Sunlight, mild as early spring despite the season, draped itself gently across the peaceful grounds of the enchanted forest classroom.
Every member of the exchange delegation had, by now, found the dormitory bearing their name pinned to its door, and gone off to see properly, for the first time, the place they'd be living for the duration of their stay.
Hagrid came back shortly, his heavy footsteps were unmistakable even from a distance.
"He's asleep—"
Hagrid told Hermione happily, his whole face was still glowing with particular pride.
"Professor Watson's a right good man, he made Grawp a tree hollow that's roomy an' comfortable as anythin'—an' he had himself a proper good meal tonight too, so he dropped right off soon as his head found the moss."
Hermione pressed her lips together at that, privately remembering how Grawp had swept every last edible scrap off their entire section of the long table and directly into his own mouth over the course of the meal, grease and all.
"What exactly is going on, Hagrid—"
Hermione demanded, genuinely worked up now that the crisis of the evening's arrivals had settled.
"How is it you suddenly have a little brother, and none of us ever knew a single thing about it?!"
"Ah, well, that—"
Hagrid's whole head sank guiltily down between his own shoulders.
"That's a long story, that is."
Hermione crossed her arms firmly over her chest and gave Hagrid a pointed, expectant sidelong look.
"That's fine. I happen to have the time tonight, as it turns out."
Hagrid was just opening his mouth, bracing himself to launch into the full, complicated explanation, when the rest of the exchange group, having finished their own tours of the dormitories, began trickling back one by one.
At the sight of them approaching, Hagrid shut his mouth again.
Hermione hurried forward to properly greet them, her gaze sweeping steadily across the small, gathering group. She took a steadying breath and smiled at all of them, a little nervously, aware of the sudden responsibility settling onto her shoulders.
"Er, right—you already know I'm Hermione Granger, but I'm afraid I still don't know what to call any of you properly yet?"
"I'm Roya—"
The bright-eyed little girl Professor Rahansen had brought looked Hermione over with open curiosity, her earlier shyness from the front steps apparently was already fading.
"Roya Nellie."
One after another, the rest of the young druids gathered nearby offered their own names to Hermione in turn.
Then came the goblins, their characteristically unsmiling faces was making Hermione a little tense despite herself as they approached.
"There's nothing at all wrong with our lodgings, I should say first—"
A goblin named Tevin, his skin carrying a sickly yellow-green cast in the lantern light, leaned toward Hermione and asked with unmistakable, formal respect in his phrasing.
"Miss Granger, if I may ask directly—when will we be receiving our promised wands?"
"Oh, wands—"
Hermione said quickly, recovering her composure.
"Yes, of course, I should have mentioned that straight away. Professor Watson has arranged proper wands for all of you already, but that—well, it's only during the Sunday afternoon exchange sessions specifically that their use is permitted here. You understand, I hope, that this is rather a sensitive arrangement—"
Hermione studied Tevin's face carefully as she said it, watching for any sign of offence.
But the goblins showed no visible sign of displeasure at the restriction, and accepted it with the same formality they'd shown throughout, and Hermione felt herself relax slightly at the lack of pushback.
"If there's anything at all you need, please do tell me directly, and I'll do everything genuinely within my power to help—within reason, of course—"
Hermione smiled warmly at the group.
"Every night we need to go into the Forbidden Forest—"
Roya raised her hand promptly, eager to contribute.
"Flomide wants us to come learn from him each evening—things from our own tradition."
"Every night?"
Hermione's brow furrowed unhappily at that. There was simply no way she'd have time, on top of her own coursework, to personally fetch this entire group from the depths of the Forbidden Forest back to the castle every single night without exception.
"I'll keep an eye on this lot for you, don't you worry—"
Hagrid stepped in smoothly to solve the problem before it could become one.
"I live right on the edge o' the forest myself, after all. Once you've all finished up yer lessons with Professor Rahansen each night, Fang an' I'll walk the whole group back up to the castle safe an' sound—no trouble at all."
"If it's not too much additional trouble—"
The little centaur foal Polly also raised a shy hand from where she stood a little apart from the others.
"I need to stay outside the castle walls a bit longer at night as well—"
Under Hermione's questioning, curious look, the filly went back to pawing a small hole in the soft ground with one hoof, avoiding direct eye contact.
"We centaurs are accustomed to watching the stars trace their paths across the sky, particularly when the night sky is at its clearest and brightest. It's important to us."
"Oh, that's no trouble at all to arrange."
Hermione agreed happily, relieved this one, at least, had an easy solution.
"But I'm afraid I can't let you stay entirely outside the castle walls overnight, Polly, for your own safety. I'll go and find Professor Sinistra and ask her to open the Astronomy Tower for you instead—the view from up there should suit your purposes just as well, I'd imagine."
"As for me—"
The handsome little boy with the chestnut, unruly hair went visibly pale at his turn, shifting awkwardly from one foot to the other, clearly working up to something uncomfortable.
The moment Hagrid properly looked at him, something seemed to click into place, and he smiled with immediate, gentle understanding.
"You're Bernell, aren't you. Professor Watson mentioned you to me—Remus found you for him, didn't he?"
Bernell lowered his head and said softly. "Mr. Lupin is my father's friend."
Hermione blinked once, and understood, exactly who this boy actually was and precisely what particular worry was sitting behind his obvious discomfort.
"Oh, don't you worry about that at all. I know just the place for you—perfectly safe, properly secured. It'll see you through those particular days without any trouble—"
"That is indeed a good spot, that is!"
Hagrid smiled, genuinely pleased by the solution. He knew without needing further explanation, that Hermione meant the same safe house Remus himself had used regularly back when he'd been a student at Hogwarts.
"And Grawp, then?"
Hermione asked next, her tone was warm and genuinely concerned.
"Does he need anything particular from me—food, perhaps? I couldn't help but notice his appetite is rather substantial, compared to everyone else's."
"Oh, no need to fuss over that particular worry,"
Hagrid said, waving the concern away easily.
"Grawp's not like the rest of you lot, Hermione, size for size. One properly good meal like tonight's'll see him through several days without needing anythin' more."
Hagrid looked out at the small group of children gathered before him, his expression was shifting into something more hopeful.
"He's afraid of bein' alone, mostly, if I'm honest with yeh. Back with his own tribe, nobody paid him much mind at all, on account of he was so much smaller than the rest of the giants there. So, what he really needs most is friends—if you lot could just find some time to spend talkin' with him—"
Hermione opened her mouth to respond, then found she didn't quite dare say anything at all. The goblins nearby fell silent as well. Even Polly turned her own head away, looking ashamed at her earlier hesitation.
Giants were such savage, feared creatures in the eyes of most wizards that even they held themselves at a wary distance—to say nothing of how the other beings gathered here now, each carrying their own history of prejudice from the wizarding world, might feel about approaching one directly.
"We can be his friends—"
Roya raised her hand again and said it bright and clear, without a shred of the hesitation everyone else was carrying.
"We can help settle him down properly. I don't see why not."
"Oh, that would be genuinely wonderful!"
Hagrid beamed with relief.
"So long as he's got proper friends here, I know he'll come ter love it at Hogwarts, given time. Professor Watson told me himself, see—if Grawp learns ter get along properly with people, he says he'll let Grawp stay on as my assistant!"
"As for the rest of you—"
Hermione turned in a full, careful circle, taking stock of who remained unaccounted for, and happened to spot the girl Professor Watson had earlier led down toward the dungeons now stepping back out into the open evening air.
The girl had changed her elaborate travelling clothes for an equally elegant black nightgown, its fabric was ice-smooth even from a distance, her earlier black leather shoes were swapped out for soft cotton slippers that made almost no sound against the ground.
She yawned, leisurely, as she walked toward Hermione across the grass.
"I can't sleep."
The girl's blunt, entirely matter-of-fact tone left Hermione genuinely without any ready response prepared.
With Professor Watson nowhere in sight to intervene, the girl with her skin so fine and flawless it stirred a small pang of envy even in someone as generally unconcerned with appearances as Hermione—seemed, if anything, considerably more imperious than she had at the feast, standing there in the moonlight.
She lifted her sharp little chin, genuinely worked up now.
"I'm hungry!"
Truth be told, a half-grown girl in a temper quite like this one didn't irritate Hermione in the slightest—if anything, watching the display, she found the whole thing rather endearing.
"Hungry?"
Hermione pressed her lips together and smiled kindly at her.
"That's easily solved, don't worry. I'll go straight down to the kitchens for you right now, this very minute."
"Don't bother yourself, Hermione. There's nothin' in that kitchen she can actually eat—"
Hagrid said, sounding faintly amused by the whole exchange.
"She needs somethin' with a fair bit more nourishment to it than sandwiches or pumpkin juice. Isn't that right?"
Hermione blinked, genuinely bewildered by the implication.
"More nourishment—oh, I suppose the Hogwarts kitchens might not stock everything, but surely—"
"I only drink dragon's blood!"
The girl said, quite irritated now, cutting Hermione off.
"Newt told me that as long as I came to Hogwarts, Watson wouldn't let me go hungry. That's the only reason I bothered coming all the way from New York!"
Hermione froze completely at that, then took an entirely involuntary step backward.
"You're a vampire!"
The girl gave Hermione a sideways, withering look, plainly far too disdainful to even bother answering.
"Well, I've got a whole flock of chickens back at my place, if you're willing to make do—"
Hagrid said with a grin, clearly enjoying himself now, and the girl bared her small, sharp fangs at him in immediate, genuine fury at the suggestion.
"Dragon's blood."
This truly did stump Hermione. She was quite certain, running through everything she knew of the school's supply chain, that even with Hogwarts' finances currently in excellent shape, the kitchens still wouldn't be stocking dragon's blood as a regular food item.
"But Professor Watson isn't actually at Hogwarts right now—"
Hermione bit her lip, thinking rapidly.
"If you don't fancy chicken blood as an alternative, you might try the Blood-Flavoured Lollipops instead—"
Hagrid offered another less-than-brilliant idea.
"Honeydukes over in Hogsmeade sells 'em regular. But you'll have ter wait till mornin' fer that, I'm afraid—the whole school's locked up tight fer the night now."
"Blood-Flavoured Lollipops?"
Hermione was in the middle of rolling her eyes at Hagrid's suggestion when, to her considerable surprise, the little vampire girl's entire face lit up with sudden interest.
"I don't care one single bit whether Hogwarts is locked up or not. I'm going right now—I know exactly where Hogsmeade is. I saw the whole village clearly on the way in tonight!"
With that declaration, the vampire girl spun sharply on her heel and marched straight for the distant door, cotton slippers and elegant nightgown and all,
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