heart to heart

A splitting headache is what awoke Hermione, her eyes blinking rapidly as she awakes to adjust to the light. Where was she? Lifting her head slightly from the pillow, she recognized the row of beds on either side of the otherwise plain room as the Hogwarts hospital wing. The privacy curtain was drawn around Hermione's bed enough that anyone entering the hospital wing wouldn't be able to see it was her in the bed until they were standing right in front of her, something that Hermione appreciated. All the other beds that Hermione could see were empty, which was a good thing apart from the fact that she felt as though she could drown in the silence surrounding her. A chair had been drawn up to the left side of the bed she was in but it was currently empty. 

She could hear the sounds of life somewhere else in the castle, laughter as students passed the hospital wing, and the groaning of the castle as it settled around them. Lifting her hand to wipe the sleep from her eyes, cold leather chafes against her wrist and restricts her movement. Looking down at her wrist, a leather cuff with a chain connecting to the side of the bed is fastened to it. What in Merlin's name happened? She hadn't hurt someone on accident, had she?

Her mind was hazy as she tried to remember what happened before waking up in the hospital wing, memories blurrily flitting away from her as she tried to examine them. Had she been in class? The last thing she vividly remembers is talking with Ginny, but she doesn't remember where or when. Or even what they were talking about, except that Ginny seemed to be annoyed with her for some reason. 

Even the comfort of the physical manifestation of her magic was gone, no longer was it warmly settled against her skin. She could still feel it, as it was intrinsically a part of who she was, but not like she had been able to before. Maybe everything she had experienced was just a dream and she was in the hospital wing for something completely different? That was pointless wishful thinking and Hermione knew it. 

Hermione sighed. 

A medicinal smell trickles into Hermione's nostrils as the door to Madam Pomfrey's office opens, the mediwitch herself slipping out the doors with a grim look on her face. She appeared to be alone as she approached Hermione's bed, with what appeared to be a medical clipboard of sorts in her hands. Hermione could also faintly make out the sharp smell of whatever potions she had been given upon her admittance to the hospital wing, along with a smoky scent that made her mouth water simultaneously. What was that?

The older witch held eye contact with her for a couple of seconds before looking at her bindings with a look of guilt on her face. Had she been the one to bind her? It made sense since no one else was here, and the hospital wing was Madam Pomfrey's domain after all. 

"Anything hurt?" The mediwitch asks, taking her wand out as she stands at the side of Hermione's hospital bed. 

The woman looked older than she did the last time Hermione had seen her, but that had been a couple of months ago at that point. Dark eyebags lined her eyes and the wrinkles on her face seemed deeper than before. The shine that used to be in the mediwitch's eyes had dulled but Hermione guessed that was because of the war. 

"M-my head" Hermione croaks out, her throat dry.

Madam Pomfrey nods as she waves her wand above Hermione's head, no doubt casting some form of a diagnostic charm. A plume of green smoke appears above Hermione's head for a moment before disappearing, Madam Pomfrey simply humming and jotting something down on her clipboard at the apparent diagnosis. As Hermione presses her tongue against the back of her teeth, the sharp edge of one startles her. Running her tongue against all of her teeth, she could feel that her canine teeth were much sharper than what she remembered them being. That was something that Laurentin II had written in his diary that had happened to his teeth after the Veela blood awakened within him. 

No. 

There was no way that the change had happened without her knowing. But is that why she was here, in the hospital wing? It wasn't her birthday yet so why had the change happened already? Could it be due to her use of the Time Turner during her Third Year? Or was it because of something else entirely? 

"Miss Granger, it's going to be alright" Madam Pomfrey says, sensing the breakdown Hermione was on the verge of having. 

"What.....what happened, Madam Pomfrey?" Hermione asks, looking up at the older woman with fear evident in her voice and written across her face.

The older witch sighs but she sets the medical clipboard down on the small table to the right of Hermione's hospital bed. 

"It appears you have come into some sort of magical creature inheritance" Madam Pomfrey says vaguely, looking at Hermione with a questioning look on her face. 

"Veela" Hermione reluctantly adds.

"Excuse me?" Madam Pomfrey asks, her head tilted to the side in confusion. 

"It's a Veela inheritance, Madam Pomfrey, from my mothers side" Hermione explains as vaguely as she possibly could. 

The mediwitch nods her head, grabbing the clipboard to jot something else down. Hermione wants to ask what she's writing but decides against it, knowing that Madam Pomfrey probably wouldn't tell her anyway. Madam Pomfrey sets the clipboard back down before returning her attention to Hermione. 

"You were brought here by Harry Potter, two of the Weasleys, and Professor Snape. Do you remember anything?" Madam Pomfrey asks with a small twinkle in her eye.

Searching through her memories again, Hermione yet again comes up with nothing. Had she and Ginny been talking during their Potions class? They must have, that would explain why Professor Snape would have been one of the people to bring her to the hospital wing. Why did it take all four of them to get her down there? Had she hurt someone on accident when she came into her Veela inheritance?

Hermione shakes her head 'no', much to her own annoyance. 

"I...I didn't hurt anyone, did I?" Hermione asks in a whisper. 

"No, you performed some accidental magic during the change but everyone is alright. The binds are for your protection just as much as they are for everyone else" Madam Pomfrey says with a soothing smile. 

Hermione let out a breath she didn't know that she was holding, immensely glad that she hadn't hurt anyone on accident. Had she hurt herself then, on accident? If what Madam Pomfrey was saying was true, that the binds were for her safety as well? 

A few people all but yelling at each other outside the door of the hospital wing draws Hermione's attention then, despite not being able to make out what they were saying. The voices sounded familiar, Hermione knew that much and worry shot through her like a rocket. Harry, Ron, and Ginny must be worried sick about her because she didn't get a chance to explain what was happening to them before she changed. Wordlessly, Madam Pomfrey stormed off toward the door, her apparent frustration palpable in the air around her. Hermione silently watched her go, as there was nothing else she was able to do being constricted to the hospital bed as she was. 

Upon Madam Pomfrey opening the door to the hospital wing, doors that normally were never closed Hermione noted, the same smoky smell before tantalizingly snuck its way in and curled around Hermione within seconds. The other smells flitted by her, familiar ones she attributed to the cologne she and Ginny bought Ron for Christmas a few years ago, the smell of cheap Muggle laundry detergent that Harry could never get out of his clothes, and the strawberry scent of the shampoo that Ginny always used. But those didn't linger like the smoky one did, which was smoky but had underlying tones of ink, new parchment, and cold metal. It hung over her like a storm cloud, its very presence sending Hermione's new instincts into overdrive. Her Veela yearned to follow the scent to wherever it was coming from and remain there, regardless of what she would find.

"You have to let us in, she's our friend!" Hermione hears Harry say, borderline begs. 

Not being able to see Harry sent a warm wave of anger throughout Hermione's body. Why wouldn't the matron allow them to see her? She was fine, wasn't she? They had her shackled to the bed for Merlin's sake, it's not like she could go anywhere or hurt anybody. 

"She's in a very delicate state right now, Mr. Potter, she isn't ready for visitors yet" Madam Pomfrey says softly, obviously trying to calm the younger wizard. 

"I've told them the same thing a dozen times, Poppy, but they won't listen" Professor Snape said, Hermione not needing to see him to know that he was frowning. 

The sound of the Potions professor's voice sends a jolt through Hermione that she doesn't recognize. A voice in her head is screaming at her that she needs to be by his side, no matter the cost. Instinctually, Hermione tries to reach out for the man only to be stopped immediately by the leather cuff on her wrist. A low whine unconsciously slips out of her lips, the loudness of it sawing against her already pulsating headache, as she flops her head back onto the pillow, instinctual frustration clouding her mind. She closes her eyes then, the light becoming too unbearable with her mounting headache. 

"Just let us in, she needs us!" Harry all but yells, the loudness of his voice sending another wave of pain through her skull. 

"You three need to leave, Severus you can stay for now" Hermione hears Madam Pomfrey say.

"He can stay but we can't?" Ron asks with what sounds like a laugh. 

"Yes, Mr. Weasley, and this isn't an argument. You three will be the first visitors Miss Granger will have, alright?" Madam Pomfrey says, obviously trying to placate her friends. 

Before Hermione can hear what any of her friends have to say to Madam Pomfrey, unconsciousness slips in behind her and swiftly drags her into the darkness with it. 

~*~

Hermione isn't alone the next time she wakes, for someone is sitting in the chair to the left of her bed. The smoky scent reaches her nostrils before she fully recognizes who's sitting there, as she takes in a lungful of it before her eyes have fully opened. Upon fully opening her eyes, the light of the hospital wing reigniting the throb between Hermione's temples, Professor Snape's dark eyes bored back into hers. She should be confused as to why he was sitting there with her, Hermione knew that he didn't like her very much, but it made sense to her somehow. His face gives none of his emotions away, those carefully hidden away from her in a way that instinctually she didn't like. But why? 

"P-Professor? What are you doing here?" Hermione asks after a moment. 

He arches a brow at her then, a small flicker of curiosity dances in his eyes before it's quickly snuffed out. 

"You don't remember?" He asks. 

"Remember what?" Hermione asks back, her confusion seeping into her voice. 

What was she supposed to have remembered? Did she truly come into her Veela inheritance in his class? A memory of her throwing herself into the professor's arms flashes through Hermione's mind, leaving her cheeks hot with embarrassment. There was no way she had done that, especially not in a class full of her peers, right? Looking over at the tight press of Professor Snape's lips made her certain that she, whether conscious or in an instinctual haze, had done that.

"I-I apologize for my behavior, it was unbecoming of me" Hermione says, the heat on her cheeks spreading across her ears and down the back of her neck as she looks away from the professor. 

The door to the hospital wing opens then, accompanied by the sound of two pairs of high heels clicking against the marble ground. Hermione recognized the medicinal scent of Madam Pomfrey but the scent of tea and old parchment was unfamiliar to her. Unbeknownst to Hermione, she shuffled as close as she could to Professor Snape while shackled to the bed. Rounding the corner past the privacy curtain around Hermione's bed, both Madam Pomfrey and a worried Professor McGonagall greet her with small smiles. Of course, they would tell Professor McGonagall, as she was now the Headmistress of Hogwarts while temporarily remaining Head of Gryffindor House.

"Miss Granger, dear, are you alright?" Professor McGonagall asks, coming directly over to her bedside. 

Hermione slowly nods, despite a small frown forming on her face. She was sure it was a matter of time until the entire school knew about what happened, Hogwarts was a decent-sized school but rumours traveled exceptionally fast. Especially when they were about either herself, Ron, or Harry. She would be lucky if everyone didn't know by dinner that night. 

"Hermione, we need to discuss the next steps here, alright?" Madam Pomfrey says, steering the conversation back to Hermione. 

"Next steps?" She echoes. 

"Yes. Minerva and I were talking and we believe it best for your dormitory to be relocated to the dungeons" Madam Pomfrey begins. 

"The dungeons? Why?" Hermione asks, panic taking flight in her chest. 

"The dungeons are no place for a Gryffindor" Professor Snape says directly after her, standing from the chair next to her bed as he crosses his arms in front of his chest. 

There was no way she could live in the dungeons with the Slytherins, they would waste no time in making sure that she knew that she wasn't welcome down there. Despite the war being over, that didn't mean blood prejudice magically disappeared from the wizarding world. And now with everyone knowing that she had magical creature blood in her veins? She was screwed. And why did they want to send her there in the first place? 

"There is an empty single dormitory down there that has been used for this sort of thing before" Professor McGonagall explains, her expression conveying she wasn't happy with this arrangement either. 

"But why the dungeons? Gryffindor Tower must have something similar, right?" Hermione asks, looking pleadingly between Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. 

"When you came into your veela inheritance, Mr. Potter told me that you latched yourself onto Severus and that you didn't let go even when unconscious. Do you understand what that means?" Madam Pomfrey asks her softly. 

"Veela inheritance? Poppy, you said her magic went haywire, not that she underwent a magical inheritance" Professor Snape says before Hermione gets a chance to speak, realization dawning in his dark eyes. 

The gears began to turn in Hermione's brain as she sat silently for a moment, replaying the memory when she launched herself into Professor Snape's arms. From what she had read in Laurentin II's diary, Veela's were normally angry when the dormant blood in their system awakened, not jumping into the arms of nearby wizards. The only person Hermione knew that Veela instinctually went to, even in extreme states of anger, was the mate of said Veela. The realization dawned on Hermione as she looked up at the Potions professor, inhaling his smoky scent, and her instincts screamed at her to jump into his arms once more.

"Because I knew what your reaction would be! Miss Granger, you know what this means, yes?" Madam Pomfrey says, looking between the two with a torn look on her face.

"Yes" Hermione says softly, adverting her gaze from Professor Snape as she speaks. 

The Potions professor snaps his gaze back over to Hermione, cautiously regarding her as if she were some sort of wild animal. His dark eyes were filled with a flurry of emotions, something Hermione wasn't used to seeing from the man, but the dominant emotion remained a mystery to her. 

"Miss Granger, your belongings have already been packed and sent to your new dormitory. However, we believe it to be in your best interest if you remain here, in the hospital wing, at least overnight" Professor McGonagall explains.

Hermione slowly nodded, careful not to jostle her head, which now had pain pulsating through it that felt as though it traveled down to her toes, knowing that arguing wouldn't do her any good in this situation. That pain doubled when, without a word, Professor Snape stalked away from her hospital bed, shrouded by his billowing black robes. Panic flooded through her at the sight of him leaving, panic that she quickly realized was from her inner Veela and not herself, and a whine tumbled out of her lips. 

"Severus! Where are you going?" Madam Pomfrey called after him, the mediwitch scurrying after him. 

When the Potions master responded to her with a slam of the hospital wing doors, Hermione winced as the sound sent another jolt of pain through her head. It took all of her self-control to not try to get out of her binds and chase after him, which her inner Veela was screaming at her to do. She didn't need to look up at either Madam Pomfrey or Professor McGonagall to see the pitying looks they were giving her, nor did she want to see them either. She didn't want their pity, all she wanted was for her life to go back to normal.