CHAPTER 3:

Welcome to Restoration Camp!

Song for this chapter:

Fire Drill

Song by Melanie Martinez

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Once the Express pulled into the station, Theo had bid Hermione adieu allowing her to be swept up into a thestral pulled carriage by Longbottom, Thomas and Finnegan. The latter of which was still glaring daggers at him. Theo simply smiled his best grin and waved her off with a "I'll see you later roomie!" which earned him a startled look from the woman. Had he gotten the muggle terminology wrong? Well you win some, you misplace some, he thought.

Theo wandered down to the first unoccupied carriage and stopped to rub the thestrals' noses. He wondered how they were taking all the extra attention. Everyone coming to the summer program could see them. Theo saw the appalled looks as the students piled into the carriages. The skeletal horses with their black bat wings and white unearthly eyes were hardly comforting visages.

"You don't find them distasteful looking anymore, Theodore?" He knew that dreamy voice.

"Like you, Lovegood, I have found that the thestrals have grown on me over the years," Theo said without turning and giving the dragon-like snout of the thestral another stroke. "They remind me of dragons and I do love dragons." He gave her a little sincere smile with none of his usual flirtation as she came up next to him. She gave the thestral a caress on its neck and returned his smile.

"It's nice to see you," Luna said, as she pushed her hair back and her little radish earrings swung like pendulums. "Has our favorite flower been spotted? Or is it going to be too early in the season?" Theo often thought that the sly blonde played up her dottiness so that people underestimated her and this little interlude was no exception. She should have been in Slytherin, he thought not for the first time.

"I have it under the best authority that we should expect some blooms in the great hall this evening, but I believe there are some gardeners that are preventing us from appreciating the flowers thus far." His deep sapphire eyes met her silvery blue eyes. Circe, that hair and those eyes! She looked so much like Draco when she was calculating. The bright yellow pinafore, rainbow striped jumper combined with magenta tights and daisy-covered boots kept her from ever being mistaken for anything other than the unusual creature she was, though. Theo couldn't imagine Draco ever wearing so much color.

Luna nodded. "Well, we can hope that the gardeners don't prevent our floral appreciation for too long." She looked about at the other carriages starting to head towards the castle, "We don't appear particularly popular with our peers, Theodore. Care to accompany me?"

"It would be my pleasure to accompany you, milady," Theo took her fingers, kissing them and bowing in the most over-the-top aristocratic manner. Luna flushed prettily and curtsied. Theo put her hand into the crook of his arm and led her into the carriage, sitting across from her.

"Those muggle denims really show off your sexual assets, Theodore. I think you will be much more popular if you keep wearing them." Luna looked him up and down appraisingly and even though he wasn't sure she swung in his direction, he still smirked in satisfaction.

"Thank you Luna. You too look eminently fuckable," Theo replied, leaning back, crossing his legs and stretching his arms along the back of the seat.

"You're welcome, of course," Luna said and smiled. She then began to hum some little tune and stare into space as they took off into the air, headed towards Hogwarts. Theo, well aware of Luna's style of ending conversations, took the time to try to prepare himself for returning to the site of the bloodiest day of his life.

As Theo passed through the huge doors he was faced with a shudder of fear and the scented memory of fire and death. But the vision shattered like broken glass when faced with the reality in front of him. The Great Hall must have been the priority to get repaired prior to the start of the camp. It looked completely restored to Theo. The windows were pristine, the floor was unstained with blood, there was no debris. If anything it was cleaner than he remembered. The floating candles and the charmed ceiling all looked perfect. It was something familiar and safe and he would be a liar if he said that it didn't provide some small amount of comfort.

He headed over to the Slytherin table where only a handful of people sat. He nodded to Millie Bulstrode who was chatting with Tracey Davis. Goyle was down towards the end and Theo had less than no desire to sit with that imbecile. And from the look Greg gave Theo's muggle clothes, the feeling was absolutely mutual. The muggle clothes were doing exactly as he hoped; Luna hadn't been wrong. He had seen multiple blokes' and girls' eyes linger on his crotch and his arse in the tight black denims.

As Theo took his seat, McGonagall strode into the Great Hall looking stern, but pleased to see them. When she came fully into the hall, Theo realized someone was behind her and the light of the floating candles shone on Draco Malfoy. He was an absolute vision in black on black; he had filled out, grown taller and broader since the last time Theo had seen him months ago. Theo had too for that matter. Draco's platinum hair was tousled and long enough to touch the tops of his ears and fall into his eyes. Those eyes looked nearly as bleak as they had been during the war, and Theo was not a fan of it.

Theo couldn't drag his eyes away from the wizard who he hadn't been able to stop thinking about ever since the last time they had been together. As if summoned by his regard, Draco's eyes snapped up and locked with Theo's.

Theo was grateful that no one sat near him because he didn't feel particularly Slytherin about his reaction as all the air left his body and his heart skipped a beat. His face was hot and his hands on his lap began to shake. He managed to still his hands, but his heart was still fluttering in his ribcage like a wild bird in a cage.

Draco walked over to Theo and nodded at the spot next to him. Theo nodded back and waved at the spot encouragingly, his voice still not coming out. Draco sat next to him, breaking eye contact and staring at the table in front of him.

Theo attempted to subtly scoot slightly closer to him and whispered, "hey."

Draco looked up at Theo, all steel eyes, porcelain skin, sharp cheekbones and perfectly kissable lips, drawled in his posh voice "hey." The two young men exchanged sad smiles, the rest of the room blurring for the two of them for only a moment. Draco realized they were in a room with other people first and looked away, his eyes going cloudy with what Theo recognized as the sign Draco was occluding. Absolutely desperate to touch, and certain that Draco would object to a warm embrace in public, Theo stretched his leg out so that the length of his and Draco's thighs were touching. Theo couldn't concentrate on anything but that one point of contact. It was as if the world had shrunk to the feeling of the heat of Draco's body pressed against his pant leg.

It appeared that she was the last to enter the Great Hall. Flanked by her Auror escort, Pansy strolled into the room attempting to look casual as people looked up and saw her DMLE shadows and started whispering to their table mates, gesturing in her direction. Selwyn and Vance stopped at either side of the large doors, surveying the set-up. McGonagall acknowledged them with a nod and whispered something to Filch who came over to invite them to the head table. Selwyn gave Pansy one final nod and strode away. Pansy looked over to the Slytherin table and saw Theo and Draco already sitting together. Her eyes lit up and she barely was able to restrain herself from running to them. How didn't she see them right away? Stay cool, she told herself.

Pansy squared her shoulders and ignored the peasant onlookers, striding purposefully to her boys at the Slytherin table.

"Miss me you wankers? " she whispered to Theo and Draco as she sat next to Theo on the other side of Draco. Draco inclined his head, looking carefully blank. Theo brilliantly smiled and grabbed her hand and squeezed.

"Always, my queen," Theo said truthfully, looking like he might cry while holding her hand. She pulled her hand back and smacked him on the shoulder.

"Be good!" Pansy hissed. Theo shrugged and smiled while Draco couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at the two of them and scoffing.

"Theo hasn't been good one day in his life." Draco said to Pansy.

"If you can't be good, be good at it!" Theo announced as though he wasn't speaking to either of them.

Pansy leaned across Theo to meet Draco's eyes, "I will have you know he can be a good boy, given the proper motivation."

Draco's eyes widened, a slow smile transforming his austere face, and he laughed aloud, drawing scowls from the Ravenclaws at the next table. "Merlin, Pans!" The two of them smiled back at him, Theo chuckled too and shot a wink at Cho Chang whose cheeks turned pink as she turned back towards her friends.

On the other side of the Great Hall, Hermione couldn't seem to drag her eyes away from a certain blonde Slytherin. Hermione watched all of the back and forth between him and the other two Slytherins that he was sitting with and tried to figure out their group dynamics. Draco's shoulders were definitely broader since the Battle. He looked like he was eating more, she supposed. Well she hadn't seen him regularly since 6th year when he had looked so ill and frail. Her torture at the manor and the last battle had hardly allowed her to really look at him. His hands are so much bigger than she remembered and is he wearing...rings? That's new.

She didn't realize Draco and Theo were such close friends. Before the war, Crabbe and Goyle had been his constant shadows, more like minions than friends. She watched as Theo whispered in his ear and Draco's expression stayed impassive, flat and almost unalive. He looked vacant. Suddenly he looked up and caught her staring. Theo turned his head to see what Draco was looking at, and smiled cheekily, waving at Hermione. She hesitated for a moment and then waved back, but she couldn't find it in herself to smile at Theo when Malfoy was looking at her. Like he was memorizing her face. Hermione blushed, surprised at the intense way he was staring at her and not looking away. He wasn't looking at her with any animosity, how odd.

Theo and Draco made a really contrasting pair. Hermione was struck by how handsome they both were, yet in totally different ways. Malfoy was all porcelain skin and platinum hair and aristocratic features and Theo was all golden skin and brown curls and smiling eyes even when he wasn't grinning. Malfoy was much taller and broader than she remembers him being. Was he that tall at the last battle? They were both awfully fit. Hermione was appalled at herself. She was not checking out Theo and Malfoy, even if they were both pretty men in their distinctly different ways: Malfoy all austere ice and Theo all warm sunshine. Ugh! What was wrong with her?

The scrutiny of Malfoy's silver gaze became overwhelming and she let her eyes drop. If they had been having a staring contest, he would have won. Despite hating letting him win at anything, she turned away to talk with Neville, who had already been at Hogwarts for two weeks working with professor Sprout and let him regale her with stories about the venomous tentacula and how hard it was to get it contained after escaping from the green house. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione saw that Malfoy was still staring at her, but he looked away finally as McGonagall stood from the high table and proceeded to stand in front of the thirty something young people in the hall.

McGonnagal came up to the podium, and the whole hall immediately went silent.

"Welcome to the Summer Reconstruction Camp. I am very pleased to have you all here. Things are still broken, but we are going to be restoring what we have. In that vein, I would like to introduce our new focus here at Hogwarts: Inter-house Unity! To that end, tonight is the last night of sitting in houses." Hermione stared shocked at the headmistress and she heard buzzing all around her as students frantically whispered to one another about the change.

"Tomorrow only circular tables will be present. So far only 40 of you are in attendance, but more may be coming in the next few days. We will start with 10 tables that can hold 10 and then the number of tables will decrease over the weeks. I hope that you will be making connections with one another as part of your groups both working on yourselves and as we work on reconstruction." Blaise made a lascivious gesture at Theo upon the phrase 'making connections' and Theo bit his lip rather than laugh aloud.

"The dorms have all been restored and as such your things have been moved into the last room you had when you were in residence as possible. Some things will change for 8th years when the rest of the school returns, but we can deal with that when the time comes. Healing groups in the morning are mandatory everyday except Saturday and on that day you may go into Hogsmeade unless your probation forbids it." Draco and Pansy both scowled at that, knowing that they and Goyle were the only ones that that stricture applied to.

"In the afternoons, there are a variety of restoration activities occurring so please find something helpful to do that suits your personality and inclination. Healer Cordelia and Healer Atticus are also available each afternoon and for an hour in the evening after dinner for individual sessions, you may make an appointment or simply go to their office which is in one of the classrooms near Arithmancy. There is a new plaque next to the door. I want to encourage all of you to be honest in your groups, to share what you feel comfortable sharing and to push yourselves in this safe space towards healing." Hermione put her chin on her interlaced fingers, wondering What does honesty even look like in the age of such lies? She hadn't been able to share her thoughts and feelings with her so-called closest friends, how on earth was she supposed to share her thoughts with a mixed group of schoolmates? Draco's expression when he had stared at her so intensely earlier swam before her eyes and made her skin tingle. How could she share about her nightmares if he was in her group, looking at her like that?

"I know it is very hard to be here. There were horrors that we all witnessed here that can't be taken away. Please be supportive and kind to each other, no matter how things have been before. We are moving into the future of post War Wizarding Britain together. Please enjoy your meal." The assembled students broke into tentative applause as the welcome feast appeared before them and they all began to eat with varying levels of appetite.

The doors to the Great Hall opened and in sauntered Blaise Zabini, drawing admiring looks from quite a few witches and wizards in the room. His green damask blazer was fitted over a black acromantula silk shirt that shimmered, and his black trousers were meticulously cut. His deep sepia skin and close cropped black hair set Blaise apart in Hogwarts, especially now that Lee Jordan and Angelina Johnson had graduated. It definitely caused the witches to run their eyes over him appraisingly and he paused for a moment to cast his gaze around at them before heading over to the Slytherin table, sitting across from Pansy, Theo and Draco, facing the rest of the room so he could continue to appraise all his potential sexual partners for the summer.

"Merlin, explain to me why the Department of International Magical Cooperation doesn't realize that Tuscany is an hour ahead of Hogwarts? Isn't that the international portkey office's whole job? Thank Morgana, I have an inheritance and don't have to work with those incompetent tossers. So Theo, see anything worth shagging yet?" Blaise drawled with his melodic italian accent.

"Oh," Theo said looking to his left and right appraisingly, "a few things."

Blaise rolled his eyes, "Chang is here, maybe I can get under those skirts without Potter around for her to pine over."

"I think Boot has already beat you there," Pansy said, gesturing to the other Ravenclaw who had noticed Blaise's attention and put his arm possessively around Cho's waist.

"Too bad, but it's early days yet. Anything could happen this summer," Blaise murmured looking unconcerned. "Ah the Patil twins are both here. è ottimale."

"Didn't you shag them both last year?" Theo asked

"I did indeed, but separately. I would really like to try twins at the same time."

Pansy laughed aloud at that, "You and me both, they are luscious, but do they know you shagged both of them?"

"Well, I didn't bring it up, but they are twins. One would hope they discussed it." The venomous look Parvati was giving him, suggested perhaps they had, and she wasn't very keen on the matter. Blaise sighed and turned around towards his friends.

"Drake. Theo. Pans. Lovely to see you." Pansy motioned towards the food, but he shook his head. "Mamma had me eat before I left Italy. I will miss our elves' cooking, no lies." He looked at her with kinder eyes than normal, "I got the invitation for Daphne's wedding, are you…doing okay?"

Pansy looked offended and snarled, "Fuck that cunt. She sent me an invite too."

"What the actual fuck!" Theo declared in wide-eyed amazement. "The absolute audacity of her to do that."

Draco looked at her, solemnly. "She did that just to let you know it was over. Her parents yanked the marriage contract negotiations about Astoria that they were doing with Lucius as well. Death Eaters need not apply for Greengrass quim." The three of them couldn't help but laugh at Draco's vulgar joke, although Pansy's laugh seemed somewhat against her will.

"Mamma is going to the wedding. She gave my regrets." Blaise looked over his shoulder at the Gryffindor table, "Granger looks good."

"Doesn't she just," Theo said, licking his lips salaciously and even Pansy's elbow in his ribs didn't stop his blatant regard. Draco's eyes lingered on her hair, freckles, and sad eyes; saying nothing at all despite his whole body desperately aching to touch her, run his thumb over her lips, tangle his hands in those curls and kiss her senseless. Salazar, she does look beautiful.

As dinner was ending, McGonagall collected Hermione and then Theo from their seats and led them into the main hall. She introduced them to Mind Healer Cordelia, who was just entering the hall as they left it. McGonagall led them up one of the ever-changing staircases to the tower that held the Heads' dorm; it was near the prefect's bath, which both Theo and Hermione were familiar with, but they weren't familiar with this particular series of corridors and stairs.

The narrow stairway from the end of the hall near the prefect's bath led up to a narrow tower stairwell that opened to a single door. Hermione had trailed behind McGonagall a bit and was looking up the stairs as Theo's sandy brown curls appeared and disappeared around every curve of the tower. This was certainly an isolated spot to be rooming with the fit Slytherin Head Boy, she thought. If nothing else she would certainly be able to drink in peace up here.

McGonagall turned towards them. "I will let you get comfortable, if there are any issues with the dormitory space send me an owl or a patronus Ms. Granger depending on the urgency of the issue. The password is "unitatem." I will send someone to get you both after morning group in a couple of days to discuss some Head duties during the summer which I promise should be very minimal. Please do excuse me to my other Headmistress duties." Theo grinned at Hermione and spoke the password and the wooden door swung open, revealing their abode for the next year.

The common area appeared homey enough. There was a high backed chair and a couch near a fireplace that appeared to be linked to the Floo network. It looked so welcoming and comfortable. The colors were neutral and tapestries representing all the houses hung against the far wall of the common area. There were two bedrooms with each of their names on plaques above the doors. A kitchenette was situated through an archway with a stasis charm enchanted pantry, a wash basin and lovely lapis lazuli countertops. Hermione ran her hands along it and smiled at the calming enchantments that someone had woven into the stonework. A chandeleir with six candles flickered above her head and she thought that she might really enjoy cooking in this little space rather than going down to the Great Hall for every meal.

Hermione peeked into the door that didn't have a name above it and discovered a small stair that led upwards to a lovely circular bathroom with a clawfoot tub, a toilet, washbasin and a shower. The clawfoot tub was black and gold and looked large enough to hold two people easily and the floor and walls were all stone like the walls of the castle but generations of Head boys and girls had worn the floor as smooth as silk. Anti-slipping charms may be a necessity. The shower was open with no sidewalls and only a small wooden seat jutting from the wall. The water appeared to come from the ceiling like rain with a grate in the floor to take the excess away. The mirror over the washbasin was so large that Hermione could see the whole bathroom behind her when she looked into it. Small stained glass windows circled the top of the room, the primarily blue glass adding a magical color to the room. The stained glass windows had images of different magical creatures painted onto the glass: hippogriffs, dragons, basilisks, merpeople, goblins and others. Hermione was amazed that she hadn't had an idea that such a room existed in Hogwarts. It was positively elegant, although not nearly as ostentatious as the prefect's bath.

The single bathroom may become an issue as there was more than one person in the Heads Dorm. She would have to discover if Theo was a morning or evening shower person and adjust her schedule accordingly. Hopefully there would be enough privacy for her to indulge in a book and a drink in the bath, something that had been impossible at the Burrow.

As she came back into the head common room, Theo was closing his bedroom door.

"I need to dash out to find Pansy and Draco. I'm worried about them and going to bring them back up here with me. I hope that's okay?" He looked at her quizzically, his curls falling into his eyes a little, looking for the first time a little unsure.

Hermione said thoughtfully "It's fine to have guests, although it is likely that I won't this summer at least. I am just a little unsure if I am comfortable around Parkinson and Malfoy. They hate me. Will they even want to be in here if I am around?" Hermione attempted to ignore the warm feeling she felt when she thought about how Malfoy's eyes had lingered on her face at dinner. That look didn't seem like it had hatred in it.

"I can nearly guarantee that you will see a big change in both of them this summer, Hermione."

Hermione remained skeptical, but Theo was confident and gave her a cheek kiss and a little squeeze around her shoulders. Hermione froze at his touch and he released her immediately.

"Oh sorry! I should have asked first! I can be a bit touchy, you'd think being friends with Draco would have broken me of it, but alas no." Theo laughed.

Hermione, struggling to deal with how nice he smelled (cedar, tobacco and a hint of firewhiskey) told him a little breathlessly, "No no it's fine. Go find your friends, I am heading to bed. It's been a long day." Theo flashed her one more devilish grin and was out the door. Hermione stood there for a long moment wondering what she was going to do about the fact that the Head Boy had just made her nipples harden with a hug and peck on the cheek. Fuck.

Pansy was in the Slytherin common room. Some things never changed. The murky light of the black lake made the whole room look green like the common room itself was under water.

She pulled out a bottle of wine she had hidden behind a tapestry where there was a gap in the stones.

Pulling out the cork and taking a deep sniff, she sighed in satisfaction. "Ah the stasis charm held. Beautiful." Pansy whispered to herself.

She pulled a goblet out of the ebony cabinet that held spares and sat down on one of the green and black couches. She sat looking into the murky darkness of the black lake and wondered if the merpeople were looking back at her as she sipped her wine.

There are just a few straggling Slytherins in the room, most heading to find their dorms. Tracey and Millie had gone to bed long ago and she didn't know the names of most of the 5th and 6th years lingering now. They definitely knew her though: the looks of disgust and fear gave them away. So fun to be the resident evil doer. Where the hell was Draco anyway? He had disappeared a bit after Theo had left with Granger and McGonagall and hadn't returned. Maybe he was just tired of the constant scrutiny. Salazar knew she was.

"Hello Parkinson," a recognizable voice said from the shadows.

She looked up. "Oh Hello Goyle."

He sat next to her on the couch without being invited, his leg actually touching hers and she scowled at him for invading her space. "Can I fucking help you, Greg?" she sneered with venom. What the fuck did he think he was about?

"I hear you let Yaxley between those pureblood thighs. How about you let me have some of that too?" Goyle queried, looking lecherously at Pansy's body. She barely restrained herself from punching him in the face. I am on probation. I am on probation. I am awaiting trial, Pansy recited to herself, Selwyn will be so bent at me if I hit him in his stupid fat face. Instead, Pansy looked at him like he was mad.

"Who told you that you fucking tosser?" she practically snarled at him. Selwyn will be pissed if I hit him. Selwyn will be disappointed if I hit him. The thought of having to go back to Parkinson Manor until her trial was the only thing that prevented Pansy from breaking his jaw.

Goyle seemed a bit self conscious at this point and murmured, "Well my father did…"

"I didn't let him have shite, Greg. Your father doesn't know what the fuck he's on about." She knew if she stayed longer, that she was in fact going to punch him, so Pansy got up to walk away and Greg grabbed her arm.

"Their cells are next to each other and Yaxley has been telling my father all about how he had your hot cunt at Malfoy Manor. If you gave it to that geezer what's wrong with me, Pansy? You won't be able to avoid me this summer, and there is nowhere for you to hide."

Yanking her arm away from him, Pansy snarled "Fuck you, Goyle."

She walked out of the common room like his words hadn't bothered her at all, but as soon as she was in the hall, she ran until she was up the stairs on the way to Theo's new dorm. And then she realized first of all that she had no idea where it was and secondly she still had the wine bottle in her hand. What had happened to the goblet? She had no idea. Fuck.

Like a lifeline, there was Theo, all wild brown curls and smiling azure eyes. "Pansy," Theo said. "There you are! I was on my way to look for you!" Thank Salazar. If Theo was surprised that Pansy wrapped her arms around him and kissed him for all that she was worth, he didn't say a word about it. He just wrapped his arms around her and leaned in.

Everything was blurry and the world seemed to be made of mist and shadow. As Hermione tried to get her bearings, she was in the kitchen at the Burrow. Fleur was in front of her, dressed in her Beauxbatons uniform. Fleur kissed her hand and as she bent Hermione backwards onto the table it turned into a bed, which then morphed into the cold wooden floor of Malfoy Manor and Fleur morphed into Bellatrix. With those mad eyes staring into hers, Bellatrix kissed her hand, sucking on her fingertips erotically before pulling out the knife and grinning maniacally at her.

Hermione sat up screaming, her nails clenched in her bedding. As she tried to calm her rapid breathing, she stared at her darkened, unfamiliar dorm room and was grateful she remembered to silence her room before she fell asleep. The head dorm outside of her room sounded quiet, so she slid her legs out of bed and wrapped her housecoat around her. The common room was dark, but embers still flickered in the fireplace. It was always cold in the Scottish highlands. No surprises then that Theo had started a fire.

Turning, she surveyed the flickering shadows of the common room that would be her home for the next eleven months or so. Hermione wondered how she could ever be expected to sleep now, despite the fact that she knew that there was group therapy in the morning. She realized there was a person on the couch and moved closer in the dark to figure out who it was. As she came closer, she found Draco passed out on the couch with a bottle of fire whiskey sitting open on the floor. He looked cold, pulled in on himself a bit, his face calm in his sleep but goosebumps on his arms as he shivered a little. She transfigured a kitchen towel into a blanket and covered him up, uncomfortable with leaving him there, shivering on the couch of her common room. What would he think when he woke up with a blanket on him?

She charmed the white blanket green so that he would feel a bit more comfortable when he woke, although she tried not to think about her reasons for doing something nice for Draco Malfoy of all people. She stood in the darkness looking at the common space, watching the firelight kissing the shadows and listening to the sound of the Scottish wind outside the tower.

She noticed high heels on the floor next to Theo's room door. What was going on? Was Pansy in the room with Theo or had she just forgotten her shoes? There were no sounds in the next room despite some light from within, so it was likely silenced. Hermione took the bottle from the floor next to Draco and poured herself a generous glass and sat it back where she had found it.

With her glass, Hermione sat in one of the high backed chairs near the fire and watched Draco sleep. She was sure she had never been so close to him without him knowing she was there ever before. He looked so calm asleep except for a little furrow in his brow. His platinum blonde hair had fallen across one eye. It was definitely longer than at the last battle and had none of the gel she remembered holding it in place when he was younger. He was much broader and taller, she could see now that she was up close that he would be almost a head taller than her. His shoulders and chest had definitely gotten larger and his face was less pointy. His jaw and cheekbones were painfully sharp still, but very symmetrical. He was very beautiful, almost otherworldly; he could be a painting of some sort of sleeping angel. A fallen angel for certain, she thought. Maybe Lucifer?

She sipped the fire whiskey, enjoying the familiar burn as it slid down her throat and settled warmly in her stomach. Closing her eyes, she still felt the cloying terror of her nightmare and her fingers trembled slightly around the glass.

Hermione really looked at his fingers, they were so long and elegant. She wondered if he played piano or the harp or painted. They were artist's hands or maybe potioneer's hands. If he put his hands on her waist, they were big enough to more than encircle it. Now that she is near enough to examine his hands in the firelight, she can see that he has four large men's rings on: the large "M" of the Malfoy signet ring she remembered his father wearing, a black opal in an ornate setting, a raw rectangular black tourmaline and a large cabochon of obsidian surrounded by a golden serpent. They nearly glowed with protective enchantments.

She was pretty sure that one of the Slytherins must have charmed the couch, it's definitely bigger than it was earlier. Crooks came padding out from her open door, and jumped into her lap, and Hermione stroked him while staring at the flickering fire, looking back at Malfoy sleeping so peacefully every once and a while, wondering whether he dreamed.

"Unfortunately the Aurors confiscated all my crops, whips and paddles," Pansy said sullenly. "They said there was blood on them and that it was yours. And that I might face additional charges."

"Oh yes it was quite funny when Robards came with all of your fun toys to my house and asked if I recognized them and who had tortured me with them. The look on his face when I asked why he had my dominatrix's toys was just delicious. I was like, this crop is my favorite. It leaves the best welts and this flogger is just really fun for long punishment sessions. I am really quite naughty. He looked like he wanted to die of embarrassment. " Theo chuckled, "I told him not to ask questions that he didn't actually want the answers to."

Pansy laughed as well at the image of the Head Auror all out of sorts over her toy bag.

"But my queen, I did stress that everything done with those items was absolutely consensual and I apologize immensely for not scourgifying them properly after our last rough play session. I do have a little surprise for you though," Theo said, leaning down to open one of his trunks and triumphantly pulling out a pair of black thigh high lace up dragonhide stiletto boots.

"Oh Theo! My pet! How did you get these back?!" Pansy clapped excitedly.

"Oh I just charmed them to fit me and said they were mine. At that point Robards looked like he wanted to die just so he could leave, so he handed them over without much fuss."

"You are my clever boy," Pansy said lovingly, patted him on the cheek and sat down on the edge of his bed. "Put them on me now." Theo shivered in pleasure at her authoritative tone and immediately dropped to his knees in front of her, keeping his eyes down as he slid first one boot and then the other up her perfect legs, wandlessly charming the boots to be a perfect fit on her petite feet and then slowly tightening the laces so that everything was just so, just how his mistress liked things.

"Any new limits my darling?" Pansy asked him, running her sharp nails down his jaw as he looked up into her eyes. Theo felt himself harden under her touch and took a deep breath.

"Nothing new no. I still have hard limits on permanent scarring, no cock and ball torture and no urine play. Otherwise I am open. My safe word remains prohibere."

"Splendid. And I know we talked about penetrative play for me last spring, but I need you to know I am not ready for that. I might never be," Pansy looked into Theo's eyes, "I am still struggling with the…"

"You don't have to say it. I know. It's fine, there are so many other games we can play. I would never ever want to do something that you can't find pleasure in. Fucking you with my cock is not something I need from you, if it's not consensual, Pansy." Theo held onto Pansy's ankles and she stroked his face for a few moments while they stared into each other's eyes.

Pansy stepped back and Theo released her. She sat and spread her legs wide, vanishing all of her clothes except her black bra and the boots.

"Now my darling, put your hands behind your back and keep them there." Theo immediately did as he was told. "Ah that's my good boy, " Pansy purred. "Now come here and worship at my altar with your tongue and if you are a very very good boy, I will let you come all over my tits. Does that sound agreeable?"

Theo couldn't answer because he was already licking and stroking her wet pussy with his tongue, rolling her clit with the tip of his tongue and drinking her juices. He kept his hands behind his back and used his face to nuzzle into the apex of Pansy's milky thighs.

He was a very good boy after all.