Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter nor do make money.

041. Sleepwalk

Theo looked up to say something to Hermione but managed to stop his voice before it emitted a sound. There sleeping with her head resting on a stack of papers, tendrils of her tight, light brown curls falling over her face. Every so often her breath would move them ever so softly.

He wasn't sure if he had seen anything more beautiful in his life. Carefully, he brushed those loose tendrils out of her face so he could look at her face properly: the cherub-like cheeks with the smattering of light freckles that dusted their apples; the dark eyelashes that curled away from her unpainted eyes; the creamy skin that wasn't that of an English rose but wasn't dark either; the bow-shaped lips – the lower one plump and pouty – sending his mind straight to the gutter.

Sighing, he leaned back in his chair and realized that Blaise really was right – he was such a masochist when it came to women; first Pansy, now Hermione. He fancied a woman who wanted to be with a guy who was with the first woman he loved. And where did that leave him? Out in the proverbial thunderstorm.

Defeated, he moved to kneel by her. His goal was to wake her up and get her to go to bed. Unfortunately, she wouldn't move; she just kept brushing him off. Sighing again, he stood up and gently manuevered her from her chair. Lifting her up into his arms, his heart stopped when she wrapped her arms around his neck, settling herself deeper into his body. She mumbled something but he couldn't make it out; though he could honestly say he didn't want to know exactly what she said – whether it was in his favor or the more likely scenario, it was not in his favor.

Unable to take her anywhere else, he gently laid her down on Draco's bed and pulled the sheets up around her. Taking a seat on the bed, he watched her sleep for as long as he dared before returning to the common room to clean up the mess they had made researching heir charms all day without much success.

Before crawling into bed, he couldn't stop himself from placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.

The sunlight streaming in woke Hermione as always but this morning was different. She wasn't alone this morning: a warm body was pressed into her back and an arm wrapped tightly around her waist.

The very thought of her not being alone in her bed caused her eyes to shoot open. The dim morning light was enough to show her a messed up bed in front of her and that she was clearly in a room for Slytherins. The last thing she remembered last night was being frustrated with what she was reading and had turned her attention to watching Theo; the way he was constantly in motion though he sat still intrigued her after spending most of her lifetime with boys who when in motion stayed in motion.

He kept dominating her thoughts the longer she spent with him. She would be kidding herself if she actually thought she minded for even a minute. The last few days with him gave her more to think about than losing Ron; it gave her the hope she would survive losing him.

His mumbled, "Go back to sleep," put a smile on her face before she closed her eyes and did just that.