Trigger warning for this chapter: discussion around past child abuse and violence.
January 1, 2009
It was the first day of a brand new year and instead of waking up alone and slightly hungover like last year, Draco had Hermione wrapped around him while Crookshanks squashed his shins. Draco gave his lower limbs an irritable shake, dislodging the obstinate creature who had rendered his legs partially numb. The ginger furball gave him a mutinous glare before flouncing off the bed.
Hermione's comment to Pansy last night about retiring to private quarters within the Lestrange Estate was all bluster. They'd instead exchanged stilted goodbyes with Narcissa and immediately left for Hermione's home where she made good on her promise to let him shag her in naught but a goblin-wrought necklace.
She might try to downplay it, but Draco thought his girlfriend looked ever so enticing when nude and riding him while draped in expensive jewels. Said girlfriend stirred sleepily at his side then pressed a kiss to his shoulder.
"I'll fix the eggs and bacon, but you're responsible for your own coffee. I believe in you, I think you can finally master the brewing machine," she teased and Draco rolled his eyes.
Now quite at home in Hermione's kitchen he was more pleased than he intended to ever admit that he successfully made a pot of coffee all by himself. He picked up the morning copy of The Daily Prophet and flicked through it idly as Hermione approached from behind and slid her arms around his torso.
"Will your mother be pleased with the coverage in the society pages this morning?" she inquired and bustled past him to fix her tea. Draco took a seat at the kitchen island and flipped toward the back sections of the paper.
But a several page spread and dozens of column inches detailing the ins and outs of the most infamous of pureblood holiday balls did not await him on the society pages. No, instead Draco found the press space usually dedicated to Narcissa Malfoy and her gala taken up by an announcement and accompanying story that made his face crack into a wide and incredulous grin. The bubble of loud laughter that burst past his lips caused Hermione to jump and whip around, spatula in hand.
"Astoria Greengrass, you sneaky, magnificent witch," he chuckled and handed the paper to a confused Hermione.
"Oh my gods..." she whispered in shocked awe and had to take a seat next to Draco. A black and white photograph of Astoria Greengrass and her brand new husband, Dennis Creevey, smiled up at them. Their arms were looped through one another's as an older couple beamed fondly in the background. The paper's caption identified them as Dennis's father and step-mother.
"They eloped... how wonderful!" Hermione enthused and eagerly read the details. Apparently, Astoria Greengrass had in truth shown up on the arm of Theo at Narcissa's party already officially Astoria Creevey. They'd been wed at a registrar's office in Muggle London at noon, with Dennis filing the paperwork to the Ministry of Magic mere minutes before the Hall of Records had closed for the day.
Several things fell into place for Draco as he thought back to his conversations with Astoria and he wondered how long the witch had needed to hide her relationship with a Muggleborn. A feeling of pride at her bravery swelled within him. Astoria knew what this would cost her and she'd pursued her own path regardless. She'd probably be disowned, and would have had to plan her exit from her estate for months.
"We should send them a wedding present! I have Dennis's address, I assume she's moved there by now," said Hermione thoughtfully.
"Let me take care of it, I've got several bottles of champagne I can send for them to celebrate properly."
Draco sent off almost a dozen bottles later that day, congratulating Astoria and her new husband on their recent nuptials and included a personal note to Astoria that if she needed any assistance, to please reach out to him and Hermione.
A week later, Astoria, per her lifetime of etiquette training undoubtedly, sent back a cordial thank you note for the champagne and the well-wishes. She also included a personal note addressed only to him.
In her perfect calligraphy, it read: You're a good man, Draco Malfoy.
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February 2009
"Where the bloody hell are Ron and Padma?"
This question had been voiced no less than eight times and by a different person in each instance. Tensions in their private waiting room of the maternity ward of St. Mungo's were high to say the least. But then, it wasn't every day that Molly and Arthur's only daughter gave birth to the child of the savior of the wizarding world.
Of the assembled family, Molly and Fleur remained the most composed, sitting side by side as they jointly stitched a baby blanket for the newest Potter, a tradition of the Weasley grandchildren. The Weasley men were an entirely different story.
Though most assembled were already fathers, that didn't stop Arthur, Bill, Charlie, George, and Percy from taking turns pacing up and down the length of the room as everyone waited for news. It had been several hours already, and no one had yet heard anything about their sweet little Gin, the youngest of them all. If Ginny herself could see such behavior from her male relatives, her infamous Bat-Bogey Hex would definitely make an appearance.
Hermione performed this family waiting ritual at most births, though she'd usually been at Ron's side. Now it was an uncomfortable Draco next to her, bouncing his knee anxiously while she chewed her nails down to nothing.
The sounds of frantic pacing and anxious muttering come to a halt as the doors to the room burst open and a breathless Ron bounded in, tugging a grinning Padma behind him. Everyone stared at the newcomers, a few hours late and dressed in fashionable formal robes.
"Well it's about time!" admonished Molly. "We've not heard anything yet, so you two best get comfortable. Where were you? George tried to reach you hours ago!"
The newly arrived couple exchanged radiant grins, before Ron yanked Padma's hand up for all to see. "We're engaged!"
The room was stunned silent for all of five seconds before the gathered group collectively roared in delight and surged forward to envelop Ron and his new fiancée in congratulatory embraces. And this right here was why Hermione loves the Weasleys ever so much: their well of joy was boundless. Ron and Padma's announcement didn't detract from the impending birth of baby Potter, but rather added to the excitement of the atmosphere.
Hermione hugged Ron and Padma hard in turn, as Ron babbled about how they'd been out to dinner for their dating anniversary and he'd proposed at the restaurant of their first date and gods, he'd been so nervous he almost dropped the ring.
Ginny and Harry could not have picked a happier day to bring their child into the world.
A quiet cough behind them revealed a flustered Harry, hair in all directions like he'd pulled on it for hours and though anxiety rolled off him in waves, a happiness radiated outward that made him almost glow.
"It's a... it's a boy," he announced with a nervous grin. "Gin's doing great... she did great, she's... she's perfect..." He trailed off in helpless amazement at his strong wife and then seemed to realize the room waited for the rest of the announcement.
"Right, well, it's a boy, a healthy boy. James—" His jaw tightened and Hermione's tears streamed down her face at the sight of her best friend unable to hold back the weighty emotion of introducing his child to his family.
Harry swallowed a rather large lump in his throat. "James Sirius Potter." His chin wobbled and Hermione sprinted forward and grabbed him into a fierce hug and buried her face in his shoulder.
Harry clung to her tightly, his body shaking from the marvel of it all, and Hermione felt another pair of familiar strong arms wrap around both of them. "So happy for you, mate," said Ron gruffly.
The rest of the group let the three of them have their moment a few minutes more, before Hermione felt another pair of arms (Molly, she thought), then Arthur, Bill, Charlie, Percy, and finally George and laughter mixed with tears as relief settled over the entire party.
Harry yelled in delight when Ron and Padma clued him in to their engaged status, and Hermione wondered when these two idiot boys of hers became men. Harry, a father. Ron, a fiancé.
Harry settled some of the excited cacophony of the room and announced that Molly and Arthur can come back first to see Ginny and meet James. He returned periodically to bring several small groups of people in at a time, so as not to overwhelm his exhausted wife and newborn. Eventually, Harry approached Hermione and Ron.
"Gin wants to see you two next, alone, if that's all right Padma? Malfoy?"
Hermione grabbed both their hands as they walked into the hospital room to meet the youngest Potter. They found Ginny looking tired yet radiant, a bundle in her arms with a tuft of black hair peeping out of the top.
"Here they are James," Ginny cooed softly to the infant. "This is your Uncle Ron and your Auntie Hermione. They're to be your godparents."
Hermione squeezed Ron's hand and covered her mouth with the other. As she met Harry's eyes through a blur of tears, she couldn't help ask, "Oh goodness... are you sure?"
"As if it would be anyone but you two," Harry replied quietly. Hermione leaned into Ron's shoulder and felt him quaking a bit and heard him utter "Blimey."
Ginny beckoned her over and Hermione gently accepted the swaddled James. Being around the Weasleys for so many years, she'd held a lot of babies in her day, but this one, this child, her godson... well this just took the cake.
"Of course he has your hair, Harry," Hermione sniffled.
"Oh yes, he got the Potter hair, but the Weasley lungs," asserted an amused Ginny. "Came into this world screaming like a banshee."
Hermione sat in the chair beside Ginny's bed, and the four of them took a few minutes to simply bask in the aura of this tiny wonder and all the hope he inspired. Harry left to fetch Draco and Padma at Ginny's insistence, but Hermione couldn't tear her eyes away from the angelic, sleeping child in her arms.
Inside her heart, she unleashed a desperate stream of wishes for baby James. That he never know suffering or pain or loneliness like his father. That he have the strength, wit, and sense of humor of his mother. That he have the endless capacity for love and kindness of them both.
At the sound of new footsteps Hermione looked up to find Padma and Harry had returned, and Draco frozen in the doorway. His face held a curious expression, one she'd not seen before nor was she able to decipher it as his gray eyes raked over her holding the baby.
The spell broke when Ron gruffly asked to hold his nephew and Hermione carefully transferred James into his arms.
"Congratulations Ginevra," offered Draco hesitantly, and Hermione knew he still felt a bit out of place. Ginny looked up from admiring Padma's engagement ring and beamed at him.
"Thank you! Would you like to hold him?"
Draco seemed shocked that she would even consider this and shook his head swiftly. "Oh, ah, no... erm, that's all right, I think the others probably... ah, would be better suited to... that."
"He's not a snitch, Malfoy, I'm sure you can manage to hold onto him," ribbed Harry and Draco glared as Ron guffawed.
"You and I are long overdue for a rematch, Potter," he retorted. "Regardless, I think mini-Potter is in good hands," he gestured to Padma, who'd just commandeered James. "I did want to leave the new parents with a gift, though."
From inside his jacket pocket, Draco produced a shrunken gift bag, restored it to proper size and placed it on the bedside table. Hermione stared at him. He'd thought to get the Potters a gift on the occasion of their son's birth, without even consulting with her? And was it normal to be so turned on by this?
After they'd left St. Mungo's to allow Ginny some much needed rest before she and Harry could take their newborn home, Hermione couldn't help her curiosity.
"I didn't realize you got Harry and Ginny a gift. What was it?"
Draco stilled, seated on Hermione's bed and in the process of removing his shoes. "Nothing extravagant. Color-changing nappies. I'm sure they'll need them in the coming weeks," he chuckled. "They change color when the baby... uhh... needs a changing."
"I've never heard of those. Is that a common product for magical babies?"
"Erm, no. I uhh... charmed them myself."
Draco's face flushed to the tips of his ears and Hermione showed her amazement at his thoughtfulness towards her dearest friends by tearing Draco's clothes off in record time and riding him into her mattress.
Though perhaps her effusive praise at his kind behavior was rather premature.
A week later, the irate head of Ginny appeared in the Floo and screamed for Hermione.
"Where is that sneaking little ferret you shag?" she demanded.
Draco stood next to Hermione, arms crossed and a smug smile on his face that immediately aroused Hermione's suspicions.
"Hello to you too, Ginevra, and may I say motherhood seems to have really calmed that temper of yours."
"You filthy prat!" snarled Ginny, but in the background Hermione heard Harry roaring in laughter. "Do you know what happens to those nappies whenever James makes a mess?"
"Don't they just change color? Draco charmed them, I thought," questioned Hermione and Draco snickered beside her.
"They don't just change color!" yelled Ginny. "They flash 'Potter Stinks' right across his little bottom!'"
Draco laughed so hard he doubled over, tears rolling down his cheeks.
"And Harry thinks it's the funniest thing he's ever seen, so well done, Malfoy!" seethed Ginny. "And George and Ron even want to meet with you and see if they can't produce a similar product to sell at the shop! Merlin, all you men are beyond immature!"
Draco calmed down enough to apologize, slightly placating the overtired new mother, who eventually admitted it was rather clever, in an evil sort of way.
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March 2009
"Sir, SIR!"
The insistent voice of Crick startled Draco and Hermione from slumber. The elf stepped back from Draco's side of the bed as they both bolted upright, Hermione's wand already in her hand.
"Crick! What the blazes are you doing?" thundered Draco, clutching his chest.
"Theodore Nott is in the Floo, sir," explained Crick quickly. "Says it's an emergency and to bring Miss Granger if she's here."
Draco and Hermione exchanged panicked glances before grabbing the first sets of clothes within reach and bolting down to the traveling parlour. They found the distressed head of Theo in the fireplace.
"Draco! Oh thank Merlin, Hermione's with you."
"What's wrong? What's happened?"
Theo's head pulled slightly back. "Just come through, please, it's Sasha... I... I... please just come through."
He trailed off as his head disappeared from the flames and Hermione's heart hammered in apprehension as Draco tugged her through the Floo. They landed on the other side in the living room of a sumptuously decorated home, and Hermione knew this was Theo's Muggle residence in Belgravia and not Nott Manor given the large flat-screen television hung on the opposite wall.
Hermione had never seen the calm and reserved Theo so agitated before, and judging by the look on Draco's face, he hadn't either. Theo paced anxiously, his face pallid and sickly, and his eyes slightly red-rimmed.
"Where's Sasha?" Hermione asked, concerned that she wasn't immediately within sight. At the sound of his girlfriend's name Theo let out a choked half-sob and flung himself onto the sofa.
"She's there," Theo finally said, and jerked his thumb towards a closed door. "She... she locked the door. Says she doesn't want to see me right now." His breaths came in sharp spurts. He looked up at Draco with wide, hysterical eyes, tears gathering and threatening to spill.
"I told her... I told her everything and she... she... thinks I'm mad. Or actually," he gulped some more air, "she thinks she might be mad... or that I bewitched her or..."
He seemed unable to produce anything else and Draco exchanged a look of grim worry with Hermione.
Draco conjured a glass of water and approached his friend, shoving the glass into his shaking hands. Theo took desperate sips as a few tears leaked out. "Theo, come on now. Tell us how to help."
Draco's voice pitched low, staying calm and methodical and Hermione briefly wondered if Theo used to help him this way during his potion withdrawal episodes.
He just shook his head at Draco and Hermione bit her lip, concerned with the bombshell dropped by Theo. "You told her you were a wizard? You told her about magic?" she asked. Draco shot her puzzled look at her brusque tone but she ignored him.
Theo leaned forward on his knees and pushed out a shaky breath. "Yes. I told her what I am. It all just came to a head tonight... we were talking about her moving in here and getting married and I had to tell her, I had to before this went any further and—"
"Did you show her any magic? Did you use your wand in front of her?" Hermione interrupted.
"Yes."
Hermione nodded thoughtfully and tried to think of the best way to impart the unfortunate news. "Theo, I'm not sure how familiar you are with the bylaws of the Statute of Secrecy as it pertains to relationships with Muggles, but... well..."
She sees now that for two exceptionally intelligent people, she and Theo had both been phenomenally naïve here. Hermione had assumed after their heart-to-heart on New Year's Eve that Theo would have done his due diligence.
But love made fools of all, even careful, meticulous Theo. Blinded by his feelings for Sasha he'd not bothered to do his research.
Hermione surmised that Theo, raised pureblood, also might not have thought to research this at all. Because this world and its laws had always served him, been tailored to his blood group, so why would they fail him now? Because now Hermione had to be the messenger of how the design of his world will make his and Sasha's lives that much harder.
"Well the law states that should a magical being reveal the world of magic to a non-magical human during the course of a relationship, if they are not already wed, the couple must have a marriage on file with the Ministry of Magic within 60 days or risk the Obliviation of the non-magical partner."
Hermione held her breath as the words hung ugly and looming in the air between them all. When Hermione dated Daniel, her curiosity had gotten the best of her as she wondered what it would be like to be a witch married to a Muggle. How would the reveal of her true abilities, logistically, take place? This had led her to the Ministry Law Library and the horrifying discovery of the difficulties placed in front of couples with only one magical spouse.
Theo looked, if it were possible, even more defeated. "Sixty days?" he repeated numbly.
"Yes," Hermione confirmed sadly.
"Or they'll Obliviate her?"
"I'm afraid so. I'm sorry Theo."
"Well bollocks to that!" Draco spoke up, making the other two jump. "Fuck the Ministry. Theo, quit moping, there's no need to lose your sanity over this."
Theo buried his face in his hands and shook his head back and forth furiously. "No, Draco, no, this isn't something to fuck around with." He lifted his head to lock eyes with Hermione desperately. "If it were found out, it's Azkaban for me, yeah? And Obliviation still, for her?"
Hermione nodded and swallowed a lump in her throat. It would be a short sentence, but a sentence nonetheless. Theo dropped his head back in his hands but Draco would not be so easily deterred. "That's rather harsh though isn't it? Couldn't they just remove her memories of Theo telling her about magic?"
"Then how is Theo meant to explain his time away in prison? I agree it's all rather barbaric, and I'm in no way defending the law, but what I imagine the Obliviation Squad does is remove any memories related to magic and would probably implant a false one of them breaking up so none of her relatives ask too many questions about his sudden disappearance from her life. Otherwise, you'd be asking the Ministry to hunt down and modify the memories of all her Muggle family and friends."
Draco scowled and shook his head stubbornly. "No, this is ludicrous. You're not going to Azkaban, and Granger and I won't tell anyone about this, so there's no risk involved. You can simply—"
"No!" Theo cut him off sharply and jerked his gaze up. "No Draco, I'm in no position to play fast and loose with Ministry laws. Not only would I lose my job, but I only barely avoided a sentence after the war—"
"How?" Draco asked, bewildered. "You never took the Mark. Why would they—?"
Theo broke in with a bitter laugh. "You think that mattered to a justice-hungry Ministry in the days just after You-Know-Who fell? No, no, they took one look at my surname and it would have been a cell for me but for the testimony of the Greengrass sisters and the mocking written statements about what an utter failure of a pureblood I was by the Carrows."
Theo's usually kind face twisted into an ugly grimace. "Not all of us had the likes of Harry Potter swooping in to save the day."
Draco scowled right back. "I never asked Potter for anything."
Hermione broke up their tense staring match. "Theo, you said Sasha's still in the bedroom? Did you ward the door?"
Theo shot her a sharp glare. "I've done nothing but throw up a Silencing Charm for the purposes of this conversation. She's locked in there of her own volition. I have never used magic on her and I never will," he said so vehemently that Hermione took an involuntary step back from him.
"Theo!" Draco cut in sharply. "No one is accusing you of anything untoward."
His brown eyes sent an apologetic look to Hermione. "Sorry," he mumbled.
Draco placed a tentative hand on his friend's slumped shoulder. "Why confess? Why now?"
Theo ran a tired hand down his face. "I had to, you don't understand I..." he sighed brokenly. "If I'm asking her to live here... to share her life with me... she deserves to know the truth. She deserves to know what she's signing up for."
"Yes, but Theo—"
He cut Draco off. "Do you both remember Hagrid's class in Fifth Year? How I was one of the only ones who could see the thestrals?" He turned to Draco suddenly. "Do you know why? Did you ever bother to wonder?"
"I'm sorry mate, I don't know what—"
"Do you remember my Aunt Georgiana?"
Draco's brow furrowed at the abrupt and unrelated question. "I think... yes? When we were little didn't she used to sneak us extra chocolate biscuits? She doted on you at parties, but we were... what, maybe 7 or 8?"
Theo didn't immediately answer and instead stared off into the mid-distance for a few beats. "She was pretty and kind and sweet and she was murdered in front of my eyes when I was 9 years old," said Theo hollowly and Hermione let out a horrified gasp and Draco's face lost all color.
"My father... my father claimed he caught her... caught her with a Muggle man. Who knows if that were even true?" Theo wiped his eyes on his sleeve impatiently. "But it didn't matter to a monster like my father. Just a whisper of an association with a Muggle and he went off in a rage."
Theo stared unseeing at the floor and Hermione's heart broke, but knew it would be a mistake to interrupt now, even if it were to comfort him. "He made me watch. Me and my mother. He threw the accusations in her face and then cursed her. My favorite aunt... his own sister... and she was only ever kind... Father took her away... made it look like a tragic accident... staged a scene... maybe he killed that Muggle too, I wouldn't know."
Theo drew in a ragged breath. "That is my family legacy. That is where I come from. Can you understand that? I had to tell Sasha everything, she deserved to know... deserved to know the twisted truth before she agreed to tie herself to me at all."
Another awful silence descended and Draco met her eyes across the room helplessly. "Theo," Hermione spoke softly. "I have some resources that could help. You were hoping I could speak with her, weren't you?"
He met Hermione's eyes for a moment, and she saw the trust imbued in his intense and desperate stare.
"Please," he rasped.
"Right," Hermione clipped and tied her hair back resolutely. She snatched up two coasters from the coffee table and transfigured one into a pen and the other into a notepad. Hastily scribbling down half a dozen titles, she thrust the list in Draco's direction.
"Draco, go to mine and grab these titles from my library off the living room. They should all be filed under my 'Muggle and Muggle relations' section. Leave everything outside the bedroom door while I speak with Sasha. Theo, go through and wait at Draco's."
She waited until the men had gone before she removed the Silencing Charm and stowed her wand out of sight.
She knocked lightly on the door. "Sasha? It's Hermione, may I come in?"
Silence for a moment before she heard a sniffle. "Yeah," came Sasha's soft voice and Hermione opened the door.
Sasha sat forlornly on the edge of a large four-poster, her usual gleaming smile replaced with a glum look of numbness. Her normally bright and lively eyes seemed devoid of emotion, as if she'd wrung every last tear through them and they now needed a rest from exuding anything.
"I've sent Theo to Draco's. Would it be all right if I sat with you for a bit?"
Sasha nodded and Hermione sank on to the bed carefully, keeping a deliberate distance between them.
"Theo was very upset," Hermione began cautiously. "How are you feeling?"
Sasha stared back at her for a moment. "It's all true then. What he said it's...?"
Hermione nodded to the question left hanging between them.
"And... and you're one too? A... a...?"
"I am a witch, yes," Hermione replied plainly. "Does that scare you?"
Sasha shook her head rapidly. "No. I mean... a bit yeah," she tittered a nervous laugh but sobered quickly. "And Draco?"
"A wizard."
She shifted uncomfortably and clenched her hands in her lap. "How would I know if... how would I know if Theo had umm... done... something to me? Used magic to make me... like him or love him? How can I trust what I feel?"
Hermione's heart broke for the second time that night. "Well, firstly, there are laws against using magic on non-magical people such as yourself. I don't know how far Theo got in his explanation of our world to you, but we are only allowed to use magic on or around you for emergency purposes. Second," she took a quick breath, "there is no spell of any kind that can force the feeling of love. There are several banned potions and enchantments that encourage attraction or lust or obsession. There are unlawful curses that force you, physically, to do things at the behest of the caster. But what you know of your own feelings for Theo... that is real. It cannot be reproduced by magic."
Sasha's eyes filled with tears and she gulped in a relieved breath. "Thank you Hermione... I feel so awful... I accused him immediately of that and oh God, the way his face just... but he'd lied to me! About everything! How could he do that? His mother... my God his mother is actually still alive and he still sees her!"
She shot off the bed and paced frantically in front of Hermione.
"I mean... one minute we're talking about me moving my things into his home and whether it makes more sense to have a spring or fall wedding... and the next he's trembling and nervous and... and... pulling out a stick, waving it about like a nutter and then the side table became a daschund and then back to a table again and then—and then—"
She rubbed furiously at her streaming eyes and took a huge breath.
"Then he drops it on me that his mum isn't dead after all, but all the bits about his father are true... my God, no they're even worse than true... all those nights he woke screaming and I had no idea that... I mean you can't fake that sort of thing, those details... the way he suffered as a kid..." She trailed off and stared at Hermione in horror. "A war... he said there was a war. That his father... that the goal of this secret war was to kill non-magical people... people like me."
She sank back down on the bed miserably and stared at the floor. Hermione's mind raced, but she found herself unable to offer any good words or helpful gestures of comfort. She opted to let Sasha voice her thoughts in her own time.
"I always found Theo so odd, you know," she began slowly. "We'd be out at the pubs and drunk blokes would say things... or even just walking down the street in broad daylight... the typical racist shite." She let out a hollow laugh.
"We stick out a bit as a couple, I'm sure you've noticed. But any time some arsehole had the nerve to comment on our mixed relationship, I'd get infuriated and he just... well he'd get mad on my behalf, obviously, but it really seemed to roll right off his back, almost like he didn't quite get why we should take offense."
She let out a slightly more hysterical laugh. "And now I'm to learn that it's not just my skin color but my blood... my blood, Hermione. I'll be little better than a second-class citizen in his world too. Lucky me, eh?"
Hermione reached over and took her hand as Sasha squeezed her eyes shut and a few tears leaked out.
"My parents are like you, non-magical. Muggles, as they're colloquially known. I've seen how overwhelming this can all be to learn but I'll help you any way I can. You're not alone."
Sasha let go of a shuddering exhale. "And Theo? How do I even begin to fix things with him?"
Hermione took a fortifying breath and relayed the unfortunate news once more about the laws governing romantic partnerships between wizards and Muggles.
"I've got to marry him... or they'll wipe my mind?" Sasha summed up sadly.
"I'm so, so sorry."
Sasha swallowed a lump in her throat, then stared earnestly at Hermione. "What would you do? If you were me?"
Before Hermione could answer, a soft knock sounded against the door. She swept past Sasha and found that Draco had left her requested reading materials in a neat stack on the floor. Hermione scooped everything up and laid it neatly on the bed.
"I'm not excusing Theo, I'm not, but our laws, as outdated as they are, strictly prohibit sharing the secrets of the magical world. What I would do if I were you, is gain as much information as possible before making a decision."
Hermione gestured to the stack of books and brochures. "That's a good place to start. If your intent is to be fully informed, it's only right that you know some of the recent history, our current political climate, there's a quick debrief on the Statute of Secrecy there, a short guide to our Ministry, the basics of magical lineage, a primer on magical-Muggle relations, and a leaflet on marriage rites."
Sasha stared hard at the pile of resources as if willing them to hold the answer to the very personal and life-altering decision she would need to make soon.
"We've been talking about marriage for a while now but this... this is mad," she intoned, her voice low and almost disbelieving. "I'll have to lie to my parents... my brothers... to everyone."
A hollow pain ripped through Hermione. It was a double life she was all too familiar with and it was more often than not, tiring.
"Sasha," Hermione called softly to pull her out of her misery reverie. "I can't tell you what to do here. No one can. So you need to do your research and think, truly think, about what Theo means to you and how your wants and needs align. Think of this as an opportunity to come to full and complete honesty with one another before committing to a marriage. I'll admit the magical element is perhaps not something you expected to have to discuss with a future spouse, but think of it as one more trust issue like pre-nups, finances, or in-laws or living arrangements, that would need to be addressed prior to any wedding."
The other woman seemed to absorb Hermione's practical phrasing of the problem and nodded. Then she sprung off the bed and wrapped Hermione in a fierce embrace.
"Thank you," she whispered. "I don't know how to face him right now."
"Take a few days," Hermione said soothingly. "Call me with your questions if you're more comfortable, all right? I won't hold anything back."
Before she left, Hermione made Sasha a cup of strong tea and saw that she was comfortable back in Theo's bed.
When she arrived back at Franklin House, she found an ashen-faced Theo seated in the armchair right in front of the Floo and a stoic Draco in the one beside his friend.
"Is she—?"
"She's calmer now," Hermione interrupted the anxious Theo. "I've left her with everything I think she'll need and she's sleeping there tonight but said she'll go to her parents' in the morning."
Theo nodded sullenly as Draco leapt to his feet. "I think it's best if you stay here for a few days," Draco said bracingly. "Come on, I'll put you up in the guest room next to the library."
When they'd settled back in bed, Hermione clung to Draco a little tighter through the night, letting the comforting sound of his even breathing in slumber soothe her frayed nerves. The miserable image of Sasha's devastated face wouldn't leave her alone, thrusting her back into the pain and guilt she'd felt after removing her parents' Obliviation. To be sure, Sasha would be signing up for a complicated life, but perhaps to her, Theo was worth the effort.
Hermione indulged in sweeping her fingers gently through Draco's hair. She was no stranger to a complicated life herself, to say nothing of the man beside her. And as long as he remained beside her, Hermione thought as she finally drifted off, they'd handle any more complications life threw their way. Together.
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A/N: Thanks for reading! Find me on tumblr: @heyjude19-writing.