Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter & co. - just write what could have been :)

Chapter Four

Theo Nott felt the discomfort of his wards being trespassed upon before he felt a pounding ache in the middle of his forehead. Not even fully awake, Theo couldn't help but to frown. Why was he being called upon so intrusively and why didn't he have any pepper-up potions? The dark-haired wizard groaned out loud before freezing, feeling an arm on top of his stomach.

"What the fu –"

"Language, Theo."

Blaise replied as Theo opened his eyes and sat up. The memory of Blaise falling asleep in his bed came whispering to Theo like a whisp of smoke appearing and fading. Both wizards were in Theo's room; the dark wooden floor master bedroom was light blue for now as Theo hadn't decided on to stick with that current color or change it. There were two giant windows to Theo's right, but both were covered by dark teal curtains to keep the cursed sunlight out on occasions like these. Besides a cherry wood wardrobe and two bedside tables, there wasn't any furniture other than the king-sized bed. There was a door in front of him leading to his bathroom and one to his left which led out into the rest of the manor. Theo groaned again when his wards rang loudly in his head. Someone was desperately trying to get in Nott Manor and Theo was contemplating homicide when Pansy strolled in from the left, teacup in one hand and saucer in the other. She was dressed in a soft blue baby doll – where did she get that from? – and ridiculously puffy, pink kitten heels, her hair secured behind a matching head band, and a light green concoction placed all over her face.

"Potter's at the front door."

She said and without another word, strolled out. Theo pouted at the door, hoping he could ask Pansy to talk to Potter but she left without letting Theo get a word in.

"Better go get that, mate."

Blaise said before turning over, grasping Theo's white sheets to cover his half-naked body. Theo irritably sighed, glaring at the door where Pansy disappeared out of. Forcibly getting out of bed when he drank heavily last night, wasn't on the top of Theo's to-do list. He had planned specifically nothing for the following morning to allow him time to recuperate, but his plans were being soiled by a bloody war hero. He grabbed his wand and prepared himself for apparating; closing his eyes tightly, he reappeared in his main foyer half-naked and fully irritated, swinging the door open. Theo held onto the door to steady himself, his stomach in knots. He had forgotten to put on clothes, but he figured Potter had seen worst.

"Potter."
He growled at Harry Potter in his doorway, a half-smile appearing on the taller wizard's face at the sight at the half naked Nott heir. Theo winced at the blinding light behind him, illuminating Potter, and Draco's voice coming to mind, "Saint Potter." Theo would have laughed if he wasn't freezing from the wind sweeping in behind his guest and he mumbled a summoning spell for his bathrobe as he stepped aside, letting Potter in. While Theo put on the soft, ivory colored robe over himself, he saw that Potter was wearing his Auror uniform. Everything on the war hero looked pressed and polished, but his jet-black hair stood at odd angles, reminding Theo of Hermione's unruly curls back at Hogwarts. At first Theo thought he might be here on official D.L.M.E. business but he didn't remember anything planned for the day; the flash look of worry that passed of Potter's face when he faced him wiped that thought completely.

"Fun night?"

Potter asked him, still standing near the door and eyeing his bathrobe. Theo could hear his etiquette instructor yelling at him for keeping company at the doorway. Theo rubbed his face and began making his way towards the left, towards the kitchens where he at least had muggle instant coffee that could help his oncoming headache and mood.

"Bloody great until you showed up."

He snapped, trying his best not to look towards his left where construction was currently being done to add more windows to this side of the Manor. Cursed the day he thought more light would be beneficial, no wonder his alcoholic of a father kept the place dark. Theo internally winced when he realized he sided on his father on something – even if it was something so trivial as windows. Before they could make it to the kitchens, Potter rushed out,

"Did Hermione spend the night?"

The question made Theo stop in his tracks and he turned around to face Potter. Standing in the middle of the corridor where it was all but blank with the exception of the dark red walls, was a very concerned Harry Potter. For a brief second, Theo let his face mirror Potter's before calming himself. Theo cleared his throat, rubbing the back of his head as he answered,

"No, she wanted to go home so Pansy side-apparated with her to take her back to her flat."

Confusion replaced anxiousness and Potter tiled his head slightly to the left.

"Parkinson? I thought it was just you and Zabini."

Theo couldn't control the sigh at the memory of Pansy, and following, Draco before he turned away, continuing his search for caffeine. If he was going to be talking to someone so early in the day, he needed stimulating assistance. The wooden floorboards creaked underneath their weight as they continued their walk.

"It was, but Draco came –"

"Malfoy was here too?"

Theo could hear the surprise in Potter's question as he controlled another sigh. Finally arriving in the kitchens with three house elves bustling about, Theo said,

"Minty, please get me some coffee with three sugar spoons and some milk."

The house elf with the bright green eyes and bow in the middle of her head with matching doll dress nodded furiously. The kitchens were as big as a large dining room, completely covered in white and gray tiles forming "N's" throughout the floor, and light shone from the top and left; there was a sunroof currently allowing sunlight to light up the room and while Theo usually liked how light this part of the Manor was, he was not enjoying it today. There was a giant island in the middle with different pots and pans already steaming with what Theo assumed breakfast for himself and his guests; the sink was towards the right, covering half the wall with its porcelain sinks. Closing his eyes for a few second before he tilted his head back to look at Potter,

"Coffee?"

Harry shook his hand, mumbling thank you, before his piercing eyes stared at Theo waiting for a reply. Theo took a seat on one of the wooden stools surrounding the giant island. Rubbing his face again to get some blood flowing, Theo looked to a standing Potter.

"He was. They both came because Draco was sloshed and then Hermione wanted to leave so Pansy side-apparated with her to her flat. Pansy said she delivered her on her doorway before coming back."

Theo gave the shortened down story to Potter and Minty appeared before him with a steaming cup of coffee. Theo smiled down at his house elf before retrieving the warm mug, charmed so the user wouldn't burn themselves despite the hot liquid it contained. Theo let himself inhale the sweet scent the sugar and milk provided before lifting his cup to his lips. He was rudely interrupted at Potter's outburst,

"Did she see her get in? What if she knocked out before getting in? Did she even have her keys? Her wand?"

Theo could hear the anxiety practically radiating from the wizard as he started pacing. Rolling his eyes and taking a helping, very hot sip, forcing himself not to wince, Theo cleared his throat.

"Potter, I'm sure Granger got into her flat just fine. Why are you so bloody worked up?"

"She hasn't responded to my calls and she's not at work."

Harry grumbled, running his hands through his hair, making the odd angles turn in different ways. Theo rolled his eyes again, taking another, careful, sip of his coffee before placing it down.

"We were all pretty drunk besides Pansy. She probably has a hangover, Potter."

Theo offered, not mentioning how he thought that he was overreacting but certainly thinking it. While the notion of Hermione missing work was a little cause for concern, Theo could tell by last night how intoxicated she was. Hermione didn't seem the type to bugger of work just to play hooky; she was probably nursing a headache just like he was – sans without Potter worrying about in her kitchen.

"That doesn't answer why she didn't answer her door either. What if she apparated somewhere and got herself splinched or – "

"Potter, have you tried apparating into her flat to check?"

Theo asked him before he could go off into a tangent. While he hadn't worked with Potter long, once the man got comfortable with someone, he let down his confident shield that he had grown and perfected and behind it was an anxious young wizard constantly worried about his friends, his family. While Theo was honored that Harry Potter trusted him with this, he could also be exhausting if he wasn't calmed down. Potter frowned at Theo and rolled his eyes at him,

"Of course, before I came here. She wasn't there."

"I'm sure she's fine, Potter. Granger can take care of herself."

Zabini walked in, dressed in Theo's cotton pajama bottoms and his spare, gray bathrobe, with matching house slippers. Theo wanted to pout at the sight of comfort Blaise was in, glancing down at his bottomless and shoeless self, but drank more coffee instead.

"Minty, black coffee please."

Blaise said, standing next to Theo and letting his elbows rest on the green marble beneath him. Potter crossed his arms, a frown still in place, but opted to stay silent at the Italian wizard's reassurance.

[–]

Hermione inhaled deeply, stretching towards her right, trying to make the sharp ache in her left go away, fingertips reaching towards the sky. After at least ten seconds, Hermione exhaled and stretched the opposite side. While Hermione was never optimally fit, after the War, it was something she tried to stay on top of. During the War, it was easier to stay toned and moderately fit when she, Harry, and Ron were constantly on the run. It also helped her muscle to fat ratio when they weren't eating every day. However, she was slacking when she was with Ron, only running for thirty minutes or so every other day. Now, when she pushed herself to run at least 4.5 kilometers today, her body protested loudly against her actions despite taking a pepper-up potion and drinking caffeine. She was tired, sweaty, and the sharp pain beneath her lungs finally stopped hurting after the stretches. Hermione exhaled slowly, the wind seeping through her long sleeved, maroon colored sport shirt and her black leggings; while the outfit fit nicely against her skin, it wasn't warm to allow her skin to breathe while she was exercising. She wiped her brows with the long sleeve, making a face at the sweat collected, before stretching once again. Hermione was grateful for a sunny day today but didn't like the feeling of sweat over her – she felt sticky. Finally done with her stretches, Hermione made her way back to her flat; she had chosen her flat's location because it was located a couple of minutes from a park where she could spend her free time and nowhere near wizarding London. Hermione enjoyed the tranquility of being outdoors so she would occasionally go to there to read or run without fear of reporters photographing her. Finally, back at her flat budling, she decided to take the three flights upstairs instead of usually apparating from the alley besides. With a deep exhale, Hermione was at her front door, taking out her keys from her left pocket. She turned the key and entered her home and closing the door behind her, Hermione heard loud ringing. Hermione knew that was her mobile phone alerting her she had an incoming call. Hermione begrudgingly walked towards her living room, reaching for her screaming mobile she left on the couch. She glanced down at "Harry" before flipping it open.

"Good morning, Harry – "

"Hermione! Thank Merlin, I've been trying to reach you all morning."

Harry's panicked voice said from the other side of the phone. Hermione felt a little guilty when she had ignored Harry's initial two calls early in the morning, but now felt rotten at the sound of Harry's voice.

"I'm sorry, Harry! I woke up late and then left my mobile at my flat before going for a run, sorry to make you worry. Is everything okay?"

She apologized. At the same time, Hermione took off her running sneakers and began unbraiding the French braid she worked on this morning, walking towards her bathroom. She heard him exhale before he spoke again,
"No no it's okay – everything is okay. I just wanted to check in with you after last night."

Hermione winced at the reminder of her crying for at least half an hour into the night, ruining her buzz. Finally releasing her woes unto the world, Hermione wiped her face off and went to bed, opting to sleep nude instead of accidentally finding Ron's sleeping clothes and crying all over again.

"Ah of course. I had fun Harry, thanks for checking."

She half-lied to her best friend. She did have fun, initially, with Theo and Zabini, but when Parkinson and Malfoy had shown up, they dampened the high spirits she found herself in.

"Will catch up for dinner then, yeah?"

Harry asked and before Hermione could turn him down, he said,

"Shite, have to get back to work – see you around 6, 'Mione!"

The dial tone indicated that he had hung up. Hermione frowned and closed her flip phone; while she was delighted knowing Harry wanted to have dinner with her, she didn't want him to worry, and she didn't want to tell him why she couldn't stay at Nott's despite him offering. She didn't want him fretting over miniscule things in Hermione's life, he already had enough on his plate. Hermione shook her head to herself, already thinking of ways to tell Harry to not come over, as she tied her hair up into a tight bun and put her mobile back down on the couch. Next to the silver phone was an application labeled "Yale University" that Hermione stared at for a while before she began biting her lower lip and walked away. Hermione walked towards her private restroom and peeled off her clothes, jumping into her shower. The lukewarm water felt great rinsing off the sweat the accumulated from the run. After a quick body rinse, Hermione turned the clear knobs in her shower, and stepped into the coolness of her bathroom. Hermione made herself not take her time washing because then she was left alone with her thoughts. She reached towards her towel rack and wrapped a soft brown towel over herself. She used her daily moisturizer over her body, letting her hair air dry, before deciding on wearing black leggings and an oversized tee shirt with – she froze. Her fingertips trailed over the faded dark red tee that said, "Gryffindor Quidditch" on the front. While she could pretend it was Harry's, she knew better. Before she could start feeling pathetic for herself, again, Hermione rushed over to put on her green one from last night. Even though the lingering smell of liquor stayed, she needed something before starting her spontaneous mission. She was going to sort through her clothes, making a pile of any lingering items Ron had left or let her have. She might be pathetic, but she wasn't going to be pathetic forever nor stay feeling pathetic.

[–]

Draco Malfoy was the last to join his friends in Theo's private dining room, barely concealing his lackluster attitude and sprawling on the nearest soft green cushioned hair, next to Theo and Blaise. He was wearing a loose fitting, dark gray pajama bottoms and a plain white tee; his hair was in disarray and he didn't have any shoes on. Pansy had already left, claiming to Theo and Blaise she had a schedule to keep and wasn't an heir to anything unlike the three of them, so it was just the Silver trio.

"Good afternoon, sunshine."

Blaise said, smirking against his coffee cup. He was on his second while Draco still slept, recovering from a hangover no doubt. Draco leaned his head back, closing his eyes, stifling a groan at the sound of Blaise's voice. While the blue and brown eyed Slytherins had time to recover from last night's copious drinking, and a surplus amount of caffeine, Draco had not. He wanted to black out the beautifully lit, cozy dining room in favor for darkness.

"Coffee?"

Theo offered and Draco nodded silently. Theo busied himself making Draco's coffee – two dashing helps of milk and three spoonsful of honey instead of sugar – while Blaise sought to torture his friend. He didn't have to get up earlier than planned because Potter showed up nor did he have to subdue the troubled wizard when his best friend was apparently MIA. Blaise cleared his throat, setting his coffee down, and toyed with a croissant on his beautifully decorated porcelain plate before asking,

"How did you sleep, Draco?"

No response as Theo stirred the milk in. Blaise didn't seem to mind the lack of response from his friend; he spilt the croissant into two, gently placing the halve into his coffee for a quick drunk before placing it into his mouth. After chewing he asked,

"Did Pansy keep your bed warm?"

Blaise egged on, knowing full well that Pansy would have rather walk out freshly out of bed in front Daily Prophet reporters then to sleep with Draco Malfoy – again. Yet still no response from Draco and Theo was on his second spoon of honey. Blaise didn't help the wicked smirk that spread over his face and said,

"Or did you wish it was Granger?"

Draco didn't miss a beat nor open his eyes as he swiftly reached and threw a croissant roll at Blaise's head. His body protested against the swift movements, his stomach churning but Draco didn't react outwardly. Blaise barely missing it, roared out laughing. Theo couldn't help to smirk at his friend before placing the coffee cup in front of him. Irritably, Draco opened his gray eyes to glare at Blaise band straighten up before taking a sip of his coffee. His long, pale fingers covered the white cup, soaking in all the warmth it offered. While Draco didn't say anything in his defense, blaming his hangover, Theo offered,

"She has really grown into herself."

Blaise directed his attention to the dark head wizard and nodded in agreement. Draco stayed silent, turning to glare at Theo. He hated his closest friends at the moment.

"Reckon she'll say yes to a date?"

Blaise asked Theo but before Theo could answer, Draco snorted, putting his cup down.

"Shut up, Zabini."

He said and reached for a slice of toast and one of the many marmalade spreads. There was a helping of poached and scrambled eggs, toast, English muffins, bacon, and fruits, but Draco didn't think he could handle eating anything besides bread and caffeine. Draco chose the dark purple marmalade, assuming it was some type of berry. This reaction on spurred Blaise on, his smirk seemed to be growing as he tilted his head towards the Malfoy heir.

"Oh? I can't ask Granger out for dinner, Malfoy?"

Blaise waited for Draco's response as he busied himself with spreading his marmalade over his toast – taking his sweet time in Blaise's opinion. Theo wanted to laugh at the theatrics of his friend, but wisely drank his second cup of coffee with no comment. He knew that Draco was sick and even in the lightest of moods, rarely spoke of Hermione. Finally spreading the berry marmalade out into a thin spread over his bread, Draco brought the sweet breakfast to his mouth and simply said,

"She already has a boyfriend."

Before taking a bite and avoided Blaise's shit-eating grin. Now Theo couldn't help his snort and rolled his eyes at the pale blond wizard before him. Of course, he wouldn't know, Theo thought. Theo watched as Blaise's twinkling eyes sparked with mischief and opened his mouth for yet another antagonizing response, but Theo decided to intervene. He cleared his throat but didn't move from his comfy position, saying,

"Weasley broke up with Granger, Draco."

Draco stopped chewing, freezing, and his eyes growing ever so slightly at the statement. Blaise wanted to laugh at his best's reaction but he held it in. Theo didn't look at Draco, knowing he would have reacted to the news that Hermione Granger was newly single. Granted, he thought he would have known as soon as the Prophet reported it but apparently he avoided the British. While Blaise desperately wanted to speak, Theo beat him yet again.

"So Blaise really is in all his rights to ask Granger out. Or maybe she'll fancy an outing with me, what do you think, Blaise?"

Theo joked, allowing a small smirk to grace his lips. Just because Draco rarely talked about Hermione that didn't mean he couldn't tease his friend mercilessly on his infatuation. It also didn't help that Blaise followed along so easily. Blaise let his grin fall before placing a hand on his chin, seemingly lost in thought.

"Maybe we should both try, see which one she fancies the best. I mean compared to Weasley, I feel like we could definitely be better choices, don't you think, Theo?"

Theo nodded seriously seeing as Draco hadn't moved an inch since the revelation of Hermione's currently relationship status. He wanted to see how far they could go before he came back to reality and snapped.

"She could choose from the crème da la crème in wizarding society, Blaise. Nothing but the best for Gryffindor's Princess."

Theo responded, leaning into Blaise, putting his cup down and elbows on the table. They both sported matching grins. Blaise's brown eyes twinkled and said,

"Quite right, Theo. Maybe Longbottom might even give it go or perhaps McLaggen is desperate for a repeat from the good ol' days."

"Why stop there? I heard Goldstein was still single or perhaps Pucey – both brainy for Miss Granger."

Theo couldn't help to add a fellow Slytherin to the mix, purposely to make Draco react. Blaise grinned devishly, leaning in closer as he failed to whisper,

"How much do you want to be she picks one of us instead of those – "

"You two give it rest, for fuck's sake."

Draco finally snapped, annoyed at his friends and annoyed at the effects of recklessly drinking. He finished the rest of his toast in two giant bites and downing his coffee before getting up. Not bothering to say anything to his friends, Draco left the room hastily. Both Slytherins watch their friend leave; Blaise started chuckling while Theo picked up his coffee cup again.

"What ever did we say?"