Chapter Text
“Shh. Shh.” His voice is low and flat, and his hand pats her hair comfortingly. With her face pressed against his chest, she can feel his heart hammering. “You’ll be safe here.”
“Where?” she whispers. Her eyes are closed. She’s not sure where she is. It seems small. Dark. They’re folded together, knees against knees, and she thinks that if there was more space then they wouldn’t have to be like this.
“It’s better if you don’t know.” His arms tighten around her.
The walls are too close and the darkness is heavy. Where is the sound? Who-
“Why can’t I remember?” she asks. “Who are you? Who am—I?”
She tries to open her eyes but the person presses his hand across her face like a blindfold. She squirms, but he’s stronger and bigger than she is, and it hurts to fight. Her skin is thin and taut across her bones.
For some reason, she thinks maybe they’re in a hurry, but he lets her tire herself out before speaking again.
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
“You- you just said that.” Doesn’t he remember? It was only a few seconds ago. An edge of terror seeps into that empty space where her memories should be. “What’s going on? Where am I?”
“You’ll be safe here,” he repeats in the same nearly toneless voice, and she thinks she’s not speaking to a human. “Your name is Hermione Granger.”
“Her… mione Granger,” she says weakly. It sounds wrong. A wave of tiredness hits her and she slumps.
“That’s all you need to remember.” He murmurs hypnotically, patting her hair, and she begins to slip into sleep. “Your name is Hermione Granger, you’ll be safe here, and it’s better if you don’t know the rest…”