Hermione came to on the cold linoleum floor. Happy she wasn't found she stretched and rose before more voices alerted her she was not alone.
"Of course I-I'm happy to see them, Gran," a familiar voice said meekly.
Neville?
"Then why do you look so bloody glum?" a fat old lady in a feathered hat and scowl asked. "Your parents are heroes, boy. You should be honoured after the sacrifice they made. I wonder if you'll be half the wizard my son was."
"S-sorry, Gran," Neville whimpered, his head down.
Neville's gran leaned into him more, wondering how her son and daughter-in-law created such a ungrateful, untalented child. Was this how she usually talked to him? Hermione's blood boiled as she watched the person that raised Neville bully him into submission. She wasn't surprised that Neville behaved the way he did when this was how Augusta Longbottom acted in public. The longer Hermione observed the interaction the more she wondered if she was the one who needed therapy.
"Are you-" his grandmother groaned with an eyeroll. "I'll go in and see them. Clean yourself up and meet me in there."
The old lady vanished into the permanent wing and Neville walked around to collect himself, probably in private. Which is why his choice of behind the rubbish bins where Hermione hid was a poor choice.
"Hermione?" Neville gulped.
"Sorry," Hermione squeaked. "If you need me to go, I shouldn't-I can-do you want me to move?"
"And I thought I was awkward," he weakly laughed sitting next to her. "What are you hiding from?"
"Healers. I snuck out to get look at some hidden files," she admitted. "It's a very long story. Are you okay?"
"I'm not the one sporting cat-ears and a tail, I guess," he shrugged.
"It's a new style I'm going for," Hermione shrugged. "Luna insists I'm adorable. Maybe I'll change my name to Cait Si or Nekomusume."
Neville gave a weak but sincere chuckle. "I like it."
A silence passed between the two, and Neville reached for Hermione's hand. Hermione gave the chubby hand a reassuring squeeze. "For the record, I think your gran is full of rubbish. I think you're great."
Neville wiped his eyes. "She has a point though. I-erm-I-" Neville inhaled sharply. "My parents were tortured by Death Eaters when I was little. I don't remember much-" he winced. "They-erm-they were never the same after that. They defied You-Know-Who himself, three times and-" he gulped. "Mum and Dad paid for it. Th-they-erm-I wish you didn't hear any of that."
"I'm sorry," Hermione bit her lip. "If I thought-it doesn't matter- I'm sorry."
"You and Harry," Neville sighed. "Knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Sorry," Hermione said dumbly.
"I don't think she ever forgave me for being normal. It's like Gran thinks the wrong person came out of it sane. M-my parents were Aurors and great wizards. I'll never measure up to them. I'm just a waste of space."
"No you are not!" Hermione took his face in her hands. "You're kind, and gentle and brave. You'll be a fantastic fucking wizard and if your gran can't see that than she can get stuffed."
"Hermione!" Neville choked.
"Sorry," Hermione took back her hands and hugged her knees. "It's just-it's not fair. You're a great bloke, Neville, really you are. I just-I guess I hate seeing you so down on yourself. Your grandmother doesn't seem to know how lucky she is to have a grandson like you. Her life is better for having you in it."
"I doubt that," Neville murmured. "I doubt anyone's-"
"Mine is," Hermione cut him off. "And so's Luna's and Ginny's and Ron's and Harry's."
"Which is why you spend so much time with me?" Neville said.
Neville was right of course. Hermione spent very little time with Neville. She could claim it was because she was trying to save Buckbeak and Harry, but she never gave him enough of her time. She bit her lip wishing she had something to say. "Nothing I say will be good enough. You're right, of course. I'm sorry."
"It's fine," he said.
Another silence passed between the two. Hermione wondered if she should hug Neville, and wished she knew what his boundaries were. She bit her lip and weighed what she could do to fix things, to make things better. Hermione placed a hand on Neville's shoulder and offered a weak smile.
"Please don't tell anyone," he whispered.
"I promise," Hermione nodded.
Neville wrapped her in a hug.
"Have you collected yoursel-" Neville's grandmother's voice started. "Neville? Oh, where is that stupid boy?"
Another familiar voice made Hermione's blood run cold.
"Excuse me," he said. "Have you seen a little cat-girl? She'd-"
"Severus Snape?" she grumbled. "What are you doing here?"
"Do I kn-" he sighed. "Augusta Longbottom. I'm just looking for my daughter, you and your-oh, for the love of Merlin."
Hermione tensed and Neville gulped as the footsteps approached. They quickly let go of their embrace and Hermione mulled of what she would say to them.
"Neville Frank Longbottom!" his grandmother hissed.
Hermione's father opted for a silent seething, his black eyes shooting daggers of ice at her. He folded his arms across his chest and tapping his foot impatiently. His withering gaze moved to Neville, whose round face grew pale.
"We come here to visit your parents and you run instead you run off with this girl?" Mrs Longbottom seethed. "Have you any idea-"
"Actually, Mrs Longbottom," Hermione clasped her hands and stood between the two adults. "Neville found me past out behind the bins. He was just making sure I was okay."
"Did he now?" her father glared at the boy.
Hermione felt her tail grow bushier and resisted the urge to hiss at her father. "Yes, actually," she turned to Neville's grandmother. "I was very fortunate your grandson was here. I don't know when I would've come to if he wasn't. You should be proud he gives a shit about random passed out freaks."
"Hermione Elizabeth!" her father snapped grabbing her hand.
"Your little girl's a bloody gem," Mrs Longbottom snarled.
"I believe the word you're looking for is 'honest'," Hermione literally hissed. "Neville is a far better person than you give him credit for. He deserves better-"
Suddenly Hermione's feet were no longer on the ground. "She's missed her medication this morning. I should hope her inexcusable behaviour-" her father glared at her. "Is simply do to the effects the transfiguration on her brain. We'll leave you two to your visit."
"I suggest you teach that girl proper respect for her elders," Mrs Longbottom said.
"Indeed, I shall," he said more to Hermione than Mrs Longbottom. "I shall see you in class, Mr. Longbottom."
"Yes, Professor," Neville nodded. His voice suggested he did not miss the threatening tone in her father's voice.
As they were walking away, Hermione looked over her father's shoulder to see Mrs Longbottom grab Neville by the ear.
"Tell me you're not friends with that wretched girl!"
"What were you doing in the permanent injuries wing?" Severus demanded.
Hua poked and prodded at Hermione in her bed. Crookshanks curled up in the girl's lap, perhaps to comfort her. Hermione reacted to each reflex and observation test with enough speed to satisfy Hua.
"I told you, I woke up on a different floor and got lost on my way back, sir," Hermione said before opening her mouth to at Hua's prompting.
"It sounds like sleepwalking," Hua mused. "It's not too unexpected for stressed out kids, and your brain is in a delicate space right now. You're our only patient on this wing, so I think we were more lax with our security than we should be in the future."
"Indeed," Severus evaluated. "For a sleep walking child to bypass six wings unfamiliar to her, it must be very lacking."
"Dad-"
"I don't want to hear it, Hermione," he said. "Is she okay?"
Hua turned to face him, dark eyes narrowing. "Physically, she's fine. She just needs rest."
Relief washed over him. She didn't seem too harmed, but after Hua noticed a severe electrolyte imbalance, he'd refrained from pushing his questions until her post treatment examination.
"I'll leave you two for now. Hermione, ring that bell if you need anything," she reminded her, pointing at the neglected silver bell. "Oh," she added over her shoulder as she was leaving. "And happy Christmas."
A silence passed between father and daughter. Severus looked at the tiny catgirl hooked up to an IV, torn between sympathy and anger. She wasn't telling him everything, and avoiding eye-contact, opting to bury herself in her bushy hair. She hugged her knees and wrapped her tail around herself, her ears disappeared into her hair as well. Crookshanks moved from her lap to her feet once Hermione assumed an upright fetal position.
Be an adult about this...
"This has to stop," he said, sitting across from her. "The sneaking about, the secret-keeping, the refusal of treatment, all of it. It stops now, Hermione."
Hermione lifted her head and crossed her legs. Crookshanks dutifully leapt back into her lap as Hermione finally made eye contact with a flame within them. "What about you?"
"Damn it, Hermione!" he snapped. "Why is it so bloody hard for you to list-" he sighed. "Fine, you won't tell me what you were doing, you can at least tell me what the hell you were thinking? While you're at it I want to know precisely what transpired between you and Longbottom back there."
"Fine," Hermione folded her arms across her chest. "I did wake up there. I overheard Neville's grandmother digging into him and I saw red. We were just talking."
She's telling the truth. "And it didn't occur to you that lashing out at Augusta Longbottom while she went to visit her ma-mentally ill- son was the least bit unfair or inappropriate?"
"You didn't hear the utter horse shite she said, Dad!"
"Language!" he spat. "And I doubt much of what she said was untrue."
Hermione clasped her hands, digging her claws into her flesh and staring at them. Instead of retaliating, Hermione shut down. She was thinking about what to say next. Severus knew this conversation was going nowhere.
Silence passed between the two of them and Severus tried to understand what was going through her little head. Even with his mother's gift, he had little hope. Not that he thought breaking into her mind was a solution anymore. It only made her resent him. He should have known better given his experience. All he could do was wait for her to open up to him, unless he thought she was in danger. He was willing to chalk her nightly escapade up to simple teenaged rebellion...for now. It didn't sit right with him.
"Maybe I was quick to judge her," Hermione ventured.
"I didn't say that," Severus sighed placing a hand on her head. "I just want you to think before you speak. It was Malfoy all over again. Before this year you were never so quick to incite. What is going on with you?"
Hermione shook her head. "Just tired, I guess."
"Care to try that once more?" Severus asked. "Perhaps with feeling?"
"I don't like bullies, is that so wrong?" Hermione asked.
Severus thought about her experience over the past few years. That shouldn't have been surprising. He sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "No, I suppose it's not."