Daylight

Hermione wakes up on the morning of her 14th birthday to a completely empty dorm. Lavender and Parvati aren’t usually awake until 10 a.m. at the earliest, so this is definitely odd. Checking the clock on the wall, she sees it’s 7 a.m. Deciding to worry about the whereabouts of her dormmates later, Hermione stretches and gathers her bath items. She takes her time in the showers, making sure to pamper herself, it is her birthday after all.

She decides on a lightweight maroon jumper and a loose pair of denims for the day. Slipping on her trainers, she makes her way down the stairs of the tower. She notices it’s deadly quiet and starts to worry something has gone wrong. Crookshanks finds her walking down the stairs and she stops to give him a well deserved cuddle. “Where have you been, you silly boy? There are a few fish treats for you on top of my trunk. Don’t eat them all at once, my love.” Giving him one last kiss, she finishes walking downstairs and is completely blindsided by what greets her.

The common room is full of her half-asleep housemates, all looking at her. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY HERMIONE”, she looks around and sees a wide-eyed Ron running at her, with Harry close behind. She barely has a second to brace herself before she is being bombarded by her best friends, soon joined by Ginny, the twins, and before she knows it half of Gryffindor House is piled around her and wishing her a Happy Birthday. She can’t control the laughter and little tears that escape at such a sweet gesture.

“We know you like to wake up at the right crack of dawn, Mione, and we didn’t want you to be all alone on your birthday, you know, after what happened, here we are!” Ron explains, with Harry nodding along beside him.

“Oh, you two are just the best.” She gives them yet another hug, feeling so grateful for them.

“Hey!” Fred, George, and Ginny say simultaneously, “We helped too, you know.” Ginny gives her a false glare, then gives into a hug.

“TO BREAKFAST!” Seamus yells, running out the portrait hole. As the awakened half of Gryffindor make their way downstairs, it’s easy to forget about everything going on. When they enter the Great Hall, there are only a few students, but most of the staff is conversing at the table. Seeing students rowdy at eight in the morning seems to be cause for alarm among them, standing quickly to address her house, McGonagall says, “What is the meaning of this?” Not liking the feeling of being in trouble, Hermione speaks up.

“Professor, we are sorry for the rather loud intrusion.” She turns to give a false glare to her housemates, “They have decided my birthday is cause for a day-long celebration, starting with breakfast. We promise to keep it down.”

“Well, don’t allow me to spoil your fun, Ms. Granger. And do have a happy birthday.” McGonagall says with a dismissive wave of her hand.

The Gryffindors enjoy their breakfasts as the other students start finding their way in. When the tables were mostly full, Hermione looked up to see Harry standing up on the bench, followed by Ron, then Fred, and George. Conveniently, this was when Percy (who is both head boy and their brother), had already left to prepare for the prefect meeting. She turned to see Ginny, who stood to help Hermione onto the bench as well. Soon after, all of Gryffindor was on their feet. “WITCHES AND WIZARDS” Fred started, “PLEASE JOIN US IN WISHING THE ONE AND ONLY” Harry continued, “HERMIONE JEAN GRANGER” George bellowed, “A HAPPY BIRTHDAY” Ron finished. They proceeded to lead the great hall in a truly awful rendition of Happy Birthday.

As the applause was still going Hermione, who was absolutely mortified, got down from the bench and thanked her many classmates who were wishing her a happy birthday. She looked to her boys just in time to see Professor Lupin give them a wink and a thumbs up, Hermione gets a feeling he has something to do with all of this. Once the craze dies down and her house starts to leave the Great Hall, Hermione is stopped by Malfoy and his goon squad.

“Well, Granger, I would say Happy Birthday, but seeing as you were likely hatched from muggles that won’t be necessary.” He sneered.

“Shove off, Malfoy” Harry said while he stepped in front of Hermione. She is always reminded of her love for Harry in moments like these, he is the brother she has always wanted.

“What’s the matter, Potter? Don’t like me making fun of your little mudblood girlfriend?” Before Hermione even got a chance to defend herself, Malfoy was on the ground. When she looked back up she saw Theo standing over him with a wand.

“I think it’s time for you to leave her alone and stop saying that word, mate.” For a boy who is usually too shy to even talk in class, Theo is especially intimidating.

“Nott, don’t tell me you’ve gone soft. Just wait until our fathers hear of you defending the dirty mudblood.” Draco spits as he gets up.

“Run and tell daddy, Draco. But you won’t be messing with Hermione again.” Theo stepped in front of him and pointed his wand in his neck. “I said run.” Malfoy’s eyes went wide, he grabbed Crabbe and Goyle by the necks and started hurriedly walking away. Theo turned to Hermione, “Are you okay?” he asked her.

She nodded, “Yes, I’m okay. Used to it by now. Thank you for standing up for me, Theo. I know your house won’t take kindly to that.”

He shook his head at her and grinned, “I think being friends with you, Hermione, means getting in constant trouble. They already think I’m the odd quiet one, let them have their assumptions”

Hermione heard a cough from behind her, and saw Ron completely red in the face. Harry wasn’t far behind him with a confused expression. “Ronald, this is Theodore Nott. He is my friend.” she said pointedly.

“Mione, he’s a snake! And a pureblood!” Ron cried, reaching for her.

“Ronald! You are a pureblood as well, and you saw how he just defended me. Now put your house prejudice aside and play nice. You too, Harry.” She looks around her ginger friend to give Harry a look. He starts, and moves forward towards Hermione and Theo.

“Cheers, Theo. I’m Harry.” he says, taking Nott’s hand, causing Theo to laugh.

“Potter, of course I know who you are. Weasley, I’m Theo.” He moves towards Ron, who is looking put out. Surprisingly, they join hands and Ron replies, “Yeah, alright. Thank you for defending our Mione.”

Wanting to interrupt that awkward encounter, Hermione cuts in, “Well, I’m off for a walk around the lake. Thank you, Theo, for what you said to Malfoy. Boys, I’ll see you later.” She then starts to walk out of the front entrance. She gets about ten yards before she hears footsteps catching up to hers. Once they catch up, she turns to see Harry. Giving him a quick smile, she turns back to the path. As they walk along the trail, neither of them say anything until they’ve gone around the whole lake. It’s so nice for her to just exist with Harry. They understand each other more than anyone else, not quite soulmates, but whatever the closest thing would be for two friends.

“I’m sorry about Malfoy earlier, Hermione. I feel like I should be around more to put him in his place. He hasn’t bothered you when we’re not around has he?” He asks with genuine concern in his eyes.

She doesn’t know why she feels the need to lie, she knows that Harry is going to see right through her, but she tries anyway. “No, that was the first time this year.” She says weakly.

She hears Harry sigh, “Mi, we both know that’s not true. Why didn’t you say anything? What happened?” He stops walking to look at her.

Leading him over to a bench under a shady tree, she starts to explain what happened in the library last week. When she’s done, she looks at his face, seemingly lost in thought. Finally, he says, “You have to be careful with prats like Malfoy running around, Hermione. I worry about you even going to that blasted library alone during the day. It’s just not safe. Ron and I will have to be with you from now on.”

Shooting him a look, she says “Harry Potter, I know that you are not giving me a safety talk right now. Not with everything going on! I am fully capable of going to the library alone. I do not need a babysitter. I can handle that pointy nosed ponce.”

Harry starts laughing, “Merlin, Mione, I think that’s the closest you’ve ever come to cursing! We ought to wash your mouth with soap.” Hermione stands up and starts to walk away when Harry pulls her back by her arm. He engulfs her in a hug and adds, “I’m sorry, I just worry about you as much as you do me. You’re my sister.” Well, she can’t possibly be upset with him now.

“Come on, I know you haven’t started your potions essay and I’d rather help you now than when you ask later.” They make their way back up to Gryffindor Tower, and meet up with their friends.

****

Hermione spends the time leading up to her party getting ready and gossipping with Lavender, Parvati, and Ginny. She didn’t get along with her dormmates all that well in the past, but since she has started exploring her girlier side, she finds they can be great company. Somehow the conversation turns to an intense game of snog, marry, avada.

“Okay, okay, okay. Here’s one, Professor Lupin, Cedric Diggory, and Dumbledore!” Lavender says in a fit of giggles.

“Too easy! Avada Dumbledore, that man could crumble any moment. Ermm. Snog Cedric because he is bloody fit. And marry Lupin, a little old, but maybe I’d get all of his money if he croaked quick enough!” Ginny answers with tears of laughter falling from her eyes. “Your turn, Mione. Okay, Snape, Fred, and Filch!”

Hermione makes a gagging motion and starts, “Ginny! I would opt just to avada myself!” she busts out in laughter of her own before finishing, “Avada filch, no question. Snog Snape just because I couldn’t take a life with him correcting my every little move!” and finishes with “I suppose I could spend a life with Fred, we’d be sisters, Gin!”

“Not to mention when you get one, you get the set!” Parvati adds, wiggling her eyebrows. This causes three of the girls to peel over with laughter, while Ginny shouts “Oi! Those are my brothers!”, before falling back into howling laughter. They all move to get dressed, Hermione’s friends insisting that they pick out her outfit. When they leave the shared wardrobe, they present her with a dress she hadn’t seen before. It was burnt orange, with a boat neck and went to her mid-thigh.

“I got this back home over the summer, but it just doesn’t look as good with the current moon alignment and my fall skin tone,” Parvati explained. Hermione gave her a grateful smile and went to put the dress on. When she came out, Lavender held out a pair of sensible flats and said “I would give you a pair of heels, but with your clumsy track record I’d like to avoid a trip to Madame Pomfrey.”

Slipping on the shoes, she gave herself a once over in the mirror. Her body is starting to grow and fill out awkwardly, but this dress is helping to cover some of those new insecurities Hermione has gained. Feeling ready, the four girls make their way downstairs. It seems that the party has already started. The older years have completely transformed the common room into what looks like a muggle nightclub. There is a small bar in the corner, a large dance floor in the middle, and couches set around the main fireplace. Looking at the bar, Hermione wonders if the Gryffindors use the same charm as the Slytherins, she will have to test it out later. She quickly finds her friends on the dance floor, and starts dancing to the upbeat music.

After a while of dancing, Hermione decides to get some pumpkin juice from the bar. As she’s making her way over she sees the first year that is standing guard at the portrait arguing with someone. She moves closer to see what is going on and sees Theo push past the smaller student. Not able to help the smile on her face, she runs over to the portrait hole to greet him. “Nola, he’s here for me!” she says to the firstie.

“What about the other one?” The first year asks. Hermione peeks through the small tunnel to see the cool exterior of Blaise Zabini at the other end.

“Oh, he’s for me as well, let them through, please.” She can’t hide the surprise on her face as she turns back to Theo. “Hi! I’m so happy you decided to come, I hope Nola didn’t give you too much trouble.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, Granger. Happy Birthday, I hope you don’t mind that I bright Blaise. Another one of the good ones, you could say.” He replies, looking around the common room.

“Of course I don’t mind, Theo.” Turning to Zabini she says, “Hello, I’m Hermione. I think you two just might be the first Slytherins to enter here in ages.”

“It’s nice to officially meet you, Hermione. Happy Birthday. This is certainly different from the dungeons.” Blaise said, while handing her a gift. “This is for you, think of it as a bribe to keep distracting Theo. Yesterday was the first bit of peace I’ve gotten all term.” He added with a laugh.
She stared down the green and silver wrapped present, but before she could refuse it, Theo held an identical one out to her. “This one is just for your birthday, Granger. Your present for distracting me is the marvellous me.” Theo said with a cheeky grin.

Taking the presents in her arms, Hermione moved them to a table already holding a few gifts. “Thank you both, but I hope you know it wasn’t necessary. Shall we get drinks?” She asked, feeling suddenly aware of eyes on her. The boys nodded and they made their way over to the bar. As they’re waiting in line, Hermione feels two bodies on either side of her. Looking up she sees matching grins and groans. Anything the twins are about to say is sure to embarrass her.

“Well hello there.”
“I’m Fred.”
“And I’m George.”
“This here is Hermione.”
“She has come to be something of a baby sister to us”
Here, Hermione tries to interrupt and tell the twins to bugger off, but they just talk over her.
“Merlin knows why she has invited you lot here.”
“But she is the smartest witch we know”
“Not to mention a glare to rival our mother’s”
“So, we will tolerate you.”
“Until she doesn’t.”
“If you do anything to hurt her,”
“You may as well come straight to us.”
“Are we clear?”
“Good!” Fred finishes, not waiting for an answer from either Slytherin. They give Hermione a simultaneous kiss on each cheek and stroll away, as if nothing ever happened. Luckily, most of Gryffindor heard the exchange, and decided the twins had taken care of their warnings.

Theo and Blaise share a look, then Hermione hears cackles erupt from both of them. Hearing them laugh catches her off guard, and she finds herself joining them. Once they have their drinks, Theo finally says, “Well, Granger, if I knew you’d come with bodyguards I would have befriended you earlier! I could use those two in a fight, the height of them! Amazing!”, causing Hermione to giggle.

“I hope they didn’t put you off, the Weaselys have become sort of a surrogate family for me in the wizarding world. My parents don’t really find any of this stuff worthwhile.” Saying this reminds her that she hasn’t heard from her parents today. She’s not surprised, they tried first year, but the owl proved too much trouble for them. Since then, Hermione only speaks to them on her holidays.

Sensing her unease about the topic of her parents, Theo says, “Of course they didn’t, I’ve already found myself protective of you as well. I’m sorry about your parents, I certainly know a thing or two about how that level of neglect feels.” He pulls her into a chaste hug, then continues “Come on, no sad conversation on your birthday! I’ve got to show you my amazing moves!” Hermione let herself be pulled to the dance floor, and grabbed Blaise’s arm to make sure he’d follow.

The trio found Ginny, Harry, and Luna near the middle of the floor. Ginny shot Hermione a questioning look, and Hermione whispered “I’ll tell you later”, in her ginger friend’s ear. The group continued to dance until Hermione got a look at the clock on the wall. With wide eyes , she said, “Oh Godrick! It’s long past curfew.” turning to her Slytherin friends she continued “We’ve got to get you back to the dungeons!”

“Don’t worry Granger, we will be sure to avoid Filch.” Blaise said with a cunning smile, but that wouldn’t work for her.

“No way, we can’t possibly risk detention! Just wait here I’ll be back” She said, and before they could argue she was off to the boys’ dorm. She returned a moment later, and motioned for them to follow.

Spotting the cloak in her friend’s hand, Ginny hurriedly said, “I’ll go with you, Mi. Wouldn’t want you to make your way back alone.” and took off before the older girl could argue.

“We are definitely too big to all fit under here, but I think we could go two at a time to scout a corridor, then the uncovered pair could follow. If anyone comes by, we will just throw on the cloak and hope for the best. Got it?” Hermione said quickly, she always had plans like these at the ready because she never truly knows what Harry and Ron will get her into. Once she saw her friends nod in agreement, she threw the cloak over herself and Theo. They made quick work of the castle, and only saw Filch once.

Once they made it safely to the dungeons, Hermione pulled the cloak off of them. Just as she was going to say goodbye, Theo cut her off, “Granger, happy birthday, your invitation was much appreciated.”

Hermione gave him a little smile, and said, “Thank you, Theo.” She said with a shy smile. Her and Theo stood and looked into each other's eyes for what felt like hours before a small cough took them both out of their daze. Turning, she saw Blaise giving a small wave.

“It was a great party, Granger. Thank you for allowing me to join.” He said, before turning and walking through the door to the Slytherin common room.

Turning back to Theo, he planted a light kiss on her cheek and said,“Have a good night, Hermione.”, then followed Blaise through the door. Hermione stood next to Ginny as the door disappeared, and the second it was gone, her ginger friend turned to her and exclaimed, “Okay, give me details now because I just watched a bloody Slytherin chat you up!”

Hermione laughed, threw the cloak around them, and proceeded to tell Ginny everything that had happened over the weekend as they walked back to the common room. Once they got to the landing for second years, Hermione bid her younger friend a good night, and made her way to her own dorm.

In the privacy of her bed, she started to open the presents from her party. From Harry, a beautiful gold necklace with a pendant of her own wand! Ron had gotten her a pack of sugar quills. In a pretty purple bag, she found muggle lip gloss from Lavender and Parvati, along with muggle mascara from Ginny. She tore through various books from her fellow Gryffindors, ignoring the sting of receiving nothing from her parents again. Finally, she held up two silver and green boxes. Opening the first one, she had to hold her mouth to stop her gasp. From Blaise, a beautiful set of ruby hairpins. She would send a note in the morning, these are simply too much. Before she could fret too much, she remembered Theo’s gift as well. Cautiously, as if preparing for something to bite her, she opened the box. Those snakes are just too slick for their own good. In this box she found a gorgeous ruby bracelet, matching the hairpins. Below the jewellery, she found a note.

Happy Birthday, Hermione. 

Yours, Theo x

Thankfully, Lavender and Parvati were fast asleep in their beds, so Hermione slipped into her pyjamas and tucked into her bed. She fell asleep right as her head hit the pillow, and dreamt of the most beautiful green eyes.