A/N- The feedback and support y'all show me is just overwhelming! I know I'll never be Shayalonnie, Kittenshift17, or Colubrina, but you guys make me feel great. A million times, thank you. Enough chatter for now, thanks for being awesome!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might see in this fic. Possibly the personal twist on the story line, but I know this trope has been done before.

Chapter 15

September 19, 1995

Hermione was excited. She knew that everyone in school made fun of her love of learning, the exploring of knowledge that the world had to offer, but she just couldn't help herself. When she was offered the chance to explore a brand new field of magic and study, she threw herself into research so she could be the best there possibly was.

Her father had told her that occlumency was an extremely difficult field of magic, that it took someone with a high level of discipline. He had told her that it was extremely hard for Gryffindors to learn because the basis of it was controlling your emotions, locking away the thoughts and feelings that would betray you. While she was sure that she did have a disciplined mind, she was extremely nervous that she wouldn't be able to control her emotions.

Draco was already fair at occlumency. His mother had mastered it in her childhood and when Voldemort had returned last year, she had insisted that he begin learning the art. She had been most surprised when Draco had told her that his mother had seen the memories of her and his emotions regarding her, and she hadn't demanded that he ridicule or harm Hermione. She had simply not commented and Draco had gotten the impression that she didn't seem to care.

This had called into question the thought that maybe Narcissa Malfoy wasn't quite as devout a blood purist as her husband was, that she had to simply play the part because of her husband and the fact that their home was playing host to the Dark Lord. She wasn't one hundred percent sure she could buy into that considering who had raised her and who she had married, but it was definetely food for thought.

In her usual swotty and over-achieving manner, Hermione had checked out as many books on occlumency as she could find in the library and had read every single one of them in entirety so she could be as prepared as possible. Draco had told her that it wasn't something she could learn from a book, that it was a practical branch of magic, but she didn't care. She had always done better if she understood the theory first and then moved forward.

Therefore, after she had read every single book on the art, Hermiome had done her best to start trying to learn how to control her emotions on her own. She had insisted that Harry try with her so he wouldn't fall behind. It was extremely difficult, but she had made sure that every night before bed she practiced clearing her mind of all thoughts and emotions. While she didn't think that she was doing a great job, she did think that she was sleeping better as a result since she had fewer dreams.

The reason for her excitement, incidentally, was that their first lesson in occlumency with her father was that evening. While she was nervous about failing, she was also extremely scared that her father would see her past deeds and thoughts and reject her. She knew how much he hated Sirius and nobody knew exactly how the animagus had eacaped except for less than a handful of people. Her father was not one of them. She was terrified that he would discover those memories and think that she was betraying him somehow. While she knew that this thought process was ridiculous, she simply couldn't help herself.

Hermione was pulled out of her wayward thoughts by Harry speaking to her.

"'Mi, you ready to go? The bell just rang and the greenhouses are aways away." She recalled that they had been eating breakfast and shook herself slightly before nodding.

"Yeah, sorry, I was just worrying about tonight's lesson." Draco helped her up as he chuckled, kissing the side of her head.

"Quit worrying. Everything is going to be fine." Hermione couldn't help but shake her head as they started to make their way through the corridors.

"You don't understand the things he can see in my mind. He might hate me after one specific incident." Draco shook his head as Harry shot her a confused look.

"He's not going to hate you, Princess. You're his daughter." She cast a knowing look towards Harry. He raised an eyebrow in question at her. She sighed and rolled her eyes at his ignorance.

"Who does Severus Snape hate more than anyone else aside from Voldemort himself?" Harry's eyes widened and she was happy that she finally made him realize her fears.

"Sirius Black." Hermione nodded and Draco finally caught on. He brushed her curls over the front of her shoulders so he could rub the muscles firmly.

"Even if he wants Black dead, he'll understand that you did what you thought was right. You're a Gryffindor and you lions champion those that can't fend for themselves. If he does get mad, that's the angle I'd play up." Hermione chuckled at Draco's ever eternal Slytherin outlook on life. While she couldn't do it full-time, she could now admit how useful it was from time to time.

As they traversed the corridors to Herbology, Hermione let her mind drift to her meeting with Voldemort. While she had been upset that she had caused her father worry and fear, she had been so very proud of herself that she had won her grandfather over with little to no effort. Not only had she secured Harry and Draco's safety, she had also secured Severus' place in the ranks as one of authority so he would no longer have to bow before his father and suffer the indignity of such actions. While she understood why he had never pushed for more than he already had, Hermione had felt it was foolish. He should have demanded more when he realized who he was since old Voldy would expect him to have pride in his heritage.

Hermione had been questioned at length by Severus about their meeting with the Dark Lord. He wanted to know why she had insisted on calling him grandfather, why she had pushed for him to be a part of anything in her life, and just how this information was affecting her relationship with Draco. She couldn't help but smile when he asked this question. He had assumed that Draco would be the one to have the problem with her actions when in truth it was the other way around. Her father had laughed when she had informed him of this conversation.

Severus had also implored to her to find a random wild snake and start practicing parseltongue with. Harry was wonderful to speak with, but Draco quickly grew impatient with the fact that they could speak to each other while the he couldn't understand a thing. Severus had implored to her to keep her snake language skills a secret aside from the five people that had been present in that room when she reported to Albus. While being a parselmouth was a trait that generally passed down from line to line, it wasn't a well-known trait for a female to inherit. Males were generally parselmouthes while the females of the line were generally cursed to several heirs per family. Hermione wasn't sure how this was considered a curse, but she just went with it. Her thoughts were again drawn out of their depths by their arrival at Herbology.

Hermione spread her text and parchment out before her, ready for the lesson to begin. Both boys smiled and shook their heads at her, obviously laughing at the fact that she was far more ready than they were. Professor Sprout swept into the room and began her lecture on the different strains of healing plants and how they were used.

Hermione took detailed notes as always, but felt that both boys had been distracted. She wasn't sure what they were concentrated on, but she supposed it didn't matter. The Gryffindor had a feeling that it had to do with Ron since the redhead was shooting her evil looks. She couldn't think of a single thing that she had done to him recently, but she supposed that breathing would be enough to annoy him.

Hermione tended the healing plant that she had been assigned, sketching it's features clearly and replanting one of the plants successfully. Both boys worked together across from her and they both seemed annoyed. She could only assume it was because they both were rather dirty.

Professor Sprout dismissed class without assigning any homework. While Hermione would normally have been saddened at this, when it came to Herbology, she found herself thankful. It was probably her least favorite subject and she didn't want to have to expend energy on it if she didn't have to.

Both boys took her hand in theirs as they led her towards Charms. Hermione could fully admit that she was avoiding the Slytherins and she appreciated both Harry and Draco for running interference. Since her meeting with her grandfather, the Slytherins had changed how they interacted with Hermione. The whole school had been going on about it, but so far, Hermione had refused to acknowledge or comment on their actions.

Draco had told her that she had been quite the topic in their common room. Gone were the musings that Draco was only using her to gain influence and power. They believed fully now that Draco was fully committed to her and she could only assume that it was because everyone with an informant even remotely close to the Dark Lord had heard what she was capable of doing after she had attacked Thorfinne Rowle. The fact that the Dark Lord had laughed at her actions rather than killing her outright had shown that she was not to be trifled with and that they would not win in a popularity contest judged by Voldemort.

While she had expected this to an extent, the fact that Pansy was now sucking up to her made her sick. The Slytherin girl had invited her three times so far to join her in their common room so she could talk fashion with Hermione. It was almost sad since Pansy seemed to have absolutely no idea that Hermione couldn't give two figs about fashion. Even though Hermione told her that she didn't care a whit about fashion, it didn't stop Pansy, Daphne, and Tracey from inviting her to their common room almost every day.

The boys led her into Charms and she allowed them to sit on either side of her. They were going on about something they had read in the paper regarding quidditch and Hermione could only shake her head in mock exasperation. Truthfully, she couldn't complain. Despite the fact that the pair had been enemies for the whole of their school life, they had managed to scrape out some sort of friendship. She would never be angry about that.

Professor Flitwick entered and all extraneous conversation stopped. Hermione listened to him lecture on the finer details on how banishing charms and summoning charms were different, probably something nobody else was too terribly interested in since they had already mastered both spells. Hermione paid close attention, however, since she knew that her understanding of magic derived from her ability to understand theory. She wasn't like Harry and Draco who learned best based on practical application.

It seemed to be her lucky day since Professor Flitwick didn't assign any homework either. Harry and Draco were both under the impression that the tiny professor felt bad for subjecting them to such a boring lesson that he let them off easy. While she disagreed that the lesson was boring, she silently agreed with their reasoning behind no homework.

The trio left Charms to the stares that accompanied them wherever they went now. As annoying as the stares and whispers were, Hermione had learned to mostly ignore them. The Slytherins had been the ones that bothered her the most since most of their comments had been about Draco using her so she was easily able to ignore the musings of the other three houses.

Hermione didn't get a chance to even leave the Charms corridor before Harry pulled her into an alvove hidden behind a statue of a rather large witch that Hermione had only recalled noticing in passing. She didn't even get a chance to object before her best friend's mouth was on hers.

She loved kissing both Harry and Draco. Hermione had never been one to focus on the physical aspect of a relationship, she had only snogged one of the most famous wizards in the world less than a handful of times after all, but they drove her to the brink of mindlessness. While they had only snogged so far, the attentions of the two boys she was desperately in love with drove her to cast a silencing charm on her bed at night and slip her hand in her knickers to relieve some of her frustrations.

Harry kissed her more aggressively than he usually did; she could only attribute this to the fact that he had been letting her get used to the fact that she was technically with two boys. Draco afforded her no such niceties. He was very aggressive in possessing her mouth and not only bringing her pleasure from his attentions, but taking his own.

Harry's tongue plundered her mouth, tasting every inch of her as he swirled his tongue around hers. She had no control over the whimper that escaped her mouth, quickly swallowed by Harry as he grinned into her mouth. Her whole body was on fire and in need of release, she wanted to explode around her finger more than anything.

Draco moved behind her and Harry pushed her against his chest while the blond let his lips tease the tender flesh under her ear. While she tried to focus on both their attentions, it was near impossible. They put her in a state where she was only able to feel, not think at all.

Before she realized what was happening, Harry pressed her against Draco's chest even harder. His head dipped, catching the tip of her breast in his mouth, dragging a startled gasp of pleasure from her mouth. She couldn't do anything as Harry suckled at her breast through her shirt. Her hands threaded in his hair and held him close, silently praying to whoever was listening that he wouldn't stop.

Draco let his hands wander as his lips nipped and sucked at her neck. His arms wrapped around her waist for a few brief moments before they dropped to her thighs. She almost didn't notice that his hands were slowly but steadily trailing their way back up her skin because Harry was tormenting her sweetly with his tongue and teeth at her breast.

It was a surprise when Draco's hand cupped her mound from behind. Her knees buckled at the overload of sensation, but the arm he had wrapped around her waist kept her upright. His fingers trailed over her slit through her knickers and she couldn't hold back the needy whimper that was lost to both boys.

Harry's tongue was teasing her pebbled flesh and she couldn't find the willpower to pull her fingers out of his messy head of hair. The sounds escaping her lips would have been embarrassing if she could have found it in herself to care. Draco's fingers slipped under her knickers to gather her silky arousal fluid on his fingertips. His talented digits began rubbing insistent little circles around her pleasure pearl in a far more pleasing manner than she was able to.

Harry removed his mouth from her breast so his fingers could start rubbing circles around her nipples that matched Draco's hand almost perfectly. His mouth found her ear, nipping at the lobe before he started speaking.

"Merlin, 'Mi, you feel so good. Do you like Draco's fingers in your cunt? Do you like knowing that we could both stop and leave you with nothing? We would never do that, but the power is heady, knowing that we're in control of your pleasure."

Hermione was mindless, Draco's fingers were driving her higher and higher while Harry was making her pant. The burn deep in her core was hotter than she ever remembered it being when they had snogged and Hermione yearned for release. Harry bit her shoulder before returning to her ear.

"Let go, 'Mi. Give us your release. Squirt all over Draco's hands so I can taste it. I bet you're sweeter than honey."

Hermione couldn't believe that dirty talk was fanning the flames within her, but it was. She was on the verge of exploding, but even being mindless with need and want, she worried what they would think of her when they witnessed her orgasm. She knew that some girls didn't make a mess when they came; Hermione was not one of them. Copious amounts of liquid desire would seep from her hole making the affair quite messy. As if the boys sensed her reluctance, they redoubled their efforts to force an orgasm from her.

Draco's thumb continued it's sweet torture on her clit while he slipped first one finger inside her tight passage, then another. He groaned into her neck.

"Merlin, Princess, your pussy is so fucking tight. Harry, get down here and feel her." Hermione could only whimper when she felt Harry's hand join Draco's and one of his fingers slid inside her along with Draco's. She briefly considered the fact that she had two men's hands inside her and how that made her a scarlet woman of some sort, but it was quickly dismissed when her orgasm could finally be denied no longer.

Her world exploded and she hoped that one of the boys had thought to cast a silencing charm on their alcove. She had never been one to be quiet about her orgasms. Harry used his free hand to tweak one of her nipples roughly while she was still convulsing around their fingers. This sent a new wave of pleasure screaming through her body, buckling her knees.

Both boys kept hold of her, keeping her upright. Ever so slowly, they removed their fingers from inside her and she watched Harry stick his fingers in his mouth. He closed his eyes in what appeared to be ecstasy and she had a feeling that Draco was doing the same behind her. Her face burned with embarrassment as she watched Harry suck his fingers clean.

He leaned over and pressed his mouth to hers once more, forcing her lips open so she could taste herself on his tongue. Without warning, Harry spun her and Draco did the same, his tongue plundering her mouth ruthlessly. When he finally gentled the kiss, he caught her chin in his fingers.

"Do you like tasting yourself on our tongues?" She knew she was bright red, but with him holding her the way he was, she couldn't avoid the question. Her voice was barely more than a whisper.

"Yes." It was the truth. While she couldn't say that she loved the taste, she could certainly say that she didn't hate it.

"Did you like squirting all over our hands?" Hermione felt a lick of shame and jerked her chin from his grip so she could look downwards.

"You don't have to make fun of me, I know I'm not like the other girls you two have been with." She tried to leave the alcove, but wasn't able to because Harry had clamped his arms around her waist. He hugged her close from behind while Draco cupped her cheeks in his hands.

"Princess, we loved that you came for us. Most men love it when a girl makes a mess, it turns us on. Please don't be embarrassed." She wasn't entirely sure that he was telling the truth, but she nodded her head. Only time would tell she supposed. Harry kissed the side of her head.

"That was the hottest fucking thing I've ever seen. We definitely need to do this more often."

Hermione chuckled slightly and both boys released her. She straightened her skirt and attempted to arrange her curls to where they didn't look like they had been yanked on. All in all, she thought she did a fair job.

Hermione let them lead her out of the alcove they were located in. Draco motioned for her to take their hands. With a happy and sated sigh, she allowed the pair to pull her down the corridor to lunch.

-O-

Draco was in what the muggles called heaven. Hermione and Harry had explained the concept to him and he was certain that if the place really existed, he was there.

Hermione had been wonderful. The soft skin of her neck had felt so delicious under his teeth and her belly taut before his hands had wandered lower. Her pussy had been so slick and her channel so tight. He had blown his load in his pants when she finally came and he suspected that Potter had as well. They had shared an embarrassed look between them, Hermione completely clueless.

He had simply cast a discreet cleansing charm on himself and he suspected that Potter had done the same thing. When Hermione had exploded around his finger and Harry's, Draco had been surprised at Hermione's reaction. She had soaked their hands with her fluids and Draco had loved it. All the girls that he had been with never shed a drop of fluid and he had always wished that they had. Now that he knew Hermione was a squirter, he loved her even more.

The taste of her arousal fluid had been musky, tangy, and sweet. If Draco could have gotten away with spreading her legs and feasting on her pussy, he would have. As it was, however, he didn't think that she would allow it. She had been terribly embarrassed at the mess that she had made despite the fact that he and Harry had obviously loved it. He had tried to settle her insecurities, but he wasn't sure that that would happen with just his words. They would have to progress slowly and show her that she turned them on and that they loved her flooding the bed.

They were currently making their way through the corridors towards the Great Hall. Lunch was already half way over, but he knew that they needed to eat a little something before they braved Defense Against the Dark Arts. Umbridge would most likely be a useless cunt and they would have to refrain themselves from acting on impulse. Draco found this was getting more difficult and he blamed it on Harry and Hermione. They were bad influences.

The trio entered the Great Hall to their normal whispers. While Slytherin House had fallen silent in their whispers and rumors, the other three houses seemed to be running rampant almost as if they were making up for the loss of the snakes. The fact that the snakes were sucking up now made him sick. Pansy and Daphne were doing their level best to suck up to Hermione and make her their friend which he knew for a fact would never happen. Not only had the two been horrid to her their whole school career, the only reason they were being nice now was because the Dark Lord had made it quite clear that Hermione was allowed to get away with murder.

For three days, the buzz around the common room had been about how Hermione had attacked Rowle when he had spoken against her. Every detail was discussed from the fact that she had performed wandless, wordless magic to the fact that Rowle had almost died while the Dark Lord had merely laughed. As a result, not only did the snake den as a whole treat Hermione a thousand times better, they afforded the same luxury to Harry, an idea that Draco couldn't blame them for implementing.

The trio sat at the lion's table. While Slytherin would have welcomed them with open arms, it would have seemed fake and Hermione would have hated it. While everyone at the Gryffindor table seemed to hate them being there, Draco could at least admit that they were honest in their hatred. They didn't pretend to approve and they sure didn't sensor their comments. As irritated as this made Draco, he could appreciate that at the Gryffindor table they knew exactly where they stood.

They all served themselves some food, roast beef and potatoes this time. The Weasel was three or four people down and he was shoveling food in his mouth at an alarming rate. Even though Draco had hated Weasley for years, his eating habits had turned him off clear back in first year.

Lunch passed by with no incident until right before the final bell. Hermione had pushed her plate away long ago and Harry and Draco had just recently done so. Hermione had been waiting patiently, looking over the chapter they were to cover in DADA. Lavender had leaned over into Hermione's personal space, and whispered in her ear.

"Did he dirty talk you? Harry was always so good at that. You have a just-shagged look about you and I just wanted to make sure that he treated you to the whole package." Draco blanched at their words while Hermione teared up, but quickly hid she spoke, her voice was haughty.

"Harry doesn't have to do anything to me because we've decided to take it slow. I'm not an easy slag." Lavender leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at Hermione.

"Are you trying to insinuate that Pav and I are loose with men?" Hermione sneered her way.

"Give the lion a prize. Everyone knows you two are loose, why do you think so many boys like you? It isn't because of your stimulating conversation skills." Draco and Harry couldn't help but snort in amusement at her words. While they both felt bad for the attention that they were receiving because of their last sexual experiences, both boys knew that nobody was going to leave Hermione alone until she drew blood and even that was no guarantee. Parvati jumped in and tried to help her friend.

"We may be known with the boys through the school, but we've never sunk to the low of having two boys at once." He could see that she wanted to retort with the comment that she hadn't been with two boys at once, but even he could agree that that was no longer the truth. Throwing a glare at the two Gryffindors, Draco leaned over and kissed the side of her head.

"Don't worry, Princess. Neither one of them has ever had the option of having two handsome men take care of all their needs. If it has happened, it's because they were raped by the desperate." Hermione tried to fight the giggle that bubbled up from within her, but she wasn't able. The slag twins glared at her when her laughter finally became apparent. They rose quickly and stalked out of the same door that they generally used to go to Divination. Draco couldn't help but chuckle and snort at their performance.

The rest of the meal passed with no interruptions and no drama. The trio left to the same whispers they had arrived with. They traversed the corridors in near silence and although Draco couldn't tell for sure, he was worried that Hermione was second guessing herself due to their actions before the meal. This led to Draco pulling Hermione and Harry to a stop outside of Defense class.

"Don't overthink things, Hermione. We both care for you more than we care for ourselves. Please don't think less of yourself after what we did." He hadn't been entirely sure just what to say exactly, but this seemed to be the right thing. Her face cleared and her eyes hardened.

"I won't tolerate anymore shite from either of your exes. If you two are with me, I'm going to make sure that everyone knows it."

Draco somewhat liked the idea of his girlfriend fending off his exes so she could have him all to herself. Well, and Potter, but that didn't seem to be such a deal breaker anymore. Today especially had proven that not only were they not jealous of the other, they were able to bring their mate to incredible heights together. No matter what any man said, his greatest pleasure was bringing pleasure to the girl he was shagging.

Both Draco and Harry nodded their agreement to her statement before they grabbed her hand and led her into Defense. While Draco was certain that Umbridge would play nicely (he knew for a fact that Pansy had told the High Inquisitor exactly what had happened in his family home), he also couldn't discount the fact that Dolores Umbridge was a fucking idiot.

The trio sat at a table together and waited for their incompetent professor to arrive. While Draco enjoyed having just one class that he didn't have to try in, he knew that this was the class that could save not only his life, but Hermione's and Potter's. Slacking in this class could be detrimental to their health and he found that he truly did want to learn.

Professor Umbridge entered the classroom and bid them to open their texts to page sixteen. Draco could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't pleased with something, but he had no idea what. Today's lesson was over vampire bats and their uses in Defense, but Draco knew that the lesson was a waste of their time.

They were instructed to read silently before copying the lesson from the text book. It seemed completely pointless, but since their grades depended on it, Draco cast a simple copying charm. He had no problems remembering what he read so why should he wear his hand out copying the text word for word? As much as Hermione and Harry both liked to say that they were die hard lions, it was apparent they had strong snake tendencies when he realized both of them had done the same thing as he had.

All three moved on to their homework from the day before. While Draco didn't consider himself near as anal as Hermione, he appreciated the fact that when he studied with her they were always several days ahead of their classes. When Umbridge came around and saw the three of them working on Transfiguration, she couldn't bite back her retort.

"Have you three finished my assignment or are you choosing to do it at a later time?" Hermione looked to be biting her tongue so Draco figured it would probably be smart to let her bite back her cheeky response.

"We all have finished your assignment, Professor. We decided to catch up on other homework so we wouldn't distrub the class." She gave an approving sniff before she moved on. Draco sighed in relief. Hermione hadn't lost her temper and Harry hadn't scored detention. It was win in all directions today.

Class was dismissed with nothing bad happening for once. While Draco was sure that both Hermione and Harry had been dying to say something snide and rude to the High Inquisitor, it really would have been a bad idea.

The trio went to dinner together and Draco found himself once again at the lion's table. While he truly did hate it there, it made more sense for him to move rather than Harry and Hermione. Besides, the lions were far more honest than the other houses would have been.

Dinner passed without incident unless you count the Weasel stuffing himself to the point of making himself sick. While Lavender and Parvati had insisted that he go to the Hospital Wing, Ginny and the twins had reassured all the professors that their brother was a pig and had simply over ate. Draco had then hoped against hope that someone had poisoned him and as a result of not receiving medical care, he would die. No such luck though.

Once dinner was finished Harry and Draco snagged Hermione's hand and gave her a meaningful look before pulling her towards the dungeon. Now that Draco had heard the story, he could understand why she was worried about her father finding the memory of her helping his cousin escape. While Severus had never been close to Black, however, Draco rather hoped that he could handle her role in his escape like an adult.

The three entered Severus' office when he called for them to enter. The look he gave them was hard to read, but Draco thought that it meant that he was pleased with their arrival. While he had studied occlumency all summer, he still didn't consider himself past the level of "passable". Harry and Hermione had never been tested before so he was sure that they were still terrible. Draco couldn't help but be nervous for all three of them, but he showed nothing of his emotions. Severus settled them into desks before him before he began speaking.

"Occlumency is the art of protecting one's mind from invasion."

The three of them listened for an hour before Severus finally admitted that there was nothing else they could learn via lecture. Draco had been one hundred percent correct when he had spoke to Hermione on the subject. The art of occlumency was learned through practice.

Severus told them to take their time and give him the best show they could of clearing their minds. Draco had actually mastered this step fairly quickly; it was learning to hide the memories that you didn't want seen that was difficult. Since Draco was the most experienced of the three, he offered to go first.

Severus settled in front of him and removed his wand from his sleeve. He pointed it at Draco's face and cast wordlessly. Draco was one hundred percent ready. When his mother had taught him, she had instructed him to organize his mind in such a way that nobody could see just what it was that he was hiding. Therefore, his method had always been organizing his mind into a library and burying his private thoughts within a book that was in his massive library. Maybe not the most conventional of methods, but it worked. When Severus removed himself from Draco's mind, he had only broke a slight sweat.

"Very good, Draco. A most useful way of hiding information." Draco simply nodded and moved from the seat before Severus. Potter seemed to notice how nervous Hermione was so he sat down before the older Slytherin before she could. Severus raised an eyebrow Harry's way and spoke.

"Clear your mind of emotion and try to hide from me the night that I caught you out after curfew your third year." Harry gave a quick nod before focusing entirely on whatever method he was using. Severus held his wand aloft for almost ten minutes before he finally lowered it and gave the approximation of a smirk in Harry's direction.

"Not bad for a first time, Mr. Potter. While I did find the memory eventually, you held me off for an impressive amount of time. I would suggest, however, that rather than a maze in your mind, you lock your memories in a trunk, theoretically speaking, and then hide the trunk in one of the walls of the maze. Or something similair of your choosing. Ultimately, it won't last for forever against someone who truly wants to break into your mind, but the level of energy they would have to put into breaking through your barriers would alert you to their invasion." Harry nodded and Draco was personally impressed. Both Harry and Hermione were so emotional that he truly figured that they would find occlumency extremely difficult.

Draco watched as Harry stood and took his place next to the blond, allowing Hermione to take the seat free in front of her father. She looked extremely nervous and Draco watched in silence as Severus reached forward and took her hand.

"Why are you so nervous?" She grasped his hand, but spoke anyways even though her voice trembled.

"I'm afraid you'll hate me after what you see." Severus chuckled and stroked the top of her knuckles with his thumb.

"You mean the fact that you set my robes on fire, you stole from my private stores, you helped Black escape the dementors, and you helped Potter train for the Tournament in private? I saw it all in 's mind and I don't hate you at all." A grin broke out on her face.

"Really?" He gave her a slight upturn of the corner of his mouth.

"Really really. Now ready yourself, sweet. You have five seconds." It was as if Severus had given her a confidence boost in the two minutes that they had spoken. In a way, Draco figured that he had.

Severus sat in front of Hermione for almost three-quarters of an hour before he finally lowered his wand and sighed. He raked his hand through his lank hair as he spoke.

"You shouldn't be that good for someone who's never even practiced occlumency before. Where did you learn that technique?" Draco watched as Hermione shrugged. They had piqued his interest now.

"I couldn't come up with a plausible way of hiding information without making it obvious. Therefore, I decided to just obscure it in plain sight." Severus shot her a dirty look.

"It was very effective." Draco couldn't keep quiet.

"How did you keep him out?" Hermione seemed to remember that they weren't alone and blushed slightly before answering.

"I didn't hide anything. I left my mind wide open. I just buried everything I wanted to hide in a sea of useless facts that I've read. Excerpts from books, facts from muggle stories, conversations from my childhood. I literally flooded him with so much information that he couldn't find the information he wanted." It was Harry that spoke.

"That's brilliant. Like hiding in plain sight." She gave them a wide grin before continuing on in conversation with Severus.

The trio were there for another hour before Severus had deemed that they had practiced enough for the night. They were given the homework assignment of clearing their minds before sleep for the next three days before they met again. Draco hooked an arm around Hermione's waist and pulled her out the door of Severus' office only to be startled by another Slytherin sitting outside the door waiting for them.

-O-

Hermione was beyond pleased with herself. Not only had her father not been angry with her over her past shenanigans, he had also taken nearly forty-five minutes before finally giving up on discovering her hidden memories. To say that the evening had been a success would have been an understatement. She allowed Draco and Harry to pull her out of her father's office after pressing a kiss to his cheek in their haste. She needed to schedule a day just spent with her father in the near future. Hermione was startled when she realized that there was another Slytherin waiting for them just outside her father's office. Draco's voice was hard when he spoke.

"What are you doing here, Theo?" The sandy-haired Slytherin shrugged, half smirk on his face.

"Hermione is my half-sister. I think it's time we had a discussion about it." Hermione had been playing with the concept of a relationship with her brother for awhile and though she wasn't sure if she could trust him now, she realized that she wanted to see if she could. Before Draco or Harry could step forward and play the protective boyfriend, she turned to them both and took their hands in hers.

"This conversation has to happen. You've seen what I'm capable of. Besides, I don't think he'll harm me." Both stared at her for several seconds before they both leaned forward and pressed a kiss to each of her cheeks. Draco fingered one of her curls before he spoke.

"If you need me, just ask any Slytherin and they'll let you in our common room." She smiled at him before she kissed him softly on the mouth and turning to Harry. He tugged the same errant curl that Draco had played with.

"You know where to find me if you need me." She nodded and kissed his cheeks as well. Both boys turned on their heels and headed in opposite directions. It was times like this that Hermione wished they were all in the same house. When she turned back to Theo, he gestured for her to follow him into one of the empty classrooms across the corridor from them.

Once the door was closed, silenced, and warded behind them, Hermione took a deep breath and faced her brother. He seemed just as nervous as she did, which surprised her. Slytherins weren't known for showing emotions. She spoke before thinking it through.

"You weren't going to be put in Slytherin, were you?" He looked surprised at how candid she was so she continued.

"The hat told me I also would do well in Ravenclaw and Slytherin. I begged to not be a snake because I knew I'd never know a moment's peace because I was a muggleborn." Her brother snorted.

"No, the hat wanted to put me in Ravenclaw. I begged for Slytherin so my father wouldn't torture me when I came home for the hols." She nodded. The information didn't really surprise her. Theo sat down in one of the empty desks.

"So you're my sister." Hermione sat down facing him.

"You're my brother." Theo nodded.

"Who stole you?" Hermione wondered how much she should tell him. While she knew that her grandfather had told his followers, she was unsure of how much would trickle down the line to their children. After a few moments, she decided that if anyone deserved the truth it was her brother.

"Dumbledore. He stole me, bound my magic, placed glamour charms on me, and tampered with a muggle couple's memories so they would think I was theirs." Theo's eyes widened at her revelation so she continued on, determined to get all the awkward conversation out of the way.

"How much do you hate me? Everyone has told me that our mother died during childbirth with you because she was brokenhearted that I'd been taken." Theo snorted.

"You were a month old when one of the most powerful wizards in the world decided to steal you. I'm mad at Dumbledore, not you." This lifted her heart and for some odd reason, she believed him. She gave him a small smile.

"Do you want to be my brother?" He cocked his head to one side for a moment. He sounded unsure when he answered.

"I'm not sure how to be a brother. I've been an only child my whole life." She nodded.

"So have I. That doesn't mean we can't try." A full smile broke across his features for the first time.

"I'd like that. My father and I don't get along very well so it would be nice to have someone else to call family." She stood from her desk and made sure she met his eyes.

"How about we meet in the library tomorrow and work on Arithmancy? We'll start out small." He nodded his head resolutely.

"Six o'clock." She gave him another smile before she let herself out of the classroom.

She wasn't sure how it would turn out, hanging out with her brother, but at least she would know either way.

A/N- This chapter took a couple more days, but I've got caught up in the show Shameless and the story Riddle This. It's been rough, lol. Thanks for being patient, I hope this chapter makes y'all happy! Let me know what ya think.

Next up, Molly discovers that Harry, Hermione, and Draco are now a triad.

Love,

Alicia