The door to Lucius Malfoy's office slammed open in a show of dramatics that belonged to one person and one person alone.
"Lucius Abraxas Malfoy!"
Fortifying himself with a breath, Lucius quickly looked up, "My love-"
"I need you to come with me."
Her foreboding tone made him pause. She'd been livid with him ever since they'd come back from Hogwarts when Hermione had given up her seat to Astoria and hobbled off. His wife was feeling helpless, and that he had pushed Draco into the idea of a contract marriage between himself and Astoria was what she was channeling her anger into. Clipped tones and glares had been part of his life for weeks before his wife's ability to hold onto her anger had dissolved.
He both loved it and feared it.
"Cissa, love, I know you don't agree with this contract-"
"This isn't about that blasted decision, which I still believe is the stupidest decision imaginable," she ground out.
"My mind isn't the one that needs to be changed. This contract is Draco's decision."
"Come. With. Me," she repeated sternly. She very nearly stomped her foot like a child, he could tell, but her tone alone had him once more looking up from his paperwork with an uneasy look. "Now," she added for good measure, making him set down his quill and stand.
Knowing he was following her, Narcissa walked through the Manor until they reached the room in the west wing that she'd dedicated to their family's traditional and ancestral artifacts. She was cataloging them before either sending them to Gringotts or finding rightful placed for them in the Manor. She'd known about Hermione and Draco's bond, or at least she'd had an inkling, one she couldn't confirm unless she saw Draco's mark again. Until she unrolled the Malfoy family tapestry that afternoon while he'd been at the Ministry meeting with Kingsley.
Lucius worked hard not to roll his eyes, seeing where she was taking him. This wasn't the first time she'd found something that upset her.
"Love-"
She threw a hand over her shoulder in response, so he quieted and waited. She stopped in front of the family tapestry.
"Cissa, love, why isn't that in the library?"
She rolled her eyes, a rare occurrence for her, "I hid it from the Dark Lord. But Luc, that is not the point. Look at it."
"It's the tapestry; it hasn't changed since Draco was born," he stated, not looking at it but pulling out his wand to send it to the library. "We should move it back-"
"Look at it!"
Frowning at her, he sighed, giving in, and looked at the ancestral tapestry. "I see nothi-"
Narcissa knew what he was seeing, why she'd dragged him through the Manor. Right beside Draco was a newly embroidered picture of Hermione, her birthdate and name under her picture and a date over the line between them. The date they bonded. The date she was tortured in their home nearly a year ago.
"Is that..."
She finished for him when he couldn't seem to find the words, "Yes. That's when it happened, Easter Hols, during the war."
Lucius was silent for a long while, Narcissa watching him for any sign of emotion. Finally, he cracked.
"Does he know? Does she?"
"He doesn't know he is her bonded, he only knows she has a bond."
He cursed, "That's why he agreed to the contract." He looked at his wife to see her nod smugly. "Why hasn't she told him?"
"I'd assume she wants him to pick her."
"They were close, were they not," he looked back at the tapestry, "Over Christmas, before the eve gala."
"Yes," she sighed.
Running his hand down his hair only to stop midway when his fingers got stuck in his long locks, he cursed again, "Did I do this, Narcissa?"
Coming up to him, she gave him a soft look, the first one she'd sent his way in weeks, her hand going to his chest. "No love. From my understanding, Draco got jealous and chose Astoria. Hermione gave in because she believes he truly loves Astoria more than he does her." He gave her a curious look and she shrugged with a smirk, "Theo keeps me quite up to date on the gossip."
"Spinster," he chuckled, earning a half-hearted slap on the arm. Sobering, he wrapped his arms around her waist, "We need to fix this."
"We do," she smiled at him. "You need to have a chat with Gareth."
"Then Draco."
Narcissa sighed, "Yes. And I think I should have tea with Hermione."
Lucius nodded, "That might be best."
Tugging her into his side, he wrapped his arms around her as guilt swamped him.
Quick as a viper, Snape's head snapped to Theo. "Explain."
"After the incident in February, Hermione was struggling with her emotions, so she started to occlude them."
Swearing, Snape rounded his desk. Roughly taking out a piece of parchment, he snatched his quill out of the ink pot and jotted a quick note before sending it off. "How long have you known? You know prolonged occluding can damage the brain to occlude too long. Do you know what exactly she is occluding?"
"Emotions, sir, her feelings about Draco."
"I see," pinching the bridge of his nose, Snape took deep breaths.
"I've known for three days. I tried to shock her out of it and nearly succeeded, but she shut me out again, and as far as I can tell, the walls are back up."
"Did something other than her accident happen in February?"
Theo hesitated. He didn't want to betray Hermione's confidence, but this was an emergent situation. "She told Draco she loved him and he chose Astoria."
"Stupid, bloody dunderheads!" Snape growled. In a flurry of robs, Theo found himself alone in the potions classroom. Rocking back on his heels, Theo looked around before turning to leave. "Let's go, Nott." The barked order had him jumping, not realizing his Head of House was further up the hallway waiting for him with a scathing look on his face.
Obediently, Theo walked faster, Professor Snape resuming his pace once more. Theo dutifully walked behind his professor all the way to a portrait of a rather wild forrest scape, where Professor Snape banged on the portrait's frame. The trees shook with force. After a few moments of continuous banging, Professor Lupin opened the door with an annoyed look on his face and a very excited Teddy Lupin in his arms. The tiny babe reached out for Theo. Despite the situation, Theo conjured a glowing green ball. Teddy promptly changed his hair color to match with a squeal.
Professor Lupin gave Theo an appreciative nod before returning his glare to Professor Snape.
"Why are you banging on my door?"
"Our Golden Goose is occluding her emotions."
The anger melted off Professor Lupin's face, replaced quickly with concern. "Give me a moment."
Teddy gave a little cry when Professor Lupin took him back through the portrait. The two Slytherins heard Lupin speaking to his wife before he reappeared, putting on a coat as the pair began down the hallway again. Once more, Theo began to follow them as a large black dog galloped up behind them.
"Salazar's tit," Theo swore.
Professor Lupin chuckled and Theo could have sworn the mutt smirked at him with a flash of teeth.
Professor Snape looked behind him and scowled, "Black, you're not needed."
Sirius Black yipped as if he were a dog and not an animagus. An animagus that stuck to Theo's side, occasionally bumping his thigh with his hip, making Theo step away from him each time. The unnerving Grimm.
"Stop teasing the boy Pads," Professor Lupin reprimanded.
The giant dog huffed but trotted between Professor Snape and Professor Lupin, occasionally and purposefully stepping on Professor Snape's robes, making the Potion's Master send a hex at the mutt.
Theo just shook his head, trying to keep from smirking at the childlike antics he was witnessing between the adults before him. He'd been so entertained he'd nearly forgotten why the three were marching through the castle.
Darcey popped in on the foot of Hermione's bed when she went in to set down her bag.
"Mistress, Lady Malfoy wants to know when to expect you for tea."
Guilt swamped her. She'd been avoiding the Malfoy family, Narcissa included, since they'd had their meeting in the Headmistress's office. She'd written her usual letters but she knew they lacked her normal amount of effort. Sighing, she ran her hand through her hair and met Darcey's large eyes.
"Good evening, Darcey. Would you please ask her if this Saturday will be all right? If so, I can be there after breakfast."
Darcey clapped excitedly, her hesitant demeanor fading, "Of course, Mistress! Lady Malfoy will be so eager to hear you're wanting to have tea!" When Darcey popped out of the room, Hermione got changed out of her robes and uniform and into more relaxed jeans and jumper. She was putting on her slippers when she heard Theo call out to her. A small part of her wanted to attempt to hide from him. They hadn't spoken since he'd cornered her in the broom cupboard.
As much as she wanted to, as the thought festered in her mind, she couldn't.
"A moment, Theo."
"Take your time."
"What do you need?" She called out while she put her hair into a plait.
She could hear shuffling like he was uncomfortable. Theo was never uncomfortable. He specialized in making others uncomfortable, but he, himself, wasn't. "Professor Lupin asked to see you about the upcoming project."
They didn't have an upcoming project.
Walking out of her room, she saw him standing by the kitchen, shifting from foot to foot.
"We have a project?"
He nodded.
"Alright."
Turning back, she went back into her room to snatch her beaded bag off the bed before following him out of the portrait hole.
They walked in silence through the halls with the occasional glance or gasp from a wayward student. Theo chuckled after the fourth one, "Is it me or you?"
She snorted, "Me."
"Probably," he laughed.
She chuckled with him before they fell back into silence. Coming up to the Defense Against the Arts classroom, Theo politely opened the door for her and Hermione blindly entered only to stop just inside the room while Theo came in and closed the door behind himself.
"Theodore. Gustaf. Nott." She ground out as she looked at the three wizards before her.
Theo huffed a strangled laugh, but Sirius actually laughed aloud, making Hermione glare at him.
"That's not his middle name."
"How do you know?" Theo questioned behind her.
"The better question is, 'Why is Miss Granger occluding?'" Snape drawled venomously.
Straight to the point.
Taking a moment to herself, Hermione took three calming breaths before meeting Professor Snape's gaze. "That is my business."
Walking up, just in front of Snape, Remus gave her a soft look. "Hermione, you know this isn't healthy."
"I'm fine," Hermione ground out.
"No, you're not. You can't even admit it to yourself."
Spinning on a heel, Hermione made to leave, only to find Theo still in front of the door with his arms crossed over his chest. "Seriously."
Theo just shrugged.
A stinging hex has her drawing her wand and spinning, a shield coming up around Theo. She moved so fast that Sirius laughed, his wand still pointed at her.
"Let's dance, Kitten."
"This isn't a joke, Black. Not that you should even be here."
"I am helping her," Sirius's composure cracked for a moment as he looked at Snape and then back at Hermione, "She needs to let it out. You can't do it, you're a professor. Remus too. Little Nott isn't capable of keeping up with her." Behind her, Theo grumbled. "She needs to let," he flicked his wand, a hex slicing her way, "it," another flick, another hex, "out."
Each hex, Hermione deflected easily, her shield never faltering around Theo.
"Sirius," her voice cracked, "Stop."
Rolling up his sleeves, he smirked at her like nothing was wrong. "Kitten, you need this."
She waited as he flicked the button of his cuffs open and began rolling up both sleeves, his tattoos coming into view with each roll of the fabric. Anger bubbled in her as he did it with such calm. He was infuriating.
"I'm not doing this with you."
Sirius's smirk widened. "Then why are you in a defensive stance?"
Huffing, she tightened her grip on her wand. "I mean it, Sirius."
He shrugged, "Defend yourself, Kitten."
He punctuated it with a lazy flick of his wand that only served to piss her off more. An equally lazy swipe of the hand, like she was swatting a fly, had her deflecting his hex.
"Sirius!"
"Fight back!" he snapped at her, his voice harsh and his lazy hexing becoming more purposeful.
Remus leaned back on his desk, his legs crossing in front of him, Snape moving to his side. They spoke in hushed voices while Theo complained about her warding, keeping him fixed in place near the door.
Hermione kept deflecting hexes and jinxes for a few quiet minutes until Sirius shot two in rapid succession. She managed to deflect the first but the second hit her thigh. The sting radiated down to her knee, making her gasp.
"Son of a witch," she cursed, her wand tossing a quick jinx back at him. Sirius's hair turned silver immediately.
"Kitten!" Sirius wheezed. "How dare you touch the hair!"
She deflected his next spell. "I'll take the hair next," she warned.
He hesitated before shrugging. "It'll grow back. I need the blank space for a new tattoo."
"You are infuriating," she growled at him.
"Fight back," he snapped.
Hermione let out a yell and fired four spells, one after the other. The first clipped his ribs, sending him into spasms as the tickle jinx took effect. The second stuck his feet to the floor so he couldn't move. The third changed his hair Slytherin green, all of his body hair. The last silenced him. His mouth moved in silent raving and laughter.
Behind him, Remus laughed aloud, his wand undoing all of her work except the body hair and silencing charm. He tried to reverse that twice before squirming his head at her and smirking.
"Diabolical."
Pushing a silently raving Sirius towards his desk, Remus took his best friend's place. Wand raising steadily. "Hermione," he cautioned.
"Remus, please."
He shook his head at her plea, "You need to let go. He's right. Either we can talk or we can do this. Your choice."
"What is there to say?"
Remus's wand faltered slightly. "Why are you occluding?"
Hermione hesitated before relaxing her shoulders. Looking up at the ceiling, she took a deep breath as her closet became a room.
The room became a flat.
The flat became a building.
The building became a busy neighborhood.
The neighborhood under her own personal fidelius charm.
Letting out a long breath, she lowered her head slowly and stared impassively at Remus. The change was visible in her eyes. It unnerved the three older wizards before her.
"Granger," Snape bit out, "Don't."
"Looks a little too late," Sirius groaned, Snape having removed the silencing charm but not the hair color jinx.
"What," Theo tried to interject, "What did she do?"
"I'm going to force you to snap out of it, Granger," Snape threatened.
"Make me."
The silence engulfed the room as Theo stopped trying to interpret what was happening with her that he couldn't see.
Looking from Remus to Snape, Hermione didn't even raise her wand; her eyes held the challenge she'd just voiced in two words. Tilting her head to the side like a predator analyzing her prey, Hermione looked bored.
Snape growled his irritation before raising his wand.
"Hermione."
She spooked at Harry's voice but didn't take her eyes off Snape as he continued to ready himself to tear down her foundation.
"Hermione," Harry's voice dropped into a more soothing tone and he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Hermione fought him as his other hand covered hers, gently prying her wand from her hand. "Let it go." Getting her wand from her grip successfully, he let it fall to the floor, uncaring as it rolled away, the warding around Theo falling as it did. Harry, in turn, wrapped his free arm around her arms, encasing her in an immobilizing hug.
"Harry," she cried, wiggling against his bear hug, "Stop."
"No," he put his chin on her shoulder, "No, Hermione. You can't do this. I know it hurts. I know that it's all-consuming. That it feels like you will never be right again. That it's easier to shut it off, to flip the switch and turn off the emotions. I know how hard it had to have been to have him one day and lose him the next but have him be right there every day-"
"Stop," she sobbed, her knees trembling as she weakly tried to continue to fight his hold.
"I can't. I should have seen it. But I'm here now. And you're not leaving this room occluding." His arms tightened around her as she crumbled. "Draco Malfoy is not worth losing yourself. You can love him but not at the cost of yourself. No love is worth this."
Hermione was sobbing in his arms, her head lolling back to his shoulder as the tears streamed down her face. Harry had singlehandedly torn through her defenses with a few whispered words and a hug. He'd torn through her neighborhood, stormed right into her flat, to the bedroom, and into the closet, where he grabbed her music box and smashed it to pieces. Three months of emotions raged through her. The overload sent her to her knees, but Harry was there, holding her up. Telling her it was okay. Things would get better. He had her. They all did.
She would be okay.
It would get better.
It would.
When the tears stopped, Harry brought them to the floor, setting them down gently. Making sure her head was supported on his shoulder, Harry pulled her limply between his legs.
He looked up when a cloak dropped over her. Professor Snape was right there, crouching with one knee on the floor. While she was still crying softly, Professor Snape looked at him.
"How did you know we were in here?"
Harry grinned sheepishly, "I needed to talk to Hermione and used the map-"
"Blasted thing."
He continued as if Snape hadn't interrupted, "I came in as she colored Pads' hair and waited." Looking down at the witch in his arms, his sister in every way but blood, he frowned, "I didn't notice."
Studying him, Snape nodded, "None of us did. Nott brought it to my attention today."
"I should have known."
Waving off his concern Snape looked back at Hermione, "Don't do that to yourself." Since she'd quieted, Snape grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him. "When I was sixteen, I occluded for seven months before Headmaster Dumbledore forced me out of it." Her already impossibly wide eyes widened further, quiet tears starting again. "It was a lot like this. You have to feel it. When you're done, you'll be tired and need to rest. Your head will hurt; come to my office for a potion in the morning. All you can do now is feel it. Everything you repressed. You cannot hide from those feelings. No matter how scary they might be. No matter how much they might hurt. Do you understand?"
He hadn't released her chin but she nodded anyway.
"Good. Now, that will be ten points from Slytherin for each month you occluded." Theo cursed behind her while Sirius snickered. "Another 20 from Gryffindor for having no regard for personal safety." This time, Theo humphed mockingly while Sirius cursed. "And finally, sixty points for Slytherin for besting Black so spectacularly."
A sharp, watery laugh unexpectedly wrenched itself from her.
"Yes, sir."
Giving her a final nod, Snape stood and waved to Remus and Sirius, "Let's go."
"He can't actually do that, can he?" Harry grinned against his will hearing his godfather ask hi best friend, "She's not technically in Gryffindor anymore."
Passing Theo, Professor Snape put a hand on the young wizard's shoulder.
"20 points to Slytherin, Nott. You did the right thing."
He walked past him before Theo could respond. Not that he did. He simply stared at Harry and Hermione sitting on the floor, the witch crying softly again as she clung to Harry's Merlin-awful maroon sweater.
With his own calming breath, Theo pulled at the legs of his trousers as he sat down against the door. A weight on his shoulders lifted for the first time since Hermione had stormed out of the broom cupboard.