A/N: This story will be a oneshot and it's written for the Are You Crazy Enough to Do It Challenge on HPFCF! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own HP!
Prompt: 170: (dialogue) "Was it all a game to you?" / "Yes and no." / "How can it be both?" / "It started as a game, but I fell for you. Do you think that if it was just a game to me now I would tell you everything that I have told you? I want to be with you. Can't you see that?"
Word Count: 1,619 words
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Hermione Granger sat with her back against a tree as she stared out over Black Lake at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. She swiped at the tears that fell from her eyes. She couldn't believe that once again she thought that he could change who and what he was. She loved him with everything that she had, but she now knew that it would never be enough. She hated that she fell for him. She hated that she let her become someone that swore to herself she never would be.
She angrily swiped the tears away once again that kept falling. She didn't understand how she could hurt so much yet still love the boy who had hurt her. She looked up when she heard footsteps and glared at the boy who came to a stop next to her. She jumped to her feet and clenched her hands into fists. It was taking everything she had not to punch him in the face. "What do you want, Theo?"
Theo took in a deep breath and let it out. "I want to talk, Hermione."
Hermione gave a bitter laugh. "What is there to talk about, Theo? I think that you said everything you had to say earlier."
Theo shook his head. "You didn't give me the chance to say everything that I had to say, Hermione. You upped and walked out on me while I was talking."
Hermione swiped at another tear as she took in a ragged breath and let it out. "Just answer me one thing, Theo. Can you do that?"
Theo nodded solemnly. "I'll answer any question that you have, Hermione. I'll take anything that you want to dish out to me because I deserve it and more. What do you want to know?"
Hermione sucked in a deep breath, held it to the count of ten, and then let it out slowly. She had to steel herself to look in the eyes of the boy who had crushed her heart into a million pieces not even forty-five minutes ago. "Was it all a game to you?"
Theo sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. "Yes and no."
Hermione frowned. "How can it be both?"
Theo groaned as he slowly reached out to grab a hold of Hermione's hands. He needed to hold her and knew that he wouldn't get away with that so he settled for holding her hands. He hated seeing her cry and he hated it even more because he knew that he was the reason for her tears. He lightly ran his fingers over her knuckles as he met her eyes with his own. He wanted her to see the truth in his eyes as he talked to her. He wanted her to know that everything he was about to tell her was the truth and nothing but the truth. "It started as a game, but I fell for you. Do you think that if it was just a game to me now I would tell you everything that I have told you? I want to be with you. Can't you see that?"
Hermione carefully looked deep into Theo's eyes to read the truth there. She knew that while he could lie that his eyes always gave him away if someone looked long enough. She could see how much it was hurting him that she was crying because of him. She could see just how much he loved her and knew then and there that they would be able to work through everything. She loved him and wanted to be with him. She knew that what she had with him was worth fighting for even if others didn't think that it would be.
She slowly took a small step forward and then another. When she saw him watching her closely she threw herself into his arms and cried into his chest. She cried until she could no longer cry. Once she was finished crying she snuggled into his chest and just breathed in his scent. She loved the way that he smelled. She just loved everything about him. She wasn't sure how long she stood there wrapped up in his arms, but she knew that there wasn't any place she would rather be right at that moment or at any other moment. "I love you, Theo Nott, and I want to make our relationship work. Now, with that being said, you hurt me a lot even if you didn't mean to. I'm sorry that I ran out of our common room like that but I needed time to think. We need to decide where we go from here because there can be no doubts from either of us."
Theo nodded and lovingly kissed Hermione on the head. "I love you, Hermione Granger, and I think I always have. It was because of you that I switched sides even if I never told you, anyone else, or even myself. Our relationship may have started as a game but it has turned into something real and lasting. You are the ONE for me, Hermione Jean Granger, and on our graduation day I plan on getting down on one knee and asking for your hand in marriage. I don't give a flying fuck what Draco, my dad, or anyone else says because I REFUSE to give you up. I almost lost you today and it just about killed me. If I was to lose you completely I don't think I would survive it."
Hermione leaned forward and pressed her lips against Theo's and gave him a deep kiss. When she pulled back she looked into his eyes once again. "Before you came out here I was thinking that it didn't matter how much I loved you because you wouldn't change. I can and do see now that I was completely wrong in my thoughts. I don't think I could walk away from you even if I wanted to, Theo, because you are as much of a part of me as I am of you."
She smiled wryly. "While we're talking honestly with one another you should know that when we first started our relationship I didn't think it would go any further than us just having sex. With you I didn't have to put up any airs because I could just be myself. You didn't look at me as if I had to have the answers for anything and everything. You looked at me and saw me, Theo, and that is why I started the relationship I did with you."
She chuckled slightly. "I think in the back of my mind I always knew that you started sleeping with me due to a dare but I didn't care. What I cared about is the fact that you could make me forget everything for a short time when we were together. I cared that you looked at me like you were dying and I was the cure to whatever was wrong with you. I cared that one simple small touch from you could set my body on fire like nothing ever could before. What may have started as a game for both of us turned into something real, loving, and lasting. You complete me just like I can look at you and tell that I complete you. Just so you know when you ask me to marry you my answer will be a hell yes."
Theo chuckled as he pulled Hermione flush against his body. He couldn't help how his lower region responded to her just being pressed up against him. "I don't know how it happened, Hermione, but you have become my world. Without you in my life everything that I have would mean nothing. You are the light in the darkness that I have lived in for so long. You make me feel like I could do anything and succeed at it no matter what it was. You have changed me for the better and I like the me I am now."
He bent his head slightly and held his forehead against hers as he stared into her eyes. He truly did love everything about her and there wasn't one thing he would change. He loved that she pushed him to be a better man. He loved that she made him fight to for what he wanted. He loved that she loved him for who he was and not because of his last name or what he had. He had no doubt that what may have started out as a game changed him and the life he had for the better. He hated that he hurt her, but he also knew that for them to get where they currently were that it had to have happened.
He pressed his lips to her temple as he gently tightened his arms around her. "When we eventually have kids, we can tell them that what may have started as a game became so real that we couldn't end it. We can tell our children that everything can be fun and games, but eventually you get caught up in your own game and don't even realize when you lost a part of yourself to your other half. We both played the biggest game of our lives and we WON, Hermione. I love you so much that I don't know where you begin and I end because it feels like you have always been a part of me."
Hermione looked at Theo with tears shimmering in her eyes. She pulled his head down and kissed him with all the love she felt for him. Yes, what started out as a game became a game that they both won.
A/N 2: *snorts* Well that didn't turn out the way I thought it would at all... lmao... I enjoyed writing it though... Hope you all enjoyed reading it... Click the button and let me know what you think!