When Saturday finally rolled around Hermione put her first toe in the water towards her new plan. She had owled Harry earlier in the week and asked if they could have breakfast together sometime soon. She received a reply stating that he was actually off this weekend due to the game schedule and they set up a Saturday morning breakfast.

Hermione couldn't wait to reconnect with her oldest and best friend. They had been telling everyone since they were in fourth year that they were basically brother and sister and that was the one relationship had held up to everything. She and Harry may not be tied together by blood but neither of them ever felt anything like the sibling bond that they had. She was the annoying big sister always trying to set him straight and he was the little brother who brought fun, adventure, and mischief into her life. They went through puberty, war, the beginning and ends of different relationships, and transitioning into adult life and they stilled stayed as close as siblings. Harry was the one thing in her life that was always true and honest. She could not imagine a situation where that would ever change.

She knew her brother like the back of her hand.

She was not at all shocked therefore to see a familiar tall brown hair person enter hand in hand with Harry. She smiled at them both. Theo was so good for Harry. He may have been a marked Death Eater during the war but he was put in the same position Malfoy was in during that time too. His father all but forced him to take the Dark Mark at the end of his sixth year. So Theo did the only thing he could do at the time, he survived. He was however proud to tell you once you knew him that he never lifted his wand to cast one dark spell until the final battle when his father walked in front of him with the an Avada on his lips. It was the one and only time that Theodore Nott had taken a life during the whole war.

She loved Theo. He was family.

It didn't start that way however...

Harry's relationship with Theo was so good for him but it did cause problems between Harry and Hermione in the beginning. She was not as willing to forgive Theo as Harry was for just being a Death Eater. She also had a hard time understanding how Harry went from dating Cho to Ginny to Luna to Theo. The transitions didn't quiet make sense to her. She loved her brother but she really and truly believe he was making risky choices as a coping method for dealing with the aftermath of war. She had no problem with him being in love with a man but really to want to be with a marked Death Eater. She truly didn't understand.

They didn't speak to each other for almost a month when she found out about the relationship. She lost her mind with Harry and raged at him for almost two hours when Harry stood up and said he loved her and he would talk to her later.

She did nothing for a full month. She was that angry.

Thank Merlin for Harry.

He came to her flat one morning, not long after she had called it quits with Ron, carrying coffee and danish, and all the reasons his relationship was worth risking everything.

Even their relationship.

Because he loved Hermione but if she couldn't listen to him, Harry told her he would have to choose Theo over her.

That was enough to startle Hermione into listening.

Her prefaced the whole conversation by telling her that neither he nor Theo were gay, rather they were just far more open with their sexuality than either the wizarding world or muggle world would approve of, but they were very much in love with each other.

He told her how Cho was his childhood crush but after one wet kiss and terrible date during his fifth year he was no long sure he actually liked women. He was so uncomfortable with her and her feelings that he didn't know what to do. He was also worried because all of those tears and everything had just made him want to run away from her and that was not what you do in a healthy relationship.

He told her about his curious peaks in locker room shower and the dorms but never acting on it. It didn't stir him to passion but he did want to know.

He told her about his relationship with Ginny. How her constant desire to be close to him for so many years had led him to actually believe he would want him when the war was over. Then he found out about her relationships with other people while he was on the hunt and he was not upset or anything. He ended their relationship and she had made the choice to move on. He did however think they would get back together and when they didn't he felt nothing. This made him feel like he was missing something. She moved on and he thought the loss of her affection was actually a signal to him that he was lacking something that struck passion in him and his partner. He told her about them getting together and the frantic petting, all over the clothes, and the fact the he still didn't feel the passion he thought he would feel when he was with her.

He told her how he felt like he was broken. Like because he had never been loved he didn't have any idea how to love someone else. He told her about depression and tears and heartache.

Then he told her about his first kiss.

The kiss he considered his first kiss.

How one night after following the map under his invisibility cloak to see what Malfoy was up too during their sixth year he was caught by Theo. How they exchanged harsh mocking words and petty childish names and when Theo heard someone coming down the hallway and Harry was still yelling and bitching at him. Theo yanked him into an alcove and silenced him. He silenced him with a kiss so filled with angry frustration that Harry just exploded. Harry told her how he kissed him back pressing his fingers into his hair and pulling how the feeling of teeth and hard plains of skin and lips. Harry told her about the touches and pulls and tugs that were filled with rage in the beginning but tempered to passion and need. That was the first time they kissed and the last until far after the war.

He told her that when he watched the map during those horrible cold nights in the tent that he wasn't watching Ginny's name he was watching Theo's. He told her about the pain of watching Theo be taken by the Aurors on the battlefield.

Then he told her about the pain he felt later because he never asked Theo what happened. He just assumed that he was a willing little Junior Death Eater because he was a Slytherin.

He told her about getting together with Luna after they came back from Australia. How it never felt perfect but it did feel good. She was so oddly different that he was happy. He told her that he loved her because she never looked at him as a hero or as a villain just as Harry. He also told her that they never had a committed relationship. He told her about losing his virginity with her but not taking hers. He told her that his relationship with Luna worked because she was so different and liked to explore. He had all his big firsts with Luna. She knew all his secrets. She was the one who brought Theo to him. He had told her about that kiss and how it made him realize he was going to be okay. It made him feel.

When Theo was cleared of all charges regarding his Death Eater activities Harry was already in a relationship with Luna and ironically Percy Weasley, but Percy was being pressured by his family to settle down so he exited the relationship at the time. Luna and Harry were still happy together but Luna brought up the idea of Harry trying to reconnect with Theo. Theo turned all of Harry's overtures down for months before Luna ran into him in a bar.

Luna brought him home.

Luna helped them both work through their relationship.

Luna had a relationship with both wizards for months until she felt like she was the piece of the puzzle that didn't fit. Harry told her that in hindsight Luna was always he person who was the least involved with intimacy and mostly she just spurred them on.

When Luna left, Harry thought that things might fall apart between the two but they just grew stronger and more sure in their relationship. They hoped at sometime in the future to find a third person to complete what they felt was missing but for right now they were happy with where they were. If they never found that person they knew they would be happy and strong together too.

Harry told Hermione that everything was better. Harry was playing better Quidditch. Harry wasn't having nightmares. Harry was happy and content with where he was.

He asked her to please see that Theo was what made him happy. He asked her to please get to know Theo and then decide. He talked to her with his heart on his sleeve in a way that made her realize her little and broken family needed her to be there for them.

Hermione got to know Theo and Harry together as a team and that was that. Theo became her family. Not exactly a brother but a good friend. Together they gave Harry such a hard time and they actually enjoyed developing a relationship with each other. They really were perfect for each other, Theo and Harry. They filled in blank spaces in each other. Harry got someone to take care of because he really did have a saving people thing and Theo got to be taken care of for the first time since his mother died when he was just a child. Harry was levity and fun and Theo was the serious side that brought him back down. It just worked!

Hermione got another family member and Harry actually relaxed a little when he realized it was not going to cost him a sister to have the man he loved in his life. She got a replacement best friend after then end of her relationship with Ron when he cut all friendship ties between both herself and Harry. Ron was too big a star after the war to be friends with people who just wanted a quiet mousy life. Ron also had a huge problem with Harry's life choices and Hermione was not at all about to put up with that.

As they approached Hermione got up to hug them both.

"See you brought your better half." she told Harry.

"Of course he did. It's his first day off in weeks because of the season and the schedule but any time I can spend time with both of you I have every intention of forcing my presence on you." Theo replied.

"You are never a chore regardless of Harry's schedule. We went to dinner at least five times while we was at training camp those three weeks in October and I enjoyed every minute of it. Besides can you imagine Harry spending two hours with me browsing the book store for a forgotten gem? No, don't answer he would have been bored to death and rearranging the books in the first ten minutes. You are my adult hang out and Harry is my little brother time."

"Excuse me but I am not sure that I resemble that remark!" Harry said with an indignant huff.

"Oh don't worry Harry you do!" Hermione replied.

As they settled in and ordered their coffee and breakfast Hermione began to fidget and take deep calming breaths. Theo noticed before Harry so he stopped talking and quietly waited. He had enough experience in dealing with Hermione to know that you could never ask her what was wrong you had to wait for her to volunteer the information. It took Harry forever but when he noticed the lack of conversation from anyone other than himself he looked at Theo then Hermione.

"Hey," he said grabbing her hand and giving it a soft sqeeze, "What is wrong?"

Taking a deep breath Hermione told them, "So I have been seeing Marcus Flint off and on for the last year or so. It was not an exclusive relationship and I knew that going into it. I knew Marcus liked to play the field and have a girl in every town. Any time he was in London though I thought that girl was always me. Last week I went out to lunch with Ginny and Luna and found out he has been out with them lately. He was actually portkeying the girls to him from London in different towns. The girls were giggling when they confessed their sexcapdes with him lately. They didn't know I had been seeing him. They might not have told me if they did and it would have continued. I had fallen in love with him and even though I went into the relationship knowing when he was like I couldn't help myself." Tears were falling from her eyes at this point and couldn't be helped. Theo handed her a handkerchief and she dabbed at them.

"I knew who he was and how he was and I fell in love anyway. He doesn't know I was in love with him and I have no intention of ever telling him. I told him that I wouldn't be seeing him any more because I couldn't handle that he was sleeping with my best friends too. Yes Harry before you ask he knew exactly who my best friends were. I don't know if he was trying to hurt me or not but it hurt me know matter what." She looked up at her boys with all her heartbreak in her eyes. They had matching hurt expressions on their face but they let her continue without ask any questions.

"All this has made me realize that I need to make some changes to my life. I am so unhappy. I hate my job. I hate being alone all the time. All I do is work and come home. I do nothing else for fun. I have not made time to see my friends lately not even you two. I haven't seen Hannah and Susan in almost two months because I have been so busy and all the time I can squeeze together with Ginny and Luna are quick lunch dates. Harry your schedule keeps you so busy that I never see you, which I am not blaming you for, you don't get to be the best seeker in the British league without hard work. Theo it is so hard for us to get together too because you are working a lot of traveling to be with Harry. I feel like I am stuck in a rut and teetering on the brink of major depression. If I don't do something drastic now to change things I am worried I will lose myself." She took a few deep gasping breaths to try to calm herself down. She needed to focus so that she could ask them for help. She needed them to help her change things and to hold her accountable...

"How can we help?"

The question was asked by Harry but the sensitivity showing on Theo's face made it known it was a question from both of them.

"I have a list." she replied.

At this all three of them laughed.

"That sounds like you." replied Theo, "Listen love, go to the bathroom and wash your face them come back out and let's make a plan the three of us to get you back on your feet and feeling better. We love you and we won't let anything bad happen to you and we refuse to see you get hurt anymore. Go on, we will be right here. We need food for planning."

Hermione smiled at them both and got up to go to the bathroom. She loved her boys and she knew they would do anything to help her. She was so lucky to have them in her life.

"Theo..."

" I know Harry."

"Do we tell her?"

"Hell no! It would break her heart."

"But Marcus tried to proposition us both last month. Fuck we almost took him to home that night! It would have killed her. I would have hurt my sister so deeply and I didn't even know what was going on."

"I know that Salazar we were interrupted. I can't handle the thought of it. I know it was hard at first but I love your swotty little sister. It would kill me to hurt her."

"Do you think he is aiming for her friends to hurt her? Do you think he is doing this on purpose?"

"I don't know Harry. Marcus is a lot smarter than people give him credit for. I knew he was seeing someone but I didn't know it was her. Honestly the whole of the snake pit have been expecting some kind of announcement from him. To find out her was doing that..."

"So we help her. We give her whatever she needs and we help her get back up. Hermione is the best sister a guy could have and I hate that she is hurting. We build her back up."

"She has had my back with my business and our relationship. She has whatever she needs from me. I will empty the Nott vaults to help her although she would never take it."

Harry grabbed Theo's hand and gave it a gentle sqeeze. He knew that Theo had a bit of a crush on Hermione back in school but he also knew that they loved each other. They trusted each other. Hermione needed a Theo of her own. Someone who would prop her up and hold her back when she needed it. Someone she could show her worst side too and would love her through it all. She needed a Theo of her own who would understand he darkness and love her through he worst moments.

But for right now she had them.

They would move mountains for her.

Take on Dark Lords for her.

They would help her find herself through the mess and she would shine brighter than ever before.