Sorry for the long wait with this chapter - i have been writing the story but wanted to get a bit more ahead again so that I was able to keep up a good pace of updating. I am about 5 or 6 chapters ahead at the moment, and have about 4 or so more to write to the end, so i'm thinking this story will be about 20 chapters overall including an epilogue. Hopefully you enjoy, this is only my second story and i'm still learning how to peice one together well, so any constructive feedback or thoughts on the story is always welcome!
Chapter 9
The next morning, Theo woke up alone on the sofa. The house was empty. He had a splitting headache. Stellar job, Theo. He chided himself, dragging on his shoes and wrinkling his eyes as he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. He needed a shower and a shave... and to apologise to Hermione.
He quickly left, wincing as the sun blinded him, and darted down an alley. Apparating back to the hotel, he landed with a swift crack, bracing himself on his knees as a wave of nausea rolled over him. Not good... that was not good. He clambered onto the bed, stripping down to his boxers and closing his eyes.
He just needed a minute to regain his composure. Just one fucking minute... An owl swept in with a hoot, dropping a thick red letter on his stomach, and promptly left - probably because he knew what was about to happen.
The red envelope took flight as it morphed into face like shape with papery features. A howler... fucking wonderful.
Harry Potter's voice rang out, cracking through the silence of the room and causing his headache to bloom once again behind his eyes. "Nott! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing. Getting drunk on duty. Going home with Hermione. Making her walk out and about in the dark alone. Have you lost your mind? You are there for a mission, not to have fun and get pissed up. Pull yourself together for fuck sake man. This is your job."
Theo slumped back against the pillows, pulling one over his eyes and holding it to his face, trying to drown out the day. Great, just great. He rolled back over, wishing the bed would just swallow him up, and tried to let sleep overcome him.
Hermione smiled as she finished serving the customer in the shop. She had left Theo sleeping on the couch this morning. She had tried to wake him before she left, but he was dead to the world. Even her fearful screams at about four thirty in the morning hadn't been enough to rouse him from his slumber. He certainly had drunk a lot.
Not for the first time, she wondered what had sent him into that spiral. For once it wasn't just her falling apart on him, he had shown a small shard of weakness. That chiseld, poised, perfect persona had shown a tiny crack. "Have a nice day." She waved at the mum and small child who walked out of the shop clutching the small paperback he'd picked out.
She clicked at the till, popping the money away and then moved between shelves to stack some more books. She found a few that had been moved by customers, so she righted them, and then set up starting on a new display. "Hey." She jumped, hand flying to her heart, but she recognised the voice.
"You have to stop sneaking up on me!" She spun, glowering at Theo, who looked a right side better now he'd had a shower, a shave and, probably, a pepper up potion.
"Its not my fault, you need to listen for the bell!" He laughed gently, holding his hands up again as he slouched against one of the shelves. He looked much the same as yesterday, a new version of jeans and a white t-shirt. If she was being objective, and she could look past the face, he was and incredibly attractive man. As it was, it was a shame they had so much history she couldn't seem to shake. "I wanted to say sorry." He took as stack of books from her as she pointed to the top shelf and indicated where they should go.
He reached up, slotting them in. She moved along the shelves, handing him books and asking him to stack the high shelves as they went, "For which part exactly?" She slotted a book into a lower shelf; a thick romance novel with a shiny pink cover. "If I'm going to be honest with you, Theo, you've been a bit much since you've arrived here." She couldn't bring herself to look him in the eyes, but the words came out stong and confident - she impressed herself with the air of authority she mustered.
He looked taken off guard as he looked at her, running a hand over his freshly washed hair in discomfort, "I have?"
She sighed, turning to him and crossing her arms across her chest. She certainly wasn't going to back down. "Yes, you've basically thrown your presence on me in this entitled way that you have about you."
"Hermione... I didn't mean to." He started.
She laughed to herself, "That seems to be a running theme with you; you didn't mean to hurt people, you didn't mean to be a Death Eater... I'm sure you didn't mean to take my wand when you came here, or mean to make me feel alone and isolated, but you did." She turned to look at him, crossing her arms and meeting his eyes, "You are a large, powerful man. A pureblood. Wealthy. Everything that the Wizarding World thinks is golden. Everything that gives you this sense of entitlement and the privilege to feel safe. But you come here, flexing, taking my wand, pushing yourself into my life."
"Sorry, I-"
"For Merlin's sake just listen, Theo!" She yelled, waving her wand and whispering under her breath as she locked the door. The open sign spun to closed with a snap. He nodded looking at the ground. "You say you know what it feels like to be cornered, and yet you've done it to me. I got caught up in feeling needed, but if you want us to be anything more than distant acquaintances then you need to try to understand how I feel and help me trust you."
"I didn't realise, Hermione."
"I know, but that doesn't mean it's okay." Hermione hugged her arms around herself, "You left me here alone and unprotected. I know the past is the past, but can you imagine how that felt; like someone ripping part of my heart away. You keep pushing and pushing."
"I should never have done that. I didn't think. I really, truly, am sorry." He tried to touch her, his fingers reaching out, but she backed away slightly. His heart felt heavy. She was right. He never should have done that, teasing or not, and he was pushing her. He should have kept away; but he couldn't do that now. He couldn't go back and he couldn't tell her the truth, so the best he could do was make sure he never made her feel like that again.
She offered him a small smile, taking his apology and trying her best, "Okay, let's try and start again." She almost whispered, her voice small and fragile. "Want to talk about last night?"
"It's stuff from home." Was what he chose to say to avoid the question, "Stuff you don't want to hear about."
She nodded slowly, thinking. She didn't want to know, she decided, so she let it drop. "Okay, then consider it forgotten." He smiled at her as he popped two more books onto the shelf.
"Are you busy tonight?"
"I am, actually." As she spoke the words, his eyebrows soared and her nose wrinkled.
He placed the box on a table, rubbing his hands on his jeans and then tucking them into his pockets. His heart was dropping a little as he said the words, "Hot date, Granger?"
She laughed, her head falling back and her hair swaying gently, "No," She wandered back to the till and started sorting again as he followed her, "Margaret's granddaughter is moving back to town, she asked me to have a drink with her."
Hermione had recieved a call from Amelia the day before. Amelia had been peppy and positive... and almost the complete opposite of how Hermione was feeling lately. Hermione had consented to a drink at the bar at seven. She'd suggested afternoon coffee but Amelia was insistant that she needed a drink, so Hermione had reluctanly agreed. "It'll be fun," Theo picked up and book and flipped through it, picking out a passage and scanning his eyes over it.
She nodded, "I have no idea what I'm going to wear." She looked up at him suddenly, "You could go? We could say I have the flu?" He could almost see the cogs in her brain whirling as her eyes lit up at the prospect.
"As much as I'd love to help you out, Granger, I think you need to get out more." She pouted and he laughed, "And I was going to invite you to another work dinner anyway, so I'm busy." He didn't ever really have to try hard to get hotels to buy him dinner and sell the story of why he was in town.
Often he stepped foot into a hotel, told them his name, and they always wanted something from him - whether a partner, sale or just a lot of money from his custom. After the war, he'd purchased a few hotels using the surplus money in his vault before becoming an Auror; it seemed like something he'd be good at. He liked fancy things, travelling and wanted to be out of the Wizarding World. He'd become quite well known in the muggle hotel world. He had even purchased one in the last year on his hunt for Hermione, a quaint little B&B a little, old lady was trying to sell. She'd reminded him of his grandmother, though nicer... less sharp, and she needed the money. He'd over paid an arm and a leg for it, and let her continue to run it. It had made her happy and had made a little light bloom in the centre of his hollow chest; a light that grew even more as Hermione pouted and flicked him with a finger on the back of his hand. He captured it and held it against his heart, "One day I'll drag you along; make myself look less like a sad, lonely bachelor."
She laughed at the absurdity of it, dragging her hand away, "In your dreams."
"Always." She sobered at that, the reality all too real for her. Shit. He shouldn't have said that. She turned hugging her hand to her chest and keeping her back to him and she found the receipt book and tucked a few away. "Sorry."
"Don't worry." He wanted to walk round and hold her, hug her, tell her it would all be okay, but he couldn't. "I'll see you later, yeah?" She said, still not looking at him. He knew he'd been dismissed.
"Sure, see you later." He started to walk away, he almost made it to the door, before he heard her.
She still had her back to him, but her voice carried gently in the empty space between them, "It'll get better." He knew she hadn't wanted him to hear, so he carried on walking and shut the door behind himself.
