The next morning, Hermione woke up bright and early. She lifted her head slightly, and saw Ginny on her bed, covers shoved off, fast asleep. Hermione sighed, and rolled over onto her other side. 'I can get up, or I can hide under the covers all day.' After an internal debate for a few minutes, Hermione got out of bed and got ready for the day. If she got up and ate earlier, then she could hide in the library until classes actually started.

She got ready quickly, and after checking that Ginny was still asleep, she snuck down stairs to the common room. Glad to see that no one else seemed to be up yet from her own house, she pushed open the portrait, and exited out to the hall. From there, she decided to take some of the backways down to the Great Hall, to potentially avoid anyone else who might be up.

When she walked in the Great Hall, there were only a handful of people, a few Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, two Slytherins, and no Gryffindors. Most looked over at her as she walked to the Gryffindor table, and she purposefully ignored the whispers and stares as she sat down, grabbed a piece of toast, and pulled out a book on Ancient Runes.

She sat in relative peace for about 15 minutes, when all of sudden she felt a weight on the bench next to her. "I swear I didn't leak it to the prophet Hermione."

Hermione looked up from her book slowly, and glared at Theo. "I believe that. What pisses me off is you not telling me that I was apparently engaged to Draco Fucking Malfoy."

Theo gulped, his adam's apple bobbing. "I didn't want to throw too much on you. You already seemed upset at finding out that we were related. I didn't want to make it worse."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and turned back to her book. "Cancel the engagement."

Theo sighed. "I can't."

"What the bloody hell do you mean you can't?" Hermione yelled, slamming her book on the table.

Theo looked around hastily, and motioned for her to lower her voice, not wanting any more attention to them than they already had. Hermione looked around, and then hissed at him, "I didn't agree to this. He was a menace to me and my friends! I don't want to marry him."

"I can't undo the damn thing. I can push it back until you're ready, but you both are stuck with this." Theo said exasperatedly.

Hermione looked at him with abject fury. "Why the bloody hell not?"

Theo tentatively put his hand on her arm. "Our father sealed the contract with blood. He was apparently very determined to see this happen."

Hermione's lip quivered, and she could feel the tears threatening to fall. "So, I have no choice. No say in any of this?"

Theo looked at her sadly. "When I realized that you were my sister, one of the first things Draco and I did was try to get you both out of this. Blood magic can't be undone. Not unless you're willing to die."

"Now I have to decide which is worse, death or Malfoy?" Hermione asked.

Theo resisted banging his head into the table. "He's not that bad."

Hermione laughed hollowly. "Oh yes, calling me a mudblood for the last six years, almost killing a hippogriff, attempting murder on three people, taking the dark mark, and then watching me get tortured on his drawing room floor, makes him a perfect gentleman. Yes, I'm sure he'll make a wonderful husband and father, since I'm assuming I'm required to birth the next generation of Malfoy spawn." She finished sarcastically.

Theo stared at her, eyes wide. "What do you mean he watched you get tortured?" He asked in a menacing voice.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Theo, it was the war, he couldn't have done anything." But her backtracking wasn't enough, as Draco entered the Great Hall at that exact moment. Before she could knew what was happening, Theo was running up the hall, and had shoved the blonde boy up against the far wall.

"She was tortured in your fucking house and you did nothing?" He yelled in Draco's face.

Draco had gone whiter than normal. He gasped for air, looking at his friend's murderous face. "I couldn't do anything." He managed to get out.

"YOU COULD HAVE STOPPED IT!" Theo roared.

"Theo, stop it!" Hermione yelled, her small arms trying to pull his larger one off of Draco. With a strong pull, she got Theo's arm down, and put her hands on his face, directing his attention towards her. "It was when Bellatrix had me. If he'd tried anything, she would have killed him. She was that insane. You and I both know it." She said passionately, tears streaming down her face at the memory.

Theo turned to glare at Draco. "He should have told me when we found out."

Draco, breathing heavily, opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again, and hung his head.

"How can you defend him for doing nothing?" Theo asked softly, even though Hermione could still feel the rage radiating off him.

Hermione sighed. "It was war. We all did things we regret. Some more than others." She said, glancing at Draco. Turning back to look at Theo, she moved her hands down from his face, and rubbed her left arm, where both boys knew her scar was. "He was forced to take that mark to protect his mum. Anything that happened after that was to protect her. I know that. Harry knows it. That's why we defended him at the trial."

Theo reached for her free hand with his. "Have you forgiven him then?" He asked quietly, so that only Draco and Hermione could hear him, having become acutely aware of all the eyes on them.

Hermione looked at her feet. "No, but can you say that if you'd been in his shoes, and seen the same thing happening, without knowing who I was, would you have stopped it?"

Theo looked at their hands. Their mother had made sure he wasn't a blood supremacist, but he couldn't honestly say that he would have stepped in between Bellatrix and a muggleborn she was torturing.

Hermione sighed. "I already know the answer Theo." He looked up and saw her staring intently at him. "I know because you wanted to survive. Same as him."

"I'm sor-"

"Don't." Hermione shook her head. She slowly extracted her hand from his. "Please just give me some space so I can wrap my head around everything."

She stepped to the side of him, and slowly walked back over to the Gryffindor table, picked up her bag, and then walked out. Theo exhaled a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.

"Mate-" Theo held up his hand to stop Draco from talking.

He shook his head. "She's right. You were bloody awful to her, but I still have to ensure you both get married. Just leave me alone so I can re-convince myself that enforcing this is worth my time." And with that, he walked to the Slytherin table and sat down, burying his face in his hands. Draco stood there for a few moments, and then left the Great Hall.