This chapter is a quiet, character-driven listen that sits with Hermione after her first heat. She wakes to find Draco gone, the scent that clings will not wash away, and a difficult conversation with Professor McGonagall follows about consent, possible consequences for Draco, daily suppressants from Slughorn, and how rare an unbound Omega at Hogwarts truly is, with Molly Weasley, Druella Rosier, and Cassandra Ollivander as historical touchpoints. Hermione weighs autonomy, pregnancy, and marriage against the pull of instinct, accepts staff support, and agrees to a supervised apology with Neville. A book titled Soulbound hints at the choices ahead.

This chapter is a rich, character-driven listen that keeps the mic close on Hermione Granger’s point of view. Fevered and vulnerable, Hermione rides the storm of her first heat while Draco Malfoy stays by her side, offering care, grounding touch, and patient reassurance. Clarity returns in waves, trust is tested against their history, and a fragile bond begins to take shape inside post-war Hogwarts.

From Draco Malfoy’s point of view, we step into an abandoned Hogwarts corridor, a wary Slytherin on probation, and Alpha senses turned up too high. Daphne and Astoria are circling, Hermione Granger is mysteriously absent from Arithmancy, and a thread of grief-tinged memory pulls Draco toward faint sobs behind heavy wards. What he finds is Hermione in the depths of her first heat, hiding under a freezing shower, and a choice that forces Draco to confront instinct, history, and consent in a moment that will define everything that follows.