Legal: I own nothing and am not JK Rowling. I just play in her sandbox.
Chapter 14
The next morning Theo joined the eighth year Slytherins as they meandered their way sleepily toward the great hall for breakfast.
Theo felt the scratchiness behind his eyes from the midnight oil he'd burned thru the night before. He hadn't been able to shut down his mind; thoughts and questions and emotions swirling around inside his brain until the wee hours of dawn stole for him a few winks.
"Late night?" Drawled Draco, smirking knowingly.
Theo didn't acknowledge the question, just kept walking silently. He heard a muffled laugh to his left — Pansy — then tinny whispers between her and Draco. Theo didn't care that they were probably speculating about his time spent in Granger's company, they could spin theories all they wished, it wouldn't touch the reality of the situation that was developing.
As they slid into their seats they'd occupied the previous day, Theo's gaze rose toward the Gryffindor table, seeking out a glimpse of Granger. He was secretly thrilled to be able to baldly glance over, instead of having to subtly sneak his observations like years past.
"Are you and Granger… friends?" Asked Daphne tentatively, distracting him from his search. She'd apparently witnessed his perusal of the Great Hall —and knowing Daphne, she'd deduced why — and was worrying her lip again. Theo noticed her eyes flickering around her, as if taking the pulse of the atmospheric volatility in reaction to her question.
"We are." Said Theo, unhurriedly ladling porridge into his bowl, topping the steaming oats with cream and brown sugar.
"Please, just be…cautious." She said quietly. He arched a brow; she held his gaze unapologetically.
"Aren't I always?" Theo asked, flashing a self deprecating smile and Daphne snorted before doling out her meal.
"How'd that come about?" Asked Millicent, her plate laden with food that she tucked into with gusto. She'd always had an appetite, but Theo was pleased to see that this year, she seemed determined to embrace her cravings, not deny them based on pressure from her mother to conform to a standard she just wasn't built for.
Theo made to speak but Millie apparently wasn't finished.
"S'not like it would have been… tolerated, prior to this year — your father being who he is — yet you both act incredibly chummy for strangers. I, for one, was right gobsmacked when you two left the common room together last night. And with her willingly too, at that." She shook her head, eyes raised quizzically.
"It was actually her idea," Theo said. "The common room was becoming a tad suffocating."
"But… what could you even talk about? It's not like you'd have anything in common with a mud—" Greg was cut off by Daphne, who'd flicked her wand and silenced his speech. Greg was left gaping like a fish out of water, and Theo clenched his fist under the table to stop himself from casting a harsher spell upon the feckin idiot.
Draco shot Greg a pointed look that had the other boy instantly quelling, and Theo was pleased to see that for all his years of indoctrination, Draco appeared to be finally traveling down the less bigoted road.
"Not the place, Goyle!" Snapped Pansy. Theo saw Blaise cast a disparaging look upon both Greg and Pansy before resuming his aura of peripheral aloofness.
"You mean, not the correct term… Right Pans?" Said Theo, frustrated and unable to hold his tongue any longer. He knew indoctrination took time to unravel and ingrained prejudices to fade, but Hades, it was bloody tedious —the purgatory of wait in between.
"Obviously," Pansy said, rolling her eyes. Turning to Greg she asked, "You meant muggleborn, right Greg?"
Greg glanced between Pansy and Theo, a look of belligerent confusion adorning his brow before nodding.
"Since when do you attempt to hold court?" Pansy asked Theo, eyes shifting to where Draco sat quietly rather than engaging in his previous behavior of always needing to control the floor.
"That is a conversation not meant for the here and now," said Theo, turning back to his meal and all but dismissing Pansy with the angle of his shoulders.
The rest of their group resumed their meal and previous conversation, unilaterally deciding to leave Greg under the silencing spell for the rest of the meal. As he wasn't well versed in unspoken casting, there was little chance of the spell being lifted until they'd decided.
"Is she…" Tracy gnawed at her lip. "I mean… after everything… we'll, how can she stand to be near you and not utterly detest you?"
"I think," said Theo carefully, "that is a question for you to ask her, Tracy. I abhor when others decide to speak for me, and so won't offer assumptions or pretend to know what propels her thoughts and beliefs."
Having been distracted from his original plan of catching a glimpse of Granger, he glanced again toward where he assumed she sat.
He felt his stomach do a slight flip when he saw her seated, one hand holding open a book and the other a spoon — a spoon that was dripping its contents into her bowl without her notice, engrossed as she was in her conversation with Weasley. Every so often she'd move her wrist, punctuating the air with the spoon and sending droplets of what Theo could only assume was porridge and cream flailing onto her unsuspecting table-mates.
"Please tell me you plan on teaching that one table manners." Said Pansy, eyeing her toast as if it was the offending party — not the Gryffindor witch across the hall — before taking a delicate bite. After daintily chewing and swallowing, she patted her lips with her napkin before saying, "I mean, she did spend all that time with the other Weasley, who could rival a hog when putting away food — both in quantity and…" she purses her lips, "…refinement."
She gave a shudder, before turning fully to Theo. He could see Blaise across from him regarding Pansy with disinterest, though apparently not enough disinterest to stop from listening in altogether.
"As she's currently showering her surroundings in her breakfast fare, I feel it's only self preservation to request we don't eat with someone whose behavior has apparently not advanced past that of a toddler."
Theo found himself bristling at Pansy's dismissal and categorization of Granger. He was about to make a cutting retort but Draco leaned forward around him so he could gawk at Pansy,
"How do you know how the Weasel eats?" Draco demanded. "I didn't realize you'd spent enough time watching him to gain insight."
Theo felt Pansy tense beside him and saw her eyes flash before she schooled her mask, her lips rising in her signature malicious lilt.
"Why Draco, surely you realize that, as one of Potter's best mates, and me, one of yours —"
"Says you," coughed Draco, and Theo saw Pansy's eyes narrow.
'Bloody, fucking arsehole. How many times do I have to tell him, don't piss on those in your circle." Theo fumed, his back already up due to Pansy's cattiness and he felt his frustration with Draco's lack of humility and common sense spike quicker than usual.
Pansy's voice lost whatever playful edge it'd contained and began dripping icicles as she continued. "—you'd realize that I'd have seen many instances of Weasley's eating due to your constant observations of bloody, fucking Potter! Observations you repeatedly brought to my attention, thusly resulting in my own forced witness to Weasley's appalling and lacking manners and decorum."
Turning to Theo she bit out, "If you plan on subjecting us to her, Theodore, especially at mealtimes, at least ensure she's decently acquainted with how to properly use cutlery and table linens and chews with her mouth closed."
"She is not a pet, Pansy. Nor is she to be found lacking. Not that your stipulation would prevent me from asking, but if she ever does join us for a meal, I dare say, she may just naturally show you up, with how on-point her manners are."
"She—" sputtered Pansy, waving toward where Granger and Weasley were still engaged in their conversation, but Theo cut her off.
"She, is at breakfast — an informal meal at best — and is in a conversation with a friend. She is surrounded by her own, and not shackled by the weight of constantly guarding her actions." He raised an eyebrow, throwing his gaze toward Blaise who'd been in the slug club with her to add his voice to the fray.
Blaise rolled his eyes, distain for being dragged into the apparent banality of this conversation emanating from him. "She navigated herself around a soup spoon as well as those in mother's tea circle, and appeared adept at navigating the proper cutlery selection for the courses served."
Theo nodded his thanks; Blaise gave a small nod in welcome.
"Her freedom is worth envying," said Tracy, joining in the conversation. "No one's hexed or yelled at her for getting clumps of oats on their robes. They just spell it off with a good natured laugh. There's less… rigidity, amongst those of her house."
Theo smothered a laugh as she threw Pansy a disgruntled glare.
"What has you in such a snit Pansy?" Asked Daphne, sipping her tea. Theo saw her wince slightly before putting the cup back in the saucer, steam rising steadily from the anemic looking liquid.
Pansy pursed her lips but didn't say anything, just continued eating her toast in polite mulishness.
"Pansy?" Said Daphne softly, concern fluttering across her face. Pansy was typically standoffish and blunt, but not downright caustic — at least not to this degree.
"Oh bloody— fine! You'll all learn of it soon enough."
Pansy laid down the slice of bread she'd been eating, wiped her hands with her napkin and folded them in her lap.
"I heard from mother last night. She sent word through one of our house elves, didn't want me finding out by surprise this morning."
"What—" Millicent began.
"Father's been arrested, and will be held at Azkaban until his trial in two months." Pansy's spine was rigid, her eyes daring anyone to pity her. "They're angling for at least two decades, possibly more."
There was no pity, only solidarity. For a moment, silence hovered like a blanket over them. Noses were scratched, throats cleared, weighted glances were exchanged.
"Welcome, new member of the 'Disappointing Father's' club," Draco raised his glass and gave Pansy a mocking toast before downing his pumpkin juice. His eyes, Theo noticed, had turned stormy and introspective. Theo caught her eye, and his previous annoyance fell away as he saw the naked rawness behind her steeled veneer.
"But it's been almost four months! Why would they be arresting him now? He wasn't even affiliated, not officially. Nothing provable." Said Millicent.
"Apparently, the aurors were tipped off about father's rather… extensive… collection of wares and tomes that mostly straddle the line between light and dark magic, as well as some rather ambiguous financial investments that don't have proper documentation. And seeing as he's been a rather public acquaintance of and friend to many of the Dark Lord's followers, those in power apparently don't want to let any grass grow roots below his feet upon these discoveries. Mother said it'll be in the prophet, though most of those articles are completely biased against our lot, and not worth the parchment they're printed on. She wanted me to have the verified information firsthand."
Their conversation was interrupted by a flurry of wings above their head and the sound of hoots filling the Great Hall as owls soared through the clerestory windows. As they dove and wove through the tables, depositing their missives to their respective recipients, Theo noticed two owls appearing to head straight for Granger.
"Looks like someone's getting a howler," said Draco, eyeing the smaller, pathetic looking creature struggling along behind the larger, more robust bird heading straight toward the Gryffindor table. There was a smoking red envelope clutched in the little bird's talons, waiting for the moment it touched skin to ignite and spew forth its vitriol. Theo glanced toward Granger, and saw her face ashen at its approach, though she did manage to shoot her hand up to catch the other, regular envelope from the larger bird.
The hall had quieted save for whispers as most heads had turned to watch the smoking red envelope's delivery and to hear the anticipated message. Howlers weren't frequently sent, so when one was spotted it captivated everyone's attention. With a glance around his own, Theo realized all heads of the eighth years were fixated on Granger with varying degrees of anticipation — one or two even with empathy — etched upon their faces.
Theo felt his chest tighten, and his face heat. It took him a moment to identify the emotion coursing through him.
Protectiveness. He hadn't felt that in years, not since…
Suddenly, Weasley shot to her feet. "Bombarda Maxima!" She cried, and with a streak of white light the envelope burst apart, screeching and squelching unintelligibly as it disintegrated. The poor bird carrying it was blasted sideways, adding its own voice to the cacophony of sounds echoing around the large room. It flew a few feet before catching itself upon a mantle, where it ended up resting for the remainder of their meal period.
The Great Hall had gone utterly still and silent at Weasley's intervention. Even the professors appeared flustered or agog.
"Mate, check out Blaise," whispered Draco, subtly nudging Theo's arm.
Theo snuck a peak at the typically stalwart and aloof Slytherin and had to hold himself back from doing a double take at the expression upon Blaise's face.
"Well I'll be damned…" whispered Theo, "something actually pierced his 'no-fucks-given' armour…"
"And it's little Gryffindor Weasley to boot!" Crowed Draco.
"What?" Asked Weasley loudly, spinning around slowly, apparently realizing the attention her actions had drawn from the hall. "Hasn't anyone ever thought to try that before?"
She looked around quizzicality and appeared surprised by the numerous amount of heads shaking 'no' throughout the hall.
"In that case, happy to have provided some enlightenment. Never need fear another attempt at public humiliation by those too cowardly to do it face to face." She gave a mock bow, and settled back into her seat.
"Miss Weasley!" Said Porfessor Mcgonagall, rising to her feet at the head table, "As honorable as your intentions may be, kindly refrain from creating havoc in the breakfast hall, or terrorizing our mail delivery system in the future."
"Will do, Professor," Theo heard Weasley say as the headmistress reclaimed her seat, and he made an impetuous decision.
'That was bloody brilliant.' He thought, standing and beginning a one-man ovation.
Heads whipped around as his loud confident claps echoed throughout the hall. Murmer spread like bees buzzing around a hive at the novelty of a Slytherin engaging in a public spectacle, especially one in support of a Gryffindor. What appeared to tip the scales of incredulity was the fact that he was a known Death Eater's son and she one of the student body's esteemed leaders in the rebellion the year prior, if his ear were hearing some of the whispered correctly.
He didn't give two shits that he was again flouting years of ingrained prejudicial behaviors and thinking for himself. He recalled the look of relief that had fluttered over Granger's face when the envelope exploded, and knew little Weasley had earned a favor from him — maybe even two, if he was feeling so inclined — for her act of quick thinking and kindness.
"Adeptly handled, Weasley," Theo said with a curt yet friendly nod, his voice carrying without the use of a sonorous charm, even over the rising din. He was pleased when she returned his praise with a smile and a triumphant nod of her own, before turning back to Granger. Theo's gaze swung to the witch across from her, whose full attention was steadily upon him, an expression between amusement, exasperation and gratitude warring upon her face.
He beamed, a tugging of his lips that almost felt foreign considering how little use those muscles truly got. He was rewarded almost immediately with her face breaking into her own soft, almost begrudging smile, her arms crossing as if to hold in her full amusement.
As Weasley had said, no one should be humiliated or yelled at publicly; least of all in such a cowardly format, he thought, glad the obviously offending message had been dismissed without harm done to the intended.
'If I'm to dress someone down, I damn well want to look them in the eye while I'm doing it!' He thought. 'Not hiding behind enchanted parchment while the rest of the world looks on as gleeful voyeurs.'
He wasn't left standing and clapping alone for more than a few seconds before he felt Draco rise beside him, along with, astonishingly, Blaise; their clapping adding to his and thundering around the hall. They were also verbally parlaying their approval of Weasley's gesture over the rising voices of the rest of the student body.
"Messers Nott, Malfoy and Zabini!" Professor McGonagall had stood once again, this time her face a mix of consternation and resignation. "As amused and supportive as you appear to be over Miss Weasley's wand work, I demand you reclaim your seats and cease disrupting the meal at once."
"What the fuck was that?" Asked Pansy as Draco, Blaise, and he sat back in their place on the benches and everyone around them rained their meal, all the while whispering behind hands and glassware.
"You're just sore you didn't think of doing that last year, when your mother sent—" Millicent was smirking as she began taunting her, but Pansy cut her off with a wave of her hand.
"I meant, since when does Blaise join anything publicly, especially without something in it for him?" Blaise shot her a bland look, his expression giving nothing away as to his motivation of joining the public ovation. "And you Theo, you're… you're different this year."
"Pans, were all different this year."
"True, but you're…" she shook her head and appeared frustrated at not being able to identify exactly what had changed. "You're just, not the same Theo as in previous years. It's… it's disconcerting."
"You're right Pansy. I'm not the same as before," Theo said simply. "I'm finally able to just be me."
oOo-xXx-oOo
"So Granger, any idea who sent the Howler?" Theo fell into step beside her on their way to Herbology later that day. He'd wanted to give her some time and space between this morning's event and when he approached, and had thusly waited until their afternoon lesson to chat her up.
"Oh, I have more than an idea."
Theo glanced over, and felt himself warm at the hint of menace he saw glimmering behind her warm cocoa eyes.
"Intriguing…"
"More like completely unsubtle, exasperating and utterly predictable. Intriguing would be if he hadn't sent a letter intending to chastise and humiliate in one fell swoop, and instead, had acted like a true mate would."
They'd reached the greenhouses, and instead of joining those from his house, he slid in next to Granger along the workbench she'd chosen and began pulling out his tools and gloves in preparation for the lesson.
Other than a brief glance in his direction coupled with a slight upward tug to her lips, she gave no indication that his seating arrangement was out of the norm.
"I'm assuming by 'he' you mean…" Theo trailed off, hoping Granger would fill in the rest.
"You can probably infer."
"Weasley then," he said, nodding his head definitively. "Potter doesn't seem the type. Unless it was addressed to Draco."
He was rewarded with her laughter — a true, belly laugh — that sent a shiver of pleasure up his spine, though she didn't confirm nor deny his assumption. Her silence said more than words however.
"You made quite a stir this morning."
She'd turned her head and was looking at him. Her wayward curls were framed by diffused light entering through the greenhouse's opaque walls, giving her an almost ethereal presence. She wasn't so backlit, however, as to make conversing challenging; he needn't squint against the glare.
"Why Granger, I've not the faintest idea what you're on about."
He couldn't contain the smile that stretched across his face like that of a court jester.
Another laugh escaped through her parted lips, this time a low rumble, more a purr than a full chuckle.
"And here I was under the assumption snakes preferred to remain in the shade, not striking out in the open air and drawing attention to oneself. It appears…" she tapped her finger against her lips, drawing his eyes there briefly, "An apology is in order."
She held out her hand, and he was disappointed to find she'd already donned her work gloves, preventing him from experiencing once again the soft coolness of her skin against his. Nevertheless, Theo grasped her hand, giving it a perfunctory shake before regrettably releasing her palm.
"My deepest apologies, for assumptions without substantiating evidence." She quirked a brow and Theo felt his heart quicken as her mouth tilted up, a smirk flirting with her lips.
"I do believe studious observations are in order," she continued, teasing him. "What would you say to meeting me tomorrow evening for some… research?"
"Are you asking me on a study date Granger?" Theo nudged her shoulder with his.
"I am," she flashed a smile.
"In that case," Theo bent his head close to hers, pressing his lips just slightly against the lobe of her ear as he spoke. He felt her shiver at his light touch. "I very much accept, Hermione."
A/N: Thank you to everyone who reviews, your words keep me going and are so incredibly appreciated!