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Chapter Text

Chapter One

Hermione paused to take one last look around the tower dormitory. Her trunk was neatly packed and sitting at the foot of the bed for the house elves to take down to the gates. It was time to finally say goodbye to Hogwarts. She was thankful to have had the opportunity for one last "normal" year at the school, and had worked with frenetic energy throughout the last 12 months, cramming as much knowledge as she could.

Selfishly, she enjoyed having the year to herself without Harry or Ron. Harry had chosen to take up a position with the Aurors after the war, and Ron had taken some time out before joining George at the joke shop.

Ginny had tried several times at the start of the year to get her to socialise, but Hermione was determined that this was her year to learn. Despite all she had done in the war, she still felt the need to prove herself, especially if she was to secure one of the coveted positions in the Ministry's graduate programme. Ginny and the other girls had eventually given up and Hermione had been left to complete her year in peace, emerging only the odd weekend when Harry and Ron met them in Hogsmeade.

"Are you coming, Hermione?" Hermione suppressed a sigh as the redhead stuck her head into the room.

"Yes, coming." Hermione gave a last tug on her graduation robes, settled her hat on her head, and joined the chattering group in the common room. Someone passed Hermione a glass of champagne.

"To new beginnings!" Neville shouted above the din.

"Hear hear!" Ginny yelled back. The excited students tossed back their glasses. Hermione plastered a smile on her face and tried to blend in. Parvati, the only other eighth-year Gryffindor girl, nudged Hermione in the shoulder.

"Aren't you excited to finally be graduating?" she chirped.

"Sure." Hermione replied, placing her still full glass surreptitiously down behind her.

"Let's head downstairs; I think the guests are starting to arrive. Is Harry coming?"

"Yes," Hermione smiled despite the cloud of moroseness that hung over her. "Both Harry and Ron are coming."

"Oh, it'll be good to see them again. And you and Ron are…"

Hermione rolled her eyes at the blatant attempt at fishing for information. "We are good friends, that's all."

"Sure, sure." Parvati pulled out some lip gloss and started reapplying. "Well, it'll be really good to see him again." She repeated. "Let's go!"

The two girls made their way out of the tower, Hermione sneaking a last glance before the portrait closed back up.

Downstairs in the Great Hall, the crowd of parents and family had built up. Hermione and Parvati squeezed through the throngs of people until Parvati squealed, "Oh, there you are, I've so missed you!" throwing her arms around a surprised Ron, who turned beet red from the attention.

"Ah...yes...hello," he mumbled, patting her back awkwardly.

Harry, who had been standing next to Ron, smirked before embracing Hermione. "Congratulations," he said warmly.

Hermione rested her head on Harry's shoulder, at last feeling some peace. With everything they had gone through, these two boys were her family. She considered both of them brothers.

"Thanks, Harry."

"I know this year was important to you. Seriously though, Hermione, you got the highest number of NEWTs in Hogwarts history. That's amazing."

She frowned. "Yes, but do you think it's enough for the Ministry?"

Ron finally extracted himself from Parvati, who disappeared when she saw her parents. “Are you barmy?” He laughed. “The Ministry offered you a job last year; you didn't even need to do the graduate programme. There's no way they'll turn you down now.”

“But Ron, I don't want things handed to me. I want to earn my place there fair and square.”

Ron shrugged. “You've earned it ten times over already.”

“No, but-“

“Look, I think it's time for us to sit. You better get over to your seat, Hermione.” Harry interrupted, sensing Hermione's agitation and diffusing the situation. “Ron, save us a seat mate; I want to say hi to Ginny.” Harry clapped Ron on the shoulder before chasing after Ginny's distinctive red hair in the crowd.

Hermione and Ron rolled their eyes at each other. “Harry has it bad,” Ron confided. “He wants Ginny to move in with him into Grimmauld Place.”

“That's great; they're so happy together.” Hermione smiled, watching Harry and Ginny embracing.

“Yeah, well, Ginny is refusing until Harry can get rid of that awful portrait.” The pair laughed, remembering the screeching Walburga Black.

“Hey, 'Mione.” Ron frowned suddenly, looking over her shoulder. “Did you do something to Nott and Malfoy?”

“What?” Hermione spun around, only to see Theodore Nott and Draco Malfoy deep in conversation. “Why do you ask?”

“They were both staring at you a second ago. It was creepy.” Ron pulled a face.

“Oh. Yeah, they've been doing that a bit this year. I don't think they've properly moved on after the war.” Hermione shrugged uncomfortably. “But they've never said anything, and they've left me alone, so I haven't let it bother me.”

“Good thing you'll be free of them for good after today.” Ron slung his arm around her shoulder as he walked her to her seat. “New beginnings and all that.”

Hermione squeezed his waist, finally feeling excited about the future. “You're right - new beginnings.” She grinned.

***

The atmosphere in the Three Broomsticks was electric, as the energy of the post-ceremony celebrations filled every corner of the room. The warm, dimly lit pub was packed with graduates and their families, all chattering excitedly and sharing laughter, creating a cacophony of sound. The air was thick with the scent of Butterbeer, Firewhiskey, and savory pub fare, while the wooden floors creaked under the weight of the boisterous crowd. Groups of friends huddled together, their voices occasionally rising in cheers and toasts, and the gleam of accomplishment in their eyes was unmistakable. In the midst of it all, the pub staff weaved in and out, deftly managing to serve drinks and food to the celebrants, their faces flushed from the heat and exertion. The energy was infectious, spreading excitement and anticipation of new beginnings.

And yet, Hermione thoroughly regretted joining in the celebrations.

The noise, the crowd, and the pressure to be happy with “the great unknown” after graduation was getting to her. Unable to hear any of the conversation at her table, she hopped off her stool and made her way to the bar. One last drink, then I'm out of here, she decided. By then, she would have been there for an hour, and she figured that was staying long enough to be polite.

The bar was packed, and she struggled to get the barkeeper's attention. Dodging an elbow, she was just about to give up and head home, manners be damned, when she saw an arm cut in beside her. Glancing up, she saw Theo Nott staring down at her. The crowd was such that he was forced to stand quite close to her, and she could see the green flecks in his otherwise brown eyes.

Over the past year, Theo had grown taller and more muscular, now towering over most people in the bar, with the exception of Draco, who stood at a similar height. His shoulders had broadened, and he kept his brown curly hair neatly trimmed close to his head. Standing so near to him, Hermione caught a whiff of his distinctive fragrance: an embodiment of sophistication and timelessness, with hints of lemon, sea breeze, and cedarwood.

He is breathtaking. Hermione caught herself thinking. She flushed and looked away.

“What are you drinking?” His smooth voice caused her to jump and look back up to him.

"Me?"

"Yes, you." Theo's tone was light and teasing.

"Just a Butterbeer. I can order it myself if the barkeeper would just come over here…" Hermione rambled. Someone on her other side bumped her and she grimaced.

Theo moved instantly and rested his hands on either side of her on the bar, effectively forming a shelter. His chest pressing into her back.

He caught the eye of the barkeeper quickly and ordered a Butterbeer and two firewhiskeys. Hermione went to pay but found that Theo had moved faster and had already palmed some coins to the barkeep's hand.

"Oh. Thank you. You didn't need to…" she flushed, tipping her head to look back up at the tall wizard.

"Anytime, Granger." He smirked and stepped away, firewhisky in each hand. Hermione felt strangely bereft as his warmth left her.

Theo turned to pass one of the drinks to someone standing behind him. When he shifted, Hermione saw it was Draco.

And he looked furious.

Draco Malfoy had changed significantly since the end of the war. Gone was the arrogant, snobbish boy, replaced with a more somber, withdrawn young man who seemed to carry the weight of the past on his shoulders. Draco's sharp features had matured, his high cheekbones and defined jawline lending him an air of classic elegance. His platinum blonde hair was still immaculately combed, and his icy blue eyes retained their piercing quality. While he was no longer as antagonistic as he had been during their school years, a palpable tension lingered between himself and Hermione. The unspoken memories of their shared history hung heavily in the air whenever they crossed paths.

Hermione grabbed her drink and escaped back to her table, aware she was taking the cowards way out.

"What is Malfoy's problem?" Harry frowned next to her. She looked back to see Draco and Theo in a heated discussion, both shooting glares in her direction. Hermione shook her head.

"I've no idea." She tossed back her Butterbeer, eager to leave and start the next chapter in her life.

***

Hermione's trunk thunked down into the middle of her new sitting room. Spinning on her heels, she surveyed her new flat, a grin breaking out across her face.

It was small, but it was all hers. It was perfect.

After spending a few days at the Burrow after graduation and scouring the Daily Prophet for places to let, she finally found a small, one bed apartment just off Diagon Alley. It was located up many narrow rickety steps, and had pokey corridors. However, the rent was reasonable and it had big, bright windows, with the sitting room enjoying a corner view over the streets below. And, as Ron was delighted to hear, it was just around the corner from Fortescue's ice cream.

Hermione started work moving in, scourgifying all surfaces before unpacking her things and making the bed. The last things to be unpacked were her books. Even with two bookshelves in the sitting room, and another floor to ceiling bookshelf in her bedroom, she sadly had to leave a good few tomes in her expandable bag.

Finally satisfied, she made a cup of tea. It was time to force herself to sit and make some important decisions about the future. Decisions she had been putting off for some days now.

Hermione opened a pack of oat cookies, sat at her kitchen table, and dug a pile of letters out of her purse.

She spread them out on the table, glimpses of phrases jumping out at her.

"We would be delighted to offer you a position at Aitchkins law firm…"

"At your earliest convenience could you confirm if you will be joining us as our new associate at Blackthorn Consulting…"

“ …a joining bonus would be paid into an account of your choosing…”

She sighed and rubbed her head. Hermione had been hoping to hear from the ministry about the graduate program by now, but time was running out. Her last month at Hogwarts had been incredibly intense. In addition to finishing her exams and projects, she had been working through the application process for the program. The process included essays, interviews, and a separate set of exams, designed to narrow down the large number of applicants the ministry received each year. The program was the ideal way to start working at the ministry, as it allowed candidates to gain experience across all departments before being offered a permanent position. Although she could apply as an experienced hire or directly for open positions, down the line the most senior roles often went to those who came through the graduate scheme. By now, she should assume she had been unsuccessful. The problem was, despite all her other job offers, none were truly appealing, and Hermione found herself at a loss for what to do next.

She was distracted by a tapping at her window and spun around to see an owl sitting on her sill. Hermione jumped up and opened the window wide. The bird swooped in, dropped a letter atop the papers on the table, snatched a cookie, and with a beat of its wings, flew back out.

"Oh, please, please, please be good news," Hermione begged as she spied the ministry's seal on the back of the letter. She tore it open with trembling hands and squealed when she read the contents:

Dear Hermione Granger,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into the Cultivation of Resilient Outstanding Workers graduate programme at the Ministry of Magic.

The programme begins on the 1st July. We await your owl no later than the 14th June.

Yours sincerely,

Edgar Pendergast
Head of The CROW programme,
The Ministry of Magic

Chapter Text

Hermione stared into the mirror in the cramped Ministry bathroom. She nervously straightened her herringbone skirt, checked to see if her silk blouse was tucked in and that her blazer was free from lint: it was.

Her brown curls lay tamed in smooth waves midway down her back, but still, she accio'd her travel-sized bottle of Sleek-Eazy out of her purse and smoothed a few extra drops through the ends - just in case.

Hermione cast a Tempus spell. 10 minutes early - perfect timing.

Sparing one last glance in the mirror, she strode out of the bathroom, down the hall, and paused by a worn wooden wardrobe. A small bronze plaque hung crooked off one of the door handles with the words "The Crows Nest" etched on it.

Hermione tugged open the door, revealing a spacious room beyond.

She was so confident that she was the first to arrive that she stumbled over the small welcome mat when she realised the room was already occupied.

Theodore Nott sat in an overstuffed armchair by the unlit fireplace. He was lounging with his usual carefree confidence, resting a foot on his other knee. In his hands, he held a cup of tea.

Hermione blinked at him.

"Hi," she said finally, taking a seat in another armchair at the other end of the fireplace. "You must be another Crow as well… congratulations."

Theo just stared back at her, his eyebrow slightly raised.

Hermione cleared her throat and crossed her legs at the ankle. It seemed that, despite his chivalrous act at graduation, Nott had remembered his dislike of her. That was fine; she could go back to ignoring him too.

She used the silence to get a better look at the room.

The Crows Nest reminded Hermione of a cross between a tea room and the Gryffindor common room but with a more diverse colour scheme. The twin armchairs herself and Theo sat in were a pale checkered blue, clashing with the dark green four-seater sofa which sat along one of the walls. Various other mismatched chairs and tables adorned with crochet tablecloths dotted the room. Along the back wall, three large windows overlooked the internal forum of the Ministry. A small kitchenette was set against the wall with the door.

The wall behind the green sofa was covered with mismatched photo frames, each photo featuring a cohort of Crows. Hermione craned her neck and squinted, trying to recognise faces in the moving photos.

The door swung open again, distracting Hermione. She eagerly twisted around, keen to see who else would be joining them this year.

The first thing she noticed was a shock of platinum blonde hair, and her heart sunk. It seemed the sentiment was returned when Draco spied her and swore.

"Oh sweet Merlin, you have got to be joking." He turned to walk back out, only to find the way blocked by a gentleman wearing a canary yellow vest under deep blue robes.

"No, no, Mr Malfoy, this is the correct room. In you go, take a seat, take a seat." The wizard ushered the younger man back into the room. Draco threw himself onto the sofa and scowled at the fireplace.

Hermione sunk into her chair, face aflame. She had no idea what both men had against her. Surely they didn't still hold the war against her. Her lip wobbled as she fought to keep back tears. She busied herself with taking out a blank piece of parchment and a quill from her bag, balancing an ink pot on the arm of the chair and casting a sticking charm so it wouldn't topple off and embarrass her further.

She had been so looking forward to a new start, free from prejudice, with the war and all its horrors left far behind. Instead, the past seemed determined to follow her in the form of Nott and Malfoy.

Luckily, she was distracted by a steady stream of witches and wizards who entered the room behind the blue-robed man. She knew most of them: Lisa Turpin, Terry Boot, and Daphne Greengrass. Each of them gave her a friendly nod, making her feel slightly less like an outcast.

She was surprised to see Marcus Flint with them as he had graduated a few years ahead of her. There was also a tall black-haired witch whom Hermione didn't recognise.

"Welcome, welcome!" The blue-robed wizard chirped. A sprightly middle-aged man with a twirl of a moustache, he positioned himself in front of the fireplace as the rest of the group seated themselves.

"My name is Edgar Pendergast. I am the head of the Crow programme, and I am delighted to welcome you all here today." He rubbed his hands together briskly. "Firstly, I wanted to congratulate you all for being the Crow intake of 1999. You have all shown the potential to be great leaders within the Ministry or beyond, and so you have been invited to participate in our future leadership development programme."

Edgar removed a shrunken object from his pocket and, with a flourish of his wand, enlarged it back into a chalkboard. With another flourish, a piece of chalk floated up and started writing.

Hermione scrambled to keep up, already feeling on the back foot. As was her habit, she marked the top right of the parchment with her name and the date, then dutifully copied down the writing from the board.

Edgar was explaining the structure of the next 12 months to the group. The idea behind the Crow programme was to give the participants an immersive experience of the Ministry with the goal of developing well-rounded future employees who could work cross-department.

"After all, a good leader is one who brings teams together – your job as a Crow will be to break down silos and foster harmony across the Ministry!" Edgar enthused.

Hermione couldn't resist a quick glance at Malfoy and Nott at those words and smothered a snort.

They would spend the first month learning about the systems and administration behind the Ministry, before spending six-week rotations in each of the core departments: Magical Law Enforcement; International Magical Cooperation; Magical Accidents and Catastrophes; Magical Games and Sports; the Department of Mysteries; the Department of Transportation; and the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.

"But not necessarily in that order," Edgar waved his wand, and the chalkboard wiped itself clean. "You will be broken into two groups of four. Each group will work in rotation so that each department gets a few months break. We can't have Crows flying everywhere here." He chuckled.

Edgar tapped his wand against the chalkboard, and the chalk floated up to continue writing. "We will work out groups after the first month. After you have finished all your rotations, you may choose to spend your last six weeks back in the department of your choosing, which will help you cultivate a permanent job offer. Or, you may choose to spend the extra rotation in a smaller support area, such as administration or the Department of Magical Education."

He tapped his wand again and muttered "Reducto" to shrink the chalkboard. He scooped it up and slipped it back into his pocket. Hermione sat back and shook out her fingers. She'd had to write fast to keep up, but she was confident she had gotten all of it down.

"Now, the fun can begin!" Edgar rubbed his hands together again. "Let's take a tea break. During this break, I want each of you to sit with everyone else and learn their name and one interesting fact about them. Make sure you don't give the same fact to everyone – I want seven different tidbits about each of you when we come back - interesting tidbits, mind!"

There was some general grumbling which usually followed forced activities, but eventually, some of the group began to move towards the kitchenette.

Hermione was unsticking her ink pot when Marcus Flint swung a chair in front of her and sat down.

"Hermione," he said with a smile. Then he paused and cocked his head slightly, looking bewildered. "I like your perfume."

"I'm not wearing any perfume, Marcus." Hermione rolled her eyes, wondering if that was an attempt at a pick-up line. Maybe he's just trying to be nice, she mused.

Marcus hadn't had too much to do with herself, Ron, or Harry at school other than the usual inter-house Quidditch rivalry. She remembered he had always been broad and muscular, even back then, which was not surprising as he had been one of the best Chasers at the school. Hermione recalled he had gone on to play professionally, which made it all the more curious that he was here as a Crow.

Also piquing her interest was that he appeared to have subtly changed. It was only when he started talking again that she realised what it was: his teeth had been oversized and overlapping back at school, but he must have had them fixed in the years since. His teeth had been distracting before, and with them gone, Hermione realised he was actually good-looking, with a rough and rugged appeal.

"I can see you haven't changed," Marcus was saying. He gestured to her parchment with her neatly written notes. "I think my interesting fact about you will be that you're still a teacher's pet." Despite the words, Hermione got the sense that he was teasing as opposed to trying to insult her.

"I'm sure there's more interesting things about me than that," Hermione huffed.

"Go on then."

"Um…" She floundered.

Marcus seemed to take pity on her. "What is your favourite book?" He asked.

"That's easy. Hogwarts: A History."

"That's an interesting fact."

Hermione couldn't tell if he was still teasing her.

"What about you, what's something about you?" She countered.

"I used to be a Chaser for Kenmare," he replied.

"Ok, good," Hermione scribbled it down on her parchment. Marcus smirked at her notes but didn't comment as he stood back up.

"See you around, Hermione," he nodded at her as he left.

After Marcus, a few others filed one by one into the chair vacated by the big wizard. Hermione stared wistfully at the kitchenette, longing for a coffee. She turned her attention back to Lisa: "I know every word to 'Rocket Man' by Elton John", Terry: "I crashed my toy broom into a cherry tree when I was three", and Daphne: "I can speak four languages".

After Daphne left, Hermione was about to stand to grab her coffee when the black-haired witch sat in front of her.

"I'm Morag Goldstein," she announced, offering her hand.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione shook the witch's hand.

"Ah, I've heard of you. I'm sure there's plenty of interesting and heroic facts about you," Morag laughed.

Hermione shrugged. "I was once petrified by a basilisk. Nothing very heroic about that."

"Ah, but it is very interesting!" The two witches eyed each other up. Morag broke into a wide grin. "I have a feeling we are going to be good friends, you and I," she declared.

Hermione laughed, agreeing with her. There was something about the witch that she just clicked with – she had an air that made Hermione feel at ease.

"And tell me something about yourself, Morag," Hermione asked, quill at the ready.

"I worked three years at MACUSA in their International Magical Cooperation Department, but felt it was time to come home to England," Morag leaned forward, as if speaking in confidence. "That's why they offered me a role in the Crows – there's always one or two spaces kept for slightly more mature hires." Morag nodded towards Marcus who was in conversation on the couch with Terry and Lisa. As if on cue, he looked up at Hermione and winked.

Flushing, Hermione ducked her head. "I didn't know that; it would have been good to know I may have had a second chance if my application hadn't been successful," she grumbled.

"Oh no, you can only apply once. Once rejected, they'll never take you again," Morag clarified. "But the mature spots are kept for those who may not have had the chance to apply straight out of school and who show 'great potential'," Morag said the last two words with air quotes and a small eye roll.

Morag leaned forward even further and dropped her voice, "though you and I both know they just want to use me and my American experience to foster better relations between the countries. Not that I'm complaining."

Hermione was intrigued – this was the sort of mechanisms and manoeuvring she hoped to learn while at the Ministry: it was like a giant, decades-long game of strategy.

"Five minutes left!" Edgar's voice cut over everyone's conversation.

Hermione realised she had spoken to everyone except Malfoy and Nott. Sighing, she spied them by the kitchenette sipping cups of tea. Let's get this over with. She steeled herself and excused herself to Morag.

Draco and Theo fell silent as she approached. Figuring she could kill three birds with one stone, she started making herself a cup of coffee and flicked on the kettle.

"Well, I suppose we can skip the introductions as we already know each other," Hermione spoke quickly while spooning out the instant coffee. "And go straight to the interesting facts. Who wants to go first?"

She glanced up from scooping two sugars into her mug. The two men stared back at her.

"Nott…?" She prompted.

Theo let out a sigh and set his teacup down on the counter. "Alright, Granger. My favourite colour is brown."

"Really?" Hermione paused her coffee making in surprise and stared up at him. "I would have guessed green."

Theo smirked. "Give me some credit; I do have a bit more depth than that. Although, that is Draco's favourite colour," he elbowed Draco next to him, who held his usual sour expression on his face.

"Oh. Is that your interesting fact, Malfoy?" Hermione met Draco's gaze.

"That depends if you find it interesting or not, Granger," he drawled. He reached past her, forcing Hermione to breathe in sharply and take a step back. Draco grabbed the kettle, which had finished boiling, and poured the water into her mug.

Theo poured milk into her coffee without her asking.

"Thank you," Hermione muttered, grabbing her drink and taking a long-awaited sip. She grimaced, not being a huge fan of instant coffee. Still, it was better than nothing.

"You'd be better off sticking to tea here," Draco advised dryly, taking a drink from his own mug.

"1 minute!" Edgar bellowed.

"Granger - tell us something about you." Theo raised his eyebrow at her. The two men leaned forward slightly, as if interested in what she had to say, though Draco seemed to be paying close attention to the floor.

Hermione blurted the first two things that fell into her head: "I've set a professor on fire, and I once rode a dragon."

"Merlin –" Draco seemed to choke on his tea. Nott gave him a few whacks on the back, a wide grin on his face.

"Now that is interesting," he laughed.

Chapter Text

The rest of the week flew by. Edgar was joined by Myrtle from accounts to give the Crows a run-through of the mountains of paperwork, policies, and forms that would be a core part of their Ministry life. Hermione daydreamed of inventing an auto-completing, cross-referencing spell that would make the admin easier. The Crows slowly settled into their routine: Lisa, Daphne, and Terry formed a tight-knit group around one of the larger tables. Theo and Hermione remained in their armchairs, while Marcus and Draco took the large green sofa. Morag settled into a small table at the centre of the room.

Hermione also found her nerves calming, especially as, while Theo and Draco reverted to avoiding her, they hadn't gone as far as ignoring her, giving her a curt nod hello and goodbye each day.

Marcus, while initially friendly, had also started avoiding her, which Hermione had put down to Malfoy or Nott having a word with him about associating with Muggle-borns.

On Friday, in the interest of forming a strong cohort with her fellow Crows, Hermione found herself at the newest bar on Diagon Alley: The Purple Candle.

Hermione found she quite liked this bar. It was spacious, the music wasn't too overpowering, the lights were just the right strength, and the decor was clean, dark, and modern. Floating from the ceiling were lush trellises of purple flowers and candles, spelled to never drip hot wax on patrons' heads.

The group found a table, and Hermione found herself squeezed between Marcus and Morag.

"I'll grab a round; what would everyone like?" Theo offered, surprising Hermione with his generosity.

Orders were shouted up, and Theo seemed nonplussed about remembering them all. He turned to Hermione, who had remained silent. "Granger?" He raised an eyebrow.

"None for me, thanks. I'm only going to have one, so I don't want to get into any rounds."

"Don't be ridiculous, Granger. I'll get you your one drink. What do you want?" Theo insisted.

"Uh… I don't know, surprise me," Hermione said spontaneously.

Theo grinned. "Challenge accepted," he saluted and headed off to the bar.

A few minutes later, drinks started levitating towards their table. Mostly Butterbeers, with a few Firewhiskys and a glass of red wine for Morag.

Hermione raised her eyebrows at a pink cocktail that landed in front of her. Light wisps of smoke lifted off the surface, and it was decorated with mint green froth and a single candied rose petal.

"Theo, what is this?" She queried as he sat back at the table.

"A surprise." He smirked at her.

Hermione took a small sip of the cocktail, closed her eyes, and moaned. She could taste juicy peaches balanced with delicate, floral lychee. It was delicious.

Her eyes flew open and landed back on Theo, and she thanked him for the drink. He looked a bit flushed as he gave her a crooked grin of acknowledgement before turning to chat with Draco.

Marcus shifted next to her. "It's a bit fancy, but it suits you," he commented.

"How so?"

"Complex, yet underneath all those layers, it's sweet." He raised his glass of Firewhisky, and she automatically toasted him back with her cocktail.

Hermione shook her head, "I'm really not that complex. I would argue that you are the complex one."

"Me?" Marcus seemed surprised.

"Yes, you." Hermione nodded back firmly. "I can't figure you out," she admitted.

He shifted forward with a devious grin. "And what about me are you trying to figure out, pet?"

Hermione rolled her eyes at the nickname. "What made you apply for Crows? Last I heard, you were making a career in Quidditch."

"Been following up on me, have you?" Marcus mocked.

Hermione flushed. "Hardly," she retorted. "I just remember things."

"Of course you do, pet."

"Why are you calling me that?"

"Because Teachers Pet, remember?" He smiled. "I can call you something else if you prefer."

Hermione tipped her head slightly and considered it. It still didn't feel like he was mocking her with that name. "It's fine, call me whatever you want," she shrugged. "But you still haven't answered my question."

She wondered if he was being a typical Slytherin, trying to avoid the topic by deflecting.

"It's really not that complicated," Marcus finally relented. He leaned back, casually draping his muscular arm over the back of the chair. "I played Quidditch for my dad. He died in the war. I reconsidered my career choice. Of course, with my terrible NEWT scores, I had to apprentice under Aurora Firebolt for a year, but it was worth it for the recommendation."

"That's…" Hermione was lost for words. The formidable matriarch of The Firebolt Corporation was known for her demanding nature. Completing an apprenticeship and receiving a recommendation from her was considered an extraordinary accomplishment.

"Impressive? Why, thank you," Marcus teased.

"Well, yes, I was actually going to say impressive…don't sell yourself short, Marcus," Hermione insisted.

Marcus stared at her, his expression suddenly serious. "I'll try not to. Thanks, Hermione."

"And I'm sorry about your dad," she said cautiously.

Marcus' expression shuttered, and he turned back to the table. He went to drink his Firewhisky only to find the glass empty.

"I'm getting more drinks, same again?" He asked abruptly.

"No, thank you," Hermione felt she had said the wrong thing and mentally berated herself. She tossed back the remainder of her drink. "I had better leave; I'm meeting Ron for breakfast tomorrow."

Brushing off the protests of Morag and Lisa, Hermione thanked Theo again for the drink and made a beeline for the Floo.

***

The second week continued much like the first, with the Crows learning about the archive, how it was organised, and how to requisition documents. The highlight of the week was a trip into the actual archives themselves – Hermione could barely contain her excitement at being among so many scrolls and ancient tomes.

Hermione declined drinks that Friday and the following one, eager for a break from the awkwardness, especially as Marcus had firmly joined Malfoy and Nott in the anti-Hermione club. Instead, she spent time with Harry and Ginny, helping them clear out Grimmauld Place. They took a break for dinner, enjoying takeaway and wine before attempting a few unsuccessful spells to remove Walburga's portrait. As they drank more, their spells became increasingly creative, culminating in Ginny's Bat-Bogey Hex, which caused the Black matriarch to screech so loudly that Harry called it a night to save everyone's eardrums.

The third week was spent learning about key events in the Ministry's history, and the fourth was spent learning about all the current department heads and key personnel. By the end of the final week, Hermione's mind was buzzing with the effort of memorizing so many names and positions.

Edgar ducked out of the Nest for a few hours on Friday afternoon, instructing the Crows to partake in some independent study. Hermione used the time to memorize the names and career paths of all current deputy assistants within the magical law enforcement department.

"Tea, anyone?" Morag called. Hermione looked up, her train of thought broken.

"I'll make it, Morag," the curly-haired witch smiled. "I need a break, anyway. Does anyone else want any?"

There were headshakes all around except for Malfoy, Nott, and Marcus, who sat together on the green sofa and ignored her as usual.

Hermione turned on the kettle and prepared the tea bags. While she waited for the water to boil, her mind drifted back to the deputy assistants. While it was only required that they learn the department heads, Hermione thought it would be prudent to learn the deputy heads, assistants, and deputy assistants as well. Perhaps, she thought, I should learn the secretaries as well. That may come in handy in the fu-

"Ouch!" She yelped. Not paying attention while pouring the kettle, Hermione had missed the teacup completely, inadvertently dousing the back of her hand with boiling hot water.

She dropped the kettle in shock (luckily landing upright), and also dropped the teacup, which fell and smashed into small pieces on the bench.

"What the fuck, Granger?" Hermione looked up to see Draco at her side. She blinked through her watering eyes, wondering how he had gotten there so fast. Draco waved his wand and vanished the broken shards and spilt water before taking her hand with surprising gentleness and sticking it under the tap.

"How can the brightest witch of her age not even manage a cup of tea?" He seethed.

"I didn't do it on purpose, Malfoy!" Hermione snapped back.

He pulled her hand from under the faucet and started mumbling spells over it. Hermione watched as the skin went from a red blistering mess to a more normal shade. Draco was still holding her hand, tipping it from side to side and inspecting it closely when Theo appeared next to them.

"Draco, I think she's okay," he said softly.

Hermione saw Malfoy's jaw tick as he shook his head. "I've nothing for the pain."

"I'm fine, I can barely feel it," Hermione insisted.

Draco glanced at her face then back to her hand before letting go of her and stepping back.

Hermione felt a crazy impulse to snatch his hand back. It had been oddly comforting while he had held hers. She suppressed the urge and shuffled back.

"Thank you… Draco," she said.

Draco jerked when she said his name. He nodded stiffly.

Morag then appeared by her side. "Alright, Hermione? That was some burn. Let's forget the tea and go straight to the alcohol. Come on, we'll start Friday drinks early this week."

The Crows had started packing up when Edgar returned to the room.

"Not so fast, not so fast!" He called. "I need to give you your groups and your first rotation!"

Sighing, the Crows sat back down in their seats as Edgar enlarged his chalkboard.

With a wave of his wand, the chalk began writing as Edgar spoke.

"We'll have two groups of four, remember. Now, group 1 will be Miss Turpin, Mr. Boot, Miss Greengrass, and Miss Goldstein. Group 2 will be Mr. Flint, Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, and Mr. Nott."

Hermione swung around. Nott was shaking his head wryly, while Malfoy had the audacity to drop his head into his palms with a groan. Marcus was glowering at the chalkboard as if he wanted to fire a bombarda at it.

"And now your rotations. Group 1 will go to Magical Law Enforcement on Monday. Just ask for Vega Port when you arrive, she's Auror Dawlish's secretary and will give you your assignments."

Those in group 1 nodded and wrote down their instructions diligently.

"And group 2, you will be going to the Department of Mysteries. Your contact there will be Mary Bougainville. And now, good job on completing the first month of the Crow programme! You have all done very well so far, very well indeed!" He rubbed his hands together then shooed them from the room.

Chapter Text

At The Purple Candle, the Crows naturally split into their two groups. Group 1 sat down at one end of the table, full of excited chatter, while group 2 sat in silence at the other end.

Sighing, Hermione offered to get the first round as an excuse to avoid the frowning wizards in her group. She took everyone's orders and headed up to the bar.

Pleased with herself for remembering all the drinks, Hermione went to pay only to find Draco had appeared and already given some coins to the barkeeper.

"This was my round, Malfoy," Hermione said, exasperated.

The blonde wizard shrugged. "Yes, it's still your round; I just paid for it."

"But why?" Hermione asked, annoyed. "I do have money, you know."

Draco smirked. "Just say 'thank you', Granger, and don't even think about carrying those drinks over."

"I'm perfectly capable of carrying drinks!"

"Your injured hand says otherwise," Draco said stubbornly.

"That was a burn from a kettle. These are cold drinks, and I have a wand!" Hermione ground out through clenched teeth.

Draco ignored her and started floating the drinks over to the table. Hermione went to grab her own Butterbeer, but Draco levitated it out of her reach.

"If you weren't so short, you'd have gotten that," he commented dryly.

"Really, Malfoy? Now you're going to be a prat about my height?"

Hermione could have sworn she saw a ghost of a smile on Draco's lips. "Just stating the obvious, Granger."

Back at the table, group 1 continued chatting away, their heads together. Hermione sipped her Butterbeer and eyed the three wizards. She was sitting at the foot of the table. Marcus was to the left of her, lounging and taking up two spaces with his legs, and Draco to her right. Theo sat next to the blonde wizard.

Drawing on her courage, Hermione decided it was now or never to confront the men about their behaviour. She had hoped they'd be assigned to different groups and could go their own way, but now they were stuck together.

"Alright." She cleared her throat and set her Butterbeer down. "Let's have it out."

"Have what out?" Marcus eyed her warily.

"This… this, I don't know what it is, this ignoring me, glaring at me, avoiding me thing that's been going on for years!" Hermione snapped.

"I haven't been around you for years," Marcus said facetiously.

“No, but you were normal to me until these two obviously got into your head, and now you're just as weird as they are!” Hermione gestured towards Nott and Malfoy, who were sitting rigidly. “Not to mention the whiplash I get when one of you does something unexpectedly kind and then goes right back to despising me!”

She took a deep breath and huffed it out in frustration when the men remained quiet.

“Well?!” She prompted. “We have to work together, closely, every day, for the rest of this year. Just tell me why you dislike me so much. Is it because you consider me a Mudblood?” She twisted her lips with disgust and rubbed her forearm where the word was forever etched into her skin.

“No,” Draco said venomously. “Don't say that word. You aren't a…we don't think of you as…that.”

“Then what?” Hermione gripped her Butterbeer tightly, so she wouldn't bang it on the table. It was like getting blood out of a stone.

The three men looked at each other, silently communicating. Marcus was glaring at Draco, while Theo clenched his jaw and gave a small head shake.

“Argh, seriously.” Hermione slumped back in her seat. Her lips tugged down, and she was horrified to feel her eyes start to well up. She ducked her head in an effort to hide. The last thing she needed was to show the men how much they had gotten to her.

After a few beats of silence, Draco reached out and rested his hand on top of Hermione's.

“Granger…”

Hermione looked up at him mutely.

“Can we go talk outside? Privately?”

Her eyebrows shot up. That, she had not been expecting.

She looked at the other two men. Theo gave her a small nod of encouragement, while Marcus still looked angry but had thrown his hands up in a gesture of defeat.

“Uh, sure.” Hermione got up to follow Draco. He guided her through the busy pub, weaving past the boisterous after-work crowds, his hand ghosting her back.

They stepped out into a small courtyard, which was just as busy as inside due to the warm summer weather. Draco frowned and continued on, out of the courtyard door and into the alley beyond.

The alley was clean and quiet, the setting sun throwing long shadows down the whitewashed stone walls.

Draco closed his eyes and took a deep breath before turning to face Hermione.

She had never seen him look so open and vulnerable before.

“Draco…” she said, involuntarily stepping towards him.

“No, wait.” Draco held up a hand, stopping her. “Just, let me talk.”

Hermione nodded.

“I’ve wanted…no, I’ve needed to say this for a while but…I’ve been a coward.” Draco raked his hand through his hair, agitated. He took a step back from her and blew out an angry breath.

“I’m sorry,” he said in a rush, “for my part in the war, but especially for my part in what happened to you. I just stood there while you were tortured by my own aunt.”

Hermione opened her mouth, but Draco held up his hand again to stop her. “No, please just let me finish…” he looked broken. “I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness, and I’m not looking for it - what happened to you was unforgivable. But I do want you to know how sorry I am, that I let it happen-“

“Stop, Draco, please.” Hermione interrupted. She reached out and held his hand. “There was nothing you could have done that would have changed what happened to me.”

“I should have-“

“No.” Hermione said firmly. “If you had done or said anything, you would have made things worse - for both of us. You did not hurt me. I spoke at your trial, remember? I forgave you a long time ago.”

“I’ve been wanting to talk to you about this for the last year,” Draco admitted. “I’ve messed up so many times; I just want to bury my head in the sand, and yet you’re still there, following me into the Crows and offering me tea. I can barely look at you some days from guilt.”

Hermione could tell how difficult this apology was for him. And despite having forgiven him and moved on a while ago, she felt lighter after hearing it.

“I appreciate you telling me this.” She gave him a soft smile and squeezed his hand. “But I didn’t follow you into the Crows. I’m pretty sure you followed me,” she teased.

Draco smiled thinly. “I can't seem to get away from you.”

“Are you?” Hermione asked, biting her lip. “Trying to get away from me?”

Draco shook his head with a sigh. “Not anymore, Granger. Looks like you’re stuck with me.”

He clicked back open the courtyard gate and gestured for Hermione to head back in.

***

Back at the table, it was evident that Theo had bought a round of drinks as a pink cocktail was waiting for her.

“Thanks, Theo,” Hermione smiled as she slipped back into her seat.

“No worries, love,” he replied, glancing between herself and Draco. “Are you two…”

“We talked,” Draco said brusquely.

“So, does this mean we can be civil to each other now?” Hermione asked the three wizards.

The men looked at each other, silently communicating again.

“No more weirdness from me, pet,” said Marcus.

Theo picked up his drink and clinked it against Hermione's cocktail.

“Nor me,” he said firmly.

“Bottoms up, Granger,” said Draco, also clinking his Firewhisky against her glass.

Grinning, Hermione took a sip and hummed. “Oh, I had forgotten how good this tastes.” She tossed back the rest in a few quick gulps.

Theo laughed. “I’ll be buying you those drinks all night if you keep making those noises.”

“In fact, I’ll get you another right now.” Marcus stood. “Same again, lads?” He called to the wider table.

A chorus of “yes please’s” followed him to the bar.

Hermione noticed that the group at the table had grown while Draco and she had been talking. Sitting very close on either side of Morag was a brunette witch with a pixie-short haircut and a wiry wizard with sharp dark eyes and a crooked grin. They were sitting so closely together that Morag was almost in the wizard's lap. With her left hand, she held hands with the brunette witch.

“Who are they?” Hermione asked Theo.

“They’re Morag’s partners,” Theo answered. “Alaric and Delilah.”

“Partners?” Hermione queried, confused. “As in business partners?”

“Merlin, Granger,” Draco snorted. She shot him a glare in reply.

Theo took pity on her. “No, life partners. They’re a triad. It’s not common, but it’s pretty special for witches or wizards to have multiple partners in a relationship. It all depends on how compatible their magic is.”

“Oh, I didn’t know that,” Hermione said faintly.

“It’s more common with purebloods,” Draco explained. “Muggle-borns and half-bloods aren’t as open to the idea, but with the right mix of people in the relationship, and assuming all magical cores are in sync, then a bond can actually strengthen and amplify all parties' magic.”

Hermione leaned forward, fascinated not only with what Draco was saying but how he was saying it. This was the most he had ever spoken to her without being insulting or mocking, and she found that she enjoyed listening to his voice.

“That’s another reason why the Ministry wanted Morag in the Crows: she’s an extremely powerful witch who knows her way around MACUSA. She’s basically the next US Ambassador in waiting,” Draco continued, gesturing at Morag.

Marcus brushed her shoulder as he floated both a new cocktail and a shot in front of her. She smiled at him in thanks, and he gave her a wink in return.

Blushing, she turned back to Draco who was looking amused.

“Morag!” Theo called. The dark-haired witch peered around her wizard and raised her eyebrow. “Come and introduce your lovers to Hermione.”

Morag laughed and repositioned herself on Alaric's lap so she was facing them. Hermione was beet red, but after introductions were made, she found herself thoroughly enjoying the night. The three wizards had relaxed around her, joking and laughing with Morag and her partners. Hermione found she was comfortable floating in and out of conversations as she liked, and she never seemed to be without a cocktail with Draco, Theo, and Marcus all taking turns buying the whole table drinks.

When the triad called it a night, Hermione realized how late it was.

“I’d better head off as well,” she frowned and gripped the table when the room spun as she stood.

Marcus was immediately at her side, supporting her.

“You alright, pet?” He asked. Hermione tipped her head back to look at him and smiled. He had beautiful dark brown eyes. The thought floated into her mind, unbidden.

Her hand was halfway towards his face before she realized what she was doing and stopped herself. Instead, unable to resist, she took a step towards him and rested her hand on his chest. “Yes, fine,” she yawned. “Just tired.”

“We’ve kept you out too late, love.” Another hand rested on her lower back, and she turned to see Theo chuckling at her.

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to turn into a pumpkin,” she replied, seriously.

“What on earth was in those cocktails?” Draco laughed.

“I’m not drunk,” Hermione insisted. “That’s Cinderella, you know.”

“Who’s Cinderella? A friend of yours?” Draco glanced around them.

Hermione giggled and took a step towards him, only to feel the room tilt slightly. “Woah,” she said. Two sets of arms were instantly around her waist.

“Alright, time for bed, love,” Theo insisted. Hermione leaned into him, relishing the warmth that radiated from his hard chest.

“Mmm-kay.”

“Fuck, she’s smashed.”

“What did you expect, Marcus? You bought her shots.”

“And you’ve both been buying her those lethal cocktails.”

“Shhh,” Hermione said to the voices over her head. Dimly she noted she had been walked over to the floo.

Draco's face came into focus in front of her. “Granger, Theo is going to make sure you get home safe, okay?”

“Don’t leave,” Hermione found herself saying.

Draco smiled softly and tucked a curl behind her ear. “Let’s talk when we’re not so drunk, yeah?” He stepped back.

Hermione blinked and saw Marcus appear in front of her.

“Night, pet,” he said. “I had a great time. See you on Monday.”

Hermione reached out and threw her arms around him. She felt him stiffen before he curled his arms around her in return. Breathing deeply, Hermione had never felt so safe.

“You’d better get her home, mate,” she felt Marcus’ chest rumble as he spoke. She felt him drop a kiss on top of her head before he bundled her back to Theo.

The tall brunette held her tight as he brought her through the floo and into her lounge room.

Hermione groaned from the trip and felt her stomach churn.

“Ah, shit, you’re turning green. Come on, love.”

Theo all but picked her up as he navigated her small flat at speed until he found the bathroom.

Hermione felt a little better once she had emptied her stomach. Theo had stayed by her side the whole time, holding back her hair and rubbing her back. Once he was certain she was done, he helped her rinse her mouth before carrying her into her room.

“Why are you so nice to me now?” Hermione yawned as he removed her shoes.

“Because it’s too hard not to be,” he replied cryptically.

“Draco being awkward and apologizing doesn’t explain why you and Marcus have been weird around me,” she challenged. Theo gave her a crooked smile as he settled the blanket around her.

“And even when she’s drunk, she’s clever,” he laughed and leaned down to kiss her softly on the cheek. “Go to sleep now, love. We’ll see you next week.”

Hermione was fast asleep before he had even left the room.

***

Tap tap tap

“Ungh,” Hermione buried her head into her pillow.

Tap...scratch scratch...tap

Opening one eye, Hermione saw a brown speckled owl pecking at her window.

“Go away,” she muttered, wincing as her head pounded. Why did I drink so much last night? She berated herself.

Scratch scratch TAP. Hermione glared at the window. Was that bloody bird trying to break the glass? Groaning, she dragged herself out of bed. Holding one hand to her head against the splitting pain, she used the other to open the window.

With a hoot, the owl stuck out its foot. Hermione untied the small brown package it had been carrying. The bird flew off without a backward glance. “And goodbye to you too,” Hermione huffed, not feeling very charitable.

She unwrapped the package to find a small potions vial and a note, which read:

Hangover potion. Drink it, hydrate then rest. DM.

“So bossy,” Hermione muttered, but still Draco's concise letter brought a smile to her face. She unstoppered the potion and drank it down.

Almost immediately, Hermione felt better. With her head clear, she took stock of herself. She was still dressed in her clothes from last night, minus her shoes. Dimly she remembered Theo bundling her into bed and taking care of her.

Her hand flew to her mouth as all the events of last night came flooding back. She had asked Draco not to leave, threw herself at Marcus, and ended up in such a state that Theo had to put her to bed. She was mortified. They must think she was such a flirt and an embarrassing drunk.

Spying a tall glass of water on her bedside table, Hermione gulped it down in an effort to quash the waves of anxiety in her stomach. A note had been placed under the glass and it fluttered to the floor. Hermione bent to pick it up:

Hermione,

No more weirdness, promise. Hope you're feeling better this morning – you're absolutely charming when tipsy. Can't wait to see you again. Till then,

Yours,
Theo

Chapter Text

Hermione arrived at the Ministry twenty minutes early. She made her way to a lift and pressed level 9 for the Department of Mysteries.

While in the lift, she fidgeted with her outfit: a loose cream cashmere jumper tucked into black straight-leg trousers, cinched with a black belt, and finished with black flat shoes.

She took a deep breath as the lift came to a halt. The events from Friday night had replayed in her mind all weekend, and she couldn't shake the feeling that the three wizards now considered her a laughing stock.

Drawing on her Gryffindor courage, Hermione walked down the dim, nondescript hallway.

Standing beside the unassuming black door that led to the department was Theo. Hermione couldn't help but appreciate how dashing he looked in his tailored navy suit and crisp white shirt. Holding two takeaway coffee cups, he extended one to her with a warm smile as she approached.

"Latte with sugar," he said.

Hermione gave him a shy smile in return and took the cup gratefully.

"Thank you…I thought I’d be the first one here," she remarked awkwardly.

"I think we both like to be early and prepared," Theo replied.

Casting her mind back, Hermione realised he was right: he had always been among the first into classrooms during school, and had been almost as conscientious as herself with schoolwork, although with a far more relaxed demeanor.

"How was your weekend?" he asked, seemingly genuinely interested in her answer.

"Oh, fine," Hermione replied. "My place is near Fortescue's, so Ron popped over for ice cream on Saturday, then we helped Harry and Ginny with their place on Sunday."

Theo withdrew a bit at her words. "Sounds fun," he said, his tone neutral.

Just then, the lift dinged and Marcus and Draco appeared.

Hermione braced herself as they neared. Both men appeared quite relaxed; Draco wore his customary immaculate black suit, while Marcus sported tailored grey chinos and a sky-blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves. Hermione mentally chastised herself when she realised she was practically ogling the pair.

Determined to take control, Hermione began speaking before either of them had a chance to utter a word.

"Now that you’re all here, I just wanted to say something before we start work."

"And good morning to you too, Granger," Draco drawled.

Hermione shot him a glare in return, which had him raise his hands in mock surrender.

Taking a deep breath, Hermione rapidly blurted out her thoughts: "I wanted to apologise for my, uh, behaviour on Friday. I'm not usually like that. And, I wanted to say thank you for taking care of me. That night and the morning after. Again, I'm not usually like that, and I wanted to assure you that it won't be a regular occurrence. I don't go out and get that drunk every weekend, and—"

Marcus interrupted her by gently touching her upper arm. Hermione felt her body subconsciously relax: there was just something about Marcus that made her feel so safe when he was near.

"There’s nothing to apologise for, pet," he said, reassuringly.

"And we’d be honoured to take care of you again," Draco added with a smirk.

"We’ll take better care of you next time, love," Theo clarified. "We won’t give you so many drinks; we should be apologising to you."

"Next time?" Hermione said faintly.

"Yep. Morag is organising a dinner this Friday to see how everyone’s first week on rotation went."

"Oh yes, I forgot she had owled about that the other day."

"And then either drinks or dinner every Friday after that. You should just block out that day for us Crows altogether," Draco ordered.

"So bossy," Hermione smiled at him.

"He can’t help himself," Theo laughed.

The quartet was interrupted by a small blonde woman who tottered towards them in sky-high heels. Her hair was blow-dried into voluminous waves and her make-up was immaculate.

"Hello there, you must be my Crows," she trilled. "My, what a handsome bunch you are." She gripped Theo and Draco by the elbows as she simpered up at them.

Hermione cleared her throat and stepped forward.

"Oh and Ms Granger. I forgot you were coming too."

Draco extracted himself from the woman’s grip. "And you are?" he asked rudely, straightening his suit sleeve.

"Why, I’m Mary, I’m to look after you boys for this rotation. And you too, Ms Granger," she said as an afterthought as Hermione glowered at her.

"Right, well, lovely to meet you too, Ms Bougainville," Theo deftly shook himself free and gestured towards the plain black door. "After you."

"Oh no," Mary giggled again. "We’re not going in there."

Hermione ground her teeth together. "We are here to do a rotation in the Department of Mysteries, so shouldn’t we go into the department?" she challenged.

"Goodness me, no." Mary continued walking down the hall away from the black door and gestured for the Crows to follow. "It’s far too dangerous in there. Too many things that are not for untrained eyes. It’s called the Department of Mysteries for a reason, you know," Mary let out another ear-grating giggle.

Hermione barely contained yelling at her that she had already been inside.

"So where are we going?" Marcus asked.

Mary drew to a stop in front of a brown door marked 'Storage room #7'.

"Here we are!" she said brightly.

"A storage cupboard?" Draco asked in disbelief.

"Not just any storage cupboard," Mary grinned and opened the door.

They filed in and saw what was indeed not a cupboard but a large, dusty room. Two dozen trestle tables were arranged in the space, laden with a wide array of objects ranging from mundane kitchen items to more obscure-looking books, vessels, and paraphernalia.

"Clearing house?" scorned Draco.

"Almost!" Mary chirped. "This is the remnants of the Bellerose family estate."

The three wizards reacted instantly. Draco recoiled, Marcus stepped in front of Hermione, and Theo moved as if he was going to push Hermione out of the room altogether.

"Woah," said Hermione, stepping around them. "Who was the Bellerose family?"

"Old French pureblood family, but they held property here. The last of them, an ancient witch, died last year. No heirs. Everything in the UK is now property of the Ministry," Mary chattered as she wandered around the room, levitating objects at random.

"Okay…" Hermione was confused.

"They were a dark wizarding family," Theo explained. "Half the things in this room are probably lethal to you - why are we here?" Theo directed the last question at Mary with a hint of impatience.

"Don’t be silly," Mary rolled her eyes. "The Unspeakables and curse-breakers have already gone through the estate and taken all the truly dangerous things away. What’s left are just mild annoyances and curiosities."

She paused, picked up a hand-held mirror, and pursed her lips at her reflection.

"Your hair looks terrible today," the mirror spoke. "The greys are really showing. Don’t you know how to cast a simple hair colouring charm?"

"Yes, well," Mary coughed and placed the mirror back down. "That’s an example of what you’re dealing with."

"That mirror was very rude," Hermione was indignant.

"Just doing what it was made to do!" Mary perked back up and dug a stack of parchment, gloves, tags, quills, and inkwells from her robes. "Your job for the next six weeks is to catalogue this collection." She handed out the equipment and continued her instructions:

"Try to avoid touching the items when you can, unless you are certain you have uncovered its purpose, and even then, use the gloves. Document the item, assign it a number and attach a tag to it, write down what the item is for, and record any spells or curses you may identify. This should take you the full six weeks. You can take your breaks and lunch in the canteen or in your Crow room, up to you."

The quartet silently surveyed the room in dismay. Correctly guessing their expressions, Mary gave one last parting giggle before she left.

***

The quartet set to work, each taking a trestle table. Hermione noted Draco grimly making a beeline for a table that held various sized bottles filled with a murky preserving liquid. Inside the bottles, distorted body parts of creatures floated. Hermione shuddered and was thankful she didn’t have to catalogue them.

She cleared out a place at the table for her parchment and wrote her name and date in the top right corner before examining the first item: a small, ornate wooden box. After several hours of study, including a trip down to the archives and a few revelio spells, she determined it was a box spelled to whisper secrets when it was opened, only not in any language that she or any of the wizards nor any translation spell could understand.

The week flew by with no major incidents. The wizards were notably more friendly towards Hermione, and she found herself relaxing in their company. Theo met her every morning with a latte, and Draco made her tea during breaks - he apparently no longer trusted her with a kettle. Marcus insisted on getting lunch for her from the canteen each day, and she found he had a knack for picking meals she enjoyed.

In return, Hermione managed their workload, delegating tables, making sure they all had enough tags, and that they all worked at a pace fast enough to clear through the vast collection in their rotation. She found the men to be diligent workers, just as likely to offer help as they were to ask for it. More than once, she was impressed with the spells and research techniques they used to get each object to give up its secrets.

Friday came around quickly, and Hermione struggled to pack away the last item from her table: a chess set that refused to play by the rules and were magically charmed to argue both with each other, and whomever was handling them, in French.

"Joue-moi à l'envers, coquine!" a white pawn shouted at her as she threw it back into the chess box.

"Ne parle pas comme ça à Hermione, espèce d'impertinent!" retaliated Draco from across the room.

Hermione laughed as she clipped the chessboard closed and signed off her parchment.

"I’m done," she announced.

"Me too," Theo stretched. "What’s that: 4 tables done and 20 to go?"

"Hopefully the rest of them aren’t as vile as this one," Draco spoke from his table with the creature bottles.

"I’m going to head home before dinner, I’m all dusty," Hermione grimaced.

"You look lovely," Marcus assured her.

"You’re sweet, but I don’t feel lovely covered in cobwebs. I’ll meet you all at the restaurant in an hour!" Hermione waved at the wizards and left.

***

Back at her flat, Hermione had a quick shower then surveyed her wardrobe. Before starting at the Ministry she had bought a new work wardrobe, but hadn’t purchased anything for dinners or events. Figuring it would be fairly casual, she dressed in jeans and a loose jumper.

The flare of the floo in her living room alerted her to a visitor.

"Hermione?" Ginny's voice called out.

"In the bedroom!" Hermione called back.

The redhead popped her head around the door with a bright smile. "There you are!" She said. "Harry and I wanted to see if you’d join us for a movie night."

Since moving in together, Harry and Ginny had made good headway in clearing out and updating Grimmauld Place. One of their initial projects was to convert one of their living rooms into a home cinema. Harry and Hermione had begun introducing their friends to Muggle movies in this cozy new space.

"I’d love to Gin but I’m going out for dinner tonight."

"Ooh, as in a date?" Ginny squealed.

"Hardly," Hermione dismissed lightly. "It’s with the rest of the Crows."

"Going anywhere nice?" Ginny perched on the edge of the bed as she watched Hermione apply her makeup.

"Umm, that new place that opened up down the street, the Gilded Goblet," Hermione carefully applied mascara.

"Oh, Demelza went there the other night! Raved about it! I’m trying to get Harry to go with me," Ginny chatted. "What are you going to wear?"

"I’m already dressed," Hermione tried not to feel insulted.

"Hermione, it’s a fancy restaurant! As in cocktail dress, high heels type of a dinner. You can’t wear jeans," Ginny was aghast.

"Oh blast. I guess I’d better change," Hermione dropped her makeup in annoyance and headed back to the wardrobe.

"No, wait!" Ginny bounced up. "I’ve the perfect dress back home, give me a sec." She disappeared back into the floo before Hermione could argue.

When Ginny came back, she was holding a dark green lace dress. Hermione eyed it doubtfully.

"Just try it on before you say anything," Ginny insisted.

Sighing, Hermione changed out of her jeans and slipped the dress on. It had a loose skirt that ended above her knees and long loose sleeves with cuffs around her wrists. However, the dress was cinched at the waist in a mock corset and featured a (in Hermione's opinion) scandalously low cut V neck.

"I can’t wear this!" Hermione clasped her hand against her chest to hide her cleavage.

"You look amazing," Ginny insisted. "Don’t be such a prude. Leave your hair loose and don’t bother with a jacket."

After some friendly bickering, Hermione agreed to wear the dress after magically altering the neckline. It was still lower than anything she had worn previously, but Ginny rolled her eyes when she attempted to raise it any further.

"You look absolutely stunning. Don’t touch it any more or you’ll ruin the dress," the redhead knocked Hermione's wand away.

"I will not rui-"

"Oh look at the time, you’re going to be late. You know how much you hate being late. No time to change, pop on these shoes and out you go, I’ll see myself out!" Ginny handed her a pair of black stilettos, cast a quick cushioning charm, and pushed Hermione out the door.

A major benefit to living near Diagon Alley was that she was in walking distance to all the major wizarding shops and restaurants. The Gilded Goblet, however, was down the other end of the Alley near the Leaky Cauldron and anxious not to be late, Hermione apparated the short distance.

Appearing with a crack on the cobblestone street outside the restaurant, Hermione tottered on her heels as she recovered her balance.

"Steady there," two strong hands gripped her waist from behind. Recognising the voice, Hermione turned to face Marcus with a smile.

"Thank you," she said simply. Marcus' eyes widened as he took her in.

"Wow, you look…" he seemed speechless.

"Oh no, is it too much for this restaurant? I was going to wear jeans but then Ginny –"

"It's perfect," Marcus interrupted.

"My favourite colour," chimed in Draco, striding over to them.

"You look beautiful," Theo appeared beside her and offered his arm. "Shall we?"

Once inside the restaurant, Hermione was glad Ginny had insisted she change. All the women were in cocktail dresses. The men wore suits. She even spied a few formal dress robes.

The maître d' led them to a corner table where the rest of the Crows were already seated. After greetings all round, Hermione found herself sitting between Daphne and Terry, and across from Lisa. On either side of Lisa sat Draco and Theo. Marcus sat next to Daphne and across from Morag.

Hermione thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant. During the delicious meal, Daphne, Lisa, and Terry regaled her with updates from their first week in Magical Law Enforcement. Like her own group, the rest of the Crows had been assigned menial admin tasks: assisting with data entry and organising case files.

"They have me organising case files for underage magic infringements. Some are from nearly 10 years ago!" Daphne raged. "All the cases are closed but no one’s ever bothered to file them, and they’ve been piling up in the corner."

"They have me running paperwork all over the Ministry," Terry said morosely. "I think they’re just too lazy to charm them into aeroplanes."

"And what about you, Lisa?" Hermione asked, "how was your week?"

"Great compared to all of yours!" Lisa laughed. "I got assigned to help out a few Aurors with their admin. Harry’s one of them and he’s been great at giving me interesting bits of work where he can."

Hermione smiled at the reference to her friend. She wasn’t surprised to hear Harry making an effort with the Crows.

Theo kept everyone’s glasses topped up throughout the meal, and Draco had the table in stitches with his mock outrage at being assigned to a storage cupboard for 6 weeks.

Hermione found herself hyper-aware of both Draco and Theo during the night, and couldn’t help sneaking looks at them whenever she thought they weren’t looking. Their manners were impeccable, and she was fascinated by the tiniest details: such as the way Draco cut his steak, and how Theo held his wine glass.

"How have you found working with the Slytherin boys?" Daphne asked discreetly when she noticed what had captured Hermione's attention.

Hermione blushed. "Fine, they’re very professional, we’ve been getting along great." She gulped down some water.

Daphne smirked, "Yeah, don't let their swagger get to you, underneath all that they’re very clever wizards, and good with their hands."

Hermione choked on her drink. "What do you mean?" She gasped.

Theo looked over at her, concerned, and she gave him a reassuring wave.

"Good with their wands, of course."

"Oh, right, yes of course."

"Among other things." Daphne seemed to be having far too much fun.

"I see."

Grinning, Daphne leant towards her and spoke conspiratorially. "Not that I know from experience, but that was the rumour at school. Looks like they wouldn’t mind giving you a hands-on demonstration."

With her face burning, Hermione quickly excused herself and dashed to the bathroom. Thoughts of Theo and Draco's hands persisted in her mind.

She visualised how they would use them: Theo would hold her as sensuously as he had cupped his wine glass; while Draco would seize her with his trademark determination.

The thought of four hands exploring her body, gripping her breasts before sliding down, caused her to shiver...

"Argh, stop it!" Hermione shook her head and splashed cold water on her wrists.

"Get yourself together!" She glared at her reflection. "They are your colleagues. Be professional." She took several deep breaths before freshening up her makeup.

Finally composed, she returned to the table, where Marcus' gaze met hers.

"You okay?" He mouthed at her, an eyebrow raised.

"Mmm-hmm," Hermione nodded.

As she walked by him, he reached out and gently held her elbow.

"You sure? You're a bit flushed. Have the lads been giving you too much wine again?"

"No, just a bit warm, I'm fine," Hermione bluffed. Marcus' touch was reigniting her earlier thoughts. This time, she was envisioning six hands roaming over her bare skin. Clearing her throat, she said, "I think I had better drink some more water."

"Alright." Marcus gave her a final squeeze before releasing her. "Let me know if you want to leave, and I’ll Apparate you home."

Hermione barely made it back to her seat. Resolved not to fantasise over her colleagues anymore, she decided to take Ginny up on her offer to set up a few blind dates.

Dessert passed without Hermione embarrassing herself further, and the group moved to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

True to their word, the wizards supplied her with alternating butterbeers and water. To her surprise, she noticed that they were also keeping their drinking to a minimum.

"Why aren’t you drinking?" Hermione questioned them. The quartet found themselves sitting in a quiet corner while the other Crows crowded around the bar.

"We promised to take better care of you tonight," Theo said, simply.

"But just because I’m taking it easy doesn’t mean you guys can’t have fun."

"But we are having fun, pet," Marcus gave her a grin that made her heart flutter.

Draco shifted so he could face her. "Besides, we wanted to get to know you better."

Hermione smiled at the wizards, feeling a surge of happiness. "Alright, what did you want to know?"

The quartet engaged in lively conversation until the bar finally closed. Hermione opened up about her childhood, recounting tales of her adventures with Harry and Ron. In turn, she discovered new aspects of each man's life.

Marcus shared stories from his professional Quidditch career, revealing that while he still loved the sport, he hated the cut-throat competitive pressure that came with playing at that level. Theo talked about his passion for Arithmancy, engaging Hermione in an in-depth conversation about the complexities and intricacies of Hypatia’s Theorem. Draco, although more reserved, eventually opened up about his love for astronomy and how stargazing with his mother was one of his cherished childhood memories.

As the night wore on, Hermione felt an unexpected connection growing between the four of them, and after the men escorted her home in the early hours, she fell into a deep, contented sleep with a smile on her face.

Chapter Text

The warmth in their relationship continued into the following week. The quartet sped through their work and bantered playfully over the trestle tables.

On Wednesday morning, Hermione found herself scrutinising a bundle of ancient wizarding stationery. Hidden among the old, rusty ink pots, she discovered a quill. At first glance, the quill seemed entirely ordinary, but there were minute runes carved along the shaft, and she noticed a subtle shimmer on the feather when she viewed it from certain angles.

She stepped back to examine it at a distance but was distracted by the sight of Draco and Theo conferring over what looked like an empty glass jar.

“Open it and see what happens,” Draco suggested.

“No way, who knows what's inside. There must be something we’re missing,” Theo countered. He levitated the jar into the air between them.

Draco flicked his wand and cast “Aetatis Revelio.”

The jar glowed orange and a cursive 999 appeared in the air in front of it.

“Huh,” he said. “1000 years old, that’s pretty cool.”

The pair leaned in to inspect the jar closer.

Hermione couldn’t help but appreciate how they looked when concentrating. With intense expressions and slightly furrowed brows, they appeared entirely different from the Hogwarts schoolboys she had once known.

“Enjoying the view?” Marcus nudged her gently. Hermione blushed and looked up to see Marcus laughing at her.

"Sorry, did you need help with anything?" Hermione asked, flustered, as she busied herself stacking blank parchment on the table and placing her own quill on top.

"You have a little something here," Marcus leaned forward and gently brushed his finger over her cheek. "There, all gone - just a bit of ink."

Hermione felt her heart racing. "Thanks," she stammered.

"Actually, I was going to ask if you had a spare pair of gloves. I forgot mine today," Marcus said casually, straightening up as if nothing had happened.

"Oh, sure, I have my own, but I can duplicate and enlarge them." Hermione turned to rummage in her bag which was on the floor.

She was wearing a loose white button-down top with tight Muggle jeans. As she bent over, she felt a slight breeze on her lower back. Too late, she realised she was inadvertently giving Marcus an eyeful, with a view that most likely included a peek of her new lace-edged underwear. She heard him draw in a sharp breath.

A smash followed by the sound of tinkling glass came from the other side of the room. Turning her head in surprise, she caught a glimpse of the jar lying broken on the floor, and Draco and Theo staring at her before chaos ensued.

A strong gust of wind rose from the remnants of the jar and started whipping around the room with a fierce shriek. Piles of parchments flew into the air, and objects toppled over from the gale-force wind.

Swearing, Hermione ducked under the table and scrambled for her wand, however, Marcus was faster:

“Arresto Ventus!” He yelled, flourishing his wand.

A deathly silence fell in the room.

“Reparo.” The glass jar repaired itself on Marcus's command.

“Ventum Capere,” he cast again, waving his wand in a complex motion. Hermione felt as though the air was being sucked out of the room and struggled to breathe as the pressure dropped.

Just as her ears were getting painful, Marcus stopped and levitated the lid back onto the jar. Then he calmly walked to the door and opened it. Hermione took a deep breath in relief as the air pressure evened out.

"The fuck was that?" Draco said as he clambered out from under a table. Like Hermione, he and Theo had ducked for cover as soon as the wind had started.

"I guess we figured out what was in that jar: a 1000-year-old windstorm." Theo brushed dust off his trousers and glared at the jar. "This family was fucking insane."

"How on earth did it break?" Hermione wanted to know.

Draco’s cheeks pinked, and he looked away. "Slipped, I guess," he mumbled.

Marcus snorted. "Distracted more like it."

"Yes, well, it’s all sorted now, and that’s another cursed-awful thing we can sign off," Theo said.

"That was pretty impressive magic, Marcus." Hermione complimented him.

He grinned back at her. "Learnt a bit of wind management at the Firebolt Corp.," he shrugged.

The group tidied what they could, then Hermione collected her parchments and settled back to work. Grabbing her quill, she wrote her name and the date on the top right corner while casting about with her other hand for her wand.

Suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her writing hand, as though someone had sliced into her with a jagged razor blade.

Hermione let out a gut-wrenching, agonising scream.

In an instant, all three wizards were at her side.

"What happened?" Draco grasped her with both hands.

"Hermione!"

"Hermione love, what’s wrong?" Theo panicked.

Hermione tried to drop the quill only to find her fingers refusing to cooperate. Too late she realised she had picked up the Bellerose estate quill instead of her own.

"Not my quill," she sobbed through the pain.

"Shit," Marcus swore as he tried to pull the quill from her hand.

"They fucking told us they’d removed all the dangerous objects from here!" Draco raged. He gripped Hermione tighter as her body racked with another wave of pain.

"Look - there’s something happening with the parchment," Theo noticed.

Sure enough, blood-red words were appearing line by line on the parchment. When the last line appeared, the pain subsided, and Marcus was able to yank the quill from her grasp.

Hermione wiped away tears and all but fell on Draco for support, too weak to stand on her own.

Written on the parchment in cursive lettering were what looked like cryptic verses:

A year of woe, a year of pain,
Your life force ebbs, a slow mundane,
To break this curse, and end the blight,
Heed these words, and set things right.

The answer lies within your heart,
A bond to forge, a place to start,
With quill in hand, express your soul,
Close the rift and make it whole.

What happened after that was a blur to Hermione.

Draco was shouting orders, and Hermione felt herself being scooped up by Marcus. Her vision grew dark, and her eyes heavy. Her head lolled against Marcus’ chest. He was running, and the jostling was the only thing keeping Hermione awake.

"Stay with me, pet," he gasped.

"Here!" Hermione vaguely heard Theo shouting desperately before the whirl of the Floo knocked her unconscious.

***

Hermione drifted.

She floated amid dark clouds and amethyst skies, insubstantial and detached from reality.

Time lost all meaning, and she felt she could linger here indefinitely, perhaps merging with the clouds that surrounded her.

A faint whisper itched from the depths of her mind, imploring her to care and to stay.

But gradually, even those words became meaningless… Stay where? Care about what? It was much easier to remain here in the twilight.

A slight gust of wind parted the clouds and a stronger sense of awareness came over Hermione. Like swimming upwards from the murky depth of the sea, the sky slowly lightened to the pale pink of dawn.

Snatches of conversation drifted down to her.

“…Bring another Doctor!”

“…'Mione! What…”

“…exhausted all specialties…”

“…Hermione, please…”

“…bullshit, she’s not just sleeping…”

“…don’t give a fuck, Potter, we will take care…”

“…nothing more we can do.”

“…take her home…”

Hermione felt anxious. Inexplicably, she didn’t want to go home. Her small one-bed apartment, beloved only a short time ago, now seemed cold and empty.

Her fingers twitched as she fought to communicate.

"Granger! She moved, I swear it. Hermione, can you hear me?" She felt a large hand encompass hers with warmth.

Hermione relaxed at hearing his voice. She struggled to speak, her body exhausted and her mind already tugging her back down into the darkness.

"Draco…" she mouthed. The clouds closed overhead and she began to drift. "Don’t leave."

Chapter Text

The moments of awareness came sporadically.

At first, Hermione lacked the strength to even open her eyes. She heard people speaking to her and around her, but she was too exhausted to comprehend their meaning.

“...best place for her. Can you honestly give her all this?”

“Well, no…”

“Then this is where she needs to be.”

*
*
*

“...Rome, and Paris, of course, but we can also go exploring: Maybe Easter Island to find the hidden coven, or the community in the Arctic. I hear they have developed magical sun globes that mimic the light and heat of the sun but don’t disrupt the environment…”

*
*
*

“You have some explaining to do when you wake up; don’t think I’m going to let you off easy.”

“Leave her be…”

*
*
*

“...freedom in the air, there’s no feeling like it. The lads say you’re not fond of flying, but I’d like to take you up one day. I’ll show you how amazing it is.”

Hermione felt a warm, callused hand holding hers. With a tremendous effort, she managed to open her eyes a sliver. She saw it was Marcus sitting next to her in a dimly lit room.

Unaware that she was conscious, he continued talking.

“Flying over water is amazing, but for a real challenge, you need to fly through a forest - dodging branches and trees…you know there’s a racing competition in the Amazon. Extreme sport kind of thing. I can take you. Maybe we should enter.”

“Not a chance.” Hermione whispered, her voice cracking from underuse.

“Wha- Hermione! Thank Merlin, you’re awake! How are you feeling?” Marcus jumped up and started fussing over her.

“I’m a little thirsty.” Hermione admitted.

“Yes, of course. I don't want to leave you. Hold on - DRACO! THEO!” Marcus bellowed.

Draco and Theo came sprinting through the door.

“What happened? Is she okay?” Draco demanded.

“Hi,” Hermione said softly.

Draco stopped mid-step and looked at her, wide-eyed.

“She needs a drink. Stay with her while I get one.”

“Are you not a wizard?” Theo scoffed. He summoned a mug, then conjured water into it.

Marcus looked sheepish as he took the mug from Theo. The wizards helped her sit up and huddled around her as she drank. Marcus sat in the chair next to the bed, Theo on the bed on her other side, while Draco sat by her feet, twisted around so he could look at her.

“Not going to lie, Granger. You had us all terrified.”

“Sorry.”

“Not your fault, love,” Theo admonished. “It was that cursed quill and that bloody family.”

Hermione finally took stock of her surroundings.

The bed she was in was mammoth. The sheets and pillows were a snowy white. The room itself was sparse yet finely finished, with cream carpets, panelled light walls, and white wooden shutters over expansive windows.

“Where am I?” Hermione asked, bewildered.

“Our guest room,” Theo said, taking the mug from her to hold.

“Whose?”

“Theo and I live in this townhouse together,” Draco explained.

“Oh, I see. It’s beautiful here, but why…how am I here?” Hermione tried not to sound ungrateful, because this bed really was extremely comfortable.

Marcus took the lead in filling her in.

“Do you remember the quill?”

Hermione nodded.

“After it activated, we took you to St Mungos. You were there for a week, unconscious. They couldn’t figure out what was wrong. The diagnostics kept coming back saying you were just sleeping.”

“Bloody incompetence,” Draco growled.

Marcus kept talking. “They wanted to send you home, said there was nothing they could do -“

“More likely because of their bed shortage,” Draco scathingly interrupted again.

Marcus gestured for Draco to continue.

“You stirred for a bit, and said…” Draco looked at her, hesitantly. “You said my name, and then asked me not to leave you.”

Hermione nodded slowly. “I remember, I didn’t want to go home, it didn’t feel right.”

“That was the second time you asked me not to leave, I couldn’t let you down again,” Draco said softly.

It felt like the most natural thing in the world for Hermione to reach for him. Draco shifted further up the bed and held her hand.

“I hope you don’t mind that we brought you here. There was more space than at your place.”

Hermione smiled at all the wizards. “No, I don’t mind, thank you for looking after me.”

“We’ve had help, of course,” Theo interjected. “We have a medic come each day to check on you. In fact, he should be here soon.”

“How long have I been unconscious?” Hermione twisted the comforter nervously with her spare hand.

“Almost two weeks now.” Marcus stilled her hand and laced his fingers through hers.

The Floo sounded and Theo hopped off the bed to fetch the medic. An older wizard with a greying beard, he was surprised to see Hermione awake.

He quizzed her while the men watched on protectively, then he ran some diagnostic spells.

“Hmm... other than signs of fatigue you seem normal and healthy, Ms Granger.” He informed her. “Try to eat a little - soup is a good choice - and then get a proper sleep. I’ll leave a vial of Pepper-Up Potion here for you to try in the morning if you need it.”

The medic left, and Theo helped her to the bathroom. Hermione barely had the energy to relieve herself and splash water on her face, opting to leave a shower for tomorrow.

When she emerged, Draco and Marcus had arranged a tray for her with a bowl of delicious chicken and mushroom soup. She managed to eat half before exhaustion took over again.

The men helped her back into bed, and on a whim, she grabbed Marcus’ hand.

“Do you think you could…” her nerves failed her.

“What is it, what do you need?” Marcus looked concerned.

“Nothing, it’s okay.”

“You can ask us anything, love.” Theo prompted.

“It’s just…could you all stay with me?” Hermione said in a rush. The thought of being alone, of potentially slipping back into that endless darkness, was terrifying. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but it’s a big bed, and I don’t kick and -“

“Granger.” Draco stopped her rambling with a laugh. “Move over.”

He toed off his shoes and climbed onto the bed next to her, on top of the covers. Marcus did the same on her other side, while Theo settled in beside Draco.

“Nox,” Theo cast, plunging the room into darkness. Instinctively, Hermione reached out and grabbed Marcus’ hand.

“Shh, we’ve got you,” he murmured. He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles as sleep overcame her.

***

Hermione woke briefly sometime in the night feeling hot and claustrophobic. The sleeping men either side of her didn’t stir as she carefully extracted herself from under the quilt. Now they were all lying on top of the covers. She tugged the throw blanket up from the bottom of the bed and placed it over the group, then snuggled down and went back to sleep.

In the morning, Hermione woke slowly. She felt safe and content, and took a few seconds to get her bearings. She was entangled in a bundle of arms and legs, with her head resting on something warm and firm.

Blinking her eyes open, she realised she was lying on Draco's chest, his arms wrapped around her. Her arm stretched over him to rest on top of Theo’s arm. Marcus was a warm weight behind her, his chest pressed against her back and her foot was resting on top of one of his legs.

Theo was lying on his side, awake, and he gave her a soft smile as she stared up at him.

“Morning, love,” he said quietly. “How are you feeling?”

“Great,” Hermione admitted. “My head feels much clearer than yesterday.”

“Good,” Draco's voice rumbled above her.

Hermione tipped her head back to look at him and realised her hair was a huge bushy mess.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she gasped, trying to extract herself. “I’m nearly suffocating you with my hair, not to mention probably squashing you.”

Draco laughed and pulled her back down. “Granger, I’m not complaining.”

On the other side of her, Marcus groaned. “I’m complaining,” he said. “I was having a great sleep.” He gave Hermione's waist a slight squeeze before rolling away and sitting up.

“I’ll get breakfast started,” he yawned. “Do you feel up for some food, pet?” He looked at Hermione over his shoulder, his brown eyes concerned as he checked her over.

“Yes, I think so.”

“I suppose I’ll come give you a hand.” Theo stretched. The two men left the room, leaving Hermione and Draco still entwined on the bed.

Hermione shifted again, and Draco reluctantly loosened his embrace. She scooted further up the bed so she was lying on the pillow next to him. Draco rolled onto his side to face her.

“Do you think we could fast forward?” He asked with a slight smirk.

“Fast forward what?”

“You’re going to apologise for asking us to sleep here and for cuddling. And I’m going to tell you that you’re being ridiculous and that we didn’t mind at all.”

Hermione blushed. “But I do feel bad for making you all stay, it was probably awkward for you all.”

“Granger, I’d go as far as to say that was the best night's sleep I’ve had.”

“Not awkward?”

“Not awkward,” Draco said firmly. He reached out and brushed a curl behind her ear. His finger lingered, softly tracing her face down to her mouth. The tip of his finger rested gently on her bottom lip.

“Granger…” he whispered, leaning closer.

Hermione's mind went blank; all she could focus on was the touch of Draco's hand and his lips moving closer to her. She tipped up her face slightly and closed her eyes, her heart pounding -

Dimly she registered the sound of the floo and then Ginny's loud voice.

“…we really wanted to come last night as soon as we heard, but the floo was closed! I know the owl said to wait till the morning, but really, what if Hermione wanted to see us, huh?”

Ginny's tirade grew louder the closer she got to the room.

Hermione's eyes flew open to see Draco pulling away.

“And the noisy Weasley arrives,” he gave her a rueful grin. She gave him a shaky smile back, her heart still racing. Had they been about to kiss? No, she thought firmly. She must have misread the situation. As if Draco would be interested in her that way.

Chapter Text

Not only was Ginny there to see her, but Ron and Harry had come along as well. Draco quietly excused himself, leaving them to talk.

After ensuring that she was okay, the trio set about interrogating her about the three Slytherins.

Hermione deflected their questions with a blend of truths and falsehoods, herself not entirely sure what was happening.

“No, they haven't locked me away.”

“We simply work together.”

“Okay, fine, we’re friends. Just friends.”

“No, they haven’t put any spells on me, for goodness' sake.”

“Yes, they’ve been taking excellent care of me.”

“No, don’t be ridiculous, that would be highly inappropriate given we work together.”

“No, I haven’t noticed Marcus’ arms - Ginny, is that truly relevant?!”

Eventually, Hermione had had enough and pleaded hunger in order to get them to leave.

Ginny had brought over some clothes, so Hermione showered and changed into a pair of light sweatpants and a T-shirt. Noticing a lack of bras in the pile of clothing, she threw on a coordinating sweatshirt and ventured out of the room.

The rest of the house was as luxuriously appointed as her room. She followed the sound of voices through several hallways until she came across the kitchen.

It looked like something out of a magazine: open and airy with large windows that allowed sunlight to stream in, highlighting the sleek white floor-to-ceiling cabinetry and state-of-the-art appliances. In the centre of the kitchen was an enormous marble island with beautiful glass pendant lights hanging above it.

Also in the room was a large kitchen table around which the three wizards were seated. Before them was a spread of fruits, bread, and cereals.

Marcus rose to his feet as she entered.

“Hey,” he said, pulling out a chair next to his. “Take a seat, I've made your breakfast. I'll fetch it.”

Hermione thanked him bashfully and took a seat.

Theo also got up, his hand brushing her shoulder as he passed by her.

“Coffee?”

“Gods, yes, I'd love one.”

"Do you want to take the Pepper-Up?" Draco asked her, his voice laced with concern.

Hermione considered. "Hmm, no, I think I'm okay," she decided. "I'll try coffee and food. I'm a bit tired but fine."

"Here." Theo set a latte in front of her. "Just take it easy today, okay?"

Hermione was brimming with questions, but she waited until they were all seated again. She eyed the breakfast that Marcus had prepared for her: a substantial meal of eggs, toast, sausages, and bacon.

"Just eat what you can," he advised, correctly interpreting her expression.

"So..." she began, between bites. "You mentioned last night about the quill being 'activated' - what does that mean?"

Theo sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It means that the quill was cursed, and you somehow activated the curse."

Hermione nodded, having surmised as much.

"And do we have any idea what sort of curse it was? Was it just to make me sleep for a while? Is it over now?" The questions tumbled out.

"We've been researching as much as we could while you were unconscious," Draco interjected, leaning over and stealing a piece of bacon. "We don't think it's over yet."

Hermione nodded again, appreciating his directness.

Theo summoned a piece of parchment to the table. "This is what appeared when the curse was taking effect." He placed it in front of her.

Hermione read through the words.

"A year of woe, a year of pain..." she muttered. "But I feel fine now."

"Yes, but the next line about your life force ebbing..." Theo spoke gently. "We think that this will occur slowly over the next year."

Hermione looked at him in horror. "What does that mean?" she faltered. Marcus moved closer and draped his arm around her.

"It means that we have a year to break it," Draco said grimly. "The Ministry already has the top curse-breakers on it, though they've been utterly useless so far."

"Do they have any ideas?"

"I owled them as well as Potter and Weasley after you woke up yesterday, and they want to see you tomorrow," Theo said. "We think they have a lead, but they want to discuss it with you directly."

Hermione could tell that this was frustrating the wizards, and it wasn’t sitting well with her either.

"I'd like to see them today if they'd allow me."

Theo nodded and stood up. "I'll send an owl straight away."

"I know you've all done so much for me already, but..."

Marcus rubbed her shoulder. "How many times do we have to say you can ask us for anything, pet?"

She smiled up at him. "Sorry, it’s just that I hate being so needy."

"You’re not being needy, Granger," Draco shook his head at her. "Spit it out."

"Could you come with me to the Ministry?" Hermione asked.

Draco's eyebrow quirked. "I thought that was already a given."

***

The Ministry agreed to an early afternoon meeting, so after a short rest and a light lunch, the group headed in.

Hermione clung tight to Marcus through the Floo, not quite trusting her strength to make it through without toppling over.

Once they arrived in the Ministry foyer, Marcus held her for a moment longer before letting her go.

Edgar was waiting for them and led the way up to Kingsley's office.

When they arrived, Kingsley's secretary jumped up to greet them. "You're to go straight in, Ms Granger. Now, if the rest of you wanted to wait here, we can call you when she's done." She gestured to a couch situated by her desk.

"Actually," Hermione interjected, "I'd like them to come in with me."

"That's not possible, Ms Granger," Edgar stated firmly.

Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but Theo placed his hand on her arm.

"It's okay," he said. "We'll be right out here."

"Alright." Hermione agreed reluctantly.

Inside the office, Kingsley and Mary Bougainville were waiting. Edgar closed the door behind them, and Hermione felt automatic silencing spells descend on the room.

"Hermione, it's good to see you up and about," Kingsley said warmly, rising to greet her.

"Thank you," Hermione replied as she was directed into a chair. Since the war, she had remained on friendly terms with Kingsley, but their interactions these days were mostly limited to formal functions.

"How are you feeling, Ms Granger?" Mary enquired with a simpering tone.

"Fine."

"On behalf of the Ministry, I wanted to apologise for the, err, incident," Kingsley spoke as he sat back down behind his desk.

"The curse, you mean," Hermione corrected.

"Yes, of course."

"Draco mentioned you had people looking into breaking it," she prompted.

"We have pulled together the very best team, coordinated under Ms Bougainville here," Kingsley informed her.

Hermione now understood better why Draco had called them utterly useless.

"And have you made any progress?" she queried Mary directly.

The older woman cleared her throat and sat up. "Yes, we have been exploring a couple of options: first, a way to sever or remove the curse entirely - this is possible with some curses, but unfortunately, we haven't yet made any headway with this route."

"And the other option?" Hermione felt uneasy as she watched Mary and Edgar exchange glances.

"Well, the other option is to explore the actual curse itself. The phrasing suggests there is a way to break it if certain conditions are met."

"And what are these conditions?" Hermione pressed.

Edgar leaned forward to take over the explanation. "The conditions would depend on the intent of the curse. The phrasing suggests repairing some sort of rift. We have been exploring the history of the Bellerose family to see if there was any faction or cause in their history that this could refer to."

Hermione frowned. "Okay..." she said slowly. The connection seemed tenuous at best to her.

"Of course, there could be a simpler intent," Mary cut in.

"And what would that be?"

"Have you heard of soulmates, Ms Granger?"

Hermione gave a short laugh. "Yes, there were some studies on it - I believe the general consensus is that they're nothing more than a fairy tale."

"No, I assure you fairies have nothing to do with soulmates," Edgar said seriously.

"No, I meant… never mind."

"Soulmates are so rare they're sometimes considered to be just children's stories," Mary continued.

Hermione ground her teeth together.

"The closest we've seen to a soulmate is when witches' or wizards' magical cores are so aligned that they enhance each other’s power when a bond is formed. The effect is negligible when only a pair is bonded, of course, but much more noticeable when there are more than two parties involved."

Hermione reflected back to Morag and her partners. "Yes, I’m aware. I believe Morag has such a bond."

Edgar nodded. "Ms Goldstein is a perfect example, however that bond wouldn’t be considered a soul bond. A soul bond would amplify one’s magic beyond that which we’ve seen in modern times - and only a pair-bond would be needed."

"They say Merlin himself was soulbound, that’s why he was so powerful," Mary chimed in.

"And so what do you suggest about the curse?" Hermione tried to get them back on track, her head starting to ache.

"The team believes the curse can be broken by finding your soulmate and becoming soulbound," Kingsley summarised.

"It’s the most straightforward way to interpret the curse," Edgar nodded in agreement. "Though it won’t be without its difficulties. Men and women will want to bind with you so that they can also benefit from the soulmate magic. We would suggest only telling trusted people all the details about your curse - someone may forcefully try to bond with you, though an unwilling bond is incredibly dangerous."

"Not to mention, you’ll be inundated and may have trouble telling who is genuine or not," Mary added.

Hermione liked to think she had enough sense to tell the difference.

"But all that aside, soulmates don’t even exist," Hermione said helplessly.

"Now we need to think positive: It’s not that they don’t exist, Ms Granger. It’s that they are rare," Mary reached out and patted her hand. "Now, you have just under a year to get yourself out there and start dating as many people as you can."

Hermione stared at her in disbelief.

"And once I find him? How will I know? And even then, how does one become soulbound, and what else would we need to do to break the curse?"

"Ah, yes, well, the team are still working on those bits."

"You are welcome to use your time at the Crows to do further research if you like, Ms Granger," Edgar offered. "In fact, we can assign you to the Magical Accidents and Catastrophes Department next."

"Okay," Hermione said faintly.

"And in the meantime, you have three handsome men waiting for you outside - perhaps you could explore if there’s any sparks there," Mary suggested with a wink. "I know I would," she giggled.

Hermione glared at her and left the room.

Chapter Text

Hermione was quiet on the trip back to the townhouse. The three wizards eyed her warily, somehow knowing it was best to let her process in silence.

Back at the house, Hermione went straight into the guest room and started packing.

Unable to sit back any longer, Draco stepped in front of her and held her hands. Hermione sighed and looked up at him.

“Granger, what’s going on?” He asked with his usual bluntness.

“I think it’s best if I go back to my place.” Hermione tugged her hands back and resumed packing.

“Why? You’re still recovering. We can take care of you here.” Marcus glowered against the wall with his arms crossed.

Theo threw himself into the chair by the bed. “Can you tell us anything from the meeting? Maybe we can help.” He pleaded.

Seeing the expressions on the wizards' faces: Draco angry, Marcus stony, and Theo miserable, Hermione stopped what she was doing. She knew she was being unfair; at the very least they deserved an explanation.

She sat crossed-legged on the bed and tugged on the throw blanket, pulling it over her knees for something to hold on to.

Succinctly she told them what the Ministry had concluded, minus Mary’s inappropriate comments.

“So I basically need to put myself out there.” Hermione said, twisting her face in disgust. “It doesn’t feel appropriate that I should stay here while I do that.”

She glanced around the room. None of the wizards looked shocked by what she had said.

“We had figured out that much ourselves.” Theo admitted.

Draco laughed humourlessly. “It wasn’t the hardest curse to decipher. I’d hoped that the Ministry could have come up with a way of breaking or undoing the whole thing, but like I said: useless.”

“Edgar said I could use the time with the Crows to do my own research.” Hermione told them.

“We’ll help you.” Marcus said, pushing off the wall, his tone determined. “With the research, with the soulmate search, with…everything.”

“I do wish you would just stay here though.” Draco said grumpily.

Hermione gave him a little smile. “I’ll miss you too.” She said cheekily. “But this is for the best.”

She pushed herself off the bed with a yawn.

“I’d better get home, I’m still a bit tired.”

The men fussed over her a little longer, packing for her and trying to convince her to stay for dinner at least. When she refused, Marcus fetched her some soup in a container.

With a heavy heart, Hermione gave each of them a kiss on the cheek and a hug, before stepping through the floo and back into her little flat.

***

Hermione spent the most of the weekend holed up in her flat feeling sorry for herself. However, by Sunday evening, her energy returned to normal and her misery had evolved into a fiery determination.

She was itching to get back into the Ministry and start researching for herself. She knew she couldn’t rely on Mary’s team to come up with a solution.

Edgar had suggested she skip the rest of the rotation in the Department of Mysteries, however, Hermione made her way there bright and early Monday morning. Theo was waiting for her outside the storeroom with her latte.

“How did you know I’d come in?” She asked curiously.

“Just a hunch.” Theo shrugged with an easy grin as he opened the door for her.

The room was significantly clearer than when she was last there.

“The Ministry sent another team through to properly conduct a sweep for cursed and dangerous items. They removed quite a few items,” Theo explained, standing close to her with his hands in his pockets. “What's left now are the truly boring things.”

Hermione wandered over to her trestle table. She was relieved to see that the quill and the surrounding stationery had been left there, encircled by a floating ribbon of yellow tape. It reminded Hermione of a Muggle crime scene in miniature.

“Edgar and Mary took the quill for a bit but returned it, they thought you might want a closer look at it.”

“Good.” Hermione used her wand to clear away everything else bar the stationery from the table, then threw her bag on top with a thunk. Turning around to find something to sit on, she found Theo had already transfigured one of the wooden stools they had been using into a more comfortable office chair.

“Thanks,” she smiled up at him.

He inclined his head in response, and sat on the edge of the table.

“Listen, Hermione,” he said, looking serious. “About this whole soulmates thing -“

“Yes, about soulmates,” Hermione interrupted, already whipping out a large folder from her bag. “That’s one of the key streams I’m going to research.”

She flipped to a page and invited him to read over it. On the page was a list of three questions:

1. Soulmates: do they exist and how do I find mine?
2. Cursebreaking: how to circumvent this curse?
3. History: where did the quill come from, who made it, what was their intent?

“There are so many theoretical elements to be examined, plus a lot of digging around this Bellerose family… it's a pity that witch was the last in the line, but there must have been family friends, servants - oh! House elves, surely…” Hermione flipped to a clean page and began scribbling notes.

Theo gave a chagrined laugh as he pushed himself off the table and left her to her work.

Draco and Marcus arrived shortly after. Like Theo, they weren’t surprised to see her.

Draco was carrying a large folder of his own which he dumped next to Hermione. Startled, she looked up and had the grace to blush.

“Hi, good morning, sorry I didn’t see you both there,” she apologised.

“You remind me of the Hogwarts Hermione,” Draco smirked. He tapped the folder. “I thought you’d be interested in the research we’ve done so far.”

Hermione sat up excitedly and pulled it towards her. A quick flick through had her impressed. The wizards had followed all three avenues she had identified and made a good head start.

“This is brilliant,” she beamed up at them.

“It’s a start,” Draco said modestly. “There’s still a lot to do.”

“We think the runes on the quill are Slavic so I sent them to a friend of mine from the Croatian Quidditch team,” Marcus drew up a stool to sit next to her. “I haven’t heard back yet.”

“If it’s Slavic then I can send them to Viktor, he may be able to help,” Hermione jotted another note down.

Marcus and Draco exchanged a look over Hermione's head.

“You and Viktor…” Marcus said hesitantly. “You were close, yes?”

Hermione hummed her agreement, concentrating on her notes.

“Do you think he may be a soul mate candidate?” Draco asked.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Hermione frowned and nibbled on the end of her quill. “But who knows? Should I pay him a visit?”

“No!” The three wizards said in unison.

Hermione looked startled. “Alright. Well, I’ll owl him anyway about the quill.”

***

Research overtook Hermione's life over the following weeks. The wizards took turns helping her, with the other two focusing on finishing the cataloging of the estate.

Hermione ate and drank only when the wizards cajoled her into pausing her research for a few minutes. Otherwise, she maintained a frenetic pace, with an almost crazed determination to find the answer to her curse buried in an ancient dusty scroll.

She focused her initial research mostly on cursebreaking and the history of the Bellerose family, purposely leaving the soulmate research to one side: researching that prospect felt too much like accepting that was her fate. Hermione had assumed she would fall in love with a nice, suitable man and marry when she was ready. The thought of being forcefully soulbound to someone made her feel so anxious she felt sick.

No, it was better to focus on the other areas of research.

Oblivious to the passing days, she missed the end of week drinks with the Crows. The following Monday Theo commented on her absence and suggested she join them on Friday.

“It’ll be a celebration of getting through the first rotation,” he cajoled.

“No, thank you,” Hermione shook her head, scowling when a few loose curls fell into her face. She yanked a spare hair tie off her wrist and bundled her hair back up into a messy bun. “Viktor finally got back to me this morning. Look.” She shook the letter towards him.

Theo took it and started reading aloud.

“Dearest Hermione - goodness, he’s laying it on a bit thick -

I was so happy to receive your letter. It brought back happy memories of our time together at Hogwarts, and our special walks in the forest - special walks, huh? I do hope he was a gentleman -“

“Never mind that bit.” Hermione flushed and, snatching back the letter, she flipped over the page and pointed half way down. “Here, read from here.”

“My contact is very skilled in ancient Bulgarian runes, and he says that the runes you sent me, roughly speaking, translate to ‘The Withering Quill’. He has not come across those exact runes before, and a few other friends and contacts I’ve asked have also never heard of it.

I am sorry I cannot be of more help, however I would love to invite you to visit me here. We can reignite our spirited debates - spirited debates? He really is such a flirt.”

Hermione grabbed the letter back off him again. “Seriously, Theo,” she grumbled, but she couldn’t stop a small smile from appearing.

“I suppose it’s good to know what that damn quill was called, though I don’t know how that helps us,” Draco called out from where he was working at a nearby table.

“I’m going back to the archives, maybe there’s something in there about a Withering quill, or a withering something.” Hermione magicked her notes back into her bag. “I’ll see you all later.”

She rushed out of the room, unaware of the worried look that passed between Theo and Draco.

***

Later that night, the sound of the floo distracted Hermione from her work at her kitchen table. A few seconds later, Harry, Ginny, and Ron piled into the kitchen.

"Hi," Hermione blinked at them. "What are you doing here?"

"We’re staging an intervention," Harry announced.

"Yep. Something is definitely up, if the ferret of all people is worried about you." Ron started rummaging through her cupboards looking for snacks.

"Don’t call him that," Hermione snapped, annoyed.

"Sorry." Ron spoke around a mouth full of cookie.

"Wait, did you say Malfoy was talking to you?"

Ginny nodded. "He turned up on our doorstep and told us you’d gone into research overdrive. He thinks you need a break and apparently you aren’t listening to them."

Hermione shook her head impatiently. "I’m fine guys, really, thanks for stopping by but I’m good."

"He’s still a bit of a prat, ‘Mione, but he seems to have a soft spot for you. He was going mental at the hospital while you were unconscious: raging until they had every doctor examine you. Between him and his friends, they never left your side. And now he’s worried again." Ginny pursed her lips and tilted her head to the side. "I’d say he fancies you. Big time."

Hermione flushed. "I don’t know about that, he’s just changed since before the war."

"Hermione," Harry said firmly, bringing them back to task. "Somethings up. What’s with all this?" He gestured to the documents strewn all over the table. "Malfoy said it’s not work related. We’re worried. Talk to us."

Hermione chewed her lip as she considered her friends. Perhaps it wouldn’t be a bad thing to let them know about the curse.

Sighing, she filled them in.

When she finished, her three friends sat in shock.

"Erm," Ron was the first to break the silence. His face was a blotchy red as he struggled to get the words out. "if you need someone to soul bind to, you know I’d be hap-"

"It’s ok, Ron" Hermione gave him a smile, touched by his gesture. "You know we’re not soulmates. But I appreciate the offer."

"Phew" Ron said, relaxing back in his seat. "Because I’m meeting Parvati again this weekend."

"I have just the thing," Ginny said with a twinkle in her eye.

"What’s that?" Hermione asked wearily

"I'm going to set you up on a blind date."

"Ugh, no thanks."

***

Despite her protests, Hermione found herself sitting at a small corner table at The Purple Candle on Friday evening with her date.

Ginny had told her his name was Reginald and that he was the brother of one of her quidditch teammates. As soon as he arrived, Reginald had launched into his life story.

It had been half an hour and he had only gotten as far as his fifth birthday.

“Shall we order a drink?” Hermione interrupted.

“Yes, of course, don’t get up - I’ll get it,” Reginald offered.

Hermione nodded in thanks expecting him to go to the bar. Instead, he clicked his fingers at a server to get their attention.

After ordering, he continued with his monologue.

Hermione sipped her wine, bored out of her mind. She looked around the room, her mind already drifting back to her research. Sitting here, wasting time with someone who clearly wasn't her soulmate, was incredibly frustrating.

Just as she was about to excuse herself, an arm descended around her shoulders.

“Hermione, pet. We’ve been waiting for you,” a voice drawled.

Startled, she looked up to see Marcus Flint grinning down at her, flanked by Draco and Theo.

“Did you forget about our appointment?” Theo asked, an eyebrow arched in mock surprise.

“Uh...” Hermione stared at them, baffled. What were they playing at?

“We were due to finish off that project for work. Remember? We said we’d meet here,” Draco added smoothly.

She glanced back at Reginald, who looked rather miffed at the interruption, then back at Draco, who gave her a discreet wink.

“Yes, of course, I completely forgot,” she agreed, grateful for the out. She finished her wine in one gulp and slid off her stool. “It was lovely to meet you, Reginald. I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”

She quickly exited the pub with the wizards, leaving a sputtering Reginald behind.

Once they were outside, she rounded on them. “Not that I’m not grateful, but what on earth was that?”

“You looked like you needed rescuing,” Draco smirked.

“You looked like you were about to fall asleep,” Theo added with a chuckle. “We couldn’t just leave you there.”

“So, what’s your grand plan then?” Hermione crossed her arms. “Can we get back to researching?”

“Absolutely not,” Marcus vetoed. “The night is still young, and you need a break.”

“I’m assuming you don’t want to go back into the pub?” Draco asked. Hermione shook her head. There was no way she was risking running back into Reginald. “Then let’s go back to the townhouse,” he decided.

Chapter Text

Back at the townhouse, the group settled into the living room. In keeping with the rest of the house, it was airy and luxurious. In the centre of the room was a large, neutral sectional sofa with piles of soft cushions and throw blankets. A wooden coffee table sat snug in the sectional, facing a feature wall with an oversized fireplace.

A fully-stocked bar, complete with bar stools, sat at the opposite side of the room. Draco ducked behind it to choose a wine.

"This house is really beautiful," Hermione admired as she settled herself on the edge of the couch. "Which one of you decorated it?"

"Neither of us," Theo laughed. "Draco's mother did it all as a graduation gift."

Hermione squealed as Marcus scooped her up and dumped her unceremoniously in the middle of the sectional.

"That's better," he said as he relaxed next to her.

"Why?" She laughed as she pulled herself up.

"Theo can sit on your other side and we can make sure you don't do anything else off your rocker tonight."

"What? I've been completely rational."

Marcus cocked his eyebrow at her. "Hmm, let's see, going on a date with someone who was clearly not your type?"

"And what do you think my type is?" Hermione said indignantly.

"Definitely not him." Theo sat down on her other side.

Draco arrived back with a bottle of red wine and four glasses.

"Don't get us wrong," he said as he served everyone. "We're glad you're finally exploring the soulmate angle, but it was pretty evident he wasn't it."

Hermione took a sip and was momentarily distracted. "This is delicious."

"Elven wine - one of my favourites." Draco caught her eye and smiled.

"So, what is my type then?" Hermione challenged.

"Hmm, let's see." Marcus took a drink of his wine and squinted his eyes at her studiously. "You need someone who will always put you first."

"Someone who can keep up with your crazy smart brain." Theo nodded.

"And someone exciting." Draco added.

Hermione shook her head. "And where would I find such a person?"

The three wizards exchanged glances.

"We have a proposal for you, Granger." Draco leant forward and topped up everyone's glasses - this wine was going down very easily. "We'd like you to consider dating us."

Hermione's eyes popped. This, she hadn't been expecting. "W-What?"

"We would each take you on a few dates, let you explore the possibility…" Theo said earnestly. "Hermione, we think one of us could be your soulmate."

"I… well… I mean…" Hermione stopped and composed herself, aware she wasn't making any sense. "I didn't think you'd be interested in me like that - especially since you all didn't even like me a few months ago."

The three men exchanged looks again.

"I really hate when you do that." Hermione scrunched up her nose in annoyance.

"Sorry." Marcus sighed. He leant over and took her glass off her, placing it on the table and clasping her hands together between his two larger ones.

"Hermione. It's not that we didn't like you. It was quite the opposite, actually."

Hermione frowned at him, not understanding.

"We all think you're an incredible witch, and we each wanted to ask you out." His throat bobbed as he swallowed nervously. "But we knew none of us deserved you."

Hermione looked at him in surprise. Turning, she stared at Draco and Theo who nodded in confirmation.

"Draco and I had a…discussion… back at the start of our 8th year. We were both just so drawn to you." Theo laughed sadly. "We knew we weren’t right for you, so we agreed we’d leave you be. When we saw how Marcus responded to you, we had a chat with him too."

"Why?" Hermione breathed.

"You deserve the absolute best, Hermione. You deserve someone good, untainted by dark magic and horrible families." Draco's hands hung limply between his legs, his wine also forgotten on the table. "You deserve better than us, so we stayed away."

"And now?" Hermione stared down at where Marcus' hands still held hers. She felt conflicting emotions: anger, frustration, but also, anticipation.

"And now the thought of you with anyone else is driving us all mad." Marcus admitted. "But we know you need to find your soulmate. Losing you to this curse is not an option. So we'd like for you to explore if any of us are a match."

Hermione looked up into Marcus' hopeful brown eyes.

"And if you're not?"

"Then we step aside and we do everything in our power to find the right man for you."

"And what if one of you is my soulmate? What will the other two do?" She twisted slightly so she could see all men's reactions.

"Love, I don't think you understand how we feel about you." Theo smiled softly at her. "We would be over the moon to have you safe, alive, and with your soulmate, whichever one of us it is."

"And it is one of us." Draco said, confidently. "I’m positive it’s one of us."

She took a second to consider each of the men. It was undeniable that she was attracted to them. All of them.

"So how would it work, if I date all of you?" She asked curiously.

"It means we each take you on dates, and you take as much time as you need to decide."

"Won't there be jealousy?"

"No - not between us three." Theo said with conviction. "We all want you happy and safe, Hermione. There’s no space for jealousy."

"How can you be sure?" She bit her bottom lip, worried.

"I have an idea." Draco stood and walked to the bar. He came back with a bottle of fire whisky, a stack of small plastic shot glasses, and a small vial that Hermione examined closely.

"Veritaserum?"

Draco nodded. "I think it’s time to play a game. We all need to relax. You can give us an answer tomorrow. In the meantime, we can play Veritaserum Roulette, and you can maybe get some more answers."

"And how does one play Veritaserum Roulette?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"It’s easy." Theo explained as he helped Draco set up. "We’ll set out a load of fire whisky shots, and put a drop of Veritaserum in half of them. Then mix them all up. We each take turns to drink, and whoever drinks is asked a question.

When you answer, you’re either forced to answer honestly, or if there’s no Veritaserum in the drink, you can choose to lie or tell the truth."

"The fun part is that everyone else won’t know if you’re telling the truth or not." Draco finished adding the potion to the selected shot glasses while Theo poured the firewhisky on top.

"So, are you in?" Marcus prompted. He was still holding her hand.

Hermione considered. Veritaserum was a dangerous potion, but she trusted the men. And they were right: she needed a break. "Okay, I’m in."

Theo grinned and levitated the glasses, sending them spinning before settling them back on the table without spilling a drop. Now it was impossible to know which were laced with the truth compelling potion.

"I’ll go first." Marcus offered. He chose a shot and tipped it back, looking at Hermione expectantly.

Hermione thought for a second then asked, "When did you want to become friends with me?"

Marcus flashed her a grin. "When I first spoke to you, day one of the Crows. As soon as I was near you, I knew: you’re my amortentia. You’re who I’ve been looking for since we brewed that potion back in Hogwarts." He said simply. "I didn’t want to be just friends with you."

Hermione sat back, reeling.

Theo squeezed her knee. "Don’t overthink - let’s just do quick fire questions."

Hermione nodded mutely, watching as Draco leaned over to grab a shot.

"Okay, ready." He said after he drank it down.

"Have you ever been in love?" Hermione asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, who -"

"One question at a time," Theo tutted. He smirked at her before drinking his shot.

"Do you really fancy me, or are you just trying to save my life?" Hermione asked bravely.

Theo rolled his eyes. "Hermione, I adore you, I think you’re the sexiest witch alive and I also want to save your life."

"Oh." Hermione flushed. "It’s just Ron also offered to bond if it meant saving me."

Theo handed Hermione a shot. "It's your turn."

She drank it down, grimacing at the burn.

"You and Ron, what happened there?" Theo asked.

Hermione didn’t think the shot contained Veritaserum, but she answered honestly regardless. "We kissed at the final battle, then once things calmed down, we realised we didn’t actually feel like that about each other. He’s my best friend. Him and Harry."

"And he doesn’t fancy you?" Theo asked incredulously.

"One question at a time," Hermione shook her finger at him before laughing and answering anyway. "No, he doesn’t. He’s dating Parvati now."

Marcus took the next shot, and Draco asked the question.

"Marcus," he began with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Which part of Hermione turns you on the most?"

Hermione gasped at the question then bit her lip, waiting for Marcus’ answer.

With a good-natured chuckle, Marcus lifted Hermione's hand and kissed the back of it like a gentleman. His next words, however, were anything but.

“Her breasts.” He answered Draco while looking at Hermione. “When you came to breakfast without a bra, and I could see the outline of your nipples... Gods, your tits are beautiful... it nearly killed me,” he finished with a groan.

Hermione somehow knew he had taken a truth-compelling shot. She shifted slightly, feeling the temperature increase a few degrees in the room.

“Uh, Draco, your turn I think.”

This time Marcus jumped in with a question in retaliation: “How long have you wanted Hermione?”

“Ever since she punched me in third year.” Draco answered. He shifted to hold Hermione's gaze. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you after that. And I knew then that I wanted you.”

Hermione desperately wanted a fan or something to cool herself off.

Theo threw back his shot. “Do your worst,” he challenged.

Draco tipped his head to the side slyly and asked, “Last time you got laid?”

Theo laughed. “Easy. About a year ago.”

Hermione couldn’t stop the question slipping out. “Why so long ago?”

Theo answered immediately, and Hermione suspected he had taken a truth-compelling shot.

“I wanted you. No one else felt right.” He clenched his jaws together and reached for his wine, avoiding her eyes.

Hermione's heart felt like it was going to burst. She turned to him and pressed close to his side. She apologized quietly for asking the question out of turn.

Theo slipped his arm around her and pulled her closer before dropping a kiss on her head.

“It’s ok, love,” he said. Then his eyes twinkled. “Though maybe we could punish you.”

“Punish how?” Hermione asked, her interest piqued despite the harsh words.

Draco chuckled. “So much to explore there, but for now let’s give you a double turn.” He levitated two shots in front of her.

Hermione downed the first.

“Tell us about yourself and Viktor,” Draco asked.

Hermione felt the words tumble out as the Veritaserum took effect.

“Viktor was my first everything - first kiss, first time with a man.” She blushed, the potion prompting her to continue talking. “I’ve only done it once. With Viktor in the Forbidden Forest.”

She felt Theo snort next to her. “I knew it! ‘Special walks’ my ass.”

She dug her elbow into his side. “Alright, who’s asking the next question.” She swallowed the second shot quickly.

“Me.” Marcus jumped in. “Do you think there’s a chance one of us could be your soulmate?”

“Yes,” tumbled out of her mouth. She honestly couldn’t tell if she was truth-compelled or not.

Chapter Text

The following day was Saturday. Hermione put aside her research work in the late afternoon and took a warm, relaxing shower to prepare for the evening.

Her mind wandered back to the events of the previous night, a fond smile curving her lips. The drunker they became, the more scandalous the questions had gotten. Hermione now knew Marcus' favourite position was girl on top; that Draco and Theo had had a threesome at some point in the past; and that while Theo had essentially turned celibate to cope with his feelings for her, Draco had done the opposite. In Theo's words, he had essentially become a "man-whore" in his efforts to forget about her.

Rather than feeling a pang of jealousy, Hermione found her curiosity piqued. She remembered Daphne's accounts of the rumours surrounding the men's bedroom skills and couldn't help but wonder what kind of lover Draco would be.

Hermione felt woefully inadequate as her own answers had shown her lack of experience. However, the men hadn't seemed to mind - barring Draco burying his head in his hands and moaning that she was killing them with her innocence when they learned she had never participated in oral sex.

The quartet had called it a night when Hermione had grown so tired that she snuggled deeper into Theo's side with a yawn. Theo had carried her gently into the spare bed and she had fallen asleep within seconds.

That morning, the men had plied her with hangover potion and coffee. Hermione listened bemusedly as they informed her of their agreed dating schedule for the week.

Apparently, they had drawn straws the night before, and Marcus had won. Therefore, he was to take her on a date that night. Theo had come second and was taking the following Friday, and Draco the next Saturday.

"But I haven’t even agreed if I’d go ahead with all this yet," Hermione said with a straight face.

The men took a step back. "Oh, shit, sorry we got carried away," Theo apologised.

"Luckily I was going to say yes," Hermione chuckled as she saw the colour return to their faces.

Before she left, Marcus had drawn her close and whispered in her ear. "I’ll pick you up at 5.30, dress comfortably."

Hermione shivered as she remembered the way his lips brushed her neck.

Stepping out of the shower, she glanced at the clock: 5pm, just enough time.

She cast a series of charms to dry, de-frizz and style her hair, opting to tie it into a simple ponytail. She dressed in black leggings, a white t-shirt and a denim jacket. She applied a quick sweep of lip gloss and mascara, and slipped on white trainers.

Finished, she stepped back to examine herself in the mirror. Marcus had said to dress comfortably but maybe this was too casual. She wished she had some clue as to where they were going.

Before she could overthink, there was a knock on her door. She opened it to see not only had Marcus arrived exactly on time, but he was also casually dressed, immediately putting her at ease.

He gave her a warm grin and a soft kiss on the cheek. "Ready?" He asked. He looked sinfully good in dark grey soft trousers, a black long-sleeved Henley T-shirt and white trainers.

Hermione grabbed her handbag and nodded, her mouth dry. "Where are we going?"

"Just to my place for dinner," he said with a mischievous smile. "But we’ll take the long way there."

Hermione eyed him suspiciously.

Laughing, he tugged her out of her house, pausing only for her to lock up and set her wards, before leading her upstairs and on to the roof.

"I haven’t been up here before," Hermione commented. They stopped to admire the view of Diagon Alley.

"You mean you never checked the broomstick storage and landing facilities before you rented this place?" Marcus asked in mock outrage.

Hermione blushed. "I never saw the need to," she said primly. "Hang on - broomstick landing facilities?" She whirled around and sure enough saw a sleek black broomstick resting on a stand.

"Uh, Marcus…" she said hesitantly, piecing together where this night was heading.

Marcus gave her hand a squeeze before letting go to fetch the broomstick.

"This, Hermione, is a Firebolt Phoenix. The latest in broomstick innovation to hit the market."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Is that meant to make me feel better?"

He chuckled and smoothly mounted the broom.

"No, but do you trust me?" He extended his hand to her, a twinkle in his eye. "You’ll be riding with me, and I promise to keep you safe."

Hermione hesitated, looking at his earnest expression. She knew how much flying meant to him, and it made her feel special that he wanted to share that with her.

Her mind made up, she reached out and grasped his hand.

Marcus pulled her on to the broom in front of him, wrapping his arms around her to grip the broomstick.

Hermione drew in a breath as they rose into the air. She avoided flying unless in life or death situations, and the higher they got the more she was reminded of her discomfort.

"Your heart is racing," Marcus murmured in her ear. "Don’t worry, I’ve got you."

Hermione nodded stiffly, not trusting herself to speak.

Marcus suddenly accelerated, and a shriek burst from Hermione. She turned her head, gripped the stick in front of her tightly and pressed back into Marcus.

Marcus chuckled again. He let go of the broomstick with one hand and cast a disillusionment spell as they entered muggle London. Then he casually wrapped his arm around Hermione’s waist.

"Shouldn’t you hold onto the stick?" Hermione gasped.

"We’re not going that fast," Marcus laughed. "Look up."

Hermione forced her gaze up from where it had been focused on the broomstick. A spectacular view of London was in front of her, rooftops aglow with the evening sun, and the Thames glittering below them.

"It’s beautiful," she breathed.

They flew slowly through the sky, taking in the sights. Hermione pointed out a few landmarks and explained their significance to Marcus who was genuinely interested in all she had to say. She found herself relaxing back into his embrace.

"Ready to soar?" Marcus asked, his mouth close to her ear. At Hermione’s answering nod, he leant in close again. "Don’t close your eyes," he ordered.

Hermione tightened her grip on the broom and kept her head up. Ensconced as she was in Marcus’s arms, she felt safe and secure and found herself enjoying the rush through the air. He accelerated until the ground was a blur beneath them and Hermione laughed in delight.

All too soon Marcus guided them gently down into the garden of a quaint cottage. While the garden was small, behind it, separated only by a knee-high hedge, was a huge expanse of perfectly manicured sloping green grass. At the top of the hill in the distance stood an imposing manor.

"Where are we?" Hermione asked as she slipped off the broom. Marcus held her steady while she found her land legs.

"The Flint estate," Marcus gave the broom a brief inspection before putting it away in a small broom cupboard in the yard.

He noticed Hermione staring at the manor. "I moved out of there a few years ago. After my father's death I tried to free the house elves but they refused. We compromised instead: I stayed here in the cottage, and they agreed to live in and maintain the main house for me."

"That sounds like an ideal solution," Hermione approved.

Marcus slipped his arm around her to guide her into the cottage.

"They can’t seem to help themselves though, they sneak in when I’m not around to clean up."

He cast a lumos to light the cottage, and Hermione let out an "oh!" at what she saw.

They were in the kitchen, which took up the entire width of the cottage. It was a culinary haven, fitted out for a chef, with an expansive marble island as its centrepiece. A suspended gleaming copper pot rack hung overhead and around the edges of the room sleek modern cupboards and counters housed high-quality appliances and utensils. Sitting along one counter was a mixed array of spices and ingredients.

Hermione stared in awe at the room. "This kitchen is just… wow."

Marcus gave her a modest smile. "I enjoy cooking," he said as he fetched a bottle of wine from the fridge. "Is white okay? I was going to cook us seafood for dinner."

"Yes, perfect." Hermione spied some wine glasses in a glass-fronted cabinet and reached up to grab them. "Let me help."

Between them, they finished half the bottle while preparing and cooking dinner, Hermione following Marcus's instructions diligently.

After dinner, Marcus topped up their wine glasses and led her to the front of the cottage into a small cosy sitting room. Stairs leading upstairs sat snug against one wall.

"How come you didn’t stay in the Manor?" Hermione asked curiously as she circled the room to take a closer look at the books and photographs scattered around. Marcus sat back on the couch and watched her.

"I needed to go my own way," he explained. "My father was incredibly controlling. Moving out here gave me the space I needed to figure myself out."

"Do you miss him at all?" she asked cautiously, remembering his reaction the last time his father had come up.

Marcus considered his answer before speaking. "Yes and no… he was my father, but I didn’t agree with the choices he made for himself and for me. He was a Death Eater. He fought against you, and for that, I can never forgive him."

Hermione placed her wine glass on the mantelpiece and approached him, hating the unhappy look on his face. Determined to turn his mood around, she gently straddled him and placed her hands on his shoulders. He stared at her in surprise, his own hands automatically going to her waist.

"Can I sit here?" she whispered.

He gave her a grin, his sombre mood forgotten. "Pet, if I had my way this would be the only place you’d sit."

"Thank you for tonight," Hermione smiled back, her hands skimming down his chest. Touching him felt natural, and she found once she started she wanted more.

"Tonight’s not over yet." Shifting slightly, he brought her closer to him, her hands trapped between them. He kept one hand on her hip while the other moved up to cup the side of her face. "Can I kiss you?" Marcus breathed.

Hermione nodded, and Marcus leant forward to close the distance between them.

Kissing Marcus felt like fireworks exploding within her. She couldn’t get enough. He deepened the kiss, their tongues clashing. Hermione whimpered, her heart racing. She rocked unconsciously against him and broke the kiss with a gasp as she felt him rock hard between them.

Marcus rested his forehead against hers, breathing heavily. "Do you want to go upstairs?" he asked roughly.

Hermione knew what would happen if she agreed, and she felt herself slicken at the thought. She squirmed, inadvertently rubbing herself against him again. Marcus groaned and gripped her waist tighter.

“You should stop moving if you want this to continue.” He said, his voice strained.

Hermione couldn’t help a small smile as she realised the effect she had on him. “Then take me upstairs.”

Marcus didn’t need to be told twice. He stood swiftly, keeping her wrapped around him. She giggled as he carried her up the stairs, through the small landing and into the bedroom.

Hermione barely got a glimpse of the room before he lowered her onto the king sized bed and fell onto her lips again.

“I want more.” She ordered between kisses, as she struggled to pull up his top.

“What do you need, pet?” Marcus answered, breaking off to pepper kisses down her neck.

“You.” She moaned.

Grinning, Marcus pulled away and sat up, knees on either side of her. “You’re going to have to be more specific than that.”

Hermione bit her lip. “I want you to take your top off.”

“That’s better.” Marcus praised. In one motion he lifted his Henley up and off. Hermione drew in a breath when she saw him: his Quidditch years had obviously been good to him. She greedily admired his defined abs with her eyes and her hands, tracing the dip on his lower stomach. Marcus groaned at her touch and rocked forward.

“Pet, you’re killing me.” He stilled her hands, then lifted himself off her. “And you have far too much clothes on.”

“So do you” Hermione countered.

With a sly grin, Marcus reached for his wand. A few muttered phrases later, Hermione was lying on the bed in just her bra and knickers, while Marcus was only in his boxers.

“Gods, you’re stunning.” Marcus stepped back to admire her.

Feeling brave, Hermione sat up and removed her bra.

“Fuck.” Marcus cursed, staring at her breasts. “They’re better than I ever imagined.”

“Did you? Imagine them?”

Marcus tore his gaze away to smirk at her. “I did more than just imagine, pet.” He reached forward and held one of her breasts, gently rubbing his thumb over a nipple. “The amount of times I’ve cum over the thought of you, lying here exactly as you are now.”

Hermione moaned as her nipple hardened. She felt herself get wetter the more he touched and talked to her. At this point she was fairly sure her knickers were destroyed.

“More.” She gasped.

Not needing any more prompting, Marcus fell upon her as she arched her back in pleasure.

Marcus kept talking crudely to her as he feasted, telling her how beautiful her tits were, how hard she was making him. He sucked on her nipple as she cried out, then released her breast with a kiss before moving to the other side.

Hermione squirmed on the bed, rubbing her thighs together to get some traction. Marcus slid one hand down to her waist.

“Hold still.” He murmured.

Then he slipped his fingers into her knickers.

“You’re so fucking wet.”

Hermione could only whimper as he circled her clit with his finger.

He moved his hand down further till he could slip a finger inside her. Hermione dimly heard herself making sounds she had never made before, as he slid in and out of her soaking channel.

“Yes, gods, yes” she chanted “Marcus, more, I need more.” She almost sobbed.

“I’ve got you, darling.” Marcus reached up to capture her lips in his as he slid a second finger into her. Hermione shifted her hips up to meet his hand, relishing the feeling.

“That’s it.” Marcus rasped. “Fuck yourself on my fingers, let me bring you there.”

He moved back down her body till she felt his hot mouth back over her breast. She moaned as he flicked his tongue over her nipple, feeling her release looming. He flicked his tongue again, and at the same time he rubbed his thumb against her clit, and Hermione felt herself explode.

Marcus held her as she came back down, kissing her reverently. When he moved to roll off her she stopped him.

“No.” She said. “I want you.” So he didn’t misunderstand her, she moved her hands down to his boxers.

“Are you sure?” Marcus asked, his breath quickening.

“Yes.” Hermione wriggled away so she could remove her now soaking knickers. She turned back to find Marcus had also removed his boxers.

She stared wide eyed at him, second guessing her decision.

Correctly guessing her expression, Marcus smirked. “It’ll fit, pet, I promise.”

Reaching out, he tugged her back down to the bed and rolled over, pinning her in place.

He held himself up by his forearms and bent his head, burrowing under her ear. Hermione let out a shaky breath as he tongued her neck.

Hermione spread her legs as she felt his length settle between her.

He raised himself up on one hand, grasping himself with the other. Hermione whimpered as he rubbed his cock against her entrance.

“Oh, please.” She begged.

“Anything for you.” He bent down and captured her lips in hers, as he slowly pressed forward.

He broke off with a low groan as he sunk into her. Stopping before it got too much, he pulled out slightly before pressing forward again, back and forth until he bottomed out.

“You’re perfect. You’re so fucking perfect.”

Hermione wet her lips, her heart pounding as she adjusted to his length.

“Are you ok?” He checked, breathing heavily as he held himself still.

Hermione nodded. Bordering just on the right side of painful, she had never felt so full. He pulled out until just his tip was in her, before driving forward with a sharp thrust.

Hermione's eyes rolled back in pleasure as he moved within her, bringing her to heights she had never thought possible.

Suddenly he stopped, and buried deep inside her he flipped them over so he was lying underneath.

“I want to see you bounce on my dick.”

Hermione grew even wetter at his words. Remembering this was his favourite position, she reached up to cup her breasts, giving him a show.

He slid his hot hands over her soft skin, gripping her thighs as she started moving up and down.

“Fuck, you’re so hot.” He murmured, eyes glazed with lust.

“You take my cock so good” he thrust upwards as she rode him.

Hermione moaned louder, her senses overwhelmed. Marcus seemed to know exactly what she needed: he slid one hand up to her breast, pinching and rolling her nipple, while the other reached between them, rubbing her clit.

“Gods yes, don’t stop, yes right there.” Hermione sobbed as she got closer and closer. She moved shallower, grinding down as she rocked her hips, chasing her release.

“That’s it my beautiful girl, come on my cock.” Marcus’ words tipped her over the edge and she threw her head back with a scream as she came.

At the feeling of her tightening around him, Marcus lost control: he flipped them back over and started fucking her, pounding so hard Hermione felt herself being pushed up the bed. Reaching up, she braced herself against the headboard to meet his thrusts, causing Marcus to groan.

“I’m so close, so close.” He muttered. He gripped her hips and pounded harder, his eyes on her breasts bouncing with each thrust. Seconds later, he came with a yell, releasing deep inside of her.

Spent, the pair fell back into the bed, Marcus burying his head into her neck as he got his breath back.

“You are incredible.” He said reverently, pulling out of her gently. He kissed her before disappearing to fetch a wet cloth and his wand to clean her up and to cast a contraception spell.

As soon as he was done, Hermione pulled him back into bed, not wanting to be without his touch. He wrapped his arms around her and she snuggled in close, drifting off to sleep completely spent and utterly happy.

Chapter Text

A burst of sunshine and warmth greeted them the next day, and Marcus treated her to a gourmet breakfast in the garden.

When she reluctantly got up to leave, he tugged her back down onto his lap.

Laughing, she rested her head against his shoulder.

“I don’t want to go either, but I do need to squeeze in a few hours of research and get ready for our next rotation.”

Marcus sighed and tightened his arms around her. “That was the best date I’ve ever been on,” he confided. He tipped her head up with a finger so he could look into her eyes. “I meant what I said last night: you are incredible.”

Then he proceeded to thoroughly kiss her until she was a puddle in his lap.

***

Monday morning saw Hermione arrive early at the Ministry and make her way to the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Edgar’s owl had told her that Oliver Clearwater would be their handler in this rotation.

She smiled fondly at Theo when she saw him waiting for her, latte in hand, outside the glass double doors that led into the department.

“Hey,” he said, bending to give her a kiss on the cheek. “How was your weekend?”

Hermione felt herself go beet red.

Theo laughed. “That good, huh?”

Hermione cleared her throat. “Yes, um, well, I managed to get some more research done, I think I’ve a lead on a text about soulmates,” she deflected.

“Well it couldn’t have been that great a date if you still had time to work,” Theo teased playfully.

“Theo,” she hissed, elbowing him.

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, love, I’ll make it up to you on Friday.”

Draco and Marcus chose that moment to arrive. They both took turns greeting her, with Marcus lingering a little longer in his kiss.

As they turned to enter the department, Theo snagged her elbow. Hermione looked back at him quizzically.

“I should be jealous,” he said quietly, “but strangely I’m not. I'm just counting down the days till Friday.”

“I’m looking forward to it too,” she smiled up at him. “What did you want to do?”

He winked, making butterflies flutter in her stomach. “It’s a surprise, love.”

***

Oliver Clearwater turned out to be a team leader in the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. He and his team had been assigned to Hermione's case.

“We’ve been tasked with researching ways of reversing the curse,” Oliver informed them as he led them into a small meeting room that was to be their base for the next six weeks.

A small round boardroom table filled the windowless room. A balding wizard in a mustard yellow suit sat in one of the chairs. Hermione and the wizards filed into the room, with Oliver taking the last seat.

“Where is your team?” Draco demanded.

“This is it,” Oliver gestured. “Just myself and Tony.”

Tony gave them a morose wave.

“The brightest witch of our age, a fucking war hero, is hit with a ticking time bomb of a curse, and you’re the best the ministry has to offer?” Draco sneered.

“Well,” Tony sniffed, “we’re not the only ones on the case, there’s people across the ministry on it.”

Hermione could see the tension building in Draco. She reached over to cover his hand with hers. At her touch, he took a deep breath and visibly relaxed.

"Alright," he said. "Talk us through what you’ve got."

What they had was not much at all.

To his credit, Draco remained calm and professional as he questioned the pair on their approach and work on the curse. Hermione could see he was a natural leader when he set emotion to one side.

"We're used to accidental magic, you see," Oliver was explaining.

"I didn’t curse myself on purpose," Hermione said incredulously.

"Y-Yes, of course, but the curse was meant to curse you, if you get what I mean," Oliver stammered, seemingly more afraid of her than Draco.

"Usually when magic goes wrong it’s like unravelling a knot - we trace it back, see where it got muddled, then un-muddle it," Tony twisted and untwisted his fingers in demonstration. "The problem is the curse was never muddled in the first place. It did what it was meant to do."

"Then how about bringing someone in from the catastrophes part of the department?" Theo questioned.

Oliver nodded slowly. "I suppose… they are very experienced. Our standard procedure with magical catastrophes is to send in the Obliviation Squad." He turned to Hermione and asked hopefully. "If you like, I can have them make you forget you’re cursed?"

Sighing, Draco dismissed them.

"At least we’ll be left alone this rotation," Marcus commented, looking on the bright side.

Hermione perked up. "Yes, you’re right!" Already she was imagining the progress they’d make with no distractions.

"So, what’s the plan?" Draco deferred to her.

Hermione dug into her bag to remove her overflowing research folder. "I’ve been plotting out the Bellerose family’s main residences over the last 100 years, and I made a list of who owned or lived in the neighbouring land," she explained as she flipped through to find a specific page. She unclipped it and handed it to Draco.

He perused the list with a frown. "There’s nearly a hundred names on this list."

"Yes, it took some time to collate, and I was going to dig into each family, but then I thought I’d try a lookup spell in the archives. That only gave me about 50 documents. Some were completely irrelevant but some were worth reading," Hermione was talking fast, hoping the men would keep up.

"I found an old journal kept by a wizard who lived near the Bellerose family's house in Provence. It was a bit tricky to read as it’s in old French -"

"You know I speak French fluently," Draco interrupted, annoyed.

"Oh, yes I forgot," Hermione faltered. "But I got there in the end. He writes about borrowing 'The Manuscript of Les Ames Éternelles' from the Bellerose library."

"The manuscript of eternal souls," Draco translated.

"Yes, and he never mentions giving it back. It’s a long shot, but I’d like to visit his estate and see if it’s still there."

"Fine," Draco nodded decisively. "Then that’s where we’ll go on Saturday."

Hermione continued giving the men an update of her research so far, and between them, they divided up the work.

Theo opted to take the lead on curse breaking. Marcus chose to research binding ceremonies, and Draco took over perusing the stack of ancient French documents Hermione had acquired.

***

Hermione and Marcus had agreed to keep their relationship professional while at work out of respect for the other two wizards, but that didn’t stop him tugging her into a broom closet one day when no one was watching.

“I can’t stop thinking about you.” He admitted, “I know the other lads are getting their time with you this weekend, but I need to know if you’ll see me again. Next week?” He asked hopefully.

Hermione reached up to place her hands behind his neck. She hadn’t been able to stop thinking of him either, and of the night they’d spent together.

“Absolutely.” She smiled as Marcus breathed a sigh of relief.

“I’m like a bloody infatuated schoolboy when it comes to you.” He lent forward and brushed his lips against hers.

Hermione's response was instant, rising on her tiptoes to press her lips more firmly against his. Marcus groaned and slid his hands down her waist and onto her behind, giving it a squeeze as he deepened the kiss.

He tugged her closer, rubbing against her so she could feel his erection.

“See what you do to me?” He whispered.

Hermione hummed, feeling emboldened and slid her hand down to cup him. He rutted against her palm with a soft grunt.

Hermione pulled away, suddenly conscious of where they were.

“We should stop.” She said regretfully.

Marcus let out a deep breath. “You’re right. But we’re definitely picking this up again next week.”

Hermione lent up to give him one last cheeky kiss. “That’s a promise.”

***

The week flew by, with the Crows left undisturbed in their little room. When Friday arrived, Theo met her in the morning with a radiant smile to accompany her coffee.

"Shall I pick you up at six?" he asked.

"Yes, that works, but what should I wear?" Hermione questioned.

"You’d look beautiful in a bin bag."

Hermione arched an eyebrow at him. "Theo."

"Alright," Theo chuckled. "Something like that green dress you wore to dinner at the Gilded Goblet would be perfect."

His excitement was contagious, and Hermione couldn’t keep her eyes off him during work, the pair exchanging furtive smiles throughout the day.

Marcus gave her a wink as she packed up to leave work at five. Draco, ever the gentleman, stood to walk her out.

"Enjoy yourself tonight," he said with a soft smile. He reached out to tuck an errant curl behind her ear. "I’ll collect you at midday tomorrow for our trip."

Hermione felt a spike of anxiety. "Oh, I didn’t see if the portkey request was granted, and -"

"Granger." Draco interrupted gently, bending down slightly to meet her eyes. "I’ve got it all sorted. You don’t even need to pack. Just enjoy tonight and let someone else pick up the slack for once."

Hermione took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I’m not sure I know how to do that," she confessed.

Draco's smile was understanding. "Just remember you’re surrounded by people who care about you. You’re not alone, we’re in this with you."

He leant over and gave her a lingering kiss on the cheek. "Now, go before you stress out about being late."

Chapter Text

Hermione had returned the green dress to Ginny after the last dinner, but she dug through her wardrobe until she unearthed a midi-length silk cream skirt, into which she tucked a delicate black lace camisole. On a whim, she used her wand to add a slit to the skirt, showing a hint of her thigh.

She rushed through her make-up, then spent longer than planned on her hair. Eventually, she gave up and gathered all the curls into a messy up-do.

Theo arrived before she was finished. Hermione cast a spell for the door to open and called for Theo to come in.

"All ok?" He called as he entered.

"Yes!" Hermione shouted back. "Just a sec!" She used the 'Accio' spell to summon her black strappy heels and her handbag, then rushed barefoot out to the sitting room.

"Sorry," she apologised, stopping in the doorway to slip on her heels. She paused with her heel half on when she caught sight of Theo.

He was absolutely breathtaking in a perfectly fitted midnight suit. He had left the top few buttons on his sky-blue shirt open, and his light brown hair had been combed back. He looked like he had walked out of a magazine.

"Wow," she said, staring at him.

Theo gave her a slow smile as he took her in. "Wow back at you. You look beautiful."

Hermione swallowed and managed to get her heels on.

"Allow me," Theo offered, pointing his wand at her feet and casting a stabilisation and comfort charm.

Hermione's attraction to Theo was off the charts, and she felt the sudden urge to throw herself at him. She gripped the doorframe to stop herself.

"So, what's the plan for tonight?" She asked, rummaging aimlessly through her bag to hide her flushed cheeks.

"Blackthorn Consulting are hosting a gathering of academics tonight."

"Oh?" Hermione's curiosity was piqued.

"There will be several talks, but one I think you would be most interested in is from a lady called Euphemia Pettleworth."

Hermione gasped. "How did I not know she was in the country?" She asked, outraged. Euphemia Pettleworth was an expert in ancient curses. Hermione had written to her several times over the last few weeks but had yet to receive a response.

"Because she only just confirmed - it took a lot of convincing. She's something of a recluse now."

"Did you organise this?"

"Not really, I saw an opportunity and called in a few favours," Theo said smoothly. Hermione suspected he was downplaying his part. Before she could challenge him, he held out his hand. "Shall we be off?"

Hermione sat in rapt attention through the first few talks: one on magical innovation and a near breakthrough with an instant charmed communication device; and another on the breeding habits of Nifflers.

Finally, Euphemia took to the stage and gave a dry, short talk on ancient Egyptian curses.

Once she finished, Theo grabbed Hermione's hand and walked briskly to the edge of the stage where Euphemia was carefully stepping down.

"Excuse me, Ms Pettleworth," Theo said smoothly. "My name is Theodore Nott, and this is my friend Hermione Granger."

Euphemia eyed them distrustfully. "Oh yes, Mr Nott, Ms Granger, you do persist with your letters," she complained in a thin voice. "If you'll excuse me, I have a portkey back home that I need to catch."

Theo stepped in front of her, blocking the way. "I believe part of your agreement tonight was to spare a few moments to talk with Hermione," he said coolly.

With a sigh, Euphemia gestured for Theo to lead the way. "Let's get this over with," she grumbled.

Hermione wondered again how Theo had managed to bring Euphemia here this evening – the woman clearly did not want to be there.

Theo led them out into the foyer and to an empty couch.

"Have you read my letters, Ms Pettleworth?" Hermione enquired.

"Yes, you’re in quite the predicament," Euphemia sniffed. "I don't know what you expect me to do about it."

"I was hoping you could give me some advice on how to break this curse," Hermione ground out through gritted teeth.

"The only way to break it is to do what it demands."

"How can you be so certain?" Theo pressed.

Euphemia gave a long-suffering sigh. "Did you feel pain when the curse activated?" she asked.

"Yes." Hermione rubbed her hand, remembering the agony when the curse had taken hold.

"And you mentioned writing appearing - what colour was it?"

"Red," Theo answered.

"Then it’s clear: it was a blood curse, bound to you, breakable only by deciphering and carrying out its intent. In this case, becoming soulbound."

Euphemia brushed her hands together and stood up. "If you will excuse me, my portkey awaits." She turned to Theo. "When should I expect my payment?"

Theo waved his hand at her dismissively. "It’s already at your house waiting for you."

Euphemia turned to leave then paused. Looking over at Hermione, she seemed to soften a little. "My advice to you, young lady, is not to waste your energy chasing dead ends. Break the curse the only way it can be broken: find your soulmate."

***

Blackthorn Consulting hosted a three-course dinner after the talks, during which Theo tried his hardest to raise Hermione's spirits. He eventually got her laughing when he told her Euphemia had demanded a box of Muggle sweets called 'Smarties' as payment.

"She wanted to experiment with them to see if they truly make Muggles more intelligent," he snickered.

In a better mood, Hermione enjoyed the intellectual conversations that flowed around her, with herself and Theo engaging in healthy debates with each other and their dinner companions.

After dinner, Theo decided they needed a change of scene and, with a flick of his wand, apparated them to a Muggle nostalgia bar playing classic hits from past decades. "My guilty pleasure," he confided, his eyes twinkling in the dim lights. "I used to listen to this sort of music in secret through a little radio."

They ordered a selection of cocktails and sat close together on a high table by the dance floor. Their knees touching, and electricity buzzing between them. Suddenly, Theo’s eyes lit up as his attention was caught by a song.

"This one," he declared, his hand wrapping around hers. "Reminds me of you." And with a cheeky smile, he pulled her from the table onto the dance floor.

Hermione stumbled, but he steadied her with a firm hand on her waist.

"I would take the stars out of the sky for you…Stop the rain from falling if you asked me to…I'd do anything for you, your wish is my command…I could move a mountain when your hand is in my hand," Theo sang along off-key.

As he spun her around, Hermione's laughter rang out above the music. When Theo pulled her close again, she looked up at him, her eyes sparkling with pure joy. The undeniable truth flooded her thoughts: she was completely, hopelessly smitten with him.

***

Theo dropped her home just before midnight. “I don’t want you too tired for your trip tomorrow,” he said, holding her hand and escorting her up the stairs to her door.

When they arrived, they turned to face each other.

“I’ll see you next week,” Theo said softly, reaching up to cup her cheek.

Hermione didn’t want to say goodbye. “Don’t you want to come in?” She asked hopefully.

Theo’s answering grin was blinding, causing Hermione to giggle as she tugged him inside her flat.

As soon as the door closed behind them she finally gave in to the urge and threw her arms around his neck. Theo responded instantly and their lips met in a heated clash. The tension that had been building all evening boiled over as Theo lifted Hermione up and backed her against the hallway wall.

She wrapped her legs around him, skirt bunching up at her waist. Theo broke away, only to rain kisses down her neck while Hermione gasped for air.

She rolled her hips forward, delighting in the feel of him between her thighs. Theo gripped her hips tighter and pressed himself firmly against her.

He lifted her suddenly off the wall, carrying her to the nearest surface which happened to be the couch. He sat her gently on the seat and knelt on the floor in front of her. Hermione immediately wrapped her legs back around him, locking him in place.

Theo closed his eyes and took a deep breath, muttering to himself as he leaned forward again and buried his head into the side of her neck, nipping and sucking. “I’ve wanted this for so long.” He groaned.

His hands curved around her thighs, then continued upwards under her skirt until they reached her underwear. He trailed his fingers gently over the fabric.

Hermione jerked with the sensation and squeezed her legs tighter around him. He shifted the fabric to the side and repeated the gesture, this time trailing his finger over her slit.

Hermione felt like she was falling apart, her hips rolling towards him automatically, seeking more as she whimpered.

“Fuck you’re soaking.” Theo growled, before leaving her neck and tugging her camisole down so he could grab her breast with his left hand. He dipped his head and licked her nipple. His right hand kept stroking under her skirt.

Words were beyond Hermione. She bucked her hips again, flushed and shaking with need. energy was burning through her, coiling around her core and crying out to be released, a need she desperately tried to convey through her moans.

Theo rubbed her again, gathering the moisture before circling just right where she needed. “Yes, yes” she heard herself gasping, as he circled again. Then his hand slid down further and she felt him slide a finger deep within her.

Oh my god.

She cried out as he kept going, alternating between thrusting his finger in and out, and rubbing her clit.

She felt herself get closer and closer to the edge, her hands gripping Theo’s shoulders tightly.

Then he added a second finger, sliding deep into her and curling just right, the heel of his palm grazing her sensitive clit, and she felt herself balancing on the edge, just about to break.

Then he withdrew his hand.

“No! don’t stop." Hermione begged.

Theo gave her a heated look as he caught his breath. “I want us to go together, our first time.”

Leaning back, he hurriedly undid his fly and pulled out his cock.

“Can I?” He asked, holding himself ready at her entrance.

“Yes” Hermione grabbed his suit jacket, tugging him closer.

He lined up the tip, and slowly slid into her. “You feel amazing” he groaned. “I knew you would.”

Hermione pulled him even closer, lips meeting as he sunk in all the way.

Theo pulled back to look at where they joined. A few slow thrusts quickly built up until he was pistoning into her at a punishing pace. “Fuck I won’t last long.” Theo gasped. “Come with me, love.”

His hand returned to her clit and thrummed it. Once, twice, until waves of pleasure finally exploded from her, bringing her sweet relief. Theo’s cries mingled with hers as he chased her over the edge, spilling his seed deep within her.

Theo held her until the last of the waves subsided. Then he withdrew slowly, shifting her legs down before taking a deep breath.

“Wow.” He exhaled, his voice barely above a whisper.

Hermione gave him a satisfied smile. “Wow back at you.”

“That’s not how I saw our first time going.” Theo admitted. “I pictured a bed at least, and a lot less clothes”

“It was perfect.” She ran her hand through his sweat-dampened hair.

He gave her a cheeky grin. “Yes, it was. But I still think we should give the bed a fair chance.”

Standing, he shucked off his jacket and kicked off his trousers. Then he scooped up a laughing Hermione and carried her into the bedroom.

Chapter Text

"Love, it's time to get up."

Stirring groggily, Hermione lifted her head only to let it fall back onto the pillow, her body far too comfortable to even consider moving.

Theo's deep chuckle resonated beside her. Propped up on one elbow, he gently brushed her tangled curls away from her face. "Draco will be here in an hour," he informed her. "And he won't be impressed if he realises I haven't even fed you."

Groaning, Hermione rolled over and stretched, grimacing as she registered soreness in her joints and between her legs.

"How are you feeling?" Theo's face was laced with concern.

"Um, like I ran a marathon last night."

"Sorry, you're just irresistible." Theo leaned over to give her a kiss. "I tell you what, you go have a shower, and I'll make you breakfast."

Deciding that was a good deal, Hermione leveraged herself out of bed and into the bathroom. A hot shower helped to loosen her muscles and she emerged from the steamy bathroom feeling much better.

Using her wand, she dried herself, then pulled on skinny jeans, white trainers, and a pale pink t-shirt. She slipped a white blazer on top and smoothed enough sleek-ezy on her hair for it to hang loose down her back.

As she entered the kitchen, she noticed that Draco had arrived and was leaning on the counter talking to Theo.

"Oh! Am I late?" Hermione panicked

"Not at all." Draco smirked. "Just thought I'd come by early to check in on both of you."

He pointedly looked between Theo, standing shirtless in her kitchen wearing only his suit trousers, and Hermione, who was blushing.

"It looks like last night went well," he said dryly.

Deciding to test the men's assurances that they wouldn't get jealous, Hermione lifted her chin and said, "I had a wonderful time."

Draco pushed himself off the counter and strolled towards her, his eyes heated. Hermione backed up until she bumped into the doorframe.

"Good," he said huskily, "I like to know that my witch has been looked after."

Her heart stuttered at his words. His witch. She liked the sound of that.

"Our witch needs some breakfast if you want her to keep up with you today," Theo broke in.

***

Fed and caffeinated, Hermione watched as Draco pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and unwrapped a teaspoon.

"Almost time," he said. "Are you ready?"

Stepping closer to Theo, Hermione whispered, "Thank you for yesterday."

Theo pulled her close and rested his forehead against hers. "Last night was more than I ever dreamt," he replied softly, then gave her a chaste kiss.

"Go. Enjoy your trip. Stay out of trouble and make sure you ride the right sort of dragon tonight," he added cheekily.

Draco rolled his eyes as Hermione laced her fingers with his. Together, they touched the portkey as it started to glow, whisking them away to Provence.

Upon landing in a lavender field, Draco pulled her close, steadying her as she recovered her balance.

"Granger," he kept his hands on her waist, "there's something I need to do."

Her words were cut off when Draco's lips met hers in a fleeting kiss. "Oh!" She exhaled. It took a moment for her mind to restart, her hands finding their way to either side of his face, pulling him down for a deeper, more passionate kiss.

Kissing Draco was like feeling an inferno blazing within her chest - her heart thundered wildly, yet amidst the chaos, a profound calmness settled deep within her. It was a sense of righteousness, a sense of finding her way back home.

Draco reluctantly broke away. “I couldn’t wait to kiss you any longer.” He let out a jagged breath. “Unfortunately we have an appointment to get to, otherwise I’d take you straight to the hotel room.”

“Oh? Are we staying at a hotel tonight?”

“Of course, Granger, where did you think we’d be sleeping - In a tent?” Draco raised an eyebrow, and Hermione hid a grin at his trademark snark.

“I’m very used to sleeping in tents, I’ll have you know.” She retorted.

“Yes, and I’m sure it can be very romantic, but I intend to spoil you properly.” Draco held out his hand to guide her through the rows of lavender. “Although, the budget didn’t stretch to two hotel rooms so we will have to share.”

“Oh dear.” Hermione laughed. “I hope the room has two beds then?”

“Nope.” Draco smirked. “I’m afraid we’ll have to share that too.” He stopped at the end of the field and pulled her close again. “But don’t worry, I'm an excellent bedmate.” He winked as he apparated them away.

***

Draco apparated them to the boundaries of a sunny country house. An expansive two-story building, its creamy painted walls were offset by the blue-green shutters that framed its many windows.

“This is beautiful!” Hermione spun on her heel to take in the house and the perfectly landscaped gardens.

“We’ll have to buy you something similar then.” Draco casually remarked. Hermione couldn’t tell if he was joking.

Sweeping stone steps lined with flowering potted plants led up to the front door, which flew open as they approached. A petite woman with delicate features glided down to meet them. Her sun-kissed light brown hair hung straight down her back, perfectly coordinating with her white sundress. Hermione felt clunky and overly formal in her jeans and blazer next to her.

“Bonjour!” The woman greeted them with a lovely smile. “I am Alice Charmont. And you must be Mr Malfoy.” She reached for Draco's hand and stepped closer to him, offering her cheek.

Draco leant in politely and returned the air kiss.

“And you must be Miss Granger. Welcome!” Alice turned to Hermione and repeated the gesture.

“Thank you for meeting with us.” Hermione said, awkwardly.

“Bien sûr” Alice smiled, a natural hostess. “Please, follow me, it is still warm even though it’s late in the season, so I thought we could have lunch in the garden.”

She led them around the house to where a picturesque table had been set up under a pergola.

“I had hoped to meet with your parents or grandparents while we were here.” Draco said as they sat down. Alice sat next to Draco, leaving Hermione to sit opposite him. With his crisp white shirt and sleeves rolled up he looked like a matching pair with Alice.

Hermione was reminded that this was Draco’s realm: high society, luncheons in fancy estates, with an impeccable partner by his side. Self-doubt began to gnaw away at her. She felt inadequate. Who was she to think that she could fit into Draco's world?

As if he could tell the direction of her thoughts, Draco caught her eye and gave her a smile. Hermione relaxed, feeling silly - that smile was one she had never seen him give to anyone other than her. It was a gentle, open smile. One that told her he was hers and hers alone.

"Oh, my parents are constantly traveling, they are in Zimbabwe at the moment hunting for rare potion ingredients." Alice said brightly. Her gaze then shifted "Ah - Divvy!"

With a crack, a house-elf appeared next to her.

"We are ready for our lunch now." Alice informed the elf. "And could you please let grand-mère know our guests have arrived."

Divvy bowed her head and disappeared.

"Grand-mère will join us, she says she knows a little of this manuscript you wrote about." Alice chattered on, not seeing Hermione's barely concealed grimace when the house-elf appeared.

While they waited for their final lunch companion, Alice peppered them with small talk and questions. Hermione quietly watched Draco slip on a mask of polite indifference as he responded.

The tap of a cane against pavestones announced the arrival of Grand-mère Charmont. A diminutive witch, she wore traditional wizarding robes in a pastel rainbow. Despite her slow shuffling walk, her blue eyes were sharp.

Hermione and Draco stood to greet her, and the elder witch waved them away impatiently.

"Shush, let us eat." She ordered.

At her command, the table filled with an array of delicious-looking food: dips, spreads, and vegetables were dotted amongst grilled seafood and bread. Wine glasses appeared filled with a crisp rosé wine.

Draco waited until everyone had eaten their fill before broaching the subject of their visit.

"Ah yes, that maudit quill." Grand-mère Charmont grumbled.

"You know of the quill?" Hermione was surprised - Draco had not mentioned the quill or the curse in his correspondence.

"Is that not why you’re here and looking for the manuscript?"

"Y-yes." Hermione stammered.

"Can you tell us what you know?" Draco pressed.

Grand-mère Charmont sighed. "Which of you is cursed?"

"Me." Hermione answered in a small voice.

Grand-mère Charmont clicked her tongue sympathetically. "What I know is not a happy tale. It’s a story my father asked me to keep quiet. My own children and grandchildren have never heard it. Are you sure you wish for me to tell you?"

Draco immediately stood and moved his chair to sit next to Hermione. He reached out and held her hand, giving her the strength she needed to nod. "Yes, please…I need to know."

The elderly witch sighed, looking out at the garden as though the past was hidden in the blooming flowers. "First, you must understand what sort of people the Bellerose family were. They were among the elite in French wizarding society. Entitled. Privileged. Selfish lot." She spat.

"Their two children, Marcella and Lucienne, summered here with their parents." The witch gestured in the distance.

"I read that their estate here burnt down?" Hermione asked.

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Grand-mère Charmont snorted. "There was no love for the family here. The girls viewed the world as their playground and people as their toys. Lucienne in particular was apparently a beauty on the outside and a conniving brat of a woman on the inside.

My father and uncle were of a similar age to the Bellerose girls. They kept their distance but my uncle Claude caught their attention. The girls were competitive, and it turned into a spiteful game between them to see which could catch him as a husband."

Pausing to take a slow sip of wine, the witch continued:

"My uncle resisted them, and so those wretched girls crafted a quill following instructions from an ancient, awful manuscript: the exact manuscript you are after. The quill they created was designed to force its wielder to soulbond. They gifted the quill to Claude and as soon as he signed his name the curse was activated."

Hermione involuntarily tightened her hold on Draco’s hand.

"The girls told him that he must bond with one of them to break the curse. He refused and began wasting away. Over the course of a year, he became so weak and so ill. My family did all they could to save him. They acquired the manuscript that the girls had used to create the quill, but got no answers. The curse could not be broken. Eventually, after my father begged him, he agreed to bond with Lucienne."

Grand-mère Charmont stopped to compose herself. Alice handed her a handkerchief and the witch sniffed and dabbed her eyes.

"The curse, however, demands a bond between true soulmates, which they clearly were not. The bond was rejected. My family retaliated, of course. We destroyed their manor. The girls' parents and the manuscript were inside. Marcella escaped with the quill and spent the rest of her life in exile."

"I’m sorry, what did you say happened to Claude and Lucienne?" Hermione's mouth was dry.

The elderly witch looked directly at Hermione. “You must find your true soulmate to bond with. Make the wrong choice and not only you, but your chosen bond mate, will perish."

Chapter Text

Draco led Hermione directly to the hotel after their visit with the Charmonts. Hermione trailed in a stupor, still processing the revelations from the Charmont matriarch.

Ensconced in their room, Draco sat Hermione down on the bed and cupped her face.

"Granger. Listen to me," he said sternly.

Hermione blinked at him.

"What we learned today changes nothing."

"How can you say that? Of course it does. I could kill you… or Theo, oh gods, or Marcus." Hermione felt her breaths shortening, her vision darkening as panic set in.

Draco pushed her hair back off her face. "No, listen to me, Granger. I need you to breathe. Take a deep breath in… good girl… and out." Draco breathed with her.

"You're safe," his voice was firm and assured. "I'm with you, you're safe."

Hermione closed her eyes and listened to his voice. Eventually, her heart rate calmed, and she felt control start to return to her.

She slowly opened her eyes, meeting Draco's worried grey gaze.

"Hey, there's my lioness," he said gently.

"I don't know what to do," she whispered, lowering all her defences and laying her vulnerability out before him.

"I know. And that's okay." Draco moved to sit next to her, pulling her towards him. Hermione tucked her head on his shoulder and curled up on his lap. "We'll figure it out together. We will be fine, I know it."

Hermione swiped a few stray tears from her eyes. "I know you probably had the most amazing day planned, but would you mind if we just stayed here?" She asked hesitantly.

"Of course," Draco said instantly. "Whatever you want to do is fine by me."

Hermione bit her lip and glanced up at him shyly.

A look of amusement flitted over Draco's face. "What is it, Granger?"

"No, nothing….well, I was just thinking…"

Draco tipped Hermione's face up towards him with his finger. "You know I can't say no to you. What is it you need?"

"Could you help me forget? Can we just pretend it's just us, that there is no curse?" She asked quietly, her brown eyes wide.

Draco dipped his head and captured her lips in a gentle kiss. Hermione responded by sliding her hand up to his neck, deepening the kiss.

Without breaking their embrace, Draco gently pushed her back until she lay on the bed. He then brushed back her collar and pressed open-mouthed kisses down her neck. His warm hand continued down, skirting gently down her side to rest on her hip.

Hermione stilled him with her hands. Pushing gently, she sat back up and removed her blazer and T-shirt.

"You are beautiful," he said hoarsely.

She reached for his shirt, leaning forward to kiss his chest as she unbuttoned him.

Leaving his shirt hanging loosely from his shoulders, she stepped off the bed and undid her jeans, sliding them off until she stood between his legs in just her underwear and bra.

Draco gently held her hips and rested his forehead on her chest. "I don't deserve you," he said reverently. He lifted his head to meet her eyes. "But I promise I will cherish and protect you."

He pulled her closer and into a passionate kiss. Hermione could feel him pouring his emotions into their embrace. She broke off for air, and knelt between his knees. Looking up at him between her lashes, she began unbuttoning his trousers. Draco lifted his hips to help her slide down his boxers, his cock springing free.

He watched her through hooded eyes, drawing in a sharp breath as she wrapped her fingers around him. She examined him in awe: he was big, and she rubbed her thighs together at the thought of him sinking into her. But first, she wanted to try something…

Draco groaned as she licked the tip of his cock experimentally.

“You don’t have to.” He said, sounding strained.

“I want to.” She responded huskily. She pulled her attention away from his member and met his eyes. “Will you teach me?”

“Fuck…” Draco hissed. “Do you know how hot you are?”

Hermione dipped her head back down and licked him again, listening closely to his instructions:

“Yes…that’s it… run your tongue down... Fuck yes and my balls too…that feels so good. Now put my cock in your mouth…just like that…Fuck…wrap your hand around the rest of it…that feels amazing…yes do that again, suck it, oh gods yes, keep going…”

His words turned into grunts as he thrust gently up into her mouth, over and over until he abruptly pulled her off.

“I’m going to blow if you keep going.” He gasped.

Hermione pouted. “I want you too.”

Draco tipped his head back with a groan and took a deep breath. “No, not yet. It’s your turn first.”

He stood up and guided her down on the bed, throwing his shirt from his shoulders and sliding her underwear off. “This needs to come off too.” He said, removing her bra. “You are stunning.”

He lent down and captured her nipple in his mouth, gently rolling her other nipple with his fingers. Hermione moaned, loving the sensations flowing through her.

He kept moving down her body kissing her stomach, her hips, and her upper thighs as she squirmed.

“You’re so responsive.” He said, and spread her legs. “I can’t wait to taste you.”

He lowered his face and gave her a gentle kiss between her legs. Hermione jerked with a gasp.

Draco chuckled and dipped down again. “I knew you’d be sensitive.”

He used his fingers to spread her and then Hermione moaned and arched her back as he sucked gently on her clit. He seemed to know exactly what to do, working her expertly with his tongue. Before she knew it she was shuddering as an orgasm rolled through her.

Draco hummed as he withdrew and kissed her inner thighs.

“That was a fast one, I think we can go bigger for your second.”

“Wh-what?” Hermione asked dazedly.

He grinned up at her and returned to her centre, this time dipping his tongue inside her. He moved his mouth back to her clit and rubbed two fingers over her, Hermione's moans becoming louder and louder, until she cried “Yes, Oh gods, yes!”

Draco withdrew slightly “That's it, there’s my lioness, tell me what you like.”

“I need your fingers inside me.” Hermione begged.

Draco complied instantly, plunging two fingers inside her and curling them just at the right spot. His tongue returned to her clit while his fingers coaxed her back onto another precipice. Hermione threw her head back in a scream as he worked her just right, causing her to climax.

This time he didn’t give her any time to recover as he moved up her body and sheathed himself with one hard thrust.

Hermione moaned as he held himself still within her, relishing the fluttering of her inner walls around his hard length as she came down from her high.

“You are my beautiful, beautiful witch.” Draco said with emotion as he held himself above her. He lowered his head and caught her lips with his. He moved slowly, thrusting deep before repeating, again and again, until Hermione was an incoherent mess underneath him.

She wrapped her legs around him tighter, deep emotions fluttering to the surface as they gazed into each other’s eyes. Draco brought her higher and higher with each stroke. This time, when she tipped over the edge, he went with her.

***

Hermione drifted off to sleep entangled in Draco's arms, the pair not waking up until early evening.

After a few slow kisses, they reluctantly parted, agreeing that while the original date plan was out the window, they still needed to eat.

Hermione showered first, and emerged to find a pile of bags and boxes sitting on the coffee table.

"The hotel dropped off a few things I had ordered for our trip," Draco explained. He gave her a swift kiss as he passed her on his way into the bathroom. "Have a look, hopefully there’s something you like."

Curious, Hermione rummaged through, finding a bag full of underwear and negligée (with a bias towards silk and green), a few dresses and shoes, and a selection of clothes for Draco. Another bag contained expensive branded toiletries. An investigation of the boxes uncovered several designer handbags.

Shaking her head, Hermione dressed in an off-white and black patterned wrap dress. She selected a Loewe basket bag and wedge espadrilles to accessorise.

With a grin, she then selected a loose black button-up shirt for Draco and light cream fitted trousers, and laid them out on the bed for him. He smirked when he saw her coordinating choice but dressed without complaint.

They wandered out from the hotel and into La Rue Enchantée, a hidden street that served as a hub for the wizarding community in the area. The stores were open late for shoppers, and so Hermione and Draco enjoyed weaving through the crowds, pausing to look at whatever caught their fancy.

"I have an idea for dinner." Draco held Hermione's hand and led her out of Wizarding Provence and into Aix-en-Provence. The sun had just dipped below the horizon and a slight chill came with the evening. Draco cast a discreet warming spell over them both before following the crowds into the town square where there was a bustling night market.

Hermione held them a spot at a long communal trestle table under strings of fairy lights and watched as Draco purchased a selection of dishes from the different vendors. Hermione admired the way he interacted comfortably with the locals, oblivious to the longing glances from the young women (and a few men) in the square.

Balancing an impressive selection of dishes in his arms, Draco carefully made his way back to the table.

"Made it," he said with relief as he sat down. "I nearly dropped the macarons, that would have been a disaster."

Hermione chuckled, "Macarons for dinner?" She teased.

"One of my favourite dinner foods," Draco said playfully back, and bit into a chocolate macaron.

Hermione was completely enamoured by this lighter, more relaxed version of Draco.

A giggle from a pair of passing women proved Hermione wasn't the only one captivated by Draco’s presence, and she narrowed her eyes at them until they moved away.

"What was that look about?" Draco queried, arranging the plates of food between them.

"You really don’t see how everyone is drawn to you?"

He chuckled. "That’s a bit of a stretch, but what’s important is what you think."

"Oh, I’m like a magnet around you."

"A what?"

"Never mind." Hermione laughed. Then she bit her lip. "But…"

"What is it?" Draco handed her a fork and pushed a few dishes closer to her before digging into the food.

"I feel very possessive about you," Hermione admitted in a rush. "Like you’re mine. But I know that’s not fair. It doesn’t make sense for me not to want to share you when you’re doing exactly that with me." She tapped the fork nervously against her hand, hoping she was making sense.

Draco swallowed a mouthful of cheese and potatoes and gave her a slow grin. "I love that you feel that way, because I am yours."

"But Theo, and Marcus…"

"They’re yours as well." Draco rested his fork, noticing her sceptical look. "Look - I’ve known Theo my whole life. He’s my best mate, and the last couple of years he has really struggled. With the war, his father going to Azkaban, and then trying to deal with his feelings for you… but now, with you, he’s like the Theo I used to know. He’s happy again, he’s laughing and joking… you did that. You brought him back."

Hermione smiled fondly at the memory of her and Theo’s dance-filled night.

"And as for Marcus," Draco continued, "anything he puts his mind to he succeeds at, like Quidditch, or his apprenticeship, but he does it without any soul. Ever since meeting you again, he has a spark, a drive and purpose I’ve never seen before."

"And what about you?" Hermione asked softly.

"Me." Draco reached out and entwined his fingers with hers. "I’ve been drifting along since the war, restless and trying to find my place. But when I’m with you, there’s calm. I feel like I’m where I’m meant to be. Being with you is like coming home."

Hermione blinked back tears, remembering the way her first kiss with Draco had felt. "Me too," she said, squeezing his hand. "I feel the same with you, too."

Chapter Text

Despite her magical night away with Draco, as soon as he dropped her home, Hermione fell straight into processing what she had learnt in Provence. The more she thought about it, the more paralysed she became with the knowledge that she could be responsible for the death of her chosen bond mate.

That fear led her to only one conclusion: she would avoid pursuing a relationship with any of the three wizards. The risk was just too great. Decision made, she withdrew into herself and declined all further dates with vague excuses. She avoided Draco’s heated stares, ignored Theo’s letters, and evaded Marcus’ attempts to talk.

Instead, she threw herself back into researching. Her efforts were driven even further by the knowledge that she would soon start to decline - yet another fact that she avoided thinking about.

Their second rotation came to an uneventful close. The quartet had followed Euphemia's advice and focused their research. With Hermione finally accepting that lifting the curse was not possible, and the Charmonts providing the history of the quill, there were only two topics left to explore: finding a definitive way of identifying her soulmate and working out the binding ceremony.

She missed the end of rotation dinner, too engrossed in translating a Japanese scroll on twin flames. Not that she had any intention of even attending the dinner in the first place if she was honest with herself.

A knock at her door on Saturday morning startled her from her work. Hermione impatiently pushed her curls away from where they had fallen over her eyes, then flicked her wand at the door to cast a silencing spell. She suspected it was one of the wizards, as they had each taken turns trying to visit and speak with her over the weeks.

She returned her attention back to the scroll. She was three-quarters through the translation and she still wasn’t sure if it was a text about soulmates or a lengthy lecture on how to start a fire.

The knock came again at the door.

Hermione frowned at her wand, giving it a little shake before lifting it again -

“Hermione!” A feminine voice called impatiently. Hermione blinked at the door, struggling to place the voice. “I’m not going anywhere, so you may as well let me in!”

Sighing, Hermione marked her place on the scroll and got up to open the door.

Standing there, hands on hips, was Morag.

“Oh. Hi,” Hermione said.

“Move over Hermione, I’m coming in.”

Hermione shuffled to the side, bewildered. “How did you know where I live?” She wondered.

“Not difficult to find out. Now, I’ve brought my own tea and biscuits, because I haven’t a clue what you have here. When was the last time you even ate? You’ve gotten thinner since I last saw you.” Morag barged in, chatting away as she began unpacking groceries on the kitchen counter. It looked to Hermione that she had brought more than just tea and biscuits.

“What are you doing here?” Hermione demanded, feeling irritable. “Hey! Don’t move that!” She stepped forward, hands outstretched as Morag pushed her piles of research onto one side of the table.

“Sorry, but we need a place for our tea.” Morag didn’t sound at all sorry. She paused to pick up the scroll that had captured Hermione's attention the last few days. “Besides, I can summarise Nakamura's guide to magical flammable combustions for you if you like. It’s dry reading but useful if you’re camping.”

Hermione sank into her kitchen chair. That answered whether the scroll was useful or not. Rubbing her eyes, she asked, defeated, “which one sent you?”

“None of them.”

Hermione scoffed.

“No, I’m serious. I sent myself, after seeing the state of things at dinner. A more miserable bunch of wizards I never did see. They refused to talk about you and bit the head off anyone who dared mention your name.”

Morag placed a cup of steaming tea in front of Hermione, and ripped open a pack of chocolate chip biscuits.

“I’m not stupid, I deduced something had gone down with you four. Spill.” The dark-haired witch ordered.

“It’s not that simple.”

“It never is. Try me.”

“Why do you even care, anyway?” Hermione knew she was being rude but couldn’t find the energy to be polite.

Morag sighed. “I meant what I said, I think we’re going to be good friends. I’ve been wanting to get to know you better but we haven’t really had the chance. So I’m making up for it now.”

The witches stared at each other before Hermione finally gave a small resigned grimace at the witch's determination.

“How did you know your partners were the ones for you?” Hermione asked, skirting around the issue.

“Hmm…” Morag rubbed her finger against the rim of her teacup as she considered her answer. “I clicked with both of them separately, but every time the three of us were in the same room, it was another level of special.” Then she gave a wolfish grin. “Of course, that’s the censored version.”

“And the uncensored version?” Hermione was curious.

“The sex was amazing.” Morag said simply. “You know, a lot of bonding magic has roots in copulation.”

“So…you just knew after you slept with them?”

“Kind of. It was the sexual attraction which tipped me off. I’m in tune with my body and how I responded to them was not normal, so I knew they were it for me.”

Hermione sat in silence, turning over Morag's words in her head.

The dark-haired witch frowned prettily. “This feels like more than just a simple relationship dilemma.”

Hermione nodded sadly. “It is.” She then proceeded to tell Morag about the curse and all they had uncovered so far.

“Wow.” Morag sat back in shock when she was done. “This is going to need more than tea.”

She stood up and rummaged through the shopping bags, unearthing a bottle of red.

“I knew this would come in handy!” She exclaimed, using a simple spell to locate the wine glasses instead of asking Hermione.

With full glasses in front of them, Morag launched into questions.

“So, I’d guess the front runners now are Theo, Draco and Marcus?”

“Yeah,” Hermione said. “I don’t think there’s anyone else I know who would come close.”

“Of course there’s the possibility that you’ve haven't met your soulmate yet.”

Hermione groaned “That’s one of my fears. I tried to find a spell that would locate my soulmate but all I could find were gimmicky love potions.”

“Let’s put that to one side,” Morag said practically. “And focus on the three options in front of you now.”

She took a sip of her wine before continuing. “Would they be open to you dating each of them?”

Hermione flushed. “Yes, we already tried that.”

“And?”

“And they were all incredible.”

Morag's eyes narrowed. “Define incredible.”

Hermione didn’t think she could get any redder. “I slept with each of them. On our first dates.” She brought her hands to her cheeks. “Theo and I didn’t even make it to the bed!” She exclaimed, mortified.

Morag threw back her head in throaty laughter. “Why are you so bothered about that?” She asked between giggles.

“Because what sort of person does that? Three dates in a row, sex each time. That’s not me!” Hermione pushed her wine away and buried her head in her hands. “And stop laughing at me!” She said, muffled.

“Sorry.” Morag hiccuped. “I’m laughing at how embarrassed you are, not because of what you did. Get with the times, Hermione. You’re a young, independent witch. Do whatever - and whoever - you want, and be proud of it.”

Grumbling about overly confident witches, Hermione reached for her wine again and took a large gulp. “The problem still remains that I can’t pick between them.”

Morag grew serious. “Of course, the simple answer is that you bond with all three of them.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.”

“I’m not. Hear me out.” Morag leant closer. “You are a witch, Hermione. Do you know what that means?”

“It means I can do magic.”

“No - it means you are a magical being…it means that your body is magical. Your body understands there is a curse upon it, and it is trying to find a solution. Listen to it. There’s a reason you’re so strongly drawn to those wizards. The magic within you is trying to show you the answer.” Morag was standing and pacing now as she spoke, gesturing to make her point.

“Do…you really think so?”

Morag sighed and sat back down. “That would be my two knuts, but I’m not an expert.” She brightened as a thought crossed her mind. “Your next rotation is with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, right?”

Hermione nodded.

“Why don’t you ask for a meeting with the centaurs- they may know something.”

Hermione considered the idea and nodded slowly. “I think that would be a good idea. I’ll run it past Ms Bougainville as well.”

“I have one more suggestion.” Morag said slyly. “Go and talk with your wizards again. Go in with your eyes open, see if there’s any pull towards them when you’re all in a room…concentrating on each other.”

“You don’t mean..?” Hermione went red again.

“Not at all - I just meant to see if the attraction is there and if it's stronger towards one or more of them. You don’t have to actually do anything… Unless you want to.” Morag winked.

***

Hermione went into their third rotation with trepidation.

She was also on time, which was late by Hermione's standards. She had been sleeping poorly lately, going to bed exhausted, tossing and turning, before struggling to get out of bed in the morning. The tiredness didn’t help her mood, not to mention her uncertainty over how to interact with the wizards after essentially blowing them off.

Miserably she considered that they may have given up from the hassle and moved on. Not that she would blame them.

The Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures was housed behind imposing mahogany doors, decorated with carvings of magical creatures. Hermione paused to run her fingers over an intricate carving of a hippogriff, admiring the craftsmanship despite her emotions.

A slight cough sounded behind her. Hermione turned to find Theo standing a few paces away. He held his shoulders a little too rigidly. His eyes were flat and his face withdrawn. In one of his hands he held a latte.

It had become routine over the last month that Hermione would shake her head slightly at the coffee, or ignore it completely. Theo would then vanish the cup as though it had never been.

That morning, however, she reached out and accepted it. Theo’s eyes widened a fraction, and it was as if he stopped breathing.

“Thank you.” Hermione said quietly.

Theo nodded once in return.

Feeling overwhelmed, Hermione turned and entered the Department.

Marcus and Draco were already in the foyer, waiting besides a large statue that had been carved from a tree trunk. Sitting in the centre of the circular reception room, it, like the door, depicted a number of magical creatures.

Multiple doors branched from the foyer, each with a sign above indicating the division. A quick glance at the two closest to her showed “The Beast Division” next to a door labelled “Goblin Liaison Office.”

The two men eyed her warily as she approached. Draco's eyes flicked from the latte in her hand to Theo and back.

“Good morning.” Marcus said stiffly.

“Morning.” She replied quietly.

Draco narrowed his eyes and opened his mouth, about to speak. Hermione steeled herself, expecting an acerbic comment.

Luckily, a door at the far end of the room banged open and a tall, imposing witch walked briskly into the room.

“Aha.” She snapped. “There you are. What are you all standing around for, chop chop!”

She stood ramrod straight in front of them, hands on hips. Her grey hair was pulled tightly back into a bun, her face stern.

Hermione automatically shuffled to the side, then paused, unsure where she was meant to “chop chop” to.

Huffing, the older witch turned and marched back into the doorway she had come from. Hermione and the wizards followed her dutifully down a hallway and into a small office. The witch sat down behind the desk and peered up at them.

“My name is Agnes Blackwood, your contact for this rotation. I was also a Crow myself, so do not delude yourself into thinking you will sleep through the next 6 weeks. We are far too busy for that sort of carry on here.”

She frowned at them until they nodded back in agreement.

“You will each be sent to different divisions and given proper workloads.” She continued.

“What, we won’t be together?” Theo looked shocked.

Agnes looked irritated by the interruption. “No, you’re each old enough to fend for yourselves. Now, Mr Nott, you will be working in the Goblin Liaison Office. Mr Flint, the Spirit Division. Miss Granger: the Office of Misinformation, and Mr Malfoy, the Centaur Liaison Office.”

The wizards looked at each other in consternation, not liking the thought of being split up. Hermione kept her eyes on the floor.

“What are you waiting for? Everything is labeled and orderly in this department, go find your division office and get to work.” Agnes shooed them from the room.

***

Back in the foyer, Hermione located the door to her division and was reaching for the handle when Marcus beat her to it.

Holding the door closed he stepped in front of it, effectively barring the way to her.

Hermione looked up, quizzically.

“Hermione.” He said. “You have to talk to us.”

“I don’t have to do anything.” She snapped back.

Marcus took a deep breath. “No, you don’t. But I thought, after that night…I thought you could talk to me. To us”

Hermione stared at the floor, it was far too painful to look at him directly.

“Look at me.” He ordered. “Please.” He added softly.

Hermione lifted her gaze to look at him - the first proper look she allowed herself after weeks of avoidance. His mouth was set in a strained line as he fought to keep his composure. His shoulders were slightly slumped as though he was exhausted. And yet his eyes were fierce, and Hermione was reminded that Marcus was a fighter.

“We aren’t going to be working together for the next few weeks.” He said, watching her carefully. “But we’re here if you need us. And we are still figuring out the binding ceremony, and how we can find you…” he swallowed and looked away for a second before steeling himself. “We’re working on how we find you your soulmate.”

Hermione's heart felt like it was breaking. “Don’t.” She found herself saying. “I don’t want to waste anyone else’s time on this. Just leave it, please.”

Marcus shook his head. “That, we can’t do.” He stood to the side and held the door open for her. “We’ll see you around, Hermione.”

***

Hermione had been tasked with creating an educational document on nogtail infestation management and rehousing, and she found herself thoroughly enjoying the work. If she had not had a ticking clock over her head, she would have seriously considered applying for a permanent position in the department.

With the rotation workload added on top of her curse research, Hermione found herself more and more exhausted each day.

The second week into their rotation, Hermione was trudging into the department one morning when she ran into Agnes.

“Ms Granger.” Agnes acknowledged. “I’m hearing good things about you. Keep it up.”

“Oh, thank you.” Hermione smiled tiredly, appreciating the feedback. “I’m really enjoying this rotation.”

“And you, Mr. Malfoy -“ Agnes looked past Hermione. “How are you finding your time in this department?”

Hermione glanced over her shoulder to see Draco entering the foyer. His eyes flicked to hers briefly as he approached Agnes.

“Educational.” He replied dryly.

“I believe you have been assigned correspondence delivery duties?”

“I have” Draco inclined his head. “It has been a straightforward assignment so far.”

“Good.” Agnes sniffed. “Carry on then.” She turned and disappeared down her hallway.

Draco met Hermione's eyes, his face an impassive mask. Without uttering a word, he pivoted on his heel and strode towards the doorway of the Centaur Liaison Office.

“Wait!” Hermione's voice rang out.

Draco stilled, his back rigid towards her.

“Did…did you mention that you deliver items to the centaurs?” She queried, her voice laced with uncertainty.

“Yes.” Draco answered, his tone clipped.

“So, you go to see them? In person?”

Draco heaved a sigh and turned to face her. “Yes, Granger. Physical presence is generally required when handing over things.” His words dripped sarcasm, and he spoke slowly as though addressing a child.

Ignoring his tone, Hermione asked: “When are you going next?”

“Today.” A crease appeared between Draco's brows as he tried to piece together her line of questioning.

“Can I go with you?”

“Pardon?”

“Can I go with you to see the Centaurs?” Hermione asked again, fiddling with her bag strap nervously.

“Last time we went on a trip together it didn’t exactly pan out well.” Draco said stiffly.

Hermione winced at his words. “Please?” Her voice was barely audible.

Draco stared at her, his face inscrutable. Finally he nodded. “Fine. let’s go.”

Hermione followed him into the office and stayed out of the way while he gathered bundles of parchment and boxes together in a basket. They then silently made their way to the apparition point in the main ministry lobby.

Draco shifted the basket to his left and held out his right hand to Hermione. After a second of hesitation she took his hand, taking a sharp breath as their skin met. His grip tightened fractionally before he apparated them deep into the Forbidden Forest.

Hermione stumbled from dizziness as they arrived, and Draco instinctively stepped closer.

“I’m fi-“ Hermione stopped mid sentence and stared, wide-eyed. Surrounding them, bows drawn and arrows pointed directly at them, stood the centaur herd.

Chapter Text

“You’ve brought a guest, young Malfoy.” An imposing grey centaur directly in front of them spoke, his voice deep and accusing.

“Hello, Magorian. My guest is just here to observe.” Draco subtly moved in front of Hermione under the guise of offering the basket to the centaur.

Hermione stood up straight and cleared her throat. “Actually, no I’m not.” She said clearly.

Draco's head whipped around. “What are you doing?” He whispered incredulously.

Ignoring him, she stepped closer to the centaur leader. “Magorian.” She began. “Do you know why I’m here?”

The centaurs tail swished idly. “Your curse," he intoned, voice echoing through the trees, "is not unknown to us."

A black centaur beside him scoffed. “Speak your questions and begone.”

Standing firm, Hermione gathered her courage “If you know of my curse, do you know who my soulmate is?”

“The heavens speak in riddles and signs, not names and dates.“ Shadows fell across the black centaurs' hard features as he responded derisively.

Hermione nodded, unsurprised. She knew that question wouldn’t get her anywhere, though she had to try.

“Have you seen anything that may help me find my soulmate?” She hesitated, her eyes darting over to Draco “Or do you know if I may have more than one?”

Draco stiffened, his eyes widening.

The black centaurs nostrils flared with impatience. “Your demands -“

“Peace, Bane.” Magorians commanding voice cut him off. “We have seen that stars twine in the sky, each shedding light on the path below. All lights are needed for the path to be clear. We have seen that unity through a bond must found for the curse to be lifted.”

“I know that much!” She snapped, desperation creeping into her voice “but do I have one or more soulmates? Is that even possible? Has it happened before? Can you tell me anything clearer?”

“Enough!” Growled Bane, drawing his bow and arrow to point straight at her.

“Granger, stop.” Draco warned.

But Hermione was beyond listening. “I just need to know. You must have seen more than you’re telling me.” Her voice cracking with despair.

“Remove your guest, human.” Magorian ordered, unyielding.

“No, wait, I just-“ Hermiones plea was cut short as Banes bowstring twanged, the arrow flying towards her at lethal speed.

“No!” Draco roared. He threw himself at her.
Hermione reacted on instinct, casting a fast protego. However almost as soon as it appeared, her shield flickered and vanished.

Pain exploded in her upper arm as the arrow found its mark, her scream tearing through the air.

“Remove your guest.” Magorian commanded, his tone echoing with anger.

With a venomous look at the centaurs, Draco swept Hermione into his arms and apparated her out of the forest.

***

Draco took her straight to St Mungo's. His face was pale, his body rigid. He spoke with the staff through clenched teeth and waited, tense and fuming in the corner, while they treated Hermione.

Through her pain, she dimly registered the healers talking of centaur poison-tipped arrows and Draco's growled command to just "Get it the fuck out of her."

With a plethora of potions ingested, and the wound dressed, Hermione was given instructions to rest before she could be treated again for the poison and discharged.

The second they were left alone, Draco exploded.

"What in the bloody name of Merlin did you think you were doing?!" He raged. "Do you have a fucking death wish? You got fucking SHOT, Granger! Oh, gods, you got shot…" He slumped in a chair and dragged his hands through his hair.

"We nearly lost you." His voice was quieter now, steeped in despair. "We're meant to have at least 9 more months to figure this out. And we will figure it out. But not if you go looking for disaster."

"I had to try." Hermione lay numb on the bed. Draco dropped his head into his hands, breathing deeply. "I'm really tired," she said when he didn't move. "Could you pass me the Dreamless Sleep?"

Draco looked up, his eyes rimmed in red. Wordlessly, he handed over the vial. Hermione drank the entire dose.

***

Hermione woke feeling more refreshed than she had in weeks. She blinked in the dim lights as the room swam into focus.

She wasn't surprised to see Marcus, Draco, and Theo positioned around the small hospital room, waiting in silence. Marcus was by the door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Draco was leaning against the window sill, and Theo was sitting on the chair by the bed. All of them were staring at her.

"Hi," she said quietly.

"You've been cleared to go home," Theo said stiffly.

"Okay."

"You're staying at the townhouse," Draco ordered. His tone allowing for no argument.

"Alright."

Draco's eyebrow twitched in surprise before he schooled his expression. His jaw clenched as he nodded once.

"Let's go," Marcus sighed, pushing off the wall and striding towards her. With ease, he shifted back the covers and picked her up, her body nestled against his.

Hermione couldn't help turning her face slightly towards his chest, his scent and closeness overwhelming her with a rush of memories.

His arms tightened around her. "Hold still, I don't want to bump your arm," he said roughly.

Reminded of her injury, Hermione lifted her arm and inspected it closely. A small new scar marked her arm above her 'Mudblood' carving. "It stings a little," she said, surprised.

"You've been sleeping for over 15 hours. The healers were able to extract most of the poison," Draco explained as he held the door open for them. "But they aren't sure how your body will react to the small bit that's left. You need to be monitored."

"We have our healer lined up again," Theo walked behind them. Hermione peeked over Marcus' shoulder at him and was again struck by how reserved and lifeless he looked. The opposite of her Theo.

Marcus carried her through the Floo and into the townhouse sitting room, putting her down gently in the middle of the couch.

"We should talk," Hermione said apprehensively as she stared at the three wizards.

Draco snorted. "You don't say."

Theo sat at the end of the couch, his face drawn and serious. "We have been trying to talk to you for weeks," he said. Hermione felt a stab of guilt at his miserable expression.

"I know. I just… wasn't ready," she said lamely.

He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "It’s not that we’re angry, Hermione -"

"Speak for yourself," Draco muttered.

"It’s that we’re hurt," Theo continued, ignoring Draco.

Marcus remained standing by the fireplace. "We thought we had something special with you-"

"We know we have something special," Theo spoke over him. "Was it because you were with each of us? You know we don’t care about that."

Hermione’s eyes flicked from one wizard to the other. "No," she shook her head. "No that’s not why."

"Then enlighten us, Granger," Draco's eyes were tight with suppressed anger.

Unable to sit still anymore, Hermione stood up and walked to the bar. She considered grabbing a drink before reluctantly deciding she needed a clear head.

"I couldn’t do it," she said in one breath, her back to the men.

"Do what?" A raw edge of hurt was evident in Marcus’ voice.

Hermione spun around. "I couldn’t pick. I couldn’t be responsible for your lives."

"You're not responsible for them," Draco countered, eyeing her wearily.

"I would be responsible if I picked. What if I got it wrong? It’s far too high a risk. After…after our time together, I knew how much you all meant to me. How much you mean to me." She was aware she was rambling, but the wizards were listening intently so she kept going.

"I’m not going to survive this curse. And I care too much about all of you to risk bringing you down with me."

They looked at her in shock.

"That’s bullshit," Draco spat.

"Excuse me?"

"That’s not your choice to make."

"It IS my choice. I have to decide, so I’m responsible for getting it right!"

Hermione and Draco were walking closer to one another, voices raised.

"No, it's OUR choice. We've chosen to be here, with you, regardless of the risk," Draco retorted, closing the distance between them.

"But you don't know what you're agreeing to. I could...I could kill you." Hermione's voice wavered, the gravity of the situation sinking in.

"And what if we could save you?" Draco challenged, staring at her with intense determination.

"I don't want to be saved if it means risking your lives!"

"And I don't want to live if it means losing you!" Draco exclaimed, his words echoing in the silence that followed.

Hermione stared at him, stunned. Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to spill over. "Draco..."

"No, listen to me, Hermione," he said, his voice much softer now. "I love you. I've loved you for a long time now. And I know the risks. But I can't...I can't just let you give up to protect me when I would put my life on the line for you."

Hermione could only look at him, tears streaming down her cheeks, as she processed his words. She was silent for a moment, then she whispered, "You love me?"

"I do," he said earnestly, moving even closer. "And I'll take whatever risks necessary if it means a chance of saving you."

She looked at Marcus, his expression open and vulnerable, and Theo, who like her, had tears tracking down his face.

"You know we feel the same, love," he said, his voice broken.

Draco reached out, gently cradling her face in his hands. "Please. Come sit down," he whispered.

Her eyes fluttered as she lent into his touch. She allowed him to lead her back to the couch. He pulled her down to sit next to him, so close she was almost in his lap.

Marcus strode over and sat on her other side, his arm wrapped around her and pulled her tight against him.

Theo shifted from the couch to the coffee table directly in front of her. He leant over and captured her hands in his.

Hermione took a deep breath, a sense of safety and calm descending over her. Remembering Morag's advice, she closed her eyes and relaxed, reaching out with her senses. She was hyper aware of the closeness of all three, their intoxicating scents and the comfort of their warmth, but couldn’t say if the draw towards one individual was stronger.

"The last few weeks have been absolute torture without you," Theo’s voice brought her back to her surroundings. Hermione opened her eyes to see Theo looking at her. His brown eyes still held traces of tears.

"I speak for us all when I say we’ve never felt this way about anyone, pet," Marcus lifted a hand to stroke her cheek, turning her gaze from Theo and up to meet his eyes. "You are it for us. We would rather die fighting than let you just give up."

And then, before she could respond, he lowered his head and kissed her. It was a desperate, yet tender kiss, filled with all the love and longing that he had been keeping inside.

Hermione gasped, returning the kiss passionately, allowing herself to finally feel the emotions she had kept suppressed for so long.

Breaking apart, she took a moment to catch her breath. Draco rested his hand on her knee, gaining her attention.

"Can we talk about the Centaurs for a second…” he said, hesitantly

Hermione nodded for him to continue.

"You asked them if you had more than one soulmate."

Hermione felt Marcus tense next to her, and Theo seemed to be holding his breath.

"Do you think that bonding with all of us is an option?" Draco's voice was laced with suppressed hope.

"I don’t know," Hermione answered honestly. She told them about Morag's visit and her thoughts. "I wanted to get some sort of confirmation, so I went to the centaurs. I’m going to talk to Mary tomorrow."

"After the healer's visit," Theo interjected sternly.

"How are you feeling at the moment?" Draco asked, with a devious smile.

"Fine," Hermione replied. "My arm still stings a little but only when I concentrate on it, otherwise I feel better than I have in weeks."

"We can help keep your mind off your arm," Marcus offered, his voice low.

"What do you think about testing out Morag's theory?" Draco extracted himself from the couch and extended his hand to her.

Hermione eyed his hand and then turned to look at Theo and Marcus.

Marcus nodded at her, indicating his interest. Theo smiled softly at her. "Only if you’re comfortable and if you want to, love."

Flashbacks of the fantasy she had in the restaurant months ago floated to the surface, and she bit her lip as the excitement. She was finally going to experience the daydream in reality.

She took Draco's hand and said confidently "Yes, I want this. Let's go."

***

Draco led Hermione into the guest room. Once inside, Theo closed the door and dimmed the lights with a whispered spell.

Draco tugged Hermione to face him and pulled her in for a passionate kiss. “I’ve missed you,” he said raggedly. Hermione stood on her tiptoes. “I’ve…missed…you…too.” She said, between kisses.

Draco chuckled then gently spun her around. “Someone else missed you as well.”

Theo was waiting, eyes dark as he extended his arms. Hermione stepped into his embrace and tilted her head back. Their lips met and moved in sync as his fingers tangled in her hair.

Hermione moaned as Draco's lips found her neck. His hands gripped her hips as he pulled her close from behind. Theo’s tongue slipped into her mouth as Draco's hands inched higher, sweeping up her sides before cupping her breasts. His fingers rubbed her nipples through her top until they pebbled.

“Bring her here.” Marcus demanded, his voice rough. Draco and Theo stepped away and Hermione felt bereft without them. She turned and saw Marcus had stripped down to his boxers, and was sitting at the end of the bed, eyeing her hungrily.

“Wait.” Draco called as she walked towards the bed. “This needs to come off.” He pointed at her clothes.

Theo pulled her top off and unclipped her bra. All three wizards paused to stare at her breasts.

“Do you even know how beautiful you are?” Marcus said as he beckoned her closer. Hermione straddled him, knees on either side of his legs, and hands on his shoulders. She leant down and nibbled at his lips, moaning as his hands grabbed her arse.

He squeezed gently, kissing her back, then with his hands encouraged her to sit lower. He groaned as she sat on top of his groin. Using his hands again he rocked her back and forth against his rock hard erection.

A clink of a belt buckle and rustle of clothes told her the other two wizards were undressing. The bed dipped as Theo climbed up, sitting up against the headboard. Hermione bit her lips as she eyed him, his hand stroking his cock as he watched her.

Marcus lifted her off him and she felt Draco behind her again, this time his base chest pressed against her back. “You still have too much clothes on.” He tutted, and helped her shuck off her pants, leaving her completely bare.

Marcus used the opportunity to remove his boxers, and Hermione felt herself become slicker at the sight of him.

“Do you like what you see?” Draco murmured in her ear. With one hand he grasped her breast, and the other ventured down, a finger sliding between her thighs.

Hermione hummed in agreement and arched her back, relishing the feel of his engorged length on her back, and the stroke of his fingers on her breast.

“Go and show Theo what I taught you.” He ordered quietly.

She immediately climbed onto the bed and settled on her knees between Theo’s legs. Looking at him shyly, she bent over and licked a long strip up his cock.

“Oh, fuck.” Theo drew in a breath, his eyes almost black. Encouraged, Hermione continued, remembering all of Dracos instructions.

“Gods you are a lucky bastard, Theo.” Marcus knelt on the bed next to them, his voice strained. Not wanting him to feel left out, Hermione pulled away from Theo and took Marcus’ member into her mouth instead. Her tongue swirled around the tip, delighting in the taste of precum.

She moved between cocks, her hands sliding up and down each of their lengths while her mouth alternated. The men's breathing was ragged as they watched her.

She jumped slightly at the feel of Dracos hands on her upper thighs, encouraging her to spread her legs. “Oh!” She gasped, as he thrust two fingers deep within her channel.

“Feel good?” Draco grunted as he thrust them in and out.

“Yes, oh gods, yes.” Hermione said in a muffled moan, her mouth full.

“I need to be inside you.” Draco groaned crudely. He knelt behind her and pulled her up slightly at the waist. Hermione's mouth slid off Marcus’ erection and she grasped Theo’s legs for balance as Draco lined up his cock. “Draco!” She gasped as he entered her with one fast thrust.

“Keep sucking off Theo” Draco commanded, slowing slightly as Hermione lowered her head to take Theo’s cock back in her mouth. Draco sped up his thrusts, moving in and out of her at a punishing pace.

“That feels so fucking good.” Theo growled, pushing her hair away from her face so he could see his length disappearing down Hermione's throat. “Oh, fuck, I’m going to come.” He moaned. Hermione sunk down to take him deeper, wanting him to cum in her mouth. “Fuck, fuck, fuck” he panted, then Hermione felt a warm, salty liquid spurt down her throat. Swallowing, she released him with a soft kiss on the tip.

“That was incredible” Theo said, out of breath, looking at her in awe.

Draco pulled out of her. “I want that too.” He said, his voice gravelly with need.

“Turn her over.” Marcus demanded. He had been kneeling, fisting his length as he had watched Hermione being spit roasted.

She let herself be turned over, the men moving her into position between Theo’s legs. Theo wrapped an arm around her and began pinching and pulling at her nipple. He slid his other hand down her soft skin until he was rubbing her clit.

She mewled and writhed at the sensation.

“Do you need more, love?” Theo said.

“Yes, I need…oh, gods..I need…” she couldn’t finish the sentence.

“Give her what she needs,” Theo quietly ordered. Marcus crawled between her legs and held his cock in position, the tip leaking.

“You are stunning.” He breathed as he entered her slowly, giving her time to adjust to his size. Hermione tilted her head back with a groan as he sunk all the way in.

“Turn this way.” Draco commanded. Hermione obeyed immediately, turning her face towards him and opening her mouth. He gently pushed his own throbbing cock between her lips.

With Draco thrusting in her mouth, Marcus increasing his tempo between her legs, and Theo caressing her breasts and clit, Hermione felt herself hurtling towards her release.

“That’s it, love.” Theo lavished her with praise. “You’re taking them both so well.” He stroked her faster. “I can feel how wet you are, you perfect, perfect girl. Come now.”

At his order, Hermione shuddered as the biggest orgasm she had ever experienced shattered through her. She let Draco slip from her mouth as she screamed, her body shuddering. Theo held her tightly, his fingers hot on her clit.

“Oh, Merlin, I can feel you coming around my dick.” Marcus moaned, and gripping her waist, he leant forward and pounded into her until he grunted his own release.

Hermione turned back to Draco, where he was holding his cock as he watched and waited. She reached out and pushed his hand away as she guided him back between her lips. She relaxed her throat, letting Draco fuck her mouth. “You feel so good, so good.” He groaned. “Fuck, that’s it.” He pulled out and aimed at her chest, calling her name as he climaxed. Theo pushed both her breasts together as Draco covered her in his release.

All four breathing heavily, they collapsed on the bed, limbs entwined and hearts full.

Chapter Text

Hermione slept through until late the following morning, only stirring during the night as the wizards cleaned her and settled her properly into bed.

The wizards took turns showering and staying with her, and when she finally woke, she was snuggled tightly against Marcus' chest.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said, giving her a soft kiss on the lips. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit tired," Hermione admitted.

"You're still recovering from the arrow," Marcus said confidently, but Hermione noticed his concerned look.

A soft knock on the door announced Theo. "The healer is due in half an hour," he said when he noticed she was awake. "Did you want something to eat first?" He sat at the side of the bed.

Hermione shook her head. The thought of food was not appealing.

Theo leant over and captured her lips in a kiss. "Just because I can," he said mischievously. Hermione was delighted to see the sparkle had returned to his eyes.

"Will you have a coffee for me, at least?" Marcus encouraged.

"Alright," Hermione sighed. Theo helped her sit up while Marcus slipped out of bed. She couldn't help but admire how he looked, topless and with his sweatpants hanging low.

"Love, last night was incredible," Theo said. "Did you feel it too?"

She nodded, remembering the highs the men had taken her to. "It was magic," she said shyly.

Suddenly she realised she was still naked under the covers. "Oh, did you say the healer will be here soon?"

"Yep, 20 mins," Theo said calmly.

"I need to shower first!" Hermione exclaimed, and hurriedly got out of bed. As soon as she stood up, a wave of dizziness crashed over her and she stumbled, catching herself on the edge of the bed.

"Shit, Hermione!" Theo leapt over to grip her arm, slowly guiding her to sit back on the bed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, just got up too quickly," She grimaced. "Head spin. I'm fine."

Theo looked unconvinced, and insisted on not only following her to the shower but accompanying her inside it.

He transfigured a spare toothbrush into a bath stool and sat her on it while he gently washed her hair and her body. When he was finished, he wrapped her in a soft towel and led her back out into the bedroom where Marcus was waiting with a coffee.

"Everything okay?" Marcus asked.

"Dizzy spell," Theo explained. The men exchanged a worried look.

"I’m absolutely fine," Hermione grumbled.

Theo ignored her and helped her dress in comfortable sweatpants and a T-shirt. Hermione was amused to see the wardrobe had been filled with clothes for her, ranging from sweats to ball gowns.

"I see Draco has been busy," she said drily. "Where is he, anyway?"

"It’s a work day; he has gone in to cover for us and to follow a few leads on the bonding ceremony," Marcus explained as he helped settle her back in the bed. He removed the stasis charm on the coffee and handed it to her. He had included a few shortbread biscuits on a plate which he left on the bedside table.

"We’ll catch up with him at the ministry for your meeting."

"My meeting?" Hermione asked, her thoughts were still foggy. Putting it down to not having her coffee, she took a sip from her mug.

"With Mary. I floo-called her earlier and she has agreed to meet with you later today."

"Oh, good," Hermione smiled up at Theo. "Thank you for organising."

He brushed her hair off her forehead, his fingers lingering. "Of course, love - anything we can do for you, we will."

***

The healer arrived shortly after and spent a long time casting diagnostic magic, muttering to himself and frowning. The room glowed red and green from all the spells that he was maintaining.

"What is it?" Hermione finally snapped.

The healer looked startled. "Oh, er, well, I'll need to come back to rerun a few tests."

"Why, what’s going on?"

"Nothing to worry about," the healer answered in a tone that indicated that there definitely was something to worry about.

Theo frowned. "We need you to be upfront with us," he demanded.

The healer sighed and ended the spells, the room returning to its normal hue. "It’s honestly just a gut feeling at this stage. I was expecting some decline to have started already, given your timeline of a year." He put his wand away and started packing his bag. "But it feels like you’re progressing faster than expected. I’d like to rerun the tests in a day or so to confirm."

"But I feel fine," Hermione argued.

"Really?" the healer asked, a sceptical look on his lined face. "So, no dizzy spells? Or fatigue?"

Hermione was silent.

"That’s what I thought." The healer grabbed his bag. "I’ll see you in two days, or sooner if you need me."

***

Determined to prove the healer wrong, Hermione decided to cook lunch for the two wizards. Marcus trailed bemusedly behind her as she acquainted herself with the townhouse’s vast kitchen.

“What are you thinking?” he asked, a slight smile on his lips as he watched her rummage in the fridge.

“Uhm…shepherd's pie?”

“Ambitious,” he remarked, neutrally, amusement dancing in his eyes.

“Yes, you’re right…hmm maybe sandwiches.” Hermione bit her lip in thought.

Marcus chuckled and pulled her out of the fridge. He wrapped his arms around her and dipped his head, capturing her lips with his in a light kiss. “I’m more than happy to cook. You should relax.”

Hermione leant into his warmth and tipped her head back for another kiss. “Thank you, but it’s time I did something for my men.” She insisted, and shooed him out of the room.

Deciding to keep things simple, Hermione made a Greek salad and a selection of open sandwiches: a mixture of salmon, as she had noticed Theo was partial to seafood, and chicken, because Marcus ate anything.

Setting everything out on the table, she called the men back in.

Theo’s smile lit up the room when he saw the spread on the table. “This looks delicious!” he praised.

“It’s nothing much,” Hermione shrugged.

Theo tipped her head up and kissed her softly. “Love, even if it’s not edible it’s still the nicest meal I’ve ever had.”

“Don’t be silly,” she scoffed, and pushed him into a chair.

“I’m not,” Theo said, seriously. “No woman has ever made me food before. This is special.”

The food seemed to go down well as the two men made sure the plates were cleared. Hermione picked at the salad, still not feeling hungry.

When they were done, Hermione changed clothes into workwear while the wizards cleaned up.

“Ready?” Marcus asked as they stood by the fireplace.

“Yes. Of course. It’s just a meeting,” Hermione said unconvincingly, nervously pulling at her jacket sleeves.

“We’re here for you, love, no matter what.” Theo wrapped his arm around her waist, and together they walked into the fireplace.

***

Draco met them outside Kingsley's office, looking polished in his black suit and white shirt. At the sight of Hermione, he strode over and pulled her close, his forehead touching hers.

“How are you?” he asked quietly.

“Good,” Hermione said softly. “I missed you this morning.”

Draco flashed her a grin. “I missed you too, my lioness, but you needed your sleep. Last night was extraordinary.”

The door to Kingsley's office clicked open and his secretary stepped out, followed closely by Mary.

“Ah! Just on time!” Mary chirped. Her eyes fell on Draco's hands where they rested on Hermione's hips, and a knowing smile spread over her perfectly made-up face.

“Come in, Ms Granger!” Her tone indicated that, as before, only Hermione was welcome in the room.

Draco gave her a quick kiss. “We’ll be out here waiting,” he whispered in her ear before letting her go.

Inside the room, Kingsley and Edgar were seated around the desk. Mary took her usual seat and gestured for Hermione to take the remaining chair.

“How are you, Hermione?” Kingsley asked kindly.

“Fine, thank you,” Hermione nodded back.

“May I be the first to congratulate you on finding your bonding candidate?” Mary's eyes gleamed with curiosity.

“Uhm. I suppose so. That's what I wanted to talk to you about,” Hermione began.

“We are still researching the bonding ceremony. But we have plenty of time,” interrupted Mary.

“Okay,” Hermione said tentatively. “But what I wanted to discuss was the possibility of having more than one soulmate.”

“Two soulmates!” Edgar exclaimed.

“Er- three, to be precise,” she mumbled.

“Three!” Mary’s eyes bulged.

“Yes, three,” Hermione confirmed more confidently. The room was silent.

Kingsley cleared his throat. “I can’t say I’ve ever heard of that. Perhaps, Ms Bougainville, you may have some insight?” He deferred.

Mary snorted dismissively. “I can answer you right now: no. One cannot have more than one soulmate.”

“But, how can you be sure?” Hermione was insistent.

“I’m sure, Ms Granger. This is a soul binding we’re talking about, not just a standard binding,” Mary said, her tone clipped.

Hermione rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “I just think if we were to double check -“

“Ms Granger,” Mary snapped, “I’ve held my tongue long enough.”

Hermione looked at her, startled.

“You and your Crow colleagues have been completely disrespectful to my team and our research efforts.”

“Wh-“

“Let me finish,” Mary sniped. “You may be the brightest witch of your age, Ms Granger, but we have some of the brightest witches and wizards of all ages working here.”

“I understand that, Ms Bou-“ Hermione tried to placate before Mary spoke over her again.

“I assigned people to research breaking the curse even though everyone knows a blood curse cannot be broken. A fact I believe you had to go behind our backs to confirm,” she sniffed. “Well. I’m telling you now, Ms Granger - do not waste our time and your own on a foolish multiple soulmate chase. Having more than one soulmate is unheard of.” She sat back and crossed her arms. “Not to mention, greedy,” she added snidely.

***

Hermione left the room in a daze. The men hurried her back through the floo, hovering protectively.

Back in the townhouse, Hermione braced herself against the edge of the sofa, her fingers digging into the fabric as she repeated Mary’s words to the wizards.

“I stand by my original thoughts - that woman and her team are incompetent,” Draco growled.

“She wasn’t wrong though, everything we have found so far lines up with what they’ve been telling us. Maybe we haven’t been entirely fair to them,” Hermione reasoned.

“No,” Marcus shook his head, his jaw tight with anger. “Regardless of what they’ve done, they’re not invested. That means we can’t rely on them.”

Theo nodded in agreement. “We need to keep researching ourselves.”

“Yes, of course,” Hermione sighed, then winced as the ache in her head throbbed - an action that didn’t go unnoticed by the men.

“Are you ok, love?” Theo said gently, walking over to her.

“I'm fine, absolutely I’m fine,” Hermione insisted. She took a step towards him, only to find the room tilting. “Oh!” She gasped, as the floor rushed towards her.

“Fuck! Hermione?” Theo swore, capturing her in his arms before she fell. “Love?”

“Get her to her room,” Draco snapped. “I’ll get that healer back.”

***

The healer spent hours with her, casting spells repeatedly until the air was thick with magic. The wizards hovered around the edges of the room, having been warned by the healer not to interfere. Hermione woke halfway through, but was too tired to do anything but lie passively on the bed.

Finally, the healer ended the spells and sank into the bedside chair. “I’m afraid it’s as I suspected, if not worse,” he rubbed his eyes.

“What do you mean?” Marcus demanded. He strode over to the bed and sat next to Hermione. The gentle caress of his hand on her forehead at odds with the steel in his voice.

“To put it plainly-“

“Please do,” Draco interjected.

“Hermione is declining at an accelerated rate. I suspect the poison from the centaur’s arrow has enhanced the effects of the curse, and she no longer has most of a year left.”

“How long does she have?” Draco's eyes were wide with panic.

“It’s difficult to say, but my estimate is a few weeks.”

“Oh Merlin,” Theo moaned, bracing himself against the wall and rubbing his hand over his mouth.

“A few weeks?” Marcus exclaimed.

“At most.”

“That fucking herd-“ Draco raged, cutting off when he noticed Hermione trying to sit up. “Wait, we’ll help you,” he said in a much gentler tone.

The healer moved off the chair to give Draco space to help Hermione sit up. Marcus wrapped his arm around her and she sank into his embrace.

When she was comfortable, she spoke. “Is there anything I can do in the meantime?” She asked the healer softly.

The healer rattled off instructions for a rota of Pepper Up, Pain Relief, and Dreamless Sleep potions. “But,” he warned, “I don’t know how long they will be effective. Eventually they will stop having an impact.”

“I understand,” Hermione smiled, resigned. “Thank you for all your help so far.”

“I’ll come every other day, until…” the healer coughed. “I’ll leave you all now. Good evening.”

After the healer had left, Hermione reached out and held Draco's hand.

“Theo,” she called.

Theo looked over at her, distraught. “Love, I…” he trailed off, wiping his eyes angrily.

“We knew this was going to happen eventually,” she said, sadly.

“Why are you talking like you’ve given up?” Draco frowned.

“I’m exhausted,” Hermione admitted. “My magic has been patchy lately, and I don’t think I have it in me to keep researching.” Her face crumpled.

“But we do,” Draco rebutted.

“And we will,” Marcus said, firmly. “You have three men who are willing to bond with you, no matter the risk. Whether it’s one or three of us that you soulbond with, we will all still be with you. Now we just need to find the bonding spell.”

Hermione sniffed, and held out her hand again to Theo. The wizard crawled up the bed and laid his head in her lap.

“We’ll figure this out, love,” he said. Hermione wiped the tears tracking down his face.

“Okay,” she replied, a sad smile on her face.

***

The men threw themselves into the task with fervour over the next week. Draco visited Edgar and Agnes and secured a break in their Crow schedule given the circumstances. Theo rarely left her side, helping her wash, eat, and managing her potion schedule.

Marcus worked round the clock trying to find the bonding spell, visiting far-flung libraries, calling in favours, and reading scroll after scroll. Occasionally he would crawl into bed next to Hermione for a few hours' sleep, before rousing himself and starting again.

Hermione let the men fuss and work, using the time to become resigned to her fate. She sent Draco to talk to her friends, but only accepted visits from Harry, Ron, and Ginny. The thought of her parents was particularly painful: her Obliviate spell during the war had been so powerful it was irreversible, but Draco portkeyed to Australia to check on them and shared the memory with her when he returned. The image of them together and smiling in the sunny streets and cafes of Sydney gave Hermione some comfort, knowing they would be happy in the new life she had created for them.

A week and a half after the healer's prognosis, Morag came to visit.

Theo helped Hermione sit up in bed and prepared her pain potions - she was now on double the dose she had started out on.

After consuming her potions, Hermione greeted Morag with a weak hug.

“I won’t ask how you are, because you look awful,” Morag said bluntly.

Hermione huffed a laugh. “I’m doing okay, considering.” She reached out to hold Theo’s hand, smiling up at him. “I’m being well looked after.”

“These wizards obviously care for you,” Morag noted. “Have you decided who you will soulbond to?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Hermione shook her head. “We haven’t found the bonding spell.”

“From what I can see, your men are out there moving mountains trying to find it. They may yet uncover it.”

Hermione smiled, appreciating her friend's support. “I hope so,” she said before a coughing fit overtook her. Theo braced her with his arm until she was done.

“So, say they do find it in time,” Morag pressed, “who would you pick?”

“I really don’t know,” Hermione frowned. “Mary said that there had never been multiple soulmates before. She felt pretty strongly that it wasn’t possible.”

“Hmm,” Morag narrowed her eyes. “Just because something has never been done before doesn’t mean it’s not possible. I wouldn’t put any stock into what Mary thinks.”

“Regardless, it still doesn’t matter,” Hermione dismissed the thought. “Because we can’t do anything without the—“

Just then, the door banged open and Marcus ran in, out of breath. He braced himself on the doorframe and announced, “I’ve found something!!”

Chapter Text

Hermione asked Theo to track Draco down before Marcus shared his news. While he was gone, Marcus sat next to her, his body tense and his eyes brimming with hope. Morag disappeared into the kitchen and came back with two tall glasses of water, which she floated to the side table for Hermione and Marcus.

"Did you want me to stay or go?" the dark-haired witch asked.

Hermione raised her eyebrow at Marcus, unsure what his news was about. The wizard inclined his head.

"Stay, please, we may need your help."

Morag nodded and transfigured a cushion into a little pouffe, which she sat on, out of the way, in the corner.

Theo and Draco returned quickly. The blonde wizard looked dishevelled and dusty.

"Finally got access to the Travers library." Draco explained with a grimace as he vanished the dust from his clothes. "That family hasn't even looked in that room in decades, I’m surprised the books haven’t disintegrated."

Hermione felt a pang at such disrespect for books. As if sensing her horror, Draco made his way over to her side and gave her a gentle kiss. "Don’t worry, I cast some preserving spells - the books will be fine for a few millennia more." He winked, then cast a not-so-discreet eye over her. "You look more pale than usual, my lioness, should we let you rest?" His brow creased with concern.

"No, I’m okay for now." Hermione said, her voice hoarse and tired. "I want to hear Marcus’ news."

All eyes turned to the burly wizard.

"I found the bonding spell." He said bluntly.

There were exclamations all around, then everyone began talking at once.

"Where did you find it?" Draco demanded.

"Are you sure it’s the right one?" Morag queried, her hands tight on the pouffe.

"What is it? Do you have it written down?" Theo asked.

Hermione gave Marcus a smile. "Well done, my love," she spoke softly yet her words were all Marcus could hear. He reached over and cupped her face gently.

"I told you we were not going to let you give up." He whispered words for her alone. "I love you."

Hermione blinked away tears. "And I love you too."

Morag's strong voice brought the pair back to their surroundings. "What do you need for the spell? I can gather the supplies."

"I don’t know all the details, but I did find an expert who knows it and who is willing to help us." Marcus explained.

"Who is it?" Draco asked with a frown.

"You’d never guess. It’s Hermione's old flame, Reginald."

The wizards burst into surprised laughter.

"He is hardly an old flame." Hermione grumbled. "And how on earth does he know the spell?"

"Do you even know what he does?" Marcus asked her with a slight grin.

Hermione shook her head, then grimaced as a sharp pain shot across her temple. Theo was immediately at her side, uncorking another dose of pain relief potion.

Potion administered, Marcus continued his story.

"Our friend Reginald is a scholar, with a particular interest in uncovering and documenting bonding ceremonies from around the world."

Hermione blinked up at him in disbelief. "He never said."

"He takes quite some time to get to the point. Apparently he was gifted a children's book about enchanted rings at his 5th birthday which sparked his interest in magical bonds."

Draco groaned and hung his head. "You mean if we never interrupted her date we might have known about this months ago?"

"Possibly," Marcus shrugged, "though it didn’t seem like Hermione was listening to him either way, so maybe we’d still be where we are today." He added, cheekily.

"Anyway," he continued, "Reginald has the soulmate bonding spell tucked away somewhere, and has agreed to bring it here."

As if on cue, the floo sounded from the sitting room. Draco strode out to greet their guest.

Draco returned with Reginald in tow. Of average height and build, and with mousy brown hair, Reginald was dressed in muted browns and greys. He walked slowly and deliberately behind Draco, who was almost bouncing on the balls of his feet with impatience. Hermione could tell Reginald and Draco were polar opposites.

"Good to see you again, mate," Marcus greeted him like an old friend, clapping him on the back. "Thanks for coming over so quickly."

Reginald swayed under the bigger wizard's greeting. Righting himself, he surveyed the room. "Ah, no problem, not often people are interested in the obscure bonding spells, nor their history."

He spied Hermione in the bed and blinked at her. "Goodness, are you sick?" He queried. "You didn’t mention you were ill on our date. My mother swears by a daily tonic passed down to her from her mother, who in turn received the recipe from her mother, who-"

"Never mind all that," Draco cut across the man harshly, his eyes cold. "Marcus said you know the binding spell for a soulmate bonding?"

"Oh, well, ah, yes I do," Reginald bumbled, thrown off by Draco's intensity.

"Here, why don’t you take a seat?" Theo levitated the bedside chair away from Hermione's side and into the middle of the room. Theo and Marcus leant against the wall and the windowsill, smiling encouragingly at Reginald.

Draco, however, stood in front of the man, his arms crossed, as though he was going to interrogate him.

"Draco," Hermione called. The blonde wizard turned his head to look at her. "Could you sit with me? I need to lean on someone."

"Of course," he replied instantly. He moved to sit on the bed beside her, bundling her into his arms and making sure she was comfortable.

Reginald used the time to regain his composure.

"Please," Marcus prompted. "Tell us about the soulmate spell."

"And be as concise as possible," Draco asked between gritted teeth.

Reginald drew in a deep breath. "I was gifted a book called 'The Enchanted Rings' when I was five. A mere children's tale, and not a bestseller by any means. I believe the author only sold a handful of copies before he decided that gardening was more his thing. In fact, he became one of the most celebrated gardeners at the Paris gar-"

Draco cleared his throat.

"Right, yes, anyway," Reginald coughed and recommenced his tale. "That book, while a children's tale, contained a description of an older form of bonding magic, one that fell out of fashion in the wizarding world back in the 1800s. I was curious then, about other forms of bonds and ceremonies. As I grew older, I became a scholar with this as my primary research field."

"The spell in the children's book, is that the soulmate spell?" Theo asked.

"Goodness no, that was a spell for a standard bonding. It fell out of favour, you see, as it required a form of animal sacrifice. The more modern bonds are just as, if not more powerful, so you can see how the old spells became obsolete."

Hermione felt Draco tense up beside her, his patience wearing thin.

"So, moving on to the soulmate spell?" Marcus prompted.

"Yes. I have researched many forms of bonds and traditions across the world. In a few cultures, there was a reference to soulmates. However, it is considered by most cultures now to be nothing but a children's tale - or at best, something so rare it has only occurred a few times and only in ancient history."

He paused for a sip of water that Morag had quietly gotten for him.

"But then, I thought, what if it was like the Enchanted Rings, and the soulmate spell was indeed captured in an old children's book - the soulbonding ceremony, like the concept of soulmates, captured for history as a child’s tale?" He shrugged. "It was a long shot, and not my primary interest, but still, whenever I visited a new library for research, I asked to review their children's book selection."

"And did you find it?" Hermione breathed.

"Yes." Reginald answered, matter-of-factly. "In a short little tale called ‘Sgeulachd an Dà Charaid as Fheàrr’ which I found in Scotland."

At their blank looks, Reginald translated: "It means ‘A Tale of Two Best Friends.'"

"And what is the bonding spell?" Marcus asked, leaning forward. Morag conjured up a quill and parchment, waiting to take notes.

"It’s fairly simple, as bonding spells go." Reginald took another sip of water. "A soulmate bond is primarily about the intent. If the desire to truly, and freely, merge your soul with another isn’t there, the spell simply won’t work. I suspect that’s why the spell went out of fashion in the first place and was eventually lost - a simple bonding ceremony allows for a partnership without entwining your core with someone else’s, it just is a bit excessive if you ask me."

"Deep breath, Draco." Hermione murmured quietly, feeling Draco tense beside her, about to snap. She suppressed a smile as he huffed out a sigh.

"The spell, Reginald." Morag said, a hint of annoyance seeping into her words.

"Right, yes, so firstly the intent needs to be there. Then the two soulmates would need to sacrifice a piece of themselves - sounds dramatic but really a drop of blood would do. This should be placed on a parchment - so really, blood would be easiest. Then they would write their names on the parchment, and recite the spell, which I have here," he rummaged through his pockets until he found a slip of torn parchment on which two words were scrawled. He handed it to Theo.

"The wand movements are fairly simple." Reginald demonstrated a basic swish and flick with his wand.

"That’s it?" Theo sounded sceptical as he examined the paper.

"That’s it." Reginald confirmed. "Of course, you could enhance the environment where you perform the spell. Open air would be best, night sky under Cygnus, all that basic stuff. In theory though, they are unnecessary."

"Anything else?" Draco asked curtly.

"No, that’s about it I suppose," Reginald said thoughtfully. "But like I said, there hasn’t been a documented successful soul bond in modern times. I personally just don’t think the intent is there, youth these days don’t want to be tied down -"

"Thank you, Reginald." Interrupted Morag. "How about you come with me to the kitchen and I’ll make you a cup of tea?"

Reginald amiably agreed, to Draco's relief.

"Can I ask you to write down all these 'basic' things one may have at a soul binding ceremony?" Morag’s voice faded out as she led Reginald out of the room.

When they were out of earshot Draco groaned and rested his head against the headboard. "If he wasn’t so essential I’d have thrown him out as soon as he opened his mouth," he complained.

"Keep it down, mate," hushed Theo, gesturing towards Hermione. Draco looked down to see the witch had fallen into a fitful sleep in his arms.

"She’s gotten worse," Draco whispered, frown lines creasing his forehead. "Even since this morning."

Theo nodded, his features drawn and haggard from worry. "I don’t think she has much longer left." He pressed his lips together and breathed deeply, composing himself before speaking again. "If we’re to try this spell, we need to do it soon."

Marcus released a long breath. "Okay," he pushed away from the windowsill. "Let’s do it tonight."

"Tonight? Can we get things together that quickly?" Draco asked doubtfully.

"You heard what he said - the critical element is intent. We have that. I think we need do the spell as soon as tonight," Marcus argued.

Draco looked down at Hermione, her pale face pinched as she whimpered in her sleep. He gently brushed a curl away from her forehead before extracting himself and laying her down properly in the bed.

"You’re right," he said decisively. "But let’s try and tip things in our favour."

The men huddled together and agreed on a plan of action in hushed tones.

***

When Hermione woke later that evening, her first thought was of the pain. Her whole body hurt, and the pounding in her head was excruciating. She swallowed a whimper as she opened her eyes, blinking in the dim light.

"Hey there, 'Mione," Ron’s concerned face swam into view. "How are you feeling?"

Hermione swallowed thickly. "Hi," she croaked. "Potion…" she gestured with her hand weakly.

"Oh, yeah, Theo said to give this to you as soon as you woke up," Harry’s voice came from her left. He helped her to sit up, then handed her a pain relief potion. Hermione's hand shook as she lifted it, somehow managing not to spill any.

She breathed a sigh of relief as the potion took effect. There was more liquid than usual in the bottle, making her think Theo had increased the dose again.

"Where is Theo?" She asked weakly.

"Theo and the rest asked us to bring you to them," Ron explained, his face scrunched with confusion. "But I really don’t think you should be moved. You look terrible, 'Mione."

"Thanks Ron," Hermione joked feebly. Neither of her friends laughed. "Where are you meant to bring me?"

"Dunno," Ron shrugged. "Draco gave us an address and a lecture on being gentle with you. You’d think we were going to drop you down the stairs or something."

"They want us to take you in the car," Harry explained. "You’re too weak for the floo or to apparate."

"Makes sense I suppose," Hermione frowned. "But I still don’t know why I need to - oh!"

"What is it?" Harry asked, alarmed.

"They want to try the spell," Hermione deduced, her eyes wide.

Harry sat back with a whistle "They didn’t say they’d found it. Well, forget what they want - what do you want?"

Hermione thought it through. "I want to do it," she said finally. "I’d do the same for them."

"Then it’s settled," Harry said with finality.

Ron and Harry helped her out of bed, with Ron eventually carrying her when her attempt to walk failed miserably. Harry led the way, holding a bag full of potion bottles.

After the war ended Harry had gotten muggle driving lessons and his license. He had purchased a sensible sedan car and frequently went out on joy rides with Ginny.

The two wizards bundled her carefully into the car. Ron ran back upstairs for pillows after seeing how uncomfortable Hermione was sitting up. He sat next to her in the back, supporting her as Harry pulled out into the street.

"Have a sleep if you want," Harry suggested gently. "I think we’ll be driving for a while."

Already yawning, Hermione followed his suggestion and drifted off.

***

A gust of cold air woke Hermione, stirring her from a disoriented sleep. She slowly realized that the car had stopped moving. They were parked in an open field. Dark figures moved outside, their murmurs too faint to make out.

The chill breeze had found its way in through the opposite passenger side door, left ajar. It carried the sharp scent of meadows and farmland.

Hermione's head throbbed. Squinting, she tried to discern the silhouettes outside. "Marcus?" She called out, recognizing his profile.

He turned and climbed into the car next to her. "Hi, pet," he said gently. "How are you feeling?"

"Cold," Hermione admitted, shivering as another gust swept into the car.

"Shit, sorry. The warming spell must have worn off." Marcus quickly shut the door, then removed his jumper and transfigured it into a blanket. "How’s that?" He said, wrapping the blanket around Hermione's frail form.

"Better, thanks," she grimaced, the pain pulsating between her temples. "Where are we?"

"We're at one of the abandoned Nott estates," Marcus gestured out the window. "It was the closest place we could find that met all our criteria."

"What criteria?" Hermione shifted closer, laying her head on his shoulder.

As Marcus wrapped his arm around her, he began to explain. "We needed a clear sky for viewing the Cygnus constellation, which meant being far from any town or city. We also needed to be close to swans...to, er, borrow some."

"Borrow swans?" Hermione echoed.

"You’ll see," Marcus reassured, then continued. "And we needed a wide-open space to cast a large circle."

"Are we really doing this?" She asked quietly.

Marcus turned to her, his expression solemn. "We need to try, pet."

She nodded uncertainly.

They kept each other company until Theo tapped gently on the door. "We're all set," he announced.

Marcus helped Hermione out of the car, her legs wobbling. Dizziness washed over her, and she clung to his shirt for support. Theo steadied her from behind, offering a calming presence. "Will you take a Pepper Up for me?" he asked, his voice strained.

Hermione agreed, and Theo assisted her. The potion steadied her, and she allowed the wizards to guide her.

Her breath hitched at the sight before her: a giant circle of pink flickering candles set out in a field. A second ring of pink rose petals lay within the circle, where a pair of confused swans waddled around.

At the centre of the rings stood a stone gazebo, its four pillars rising from a circular paved base.

The potion coursing through her, Hermione made her way towards Draco, who waited at the edge of the candles. A small group, including Morag, Alaric, Delilah, Harry, Ginny and Ron, stood with him.

"Did you do all this?" Hermione asked, stumbling into Draco's waiting arms.

Draco's jaw ticked, his face pale as his eyes scanned her. He swept her into his arms. "Everyone helped," he said tersely. "But now they’re leaving."

From the corner of her eye, Hermione caught Ron scowling at Draco's tone. But as she looked up into Draco's stormy eyes, she knew fear, not rudeness, was driving him.

"Thank you," Hermione addressed her friends, tears welling in her eyes. "I…" Words failed her, but her eyes pleaded with her friends to understand.

“This isn’t goodbye,” Harry said firmly, stepping forward to kiss her on the cheek.

Hermione smiled through her tears at his unwavering optimism. “No,” she agreed. “It’s not.”

Ron stepped forward, his face a battlefield of emotions. “You don’t have to do this, 'Mione,” he managed, his voice rough.

Hermione felt Draco's arms tighten protectively around her, but he held his tongue. She knew that this had to be her choice, and that he would go with whatever she decided.

“I want to do this, Ron.” She lay her head against Draco's chest, the Pepper Up potion already fading.

She tilted her head back to meet Draco's eyes. “We need to do this now,” she whispered. The potions were burning through her so fast they were essentially useless. She knew deep down that she had very little time left.

His mouth twitched as he nodded. Wordlessly he made his way towards the circle, Marcus and Theo flanking them.

The rest of the group stepped away.

“We’ll be in the village,” Morag called. “Good luck.” And one by one their friends apparated out.

“They didn’t want to stay?” Hermione asked.

“They can’t. It’s best if the area is clear from all other magical beings,” Theo explained. He cast a worried eye over her. “I can’t give you another Pepper Up, but do you want another pain relief potion?”

Hermione declined the offer despite her pounding head, opting to wait until the ceremony was due to start.

Somberly, Hermione's wizards stepped as one into the circles, Draco carrying Hermione. The group made their way to the gazebo, where Hermione noticed a pile of cushions waiting for her, along with a low table holding parchment, ink, and the withering quill.

Draco placed her gently on the cushions at one end of the table, then extracted her wand from his pocket. He laid it neatly beside the quill.

The men knelt around the table.

“Ready?” Marcus asked, his tone determined and focused.

Hermione's eyes flicked over to meet Theo’s. He handed her a small vial. She downed the potion, grimacing as just the edge of her pain was removed.

“Ready,” she spoke, her voice thin.

They all extended their hands above the table, and Draco muttered a short spell, waving his wand above each pointer finger.

Hermione felt dizzy as blood welled up on her fingertip. She bit her lip and tipped her hand, dripping the blood into the centre of the parchment. The wizards followed suit, their blood mixing with hers.

Silently, Draco handed Hermione the quill. Her hand shook as she held it, remembering the pain it inflicted the first time she wrote with it.

Noticing her hesitation, Marcus reached out and held her hand. “Take your time, pet.”

“I’m okay,” Hermione murmured, more for herself than for the wizards. Gripping the quill more firmly, she dipped it in the ink. The parchment cracked under the nib as she began writing.

Hermione Granger
Draco Malfoy
Theodore Nott
Marcus Flint

She dropped the quill once she was done, feeling drained. She blinked as black spots began filling her vision.

“And now the spell,” Draco's voice seemed to come from a distance. Hermione pushed her hair away from her face, feeling perspiration on her forehead despite the cool night air.

Marcus shifted so he was kneeling behind her, and she gratefully leant back against him. He wrapped a strong arm around her, holding her up.

Theo handed her the slip of parchment with the spell written on it, and Draco handed her the wand.

All three wizards held their breath as Hermione squinted at the words.

Her wand shook as she lifted it. Copying the wand movements Reginald had demonstrated, she croaked out the spell:

“Animarum Nectere”.

The wizards leaned forward, looking at the parchment.

Nothing happened.

“Did it work?” Hermione whispered, turning her head into Marcus' chest.

“I don’t…” Marcus sounded shattered, his breath hitching in his chest behind her.

Theo held a hand to his mouth, his face twisted in anguish as a tear fell down his cheek.

Draco stared with intensity at the parchment, his jaw twitching, his hands balled into tight fists on the table.

Hermione slumped against Marcus. “It didn’t work.” She sobbed.

Chapter Text

"No." Draco growled, his eyes flashing. "It has to work."

He whipped his head towards Hermione. "You said your magic had been patchy, right?"

"Yes." She whispered. It hurt too much to move her head.

"So we try the spell again. We'll help you." Stubbornly, Draco moved to her right, gesturing for Theo to do the same on her opposite side.

"Yes." Theo breathed as he hurried over. "It must be that you're so ill the magic didn’t work."

"I don’t know…" Hermione sniffed, her heart breaking.

Draco reached over to clasp her wand hand. "Please, Hermione. My lioness. We can do this, please just try again." For a second, his defences dropped and she saw the terror on his face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he spoke again, he was more composed. "Please." He said softly.

"Okay." Hermione's lips lifted in a sad smile. She could indulge him one last time.

"What do we do?" Marcus asked, his movements gentle as he shifted Hermione, curving his arm around hers to rest his hand on top of Draco's.

"We cast the spell again. Together." Draco nodded decisively as Theo placed his hand on theirs. All four of them were now holding the wand.

Theo lifted the scrap of parchment so it was visible.

"Animarum Nectere," they recited together, Hermione's voice a bare whisper.

The wand tip glowed a soft pink, and Hermione drew in a sharp breath as a faint string of pink light emitted from the wand.

"It’s working." Marcus breathed in awe.

Frozen in their positions, hands clasped together, they watched as the solitary string of light multiplied into a constellation of beams. In shades of pink, red and orange, they shot out and curved around them, growing in number and brightness until Hermione had to squeeze her eyes tightly and curl into Marcus.

She felt a soft pressure on her chest. Squinting through her eyes, she saw some of the beams had diverted and were hitting her. Instead of pain, she felt her lungs fill with fresh, energising air. The pain and fatigue that had plagued her faded away, and Hermione sobbed in relief.

The lights swelled into a radiant, blinding sphere, and Hermione found herself sheltered under three sets of arms as the wizards bent over her.

Then, as suddenly as a candle being blown out, there was darkness.

Hermione was acutely aware of the softness of Marcus' shirt pressed against her cheek, and the heavy breaths of the wizards in the stillness.

"Is everyone alright?" She ventured to ask.

They shifted so they could see one another.

"Are you alright?" Theo countered, shoving the table out of the way so he could kneel in front of her. His hands cradled her face with anxious intensity. "Please tell me you’re ok," he pleaded.

She smiled up at him. "I’m ok," Hermione pushed herself up off Marcus. "I’m more than ok…I feel great." Her tone was filled with wonder.

Overcome with relief and emotion, Theo responded by crashing his lips down on hers. The kiss was a torrent of pent-up worry and fear, laced with overwhelming relief and gratitude.

All too soon they broke apart, and Hermione found herself spun around and enveloped in Marcus' strong arms. She tilted her head back, and their lips met. Marcus moved against hers passionately, as if trying to convey all the words he couldn't express. Hermione responded in kind, her hands coming up to grip his shoulders, pulling him closer as she kissed him back fervently.

Marcus trailed kisses along her jaw towards her neck. "I love you," he whispered in her ear before releasing her.

"I love you too," she smiled back at him, wiping away her tears.

She looked for Draco and felt a spike of anxiety when she didn’t immediately see him.

"He’s over there," Theo said gently, pointing behind her. Turning, she saw Draco had stumbled off the gazebo platform and was leaning against a pillar, his back to her.

Hermione stood and walked timidly over until they stood side by side, staring into the night.

"You were right," she said softly.

Draco was silent.

She turned until she could see his face, and gasped when she saw the tears rolling down his cheeks.

Hermione threw her arms around him, drawing him into her tightly. "We’re ok. I’m ok. You were right. It worked," she murmured again and again as Draco buried his face into her neck.

Draco pulled gently away from her so he could cup her face. "Please, please, don’t get cursed again," he implored.

Hermione huffed a laugh. "I’ll try not to."

Marcus and Theo joined them. Hermione reached out to hold Marcus' hand, while Theo threw his arm around Draco. The group stared at the swans meandering about in front of them.

"So, now what?" Hermione asked lightly.

"We’d better return those things first," Marcus gestured at the swans.

"Why are they here again?" Hermione laughed.

Marcus shrugged, looking sheepish. "Swans mate for life - we wanted that energy in the circle."

Hermione smiled. "For life. I like the sound of that." She rested her head on Marcus’ shoulder.

Draco turned to her with a sparkle in his eye, looking the happiest she’d seen him in months. "First we get rid of those birds, and then, my wife -"

"Our wife-" corrected Theo.

"Our wife," Draco laughed. "And then, we get on with enjoying our life together."

*

Epilogue One

Hermione rushed around the upper floors of the Burrow, her wand waving around, a constant stream of spells tumbling from her mouth. Her hair streamed behind her, a riot of curls threatening to explode into a puff of frizz.

"Love, the flowers are all done and they look great, if I may say so," Theo called ahead as he ambled up the stairs towards her.

"Ok, good," Hermione nodded, her mind already racing ahead. "And the hydrangeas are on the altar and peonies down the aisle, right?"

Theo furrowed his brow. "No, the diagram you drew had the hydrangeas on the aisle and peonies on the altar."

Hermione stopped in her tracks and stared at him in panic. "No, no, it should be the other way…oh, no, wait, you’re right." Her shoulders slumped as she remembered the correct placements.

A second set of steps sounded behind Theo as Draco appeared. Both men were dressed impeccably in formal wizarding robes. The wizards exchanged a knowing glance.

"Everything is in hand, Hermione," Draco's tone was calm and assured. "Guests are arriving shortly. Marcus is down there ready to make small talk. The only thing you need to do now is get yourself ready."

She looked down and squeaked in dismay to see herself in a dressing gown. "Draco!" She cried. "I’m not even dressed yet!"

"Yes, we noticed, dear," Draco said dryly. "Don’t worry, you have plenty of time, they’re probably waiting for you in the room." He gestured behind her.

"Right! Yes, you’re right." Disoriented, she spun around until she found the correct door. "I’ll see you down there." She disappeared into the bedroom with an absent wave behind her.

The two men let out a sigh as she left.

"Is it just me or is she acting a little odd lately?" Theo queried.

"Yeah, she’s scattered and all over the place - definitely not our usual Hermione," Draco agreed as they trudged back downstairs. "This wedding has her in a state."

"Thank Merlin we didn’t go ahead with a second big ceremony for ourselves," Theo said with feeling.

"Well if we did she wouldn’t have had to lift a finger - but no, what we had was perfect."

The two men joined Marcus at the bar.

"How’s she?" Marcus asked, pushing tumblers of drinks towards them.

"Still the same," Theo frowned. "She took on far too much with organising this wedding, even with Molly helping."

Marcus shook his head and sipped his firewhisky, the ring on his left hand glinting in the sunlight. "It was important for her to do this for Harry and Ginny. But let’s take her on a holiday soon. She needs a break or she’s going to make herself sick."

The guests arrived and the men dispersed to make small talk until a bell chimed, indicating the ceremony was about to start.

Seated together, the men lightheartedly joked about how pale Harry looked standing at the front. Ron, standing beside him, stared pointedly over the seated guests' heads. Theo guessed he was avoiding the suggestive looks that Parvati was giving him.

"10 galleons that Weasley and Patil will be next down the aisle," he whispered to Draco, who stifled a snort in response.

The wizarding string trio began playing, and the men stood as Hermione made her way down the aisle.

"She looks beautiful," Marcus murmured. The other men agreed, taking in her elegant floor-length sapphire blue gown. It featured a demure v-neck at the front, countered by a deeper v at the back, with a fitted waist and cap sleeves. Hermione wore her hair loose with a dainty flower crown and held a bouquet of mixed white hydrangeas, peonies, and greenery.

The men only had eyes for Hermione, despite Ginny looking radiant in her wedding gown.

Halfway through the ceremony, Draco leaned forward slightly with a frown.

"Is it just me or does she look a bit green?" he muttered.

"Yeah. She doesn’t look well," Theo agreed, worry lacing his voice.

"She looks like she’s going to be sick," Marcus growled. "I knew planning this wedding was too much."

"Maybe it’s not from overworking," Draco turned pale. "You don’t think..."

"What?" Theo snapped in a hushed whisper.

"You don’t think the curse is back?"

"Fuck. No. It can’t be," Theo sat back in shock.

Marcus transfigured a programme into a bucket. "Let’s hope not," he said grimly.

The wizards kept a close eye on Hermione for the rest of the ceremony. As soon as the procession back down the aisle started, they pushed their way through the crowd until they were directly behind her.

Theo wrapped his arm gently around her waist.

"Are you okay, love?" he said quietly in her ear.

Hermione looked up at him, white as a sheet, and shook her head.

Quick as a flash, the men steered her away from the crowd and behind the reception tent. As soon as they were hidden from sight, Marcus produced the bucket and Hermione was promptly sick into it.

The men exchanged worried looks. Draco's hand edged towards his wand.

"I’ll find Reginald. Drag him here by his ears and get him to explain why the curse isn’t broken," he swore, anger radiating from his tense body.

"Hey there," a cheerful voice interrupted them. The men turned to see Morag popping her head around the corner. "I noticed Hermione looked a bit off, did you need anything?"

"We think the curse is back," Marcus said shortly.

Hermione retched again into the bucket, and Theo rubbed her back.

"The curse?" Morag blinked at them doubtfully. "After more than a year?"

"What else could it be?" Draco asked helplessly.

"A bug?" she suggested.

"Magical beings don’t just pick up common illnesses. Besides, we’ve all been in excellent health since we became soulbound," Draco dismissed.

"Well then, how about something more obvious?" Morag raised an eyebrow as she stared at Hermione's stomach.

"What?" Hermione looked up, confused as Theo handed her his handkerchief.

"We’re obviously not following, Morag," Marcus snapped.

The dark-haired witch sighed and lifted the hem of her dark purple gown as she stepped closer.

"She could be pregnant, you muppets."

The quartet stared at her in shock.

“You don’t mean…” Draco's voice trailed off.

“W-What?” Marcus stammered.

“Do you think…?” Theo's words hung in the air.

“Do you know the spell to check?” Hermione asked, leaning against Theo in shock.

“Sure.” Morag paused in front of her. She raised her wand and asked, “Ready?”

Hermione nodded affirmatively while the wizards struggled to form coherent words.

Morag waved her wand and muttered the spell. A white glow washed over Hermione's midsection, flickered slightly, and then transformed into a pale green color.

Morag ended the spell. “Congratulations,” she said with a grin.

*

Epilogue Two

"Not so fast!" Hermione yelled after the three figures dashing ahead: one small, and two even smaller.

"I don't know why I bother," she grumbled to herself. She continued down the pathway and paused as she turned a bend, her breath catching as Hogwarts came into view. Majestic on a typical day, it was picture-perfect this summer's day, with a clear blue sky framing its turrets and a warm breeze stirring the masses of greenery on the grounds.

A warm, calloused hand slipped into hers. "This place brings back memories," Draco paused beside her, the pair staring solemnly at the castle.

"Yeah. Not all good ones, either," Hermione bit her lip and turned to Draco. "Do you think Scorpius will be okay?"

"That's what we're here to find out," he replied seriously.

Footsteps sounded behind them as Marcus and Theo caught up.

"Where have the little menaces gotten to?" Theo glanced around them.

"They raced ahead," Hermione rolled her eyes.

"Oh no," Marcus groaned. "That won't be a good first impression."

The quartet steeled themselves as they neared the castle, and Hermione breathed a sigh of relief to find her three children staring up in awe at Hagrid.

"Hey there, 'Ermione!" The large man called out as he spotted her. "These three 'ere say they belong to you."

"They do," Hermione confirmed with a smile. "This is Scorpius, and the twins are Rose and Ava."

Scorpius was a slender child with sleek dark brown hair and brown eyes that appeared wiser than his nine years. His pale complexion had Hermione constantly casting sun repellent spells over him. His sharp features were softened by his expressiveness - he was a chatterbox, quick to smile and laugh, with an undeniable charm that helped him get out of many scrapes.

The four-year-old twins were his little shadows. They had inherited their mother's curls, much to Hermione's chagrin, with Ava’s curls a platinum blonde, and Rose’ a light brown. They had boundless energy, loved sports and were fearless, which led to their fathers' constant stress. Their other difference was their eyes: Rose had grey eyes, and Ava brown.

After their initial inspection, the children had decided that they liked Hagrid. The girls were clamouring for him to pick them up.

"Shouldy ride!" Ava called, hopping on one leg.

"No, me first!" Rose cried.

"You're supposed to say please!" Scolded Scorpius.

"Now, what do we have here?" An authoritative voice rang out. The children paused and looked around, cowering slightly at the sight of Professor McGonagall striding towards them from the castle.

"Oh, Professor, it's so lovely to see you again," Hermione stepped forward and the pair embraced warmly.

"Minerva, please," McGonagall smiled. "Nott, Flint, Malfoy, it's good to see you again too," she nodded at the men.

"Up! Up!"

"No, me up!"

"Girls-!" Marcus attempted to control the twins, before Hagrid interrupted.

"S'alright, you can both come up!" He boomed, and scooped the girls up onto his broad shoulders, laughing at their delighted squeals. Scorpius ran underfoot, giggling and attempting to jump up and catch a twin.

"Hmm," Minerva examined the chaos in front of her. "Perhaps this meeting would be better conducted outdoors."

"I'm happy to offer my hut, Professor!" Hagrid called.

"Lead the way," Minerva sighed.

Minerva and Hermione walked side by side as the group made their way across the grounds. The professor chatted about the castle and how the ghosts were enjoying the peace and quiet of students being away over the summer.

In turn, Hermione updated Minerva on what the quartet had been up to: Hermione had recently received yet another promotion within the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures and was now considered Agnes' protégé and successor; Theo was making headway in his quest to transform the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes into a more efficient organisation; Draco had fully taken over the reins of the Malfoy business empire, making use of the contacts he had carefully cultivated during his years at the Ministry. Marcus had his hands full with raising their three children. He had also started a junior Quidditch league - initially a way of keeping his own kids entertained, the league had taken off, and he now worked with assistant coaches to train throngs of magical children, aged from toddlers to ten-year-olds.

They arrived at Hagrid's hut and opted to sit outside in the sunshine. Hagrid made everyone tea then joined Marcus as he took the twins a small distance away. With the run of the Hogwarts grounds to themselves, Marcus opened the bag he had brought with him, revealing equipment for a miniature Quidditch game. The girls immediately jumped on toy broomsticks and squealed with excitement as the game began.

Draco rested his hand on Scorpius' shoulder as the child eyed his sisters enviously. "Stay and have a chat with Professor McGonagall first before you go and play," he implored.

Scorpius fidgeted as Minerva eyed him over her spectacles.

"How old are you, Granger?"

"Nine, ma'am."

"Tell me about your magic."

"Uhm, it just comes out." Scorpius glanced at his mother nervously. Hermione nodded at him in encouragement.

"So, accidental magic?" Minerva frowned at him.

"No, I do it on purpose, not by accident." Scorpius argued.

Minerva raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you have a wand?"

"No, ma'am."

"Hmm...and can you do magic for me now?"

"Yes, ma'am." Scorpius glanced at the plate of rock cakes Hagrid had produced. A single cake floated off the pile, hung suspended in the air for a few seconds, then floated gently back down.

Minerva looked around suspiciously as though one of the adults had cast the spell. "I see," she said, her tone pinched. "Come a bit closer, Granger."

Scorpius took a few steps closer. Minerva waved her wand over his head and muttered a spell too quietly for Hermione to hear. A bright glow appeared around Scorpius, visible even in the bright sunlight.

"Ouch, too bright." The child complained. He squinted his eyes and swatted at the light with his hand. The glow disappeared.

Minerva gaped at him. "Oh my. You. Oh." She cleared her throat and composed herself. "You may go play with your sisters now." She ordered, once again sounding like the firm headmistress that she was.

"Okay, bye!" Scorpius chirped and ran off.

Minerva turned to face Hermione, Draco and Theo. "That child is exceptionally gifted." Her tone was almost scolding.

"Hence the reason why we've been trying to bring him to you for the past year." Draco responded dryly.

"I assumed you were like all other parents thinking their children were prodigies. My apologies." Minerva smiled gently. "Please, I'm listening now." She waved her hand for them to talk.

"When we bonded, we didn't do a traditional bonding. We soul-bound." Hermione began.

"I'd heard rumours." Minerva confessed. "Why did you choose to do that? And how did you even find the spell?"

"It's a long story." Theo deferred. Thinking back was still painful for them.

"Anyway, one of the supposed side effects was that our own magic would become more powerful." Hermione continued. "That obviously didn't happen, and we just continued on as normal."

"Until Scorpius came along." Draco smiled fondly.

"He had accidental bursts of magic like all magical children, but as he got older and gained more control over his emotions, instead of the magical bursts going away, he seemed to be able to control them too - purposely making things happen." Hermione paused to drink her tea.

"He cancelled out my spell without the use of a wand - that's something a trained wizard would struggle with." Minerva commented.

Theo nodded. "He's a natural with magic - he doesn't seem to need a wand or even spells."

"So, we think that the magical amplification from the soul bonding has gone to the children." Hermione concluded.

"Interesting." Minerva tapped her chin thoughtfully. She observed the children at play: Hagrid was standing in the middle, hitting foam Bludgers at the children as they zoomed around at knee height. Scorpius screeched with laughter as he narrowly dodged one.

"I wouldn't recommend starting him earlier at Hogwarts." Minerva advised. "He is still a child and should be encouraged to build normal friendships with his peers. I also wouldn't accelerate his getting a wand for that same reason."

Hermione nodded slowly in agreement.

"What would you advise then for the next two years?" Draco frowned.

"Independent tutors." Minerva said firmly. "Specialists in non-verbal magic. Perhaps a potions tutor. But allow him to test his limits alongside just being a child."

"Mama! Come play!" Rose broke off from her game to tug at her mother's arm.

Hermione glanced at Theo who winked at her, communicating in that one gesture that he and Draco had everything under control with Minerva. Smiling back at him, Hermione excused herself and let an excited Rose pull her into the game.

The kids zipped around at knee height while Hermione raced them to the Bludgers, laughing at their excited squeals each time they managed to hit a Bludger with their bats.

One particularly strong hit by Ava knocked a Bludger into the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

"I'll get it." Hermione called as the game continued with the remaining Bludger. She jogged along the springy grass and stepped over the tree line.

All of a sudden, she was aware of a stillness in the air. She paused mid-step and took stock of her surroundings; the shadows were long under the trees and there were no signs of any wildlife.

Hermione flicked her wand and sent the Bludger back towards Marcus. Turning her back to the forest, she stood just within the forest boundaries and faced towards the castle.

A slight rustle in the undergrowth sounded behind her.

"Magorian." Hermione's voice was cold and biting. "Have you come to finally apologise?"

The centaur snorted as he stepped up alongside her. "We will not apologise for doing what had to be done."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

With a long silence, Magorian observed the ongoing Quidditch game. Hermione was about to walk away when he finally deigned to answer. "We Centaurs care not for trivial human matters. Only in rare occurrences would we seek to influence the course of events."

Studying him intently, Hermione deduced: "You intervened by purposely shooting me with an arrow." Her tone was accusing.

"If we had not, you would not have broken the curse."

Hermione cast her mind back to that awful time over a decade ago. Shooting her with the arrow had caused the curse to speed up, which in turn spurred her wizards into a panic, with Marcus stumbling into a pub in despair after yet another dead end. It was at that pub he had run into Reginald, who held the answer.

"And why do you care that the curse was broken? Is my life that important to you?"

Magorian reared back with impatience. "Your life means nothing to us."

Hermione bit back a retort as she tried to work out the Centaurs' motive. She couldn’t understand why they would orchestrate a series of events to save her if her life was not important to them.

Unless…maybe it was not her life that was important to him, but something that she did, or made…

She narrowed her eyes and looked from Magorian to what held his attention: the Quidditch game. Or more precisely - who was playing the Quidditch game.

"Leave my children out of any schemes you have." Hermione's voice was a near growl.

The centaur huffed. "We will not interfere with what is destined." He replied ambiguously.

Hermione's tone hardened. "I mean it." She stepped closer, her eyes glinting and her wand arm half-raised.

Gazing thoughtfully at Hermione, Magorian conceded, "Your child is destined for many great things. One of which is the salvation of my herd. I do not offer this lightly, but I will ensure that child has my protection and that of my herd."

"Fine." Hermione bit out, understanding the significance of what had been offered. She turned back to watch the children. "And what of his siblings?"

Silence met her question. She swirled around to see the centaur had vanished, swallowed by the forest.

"For goodness sake." Hermione muttered under her breath.

"Mama! Where are you? Come back to play!" Ava yelled.

Shaking her head fondly, Hermione stepped out into the sunshine and back to her family. Magorian's words followed her like a dark shadow until the children's laughter chased it away.

"You were in the forest for a while, is everything okay?" Marcus murmured to her.

"Yes." Hermione smiled, knowing in her heart she spoke the truth. Her children were always going to grow to carve their own path, regardless of Magorian's words. Instead, Hermione reflected on her family, their future, and their happiness, and she knew that they were worth all the trials she and her wizards had faced.

The End