Chapter 39

Spring 2002

The thunderstorm rolled in quicker than Hermione had expected, like a bad metaphor. The muggle electrical lights flickered in the onslaught of the deluge and its accompanying winds.

She took a couple minutes to strengthen the wards on the cottage to make sure no falling branches managed to do any damage. Even with magical techniques, fixing a roof was an expensive mess that required knowledge in certain construction charms that Hermione had never bothered to learn. She was confident in her warding to keep the three of them safe here. It was only too bad she had to keep them somewhere where the Aurors knew where she was.

Hermione took Draco's hand in her left and Theo's in her right, pulling them from where they'd had dinner.

"No point in starting a film tonight, the power is doomed to go out." Hermione explained. "The storm will definitely take out the power lines between us and the village. And I can't power the television and DVD player without it." She knew that she was rambling but she didn't know how to handle all the silence.

It used to be that things were never quiet when the three of them were together. They always had so much to say to one another. Earlier both of their voices sounded rough. She'd have to start making them an extra herbal tea a day with heavy honey in it, and maybe have the Muggle doctor come back if the condition was persistent. She just needed them better so badly, she wondered if they could feel her worry for them through the bond, she could feel their confused cauldrons of emotions. It was going to take a great deal to get them back to where they were before Azkaban.

The bond was not nearly as strong as it had been before their time in Azkaban, but it wasn't beyond repair and she needed to placate herself with that. She just needed to keep feeding magic and since her men were locked out from their magic, she needed to keep feeding the bond hers, not so much that it crippled her, but at least enough to turn that flicker of connection into the roaring bonfire that it was meant to be.

With a simple charm, Hermione lit all the candles that she had placed around the room, bathing the three of them in the warm flickering light. It would be romantic, she thought, if things weren't still so difficult, if Theo and Draco weren't still so underweight and ill. Tomorrow she could give them the weight gain potion again. She turned all the lights in the house off with a flick of her wand and turned on the humidifier, even though she knew that the power would go out before too much longer. The soft mist was good for Theo's lungs.

Her wizards had gotten in bed, leaving her place in the middle of them. Scooting under the duvet into her spot, she ran her fingers through their hair and thought about giving them each a haircut in the next few days. And she sang to them, some lullaby that her grandmother had taught her growing up.

"Once upon a time," she murmured, continuing her soothing touches, "there were two princes and they loved one another and they both loved the same princess. She loved both of them with her whole soul. And they fought many battles together. Eventually when they had defeated all their enemies and the evil kings that the princes had for fathers, they made their three kingdoms into one. And they ruled with patience and love and a healthy dose of terror for many many years."

She watched both of their eyes slowly close. Theo's long curls spread across the pillow, smelling faintly of shampoo and his sweat. She ran a hand over his forehead, checking to see if he was running a fever. She was relieved to find that he was not.

Both her wizards had the measured breathing of sleep. Closing her eyes, Hermione pretended to be asleep as well, attempting to stop the whirling of her thoughts.

After a while, a voice broke the silence of the bedroom.

"If this is a dream, I never want to wake up," Theo whispered in his rasping voice. A small cough echoing through the room.

"Nor I," Draco agreed, his voice also still sounding strained.

Hermione couldn't hold back the tears that their words caused her. Did they really still think that she wasn't real? That they weren't truly back together? Had Azkaban broken their minds?

Why couldn't things finally be getting back to rights?

"Please, please, don't cry," Draco murmured, pulling himself closer to her, his fingertips wiping away her tears.

Hermione couldn't seem to stop her weeping, even though she knew it made her appear to be weak.

"Hey," Theo whispered, rubbing circles on her back. "Don't cry. We're going to be okay."

"I just need to know that you know I'm real," Hermione pushed out between sobs. "That we are finally here together. That you both made it out of Azkaban. That I got you both out!"

Her tears continued to be interspaced with the words "I'm real" until Hermione's sorrow finally pulled her into sleep. Draco and Theo didn't sleep for a long time, continuing to try to soothe her in her sleep with soft touches.

Their eyes met in the candle light and they wordlessly conferred on what to do next.

Neither of them truly believed that they could have hallucinated the restoration of their bond, so they needed to set Hermione's mind at ease.

They would start in the morning.