Author's note: I want to thank everyone for their reviews! I'm glad you like my story, and I hope you like somewhat long chapters because this one is! I'm proud! Can you sense my pride! Anywho, this is kind of a sad chapter, as I was tearing up while writing it... There's a bit Theo/Hermione in this, but I shall remind you all, this is Draco/Hermione story and they shall happen. I promise!

Chapter 5

August 27th, 1996

For the past couple of days, Hermione's life grew more relaxant. The memories of her summer seeming to be gone, logged into a far corner part of her brain where they stayed. Of course, she had her mind busy at all times, which helped keep those terrible memories away. Helping Nott with his essay was going smoothly. At first she had been surprised of his lack in knowledge of Transfiguration. She wondered how he even passed his OWLs, and she even voiced her concerns aloud. To which, the lanky boy sheepishly admitted he hadn't and that McGonagall was giving him another chance to pass with this essay. The 23rd of August had been the worst of their studying, as she had to teach him all the basics of 4th and 5th years Transfigurations, as he was only at a lowly 3rd level. And although it was a little stressing, it was far better explaining thing to Nott than to Harry and Ron. Which her two best friends would have grown frustrated and given up, Nott stuck through and when he had questions he asked rather than blowing up at his lack of knowing.

As days passed, she interacted more with the Slytherin's. Maybe not Malfoy, because everything he said was crude and sexist. But Pansy had slowly become a very good friend. After she had apologized to the raven haired girl the two had become practically inseparable, aside from Hermione going to the library to tutor Nott and even then Pansy came along once and a while.

It was one of these days, where Hermione was reading a book on how to defend one's self from Dark spells, with Pansy sitting across from her enjoying a book that definitely wasn't a classic novel and looked more like some dark romance rubbish, and Nott sat next to her a quill scratching against parchment as he wrote his essay, making it far larger then two feet long.

Nott paused and read over before he turned to Hermione and slid the parchment towards her. She sat her book down and gave it a glance. The smallest of smiles (and the most emotion she ever displayed) became visible on her face, as she found every word he wrote to be as accurate as a text book. "Very good, Theo," she gave the appraisal he needed to hear. "McGonagall would probably wonder if I wrote it, if it weren't for your handwriting. I'm very proud of you."

Nott's grin was so wide, she could see his perfectly shaped teeth and for a moment she wondered if he would bounce up and down with his happiness and embrace her. "You called me Theo," he stated instead, his voice sounding happy and approving.

Hermione tilted her head for a moment, she hadn't noticed she'd said his given name, and looking to Pansy she saw the girl smiling at her. "So, I did," she said with a small nod.

"You know, since we're friends, you CAN call me Theo," He told her and took his work from her, his smile still as radiant as ever.

Although Hermione had been helping him and interacting with both him and Blaise more, she really only thought of Pansy as a friend. But, the look on Nott's- No, not Nott's- Theo's. The look on Theo's face told her otherwise and her mind made the decision then and there, that this lanky boy with stringy dirty blond going on tawny hair, was indeed her friend too. He sure as hell acted more like a friend to her lately than Harry and Ron. But, then again Harry and Ron didn't know of her depression, so she wasn't in the right place to blame them for anything.

"I'd like that," she said quietly with a small nod of her head. Her and Pansy had already had the 'call me this, call me that' talk. And she looked to Theo, her lips still quirked in that small, small smile. "And now that we are friends, you may call me Hermione, as well," she told him, enjoying the twinkle in his eye as he nodded.

The nice moment was cut short when Blaise plopped down in the empty seat besides Pansy and gave her cheek a peck, to then the other witch blushed and sank into her chair with a shy 'Blaise...' As if she wasn't comfortable with the public display of affection. But her green eyes looked to the tan boy, that little sparkle in her gaze showing just how much she felt the same. It was heart warming to actually witness such a tender moment, but Hermione also felt like she was intruding.

She looked away only to find gray eyes looking back into her own. Draco Malfoy stood there, leaning against a book shelf. He rubbed a green apple clean against his black, expensive looking sweatshirt, looking at her all the while, leaving her spellbound as he bit into the apple. The loud crunch brought her to her senses and she looked away immediately. Becoming awkward and tensing up. She was always so relaxed around the other Slytherin's, just not the blond one who seemed to look right through her every time. Like he knew.

The cramps in her stomach gave her the excuse to leave, quietly telling the one's sitting around the table she wasn't feeling too well. Her period wasn't suppose to come for another week or so, but as soon as she got to her room, she checked in the Gryffindor bathroom and was relieved to come up with nothing. The cramps were explainable though, she always got them a couple weeks before she started. So, she wasn't worried about anything being wrong.

/-/-/-/

August 28th, 1996

After a quick pop in to the hospital wing to inform Madam Pomfrey that she would need some pain relieving potion in a week or two. Hermione went to the Great Hall for breakfast. She was surprised to only see Theo sitting there, eating breakfast and reading the Daily Prophet. Since Pansy wasn't around she made her way further down the table and sat across from the boy. Her twitch of a smile coming to respond to the boys glorious grin at seeing her. "Good morning," she greeted politely and looked down when her bowl of food appeared. "Where's Pansy," she asked, scooping up some of the porridge, before she looked back to Theo's face.

"Oh, they all drank too much last night and are sleeping off their hangovers," Theo replied and took a bite of toast. "You probably won't see Pansy until after lunch," he added and she noticed the one flaw Theodore Nott had... He talked with his mouth full. Just like Ron. If it weren't for that she would have thought he was the most perfect boy. Wait, drank?

"What did they drink?" Hermione asked with a arch of her eyebrow that made her look accusing, the sound of her voice even held a malicious threat. Hermione was one for the rules, and although she had seemed pretty out of it for some time, she didn't forget them. No drinking alcohol on the Hogwarts premises, and that included the grounds.

She could see his adam's apple bob as he gulped, instantly regretting his little slip up. He looked terrified. "Well, Hermione, you see..." he was about to make an excuse, but instead he sighed. "It was only a little."

"Theodore Nott, what did they drink?" she asked again, and even she was impressed with how much she sounded like a mixture of Snape and McGonagall. But, as soon as she said those words she shook her head. "Nevermind, I don't want to know. It's most likely firewhiskey, and their hangovers will suffice enough as punishment," she sighed before eating another spoonful of the slop in her bowl.

It was quiet for a moment, before she heard a rush of air pass through lips and she looked to Theo. To see his shoulders sag in relief. "Are you alright?" she asked, and she could feel the concern she had for him overwhelm her and reach the surface in her tone of voice. His skin was ashen, like any moment he would heave up his breakfast.

"I'm fine," he said, his fingers gripping the edge of the table as he took a couple deep breaths. "I'll be fine. I'm sorry. You shouldn't see me like this," he said, sounding like he wanted to leave, but was rooted to the spot. After a moment, Hermione noticed color coming back to his cheeks and then his eyes opened to look at her. The worried expression on her face must have surprised him, because his eyes grew wide and then he looked away sheepishly. "It's nothing."

"That's not nothing, Theo," she told him, her voice taking up a soft tone. She could imagine how he felt in those few seconds. He had been on the verge of a panic attack, and she'd had many of those. Luckily all in the vicinity of Gryffindor tower. She wondered what had happened to him, to make him have those types of episodes. She knew the reason for her, but before she could open her mouth to question, Theo stood up with a small 'see you later, 'Mione', before he walked away.

She watched him until he was gone and she looked back to her bowl of porridge, stirring the creamy concoction around. Those four Slytherin's were all just a big wonder to her. Although she'd made friends with both Pansy and Theo, and Blaise since it seemed he liked Pansy, she constantly wondered how they came to how they were. What happened to them over the summer that changed their views on Muggleborns and the war?

/-/-/-/

When lunch strolled around, Hermione was the only one sitting there at the table. The only one young enough to be a student anyway, as she looked towards the staff table. She couldn't really bring herself to eat her sandwich, a couple nibbles was all. She was worried about Theo. She hadn't seen him since breakfast and she wasn't very surprised when he didn't show up in the library. She pushed her plate away and as she stood, she saw the three Slytherin's missing that morning making their way to the table. Pansy and Blaise's faces were pinched, with a hand caressing their heads. Hangovers, they deserve them. Malfoy was the only one who didn't appear to be in agony of drinking to much, although his clothes looked as if they were carelessly thrown on, making him look better then when his clothes were expensively crisp.

"I hope you enjoy lunch," she said loudly, hearing the couple moan. "The mayonnaise is a bit to creamy for my tastes," she said and watched as Blaise brought a hand to his mouth, as if the thought of mayonnaise made him want to puke.

She made her way out of the Great Hall, leaving the three alone as she made a beeline for the lake. She stopped when she saw someone sitting in the grass just off the sandy shores. That tawny hair she'd recognize anywhere. Slowly she continued forward, and then came to sit next to him. They sat for a long while in silence. Both of them staring out into the murky water.

"Just before the summer, my father was arrested," Theo spoke quietly, picking at the blades of grass. "He's in Azkaban now."

Hermione nodded slowly, she knew that. His father had been one of the Death Eater's at the Department of Mysteries. "You miss him?" she asked, surprised at his scoff of disgust.

"God, no!" he said, shaking his head. "My father was a right bastard. For almost six years he controlled me. I hate him for taking the years of my childhood that should have been my best."

Hermione frowned, she didn't understand. "Controlled?"

Theo slowly looked to Hermione with a nod. "Pansy told us. You wondered why we were all so nice, why we weren't insulting you," he continued when Hermione nodded. "Our parents are the worst people. Whether they're in Azkaban or not. Why they follow that madman..." he shook his head, and his hair fell into his eyes. "All of us, all four of us, were saved at the beginning of summer. For almost six years we were held under the Imperius," he said, his eyes not straying from Hermione's, and she felt her own widen. "Six years," he said, his voice a hiss of misery. She watched the muscle in his jaw tick and then he looked away, but she couldn't. She stared, stunned by his admission. All of them? Under the Imperius?

Hermione didn't know what to say. What could she? Sorry, maybe? But, what would that really do? Nothing. This knowledge put everything into place. Why Pansy seemed so hurt by those words of hers. Why she wasn't approached with an onslaught of viscous insults involving her lack of pure blood. Slowly she reached out and took Theo's hand into her own, warming his cool skin, as she gently squeezed his fingers.

"That's not even the worst of it, Hermione," he said and she heard his voice crack, it was heart breaking. To see this boy before her so broken, when all she had seen of him this summer was a happy bubble full of enthusiasm. "The curse was broken when they snapped my father wand. I was free. But, it didn't last long. I was punished for my father's failure. V-vold... Vold..." he shook his head, his eyes shut tightly.

"You don't have to say his name, Theo," she told him, scooting closer as she placed her other hand at their already entwined fingers.

"He gave me to Bellatrix Lestrange and her husband," his voice was so low, she thought she hadn't heard correctly, and then his shoulders were shaking and his face grew wet and blotchy. She heard her own gasp, she imagined what he was put through. His reaction to his own confession spoke more than his words. He's been abused. Possibly worse than her own situation. And she felt her own eyes begin to water, as Theo tried to continue to tell her. As if he had to get it out. "T-two weeks," he cried. "They had me f-for two weeks," his body wracked so hard, Hermione wrapped her arms around him, feeling his face in the crook of her neck as he sobbed, his hands clutching at the back of her shirt for some kind of anchor. His tears stained her shirt and seeped into her skin. She just held him, let him cry. Let him get it all out. She shed her own tears, but they were solely for this boy. She'd already cried for herself, she couldn't waste her tears on that, but for this boy... she'd cry rivers.

/-/-/-/

Hermione walked back towards Gryffindor tower, almost in a daze. She let more emotion shine through today, than she had in a couple weeks. Theo... Oh God, Theo... She could still feel her tear-ducts at work whenever she thought about it. Bellatrix Lestrange. That monstrous bitch and her equally monstrous husband... She didn't want to think about what they had put Theo through. She also feared what the other had been put through. Pansy, Blaise, even Draco... God, and she'd thought they were Death Eater's in the making, even as she befriended them, the thought that they were in league with Voldemort never really left. But, now she knew. Now, she understood. Now, it all came together perfectly, and at the same time it was horrible terrifying. Had all of them been through such horrific events? Or were her and Theo the only ones damned with such monstrous torture?

Her mind jerked when she collided with a hard body and she heard his hissing curse. Just as his hands steadied her from falling. She looked up into gray eyes that trapped her immediately. She didn't believe such brilliant, illuminating orbs could belong to such a person, but they did.

"Why don't you watch where you're going, Granger," he spat, although his hands hadn't moved from their tight grasp on her upper arms. He was a head taller than her, and his face was twisted into a sneer, but Hermione saw past that now. "Are you alright?" he suddenly asked, frowning at his own words.

"I'm fine," Hermione replied quietly, managing not to flinch at the boys touch.

"You look like shit," he told her, his tone matter-of-fact and making her glare.

She shrugged out of his hold. "Well, you look like a ferret," she hissed back, before she stomped her way back up to Gryffindor tower. But, sadly her stomping footsteps didn't mask the sound of Draco Malfoy's sensual chuckle.