TW: Transphobia/Assault/Hate Crime
Author's Note: This chapter might be heavy for some people. It does contain a description of violence against someone because of their sexuality. If you need to skip this chapter, I totally understand.

The morning dawned too brightly for Hermione. She wasn't sure what time she fell asleep, but she had managed to curl herself into the chair she had quickly transfigured to be slightly larger and more cushioned. She could hear Madam Pomfrey checking on the boy in the main room. Their voices were quiet, but she could hear gentle scolding.

She stood and stretched, her sweater tickling her stomach.

"Granger, you're going to lose those points for an inappropriate wardrobe…"

Hermione wheeled around, her face beet red. "Well that's just ridiculous," she sputtered, "Why are you even awake?"

"Better awake too soon then not at all?"

"You are right. I'm sorry. You just startled me." She told him, running her hand through her hair. She winced when she snagged on a tangle.

"You look wild. Nobody better mess with you, Granger. You look like you'd eat them." Draco told her, that damn smile pulling at his lips.

"Yeah, I might," She smiled back, "But for now, I'm going to get Madam Pomfrey and then go to speak with McGonagall. I'll be back for my shift tonight. Or...I probably won't? The aurors will probably…"

"It'd be nice...if you came back…" Draco said. There was something in his face that Hermione didn't recognize. If pressed, she'd almost guess it was self-consciousness. He wouldn't quite make eye contact with her, rather looking somewhere past her right ear.

"I'll think about it." She told him cheekily, but she smiled. A small wave behind her as she left sufficed for her goodbye.

Despite his pain, Draco found himself feeling happier than he had in a long time. It took everything he had to hide his smile when Madam Pomfrey came bustling in to begin to care for him.

The statue leading to the Headmistress' office jumped aside as she gave the password and Hermione waited patiently as the circular staircase moved into place. She could feel her heart beating heavily, a mix of anxiety and something unfamiliar. She tried to stuff the feelings down and stepped with purpose as she entered McGonagall's office.

"Granger, I didn't expect to see you so early." McGonagall said, looking up from papers on her desk. She was clearly pouring over just as much research as Hermione had over the last few days. It gave her a swell of respect for her former professor.

"Well, we've found out a lot of things over the past day. I'm sorry Professor, but…" Hermione began, but found herself cut off as McGonagall rose a hand.

"If you're about to confess to breaking rules, I'd really rather skip to what you've discovered. We both know you're not sorry, and that it was probably for the best." McGonagall spoke with just a touch of a smile at the corner of her lips, though Hermione could tell she was equal parts thankful and annoyed.

"Yes, ma'am. I was able to find out who might have cursed Draco. And what they've done. Nina Goshak is being controlled...or at least blackmailed by someone. We think they are a Slytherin student, since Ginny saw them meet by the Slytherin Common Room. We did not find out who. Our best lead about the situation itself is Nina." Hermione watched as the information began to sink in. McGonagall adjusted her glasses, but did not interrupt.

"The other thing that I discovered last night is that Draco hasn't been cursed directly. Someone put a magical ring on him and then hid it. Since we thought it was a direct spell, I don't think anyone checked for a magical item."

A deep sigh and McGonagall was already up and moving toward the window. A wave of her hand and a group of spectral cats were at the ready. "To the auror's office with you!" She told them, and off they went.

"Hermione, thank you. A cursed object...Will there ever be an end to the wild things that happen in these halls? We will have the Aurors and Cursebreakers come. And I will have Nina come to my office, and hopefully we will have an answer." McGonagall spoke quietly, but Hermione could tell she was feeling a bit lost without the help of her old friend.

"Thank you, Professor. If I find out anything else, I will let you know."

"Hermione!" Ginny was yelling her name and running down the hall. Hermione was half-way back to her own room, hoping to get a change of clothes.

"What's wrong?" Hermione asked. Ginny looked pale, as though she might be sick.

"Someone attacked Jo. And it was for sure on purpose. They went after her because... I got a letter in the post this morning…" Ginny handed over a letter, her hand shaking. She worked to catch her breath as Hermione began to read.

What a lovely game of cat and mouse we've started.

You're well on your way to capturing my useless, frightened mouse,

So I congratulate you for that. But don't think you've won.

You and Granger don't understand anything that's happening here.

You should have just let the Malfoy boy die for the sins

Of his father.

Instead I'll take pleasure in squashing your little unnatural mouse.

That thing is a disgrace to the magical community

Just as much as traitors like you and Malfoy and Mudbloods like

Granger.

The letter was unsigned, and the handwriting had the looping and lazy quality of a self-writing quill. Hermione looked up in horror. Ginny had tears streaming down her cheeks. "They went after her...because…" Ginny was so choked up she couldn't say it.

Hermione reached out and pulled her friend into a hug. "Shh...it's okay." She held Ginny tight until the girl had caught her breath. After all the things they'd been through, she could understand the descent into panic that Ginny was feeling. Especially with what the girl had experienced during her previous year of school. There were still things Ginny wouldn't talk about them.

"Jo doesn't stay in her room because parents already complained to McGonagall. She already feels like an outcast, and now...Someone tried to bash her face in. They broke her wand arm. It doesn't even look like magic. It looks like someone just...just...beat the hell out of her. And they...Hermione, they wrote Joshua all over her body. Left her in a hallway with her shirt torn open to humiliate her." Ginny couldn't stop crying as she recounted what had happened. "I found her when I went to talk to Jasper to see if he could tell me who he saw that night. She was curled up right in the doorway to a classroom...her blood was all over the floor." Ginny dissolved after that, unable to recount anymore.

Hermione hadn't asked, because it wasn't her business. But now she felt the anger rising within her. She hadn't known Jo before this year. All she knew was that the girl was a talented Ravenclaw who wasn't well liked among some of her peers. She had never asked why the girl spent all her time with Madam Pomfrey, learning like an apprentice under the motherly witch. She hadn't thought to ask why she didn't sleep in her own dorm room. Now she understood.

"Is she going to be okay?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling in her rage.

"I think so. Madam Pomfrey was furious when I brought her in. I've never seen her so upset." Ginny managed to choke out, trying to gain control of her voice. "She'll heal fine. Madam Pomfrey hasn't ever met a broken bone she couldn't heal. But I don't know if she'll feel safe…"

"Yeah, I understand that…" Hermione replied. "Let's head back to my room so I can change. Then we'll head back to the Hospital Wing to check on Jo and Malfoy."

Ginny nodded and they walked in glum silence.