That night Theo charmed Hermione's alarm clock not to go off as it normally would and, with a few firewhiskeys in her, he had hoped Hermione would sleep in so he would have an extra few hours to get in plan into motion.

At eight that Saturday morning he quietly rolled out of bed, showered and dressed before leaving the safety of their quarters and walking to the owlery where he attatched several envelopes to his own, Hermione's, and Draco's owls then headed back to his kitchen to make Hermione breakfast in bed.

How the smell of food didn't wake her he had no idea, the woman had barely drank the night before and he already knew she was a dab hand at drinking wizards under the table at this point, she had spent many a night under the influence of one Sirius Black and that alone was cause enough for anyone to know better than to challenge her to any drinking games.

Theo set about making Hermione's favourite breakfast foods, eggs benedict and pancakes. Chocolate pancakes. He whisked and fried, poached and toasted and added two large glasses of pumpkin juice and a pot of coffee alongside a sober up and pepper up potion before adding two of each meal to the tray and levitating it carefully into their bedroom.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." He chuckled as he walked in and saw her sprawled out in the middle of the bed, somehow lay on both sides and using all of the pillows for her crazy hair.

"No." She groaned as she buried her face under the pillows.

"I brought coffee." He said as a peace offering

"Like you would wake a sleeping witch without coffee." Hermione bit back.

"Not that hungover then." He laughed before settling the tray down on the end of the bed and pouring her a mug of the steamy black liquid that she often called her lifeline.

"I don't get hungover. Just...tired. What time is it anyway?" She asked as she removed the pillows to allow herself to breathe and accepted the mug.

"After nine."

"After nine? I slept in until after nine?" Hermione asked in shock, she never slept in this late. "Why didn't you wake me?"

"I did."

"Why didn't you wake me earlier." Hermione corrected as she debated throwing a pillow at his head and only stopped herself when she realised she would likely spill some of the precious life sustaining liquid.

"It's your birthday, I wasn't going to wake you up early on your birthday." Theo explained as he moved her plates in front of her.

Hermione groaned at the realisation of the date and took a large mouthful of the coffee before tucking in to the delicious meal set out by him.

"So where's my amazing present then?" She eventually asked.

"It's a surprise, you can have it later." Theo answered with a wink.

The pair enjoyed a lazy morning lay in bed eating before they banished the leftovers and trays to the kitchen and took up the remainder of the morning engaged in some rather steamy kisses and compromising positions before Theo dragged Hermione to the bathroom and forced her to get into a candle-lit bath full of oils and salts. Complete with a glass of red wine from the stash that was connected to Nott Manor and allowed her a book to read under the conditions that it was only fiction.

While Hermione was soaking for the next two hours Theo spent his time rearranging the kitchen and living area and using any and all extension spells in his arsenal to extend the living room to accommodate all of their friends for later on that night. When he was done, extra chairs transfigured and coffee table sprouting up from seemingly nowhere, he stepped back to admire his handiwork; happy with what he had been able to come up with before he cleaned up the dishes from earlier and waited for Hermione to reemerge.

oOoOoOo

When Hermione was fully rested and washed Theo instructed her to wear a pair of form fitting jeans that hugged her every curve to which she obliged but only if she got to chose her own top. He conceded and figured she would go ahead and pick out a jumper, exactly as he would have done since the October air was well on it's way in. He was surprised though when Hermione bypassed her own wardrobe for his and pulled out one of his shirts before pulling it over her head and dragging her hair to the side in a rushed braid that wasn't much tidier than her usual hair do'.

By the time Theo managed to get Hermione out of their quarters it was already 5pm and not long before the evening meal would be served in the great hall. He led them both outside and around the black lake, through the bushes and shrubberies of the school grounds and past a particularly haunting spot near the edge of the forest that she would rather hope to never see again. Right through the greenhouses and to the quidditch pitch.

"Why are we here Theo? No one is playing today." Hermione said as she stared around the empty grounds confused.

"No, I just wanted to go for a walk and the first place I thought of was here." He replied nervously.

"Why's that? I hate quidditch." Hermione said with a laugh.

"I know you do but this place has some really great memories for me and I wanted to bring you here." Theo smiled lightly as he lead them towards the nearest stands; Hufflepuff.

"And what are they? Slytherin winning? Harry losing the snitch? Ron taking a bludger to the face?" Hermione asked lightly as the images flashed through her mind.

"Hardly, though while they are quite amusing memories they hardly count as great."

"What then?"

"You."

"Me? I don't play quidditch." Hermione said as her brows crossed in confusion and her skin began to prickle with the cold.

"Do you remember second year? When Draco started the team?" Theo asked tentatively.

"How could I forget?" Hermione muttered with a roll of her eyes. "Lucius bought the whole team new brooms just to get him on the team."

"Do you remember what happened to my broom on that first match?"

Hermione's face reddened. If she was truly honest with herself she did remember but she hadn't thought he had. Theo had been 150ft up in the air when his brand new broom, curtsey of the Malfoy patriarch, went berserk. It was a Gryffindor vs Slytherin match and she had paled instantly, knowing something was seriously wrong. The thought that he might fall off and what could happen if he did was the only thing that ran through her mind as she chanted a protection spell and concentrated on him while the rest of the spectators, the teams and professors alike, all failed to see the danger that was Theo's broom. "I..." Hermione started, her voice going dry,

"You didn't think I knew? I saw you. I know it was you who saved me." He said as he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her bare arms.

"For all you knew I could have been the one who was cursing you." Hermione countered quietly as she stared at the empty field in front of them.

"I never believed that. Not even for a second. Not even when I was falling off and thought I was going too die and I saw you in the crowd chanting away. You wouldn't curse me Hermione, house loyalties aside. And I knew that even then. I've always known it."

"You're too trusting." Hermione said as he laced their fingers together.

"Am I?" He asked with a quirked brow "Tell me, how often did you repeat that protection spell over the years?"

Hermione turned slightly deeper shade of pink at the implication because, while she had cast the protective enchantments on Theo that day she knew full well she had done it for every game after that and apparently, so did he. "How did you know?" She asked finally.

"I should have really hurt myself one day but I never did. Thought I was lucky. Then it happened a few more times so I got suspiciuous and started looking around and sure enough, every game you were sat there chanting away." He smirked. "So I started to try and hurt myself on purpose. Never could though, obviously."

"Mmmhmm" Hermione said, unable to trust her voice much more than that.

"Thank you." Theo whispered.

"What for?" Hermione asked taken aback.

"Believing in me. Standing by me no matter what. You're the only person in my entire life, except maybe Draco, who has never doubted me. Never gave up. That means...it mean more than you know." Theo said as he brought her knuckles up to his mouth and kissed them lightly.

"I think I know." Hermione replied before the pair walked back to the castle.