Edited 4/24/23

Thanks to RabidCommentarian for beta work. And bam2305 for alpha-ing.

This one is for ElianaIsabella (AO3) for your comments, I know it's not your bday, but we can pretend! :)

Don't worry I'm still planning on posting on Wednesday for y'all!

Thanks as always to Bam2305 you rock and I appreciate you!

Monday April 6, 1998

Hermione

The days had ticked along in an unending stream of Malfoy sending along new intel from his self-proclaimed "Spy Network." Which was really just Theo and Professor Snape and things they heard in the Slytherin Common Room or from other Death Eaters. To be perfectly honest, she was a little surprised at how seriously Malfoy seemed to be taking his new role as Order spy. It didn't work with all her preconceived notions of him. Unfortunately, he still hadn't apologised for his disappearance when they discovered the Golden Cord.

To add to her frustration, it itched. Maybe itched wasn't quite the right word for it, but she could feel the Cord. Did it know that Malfoy had rejected it? Was she rejecting it? Theo had sent her a letter the day after he'd tracked Malfoy down, telling her that he hadn't disappeared because she was Muggleborn, and then told her how truly astounded Malfoy had been when Theo made him ask his elf about how someone became a "Pureblood."

But that didn't change the fact that he hadn't apologised. In fact, it seemed like he wanted to ignore the whole thing all together. The whole thing was frustrating. It wasn't like she was some love sick teenager! Hermione Granger was a war-hardened young adult. She knew how difficult war could be, but she just didn't know how to bring it up.

She'd kissed Viktor of course, and a few Muggle boys over the summers, but she wasn't good at boys. She was the bookworm! She could tell you a million facts about just about everything, but tell you what a boy was thinking? She was clueless. And here was her bloody Soulmate and he wouldn't even acknowledge her. She sighed again, scratching at the part of her chest where she knew the Golden Cord stemmed from.

She'd been making plans with Theo and Malfoy to plant a false trail on a Horcrux to get the Trio out of the Cabin so that they could get to Malfoy Manor. Hermione was hoping that Harry would still say Voldemort's name so that she didn't have to. She'd finally convinced them all to say Tom when they referred to Him, but still caught Harry slipping up a bit, always catching himself.

She'd forgotten, or maybe she chose to block out how obsessed Harry was with the Deathly Hallows. Over and over again he brought up how Tom was looking for the wand, but Hermione insisted that they should be searching for the Horcruxes and ignore the Hallows. As they sat down for lunch he brought it up again.

"The Tale of the Three Brothers' is a story," said Hermione firmly. "A story about how humans are frightened of death. If surviving was as simple as hiding under the Invisibility Cloak, we'd have everything we need already!"

"I don't know. We could do with an unbeatable wand, said Harry turning the blackthorn wand he so disliked over in his fingers.

"There's no such thing, Harry!"

"You said there have been loads of wands - the Deathstick and whatever they were called-"

"All right, even if you want to kid yourself the Elder Wand's real, what about the Resurrection Stone?" Her fingers sketched quotation marks around the name, and her tone dripped with sarcasm. "No magic can raise the dead, and that's that!"...

"So that Peverell bloke who's buried in Godric's Hollow," he said hastily, trying to sound robustly sane, "you don't know anything about him, then?"

"No," she replied, looking relieved at the change of subject. "I looked him up after I saw the mark on his grave; if he'd been anyone famous or done anything important, I'm sure he'd be in one of our books. The only place I've managed to find the name 'Peverell' is Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy."

(TDH, pages 426-427)

And on and on and on. He had theory after theory after theory. And the most frustrating part of it all was that she knew. She knew Harry had the Stone and that he was going to be the Master of Death after he disarmed Malfoy, but she couldn't say anything because he needed to figure it out for himself.

Everytime he had another vision about Voldemort or a new thought about the Deathly Hallows, Hermione had to bite her tongue. Should they go for the Hallows? Would it have gone better if they got the Wand first? But then no, because Malfoy was the Master of the Wand right now.

She went back and forth day after day trying to remember how it had gone the first time around, trying not to change anything too dramatically this early on. With another sigh, she laid down on her cosy bed and settled in for a nap, "Nexus Vincula," she whispered, watching the Golden and Silver Cords stretch North to where she knew Draco and Theo were.

Did she like him? Could she actually see herself with him? She ran her fingers through the Golden Cord, feeling the buzzing. Theo said he'd changed, but Hermione hadn't seen a difference. His notes were still short and a little snarky, and he hadn't apologised. She knew she was stubborn and it seemed like he was too. She rolled over with a huff. She had to stop thinking about him and stop entertaining the idea of any sort of relationship until he apologised for all the name calling and bullying he'd done.

Wednesday, April 8, 1998

Theo

Theo let out a huff, watching Draco's blond head bob toward the Platform. Theo had told his father he was staying at Hogwarts to study for his NEWTS. He'd told Severus that he was going to leave a little after everyone else to get away for a bit. Severus was a minor miracle if he was honest. After all these years he'd had no idea how funny he could be. He'd been showing Theo some of the more tricky potions and some of his special modifications as well as testing his Occlumency Shields most evenings after dinner.

They'd sort of fallen into a routine, sometimes just playing chess, but Theo got back to the Common Room most nights with a bit of intel for Hermione. He and Draco had fallen into a very comfortable pattern over the past month, Theo would keep up notes when Draco was called away, and Draco would keep him apprised of the War so that he could adjust the calculations.

Theo could tell that Draco wasn't telling him something. Every time he tried to bring up Hermione, Draco changed the subject or focused on his role as Spy and hers as Handler. Theo had taken to having the Nexus Vincula cast whenever it was just the two of them, to prove a point.

Beyond his time with Severus and Draco, he spent a lot of time in the Common Room, picking up intel. He'd forgotten how cold Pureblood Culture was. After living with the Order for so long, he'd gotten used to casual touches and laughter, and found himself seeking out Neville more and more to fill up his quota. He'd written letter after letter to Hermione, especially as he'd started to get nervous about her torture. There was nothing he could do for her, except brew potion after potion to help him be strong afterwards.

At this point, Draco was out of sight, on his way to Malfoy Manor to do whatever it was he was going to do before Hermione's nightmare inducing torture session. "Mr. Nott," Severus drawled behind him, making Theo jump. "You really must be more aware of your surroundings. You never know who might be watching." Theo hated how his voice caused goosebumps to ripple across his skin.

"Sorry Severus, I'm just a bit worried about this break. I know I'm not going home, but I just feel like something is going to go wrong." Severus nodded, joining Theo at the window. "I don't know what, but I just have a feeling."

"I'm hoping this war won't last much longer, Mr. Nott, but until it ends we must carry on."

When they saw the steam from the Hogwarts Express moving away, Severus turned to him. "Here is something I'd like you to accomplish this week," he said, giving him a note. "The Dark Lord is obsessed with powerful objects. He's been looking for the ones on this list for a long time. I'd highly recommend you find one. If you do, Draco can claim to have found it and move up in the Dark Lord's Army."

Theo swallowed heavily. This was it. "Of course Severus, I'll see what I can do." He took the list and turned. "I'll see you after break then?"

Severus just nodded, but continued to stare out the window. Theo made his way out to the gates of Hogwarts looking up to see Severus still standing and staring out past the Black Lake. When he got to the gates, he apparated to Granger Cabin and threw himself down on the bed.

"Darcy? Bennett?" Both elves popped up next to him.

"Welcome home, Mister Theo!" chirped Darcy, hugging him. Bennett just smiled at him and nodded.

"Can you let Mia know that I'm here? I have something exciting to show her when she can get away."

A few minutes later, Hermione popped in gripping Bennett's hand and threw herself down next to Theo.

"Hello! I'm so glad you're here! I do wish you were here all the time though. I want to talk about all the things I've been reading, but Harry and Ron just don't get it. And I can't stop thinking about bloody Malfoy. I know you said he doesn't think that way anymore, but I can't believe he's not a blood purist!"

Theo cringed. "I've been telling him he needs to apologise for weeks! Has the wanker not done it yet?" Hermione shook her head.

"I can feel the bond, Theo. It's itchy. What if he rejects me-uh It?"

"He wouldn't dare! Soulmates are practically the Gospel in Pureblood circles. No one would oppose a Soulmate match, regardless of Blood Status. But I didn't come to talk about Draco. I hear enough from the git himself. I've brought you a list from our dear Headmaster." He handed it to Hermione with a flourish. "A list of very sacred objects that he's been looking for for years."

Hermione gasped and ripped the paper from his hands. "THEODORE JUNIUS NOTT! You utter genius!" She rained kisses down on his cheeks.

When he'd finally pushed her off him, she sat down and looked at the list. "They're not going to be easy to find," he said, quietly. "But if we can find them before he does, then we should be alright."

"I only have about twenty more minutes, I told the boys that I'm going to take a bath, but we can start putting up the equations on these to see how realistic they are?" With a nod, they went up to their ever expanding chalkboard and added the list of items, and started putting as many variables as they could think of.

"Go back to your other boys," Theo said with a grin. "I'll see you later on, I'll be here for the whole break, remember!" Hermione rolled her eyes, but popped away back to her bathroom on the other side of the cabin.

Thursday, April 9, 1998

Draco

He couldn't sleep. He hadn't slept since he'd gotten back to the Manor. It was nearing Friday. The Day. He watched the clock on the wall across from him tick towards midnight. He saw his journal light up.

"Theo says to 'Take a bloody sleeping potion, we need you in tip top shape tomorrow!' and while I normally filter his words, I tend to agree on this one. You need to sleep Malfoy. Tomorrow is THE BIG DAY."

"Why do you think I haven't been able to sleep, Granger. I've been having nightmares about this night since it happened, the first time."

"Now I know you're overtired, you'd never admit that to me."

"Things change, Granger. Not everyone is stuck in 5th year."

"Could have fooled me. Go to sleep, Malfoy. I need you tomorrow."

"Need me, eh Granger? Is that what you tell the Weasel?"

"Careful Malfoy, one would think you're jealous or something. Ron and I are just friends."

"I highly doubt that, Granger. I've seen the way he looks at you. I am not jealous, but pointing out the obvious."

"Mmmhmmm. GO TO SLEEP. I'll see you tomorrow, I'll be the one in green writhing on your floor, screaming and bleeding."

"Bloody Fuck, Granger. That was dark, even for you."

"Please go to sleep. We both need it, then maybe Theo will stop pacing like a madman. He's telling me to say 'Tell Draco that if he doesn't go to sleep I'll tell Mia about the time when we were eight and we had that sleepover at Blaise's house…' now he has his eyebrow raised and his hip cocked. I'm quite curious."

"I couldn't see it before, but the two of you are exactly the same, aren't you? Fine I'm off to sleep, Dreamless Sleep coming my way. Goodnight, Granger."

Before he could even see her response, Draco found himself drifting off into a blissfully dreamless sleep.

HERE COMES MALFOY MANORRRRRRRRRRR... AHHHHHHHHHH! What did you think? What are your predictions?

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