The Importance of inter-House Unity
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros. Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Admit it, you didn't think this would be completed, eh? Quite frankly, neither did I. After reading DH and wracking my brain how to make this story compatible with it I was about to give it up. Then I discovered my new fondness for AUs. From this moment on, ladies and gentlemen this story includes canon up to HBP and ignores the rest.
I hope you enjoy this nevertheless (and thank you all for your wonderful support, of course!) and forgive me my horrible lack of updates.
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"I say we should move."
Hermione rolled her eyes and groaned in protest. They've been through this before. At length. "Move where, Nott?"
"Anywhere. Just sitting around is making me twitchy," the Slytherin replied and, as if to emphasize his point, started fidgeting again.
Hermione, who was still sharing a cloak with him and was getting thoroughly rustled by his twitching, glared, then grabbed the collar of his shirt to keep him from moving. "Sit. Still."
"But…"
"Sit."
"I am sitting, Granger," Theo replied, the dark and chilly atmosphere obviously putting a considerable strain on his nerves. "We've been sitting in this stupid clearing on this stupid tree trunk for hours now and quite frankly, I'm getting the feeling my arse is freezing to the bloody tree."
Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. And she used to think that Ron could be difficult at times! "And what," she said in a carefully controlled voice, "Do you suggest?"
"We move before we're frozen. Let's walk a bit. Keep our muscles warm."
Hermione groaned, though the sound came out decidedly shaky as her teeth started chattering. "A-and again I-I ask – move where? D-did the fact that we're practically stuck in the middle of nowhere? We'll get lost!"
Giving her the most annoyed look he'd managed so far (and that alone was quite a feat since, in the course of the day, Theo had managed to pull off some rather impressive pouts and scowls), Theo put an arm around Hermione and pulled her closer. "Y-you're shaking like a leaf."
She sniffed and nestled into his embrace, determined to deny this action for the rest of her life. "We'll get lost," Hermione mumbled into Theo's jumper, a small part of her incredibly glad that it was Nott she'd been assigned to and not some other Slytherin such as Crabbe or Goyle.
"We can't get any more lost than we already are."
Hermione, remembering her adventures with Harry and Ron, grinned. "Oh yes, we can."
Their eyes met for a moment, then Theo shook his head. "I don't want to know."
She grinned, and leaned her head back on his chest, listening to the Slytherin's heart beat. Somehow, the fact that he did have a heart beat at all was reassuring. That, Hermione smiled, and the fact that he didn't suffer from dandruff or bad hygiene. That would have made sitting this close decidedly unpleasant.
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"I'm coming with you!" Ron and Pansy shouted, both wearing an equally mulish expression.
Minerva McGonagall sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Mr. Weasley. Miss Parkinson."
Ron stuck out his chin defiantly and opened his mouth to protest but the Headmistress, anticipating his intention, was faster.
"I have no intention of endangering any more students, so no, you will both be staying here." She placed the palms of her hands on the desk, giving the teenagers a stern look. "None of you are trained to deal with a situation like this and quite frankly, I'm expecting you to try and make things easier by cooperating. I will get them back."
"You'll get your precious little teacher's pet back," Pansy snarled, startling Ron with the unexpected venom in her voice. "What about Theo? He's just a Slytherin and those can be neglected, right? Like you neglected Draco?"
Minerva blinked, taken aback. "I don't…this is not the right time for this. I assure you, Miss Parkinson, I do not value any student more than another."
"Of course not," Pansy snorted and shook her head. "Wasn't it bloody obvious last year that something was wrong with Draco? Everyone noticed it but you ignored it and now I've lost a friend because of that and I swear to Merlin, I'm not losing another friend because you don't. Care!" Her voice trailed off shrilly in a hysterical cry and to her complete and utter embarrassment, hot tears started running down Pansy's cheeks.
She took a shuddering breath and absentmindedly accepted the dirty, spotted handkerchief a completely surprised Ron handed her. "My best friend is out there with the dementors. Do you even have the slightest idea what will happen if he runs into them?"
Minerva pressed her lips together, a gesture she was finding herself doing more and more often lately. The thing was, she thought ruefully, that if the Malfoy boy had gotten more attention things might have turned out differently. And yet…despite the fact that her heart went out to the girl who'd been acting more humane and compassionate than the Headmistress had ever seen before, despite that fact her position as Head of the school did not permit her to show any sign of weakness during a crisis. "This, Miss Parkinson, is the exact reason why we have no time to lose. I won't lie to you and pretend that the situation isn't dire but it's certainly not hopeless."
Pansy's hands twisted around the handkerchief, silent tears running down her cheeks. "It will be if Theo runs into the dementors."
Ron, as pale as Pansy with fear, awkwardly patted the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry. Hermione can produce a Patronus. She'll keep him safe," he said, pride obvious in his voice. "If anyone can find their way out of this, it's Hermione."
Pansy's shoulders slumped down in relief and the beginnings of a grateful smile formed on her face when a sudden howl of despair startled her.
"No, she can't!" Hagrid cried, sounding like a wounded dog. "They don't have heir wands!"
A moment of ringing silence followed that statement.
And then all hell broke loose in the Headmistress' office.
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"You can't be serious." Theo stopped in mid-movement and gave Hermione an incredulous look.
"Don't be silly. Why not?" The Gryffindor, who'd spent the past quarter of an hour watching Nott – who'd stubbornly insisted that he needed to move – run laps around their tree trunk, said in a dead-pan voice.
"Because we're in the middle of nowhere as you so kindly pointed out," Theo snapped and resumed his laps.
"And? Do you know any better way to spend the time?"
Theo huffed but remained silent, making Hermione roll her eyes in exasperation.
"Nott. Come and sit down again. Watching you do these silly laps is making my neck cramp up."
"Don't watch me then."
"Theo. Your lips are turning blue again. Be sensible, sit down and conserve your strength."
"I'm not cold," he insisted, the chilly air of the early evening making his breath come out in puffs of white clouds.
Hermione sighed and rubbed her eyes. A whole day without food (not counting, of course, the few half-squished Chocolate Frogs Nott had so gallantly shared with her, claiming once more that his upbringing would not allow him to see a woman go hungry) and only the cold water from a little stream a few paces away as drink, her patience was wearing thin. "Theodore. Does annoying me give you such immeasurable pleasure or is it just that common sense completely eludes you? We don't know what will happen or when we'll be found. We'll need our strength tomorrow and you wasting it on a whim is the epitome of stupidity!"
He halted in his tracks, his velvety voice dangerous. "Whereas it's pure brilliance to worry about our bloody assignments while we're stuck here!" He sneered, suddenly the perfect picture of a snobbish, elitist Slytherin. "Or is it just that a sense of reality completely eludes you?"
"I am perfectly aware of reality!" Hermione shot up from the trunk, her hands balled to fists, irrationally relieved to find a way to work out the ever-growing tension that accumulated during that disastrous day.
"Could have fooled me," Theo snapped, absentmindedly flicking his dark bangs out of his eyes as he closed in on her.
"Doesn't take much, apparently." Hermione hissed, mirroring his movement and quite suddenly they found themselves only a fraction apart, their eyes locked in a stubborn (and quite possibly childish) battle for supremacy.
The words she meant to throw at him died on Hermione's lips as she felt his hair brush against her forehead and she heard him catch his breath, suddenly no longer bothered by the cold as the angry tension made way to something different, not less intense but far more dangerous to either of them.
Surrounded by the eerie fog that had followed them the whole day, each breath sounded artificially loud in the unnatural silence that surrounded them. The slightest of breezes picked up almost noiselessly and hesitantly, almost shyly Theo reached out to brush a stray strand of hair from Hermione's face, his hand lingering on her cheek just a fraction of a second too long. Hermione held her breath, her heart beating rapidly while her brain raced to catch up with her instincts. They were…could this really be? Was he going to…?
Her eyes closed and she leaned in to meet him half-way.
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And then, with a sound that made her insides freeze, Hermione was suddenly doused in cold. Goose bumps covered her arms and legs and before she really knew what was happening, her instincts – honed by far too many battles – kicked in.
"Run!" the Gryffindor shouted, backing away a few steps. Now, that her brain was fully functioning again she easily recognized the source of the milky fog that seemed to thicken by the second long before she heard the rattling breaths that heralded the arrival of the dementors. "Theo!"
His raised his chin a fraction and shivered, though his eyes remained unfocused.
"Theo!" Hermione grabbed the sleeve of his jumper and tugged, trying to fight the growing panic as she watched a thin layer of ice silently creep closer, engulfing the tree trunk they'd sat on before moving closer. "Nott! Snap out of it!" If only she had her wand! "They're almost here. Come on!"
The sheet of ice crept closer, followed by the fog and in the dim light of the early evening Hermione could make out the shadowy silhouettes of the dementors. They were getting ready to come out into their clearing!
Theo's breath came rapidly as the Slytherin was obviously caught up in whatever painful memory these monsters managed to drag up from the depths of his soul. Hermione shivered and tried to suppress the sounds of battle that were becoming louder with every second. There was Tonks screaming and Harry and…and someone speaking Italian?
Ironically, that confusion was enough to make Hermione's mind snap back to the present and, deciding that the time for finesse had long since passed, she took a deep breath and drew back her hand.
Theo's cheek immediately reddened under the force of the slap Hermione had just given him but apparently it had done the trick. The Slytherin's eyes focused on her, then flickered to the dementors and almost immediately he started swearing.
"Let's get out of here," Hermione gasped and started running toward the dark wall of tress. They had no other choice. If they wanted to keep their souls they would have to run. And the only place left for them to run to was deeper into the Forbidden Forest.
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