To a Better End

Chapter 10

August 27th 1898

Hermione tried her best to ignore Malfoy's laughter while she packed in a state of panic. In the midst of getting their potions brewed, expanding the timeframe that the Polyjuice would last, and several failed attempts to make it taste better, she had completely forgotten to pack. It was mid-Sunday when it hit her that they were due to be at Hogwarts first thing on Monday.

Living in the castle was going to present one big problem Hermione wasn't sure she was going to be able to solve: her nightmares and the only current solution she had for them.

The couch had been hers and Malfoy's nightly resting place ever since the first meal they cooked together. It was never discussed how they switched from him sitting upright to him lying down. They didn't dare touch upon the fact they transfigured the couch to be a few more inches deeper to accommodate them sleeping side by side like an actual married couple. And it was an unspoken promise they held to never utter a word about their late-night spooning, or the fact it was a touch that she relished in.

Hermione made a personal promise to herself to not think about how her nightmares stopped in the arms of Malfoy, but not Theo. In Theo's arms, she would find some comfort but never full peace. She could imagine the conversation with Malfoy, chalking the ability up to him being an Unspeakable. Regardless of what strange magic he possessed, it was a problem she needed solved.

Miss Harper and Mr. Strider were not romantically involved from what she gathered from their memories. Although, they did share a lot of the same memories. Maybe she could risk sneaking in. Perhaps she could fabricate something to lead her into the dungeons where Malfoy would be sleeping. But then she would be admitting something she truly didn't want to. She needed him far more than she was ready to admit, and that was dangerous.

"Merlin, Granger! How much did you bring?"

"I brought enough, Malfoy. Are you just going to stand there, or are you going to help me pack?"

"I like the view." After a few moments, Malfoy scoffed at Hermione while she was literally shoulder deep in her magical bag. "Okay, okay! Your struggling is driving me insane, come here."

He shot her a cheeky wink as he sauntered over to her. Once he hauled her from the bag, he forced her to sit down on their almost completely unused bed. With Malfoy shoulder-deep in her bag, Hermione felt nervous about what he might find, but couldn't find the energy to stop him.

"Why do you have so many bloody books? What are you? A library?"

"Well, some of those are my night books. And the others are purely academic."

"Night books? Granger," he pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a sigh. "Books don't have time of day categories. They are just books."

Hermione held back a laugh. There was definitely a difference between the books she read at night and the ones she read in the day, but she wasn't about to correct him, lest he ask for an example. Malfoy continued his search for things he deemed necessary through the chaos that was her bag and dresser drawer. They didn't want to pack everything that they had, just in case something did go awry. They needed to pack lightly for the school year in case they had to make a sudden run for it. The chances were slim, but Hermione would be damned if she didn't have plan B, plan C, and so forth, covering the rest of the English, Greek, and Arabic alphabets with contingency plans.

"And you just have a horde of glass jars in here? Why would you even need this many?"

If you only knew.

Reaching back into her bag, his eyebrows ironically knitted together when he pulled out several balls of string. "What's all this?" He exclaimed, as though it were a new phenomenon he'd never encountered before.