A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, favorites and follows after last chapter! I know Hermione is going through it, but I hope to have her embrace her wilder side shortly - and hopefully she will start having a better time, too. You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions. Big shout out to lanamarymack for alpha/beta reading this chapter as well - she has been invaluable as a sounding board :)
Please let me know what you thought of chapter seven and be on the lookout for chapter eight in a few days!
After agreeing to go out with Theo, Hermione took a few minutes to compose herself in the bathroom. As she splashed some water on her face, she stared at the reflection in the mirror, looking for any external signs of change from the girl she was before. She found none, other than the new recognition of just how much she took after her Mum in terms of looks.
As satisfied as she could be that all traces of her tears had been washed away from her face, Hermione walked down the stairs and out of the front door to meet her old friend.
She found Theo leaning back against his stoop, wearing a leather jacket that looked just a bit too large for him, his legs in tight jeans. A white cigarette hung out of the corner of his mouth while he looked up at the stars in the newly purple night sky.
He turned to face her and gave her a crooked grin when he noticed her staring at his lips. "Want one?" he asked.
Hermione blushed and shook her head. "Oh, no thank you," she answered nervously. "I don't smoke." She suddenly felt like a lame goody-goody, but she wasn't sure why. She didn't smoke — who the fuck cared? She didn't care. But, she also knew that she didn't want him to think she was terribly uncool either.
Theo laughed, his voice deep and silky. "It's not a cigarette," he laughed, pulling the white stick out of his mouth, revealing a brightly pink, fruit punch colored sucker. "Just a sucker. Are you sure you don't want one?"
Hermione felt relief flood through her body. "Oh, I suppose...that would be lovely," she agreed, happily taking one of the offered suckers, pulling off the wrapper and popping it in her mouth. The sucker was fruity and tart, making her pucker in the very least it would give her something to do, so that she wouldn't feel the need to talk more than necessary to fill any silences.
"Ready to go?" he prompted, gesturing towards the street. "It's a couple blocks walk."
"Yeah, that's fine," she agreed, feeling like she was overflowing with energy. She needed to move around and walking to this party seemed like the best option. She fell into step beside Theo.
He was quiet for a while, happy to just have her walking with him. It was odd, Hermione thought, that someone who was once her best friend could now be so foreign to her. They had been through so many experiences together as children and she felt like he understood something fundamental about her, having lived through a similar upbringing. But, at the same time, she had been through so much without him, in Sirius's protective cocoon, and felt in some ways like he'd been left behind.
"Is everything okay?" he finally asked, keeping his eyes on the pavement in front of him, giving her the benefit of a little privacy. "That sounded pretty rough."
Hermione swallowed thickly, utterly embarrassed that he'd heard her blow up with Sirius and Harry. Knowing that they didn't really want her hurt enough...but knowing that someone else had heard it too only made it worse.
"I'm...okay," she answered, wondering if that was totally accurate. "It's just — it was hard to be ripped away from the only family that I had these last eleven years. I'm completely off balance knowing how much my parents did fight for me, even though they hadn't seen me in years, and that Sirius won't fight for me, even though he was practically my father."
"Black and Potter were hardly the only family you had," he dismissed. "Even if you don't want to accept it or you don't want to believe it, your parents really did want you. They did everything that they could to get you back."
Hermione held back a snort of derision. "Except breakaway from the one reason that I was taken from them in the first place," she countered, feeling salty. "They don't need to keep working with Riddle."
"Maybe not, but it's all that they've known," Theo argued. "And why shouldn't they work with him? He's helped them a lot, same way he helped my family."
She bit down on the sucker to stop herself from saying anything too rash. Maybe she was being too hard on her parents. But, why did they have to choose the lifestyle that they did? Why did they have to engage in illegal behaviors? Because it was easier? Because it made them more money?
None of it seemed like a good explanation to her.
"I don't want to get into philosophical discussions with you about why stealing things or selling drugs is a bad thing," she told Theo, looking at him out of the corner of her eye, gauging any reaction. He didn't seem offended. "Can you...can you not mention to my parents how upset I was about living with them? It's already been a weird transition and I don't need them to feel—"
Theo cut her off, turning to face her, walking backwards. "Hermione, don't worry. Your secret is safe with me," he promised, pressing a hand to his chest. "Besides, I think you've been doing an excellent job of broadcasting it yourself. I would bet they know already."
She could feel her stomach twisting in despair at the thought. It was true that she had been wearing her heart on her sleeve, not making it a secret that she was unhappy being home. Even though they had hurt her, Hermione didn't really want to hurt her parents back, not deep down, anyway.
But then, Theo wouldn't know any of this if he hadn't been eavesdropping. She frowned at him, the weight of his blue eyes felt heavy on her.
"You know, you really shouldn't be listening to me anyway," she scolded him, running her hands up and down her arms to stave off the cold. She wished she would have grabbed a coat on the way out. "It's not polite."
Theo laughed, smirking at her. "No one has ever accused me of being polite before," he teased. "It's not like I can really help myself."
"Because the walls are so thin?" Hermione asked, remembering the way her Mum had pounded on their shared wall to scream at Theo when she first came back.
He shook his head. "That's part of it," he conceded. "But mostly, I am endlessly fascinated by this...enchanting creature who has moved back in next door. I find myself wanting to know everything she does."
Hermione felt her breath catch in her throat, taken aback by the revelation. She didn't know what to make of his flirty attitude with her, but it left her feeling excited and nervous in equal parts. Only, she could never forget the way he'd hurt her feelings on her sixth birthday, disgusted at the idea of being married to her.
But who was saying anything about marriage now?
Luckily, they didn't need to finish that conversation, as they had finally arrived at a little run down house on a corner. Hermione could hear music pounding in the garden level apartment, and they made their way down the stairs to the door.
Theo pounded on the door, only to have it swing open and reveal Adrian Pucey. "I brought a friend, hope you don't mind," he said pointing his thumb at her.
Adrian looked her up and down, settling on where her lips were still wrapped around her sucker. "As long as your stray doesn't have fleas, she can come in," he said with disdain.
Hermione frowned and wished that she hadn't agreed to come along, but knew that she couldn't leave now. She couldn't stand it if Adrian Pucey thought that he'd gotten to her.
Theo reached for her hand and pulled her inside. "This is Marcus and Adrian's place," he explained, quietly.
She looked around at the flat. "It's nice," she lied. It wasn't nice. It was dank and cramped with two massive, dirty couches stuffed full of other teenagers, and empty cans piled up on the coffee table. Hermione recognized some people from school — Draco, Pansy and Daphne — but a few others were unknown to her.
"I won't even try to introduce you to everyone," he said, leading her to an open spot on the couch. "You'd never remember all of their names."
Hermione thought that wasn't true, but didn't argue, feeling out of place as it was.
Fortunately, she was sitting next to someone she knew. "Hermione!" Daphne said cheerfully, her cheeks flushed a pretty pink and her pupils a bit wide. "I'm so happy you're here."
She was unused to the popular girl acknowledging her, but it had happened now twice in one week. Hermione swallowed and greeted her. "It's good to see you, too, Daphne," she answered, taking an offered beer from Adrian.
"Everyone is ganging up on me," she said with a put-upon pout. "They all know that I can't hold my liquor."
"That's not very nice," Hermione said with a frown, wondering why Daphne's friends would do that to her.
"Don't worry about it," Adrian scolded. "She loves the attention."
She watched, amused as Adrian leaned down and pressed a sound kiss to Daphne's lips. They must be together, she thought, seeing how happy and affectionate they were with one another.
Hermione opened her beer and took a long drink, feeling terribly out of place among all the friends laughing. Opposite them, Pansy was pawing all over Draco and her cousin seemed to be enjoying being doted on. Next to them, Marcus and Terrance (she hoped that was Terrance Higgs) argued over football red cards from the game earlier in the day. A pretty red haired girl was laughing loudly between two other guys that Hermione didn't know, the three of them playing some card game.
Theo's arm settled around her shoulders almost as if it was an afterthought. Instead of feeling stifling or possessive like she thought it might, it was warm and comforting. Hermione turned to look up at him and found his face relaxed, trying not to laugh at Marcus's overly aggressive arguments.
The girl, Mandy, roped Hermione into another round of their drinking game and she found herself with a handful of cards. She caught on pretty quickly to the rules, but found that she had rotten luck. Before long, her first beer was gone and then she was midway through her second one.
Theo watched over her shoulder and periodically whispered tips in her ear, giving her little tips about Blaise's tells when he was bluffing. To her surprise, it was easy to relax around Theo's friends, even though she hadn't spent any meaningful time with them before. She completely forgot about her argument with Sirius and Harry and the awkwardness around her parents.
Eventually, though, she had to pee. Standing up from the couch, she got directions from Adrian — who was considerably more friendly to her once he saw that Daphne seemed to like her — and left Theo's casual embrace regretfully.
She stopped by the kitchen on the way back from the bathroom and was stopped by Pansy. She wore her dark hair in a stylish bob and was looking at Hermione with her head cocked to one side, like she was trying to figure out some difficult equation.
"Something I can help you with?" Hermione demanded, annoyed.
"Oh, I was just wondering what Theo sees in you," Pansy answered with a mean smirk. "I just don't see why he likes you so much. I mean, just look at you."
"You know, I was wondering the same thing about you and my cousin. How could Draco possibly want anything to do with the likes of you," Hermione answered sweetly. "But, I think I figured it out tonight."
"Oh?" Pansy asked, intrigued.
"Yeah — it's not that he wants you, he just can't get away from you," Hermione said, proudly. She was glad to see that her barb had struck. "You're like a barnacle. It's really not becoming of you."
She grabbed another beer out of the fridge, before returning to the living room. She sat next to Theo, feeling her heart race after her spat with Pansy. Why did Theo seem to like her so much? Yes, they had been friends at one point, but they hadn't remained friends. Their lives seemed so incompatible, only...maybe they weren't as incompatible as they seemed. Still, Pansy's comments had left her with more questions than answers.
They played another round of their game, with even Theo participating that time. Daphne ended up being crowned the ultimate loser and was cajoled into doing some sort of embarrassing dare, involving Adrian and body shots. Hermione, though, was the almost loser and was prompted to chug the rest of her beer.
She was able to stave off her laughter while she drank the remainder of her third beer as quickly as she could, some of it spilling on her baby pink peter pan blouse, while the rest of the room chanted her name.
It was fun. They liked her. They were cheering her on.
Hermione turned and gave Theo a very fond look, pleased that he had gotten her out of the house. She practically collapsed against his shoulder in an attempt to whisper into his ear. "Thanks for bringing me out," she slurred, the alcohol catching up on her quickly.
"No problem. I'm glad you enjoyed yourself," he answered. "But we should get going — don't want your carriage to turn back into a pumpkin."
"What?" Hermione asked, his words a bit blurry on the edges.
Theo laughed. "Nevermind, it was a bad attempt at a Cinderella joke," he tried to explain. "I just mean...drinking is fun now, but it could get out of hand. Then, maybe you wouldn't look back on this party as fondly."
She did understand that — too much of a good thing and all that. Nodding, she let him help her up from the couch and waved goodbye to all her new friends, most especially Daphne, who was pulling Adrian eagerly into the kitchen.
Stepping outside was sobering. The night air was beyond cool now that the sun had completely gone down. Hermione already felt her teeth chattering away, despite previously being flushed. Theo noticed immediately and pulled off his jacket.
"Here," he said, handing it to her. "Take it and don't argue. I'll live."
Doing as she was told, she slipped into the warm fabric, holding it shut over her middle. Immediately, she felt his residual warmth bleed into her bones. "Thanks," she said, shyly. If she felt that her mum's jacket was a bit overly large for her, she was practically swimming in Theo's, but she liked it, despite herself.
"Pansy wondered why you like me so much," she blurted out, just barely able to stop herself from asking the question.
To her disappointment, Theo wasn't overly keen to answer. "Since when did Pansy care about what I do or who I like?" he asked with a scowl, kicking a loose rock, sending it flying into the street.
"Since I showed up, I guess," Hermione said, grinning. "You can't let it get to you. It's not really you that she's interested in, it's just me that she hates."
"She's probably just worried, since Draco has taken notice of you again," he responded, looking at her cautiously.
"Oh, you noticed that, too?" she asked, laughing at Draco's expense. "We were cousins all along, even if he didn't want to acknowledge me."
A few beats of silence passed between them before her mouth was catching up with her again. "I am glad that you are taking an interest in me," she revealed, surprised to admit the words out loud. "You've helped a lot already...forcing me to adjust."
"That doesn't sound nearly as complimentary as you think it does," he said, with a smirk. "But I take your point."
They were rapidly approaching their street and Hermione found that she didn't want the evening to be over — not this early. She glanced down at her wrist watch and realized that it was already past one. She wondered if her parents would even be awake to catch her sneaking back in.
"The truth is, I can't help but notice you, Hermione," Theo revealed, giving her another half grin. "I mean, the first time I saw you again it — well, I was captivated. You look...nothing like I remember."
She snorted, glad to see that they were at her steps and they could end this conversation. Whatever Theo wanted to tell her, she didn't want to hear it. Not when she was pretty sure that he was just messing with her. That he was overly flirtatious to see what he could get away with, but if she actually called him on it, he wouldn't know what to do.
"I should hope not, Theo. We were six," she deadpanned, starting to walk up the steps. "Goodnight!" she called back over her shoulder.
He grabbed her wrist and turned her back around to face him. Standing on a lower step, they could almost see eye to eye, but he was infuriatingly still taller than her. His dark blue eyes dropped to her lips.
She felt her heart skip a beat and suddenly, she felt drunker than she ever had, her mind full of pleasant, effervescent bubbles. His tongue darted out to wet his lips. Was he going to kiss her, she wondered in agony?
"My jacket," he whispered, never taking his eyes off of her face.
Disappointed, she rolled her shoulders and let the leather fall down her arms. She gave it back to him, annoyed that she'd let herself dream. This just confirmed it: he was messing with her.
Only then, he was leaning down, his eyes slipping shut and —
Hermione turned at the last second and his lips grazed her cheek. "Goodnight," she repeated, sternly, wanting to put this nonsense to rest. There was no way that she was going to get mixed up with the likes of Theo Nott and his kissable lips and perfect hair. No way.
She retreated into her empty house.