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Chapter 22

September 1, 1995

Hermione watched out the window as Remus slowly faded to nothing more than a ghost on Platform 9 ¾. She wasn't surprised that her parents had extended their trip a few more days and wouldn't be back to drop her off for Hogwarts, but it still hurt her feelings. She knew that she wasn't even remotely their priority, but most of the time she was able to pretend. When they did things like this, though, it just made self-delusion impossible. She wondered what they would do if she just stopped coming home on school holidays all together. Would they even notice or complain?

Sirius had said that the room she used at Grimmauld was officially hers and she had left her framed rose and poem there hanging above the bed, but Remus had taught her how to charm it so if anyone else looked at it, it was a photograph of her with her parents. It was a handy little spell and she'd used it on her packet of letters, because she didn't want to leave them behind. She had no idea how often she would be able to see her boys now that the school year was starting again. Rereading their letters over and over had been a comfort during the summer and she would like to do it again.

She knew that she was supposed to find Harry and Ron on the train, but she didn't have the energy to deal with the guilt trips that they would likely throw at her about not spending the last few weeks at the Burrow watching them play Quidditch. So instead she wandered the train for a while, Crookshanks in his carrier under her arm. Eventually she found space and chatted with Luna and Neville for a while before going down to the front of the train to the Prefect's carriage for the meeting with the new Head Boy and Head Girl.

The train compartment was rapidly filling up and Hermione couldn't believe that she appeared to be one of the last prefects to arrive. Draco was standing with Pansy near the door, but they appeared to be trying to shift slightly further in.

When Hermione slipped by Draco, his fingers brushed hers for only an instant in the crowded carriage before she shifted to where she could catch his eyes briefly. The soothing sensation of his touch made her so happy that for just a moment she grinned before she schooled her features into a more "Hermione Granger" expression, serious and attentive. She looked forward to the day when they didn't need to pretend any longer.

Ron arrived right before the meeting started, and tried to push his way to stand next to her. Hermione was relieved when the Head Girl gave him a glare that froze him into place. The way Ron was looking at her now made her horribly uncomfortable. Was he sick? She shook herself and tried to pay attention to what the Heads were saying.

The meeting was short and covered all the information that she already knew. She was looking forward to the mixing of houses for patrol, maybe she'd end up patrolling with Draco. It might be fun for the two of them to catch Theo after curfew, she blushed at the naughty direction of her thoughts.

Staring at her feet as she tried to get her heating face under control, Hermione nearly fell into the wall as someone ran into her with great force.

"Watch where you are going you filthy little mudblood," Pansy hissed under her breath as she bumped into Hermione on her way out of the carriage. "Coming Draco? I need to find Daphne." Pansy didn't even pause as she stormed out into the rest of theo train. The Head Girl, a Slytherin called Bonnie, seemed as though she hadn't heard Pansy's insult, but the Head Boy, a pureblood from Ravenclaw, Geoff Fawley, smirked irritatingly at Hermione as though daring her to start some scene in the train car. She rolled her eyes and looked away.

"Right behind you, Pans."

Despite the other prefects that still surrounded them, Draco managed to tuck a note into Hermione's palm as he walked away. She could tell from the tension in his shoulders that he desperately wanted to turn around and look at her. The bond thrummed with longing.

Ron was next to her now, unfortunately so she couldn't read her note.

"Did Parkinson say something to you, the pugfaced cow."

"Nothing that matters, Ron." She made her excuses and hid in the loo. Opening up her note carefully then tracing every curve of Draco's elegant handwriting.

C&G? Tonight? After dinner?

Hermione could not wait to respond in the affirmative. She couldn't wait to be able to wrap her arms around him, and Theo. She hoped that they could feel how desperately she missed them through the bond now that they were closer to one another. She could feel them on the other end of the train feeling sad and a little tense.

Slipping into the compartment where she'd left Crookshanks with Neville and Luna, Hermione reclaimed her cat and then went and sat with Harry and Ron. She suffered through all their discussion of Quidditch and made noncommittal sounds about how her summer had been with her parents. She was sure that Remus and Sirius wouldn't have shared anything with the two of them, but she'd rather not lie to them if she had an option. She was rather a horrendous liar when forced to lie outright. Lies of omission were much more her style.

Luckily, as always, Ron and Harry were not very interested in what she had to say and she read one of their textbooks in silence as the two boys ate chocolate frogs and debated Quidditch statistics.

She desperately wished that she was discussing Victorian literature with Theo or French poetry with Draco. She wondered what they had done with their summer that hadn't made it in their letters, but most of all she wanted to feel their arms around her, so very much that it was like an ache inside her. She wished so much that they could be together and never be parted.

Why did everything always have to be so complicated?

...

Theo and Draco struggled the whole ride to Hogwarts not to throw Blaise, Pansy, Greg and Vince out of their compartment so that they could snog as they were desperate to do. Theo's eyes kept lingering on Draco's lips and it made Draco's cheeks flush.

Draco couldn't help but wonder what the rest of them would do if he pulled Theo into his lap and started kissing his neck. People did such things with their girlfriends (usually not if the girl was a Pureblood though), but no one was so forward when they were a couple of the same gender. Theo had told him that in relation to same sex relationships, the wizarding world was far behind the muggle one. Draco didn't care so much about that as having the ability to snog his boyfriend in front of his friends, hold his hand even. He knew that they could trust Blaise, but Pansy, Greg and Vince were another matter altogether. They would all report anything and everything to their parents in the hope that that would make their parents love them more. A fool's quest Theo always said when it was discussed.

When the train finally reached Hogsmeade and the horseless carriages were there and ready for them, Draco tried to spot a bronze curly haired head, but didn't have luck. He thought he saw a head of red hair ahead, but Hermione didn't seem to be with the Weasel.

Draco smiled lovingly as Theo stopped to pet the nose of almost every thestral until they found a carriage with the room for them and Blaise and Pansy. Vince and Greg climbed in with Marcus Flint and Adrian Pucey in the carriage in front of them, smirking backwards at Draco as though sitting with the older boys was some kind of accomplishment to which Draco could aspire.

Once they were inside and headed into the Great Hall, Draco made certain to position himself so that he could see Hermione. Across the room, it seemed that she had positioned herself in order to do the same. She was already reading a book ignoring her table mates, and Draco felt his heart sing when he looked at her. His perfect little swot. He was desperate to touch her more than he had been able to do earlier this afternoon. There was one little curl that was calling his name. He must have been staring because Theo cleared his throat and Draco felt a blush colouring his cheeks. He looked around and luckily only Theo had noticed. Probably because his boyfriend was also staring at their girlfriend.

Once dinner was going and she had finally put away her book, Hermione caught his eye and nodded slightly.

Draco leaned over and whispered to Theo, who smiled in her direction, but looked away quickly before anyone could notice.

Dumbledore began to give his regularly scheduled nonsensical welcome speech. Draco held his breath to see whether the man would mention the resurrection of the Dark Lord, but just as it seemed as though he might, a woman, in an atrocious pink dress suit and an oversized hair bow as though she were a child, interrupted him.

The new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

She was toad-like and horrid. The energy that poured off her was dark, darker than some of the cursed objects in his father's collection.

That energy gave Draco the shivers and under the table he reached over and gripped Theo's hand. Theo froze in surprise for an instant, but he didn't pull away.

Something was very, very wrong with Dolores Umbridge. And Draco was afraid that they were going to learn exactly what.