A/N: Hello friends! Thank you again so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! I am so excited to start this journey with you. If you haven't read Sleeper, this story was inspired by the tv show the Americans. I was so captivated by the story telling, I really hope that I am able to capture some of that same drama and suspense, while still keeping it fresh and new. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions. HUGE thank you to accio-echo, who did such an amazing job beta reading this chapter!
Please let me know what you thought of chapter two and be on the lookout for chapter three soon!
Nott rose from his spot on the floor and closed the gap between himself and Hermione. Hermione had never cataloged away much about her classmate, but his most noticeable attribute was his height. He looked uneasy under McGonagall's significant gaze, fingers fidgeting with the fraying edge of his school shirt.
"I think that it makes most sense for the two of you to be a young married couple returning to England to settle down and start a family," the Headmistress said with confidence. "Mister Nott, I think we can agree that Croatia would not be an ideal location for a pretty young bride."
"Yes, his - my posting in Croatia was certainly a bachelor's job," he said, catching himself and throwing himself into his character, the life that he was about to don. Hermione was impressed that he hadn't been phased in the slightest at the thought of being married to her.
"Once I got married, I wanted to give my wife all the comforts of London."
"And Hermione, perhaps your family lives abroad still," McGonagall suggested, raising an eyebrow, hoping the younger witch would fill in the blanks.
"Of course," Hermione nodded. "Perhaps my father held a diplomatic position in Hong Kong? Communication with their ministry will be cut off sometime in 1974, so it would be difficult to verify if I am who I say I am."
Minerva's mouth was held in a tight line while she thought over the words. Finally, her eyes settled on Hermione's face. "Are you sure you are going to be able to do this? This will not merely be a cover. You will need to be a real couple - a real marriage - in order for you to slide under detection."
Hermione was a bit annoyed at the question, because she knew that she was willing to do whatever it took to take down Voldemort once and for all. To give her friends the life that they should have had all along, one where they weren't constantly fighting for their lives. Her eyes settled on Nott - no, Theo, she might as well call him that now - and the question made some sense. They were going to have to rely on one another - to trust one another implicitly - to get this to work. She couldn't be doubting his loyalties half way through. "I will do anything I can to fix this," she insisted, reaching over to grab Theo's hand in hers.
To his credit, Theo didn't even flinch, but she could see the slight panic reflected in his eyes when the reality of it all set in. "I am just as committed. I am sure between the two of us, we'll be able to make a real difference," he said, his voice clear and steady.
The Gryffindor could feel herself begin to relax, until the Headmistress spoke again. "When you say you are willing to do anything at all...you might have to kill or blackmail or seduce or fight to get what needs to be gotten," she said. "I'm afraid things have grown too serious to stick to Albus's preferred methods of nonviolence. You will need to avoid falling under suspicion of the Order of the Phoenix as well."
Hermione swallowed, but nodded. "Yes, I understand. I'm willing to sacrifice myself for the greater good," she told the woman, the words tasting a bit bitter in her mouth.
"But, Hermione," Ron whispered from behind her. "Harry wouldn't have wanted it to come to this."
Turning to face her forlorn friend, she found his eyes trained on the spot where she and Theo were still joined. Dropping the Slytherin's hand, she wrapped Ron in a tight hug. "I know, but...Harry's not here anymore and neither is Dumbledore," she explained, pulling back to wipe at the tears that rolled down his eyes. "I need to do what I think is best now...to give Harry a better life. He didn't deserve the hand he was dealt."
Ron sniffled. "I always thought it was going to be you and me together. That we would get married after all this was over, have a couple of kids," he said, his voice low and full of sadness. "But I guess that's not going to happen now is it? Merlin, I love you, Hermione."
"Oh Ron," she said with a frown, knowing that she did not return his feelings Even though it would have brought him comfort, she couldn't find it in herself to repeat the sentiment back. "Once I go back, you won't even remember me. We might not even be friends to begin with and you'll probably be thinking that I'm the annoying swot that you always did, because there will be no troll to save me from. Don't worry about me. In the blink of an eye, this timeline that we are in will be completely blown away."
"If you are sure this is right," he said weakly. "Then I support you. But, Nott, you better not let anything happen to her."
She turned to face her future husband guiltily. She could tell that he was doing everything he could not to snap back at Ron. "Of course, Weasley," he agreed, finally. "She'll be my only friend."
Minerva brought everyone's attention back to her. "Well, we don't exactly have unlimited time. We should get this wedding ceremony started now, before they figure out where we are hiding," she said, turning to look back at the entrance to the Room of Requirement, as if she expected it to burst open at any moment.
"Wedding ceremony?" Hermione asked. "We're going to do it now?" she practically squeaked. "Don't we need, like, officials? Or a priest or something?"
"There are plenty of old ceremonies that are magically binding from before the time of the ministry. Many purebloods still use them today," Theo explained to her quietly. "It's typically done before a tree."
The Room began to groan and shake, an unnatural breeze sweeping through the occupants. Hermione was certain that the Death Eaters had gotten to them, but to her surprise a tiny tree began to sprout up from the ground, providing them exactly what they would need. "Well, I guess that solves that," she quipped.
"Let's begin," Minerva said with a quirk of her lips, perhaps feeling that their plan was being smiled on by some god or perhaps magic itself. She stood in front of the tree, pulling her wand out, as she waited to begin the ceremony.
If it could even be called that. When Hermione pictured her wedding day, it was not in the burned out shell of the Room of Requirement, getting married to a boy who she didn't even know. Further, it wouldn't have been some ritual that she wasn't even certain of. But, it seemed as if all the other adults knew what was going on, and before she knew it, Ron was offering her his arm and walking forward towards Minerva.
"Who comes this way?" Minerva asked.
"It is I, Ronald, of House Weasley, come to offer this maiden in the sacred ritual of marriage," he said, his voice sounding confident. He didn't stumble over the words once, making Hermione wonder just how it was that she'd never known of this type of marriage ceremony before.
"Which maiden has come this way?" Minerva asked, this time giving Hermione a significant look.
When she remained silent, Ron elbowed her in the side, making her gasp out in pain. "It is I, Hermione, of House Granger?" Hermione said, uncertainty in her voice, hoping that she wasn't going to mess anything up.
It seemed to be the right thing, because then Minerva's attention was on Theo. "Who has come to claim this maiden?" she asked.
"I, Theodore, of the Ancient and Noble House of Nott, wish to claim this maiden. In return, I will provide her with food and comfort, home and sanctuary, and many sons to continue our line," he said, his cheeks flaming red in embarrassment.
"Does your Ancient and Noble house support the match?" Minerva asked.
Draco cleared his throat and stepped forward. "I, Draco, of the Ancient and Noble House of Malfoy, vouch for this match. As loyal friends to House Nott, we know that this match is the best option for Theodore and the Nott family."
Hermione was barely able to contain a snort of derision at the words, knowing that Theo's father would probably rather kill his own son than allow him to marry a muggleborn. Still, she wondered if Draco was certain of his words. It wasn't as if Theo had any other options besides her. It was odd to think that Ronald Weasley and Draco Malfoy were witnesses to her marriage, but knew that it only spoke to the dire circumstances that they found themselves in.
"Very well, Hermione and Theodore, please take each other's hands and face one another," Minerva said, waiting for them to follow her instructions.
Theo offered his hand first and Hermione readily took it once again. Minerva began waving her wand in an intricate pattern over where they were joined. Hermione was amazed to feel the magic between them beginning to form and gasped in surprise, ready to drop his hand, only to have him hold on more tightly. Before long, the magic had stopped and it seemed as if they were done.
Minerva looked at the pair expectantly. "It's traditional to seal the ceremony with a kiss," she suggested, not dropping her eyes from them.
Theo was surging forward then, pressing his lips to hers in an awkward, quick peck.
"Oi, you might want to work on that before you have to convince anyone you are madly in love," Malfoy quipped with a laugh. It was clear that they were going to need get more comfortable. "Hopefully your consummation goes a bit smoother."
"Consummation?" Hermione squeaked, surprised at the suggestion.
"Well, yeah, these sort of things have to be sealed, you know?" Ron said, pressing a hand to her shoulder, giving her a sad look when he realized that she had been unaware. "But before that - I think they should have an unbreakable vow. They need to be able to trust each other, and well, what would there be not to trust with an unbreakable vow?"
Hermione shrugged her shoulders, willing to do anything do anything in that moment to put off the inevitable. "We're already married," she said. Saying the words out loud made everything seem more real all of a sudden. "Might as well."
Clasping one another's forearms, Minerva initiated the vow, wrapping their arms in a golden light. "Do you vow to work together, to do whatever it takes to take down He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?" The pair agreed solemnly. "Do you vow to keep one another in confidence when necessary? Do you vow not to betray one another? Do you vow to trust one another?" Hermione stared into Theo's eyes swallowing once. It was a big ask to trust the Slytherin who she barely knew implicitly, but he was her husband now and there was no turning back. Agreeing to the vow together, they watched as the magic swirled around their arms, before settling into their skin.
And then it was done.
"I think you're gonna need this," Malfoy said with a malicious grin, before pressing a flask into her hands, clearly enjoying the way that the blood had drained from her face.
"You had this all along and didn't tell me when I was inventorying our food?" she asked, opening the cap and taking a sniff at the strong firewhiskey inside. It was rather full. She took a pull, even though she hated the taste, before passing it to Theo, who seemed to be looking anywhere but at her.
"As if I was going to share it with the rest of you," Malofy answered with a roll of his eyes. "But now...it looks like you'll need it more than me." He turned to the rest of the occupants of the room, and ushered them away from the newlyweds. "Let's give these two some privacy?"
Ron gave her one last sad look before he too was led away by the blond Slytherin, leaving her and Theo alone with one another for the first time that night. Theo pressed his hand to her lower back and pushed her further into the back of the cavernous room, trying to put as much space between them and the Room's other occupants. "I know this probably isn't how you'd pictured your wedding night to go," he said, cautiously. "But I'm afraid that there is no avoiding it."
Hermione, taking it as a challenge, took the flask back from him and took another drag. "I said I am willing to do whatever it takes, Nott," she argued, frowning. "If it's going to be our wedding night...we might as well do it right."
"Theo," he insisted, pulling the flask from her hands and taking another drink himself. Then he settled himself against the floor, patting the spot beside him.
She sighed before settling in the spot next to him. It was awkward, knowing what they were about to do. Neither one of them seemed to want to make the first move, but also neither of them knew what to say. Finally, Theo was surging forward, trying to kiss her. He didn't quite find her lips exactly, his lips slanted against hers, but it was easy for her eyes to slip closed then and just go with the feelings. He placed his hands on her waist, clearly unsure of what he was meant to do.
Hermione tentatively wrapped her arms around his neck, holding him to her, trying not to think. HIs hands were under her shirt then, unsure of what he should really be doing. She wondered if he had done this before, but she couldn't focus on that right now. Instead, she just let herself feel. The feel of his hand on her bra, the feel of him pressing forward inside of her. The feel of his hot breath against her neck where he pressed his face. The smell of the burning wood from the Room. The bite of her teeth into her lip, trying to keep her quiet. The rapid beating of her heart against her ribcage.
Before long, it was over.
She was well and truly married to Theo Nott and there was no taking back what they were going to do. They had nowhere to go but forward.
A few waves of a wand and they were clean and pulling their clothes on again. They spent a few moments in silence, neither wanting to break the quiet that spanned between them.
Finally, it was Theo that spoke. "Are we really going to do this? Go into the past and...and take down the Dark Lord?" he asked, his hands bunching and flattening against his knees.
"Yes," Hermione said, without hesitation. "It's not going to be easy. He's created horcruxes that we will need to find and destroy before we can kill them. He'll start distributing them amongst his best and brightest. Malfoy, Bellatrix..." she trailed off, seeing the surprised look on his face. "But I know that we can do it."
Theo made a little noise, half laugh, half disbelief. "You and your Gryffindor optimism. But I am sure that with some Slytherin cunning we can handle it," he said, sounding as optimistic as he accused her of being. "I suppose there isn't putting this off any longer. We should go say goodbye."
Mercifully, the Slytherins kept to themselves, talking with Theo quietly, while Hermione hugged Ron one last time. "Good luck Hermione," he said with a frown. "I know that you will do what you think is best."
It was hard to say goodbye to her oldest friend, the only living friend that she had left, but she knew there was no other option She had vowed to do it and she couldn't turn back now. She felt like she had aged ten years in one day, but she couldn't stop now, not with as far as she'd gone already.
She waited for Theo to finish up with Malfoy and Zabini. They were turning out their pockets, searching for any last galleon or sickle that they had tucked away, which Theo was grateful to receive. Hermione hadn't even thought about what they would do for money once they got into the past, especially if they were meant to be some young, glamorous couple. But, it seemed as if her partner had a handle on it. Maybe he wouldn't be completely useless after all.
Minerva was waiting for them with the time turner. Once Theo and Hermione both stood in front of them, she handed it over quickly. "I've been doing the calculations, and you will need to do at least sixty two turns. Once you get there, you can find me and I will help you," she said with a frown. "But I can give you a few details about my life that no one else knows because I will certainly be suspicious. The hardest part will be getting me away from the Order."
Hermione was happy to file away all the little tidbits that Minerva was willing to share, glad to know that they would at least have a little help once they got there. It was so completely odd to hear the facts of Minerva's life that she was willing to share with them, as they included some truly painful memories, ones which she undoubtedly wouldn't have shared with anyone else. Hopefully it would be enough to convince the shrewd witch in the past.
With that knowledge transferred, Hermione put the chain around her neck first, and then Theo's. Giving him one last look, one last chance to back out, and began spinning the time turner. The Room began to spin - an odd mish mash of changing colors - and the occupants of the Room faded out and were replaced by new ones, until finally, they stood alone.