A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I am so excited about this story. So, fyi, when I started out, I thought that this was going to be 22 chapters, but I've decided to expand it, because I just felt that there was more story to be told past where I initially decided to end it. I am still working on the plotting, but I am guessing that this will actually be between 30 and 40 chapters. I hope this is welcome news to most of you? You can follow me on tumblr (nauticalparamour) where I post sneak peeks, story updates and answer questions.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter six and be on the lookout for chapter seven soon!
The morning after seeing how terrible Nott looked in the Great Hall, Hermione was consumed with guilt. She'd automatically assumed the worst when he hadn't showed up for their meeting, and he'd probably been really ill if he'd still looked that bad a whole twenty-four hours later. He'd likely missed at least a whole day's worth of classes, and would be stuck playing catch up.
It only seemed right to share her class notes for Arithmancy with him. Yes, he could probably ask Malfoy for his notes, but she owed it to her partner to make sure that he got the best notes possible, especially if they were going to work together. And, Hermione was positive that there would be no notes that were better than her own.
The only problem was figuring out where to find him. If he was off in the Slytherin Common Room, there was no chance of her sneaking in to chat with him. Instead, she headed off to the library, determined to search the stacks and hoping to find Nott tucked away in some desk. She knew that he spent a fair amount of time there, though not as much as she did.
However, her pass of the library ended up falling short, and she did not see any sign of Nott, no matter how hard she looked. With her back pressed up against a bookcase, Hermione nibbled on her lower lip, trying to come up with a plan of action. It was difficult, seeing as it was Sunday, and there were no classes. Nott could really be anywhere in this whole damn castle.
Just as Hermione was about to give up and just ask Harry to borrow the Marauder's Map, which would really cause far too many questions for her liking, Hermione heard hushed voices coming from the aisle over.
"Theo's gone back to the infirmary for the day," a voice - Malfoy's if she wasn't mistaken - said in a hushed, concerned tone.
"Well how did things go on Friday?" another voice answered. This time, there was no confusing Blaise Zabini's voice. "He looked fucking awful, but you know that he won't talk about it with me."
"How well can it go, Blaise?" Malfoy sneered back. "I doubt that it ever gets any easier to handle."
Hermione hoped that they didn't hear her hushed intake of breath, wondering just what it was that they were talking about. She hoped it wasn't what it sounded like. Of course, it would fit if they were discussing doing Voldemort's business. It was certainly no secret that Nott and Malfoy both had fathers in Azkaban, while Zabini decidedly did not. Though he was a prejudiced Slytherin same as the rest of them, Zabini at least still held the illusion of impartiality.
But of course, it begged the question, what if Nott really was a Death Eater? Did she want to help him out then? Or did it disqualify him from her concern?
She warred with herself for several minutes before deciding that she would go see him at least anyway. Even if he was a Death Eater, at least he seemed to be broken up about whatever it was that he had to do. Hermione decided that she would at least give him the benefit of the doubt.
Waiting until she was sure that Zabini and Malfoy were gone, Hermione slipped out of the library and off towards the infirmary. The hallways were thankfully deserted, seeing as it was uncharacteristically warm outside and students were hoping to enjoy one of the last nice days of autumn before the snow came. Cautiously, she turned the knob on the door to the infirmary and let out a sigh of relief when she saw that even Madame Pomfrey seemed to be out for the afternoon.
It was easy for Hermione to find Nott, seeing as he was the only one laid up at the moment. She crept to his side, only to realize that he was asleep. Pulling up a chair, she cringed at hearing the metal legs scrape along the floor. Hermione sat in it before staring at her classmate. A part of her felt bad for essentially spying on him, but another part of her was just too curious to walk away.
In sleep, Nott looked uncharacteristically peaceful. She hadn't realized it, but all term, he'd been carrying so much tension in his brow, as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. Now, though, he was relaxed and boyish.
He really was unfairly handsome, Hermione decided. When they were younger, he had been rather stringy and rabbity, as Harry had classified him. However, it was clear that he'd gone through some sort of swan transformation that Hermione secretly wished would happen to her. She'd been truly pretty at the Yule Ball, shocking her classmates, but she didn't have the patience to put in all that effort just to look good every morning, not when she had better things to do with her time.
Not Theo Nott, though. He apparently didn't have to put any effort in, seeing as he still looked good, despite how sick he was. With his strong jawline and straight nose, he looked masculine, a trait that was only aided by his broad shoulders. His hair, normally perfectly coiffed, was mussed by sleep, causing Hermione to smile.
She was momentarily distracted by the bottles of potions at his bedside. Her curiosity was getting the better of her, but she couldn't quite read the labels from where she was sat. Nibbling her lower lip, she gave Nott a quick glance and relaxed, seeing that he still looked deep asleep. Standing, she crept around to the other side of hospital bed.
Hermione reached out her hand to spin to potions bottles around, wanting to read the label. Just as she was about to touch it, a hand shot out and grabbed her by the wrist tightly, halting her progress.
Nearly jumping out of her skin, Hermione pressed her free hand to her chest to ease her rapidly beating heart. "Great Godric, Nott!" she said, seeing the hand attached to her sick classmate. "You scared the pants off of me."
Nott did not seem amused by her turn of phrase, practically glaring at her. "Well, perhaps you shouldn't have been skulking around, sticking your nose where it doesn't belong," he snarled at her. His hand tightened around her small wrist, not letting it go. "I don't appreciate having my privacy invaded like this, Granger."
Hermione stared down at his long fingers wrapped around her, feeling the strength he possessed. He is holding back, she realized with shock. "I'm sorry, Nott. I didn't mean to pry," she apologized, but realizing how lame it sounded. "I just was...curious. I was worried about you."
He recoiled, hearing her words. "Don't pretend like you are worried about me," he said with a frown. "You will never be able to lie as well as a Slytherin." Reluctantly, he released her wrist.
She caught her lower lip between her teeth, trying to decide what to do. Finally, she moved back around the bed, feeling Nott's eyes follow her the whole way. Taking a deep breath, she sat back down in the chair, pressing her hands to her knees. She wasn't entirely sure how to proceed. The whole time she had been planning on getting her notes to Nott, she hadn't thought about what she'd actually say to him.
"What are you doing here, Granger?" Nott demanded, sitting up in the bed, pulling the blankets up with him. Hermione was temporarily struck by the intimacy of the situation and felt a bit shameful for the way that she'd barged in on him. He looked up and down the hospital ward, seeing none of the other beds occupied. "Neither of your little sidekicks are hurt, so why did you come?"
Hermione blushed bright red, scolding herself for being so foolish for coming to visit him before thinking over the consequences. What if one of his Slytherin friends had come by to speak with him? It had been reckless and stupid, but she couldn't just run away now. "I...you missed class," she started, playing with a bit of fuzz on her jumper.
"Well spotted, Granger," Nott answered sarcastically. She could practically hear him roll his eyes at her. "Didn't know you missed me so much."
Her head snapped up at the accusation, and she wanted to deny it. But, in an odd way, she knew that he was right. She had cared that he didn't show up. "You're my arithmancy partner," she stammered out, though it didn't sound as explanatory when she actually said the words than they did in her head. "I just thought...well, you might like my notes."
"Your notes?" he questioned, harshly, disbelief evident in his voice.
The brunette nodded. "Well, yes. I thought that since you missed class you might want to copy my notes," she said firmly, before digging in her bag for the notes that she had taken the other day. "You are my partner and it wouldn't do to have you falling behind."
"Always so worried about your marks," he sneered at her. "Can't even leave me alone to recover in peace...the only thing that matters to you is doing well in arithmancy. I am sure I'll be able to manage."
"I thought that...you cared about doing well in classes just as much as I," she answered, hating that he thought her heartless. "But, of course, your health is much more important. What's wrong with you anyway?"
Nott bristled at her question, his jaw clenched tight. "Don't pretend as if you care about my health, Granger. We've already established you are a shite liar," he said, his blue eyes firmly on the starchy white sheet in his lap. "Please, just leave."
"Fine, I'll go," she agreed, standing up, before leaning towards him to press her notes into his hands. "But, please just take my notes. You can return him in class this week," she insisted.
As she got closer to him, Nott physically recoiled away from her, as though she might burn him if she touched him. "I don't want your fucking notes, Granger. Please just get out of here," he practically begged, his body still angled away from her. He wouldn't even meet her eyes. "We aren't friends, if you have forgotten."
"But, how will you catch up?" she questioned, nearly unable to believe that he wouldn't even borrow her notes, when most of their classmates would kill for a copy, or even a glimpse. He was just being so...rude and unreasonable!
"Draco's already lent me his," he explained, his teeth clenched as though he was in pain. "I'll be fine, okay?"
Reluctantly, Hermione knew that she would just have to take his word. She couldn't force him to take her notes. "Fine," she agreed, biting the inside of her cheek to stop from continue to arguing with him. She pulled her book bag back over her shoulder, shoving her notes inside. Turning tail, she left Nott alone in the infirmary, wondering just what she had been thinking in the first place going to visit him anyway. Nott was right. They weren't friends. So why had she gone to visit him in the first place? She felt drawn to him, like a moth to a flame.
There was more to her mysterious classmate than he was letting on, and all it did was inflame her curiosity. She could feel it practically eating away inside of her, wanting to just know what it was that Nott was dealing with, but knowing that it really wasn't any of her business.
So why couldn't she just leave it alone?
By the time that she returned to the empty Gryffindor common room, she still hadn't been able to shake the uneasy feeling that made the hair on the back of her neck stand up.