Author's Note: First of all, I want to thank all of you that continued to leave lovely feedback on this story even as the months ticked on by without an update. Some of the things you had to say just always brightened my day no matter what was happening in my life. And some of the theories about the story… You loves are so brilliant and fun. I should tell you, I had no plans of updating this story until my Wolves without Teeth series was entirely finished. However, I was listening to Pandora and "Worst in Me" by Julia Michaels came on. It doesn't fit this chapter but it totally got me in the mood to write this story again. I can't promise another update as I have two fest pieces and a half-finished chapter of Empire to complete, but I'm going to try! I'm going to still consider this my "hiatus" fic just in case I can't get to it again for a while. I'm just thankful you all stuck by me! And if you are new, welcome! I hope you enjoy what little there is so far of this topsy, turvy tale!

I'd like to also thank starrnobella for reading this over and pushing me to write it. Oh, and for always bringing it up so I never forgot it existed! I'd also like to thank GaeilgeRua for catching all my horrid comma errors and replacing boring words with much prettier ones! Much love, xxDustNight

Disclaimer: All non-original characters, plot points, and information belongs to J.K. Rowling. The story plot and dialogue belongs to me. I do not write for profit.

Current & Future Trigger Warnings: Infidelity, Character Death, PTSD, Depression, Sexual Tension, Sexual Content, Mildly Dubious Consent, Language

Partners in Time
Pairing: Hermione/Theo and Hermione/Draco
Rated: M
Part V: November 8, 2016
Song Recommendations: "Loose Ends" by Imogen Heap and "Stand by Me" by Denmark + Winter

Part V: November 8, 2016

Pacing in her office, Hermione worried her lip as she pondered what precisely this impromptu meeting with Blaise entailed. She'd received the letter early this morning requesting a meeting before lunch, but it hadn't said what it was about. Pausing as footsteps sounded in the corridor, Hermione had a hunch that it pertained to Theo and his sudden disappearance. She would have to figure out a story to relay to the missing wizard's best friend, and quick.

As she was in mid-panic, there was a knock on the open door. Squeaking with fear, she whirled around only to find Draco standing there instead of Blaise. Holding a hand over her rapidly beating heart, she hissed, "You can't just sneak up on a witch. You nearly gave me a heart attack."

"Merlin, Granger," Draco drawled, taking in her frazzled appearance. "What has you so jumpy?"

"It's Blaise," she explained, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth and sitting on the edge of her desk. "He's asked to meet with me, and I suspect it's about Theo."

"You mean how he's been missing for two weeks?" Draco blurted, crossing his arms and giving Hermione his very best 'you know I'm right' look.

"Shhhhh!" Hermione hissed again and rushed forward to smother Draco's mouth with her hands so he couldn't blab anymore. "Do you want someone to overhear?"

Draco glared down at Hermione as he deftly removed her hands from his mouth. "Really, Granger? You're worried about someone overhearing us yet you're in here popping in and out of time with the door wide-fucking-open?" He dropped her hands and then gestured at the door which she did quite often leave open.

Groaning, she ran both hands through her hair and tried to get herself under control. "Not helpful," she told Draco. Pausing, she narrowed her eyes as she took in Draco's presence. "What are you doing here, anyway? We didn't have any plans to time jump today."

Rolling his eyes, Draco said, "Not that you seem to bloody care, but I came to check and see if you were doing okay. We both had to revisit the final battle, and I know it had to have caused you some flashbacks like it did to me."

Relaxing slightly, Hermione thought back to their first time jump together. She hadn't expected to come out right in the midst of battle, but that's what happened. Just what they needed, another reminder of how fragile life was and the fact that many people were already missing to their lives due to the mistakes of others. Yeah. So very helpful.

Draco had returned with her after the jump, furious that they hadn't managed to discover where Theo had disappeared to and that he was probably going to need to see his therapist in order to sleep again. Hermione felt bad about that second one but even more so that Theo hadn't yet been located. Still, it was saying something that Draco had come to check on her.

She tucked a curl behind one ear and met his eyes. "I do care, Draco, and thank you for asking." She wasn't going to admit that she was hardly sleeping to begin with, let alone the dreams she'd had since. "I'm doing as well as expected in my situation. I'm sorry it was so horrible for you that first time."

"Where did you and Theo end up? You know, before he disappeared?" Draco asked, crossing his arms.

Unsure whether or not to tell the truth, Hermione figured it couldn't hurt. "It was a funeral in the future, but we had no idea whose or when." She exhaled slowly and closed her eyes, remembering as much as she could from that first time jump. "It was raining, and we were in the woods on the edge of the property. There was a large house in the distance, but I didn't focus on that. I spent most of the time begging Theo to come back since we knew the Time-Turner went both back and forward in time."

Scratching his chin, Draco contemplated her and then hummed thoughtfully. "You're no fun. I would have wanted to find out whose funeral it was."

"It was too risky," Hermione said disapprovingly. "We could have altered our timeline by knowing who had died." When Draco rolled his eyes, she added, "For all we know it could have been one of us being buried that day."

"Whatever you say, Granger," Draco muttered and then sighed. "Anyway, I just wanted to come check on you. I have a lot of work to do so I'll see you around."

"Wait," Hermione called out as he started to move away. "Shouldn't we plan what I'm telling Blaise?"

"We?" he questioned, giving her a skeptical look. "This is on you. I'm not getting involved any more than I already was." He gave her a little wave, but her strangled cry stopped him.

"What?!" Hermione practically shrieked but remembered to keep her voice down at the last second. "You're not going to time jump with me again so we can find Theo?"

Draco narrowed his eyes at her and took in her frantic appearance. "Answer me this, Granger. Answer this question truthfully and I'll stay and help you with this crazy ass mission you've managed to get yourself into," Draco told Hermione, sliding his hands into his trouser pockets. "Why should I help you, my ex-wife, find Theo, the man who stole you away from me?"

Before Hermione could answer, there was a knocking at the door that caused Hermione to jump and Draco to clench his fists. They both turned and found Blaise standing there, his dark eyes glaring at Hermione, who had gone rather pale from his arrival on top of figuring out how to answer Draco's question. She looked like a grindylow out of water, her mouth opening and closing multiple times before snapping shut.

"Granger," Blaise greeted as he stepped into the office. "I hope you haven't forgotten about our meeting."

"Hello, Zabini," Hermione returned, her voice much quieter than it normally would have been in a situation like this. Her eyes flickered over to Draco in apology at the interruption, but he merely huffed a sigh and rolled his eyes. She bit her lip and returned her attention to the new arrival.

"Draco?" Blaise questioned when he spotted the blond standing in the corner, his gaze having followed Hermione's. "What the hell are you doing here?" He glanced between Hermione and Draco before practically glaring at Draco and waiting for an answer.

Throwing his hands into the air in exasperation, Draco said, "You know what? I have no bloody clue," before storming from Hermione's office. He slammed the door behind him, causing Hermione to flinch and Blaise to raise his eyebrows at the situation.

"Great," muttered Hermione as she was left alone with one very angry Blaise Zabini. She didn't have time to go running after Draco and make up right now. She knew he was going to want an answer and she wasn't sure she had one. Plus, there was still the issue of convincing Blaise that Theo was safe...wherever he may be… Plastering a smile on her face, Hermione turned to Blaise and said, "So, what can I do for you, Blaise? Everything okay?"

"I'm not going to even bother asking you why your ex-husband was here because that's none of my business," Blaise began, sitting down and giving her his full attention. "However, what is my business is the whereabouts of Theodore Nott."

"I'm sorry?" Hermione asked, standing up a bit straighter and crossing her arms. "Are you demanding I tell you what exactly?"

"Stop playing fucking games, Granger," Blaise growled. "Where the hell is my best mate?"

Buying some time, Hermione quietly made her way to her desk chair and sat down. Shuffling some papers around, she wet her lips and then met Blaise's angry stare. "I'm not at liberty to tell you that," she said carefully, a plan slowly forming in her mind.

"And why the hell not?" he snapped. Jabbing her desk with his finger, he said, "I'm his best mate, and he tells me everything, Granger. Even all the bullshit he's gone through with you. Now, you're going to tell me-"

"He's on an Unspeakable mission in Egypt," she blurted, saying the first thing to come to her in her panicked state. "He couldn't tell you as it came up abruptly and I'm not sure when he'll be back. I'm sorry, but I risk my own job even telling you that much."

"Oh," Blaise said, retreating somewhat and relaxing in the chair. Running a hand over his shaved head, he sighed. When he started to frown and open his mouth, Hermione acted quickly.

"Yes," Hermione jumped in again, not wanting to give him time to think about it. "I do apologize for causing you concern, but everything is… It's fine. Theo is fine." She cleared her throat and smiled. "He'll be back soon, I'm sure of it."

"Well, okay then." Blaise took his time standing and brushing out the wrinkles on his robes which made Hermione nervous. Turning for the door, he said, "Have a good day."

"Same to you, Zabini," Hermione said as pleasantly as possible given the fact that her heart was beating out of her chest at this point.

"I swear if you're lying to me, Granger," he said, glancing back at her from the doorway. "I'll have your job. You can bet your frizzy head on that one." And then he was gone, leaving her door wide open as it usually was.

Hermione felt all the air leave her in a rush of relief. Well, as much relief as she was permitted for the moment. She had managed to get Blaise off her case for the time being, but she still had to fix this mess with Draco. What was she going to tell him? How could she convince him that finding Theo was worth his time? He was right in asking… Going to her ex-husband was probably the worst idea she'd had so far. Shaking her head and rising to her feet, Hermione determined that she would just have to figure that out on the way upstairs to his office.

Draco opened the door to his office to find Hermione standing there. Rolling his eyes, he gestured for her to enter and then moved to sit behind his desk. "Let me guess, Blaise wanted to know what happened to Theo?"

Pursing her lips, Hermione settled herself in the seat opposite Draco's desk. "Yeah," she said quietly. "And I had to lie. I told him he was away in Egypt and that it was an Unspeakable mission."

"How many more lies are we going to have to tell, Granger?" Draco asked, raking a hand through his hair. "We can't keep this to ourselves forever."

"I know, and we won't," she replied almost pleadingly. "Just come with me on another time jump. I'm certain we'll find him this time. I was doing some calculations and-"

"No," Draco said plainly, cutting her off mid-sentence. He didn't want to waste her time anymore than she'd already wasted his. "I don't want to time jump with you again. It was too hard last time, seeing the war all over again." He visibly shuttered, obviously more affected by their trip to the past than he let on previously.

"But there's no guarantee we'll end up there again, Draco," she said softly, reaching out to put her hand on his arm. He flinched but didn't pull away. "Please, I can't do this alone."

"You should go to Shacklebolt," Draco said by way of answer, glancing down and away from her heavy gaze. "We can't keep this from him forever. Eventually, he's going to figure out Theo isn't on some sort of secret mission for the department and start asking questions like Blaise has done."

"Don't you think I don't know that?" Hermione gushed, her hands carding through her curls and tugging. "I'm at my wit's end. I should never have let him talk me into using that damned Time-Turner, but I did. In a moment of weakness, I let him talk me into this, and now I need your help finding him. Please, don't give up on me."

"This is a waste of time," Draco growled in frustration and ignoring the look of hurt that flashed across her face. "Honestly, you should just move on at this point. Go tell Potter and Shacklebolt and let them handle the fallout of this mess."

"No, Draco," Hermione said, jumping up from her chair. "I can't just forget Theo and let someone else find him through all of time. That's not who I am, and you know it."

"Do I?" he snapped, slamming his fist down on the desk hard enough to rattle his quill holder. "Finding Theo is a waste of your time and mine. He's probably lost for good, or even dead for all we know. Just let it go, Granger. What kind of wizard puts the witch he claims to care about in danger?"

Something inside of Hermione shattered at that. Her heart, maybe. Or, her resolve. Whatever it was, she would later regret the words that were to come out of her mouth. "Theo is twice the wizard that you could ever be," she said in a deathly calm manner. Narrowing her eyes at her ex-husband, she added, "I'm not going to give up on him. He always put me first which is something you can't say."

As soon as the words left her mouth, they both knew it was over. As Hermione sucked in a sharp breath, Draco slowly made his way around his desk with purpose. Stopping in front of her, he leaned close to her face and sneered. "We're done here. Get out."

"Draco, I-"

"GET OUT!" he screamed so loudly she flinched and stumbled backwards. It was perfect for his next move which involved slamming his door in her stunned face. Alone, he turned around and raked both hands through his hair as she started to cry.

"Draco, please," she sobbed through the door. "We can't give up. You can't give up."

Still he didn't turn around and open the door. They were divorced, and this couldn't go on. If she wanted to find Theo, it had to be on her own. As her quiet sobs continued, Draco slowly felt his resolve breaking. Damn her and those tears. He always hated to see her cry and listening to it was even worse. "Damn it, Granger," he muttered under his breath.

"Theo would keep searching for you."

Fuck.

Slowly rounding on the closed door, Draco knew she was right. Righteous Theo would keep searching for his friends, especially ones he'd wronged in the past. Heaving a sigh, Draco made his way to the door and practically ripped it off the hinges in an attempt to open it. Staring down into the tear-stained face of his ex-wife, he found his purpose. If anything, he would help Hermione find Theo so she could be happy because watching her be miserable was worse than being alone.

"Fine," he said, closing his eyes and hating how easily he caved to her every wish even now. "I won't give up. At least, not yet."