Author's Note: Sooooo, I should probably apologize for not updating in ages. Life and my other stories sort of got away from me. However, once school is out and I have more time to write versus time spent worrying about teaching, I plan on updating this at least once a week throughout the summertime. That said, I hope you enjoy this chapter. xxDustNight

Disclaimer: All non-original characters, plot points, and information belongs to J.K. Rowling. The story plot and dialogue belongs to me. I do not write for profit.

Current & Future Trigger Warnings: Infidelity, Character Death, PTSD, Depression, Sexual Tension, Sexual Content, Mildly Dubious Consent

Summary: When her partner gets lost in time, Hermione is forced to seek out the help of her estranged husband. With Draco by her side, she travels through time desperately searching for Theo. Along the way, Hermione finds herself having to accept that sometimes love truly is forever and that maybe you really can love more than one person at a time.

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Partners in Time
Pairing: Hermione/Theo and Hermione/Draco
Rated: M
Part II: October 24, 2016
Song Recommendations: "Take Your Time" by Sam Hunt, "Change Your Mind" by The Killers

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October 24, 2016

Shifting her weight from foot to foot, Hermione stood in front of Theo's office door wondering for the umpteenth time whether she was making the biggest mistake of her life. She'd taken just a few days to ponder over both the pros and cons of using the Time-Turner Theo had found and his father's study. She knew that the cons far outweighed the pros, and that should anything go awry while they were traveling in time, entire time streams could be altered. It was madness, but it was a madness Hermione couldn't help but be tempted by.

So, with a shaking hand, she raised her fist and rapped softly on the closed door before her. There was a rustling from inside, followed by the unmistakable sound of somebody slamming into the side of a desk. She cringed, hoping that she wasn't disturbing Theo while he was working; after all, it wasn't very often that she found him working. Quite suddenly, the door was thrown open revealing Theo rubbing at his knee and looking a bit frazzled.

Theo's longer than normal hair was disheveled as if he'd run his fingers through it repeatedly, and he had a freshly inked quill clamped between his teeth as he held open the door. His eyes grew wide before he ripped the quill from his mouth and opened the door wider to let Hermione inside. Sheepishly, he gave her a smirk before looking away.

"Granger," he began, "I swear I'll have those files signed and ready for you by this afternoon. I'm working on them now. They weren't due yet were they?"

With a sigh, Hermione smiled and shook her head. "No, Theo, they're not due until this afternoon." Her face crumpled as she tried to hold back from scolding him for putting off his paperwork yet again. "I've actually come to talk to you about something else entirely." She remained standing outside the office, her nerves rooting her to the spot despite the welcoming gesturing Theo gave her to move inside.

Theo narrowed his eyes, examining Hermione as he took in her words. As realization dawned on him, his dark eyes went wide and a huge grin spread across his regal features. At his sudden change in disposition, Hermione faltered, taking a step backward. This only seemed to spur on Theo's excitement.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Hermione asked, crossing her arms as she quirked an eyebrow disapprovingly. She had to bite the inside of her cheek from smiling back at the grinning fool.

"I think you know why," Theo stated plainly, tucking the quill behind his ear before mirroring her posture. "You're going to say yes," he said smugly.

"How can you be so sure," she countered with hesitance, but she could no longer stop herself from lifting the corners of her lips into a smile of her own. Theo's overabundance of excitement was contagious, and added to her nervousness, she found that she couldn't wipe the grin from her face.

Chuckling, Theo reached out and grabbed hold of her wrist, swiftly tugging her inside his office and sealing the door behind them. "Oh, I think it's fairly obvious, Hermione. You wouldn't have come here today looking so out of sorts with yourself if you weren't leaning more towards using the Time-Turner than not." Letting go of her wrist, he gave her an approving looking before turning away. "If you had planned to say no," he continued as he walked around his desk and sat down in his posh chair, "you would have waited for me to seek you out once more. Which I wouldn't have done, by the way. This was a decision you needed to come to on your own."

Still standing in front of the closed-door, Hermione hesitated as to what to do now. She was caught, Theo having figured her out with just one glance. How was it that she'd somehow convinced herself that it would be fine, that nothing bad would happen if they used the Time-Turner only once? So, with a sigh, she gingerly made her way forward and perched herself on the edge of the chair across from Theo.

"Look," she practically whispered, afraid of saying aloud what she'd been keeping inside, "I'm not saying that I'm outright agreeing to use the Time-Turner. However, I am aware that we have to test it in order to make sure that it is safe and does what you say it does, if only to clarify what will have to be written in the report."

"Brilliant," Theo mumbled, rifling around in his robe pocket. He extracted the glimmering Time-Turner and placed it on the desk in front of him. Gesturing toward the small, golden trinket, he further questioned her, "When do you want to go? We could go now. These papers can wait; after all, we'll return to the same time and place that we left from."

Throwing her hands up in a near panic, Hermione all but shouted, "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Who said that we were leaving right now? We can't just run off on an adventure through time! We need to have a plan, and a back-up plan in case something goes wrong."

"Come on, Hermione. When we talked about this previously, I asked you when the last time was that you did something reckless, and we both know when that was." He deflated a bit after saying that, sinking into his chair and running both hands up over his face and through his mess of black hair. "I realize that things got pretty fucked up between you and Draco, and even me and Draco too. Hell, he still can't hardly look me in the eye when we see each other. Despite all of that, don't you want to just let it all go—all the planning and list making just for once?"

"Theo, you and I made a mistake, a big one. And while I regret that it happened the way that it did, I don't regret that it happened with you. But if we go on this adventure together, and we mess up time and ruin other people's lives like we ruined Draco's, I'll never be able to forgive myself."

Hermione watched as Theo contemplated what she said. His cheeks puffed out as he slowly released the breath that he held. It was true, the affair the two of them had partaken in truly did mess things up for Draco. He loved her desperately, and she, well she had loved him too but clearly not enough. Something about Theo, his mysteriousness, his dark hair and eyes, factored in with his brilliance, just drew her to him. She didn't quite know if anything would ever come of it but that didn't really matter. They were partners in the Department of Mysteries and that was that.

"Are you saying yes to traveling in time then, Hermione? Because I don't want to force you into anything. I feel like I might have forced you into that closet that night, and I can't imagine having you look at me every day the way you looked at me when Draco found us afterward."

Swallowing thickly, Hermione glanced away for a moment, trying to catch her bearings. It was true; Theo was right. She did blame him that night for what happened. But after so much time, she realized that it wasn't just Theo's fault, it was hers too. In fact, it was probably more her fault than anyone's. Maybe someday she could forgive herself for that night and what transpired afterwards, but she didn't want to add any more pain and regret to her ledger.

Biting her lip, she nodded, finally giving voice to the answer that she knew since Theo had withdrawn the Time-Turner from his pocket all those days ago. "Yes," she acknowledged. "Yes, we can travel through time together. But there will be stipulations, you understand?"

Practically bounding to his feet, somehow Theo managed to remain seated. Shoving all the paperwork to the side, he wrapped his elegant fingers around the Time-Turner before pulling it close and holding it to his chest. "Semantics. Where do you want to go?" He asked, "Shall we go forwards in time or backwards. I've tried backwards already."

Staring intensely at her partner, Hermione stood from where she sat and walked around the desk to hover beside him. Placing her hand gently overtop his where he held the Time-Turner, she quietly replied, almost afraid of screwing up time just by agreeing this insanity. "If this is going to be the only time we do this, as it should, we can go forwards since you have already tested going backwards."

The smile returned to Theo's face, lighting up his eyes and making her realize that if this was anyone else she could have easily said no. But this was Theo, and somewhere along the line she started seeing him as more than just a friend and a co-worker. Although nothing could ever come of it, mostly because of their tangled past, she would enjoy this time with him, experimenting with the Time-Turner, before they had to hide it away forever.

Standing too, Theo met Hermione's chocolate eyes and nodded. "Okay," he said resolutely. "Let's see where this thing can take us." Then, together, they wrapped the chain around both their necks and Theo allowed Hermione to do the honor of twisting the miniscule hourglass, sending them hurtling into the unknown.