A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I am really glad that you guys liked the last chapter. It was very pivotal for our couple, that's for sure. You might recognize a bit of this chapter from a bits and pieces drabble that I wrote a while back, so if you are seeing lots of similarities, that's why. I hope that you enjoy this chapter too! You can follow me over on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.

Please let me know what you thought of chapter seven and be on the lookout for chapter eight next week!


Theo waited a few weeks after the final battle before even trying to leave the Manor. He knew that everyone was suspicious of him.

It hadn't taken the auror's long to question him when they found him sitting next to his father's body. Theo had gladly agreed to let them peer into his memories, seeing that he had been fighting for the winning side the whole time. The large one - Shacklebolt, he was called - had come back looking suitably impressed with him. He'd told Theo that his calm and measured approach to dealing with the Death Eaters was admirable, a restraint that many other students lacked. The black man had even offered him a slot to test into the auror academy.

The Slytherin had resolutely declined the offer, knowing that he was not likely to make himself any friends there.

As the dreary weather that had been hanging over England ever since the Dark Lord had returned broke revealing sunshine and warmth, the estate of his father was probated and transferred to him as the only remaining member of the House of Nott. Theo had spent his fair share of time in his father's study reviewing all the paperwork related to their accounts, owling back and forth with the goblins of Gringotts. It could be said that Alfred Nott had been a frugal man, and had left his son with more than enough galleons as to never have to work a single day in his life.

He also spent time reading over the betrothal contract with a fine tooth comb, and he finally found a loophole that they could exploit, for a while at least. It wouldn't get them out of it, but it could put off the inevitable for a while longer. Once he was positive of the terms, he'd finally decided to apparate over to see the Greengrasses, one summer afternoon.

Daphne's father did not seem particularly excited to see him walking across their manicured lawn, but did not turn him away. "I was wondering if Daphne was available for tea? I'd like to discuss our future," he asked, as politely as possible.

Before he knew it, he was shuffled away to some little sunroom. Ella had left a tea try for the young couple, with a smile. Daphne sat across from him in a beam of sunlight, looking extraordinarily pretty, with her wide sea green eyes trained on him. Theo bitterly reminded himself that while she might be pretty as a rose, she had the thorns to match.

Taking a swallow of tea from the dainty white cup, Theo finally cleared his throat. "Did you get the invitation from Headmistress McGonagall?" he questioned softly.

Biting her lower lip, Daphne agreed. "Yes, I was surprised to get it," she answered.

Theo had also been surprised to receive an invitation to return to Hogwarts and repeat his seventh year of schooling. McGonagall, the Board of Governors, and the Ministry were all in agreement that the previous year's education had been disjointed and insufficient enough to offer a repeat of classes to whoever should want to attend for another year. If not, students were welcome to take their NEWTs if they wanted.

"I think that we should go back," Theo said suddenly, ready to reveal the plan that he'd concocted in his head over the past weeks. "Since my father died, I was able to review out betrothal contract and it stipulates that we are to be married once we complete our education at Hogwarts. If we return to repeat our seventh year, we would not be required to get married until next summer."

Daphne was quiet for a moment, playing with the spoon she'd used to pour honey into her tea. "Do you want to go back? Don't you worry about what everyone will say?" she asked, her voice uncharacteristically small.

Theo frowned. "I stopped caring what people thought of me years ago," he told her honestly. "But I don't want to pressure you to go back if you do not wish to. The contract stipulates that both of us be finished with schooling, so only one of us needs to go back." He let his eyes rove back and forth across her face, looking for any hint of how she was feeling about it. "You could spend the year traveling, if you wanted. And if your parents agreed to it, of course."

She shook her head, before giving him a soft smile. "No, I don't think they would go for that at all," she told him. She took a great sigh while she thought over his words. "It wouldn't feel right to leave Hogwarts after last year. It would feel...incomplete. I'll go back, too."

Theo wasn't sure how he should feel about Daphne returning to school with him. In some ways, he'd written off any hope of them ever having an amicable relationship after everything she'd done to sabotage it. But, perhaps this year would be an opportunity for them to become friends. At least, it would give them another year before they were irrevocably linked. "Good," he answered honestly. "I know a year isn't much, but...at least we don't have to rush into the wedding right after the war."

For a moment, perhaps at the mention of the wedding, Daphne looked as if she'd eaten a lemon. "I am sure my mother would appreciate the additional time to plan," she said finally. "Besides, it seems...wrong, to celebrate a wedding now."

He knew exactly what she meant.

"Well, enjoy the rest of your summer," he said, not wanting to stick around longer than was necessary. There was no point in him already overstaying his welcome. He stood from the table and began walking towards the door.

"Theo, wait!" she called after him, breaking his stride.

He turned to look at her. She was standing, with a halo of sunshine around her long hair, giving her the look of some sunkissed angel.

"I just...well, see you in September," she finally bid him goodbye.

...

Despite not wanting to return, Daphne quickly found herself enjoying coming back to Hogwarts to repeat her seventh year. If she was completely honest with herself, it was nice to have one more chance to pretend she was still just a teenager before she had to go out into the real world.

It was really brilliant of Theo to have found a way to exploit their betrothal contract's terms to give them a bit more time before they had to fulfill it. She just wasn't ready to get married, especially not with the year she'd had before. Both herself and Astoria had been through a lot, treated so poorly by the Carrows, that she wasn't ready to give her sister up either. It could have been so much worse, too, if it hadn't been for Theo.

So, she returned to the school, ready to have a relaxing and fulfilling school year. Just because she was unlikely to have a job did not mean that she didn't have aims to get a couple of NEWTs for her time. Someday in the future, there would be children to tutor, and she wanted to prepare them well for their schooling.

And, while she would hit the books and study hard, Daphne also recognized this repeat year as a chance to just hang out with her girlfriends once again. Pansy and Millie had decided to come back, but Tracey had not opted to. There was certainly a shift in the relationship of the trio of girls, but Daphne thought it was for the better. Pansy was nicer and Millie was quieter, but they were undoubtedly better friends, spending their nights up laughing and looking through magazines to help plan Daphne's wedding, which was scheduled to take place in June.

Daphne had also decided to try to make more of an effort with Theo. After all, she realized that he'd been going out of his way to try to be friends with her ever since that first day on the Hogwarts Express, and she'd gone and rebuffed him at every possible chance. Despite how rude she was to him at every turn, Theo had never stopped being sweet and thoughtful to her. Daphne would certainly never forget how he'd stood up for her and Astoria, protecting them from the Carrows. He'd been so brave, it had nearly taken her breath away.

It made her look at him in a new light, and Daphne was forced to admit that Theo had changed a lot in the decade that she'd known him. He'd grown nearly a foot taller than she stood, and there was certainly something handsome about him, even if he didn't have the muscle of a Quidditch player. He was lean and strong, and had the most delightfully long fingers that she liked to daydream about. How would it feel to have those some fingers running through her hair, with her head in his lap in front of the fireplace?

While he wasn't necessarily the man that she would have chosen for herself, she had no reason to believe that she wouldn't have chosen him either. Really, the only strike he'd had against him was her parents picking him out for her. Then, she'd dug in her heels like a spoiled little brat.

But, this was a chance for new beginnings.

Daphne was ready to show Theo that she was willing to be a participant in their relationship. She was a little bit excited to see where the year would take her. It wasn't as if she and Theo could fall in love overnight, of course, but she was certain that they could start out as friends. And then...well, perhaps they could be more than just friends.

...

He wasn't entirely sure when it happened to him, but Theodore Nott found himself head over heels for a girl. Everytime he was with her, his could feel his heart pounding away against chest, so loud that he was sure that she probably could hear it too. His palms would get sweaty and make his quill slip, turning his normally impeccable handwriting into a terrible mess that he was sure his late mum would be horrified to see.

And just who was it that had captured his attention, without even being aware of it? None other than the Gryffindor golden girl herself, Hermione Granger.

She was perfect.

Well, she'd always been perfect, since the first day that she walked into Hogwarts. Perfect marks, perfect uniform, perfect life. Everyone in the entire school knew who she was and knew that she was going places since she was eleven. Not like Theo Nott, who had excellent marks himself, excellent breeding, but no one paid him half a mind. No one whispered that Theo Nott was going places, as he was content to just fly below the radar. Anonymous.

And he might have stayed thinking that she was just an annoying swot with a stick up her self-righteous arse, had he never started talking to her in his sixth year. He was annoyed with her for invading his peace and quiet at first, barging into the clearing with the thestrals. Then, he'd found her slightly useful when she helped him dig through magical contract theory. She'd provided him a sliver of hope, though she always made him feel a bit like one of her hopeless causes. He'd thought of her once or twice while she was on the run the year before.

But coming back to school for his eighth year had changed everything.

Of course Hermione Granger had come back to complete her schooling, despite receiving job offers like Potter and Weasley had. He didn't think it was silly, though, knowing that she couldn't leave Hogwarts without proving herself - brightest witch of her age and all that. She'd swept into the school like a maelstrom, proudly telling the Slytherin students that it was time to put the past behind them, and that she hoped they might become friends.

While the rest of them, Draco, Pansy, and Daphne, all seemed to find the sentiment ridiculous and not at all sincere, Theo wanted to give it a shot. His father was dead now and he had no one in his life determining who could and couldn't be his friend. Using the foundations of the previous years to build up on, Theo found himself meeting up with her in the library to study on occasion. They'd even partnered up in Arithmancy for a project.

Theo quickly began to see that she was so much more than he ever thought. Hermione was much more than just a swot. She liked kneazles and oranges and she enjoyed a muggle sport called football that Theo actually took the time to learn about, though he would never admit it if he was pressed on it. She revealed to him that she always hated the way that Ron and Harry had counted on her to help with her homework.

She was genuinely interested in him, too. For the first time in his life, Theo wasn't able to just fade into the background. Instead, whenever he was under the gaze of her pretty brown eyes, he felt words pouring out of his mouth, eager to share things about himself. Hermione talked to him about his favorite Quidditch squad, or what he wanted to do after Hogwarts. She didn't expect anything of him.

They became friends.

And that was when he started seeing her through new eyes. Pink lips parted to show off perfectly straight white teeth. Brown eyes that Draco had once described as mudblood brown now seemed more like the sweetest toffee. The sunlight streaming in through the dusty windows of the library shined on light brown, curly hair. Oh Salazar, what he wouldn't give to run his fingers through that wild hair.

He felt his breath catch in his throat whenever she smiled at him.

Theo Nott was head over heels for Hermione Granger.

And it made him feel like dragon shite.

Because he knew that she could never return those feelings. They were destined to remain unrequited.

Hermione had revealed to him one afternoon with quiet, excited whispers that she and Viktor Krum had just resumed their relationship. The Bulgarian beefcake, as he'd once been described in the Daily Prophet, had swept Hermione off of her feet at the Yule Ball in fourth year, and they'd never stopped writing each other. Now that Krum had been traded to a Quidditch squad in England, they had been going on dates in Hogsmeade, but they were trying to keep it quiet, seeing as the press had been so rude to her last time around.

Theo had been absolutely crushed, unreasonably so if he was honest, because there was no way that they ever would have been a couple in the first place. Once he found his voice over the lump in his throat, he'd made a passing comment about how disappointed Weasley must be. Hermione had giggled at that, swatting him on the arm playfully.

It was a silly crush, really. Even if there was no Viktor Krum, or if Theo could somehow gather his courage like a Gryffindor would and tell her how he felt, and by some miracle, she actually felt the same way about him as he felt about her, they was still no way that they could be together. He was in an inescapable magical contract which meant that he would marry Daphne Greengrass in just a few months time. Knowing Hermione, there was no way that she'd ever consent to being his mistress, no matter how much she might like him.

So, instead, Theo would spend his days, knowing that Daphne despised him, and Hermione Granger would only ever see him as a friend, and he would drown in his feelings, unrequited. For the first time in his life he was completely free and so utterly trapped at the same time.

...

Smoothing out her skirt, Daphne checked herself over in the mirror. With her long blonde hair held back in a thick headband, she thought that she looked pretty enough. She'd stopped wearing the dark lipstick that had gotten herself in trouble a few years ago, opting for a more neutral look, though she hoped that Theo's eyes might still be drawn to her lips.

Did he ever think about what it might be like to kiss her, she wondered? He hadn't tried to kiss her, even though she was certain that she would let him if he wanted to. Daphne had spent a fair amount of her time wondering what his lips would feel like on hers.

Deciding that she looked pretty enough to impress him, she headed off to the library. She'd made it a point to try to study with Theo at least once a week in the hopes of getting to know him better. For the most part, he remained stubbornly reticent. She spent most of the time filling the silence talking about herself. It was...odd in a way. She was so used to being chased by boys, but he didn't seem to keen to chase her. Maybe it was because she had showed him that she didn't want to be chased by him.

"Hi Theo," she said, feeling exceptionally shy when she found him in the library. Theo was staring off in the opposite direction, lost in thought. She slipped into the chair opposite him and waited for him to look at her, beginning to feel put out that he didn't seem to care about her.

He made a small noise, before his blue eyes snapped to her. "Oh, hey Daph," he said. Was she crazy or did she hear a hint of disappointment in his voice? "Charms again?" he asked, waiting for her to pull her books out.

Daphne shook her head, proud of the new tactic that she'd come up with to try and get Theo to open up a bit more. "Arithmancy actually. I was having some trouble with the most recent calculation that Vector went over in class the other day," she answered, pulling out her scratch paper and notes. "I was hoping that you could help explain it to me?" she asked, her teeth biting at her lower lip.

Theo hunched forward to look at what she had written down, interest on his face. "Oh sure," he agreed readily enough. "Hermione actually showed me a really brilliant way to work through it and keep all of your calculations straight."

Hermione, Daphne thought nastily to herself. Of course the Gryffindor golden girl would have some brilliant method to solve arithmancy problems. She sucked a breath in as Theo began describing how to solve the equation, but she wasn't listening to any of the words that he was saying. Instead, her mind was swirling with jealousy and her eyes were wandering to just what had caught Theo's attention so thoroughly just seconds before she arrived.

Resting her chin her palm, Daphne looked over, only to see that Theo had a perfect vantage of none other than Hermione Granger herself. She was sitting in a beam of late sunlight, the sun showing just how frizzy her hair really was. Her tongue peaked out of her mouth to lick the end of her quill, certainly an innocuous move, but one that would be enough to fuel many a teenage boy's fantasy. When she realized that Theo - her Theo - had been shamelessly staring at Granger, Daphne began to feel overwhelmed and upset.

All of the puzzle pieces were falling into place. Of course Theo couldn't like her if he had a crush on another witch! Only, Daphne never imagined that it would be Granger she'd be competing with.

It felt a bit like things were spiraling out of control, and she needed to get out of the library before she started to cry. Cutting Theo off mid-sentence, Daphne stood up from the table abruptly. "Sorry to be so rude," the words came tumbling out of her mouth. "I just remembered, I promised Pansy I would help her with something." A wave of her wand had all of her things tucked back into her bag, and Daphne was rushing away from Theo, not caring if he found her rude in the moment.

Her feet carried her up to her dorm room and she threw herself face first onto her bed, sobbing. How cruel was life that the moment she could appreciate how great of a guy Theo was was the same time that he realized how amazing Granger was?

She hadn't even realized that she'd had company in the dorms until she felt a soothing hand on her back. "Daphne?" Millie's soothing voice asked. "What happened?"

Knowing that it was better to talk it through with someone, Daphne turned to face her friend. "It's Theo," she revealed. "I've been trying all year to get to know him better, but I realized today that he likes someone else more than me."

"Really?" Millie asked, sounding incredulously. "Just who could Theo possibly like if not you? Everyone knows that you are the prettiest witch in this whole school."

Daphne smiled despite herself. She was not vain when she knew that Millie was not saying that just to bolster her self esteem. She sat up, leaning back against her pillows and pulling her knees up against her chest. "Theo doesn't care about prettiness. He cares about smarts and intelligence," she said, not bothering to hide the bitter tone in her voice. She wrapped her arms tighter around her chest. "He likes Granger."

Millie looked shocked to hear that. "Granger? Really?" she asked, sounding surprised. "Well, she's dating Krum. And he's going to marry you in the end."

The blonde wiped the tears off of her cheeks. "Yeah, I have to get married to someone who'd prefer to be with someone else," she whined. "How the hell am I supposed to compete with a witch like Hermione Granger? I'll never be able to live up to someone like her." And that was the issue, wasn't it? Once again she was left dreading a loveless marriage, but this time it was all her fault. If she'd hadn't been so selfish, Theo would have been happy to just be friends with her, and he never would have looked twice at Hermione Granger.

Millie smoothed her hand down her hair. "Well, you don't try to live up to her, Daph," she said, sounding like it was the most obvious thing the in world. "Soon, we'll all be long gone from here. You and Theo will be married and Hermione Granger will be the furthest thing from his mind. Then, you guys can build up your relationship from there."

It was nice to have someone talk her through how things were going to go, letting Daphne pretend for a while like things were just going to work out. But, she knew better than that. She and Theo were doomed.

Her friend sat with her a while longer, letting her cry. There generally weren't a lot of tears in the Slytherin girls dorm, but they did happen from time to time. "Do you want me to go get Astoria?" she asked, probably feeling ill equipped to handle Daphne like that.

Knowing how much Astoria had scolded her previously for playing with Theo's feelings, Daphne knew that her sister's advice was sure to feel like frigid water. But, maybe she needed that little shock back to reality to help get her through this. Nodding, Daphne watched as Millicent fled the room, looking for the little Greengrass sister.

Daphne laid down on her side, hugging her pillow tightly against her chest, wondering if she would ever feel better about what had happened.

...

The last months of their childhood slipped by in a moment. One minute Theo Nott and Daphne Greengrass were studying astronomy and the next they were headed back on the Hogwarts Express to the the future that awaited them. They would be married at the end of June, and just like it always had been with Alfred Nott, there was no or else.

To her vast disappointment, the remaining months at Hogwarts had done little to convince Daphne that Theo could ever have a romantic interest in her. She tried so hard to keep talking to him, but there was always that insidious voice in the back of her head reminding her that she would always be walking in the shadows of a witch who was much better than her - smarter, sweeter, more poised and driven. Daphne was prettier than Granger, but it seemed to be the one thing Theo didn't care about.

It was hard not to hate the Gryffindor girl, when Daphne knew that she was getting everything that she'd ever wanted (though, she was sure Granger would correct her and say it was everything that she'd ever worked for). Even seeing Granger kiss Krum at their graduation had only made her feel more sour about it, wondering if Theo was feeling the pangs of jealousy in his stomach.

Quite by accident, they had found themselves alone in a compartment together for the long train ride back. Theo seemed content to sit with her, watching the scenery race by out the window, but he made no effort to speak with her.

"Mother thinks that she will have everything prepared for the wedding together in another week," Daphne said, playing with the ends of her straight hair. "Maybe you'd like to come over some time and review it before the day," she offered. Perhaps Theo might like to know what she'd look like with her hair curled?

"That's fine," he said tersely, his eyes raking over her face with little interest. "I am sure that whatever you've picked out will be lovely. I don't have much of an eye for decorating."

"Well, it's your wedding, too," Daphne snapped at him, weeks' worth of pent up annoyance bubbling up suddenly. "It would be nice to know that you have any interest in it at all."

"Well, I don't have any interest in the wedding," he countered, his own voice taking on an annoyed tone, one she so rarely heard him use. Theo was normally very content to go with the flow, to draw as little attention to himself as possible. He wasn't forceful or rude. "I'd like it better if it was just family, but I know that's not possible."

It was true, Daphne's parents had insisted on a large wedding, with all their friends and family, seeing as Daphne was their older daughter. Since they were the ones paying for it, Theo had agreed, though he did try his best to limit the guest list, hating the idea of all the attention on him. She was a little hurt to think that maybe he didn't want people to know he was marrying her, when really, he should be the one shouting it from the rooftops. Didn't Theo Nott know that she was a catch? She was everything and more that a boy in their social circle should want.

"Look, don't you think that this farce has gone on long enough?" she questioned, unable to stomach the hurt of knowing that Theo didn't want her any longer. "It's obvious that neither one of us fancies the idea of getting married. Maybe we should just try to void the contract."

"It's not possible," he answered, quietly, his eyes dropping to his lap.

"Don't sound so glum, Theo. The wedding's not for another few weeks yet," she breezed over the words. "Surely we can figure out something in that time."

He wore a smirk on his lips when he finally looked up at her again. "No, I mean, I've already tried to void the contract," he answered. "At first, my father refused, but then I reviewed the stipulations with a fine-toothed comb, and it's ironclad. There is no way for us to void the contract, not now that my parents are dead."

Hearing that he'd gone behind her back and tried to void the contract without even mentioning it to her made Daphne's head spin. She knew that she'd hurt Theo, and that he probably despised her, but she had never realized that it had gone so far. Knowing that he wanted to get rid of her hurt that much more than she expected it would, her heart clenching in despair. She could already feel the tears forming in her eyes.

Not wanting to give Theo Nott the satisfaction of knowing that he'd hurt her, Daphne snapped her mouth shut in a smile. "Alright then," she said, hearing her voice catch in her throat and hoping that he hadn't noticed. She stood up, needing to get out of the claustrophobic compartment. "I'll just leave you to your thoughts then, and go bore Astoria with discussions of our wedding."

As soon as she shut the compartment door, Daphne pressed her back against the wall of the train, letting tears stream down her face. She waited there for several moments before realizing that Theo was not going to come chasing after her. Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she used her wand to hide the lingering redness in her eyes and her cheeks.

Deciding that she really would go find Astoria, she began walking down the train, hoping that her little sister wasn't so wrapped up in Draco at the moment. Seeing how happy the pair of them were together was sickeningly sweet. Somehow, snotty little Draco Malfoy had grown up into a different person, a man who seemed to think that the sun rose and set with Astoria. They obviously felt very strongly about one another, and they genuinely seemed to like one another. Her parents were over the moon with the smart match that Astoria had made for herself.

She tried to be happy for her sister, really she did. It just reminded Daphne of what she would never have.