The walk to the visiting room was entirely too long and short simultaneously. The house elf, Himmy, hummed a little tune happily as she skipped slightly ahead of Hyacinth. Hyacinth wanted to smile at Himmy's jubilant attitude but found that the anxious butterflies flitting around in her stomach wouldn't allow it.
When they reached the visiting room, Himmy turned to Hyacinth and tugged on her hand until she bent down to the tiny elf's level.
"Wait here, Little Missy", the sweet elf whispered in her ear, winking with one large eye before she tottered over to the double doors on short legs.
The elf opened one of the doors with a quick click of her fingers, displaying the true power a house elf held.
Himmy stepped into the room and cleared her throat with a great air of importance to gain the room's attention.
"Himmy be's presenting to Master's guest, Himmy's Little Missy" Hyacinth suppressed a wild giggle that bubbled her way up into her throat before stepping into the room through the open door.
She surveyed the room; her mother sat on the lounge opposite the door, looking strained and tense, and her father stood behind him with a supportive hand on his shoulder. Her father was looking off to the side, away from the door, but even from where she stood, she could tell he was incredibly uncomfortable.
Lucius sat rather uncharacteristically on a pouffe to the side of the only armchair in the room, occupied by a shell-shocked and drained-looking Minerva McGonagall.
Hyacinth ducked her head and hurriedly sat beside her mother, where her father placed his free hand upon her shoulder. She felt something inside of her warm at the automatic show of affection and support. She regretted to realise that she had barely spent time with her parents. She wasn't entirely sure why.
Her mother sent her a look that was a definite sign of "we'll talk later", and she once again ducked her head and folded her hands in her lap.
"Well", the transfiguration professor broke the silence, "I think I need a glass or two of fire whiskey."
Lucius agreed, glad to be given something, anything, to do and quite frankly very happy to get up from the pouffe. He had regretted sitting there the moment he had sat down.
It didn't occur until much later that he could've transfigured it into an armchair. If asked later, he'd blame it on being distracted.
While Lucius busied himself with pouring four glasses of fire whiskey and getting a house elf to bring a pot of tea for Hyacinth, Minerva studied the young girl who, only days ago, had been the girl who lived and her student, the girl who always found trouble.
Something within her twisted disdainfully as she remembered what Severus had told her, what Albus Dumbledore had done. She knew leaving her with those muggles was a bad idea; she just never truly recognised how bad of an idea it was.
Looking at the young, scared and withdrawn girl before her, she now realised that leaving her with those muggles was the most criminal thing she had ever done. Minerva McGonagall would never forgive herself for it. But she would fiercely protect Hyacinth from that day forward.
A lioness always protected her cubs.
Even if Hyacinth was no longer a Gryffindor, she was still one of Minerva's cubs. And she would treat her as such.