A/N: I started a tumblr! I'm using it to add photo inspo and random details about the world of Unforgivable that don't make it into the fic. I have zero followers since I'm new so it kind of feels like I'm talking to myself, but it's also kind of freeing being so thoroughly anonymous. Like screaming into the void. If you want to find me on there and scream back, my handle is esyla-writes.

Monday, February 14, 2000 (afternoon)

Harry had only been a few minutes late to his standing lunch with Hermione, but she fussed at him as though he'd been kidnapped. Her worry compounded when she saw his bruised knuckles, which he explained away as an injury from a combat training exercise. Hermione didn't approve of violence and now that he'd calmed down and could think a bit more clearly he knew it would be a mistake to tell her what he'd done to Theo.

Add it to the list of secrets he was keeping from her, because he sure as hell wasn't going to be telling her about the Hermione Granger Protection Unit (HGPU), which was about to hold its inaugural meeting.

More than twenty aurors were assembled. It was a high priority case given that the would-be attackers were at the top of the most wanted list and had already committed one murder (that they knew of), but Hermione's esteem within wizarding Britain exacerbated the case's popularity. Every muggle-born auror on the force had volunteered to help. It was standing room only in the large briefing room they'd commandeered.

"All right, you lot, listen up!" Tonks barked, rapping her wand against the top of a podium. The room went instantly silent. As a Senior Auror and war veteran she commanded respect. Today especially, as she'd changed her hair color to a distinguised grey that projected a degree of gravitas that no one was willing to challenge. "As you all should be aware from your briefing packets, we have a high-profile witch, Hermione Granger, being targeted by Undesirables No. 1 and No. 2 - Fenrir Greyback and Antonin Dolohov. We have foiled two attacks so far and the goal of this unit is to prevent any future attacks from occurring. We need to go from defense to offense. Before we begin tactical planning, I will open the floor for clarifying questions."

Ambient noise of shuffling papers filled the room as everyone flipped through their briefing packets to access their notes. Several hands rose.

"Yes, Ferguson?" Tonks called on the first hand to go up.

"Was there evidence of attempted ward tampering at the Parkinson estate on the night of New Year's Eve?"

"No, we suspect that the strong auror presence acted as a deterrent for any bad actors. Greyback is a madman, but Dolohov is careful."

"What about scent tracking? Was a werewolf consulted to detect Greyback's presence?"

"Good idea, Fergie," Tonks lifted her eyebrows in undisguised surprise. Ferguson was an Auror Trainee in the same recruit class as Harry. He wasn't known for his quick thinking. "The trail may have gone cold by now, but werewolf noses are powerful. We might be able to at least get confirmation on whether he was there or not. I'm assigning you the task of contacting the Werewolf Commission to follow up on that lead. Ask for Kester, he'll find you a trustworthy werewolf to partner with. Next question! Wilkes," Tonks pointed to one of the Senior Aurors standing at the side of the room. She had an eyepatch covering what looked to be a fairly recent injury judging by the angry red gash that peeked past the edges of the covering.

"I don't understand where Greyback and Dolohov would have learned about bombs, nevermind how they would have acquired one. Couple of pureblood-supremacists shouldn't have ever even heard the term. Can we assume there's a third conspirator?"

"It's possible. We can't rule anything out at this stage. I don't know a single muggle-born who wouldn't lay down their life for Hermione, but it could be someone with a secret grudge, or a muggle motivated by money, and then there's always the imperius curse..."

"List of known enemies?" Someone shouted from the back.

"Page 17, read your briefing packets, people!" Tonks scolded.

"These anonymous tips, what set them apart from the hundreds of bogus ones we get every day?" Harry finally spoke up. This was a point that had been bothering him for weeks.

"You'll notice on pages 3 and 4 of your packets that there's copies of the two anonymous tips. They were typed, so no handwriting analysis is possible, but therefore indicates that they were authored by someone familiar with muggle technology. Likely a muggle-born or half-blood, but at minimum someone who wouldn't immediately be on the opposite end of the political spectrum from Hermione, so we can reasonably assume the potential for friendliness. Now, check out the handwritten illustration in the corner of them both. Fergie, notice anything?"

"Cor! That looks just like the doodles on the threats that Murph and I found under Weasley's bed!"

"10 points to whatever house you were in."

"Wait I'm confused... we thought Greyback or Dolohov wrote those threats. Is one of them also sending the anonymous tips?" Ferguson scratched his head.

"I retract those points," Tonks sighed. "We believe that the illustration was meant to tell us that the tipper has intimate knowledge of the investigation or special insight into our perps. It was likely put there purposefully to show us that they're not just some crackpot off the street who thought they saw a grim and panicked."

"But how did the tipper know about the illustration in the first place? Those threats are privileged information and no one outside the Auror Office is supposed to have seen them," Harry pressed, unsatisfied with Tonks' seemingly easy acceptance of the benign motives of this anonymous person.

"Leaks have happened before," Tonks shrugged, unbothered, "but my personal theory is that perhaps the tipper saw the threats as they were being created. A man on the inside if you will."

"Back to the third conspirator theory, maybe a reluctant third conspirator," Wilkes grunted. Tonks nodded in agreement.

"We still don't know that we can trust them!" Harry was on edge. If this was someone that associated with Greyback or Dolohov in any capacity they could easily get cold feet about being helpful. "They could be giving us a false sense of security only to lure us into a trap with the next tip-off. We can't be naive about this!"

"I agree," Tonks used her most soothing tone to placate Harry, whose infamous temper was already beginning to flare. Normally, Tonks would've snapped at him for insubordination, but she must have recognize how extraordinarily stressful this situation was for him. "We can't be overly reliant on these tips, especially because so far they've arrived at the last minute leaving us with very little time to react. Let's talk about our go-forward plan, shall we?"

Tonks fielded several ideas from the group and facilitated a debate of the merits and drawbacks of each. Harry vetoed several proposals that he knew Hermione would find too invasive (she'd never agree to a 24/7 protection detail or relocating to a safe house), but they managed to create consensus on a series of actions:

A ward analysis would be conducted on Hermione's home and the protective enchantments would be enhanced if found vulnerable (standard protocol for principals).

A modified Taboo charm would be placed on Hermione making her trackable only if she says a pre-determined safeword (Harry's idea, thanks Voldemort for the inspo).

Muggle-borns and half-bloods with connections to bomb making would be checked for the imperius curse or other free-will impacting potions (Wilkes would spearhead this arduous task).

Hermione would be restricted from using non-magical transportation unless accompanied by an auror (they'd have a fight on their hands getting her to agree to this, but Harry begrudingly admitted that it made sense).

And of course, Fergie would be validating his werewolf idea. If they could just catch Grayback and Dolohov, this would all be moot.

"Who's going to tell Hermione about this?" Harry pointed out, realizing that action items 1, 2, and 4 would require her knowledge and consent. His plan to keep the HGPU a secret from her was untenable, but that didn't mean he'd volunteer to be the bearer of bad news.

"I'll do it, since you're apparently too scared to, Potter," Tonks smirked at him mockingly, but Harry was unashamed. Hermione had a way of dismantling your arguments brick by brick if she disagreed with you, leaving you cold and shivering and questioning the nature of your reality when she was done with you. He wasn't confident he wouldn't leave a conversation with Hermione thinking that he was the one who needed protection, not her, and thanking her for the enlightenment. Murphy and Ferguson had experienced this first hand when they (tried to) interrogate her.

"Better you than me."

Saturday, March 11, 2000

"Pansy, you're hovering."

"Are you sure you want me to leave?" Hermione was sure. It was kind of Pansy to offer the music room of her home as a neutral yet private space for Hermione and Theo to talk (like a third-party peacekeeper for the UN), but she didn't need Theo to feel ganged up on.

"Yes, I'm a big girl and can handle myself, and I'm sure Theo can refrain from sexting my boyfriend while unsupervised, now that he knows it's wrong."

"Very wrong indeed," Theo chorused, looking quite contrite. If he'd been wearing a hat, he'd currently be holding it in his hands.

Pansy squinted at him in mistrust. "Draco said to tell you to behave yourself, or else." Theo nodded vigorously and Pansy finally left them alone to enjoy the tea service that Linney had set out for the occasion.

Theo looked around the room to stall for time as though he'd never been there before (though Hermione was certain he'd seen it many times as a childhood friend of Pansy's). Hermione was the one who should be gawking. The fact that any house would have something as posh as a music room was the first novelty. It was done in a fussy, old Victorian style, with maybe a Greek classical infuence, complete with a pale, blue cherub-patterned wallpaper, marble Atlantides on the columns astride the fireplace, and a floral pattern centerpiece inlaid into the the wood floors. The second oddity was that the piano in one corner and harp in the other looked purely ornamental, a technical requrement to call it a music room, but too elaborately sculpted to touch.

Hermione knew enough about Pansy's design style after spending lazy afternoons flipping through magazines together to guess that her parents had decorated this room. It was amusing how opposite their decor sensibilities seemed to be as Pansy skewed more towards a modern minimalist aesthetic. In fact, after seeing Malfoy's apartment last month, she suspected that Pansy had a hand in picking the furnishings (though she couldn't account for why Malfoy didn't seem to have bed frames).

Theo was still fidgeting and looking anywhere but at her, so Hermione decided to help herself to a cup of tea. It seemed that he had been waiting for exactly such a cue though, because as soon as he heard her spoon touch the porcelain, he launched into his apology. "Granger, I am so, so sorry for what I did. It was thoughtless, and stupid, and insensitive, and..."

"Theo," Hermione interrupted what was sure to be a very thorough list of adjectives, "I read your letter and I accept your apology."

"You do?" He blinked, likely confused at the readiness of her forgiveness. He had seemed prepared to grovel.

"I do, as long as you promise to never do that again."

"Of course! I don't even know what inspired me to do it the first time. I was so drunk, Granger. Really, truly pissed. You have to know I wouldn't have thought it was a good idea otherwise!"

"Good then, that's settled," she grinned and began to spread jam on a scone. It was raspberry, her favorite. Linney spoiled her.

Theo opened and closed his mouth several times like a gasping fish. "But then, what are we doing here?"

"I thought it might be nice to get to know each other better. Pansy is important to me and you're important to her, so I want to know you."

He stared at her for several seconds in a trancelike state. "Sorry, I guess I was just expecting... more? Draco and Potter seemed angrier just on your behalf."

Hermione snorted. "Malfoy had no business saying anything to you. He's made me cry loads of times."

"Yeah, well, that was before the war. Don't tell him I told you this, but apparently ever since that day with Bellatrix, you crying is something like a trauma trigger for him. He can't handle it."

"That's alarmingly sweet. I'll try not to cry in front of him then."

"I'd sure appreciate it. He'll just assume it's my fault again and he's definitely a hex first, ask questions later kind of guy."

"Noted." She paused mid-sip of her tea. "Wait, what did Harry say?"

"Not much, except to stay away from you, and he just punched me straight in the face while I was at work."

"Harry James Potter! How did he even find out? I didn't tell him anything!"

"Apparently, Draco told him at one of his parole check-ins."

"Oh, he's going to get such a talking to! Harry knows I don't approve of violence!"

"Didn't you once punch Draco?"

"It was a slap, and that's different."

Theo laughed and finally relaxed enough to nibble on a cucumber sandwich. "Different how?"

"I was young and foolish, and, and... well, he was just so smug!" Hermione swatted erratically at the air as though slapping a thousand tiny, smug Malfoys.

"Too right. Even I wasn't friends with him back then."

"Really? I thought you'd all known each other since birth?"

"Sure, pureblood kids kept to a small social circle and we were friends as children, but I was fairly shy in my early years at Hogwarts as you might recall and I didn't really want to join Malfoy's gang of troublemakers."

"But you're close now?"

"Very." Theo took his time chewing his next bite and seemed to be carefully considering his words. "I suppose we reconnected in sixth year. Both of our fathers had just been arrested. We were outsiders together, and I could tell that he needed a friend that year."

Hermione knew that Malfoy had recieved the Dark Mark the summer before sixth year and recalled how he became thinner and paler as the year progressed.

"He was lucky to have you."

"I could say the same for him. My father liked to talk with his fists and Draco did what he could to keep me out of the house. Course, we couldn't stay at his with Moldy Voldy lurking about..." Hermione's lips quirked at the nickname but found she couldn't laugh at Theo's attempt to soften the confession of his father's abusive nature. She thought of Harry's aunt and uncle. How could people be so cruel? Especially to children... "His family has a summer home in the Cotswolds that we often escaped to. It was peaceful there."

"Oh, I love the Cotswolds! What part? My parents kept a vacation property out that way too."

"Granger, do you come from money?" Theo's voice was teasing, but she couldn't tell if he was also really asking. Purebloods sometimes had bigoted ideas that all muggles and therefore all muggle-borns were destitute.

"Both of my parents were dentists - teeth healers. They made a very respectable living," she huffed defensively.

"Whoa there," Theo threw up his hands. "I didn't mean anything by it. I was only winding you up because your lot used to rag on Draco so much for being a pampered prince."

"Well, he was, wasn't he?" She settled her hackles.

"Still is, frankly, but maturing slowly. More importantly, were you a pampered princess?"

"Hardly. I'd say we were upper middle class. My parents could afford things like a modest vacation home and we were comfortable even living in London (which is bloody expensive), but I was always taught the value of money and our lifestyle wasn't extravagant."

"They sound like good parents. Do they still live in London?"

"Er, no," Hermione stopped eating and patted her lips with her napkin in a way that she hoped looked dainty and not deranged.

"Oh, sorry, I shouldn't have assumed... did they not... survive the war?" Great, she'd made Theo feel awkward again, just when conversation had started flowing.

"They survived," she rushed to assure him. "It's just that I erased their memories of me to keep them safe. They're in Australia and don't remember that they have a daughter."

"Whoa."

"Yeah..."

"That was very brave of you."

"More like panicked. I'm sure there was a better way. I'm paying for it now of course. Figuratively and literally... healers that specialize in neuromagical afflictions like obliviation charge a hefty hourly rate." It was why Hermione had a second job working at a bookstore on the weekends even though her Ministry job paid fairly well. She had a shift in a few hours actually and would be headed straight there after tea. "They're not even sure if it's possible to reverse the spell," she added miserably.

"Chin up, Granger. You're doing the best you can." Theo was being very kind. It didn't feel like Hermione was doing her best. It felt like she was fumbling around in the dark without a clue.

"I don't know if it was worth it, in the end. Maybe I was paranoid to think that Death Eaters would've come for them."

Theo chewed the inside of his cheek. "You could ask Draco, he'd probably know."

Hermione offered a small smile. "Maybe I will one day."

They sipped their tea in silence for a few minutes, each lost in their own memories of the war and its consequences.

Then, Theo blurted out, "I'm gay!"

"What?" Hermione nearly dropped her teacup in surprise.

"It seemed like we were taking turns sharing something personal about ourselves and I just... I wanted to tell you that you were right at Pansy's gala. I'm gay."

"Oh! Oh, that's... gosh, I'm so sorry," Theo looked stricken and she backtracked, "No! I'm not sorry that you're gay! I'm glad you're gay. I mean, I'm not glad you're gay or not glad you're gay. You can be gay if you want. I just said gay so many times... That's not relevant... I meant to say I'm glad you felt comfortable enough to confide in me. And before, I meant to say I'm sorry I nearly outed you to everyone else. Sometimes if I think I'm right about something I can be a bit bullheaded about it. I thought you might be... and Pansy said... oh, please shut me up!"

"Granger, shut up!" Her jaw snapped shut obediently as she watched Theo dissolve into hysterical laughter. "That was a sight. Never heard a more awkward speech. Ten out of ten!" He had the audacity to actually slap his knee.

"Well, at least you enjoyed it," she grumbled, cheeks aflame.

"Thoroughly. You know you're the first person I've ever told? And I'd built up in my head how my father would've reacted, how my friends would react, and you..." Theo couldn't breathe momentarily for laughing so hard. "I could've never dreamed of your reaction. You defied all my expectations."

Hermione gave him a few more minutes to calm himself. "I'm really the first?" He nodded. She gulped. Had she fucked it up? This was a Big Deal and she didn't want to traumatize him forever. She'd better let him take the reigns back. "Do you want to talk about? I'd be happy to listen."

"Yeah actually. I've never been able to talk about this. Purebloods aren't supposed to be gay. You'd think we'd be more open minded about it since there are magical ways for same sex couples to have biological children - so it's not about some hypothetical risk of discontinuing the family line - it's just... not the done thing."

Hermione nodded encouragingly and shoved the last bite of her scone in her mouth to prevent more word vomit.

"I've been really agonizing over whether to tell Pansy and Draco. Neither of them are the pureblood paragons of virtue they were raised to be, but still I worry that their ingrained prejudices will make them reject me." Theo curled in on himself. He'd said it so simply, but the prospect of losing his friends over his identity was clearly eating away at him.

"I think... I mean, I don't know Malfoy nearly as well as Pansy, but... he seems to tolerate me now, and Pansy I'd call my best girl friend. Don't you think that if they can overcome their prejudices over blood for me, someone they barely knew beforehand... don't you think they could do it for you?"

"It does give me hope," Theo brightened slightly and straightened his posture.

"What about Blaise?"

He grew cagey again. "What about him?"

"Isn't he your friend too? I don't know him really. Will you tell him?"

"I can't tell Blaise." Theo shook his head and pushed his plate away as though he was suddenly nauseous.

"Why not? Is he very traditional?"

"No, not at all! He's the most liberal pureblood there's ever been. It's just..."

"You don't have to say," Hermione offered, seeing him struggle for words.

"No, it's okay, I want to." Theo took a deep breath. "It's just that I've been in love with Blaise for years and I don't want him to know."

"He won't return your feelings?"

Theo exhaled a mirthless laugh. "I used to fool myself into thinking he might. I fantasized about it all the time. The truth is that I've always known he was in love with someone else already. Daphne Greengrass," he clarified before Hermione could ask.

"That's heart breaking... so, it's a love triangle? They're dating?"

"Oh, Circe no! Blaise is a worse flirt than even I was when I was performing straightness for my father. He'll sleep with any woman that moves now that he doesn't have to pretend to care about blood status."

"This is all so messy..." Hermione couldn't help but comment.

"It gets messier. He has a girlfriend now, but evidence strongly suggests it's an open relationship. And anyway, he can't be with Daphne even if he stopped being an incubus for a second because Daphne is betrothed to some Welsh pureblood who went to Durmstrang. The contract has been in place for ages."

"Contract?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Like a business deal?"

"Not like, it exactly is a business deal. Gold always changes hands with these things. So, you see it's not so much a love triangle as it is a love dodecahedron from hell."

"That's awful. Just... for everyone involved... awful."

"Cheers," Theo served them each a fresh cup of tea. "Hope your love life is less of a disaster than mine is. Can I ask... is everything okay with Marc? Was he weirded out by my texts?"

"Marc was really great about it all actually, so no hard feelings there. We're still taking things slow, but it's going well."

"And how have you been since finding out about Weasley? Ron, I mean. I know you'd already broken up when he passed, but outside observers like me always thought you'd end up married."

"I..." Hermione didn't know whether to take this opportunity to bring another person into her most closely guarded secret or to throw some instant Peruvian darkness powder and leave. Remembering that Theo had just shared his own secret with her though made her feel safe confiding in him. He'd trusted her, she could reciprocate. "Ron sexually assaulted me in eight year. We were never together. I'm not sad he's dead."

"Fuck!"

"Mhm."

"We really are taking turns sharing something personal. And you just one-upped me. Or one-downed me?"

"It's not a competition, Theo..."

"Yeah, of course... I'm just saying if it was, you'd win..."

"I wouldn't call this winning."

"Agrippa's arse, not what I meant at all... Hi, can I start over? That was worse than you saying 'sorry that you're gay.'"

Hermione had been maintaining an appropriately grave countenance until that moment. She finally cracked and laughed. "Nothing is worse than that!"

"Starting over anyway: I am deeply sorry that happened to you. Weasley is an absolute tosser."

"You don't... you don't think I'm a bad person because I'm not sad he's dead?" Harry had understood, or said he did at the time. Hermione still worried that he'd only said that in the heat of the moment and once he had time to get some perspective he'd realize how horrible and twisted she'd become.

"Fuck no! If he weren't already dead, I'd offer to help you murder him and hide the body!" In a dark way, these words heartened her more than Harry's had. "Oh no..." Theo sagged in his chair. "I'm an utter pillock!" His hands flew up to cover his face, knocking his elbow into his cup and spilling its contents across the table.

"Why?"

"It makes it so much worse, doesn't it? What I said to Marc? That's why you were... and then you said... oh my god..."

Theo had several waves of realization crashing over him at once, so Hermione decided to save him from drowning.

"It's okay, Theo. I already forgave you, remember?"

"You shouldn't have!"

"Not your call. I've decided. It's done." But it didn't help, Theo had already started crying. "No! Please don't cry! If you cry, I'll cry, and..." Nope, too late again. Now Hermione was crying.

That's how Pansy found them.

"Fuck, you made Granger cry again? Draco is going to kill you! And then he's going to kill me for organizing this! Please stop!"

Then Linney entered the room.

"No! Miss Hermione and Mister Theo hate Linney's cooking so much they weep? Linney is so ashamed!" She wailed, joining them in sobbing over the table of upended teacups and soggy pastries.

The trio were inconsolable for several minutes more until Pansy finally pieced together enough of an understanding of what had happened. She convinced Linney that 'Miss Hermione and Mister Theo' were crying tears of joy because of how good the tea service was and sent her back to the kitchens. Then, she just had to wait out Hermione and Theo.

"I'm never leaving you two unsupervised ever again," she vowed, looking like a mother disappointed in her naughty children. "But does this mean you're friends now?"

"Best friends," Hermione replied in a watery voice, tears threatening resume.

"Wait, wait, no more crying, Granger. I can't believe I almost forgot the most important thing!" Theo rubbed away the salt residue on his cheeks with urgency. "You have to promise me, promise me,that you won't go to St. Mungo's! No matter what!"

"W-hic-why?" Hermione always got the hiccups when she cried. Bugger.

"I had another vision a few weeks ago. You died again. I could tell you were at St. Mungo's when it happened, so if you don't go it can't happen!"

"Not this again," Pansy groaned. Theo ignored her.

"Please, you have to swear."

Hermione still wasn't a believer in divination, and she was already putting up with a lot from Tonks to keep her satisfied that she was being safe, but she could do this small thing for Theo. For her new friend.

"I promise."

A/N: See, I didn't leave Theo out in the cold for too long! Now that Theo and Hermione have trauma bonded they'll be unstoppable. If they can get over how awkward they are together... Hermione is used to being awkward (see: the entirety of her childhood and teenage years), but it's been a while for Theo and I think he'll just decide to not be awkward once he gets more comfortable with Hermione and stops worrying he'll break her. Habitual line-stepper! Next chapter, I'll finally get around to describing more of Draco's adventures at muggle university. We'll see how much more plot I can shove in on top of that. We've still got to see how Hermione reacts to the HGPU restrictions, find out what she's going to do about the HELP Act, give an intro to baby Teddy and Andromeda, then suffer through some Harry/Ginny drama, some Marc drama, and of course some St. Mungo's drama before I'll feel confident calling Act 1 (of 3) over. Not to mention that I'd like to progress the dramione slow burn element to a nice lukewarm temp. Shouldn't be too difficult. Yeah...