Chapter 6

Rest of Yule ball night

As Hermione's second dance with Draco Malfoy was coming to a close, Theo bowed and extended his hand, "I believe this is my dance?" His question wasn't directed towards her, but his blonde friend making Hermione flush. It felt nice, to be so wanted by these two, and for it to not end with her being put in the middle of their jealousy.

Draco bowed in response and began to pass her to Theo. She could feel that Draco's arm was reluctant to leave her waist, his fingers lingered on her back for just a few moments longer than necessary. The entire thing sent a thrill through her in a way that Viktor hadn't all night.

Looking from him to Theo, Hermione laughed, "Is this the muggle story of the dancing princess? Will you keep me here all night until my slippers are worn through?"

Drawing her into his arms, Theo smiled with a confidence he hadn't shown when he urged her to follow him to this secret paradise. It surprised her and only made Hermione's grin grow as he twirled her away in a dance. "Perhaps that was my plan all along, Princess."

Hermione blinked at him and watched as the smug look brightened his face even more, revealing surprising dimples. Hermione felt the bubble of laughter rising through her chest, unable to keep it down, worried at first Theo would take it the wrong way. She had no need to fear though, because as her laugh filled the room, his grin only broadened.

Theo twirled her around the floor, just as graceful and well practiced as Draco had been. Hermione relished in the moment, loved the feel of his warm hand burning through the fabric of her dress. She felt safe to let herself go in this moment with him, free to let herself fall.

As Theo glided across the room with her in his arms, Hermione caught sight of the room's other occupant. Draco was waiting by the chaise lounge with three glasses of champagne that he had procured from the fountain. As Theo's dance with her ended, the bars from the gramophone fading off, Draco passed one glass of champagne into Theo's waiting hand. His other hand still lingered on Hermione's lower back, the warmth of his touch bringing a smile to Hermione's face. She eagerly accepted the drink from Draco, taking a sip and feeling the bubbles running down her throat.

"You both dance beautifully," Hermione complimented, taking another sip.

"Yes, well, when you are trained to ballroom dance at the same time you're learning to walk," Draco replied, a smug look upon his face, sipping at his own champagne flute.

"Yes, Draco we know, you're modest. Though he is right, even Crabbe and Goyle can dance, it's part of the Pureblood handbook."

"You're telling me that Crabbe and Goyle can dance as well as the two of you?" Hermione asked, a skeptical eyebrow raised.

"Oh, I never said that. Just that they are technically able to, though I wouldn't recommend it unless you fancy a few broken toes." Theo's smirk showed off a dimple on his cheek that made Hermione's heart swell as the three laughed together.

They all moved to sit on the chaise lounge, sipping champagne and eating tiny cakes. Normally, Hermione wasn't a fan of so many sweets, but the atmosphere of the room had her craving more. More of the food, more of the champagne, and especially more of the strange company of these two boys. Just more.

The fairy cake left powder on her lips. "You have something Hermione, just there, did you know?" The blonde boy said, pulling Hermione from her musings.

She was startled when Draco leaned forward and caught her lips in a kiss. It felt like a lightning bolt went through her. Electricity filled her body from the tips of her toes to her fingertips

"Merlin, Granger, you taste like perfection." He breathed as he pulled away from her, his silver eyes staring at her in awe.

"Does she?" Theo asked. "Let me have a taste too." Hermione turned to face him as he leaned forward and ran his thumb over her lip, stealing a bit of the powdered sugar. Hermione gasped when he put his thumb in his mouth and closed his eyes as though he was savoring her. "So sweet."

Hermione was not about to let her chance to kiss Theo pass her by. Not certain if it was Gryffindor bravery or the champagne controlling her movements, Hermione leaned in and caught Theo's lips with her own. Theo's body stiffened in surprise, but before Hermione could pull back, she felt his hands cupping her face holding her in place. Kissing him caused the same electric feeling to arc through her body. A jolting feeling like nothing she had ever experienced before.

"What in the name of all four founders was that?" she breathed against his lips, their foreheads still touching once they parted.

"You think that's something, watch this," the boys wrapped their arms around her drawing her close then proceeded to kiss each other and her. The shock of their display quickly gave way to the energy building in her like a cresting wave, floating between the three of them like a whirlpool.

Hermione touched her slightly swollen lips with a shaking hand. "I've never felt anything like that," she gasped, as they pulled back and studied her with a look of surprise on each of their faces.

"Nor us," Draco admitted, looking at Theo then back at her, "It's never been like that, without you at least. The two of us being together, it always felt right, but also like something was missing."

Hermione continued to look between the two boys as confusion stirred in her mind. "I don't understand what you mean when you say something was missing." Hermione watched as Draco and Theo gave each other a look, communicating something between the two of them that she couldn't decipher.

"How much do you know about bonds? Soul bonds in particular?" Hermione shook her head, that was a part of Divination that was covered in fourth year. As she had dropped the class in third year, Hermione would be content if she never heard anything more on the topic.

"You know I dropped Divination last year. It was a complete waste of time. The idea of two people being soulmates sounds like something Trelawney would have made up to keep it interesting."

"No, it's true. You see, in magical families, we grow up hearing about soulmates and how powerful that bond is. It's still pretty rare and a bond between three is even more rare," Theo confided.

"And that's what you two think then? That the three of us are soulmates?" She cocked her head at them, thinking about the possibility.

This was the first time I ever actually touched him, either of them. How could that be, Malfoy and Nott, two pureblood wizards, are my soulmates?

When did you know?" Hermione asked, as she melted into their arms, her head rested on Draco's shoulder and Theo's arm resting around her waist.

"We've known about the two of us for years," Theo admitted, looking at Draco with adoration that made Hermione's breath catch. "We knew someone was missing, probably a witch, but we had no idea who or how to find them. When you punched Draco at the end of last year, we realized you were the piece that was missing. Purebloods, you see, we don't touch often…but Draco and I both felt the jolt when you punched him, it was like your magic was calling to us. You might not have realized it because of your adrenaline, but you would have felt it also."

That was the first time I ever actually touched him, either of them. How could it be, Malfoy and Nott, two pureblood wizards, were her soulmates?

"But I'm a mudblood," Hermione commented, confused and trying to pull back to look at them, but Theo held her in place.

"Don't call yourself that!" Draco snapped, causing her to jump slightly at the outburst. "Sorry, but please never say that again. Never talk about yourself that way again." He mumbled the last part, letting his head rest on the top of hers.

"What Draco means," Theo said, giving Draco a stern look, "is that he is very sorry for ever being anything other than respectful towards you. I'm not sure if you've noticed, but we do have rather scary fathers who absolutely can not know about you or our soulmate bond."

"Why?" Hermione asked, letting the warmth from the boys keep her spiraling thoughts from getting away from her.

She felt Theo's chest rumble as he scoffed, "They'd probably kill all three of us and end our bloodlines before we could sully our pure blood," Theo sighed, "Or obliviate us and murder you. Neither of these options are acceptable, so this will all need to be kept quiet until things are safer."

"When will that be?" Hermione asked, her eyes feeling heavy as they began to drift close, the champagne finally having an effect on her.

Draco sighed and kissed her lightly on her neck, "Not soon enough."

Hermione felt her body quiver and even though the question was a bit bolder than she normally would have been, she whispered it anyway, "And what do you want from me?"

"We are yours, Hermione Granger," Theo grabbed her chin, making her eyes flutter back open so he could look into her eyes.

"And you are ours," Draco murmured, pulling her into another lingering kiss.

Breaking apart from their kiss, Hermione looked into Draco's silver eyes, seeing nothing other than honesty and openness. Her heart couldn't help but clench as she felt an internal shift happening as their words settled around her. "Then you didn't just bring me here because Ron made me cry?" Hermione turned and looked at Theo, whose eyes were also filled with pure intentions.

"I don't like how he talks to you," Theo disclosed, nuzzling his nose into her hair, "He should appreciate you, that goes for Potter too. They use you Hermione. You are a brilliant and exceptional witch; they take advantage of your big heart." His hand stroked her cheek as he pulled back to look into her eyes again.

"They are my friends…" she trailed off.

"Are they?" Draco asked, raising a questioning eyebrow, "but let's not waste our night discussing those two. I have a better idea on how I want to spend my first night getting to be together with both of you alone, at last."

Hermione smiled and nodded her head in agreement, even if it was strange, she really was enjoying herself. "Is this real?"

"Il n'est rien de réel que le rêve et l'amour," Draco whispered into her hair and the tickle of his breath on her skin made her forget to ask what he had said to her.

The next hour passed in a whirlwind of kissing, drinking champagne, and embracing each other.

It had finally grown so late that the trio realised it was close to curfew, Yule Ball or not. If they were caught they were all sure to get detention. The two Slytherins walked Hermione back to Gryffindor tower, even though she told them it was not necessary.

"It's curfew," Draco murmured into her hair.

"We need to make sure you get back safely," Theo kissed her behind her ear, careful to prevent any of the portraits from seeing their illicit touches.

As they reached the entrance, she cast one final look at the pair as she stepped through the Fat Lady's portrait. The way they were looking at her caused her breath to catch just as the entrance slammed shut.

Quietly sneaking into her dorm, not wanting to wake anyone, Hermione noted that everyone was asleep except Lavender who had a copy of Witch Weekly propped up on her stomach.

As she carefully slipped out of her ball gown and neatly hung up her stockings, Hermione looked over at the girl as she flipped another page. In a whisper, Hermione asked, "Hey Lav," when the blonde made a sound indicating that she was listening, Hermione continued. "Do you think soulmates are real?"

Lavender dropped her magazine and sat up as she squealed with excitement. Her green eyes were sparkling and a broad smile crossed her face, "Absolutely! This is something I actually know quite a bit about."

The blonde girl hopped out of bed and rifled through her trunk as a thought struck her.

"Here." She handed Hermione some magical romance novels written about soulmates and Hermione was confused until she flipped to the back of the books and saw a suggested list of further reading that included academic sources and lengthy footnotes.

"Do you, um, is it possible for soulmates to be a triad and not a couple?" Hermione asked as she flipped the romance novel back over and saw a man and woman posed together.

Lavender almost clapped with excitement, but decided against it at the last second realising their other dorm mates were sleeping. Hermione held up her finger to her lips, as a second reminder to her. Nodding, Lavender took a breath before she whispered, "Oh, Merlin and Morgana were soulmates with a third person, Nimue, the lady of the lake. Also Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Helga Hufflepuff were all soulmates. That's part of the reason Slytherin left them, you know. Because he was in love with Ravenclaw, but she had soulmates. So she couldn't be with him, Isn't it romantic!"

Hermione wasn't sure if romantic was the word that she would use. Tragic would perhaps be more appropriate. "That wasn't in Hogwarts: a History." Hermione said, still slightly sceptical of the entire idea.

"Oh, well it wouldn't be. Soulmates aren't something that are included in the history books. I've never understood it, but historians and those trained in the art of divination tend to not cross paths very often," Lavender explained as Hermione nodded.

"So, uh, can other people tell? If someone has a soulmate and they've…touched?"

"No, only the soulmates can feel anything different, there's no charm or spell…maybe a really good seer could detect them, but it probably wouldn't be clear." Lavender sighed wistfully, as she settled back on her bed, a dreamy look in her eyes as she spoke. "For the soulmates though, once they know, it's like, when they walk in a room the other is in, they'll be aware of the person just from physically being close to them. When they kiss or touch, there are sparks and jolts, like their magic is so excited to be meeting their perfect match again. At least according to all the primary sources I read for my essay. I hope I meet mine someday."

"Hmmm. Thanks Lav, that's a lot to think about." Hermione started to bite at her lip, as she laid back on the bed.

"Hermione Granger!" Lavender exclaimed, making Hermione look over at the bed next to her again, "did you meet your soulmate at the Yule ball? Tell me the truth! Do you think Viktor is your soulmate? Or is it someone else from Durmstrang? Maybe one of those boys from Beauxbatons too, they are positively swoonworthy."

"Pretty sure Viktor isn't, no. I definitely did NOT meet my soulmate at the Ball. Someone just said something about it tonight and I realised I didn't know anything on the subject. You know me, can't stand not knowing." Hermione gave a self-deprecating laugh.

Raising an eyebrow, Lavender gave her a reassuring smile, "Hermione don't talk about yourself like that, you are more than your brains. You shouldn't pigeon hole yourself, but just in case you wanted to know more, there is a whole section in the library about soulmates and soul bonding. I did a paper on bonds for divination, the one I was telling you about, it had a lot of information. I can try to find my scroll for you tomorrow. Isn't it just so romantic? Once you've touched your soulmate, you'll never want another person. No one else will measure up to them and you'll do anything to protect them."

Soon, Lavender's breathing evened out and she finally rolled over as she drifted off to sleep. Hermione lay awake, Lavender's words running through her mind as the champagne buzz slowly faded to nothing.

Once you've touched your soulmate, you'll never want another person. No one else will measure up to them.