Chapter 6
Marlene drank her coffee thoughtfully the net morning, waiting for a sign that Hermione was awake. She could not figure the girl out.
She’d cried herself completely to sleep the previous day, and Marlene had held her for the entirety of her nap. Yet when she awoke, she was back in her adult headspace, and excused herself for a shower. Marlene remained close in case she dropped again, but Hermione had stayed big through a shower, dinner, and going to bed.
Yet Marlene didn’t see any warning signs of the girl fighting a drop, either. She was dangerously close to dropping when telling Marlene about her arm, but she woke in a regular headspace with no ill effects. Either this girl had impeccable control over her headspaces (which wouldn’t surprise Marlene at all, really) or she was going to be a very peculiar Little.
Marlene was on her second cup of coffee when Hermione finally wandered in, bunny tucked under her arm.
“How are you, love?” Marlene greeted.
“Big,” Hermione mumbled, though the way she rubbed her eyes and held her stuffie suggested otherwise. “I’m not trying to fight it, I promise.”
“I know you’re not.”
“My head doesn’t hurt,” Hermione added, sinking into her usual chair at the kitchen table. “But my stomach feels weird.”
“Maybe breakfast will help,” Marlene said, standing to make the girl some toast with raspberry jam, which she’d learned in the first few days was her favorite.
“Maybe,” Hermione said thoughtfully. She held her bunny in her lap, hugging it close with one hand, while fingers of the other found their way into her mouth. Marlene was glad she’d sent out for some dummies and teething toys to satiate the girl. It was clear she was going to need them.
“What does your stomach feel like?” Marlene asked a moment later, setting the plate of toast in front of Hermione. The girl just stared at it.
“Weird,” Hermione mumbled around her fingers. “Funny.”
“Funny like when we take the Floo?”
“Uh huh,” Hermione said. She continued to stare at her plate, brow furrowing as she did so.
“What’s wrong, love? Don’t want toast?”
“I do,” Hermione mumbled. “But too much.”
“You don’t have to eat it all if you’re not very hungry—“ Marlene began, but Hermione shook her head quickly.
“Too much,” she repeated.
Marlene looked over the plate, trying to piece together what the girl was saying, when it hit her.
“Hermione,” she said slowly, “do you want me to cut it up for you?”
Hermione nodded, kicking her feet idly in her chair as she did so.
Ah, Marlene thought. So she’s feeling closer to a drop again. She took her plate and cut the toast into more manageable pieces, before sliding it back. The girl immediately took her fingers out of her mouth and began eating.
“Your tummy might be feeling you close to dropping,” Marlene explained slowly, watching the girl devour her toast. Jam was smeared all across her face.
“What if I don’t drop?” Hermione asked, eyes wide in wonder and, perhaps, fear?
“You will, love. You’re slipping for small moments here and there, I think a full drop will happen any day now.”
“I haven’t yet though, and I’m not trying to not drop,” Hermione argued, the faintest hint of a whine to her voice. “What if I can’t?”
Marlene thought a moment about how to answer. Typically if a Little asked, she would reassure them that there’s ways she can help, and she’d sugarcoat the rest. But Hermione was no typical Little, and if Marlene has learned anything about her, it’s that she wants the full truth.
“I can help you,” she started, “but if I try to help you and you still can’t drop, there is a a potion they can give you at St. Mungo’s. It isn’t pleasant, though, so it’s very much a last resort.”
Hermione looked down at her plate as she took this in, fingers making their way to her mouth once more as she contemplated. Marlene watched her closely, monitoring for any signs of distress, but it appeared she was truly just processing. After a moment, Hermione continued to eat her toast, finishing the last few pieces before looking at Marlene.
“You can help?”
“I can, yes,” Marlene said. She summoned a wet washcloth to her, gently cleaning the girl’s hands and face with it.
“I’m scared,” Hermione admitted.
“It can be scary the first time for some people,” Marlene said. “But I’ll be right here, and I promise to take very good care of you. You won’t be alone, darling.”
Hermione bit her lip, pulling her bunny up against her cheek as she raised her other hand in a silent question, bright eyes glazing over as she finally started to let go.
“Come on, you,” Marlene grinned, silently casting a featherlight charm as she reached to pick the girl up. Hermione instantly settled into her arms, laying her head on Marlene’s shoulder, thumb finding its way into her mouth.
“Is there anything you want to do today?” Marlene asked, carrying the girl into the living room. Hermione shook her head, whining as Marlene made to put her down.
“Hold!”
“Okay, little love, I’ll hold you,” Marlene soothed, seating herself on the sofa, Hermione snuggled up in her lap. She pulled out her wand to summon a blanket over, casting a stasis charm to keep it from getting too warm in the summer heat before tucking it around the two of them.
Hermione let out a jaw cracking yawn before adjusting, laying her head on Marlene’s chest, suckling now on fingers with one hand while the other clutched her bunny.
“Tired, little one?” Marlene asked, an amused grin on her face.
“No,” Hermione protested around her fingers, even as she yawned again.
Marlene chuckled softly. New Littles were prone to nap often, and Hermione would be no different in this regard, at least. She summoned a book over to them as Hermione hid her face.
“If you’re not tired,” Marlene said, “then how about I read to you, hm?”
Hermione nodded, her body getting heavier as she sank into Marlene’s lap. Marlene opened the book and hardly got past the first few pages when she heard the quiet snores.
***
Hermione awoke later on the sofa, blanket carefully tucked around her, but utterly alone. Where was Marlene? Had she decided the girl was too much and left? Or had Hermione accidentally sent her away too? Or, maybe Bellatrix wasn’t gone? Her stomach twisted in knots at the thought. Maybe Bellatrix knew Marlene had kissed her arm better and was mad.
The possibilities overwhelmed her. There was only one thing she could do. She let out an earth-shattering wail.
“Oh, no, darling, I’m right here,” came Marlene’s voice, and a moment later Hermione found herself scooped up and being held close.
“Was alone,” she sobbed, grabbing on to her savior for the moment, sobbing openly. Words beyond that felt too hard. All she could do was hold on for dear life as sobs crashed over her.
“I’m here now, sweetie, I’m so sorry,” rumbled the soothing voice, a hand moving to rub her back as she was bounced gently. “The post came and I was putting it away for just a moment, I’m so sorry love, I didn’t mean to leave you alone.”
“Bella?” Hermione found the word to voice one of her fears, fighting the urge to even think about the other.
“She’s gone, my love,” Marlene soothed. “She’s can’t hurt you anymore, Mrs. Weasley made sure of that, remember?”
Hermione nodded, but the world felt like entirely too much. She buried her face in Marlene’s neck, still clinging to the woman with all she had, taking solace in the soft words being spoken to her as she was gently bounced and rocked. Finally she felt able to catch her breath, body calming as her sobs slowed.
“Feeling better?” Marlene asked, and Hermione nodded, though she remained snuggled close, terrified that any distance would make the bad feeling in her stomach come back again.
“I’m sorry I left you alone, love,” Marlene murmured again. “But I did get you a few things that arrived in the post and just put them in your room, if you wanted to look at them?”
Hermione rubbed her face on Marlene’s shoulder, using her shirt to wipe her eyes, before nodding and scrambling out of her arms and darting to her bedroom, her chuckling Caregiver following behind her.
The first thing she saw was toys on the floor. There was a set of colorful wooden blocks, just like what she had in her Muggle childhood, along with shape sorters and puzzles.
“I thought I’d get a few things that would be familiar to you,” Marlene explained putting an arm around the Little’s shoulders. “But these do have a magical twist. The blocks will remember shapes you build and restack themselves as you like, and the puzzles are a little different each time.”
Hermione’s eyes went wide at the thought, her fingers moving towards her mouth, when Marlene gently grabbed them and stopped her.
“Ah, that reminds me,” Marlene said, ignoring Hermione’s whine of protest, “we don’t want to keep putting our fingers in our mouths, do we? There’s yucky germs. So, I got you a few other options.”
Marlene pulled over a small box and opened it. Inside were a variety of options; a few dummies, teething toys, even chew necklaces that would be acceptable in her Big headspace.
Hermione scowled at the first sight of the teething toys. Did Marlene think she was a baby? She wasn’t a baby! Surely she wasn’t that Little, she just needed a little extra help, that was supposed to be okay-
Her thoughts were interrupted as her eyes fell on one of the dummies. It was red, a tiny picture of a lion on the front of it, and the sight of it made her feel that strange warmth again, the same warmth she felt as Marlene kissed her scar and held her tight and tucked her in. All thoughts of not being a baby ceased as she reached out, taking the dummy in her hand and hesitantly putting it in her mouth. One suck. Two sucks. She found the rhythm, and all tension left her body as she nearly melted on the spot.
Marlene let out a hum of approval at her side, letting Hermione lean against her as her body went slack.
“We like that one, hm?” Marlene asked, and Hermione wanted to scowl and protest, but she couldn’t get over the boneless feeling in her body. She felt relaxed, felt safe, for the first time since she got her Hogwarts letter, so she didn’t argue. She turned enough to put her arms up, letting out a contented sigh as Marlene instantly understood and lifted the girl up, snuggling her close.
“Puzzle?” Hermione asked, muffled around the dummy, but Marlene understood.
“Of course, love. We’ll go do a puzzle, and then we’ll decide on lunch for today, hm?”
But Hermione quit listening, tucking herself in as she was carried away to the kitchen table to set up a puzzle, suckling on her new favorite dummy.