Theo looked around him confused. It wasn't the idea of the room, no, the Order having a safe house is completely understandable, if not incredibly predictable. It was the fact that he was in said room, or maybe house was the right word. He had sought out refuge from the Dark Lord, so a cheery woman with bright pink hair and his old defense professor had taken him here. Right after dropping him here though, they left and he had been sitting in this room for about an hour, if his watch was right. September 21, 2001; 2:31 his watch read, and he was suddenly glad that he got a watch that told the date. It was hard to remember the date now. The war had been going on for about six years now. People on each side were falling, the neutral people in the war being forced to take sides, most taking the side of the dark. Times were dark. From what he had heard over the years, five of Voldemort's horcruxes, horrible pieces of dark magic, have been destroyed due to boy wonder, Granger, and Weasley. Almost as if his thoughts had summoned her, her voice suddenly rang in his ears.
"Hello Nott. Wonderful day, isn't it?" He suddenly turned around in the chair he had been sitting in, quickly getting up and facing her. His breath caught in his throat as he looked at her. There was no love lost between the two, but even a blind man could tell that she was stunning. At her 21 year of age, her hair had settled down, into ringlets most commonly seen on magazine covers, an hourglass figure most girls craved, and a little black dress. He could see all of her scars, and he wondered if that was on purpose. There were scars all over her body, burn marks and vine looking scars on her legs, a black 'X' marked into her neck, on her left arm the words 'mudblood', 'whore', and 'mine' were carved, a deep purple bruise around the newer ones. But it was her right arm that drew his attention. He saw multiple slashing mars on her upper arm, burns on most of her arm, but most noticeable was the red, orange, and yellow phoenix sitting on the letters 'DA', it's tail swishing.
She noticed his attention and laughed, without the humor from when they were kids. "It's my branding," she said blandly. "They have their snakes, we have our phoenix moon. I kind of wish they had chose something like the mongoose, but I wasn't exactly able to put in my input. Anyways," She exhaled a heavy breath, "Why are you here Nott?"
"Isn't it obvious Granger? I don't want to be a death eater like my father. I don't believe in blood purity or all that bull." At her dubious look, he held up his hands in defense. "It's true! Have you ever heard me call someone a mudblood or a blood traitor? The answer is no. That's the first time I've said that stupid word. This far, there is no neutral like there used to be. I need protection."
"So they brought you to my house because?" At his raised eyebrows and wide eyes, she rolled her eyes. "So they've obviously told us different things. I've been told that I had to get some information out of a death eater, and I'm assuming you've only been told that you've been taken to a safe house." She took a deep breath. "Well then Theodore, I guess you'll be staying with me for a while until I figure everything out. Now, if you could just scream like you're in pain, that would make my job so much easier." At his curious glance, she elaborated. "My job in the order is to torture people for information, Theodore. If they hear a scream out there, they'll assume that I've handled it and will leave. And that will make this so much easier. Hey, can I have some blood too?" When he have her a little bit of blood, she grabbed something out of the corner and poured the little bit of blood on it. She signaled for him to scream, and then after waiting a moment, walked out of the room with a strut.
"It's done. I will, however, be keeping him here for anything else I can get from him. You two are free to leave. I can handle myself." Tonks walked over and gave her a loose hug.
"Be careful, alright? And if you need us, you know where we'll be. I'm sorry this has to fall on your shoulders." Tonks took a step back and gripped Remus' hand. Remus gave her a smile, and a wave and they took off to the front landing. She followed them, then she put up another ward. She walked back inside and went into the barren room that Theodore was in.
As she entered the room, she grabbed a paper towel off the table by the fireplace and gently wiped his blood from the whip she had poured it on. She had no intention to use it on him. Not at all. She always harbored a small crush on the boy, and knew that if he had been taken elsewhere he probably would have been tortured for information. Sometimes she thought that the 'light' side, wasn't that light.
"You'll be staying with me in my room. It's the most protected room in the house, as I requested. This is almost as protected as my room, but I want to keep an eye on you. And, for your sake, don't try and kill me when I'm sleeping. Unless of course, you would like to find out exactly what I have in this corner." She glanced around the room, thinking that she really needed to redecorate this room. She looked back towards Theodore, who had stood up and was looking at her. "Follow me. Try not to touch a lot of things in this hallway, some things are cursed. Do you have your wand?" As he shook his head, she sighed. "I'll have to place a floo call to Tonks then. Do you need anything?"
"Er, something to eat would be nice."
"Great. We can stop at the kitchen first. Mimsy!"
A house elf popped in and looked curiously at him. "Yes missy Granger? Whats can Mimsy do for you?"
Hermione squatted down so she was eye level with Mimsy and smiled. "Any chance you can cook up dinner for us? We've had a long day." With a nod of the head Mimsy was gone.
She looked towards him, saying "I hope you don't mind what she cooks. It's something different every night."
"I thought you didn't like house elf enslavement."
"I didn't. At least, until I found out that a house elf has to bond with a family in order to survive. And most of the house elves in Hogwarts kitchens were more than happy to give me Mimsy. She's a great elf. I normally do most of the cooking, but she made me let her make dinner every night and breakfast once a week. She's also supplied with clothes to wear and gets one day break a month. I tried to give her a salary as well, but she wouldn't stand for it. She's just as stubborn as I am. Anyways, why did you wait until now, at the height of the war, to seek shelter?I'm honestly surprised that you haven't been caught in the crossfire." Hermione narrowed her eyes. "Wait a minute," she grabbed his arms, quickly pulling up his sleeves. No mark. She bit her tongue and slowly moved her hand to his right hip. Theo gasped, unsure of what she was doing. She moved his shirt up a little, and the side of his trousers down a little to see his hip bone. Nothing. Voldemort had started making his new followers get their dark marks on their right hipbone after it became widely known where he put his mark. She didn't know why, exactly, but suddenly she was well aware that she was getting very up close and personal with the boy, no, man that she had fancied since her fifth year. She was also very aware of her hand moving without her knowledge from his hip to his stomach. She could feel the shuddering breath he took underneath her hand. She looked up and found her gaze locked securely on his eyes. She never noticed how he had a ring of bright gold around his pupil, the gold lining his iris as well. His eyes were blue, the dark blue you could get lost in. And she did. She got lost in the blues, so many shades of blue, in the violet, in the green. She could feel herself inching closer to him without thinking. She could feel her thighs against his, she briefly registered that her hand had moved to the side of his ribs, her fingers exploring the mass amount of flesh under his shirt, their bodies coiled together. Her eyes wandered down his face, across the flushed cheeks and sharp cheekbones, down the length of his nose, and landed on his lips. So agonizing to be so close, yet too far away. Her heavy heartbeat rang in her ears as she closed the distance between them.
Her other hand came and rested on his cheek as one of his hands rested on her hip and the other lay tangled in the mess that was her curls. The feel of his touch sent shivers down her spine. God, she hadn't been this close to a man in…. Hadn't snogged a man in years. But even she could remember that her previous snog sessions didn't make her like this. This sent tingles down her spine, a piercing heat spreading from anywhere they touched. This made her want to take him to bed and never leave. This made her feel on edge, as if she had gotten too close to the fire. It made her feel powerful, beautiful. It offered no comfort, only danger. And she found herself attracted to it more than anything else.