Before her parents took her to King's Cross, Hermione asked her mother for help packing. Hermione's mother, no fool and knowing her daughter had been packed and ready to go for days now, picked up on her undertones and agreed, following Hermione back to her room where her trunks sat, ready to go. Hermione sat down on her bed, looking at the floor, and the bed creaked and moved a moment later as her mother sat down next to her.
"Hermione?" her mother asked. "Everything okay?"
"Yes." Hermione bit her lip. "Mum… how old were you when you had sex the first time?"
Her mother hummed.
"Let me think… it was just after my half-birthday, I remember, so… I would have been sixteen at the time."
Sixteen was a far cry from fourteen, Hermione thought. Though she would be fifteen in under a month, so maybe it wasn't that far off?
"Is that normal?" Hermione asked. "When do people normally have sex?"
Her mother considered.
"It depends how you define sex," she told her. "For me, I didn't really consider it 'sex' until I had intercourse for the first time at sixteen." She tilted her head. "My sister considered it 'sex' when she and another girl fooled around together when she was only fourteen. But then again, intercourse with another girl wasn't really a thing she could have."
"When did you first fool around?" Hermione asked. "Like… heavy petting and all the other things?"
"Oh, on and off all through my teens," her mother dismissed. She looked at Hermione, her eyes kind. "Are you having sex, Hermione?"
"No!" Her response spilled out of her. "I'm not, really. But—I've—"
"Done things that aren't 'going all the way'?" her mother asked knowingly.
Hermione's face flamed. "Kind of."
"Are you uncomfortable about it?" her mother asked her. "Has someone been pressuring you to—"
"No, no, nothing like that," Hermione hastily reassured her mother. "It's just— it's very intense, and…"
She broke off, not knowing how to say what she meant. Luckily, her mother seemed to understand.
"Exploring your sexuality is natural and good," her mother said, rubbing her hand on Hermione's back, "but it can be very intense. You're in the throes of puberty, and there are a lot of hormones going through you right now. There are a lot of emotions, too. It's normal to feel overwhelmed and unsure. I did too."
"You did?"
"I did," her mother said, nodding. "It does settle down after a while – when I was sixteen or seventeen, I think, I finally felt more in control of my libido and less controlled by it." She gave Hermione a curious look. "I didn't think you were seeing anyone anymore."
Hermione's face flushed.
"I'm not really," she muttered. "It's—when you share magic with someone, sometimes, it can be—it feels like—"
Her mother laughed.
"So you've been having magical sex?" she teased. "Sharing magic with other people?"
Her face flamed. "Mum!"
Her mother laughed.
"Really, Hermione," she said, settling down with a smile. "You're very mature for your age. We've raised you well and given you all the information you need to make smart decisions. If you decide you do want to take that step, I trust you'll be smart about it and protect yourself."
"I don't think I want to," Hermione said quickly. "Not yet. I'm only fourteen."
"And you'll be fifteen soon," her mother said, shrugging. "I wouldn't be surprised if you start hearing things from your peers." She paused, looking at Hermione's face. "Are you scared?"
Hermione took a deep breath.
"Yes," she admitted. "At least, a little."
Her mother nodded slowly.
"It can be scary," she agreed. "Not just the fear of pain or not doing it right – but the loss of control with another person. That can be very frightening."
Hermione hugged her mother tightly. Her mum always seemed to know what Hermione was thinking even when Hermione wasn't quite sure herself. Her mother ran her fingers through Hermione's hair, reassuring.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to," she said firmly. "You don't have to do anything you're not ready for. And when you are, when you're ready, you won't feel scared."
"Is that how you know?" Hermione asked. "If you're not scared?"
"It's one way," her mother said. "Moreso, though, it tells you that you've found somebody you can trust with that part of yourself. And for someone who likes to be in control, that might be hard for you."
Hermione sighed.
"This all feels very confusing and overwhelming," she complained. "I wish I was Millie. She doesn't have any sort of libido or romantic urges."
Her mother laughed.
"You'll get the hang of it," she reassured her, standing. "Why don't you get that trunk and I'll take this one? We need to pack up the car."
It was raining hard at King's Cross, and Hermione gave her parents heartfelt hugs goodbye before crossing over to Platform 9¾.
"I will miss you so much," her mother told her, squeezing her tightly. She pulled back, looking at her. "Don't hesitate to write about anything you want to ask about, you hear me?"
"I know, Mum."
"You can even address letters to your mother directly and exclusively," her dad said. He was trying very hard to keep a straight face. "Or exclusively to me. I'm sure I could give you excellent advice about boys and your monthlies."
"Dad!"
Her mother laughed and patted her on the back.
"Better go now," she advised. "The rain's only going to get worse."
Hermione bid them goodbye and quickly ducked through the barrier. The Hogwarts Express gleamed in front of her, and she hurried to get her trunks off of her trolly and loaded on before anyone noticed she was levitating them. She was early, as was her usual plan of action for the train, and she claimed a compartment for six and settled in.
To her surprise, the compartment door opened only minutes after she'd claimed it, with Draco and Theo joining her, both stone-faced.
"Were you already here?" she asked, surprised. She glanced at her watch. "You're very early."
"Figured you'd be early," Theo said, shrugging.
"We needed to talk to you," Draco told Hermione, grave. "We have a serious problem."
"What's that?" Hermione sat up, alarmed.
"Theo's father," Draco said, his tone indicating he was revealing something very big and terrible.
Hermione blinked.
"You're going to have to be a bit more specific than that," Hermione said. "What about Theo's father?"
Frustration and embarrassment flitted over Draco's face, and Theo hastily stepped in.
"What with the World Cup, it's clear that both our fathers are, shall we say, being a little more active than usual," Theo said delicately. "With us now part of the Shadows, we're obviously not going to be doing anything with them or saying anything, but there comes the question of what we're going to do if they decide to take information from us."
"Or Dumbledore," Draco added. "Or Snape."
Hermione understood. "You're talking about Legilimency."
"Yes," Draco said, relieved. He glanced sideways. "Theo needs protection."
Hermione gnawed her lip, considering.
"He needs a partner," she said. "Who else needs one? There's you and me, Blaise and Luna, Harry and Susan, and Tracey and Millie." She paused. "…this should probably be a standard initiation activity for new recruits, shouldn't it?"
"Only if you don't want your secrets getting spilled without people meaning to," Draco commented, sarcastic. Hermione sighed.
"So only leaves Pansy and Theo in the umbra unprotected," she said. She looked at Draco. "Can you get the supplies?"
"Already did." Draco seemed a bit smug. "As soon as we realized it was going to be an issue."
Hermione was mildly impressed. "Good initiative."
"And… this will work?" Theo asked, cautious. "It'll really protect me against people reading my mind?"
"It will," Hermione assured him. "Just be sure not to mess it up because of your ego or machismo, and you should be fine."
Draco turned red, and Hermione smirked. Theo looked at him suspiciously, but neither Draco nor Hermione chose to elaborate.
Millie joined them shortly, everyone exchanging greetings and helping get her trunks sorted before Millie heaved herself into a seat with a deep sigh.
"I know it's only a couple months each year, but I really can't stand living with my folks much longer," she said. "Hermione, when are you going to buy a fortress?"
"A fortress?" Hermione asked, amused.
"Yeah. You're New Blood, right?" Millie said. "That means you need a big fancy ostentatious pureblood manor house. And with everything going on, I think you should get a fortress. Or at least an old castle."
Hermione laughed. "Do you, now?"
"How, exactly, would Hermione afford a castle?" Theo asked Millie, rolling his eyes. "Half the Sacred 28 don't even have manors that are that nice—"
"He's talking about me," Millie told Hermione in a stage-whisper. "Our house isn't very fancy compared to his."
"—and they've been in families for generations and generations," Theo said. "To get one built now? That's probably prohibitively expensive."
Hermione made a face.
"I don't want to build one," she said. "I just want to get one."
"You do?" Draco was surprised. He shot Millie a suspicious look. "You've never mentioned this before."
"I was kind of preoccupied with the covenhouse," Hermione said coolly. "But Millie has a point. There should be a Granger stronghold that can stand on its own as well."
Millie shot Draco a smug look.
"You know you can stay in the covenhouse over the summers, Millie," Hermione told her. Her eyes softened. "We didn't have the giant room made with dozens of sleeping places just for five people."
Millie grinned.
"I'll have to take you up on that next year," Millie said. "Once I was home with my father, there was really no escaping without it being a whole big thing, but next year, if I never make it home at all…"
"Your father won't come after you?" Theo asked, surprised, and Millie made a face.
"Why would he?" she asked, cynical. "I'm not useful as breeding stock anymore, so he can't sell me off. I'm useless to him."
Draco and Theo exchanged a heavy look but didn't say anything.
Soon, Tracey and Blaise joined them, filling the compartment. They shut the door behind them, muffling the noise of younger students thundering down the halls. Tracey had dark circles under her eyes, and her eyes looked bleak.
The train lurched off towards Hogwarts, water bucketing down onto the windows.
"My mother nearly didn't want me coming back this year," Tracey said. "What with what happened at the World Cup and everything. Said a halfblood in Slytherin would be too much of a risk."
"Now?" Hermione said incredulously. "Not when there was a basilisk roaming around?"
"That would make too much sense," Tracey said. She groaned, pushing her fists into her eyes. "Uggh, what am I going to do? What would I even do? I can't study for my O.W.L.s alone!"
"Would your mother just rehire your old tutors?" Draco ventured.
"Ha!" Tracey barked a laugh. "Not all of us got hoity-toity tutors as kids."
"What did you get?" Hermione asked curiously. "Did you go to muggle school?"
"Magician's Learning Plaza," Tracey said promptly. "And I aged out when it came time to go to Hogwarts."
Draco and Theo exchanged dubious looks, and Tracey scowled at them.
"What's the Magician's Learning Plaza?" Hermione finally asked. "Is it a school?"
"Not really," Tracey admitted. "But… kind of? They tried to teach us basic things we would need to know for Hogwarts. Not magic – we couldn't have wands yet – but calligraphy, basic maths, how to write a sentence, how to read a textbook, that sort of thing."
Hermione blinked. "Was there a classroom?"
"I mean, yes, but like. You have to understand, it was more a glorified daycare than a school," Tracey said, scowling. "There were no grades, and we rarely got marks. It was very much 'here, go play Quidditch on the kiddie brooms in the back, go play Aurors and Assassins in the garden, go read quietly until your parents come to get you after work' most of the time."
Hermione turned to Blaise. "Did you go there?"
Blaise smirked.
"I did not," he said lazily. "My mother moved us around too much for regular schooling. She taught me herself."
"Well, my parents couldn't afford to homeschool me," Tracey snapped. "And my mum gave in and let me come back to Hogwarts once I pointed out Dumbledore wasn't going to let any Death Eaters into the school, so it's fine now."
"It's a good thing, too" Draco chimed in, his eyes glinting. "You wouldn't want to miss this year. The Triwizard Tournament's going on."
The others turned to look at Draco, curious, and Draco preened under their attention. He paused dramatically, letting the tension build, before he went on.
"It's this old tradition between the top wizarding schools of Europe," Draco told them all. "Every so many years, Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang would compete in the Triwizard Tournament. This year, Hogwarts is hosting it."
Theo frowned. "I thought they stopped doing those because so many students died?"
"Wait, wait – died?" Millie turned to Draco. "Students die during this?"
"Only the champions sometimes," Draco said, unrepentant. "And you have to enter yourself to be chosen as your school's champion." He shrugged. "They shouldn't have entered if they couldn't handle it."
Hermione privately thought any event that had any kind of death toll for students was absurd to revitalize.
"Anyway, it's not really about the tournament," Draco admitted. "I mean, it is – it's for international magical cooperation, they'll even tell us – but really it's a chance to network with people from the other schools."
"So what I hear you saying," Millie said, raising an eyebrow, "is we're supposed to make friends with the other kids from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang while the Gryffindors rush in and die?"
"Precisely," Draco said with a straight face, before he cracked and grinned, and everybody snickered and laughed.
"Still. A death toll." Hermione rolled her eyes. "What is the Ministry thinking?"
"It'll be fine, Hermione. They're instituting various safeguards this year," Draco told her. "Only students who are of age are allowed to compete—"
"Underage kids were allowed to compete?!" Tracey gasped, horrified.
"—and the three challenges aren't going to be nearly as dangerous as they used to be," he finished. "They should still be exciting, but with less chance of failure being fatal."
Hermione snorted, disgusted. "Why do people enter this?"
"Glory and the prize money," Draco said immediately. "The winner gets 1000 galleons."
Hermione hesitated.
"…okay, that's probably worth risking their lives over for a lot of people," she admitted. "A lot of students, certainly."
"Let's go back to the part where the other schools come and we all make friends," Blaise said, eyes sparkling. He looked at Hermione, mischievous. "If we have to network, Hermione, do you know anybody you could introduce us to?"
Hermione bit her lip. Fleur hadn't answered any of her letters in weeks, gone to the Veela island as she was.
"Maybe," she admitted, sitting back with a sigh. "I certainly hope so."
