Hermione Granger and the Theft of Magic

Chapter 17: Considering Consequences

[A/N: Thank you to Calamity Owl for beta-reading this chapter!]

Hermione was well ahead of where she where she'd intended to be in her Transfiguration and Charms studies by that week (Potions was right on track), so, with the exceptions of her regular study sessions, she spent most of the rest of the week once Harry went back to work helping Nev in his greenhouses. Nev was still worried about Sue until she went back to desk-only work on Friday, so Sue came by during the first couple of sessions just so Nev could fuss over her.

Half an hour into her session with Nev on Friday morning, Hermione called a halt to things. "Nev, we need to stop," she said.

He put down the bag of dragon dung he was holding. "Sure. What's wrong?"

"You are," Hermione said. "You've been out of sorts all morning and I'm worried you're going to get us both killed."

Nev glared at her. "I know what I'm doing," he said. "Harry's just taking the mickey with all of those comments about my dangerous plants. That's no excuse to lecture me on your third lesson."

She flipped back through her notes. "Yesterday, you told me only to fertilise venomous tentacula with mooncalf dung because dragon dung would cause it to explode in both size and aggression."

"Right," he said. "What's your point?"

Hermione wordlessly gestured with her quill at the dragon dung bag at his feet and then the venomous tentacula plant five yards ahead of him.

"Merlin's pants!" Nev said. "OK, you're right. We're taking a break."

She nodded and followed him out of the greenhouse. "Do you want to talk about anything?" she asked.

He sighed. "I don't even know."

"Are you upset that Sue's gone back to work already?"

"No, I'm upset that both of my best friends nearly died in the space of ten seconds!" he said. "If that had been a Killing Curse instead of a Cruciatus, Sue would never have gotten back up, and there was probably only a 50-50 chance Harry would have gotten a potion for that Ennervating Curse in time if you hadn't given him the one you brewed. And now they're both back at it as if nothing happened."

"It's not as if nothing happened for Harry," Hermione said. "He took it pretty hard."

"He shouldn't. He's probably the reason she's still alive," Nev replied. "She wouldn't be the first temporarily incapacitated Auror killed by a Dark Wizard right before they were captured. If Harry hadn't pulled that insane stunt that nearly got him killed to draw fire, one of them might have killed her while they were fighting off her backup in the door."

"I hadn't thought of it like that," Hermione said. "I knew Harry nearly didn't make it, but I didn't realise how close Sue came to dying, too."

"It's all I've been able to think of for a few days," Nev said. "I don't have all that many friends, so those two mean the world to me. Losing either would break my heart, and I'm not sure I could take losing both of them at the same time."

"I understand," Hermione said. "It's been years since I had any real friends. I had a panic attack when I heard Harry had been hurt."

"I'm sorry," Nev said. "I've been so wrapped up in my own worries that I didn't ask how you'd been doing."

"Better," Hermione said. "Just seeing him alive each morning helps."

"I know what you mean," Nev said. "That's one of the reasons I've been dragging Sue over here. I wish..." he trailed off and shook his head.