It had been exactly a week since Skeeter had published her article, and as Theo sat down for dinner, he could feel the pulsing of the migraine he'd been fighting off ever since starting to pound more. He looked across the hall at the Gryffindor table, attempting to catch Hermione's eye, but just as she had all week, she seemed to either be ignoring him, or was very unaware of his gaze. He groaned, and closed his eyes, and placed his head down on the table, resting his forehead on his arms. He stayed like that for a couple of minutes until he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Theo?" Daphne asked gently. "Are you alright?"

Theo lifted his head, and rubbed his hands against his face roughly. "Just peachy Daph."

He stopped rubbing his face, and looked down the table. Draco was sitting a few seats away, with Zabini, just like he had been ever since Theo had told him to leave him alone. Since Hermione had asked him to stay away. "Fucking traitor."

Daphne sighed as she sat down next to him. "Draco needs friends too. It can't just be you and Hermione who have support."

Theo grabbed a turkey leg and put it on his plate. He and Daphne had had the same conversation every day, but it didn't make him feel any better. "You two were as close as brothers growing up, and now, he's having to face the consequences of his actions in the worst way possible. Without you. And it's killing him. So let Blaise be his friend right now without getting angry at him too."

Theo stabbed the turkey leg with a fork. "Doesn't mean I have to like it."

"Grow up Theo." Daphne said shaking her head, and opened her mouth to say something else when Pansy plopped down on the bench across from him, looking very peevish.

Theo looked up at her. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"It's been almost a week since I got dragged to that hovel, and She-Weasley hasn't given us any sort of update."

"I assumed if she'd heard anything she'd have told us." Theo shrugged. "And it wasn't a hovel." He added as an afterthought.

Pansy glared at him. "It's been a fucking week!" She spit out slamming her hand on the table.

Daphne looked at the two of them. "What are you-"

Before she could finish, Pansy had stood up and strutted over to the Gryffindor table leaving Daphne gaping after her.

"What the hell?" Daphne turned to where Theo had been sitting only to find that he'd gone after Pansy. "Bloody hell." She muttered as she stood up and went after them, ignoring the eyes that followed her as she chased her friends, catching up to them just as they got to the Gryffindor table.

"Budge up Longbottom." Pansy said snarkily to the 8th year.

"Pansy!" Daphne hissed. "Be nice. He's a war hero for Merlin's sake."

Neville just glared at her, and instead of moving over, picked up his bag where it had been sitting behind him, and simply placed it in the small space between him and Ginny.

Pansy looked at him for a moment, then pushed the bag forward, and shoved herself into the tiny space. "So."

Ginny shook her head. "What's the matter with you Parkinson? Didn't your mummy ever teach you manners?"

"No, she didn't. She left that to my nanny elf." Pansy answered primly.

"Looks like that elf failed dismally." Ginny snorted into her tea.

"Pansy, let's just go back to our table," Daphne said quietly, tugging on Pansy's arm. "You're causing a scene."

Pansy turned to look at her housemate. "The only ones drawing attention are the ones still standing up." She replied waspishly. Turning back to Ginny, she said pointedly, "It's been a week since we went to that place you call a house, and so far, we've heard nothing. Did your brother prove to be useless after all?"

Hermione, who'd been sitting across from Ginny and Neville, trying to focus on her book and ignore the drama unfolding in front of her, looked up. "What are you talking about?"

Pansy looked at Hermione. "Choosing to acknowledge that we exist again? You've been killing your dear younger brother all week by ignoring him."

Hermione's cheeks turned pink. "I wasn't ignoring him. I just needed space." She said defensively.

Pansy waved her hand in the air. "Semantics. You're punishing darling Theo because you think one of us told Skeeter your precious little secret. We didn't by the way." She said pointedly. "Anyways, Theo actually gives a damn about you so we went to visit your precious friend's hellhole to try to get her brother to help figure out who did tell your little secret to Skeeter."

Hermione looked from Theo to Ginny. "You did what?"

Theo pinched the bridge of his nose. The migraine he'd been fighting off for a week had suddenly hit full force, and he was acutely aware of all the eyes on him, and ears trying to listen in on their conversation. "Could we maybe move this conversation somewhere else?"

"No, we cannot." Hermione answered firmly. "I've had enough of bloody secrets for a lifetime. First that I was a witch, next the war. Then I find out that my entire life was a bloody lie, and your mother was damn insistent on keeping me a secret. Now I find out that you lot have been trying to pull some shit behind my back, keeping yet another fucking secret from me! I've had enough of everyone's damn secrets! So just tell me!" She finished shouting, with tears in her eyes. When no one answered her, she got up and ran out of the Great Hall.

"Fuck." Ginny sighed, getting up to go after her.

"Don't bother." Daphne commanded. "She's absolutely right. With everything she's been going through, you should have kept her in the loop."

With that, she turned on her heel, and walked out of the Great Hall. She walked the entire first and second floor and was about to make her way up to the third, when she heard a sniffle behind a closed door. She quietly opened the door, and poked her head around the door, realizing that she was in Moaning Myrtle's lavatory. "Granger?" She called out quietly. Waiting a second, she heard a small cry coming from behind a set of sinks.

Daphne stepped into the lavatory, and slowly made her way around the circle of sinks, until she saw Hermione, standing over one, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry."

Hermione sniffed. "For what? Are you keeping secrets from me too?"

Daphne came closer, and leaned her back against the sink next to her. "I'm sorry that you're going through all this. I'm sorry that I have shitty friends." She paused for moment. "And I'm sorry that you're going through all this virtually on your own."

Hermione looked up at her. "I'm not alone."

Daphne tilted her head. "Aren't you? I mean, it's not as though anyone else you know has ever gone through finding out that they have a sibling they grew up knowing, thinking one thing about them, only to find out something entirely different. You are the only person in the world who has ever been given a second chance with family." Daphne looked up at the ceiling, and let out a low whistle. "Yes, you Miss Hermione Granger are indeed the only person in the world like this."

Hermione looked back down at the sink. "I thought Slytherins were supposed to be subtle."

Daphne laughed. "Only when it suits us."

She turned around 90 degrees to look at Hermione. "Theo has been kicking himself all week for something that happened that isn't even his fault. So do me a favor and cut him some slack. His dad was a piece of shit, and the only thing he ever wanted out of life was you, so he wouldn't have to be alone in his stupid miserable existence. He grew up visiting your supposed grave every stinking week, wishing that you hadn't died because he just wanted someone else on his team. Did he handle this right? No, but he handled this the best way he knew how."

She took a moment to breathe. "And I get why you're pissed at all of them. I really do. If I found out that everything I thought I knew was a lie, I'd be mad too. But I think that your friend was just trying to protect you, just like Theo was trying to do. As for Pansy, I can't explain her motives. All I can say is that she's a bitch who has a way of getting things done."

"Why are you being nice to me?" Hermione asked.

Daphne shrugged. "Because I think you could use one friend who doesn't have a stake in all this."

"Ginny doesn't have a stake in this." Hermione responded quickly.

"Yes, she does," Daphne snorted delicately. "She cares about you. After everything you've been through, it makes sense that she'd want to help you have a quiet year. I can't say I blame her exactly."

Hemione glanced back up at Daphne. "And you expect me to believe that you are in this out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Look, do I care about Theo? Yes. Do I think after 18 years, he finally deserves something good? Yes. Do I think he buggered the whole fiasco. Most definitely. But I also have to believe that if you're related to Theo, then you must be worthwhile."

"I see." Hermione said quietly.

"Also, none of us leaked that story to Skeeter, and I'm betting the reason he was working with your friend is because he wants to take whoever did leak the story to court."

Hermione wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Why didn't he just tell me that?"

Daphne threw her hands into the air. "Because he was trying to give you space, like you asked! Honestly, I thought you were supposed to be smart."

Hermione looked like she had deeply offended. "I just mean, that if he really wanted to go after Rita, he would have been better off asking me to help."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. "Doesn't really matter much now."

Realizing that Hermione wasn't going to provide more details, she changed the subject. "Why do you keep staring at that sink?"

Hermione pushed off the porcelain. "It's the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets," she answered, starting to walk out of the lavatory.

Daphne looked at the sink, and then shouted, "What?" before running after Hermione.