...

Chapter 3

Theo pulled into the luxurious home that he had once shared with his father just before dawn on Monday morning. There was a bite to the pre-dawn air and Theo enjoyed the stillness of Los Angeles before the masses arose. There was an almost supernatural quality to the quiet.

Upon going inside, instead of going straight to shower and bed, he went into his office and fired up the surveillance computers and logged into Malfoy Manor. He was certain that was where Draco would be. He had access to all the man's banking information and hadn't seen any charges for hotel rooms.

Theo was happy to have success when one of the internal cameras caught Draco and his girl, Hermione, fucking on the couch in the main living room. Narcissa would have been appalled. Those couches were very expensive and snow white. Theo zoomed the camera in so he could appreciate her perfect breasts as she straddled Draco, bouncing in his lap, on his cock.

Were those…pierced nipples?

Yes. They most certainly were.

Theo's pants had suddenly gotten far too tight. He unbuttoned them and exposed his cock. He needed to add microphones to the house. He'd go over there today after he got a few hours of sleep and do it.

He could tell Hermione was moaning and Draco looked like he was whispering something in her ear as he fucked up into her. Theo stroked his cock from base to head and wished that he could enjoy the sound of the wet slap of their bodies. The two of them were so fucking hot. He allowed himself to imagine walking into the room with his cock out, grabbing the two of them by their hair and forcing his cock first down Draco's throat then Hermione's.

Hermione was arching backwards now, held up only by Draco's arms around her and the cock impaling her.

"Come on Draco, flip her onto her back, take her hard," Theo commanded as though he could be heard. Amazingly, Draco did as he was told, flipping Hermione onto the couch, holding her hands above her head as he drove into her. Draco's skin was pristine, most of the scars from his father in his youth faded to nothing. Theo wanted to put new marks on him, marks that were from him. He thought of how he had wanted to tattoo Cedric, but had always stopped himself. If he got ahold of these two, nothing would stop him marking them as his.

The thought of Draco being his, forever, was enough to push Theo over the edge, despite the number of times Cedric had forced an orgasm from him earlier this evening.

"Fuck. Yes. That's a good boy," Theo whispered as his orgasm lingered. He was amazed that he had so much cum left in him. Cedric was such a cumwhore after all. Fuck, he couldn't wait to see him Saturday. He was half tempted to text him and see if he could meet tonight, but Theo didn't want to appear needy. Even as he licked his seed off his fingers and wished for soft lips to do it for him. Fuck.

He needed to get some sleep.

...

It was mid-morning and Theo was dressed to the nines, in one of his favorite suits, ready to see Draco and his new girl in the flesh. He'd made sure that they were awake on the surveillance system before he headed over with a gift basket and a couple bottles of wine. He would have brought some more interesting party favors, but he wasn't sure what Draco liked and maybe they needed to work up to that sort of thing after all.

Theo had a gate opener and knew all of the security codes to Malfoy Manor. He had spent a lot of time here with Narcissa over the years, even more this last few months as her health declined and she refused to allow him to hire some simpering annoying nursemaid for her. She had threatened to cut out his heart and eat it in front of him before he died.

God he missed that woman.

Theo considered just letting himself inside, but thought that Hermione might find that disconcerting. He wanted to keep her calm and for her to slowly accept him as part of her life now, because she and Draco were never going to be returning to Scotland. Not if Theodore Nott had anything to say about it. He just needed to play his cards right and take things slowly. Let Draco come to him. Theo had this under control. He knew how people worked, he just needed to make them work the way he wanted.

He knocked on the front door and waited.

"Just a moment," yelled Draco, and the door flew open and there he stood. Grey sweatpants low on his hips, his lithe muscular frame something that surprised Theo. Did Draco workout? Theo wasn't much for the gym, but he could probably stand to watch Draco get sweaty. Those hips looked easy enough to grab, maybe shove him down on a weight bench and...

Fuck. He was staring. His eyes flew up to Draco's and realized that the other man was taking in every stitch of Theo's tailored suit. Perfect.

"Hey," Theo said, "I came by to bring you some wine and a gift basket. I doubted there was any food around here. Your mom wasn't really eating much at the end." Theo had decided to take the opening that Draco had given him last night.

You look great, I've missed you. Oh shite, let me introduce you to my girlfriend, Hermione Granger. Hermione, this is Theodore Nott, we've been friends our whole lives.

Friends our whole lives and I've missed you, that was something Theo could work with.

"Bloody hell," Draco said, "Come in. I didn't even think about the fact that you must have been taking care of my mother. She didn't even tell me she was sick, you know."

Theo did know. He had agreed with her decision wholeheartedly. He didn't want Draco back here sooner than absolutely necessary. Narcissa and him had timed everything to be after his final exams this term. She didn't want her death to impact his studies. It was just like Narcissa Black to plan out how she wanted death to find her. And Theo had been diligent in his care of her. He had acceded to her every request.

He simply nodded and followed Draco inside. He looked around the house and was grateful he had already removed all the hidden guns and Narcissa's collection of knives and poisons. Draco smiled so warmly at him, Theo doubted he had fired a gun since the last time Theo had taken him shooting out behind the Manor. And he doubted the pretty Hermione needed to be discovering that sort of thing about Draco's birth family.

Conveniently both of their passports were sitting on the kitchen counter when he brought in the gift basket and wine. Draco was rummaging for something to cut open the cellophane with so Theo flipped open Hermione's and memorized the number quickly. His mind analyzed all patterns that the numbers it made and determined it didn't say anything in any of the cyphers he favored. Numbers had always been one of Theo's skills and as he turned toward Draco with the passports in his hand, he smiled and said, "You shouldn't leave these laying out. There's a safe in the bedroom, I can help you key it to your fingerprints. Your mom added my fingerprint to it and it's pretty simply done."

"It's probably fine," Draco murmured, cutting open the basket and revealing the ridiculous amount of sweets that Theo had had Honeydukes wrap up this morning. He honestly hadn't known so many different candies and chocolates existed, but he remembered Draco's sweet tooth.

"Pure dead brilliant! These are probably all for me. Hermione's parents were dentists; she rarely does sweets." Draco grinned as he removed everything from the basket and lined it up on the counter. Reading each label and ordering them by some pattern only he knew. Theo had missed that; Draco lining things up like that. He had always seemed to get such pleasure from it as a boy. Theo looked into Draco's eyes and saw the same glow of contentment.

What else could Theo give him that he could do that with and look so happy? Theo wanted Draco to always look that happy.

The "were" in regard to Hermione's parents caught his interest, but Theo wouldn't ask more yet. He had her passport number, after all, Blaise would have his guy find out everything about Hermione Granger. Theo would have everything down to the last Myspace photo and phone call log after a few days.

"So I kind of thought I would pick you two up and go to brunch. Maybe Santa Monica? Pansy, Fleur, Greg, and his wife Millie, are meeting me there at noon. You didn't even recognize Greg last night."

"I was looking for his Hawaiian shirts," Draco complained, pulling himself up to sit on the crisp white kitchen island. "I didn't spot him anywhere."

"Rosa is gonna kill you for making a mess in here," Theo said, not responding to Draco's complaint about Greg. He remembered how easily Draco could get upset about things not being as he expected so he gave him time before he said anything else about change.

Finally, Draco spoke, "Rosa still works for us? She's got to be getting a bit long in the tooth."

"She is, yea, but she brings her granddaughter now, Rosalinda. She's fifteen, pregnant and a spitfire. She dropped out of school so Rosa is showing her what she can expect to do for the next fifty years if she doesn't graduate high school. They fight like wet cats, I advise you to give them a wide space if they go at it."

Draco laughed, "I remember my mom and Rosa arguing all the time in Spanish as a lad. I never had any idea what they were saying."

Probably how to murder your father and not get caught by Thoros or the police.

Aloud Theo leaned back with his elbows on the counter and said, "Both are very strong-willed, speaking of strong-willed, where's your Ms. Granger?"

"She's not mine Theo, she belongs to herself," Draco smiled down at him, and Theo smirked at the shirtless blonde, just as he looked over his skin. Not a single tattoo on that porcelain, Theo had known. Draco looked like an angel, just like Theo had known he would as a man. The hair was a little too long, hanging past his ears where it covered one eye. The trendy eyeglasses, sweatpants, and Theo expected nothing else at all, suited Draco. He looked delectable. Theo wanted to lick him all over, slowly, and not let him cum until he was a shaking weeping mess. That would be an excellent afternoon.

Instead, Theo smiled and asked, "Where is she?" and did everything he could not to snap. Draco would learn to answer Theo's questions when he asked.

"Upstairs showering. She wants to do some touristy things I think. Hermione's never left the UK except for a couple of family holidays to the continent, France, Switzerland, that kind of thing. She thinks it will be good to get out and not sit here and think about mum all day."

"The pier in Santa Monica is famous. And we could have brunch which is sacred in Southern California. It's practically a sacrament."

"Didn't you used to be religious?" Draco asked, looking confused.

"I'm superstitious," Theo responded, "And it's never led me astray. Leaving offerings to the gods no matter the one has never turned out bad for me. Religion on the other hand hasn't been all that kind about my activities."

Draco could take that a lot of ways. The bar was a den of sin and a surface level assumption. Theo looked at his serious expression and realized the possibility that Theo fucked other men was not yet on Draco's radar, but it would be, Theo would put it there.

"I would like to see Greg and Pansy again, but who are Fleur and Millie?

"Millie is Millicent, she's Greg's wife. Her dad was Mr. Bulstrode, you might not remember him. He did some work with our dads on occasion. Greg and Millie got married two years ago. They are expecting their first baby. Fleur is the French vixen from the bar last night."

"Is she your girlfriend?" Draco asked, and the edge of jealousy that Theo heard in his tone and the fire burning in those liquid mercury eyes of his made Theo's heart sing.

Theo chuckled, "Oh hell no, she's Pansy's wife. They've been married for five years. Pansy went to France on a post high school grad trip and came home with a girlfriend. They got married like six months later. Not legal yet of course, but when did any of us care about that?"

Theo watched Draco's mind whirl as he put two and two together. "Oh. Oh. Oh! Pansy doesn't like men! That's why you two didn't get married."

"That and we probably would have killed each other within the first week." Theo smiled.

"I'll get dressed and let Hermione know. I'm sure she'll be excited to come."

"Excited to come where?" The woman walked in wearing a light blue sundress that made Theo's pants uncomfortable, he could see her silhouette through the thin fabric and he wanted to run his hands over her curves and valleys.

"Theo's invited us to brunch in Santa Monica with some of my other old friends," Draco's smile was bright as he looked at his girlfriend and Theo pushed down the jealousy that caused in him and kept his smile easy.

"The woman from the bar last night? What was her name? Penny?" Theo could hear the annoyance in Hermione's voice and he loved it. She was so easy to read.

"Pansy," Theo interjected, trying to keep his amusement at her jealousy out of his voice, "And her wife Fleur, will be there. Yes. And Greg, he was one of the bouncers at the door last night and his wife."

"Theo," Draco said suddenly, "You'll be the only one without a date."

Theo smiled, "It doesn't bother me. Even if you two didn't come, that's how it would be. I'll just enjoy the view of the water and a mimosa if people get too lovey."

"Water? The beach?" Hermione cried, jumping up and down causing the fabric of the sundress to flip up giving Theo a wonderful view of perfect peach panties edged in white lace. He turned around for a second to get ahold of himself. He wanted to tear those off with his fucking teeth.

"Yes, there's a beach right beside the restaurant," Theo said, turning back.

"I'll run up and get dressed," Draco said, already heading out of the room. "Hermione, just keep Theo company, I'll be right back."

She nodded and then once Draco was out of earshot, she said, "So Theo, you and Draco seem close for not seeing each other for years."

Theo looked at her and wondered if there was supposed to be a question in that, and based on her stance, it looked like there was. "Draco's mom was like a second mother to me after mine ran off when I was a kid. She and I were very close. Draco and I were best friends as kids."

"But you are a bit older than us aren't you?"

"Four years older." Theo smiled.

"Seems strange, you being sixteen to Draco's twelve when he moved to Scotland."

"Draco was smarter than I'll ever be even when he was twelve," Theo smiled. "Mostly I hung around so his dad wouldn't beat the shit out of him and to get homemade dinner from Rosa."

"His dad…" Hermione looked at Theo in surprise, tears in her eyes and Theo realized that Draco had kept that tidbit to himself. He had successfully derailed Hermione from thinking about the age gap between him and the two of them though. It wasn't so bad now with his twenty-seven to their twenty-three and he hadn't done anything to Draco when he had been that young. Not for lack of desire though.

"Yeah, hey, if um Draco didn't mention that to you, can you maybe not say anything?" Theo did his best to sound insecure, "I wouldn't want him to think I was violating his confidence."

"Oh, yeah, I don't, I don't want to bring up any childhood trauma with him, but that must be why it's so hard to deal with his mum's death. If his dad was not a good guy. He's been really sad. I've been trying to distract him." Hermione chewed on her fingernail, nervously staring into space.

Theo remembered her straddling Draco's lap last night, her pierced nipples in his face. "I think that's great that you are such a dedicated girlfriend." He came over to her and patted her kindly on the shoulder, "You've got a teammate in me, Ms. Granger. Draco's been through a lot. I'm happy to help with distracting him too." She nodded absently but didn't respond right away.

"Hermione," she said suddenly, looking at him. Those amber eyes were unreal, very unique. Theo wondered if any babies she had would inherit them.

"Yes?" Theo kept his face a mask of cordial civility while he imagined how her cunt would feel spasming on his cock.

"That's my name. It seems silly for you to call me Ms. Granger when you are one of my boyfriend's oldest friends." Her eyes ran over his hand tattoos again and hardened slightly. He kept himself still under her gaze. He wasn't ashamed of who he was.

"Of course, Hermione. I just didn't want to be rude." Theo smiled at her and watched her heart beat in her throat and wished he could taste it. He bet that her skin tasted sweet.

Draco chose that moment to walk in, a tight black t-shirt with some chemical bond on it, jeans, and those lovely glasses.

"What's the design on your shirt mean?" Theo asked, admiring Draco's chest more than the shirt design, wishing that things were already at the point where he could run his hand over Draco's body. He couldn't rush. These things took time.

"Oh this," Draco looked down, "it's serotonin. I figured I could use all the help I could get anyways."

Theo laughed out loud. He couldn't stop himself. God, he'd missed him so fucking much.

He would never make the mistake of sending Draco away again. But could he really consider it a mistake when Draco had brought back such a pretty bonus prize? Hermione was smiling at his amusement and he saw the moment when she blushed so prettily and looked away. He'd give a million dollars to be able to read her thoughts.

...

The drive to Santa Monica had been surprisingly smooth, but Theo wasn't complaining. His reserved spot was open, as it ought to be. He did own the place after all. Hermione looked a little confused at the reserved signage but didn't comment as she took in the scene. Her look of wonder at the beach and the bright blue California water had him wondering what else he could show her that would cause her to make that expression. She was adorable. Her wonder at things that Theo took for granted was a pleasure to witness.

Theo looked at Draco then who was staring at his back, "What?"

"Oh," Draco smiled, "I was just thinking how nice it was to be home despite the circumstances with mum." His smile faltered a little.

"Your mother would hate you to be morose and not enjoy brunch. I'm pretty sure she considered crying into mimosas a sin against the laws of God and man."

Draco laughed, "I think you may be right, watering down good champagne would definitely have offended her." Draco offered Hermione his arm; she took it mumbling something about chivalry and horses.

They didn't bother to go inside the restaurant, Theo walked around the building to the open patio that overlooked the water.

"We have already finished one pitcher of mimosas, Theo, you are late. "

"Draco wasn't dressed, so I had to wait a bit."

Pansy raised her eyebrow but said nothing.

"Everyone, Draco and Hermione." Theo made the introductions, "Draco you remember Greg and Pansy of course. We also…,"

"Have the wives," Interjected a broad dark-haired young woman who was clearly pregnant, "I'm Greg's wife, Millie," Greg's wife waved as she introduced herself, "Our dads had business when we were kids. I think I came to your birthday party the year when you got a horse?"

Draco laughed, "He was horrible. Always biting me. A terrible gift for a ten-year-old. I don't remember seeing you there, I'm sorry. Congratulations on your marriage to Greg and the baby."

Greg, wearing one of his vintage Hawaiian shirts, was looking like an extra from MacGyver or Miami Vice. He leaned over and put his hand on Millie's stomach, flashing her a grin.

"And this is my wife, Fleur," Pansy smiled, putting her arm around the beautiful French girl's shoulder.

Hermione smiled and Theo liked the way it made her eyes sparkle. "I think I picked up some shots from you last night," Hermione said, playfully.

"My duty is always to give alcohol to pretty women," Fleur's full lips twitched, "in that spirit, let's pour you some mimosa. Draco, you as well?"

Hermione blushed prettily and the sundress allowed Theo to see how low the flush extended. He'd love to soothe her heated flesh with his tongue. Hopefully soon.

"Do you all still hang out with Adrian and Blaise?" Draco asked. "I thought they were at the club last night, but I wasn't sure that it was them."

"They were chasing pussy last night, excuse my language Hermione," Theo answered sipping his mimosa, "They are deep sea fishing today." Fleur had to swallow a laugh and kissed her wife behind the ear in order to disguise her mirth.

The truth of the matter was that deep sea fishing was only part of the activities that Adrian and Blaise were engaged in today. Someone who thought Theo would be interested in a bulk sex slave purchase was going to be fed to the sharks. He still needed to check and make sure that his fixer had gotten all those girls back to their families or wherever they were taken from. He was going to be giving an exorbitant amount to the discreet substance abuse clinic he favored. Some of the girls were in awful shape and a couple had shown signs of recently giving birth. No sign of the babies. It made Theo sick wondering what happened to the infants. That the people responsible were going to be chum today made him very happy.

"I will be excited if they get some swordfish," Theo said aloud instead and smiled.

"I'm pretty sure that I've never had swordfish. I've really barely left England, just a couple French holidays as a girl," Hermione shared, sipping her mimosa.

Fleur and Pansy invited Hermione to go to the beach with them tomorrow morning. Hermione looked to Draco to see if it was alright, and it was clear to Theo that she did not want to leave him alone.

"I haven't picked out the grave monument for your mom yet," Theo stated," I could pick you up and we could go look at them." It was a bald-faced lie. Narcissa had chosen everything herself down to the epitaph. Theo would just guide Draco to make the same choices his mother had already wanted.

"That's perfect. And maybe we could go over all the funeral arrangements. The lawyer told me mom had already made all the decisions, but I would love to know what they all are," Draco said, sipping his mimosa and staring at the waves.

...

Later after he dropped them off at the home that was now Draco's, Theo sped home so that he could watch them on the surveillance system. The two of them had started getting handsy and extra flirtatious in the car on the way back. The mimosas had gone straight to their sex drives and Theo didn't want to miss a thing.

He went straight to his office and his machines were already showing the live feed from Malfoy Manor. Hermione was spread out on the kitchen island and Draco was feasting on her dripping cunt. It was a pleasure to watch them go at it like this. They were completely uninhibited. A little alcohol did them both good. He wondered how they would react to some party favors, he'd love to see Hermione melt on a little ecstasy.

Leaning back in his office chair, Theo masturbated and thought about what he wanted to do to them and how he was going to make it happen, because he always got what he wanted and it was really only a matter of time before Draco and Hermione were his. There was no other option.

He imagined fucking Draco while he licked Hermione's wet pussy. He envisioned directing every movement and touch of each other. Putting them both on their knees and having them both suck his cock at once. There were so many things that he wanted to do to the two of them. Once he had them, he had no plan of letting them go.

...

Theo instructed the girls to take Hermione out almost every day for at least an hour or two, and he used that time to spend an hour here and there with Draco. Not too much, but just enough so that Draco started to remember how he craved Theo's attention as a boy and for Draco to crave it when Theo was "too busy" to see him.

Draco was so pretty to look at. Theo was enjoying the man he had grown into, muscular but lithe, with hair a little too long, and glasses.

Wednesday afternoon, he had pretended that he had work and had to go, but Theo just went home and watched Draco pace the house. He looked upset and Theo had to stop himself from running back. Hermione would be back soon. She was having lunch with Fleur and Pansy at some vegetarian place nearby.

And Theo didn't want to give away the game that he was watching. He didn't think Draco would ever suspect, but he didn't want to chance it. So Theo compromised with himself and rang the Manor's landline.

Draco rushed to it and immediately answered. "Hello, Malfoy residence."

"Draco. It's Theo. I just got a break from my work and wanted to check on you. Hermione back yet?"

"No-no. I'm honestly having a hard time being at the house by myself. I never just sat around here and my chemistry lab is painfully outdated and I shouldn't be doing research in my house anyway." Draco spoke quickly, and Theo could feel the frenetic energy through the phone.

"Do you need to get out? I can come pick you up and we can go get lunch and drinks. I can find out where the girls are and we can go meet them. .. or we can go somewhere else? I can see if Blaise is free?"

"I don't want to interrupt the girls. Hermione's never really had female friends. She's got these two tossers for friends back in London where she's from, I can't stand them. They can't stand me. She's got nothing in common with them. They are the worst."

"Draco, how about I hang up, and come scoop you up? We can go to one of my restaurants and you can tell me all about these two…what did you call them? Tossers?"

"Sounds good, yeah. Please Theo, but just you please. I'm not sure I'm great company, but you are used to my moods."

Theo certainly was. He was glad he'd called.

"I was working at the home office. I'll be there in fifteen. Put on something nice. At least a blazer please." Theo had to force himself to add the please. Draco needed to learn to do what he was told when he was told, but they could work up to that.

...

They drove silently, Draco tapping complex algorithms on his leg. Theo wondered if he was solving equations or if they were melodies from classical music. Did Draco still play piano and violin? Or had he given it up? Theo resolved to ask later.

Upon arrival, they were seated in the fancy restaurant that Theo owned in a private room with two-way mirrors for walls so Theo and Draco could see the rest of the dining room, but no one else could see them. There was a button on the table that summoned wait staff if Theo needed something and only one waiter was allowed within the confines of the room at a time. Theo had paid for his grandmother's cancer treatment and the young man was grateful and very discreet. Loyalty was important to Theo and he knew how to ensure it in the right people.

"Cesar," Theo greeted as the young man came in, "How's your abuela?"

The young man blushed, "Very well, Mr. Nott. What can I get for you today?"

"Let me get a bottle of the Carmel Valley Pinot Noir and two appetizer trays - the California and the Italy. And the charcuterie plate for two. That should get us to determine if we need real food or that will be all."

"Perfection, sir. I'll get those for you."

As Cesar left the room, Theo turned to Draco and smiled. "So tell me about these two friends of Hermione's. How could they not like you?"

"Honestly. I don't bloody well know. I think one of them has a thing for her, maybe both of them. They are both bobbies - police officers in London. They just obsess about football - soccer - and the telly and have about two brain cells to rub together each. Weasley has nothing at all to recommend him. Pretty sure Potter has at least cracked a book once or twice and he's pretty to look at in a rugged, messy hair and a facial scar sort of way. But neither of them think I'm right for Hermione and they don't hide it."

Pretty to look at.

Theo clenched his fist under the table.

If Theo ever got his hands on this Potter, cop or not. The jealousy had him seeing red.

"So Weasley and Potter both have a thing for Hermione? Are they exes or just friends?"

"They went to school together until she got accepted to the science academy where we went together. So like childhood friends, and they have nothing in common. It's so frustrating to try to socialize with them because Hermione desperately wants this connection and it just isn't there. She couldn't care less about the World Cup or their local football league."

Theo nodded. "Do they make you jealous?"

"Not in the slightest. She's never slept with them, only me in fact, and that's nice. I haven't - haven't slept with anyone else either. "

Look at that. Theo's cock ached. They had been virgins their first time.

"How long have you been dating?"

"Six years? Since we were seventeen. We did a couple of years of dancing around each other at school before that, you know that understanding what people mean can be hard for me if they don't come straight out, well…"

"I can imagine," Theo smiled, "She seems great for you."

Cesar returned with a large tray impressively single-handedly. After the young man had departed, Theo poured their wine and watched as Draco smelled the different items on the platters. All his little quirks made Theo smile. He hid the smile behind his wine glass, but something about Draco had always made Theo feel alive.

...

The bar looked like a different world before opening. The black surfaces were shiny and clean, no neon lights illuminated the surfaces. Some of the high windows had their blinds open, and the prismatic candle holders on the high-top tables cast rainbows on the walls here and there. All in all, it had a calm energy to it that Theo enjoyed.

Sipping at his favorite bourbon, Theo sat at the end of the bar, looking over some of the accounts payable from Severus' lab wondering what the fuck some of these things were used for, and whether the greasy asshole really needed them for what Theo wanted made or if they were for personal projects. Luna would be here this weekend for the funeral and he would have her look them over. She, at least, he could trust.

Goyle sat at the other end of the bar cleaning his small arsenal of daily-use guns while Fleur and Pansy stole kisses from one another while filling out the order forms for the liquor distributor.

It was pretty much as peaceful as The Dungeon got. Theo should have known that it couldn't possibly last.

The door to the bar slammed open, and Blaise came in looking ruffled like he had run part of the way.

"Zabini, what the fuck happened? You look like you've been chased. It better be a fucking emergency," Theo snapped.

"My contact at the coroner's office just called. They found Cedric Diggory's body this morning," Blaise gasped out.

To Theo, it seemed as though he had come unmoored from reality for a second, but he crashed back into his body at the sound of his glass hitting the tile floor and shattering.

What was this unpleasant ache in his chest? Theo didn't fucking like it.

He stared up at the club's lights for a moment and collected himself. He could fall apart in private later.

"Zabini, Goyle I don't care what you need to do, who you need to kill. Find out who fucking did this. Whatever it fucking takes. And then I'm going to deal with them myself."