She stared into the dim room, the window behind the desk casting late afternoon shadows forward. Spying a Foe Glass on a shelf, Hermione eyed it, waiting to see if her face clarified and formed in the fog. Silhouettes shifted, passing in the void, but the Glass didn't recognize her as an enemy. Interesting, considering that she was here to snoop.

Her head pressed against the invisible barrier, tilting to the side to view the interior walls. A series of bookshelves that had her fingers itching lined the left wall. Wouldn't it be interesting to see what books Lucius Malfoy kept at his disposal? Kept out of the library?

After ten minutes of squinting at the titles on his shelf, she wandered to the library, ready to tackle one of her many problems. She ran through the questions she had, prioritized them, and tried to find workable solutions.

The most pressing question was contingent on Draco's health. If he died, what would become of her? She trusted Narcissa's kindness in her current circumstances, but she wasn't certain how far it would extend. If she could no longer reside at Malfoy Manor, where would they send her?

Would she go back to Auction?

Pushing open the library doors, she brushed aside the fleeting, wistful hope that she'd find Draco at the stacks, turning to her and lifting a brow.

Hands on her hips, standing before a vast library entirely at her disposal, Hermione prioritized.

There was no precedent for the Auction that she was aware of, which meant it would be futile to research the kinds of rules they made for the death of a buyer. She filed that question away, unable to answer it.

Horcruxes, tattoos, or suppressants. Which should she focus on today? A dark thought pressed over her as her eyes skimmed the stacks. Did any of this matter? They lost. You lost.

Her lips pressed together. She took a deep breath.

Magic suppression. That's what she'd look into today.

Throwing caution to the wind, she turned to the library catalog and said, "Show me books on magic suppression." And then as an afterthought, "Please."

An eerie shuffling sound from the stacks, and she eyed several books pulled from their homes and hovering in the aisles.

"Right," she said. "Back to work."

~*~

She studied well into the evening, spreading texts across the large table and scribbling notes. It might be the only time at the Manor she didn't have to worry about being caught, with all three Malfoys away. Figuring out the suppressant potion was an obvious choice for her. Having her magic back would make it easier to escape, once she'd found a way around the tattoos. And if she was caught, an academic curiosity about the suppressant potion wasn't something she would be killed over.

Hopefully.

There were several herbs and crushed stones that could ward off evil spirits, but she wouldn't know the exact combinations unless she could break it down in a potions laboratory. She'd need a vial of the minty potion. And a cauldron. Hermione wrote down and pocketed her list of ingredients.