Her eyes scanned the great hall. She knew he wasn't there of course; she had already checked three times for him.
"It's okay" Ginny whispered in her ear. "I'm sure he is just feeling a little stupid after what happened today, not like he can avoid you."
This was true, they shared all the same classes and a bathroom, logistically they would have to cross paths again. By not seeing his face at dinner gave her this pit in her stomach that she just couldn't shake.
She sat in silence for the rest of her meal, trying not to make it obvious that she was rushing to head back to her room. She had learnt so much from Ginny but knew there must have been more. Rules, expectations, things that Theo would expect and behaviours he would find remiss of. She wondered what to do or who else she could turn to when she saw the young fair haired Slytherin rise from her place and head toward the door. Rising from her seat as quickly as she could as to not lose her chance Hermione called out,
"Astoria!" the young girl turned to face Hermione; her face surprised. "Can I speak with you please?"
"Um sure, I assume this is about Theo?"
Hermione felt the blood pool in her cheeks, "yes, yes, it is."
"How can I help?"
"This is going to sound completely insane, but I was wondering if you would give me Pureblood lessons?"
A smirk crossed Astoria's face "why are you asking me and not Weasley?"
"Because you know as well as I that the Weasleys don't follow Pureblood culture, Ginny has told me the basics of what she know but I, I don't want to mess this up okay!"
Her smirk became a genuine smile now. "Okay. I will help you, for Theo because today was the first time, I have seen him smile in years."
"Thank you, Astoria,"
"Oh, don't thank me yet, this isn't going to be easy, but he is worth it."
Astoria reached for Hermione's hand and gave it a small squeeze. They agreed to meet every day before dinner for an hour for etiquette lessons and Astoria promised not to tell Draco or Theo what they were up to.
As she walked back to her door Hermione thought about her new friendship with Astoria. To outsiders this would look to be such an odd pairing but to Hermione she figured if she was going to pursue Theo it made sense to have his best friend's girlfriend on her side. When she entered her room, he found a note on her bed from Theo.
Ready to talk when you are.
Well looks like it was time to summon that Gryffindor courage.
