(This story is part of the Hypnotist Hermione series, and comes immediately after this one where Draco shows up at Hermione’s house after getting bitten by Fenrir. Hypnotic language ahead, so read at your own risk. I’ve also posted this on AO3.)
Dinner had gone relatively smoothly. Hermione had been nervous about her worlds colliding like this - Draco, a reminder not just of the magical world but also of the war that was brewing there, sitting in a room lit by electricity and making small talk with her Muggle parents. She needn’t have worried, though. Draco was remarkably skilled at making polite conversation without ever sharing any actual information. She supposed he must’ve learned this skill from his father.
After they’d helped her parents clean up from dinner, Hermione suggested watching a movie.
“What’s a movie?” Draco asked.
Mrs. Granger was the first to answer. “It’s moving pictures, dear. It’s the most remarkable thing.”
Draco looked at Hermione and raised his eyebrows.
“It’s like an illustrated storybook,” Hermione explained. “The pictures move and talk, but they don’t respond to you. They’re just performing a story.”
“How do Muggles make that happen?” Draco asked.
“Honestly, Draco, Muggle technology has come a long way since the Statute of Secrecy. Come on, let’s choose a movie to watch.”
Draco allowed himself to be led into the TV room where Hermione opened a cabinet of what she called “video cassettes.” There were a lot to choose from, and Draco felt a bit overwhelmed trying to keep track of all the options he was being offered. He ultimately just chose one from the “maybe” pile and they sat down to watch something called The Jungle Book.
Hermione watched Draco’s jaw drop and his eyes go wide as the movie started.
“Are these drawings?” he whispered, awestruck.
“How do Muggles make them move?”
“They draw a new picture for each piece of the movement, and play them together quickly. There are 24 pictures in each second of movie.”
“That’s amazing,” Draco said, still staring transfixed at the screen. Hermione had been expecting him to lean against her a bit, but he stayed sitting up straight, seemingly too fascinated to relax. She contented herself with watching his face and enjoying his sense of wonder secondhand.
He asked questions here and there throughout the movie. How do they make the pictures talk? Can all Muggles talk to animals, or is Mowgli special? Why doesn’t the panther eat him? Hermione answered them all patiently.
When Mowgli met Kaa for the first time, Draco let out a soft “Oh.”
“Oh?” Hermione prompted.
“I know that feeling,” he said quietly, watching Mowgli follow Kaa’s eyes.
“Yes, I suppose you do,” Hermione answered, running her fingers gently through his hair.
A minute or so later, when Mowgli had pushed Kaa out of the tree and he was slithering away, Draco took his eyes off the screen for the first time and turned to face Hermione.
“Why did his eyes change colors like that?” he asked.
“It’s a simple visual shorthand for what was happening,” she said with a shrug.
After a pause, Draco asked, “Can you expand on that?”
Hermione laughed. “How much detail would you like, exactly?”
“Enough to take my mind off things?”
“Okay,” she said, her voice becoming just a bit lower and smoother. “Let’s start with Mowgli. You said you knew what he was feeling in that scene, right?”
“Tell me what he was feeling,” she prompted.
“Transfixed,” Draco answered. “Blank. Helpless. Couldn’t pull himself away. Didn’t want to.”
“Very good,” she said. “You could tell he was feeling transfixed, blank, helpless. You saw how he couldn’t look away, how his mouth hung open, how his head seemed heavy as he moved it. And you saw his eyes mirroring Kaa’s, following his cues. Isn’t that right?”
“Yeah, mirroring. Following. That’s right.”
“That’s right. You saw that because you saw that his eyes were doing what Kaa’s eyes were doing, while their body language showed you that Mowgli was feeling helpless and Kaa was in control. Kaa was in control because he could make Mowgli focus, and Mowgli was helpless to resist. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“Very good. And Kaa could make Mowgli focus by making his eyes pulse with colors. Could you imagine my eyes changing like that?”
For a brief moment, Draco thought he saw a flash of gold shimmering through Hermione’s eyes.
“Yes,” he answered. “I can.”
“Very good, Draco. You’ve got such a lovely imagination.” While she spoke, he imagined he could see little flashes of green and purple pulsing through her eyes. “Seeing those colors in my eyes, I’m sure you find that you can’t look away. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes,” he answered. “I can’t look away.”
“Wonderful,” she said with a smile. “You can’t look away. You’re transfixed by those pretty colors shimmering across my eyes. Mouth hanging open, head getting heavy, helpless to resist. You can’t pull yourself away. You don’t want to. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes.” He noticed the colors in her eyes seemed to have gotten more distinct now, like the longer he stared the more clear they got. He felt as though his mind was shimmering and pulsing like that as well. Like he couldn’t think about anything beyond her eyes and whatever thoughts she put in his head.
“Fantastic,” she said, lingering just a shade longer on the s. “You see, when my eyes start changing color like that and you can see that I’m in control, it feels natural for you to follow along, follow my lead, feeling blank and helpless and transfixed. No thoughts aside from what I tell you to think, what I tell you to feel. Isn’t that right?”
“Perfect. Focused, mindless, blank, helpless, transfixed. It’s easy to imagine that your eyes might be mirroring mine now, shimmering with color, because you can feel those colors deep in your mind, washing your thoughts away. Isn’t that right?”
“Wonderful. And, of course, you know that what you’re feeling right now is related to the colors in my eyes. So when I look away, when my eyes return to normal, that’s when your mind will be able to return to normal as well. Does that make sense?”
Hermione closed her eyes and turned her head away. Draco blinked, shook his head, closed his mouth. Wiped a spot of drool off his chin.
“Thanks,” he said, smiling.
“Sure thing,” Hermione said, turning back to look at him but being careful not to hold his gaze too long. “You think you understand it better now?”
“I think I’m starting to,” he said. “I might need you to explain it again after I collect my thoughts.”
Hermione laughed. “I can do that.”
blakekathryn
izzy806
stormborns
theartofmadeline
2087
germansingergirl
