Tie Your Heart at Night to Mine, Love

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There was a rapping at her door. It reverberated through the silence in the room as words after words soured inside her stomach. The book lay on her bed, open and soiling whatever it touched, and her hands—clammy as they were—were firmly pressed against her mouth, as if there was a chance that, by uttering those sentences, she would grant them a power of some sort.

Hermione hadn't known until then that you could feel the blood drain from your face and abandon your body when no open wound was visible. And it not only could but did, for she could feel a hundred gashes being carved—seeping yet still unseen—at every horrific thing that was considered 'research' and 'knowledge' regarding werewolves. What were these people thinking? Moreover, how was it possible for them to spout such vicious things and have others believe them? Accept their opinions and misconceptions as scientific truths? And she had yet to make a dent on the small pile of books! If anything, they strengthened Hermione's resolve at taking advantage of Kingsley's schemes, for—if nothing else—one good thing had to come out of it. And the treatment of werewolves was so appalling that, even if the change she was capable of inflicting ended up being a measly one, it would represent a humongous improvement.

The knock sounded once more and this time she grunted in response. Not without effort, she peeled her gaze from the pages as the door clicked open. Seeing the round frame of glasses sitting crookedly on her best friend's face made her feel better, however marginally so, and she let her hands fall to her lap.

"Hey, Hermione, I was wondering if we could tal—are you feeling all right?" Harry stepped inside and closed the door behind him, "You look rather… green."

She stared at the pages before her and at the volumes she hadn't gotten to yet. "We need better books. We need better people."

He sat beside her on her bed, sparing a glance at the book as well. "Werewolves, I assume?"

"It's awful, Harry. I have half a mind to burn it."

"We know you wouldn't."

"Hence my saying half a mind. But it is that ghastly… enough to make me ponder it." She glared at the book some more, but no amount of horrified disbelief sufficed to make its contents change, so she closed it. "But never mind that… Of course we can talk, is it about Ginny?"

"Er, no, actually. It's… it's about Ron."

"Oh."

"Yeah… He floo-called today."

Hermione pulled her legs towards her chest and hugged her knees. "I've been an awful friend."

"That's not true."

Hermione shot him a dirty look, "I think he begs to differ, Harry."

"He'll come around… eventually. He always does. I won't pretend to know what exactly is going on with either of them—"

"I kissed Ron then forgot all about it and I'm Professor Lupin's wolf mate."

"Well, when you put it like that… Ow, it's a joke, I'm joking!" He brushed off the sting of Hermione's mock slap on his arm and continued, "None of us have been perfect at it – friendship, I mean. Except for you when it comes to me, that is. You have been pretty amazing. I wish you hadn't had to sacrifice so much for it, but you did and you still stayed with me until the end and beyond. We fought a war, and you've never, ever wavered.

"And I haven't been that great of a friend to you and neither has Ron. I was a prat sometimes. And, despite how ego-crushing it must have been to kiss someone and have them forget, Ron shouldn't have left." Harry's jaw clenched, a harsher glint showing in his green eyes, "Not now, not again. Between the three of us, if someone is entitled to bugger things up, it's you. God knows Ron and I had our fair share of it and you haven't walked away on us yet."

He opened his arm for a side hug, and Hermione fit herself against his side, tears prickling her eyes. She looked upwards to keep them from falling and rested her head on his shoulder. "When did you grow up this much, Harry?"

"Just now, while baby-sitting Arnold. It's a big responsibility, you know?"

Hermione smiled. They sat there, sharing a silence that was bound to be short-lived.

"Harry?" She disentangled herself from his embrace and met his gaze, "What about Remus?"

Her friend took a deep breath, his hand gripping the back of his neck, "I suspected about it, right after the final battle. You mentioned soul mates when we were researching the life-debt bond, and I had this feeling that if two of the people I knew were to be made for each other… Maybe being a wolf mate isn't the same, but it sounds really close. I told him to tell you, but I'm guessing it wasn't that straightforward?"

Hermione cringed, "You could say that."

"And he did it in some misguided attempt to protect you?" At Hermione's nod, Harry shook his head, "Ginny gave me quite the telling-off for what I pulled during the war… But I guess the only question that matters is: do you want to be with him?"

"Yes."

"Then I'm with you every step of the way."

Dinner at Grimmauld Place was as distant an affair from the Order dinners as it could get. Food was comprised of whatever the current occupants could whip up—which wasn't much, to begin with—but it lacked the ever-present somber tone of the meetings. In its stead, an air of contentment floated about, encompassed by the tinkling of both cutlery and laughter. Hermione was barely there, though, pushing at the spaghetti with her fork while her stomach still protested at her earlier readings.

When Ginny's tale came to an end, Hermione stilled her fork. Not having paid attention to the redhead's words, she managed a smile before directing her gaze elsewhere. "Neville, I've been meaning to ask… You're still helping Professor Sprout with the greenhouses, aren't you?"

"Yeah. After the battle, they became something of a wild garden. Some Death Eaters were captured while suffering the effects of Venomous Tentacula's poisoning, you know? We've never heard of them being loyal before this, but none of the students nor the Order members were targeted. It's remarkable, really."

For a moment, she forgot her point, "It is unheard of… I assume you are going to study it?"

"Yeah," A tiny smile formed on Neville's lips, "you're welcome to come if you want."

Hermione beamed at him, "Thank you, Neville, but I don't think I could manage. I'd love to read your notes later, though."

The boy gave her a sharp nod, "Count on it."

"Right. What I wanted to ask was, if I needed a few ingredients, do you think you'd be able to get me some?"

Harry interrupted, "Looking to brew another batch of Polyjuice, 'Mione?"

Movement on the other side of the table caught Hermione's eye – Luna had tilted her head to the side, her Spectrespecs now on her face, "Don't be silly, Harry. Why would Hermione need a potion to change into something else?"

A brief silence settled around them, and Hermione shifted in her chair, her gaze trained on the Ravenclaw. After her impromptu comment, however, Luna kept staring at the air, looking for hidden, likely non-existent, creatures. Hermione swallowed, "Yeah, Harry. No more Chambers of Secrets or breaking into banks in my future… I hope. But there's a potion I want to try…"

Neville swallowed his forkful of food. "Say no more, Hermione. Most plants there are in need of a trim anyways. They've grown too large and classes are still a long while away. Just give me the list and I'll bring 'em to you."

"Thank you, Neville."

"Don't mention it, 'reckon I'll forever be indebted to you for getting me through Potions anyways."

"Aren't we all?" Harry added.

And thus Hermione's plans were set in motion.

Step one: brew Wolfsbane.

Step two: upend the Wizarding World.

How hard would it be?

A/N: Did I ever tell you I have the best readers ever? Well, I do! Thank you for the support, guys, I was kind of scared most of you would have lost interest in the story because it took me over a year to update, but you've proved me wrong. And I really appreciate all the nice words and good vibes, you're the best :)

Now, I'll be early for some, and late for others, and likely not on time for anyone, but Happy New Year! I hope 2020 brings a giant amount of joy to you all.

And I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you thought of it in the reviews if you can :)

Crackling loud Weasley's Wizard Wheezes fireworks to…

My reviewers: SereniteRose, caprubia, prongsletpotter20, katetastic, OncerLoyal96, MoonKitten02, , RAV3N R1PP3R, BellaAmorEterno, magicbustrip, and Guest.

To: Linnea Andersen, Moonvale, hannahbanana414, Poetgirl616, Andrianna2016, sissy21, , prongsletpotter20, BellaAmorEterno, and OncerLoyal96 for adding the story to their favorites.

And to: Mindsmusic, Moonvale, acommodo, hannahbanana414, and Poetgirl616 for following the story.

To Guest: Thank you for reviewing!