Harry joined the seventh years at the Slytherin table that morning intent on keeping his distance from Ron and wanting to show his support for his best friend. As the three students sat at the table adorned in green and silver to join Ginny and the other Slytherin's, Ron was sat at the Gryffindor table not taking his eyes off the backs of their heads, his face twisted into what could only be described as pure rage.

"What's got Weasley's knickers in a twist this morning?" Draco asked they sat down.

Hermione and Harry both turned back to look at their house table and friend to see him for themselves before turning back to the meal in front of them.

"He's not happy." Harry replied as he piled bacon and sausages onto his plate.

Ever the sarcastic one, Draco feigned shock before going on to say "No shit Potter. Really?" Before rolling his eyes at the raven haired idiot.

"What could have happened already this morning to make him make a face like that? He's literally got out of bed and came to breakfast" Ginny pointed out.

"Maybe there's no sausages left?" Pansy joked.

"He also broke our wards whilst we were sleeping." Theo added with a scowl. "Fucking prick."

Ginny raised her eyebrow at him before asking "What for?"

"Something about coming to see if Hermione was alright after McLaggen opened his mouth yesterday morning."

"Ah. He's never been the best at making people feel better."

"Does he normally make things worse? Because that's what he did."

Ginny looked over to Harry to see if Theo was telling the truth and when her ex boyfriend nodded his head slowly in reply before quietly tucking into his food she realised something more serious was wrong. "What happened?" She all but demanded.

"Ron didn't like what he saw. Or that Hermione-"

"Had a death eater in her bed?" Hermione finished for him.

"Really? We couldn't just make it through breakfast first?" Theo asked.

"You didn't?!" Ginny shrieked excitedly.

"Oh she did. Ron decided that death eater's whore just about summed her up."

"Don't forget 'boring snob' too." Hermione mumbled.

"Boring. How can anyone think you're boring?" Theo asked as he squeezed Hermione's hand.

"Well since it wasn't me in your bed Granger, I'll have to assume you somehow managed to get my best friend in my stead. Up for a swap?"

"Not in any of my lifetimes. I'm perfectly happy exactly how things are."

"Sure?"

"Draco" Theo warned.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"Wait, did Ron really call you that?" Ginny asked as he eyes flickered over the brother on the other side of the room.

"He did, I was there" Harry confirmed somberly as he pulled apart a piece of bread instead of eating it.

"I swear I don't know what goes through his mind sometimes" she sighed before remembering the full conversation and her attention was redirected. "Wait, why was he in your bed? I want to know everything!" Ginny announced gleefully.

"Because I asked him to?"

"Why did you ask him to?"

"Because I had a bit of a crap day yesterday and I didn't want to be alone." Hermione muttered quietly as she remembered the day before.

"So you just invite the first man you see into your bed. Makes sense."

"The first man I saw would have been Harry so let's not even think about that."

"Ew! Right! So did anything happen?"

"You mean besides sleeping? Nothing you want to hear about Gin."

"Oh please. I want to hear about it all. Tell me."

"It's private." The curly haired witch insisted.

"Just gate crash their common room. Not so private then." Harry added.

"Nice try Potter, I've already changed the wards. I really don't fancy waking up to find Weasley in my kitchen again so he can criticise my girlfriend about everything from her clothes and personality to her choice in men"

"Girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend?"

"Finally!"

"Urgh my best friends dating a fucking Gryffindor what is the world coming to." Draco groaned.

"You were just offering yourself up in his place a minute ago make up your mind." Pansy berated her friend.

"So who won the bet?" Blaise asked

"I did" Luna answered as she approached their table "such a lovely day to start new adventures. Wouldn't you agree?" She asked as she took a seat next to Pansy.

"It's raining." Pansy pointed out as they all looked through the windows.

"The weather is merely peripheral in how we should determine if a day shall be good or not. I have personally had many bad days when the sun has shone its brightest." Luna replied. "For example I hear last Easter was the nicest spring we have had in many moons, unfortunately I was already occupied in the Malfoy dungeons to be able to enjoy it myself but I am thankful for the extraordinary company I had during that time. It made my stay there a lot less bothersome." She added as she smiled at Draco.

"Mate you were the worst over Easter. She must be nuts if she thinks you were good company." Blaise whispered in Draco's ear.

Draco's face grew red from a mixture of embarrassment and anger. Embarrassed over Luna being able to so casually talk about how she was forced to spend weeks in his family's dungeons at the request of Voldemort and his role in that, and anger over Blaise's comments about the girl he had done his best to help out in a bad situation. It's not like he could have done much under the watchful eye of his crazy aunt Bellatrix and his own father but he would often go to the dungeons and talk to her for hours on end. She was the only person in the whole manor that was sane and that was saying something considering he didn't have a clue what she was saying half the time. Not that he cared. After the first couple of days talking to her he found himself drawn to the doe eyed blonde witch and would have his own bonded elf make sure she had plenty of food, water and a pillow and blanket to keep her warm. He never admitted that he was the one who had orchestrated such things but he was sure she knew. Luna always knew.

"Just give it a rest will you Blaise?" He hissed as he stood up to leave the table.

"Salazar! I was just joking. Chill out."

"It's not a fucking joke alright?" He shouted as he left the table.

"What's up with him?" Theo asked as he looked up at the exchange.

"Not a clue." Blaise answered as he watched Draco walk away.

"Someone should go after him." Hermione said as she watched him walk across the hall with his head bent low. "He left his bag too" she pointed out with a look towards where he had just vacated his seat.

"Are you volunteering Granger? Because if you are feel free" Blaise added as he sat back in his seat.

"What? Me? No. No I hardly think that would be conducive right now."

"Don't worry Hermione, I'll go." Luna said brightly as she picked up his bag and began to follow him before anyone could protest.

"So, ignoring the hippogriff in the room; does anyone know how Daphne is this morning?" Pansy asked.

"Asleep, I hope." Hermione answered as she glared at Harry.

"What happened?"

"The-boy-who-continues-to-live kept her up all night." Theo smirked.

"Why?" Pansy demanded

"She wasn't tired?" Harry offered.

"Well she had a sleeping draught that should have seen to that." Pansy pointed out.

"She didn't take it."

"Obviously."

oOoOoOo

Daphne was released from the hospital wing that night in time for the evening meal but unable to bring herself to show her scarred face to the rest of the school she took up Hermione's offer to go to their quarters and eat privately where Theo and Harry cooked and Hermione continued to play medinurse to the blonde.

Once Hermione had checked Daphne over and went through the list of potions and salves that would help her on her way to healing the girls decided to move to the breakfast bench to watch the boys, intent on making sure they didn't burn the place down.

"What are we having then?" Hermione asked as she eyed the two Wizards tossing dough into the air to see who could get it the highest.

"Pizza" Harry replied as he looked at her in a 'what else would we be making' sort of way.

"You know how to cook?" Daphne asked, more than a little bit surprised.

"Didn't really get a choice when you grow up with the Dursley's" Harry answered as he tried to make the depressing thought seem lighthearted.

Daphne didn't miss how Harry's smile faltered just a little at the thought of his childhood or his life in the muggle world and instantly felt a pang of sadness for him knowing the life he had been forced to live as a wizard and only being able to guess at what kind of life he was trapped in as a child. "What about you Theo? Didn't know you could cook." She said as she turned to her friend.

"I spent most of the summer locked in the manor by myself. I got bored and asked the elves to teach me. They didn't like it, apparently it was their job. Either way it was probably best that I did." He said as he looked towards Hermione and grinned.

"Oh shut up and get us some drinks." Hermione said with an air of sophistication as she tried to be grown up about her inability to cook.

"What am I missing?" Daphne asked as she looked between the two.

"Mione isn't very good when it comes to cooking" Harry replied as he passed her a butterbeer.

"That's an understatement" Theo chuckled before taking a sip of his own drink "she's absolutely useless in the kitchen. Brilliant at Potions, she could out brew anyone in this school and yet she can't even make spaghetti."

"Hey! I cooked you dragon steak last week" She defended.

"And I thought you got another dragon to actually chargrill it. It was so tough I wouldn't have fed it to one of Hagrid's pets." He told her.

"Your plate was empty" she said narrowing her eyes.

"I banished it"

Hermione's eyes went wide at the revelation. "You didn't!"

"Guilty" he said as he smirked at her.

"You're insufferable you know that?"

Theo winked at her dramatically "You love it" he said before turning back to the dough.

"Yes, well, you can sleep alone tonight for that" she said as she crossed her arms and leaned back in the chair whilst glaring at him.

"We'll see" he answered before Harry interrupted.

"Oi! Do you mind? Other people in the room and that's my best friend!" He said pointing to Hermione.

"And Daphne's one of my best friends. She's practically family." Theo countered.

Harry looked at the other man confused "what do you mean?" he asked.

"At least Hermione was asleep last night" he pointed out with a goofy grin.

"Most of the night" Hermione interrupted.

"Shh. That's not important!" Theo said as he tried to hush her up.

"Oh it's not? I rather thought when wordy Theodore Nott was reduced to saying 'wow' it was a pivotal moment in my life. Definitely important, I'm sure I'll remember it forever" she shrugged as she swallowed the last of her drink down. "Wouldn't you agree Daph?"

"Wow, Theo? Really?" She asked teasingly.

"You weren't there you wouldn't understand" he defended.

Daphne turned her bright blue eyes to Harry and smiled her brilliant devious smile before saying "oh I think I understand perfectly well" without taking her eyes off Harry's.

oOoOoOo

After the meal in the great hall had finished Ginny and pansy made their way to the heads' quarters to meet up with their classmates where they all worked on their Defence Against the Dark Arts assignment that Professor Lupin had set. Ginny, being the only one not needing to do the work since she had attended the class, occupied herself by drinking through the butterbeer stash and keeping a full drink in front of everyone else.

"How are there still so any butterbeers left?" She finally asked. The question had been plaguing her for the past hour, every time she picked a drink another bottle would automatically reappear in its place. It was confusing her and not because of the alcohol since there was so little in butterbeer to begin with.

"It's linked to Nott Manor. The elves keep everything stocked at home and so it just stays fully stocked. Same with the food." Theo answered without looking up.

"Hmmm...interesting" she mused before moving over to the stack of Firewhiskey bottles.

"Don't even think about it Red" he warned.

"Spoilsport." She shot back before slumping back down in the couch and helping Pansy with her work.

Once the group had finally finished their work and with curfew already up Harry, Daphne, Ginny and Pansy gathered their things ready to return to their own dorms, something Harry had been putting off as he tried desperately to avoid Ron and Daphne had been putting off in order to avoid, well, everyone.

"I'll walk you back" Theo told the Slytherin girls as they said their goodbyes.

Pansy rolled her eyes at his protectiveness "We'll be fine" she insisted.

"Look at Daphne's face and say that to me again" he all but growled back, giving the witch no room for debate.

"It's alright I'll walk them to the dungeons. Makes more sense anyway." Harry said as stood at the door.

"Right to the door?" Theo clarified.

"I'll even wait until it closes behind them" Harry agreed.

Theo looked at him skeptically before asking "You know how to get back?"

"I've been inside your common room before you know, I found my way there and back easily enough that time and I'm pretty sure I can manage it again tonight." He said as he smiled at the thought of the Slytherin's finding out what and how exactly that had happened.

Theo looked at the messy haired bespectacled man in front of him and wanted to know the extent of the information he had just received but realising the time knew it would have to wait. "Okay. Just...is there any way of letting us know you're all back alright?" he asked as he looked at Daphne and sighed.

"Erm..."

"We'll send a patronus when we leave the dungeons and another when we get in the tower." Ginny suggested.

"In the common room" Hermione corrected.

"Good now that dad here has figured out a plan on keeping tabs on us all can we go now? I really want to get my pyjamas on" Pansy moaned.

"Stay safe" Hermione called as the foursome eventually closed the door behind them.

Theo walked over to the couch once they were gone and sat down "Well today was-" he started as he tried to find the right word to sum up the events.

"Tiring? Emotional? Hard? Embarrassing?" Hermione asked as she sat next to him.

"All of the above" he sighed as he pulled her into his chest. "You alright, Love?" He was finally able to ask. A question that had been plaguing him the entire day.

Hermione sniffed against his chest before answering. "No. But I will be. You help" she said as she pressed herself closer to him.

"I hope so" he replied as he ran his fingers through her hair.

The couple sat there in silence as they each thought about the day's events, thought about Ron's outburst, about Daphne's attack, about Draco's mood and Luna's willingness to be around the sullen blonde. They thought about the reactions they had received from everyone when the nature of their relationship had been revealed. Considering many had assumed it was inevitable it seemed they still had things to say on the matter. Most notably those things were 'Death Eater's Whore' a slur that was now all too familiar to the pair of them even though it had only been two days since they first heard it.

As expected Ron hadn't kept quiet about what he had walked in on that morning, not that he had actually walked in on anything really but that's not how he spun the tale when anyone would listen. He had sat at breakfast and told the rest of the Gryffindor's about his traitor friends and sister and their disgusting alliances with the snakes. With Lavender hanging onto his every word, the blonde, who had long since hated Hermione, made sure the tale was spread to anyone and everyone she came into contact with. This meaning that even the staff were privy to Hermione's and Theo's apparent bedroom activities by lunchtime and earning them both a visit from the headmistress herself.

Having a witch as powerful and brilliant as the no-nonsense Professor McGonagall talk to them about proprieties and the different contraceptives available before not so subtly mentioning how good and enjoyable sex could be had to be the single most embarrassing moment of their school careers so far which, at this point, was saying something. Hermione would have preferred to relive the incident with Ron ten times over and just thanked Merlin and Circe that Professor Snape wouldn't be able to lecture them unless they happened across his portrait in the headmistresses office and she had absolutely no intention of another meeting with their headmistress any time soon. Theo decided that Professor McGonagall was definitely a lot more Slytherin than she led people to believe.

Of course their friends had tried to ask what the professor had wanted with them but, unable to actually wrap their tongues around the words 'McGonagall' and 'sex talk' in the same conversation let alone the same sentence the pair hadn't been able to come up with anything other than a feeble lie about heads' duties. None of them believed them of course and they all knew it but Theo and Hermione kept their mouths firmly sealed to save themselves further embarrassment.

They hadn't moved from their positions on the couch with Hermione close to falling asleep on Theo when ten minutes later a patronus in the form of a stag appeared in front of them and Harry's voice filled the air as "they're safe. No need to worry" rang out melodiously. The pair didn't let themselves relax though until Ginny's patronus followed it a few minutes later to alert them that they were also back in their common room though they did silently worry about what Ron might have planned for them.

It was now after eleven and with Hermione practically asleep in his arms Theo figured it was best to get the witch in bed, hoping the next day was better and looking forward to the weekend more than ever.

"Come on love, you need to get to bed" he said as shifted to help her sit up.

"I want to stay here" she said as she pulled herself up and yawned softly. "You're comfy"

"I'm going to ignore that completely and take it as a compliment" Theo joked as he looked over his toned body in faux shock.

"Oh shut up, idiot" Hermione said as she woke up a bit more.

"Sexy idiot. Not comfy" he corrected as he pulled her to her feet, walked her to her room and kissed her goodnight before going to his own room just across the hallway.

It was less than thirty seconds later when the pair were shouting each other's names in confusion.

"Theo!"

"Hermione!"

Theo left his own room never more confused and walked towards Hermione's to see what problem she was faced with, hoping it was nothing like his own.

When he had walked into his room the first thing he had noticed was the complete lack of bed in any corner of the room and instead a coffee table where it had previously been. His trunk, bedside table and wardrobes were all also suspiciously missing and instead in their place were a couple of arm chairs and books. A lot of books. More than he owned.

As he entered Hermione's room however the mystery was solved. Somebody had combined their things into one room, well, most of their things since they apparently now had their own private library too.

"Shit" Theo muttered as he stood at the threshold of the door "I see you found my things. Any chance there's a spare bed in here somewhere?" He joked as he eyed their wardrobes next to each other, his table at the side of the bed he had slept the night before and his trunk next to Hermione's.

"A bed? Your bed has gone?" She asked as she held her hands out in an effort to say 'look at the room'

"Everything has gone. Except books. Books I have plenty of now, apparently. However I do have a lovely chair or two if I wanted to read and a nice coffee table right where my bed used to be. The rest of my possessions are apparently in here." He said as he looked towards his trunk that was suspiciously right next to her own.

"I think someone has been rearranging our things" Hermione mused as she followed his gaze.

Theo laughed lightly before moving to his wardrobe and retrieving some pyjama bottoms. "You think?" He said before getting changed.

"Who do you think it was?" She asked as she followed his lead and went to brush her teeth before getting into bed.

It was a few minutes before Theo answered her question, slipping under the golden covers that he had realised the night before were silk, not satin, he waved his wand to turn out all the lanterns before laying back on his - yes his, from his bed - pillow "I have no idea. There's too many possibilities but I'd put the elves at the top of the list" he said as he turned to her.

"I'm sure I said you were sleeping alone tonight" Hermione said as she remembered their earlier conversation.

"You did. I also said we would see. I was right" he laughed as he kissed her again.

Hermione pretended to be annoyed at him for winning before a sudden realisation hit her "Godric, I live with a boy" she whispered.

"Kitten, you've 'lived with a boy' for nearly three weeks" he said playfully as he tried not to laugh at her train of thought.

"That was different. I didn't have to share a room with you!"

"Don't worry about it we'll just rearrange it all back tomorrow" he answered as though he had already planned to do so anyway.

"No" Hermione replied without thinking.

Theo turned to her closer, able to only see the outlines of her face through the moonlight offered from the window "No?" He asked hopefully, knowing it was far too early in their relationship for such a thing but also knowing that any attempt they made to sleep separately was futile at this point. They were already in far deeper than they would admit.

"No. You can stay." She finally answered wearily. "Besides, whoever did this would likely only do it again anyway" she huffed.

"Do you want me to stay? Because if you don't-"

"I-I would like you to stay. Indefinitely" Hermione answered as she bit her lip and twirled one of her unruly curls between her fingers, a very obvious sign she was nervous.

Theo pulled his hand up to her lip and freed it from her teeth with his thumb before running it across the swollen flesh. "Good, because I rather like waking up with you in my arms" he said right before he took the swollen lip between his own and kissed her soundly.