The Bond Of Fate - DracoxHermione

Chapter Seventeen

That afternoon, Hermione made her way to McGonagall's office after class. One of the perks of being her was that she got unlimited access to staff and when she knocked on the door the headmistress called her in without hesitation.

"Miss Granger, I was wondering when you'd be coming to see me," she said, her stern eyes inspecting her over her glasses, "Professor Gray mentioned you and Mr. Malfoy have stopped working with her."

"We go every week," she said simply.

McGonagall smiled knowingly.

"Yes, well- therapy takes more than just showing up- but you already knew that didn't you?"

"I wanted to talk to you about my soulmate bond," she said, ignoring her question. Her eyes flickered towards the portrait of the sleeping headmaster behind her and she felt a pang in her chest. "I want to know what's happening to me."

McGonagall nodded, "yes, of course, that's understandable," she said, getting to her feet. She rounded her desk until she was standing right in front of her.

"I must admit we weren't sure in the beginning, that's partly why we asked Vivian to work with you, we wanted to know as much about your bond as we could. But Vivian, of course, tells me neither of you trusts her enough to reveal the extent of your connection."

Hermione sighed, she had tried sharing more details with Vivian, but she felt too untrustworthy, and her connection with Malfoy felt too personal. But McGonagall was different, she wasn't new and unknown to her, she'd always been her favourite teacher.

"I'm willing to share it with you," she said after a while. McGonagall's eyes seemed to water, but she blinked, and it was gone. Instead, she gave Hermione a warm smile.

"I'm very honoured by your trust, Hermione," she said, and she took a seat next to her.

She opened her mouth to talk, but closed it back up, unsure where to begin. The headmistress noticed her hesitation and seemed to understand it.

"Why don't you begin by telling me what your bond feels like right now."

Hermione nodded. She could do that.

"Right now, looking at you, it feels like there's nothing," she said simply, "but- but if I pay attention, I can feel it tugging."

She closed her eyes, focusing on the small tug she had learned to ignore. The second she gave it an inkling of attention, it seemed to pulse, and the pull intensified.

"It feels like it's pulling me," she said, eyes still closed, "but not too strongly, just to remind me that it's there, and the more I focus on it, the stronger it becomes."

She opened her eyes to see McGonagall observing her, brows furrowed.

"And" she continued, but she hesitated. Once again, she felt that she was betraying her bond by trying to talk about it. However, she was set on getting answers, so she kept going.

"And sometimes things can be sent up and down that bond, between- between me and Malfoy."

McGonagall looked back at the sleeping Dumbledore; a frown etched on her otherwise impassive face. She looked like she wanted to grab the sleeping headmaster by the beard and pull him out of the portrait so he could answer all their questions.

"What do you mean, you can send things up the bond," she asked after a few seconds of pondering silence. Hermione grimaced.

"Well- sometimes- sometimes I feel anxious and he just knows. Without looking at me or me saying anything. And- and one time I was angry at him and it slipped down the bond and he felt it. He asked me about it later. But-" she hesitated, "there was this one time that Malfoy got punched in the face, like a month ago or so, and I felt actual physical pain shoot down the bond towards me. After that- after that, my nose started to bleed, but I wasn't sure if it was my blood or his, because he had broken his nose and it was also bleeding."