Legal: I do not own anything but the plot and make no money from this story.

Chapter 13

"Do you get them often?" Theo asked, his eyes scanning the horizon.

"Yes."

Crickets chirped, in the distance a fish jumped, the splash and resulting ripples overlapping to create the warm up tunes of nature's nocturnal orchestra.

Theo remained silent beside her, apparently giving her time to expand if she so desired. Hermione was grateful he wasn't the pushy sort.

She rubbed her arms as if to stave off a chill. "They're worse when I'm overtired or already feeling anxious, though tonight… tonight was the first time I've truly seen the castle grounds since the final Battle, our night of return notwithstanding."

Theo nodded but again, didn't comment. Hermione had purposefully distracted herself that night, not allowing herself the option of lowered guards and reminiscences. She hadn't expected to pay for her suppression methods in such a short span of time.

She knew from experience avoidance and suppression made things significantly worse, and wondered how many more attacks like tonight were in store for her in the near future. She'd been preoccupied over the summer, dealing with her own personal fallout of the war, and thus hadn't been a part of the restoration efforts. She'd purposefully avoided returning until the school term, despite knowing both Ron and Harry had on a few occasions been by to see how things were shaping up and to lend a hand.

Theo and Hermione made their way silently down the path, her calves feeling the shift in the earth's descent, their subtle burn a sharp relief, a sense of normalcy returning.

"My reaction in the library the other night, to your comments about me… hiding," Theo said, "I'm not used to people seeing below the false bottom of my projected countenance. For all our airs, most Slytherins don't see beyond the obvious, unless given reason. I never gave them reason. No one felt the need to look beyond what I wished them to believe, to see."

Hermione kept her eyes forward, restraining her impetuous nature to focus on and pounce on this new outlet of information. She instinctively knew, from years of friendship with Ron and Harry and from her years spent observing the boy in front of her, that certain moments required discretion and the comfort of distance.

Despite whatever Ron and Harry interpreted as her constant nagging and interference, Hermione knew she could be subtle and restrained when necessary.

Baring one's vulnerabilities was not the moment to pounce and play twenty questions like an eager kitten with a new toy.

"I've been hiding in plain sight for years… out of self preservation to begin with, and then…" Theo trailed off, giving a bitter chuckle and a shake of his head, and Hermione snuck a sideways glance at him. The sun had set over the distant horizon, but a faint glow illuminated the clouds. The residual light highlighed his profile, kissing the edges of his features, sending the angles of his bone structure into arresting relief.

'Oh my…' thought Hermione, 'I never thought I'd be jealous of the sun.'

"I knew eventually I'd have to choose. I'd have to step up, as it were… but until then, I kept my head down, kept the spotlight elsewhere so as to not be first in line for the esteemed honors my father wished me to embrace."

"Are you and your father close?" Asked Hermione softly. She didn't think the answer would be the affirmative, but she also knew even Himmler had had favorable relations with his children.

Monsters wore the masks of men, after all.

Theo scoffed, and shook his head adamantly, eyes shuttered. "Close in proximity, when not attending Hogwarts. But I abhorred him, and everything he stood — stands — for. I found it fascinating that for all his bluster and suspicious nature, he had no inkling I wasn't the eager obedient whelp he assumed I was, despite never giving him evidence to support his assumptions." He rubbed the back of his head and threw her a smirk that showcased now dancing eyes. "I'd say it's safe to assume he knows where and what I stand for now, ya? Seeing as I'm the primary reason he'll remain in Azkaban indefinitely."

Hermione's eyebrows raised. "Merlin's beard! I didn't know you were the source…" she breathed, momentarily stunned at the bravery of his testifying.

She remembered the night Kingsley had joined them for dinner at the Burrow. It had been following a massive capture of rouge followers of Voldemort, and Kingsley had been exceptionally pleased about the capture and imprisonment of a particularly prominent Death Eater and how, due to their ironclad source, he'd never walk free.

He'd been circumspect about what made their source so valuable, the evidence against the Death Eater so iron-clad and binding, and no one around the Weasley's table that night had pushed.

It was a clean-cut win, a rarity for those tasked with rebuilding efforts and the reconstruction of and corruption purging within the Ministry; one especially vindicating due to the nature and length of the man's service and crimes. It had been enough that it happened, details were window dressings — nice to-do's but not of vital importance overall.

She'd recognized the name of the Death Eater when she'd read the announcement in the paper two days later, and she'd briefly wondered how his son was faring and how he'd made out over the past year. She hadn't guessed Theo had been the author of his own father's final demise.

"Trust me when I say… I'm very good to have in your corner, Granger. And one you'd never wish to cross if I wasn't, though you'd never know it to be me unless I wished for that. I will always protect what's mine…" His eyes had sharpened, though Hermione knew intrinsically he wasn't threatening her, merely stating the facts of his moral code. His quiet confidence was heady. She recognized in him a mirror of her own internal determination — her own moral compass — that she used to keep those she loved safe; whatever the costs.

She beamed at him.

"As do I." She said, and Theo smirked.

"Rumor has it you can be right vicious when crossed, Granger. I distinctly remember hearing about a Ravenclaw incurring the brunt of your wrath during fifth year."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "She shouldn't have betrayed us, betrayed Harry." She said mulishly, feeling still slightly angry and defensive, but definitely not ashamed. "I did what no one else thought of or had the stomach to do."

No guilt, no remorse were heard in her words, despite permanently scarring another student. Hermione had no time for second guessing actions that she truly believed were for the betterment of their war efforts. Her anger and hatred toward Umbridge that year had hardened her to consequences outside of saving those she cared for.

She shrugged again, seeing Theo regarding her with ardent speculation.

"Are you sure you were sorted correctly?" Theo taunted, the warmth on his face tempering any inferred bite to the words.

"Quite sure," said Hermione, then in faux horror, "can you imagine, muggle-born me living amongst you and your lot?"

"Many a time," she heard Theo mutter quietly, but when she glanced at him, he'd schooled his expression back to one solely of mirth and mischief, the intensity of moments before gone.

Theo nudged her shoulder as they walked. "The fact that not even the school mediwitch could reverse the damage of your spell, and that you were never caught and punished despite even us Slytherins knowing what you'd done… well, I'm not going to lie." Theo looked at her then, and there was heat in his eyes as he said. "I was silently applauding your methods, wishing I could praise you in person. So, I say now, well done you!"

She smiled her thanks.

"You were the definite minority," she said. "Most who spoke to me about it thought I'd crossed a line."

"Those who thought that are naive, and therefore unqualified to pass judgements." He stated confidently.

'Oh, he'll be an interesting one to have around!' Thought Hermione, finding his interpretation and stance on her actions to be, frankly, seductive.

As they walked, their hands swung between them, brushing and teasing, skin against skin. Hermione was acutely conscious of their touching, but was too unsure of herself as to make a move, despite Theo never re-positioning himself to be further away from their sporadic grazing.

'It's only been two days since we've had even a real conversation…and he just asked me out.' she thought, trying to use logic to tamper down her urge to grab his hand. 'What is going on with me… I've never craved the touch of another like this, nor even felt the impulse to make the move other than in the heat of battle. Merlin knows how long Ron and I waltzed around each other before that, and after…"

Still… she couldn't help the slight flip of her stomach when she felt a pinky hook with hers. Glancing down, she saw Theo's hand linked with hers solely by that one delicate juncture, and, raising her eyes, saw him peering at her with what she interpreted as tentative hesitation.

It was his own reticence that ultimately bolstered her courage.

Flashing him a shy smile, she accepted his unspoken invitation, and, summoning her Gryffindor mettle, slid her hand fully into his. Entwining their fingers, she was pleased to find their differing heights caused none of the awkward positioning holding Ron's hand had. Holding Ron's hand had been a tangle of digits and elbows, with none of the ease and fluidity that came with holding Theo's.

Theo didn't pull his hand away, nor did he tighten his grip overly-hard upon hers. Instead, their hands rested comfortably within each other's, their arms swinging in sync as they continued along the path.

Glancing over, she saw Theo gazing off toward the lake, and she'd have thought he was unaffected by their contact if she hadn't spent countless classes observing him. His cheeks had a slight spots of high color upon their apples, his eyes crinkled slightly at the corners, and his lips tilted infinitesimally upward.

To an outward observer, he appeared merely to be basking in the crisp fall air and freedom of a stroll at dusk. She could tell, however, that his breathing had quickened — as had hers — and despite his outward nonchalance, Hermione felt elation bubble up inside her that he appeared as affected as her.

They continued on the path that led to the lake past Hagrid's Hut.

"I should really pay him visit him one of these days," murmured Hermione as the path veered away from the hut and decended sharply towards the waters edge.

"Pay who a visit?" Queried Theo.

"Hagrid," said Hermione, motioning to their professor's hut.

"Right, you lot were on friendly terms with him." Said Theo, before adding after a beat, "there was no way a Slytherin could have been, even if they'd wanted to. Too much ingrained prejudice, on both sides."

Hermione remained silent, as she knew all to well the truth he spoke. For all that the Slytherins seemed to delight in causing havoc during class and taunting the oversized professor, Hagrid clung to his own deeply seeded anger and contempt when it came to those whose house found sanctuary and slumber below the lake.

Not that the majority of his disgruntlements and hostilities were without merit.

"Hagrid's had a rough go of it." She said instead. "It's not common knowledge, but Tom Riddle —"

"Who?" Asked Theo conversationally.

Hermione stopped walking, and stared at Theo in shock.

"You're joking," she blurted out, a bit dumbstruck.

"About what? Not knowing who this Tom bloke is? I can assure you, I'm not." He quirked a smile, as if pleased with his own pun, but Hermione was too astounded to acknowledge it.

"You don't know who Tom Riddle is?"

Theo sighed. "We've established this, Hermione."

"Sorry… I'd just thought…" Hermione bit her lip, before rushing onward. "I'd just thought, given that your father was one of his longest supporters, you'd have heard his name before."

It was as if a Dementor had drifted overhead, how fast the lightheartedness faded from Theo's eyes. Hermione watched as his jaw tightened and his lips thinned, his public mask snapping quickly into place.

"Tom Riddle was… Voldemort." Theo said flatly, statement, not question, and Hermione nodded.

"I thought you knew," she said softly, and Theo's eyebrow rose, nostrils flaring slightly.

"Because of my father," he stated.

"Yes. Harry had mentioned they were classmates, or at least mates of a sort back in their Hogwarts days. This was prior to Tom donning the Voldemort anagram and shedding his youthful identity."

"Father never referred to him as anything other than 'The Dark Lord' in my presence. I wasn't aware he was even called Voldemort until I was older, as elsewhere crowds referred to him under that ridiculous moniker 'you-know-who'." Theo's voice, Hermione noticed, had grown tired. Not the tired that came with needing a good night's sleep, but the tired that arose when your soul was weary.

"How did Potter even know about Father and… Voldemort? I mean, being classmates and all?" She noticed that Theo looked very ill at ease at this revelation, and she could only assume that being kept in the dark about information surrounding his father's loyalties and ties would be hard to swallow.

'Knowing someone else, someone Theo neither knows nor truly trusted was given the information instead of him must chafe,' she thought, a slightly hollow feeling settling in the pit of her stomach.

"Sometimes I forgot how much was kept secret." She said, brow furrowed as they continued down toward the lake. "How much I know, how much I was involved in, all because of Harry."

They'd reached the shore, the pebbled rocks and jagged stones lining the waters edge along with different kelp and discards of driftwood. Picking her way through the organic debris, Hermione made her way to a large, smooth outcropping of rock, Theo following gently behind her by way of their clasped hands. Sitting upon a rock that would have felt at home amongst couches of grandeur, Hermione was pleased when Theo sat beside her, never once breaking their contact. He was scrutinizing her once more, but Hermione didn't feel her defenses rise under his gaze, but rather, felt warmed.

Safe.

His smolder was protective; she felt a knot of tension she hadn't realized she still carried unwind, relax, under his stare.

"Tell me," he urged softly.

"The past few months my mind has run through the 'what-ifs' and 'if-onlys' until I fear my brain will start grinding backwards, if only to halt these trains of thoughts and keep them running off the tracks. I wonder how the war would have gone, had I not made the friends I had during first year." She said, so softly it caused Theo to shift slightly closer in order to catch her words. "I was muggleborn, and had extreme difficulty making friends. I was desperate to fit in to this new world, but my approach could be somewhat abrasive."

She paused, knowing that Ron or Harry would have chuckled or made a side remark, but Theo kept his gaze steady upon her. No sarcastic or amused remark left his lips. Hermione felt her chest expand with a feeling she couldn't identify.

"If I hadn't obtained Ron and Harry's comradry, would I have been involved at all? Would I have been such a target? Would my parents—"

Hermione broke off with a sharp intake of breath, so sharp, so painful that she wrenched her hand from Theo's without notice, her arms wrapping themselves around her torso. Stemming the wound that thoughts of her parents slashed open.

By inadvertently speaking about them, she'd ripped the poultice off the wound their… absence, created.

"Your parents, what?" Theo asked gently.

Hermione shook her head. She'd shared enough, bared enough, of her soul for one day.

She forced a smile upon her lips, the plasticity not appearing to fool Theo, judging by the thinning of his own, but he didn't press her. Instead, he retook her hand in his and resettled himself on the rock so he was looking at her in more head-on position.

"So," he said, "You mentioned that Hagrid knew this Tom Riddle bloke, the pre-Voldemort?"

Hermione was grateful for the change in subject, and began filling Theo in on what Harry, Ron, and she had learned their second year through the diary without mentioning it being a Horcrux. Now wasn't the time for that revelation!

She became incensed when explaining how Hagrid had been unjustly condemned and robbed of his ability to practice magic, and the ingrained prejudice of their magical society towards races they deemed less-than; the ones they labeled 'creatures' and oppressed with degrading laws.

Theo, for his part, was an attentive audience. He rarely interrupted, and his thumb had begun rubbing circles upon hers the more she warmed to her sense of injustice.

"You've given me a lot to digest. Thank you for sharing that with me, Hermione." He said, and she nodded. She could see him almost mentally file away what she'd just told him, pushing it aside to review later.

"We will delve into the history and finer machinations of some of the points you've made and brought forward tonight, Hermione, during your first foray into the Customs and Traditions of Wizarding Society." Theo said.

Hermione giggled. "Merlin, that's a mouthful," she said.

Theo arched a brow. "It slipped my mind before now, how you… embrace abbreviations. Care to create one for our… lessons?" At the word lessons, she saw Theo's eyes flicker down to her lips before snapping back to hold her gaze. "Or have you one already in mind?"

She felt herself blush, for he had her truly pegged. She'd already considered one.

"What about SCAT?"

"Scat?" Said Theo, disgust and amusement seeming to war within his tone as he spat the word.

"Societal Customs and Traditions." Hermione said, a grin spreading across her mouth as she took in his affronted reaction.

"So, if we go with your title, I'll be meeting you in Hogsmeade to review and analyze some… SCAT?" He drawled, and she was please when after a moment of silence he rewarded her with a laugh.

A true laugh, one from the gut.

Not one appropriate for polite company.

'He has a wonderful laugh!' Her stomach flipped at the sound. She wanted to pull another one from his lips.

"Alright Granger, SCAT it is…" he broke off before he chuckled again, shaking his head as he looked at her with bemused eyes.

"What," she asked.

"Just picturing Draco and Blaise's reactions to hearing I'm having meetings about… SCAT!"

Hermione felt laugher bubble up inside her own throat when she though of the looks of horror that would descend across Malfoy's snotty brow or Blaise's haughty veneer.

Theo bent down slightly, his lips descending close to her ear. Hermione felt him tuck a stray strand of hair behind the top of her ear as he whispered, "I truly am looking forward to our date, Hermione."

She felt shivers dance along her arms and up her spine at the caress of his words and the wisp of his breath upon the shell of her ear. Glancing up at him, she met his gaze full on, their faces closer than they'd ever been before.

"As am I, Theo," she said, "as am I."

They passed the next hour discussing lighter topics that didn't include the war, panic attacks or disappointing fathers, before heading back up to the castle; holding hands the entire time. Upon entering through the main double doors, Theo made as if to walk with her to the Gryffindor tower.

"Theo, you don't have to come with me. I'm perfectly fine to walk myself to my tower." Hermione said, then hoped he wouldn't take her tone for condescending.

'I appreciate the gesture, but honestly!' She thought. They weren't even truly dating, so the long walk for Theo would only result in tired feet.

She could see an internal battle wage itself across his face in the seconds before he pulled down his public mask. He nodded, seemingly a bit pink around the ears.

"Of course. Quite right."

Bringing their still joined hands to his lips, he bestowed a kiss upon the back of Hermione's hand.

"Until the 'morrow." He said, smiling softly down at her.

She smiled up at him warmly and bid him good night, feeling his eyes upon her as she began the climb toward the Gryffindor Tower and her waiting bed.

A/N: Thank you to all who've reviewed, it's really motivating hearing your thoughts! I appreciate your words more than you know :)