A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! So, I might be a little bit behind on reviewer responses due to the holidays, but I promise I will get to them! Still, didn't want to leave you hanging on a chapter, though! 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 nine and be on the lookout for chapter ten soon!
The school term was rapidly speeding by, the leaves changing colors and then falling off the trees by the last week of October. It was always a somber time of year, knowing that it marked the anniversary of Harry's parents death, but it was made all the worse this year by a few early flurries of snow, making it too cold to go for many jaunts around the grounds. Not that Hermione had been on many trips to Hagrid's hut with the boys, finding herself knee-deep in school work.
Despite her rigorous method of studying, all of her advanced classes assigned more work than they ever had, and she found herself struggling with the load of her strict revision schedule and finishing essays. One of the only classes that she felt she had a firm handle on was arithmancy, and that was owed in large part to her partner's efforts.
Since they had begun working together at the start of term, Theo had not brought up splitting up the work again. They had settled into a bit of routine, each one constantly checking the other's for rarely found mistakes. Hermione was excited to say that they had already begun to tease out some interesting trends - she hadn't been able to stop herself from teasing him about how much better the Slytherins seemed to perform in Professor Snape's classes, something that he couldn't explain away.
"Not that I'm doubting your potions ability," she said with a grin, knowing that he did quite well in the class. She'd never noticed his brewing ability in the past, although Gryffindor was frequently paired together with Slytherin. Now, she could find herself distracted by the way he stirred his potions, sure and confident with his long fingers holding onto the stirring rod. Really, it was ridiculous how absorbed she could be by him. "But you have to admit there is a bias."
"At least Snape would have never allowed someone who was unprepared for the class into NEWT potions," he countered with a raised eyebrow, not bothering to hide his smirk from her. He knew that she shared his feelings about Ron bumbling his way through the subject. It wasn't that her friend was incapable of succeeding and potions, but he didn't want to or he couldn't put in the effort to do well.
She had begun to think of Theo as a friend, and she was hoping that he'd felt the same way. After all, he didn't need to help her hide from Mrs. Norris that night on the seventh floor and he didn't need to stick up for her in potions either. He seemed to relax and open up around her, almost as if he couldn't help it...like he was comforted by her presence.
So, it was because of this budding friendship that Hermione thought that she could be honest with him when he showed up for their Friday Arithmancy class about how he looked. She'd seen the steady decline in his appearance all week, and by that morning, he'd looked thin and pale, his jaw held in constant tension. He hadn't eaten breakfast, and if she was honest, she was surprised to see him in class at all.
As usual, he sat next to her, taking his usual notes. He jiggled his leg all through lecture, as though he was burning off some excess energy, which was odd, because based on the dark circles under his eyes, he looked like he needed to catch up on sleep.
She waited until the end of class to bring it up, not wanting to upset him by sticking her nose where she knew he would say it didn't belong. When Professor Vector dismissed the class, he was quick to begin repacking his bag. "Hey, wait a minute," she pressed gently, reaching out to touch his arm. "Theo, is everything alright with you? I don't mean to sound rude, but you look exhausted."
He pulled his arm out of her grasp, cradling it to his chest. "Granger-" he barked out.
Hermione was quick to cut him off. "I know, I know, you are going to remind me that it's none of my business and that I am a shite liar and all that you said before," she said with a frown, wishing that he didn't think so little of her. She wasn't lying and while she did want to know what exactly was wrong with him, that didn't mean she didn't care about him.
Theo took a step closer to her, so that she was having to crane her neck in order to see him. "It's not that...it's just," he trailed off, with a crooked smile, surprise evident on his face, making him look especially handsome. "I don't think I've ever heard you call me by my first name before."
Hermione blushed at her mistake and wondered when he had shifted from Nott to Theo in her mind. "I'm sorry, Nott," she said with a frown, hoping that she hadn't offended him. "I just, well...listen, you don't have to tell me what's wrong with you, of course, but, I'm not blind. I know something is going on and..." she wasn't sure what she wanted to say to him. She wasn't sure what she could even offer him. "I guess, I am here, if you want to talk about it."
He sighed deeply, his head dropping back, his eyes staring at the ceiling as if he was looking how to respond from there. When he finally looked at her again, his blue eyes were unreadable. "You are right, it's really none of your business," he said, his voice quiet and on edge. She wondered how the switch had been flipped so quickly. "Just, trust me, you don't want to know."
She gaped at him, surprised that he had all but admitted that there really was something wrong with him. She'd thought that he'd try to deflect or insist that he was okay, but...now her mind was unable to stop thinking over all of the possibilities. "I-alright then," she nodded with a frown, slinging her own bag over her arm. "I'll see you tonight," she said with a shrug, before turning to walk away.
"Hermione, wait!" he called after her, making her stop in her tracks.
She felt her heart skip a beat when he used her own first name, a pleasurable tingle running up her spine at how it sounded on his lips. She turned around to face him. "Yes?" she asked, unsure of what else he could have to say.
"I won't be able to meet you tonight in the library," he said with a frown on his face. "Something's come up, and I won't be able to make it."
Hermione swallowed thickly, not knowing how to respond to that. Internally, she was kicking herself for not being able to leave well enough alone when it came to Theo Nott. She'd probably scared him away with her questions, and he was just trying to keep a little distance between the two of them.
Movement in the corner of her eye made her realize that almost all of the rest of the class had left already, except for one. Draco Malfoy was staring at the pair of them, his eyes moving back and forth between the two of them, his pale face hard and unreadable. "Theo, are you ready to go? We've got charms."
She watched the Adam's apple in Theo's throat bob up and down, before he turned to look at his blond friend. They seemed to be having some kind of conversation with just their eyes. "In a minute Draco," Theo answered with a wave of his hand. "Granger and I are just sorting out responsibilities for our project for next week, since I've got...well, you know."
Malfoy gave him an imperceptible nod, but made no move to leave the room.
"Could you wait for me outside? I'll be just another minute," Theo requested, with an edge to his voice that seemed to leave no room for argument. It was so odd to see Malfoy bow to his request, as the other Slytherin always seemed to think that he was the King of Hogwarts, giving out orders to all his dutiful little followers. This year had changed him, though, making him more quiet, less pompous. But, Hermione knew that the friendship between Malfoy and Theo was one of begrudging equals.
Once Malfoy had vacated the room, Theo returned his attention back to her. "Like I was saying, I can't make it tonight. But if you still wanted to meet this weekend, I could probably make it on Sunday night," he said with a shrug of his broad shoulders. "If you wanted to that is."
Hermione wet her bottom lip to stop from agreeing immediately, though she wanted to jump at the chance. "That would work for me, Nott," she said with a nod. "I'll probably be in the library most of the weekend anyway, revising for Transfiguration," she added. "You know where to find me."
"Yes," he agreed, nodding twice. "If...for whatever reason, I'm not able to make it, well, I suppose I should be able to get you a note."
She gave him a half smile and shook her head. "That's fine, just...come if you can," she said, knowing that she shouldn't hold out hope that he would be able to make it. "We can always catch up next week if we need to."
He looked as if he'd like to say more to her, but he thought better of it, turning and hurrying out of the now empty classroom after Malfoy. Hermione watched his retreating form and was surprised to feel worried about him. Just what was he planning, she wondered?
After he was long gone, Hermione began her own walk to her next class, knowing that she would have to worry if she was going to make it to Herbology on time. She walked as if she were on autopilot, her mind too busy trying to figure out the mystery that was Theo Nott.
Biting on her lower lip, she thought it over. Malfoy seemed to know whatever it was that Theo was doing - more than aware of it, really. It seemed to her that the biggest possibility was that he was mixed up with the Death Eaters, but that meant facing that Harry was probably right, too. If Theo was doing Death Eater business at Hogwarts, it made sense that Malfoy would be also. But, how could Professor Dumbledore just let two Death Eaters into the school? Surely, they would have some way of knowing what was going on right under their noses.
On second thought, Hermione knew all of the things that she, Harry and Ron had gotten into without any of the Professors knowing either, so maybe they didn't.
But, why did Theo look so terrible whenever he had to...she didn't know, meet with the Death Eaters? Do something for them? Was he a reluctant participant and the acts that he was being made to do sickened him? Running her fingers through her hair, she wondered if she wasn't just projecting what she would like Theo to do. Of course, she liked him, so she wanted him to be horrified by whatever it was that the Death Eaters were up to.
Merlin, Harry was never going to let her live it down if he was right.
The air was cold outside when she made her way across the grass towards the greenhouses for Herbology. She decided that she wasn't going to tell Harry anything until she had some sort of concrete proof, or else he was only going to be more of a stalker towards Malfoy. She wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but she supposed she was going to have to try and see if Theo wore a Dark Mark on his arm.
She didn't know what she would do if it turned out that he actually had one, but she hoped that her instincts were wrong.