Chapter 2
She saw his eyes shine with joy. The last time they could talk briefly before his trial. It was their first conversation since the day they were separated. She wasn't sure if they had managed to save the bond they had in their childhood. It turned out that their bond was stronger than their parents thought.
They were separated. Hermione knew she wouldn't let that happen anymore. She won't give up on him. No matter what they say about her. No matter what Rita Skeeter implies in her articles. She had Theodore Nott back, and that was all she cared about.
"I think you have crazy idea on your mind." - Theo's smile put Hermione in a good mood. - "Holy shit ... I missed you …" - the former Slytherin's voice lowered again to a whisper.
"You've seen me every day since the first year." She couldn't help but hugged him again. - "Sit here with me. Next to me."
She knew she was asking for a lot in the present situation. However, she hoped that her friendship with Ron and Harry was so strong that they would both understand what she had in common with the boy who stood on the opposite side of the barricade during the war. As she sat down, she noticed that Teddy was still standing. - "Sit down." - she called to him as if he were a dog, which caused him to relax and he finally sit by her side.
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They were both unaware that Draco Malfoy was watching the unfolding situation. He knew that his friend had decided not to repeat the last year of his studies. He didn't know why Theo refused to return to Hogwarts. Therefore, he was really surprised to see him in the Great Hall. What surprised him even more was that instead of approaching them, he went straight towards Hermione Granger without hesitating. He felt betrayed when the guy he considered his brother took a woman with whom he had been in love for a long time in his arms.
"Dude... You see what I see?" - Blaise Zabini's voice barely reached him. - "Did you know they were close? So close?"
He didn't even have time to respond to the question. After a while he heard a sentence that literally made his blood run cold.
"He looks at her like she's some fucking treasure." - Pansy Parkinson interrupted. - "I didn't expect this. When did they contact each other? Theo spent most of his time with us and she with her… Friends. How they avoided rumors? After all, in this castle, everyone knows everything when it comes to inter-house relationships."
"I. Do. Not. Care. The important thing is that he didn't discourage me, even though he knew about my feelings." - The blonde snarled.
Blaise chuckled at that moment. - "It was hard NOT to know about it. To Slytherins, you are as obvious with your crush that I suspect Severus Snape himself knew about it. After all, you weren't hiding it. Oddly Granger hasn't figured it out yet."
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Hermione Granger was confused by her friends' reaction. She was sure they would be more agry after seeing her with Theo. In particular, she was afraid of Ron's reaction with whom she has always had a complicated relationship. They were both in love, but they passed so long that when they finally kissed, it turned out that they had nothing more than friendship. Which was why she thought that Theo's comment that he would rather see Malfoy by her side might offend him.
Taking advantage of the good humor of the two Gryffindors, she smiled and began to speak. After a moment she felt Theo's hand wrapped around her waist. His support was felt like never before. Even in childhood. She was glad that they could finally be close to each other.
"Did you emember when I told you about my brother?" - she couldn't tell them too much under the tent. The curse placed on them by their biological parents prevented her from doing so. At the time of her father's death, she felt the bonds begin to weaken. It was then that she began to say what she could without harming her life.
Harry looked at her with a smile on his face. - "Yes, I remember. I just didn't expect it to be HIM." - The brunette saw the boy-who-survived refrain from laughing.
"What's funny about that, Harry?" - Hermione didn't know whether to laugh or be offended.
"If you look at it the way we see it, it's more than funny." - Ron said, his face turning redder and redder. - "We thought it was going to be Malfoy. We would bear the ferret as your boyfriend, because the relationship may end one day and you have the family permanently. So the option with Malfoy as brother could be a bit scary for us."
"Malfoy? Why did you thought that it could be HIM?" - Hermione looked at Harry expecting an answer. She tried to ignore the smiles on the faces of all three boys.
Harry Potter rolled his eyes. He didn't think the girl hadn't noticed it. "That's because he has been looking at you as the eighth wonder of the world since almost the middle of the third year." At least then we noticed it.
"What are you talking about?" -The girl was completely confused. She was starting to think that she should get used to it.
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"Just a moment longer and you'll kill him with just your eyesight. Without." - Blaise didn't hide his amusement at the situation. He didn't know all the facts, but he couldn't help but tease his friend anyway.
Pansy looked at her ex-boyfriend. To this day, she remembers Draco asking her for a favor. He didn't want the bushy hair of a Gryffindor to notice his feelings for her, so she was his cover in the eyes of both Gryffindors and his parents. - "Come on, Blaise. Draco just despairs that Theo is the only Slytherin who managed to hug the Golden Girl."
At this moment, Gregory Goyle said something that surprised everyone at their table. - "Not the only one. At least from what I saw. And I've seen quite a lot."
Draco turned sharply to the boy. - "What on Salazar are you talking about?"
"In our sixth year, I wanted to talk to Snape. I wasn't able at that moment. Do you know why? I saw Granger leaving our professor's private quarters. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into his embrace. He kissed the top of her head. Then she looked at him so intense that I felt like a voyeur."
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Theo chuckled beside her. - "I know why he stared at you like that, but I'll leave it to him to reveal it to you." The boy became serious immediately. - "Can you guess why I could come up to you today?"
"Of course. However, this woman isn't worth mentioning. Could you please tell me why you broke into the school?"
"For a long time I have been working on something that would help me win the grace of your first friend. First friend in magical world. I did it, so I need a certain Gryffindor to help me calm down his parents. Alice and Frank Longbottom don't believe in that so many years have passed. Besides, I suspect they don't want to believe someone who looks so much like Thorus Nott."
"This is what I didn't expect." - Ronald Weasley said more to himself.
"Kurwa, what?" - The Golden Trio heard Minerva McGonagall's voice.
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The Transfiguration professor, currently acting director of Hogwarts, watched in amazement as Theodor Nott, a Slytherin who had refused to return to Hogwarts, entered the Great Hall. She knew what the situation was between one of her lions and that boy, but she couldn't allow anyone who is not currently a student, parent or faculty member to be on the school grounds.
She gave Hermione a moment to talk to her brother, then looked at Severus Snape, still weak from Nagini's bite. - "I'm going to clean it up."
"Be gentle." - a gentle smile appeared on the face of the usually gloomy potions master - "If I hadn't heard it with my own ears during the trial of , I wouldn't have believed it. However, looking at them sitting next to each other, I don't know how we failed to notice it earlier. They are so similar to each other."
"I'll be gentle. I'll just remind him that it's not too late for him to change his mind. After he helped us from behind the scenes, he deserves to graduate under normal conditions."
Minerva made her way confidently to the Gryffidor table. She saw that the whole situation was being watched by most of the students, including almost all Slytherins.
When the woman heard the news about the Longbottoms, the curse she heard from her father's Polish friends when she was a child broke from her lips.
"Kurwa, what?" - She was ashamed of her reaction. - "Is it true? How do you know about this?"
Theodor Nott looked at her seriously. He still had the manners his father had taught him. He could immediately go from the relaxed boy mode to the official conversation mode. She was impressed with his composure.
"Professor, I refused to go back to Hogwarts because now I work at Saint Mungo. The Longbottoms woke up this morning. I've convinced the healer Davis that he shouldn't send for Longbottom's grandmother. Augusta Longbottom is an elderly witch. I didn't want anything to happen to her."
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How do you like this chapter? Those who have read this story before may notice that it has already been published. I made some slight adjustments to match the previous chapter. The narrative of history will be intertwined for some time. A chapter from the past into a chapter from current events. Regards, katie-krum.