Just Give me a Reason, just a little Bits Enough
Theo
Theo stared at her, narrowing his eyes at the flush that creeped into her features while the brilliant witch threw glances at Draco. They were full of longing, sadness and a touch of anger that Theo knew was deserved. Draco deserved all of her anger, and yet he couldn’t find it in himself to agree wholeheartedly to that statement.
Over and over, Draco and Theo had watched as Hermione withered away in front of them. Taking hit after hit, and no matter what plan that they formulated to get her out, none of them worked. Not a damn thing shielded her from the things that they had to go through. Theo had been sent to procure an object that was in his father's vault. A cup of some sorts that he wasn’t able to find and had been punished with a rather deadly Crucio on the floor of his best mates drawing room. The next order of business was researching the Goblin Blade that had carved into Hermione’s skin–which was done after she had settled, and Theo knew that she was alive. They had spent year after year slowly loving her more and more and watching her almost kill herself over and over. The Manor was the tipping point. That was enough.
Seeing her bow in front of Voldemort like she was a loyal follower, had nearly broken him but it was nowhere near as much as seeing her claw her way from Draco’s arms to get to him when Vincent had died trying to get her out of the house. Draco had the mark now, along with Theo who had forced him to receive it to prove his loyalties after finding out about his father’s death and failures. Theo bargained his freedom for Hermione’s. If Draco failed, he would be able to keep her safe. Draco was doing what he was doing for more than Hermione. He was doing it for his mother who was threatened to be raped, tortured and murdered the same way that Hermione was.
Greyback particularly seemed interested in his lovely sister when she had appeared in front of Voldemort with Tiberius who paraded her beaten body like a trophy.
Bile rose at the back of his throat, and he choked it back down, focusing on the bags that were forming underneath her eyes. They had barely been at school for a month and already Hermione was looking like she was utterly exhausted. He knew the feeling. It was rare for him to sleep a full night, and most of the time he was stationed by her door with a blanket whenever it wasn’t Pansy’s night for watch. Draco keeping his distance from her was irritatingly understandable and infuriating at the same time. He wished that he would just put his sister out of her misery and spend the night once even just to hold her. She always seemed to sleep better when he was around.
The nightmares were unrelenting.
Since he had told her about her sleepwalking, he noticed that every night she warded her door and put-up silencing charms. A lot of the time they worked, and although he was thankful, he still hated the fact that he sat outside of her door wondering if she was screaming inside of her room. Granger was efficient and determined when it came to something she set her mind to. Hermione had taken to spending time with Harry Potter more in Draco’s absence and Theo wasn’t sure if that was something that he could be thankful for or not. Harry was a good friend to her–save for all of the questionable life or death situations he always managed to put her in. But it was a welcome distraction from Draco’s forced coldness.
Theo knew that Draco wasn’t faring well from the distance either. After the rigorous torture that Bellatrix had put him through on a normal basis when Hermione was at his family home enduring a torture of her own, Draco had developed a strong sense of making sure that Hermione never felt that way. His best friend was torn between chasing after the light that Hermione provided and risking losing it forever by pushing her away to keep her safe. Theo was the neutral party. He knew how much Draco loved her; he could see it develop over the years; although he was fairly certain that Draco had been bewitched by her from the moment that she turned her swotty attitude on him the first time that they ever met.
Tuning out from his thoughts, he focused back in on Pansy and Hermione’s whispered conversation. “...coming with me, again? Do you fancy him or something?”
“I cannot believe that you would insinuate such a thing. Honestly. I should think about hexing you for that one, Granger. No, I just am tired of sitting around with Theo and Blaise dancing circles around their feelings and Draco being a broody little ice princess.”
“Yes, about that, I would say he is acting rather…peacocky. I would hate to intrude on the time he spends pruning and fussing over himself.” Theo caught the edges of Draco’s mouth twitching as he glared at the plate in front of him. There must have been an implied message or secret joke there that he missed. “Besides, Slughorn has been very adamant about me joining the Slug Club.”
“That is atrocious, and I am going to pretend that my best friend didn’t just admit that she was planning on joining anything with the word slugs in it. Either way, are you going to watch Harry practice later, or not?”
“I can’t, the practices are during the time that Slug club is supposed to be happening and since Harry isn’t there to participate even though he is supposed to be getting into his good graces, it means that I’m left to do it.”
Pansy scoffed, then clicked her tongue before munching delicately on a piece of scone she tore off. “No, Hermione. Contrary to everything that you believe you don’t actually have to throw yourself into every single plan that happens and almost die.”
“How exactly would I be dying in a Slug Club of all places?”
“I don’t know, Granger. You managed to get petrified in the library–which by the way, was totally you by the way.” Theo winced at the memory of her cold and stiff in his arms, failing yet again to protect her. “You also somehow managed to turn yourself into a cat the last time that you brewed a potion-owe!” Hermione had swatted Pansy, looking thoroughly offended and Pansy narrowed her eyes. “Point being that you always manage to find danger no matter where you are, so yes, I meant what I said. Tell the bloody Chosen One to find somebody else to sacrifice for the greater good besides yourself for once.” With that, Pansy grabbed the rest of the scone and took off in the direction of the doors to the Great Hall. Hermione stared after her, before glancing down at her fingers, fidgeting. Draco was staring at her, his jaw clenched, and Theo watched as she blinked tears from her eyes.
She didn’t bother to lift her eyes as she gathered all of her things and slid from the table, heading in Harry’s direction with a fake smile plastered to her lips. She was crumbling and he knew that the only person that would be able to stop it was the blonde wizard sitting in front of him, tracking her through the whole room with his gray eyes.
“Draco, maybe..”
“No, Theo. I would rather her hate me and learn to live without me than ever learn to live on this earth without her. I have to do this to save her. I have to prove to him so that he doesn’t fucking touch her.” His gray eyes slowly met his and he nodded once in agreement. “We have to save her. No matter how much it fucking hurts.”
“No matter how much it hurts.” Theo murmured in agreement, turning to watch his sister walk silently with Harry. She was the only thing left that he was living for besides the wizard next to him.
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Hermione quickly made her way down the hallway, one goal in mind after their strange trip to Hogsmeade. The image of Katie Bell writhing and screaming in the air was embedded in her brain and she couldn’t manage to wipe the image from her lids. She found the man that she was searching for glaring out the windows in the Slytherin Common room and she marched in and yanked him by his robes into the hidden alcove behind the tapestry. His eyes were wide as he stared at her, before expression schooling itself into a mask of indifference.
“Is whatever you’re supposed to be doing for your task not working? Have to resort to more drastic measures?”
Draco narrowed his eyes on her. “What are you talking about?”
“Katie Bell ringing anything for you? Considering I just watched her hover in the bloody air from a cursed necklace, which Harry insists was you by the way–which I will be adding to my growing list of nightmares.”
“What?”
“I just watched Katie Bell hover in the air and scream, and it was horrid and I’m asking you if you had something to do with it. If you were the one who gave her that necklace like Harry says he thinks you did.”
Draco’s eye twitched. “Do you want me to tell you that I was? Will that make you stop yanking me around into dark alcoves and accusing me of things?”
“No. No it won’t. Tell me the truth for once, Draco. Please. What did I do to make us like this? Did I do something? Why aren’t…” She trailed off, digging her nails so hard into the palms of her hands that she was sure she drew blood. Flicking the tapestry open, she missed him reaching for her until she had already stepped through. “Never mind, it doesn’t matter to you anyways.”
She felt like somebody had embedded her heart with glass as she made her way to her room, sinking beneath the sheets and falling asleep.
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“Hermione? Are you okay?” Harry’s voice yanked her from her thoughts, and she ran a hand over her nose, attempting to hide the tears and snot that had accumulated from her crying. They had just won their Gryffindor game and she was attempting to be happy for them, but Draco–Malfoy–still wasn’t talking to her and her thoughts had been going rampant about what she had done to warrant such a reaction from him.
The sound of shuffling footsteps made her scooch over allowing him room to sit next to her. She didn’t say anything, instead just leaned her head against his shoulder as she silently cried. “Malfoys a prat.”
Harry snorted, reaching over to clasp her hand in his. “I could’ve told you that.” His head tilted up towards the birds that were swirling around their heads. She had conjured them as a distraction from her tears although it hadn’t worked at the time.
They sat there in silence again, until Ron turned the corner, glaring at the two of them. “Well, this looks cozy, doesn’t it?”
“Go away, Ronald.”
“I wonder if Malfoy knows that you are just making your way through the trio. First you snog me, then you’re here hiding out with Harry…not a good look Mione.”
Hermione stood up, glaring at the redhead in the doorway. “Oppugno!” All of the birds raced towards the door, slamming into the wall beside where he had been standing before running from the room. Red feathers flitted to the floor and as they were swirling in the air, an image of Katie Bell’s lifeless form came into her mind and she dropped next to Harry, tears welling up in her eyes again. Harry didn’t say anything else, just slung his arm around her shoulders and held her while she cried.
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“Slippery little minx, I tried inviting her to the party multiple times. Just as well, she doesn’t stop talking does she, I guess you’d know all about that wouldn’t you, Potter?” Harry glared at Cormac who had decided that he might be the best one to slander Hermione with. She, thankfully, was just out of ear reach when he saddled up beside him and started talking about his horrid plans and ideas for his best friend. Harry gripped his glass tighter, glaring at the man who was leering at Hermione.
“Cormac was it?” The brute of a man nodded. “I’ll be sure to remember that name specifically should Hermione suddenly not wish to report harassment of an individual within Hogwarts.” With that he stepped away from the man and made his way to his best friend. She looked terrine and beautiful all at the same time. He had declared that he was intent on bringing Pansy, but she had said that she wasn’t attending anything with the name Slug in it. That left Hermione and him attending together. Harry was surprised that she didn’t invite Blaise or Theo instead. After her crying session in the abandoned classroom, he wasn’t surprised that she didn’t invite Malfoy.
Although it wasn’t a topic of discussion for them, he caught the longing glances that they shared when they thought that the other wasn’t looking and because Hermione didn’t share details about those sorts of things he wasn’t sure exactly what it was that had been bothering her. Malfoy was being an outright prat and it was starting to annoy him. Hermione had bags underneath her eyes, clearly not sleeping and he had noticed changes in her the moment that she had come back from wherever it was she had been last summer. She wore nothing but long sleeves now, and he was faintly aware of the shaking and tremors that she tried to cover on a normal basis. There were many theories that he had–one of them being that Malfoy wasn’t as loving to her as she made him out to be, but the looks that he gave her were convincing enough for him to drop that theory. Anytime that he had seen them together, Malfoy had never been anything but gentle with her, sometimes too gentle if Harry were to give his opinion like he knew that she was made of glass and one wrong crack would break her completely. He knew that Hermione was anything but breakable.
His eyes caught sight of the subject of his thoughts, being dragged through the room by Snape both dressed in billowing black dress robes and Harry furrowed his brows as Hermione faltered, staring at them both at the corner of the room. They were whispering before Snape was dragging Malfoy back out through the door, his hands firmly fisted in Draco’s suit jacket. He looked horrible, dark circles under his eyes that looked particularly nasty against his paler than usual skin. Malfoy also looked like he had lost weight along with Hermione–both of them already dainty and small as it was now it was noticeable.
Green eyes trailed after the pair as they shuffled from the party and he slipped through the door behind them a moment later, tugging on the invisibility cloak he had stashed in his pocket. Slipping it on, he snuck down the hallway carefully, hearing the whispers the closer he got.
“Draco, let me assist you. I know that you’re afraid.”
“I can do this; I don’t have a choice.”
“I took the Unbreakable Vow, Draco. You can trust me.” Snape whispered softly, in a tone that Harry had never heard him use before except with Hermione.
“I can’t trust anybody; don’t you understand that? Not when it comes to her life. If I fail, she dies. I don’t have a choice, Snape.” Malfoy sounded like he was in pain, choking momentarily a complete contrast to the rigid set of his shoulders against the wall. Snape still had his hand fisted in his robes and was standing close to the blond wizard.
“You should know by now that there is very little, I wouldn’t do to protect her as well. Of all the people, the three of us are the only ones that should be trusted with her life.”
“Yet you still put her in a horrible position by sending her to Theo’s house.” The angry blonde yanked himself from Snape’s grasp and adjusted his jacket. “All three of us have continuously put her in just as much danger as we have tried to save her from. I’m not doing it again. I would rather die than have something else happen to her. To have another thing to haunt her.”
Snape took a step back, his dark eyes pinning him with his gaze before snapping up to where Harry stood in the dark hallway, narrowing his eyes briefly before resting a hand on Malfoy’s shoulder. “You staying away from her isn’t protecting her, Draco. It’s going to drive her crazy and right into the thick of everything that you’re trying to keep her from. You have to trust me. You can keep her safe without keeping your distance from her.”
“No. I can’t.” With that Malfoy spun on his heel, hands shoved deep into his pockets as he stalked down the hallway. Snape stared after him and Harry slipped from the hall trying to grasp the information he just heard. Slipping back into the party he noticed Hermione’s absence. Snape and Malfoy’s words echoed in his head as he sipped his punch wondering where his best friend slipped off to.
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Snape
“Yet you still put her in a horrible position by sending her to Theo’s house.” Draco’s words haunted Severus as he stalked in the halls. His godson was right. He had tried everything that he possibly could to get her out of going to Tiberius’s house. To the Manor that she never should’ve ever walked into again. He had failed her. There wasn’t any way that he could’ve persuaded Voldemort to let her stay with him once he found out that she was Tiberius’s daughter. If he had fought too hard then she would’ve been assumed a weakness to him and more of a target than she already made herself be on a normal basis. The damn girl was a magnet for trouble.
It was disturbing really, her tendency to want to save everybody around her all the time.
A pang in his chest heightened when he recalled the pain that he had opened up to feel that day through the bond. He felt every bruise, every tremor from the Cruciartus curse, every broken bone that had been reset. The way that the word burned was carved into her arm. He felt everything, he opened up the bond between them willingly if only to try to lessen her pain. Really, he just wanted to make sure that he felt everything that she did as penance for not protecting her better.
Now, he was feeling Draco’s fear, the sharp metallic tang of it still lingering in his mouth from their conversation. Bitter, angry, terrified. All of his emotions swirling through their bond as he pleaded for him to let him help. Narcissa had asked him to take the Unbreakable Vow. To make sure that he was protecting her children. Children. She had meant Theo, Draco and Hermione. But she couldn’t say that. She couldn’t imply the other two when Bellatrix was standing there performing the Vow, but the plea was written in the shimmering of the golden vow in her blue eyes.
She didn’t have to ever ask him to protect Hermione. Everything that he had done was for her. He never meant to care for her as much as he did, but she had wriggled her way into his heart before he could even notice her there. Severus never thought that he would be able to love anybody again. Of course, not in the same way, but the amount that he loved Hermione surpassed anything that he might have felt for anybody else. He considered her his own daughter, since before the moment that she had called him dad as he carried her limp body back to the castle.
Even before that.
She was tenacious, stubborn, strong and even though those traits made it almost impossible for her to stay out of any danger–they were also all of the things that he respected about her. The girl was ruthless when it came to the people that she loved, and that was something he could admire. He had always been willing to do whatever it took to protect the only person that he loved. He understood the testament, and he swore that he wouldn’t fail; not again.
He wouldn’t let Draco feel the emptiness that he had endured for years and the guilt that he carried for being unable to protect the one person that was cherished. The one person who chased away all of the darkness and stood beside you trying to cast it out.
Hermione was Draco’s Lily. He was watching his godson do the same thing that he did, he was driving a wedge between the two of them in a desperate attempt to keep her safe. It was infuriating really, and he wanted to shake him until he realized that he was going to lose her before he would be able to save her.
Just as he was about to head back to his office, he heard a muffled yelp. He cocked his head to the side, attempting to discern where it was coming from before he felt the familiar buzz of Hermione’s bond. She was somewhere close. He closed his eyes, tugging gently once and waited patiently for a tug back. He didn’t have to wait long before there was a desperate tug back; filled with horror, fear, and anger. She wasn’t safe. He whirled around, following the familiar tug towards her until he watched her stumble back from a secluded alcove. Her lovely dress was rumpled, and she was holding her wand up towards the dark corner, brown eyes alight with a fire that he hadn’t seen for a while.
Her lip was bleeding, a fresh bruise forming on her jaw while curls cascaded down her back falling from the careful updo she had twisted them in. Hermione’s arm was shaking, but the lift of her chin showed that she wasn’t going to let the fear swimming through her stop her from whatever it was that she was going to do. At the sound of him approaching, she stiffened, holding her wand tighter in her grasp. Snape stepped towards her, his hand carefully resting on her arm as she flinched. Still, she didn’t take her eyes off of the dark alcove and for a moment he was scared to see what was so deserving of her wrath. “Hermione.” At the sound of his voice, she seemed to snap from the trance she was in, tears pooling in those honey brown depths as she swayed, leaning against him. Without a second thought he wrapped his arm around her, holding her shaking form against his side as she cried against his chest.
Finally, he brought his eyes to meet the slumped form of Cormac against the stone wall of the alcove. He was bleeding profusely from a cut on his arm, but Severus could make out the rise and fall of his chest. Slowly, the pieces clicked themselves together and anger simmered in his veins, spreading out from his chest and unfurling towards the tips of his fingers. Carefully, his hand slipped to cradle her head against his chest, and he stood there, letting her cry. Emotions had never been a thing he was good with but that never mattered when it came to her.
“Hermione, I need you to tell me what happened.”
She gasped, taking in a watery breath before nodding against his chest. Slowly, she pulled back and looked him directly in the eyes. Look, please. The sound of her desperate plea echoed in his mind as he nodded sharply, entering her mind and replaying the events that had played out. Hermione had slipped from the party in search of Harry and overhead a snippet of Draco and his conversation. When she attempted to follow in the direction that Draco had gone, Cormac had grabbed her, pressing her into an alcove before attempting to assault her. He had slapped her when she headbutted him, and only when she kneed his groin did, he stop. She wasn’t done though, casting a slicing hex that sent him flying back hard enough that his head knocked off of the wall and he slumped to the ground unconscious.
Hadn’t she been through enough? Why was it always her?
Loneliness settled into him with a deep sense of longing as he pulled back from her memories getting a taste of the one that he had almost fallen into as he watched her stare at Draco’s retreating form. It was enough to make him want to hex his godson himself. Quietly, he tugged on the bond that he shared with him, and after a moment he felt a tug back. Draco knew by now that when Severus used it, it was important, and he knew that he would be listening when he sent his message to him.
It’s Hermione. I need you to bring me Pansy and Theo. All three of you meet me in my office. Now.
He didn’t ask her what she needed, instead made sure to bind Cormac so he could deal with him later, making sure to cast Notice Me Not charms around him as he carried Hermione to his office. She was still trembling, and clutching desperately onto his robes by the time that he made it to his office. She had just barely taken the Calming Draught when the door to his office burst open, making Hermione flinch and scramble back in his chair. Her wide brown eyes landed on Draco, who was standing there taking in every inch of her that was available. It only took her a moment before she was scrambling to her feet and collapsing against his chest. Draco caught her quickly, holding her against him tightly while his gray eyes flicked up towards Severus with anger that demanded answers. Pansy and Theo skidded into the office a moment later, both panting and frantic as they stared at Draco clutching Hermione to his chest. Snape flicked his hand, closing the office door before motioning Pansy to follow him through the door towards his personal quarters. She stared at him with expectant eyes, that were hardening by the second as he explained what happened. With a firm nod, she turned around and carefully made her way towards Hermione still clutching to Draco’s robes.
Pansy was cooing, whispering soft words to Hermione as she attempted to gently tug her from Draco’s grasp. Pansy whispered, turning her eyes up to meet Draco’s and whatever he found there must have been convincing enough to release her into Pansy’s arms. Without another word, she took the shaking witch through the door and Severus already knew that she was taking her to the Prefect bathroom with instructions to not leave her alone for the rest of the night. Draco and Theo waited until the door clicked shut and not a moment longer before both of them stared at him with a look that demanded explanation. “Who did that to her?”
“I believe that both of you boys should follow me. Speak of this to nobody. If asked, you knew nothing about this, understood?”
Draco and Theo nodded, following after him as he led them through the halls directly to Cormac’s bound and unconscious body. He watched both of the Boys’s features as realization slowly hit them. Both boys shook with restrained anger and Snape put an arm up in front of them to halt them from going to the unconscious boy. Snape was very aware that both of them would kill the worthless worm that was unconscious, but he couldn’t allow them to do so. No. He had something much worse planned, and as a professor, he couldn’t allow them to be a part of it. As a father however, he broke that slightly by even allowing them to witness what had clearly happened. As a father–he wouldn’t allow another person to hurt her without consequences, not again.
Draco and Theo took a lot of convincing to leave the scene, and only did so when he said that Hermione might need them when she calmed down. It was the only thing said that made Theo turn on his heels and quickly walk down the hall towards the Prefect bath. Draco, however still stood there seething for a moment,
“You will be taking care of this, yes?” Gray eyes that were almost black stared at him with the promise of fulfilling the question he was asking.
“Yes.”
Draco nodded, casting one last glance at the unconscious body on the ground before turning on his heel and striding towards where he knew his daughter was possibly waiting for the boy.