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Draco hadn't given much thought to when he would see Theodore Nott again.

Since his childhood mate had fucked off to Scotland with Greengrass, he hadn't seen or communicated with the younger Nott. Nott Sr never liked to talk about Theo, and it wasn't as if Draco was on speaking terms with the other members of their Hogwarts friend group these days. Honest, where was Pansy anyway…

Regardless, even if he had given it much thought, he would never, ever, have assumed that the next time he would see his once best friend Theodore Nott was at the kitchen table of the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.

"Ouch, Blaise, fuck," Theo cussed, flinching away from Blaise's steady wand hand, trying to stich up a gash across the former's forehead. Blood was streaming down his face, at a slowing pace.

Drip…drip…drip.

"Can it, Theo," Blaise snapped back, his wand arm shaking for a moment before steadying again. "I'm trying to prevent major blood loss."

"While you know what would have prevented major blood loss? If I hadn't been attacked out of nowhere…"

"It wasn't out of nowhere, you cad," Blaise muttered, finally closing the last pieces of skin over Theo's headwound. "It was because…"

"No, I got it, Blaise," Theo interjected. "I was attacked because you lot failed to fucking warn me that apparently there's now a sub-war of our bigger war involving my family, my dead aunt and uncle, the fucking Le Fays, and Hermione Granger of all people? Merlin, a heads-up would've been nice…"

"Look, Theo," Draco spoke up, leaning his forearms onto the table. "We didn't know that you were a target."

"And I didn't bloody well know you were reformed, Drake," Theo snarled, shifting his hazel eyes to Draco's grey ones. "Last I heard you were as deep as they come. Also, way to fucking write for the last three years. Did you not consider that maybe one of your best, and for that matter, only mates would want to know how you were doing?"

Draco couldn't help the small ghost of a smile that played on his lips. "I missed you too, Theo."

"I would beat the absolute living shit out of you right now if I could do it without getting cursed to pieces by your now lifetime soulmate, the aforementioned Hermione Granger. Merlin, what have you guys been up to?"

Blaise snickered. "It's been an eventful couple of months."

"Putting it mildly," Draco muttered.

"And you, Blaise," Theo snarled again, turning his anger back to his healer. "I saw you, what? Six months ago? And then suddenly you're on the missing person list, and then you're an Order Member. You couldn't send a fucking owl?"

"Theo, we just saved your miserable life. Are you seriously pissed that we didn't keep you up to date with our secret life-or-death missions?"

"Absolutely I am," Theo stated, his eyes fixed on Blaise unblinkingly. "Imagine, you bastard, how it felt to lose one of your best friends to the unknown void that the Order uses to suck people in, and the next time you hear from him, it's because your home is being raided by Death Eaters and he comes crashing through the door to save you because he's the fucking Secret Keeper."

Blaise grinned at Draco. "At least it wasn't blood wards again."

Theo slammed his fist on the table. "FUCK! Can you two twats just talk to me for a minute?"

Draco sighed, and pushed his hand through his hair. Dust from the mission floated to the ground. "What do you want to know?"

"I want to know," Theo snarled, eyes flicking between both Draco and Blaise. "Why… on this fucking green earth, were me and Daph attacked while we ate dinner. I want to know why the entire Order of the Phoenix crashed through my front door alongside the attacking Death Eaters. Why me and Daph were suddenly yanked through time and space. Why Daph's upstairs gabbing with Ginny Weasley, of all people, and you two assholes are sitting at this table grinning, shooting the shit, as if I wasn't just attacked in a massive battle in the middle of a war that I am neutral in."

"No one's neutral," Blaise muttered, finally taking a seat at the table. "I was too, until the Death Eaters tried cut off my head over some dark objects. I joined the side that saved my arse."

"And you, Drake?" Theo barked. "How on earth did you end up on this side of the war?"

Draco rolled his eyes. "You already know that answer, Theo."

"Oh right, you're a Le Fay's Other now. Honest, of all the stupid fucking shit I've seen and heard today that has to take the cake. Because in what fucking world would Hermione Granger, who is now a pureblooded princess, thanks for the update by the way, choose you as her Other…"

"I had the exact same thought, Theo. Welcome to the club."

Draco's head whipped around towards the doorway, where Hermione stood, leaning against the frame. Physically, she looked exhausted. Pale skin, a few bruises starting to peak out from under her mission clothes. But her eyes…

They looked almost mischievous.

Theo looked at her for a moment, his expression turning from furious anger to calculating, guarded.

"Hermione," he said.

She nodded in response. "Theo."

There was silence for a moment, as the complexity of the situation filled the air. Draco felt choked by it.

"How's Daph?" Theo asked suddenly, his concern cracking through his hastily applied veneer.

"She's alright," Hermione answered, walking into the room and taking a seat next to Draco. He felt immediately comforted by her presence. "Minor injuries, worst was a broken wrist. Ginny and Pomfrey healed her up and she went to have a nap. It didn't seem like she had the energy to deal with anything else today."

"That's my girl," Theo nodded, appreciatively. "Why didn't I just go to sleep instead of dealing with this bullshit?"

Hermione closed her eyes, but Draco swore his saw a smile at the corner of her lips. "Theo, I ask myself that every single day."

Theo actually laughed at that, before forcing his walls back up, eyes still on Hermione.

"So," he started. "Cousins."

She nodded. "Cousins."

"This whole time," Theo said, shaking his head slightly. "You were always right there, you know? And this whole time, you were… you were a Nott."

"I've preferred to think of myself as a Le Fay, personally."

Theo smiled emotionlessly. "No wonder my father hates you. Refusing to submit to the patriarchal order."

Hermione cocked an eyebrow. "Nott Sr hates me?"

Blaise chuckled. "You even have to ask? Were you even at the Malfoy Summer House mission?"

She shot him a quick glare. "I figured that was just because I wouldn't join his side."

"Sounds about right," Theo commented. "He always hated Celia, your mum, and he hates women generally. But a woman, of his bloodline, who has more power than him and won't submit? I'm surprised he didn't just break ranks and kill you."

"Seems I'm a bit untouchable right now," Hermione muttered, as Blaise turned to Draco and waggled his eyebrows. Even if she didn't notice, the other Slytherin did.

"That's disgusting," Theo said, glancing between Hermione and Draco.

"No one asked your opinion, Theo," Draco muttered, inching himself closer to Hermione. Under the table, she put her hand on his knee and squeezed.

"And I didn't ask to be attacked because of it, Draco," he retorted. His eyes narrowed at the two of them for a moment. "You can't tell me that I was attacked out of nowhere because my cousin isn't the only remaining Le Fay? Sounds like a message if I've ever heard one."

Draco nodded. He couldn't disagree.

Theo looked between him and Hermione for another moment before speaking. "So, how did this happen then? Apologies, Miss Le Fay, but genuinely… how the fuck?"

Blaise howled at that. "Mate, the question of the century."

Hermione didn't back down. She looked Theo head on. "You understand the Le Fay Other bond more than anywhere here. I'd bet you could give a better answer than anything I could say."

Theo's face remained stony. "Sacred twenty-eight, your age, powerful, in your vicinity when you took the mark. From legend's side, it makes absolute sense. From the perspective of anyone who saw you two interact over the past decade, it makes zero sense."

"Not recently," Blaise interjected, smirking slightly. "Watching them argue is the strangest combination of arousing and disconcerting I've ever expereinced."

"I hate you," Draco muttered, as Hermione blushed furious red. Her hold on his knee tightened, sending whispers of magic from the contact point.

"Besides," Hermione said, ignoring the flush across her skin. Her green eyes met his quickly, before nervously returning to Theo's. "That was the plan. Draco wasn't sent on a mission to infiltrate us and bring me back. He was sent to be close to me when the mark chose an Other."

Blaise and Draco exchanged startled looks. "Who told you that, 'Mione?" The former asked, eyebrow cocked.

Hermione looked down at her lap. "Voldemort."

Draco closed his eyes. "That son of a bi…"

"But that only explains so much," Theo interjected. "Blood status, power, proximity, those are the legend's criteria. But you're also an agent in this, Hermione. At the end of the day, it was your choice."

The air in the room stilled for a moment.

"How do you know that?" Hermione asked, voice unreadable.

Theo shrugged. "Because my father was always going off about the fact that Celia chose my uncle. My father was convinced that Celia's choice sent Tiberius to his death."

His eyes flickered between her and Draco for a moment. "And he wasn't wrong."

Hermione frowned. "Tiberius was an agent, too. He could have left."

Theo smiled sadly. "You say that like it's easy to leave the person you love most in the cosmos."

Silence again.

"Man," Blaise muttered. "How has Theo been here ten minutes and has a better grasp on this whole situation than I do? I spent months forcing you two knuckleheads to admit that, and Theo just saunters in…"

"Saunters is an interesting euphemism for attacked, Blaise," Theo interrupted. He looked over at Draco. "But call it family intuition."

"Family," Hermione breathed. "It still feels so odd to think about…"

Theo shook his head. "Sorry, Hermione, I mean… yes. We are family. Blood relations. But I meant Draco."

The two men stared at each other for a moment, daring the other to blink.

"I missed you, you utter piece of shit," Theo said, unflinchingly.

Draco smiled. "You too, bastard."

Hermione looked at Blaise. "Are they always like this?"

Blaise chuckled. "Honest, 'Mione. If you hadn't chosen Draco as your lifetime soulmate, I think Theo would've called dibs."

As Theo started spluttering, Draco leaned towards Hermione and rested his forehead on her shoulder. Her hand reached out and held his, her skin on his soothing his aching body like a balm.

"I see you two have decided to stop fighting the cosmos," Blaise interjected. Draco rolled his eyes, as Hermione smiled.

"It seemed pointless to resist, somehow," she said. "It became detrimental to my very being."

"Now we just have to figure out how to punch Draco in the face without giving you a nosebleed, 'Mione."

"Hey!" Draco barked, sitting up straight. "What did I do?"

Blaise gave him a look that could only be described as disbelieving. "Mate, what didn't you do?"

Draco opened his mouth to argue once again, but suddenly saw Theo's demeanor shift in his peripheral. He had gone ashen and was gaping openly.

"Theo?" Draco prompted, as Hermione glanced over at him with worry.

"Did you say…" Theo started, before hesitating. "Did you say that when one of you is injured, the other is too?"

Draco nodded, as Hermione leaned forward in her seat. "Isn't that a side-effect of this whole Other thing?" he asked.

Hermione kept staring at her cousin.

"You know something, Theo," she breathed. "What do you know?"

Theo looked between them once again. "How much do you know about the Le Fays and the Other bond?"

Draco shrugged. "Everything we've already said, basically."

Theo groaned. "You utter knobs."

Blaise raised an eyebrow. "I mean… we are a bit lacking in information here. It's not like all of us have a degree in ancient wizarding legends. So please, enlighten us."

"It means the line is in danger," Theo muttered, suddenly interested in a crack in the table.

"Blimey, mate, we could have told you that."

"No," Theo insisted, shaking his head. "It's more complicated than that. It means… it means the line is in imminent danger. It's supposed to be a warning sign to the Protector," his eyes flashed to Hermione. "That the Le Fays are threatened, and the line needs to be protected."

"Protect the line?" Draco asked, confused, as Hermione went white. "Like, protect Hermione? Already on that, mate."

Hermione was suddenly shaking her head very slowly. "Theo, tell me you're fucking joking."

"Merlin, I wish," Theo muttered. "Do you think the first time I see my best mates together in years that this is the news I want to deliver?"

"Care to fill us in, mister oracle?" Blaise asked, annoyance flashing across his face. "Is this some sort of Nott telepathy thing?"

Hermione took her hand back from Draco's, leaving his skin cold for a moment.

"The line means the familial line, not just me," Hermione muttered, eyes downcast. "It also means the next generation."

Draco's blood went cold. "You mean…"

Theo nodded. "It's called the Sire's Curse. It isn't supposed to activate until a decade or so after the Protector is called. If it's already been activated, it means that…"

"What has been activated?" Blaise suddenly barked. "What are you lot bloody going on about?"

"Blaise," Hermione whispered. "It means we're supposed to protect the line by continuing it. So that if I fall… there's someone else."

The realization hit Blaise like a slap. He slumped back into the chair. "Oh."

Theo grimaced. "I… my father hated the Le Fays, and the whole Othering thing. I heard him rant about it enough to catch on to a few things."

"So that's how we break this damn connection?" Draco hissed, leaning towards Theo. "We have to have a kid?"

Theo nodded. "The bloodline must survive."

Hermione's eyes snapped up. "I've heard that before."

Theo nodded, eyes only for her. "I'm sure you have."

She took a deep breath, understanding overcoming her features. "You know, don't you?"

He sighed, then nodded. "I do."

"This is Nott telepathy," Blaise muttered.

"Draco, Blaise," Hermione spoke up suddenly, eyes not leaving Theo. "Could you give us a moment?"

"Excuse me?" Draco spluttered.

She didn't even look at him. "Theo and I have something we need to discuss."

"After that?" Draco cried, turning towards her. "We just found out that we have to have a child so that our pain can't be used against the other. And you want me to leave?"

She ignored him. She and Theo were locked in a conversation delivered solely by their eyes.

"Nott telepathy," Blaise muttered again, but he stood. "Draco, come on."

"No," he said, eyes glued to the woman next to him. "Hermione."

She shook her head, and finally turned to look at him briefly. "I love you, Draco Malfoy…"

"Finally," Blaise muttered.

"But what Theo needs to share," she sighed. "It's for my ears only."

"Hermione," he said, her name bordering on a beg. "Please."

"Please trust me," she whispered.

"I do."

"Then go upstairs with Blaise," she said, turning back to Theo.

Her eyes finally convinced him of what her words could not.

"Tell me…" he said, voice shaking without permission. "Tell me if you need me."

She nodded, and finally turned back to Theo.

Draco stood up, and half through his own legs and half through Blaise shoving him, finally left the kitchen.

As he crossed the threshold, he heard Hermione say one final sentence:

"So, Theodore. Tell me about the sapphire."

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