Black's House for Little Witches

18

A/N: This is a setup chapter for the next.

I hope you enjoy it anyway. :)

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Hermione woke up slowly. She didn't realize she'd dozed off. She released a near body wracking yawn and stretched languidly. She was on the floor of the observatory. The shape sorting toy was just out of reach with all of its pieces beside it.

She suckled lightly on her dummy as she curled up in a ball. Would Bellatrix and Narcissa make her give it up? She never thought she'd enjoy it so much, but now she didn't think she could let it go. Surely they wouldn't make her give it back, right? Tears pooled in her eyes as she sniffled. She really didn't need to get so upset just yet.

"Hermione, what's wrong, ma chérie?" She didn't hear the approaching footsteps and was startled by Narcissa suddenly speaking, which in turn caused her to accidentally drop her dummy. She whined slightly at the loss. Narcissa approached and knelt in front of her. She picked the dropped dummy up and held it out to the girl. "I see Andromeda shared some things with you," she observed carefully. "Maybe we should thank her later, hm?"

Hermione nodded and took the pacifier back. She didn't put it back into her mouth, though. "Are you gonna take it?" she whispered.

Narcissa reeled back and tilted her head curiously. "You seemed pretty content just a moment ago. Do you not like it? "

Hermione shook her head. "I like it. A lot."

Narcissa nodded slowly. "So, what made you think I would take it?

Hermione shrugged and trailed her hand along the floor. "Don't know. Andy doesn't use one a lot, so I thought maybe, maybe I couldn't use one a lot, either."

"I see," Narcissa hummed softly. "Andromeda doesn't use one often because she's moving too much. She says a dummy gets in the way of playing. She does have her necklaces and bracelets for biting on, but she hasn't used them in a while, either. I think she's in a period where her habit of biting has been curbed for the time being."

Hermione nodded. That did make a little bit of sense. "But, but I can still use one a lot, right?" She fiddled with her hands in her lap. "Because I don't have to do everything like Andy."

Narcissa beamed at her and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "Correct, chaton." She laughed as Hermione wrinkled her nose at the term. "You are allowed to like things that are different from Andy's preferences. If you want to use a dummy, you can. No one will take it from you. If for some reason anyone tries, you can come find me, and I'll set them straight."

Hermione nodded, warmed by the fierce protectiveness in the woman's tone. "Okay. I don't think I want to use it in public, though," she murmured.

"And that's perfectly fine, love. It looks like Andy gave you some other choices. You could use those, or none at all. It's really up to you."

Hermione appreciated that they gave her the choice of whether she expressed her Little side in public or not. Andy had a point before. Everything really was up to Hermione. She did have a lot of decision making power. She didn't have a lot of that before. She didn't really get a choice in choosing the Blacks as her new host family, but she also didn't have one in choosing the Weasleys before. If she had to choose between one now, Hermione wouldn't hesitate to pick.

Narcissa hummed softly, bringing Hermione out of her thoughts. "I think Bella is going to take Andy to St. Mungo's today," she said softly. She reached out and took hold of Hermione's hand as the girl gasped and squeezed it gently. "She had an appointment soon anyways, Hermione, but it's just a precaution more than anything else. They can also get stronger pain relief than what we have here."