A/N: Thanks for all the ways you've been supporting this fic.
As they rounded the corner and disappeared from the sights of Weasley, Potter and Brown, Theo heard Granger release a deep breath.
"You did well," Theo told her and she smiled up at him. "How did it feel to put the cunt in his place?"
She blushed slightly at his use of the crude language but her eyes were bright as she said, "Extremely satisfying."
Theo nodded. "Good."
"The flowers were a nice touch," she said, holding the small posy up to her nose to inhale the scent. "They're really beautiful."
She smiled up at him again and his eyes travelled from the warm expression on her face to the small buds he had tucked into her hair. He could still recall the sensation of her curls as they'd tickled against his fingers. He'd never really thought about what her hair would feel like but he'd been surprised at the softness of it, and he'd had to resist the sudden, strange urge to bury his fingers further into the silky tendrils. The horrified expression on Weasley's face had been conveniently diverting and Theo had made sure to send a smug, gloating look the redhead's way as he'd gently slid the flowers into place.
Theo returned his eyes to hers and something in her gaze prompted him to say, "They were Daphne's idea."
Her expression faltered slightly, which he deemed to be a good thing; it wouldn't do for her to be making false assumptions about him.
"Oh, I see," she murmured. She tried to hide it but Theo could hear the slight hint of disappointment in her tone. Was Hermione Granger really disappointed that he hadn't thought to bring her flowers himself? What a strange thought. Their deal was only a few hours old and Theo was disturbed that there was a chance she was blurring the lines of their business relationship. He was half-tempted to say something to reaffirm that they were not friends and that their 'date' wouldn't change that, but he didn't think that was wise: he had meant what he'd said to Daphne about keeping on Granger's good side so that she could be an ally should he need one in the future – frostily encouraging her to keep her distance wouldn't exactly promote the goodwill between them. Besides, the ruse only needed to be maintained for a few more hours and he wasn't exactly the sort to put down a girl who was already mildly depressed. He may have helped her reach some sort of epiphany regarding her feelings towards Weasley but even he knew, despite his limited experience with relationships, that she wouldn't be over the red-haired moron at the drop of a wand.
The rest of the journey to Slughorn's office passed in a silence that was mildly awkward and Theo found himself questioning Granger's earlier belief that they'd have an enjoyable night together and find plenty to talk about.
More guests began to drift into the corridors from the lower floors and Theo felt her hand tighten slightly against his arm. Some of their fellow students turned their heads to stare at the unlikely couple but Slughorn's guests from outside the castle paid them no mind as they converged on the party location.
"I've heard a rumour that a vampire will be in attendance," Theo quietly said to Granger so that they weren't just walking mutely next to each other.
She glanced up at him, face alight with interest. "Yes, I heard that too," she whispered back. "I've never encountered one before. Have you?"
"No," Theo replied. "But I've always wanted to see one in the flesh. It'll be interesting to see how it compares to my head of house – the rumour that Snape's really a vampire has been doing the rounds in Slytherin ever since he became Potions Master."
Her eyes widened and she laughed, quickly stifling her mirth behind her posy of flowers. "You don't believe that, do you?"
"Of course not," Theo scoffed. "But it's always fun to scare the first years by pointing out all the vampire traits he possesses."
Granger laughed again but there was a slight look of surprise in her expression. "But I thought you all loved Professor Snape – he so obviously favours Slytherins."
"Doesn't prevent us from noticing him swooping around like a giant bat, does it?" Theo countered. "Are you telling me you've never joked around about McGonagall or Dumbledore even though they so obviously favour Gryffindors?"
She gasped, looking positively scandalised by the very idea and he had to refrain from letting out a snort of amusement at her expression. "Of course not!" she protested. "And they don't favour us."
Theo sent her a disbelieving look.
"They don't!" she insisted. "I've never seen Snape take points away from his house before but McGonagall took fifty points off of me in my first year and gave me a detention."
Theo maintained a cool persona. "Well, were you breaking a rule?" he enquired casually, fully aware of the answer.
Her face flushed crimson and after a moment's pause she admitted, "…Yes."
"Then it sounds like you deserved it," he said with a shrug. "The reason Snape doesn't take points is because Slytherins don't break the rules."
Granger scoffed softly. "Liar."
Theo smirked at her. "Or if they do, they're clever enough not to get caught."
She rolled her eyes. "That sounds far more accurate."
"What, are you telling me you haven't broken another rule since your first year?" he questioned.
"I'll have you know that since that misdemeanour in my youth, I have only ever been docked points from Snape, Umbridge and Malfoy for trivial reasons such as telling the truth or knowing the answer."
They were only a few steps away from the entrance to Slughorn's party and Theo could hear the typical hum of chatter and the clinking of glasses within. They were much closer to some of the other guests as they all queued to enter and be greeted by Professor Slughorn, so Theo bent down and whispered in her ear, "That didn't really answer my question, Granger. You may not have been docked serious points recently but I think we both know that you're not quite as innocent as you seem."
He pulled away just as the guests in front of them moved into the party, leaving them standing directly in front of Slughorn. Granger was too busy staring at Theo with her mouth slightly agape to notice, and it was only when their Potions professor boomed, "Miss Granger, how marvellous!" that she abruptly turned her gaze to the portly man, the blush creeping across her face again.
"Thank you for inviting me, Professor," she said, recovering quickly.
Slughorn waved away her gratitude. "Can't have one of the leading students in the school missing out on something like this, can we?" he divulged rather pompously and that's when he seemed to take in Theo standing with her hand tucked into his elbow. Theo downplayed the haughtiness level of his usual smirk to show that he had no hard feelings about his own lack of invitation despite his impressive school grades. Slughorn's face became comically surprised as his eyes flicked between the pair of them. "Oho!" he declared, his great walrus moustache fluttering with the force of his exclamation. "Now this is an interesting turn of events. I can't say I can recall many inter-house partnerships between Slytherin and Gryffindor and certainly none of quite this…"he waved his hand, searching for the appropriate word. Slughorn's eyes had zeroed in on Theo with greater interest than on any previous occasion. "…This significance," he finally settled on. "There's certainly more to you than meets the eye," he said, his gaze still switching between them, leaving Theo to wonder whether Slughorn was addressing him, Granger, or the pair of them. "Enjoy the party, Mr Nott, Miss Granger." He said, throwing his arm wide to grant them entrance into his office.
It was a much larger room than Theo was expecting, which was good because there were already a large number of guests. Red, green and gold drapes covered the ceilings and walls, giving an appropriately festive feel along with the twinkling fairies that were dancing in the lamps hanging from the ceiling.
Granger looked at him questioningly. "So, what's next in your grand suggestion of revenge? This isn't exactly my area of expertise, after all."
He began to guide her towards a table that was laden with goblets. "That's not what I've heard," Theo countered.
She looked at him curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Well, he'll jinx anyone who talks about it but everyone in our house knows that you slapped Draco in third year," Theo informed her.
A curious expression came over her face that was a mixture of defensiveness and amusement. "That was different," she explained. "Malfoy was making fun of one of my friends and, and…"
"You thought he needed to be taught a lesson?" Theo supplied.
"Yes – no!" she corrected quickly at the victorious quirk of Theo's eyebrow. "That wasn't revenge," she insisted.
He shrugged lightly and finally removed her hand from his elbow so that he could pick up a goblet for each of them. "If you say so," he replied smoothly, holding out her drink, which she accepted with a murmur of thanks. She raised it to her mouth to take a sip at the exact moment that Theo asked, "What about Marietta Edgecombe? Was that you?"
Her eyes widened in surprise and she promptly started choking on her drink. She coughed a few times, her face reddening again but he suspected this time it was partly due to her struggle for breath.
When she had herself back under control, she shook her head daintily and said, "I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about."
"Liar," he teased, echoing her earlier accusation with a heavy smirk. She avoided saying anything by taking another sip of her mead and Theo had the grace to wait until after she'd lowered the goblet this time before he said, "And what about Umbridge?"
Granger looked at him shrewdly. "What about her?"
"You and Potter led her into the Forbidden Forest last summer and, by all accounts, she came out traumatised."
"You're very well informed," she said with a hint of suspicion. "Should I be concerned that you've been keeping such close tabs on me?"
"You forget that Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad was comprised of Slytherins. Malfoy and the others were privy to a lot of inside information and they weren't careful about who they shared it with," he explained, easily swatting away her accusation.
"I see," she said, a slight frown on her face but then she fixed him with her chocolate orbs. "Well, whatever I may or may not have done, I can assure you that protecting my friends would have been my sole motivating factor for my actions."
Theo simply gazed at her for a moment, marvelling at the passion with which she said those words. The fierce loyalty she showed for her friends was something he'd never encountered before and it practically shone from her. He wondered what it would feel like to have her passion on his side, to have her strength fighting for him, doing anything for him… He ignored the rush of blood pulsing through his brain at the idea and quickly pushed those thoughts aside.
"Your dedication to your friends is admirable," he said instead, gently inclining his head towards her. "But I think that your alleged actions show there's a darker side to you than you're willing to admit." Her mouth tightened defensively but he smirked and raised his goblet in her direction before taking a long, calculated drink. She held his gaze and he was sure that she fighting hard to stop herself from smiling a little.
"If a Slytherin is toasting me, I'm not sure I can take that as quite the compliment you're intending," she said and he definitely heard the underlying amusement.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "We're not all bad," he drawled. "We do have some redeeming features."
She laughed and gave him an overtly scrutinising look. "If you don't mind, I'll reserve judgement until the end of the evening."
Theo opened his mouth to make a witty reply but the approaching Blaise caught his eye, a snooty-looking date on his arm. "I think that's only fair," Theo said, refocusing on Granger, "and in order to gain a verdict in my favour, I suggest we move away before my self-absorbed housemate taints your view of Slytherins beyond repair for the night."
She glanced over shoulder, saw Zabini and made a scathing noise. "Agreed," she said shortly, grabbing Theo's hand and pulling him in the opposite direction. However, they only got a few yards away when she stopped abruptly, almost recoiling, and he nearly crashed into her back.
"What is it?" he asked, peering around for the reason behind her sudden reaction.
Instead of answering, she simply turned towards him and tilted her head to look upwards. Theo followed her line of sight and saw a small green plant with white berries floating in the air above their head. He instinctively attempted to take a couple of steps backwards but found an invisible force keeping him in place.
"Ah," he said pointedly, returning his gaze back to hers, and seeing in her eyes the same comprehension that the bewitched mistletoe wasn't going to let them move on until they had kissed…
A/N: Any thoughts?
