A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews, favorites and follows! I hope that you enjoyed your holidays if you celebrated and thank you to everyone who wished me a merry christmas :) next stop, new years! I am excited to share what I have planned for 2019, which I will be posting soon on my tumblr (nauticalparamour) - you can also check out sneak peeks, story updates and ask questions there.
Please let me know what you thought of chapter nineteen and be on the lookout for chapter twenty next week!
Meeting up with Theo in the library had become torture for Hermione. While she enjoyed spending any time with him, there was no denying that their physical relationship was not able to...blossom while they were tucked away in the stacks. Madam Pince had grown increasingly suspicious of duo of Slytherin and Gryffindor. They were only able to get in one or two snogs before the older woman came skulking around looking for them.
At first she thought that it Theo might have been orchestrating it that way, so that they didn't move things too fast. He seemed to have a nearly pathological need to make sure that he wasn't pushing her into anything that she didn't want. Normally, it would be something that Hermione appreciated, if she wasn't absolutely dying to go further than him.
After a month of thwarted chances, Hermione had finally begged Theo to sneak off to some abandoned classroom with her. To her surprise, he agreed readily, even suggesting that they meet in the room that he used to change in. Once they were finished with whatever homework or revision that needed doing - Hermione wasn't going to slack on her studies, werewolf mate or not - they would retreat to the little room to do some further research on werewolf mates, and then try a little practical application as well.
After a frustrating look into a book that promised all the secrets of werewolf mating habits, but ended up containing enough salacious drawings to have them both blushing furiously, Theo had finally grown so flustered by her presence that he pulled Hermione into his lap, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. "This author has no fucking idea what he's talking about," he groused, his teeth scraping the skin of her neck, before his tongue followed their path. "I've never had a mate before, but I know that it's wrong."
Hermione gasped, wrapping her arms around his neck. She wriggled around a bit, hoping to do something to sooth the persistent ache between her legs. She felt a surge of feminine pride when her arse came in contact with his hard cock, pleased to know that he was just as affected by her as she was by him. "How do you know?" she asked, cupping Theo's jaw so that she could pull him into a tentative kiss.
Theo, always the dominant one in these situations, immediately deepened the kiss, his tongue entering her mouth. She sighed into him, feeling her center clench in desire each time his tongue slid against hers. Hermione grew so focused on him in that moment that she nearly forgot that she'd asked a question at all.
After a few moments, once her mind was sufficiently turned into mush, Theo pulled away, groaning. "Salazar, you make it so fucking difficult to focus when you smell like you do," he whispered, almost to himself.
"I smell?" Hermione asked, a bright red blush coming to her cheeks. "Like what?"
"Good enough to eat," he said, giving her a wolfish grin, his pupils dilating in desire.
She gasped, feeling her face heat up even more, but completely unable to deny the rush of slickness between her legs at his thinly veiled meaning. Biting her lower lip, she barely parted her legs, but it was enough for Theo to notice the action. Taking her invitation, he moved his hand from her hip to her upper thigh. Hermione watched in delight as his large hand slowly slid up her leg, delving underneath the skirt. She parted her legs further, her anticipation only furthered by not being able to see what he was doing under the plain gray fabric. Her whole being was completely focused on the feel of the rough pads of her fingers sliding against the silk-smooth skin of her inner thighs.
Her breath hitched when she finally felt his finger meet the edge of her cotton knickers. Merlin, she wanted nothing more than for him to apply some pressure to her center. She knew that if he just touched her, it would help to alleviate the ache.
Just as he was about to trade his teasing touches for something more substantial, the door to their quiet little room was bursting open. Hermione gasped in surprise when she turned, seeing Harry Potter brandishing his wand in one hand and the open Marauder's map in the other.
"Get your slimy paws off my friend, Nott," he growled, always determined to play the hero.
Hermione gasped, leaping up from Theo's lap, straightening out her skirt. "Harry, what are you doing here?" she demanded, wishing that the ground would open up and swallow her up. She was not nearly prepared to have this sort of conversation with Harry at this moment.
"Calm down, Potter," Theo said, effecting the bored drawl that seemed to come easily to all Slytherins.
"Don't tell me to calm down," Harry answered irritated. "What were you doing with Hermione? Did you think you could take advantage of her and I wouldn't find out about it?"
The room's lone female occupant did not appreciate being talked about as if she wasn't there. "Harry, this is really none of your business," she pleaded, wishing that he would just go away, but knowing that he wouldn't be able to let it go without getting some answers first.
"I wasn't taking advantage of her!" Theo snarled, not accepting the suggestion that he would be doing anything against Hermione's will.
"Well, you were the one with your hand up my friend's skirt, so forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Harry said sarcastically. Crossing the room, he wrapped an arm around Hermione's shoulders. "Are you okay, Hermione?" he asked quietly, obviously very concerned about her safety.
"Oh god," Hermione said, pressing her hands to her cheeks. Of all the ways that she wanted Harry to find out about Theo, this was definitely not one of them. Still, she knew that she couldn't go sneaking around behind the boy's backs forever. Things with Theo were serious, and she would have had to tell her friends eventually. She was just glad that Ron wasn't there, too. "Yes, I am fine, Harry. Theo wasn't doing anything that I didn't want him to."
Harry swallowed thickly as the understanding of what she said sunk in. "You told me nothing was going on with Nott," he said weakly, probably a bit put off by the idea of his friend being so involved with someone.
Hermione bit her lower lip. "I might not have been completely truthful," she said, feeling a bit sorry for lying to him. "But, what are you doing here, Harry?"
"I saw you on the Marauder's Map. I mean, usually you are just in the library, but then I saw that he brought you here," Harry explained, running his fingers through his perpetually messy hair. "And I just imagined the worst I suppose. But how can I not? Hermione, he's a Slytherin and his dad is a Death Eater!"
She turned to look at Theo with large pleading eyes, trying to get him to see her way of thinking. "Please can I tell him, Theo? About everything?" she asked. "He won't tell anyone. I know that we can trust him...but, it's your life, so I won't do anything you don't want."
Theo gave Harry a hard look, assessing the truth of her statement. She knew that it was a huge ask of him, to put his faith in Harry Potter, especially when her friend was making all sorts of wild accusations. "I...fine," Theo agreed, his face guarded.
Hermione was glad that he agreed, because she wasn't sure how she could get Harry to be reasonable without telling him the truth. "Harry, I know that Theo's father is a Death Eater," she explained quietly. "But, this summer, he was punished by Voldemort for his father's failures at the Department of Mysteries," she explained slowly. "He was bitten by Fenrir Greyback."
Harry reeled back hearing that, knowing that it was a fate that had been shared by Remus. "He's a...a werewolf?" he asked, still wrapping his mind around it.
"Yes," Hermione explained softly. "I figured it out because we were working on our project. And then I confronted him about it," she said, deciding not to tell him that Theo was her mate quite yet. She didn't think that Harry would be able handle such a big shock after finding them together. "And, well, I really like Theo, Harry. He and I are...together now," she said, giving the tall Slytherin a shy smile.
Theo returned the smile, coming to stand beside her, placing a possessive arm around her waist. It felt good to be working with Theo as one united front. She felt like she could take on anything if he was with her.
"But, what if he's just using you, Hermione?" Harry asked, still not sounding very convinced. "He could be working on Death Eater stuff...like Malfoy."
"I can't explain it, Harry, but I just know that he isn't using me," she said simply. There would come a time when she would explain their connection, but she couldn't do it now.
"And, I can tell you emphatically, Potter, I have no intention of ever becoming a Death Eater," Theo said, spitting out the words like they were poison. "I didn't want to before, but after being punished for something someone else did, I would never submit to the Dark Lord."
"And Malfoy?" Harry pressed, unable to let it go. It was no secret that Theo and Draco were friends, though. "What will he do when he learns you are on our side."
"I'm not on your side," Theo corrected. "I'm on Hermione's side. I'll do whatever I can to make sure that she's safe and happy." He pressed a tender to kiss to Hermione's temple.
She turned in his arms, looking up at him with her big doe eyes. "Theo, it really would help us if...if you knew what it was that Draco was doing," she said, biting at her lower lip. Hermione hadn't asked anything about Draco so far because it felt wrong to ask Theo to snitch on his friend. But, at the same time, it would be incredibly helpful to prepare against it. "We know he's been working in the Room of Requirement."
Theo ran a hand down his face, looking rather tired. "I really don't know what it is that the Dark Lord has asked Draco to do, but if I had to make a guess, he's been set up to fail. He was given a task because Lucius embarrassed the Dark Lord," he explained, looking as if he'd rather not be sharing the details, but knowing that it was the right thing to do. "I've asked him to tell me time and time again, to share the burden so that I can help him, but he's been reticent, even with me."
Harry sucked in a breath in surprise that Theo was being so open with them. "But, he is working for Voldemort? Is he a Death Eater?" he asked, eager to learn if his hunch was correct.
The young werewolf took a deep breath before giving them a sad nod. "Yes, I've seen his mark," he explained. "But, listen, I know Draco...he's changed from when we started school. He wouldn't have taken the mark if he'd been given an actual choice."
The Gryffindor boy looked skeptical. It was easy not to believe that Draco wouldn't embrace the Dark Mark with open arms, especially considering how much of a pureblood bigot he'd always been. But, Harry had not been blind to the changes that Malfoy had gone through over the last year. "Okay," he finally said, not sounding very convinced.
"Harry," Hermione called. "I'm sorry for not telling you about Theo earlier, but...I didn't think that you and Ron would understand."
"It's alright," Harry said slowly. "I understand. I didn't exactly handle it the best," he said, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "But, I wouldn't go telling Ron anything unless you want the whole school to know about it."
She hid a smile from him. "Best to just keep it between the three of us, then," she said. "Maybe I'll tell him over the summer." While she knew that there was no avoiding the eventual blowout that Ron would have over the fact that she was dating a Slytherin, she knew that she couldn't keep it from him forever. She and Theo were inextricably linked now - they were mates.
Still, it was nice to know that they had a growing number of supporters on their side when the time came for their relationship to go public.