Hellooooo! So: exams done, prom done, school done, summer's begun and weekly uploads are back with a bang baby! xD That's pretty much everything for this week, haha! Thank you for lovely reviews as always and here's the long awaited action. Enjoy!

At Hagrid's house, with a mug of tea in her hands and a plate of untouched stew in front of her (that Hagrid claimed contained beef but that seemed unlikely after Hermione unearthed a feather in it), Hermione felt better than she had done for days. Even while Hagrid informed her once more of the precarious state of the Ministry, or when he delivered the news that Tonks' father had been forced to go on the run because Death Eaters were rounding up Muggleborns in his area, she couldn't help but feel a little bit more optimistic about her private life.

Sixteen days; sixteen letters; vastly more than sixteen arguments, ranging from big to small to colossal. But today, for the first time in a while, there hadn't been any fights with her and Theo. None. No harsh words had been exchanged, which left Hermione to believe that the arguments had simply formed part of a bad phase with Theo, a phase they would get through together, which was exactly what she wanted to do.

And over the past few days, Ginny had stopped giving her cold glares and dark scowls; she'd actually smiled at Hermione twice now when she'd caught her eye. It was next to nothing, and Hermione thought it was probably because Ginny must have seen her and Theo arguing and thought they were going to break up, but still, it was nice for her once-close friend to not treat her like she was some kind of pariah- although admittedly, she was a bit of one at the moment.

Apart from the news about Ted Tonks, Hagrid had little else he could tell her. From the sounds of it, not much was happening in terms of the war, although Hermione couldn't help but feel that perhaps it was merely the calm before a metaphorical storm. Hagrid was aware, however, of her and Theo. She had blushed beetroot red when he'd brought it up.

"Where did you hear about that?" she'd asked.

"'S a bit of a hot topic around school at the moment. Heard it in the hallway when I was goin' ter see Dumbledore the other day. Why didn' yeh tell me?"

"I didn't think it was that important," she'd mumbled. Discussing her boyfriend with Hagrid was not something she'd ever imagined happening. "But apparently it is to the rest of the school. And Ginny."

Hagrid had picked up on her slightly sour tone. "Why?"

"Because she's been ignoring me since I started seeing him. She doesn't think I should be going out with him."

Hagrid had nodded sagely. "Is it abou' Ron?"

Hermione had been surprised by how knowledgeable Hagrid actually was. She'd nodded.

"Ah, she'll come round, Hermione. Don' yeh worry. Jus' give her some time."

After considering his words she had decided that he was probably right. He had been about some things in the past at the very least. And so, that was how she came close to feeling content as she clutched at her mug of tea, sipping it and trying to draw from it all the warmth that she could.

About eight o'clock there was a light rapping on the door- it was Theo come to pick Hermione up as she'd requested that morning. Hagrid opened the door, greeted him with a gruff "Hello," and after he had quite politely informed Hagrid he had come to pick up Hermione, he then nodded approval at her with a wink when Theo's back was turned. It made her smile. She cheerily waved goodbye to him and then she and Theo set off across the grounds.

Frost made the grass crunch under their feet and she could hear a bitter wind whipping and howling through the forest to her left. The night was cold, but annoyingly Theo was colder. He took her hand but his hold felt a little reluctant, not his usual firm, comforting grip. In profile, he looked almost the same as he always did – full lips, strong jawline, dark greeny-brown, beautiful eyes- but he looked sad. His shoulders were hunched, his chin was tilted down and he hadn't looked at her once since he'd picked her up. She was starting to get worried.

The silence overcame her.

"Did you finish your Charms homework for tomorrow?" she asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Not yet," he replied. She waited for some kind of expansion but none was forthcoming.

Darkness enveloped them and what little light there was came from the almost full moon and the stars above in the clear sky.

"Are you alright?" she inquired. It seemed like she had asked him almost nothing else over the past two weeks.

"Yeah, fine."

There was another uncomfortable pause that stretched out while they walked up the stone steps to the front doors.

"No you aren't," Hermione said finally, staring at him with narrowed eyes.

He stopped in his tracks, barely one foot in the Entrance Hall, and she stopped too. He let go of her hand and at long last he turned to meet her scrutiny. He didn't even bother replying; he just sighed. Then, with a final sad look up at her, he left her stood there and began walking up the main staircase.

So cold. He was never usually like this- only recently. For the first few months she had known him, he'd been sweet and caring and kind. But then with the arrival of the letters it was like he had transformed into some kind of monster version of himself.

She needed to know. It was wired into her, in her very blood: her natural inquisitiveness. She needed to know why, at last, and damn his privacy, because being kept in the dark was driving her crazy.

Setting off after him, she tore up the staircase after Theo, the tip-tapping of her shoes on the stone the only sound echoing around the empty space. She caught up with him at the end of the corridor.

"Will you please just tell me?"

Hermione stopped and stood directly in his way, effectively blocking his path. When he tried to move her to one side she slammed her fists against his chest.

"You aren't going anywhere until you tell me why you're being so… so… not you! What's wrong with you?" she shrieked desperately.

Without any kind of warning, Theo opened a nearby door and guided Hermione with a slight hand on her waist into an empty classroom. There was barely any more illumination in this room than there had been outside- the moon shone in through the window and three candles stood in a cluster on a desk had ignited themselves when they had walked in. Neither of them bothered to create any more light.

Hermione turned around, ready to force an answer out of him, fury and desperation in her eyes, when he did the last thing she'd expected him to do and kissed her. He cupped her cheeks with his hands, lightly entrapping her lips with his before he pulled away, almost regretfully, and rested his forehead on hers. She didn't know what to say so they stayed silent for a while, stood like statues with their heads pressed together and his hands on her face.

He eventually stepped back.

"I'm sorry."

"What are you-" she began but he held up a hand to stop her.

"Just let me talk, alright?" He looked like he was about to be sick. "I'm sorry for being so awful lately. It's been these letters. They made me mad."

He didn't look mad to her, only unhappy and confused.

"Who were they from, Theo?" she said, phrasing the question she'd been pondering over for a while.

"My- my dad," he stammered.

Hermione's heart sunk. This conversation did not bode well. She stepped a little closer to him and took his hand, squeezing it gently. Not knowing what to say, she just waited for Theo to respond. It took him a while, like he was struggling to form words. He kept staring at his feet.

"When I got home after the ball he was livid that I'd snuck out on him. He was waiting for me in my room and he started yelling at me to tell him where I'd been, what I'd been doing, who I'd been with. He really doesn't like it when I don't do what he says. So I told him that it wasn't any of his business but he kept screaming at me louder and louder and he started shaking me so in the end I just shouted it all back. About the ball. About you."

Theo took a deep sighing breath, let go of her hand (which she now realised was shaking) and started pacing slowly around the room. What he'd just described sounded horrible and she felt awful. It was all because of her.

"He went crazy. I've never seen him like that, ever. He was screaming that I should be ashamed and that he'd disown me but I just told him he barely treated me like a son as it was. After that he refused to talk to me for the rest of the holidays. He locked himself in his study," Theo murmured.

Hermione couldn't imagine anything worse than being blanked out by your own parents, even if they were as bad as Theo's dad seemed to be. Suddenly, Theo stopped pacing and stared at Hermione with wide, crazy eyes.

"You know who my father is, don't you? Whose orders he follows?"

Hermione nodded. They'd met before briefly, when she'd stunned him at the Ministry in fifth year. It was no wonder he was so angry about her. She was getting more and more fearful by the second.

"Well when I got back to school he started writing to me. Telling me I had to break up with you and that you were beneath me… all that Pureblood crap. I tried to ignore it but it made me so angry that he thought he got a say in our relationship so I started taking it out on you… I can't apologise enough for that, Hermione," he added, sounding sincere though his voice was getting progressively shakier.

He looked deeply into her eyes and for the first time in a while she felt that fluttering sensation in her stomach, like the first time they'd spoken. But then he started pacing again and she went back to just feeling sick.

"Then I think he must have realised his abuse and orders weren't working so he got worse."

"But… but I thought you said you don't care what your father thinks?" she muttered, feeling hurt and betrayed and sad all at once because she thought she could see where the conversation was leading.

"I don't, Hermione. Not about what he thinks. But he told me about what you- I mean, what us meant for my family. It's no secret my father is a follower of the Dark Lord. I'm surprised they even let me back to school since I'm his son… but he told me that if You-Know-Who heard that the son of one of his most loyal servants was mixing with a Muggleborn, he might take it out on my father. For not raising me properly… or controlling me enough."

She didn't even realise she was shaking her head so fiercely until it started to pound and she got dizzy.

"That's... that's blackmail, Theo," she muttered in disbelief. Could that be possible? Could she pose a danger to his family? "I mean... it might not even be true-"

"I know it's blackmail, and I know my dad might be lying," Theo replied with a heavy sigh. "But I can't take that chance. I have to look out for everyone I love."

"So… so what does that mean then?"

But she was smart. She knew. She just wanted to hear it from him.

"Hermione," he said softly, stopping his pacing once more and staring at her despondently, "I don't believe it all like he does. I don't follow the Dark Lord. You know I don't. And my father isn't a nice person admittedly… but he is still my dad. Family has to come first. I couldn't forgive myself if something happened to him because of something I did."

There was a crushing silence until Hermione nodded solemnly.

"I see."

"I like you!" Theo gabbled frantically, grabbing her left hand in both of his. "A lot. I want to keep you safe and happy but I'm stuck right now. Maybe… maybe after this war-"

"Don't," she interrupted. "Just… don't."

"If it were you… you'd have done the same."

His voice cracked as he attempted to justify his actions. It was hurting him too, she could tell, but she didn't care. It was like all the air had been sucked out of the room and she could feel herself starting to suffocate.

"No," she choked, shaking her head and stepping away from him and tearing her hand away. "If it were me, I'd never have gotten your hopes up or been with you if I hadn't been in it for the long run."

Here she was being selfish again. She couldn't stand in the way of his family. Hadn't she done something terrible herself to protect her own parents? But pain and anguish blinded her usually infallible reason.

Calmly, and without saying anything else, she walked out of the room and left him, feeling a lump form in her dry throat. Even though things hadn't been great with them since Christmas, she'd still wanted it to work out, had hoped they could fix everything, and now that her hopes had been dashed she was absolutely crushed.

She heard him call after her, first her name and then: "Please stay safe, Hermione." Whatever that meant. But she didn't turn around.

There were a few older students wandering about, enjoying their last few minutes of being able to roam the castle freely until curfew. Somehow, she maintained a calm exterior and steady pace all the way to the fourth floor. If she could just make it to her dorm, then she'd have privacy…

She managed to fight back the tears until she was around the corner from her room. Then she noticed the gleam of silver on her wrist when it caught the light from the burning torches on the walls, and there on her arm was Theo's bracelet, taunting her. It was the reminder she didn't need, and came as a short sharp shock. When she felt the burning behind her eyeballs, she broke into a run and didn't stop until she got to the portrait; she sobbed out the password and flew inside, nearly falling as she stumbled, unable to see through the mist of her tears, through the portrait frame.

She saw him sat in his usual chair out of the corner of her eye. Why was he always around when she cried? She wanted to be alone, but in a few seconds she'd be able to… her room wasn't far away… only a few more steps and she'd be alone…

"Granger?"

His voice came to her but it was as though she was hearing it from a great distance. She didn't reply. She tried to flee but somehow he was quicker and had stepped in front of her, and so without realising it she'd bumped into him. She felt his hard chest in front of her and she could feel the strong grip of his hands on her shoulders.

"What's going on?"

She tried to tell him to let go, tell him it was nothing, or at least nothing to do with him, or that she wanted to go to her room, but all that came out of her mouth was a strange, strangled sob and without thinking about what she was doing she fell against him and succumbed to his strong hold.

He hadn't realised what he was doing until he'd done it. Seeing Granger in floods of tears, so obviously upset, had made him feel like he'd just taken a blow to the chest with a sledgehammer.

He'd stood up without thinking, called her name, stood in her way when she tried to run away because he'd been determined she wasn't going anywhere until he knew what was wrong. He'd grabbed her by her shoulders and looked directly into those doe-like, brown eyes of hers, eyes that were swimming in unshed tears ready to join those dripping down her cheeks, and then he'd simply asked her what was going on. His overwhelming desire to know almost incapacitated him.

Something in her had cracked when he'd asked, some internal emotional wall, and as a natural response to her choked sobs and the way she'd fallen forwards, like she was giving herself up to him, he had pulled her into his arms and guided her to sit on the floor in front of the fire.

As he slowly came to his senses and realised what was happening, he felt half like he was making it up, as though it was one of his dreams about her, and half like it wasn't even happening to him, but to somebody else and he was watching. But she was definitely clinging to him, her head buried in his t-shirt (which was growing damper by the second) and crying more quietly than she had been about five minutes ago.

Draco knew something was happening to him as he let Granger sob into him. Seeing her so miserable shouldn't have affected him so much; he'd wanted to find who hurt her and rip out their throat then come back and look after her. In a way, he'd kind of managed the second thing. He'd instinctively comforted her, as though it was the most natural thing to do, when in reality it was possibly the most unlikely scenario. Part of him was enjoying the feeling of her warm, tiny body so close to his. Of course, another part of him was screaming in protest.

The bit of his brain that was happy was also ticking over the situation like clockwork, absently mulling over various pieces of information as Draco rested his chin on Granger's head without realising he was doing so.

Granger was letting him comfort her. Granger was clutching him so tightly he could feel her fingernails digging into his back, like she was afraid to let go. Granger had almost kissed him three weeks ago. Granger and he had kissed on Christmas Eve.

Did she maybe harbour the same niggling, persistent feeling for him as he did for her? A feeling that she was as reluctant to admit as he was, but that wouldn't go away? The very notion made him physically start but not so much as to disturb the weeping Granger. Impossible, he thought. What a ridiculous idea, she could never like him… but hadn't he thought that about her only a few months ago? And look where he was now.

Granger's sobs were getting quieter and more sniffly now. Her breathing was still ragged and jumpy but she was shuddering less. She shifted as though she was about to sit up so he let go of her, removing his arms from around her.

She sat up. Her eyes were red-rimmed, her face wet and puffy and tear-streaked. But she still had an odd intrinsic brightness about her.

Perhaps she had become aware that she was basically sat on his lap; she scooted back so there was a few feet of space between them. She drew her knees into her chest and rested her head on them.

"I'm so sorry," she sniffed.

Granger was looking at the fire, not at him. Probably she was overcome with embarrassment for her lack of composure- yes, she was, he thought. He could see a blush colouring her cheeks.

"It's alright," he said.

There was an awkward silence and Draco could practically see the tension radiating from her.

"Remember the last time I saw you crying in here?" he asked, trying to ease some of the discomfort.

"Yes," she nodded. "Why?"

"You looked after me. With my bloody nose. Right?"

Again, she nodded.

"So I looked after you. We're even," he said, but with a slight smile.

He was so glad for their recent truce. It made things much easier for him, especially now his odd crush had come to light. He wanted to make her feel less like she had done something wrong. But everything with them was about getting even and not owing the other anything. It was almost pathetically funny. Everything was about power, and which of them had it.

Granger managed a watery smile and a soft chuckle.

Once more, silence descended. The fire danced in the grate in front of them and cast flickering shadows over her sad face and in her eyes.

"Are you going to ask me why I'm crying again?" she asked, looking at him with what he assumed to be a mixture of curiosity and amusement.

"That was the plan," he nodded.

She didn't speak for a few moments but he didn't want to push her, and he could feel awkwardness seeping back into the room. They had transgressed some kind of boundary tonight. She had been totally vulnerable to him; he had allowed her to be. He had relished it; what she had felt, he didn't know.

It seemed like she was ridiculously far away from him, but it couldn't have been more than three feet. Draco almost wanted her to start crying again, so that maybe she would crawl back into his arms, but that was highly unlikely. She had only clung to him because she had been lost to her normal judgement in the world of her pain, and she hadn't realised who she had latched on to. The thought hurt him more than it should.

"Theo broke up with me."

Draco looked up from his feet, which he'd been staring at in the quiet, with wide eyes. Had she said what he thought she had?

"Pardon?"

"Please don't make me say it again," she muttered. He heard her voice catch.

A big part of him was overjoyed for many reasons: because she was free now to pursue any feelings for him if she had them, though she probably didn't; because it meant that whatever reason Theo had for dumping her would probably be long-term, since he didn't see him dumping her for any other reason; because it meant he wouldn't have to feel the crushing envy anymore when he saw them together. But she was so upset that it was clear she'd liked Theo a lot. Which meant he mustn't register at all in comparison. He had no hope… which was good. Because he shouldn't have been hoping for her anyway. He should have been happy. Maybe two months ago he would have been. But not now.

"Why would he do that? He likes you a lot. I thought you two were happy?" he asked.

Draco had thought she might cry again, but maybe she was too exhausted to weep anymore because she didn't.

"So did I. But you must have noticed we were arguing," she said with a glance in his direction.

He shrugged. Of course he had - he'd delighted in it - but there was no need to bring it up when she was feeling so miserable. It would seem like he was rubbing her nose in it.

"I had some awareness. But couples fight. I thought you'd get past it," Draco replied, hearing the bitter resentment in his own voice.

It seemed Granger hadn't noticed.

"Me too."

"So why the break up?"

"He's been getting letters for weeks. From his dad. Saying that I was bad for him and that he needed to break up with me. He said that he didn't want to, but then his dad said that Voldemort would kill him if he found out the son of one of his Death Eaters was dating a Mudblood. It might even have been a lie, I don't know. I don't even think Theo knows for sure. But the way he saw it, it was me or his dad. Guess who he chose?"

Her cynical tone did not suit her one bit. He was supposed to be the cynical one, and he'd always thought of her as more… well, more positive. More optimistic. In a way, more soft.

"You have to understand… with Purebloods, even for people who aren't fully convinced by it all, like Theo, family loyalty means everything. We don't have anyone but each other," he muttered. It was less to defend Theo, more to stop her sounding so sardonic.

"Right now, I don't care. I think I'm allowed not to care, right? After everything he said about not caring about his father? He went back on it. I'm entitled to some level of egocentricity."

Her point was fair, he admitted. She went back to gazing blankly at the fire, no longer looking sad. Just empty. Or maybe quietly angry.

"You can't say you're surprised though, Granger, surely?"

She looked at him inquisitively.

"In a way, this was bound to happen," Draco continued.

She looked momentarily confused. "In what way?"

"This whole thing was doomed from the start. He was a Pureblood, you're a Mud- a Muggleborn," he said. "It was never supposed to happen in the first place. The odds were always against you."

Granger seemed to take a second to absorb his words.

"Is that your way of saying 'I told you so?'" she half smiled.

"Well… I did give you fair warning," he replied carefully, trying to keep his tone even. "I told you time after time that he'd go running back to his father eventually. It wasn't intended to last."

"I didn't think so. I genuinely thought that we might make in in the long run. That we could have a long lasting relationship," she answered sadly.

Draco almost laughed derisively. No. Things for Pureblood families were too fucked up for them to ever get happily-ever-afters like the one she'd concocted in her head. Blaise and Theo and he were just three examples of the many. How could she not have known that? She was such an idealist, a true Gryffindor.

"What on Earth made you think that?" he asked.

"You did!" she snapped, staring at him and sounding angry all of a sudden. "You said, outside of Potions, that I must have been important to him for him to go against his father for me!"

Draco hadn't meant to provoke her. "Yes, and I meant it. But I didn't mean that he would defy him indefinitely. It was always bound to end like this. Even if it hadn't been because of his father it would have been because of… something else," he replied, arching his eyebrows to communicate that he was referring to their kiss and almost-kiss.

She must have comprehended because she looked away.

"But he was always going to hurt you, one way or another," he added sadly. "He made a promise to you that he didn't know if he could keep. I knew he couldn't. Maybe… I don't know. Maybe I got so mad at the two of you because I knew that."

Granger looked back up at him. He didn't know why he'd said what he'd been thinking – he hadn't meant to – but some instinct told him not to stop. Silly Granger, drawing truth out of him like she always did.

"Maybe I didn't realise it… but I was getting angry to warn you to… well. To stop you ending up like this."

Her gaze was so intense that he had to look away.

"But you were so damn stubborn! You didn't listen to anything I said or stay away when I told you to and now look! You've ended up-"

He didn't get any further because suddenly Hermione had got up on her knees, had lunged forward and kissed him. Their lips pressed together gently and then before he knew it she had parted hers and he had responded. She snaked her hands around his neck and he automatically placed his hands on her waist as the kiss became more passionate and feverish and intense. Like she was making up for lost time at New Year's.

Draco knew it was madness to kiss her and enjoy kissing her so much, and that same part of him was screaming as it always did for him to get away from her but it was becoming fainter and fainter by the second until it was suddenly mute. She was just so incredibly tempting.

He couldn't quite comprehend how much he wanted her right now and how strong his desire to keep kissing her was. He only moved away from her lips to breathe and even then he felt like he would rather forgo oxygen than tear himself away from her. It was like no matter how close to her he got it was never enough. He tried to absorb every second until she came to her senses and ran off, when she remembered who it was she had turned to for comfort in some random, impulsive, spur of the moment decision. But she didn't.

Instead, she buried her hands in his white hair and began kissing him even more ferociously, desperately. It was not at all what he expected from her, but he was by no means objecting. He drew her onto his lap and pulled her so close that there was no gap in between them- no tiny, minuscule particle of air.

But then she started talking in between their kisses, her voice breathy, but audible.

"No… we need to stop…"

However, her hands clutched him tighter and her legs wrapped around him. He reluctantly left her mouth and began planting small grazes down her neck, the neck he had once clutched in his hand and left bruises on. Oh, how he regretted that now. He felt her shudder and gasp in what he hoped was delight.

"Tell me to stop, Hermione," he purred.

Desperately he tried to mentally will her to stay silent as he pressed his lips again to hers and for a while she did. But then he felt her hands loosen and then unwrap themselves from his back. She pressed her palms to his chest and muttered the one word he didn't want to hear.

"Stop."

So he did. He didn't want to, Merlin, he didn't want to, but he did, removing his lips and pulling away; sitting back and looking blankly at her, not knowing what was going to happen now; staring at her swollen lips, the pinkish marks he had left on her neck, the flush of her cheeks.

"Stop," she said again, more firmly.

"I have stopped," he said.

She pushed herself off his lap and got up, looking utterly startled. He got up too.

"Nothing happened," she said harshly, not sounding like herself at all. "Alright? Nothing. Happened."

Draco took one look at her heaving chest and dark scowl before he nodded.

"Sure," he confirmed resentfully.

The slam of her bedroom door was her only reply.