Chapter 3: Tethered

When the song came to its end, they separated, the spell held on each other broken. Hermione looked up at Draco and gave him a soft smile. She opened her mouth to speak, but before the words could form, another voice cut her off.

"My my Drake, I knew you were blinded with love for the golden girl, but I didn't expect you to blind us as well." The tall and slender form of Theo Nott appeared from the crowd. "Hello, Granger."

"Hello Nott, I didn't realize you were here."

"Yes, well, I can't imagine you would realize anyone was here with all that snogging, so I don't take offense." His smile was charming. Hermione could sense that while he was confident, it was a farce, covering up a side of him that he wished to be kept hidden. "In any case, I was hoping that I might steal Drake here away for a moment. I promise I shall return him unharmed."

"Of course, I'll just go fetch some drinks."

As she watched them walk away, a gentle hand rested on her shoulder. She followed the arm up to greet the face of the newly appointed Headmistress McGonagall.

"Miss. Granger, may I speak with you a moment?"

"Sure Headmistress, how can I help you?"

"Oh, Miss. Granger, I understand the need to observe some formalities when it comes to school, but this is an after-school activity, and I think you and I have grown to know each other too well with our roles in the Order to use them, don't you think? Minerva is just fine for now."

Hermione could see every minute of this last year etched on the face of her most trusted mentor. The war had taken its toll on them all, but Hermione had heard from Neville the horrors that McGonagall faced trying to keep the children safe from the Carrows. She noticed a faint scar across her cheek, it wouldn't have become that faded in such a short amount of time, so Hermione guessed it was covered up with a charm.

"Alright, Minerva, but if I am to extend such informality, I expect the same in return."

"Oh, you silly girl, must you always outsmart me?" She chuckled and gave her a quick hug. "Now, Hermione, I wanted to ask you; You have done a lot of reading and research over the years, but are you aware that in my early days here at Hogwarts, I was also conducting a research study as a side project?"

"I did not. What was it for?"

"Well, you see dear, I know many look at me and just see an old maid who never married, which is the truth. However, it is not the whole story." Hermione could see the sadness forming on her face. "After graduating, I went home for the summer so that I could spend my last bit of freedom with my parents before jumping into a position at the Ministry. While I was there, I met a man named Dougal McGregor. He and I began spending every waking moment together and by summer's end, he had asked me to marry him. I know, I know, what a scandal it was, but we were young and in love. The poster children for summer whirlwind romance."

"So why did you end up not marrying him?"

"That summer was around the time Voldemort started gaining some predominant followers. Then somehow, the Prophet caught wind of our relationship and published it. I debated ending it, to protect him, but I never got the chance. He was attacked on his way to meet me for a date, and he died."

"I'm so sorry Minerva. I had no idea." Hermione said, grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently.

"Do you know what it was that made our relationship grow so quickly? As I am sure you are aware, I am not known for my impulsivity. In fact, I openly oppose such acts; and yet I was agreeing to marry him after just 2 months of knowing each other."

Hermione pondered for a moment, but Minerva was right, she was not the type to act on impulse. She had witnessed first-hand the infamous speeches given by the headmistress about them. She first assumes that she will say, love, as that has been called by Albus Dumbledore himself, a powerful and pure form of magic.

"I am not sure. I want to say love, but I have a feeling that you will say that it wasn't."

"I did love him, but the answer is much more complicated than that." She paused as if lost in a memory. "The day that I met Dougal, I was out for a walk, just taking in the sights of where I had called home before I left it for good. I passed this farm that I would see as a child walking to primary school. It was my favorite stretch of my journey every morning. They had this cow who took notice that I was around each day, and she would follow me down the whole fence line. So that day, on that walk, I stopped at that spot and was looking out into the pastures, and hoped for just a moment, she would show up. I had figured she was likely long passed, but I waited anyway. A minute later, I saw this cow just a little ways away, I gasped as I realized that it was her. I didn't know her name, so I just sat there and hoped she would turn and see me. Then I saw this young man walk up and put a lead on her. He turned around and we made eye contact. When that happened, I felt this pulse in my chest. I didn't know how to describe it then."

Hermione's eyes went wide, "Like the plucking of a guitar string?"

Minerva chuckled, "Quite like the plucking of a guitar string."

"What is it? I…I have been feeling it all night."

"I know you have. But I need to finish my story first for you to understand."

"Sorry, Minerva." She said, hanging her head for a moment.

"I was not with him the night he was attacked, but I knew the moment he died, because that guitar string, as you described it, snapped. It was instant and it was painful. I ran out of the restaurant and as soon as I was hidden, I apparated. I had no idea that I would find him, I was just following the pain. I trusted what I felt, and it led me right to him, but it was too late." She wiped a tear from her eye and rubbed her hands together. It was obvious that she never got over her lost love.

"I was so confused after he died. I didn't understand how I had known that something was wrong. I didn't understand why I was in physical pain. So I did what I knew best. Once I started at the Ministry, I accessed everything that I had clearance for. I researched every day for hours after work. I didn't eat, I didn't sleep. I barely left the Ministry. A month later, I came across some files in the Department of Mysteries that talked about some studies done on soul mates. It described it as a tether that stretches from the soul of each person. When one person's tether gets near another's, they try to connect, to bond. It won't happen with just any person; however, it stated that each one has a mate, possibly several, unfortunately, the interest in this form of magic was sparse, and therefore so was the information I could find. The most important information I read from those files was the description of the two tethers connecting. It was described as a snap of a button or the plucking of a string."

Hermione couldn't breathe. The world was spinning around her again and she suddenly felt hot. "Are you saying that Draco and I… That we…" She couldn't say the words.

"I am just telling you my story, Hermione. It is up to you to decide if what I described matches your situation. However, as an outsider, I can tell you that you both nearly blinded us when you and Mr. Malfoy connected."

"Blinded? Theo Nott said the same thing, but I thought he was poking fun at not wanting to see us do that."

"Well, I must agree with Mr. Nott's assessment of the incident. When you and Mr. Malfoy kissed, your souls touched one another and caused a mass of magical energy to erupt from your persons. Did you not feel it?"

"No, I…I did, I just thought it was…like butterflies when you get nervous."

"I think you can ask anyone in this room about what they saw, and they will all tell you that it was in fact not butterflies."

Hermione was feeling sick. Did that mean it was all fake? Was Draco truly sorry or was it all fabricated emotions caused by this thing that they both had. Were her feelings real? She was questioning everything.

I knew it was too good to be true. Why else would someone like Malfoy ever actually care about a mudblood like me unless he had no choice?

Minerva placed a hand on each shoulder, "Hermione I can almost hear what you are thinking. I know there is not time to explain it all tonight, but I can promise you that this tether has almost nothing to do with Mr. Malfoy's feelings, or yours for that matter. I have done extensive research into soul mates, and while I don't have much more than what was already available, as soul mates finding each other is very rare, I can tell you that just because your tethers are mates, does not mean that you will inherently like each other."

She didn't know if she believed her. She wanted to, but why would it be possible for soul mates to hate each other? She decided that she would trust her for now and debunk it all later.

"I will send you everything I have on soul mates tomorrow. Will that help?"

"Yes, thank you Minerva."

The headmistress gave her a quick hug "Now, you should get back to your date, I am sure he is quite bored without your presence."

"Thank you again. I will do my best not to let this cloud my night or my judgment." She said and turned to walk away.