She could sense the moment he walked into the Great Hall. She felt a sudden chill in the air as if the temperature in the room suddenly seemed to have dropped drastically upon his arrival. The aura of anger and irritation sizzled around him, turning heads of other students towards him as he walked down the aisle. His scowl only deepened at the attention.
He shot challenging looks at every person who dared to meet his gaze and when his eyes settled on her for a second, instead of the iciness she was accustomed to seeing in them, she saw them burning with hostility. When he finally made his way to the Slytherin table, seating himself between Theo, Pansy and his other friend, Blaise Zabini, the three Slytherins exchanged confused looks with each other.
In all honestly, Hermione couldn't remember the version of Malfoy that hadn't been aggrieved over something or someone—but the overt negative energy he was emanating was so intense she was taken aback by it.
After returning her focus back to her friends, she was greeted with the sight of Hannah Abbott settled at Neville's side, that must have slipped in unnoticed when everyone was distracted by Malfoy's blatant display of I hate all of you mood.
Hermione became immediately apprehensive of her presence.
She hadn't had a chance to talk to her since the day Hannah had deliberately tricked her into taking care of the Malfoy issue.
Well, maybe tricked wasn't the right word—after all, she had agreed willingly to Hannah's request for help. She could have pressed her for details, she could have said no.
The thing was, Hannah was important to Neville, and Neville was her friend, so Hermione had been happy at the prospect of helping her out and thus forming a closer friendship with her. Hermione's disappointed lay in the fact that the Head Girl had only used that against her as a way of avoiding a particular problem she didn't want to deal with.
Hannah sent her a timid smile across the table. A look of contemplation passed across her face before she decided to speak. "Hermione, I owe you a big thank you."
"Oh?" Ginny interjected with curiosity. "What for?"
Hermione tried to smile back and accept her gratitude, but instead of simply saying you're welcome and letting it go, she found herself blurting out a string of words she hadn't intended to speak. "Honestly, Hannah, while I can understand why you did what you did, the way you went about it was quite cheap."
Heavy silence enveloped them. Neville looked confused, Ginny was trying to hide her amusement and Hannah was shooting daggers at her with her eyes.
"I—" Hannah stammered. "I couldn't stand in defense of Malfoy. He's…" she lowered her voice, leaning forward. "a Death Eater."
"And I could?"
"You're a kind person, Hermione," she explained as if that somehow was valid reasoning. "I'm not as forgiving and nice as you. I knew you'd handle it just fine. Though, I admit, I shouldn't have lied. I'm sorry."
Hermione stared at her. Neville's soft voice broke through the tense silence. "What's going on?"
Hannah's insincere flattery wasn't going to sway Hermione. She didn't sense any guilt from the so-called Head Girl.
"This is not an excuse. I was trying to be your friend and you just used me," she addressed her with a touch of anger in her voice.
At that, Hannah recoiled and then simply got up and walked away without a word.
Hermione watched her go, aware of the puzzled looks on her friends' faces. With a sigh, she proceed to explain the reason behind the unpleasant interaction they had just witnessed. When she finished, a sense of doubt started to creep in. Hermione was torn between feeling guilty over arguing about such petty things and thrilled that such trivial disagreements were what bothered her now—considering that not too long ago her concerns involved trying to survive.
What if she had overreacted?
She asked as much. "Am I overreacting?"
"Maybe a bit?" Ginny answered, sounding unsure. "I mean, I'm no fan of Malfoy, but it couldn't have been that bad?"
It wasn't. In fact, it was quite illuminating for Hermione and had helped her get in touch with her feelings a little more. She slumped in her seat, deflated. Perhaps, she was being unreasonable.
She met Neville's eyes. "I'm sorry, Neville. I'm just being difficult over nothing. I'll sort this out with Hannah."
"No, no," he shook his head. "I think your frustration is warranted. I'm sure if Hannah had been honest with you, you would have tried to help her in any way you could. There was no need for her to be deceitful. It's not what friendship is about."
She gave him a weak smile. Maybe Neville was right. Maybe she should start telling others what she thought and not feel guilty over hurting other people's feelings when they clearly didn't care about her own. Maybe she should stop taking onto others' responsibilities when they couldn't even be grateful for her help. Maybe she should start thinking about herself for once.
"Stop it!"
Aggravated voice reverberated behind them, startling everyone.
The scene unfolded: Draco Malfoy clutched his wand in a forceful grip, pointing its end towards Blaise's face. His face was contorted in a snarl and ocean of raging fury was pouring out of him. Pansy attempted to soothe his temper by placing a hand on his arm, which only seemed to infuriate him further, as he yanked it away and she stumbled back. Theo intervened, pushing himself in front of Pansy and saying something in a low voice to Malfoy. Malfoy's loud scream of "Shut your mouth!" was his reaction, followed by "Shut the fuck up or I swear, I'll hex you into oblivion". It all ended with him storming out of the Great Hall before a teacher could intervene.
Hermione exhaled once he was out of sight, not even aware that she had been holding her breath. Grave silence encompassed the room until it gave way to hasty whispers among the students.
She locked eyes with Theo for a second—the look in his eyes was of a mild surprise mixed with thoughtfulness—before he sat back down at the table with his astounded friends.
Hermione had known Malfoy to be volatile when his anger got the best of him, but the ferocity of his outburst exceeded even her expectations of his temper.
"I changed my mind," Ginny whispered. "I think you were right to be pissed at Hannah."
Hermione had a feeling that there would be more letters of complaints coming in soon.
"You're not hard to find," Theo's voice cut through the air, making it the only sound in the otherwise quiet part of the library where she had immersed herself in her studies. He took in her confused expression at his sudden presence and reminded her that they had an assignment to prepare.
Hermione clearly remembered his offer to ace it for them, but up until that point, she had believed that he didn't actually mean to work with her outside of the classroom. Yet, his towering figure above her seemed to prove her wrong.
She supposed she should have told him that she didn't need anyone to do her homework, but she found herself curious about what he had come up with (of course, her curiosity had absolutely nothing to do with Theo himself) and how much better he deemed himself to be than her.
He placed his bag on the table and began to empty its contents, which effectively obscured the books and papers she had been reading prior to having been disturbed.
A bottle of Ashwinder eggs, roses, peppermint, pearl dust, powdered moonstone…
"A love potion?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"Smart girl."
She wasn't sure if she should be offended or flattered.
He packed everything back and waited for her to gather her own things.
"I'm not so sure this," she gestured towards his bag, "will impress Professor Slughorn."
Because, in essence, that was the assignment. To impress their Professor.
Although brewing love potions required advanced skills, they were dangerous in the way they worked and she somehow doubted that Professor Slughorn would want them to make one.
Theo shot her a disapproving look. "Have some faith, love."
She rolled her eyes. She watched him as he led the way through the corridors with an air of confidence around him. Her gaze followed him, noting the meticulousness of his attire that contrasted with the disheveled dark hair and the way the corner of his mouth lifted as if he knew she was staring.
She stopped staring.
There was something that intrigued her in the way Theo's behavior defied her preconceived notions of individuals like him—he had turned out to be entirely different from what she would have expected from a Slytherin and a son of a Death Eater.
"So, what happened to Malfoy today?" she asked tentatively, trying to make conversation, but she was genuinely concerned. She had stood in Malfoy's defence and now she had witnessed him acting erratic and throwing tantrums for no apparent reason.
She saw Theo tense at the question.
"I'm not sure," he answered. "He kind of woke up already pissed off and his foul mood only worsened as the day went by."
"Any idea why?"
Her only answer were their footsteps in the quiet of the corridor. She was glaring at his back in the hopes it would somehow coerce a reaction out of him, but he stayed silent for the rest of their walk. When they reached the Potions' classroom's door, she stopped in the entrance, blocking the way inside. He chanced a glance at her and she met his eyes as they settled on hers, trying to convey the look of displeasure at being ignored.
He disregarded it and reached his arm for the door behind her, leaning closer. Her breath hitched in her throat at the sudden lack of space in between them and the smell that washed over her. There was a faint underlying scent of sweet and spicy notes (vanilla? clove?), and a stronger one of warm and earthy aromas she associated with fresh wood and rain, and subsequently, now Theo.
She found the combination rather appealing, and in attempt to resist its tempting allure, she took a step back only to feel the firmness of the hardwood against her back.
"Not really, no," Theo said.
Her brain went blank at the sound of his low voice and she had to rack her brain to recall their conversation from earlier. She heard a soft click behind her as he slowly pushed the door open. With her mind momentarily elsewhere, Hermione was able to barely find her footing in time to avoid landing on the dirty floor in a heap of embarrassing mess. Before dashing into the classroom, she caught a glimpse of his grin.
Once inside, she disregarded any good manners and set on preparing the cauldron for their potion, ignoring the Slytherin in the room. Annoyed, she decided that Theo wasn't that much different from the rest of his House.
Her gaze didn't waver from the quiescent water as she heard him move beside her and start pulling out ingredients from his bag.
They got to work in silence that was only disturbed by Theo's remarks on the process of their labor. Hermione was overseeing the temperature of the water and the intensity of the flame, carefully administrating the ingredients with Theo's help while he took the responsibility of stirring the budding potion correct amount of times in the correct directions.
She wasn't as versed in making love potions as Theo apparently was—which begged the question why was he? For all of her love for reading and expanding her knowledge, she had never paid much attention to them. Sure, she knew their use, which was very questionable, their color, most of the needed ingredients, but hadn't dived into any details as to how they were prepared.
She decided to ask. "Why love potion?"
He seemed caught off guard by her inquiry. "Have you ever wondered why so many people don't see just how dangerous they are?" he answered her question with a question of his own.
Why wasn't she surprised?
She mulled over it. "They've never taught us how to make them. And their possession at school is banned," she said. "Hence I'm not quite sure why we're brewing one right now."
Theo caught her eye with a significant look. "At school, yes. I find it ironic how Imperius Curse is banned by the Ministry, yet they never found the problematic nature of love potions deserving a ban as well. Don't you think?"
Frankly, she had never thought about it. Should have love potions been put in the same category as Unforgivables? They were dangerous, but were they that bad?
She reminisced back to the time when Ron had dosed himself with chocolates spiked with a love potion. The way he had become obsessed and infatuated with someone he hadn't even known. There had been no way of talking him out of it, despite it having been obvious he had not been love-struck with Romilda Vane. Yet, under the influence, Ron had had no choice but to bend his will to the drink's effect…
The implication dawned on her and she gave Theo an appreciative look to which he only sent her a polite smile. She wasn't used to people being on par with her intellect, let alone outsmarting her—and it wasn't her ego talking, she had a long list of achievements to back it up. Surprisingly, instead of feeling annoyed that he put so much thought into something that hadn't even crossed her mind, she felt a sense of admiration.
She suspected that there were more layers to the Slytherin than what she had already learned; his skillfulness with potions, intelligence, wit and charming smile—No, she groaned inwardly. Not that damn smile.
"So what, this is some sort of a statement?" she asked him, pushing the annoying thoughts aside.
Theo just shrugged.
After she realized he wasn't going to say anything to that, she spoke, "You know, this is not what I had in mind when you said you'll be in my debt."
He gave her a side-glance. "I was wondering if you were going to bring that up."
"I don't mean that I expect some kind of payment," she said, not wanting to come off as someone who exchanged her good deeds for something in return. She tried to be kind to people because she wanted to. She was genuinely intrigued by what Theo thought he could offer her. "I'm just curious. What did you think I could want from you?"
"Granger," he started, settling his eyes on her. "You're a smart girl. Your marks are excellent. You never needed my help. Now I'm curious—why did you agree to it?"
Hermione could feel the blush creep onto her cheeks—she wouldn't expect to hear those kind of nice things about herself from Theo, out of all people. If anything, she expected him to be more like Malfoy, all snickering and looking down on her, given what she knew about his upbringing. He wasn't anything she would describe a Slytherin to be—he sparked her interest.
"I guess you could say you're not who I thought you would be," she blurted, cringing at how judgemental she sounded.
Theo didn't seem offended and, instead, he chuckled at her. "Funny. You're precisely who I thought you to be."
"Oh?" she said, playing with the hem of her sweater. "Nothing good then, I assume?"
"Quite the opposite," he said, surprising her. She shot him a suspicious glance, trying to figure out exactly what he meant. He called her smart, but anyone could ascribe that to her if they just took a look at her marks. What else did he think of her? "You shouldn't settle for anything less than what you're worth."
Her brows rose all the way up to her hairline at his statement. She stared at him, waiting for a punchline, because it must have been a joke. Theo said nothing more, bringing his attention back to the potion and she just stood there, stewing in her thoughts. Whether he was being genuine or just playing on her emotions, she couldn't tell—but how could he be genuine when they were just strangers? She decided that the fumes from their brewing love potion must have been playing tricks on them both.
"Say, how much do you know about Occlumency and Legilimency?"
The sudden question caught her off guard, but she could say that about a lot of things Theo had told her this evening.
"Not much, actually," she answered slowly, catching his eye. "I know Harry used to be trained by Snape, but he wasn't very skilled at that."
"I could teach you," he simply said, as if such propositions were commonplace in his daily experiences.
"You mean, you would get inside my mind?" she asked, highly skeptical about this idea. She didn't know what kind of angle Theo had in mind, but there must have been one, because she couldn't find a reason why he would offer her lessons in Occlumency and Legilimency.
"That's part of the learning process, yes," Theo said, ignoring the incredulity in her voice. "I've had lots of practice. That's my offer to you. For what you did."
She wondered about just when, where and why Theo had lots of practice in this department.
"What makes you think I have any need for that?"
"You never know," he responded. "Don't you have big plans for after Hogwarts in the Ministry? Given how many NEWTS you're taking on. It's always good to have an upper hand, especially when you're in possession of knowledge you shouldn't want to give up."
She let the idea enter her mind, and she turned it over and over inside her head. She didn't know how he could know what she wanted to do with her life after school, but then again, deducing it based on the little he did know about her wouldn't be that hard—for anyone.
Why? Why? Why?
Why was that something Theo wanted her to learn? Did he have any interest in something she knew? She couldn't tell what he could be looking for. Did he feel obliged to give her something she was worth in return? What was it that pushed him towards such decision? She could be asking herself different questions all night, but in the end, she still wouldn't find any answers. She looked at him, trying to figure him out, but none of his emotions neatly hidden behind a mask of disinterest offered any clues to lead her to a realization. She could blame it on her desire for more knowledge, she could blame it on her desire to find out more about the man in front of her and what he was thinking, she could blame it on the smile that he sent in her direction that temporarily clouded her judgement, she could blame it on boredom and need for an adventure after spending seven years chasing secrets. In the end she found herself saying, "Alright, then. Teach me."