Beta thanks to Maloreiy! Any remaining mistakes are my own. Enjoy!
Hermione arrived at the Gilded Cauldron just a few minutes too late, but Ginny was already waiting at their table. She sprang up and enveloped Hermione in a warm hug. "I'm so glad you could make it," she said, when she finally let go. "I know it was a last minute invitation."
Hermione shrugged and settled herself in her seat. "You know I love having dinner with you, Gin. How are things? Have you settled in again?"
Ginny began to detail everything that had happened in the past two weeks, how her mother had tried to convince her to remain at the Burrow permanently, how her father had helped her find a flat and made a toaster explode, the detailed negotiations she was in with the Harpies to change her contract…
Hermione let it wash over her and revelled, if only for a moment, in the normality of the situation. She smiled wryly when she remembered how she'd been hankering for adventure only a few weeks ago, and now she was already relishing the normal things in life, such as having dinner with a friend.
But soon after they'd ordered, the difficulties she'd had to deal with for the past few days were brought back to the forefront of her mind.
"Did you see the Prophet this morning?" Ginny asked with barely concealed glee. "It seems Malfoy is finally paying his dues. Never thought he'd have the balls to organise some kind of underground resistance. Apparently, he's also responsible for the disappearance of that Smith guy! Not that I ever liked him, bloody annoying git is what I remember from Hogwarts, but still, nobody seems to have seen or heard from him in months. That just sounds bad. Do you think Malfoy killed him?"
A week had passed since Hermione found out about the falsified documents framing Draco for the disappearance of Zach Smith, and the news had only just been leaked to the press. Hermione was careful not to betray her part in the whole story and agreed readily. "Killed him? I thought the Aurors would have found his body by now if he was dead. As to Malfoy…" she said, with a conspiratorial grin, "you can only play with fire so many times before you get burnt. If Malfoy was stupid enough to get into some kind of conspiracy, it's no wonder he got caught."
Ginny waited until their orders were placed in front of them before taking up the thread of their conversation again. "But he wasn't caught, though, was he? It seems he got a whiff of what was about to happen and cleared out. Nobody seems to know where he is."
Hermione shrugged, chewing even more slowly now to give herself some time to think about what answer she could give that wouldn't give her away. Ginny wouldn't have any idea she was involved, but she did have a knack for figuring out when someone was lying to her. "Strange as it may seem," she said, after swallowing her bite of steak and mushy peas down with a bit of red wine, "he must still have some friends somewhere. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before Harry finds him, though."
Ginny let out a strange, slightly hysterical laugh that made Hermione look up in surprise. But as sudden as the laugh had come up, it died again and Ginny's face turned serious. "No doubt you're right. Harry's always had an obsession with Malfoy. It must be such a relief to him that he now has a legitimate reason to nose around in the man's life."
Hermione was taken aback by the slightly malicious undertone, but she couldn't put her finger on why it made her so uncomfortable. She decided that, despite all the time that had passed, Ginny was still a little resentful about her break-up with Harry, after all. She desperately tried to think of a topic that would take Ginny's attention away from her ex. But it was Ginny who pushed the conversation in another direction, and not necessarily one Hermione was more comfortable with.
"So have you seen Nott again?"
Hermione couldn't help the blush that spread over her face and neck. All at once she was hot and cold. She took a sip of wine to avoid responding right away but Ginny was already grinning.
"I can see you have," she said, her eyebrows waggling suggestively. "Is he as fit now as he was in Hogwarts? I never paid him much attention but he was quite the sight to behold when he came back for his final year."
Hermione didn't know why that remark made her wine taste sour all of a sudden. The smile she plastered on her face to hide her discomfort was just a little off.
"We have seen each other once or twice," she admitted, trying not to think of that fateful night she had healed his injuries or their visit to Ipswich. And she definitely wasn't thinking about that almost-kiss from last week. Surely that hadn't been disappointment in his eyes? She must have imagined it.
"And I'm guessing you're going to see him again?"
Hermione couldn't help but nod. She was embarrassed and didn't quite know how to act. She hoped Ginny wouldn't press for any details of their meetings, because she couldn't tell the truth about any of them. The game she'd become embroiled in was too dangerous to bring another person into it, and Harry surely wouldn't approve if Ginny got involved.
Ginny seemed to find Hermione's embarrassment entertaining, but after a few probing and suggestive remarks, she moved on to a different topic again, much to Hermione's relief. They finished their dinner without venturing near any dangerous topics again.
"Your plan seems to have worked so far," Theodore said by way of greeting when she arrived at Nott Mansion the next day. "Prophet's lapping it all up and all but claiming Draco wanted to resurrect Voldemort." He gave an involuntary shudder as he pronounced the name, but he hadn't hesitated. "People are popping up left and right now swearing they've seen Draco performing some Dark ritual or other." He scowled, but Hermione knew it wasn't directed at her. He was upset that his friend's reputation was being dragged through the mud and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Not yet, at least.
Hermione squeezed his arm in an effort to comfort him. "You knew it was going to get bad, Theo. There was never any doubt about that."
"I know," he sighed. "Let's go to the library. I spent enough time in this room today fielding Firecalls from Pansy and Blaise. Honestly, being interrogated by those two was worse than Potter." He began to walk and placed a hand at the small of her back to guide her along.
Hermione swallowed. The heat of his hand on her back seemed to seep through her clothes, through her skin, through her bones. It warmed her to the core. She licked her dry lips. "You didn't let anything slip, did you?"
Theodore glanced at her, his lips curled with disdain. "What do you take me for, some silly Gryffindor who can't keep a secret to save their life?"
Hermione poked him with her elbow. "I'm a Gryffindor, and I'll have you know I'm an excellent secret keeper. Ginny doesn't have the slightest suspicion I know anything about the whole Malfoy case, or what we're doing, and I can assure you she grilled me thoroughly last night."
Theodore raised an eyebrow. "Really? Why's that?"
Hermione began to blush fiercely. She pressed her lips together and shook her head stubbornly.
Theodore began to walk a little closer to her, their sides brushing. He bent down and whispered in her ear, "Oh, come now, Hermione, do tell?"
She swiftly stepped out of his reach and tried to regain her composure. She ignored the disappointment at the loss of his hand on her back. She could still feel the ghost of his touch. "If you must know," she said, with a toss of her head, "she wanted to know if we'd seen each other again."
They had arrived at the library, but Theodore didn't open the doors just yet. He stood before her, his blue eyes intent on her face, and she shivered under the attention. "And why would she want to know that?" he asked, his voice a silky whisper. He raised a hand and twirled a stray lock of hair around his finger.
Hermione quite forgot to breathe. He was so close, so overwhelmingly close, and she couldn't think of what to say. "I… She… I mean…" She swallowed and blinked, in an attempt to break his spell. But then his finger traced the curve of her cheek and goosebumps erupted all over her body. She licked her lips unconsciously. His eyes flicked down and up again, his lips curving into a smile that promised sin. He leaned in a little closer, and she began to meet him, but then the sound of voices echoing around the corridor ruined the moment. There was a flash of disappointment in his eyes, but he straightened up, turned around and opened the doors to the library without another word.
Hermione took a deep breath, but as the air around her was still suffused with everything Theo, it was not the best way to try to calm her senses. She followed him into the library and gasped at the sight before her. Rows upon rows of hardwood bookshelves brimming with books, comfortable high-backed chairs and sofas surrounding a bright fire in one corner and a gleaming mahogany desk in another. The smell of books and parchment and ink assaulted her and, for a moment, she forgot she had been about to kiss Theodore Nott in the middle of the corridor.
Theo was making his way towards the sofas, but halfway there he realised Hermione wasn't following. He turned around to ask what was wrong, only to have the words die on his tongue. She was looking around with a beaming smile, her hands clasped in front of her mouth and her eyes bright with excitement. He'd never seen her so blissfully happy. His heart skipped a beat when she turned that beaming smile on him.
"This is wonderful," she said breathlessly. "Oh, Theo, what a collection! I…" She flushed, shook her head briefly and tried to smooth the grin off her face. "I apologise. I'm not here to raid your library." Not today, anyway.
When he laughed, she worried, for a moment, that she had said those last words out loud.
"You can come back any time, Hermione." He walked back up to her and put his hand on the small of her back again to guide her towards the sofas. "We came here to talk, though, not to read."
On a low table between the sofa and the fire, a steaming teapot, two cups and a plate of biscuits were waiting for them. Theodore smiled when he saw it. "Dear Fliss," he murmured, "she always knows."
"Why did you want to talk here?" Hermione asked, still looking over her shoulder and trying to take in as much as possible of the vast room.
"Because it's the only other informal room in this draughty mansion that is at all comfortable. I have another sitting room but my father used it to receive his Death Eater friends. It isn't really fit for anyone to see." He sat her down on the sofa, took the seat beside her and offered to pour her some tea. When she didn't respond, her attention still riveted on the books behind her, he gently pressed two fingers into her cheek until her head turned to face him. Her cheek was burning under his touch and her eyes, gleaming amber in the firelight, looked equally excited and embarrassed. They were so close he could see the sprinkle of freckles on her nose and he was tempted to count each one.
"Tea?" he asked, his voice hoarser than he'd have liked. Her presence was doing things to him he had long thought he'd outgrown. But the crush he'd had on her at Hogwarts was, apparently, far from extinguished. And now she was close, so close.
"Please," she breathed.
For a moment, he thought she was begging him to kiss her, but then he remembered he had asked her a question. He swallowed, dropped his hand from her cheek and began to busy himself with tea, trying to hide the blush he knew was blooming on his cheeks.
"Milk and sugar?"
"Just a dash of milk, please."
By the time he handed her the cup, he had regained control and felt quite calm again.
"So, the Smith case," Theo said, in an attempt to break the awkward silence.
"We haven't gotten very far," Hermione said thoughtfully. "His mother didn't know anything, Malfoy was a dead end and Susan…" She trailed off, the cup of tea pausing against her lips. She took a sip and replaced the cup on the table but the thoughtful look remained.
"What about Susan? You never told me how your chat with her went."
"That's the thing," Hermione said, tapping a finger against her lip. "There was something strange about our conversation but I can't really remember…"
Theodore decided to pointedly concentrate on the tea in his hand rather than the lips she was so innocently drawing attention to. He was about to murmur some encouraging nonsense when Hermione sprang up, nearly making him upset his cup.
"I've got it! It was the way she talked about him. As if she knows he's never coming back. As if…"
"As if she thought he was dead?" Theodore asked, his eyes narrowing at Hermione.
Hermione shook her head. "Not precisely. I mean, I know he's been gone for a long time, but if he were dead, I think she'd have been more upset. More like she's lost their friendship and she knows it can never be recovered."
"You should talk to her again."
Hermione nodded. "That's what I thought. I'll take her out to lunch tomorrow."
Theodore grinned. "And I'll see about cozying up to Terry Boot. We were friendly at Hogwarts, maybe I can run into him in Diagon Alley and have a chat. He might know something."
"He seemed very helpful when I went to see Harry the other day and nobody was in." Hermione laughed. "Though the information he did let me copy wasn't at all helpful."
Theodore hummed in agreement. "I wonder if he knows."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, he was Smith's partner. Wouldn't he know about any reports Smith submitted?"
Hermione thought about that, then shrugged. "We'd have to ask Harry, but I don't think Auror partners always know what reports the other submits. They sometimes shuffle the teams up and some tasks an Auror can deal with alone. They wouldn't know about any missions they weren't involved in themselves."
"I'll see what I can get out of him, you never know."
Hermione nodded. "Be careful though, if anyone overhears you asking about Smith… Don't forget Harry is certain there's a leak in his department."
Theodore smirked. "How sweet of you to worry about me," he said with a wink. Hermione blushed furiously and turned to her tea again, unable to meet his gaze.
