now. Harry is still not emotionally capable of dealing with something like that and we're agreed that, whatever happens between us girls, we're all intent on marrying that boy, eventually, right?"
Hermione nodded.
"We figure, why complicate things right now? Boys mature a little slower than girls do, and Harry has more obstacles than the average boy. So, until he's ready to look at the idea of being with us, we kind of feel like it'd be cheating on him, in a way, for us to be together."
"And before you bring up the point about this being counter to Susan's argument about us all being more open, let's put it this way. We're not going to date, or tell Harry about our feelings for each other until we can discuss the matter with Healer Gant at the very least. Us all being open with each other is important, yes, but that doesn't mean we have to know every minute of each other lives, either. We do still need privacy and some things for ourselves too. You know more about psychology than we do, though, so we're mentioning this now in order to get your opinion. We think it's better for us to all just keep being friends, open up a little more about our lives, but not push anything more, really. We basically need to move at Harry's pace here, and as far as we know he's not at the relationship point."
Hermione considered that for a minute in silence before she, somewhat reluctantly, nodded.
"I hate to say it, but you might be right. If you two had decided to date and be together, that'd be different. Like you said, though, we need to talk to his Healer as soon as possible and get his take on things." Absently, she chewed on her lip a moment before hesitantly bringing up another topic that had occurred to her while she was changing. "About… um… about our sleeping arrangements…"
When she trailed off, blushing brilliantly, Susan and Daphne glanced at each other around the witch between them.
"We'll move to one of the other beds if it makes you uncomfortable Herm-"
"No!" she blurted out, cutting Susan off as her face reddened even further. "No… I… I like sharing with you two. I'm used to having you both around and I've honestly hated sleeping alone during the summers when I'm with my parents. I just… I guess I just wanted to know how you two felt about it. I don't want to lead either of you on or anything and…"
Daphne stopped and placed a hand on Hermione's arm, causing her and Susan to stop and face her.
"Hermione, we understand you don't know how you feel, right now. You were honest with us, and we get that you need time to figure out what you want and how you feel about our entire situation. I already promised not to push you, and I know I joked about flirting with you but I want you to know I won't ever do anything to make you uncomfortable if I can help it. If you want to keep sharing a bed with us we can do that and know that it's just sharing because we're used to it and we take comfort in each others company. There doesn't need to be anything more to it than that, unless or until you're ready for more."
Hermione practically lunged at Daphne, gratefully wrapping her arms around the other girl in a rib creaking hug. A moment later Susan found herself similarly engulfed before Hermione got herself under control and they continued on their way to the tower.
It was only a handful of minutes later that they hit the hallways leading to the portrait entrance and their attention was caught by the sound of pounding footsteps approaching them.
"It's about bloody time," Neville burst out as he ran up to them.
"Language."
"Yeah, yeah, lecture me later," he almost snapped at Hermione, causing all three girls to draw up short as he stopped and spun around. He grabbed one of Hermione's hands and one of Susan's and started pulling them toward the portrait at the end of the hall. "Hermione, grab ahold of Daphne, I only have two hands."
Despite protests from all three girls, Hermione did grab ahold of Daphne with her free hand as Neville almost dragged them into the common room where he stopped and dropped their hands before he pointed toward their usual spots by the fireplace.
"You broke him, you fix him."
Turning to look, their mouths dropped open when they spotted a disheveled and bleary eyed Harry Potter pacing slowly back and forth in front of the fire.
"What the hell happened?" Daphne blurted out.
"You guys tell me," Neville shot back. "Late last night he just starts freaking out. Kept saying you three were really upset and he didn't know what was going on. He hasn't slept at all, as far as I know. He even tried to sneak out to the Room, but McGonagall caught him. He said she only docked a few house points after he explained why he was out but she refused to let him go see you."
As Neville explain, they had been making their way across the Common Room and as soon as they reached him, Hermione stepped into Harry's path and pulled him into a hug. For the first time in a long while, he stiffened up completely at the contact, but a moment later his muscles seemed to melt as he realized who was holding him and his arms came up to wrap tightly around Hermione's middle.
"Daphne was scared," he muttered, his face buried against her neck. "Susan felt lost and you were angry, then you were in so much pain. What happened?"
Hermione felt more than saw as Daphne and Susan joined them, one on either side as their arms wrapped around both her and Harry.
"I'm so sorry, Harry-"
"We're sorry," Daphne corrected her.
"Yes, we are sorry, we… well, honestly we had a pretty bad argument last night. We worked everything out, but we should have gotten a message to you."
Harry shrugged one shoulder, almost listlessly. "It's okay," he said, attempting to brush off the apology but Hermione pulled back and shook her head.
"No, it isn't okay, Harry," she insisted. "It wasn't intentional, but we hurt you. I can imagine how bad that felt, not knowing what was going on and we should have thought of that. We're connected, so we really shouldn't have forgotten that you would need some reassurance that we were all right and that nothing was wrong. We're sorry, and we'll try not to make that mistake again."
He studied her for a moment before nodding.
"It really is okay," he told them. "Just… let's all try to remember for the future?"
The three of them nodded in complete agreement and Neville blew out relieved sigh.
"You three got him, then?" he asked and they nodded again.
"Thank you, Neville, for keeping an eye on him for us." Daphne moved away from her bond mates and wrapped her arms around Neville, squeezing him tightly for a moment before she pulled back.
"Yeah, thanks, Nev," Harry added. "I'm sorry I kept you up."
"No worries, Harry. Where a Potter goes…"
"A Longbottom stands beside him."
"That doesn't just mean heading into battle. Personal crises fall under that category. Whenever you need me, Mate." Neville gave them a wave and headed up the stairs to the dorm, intent on getting some sleep.
Once their friend was gone, Hermione shot the other girls a look, to which they nodded silently and directed Harry away from his usual chair and to the sofa the girls typically took for themselves. Before he realized what was happening, he found himself sitting in the middle with the two girls cuddling up to his sides, Susan on his right and Daphne claiming his left side.
For a moment he thought to question what was going on, but he was honestly too tired to think on it. Besides, he couldn't deny that it was a nice feeling, having the girls there with him after the worry he'd suffered wondering if they were okay.
While Daphne and Susan were busy getting Harry settled on the sofa, Hermione was thinking. Her mind rapidly pulled up plans, reworked them, scanned them, discarded them, and, finally, settled on a very new course of action far different from what she and the other girls had already discussed.
With her mind made up, she walked over to the sofa and, as calmly as she could, she plopped herself down on Harry's lap.
She almost, almost, burst out laughing when his eyes seemed to bulge out of his head, but managed to hold it in by focusing on making herself comfortable. She stretched her legs out across Susan's lap and leaned against Daphne's shoulder as the blond shifted slightly to allow Hermione to lean against her for support.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, his voice cracking slightly and she glanced at him.
"Yes, Harry?" she asked in a calm and all too innocent tone of voice.
"W-what are you doing?"
She rolled her eyes. "Honestly, Harry, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm getting comfortable."
"On my lap?"
"Yes, Harry."
He really didn't know what to say to that but, everything else that Harry Potter was aside, he was also still a thirteen-year-old boy with three very attractive teenage witches in extremely close physical proximity to him. He decided that, since Hermione seemed so unconcerned by the whole situation that it would do him no good to worry about it and simply tried to relax as best he could.
"So, what happened last night?" he asked after a few minutes passed where the four of them settled into their spots on the sofa.
"We talked. Daphne and Hermione argued-"
"Hermione said 'fucking'," Daphne offered with a grin and the witch in question flushed brilliantly as Harry shot her a quizzical look.
"I was very upset," she muttered while she did her best to hide her face between his and Daphne's shoulders.
The three of them chuckled quietly for a moment at her expense before she pointedly cleared her throat and they settled down to continue their discussion.
"Honestly, we really did get a lot worked out," she started, then they proceeded to tell him some of what they'd resolved the night before. They explained how they agreed that they needed to be more open with each other and apologized again for how they'd been pushing him to open up without reciprocating. They explained how Hermione's memory came back from when she was petrified and, with a little encouragement, Daphne repeated what she told Hermione that night in the Hospital Wing for Harry's and Susan's benefit, minus any reference to her orientation.
It took them a few minutes to calm Harry after he heard that, rather edited version of what she'd suffered growing up before they were able to continue.
"I'm still not sure what it is you guys have been hiding from me, and I'm still not happy about that, but I'll admit I was far more upset about it than I really should have been. I can only blame stress and fear and I'm sorry for how I acted," Daphne said, finishing off their explanation.
"Well, I'm not going to say it's okay, but it is understandable," Hermione murmured, leaning her head back some so she could look up at Daphne. "And that kind of thing is exactly why Susan forced that little heart to heart on us. Like we said last night, Harry has been right to be upset with us for not sharing more of ourselves and we just need to keep working on that as we go along.
Daphne's smile was warm, and the arm she had wrapped around Hermione's back tightened briefly as she squeezed the other girl.
"I'm sorry, too, for keeping this from you, Daphne."
The two witches turned their attention to Harry.
"Can you explain why I can't know what's going on? That would help I think."
Harry considered that, his lips pursed in thought as he stared into the fire for a few minutes before turning his attention back to her.
"Say I told you something, in confidence, but you weren't bound by any kind of oath or something. If your father asked you for any information regarding me, what would you do?"
Daphne blanched at that, her face twisting in disgust.
"House Duty would require me to tell him in as much detail as I am capable of," she admitted. "But you know I'd be willing to swear an oath."
"We know," Susan told her. "But Luna was right last year, oaths really are not something to take lightly or play around with. They're dangerous and it's only a couple more months and this will all be over."
"We don't want to put you into a position where you might have to choose between lying to your father or telling him about us. I made you a promise, and I intend to keep it. I'm just trying to make sure that I have made every possible effort to get you out of this without resorting to methods I don't care for."
Daphne held up her hand to stop him from saying anything else.
"I understand," she said. "Don't say anything else. Father hasn't asked me for any specific information, but that doesn't mean he won't at some point, so better to be safe than sorry. You're right, in that I can't tell him what I don't know."
They lapsed into silence for a moment before Hermione checked her watch and winced.
"Breakfast is almost over," she told them as she stood and stretched. "I think we should all shower and change and we'll head for the kitchens to grab something to eat?"
Daphne and Susan both agreed and quickly stood but Harry shook his head, slowly dragging himself to his feet.
"I'm knackered," he said. "I think I'll just go lie down for now, try to get a nap in." He gave each of them a quick hug and started for the stairs climbing them slowly until he disappeared from view.
Hermione let out a startled noise when she suddenly found each of her hands being grabbed as both Susan and Daphne practically dragged her up the stairs and into their dorm where they chivied her into her bed, drew the curtains, and cast a half a dozen silencing and privacy spells at the bed curtains.
"Okay, just what was that all about?" Susan demanded once they were certain they wouldn't be overhead. "Making yourself comfortable on his lap like that wasn't exactly in the going at Harry's pace idea, was it?"
Hermione blushed but shook her head.
"No, it wasn't. But a few thoughts occurred to me, and I decided there really wasn't any harm in giving Harry a little bit of a nudge."
Susan and Daphne both just stared at her for several long moments, their faces unreadable and their Occlumency shields in place, lest they leak their emotions to Harry and disturb his much needed rest.
"Okay," Susan said, finally, drawing out the word for several seconds. "You said a few thoughts occurred to you. Like what?"
Hermione settled back against the headboard of her bed and crossed her arms over her chest as her face settled into an expressions that her bond mates had taken to calling her thinking expression. Her eyes were focused on a point seemingly a few feet in front of her, her jaw set in a firm expressions as her brow furrowed, just slightly, indicating that the wheels of her brain were spinning at an alarming rate. Daphne counted in her head and right on time, Hermione's bottom lip was drawn between her teeth as she chewed on it for several long moments before her eyes focused and she looked up at them.
"I've never really considered the possibility of being romantically linked to another girl," she said and Daphne blinked.
"You already mentioned that, Hermione. We understand you need time-"
"No, that's not what I'm getting at," Hermione cut her off, shaking her head. "No, I was thinking about the bond and us as a group. It's something we all know, but I think we tend to forget it now and then because for years we never considered it. Before we met Harry, we all thought that it was just us, bonded to a boy, right?"
The girls nodded.
"And for all that time, that's what it was. But we bonded to each other as well at our sorting. We're all four of us equal in this bond, and the information we got from the Goblins isn't complete but it was clear about one thing. Two people cannot be bonded that aren't compatible with each other. So… while I may not have ever considered the idea, the fact that I'm bonded to the two of you, as well as to Harry would seem to indicate that I must have the capacity to be with you as well as him, even if I don't know that for sure myself, yet."
Susan's face took on a thoughtful expression as she considered that while Daphne looked resigned.
"Mother is never going to let me hear the end of this," she groaned. "When you were petrified, the night that she forced me to admit aloud I had developed feelings for you two… she said that this bond wouldn't have happened if we couldn't all be happy with each other. At the time, she was talking about my worry that you two might never feel for me what I was starting to feel for you, but… that could also easily mean that maybe I could feel the same for Harry, couldn't it?"
"I think it could, Daphne," Hermione told her as gently as she could. "As long as you're willing to consider it, even if you don't find other men attractive, you might find, because of how close we are and how close we can still likely get, that Harry might be the exception to that rule, for you."
Daphne's frown was thoughtful and Hermione squeezed her shoulder as she climbed out of the bed and picked up her bag.
"Just think about it. I'm going to go write a few letters. I'm hoping that Healer Gant might be able to answer a few questions, or at the, least arrange a time to meet with us to talk without compromising his oaths. We don't actually know how much he can get away with telling us."
Daphne didn't respond. She didn't actually appear to have noticed Hermione had even moved from the bed.
"Go on," Susan told her, a small smile on her lips as she looked at their distracted bond mate fondly. "I'll keep an eye on her and we'll grab an early lunch in a while instead of a late breakfast."
Hermione mouthed 'thank you' and scurried from the room, making a mental note to do something special for Susan in the near future to thank her for all the effort the girl had been putting in getting them to finally talk to each other. Without Susan, Hermione honestly shuddered to think how much worse things could have gotten.
Setting up at her favorite table, she pulled parchment, ink, and her favorite quill from her bag and, after a moments thought quickly dashed off a letter meant for Harry's Healer. After completing that letter and waiting for the ink the dry she rolled it up, sealed it, and set it aside before she turned her focus to what would be a far more difficult letter.
Dear Mum,
Daddy, if you're reading this with mum right now, you might want to excuse yourself. Girl talk, trust me, you DON'T want to know. If you don't, well, don't say I didn't warn you.
Is he gone?
Oh well, fingers crossed that he took me seriously.
Mum… HELP! I don't know what to think or how to feel and I'm really trying not to panic.
Okay, start at the beginning, right? That's what you and daddy have always told me so, here it goes. Mum, last night, Daphne kissed me, and I've remembered, now, that wasn't the first time…
