A/N: I know, it's been a while. But Happy New Year.

It had been almost a week, since Theo and Hermione's last study session. She'd begged off for a few days since "Neville really needs my help with a Charms assignment. I've always been there for him, and if I'm not now, he'll get suspicious, and write Harry and Ron. And that's the last thing I need right now." Theo had acquiesced, he didn't much fancy facing the Boy Who Conquered the Dark Lord, so he'd gone back to leaving her alone until she was able to meet him again.

It was a stormy October morning, when Theo walked into the Great Hall. As he walked toward his friends, he noticed that instead of the usual loud conversations coming from his housemates, the conversations seemed hushed. As he sat down next to Daphne and reached for a coffee pot, he asked, "So who died?" looking at his friends.

Draco's normally pale face was ashen, Blaise and Pansy had more serious expressions than he'd seen since the trials of their families had ended, and Daphne looked like she was fighting an internal battle.

"What's going on? Did someone really die?" Theo asked again. "You know I was kidding before when I asked if someone had died, right?"

Pansy started slowly. "No one's dead-"

"Yet." Draco interrupted.

Pansy glared at him, and was about to say something snarky back, when Daphne interrupted. "Rita Skeeter published an article this morning about Hermione."

Theo felt his stomach drop. "What did it say?"

Instead of answering, Daphne offered him a copy of the Prophet. Theo looked at the front page headline. 'GOLDEN TRIO'S MUGGLEBORN PRINCESS ACTUALLY PUREBLOOD NOTT HEIRESS!'

Theo swallowed. "Has she seen it yet?" he asked, not looking up from the paper.

"Not yet." Pansy answered dryly.

"How the fuck did they find out?" Theo asked hoarsely. He looked up at his friends, a desperate look on his face. "No one was supposed to know yet."

"None of us said anything, mate." Blaise answered in a serious voice. "But that's not the worst of the article."

Theo gawked at him. "What do you mean this isn't the worst of the article? Hermione specifically told me she didn't want anyone finding out until she was ready!" He hissed at Blaise.

"Skeeter found out about the contract." Draco said quietly.

Theo felt like he was going to puke. Before he could say anything, the Great Hall went completely silent. Theo looked up and saw that Hermione and Ginny had just walked in, and all eyes were on Hermione. Aware of the silence, Hermione stopped dead at the top of the stairs leading into the Great Hall. He suddenly found that he was frozen with fear, dread, and worried anticipation. The silence felt like hours, when after what felt like an eternity Longbottom got up from the Gryffindor table, and hurried to the entrance, holding a copy of the prophet. He spoke quietly with Hermione ensuring no one could overhear him, and then held out the paper. Hermione snatched it from him, and he watched the color slowly drain from her.

She looked up from the paper, and out around the mass of students, shock evident on her face. Finally she zeroed in Theo, and all the stories about Hermione, and her temper suddenly came flooding back to him. If he hadn't known how scared she was of flying, he would have thought that she flew to him with how fast she ran. "I HATE YOU!" She screamed at him, then picked up a jug of pumpkin juice and threw it in his face. She turned on her heels and ran out of the Great Hall, clutching the paper. Longbottom and Ginny leaving behind her.

As quickly as it had gone silent, noise erupted from every table. Theo groaned and slammed his head down on to the heavy wooden table. "Well, that's just fucking perfect." He mumbled. He lifted his head, and Daphne offered him a napkin. He took it and wiped his face off.

"Why didn't you go after her?" She asked quietly.

"Because she's pissed, and I'm not in the mood to have another broken nose again." He answered darkly. He looked down at his oxford, now stained orange from the juice. "I'm going to go change my shirt before classes start, and send an owl to the family solicitor. See if we can somehow get control of this shitshow." He sighed, and got up, acutely aware of all the eyes on him.

He'd barely made it out the Great Hall, when he felt a wand at his back. "You fucking piece of dirt." He heard Ginny say in a low, but menacing voice. "You promised you wouldn't tell."

He lifted his hands, and turned around slowly to face her. Ginny looked murderous. "I swear, I didn't tell a soul besides my friends."

"Then how the fuck did Skeeter find out? Did one of your friends squeal?" Ginny asked furiously, wand still pointed at him.

Theo rolled his eyes. His shirt was starting to feel sticky. "My friends wouldn't do that. We all have a healthy fear of Hermione. Especially Draco."

Ginny lowered her wand slowly. "Funny you should bring up the Ferret."

Theo groaned. "Could we not do this here?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow. "Where should we do this?"

Theo grabbed her hand and dragged her down to the Slytherin common room. He didn't let go of her arm until they were in his room, door shut safely behind him. He gestured for her to sit on the bed, which she did, arms folded, wand still out.

"Draco and Hermione's contract is the whole reason we realized she's still alive." Theo started, stripping his shirt off, and throwing it in a corner. He grabbed a clean shirt and started putting it on. "Apparently, when Mipsy told my dad that Hermione had died, he believed her, but never cancelled the contract. I guess he didn't think it mattered if she was dead. But on our 18th birthday, I got a copy of the contract, with a notice from Gringotts that it was now time to fulfill it."

Ginny just stared at him. Theo couldn't help but feel like she was waiting for a good excuse to kill him and make it look like an accident. "I've managed to get Draco to leave her alone for now, and pushed back the contract by a few years, so they can get to know each other, and so we could find her."

"Why not just cancel the bloody thing?" Ginny asked exasperatedly.

Theo sat on the bed next to her, hands in his lap. He looked down at them. "Because I can't. It was sealed with blood magic."

"But that's illegal." Ginny pointed out.

Theo snorted, and looked up at her. "Yes, because Thoros Nott, who forced his wife into marriage, school friend supporter of the Dark Lord, and murderer and rapist was so worried about using illegal blood magic to tie together two of the oldest pureblood families that had zero relation to each other."

Ginny breathed out slowly, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Fine so the damn thing can't be cancelled. Why not tell Hermione this from the start? She's upstairs having a panic attack over the article now. Plus she's warded our room off so no one can get in."

Theo sighed, and flopped back on the bed, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Because my sister terrifies me, and I just wanted to get her to know me before I sprung this aspect of her life on her."

Ginny sat in silence for a moment. "She should have found out from you. Not the prophet." She said finally, in a calmer voice.

"You think I wanted this to happen?" Theo asked. He sat back up. "I wanted to tell her after she decided she was alright being related to me. I wanted to introduce her to my friends, meet the people she valued, and then tell her."

Ginny shrugged. "Well, that plan went tit's up."

Theo groaned, and put his head in his hands. "And now she hates me."

Ginny rubbed his back. "She doesn't hate you."

"Yes she does. She threw pumpkin juice in my face, and told me she did."

"No. She doesn't." Ginny chuckled. "If she hated you, she would have done a lot more than throw something at you, and then scream in your face."

Theo looked up at her. "Really?"

Ginny smiled at him pitifully. "She set a flock of canaries on Ron during her sixth year. He's still one of her best friends. She has a temper, but she only reacts like that when it's someone she cares about. Trust me."

Theo sighed. "My mum used to react like that. She hated dad, so she would act completely indifferent towards him, unless it was something to do with me. Even I was scared to be around her then."

Ginny chuckled. "Sounds like Mione got it from somewhere then."

Theo smiled sadly. "How do I get her to believe that it didn't come from one us?"

"I might have an idea." Ginny smirked. "How scared were you of my brothers Fred and George?"

Theo blanched. "Bloody terrified."

Ginny smiled widely. "Good. Get your scariest friend, and meet me by the whomping willow after dinner."

Theo looked at her with complete fear in his eyes. "And don't worry, I'll get mum to stop Harry and Ron from doing anything to you." Ginny promised. "For now at least."

Theo gulped.