Chapter 3
Spring 2002
"So first, I am going to have you two wait and I am going to run the bathwater." When she asked them to follow her out of the room, Theo and Draco had followed her without her having to take them by the hand this time.
That was some sort of progress. She would take what she could get at this point.
She couldn't help but look down at their nearly skeletal hands, both missing their signet rings; she was going to contact Gringotts and get those returned. She knew the rings were entailed to their estates and hadn't been seized. It was something small she could restore to them, sooner rather than later.
Hermione opened the door to her bathroom, its large windows had overlooked the forest on her property, but she'd had the windows replaced with green and blue geometric stained glass. This gave the room more privacy as well as casting the cool light on the tile floor and transforming the white walls into a swirl of colour.
Her sunken tub had nothing on the prefect's bath back at Hogwarts, but it could fit three. It was one of the things she had insisted on when she'd been house hunting. Her realtor may have thought it strange that a single witch wanted a tub big enough for three, but Hermione had paid for her discretion. The labradorite tile was extra sumptuous and she hoped to get a reaction out of one of the boys.
She added some bubbles to the flowing warm water, hoping they would find the lavender scent soothing. She checked the temperature again, worrying that in their disassociated state they might not alert her if the water was too hot.
She turned back to the boys...the young men behind her.
"Okay guys, time to take those prison uniforms off. I am looking forward to using an incendio on them. I think they might stand up on their own."
To her relief, they began taking off their clothes by themselves. She kept her eyes on their faces, trying to smile reassuringly, but horribly afraid that her lip was quivering.
She took one, and then the other, by the hand and guided them to sit on the seat inside the large, deep rectangle-shaped tub. It was really more of a small indoor pool than a bath.
The water was only up to their thighs and she tried not to stare, but they were so gaunt and wasted away. She could see all of Theo's ribs, his muscles wasted to nothing, and there was none of the slim Seeker's musculature on Draco that she remembered. They both looked starved.
She was not going to cry. Tears would accomplish nothing.
They both had their eyes closed as the water slowly rose over their chests. When the water was just a little above their nipples she turned it off. They seemed to be relaxing, even though neither had said a word or made any attempts to wash up. She sighed as she realised she was going to have to help. She went into the other room to grab her swimsuit and a bottle of wine. She needed to relax too, and lavender bubbles weren't going to do the trick for her.