Hermione found herself once again in the library. This was where she'd obviously seek refuge through the years, to learn more information about her school subjects so she could excel, and to escape from the boys when they became too much for her. They'd come back for their eighth year at Hogwarts and Harry and Ron were currently in the eighth year common room chatting about Ginny and whatever girl Ron had his mind set on wooing this week.
Deep in a book about charms so she could attempt to learn a bit more about wandless magic, she didn't notice the time was far past midnight and that she should be getting back to her dormitory before anyone caught her out of bed. She snapped the book shut and pushed it into her bag before she fled from the library in hopes to sneak back to the common room as she ran.
Once Hermione muttered the password and slipped through the eighth year common room door, bumping into a firm chest that seemed to be on it's way out.
"Watch it... wait, Granger? It's past curfew," Hermione immediately recognized the voice as one of Malfoy's crew. Theodore Nott. The only reason Hermione even knew his name was because he'd almost beaten her in the Potions O.W.L.s, but ended in third place behind her and Malfoy.
"That's none of your business Nott," Hermione replied curtly, making to move past him, but he side-stepped and blocked her from getting further into the common room.
"What makes you think I won't let a Professor know that you were out after hours?" Nott replied, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Hermione let out a sigh and looked up to meet his eyes. They were adults now, and Hermione had tried to convince McGonagall to allow eighth years to stay out later than the rest of the students, however McGonagall told her that Hogwarts was responsible for every student, not just the younger ones and that it wouldn't send a good message to the younger kids. Therefore they all had to follow curfew.
"What do you have to gain from that?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms and trying to find out his ulterior motive for threatening her. What could he possibly want from her?
"Come with me," Theodore grinned, he knew she may disagree, so he added, "Unless you're afraid," and she couldn't help but wonder what he could be up to.
"Fine," Hermione agreed, her curiosity getting the best of her as she quietly followed Theodore out of the common room as he led her down dozens of staircases.
"Where are we going?" Hermione hissed as they quickly hid around a corner to avoid Professor Slughorn while he did his rounds. Hermione held her breath while Theo snickered, stretching his neck to check that the coast was clear before he began walking through the castle again. Hermione got especially nervous when he opened the door to lead her out of the castle, glancing behind her nervously to make sure this wasn't some plot to get her expelled.
"Almost there," Theo whispered, walking down the hill to the edge of the Black Lake, taking a deep breath of air through his nose as they approached the water's edge and quickly spun around, Hermione bumping into his chest for the second time that night.
"When I can't sleep, I come sit by the lake," Theo told her, and the gears in Hermione's head were turning as she tried to figure out where she fit in to this situation.
"Why did you need me?" Hermione decided to ask, and Theo shrugged his shoulders before biting his lip and smirking.
"I didn't want to get caught. And I figured maybe you could use some help getting that stick out of your bum," Theo chuckled, sitting down and pulling Hermione down with him. What did they really have to lose?
"I don't have a stick up my bum," Hermione grumbled, and Theo raises and eyebrow before laying down with his arms behind his head.
"Oh yeah? Then prove it," Theo suggested, and before Hermione really had the chance to think about it, she was kissing him with an intensity that she hadn't felt since the war. He was clearly dumbfounded, but was soon enough wrapping his arms around her waist with a smirk and kissing her back.
"What stick?" Hermione moaned against Theo's lips, and bit down on his lower one before pulling away.
"I stand corrected," Theo hummed as his gaze returned to the stars and Hermione lay down next to him.