            Lucius strode towards the bedroom door, but before he could reach for the handle, Hermione stopped him with a light touch on his arm. "Thank you for helping me," she said as he turned back to face her. She blinked up at him, smiling, too aware of short distance between them. In the club, in his arms, it was so easy. But here, in her bedroom and without the immediate heat of completing the bond, she felt the weight of the world between them. At home, in his house, the pull of Sirius was too strong on her conscious.