Aw guys! If you thought I was going to make it that easy for Draco and Hermione, you have another thing coming! I have lots of twists and turns up my sleeve and I am excited to read your reactions about them! This is still definitely a slow burn story, nothing is as it seems, and the pair have a lot of past trauma and grudges to get over firstly.

On to the next chapter, no promises that I won't be evil again by leaving it on a cliff hanger and leave you with more questions than answers. This chapter will be a mixture of POV's from Hermione, Draco and Theo. Again, apologises for spelling or grammar mistakes.

Looking forward to seeing your reviews for this chapter haha!

Much love xo

Chapter twelve

If her lip wasn't bleeding from the sheer force of her biting down, Hermione would be impressed. Draco was staring at her with a vacant expression plastered across his face as he registered what she had asked of him.

"That's what you saw while under the spell?" He asked her slowly, as if he were struggling to comprehend the information, she had just thrown towards him.

"Yes."

"Anything more you can give me, or am I just supposed to pluck a constellation out of thin air and hope for the best?"

Hermione breathed through her nostrils harshly as a bubble of frustration came over her. Why had she even agreed to Daphne's suggestion? He was going to make this exceptionally hard for her, because, why wouldn't he? It was like he just loved to rile her up. He may be exceptionally bright about Astronomy, but she had wished now, more than anything, that she had just carried on with studying the book and hoping for the best.

"That's why I clearly asked to speak here. We are literally surrounded by stars stuck to the walls. Plus, I also brought this with me." She dropped the Astronomy book on the floor between them.

"Merlin, Granger, I never thought I'd see the day you threw a book so carelessly. Aren't they basically your children?"

She seriously contemplated hexing him right then and there.

"I knew this was a stupid idea asking for your help." She muttered harshly, chucking a glare towards the smirking boy on the step. He was still insufferable. Although she could clearly see that parts of him had changed; for example, she was sure this was the longest he had gone without calling her a "mudblood". That was a huge accomplishment for the pureblood. However, he was still a sarcastic and smug prat, and he was grating on Hermione's nerves already.

"Who was it that even suggesting coming and asking me?" He looked genuinely curious. He had moved slightly to grab the book from the space in between them, flicking through the pages lazily.

"Daphne."

"Hmm." He didn't look up from the pages of the book has he mumbled the reply.

Silence stretched on between them. Hermione watched with a level of irritation as he became more absorbed in the book, as if he had completely forgotten her existence. Hermione made sure that when she arrived back in the common room, that she was going to pull Daphne aside and ask her what the hell she was thinking when she suggested to talk to him.

Thus far, all he had done was piss her off.

"It would probably be easier if I looked at the book with you." Hermione finally spoke. Draco's eyes snapped up to hers sharply. If she weren't mistaken, she was sure he looked nervous.

Of course.

The comprehension of why he had reacted like that suddenly hit her like a train.

He didn't want someone of lower blood status to be sitting that close to him. How could she have been so stupid to forget. Draco Malfoy may have changed in considerable ways, but he was still a pureblood wizard, and she was still just a mere muggleborn. That was something that would never, ever change between them.

"Forget it. Just give me the book." She snapped, reaching her hand out towards him.

A flicker of confusion passed over his face.

"I thought you wanted me to help you?"

"I don't need your help anymore."

"Then what was the point in asking me in the first place?" He bit out, snapping the book closed with a level of frustration. She could tell he was getting annoyed with her, but she didn't care. She was too angry for allowing herself to believe that he may have considered her an equal.

"Just a lapse in judgment." She answered him flatly. A short bitter laugh burst from Draco. He moved from the floor, standing to his full height. There may have been distance between them, but Hermione felt instantly disadvantaged when she took in his height hovering over her.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about, Granger?" Hermione instantly recognised his tone of voice. There was the Draco Malfoy she knew beginning to flicker towards the surface.

What a huge mistake this had been.

"This was clearly a mistake. It was stupid of me to believe we could get past such a huge difference between us."

….

Draco was utterly bewildered at her words. What in fucking Salazar was she rambling on about? He shook his head as he tried to understand how the conversation had changed so drastically.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" He repeated with more aggression in his voice than he had intended to. Hermione only held her head up higher, her eyes boring into his with irritation.

"I seemed to have forgotten with the unity of the houses how you still consider me."

That floored him. What was she even talking about? Draco panicked for a second thinking she was implying it was about earlier when he practically checked her out, before shaking his head at the obscene thought. She hadn't even caught him looking at her.

He couldn't come right out and tell her that his soulmate was a coconut smelling Gryffindor. That was the only reason he did not want her anywhere near him. He was not even slightly ready to handle the situation if it in fact turned out to be her.

The thought made him want to vomit and smirk at the same time.

Wait… Is that what had upset her?

"Hold up," He put his hands up, shaking them a little in her face as he tried to reorganise his thoughts. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest. "Is this hissy fit all over me not answering you when asked to sit next to me?"

Hermione scoffed at him, taking another step forward. She wasn't going to punch him in the face again, was she? He was stunned to notice that she was practically shaking with anger.

"I am not having a hissy fit!"

"I would most definitely call this a hissy fit." He rebuffed.

"I clearly forgot that I could not sit next to such a pureblood wizard with my dirty blood." She spat at him, spinning on her heel away from him.

Draco decided quickly that he would have preferred her to punch him in the face. His jaw slackened in shock as he stared at the back of her head with wide eyes. She thought that he didn't want her near him due to blood status.

Fucking blood status?!

"For the Brightest Witch of Our Age you really are fucking dumb, Granger." Draco hissed at her before he could stop the words. Did she still really think so low of him? What was the point in trying so hard to prove everyone wrong if no one was willing to forgive? The thought left a bitter taste in his mouth.

She spun so quick to face him; Draco was sure she had given herself whip lash. He noticed tears filling her eyes, as she advanced on him. Hermione quickly backed him against the wall he was leaning against, her eyes never leaving him. Her body was mere inches away from pressing against his own. He might have been intimidated if he not been willing every single one of his senses to not react.

His hands twitched at his sides, as if they were dying to grab a hold of her waist, or to run through her hair and see for himself if her curls were as soft as the looked. His mouth instantly became dry, and he was trying desperately not to smell her.

"How dare you!" She hissed quietly; her eyes were murderous.

"How dare you, Granger! You really think I still give a fuck about blood status?!" He roared at her, unable to control his anger any longer.

Hermione took half a step back, her eyes widening as he ran a hand through his blonde hair. He scoffed as he shook his head at the bewildered witch an inch away from him. "The night I had to be forced to watch you scream for you life, and not be able to do anything about it,"

He was back in her face now. He could see every freckle splattered across her nose.

"I reacted in a way I never thought was possible! I should have looked down at you, with complete indifference as you begged for your life." He spat the words out, disgusted with himself for believing such bullshit in the first place.

Hermione didn't even flinch, her eyes never leaving his face.

"All I could think about was a way to stop her hurting you." He finished, pushing away from her, his voice barely above a whisper. He dropped his head to the floor, kicking the step as he tried to control his anger. When he finally met her eyes, his aggression crumbled, shame replacing it. "And you still think I give a fuck about blood status?"

The silence in the room was deafening. All that could be heard was his ragged breathing as bent down to pick up the discarded book he had thrown in rage. He dared to look at Hermione, her expression surprisingly blank, as he stretched his arm out to her with the book in his hand.

"I wish I could have helped you, Granger. I think it may be best to come find me again when you understand I no longer think of you as dirt." He didn't wait for Hermione to move. He closed the distance between them, reaching to grab her hand. Draco swallowed past the lump in his throat when he watched Hermione's eyes drop to his hand on her skin. His fingers tingled a little when he brushed over her skin. Ignoring he sensation he put down to adrenaline from the argument, he placed the book in her hand.

Their eyes remained locked together for a moment. Draco could practically see her mind racing. He took a breath he wasn't aware he was holding, ready to put distance between them again, before he smelt it.

Apples.

He sighed, with a mixture of relief and disappointment, as he turned and walked away from her. Whatever constellation she had seen, it wasn't connected to him. She was not his coconut, ink smelling Gryffindor.

….

Theo was pacing, and he never fucking paced.

He needed to speak to someone sharpish about what he had seen, and dreamt, under the spell. Draco was still with Hermione, and he was pretty certain that he would be in a horrendous mood upon his return. Things had definitely changed, but he was still confident that the feisty Gryffindor could still get under his skin. Hermione Granger had been grating on Draco Malfoy since they started at Hogwarts.

Theo had found it entertaining to witness.

Normally Theo would speak to Draco and Blaise, but he didn't feel comfortable even bringing up the topic, much less their envisioning their reactions.

He was still pacing when Harry found him. Theo obviously was far too distracted to see The Boy Who Lived watching him with a hint of humour.

"What are you doing, Nott?"

Theo literally about jumped five feet in the air. He spun around to face Harry, spluttering as he grasped his chest.

"What the fucking bloody hell do you think you are doing? I just about had a goddamn heart attack!" Theo fell against the wall outside the boy's dormitory, glaring at Harry.

"I just asked what you were doing?" Harry repeated, completely failing at controlling his humour.

"Panicking, clearly." Theo spat out, rolling his eyes at the stupid Gryffindors. Weren't they supposed to be clever?

"Yes, I can see that. What about?"

"That stupid spell." Theo clamped a hand over his mouth, his eyes widening in surprise that he had just confined in his old enemy.

Harry nodded his head in understanding. "Ginny is down the stairs. Do you want to talk to us about it?"

Theo was nodding his head before he could stop himself.

…..

"I'm not used to seeing you like this." Ginny observed Theo was he fidgeted on the couch, Daphne at his side, watching him with a concerned expression.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I'm not used to feeling like this." He laughed, his smile not meeting his eyes as he willed his brain to turn the fuck off.

"Just spit it out and tell us what you saw." Ginny's tone was not harsh, and Theo found himself appreciating the blunt Gryffindor more and more.

"I was standing in front of a really weird shaped house," Theo started, staring down at his hands, part of him hoping they would clarify what he had already suspected, but hoping he was wrong as well. "I thought it was actually going to collapse on top of me."

"What did you see around the house?" Harry asked, glancing at Ginny quickly. Theo noticed the glance between the couple, but for once, he didn't pay them any attention. He didn't care what they were thinking at that moment.

"It was in the middle of nowhere; just surrounded by loads of bloody hills." He grumbled, watching as Harry raised an eyebrow behind the rim of his glasses. "Then I noticed the place was littered in, rabbits? I don't know, they might not have been rabbits. They looked a bit too big to be rabbits."

"Ignore the rabbits, what else happened?" Daphne giggled softly, rubbing his shoulder to stop him from rambling. He looked at her, grateful, before he breathed through his nose.

"I felt like my senses were overpowered then. Everything started to flicker, almost like one of those muggle films. I kept seeing flashes of colour, mostly blue and bronze though. Everything started to get really confusing! The weird ass house looked like it was almost pulsing, and just before I opened my eyes- I seen it." He gulped loudly.

"Seen what?" Harry questioned. The two Gryffindors were practically on the edge of their seats. Even Daphne was paying the utmost attention to her fellow housemate.

"A magazine facing the wrong way around."

"What magazine?"

He knew the question was coming, but he still felt his mouth go dry. Theo licked his lips, taking more deep breaths than slightly necessary, before he finally answered the question.

"The Quibbler."

You could have heard a pin drop in that moment.

"Wait a minute," Daphne was the first to react, forcing Theo's attention away from the stunned couple sitting in front of them. "You mean the Quibbler Quibbler?"

"I wasn't aware there was another Quibbler!" Theo threw his hands up in the air, ignoring the curious glances from other students in the common room. "You don't see why I am panicking though, Daphn-"

He was cut off by Harry laughing. Theo glared at the boy sitting opposite him, but it did nothing to halt his laughter.

"Holly shit." Harry finally spoke, leaning back against the couch, looking at Theo in utter amazement.

"The rabbit was a Hare." Ginny whispered clicking her fingers like she finally figured the piece of a missing puzzle, turning to face Theo and gripping his hand. Her face was glowing as she grinned at him.

Theo opened his mouth to speak, when a heavy hand dropped on his shoulder.

"What have I missed?" Blaise asked the group.