Revelations
Hermione could hear voices, and there were a few soft touches against her skin. It was as if she had been in a fog and it was lifting, senses slowly coming back to her. A faint memory of huge eyes staring back at her had her screaming. Hands were holding her down, and she noticed that she was trembling, her breath coming in heavy pants. “It’s okay. You have to breathe, Hermione. You’re safe.”
That voice, it was familiar and she found herself focusing on it, trying desperately to clear her mind.
She blinked her eyes open, everything was hazy as though she had opened her eyes underwater. Blinking it away, everything started to focus. Snape was staring at her, his eyes flitting over her face carefully, and Theo was sitting beside her, his hand resting carefully on her arm. His thumb was rubbing soothing circles over the skin of her elbow.
“The-the Basilisk! I have to warn Harry!” Theo pressed a hand to her shoulder and she stilled, trapped in the blue of his eyes that seemed to be trying to say a thousand things.
“Ms. Granger. You must rest.” Hermione had heard Snape talk a thousand times and she cocked her head to the side as she tried to decipher the strange emotion that hung onto the ends of his words. Theo was still staring at her, blue eyes seeming to scan every inch of her. Snape was staring at Theo now, and Hermione found herself incredibly worried about the Basilisk that was slithering through the halls and was surprised that nobody else seemed to be. “Mr. Nott, don’t you have somewhere to be?”
Theo ignored Snape, casting him a glare that Snape ignored, sighing as he turned away and drew the curtain closed behind him. “Theo? What did I miss? How did you know–in the library?”
“I…I had overheard a few conversations between Harry and you. I pieced together some things just a few minutes before you did. When I saw you storm into the library and pick up the same book that I did it made sense. But, then I heard it…and you…you didn’t even notice I was there let alone a giant snake.” Hermione’s fingers tightened around Theo’s wrist and she watched him gulp. She released him instantly. “I grabbed you, and was trying to back up into the wall…I didn’t realize that there was a mirror behind me..you…you.”
“Theo.” She said it gently, rubbing her thumb across his arm. “You saved my life. Thank you.”
Theo shook his head, pulling away from her and fiddling with the edge of the hospital blanket. “They figured it out, you know. Because of you. When you were Petrified, you had the page in your hand. When they opened the Chamber of Secrets they found Ginny.” Hermione gasped. “She was down there apparently, Potter did what he does best and got all of the Glory saving her. He wouldn’t have known what the hell he was doing if you hadn’t had the damn page in your hand.” Theo ran a hand over his face.
“Theo?” He met her eyes, and she sat up, wincing at the aching in her limbs. “Why did you stay with me?”
His brow furrowed and he looked down at his hands that were fiddling with the edge of the blanket before standing, making his way to the curtain. He stopped, his head dropping.
“I just had to make sure that life came back into your eyes.”
Hermione stared at the drape as he slipped past it. She never got the chance to tell him that was what she had been hoping to find in his eyes since she met him.
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Hermione twisted her fingers along the edge of her robe. Her legs were still kind of shaky and she found herself slightly wobbly. Madam Pomfrey said that it might be like that, her limbs getting used to the blood flow, but it was nothing permanent. It would go away with just a little bit of time. The Great Hall was loud, and Hermione bit down the panic that was rising in her chest at the thought of entering. She knew that everybody would be staring at her, it had been twenty-one days that she had been Petrified in the hospital wing. Twenty-one days since she had seen everybody.
She was desperate to make sure that Harry was alright. Theo had told her about what happened and even though he had said it she still had to see him with her own eyes. She also wanted to see Draco, Pansy, Blaise and Theo. She just needed to remind herself that she was still alive and so were they.
It still partly felt like she was underwater, and she shook the fuzziness from her head as she stepped through the doors, right when Nearly Headless Nick floated past her. “Hermione! Good to see you!”
She turned to smile at him, her face now pointed directly at the Slytherin table. At the mention of her name, a blonde head snapped up to look at her. She felt his eyes dance over her, as though he was checking to see if she was really there. She watched his head drop against the table before lifting it after a moment, a heavy breath leaving him. Theo was sitting across from Draco, and had turned when he saw Draco’s head snap up and was regarding her, a small nod in her direction.
Pansy stood, walking briskly across the small distance and throwing her arms around her. Hermione faltered, stumbling back a step at the surprise and from her wobbly limbs. Pansy didn’t say anything else, instead released her and made her way back to the Slytherin table with a small squeeze of her hand. She cleared her throat, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and started walking towards the Gryffindor table. Neville muttered her name and she saw three heads snap towards her. Ron and Harry quickly scrambled off of the benches and Harry was lifting her in a tight hug. She winced, the movement making her sore muscles worse as he put her down carefully. Disguising it, she held his arm and gave him a tight smile as she steadied herself. He was safe, and so was Ginny who was smiling at her from the table.
Ron was giving her a strange look and she tried to ignore him, flashing him a soft smile in return.
The Feast went on and she stared at her plate, finding that she was starving and not hungry all at the same time. She wanted to curl up on her bed and go to sleep which she found strange after being in a Petrified state for so long. When she had finally snapped herself out of her daze, she found that she had missed the entire speech, but Gryffindor was cheering as she watched the Banners above her change to their colors.
After hugs and too much conversation she excused herself, suddenly finding that she was exhausted and everything was shaking as she tried to hold herself upright. Hermione slipped into the hallway, her hand gliding along the stones as she slowly tried to make her way back to the dorms. She jumped when she heard Draco’s voice echo off the empty corridor.
“Granger.”
She attempted to straighten her shoulders and turned, catching herself against the wall. “Malfoy.”
He was giving her that look again, where his eyes danced over every inch of her from head to toe. To her surprise, Theo was right next to him. “Are you alright?” His eyes were narrowed now, focused on the wall where her shoulder was now leaning.
“Quite. Just…a bit dizzy. I was in the hospital for–’
“Twenty-one days.” Draco said it coldly, as though it was acid on his tongue.
Her heart stuttered. “Yes. Anyways. What did you need?”
They stared at each other for a moment before Draco stepped towards her, a question dancing in his eyes. Slowly, he slipped his hand underneath her arm and draped it over his shoulders. Theo was on her other side a moment later and Draco’s eyes widened. She was now sandwiched between the two boys and she flushed. One made her heart stutter while the other made her feel comfortable. Slowly, they made their way up the steps and as they made their way to her tower she was thankful for the help.
She never would’ve asked but the look on both of the boys faces made sure that she knew not to argue. When they had walked her to her door, they ignored her attempts to shrug them off until she was sitting safely on her bed. A sweat broke out on the nape of her neck and her legs were numb and shaking. Silently she hoped that it would go away soon so she stopped feeling so helpless.
“Uh, thank you. Neither of you had to do that but…thank you.” Draco nodded, running a hand through his hair and Theo was quietly regarding her again. They both stood, making a move towards the door.
“I’ll see you this summer, Granger.” Draco’s hand lingered on the doorknob as he turned back to her. “Are you sure that you’re alright?”
“I’m a lot better now, thank you. Really.” He nodded, before closing the door behind him as he slipped back into the hallway.
Hermione's head hit the pillow and she dreamed of Basilisk's eyes.
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Hermione had skipped the train, instead insisting on staying in the castle as she waited for Snape to finish whatever it was that he had to do when school stopped for the summer. She found herself in his classroom, helping him catalog and pack away ingredients the day after everybody had left Hogwarts. It was quiet and she found that she liked the quiet organization that calmed her thoughts.
She hadn't slept the last two nights, all that she could see every time she closed her eyes was the Basilisk's eyes. It was torture and for a moment she wished that she was still petrified so that she could have the emptiness instead of the recurring nightmare.
Her hands were trembling slightly, something that she knew she had failed to hide from Snape. The anxiety, coupled with the inability to sleep, along with the fact that her muscles were still relatively unagreeable made for shaky hands.
Once they had gone home, it took two nights of her waking herself from sleep screaming before Snape had declared that they were going to the Manor.
“Already?”
Snape narrowed his eyes on her. “Yes. Pack an overnight bag. We'll be there for a few days.”
“I'm sorry…are you saying that I'll be staying at the Malfoy’s?”
“We'll be staying at the Malfoys.”
She nodded, deciding that she didn't have the energy to argue and went upstairs to pack. She made sure to leave her Muggle clothes there, all except for her sleep shorts and a jumper which she decided were pajamas.
If she wasn't going to be sleeping at least she would be comfortable.
They arrived that afternoon and a house elf ushered her towards a bedroom, and she caught a glimpse of Narcissa and Snape whispering in the drawing room. When she opened the door she gasped. The room was massive.
There was a door which she guessed led to a bathroom and the other was wide open giving her glimpses of different fabrics. There was a fully stocked closet filled with all different kinds of materials. On the far left wall sat a vanity with a small white stool. The carpet was a soft creme that matched the bedsheets of the four poster bed that was against the right wall.
Two huge french doors led to an open balcony overlooking the gardens and the grounds. She stepped into the room, and noticed that the elf had placed her bag on the trunk at the end of the bed. Taking a few small steps, she found herself standing on the balcony, her eyes closed as the breeze caressed her skin.
The Manor was starting to feel as much of a home as Snape's was and she wasn't sure which scared her more.
She shivered, wrapping her arms around her middle before opening her eyes again and saw a figure moving towards the Manor. She squinted, and it took a moment for the figure to become two and she realized that Theo and Draco were making their way up the path towards the Manor.
She leaned over the railing, draping her arms over it as she watched them approach.
Draco's eyes found her first and she watched his steps falter as he stopped, staring up at her. Then, she watched a boyish grin spread across it, causing dimples in his cheeks. She couldn't help but smile back, a flush spreading across her chest. Theo stopped next to him, his eyes drifting towards the balcony before they widened. She turned towards the door, walking across the hallway until she heard footsteps bounding up the stairs. Draco and Theo were racing it seemed–running up the steps and Hermione couldn’t help the smile that spread across her face. Theo looked happy, his blue eyes shining as he ran after Draco.
They both skidded to a halt in front of her, throwing elbows and smiling.
“What are you doing here, Granger?” Draco finally walked towards her, apparently done wrestling with Theo.
“I’m not sure, Snape just said that we were going to be staying here for a bit.”
“You’re staying?”
“Yes…Is that a problem?”
“No, no. Um. I see that you found your room.”
Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. “I’m sorry, my room?”
Draco smirked at her, a lopsided grin that she found herself smiling back to. “Yes. Mother had it prepared the week after you came to the Manor for the first time.”
She didn’t know what to say, instead cast her eyes down to her shoes, nodding her head. “Well, erm. I will have to thank her. It’s far too much.”
“Granger.” Hermione lifted her eyes reluctantly to stare at him. He looked smug. “Nothing is too much for a Malfoy.”
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Hermione was shaken awake suddenly and she scrambled against the headboard, her legs tangling in the sheets as sweat stuck to her forehead. When she had finally calmed down enough to notice who was in her room, she found Theo and Draco staring at her, their eyebrows drawn together in concern. She didn’t know what to say, and she clamped her lips together tightly. They were staring at her as though she was something that was broken. Theo, was moving carefully towards the bed, his hands off to the side of him. Draco, she found, was already sitting on the bed next to her, his hand unmoving from her arm where he had gently shaken her awake.
She swallowed, staring down at her hands. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“Granger?” She knew what he wanted to know before he even asked. “What were you dreaming about?”
“It’s nothing really, I’m sorry for waking you.” She realized that she was crying, swiping a tear from the corner of her eye. Her voice was hoarse and she knew that she must have been screaming loudly.
“Hermione.” It was soft and she closed her eyes, letting it sooth her. “Talk to me, talk to us.” She felt Theo sit on the edge of the bed furthest from her.
Theo spoke quietly. “It’s the Basilisk, isn’t it?”
She didn’t open her eyes still, pinching them together hoping that it would stop the tears that were falling. Hermione nodded. “I-I see it when my eyes are closed. It’s eyes. It’s almost like…I’m frozen. Almost as if I’m still petrified but I’m just locked in place, unable to move and all that I can see are its eyes.” Her voice broke and she felt cold hands swipe a tear from her cheek, before smoothing her hair behind her ear. Her eyes snapped open to find Draco leaning towards her.
“Come on.” Hermione was confused, as she watched Draco pull away, tugging the blankets down softly before extending his hand towards her.
“Where are we going?”
“We’re here to take you to Weasel, you’re to be married in the Malfoy Gardens.”
Hermione glared at him.
“Relax, we’re going to have a cup of tea.” She stood, grasping his hand and watched as his eyes widened, then narrowed at her bare legs. “After you put something else on, and you’re going to talk to my mother.”
“You’re mother?! And what’s wrong with what I’m wearing?”
His eyes flitted over her again and she glanced at Theo to find him glaring at Draco. Draco simply rolled his eyes at Theo before dragging a hand over his face. “I’m not taking you traipsing through the house wearing those. Merlin if my father or your-Snape winds up traipsing the hall and finds you dressed like that.”
Hermione raised a brow at him, but decided against arguing and slipped into the bathroom to pull on a pair of sweatpants. She had persuaded herself to pack a few more Muggle things for sleeping. “Better? Or would you prefer if I wore my dress robes?”
Draco rolled his eyes, huffing as he stalked towards the door. Theo surprised her by offering her his elbow, and she tucked herself into the crook, as he pulled her closer to him. He always felt comfortable–as though she was coming home. She had mistaken it for something else at first–something along the lines of what she felt for Draco, but when she had spent more time with each of them she realized the difference.
Theo made her feel comfortable and safe, but she never had the heart stuttering response like she did to Draco. Draco somehow managed to have her cheeks flushing from a simple look. But, she couldn’t focus on that right now. Even though, she realized, the Basilisk eyes weren’t as prominent in the back of her mind anymore. Draco and Theo had effectively distracted her from her nightmare.
They followed after Draco, who led them to his mother’s sitting room where she seemed to be waiting with fresh brewed tea. With a soft smile to Draco and Theo, Narcissa kissed them both on the cheek and sent them to bed. Hermione perched on the edge of the chair, suddenly realizing that this might have been more expected than she realized.
“Narcissa?”
“How have you been doing, darling?”
Hermione paused, stirring the sugar into her cup the way that she had seen Narcissa do, although less regal if she had to admit. “Um, well. I’ve been better.” Narcissa simply nodded, and Hermione knew that she was waiting for her to open up when she was ready. “I just…I haven’t been sleeping well.”
“Why not?”
“When I was attacked…the last thing that I saw was its eyes. Now every time that I close my eyes it’s all I see. Anytime I go to bed they linger there, watching me. I can feel how cold I was when I was petrified, I can feel the bottomless hole that I was trapped in, the way that I just disappeared from myself.” Hermione swiped the tears that slipped from her eyes. “Anyways, it just…it’s been difficult to fall asleep because of that.”
Narcissa was silent for a moment, regarding her with clasped hands in her lap. “Hermione, have you ever tried Meditation?”
“No.”
“I want you to try it for me, if you would. I think that it would help.” Hermione nodded. “Alright, close your eyes and clear your mind. I want you to think of a bookshelf. There are all different kinds of books there, large, small, all different various sizes. Now, I want you to visualize the titles, imagine that you’re running your hand across them, feeling the letters beneath your fingers.”
Hermione imagined herself standing in the Malfoy Manor, or, something similar to it. Massive oak bookcases were around her, packed full of books of various shapes and sizes. The more than Narcissa talked, the more that she found the tension leaving her body, her muscles relaxing. When Narcissa told her to imagine herself curled on a tufted chair with a book, she found herself feeling incredibly tired, as if she hadn’t slept in years.
“That’s it darling, open your eyes.” Hermione blinked, lifting heavy lids as her eyes met a deep blue. “Now, I want you to imagine that whenever you feel stressed or scared. Allow yourself a moment to breathe, to sooth your brain. You did wonderful, and we can do this whenever you need.” Hermione felt like she had been weighed down with Galleons and Narcissa let out a soft laugh. “Draco.”
After a moment, he appeared standing close to the door. “Mother?”
“Would you bring Hermione back to her room dear? I think that she will be able to sleep now.”
Hermione stood, stumbling before catching herself against Darco’s chest. Well, if she was being honest, he caught her, one hand on her elbow and the other on her waist. Her hands were pressed against his chest, and she found herself leaning into his warmth, her eyes stuttering closed. She just wanted to sleep, she hadn’t remembered the last time that she had slept so deeply. Exhaustion was deep in her bones. There was murmuring close to her ear and she hummed in response before feeling her feet leave the floor.
Her head rested against something soft and warm, and she found herself snuggling closer, tucking her head into the pillow. A soft thunk-thunk was lulling her to sleep and she let herself fall into the darkness.
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She had woken up with her face pressed against Draco’s chest, and her back flush against something else. There was a pressure across her hip and she attempted to wriggle herself free. Unable to move, she realized that Draco had pinned one of her legs with his, a hand resting in her hair, cradling her head with fingers tangled in her curls. She could hear him breathing over her head. With surprise, she realized that whatever–well whoever–was pressed against her back had an arm thrown over her hip. She wriggled some more, trying to slip from between the other body that was sandwiching her. She was entirely too warm and felt like she had slept for weeks.
Draco stirred, his hand pulling her head closer to his chest for a moment, before he froze, holding his breath beneath her. Slowly, she felt him exhale and carefully disentangle his fingers from her hair. She pushed up onto an elbow and stared at him, already knowing that her cheeks were flushed a brilliant red. He was staring at her with dark gray eyes, flitting over her face with a faint smile on the corner of his lips. His hair was mussed, hanging in his eyes and Hermione fought the urge to run her fingers through it. She wondered if it was soft.
The body that was attached to the arm around her waist was stirring and she felt it slip quickly from around her, taking the heat that was making her sweat with it. Rolling onto her back in the newly freed space, she stretched. She could feel Draco’s eyes on her and scrambled quickly from the bed, fighting the tingling feeling in her calves. Theo was stretching next to the bed, blue eyes clear and bright as he smiled at her. She stopped in her tracks, dazzled. He had a glorious smile and she wondered for a moment what she could do to see it more often.
His curly hair was mussed, brown tendrils frizzy and falling across his forehead and Hermione hesitantly reached up to smooth them out. She moved slowly, afraid that she was going to startle him and he stood still, eyes locked onto hers. Tentatively, she stroked her fingers through his hair, smoothing his hair in a fashion that she would imagine a mother to do, or an older sister if she ever were to have a younger brother. He let out a stuttered exhale and Hermione smiled at him, before withdrawing her hand and spinning around to the bathroom.
The whole encounter made her feel dizzy. She wondered if she had crossed a boundary with Theo and his comfortability. She had never made a move to reach out and touch him because she noticed how he went out of his way to not let a single person come in contact with him. He would move and maneuver through a crowd so effortlessly that she wondered if he was somehow enchanted. Draco, on the other hand, moved crowds just by simply walking through them, sometimes shoving those who didn’t move for him. Which, she noted, he hadn’t done for a little while. It was strange really, seeing two people that she thought that she knew change before her eyes.
The door shut behind her, trapping her in the stillness and she waved her wand at the tub. She had swiped it when she climbed out of bed, knowing that she wanted a bath in the massive tub. Filling it with bubbles and stripping she climbed in, sinking to her ears as she drowned out the muted voices coming through the door.
“What the fuck was that, Theo?”
“I have no idea, Draco. You know just as much as I do who I think that she is..”
She didn’t hear anything else as the water clogged her ears.
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Snape had casually checked on her periodically throughout the next week, and Hermione noted that he had stopped eyeing her as much. His eyes searched her face enough to see something that had stopped his hovering as much. Hermione was good at reading people, the small things that they did, and she had noticed a lot about the people that she was around on a normal basis.
Lucius was a watcher as well, his eyes flicking over every person that he came in contact with. Oftentimes, he would raise an eyebrow in Hermione’s direction when they both reacted to the same thing. She had noticed him watching everybody, and knew that he had noticed her doing the same.
Draco had a habit of ticking his jaw when he was seeing something that bothered him. He also ran his hands through his hair when he was nervous. Theo was always quiet, and was studying everybody. His blue eyes were taking everything in so intently that she was sure he stored it all in his head with perfect memory and clarity.
Snape though–he was the one that was confusing and yet particularly easy to read at the same time. He spent most of his time in his Potion room when they were at the house, but oftentimes he would come out, peering down at whatever she was doing as he walked past. Usually, he would make tea–always Peppermint–leaving the sugar and honey out on the counter even though she knew that he never used it. He never added anything to his tea, and yet she knew that he actually preferred coffee. A line formed on his nose between his eyes whenever something was troubling him, but besides a quick flash of acknowledgment in his eyes she generally didn’t see any emotion there. They spent most nights on separate chairs just reading, or he brought up random questions quizzing her about Potions that she knew were years ahead.
After she had brewed Polyjuice Potion, the questions started, and Hermione realized that he was reaching out to her in the only way that Snape knew. He was never condescending, or degrading like he was at Hogwarts–although he never really was like that to her very often–instead he just smirked at her when she answered correctly. Sometimes he would raise a brow and Hermione would pretend like she wasn’t excusing herself to go and double check that the answer she gave was correct.
As she sat on the blanket, the squeal of Pansy and Daphne sounding from behind her along with the now familiar holler from Blaise–she wondered if this was what having family felt like.