He has known Hermione Granger for over half his life. Or known of her really. Harry Potter's best friend, brightest witch of her age, Golden girl and all that. It's hard not to know who she is. Still in the seven years they had gone to Hogwarts together and the two years since he has never spoken to her.
Granted in those first six years his father would have been more creative than just using the cruciatus against him if he was seen talking to a muggleborn. In the years since, Theo Nott has kept to himself. Even with many of his former Slytherin friends, he has kept himself scarce.
So when he finds her crying in the back of a bookstore, he's not sure how to proceed. The place is practically empty. Besides the owner, he is sure they are the only ones occupying it. Considering it is close to closing, she most likely thinks she's alone too.
He should walk away. Obviously, she is having a very emotional moment. She doesn't need someone she probably doesn't even know bothering her. He nods his head; sure his logic is sound and turns to walk away. Until she lets loose a heart-breaking sob. It's followed by tiny hiccups as she tries to get her tears under control.
He's not even thinking as he makes his way down the aisle towards her.
"You alright there, Granger?" It's probably the stupidest thing to say he thinks to himself. Of course, she isn't alright. She's crying in the back of a bookstore.
She flinches at the sound of his voice, and he takes a step back. She sniffles and quickly wipes away her tears. Her eyes are red and her nose and cheeks are pink. This moment isn't the first time she's cried today. From the state of her, she looks as if she's been crying for the last week straight.
Her eyes find his and they go wide. He's not sure why, but he tries to keep his own emotions in check. He's never looked her in the eyes before, but as soon as his find hers he's stuck in place. His heart starts to beat faster. He's sure if anyone walked past them, they would be able to hear it. For that small second in time, he's lost in her. He hears a little voice in the back of his head that sounds suspiciously like his mother. Love starts in the eyes. Is that possible? To fall in love with someone with one look?
She presses a hand to her chest and lets out a deep breath. He looks away, letting her gather herself and letting himself shake off the crazy thoughts running through his head.
"Yes, I'm fine. I don't know what came over me." She tries to laugh it off, but it comes out a mess. She must be able to tell, too. Her brows crinkle for a second before they even out and she tries to smile, but it comes out more as a grimace.
"Oh, I'm sorry I must be in your way." She hurries out the words and out of his way, but he just shakes his head before she can get too far away.
"No, you're really not. I just came down this way to check on you, anyway." It seems his mouth is actively working against him today. She gave him the perfect out, but he just has to open his mouth. Her brows crinkle again. He wants to reach down and smooth it out. He has to physically shake the thought out of his head. Evidently, he didn't clear it well enough before. What the hell is happening to him?
"Why? You don't even know me, Theo." He masks the shock that goes through him at her knowing who he is. He must not do it well enough. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms over her chest. Some of the overwhelming sadness covering her eases. Too busy taking stock of her, he forgets to answer. Finally, she quirks a brow at him and he snaps out of it.
"Maybe I'm just trying to be a good Samaritan." He shrugs a shoulder before walking past her and pulling a random book off the shelf behind her. Her eyes follow him as he does. "What kind of gentleman would I be if I just ignored a lady clearly in distress?" She scoffs next to him, and he tries to conceal a smirk. Scoffing at him is better than crying.
"If you say so." She mutters, now sizing him up. He pointedly ignores her. Only looking her way once her focus is back on the books. He forgot what he even came in here for. He loiters around, pretending to browse the stacks. He doesn't realize why at first either. But when he catches sight of her again, he realizes he doesn't want to leave until she does. Just in case she wants to tell him what's really going on. Far-fetched he knows, but it still keeps him from leaving.
After twenty minutes of wandering the store, not together but not apart either, she slides up to him. Still neither say a thing.
"Do you know?" She whispers as she's almost nose deep in a book. At first, he's not sure if she's even talking to him. Until her eyes wander to him with a look of apprehension.
"Know what?" He questions back. He had been trying to think if he had heard or saw anything in the Prophet that would allude to her breakdown earlier, but he had come up blank. He's sure now there's something he should or could know. Or at least she thinks so.
"So, you don't." She sounds resigned, and he's not sure why. Surely it would be good if gossip or rumours weren't being spread about her? But she seems upset that he, someone she really doesn't have any connection to, doesn't know what's going on with her.
She doesn't say anything else. He glances at her out of the corner of his eye. She seems to be retreating into herself even further than she was when he first saw her. He huffs before turning to her fully. She clearly wants to talk about whatever is going on with her, but she won't just come right out and say it. Fine, he'll put her out of her misery.
"Look, Granger I can tell something is eating at you. And considering I just caught you crying back there, it seems like it's something you can't talk to your friends about." She glares at him. It only last a second, though. She leans against the shelf they were both looking at, and he's almost positive he catches her pouting.
"So, since this place is ready to close," As if on cue the shopkeeper pokes his head down the aisle and fixes them both with a glare. From her sheepish expression, she must not have realized how late it is. "How about we head over to mine, and you let out what is obviously weighing you down?" At her hesitation he tacks on, "Or we could go yours?"
She takes a minute to respond, eyeing him up once again. "Yours is fine."
He leads her to the Leaky ignoring the angry mumbling of the bookstore keeper as they make their way out. She keeps her distance, staying a step or two behind him the whole way. Curious. Even more curious is the way she scopes out the place before following him to the floo.
He goes through first, pronouncing his address to his flat as clear as possible. He grabs drinks while waiting for her. She pops through and he guides them to the living room. He hands her a drink as she sits down. She chugs half of it in one go. Maybe he should have gone with the firewhiskey. She clearly needs help letting out whatever she's holding in.
"I've been sleeping with Draco." She blurts out. He goes still, but his eyes widen and his mouth drops open. Probably the most emotion he's shown her all night.
Considering they both only know one Draco, it's not hard to figure out who she is talking about. It is a little hard to understand why Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy are sleeping together, though.
"Oh." He's not sure what else to say. He's still plenty shocked by the revelation. "Uhhh…okay." At the sight of her face, he's guessing that wasn't the right thing to say. If she hadn't robbed him of any mental capacity, he probably would have figured that out himself without having to see the crumpled expression on her face. When he finally gains some sense, he can see it clearly. Devastation. It's written so plainly across her face.
"You really had no clue? You didn't know he was seeing anyone at all?" She asks in an almost pleading voice. He feels for her, he really does. But truthfully, he didn't. Draco has been one of the only friends he's kept up with over the years. But she must know that already considering she thought, or was hoping, he knew about them.
He usually meets up with him and Blaise at least once a week. And never has he mentioned a girl. But he can't tell her that. It seems too harsh. And while painting Draco in a bad light could benefit him, he doesn't want to hurt her any more than it seems Draco already has.
"Draco keeps what is most important to him close to his chest." She raises a questioning brow. "It makes sense that he would keep you all to himself." She doesn't look like she believes him.
"If you don't mind me asking," He waits for her eyes to catch his before he continues when she does she nods. "How did it even happen?" He knows Draco sometimes works with Potter in the Auror office, but other than that it seems as if nothing else would link them together. She frowns. A look of contemplation takes over her face. Minutes pass before she finally answers.
"I don't know." He raises his brows. Really? There were a few years there where they were enemies. She had even decked him once. She must see his disbelief. "No really, I don't. One minute Harry was inviting him out for drinks and the next he was pushing me up against-" She stops suddenly, and her cheeks turn pink. She looks anywhere but at him. He wouldn't think Hermione Granger would be so bashful. "Sorry, you probably didn't want to hear that." But he just chuckles.
"I did ask, Hermione."
"It just took off from there. I couldn't control what was happening between us and I really didn't want to, either." Her voice lilts up as if she was caught up again in the start of their relationship. But it only lasts a moment.
"He's pulling away. And I don't know if I should just let him." She's in love with him. He hadn't been sure before. But with that statement he knows. Not even from the words themselves, but how she says them. He can hear the longing and the pain that comes with it.
"You need to tell him what you want, Hermione. If you want more from him, he's not going to make a move unless he knows that's what you want." Generic advice he knows, but Draco's also one of the most straightforward and upfront people he knows. Unless he's the one who has to be vulnerable. But when he cares about someone, he's not going to lie or beat around the bush with them. And Theo has a strong feeling the way Hermione feels for him is mutual.
Only that doesn't seem like the right thing to say, either. She just shakes her head before leaning back into the couch and looking up at the ceiling.
"I just don't think I can be someone's secret, anymore." He narrows his eyes at that. "Not even Draco Malfoy's."
"You shouldn't have to be." She looks at him for a second before looking back up. He's glad for it too. The more she looks at him the more he loses focus. "Someone's secret? You're Hermione Granger. Brightest witch of her age. One third of the Golden Trio. On track to become the Minister of Magic, if the rumours are true." She narrows her eyes at him before shaking her head.
"I know what you're doing." She says with an accusatory tone.
"And what am I doing?" She looks as if she's about to smile before her expression turns sour.
"I don't know if I can." He's not sure what she means. She doesn't give him a chance to ask either. She continues on. "End it myself."
"You must think that's pitiful, huh? I can't even end a relationship, if you can even call it that, that's clearly eating away at me." He's never wanted to comfort anyone as much as he does her in this moment. But he holds back, afraid it will only make her feel worse. "Hell, I broke down in the middle of a bookstore and then followed someone I barely know back to his place just so I could talk to someone about it." She leans forward resting her elbows on her knees and burying her head in her hands. "What is wrong with me?" He barely hears the question she mumbles into her hands. It causes him to finally jump in.
"Hey, nothing's wrong with you." He kneels in front of her and pulls her hands away from her face. She tries to pull away, but he holds her hand tight. "No, I mean it, Hermione." He doesn't continue until she looks at him. "Change is hard. Moving on is hard. Acknowledging what you deserve is hard." Her lip quivers, but she stays quiet. She listens, and he hopes she hears what he's saying. "None of what you've told me must have been easy. You're strong and brave." He lifts her chin from where it's fallen against her chest. "And believe me, I'm a Slytherin, we don't just dole out compliments." He smirks at the end, trying to cheer her up even a little bit. He thinks it works for half a second. She chuckles, but it quickly devolves into a whimper.
"I just want him to want me like I want him." Her voice cracks halfway through. She tugs her hand out of his grasp. She wipes away her tears while huffing out a breath.
"If he doesn't, he's stupid. Or scared. Either way, you need to talk to him, to know." Silence follows. Neither move nor try to end it. Finally, she nods and exhales.
"I'm not a very good house guest." She plays with her sleeve clearly nervous after sharing so much with him. He steps back to his seat; afraid she'll be spooked by his nearness now that she isn't drowning in her emotions.
"Well, you are a Gryffindor, one shouldn't expect too much." He smirks and finally gets a genuine laugh out of her.
"Could I-" Her voice comes out hoarse and she takes a second. She clears her throat and looks him straight in the eye. "Would you want to do this again sometime? Well," she looks down, taking her eyes away from him and shakes her head "not this, obviously, but maybe we could just- "
"Floo me, owl me whenever you want." He interrupts her rambling and her eyes pop back up to him. He wishes she would always stay looking at him. He could get lost in her eyes and not even know it.
"Yeah?" She asks and again more of the sadness surrounding her lifts. He doesn't say anything afraid of what may come out of his mouth so he just nods. A corner of her mouth tugs up and he finds himself smiling back.