Hey yall! Enjoy this short two parter Epilogue that I spat out in an afternoon lol. It sat in my drafts for weeks though because I suck at titles and summaries. There's not much plot, it's more of just a fluffy slice of life story. A palate cleanser of sorts.

On another note, there is a poem in the first part. I suck at poetry so i decided to experiment with ChatGPT a bit. The poem was entirely written by AI, though rest assured the remainder of this story is 100% my original ideas.

Happy Reading!

Steph

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She sat down in the prefects' car, listening to the clack and puff of the train bringing her to Hogwarts for the last time. She let out a sigh as the nostalgia began to fill her mind. It filled her mind with sweet memories of Harry, Ron, and herself getting into way too much trouble. The "trouble" usually being Harry flexing the Gryffindor bravery in some way or another.

It wandered through the years the trio spent together, which eventually led to memories she'd rather not revisit. She wasn't the same after the war. No one was. The school itself wouldn't even be the same, though she guessed most of those changes were for the better. She and her classmates, or "eighth year" students, since they were of age, didn't have to adhere to curfews and didn't need permission to go to Hogsmeade, though other school rules still applied.

Headmistress McGonagall had hired mind healers, like muggle therapists, to be available for all students. There were two new courses that every first-year student was required to take: Introduction to the Muggle World and Introduction to the Wizarding World. This was added in an effort to fill in the gaps due to the students' varying upbringings.

When she received her badge as head girl, Hermione was elated. This was her chance to make a difference. She was originally worried about returning on her own. Harry and Ron had joined the auror program, so it was just her, Neville, Luna, and Ginny returning. She wondered who the head boy would be. As a rule, it wouldn't be anyone from Gryffindor. She guessed she would find out soon enough.

She barely finished the thought before she heard the door of the car swing open. She turned to find none other than Theodore Nott, wearing the Head Boy badge.

""Why am I not surprised, Granger?" He said with a smile. Theo and Hermione had become friendly acquaintances through both being very studious and often being paired together for projects.

Hermione giggled and patted her seat, "Hello to you too Theo, please have a seat. I must say I'm relieved it's you. I was worried it would be some insufferable git, like Blaise or Ernie." She scrunched her nose at the thought.

"You're lucky it's just me then. Draco was initially offered the position, but turned it down. I was next on the list."

"I wasn't sure he was coming back," she worried the edge of her robes and stared at her lap, "you know, after everything."

"I'm surprised he is. It's not like he needs his NEWTS for a job or anything. Though I can confidently say he's working hard to change. I've known him practically since birth. It won't happen overnight, but he's making every effort to be a different person. I hope people will realize that and not give him a hard time."

"I know. He came to visit me over the summer. We had dinner and talked about everything. He apologized for how he treated me and for his role in the war. He thanked me for testifying at his and his mother's trials. We talked for hours. It was nice. Honestly if it had been him as head boy I wouldn't have minded, though I respect the fact he doesn't want that responsibility right now."

Theo raised his eyebrows. "I'm glad. You didn't deserve to be treated like that. And if I haven't already, I apologize for just sitting by and letting him be a right prat. I should've stood up to him and said something."

Hermione placed her hand on his. "You have Theo, but once again, you're forgiven. I want to move forward. I'm done with the past. I just want to make a difference in the lives of young wizards and witches."

Just then a group of prefects made their way into the car, ready for their debrief meeting. Theo patted Hermione's knee as he stood up and offered his hand. "Well, I think it's showtime then Granger. Let's do this."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The rest of the train ride went by in companionable silence. Theo returned to his seat next to Hermione and smiled. She was so forgiving. Not to mention brave. She returned to the place where most, if not all of the older students have watched someone they know be injured or even die. He returned simply to have something to do. He was alone in a huge house with half a dozen house elves to maintain it, no family and no job prospects. So here he was.

He had hoped to see Hermione again. He enjoyed partnering with her on different school projects, but otherwise didn't know her all that well. Sure he'd seen her, everyone had heard of the "brightest witch of their age". He'd admired her from afar for years. He'd like to get to know her more. Surely now that they shared a common room that would change. He smiled again. She was a beautiful girl, with a brilliant mind and a powerful witch, not to mention her compassion and sense of justice. He leaned his head back in the seat and shut his eyes, hoping to get a quick nap before the chaos of the Sorting Feast began.

When she noticed he closed his eyes next to her, she took the opportunity to really study him. He was tall and muscular, more so than Harry or Ron but not too much. He had dark brown hair that curled down over his forehead. Even with his eyes closed she could remember how blue they were, but a deep sapphire blue instead of a bright crystal blue like all the Weasleys had. His jaw was angular but in a soft square shape, unlike Draco's almost unnaturally sharp triangular jaw. He had an attractive, well trimmed beard. His curls just reached the back of his neck, she had to remind herself not to touch them. And Godric even his neck was attractive! With his head leaning back on the seat she had a good view of the elongated neck muscle and-

"Hello Hermione!"

She jumped up out of her seat. "Oh Luna! You startled me!"

"Oh yes, I apologize for interrupting you staring at your attractive colleague. If you want I can come back later?"

"No, no that's not what I was doing at all! I'm just tired and got lost in thought. How are you?"

"I'm alright, a bit nervous about being prefect, but it's nice to know I have you as friendly support."

Hermione gave her a smile. "Of course Luna!"

"Oh! I think we're almost there, better go change! See you later."

Hermione sat back down in her seat and snuck a peek at Theo from the side of her eye. Hopefully he was asleep enough to have not heard Luna, she didn't want to have to deal with that conversation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After being introduced in front of the students at the sorting feast, eating, then helping first years and other prefects get settled in, it was almost midnight before Hermione and Theo were shown to their dorm. Inside, they noticed, it was more like a small apartment. It had a living space and a small kitchen with a round dining table and chairs off to the side. They each had their own bedroom and bathroom. While the living space was decorated in neutral colors, their bedrooms sported the color of their respective houses, reminding Hermione very much of Christmas colors. Their luggage was already brought to their bedrooms and the beds were made up.

"Ugh I'm beat. Good night Granger!" Theo said groggily and shuffled off to his room.

Hermione nodded, "night Theo!!" She was too exhausted to do anything else other than ready for bed and wonder what it would be like to live with the head boy across the hall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning Hermione sat down at the table with a cup of coffee, papers spread over the table. Theo emerged and gave her a groggy, "Good Morning." As he walked by the table he stopped to see what she was working on.

"Isn't it a bit early to be working on patrol schedules?"

"I want to at least have this week's schedules out by the prefect meeting tonight. You'll be there won't you?"

"Of course. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No i have it handled for now. I need to get going, I have ancient runes this morning."

Theo waved her off, fixing himself a cup of tea. Later He'd have to ask her what that black stuff was she drinking was, it smelled heavenly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hermione had gotten settled in her seat. Yes, she was 10 minutes early and, yes, she was rereading the course material before she had even gotten a syllabus. It always pays to be prepared.

"Mind if I sit here Granger?"

Hermione looked up at the familiar voice. To her left stood Draco Malfoy. He looked mostly the same as he had this past summer when he came to visit her. He looked sad, defeated. His gray eyes now looked dull and he had circles under them. He was still tall and slender, but lacked the swagger he used to have to his walk. His hair had grown out a bit and he had long forgone slicking it back. It still looked tidy, accept for the strand of hair falling into his face every time he looked down. He was clean shaven, which accentuated his sharp jawline.

'Merlin! What is it with me and jawlines!' Hermione thought. She inwardly scolded herself for staring.

"Yes of course! Come sit. How are you?"

"Alright, considering. How's head girl duties? Hopefully they didn't leave you to deal with some prat all year."

"No, actually Theo is head boy. We've had a few classes together in the past so we're well acquainted. I would've thought he'd have told you. He told me you were offered the position and turned it down, may I ask why?"

"He didn't. But I'm glad, Theo's a good bloke. As for me turning it down, well, I didn't want to draw too much attention to myself this year. I'm not exactly a popular man right now."

"I understand. Though people should really be more kind. If anyone is giving you trouble I won't hesitate to-"

"Don't worry about it Granger, I can handle it. Seriously, I'm fine."

She gave him a skeptical look accompanied by a raised eyebrow. "If you say so."

Professor Johnson emerged from his office and began the class. Hermione listened and took enthusiastic notes, as per usual. Towards the end of class the professor held out 3 plain looking tomes.

"These are copies of real journals kept by the great wizard Merlin. Merlin is known to have left his journals in code. It is you and your partners job to translate these tomes. Some include runic letters, some do not. Either way I believe the practice of translating historic documents to be a useful skill." He began passing out the tomes. It was such a small class that there were only three pairs of students. When he got to her and Draco's table, he leaned over to her and whispered quite loudly, "Is there going to be any issue pairing you with Mr Malfoy? If you wish I can provide another tome and you may each do the project on your own. I know it may be hard to work with someone like him."

Hermione straightened her back in defiance. "Not at all professor! I look forward to working with Mr Malfoy on this project and I would appreciate if he were to be treated the same as everyone else."

"Ms Granger that's not what I-"

"I understand Professor. May we have our book please?" Draco said quietly as he held his hand out.

Professor Johnson gave him a scowl and relinquished the book. "Your translation is due in 3 weeks."

Draco nodded as the professor walked away, then turned sharply to Hermione. "What part of 'I don't want to attract attention' did you not understand Granger? I'm not some house elf for you to crusade for, I can take care of myself."

"Well excuse me for not liking that he was treating you like a criminal." She retorted with crossed arms.

"But I am a criminal Hermione!" He shouted just a little too loudly. With the whole class now staring he took a deep breath. "I am a criminal. I made a lot of bad choices, so I must deal with the consequences. Just let it go. Please."

"Ugh fine!" Hermione resigned. "But don't expect me to let everything slide. If it goes too far I will do something."

Draco rolled his eyes. "I'd expect nothing less. Now about this journal-"

"Yes, well, Merlin lived for hundreds of years and kept even more journals. Some were research notes, some were practical spell books, and some were personal. I wonder which kind we got?" Hermione flipped through the pages. Each page was filled with odd symbols. Though there was one runic symbol on the front. She pulled out her syllabary.

"Well this rune means 'to bond'. It could be referring to a treaty of some sort or other political agreement. He did help Arthur strategize." Hermione said.

"True. It could also be a family history or family tree. A lot of the Malfoy history books talk about familial bonds."

"I'll go to the library during my free period to see if they have any of Merlin's publications that are already translated. Perhaps we can cross reference them. Would you like to meet at my and Theo's dorm after dinner?"

"That sounds great. I'll bring extra parchment."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Hermione and Draco had scroll after scroll laid out on the common room floor, each crawling around taking notes on their hands and knees, when Theo walked in the door.

"Great Salazar, what a mess! What on earth are you two doing?"

Draco stood up. "Runes project. We have to translate some code Merlin wrote his journals in."

"While that sounds exciting, how am I supposed to walk about?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Aw poor baby. Honestly, my eyes are crossing so I was thinking of calling it a night anyway"

The trio started rolling up the scrolls, careful to try to keep them somewhat organized.

Every night for the next week went similarly, after dinner Draco and Hermione would work on the journal until their brains couldn't take it anymore. Until one night, Hermione had an epiphany.

"Hold on. What if we're looking at this the wrong way?"

"How do you mean?"

"I've been trying to look at this through a political, strategic standpoint, but I think this journal may be more personal, like the idea you had the first day, it may be referring to a familial bond."

"I like your train of thought, but I've never seen any family history tomes with this sort of writing style."

"Well this symbol here," she pointed at a page in the book, "looks very similar to the Ogham symbol for 'love'. Did Merlin have a lover?" Hermione asked.

"There are a few romance novels that allude to Merlin having a fling with Morgana, but I always thought they were purely fiction."

"Oi! I didn't know you read romance novels Draco! Do you prefer spice or fluff?" Theo looked up from his own homework and interjected from across the room.

Hermione giggled as Draco's face turned red. "I don't! My mother just read them so I would see them on our library shelves, I never actually read them."

Hermione couldn't contain her laughter at this point. "I can see it now! The ever classy Mrs Malfoy lounging on the settee reading smut!"

Draco turned even more red. "I'm sure it wasn't! My mother would never! No they were just innocent romance novels!"

"Give me an example." Hermione challenged with hands on her hips.

"I can't think of any off the top of my head"

Hermione smirked then ran to her room. When she returned she had a book with a shirtless, very muscular, wizard riding on a broom under the moon. "Does this sound familiar? 'Moonlight Ride'?"

Draco paled.

Theo had been laughing so hard he was going blue in the face. "Sweet Merlin! Not only does your mother read that stuff Draco but apparently so does Gryffindors princess!"

It was Hermione's turn to turn red. "Hey! It's not like Hogwarts has many options for romance! A girl can only dream!"

"Hey!"/"Hey!" Both boys shouted.

Hermione rolled her eyes and set down the book. "Honestly! Can we get back to the journal please? So you think it may be a personal journal about a possible relationship with Morgana?"

Draco cleared his throat. "Ahem, it's likely. It wouldn't hurt to shift to that manner of thinking."

"Ok well we can pick it up with fresh eyes tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Looking at the tome with a new perspective caused the words to simply unravel from the page. By the end of the second week, they easily had almost the entire book translated. Most of the entries seemed to be letters that Merlin and Morgana had written back and forth that had simply been collected and bound together. The last entry however, was a poem, presumably written by Merlin, but there was no reply. Draco wondered if the man had even sent it. They sat at the table in Hermione's common room putting the finishing touches on the project. Draco started to read the poem aloud:

"Amidst the twilight's hush, where shadows weave,

I feel your name drift on the twilight breeze—

lovely witch, you, whom midnight doth deceive,

Yet moonlight yields to, bending to your ease.

Your gaze, more potent than a thousand charms,

Commands the stars to blossom in their place,

And in the stillness of your woven arms,

I find the echoes of some lost embrace.

The streams, enchanted by your whispered song,

Trace out your name in silver on their course,

And though the tides of fate may bear us wrong,

They cannot break the spell of love's true force.

For where the threads of destiny entwine,

And realms of magic rise or softly fade,

'Tis in your presence that the gods design

A love beyond what mortal hearts have made.

Let heavens quake, let kingdoms crumble low,

Let crown and throne dissolve in rust and flame—

lovely witch, with you, through the storm I'll go,

For in your sorcery, I breathe your name.

Together, bound in ancient spells unspoken,

With you, dear witch, my heart is ever tokened. "

When he looked up from the page, he found himself lost in Hermione's golden brown eyes. Their faces were close enough he could hear her breath and count the freckles on her nose. He shouldn't, this could ruin everything. Or it could be the start of something great. Hopefully it's the latter.

Draco tentatively glanced at her lips. He kissed her like a whisper, barely there. He started to pull away only for Hermione to kiss him back. At her encouragement he laid down the parchment and gently grabbed her face with his hands, deepening the kiss.

They both jumped up when they heard the portrait door slam. There stood a shell shocked Theo, a tray of her favorite hot chocolate in his hands.

"Ahem, erm, sorry, I guess I'll come back later." He set the tray down on an end table and was out the door without another word.

They both stood there in silence for a few seconds before Hermione finally spoke.

"Well that was-"

"Yep"

"Um so, what…what does this mean? Are we…together?"

"Would that be ok? I mean I'd like to see where this goes…if that's what you want?" Draco looked at her, almost pleadingly.

Hermione smiled up at him softly. "I'd like that, very much."

"Ahem right, well I'll try to find Theo on my way back to my common room, let him know the coast is clear." He started to walk out before Hermione stopped him. She started to fix his tie.

"We don't want it to look like you've been up to no good." She giggled.

"Right." He chuckled. He leaned down and gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. "Good night Hermione."

"Good night Draco."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile Theo had made his way to the seventh floor, tears threatening to spill as anger also boiled within him. It was always the same! Draco once again showed him up and was again front and center! Draco was better at flying, better at playing the high society son, better at potions, better with girls.

He paced in front of the door to the room of requirement. When it opened he entered a room with a lot of breakable things, with a muggle baseball bat in the center.

Draco was the prince of Slytherin. Draco was captain of the quidditch team. Draco was Snapes favorite. Draco was chosen by the dark lord! Though he supposed that turned out not to be a good thing. But now Draco had gotten the golden girl. The girl Theo had crushed on from afar for years now, but kept his distance to keep her safe from his father. Now that his father was dead he thought he might have a chance. He had even thought to invite her out to Hogsmeade next weekend. He thought. He thought. He thought.

"I guess I should've taken more action." He began to swing the bat. It felt good. He swung. Why does this time hurt differently? It hurt when he saw the picture of her and Harry plastered in the Daily Prophet fourth year. He swung again. It hurt when he witnessed her pining after Weasley. He swung again. He'd loved getting closer to her these past weeks. He picked up a plate and threw it across the room. Everything was so easy with her. He swung the bat again. He didn't think he'd ever laughed so much in his life. He threw something else and flinched when it crashed against the wall. Breathing heavy, he ran a hand through his hair. He loves her. He should tell her how he feels. Before things with Draco get serious. No. He couldn't do that to her. If Draco made her happy then he'd leave it be. He wouldn't ruin her happiness.

Theo stood in the middle of the rubble, and looked around. What a mess. He made his way to the wall and slid down to the floor, pulling his knees to his chest. Draco wouldn't hurt her, he thought. He was a good bloke. At least this way if he kept quiet the three of them can still be friends. If he tells her his feelings, it may ruin both friendships. He couldn't do that to her. No. Her happiness is the most important thing and at least, for right now, Draco makes her happy.

No. That was selfish. He knew she would want all the facts. If it came out later that he'd kept this from her she'd be hurt. He had to tell her. Even if it meant possibly losing his friendship with both of them, she deserved the truth. He had to be brave for once.

He wrestled back and forth with his thoughts for what seemed like hours and got nowhere. As if sensing what he needed before he even realized it, a pensive appeared before him. He was confused at first, but realized what he had to do. If he tried to tell her he would probably just mess it up, or she would interrupt him with too many questions no doubt. This way he could show her. He could present her with the facts and let her decide what she wants to do with them. He could show her how much she's always meant to him.

He got up and proceeded to walk back to their shared dorm, pensive following behind. He hoped Draco wasn't there. He didn't want to face him and risk a confrontation. Draco could be very possessive and he didn't want to wake that beast. He wanted to just show Hermione, then if she wanted to tell Draco then so be it, but he wouldn't tell him, not tonight.

He walked up to the portrait and knocked. When there was no answer, he slowly opened the door and peeked inside. If she did continue to see Draco, they would really need to set some boundaries. The last thing he wanted to see was the girl he loved shagging his best friend. His stomach knotted at the thought.

When it became clear that Draco was gone Theo walked through the door, leaving room for the pensieve. He looked over and saw Hermione asleep on the couch. What was she doing there? The noise of the door must have woken her up, for her eyelids fluttered open and she began to sit up.

"You're back," she yawned. "I told Draco to go find you, I guess he never did. Where did you go?"

He sat down across from her on the couch. "I went to the room of requirement to blow off some steam."

"The rage room?"

"How do you know about that?"

Hermione smiled. "Back when I had a crush on Ron and he ran off with Lavendar I would go up there to let my anger out."

"Ah."

"What's with the pensieve?"

"Oh! Right…um" he motioned the pensieve in between them, "there's something I want to show you, before things with Draco get serious, I thought you deserved to have all the facts. I'm not wanting to pressure you at all but maybe…I mean…well…oh hang it all just watch. Please."

At her confused nod he placed his wand to the side of his head and slowly pulled the memory out and into the watery surface. With a determined look, Hermione dove into the bowl.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The memories flashed quickly, just mere moments flashing in front of Hermione.

Theo broke into a run. He turned the corner and pushed open the doors to the infirmary. There she was. He reached his hand out, then brought it back. He looked down at her petrified body. It could've been much worse.

"She'll be alright" Theo spun to see Madame Pomfrey standing behind him. "Once the mandrake root matures she will be right as rain. When she wakes up I'll be sure to tell her you visited-"

"Please don't! Please don't tell her I was here."

"Well, Mr. Nott, if you insist…"

"Yes. Thank you Madame Pomfrey."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ugh I swear if he calls her a mudblood one more time…

What is she doing here??

Hermione had her wand to Draco's throat, should he do something? Honestly he deserved it, he rolled his eyes at Draco's sniveling. All right! She clocked him right in the nose!

"What are you waiting for Theo! Come on! The mudblood's gone crazy!"

Theo rolled his eyes again and followed Draco, Crabbe and Goyle back up to the castle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Theo threw down the paper. He should've known her and Potter would become an item eventually, he just wished he didn't have to see in it plastered all over the bloody prophet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Merlin she was beautiful. She was always beautiful, but tonight she looked exquisite. Pity she was coming to the Yule Ball with Krum. He wished he had had the courage to ask her himself. Astoria Greengrass had practically invited herself as his date and he figured Hermione would go with Potter or Weasley, so he gave into it. Now he was regretting it. He had to sit here and watch her have the time of her life with Victor Krum.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Bloody hell. He had to try to create an antidote to Amortentia, with her?? Salazar help him.

She's brilliant. Bloody brilliant. Create the antidote by deconstructing the original potion. He looked over at her while she stirred in the final ingredient to amortentia.

"I smell, freshly mown grass, new parchment and spearmint toothpaste, just like before. Theo, you have a go, what do you smell?"

He slow walked to the cauldron and wafted the vapors. "I smell, the scent of an old book, fresh rain, and…hot chocolate?" Theo quickly looked down to hide the redness of his cheeks.

"Ahem I think it works, so let's continue on the antidote."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Draco! You can't do that! You're no killer! Surely there's something we can do-"

"No Theo! I have to do this or he'll kill my parents!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Again he was running toward the hospital wing. This time because bloody Potter played around with spells he knew nothing about. Then he saw her. She was seated next to Draco's bedside. She turned when he came in, tears running down her face. He walked toward his friend, who lay there still unconscious. She jumped up and hugged him, sobbing into his shoulder and he held her as she cried.

"It's all going to be ok Hermione, not today, probably not tomorrow, but eventually, everything will be ok."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He had to find her. Make sure she was ok. He ran against the sea of students fleeing death eaters. Idiot. How could Draco have done this? Then he spotted her. She was with the lovegood girl. What were they doing outside of Snapes office?

He was brought back to the present as a distant explosion rung out. They're here. He wondered if his father was among them. It didn't matter. He had to make sure she was safe. He had to find Draco too. He looked back at the door just in time to see Snape running toward the stairs and Hermione and lovegood ran in the other direction. He tried to follow but the crowd was too thick. He fell and would've gotten trampled if it weren't for some random hufflepuff helping him up.

He tried again to get through the crowd. This time he was able to make it to a window. He stood on the ledge and looked over the throng of kids. He couldn't see her anywhere. What was he supposed to do now? He turned around and looked out the window which overlooked the courtyard. He saw a flash of green come from the astronomy tower and watched helplessly as the head master fell. Oh Draco. How could you do it? You're not a killer!

Then he spotted her. Across the courtyard on the bottom floor she stood frozen. He could tell she'd seen it too. He jumped from the window into the hallway, this time going with the flow of the crowd. He made it to the courtyard just as other students and teachers realized what had taken place. He gently pushed through the now still crowd until he stood at her side. He saw potter kneeling next to dumbledore, the weaselette holding him as he sobbed.

Theo reached out and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. She looked at him with tears streaming down her face, then looked toward the ground. One by one everyone in the crowd raised their wands. Hands intertwined, he and Hermione both also raised their wands, the amount of light dispelling the darkness.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why wasn't she here? He hadn't seen her since the night Dumbledore died. He thought surely she'd be at the funeral. He didn't see Potter or Weasley either. She was probably with them, but where?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco had sent him an owl. What could he possibly want? The letter was only a few words, and wasn't signed, but Theo recognized his owl. It said : Black Lake tonight 1am. Ugh, of course he wanted to meet in the middle of the bloody night.

Theo paced back and forth in front of the bench that overlooked the black lake. Where was he? When Draco finally showed up, Theo almost didn't recognize him.

"Merlin Draco, what's happened?"

"Granger, they got Granger." He stumbled over his words.

"What do you mean? Is she dead? What did they do to her Draco??"

"My Aunt she…she thought they had broken into her vault so she…cursed her…tortured her over and over again. And I did nothing! Theo I just stood and watched it happen!! If it wasn't for that bloody elf my aunt would have probably killed her!" Draco was hysterical.

Theo grabbed him by the shoulders. "Wait, so she got away? She's alive? Where is she now? Draco you have to tell me!"

"I don't know. Potter and Weasley escaped with her. They took lovegood, a goblin and ollivander with them. I have no idea where they are."

Theo let out a sigh of relief. "Well wherever they are, I'll bet it's safer than your house."

Draco wiped his face with his sleeve and straightened his back. "Why do you care so much about what happens to her Nott?"

"It doesn't matter. I just can't believe it's come to this Draco. You have to get out of this, it's madness!"

"You think I don't know that!! It's not like some bloody chess club I can't just leave! If I don't do what he wants I'm as good as dead, as well as my family. It's hopeless Theo."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

He swore his heart stopped. There she was, after all this time. Defending Potter. This was it. He knew. What happened next would determine the outcome of this war.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spells were flying everywhere. He had to find her. He knew his father was here. He had told Theo that if he didn't join them, he would die like the rest of them. Theo ran. He ran and dodged and fired spell after spell. He saw a flash of red hair out of the corner of his eye. Weasley? Hermione was standing back to back with him, firing spells at two death eaters while Weasley took two on the other side. They made a good team.

His heart stopped again. His father was fighting her. He was fighting to kill her. A stray spell hit her wand arm, causing her to temporarily lower it. He saw his father take the opportunity to finish her. He couldn't let that happen. He had to save her!

~~~~~~~~~~~~

He'd just killed his father. Shouldn't he feel something? Remorse? Guilt? Sadness? He felt nothing but relief. Relief that his father couldn't hurt her anymore. She looked in his direction surprise showing on her face. He nodded to her and went back to blocking spells. Then he heard it. Voldemorts voice.

"Harry Potter is dead."

No. It can't be. He looked over to Hermione, whose face showed panic. Without another thought she turned and ran to the front doors. He followed after her. When he emerged outside he saw it. The group of death eaters led by Voldemort. Hagrid was carrying something. Great Salazar. It's Harry's body. He heard the Weaslette scream. Followed by Hermione shouting.

"SILENCE"

Theo placed a hand on Hermione's shoulder. She didn't look at him, just placed her hand on top of his.

He saw Draco walk away. There was a sadness in his heart seeing his best friend so defeated.

What? What is Longbottom doing? Surely he wouldn't surrender.

Wait. He goading him! Where did he get that sword? Great Salazar!

Harry's alive and Longbottom just killed the snake! We can win this!

Spells started flying again. He stayed close to Hermione, he wouldn't lose her in the chaos again. He was hit. The world went black.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Hermione lifted her head up, the pensieve vanished. She looked at Theo, stunned.

Theo smiled softly. "The rest is history I suppose. I recovered for a few days at St Mungos, then was brought in for questioning by the order. Draco stayed with me for a while over the summer. I drank. A lot. He convinced me to get sober and come back to Hogwarts with him. So here I am. I know this probably doesn't change anything. I just wanted you to know how I felt before…well. Just know I don't expect you to feel the same or say anything in return. I don't want you to feel pressured or guilty or anything, I just…I couldn't have it be secret anymore."

Hermione still looked stunned. She looked up into his sapphire eyes. "After all this time?"

Theo smiled. "Always."