Hermione thinks suppressants will steady her life at post-war Hogwarts. Instead the halls churn with Alpha rivalry, detentions, and duels, while Theodore Nott keeps a thoughtful distance and Draco Malfoy refuses to be drawn into the pack. After curfew, a chance encounter on patrol turns from polite escort to coercion as Alpha command tightens around Hermione like a trap. Pinned and slipping into subspace, she fights the fog until fury breaks the corridor and the one boy who would not be provoked finally is. What follows is a rescue, a reckoning, and a heartbeat-close moment that tests consent, agency, and a bond neither is ready to name.