So glad everyone is enjoying this! The world needs more Theomione stories, and I will continue writing them to bolster this fandom if I have to ;)

Also, thank you to those who are leaving reviews! Y'all are the real MPVs: sophiecambellbower, DaniGB, Nichole O, and LC003!


AN EMPTY CLASROOM; 1994


The girls coalesced in an empty classroom, taking a break from practicing their dancing. With the Yule Ball approaching with at an alarming pace, the weight to dance perfectly and gracefully was weighing hard on most girl's shoulders. Casual dancing was one thing, but actual choreographed dancing was something most girls had never had to experience. The boys may be joking about this whole affair, but the girls made up for this nonchalance and then some.

"My mom said she took classes for six years and still couldn't do the waltz right," Susan Bones bemoaned as they hurried to the meeting space after Care of Magical Creatures.

"Maybe you just have two left feet," Lavender teased, in a near-friendly way.

Still, the Yule Ball would be filled with complicated, old dance moves that Hermione didn't care at all to learn.

Yet she still showed up to the dance practice room, ever since Viktor had asked her so sweetly.

She wished she were more excited about it. She should have been over the moon. A considerate, intelligent, celebrity had asked her- Hermione Granger- to a ball, out of any other girl in the world. If anything, it gave her ego a must needed boost.

And trust her, she'd tried to encourage herself towards excitement. She tried to look at his features and imagine herself falling in love with him. She'd spent the nights going over his words to her in the library, picking through them to remind herself of all the good qualities he held. That she'd be smart to enjoy this while it lasted.

But whenever her mind wandered freely, it always came back to Theo.

The boy who she'd never noticed was now always in her sightline. She was hyper-aware of every moment he made; from shuffling his parchment, to dropping a splatter of ink from his quill, to flipping the pages of his book. Nott- no, Theo- was creeping into her thoughts far too often for her liking.

Most irritatingly, it's not as though he was doing anything. He was the same Theo that had existed before their meeting down by the Black Lake. Frustratingly unchanged. It was Hermione who had changed, who was now always looking for him, always thinking about him.

Theo had not tried to seek her out in any way again. She'd laid into him pretty good, she admitted. She couldn't help but feel...disappointed. For as much as she tried to get Harry to stop bad-mouthing Malfoy, the first time a Slytherin had offered her friendship, she'd rebuked it. She'd been so convinced she knew exactly what sort of a person he was that she might have missed out on something great.

She got the feeling he only gave his offer once, and she'd foolishly thrown it back at him.

Theo wasn't what she expected at all. He was as friendly as a Slytherin could be. It seemed that most of his fellow snakes talked easily to him, stopping by his desk to ask for help with a question or just to chat. He wasn't throwing himself into the spotlight like Pansy or Draco always were, but he wasn't hiding in the shadows. His influence was much more natural than Draco's was. It was clear that while Draco may publicly hold the Slytherins, Theo did in every other way. Most of the girls in his house fawned over him, the boys got along well with him. He had the whole Slytherin house at his fingers, and almost unbelievably, he was kind. Kind to them. Not like Draco and Pansy, once again, who sometimes secured their position with harsh words, Theo was offering quiet kind ones.

It happened more than once that Hermione wondered what sort of encouragement he would have lauded over her, had he given her a chance.

No, she thought, locking her jaw...she had Viktor for that now, didn't she?

But Theo, great Merlin, Theo...

He was an intriguing mix of athletic and intelligent. She hadn't even realized he was on the Quidditch team until she'd watched the first Gryffindor versus Slytherin match. Perhaps there was something to be said about an intelligence for a very strategic game; she spent most of her time watching him instead of Harry, trying to commit to memory the changes to his face as he surveyed the pitch, how his fingers tightened and untightened on the broom when he was considering a choice, and how whenever he was in a tough spot, he'd card his fingers through his brown hair. She knew that one day someone would catch her openly watching him, and she knew that should just stop, but every match and practice that she studied him, she found another tic of his, another something that drew her in even more. She wanted to understand him, know him, soak up every outward fact about him in the same way that he surveyed the Quidditch pitch with such cataloging memorization.

He was just as methodical in class.

Hermione knew Draco was the second in the class behind her, but she'd never given much thought to who was third. She'd bet all her galleons that it was Theo.

Theo, Theo, Theo. Hermione felt like she was losing her mind over this stupid, ill-timed crush. She'd come to terms that this is what it was; a puppy-dog infatuation. She knew it too, but couldn't shake it.

So, perhaps it was for the best he wasn't trying to catch her attention in class or send her notes. It would be more than her poor heart could handle, and she was already trying to nip this in the bud. Plus, if Harry and Ron knew that she thought about him with such intensity, they'd think her barmy. She didn't want to admit it outright, but sometimes she thought she was too. There was no reason at all that a Slytherin deserved to be taking up so much of her headspace.

Hermione curled her legs up onto the chair, adjusting her position. She wasn't partaking in the actual dance lessons- Viktor was teaching her- but she still liked to come. Like reading a book, seeing it play over and over in front of her would only help. Plus, it was a sure-fire place where there was no Theo. If she went to the library, she risked running into him studying (at the table near the section on potions, she had realized). If she went to the Great Hall, he might be partaking in a midday snack while perusing a new book. If she went outside, she might be haunted by the memory of his heaving, shirtless chest and his warm sea-green eyes…

Hermione bit her lip hard to knock herself from her fantasy.

As the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws meandered over to the water table (no Slytherins, none had dared come to any practices), Hermione stretched out her arms. Ginny encouraged her to move a couple of rows down, closer to the gathering group. The ginger's smile was warm and even Lavender only gave her a once-over as Hermione ambled over the chairs.

The topic for this break had begun as something innocuous; she was pretty sure that it started with makeup, which segued into the hottest gossip ("Did you hear that Lisa Moon got asked by Michael Corner?"). After that, it all went downhill.

Hermione wasn't interested much in their conversations. However, Ginny had momentarily left to grab a drink of water, and although Hermione was trying extremely hard to read, she couldn't help but be distracted by the next jump in topics.

"Oh, Lis should have a good time with him," Padma giggled coquettishly, "I hear that he has a…" She blushed, "Well, you all know."

Hermione glanced over her page just in time to see Padma make a motion with her hands that sent all the girls into laughter and blushed their cheeks a ruddy shade.

"How would you know, Pads?" Parvati teased her sister.

"I've just heard things!" Padma stuttered out.

"Well I've heard that the boys know who's got the largest wand if you catch my drift," Faye Dunbar said, "And, well, I might have gotten that information about it too."

It was unmistakable what they were talking about now.

As though Hermione was a crotchety old maid, at least three eyes turned to her, waiting for her to snip at them. Did they want to be berated? Is that what they were waiting for?

"It's not polite to talk about such things," Hermione fibbed quickly, just because she got the acute feeling that they wanted her to be her usual self, if only because it made gossip so much more interesting.

Honestly, though, Hermione was curious.

She had just about gotten to the age where boys (read; urg, Theo) had moved from one non-sexual, cooties and hand-holding box to a very adult one. Hermione had known about the reproductive process since she'd left for Hogwarts, but only recently has it started to sound appealing.

She was starting to have dreams that left her uncomfortable and sticky the next morning. She very rarely recalled who it was, or what exactly was happening in the dream, but when she did remember, it was always Theodore's face.

Damn him to hell, because he just had to go and make her life bloody difficult, didn't he?

She wished it could be anyone else who walked in her dreams. Even Harry would have been preferable to a snake she still wasn't sure she could trust but knew definitely she couldn't have.

So, despite her quickly spoken disapproval, Hermione listened. She wasn't even attempting to read the words on the page anymore.

"How do you know that they know? Think they just got them all out and compared one day?" Morag said, a hint of doubt.

Lavender snorted, "Yeah, I do, considering they've been doing that with actual wands since first year!"

The girls giggled into their hands, sharing wild looks.

"Corner is up there, true," Faye jumped back in smoothly, "But he's only the third-largest in our class. I suppose I don't know for the other grades," She tapped her chin, thinking, "But second largest is Ernie-,"

"Well have you seen the size of his feet?" Susan fanned herself, "I knew what they always said is true! And his hands." She shivered, and Hermione did not think it was because she was cold. A couple of other girls made hums of agreement, but most shushed her, looking up at Faye like she was a shepherd leading them to the pasture to graze.

"-But the absolute largest," Faye began with a wicked smile, "No lie, is that quiet Slytherin...Teddy Nott or Thomas Nott or something-,"

There were a couple of confused looks, as though the girls were trying to recall who that was. Hermione shouldn't have said anything, but it was as though her mind and lips were disconnected. They were talking about Theodore, her Theo. Well, not hers, great Godric, but sorta insomuch as that she doubted Theo had ever opened up to any other non-Slytherin the way he'd attempted with her.

"Theodore. You mean, Theo-Theodore," Hermione breathed out all at once before she could stop herself.

Faye snapped her fingers, "Yes, Theodore Nott."

The girls lost it, the classroom a cacophony of raucous purs and very loud whispers.

Hermione felt her stomach drop, then fly up again. It was the oddest feeling, like she was on a rollercoaster, though she hadn't moved an inch in her seat.

"Are you sure?" Lavender asked, squinting at Faye, "It would be just like a Slytherin to spread lies about his ego," She asked, which was exactly what Hermione should have been questioning. It was actually sound logic. Who knew Lavender was capable of that, and a logical query that Hermione hadn't even begun to think to top it off! Yes, Theodore was most certainly messing with her intelligence...maybe that's what he wanted? She doubted it. He might have some game, but he'd seemed so...so...genuine.

"I would think so," Faye began, "But I heard it right from Stephen Cornfoot, who saw it. Hung like a bloody hippogriff."

Hermione got up, her chair clattering.

"I need to...it's…" Hermione felt a little dizzy, a little faint. She grasped her book, shaking as she fled the room. As she stumbled into the cool air of the hallway, she heard Lavender give a 'humph'.

"Leave it to Prissy Granger to not be able to hear about a man, Merlin forbid. She probably thinks it's just garden gnomes down there or something!"

She didn't want to hear anymore, not of Theodore and not what Lavender had to think about her.

Hermione found an alcove not far from the room, and her legs like jelly had her sliding down to the floor, a flare of arousal and the absolute need for Theodore overwhelming her. It felt like she was on fire, it was burning everywhere.

Let her, Hermione decided with a hardened edge, let Lavender think she was leaving because she was too scandalized. It was far better for them to think that than the truth; Hermione craved Theo possibly more than she'd ever craved anything else before.