Chapter 29

"If I have to hear another person speak," Hermione's teeth were gritted as she bent over her textbooks, trying to cram for her NEWT exams. After speaking with Flitwick and telling him about the opportunity to start her Runes mastery, he'd spoken on her behalf with the ministry.

Instead of just sitting the Runes NEWT, she'd been given approval to sit nearly every NEWT at the end of February, though leaving a few of the practical exams to be finished in June. Therefore, Hermione was currently completely absorbed in her studies, and ignoring (much to Pansy's dismay) everyone.

Grabbing her mug filled with coffee, Hermione drained it, slamming it down a bit harder than she ought to on the end table in her common room.

"Draco and Theo are looking for you. Actually," Hermione let out a groan as she looked up to Astoria smiling down at her. Her green eyes sparkling a bit and her hair pulled into a perfectly neat ponytail looking much to chipper the early hour. "They're standing outside the common room trying to answer the riddle. It's a particularly complicated one, so they've started trying to sneak in past the knocker saying that Draco is Luc."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, looking over the witch (who was still fucking smiling) and looking like a fucking sports model in her Quidditch uniform. The bright bronze 'C' with the blue background marking her as the fucking captain of the Ravenclaw ship.

"How do you know they're out there?" Hermione asked, leaning back to study the girl better. "If they're out there and you're in here, you obviously didn't open the door with them standing next to you."

"Oh, there's a peephole. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to be going down to the pitch, but I thought I ought to warn you before they come rushing in here to take you out of your tower. I think that's what Theo was saying, reciting poetry of some sort, I honestly wasn't paying close enough attention." Without warning, the girl leaned down and gave Hermione a kiss on her cheek and a hug that caused Hermione's entire body to stiffen before she was off bouncing across the common room.

By the time Hermione registered that the common room door was opening, she'd begun gathering all her things together, but she knew she'd wasted Astoria's warning. A pale hand with the Black and Malfoy family signet rings slammed down on the notebook she was grabbing with a set of tanned hands donning the Shacklebolt ring landing next to the first set.

"Why are you avoiding us?" Draco drawled, the irritation in his voice obvious.

Hermione leaned back in the seat, not bothering to look up at the boys, instead opting to pinch the bridge of her nose in annoyance. She wasn't avoiding them, per say. She was… Okay, she was avoiding them, but she wasn't about to tell them that.

"I'm not avoiding you," Hermione replied, still not looking up at them. "I've seen you in every class, and I've told you that I'm sitting my NEWTs at the end of next month." She finally looked up and her heart broke a bit seeing just how sad Theo's normally sparkling eyes looked.

"I'm sorry, I'm just busy." She reiterated, resisting the urge to reach out and smooth away the few wrinkles that had appeared on his brow.

"If you're studying, why aren't you doing so in the library?" Draco asked, drawing her attention to him and again she felt a pang looking at his narrowed eyes. Unlike Theo, he didn't look sad, he looked ready to get into a full fledged argument with her right here in the common room. She suspected if it hadn't been for all the first years standing around watching, he probably would have. "We're fucking potions partners, and yet you've hardly contributed towards the project at all in the two weeks that we've been back to school. How are we supposed to pass our NEWTs – don't interrupt. You'll still have to submit a practical at the end of June, I already confirmed with Snape – if you aren't showing up to our study sessions."

He didn't even bother trying to brush the long white strands of hair away from his face, just letting them fall and Hermione could feel the guilt rolling in her stomach. Fuck, he was right about the potions NEWTs, but she'd had thought maybe if she put some distance it would help her forget what she'd overheard his father saying. Or the crippling fear that was eating her at the prospects of becoming someone's wife at such a young age.

Thoughts of Helen flashed in her mind, how similar she was to her mother. Helen wasn't marriage material, she was too self centered and career driven. Traits that Hermione knew she shared with her mother, her past in America showcasing that exactly. It would do no one any good if she were to allow these two boys to continue to get more attached to her.

"Okay, I'll do better with my schedule," Hermione promised. "So, were you wanting to head to the library then? Amortentia–"

"No," Theo cut her off, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. "I think I've had enough of that bloody library and El fucking Snape."

"Then where…" Hermione trailed off following Theo as they headed towards the entrance to the common room.

"As if you need to ask," Theo winked, and Hermione could feel the flush on her face. Maybe she wouldn't let this be forever, but perhaps it could be her right now.

A/N: Hey, I'm back with this story and getting updates coming. Still trying to keep them around 500-1k word range so they aren't going to be terribly long. As for the timeline of the story, I'll plan on it wrapping up by the end of their 7th year.

More smut to come, a few surprises, Hermione getting colder feet before she finally accepts that she's not her mother, and a HEA to tie it all together.