Chapter Fourteen.

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Hermione opened her eyes slowly and froze when her eyes were faced with the relaxed face of Theo Nott laying beside her, his face close to hers. The events of the night before slowly came back to her and she closed her eyes against the tears that threatened to spill over her eyelashes. Once she felt herself gain some semblance of control over her emotions, she opened her eyes again to see him looking back at her. They didn't speak, but feeling some kind of courage wash over her, Hermione lifted her hand and gently skimmed her fingertips over his stubbled cheek. Theo closed his eyes at the contact and a shy smile curved her lips.

"How are you feeling?" He whispered and his eyes flicked between hers as she thought about it.

"I don't know." She admitted softly. "Scared. Confused. Tired."

Theo nodded and rubbed the tip of her nose with the tip of his gently. She appreciated how gentle he was being with her and how he was treating her so carefully. She was aware of how far she had slipped back into depression, and she needed this gentleness, this softness.

"Tired is easily fixed, and I can guess why you're confused," He smiled, gesturing between them, "But would you explain to me why you're scared? If you can, I mean."

"I'm scared of a lot of things, Theo." She whispered, closing her eyes. "I'm scared that I'm not good enough, that this is a dream and I'll wake up alone. I'm scared that I will lose the battle with depression and I will always be miserable."

"Okay." Theo whispered, gently touching her face with his fingertips, "Thank you for being honest with me."

"I can't promise you much, Theo. But I promise never to lie to you. About anything." She told him and he nodded, gently brushing her eyelids closed and putting his hand on her arm. Hermione fell asleep.

When she woke up, Hermione was alone in bed and she frowned, wondering if it had all been a dream after all, before she caught side of a folded piece of parchment on the pillow where Theo had laid the night before.

It's not a dream, I'll be back soon.

She felt a tear roll down her cheek and closed her eyes, clutching the parchment to her chest.

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"Jesus christ mate!" Blaise exclaimed with his hand over his heart as he turned on the light in the kitchen and his friend appeared at the table, scaring him. "What are you doing here at... Fuck is it really 8 o'clock?" Theo chuckled.

"Yeah," He smiled, "I needed to think and I didn't want to wake Hermione."

Blaise nodded and passed him, filling up a glass with water from the tap and pulling the chair out next to Theo, sitting heavily in it. He knew he should ask what he was still doing here, whether he had slept with Hermione or what had happened, but Theo's face was extremely troubled, and it worried him.

"She truly thinks that nobody would ever love her." Theo whispered and he nodded.

"It's heartbreaking, isn't it?" He muttered, taking a sip of water. "Draco seems to see what she did as some kind of personal insult, but I know what he would have done if he'd known the truth."

"How did it all end between them? Did he even ask her to explain?" Theo asked, turning his gaze to his friend who shook his head.

"As far as I'm aware, and this is only from what I've gathered from what they've both told me, Draco walked into the hospital room, found out who she was and ran away, proceeded to shag loads of women." Blaise shrugged. "Basically, he thought of himself like he always has."

"And he only came back when he found out she tried to kill herself?" Theo asked.

"Potter and me went to the manor and got him. I don't know if he would have come to visit her if we hadn't." Blaise replied, shrugging.

"Right." Theo said simply.

"I'm going to be seeing a lot more of you, aren't I?" Blaise asked, grinning suddenly.

"What makes you say that?" Theo asked, confused.

"You're in love with her." Blaise informed him and Theo chuckled, nodding.

"It physically hurts to see her in that much pain. To hear her talk like she's worth nothing to anybody. She's scared, Blaise, and I refuse to do anything other than protect her from the things she fears. Someone needs to hold that girl together and I'm determined that it will be me." Theo said, seriously, standing from his chair. "I'll love her, through anything, even if she won't let me."

Blaise watched, smiling softly, as his friend left the kitchen and walked towards Hermione's bedroom before sighing. He desperately hoped that Theo's love for her would help his best friend to heal and make her happy, because she deserved nothing less. Her depression was dragging her down into darkness, though, and he knew that she needed to escape it before anything could really help. Pulling a piece of parchment and a quill from a drawer he wrote a quick note and attached it to his owl, standing at the window watching the black dot disappear with a sinking feeling in his gut.

Hermione is worsening, please come.