Chapter 4
Hermione Granger hadn’t slept well two nights in a row since the end of the war, but never because of hot dreams about a pair of blue eyes and strong, lean fingers on her skin. That was a new kind of after-dark torture for her. At least she had a single room that year and she could huff and roll over and over again without disturbing anyone else’s dreams.
After her moment with Theo in the library, in fact, her mind was wide awake, her body coursed by a strange kind of electricity. She’d laid in bed for hours, tossing and turning, staring at the burgundy canopy of her four posters, covers thrown aside. She kept replaying their conversation in her head, all the implications of what he’d told her and how her heart stuttered every time she thought of him, helping Muggle-borns staying safe in another continent.
Then, her treacherous brain would remind her of how close they’d been, how good he’d smelled, how handsome he was, how hungry his eyes had stared into hers. How warm his touch on her skin had been. And she wondered how it would be to kiss him, to feel his fingers on her neck, in her hair.
Flushed to the bones, she’d jumped up and grabbed her Ancient Runes translation from her schoolbag. She had to keep her mind busy on something else than the hot Slytherin bookworm, otherwise she wouldn’t be able to sleep ever again.
The next day, she’d forced herself to avoid looking in his direction too much at breakfast, and to ignore him completely during lessons, keeping distractions to a minimum. They’d briefly interacted before lunch and decided to meet outside the Potions class after dinner, to assess their Wolfsbane and administer the necessary mid-stirring in the simmering period it require before being ready. Hermione had kept their conversation quick, but that hadn’t prevented him to flash her a grin that had made her blush to the roots of her hair. When she’d reached the Gryffindor table, Ginny was sporting a shiteating smile that spoke volumes.
“Say something and I’ll hex you into next week,” she’d hissed, piling food into her plate, avoiding the ginger’s piercing gaze.
Ginny had put her hands up in surrender, grin widening shamelessly.
The afternoon had passed in a blur of homework, essays writing and spell practice, and by dinner Hermione was more relaxed and confident, her fingers didn’t even tremble when she poured a final glass of pumpkin juice. Until Ginny spoke, unable to keep it in anymore, apparently.
“Soooo, you’re seeing him tonight?” the girl casually asked, pushing her leftover peas around in the plate.
“We’re working on the potion, Gin. It’s not a date,” Hermione clarified, all business. A flash of his blue eyes so close to hers sent a jolt of warmth to her core, though.
“Right, right, school stuff,” Ginny agreed, then observed her carefully. When she spoke again, her voice was gentle, no hints of irony or tease anywhere. “You shine when you’re with him, you know?”
Hermione locked eyes with her friend and saw the affection in her gaze. Ginny was a strong young woman, that would die for her people. Hermione was lucky to be among them and loved her like a sister. She knew Ginny meant well when she poked her and teased her and she also knew that all her friend wanted was her happiness. She gave her a shy smile and reached over the table for her hand.
“I think I like him, Gin,” Hermione whispered, lowering her walls and showing all her vulnerability she so desperately kept hidden.
Ginny squeezed her fingers. “Why do you say it like it’s a catastrophe?”
Hermione bit her lower lip. “Because…what if he’s playing around?”
Ginny arched a brow. “Hermione, really? He looks at you like a starved man at a banquet. He doesn’t just like you, he needs you!”
Hermione looked skeptical and Ginny rolled her eyes. “I think he had a crush on you even before this year, actually.”
There are so many things I would change.
His words from the library echoed in her head. Hermione’s lips parted in awe. Could it be? Could he have been talking about that as well? She was shocked, and the hypothesis made it even more difficult to meet him now with a straight face. Her wand vibrated on the table, her timer setting off.
“I have to go,” she mumbled, a shiver traveling all over her body.
Ginny gave her a last encouraging squeeze. “Can I give you an unsolicited piece of advice?”
Hermione stood and nodded, slinging her bag on her shoulder.
“Just relax, be yourself and enjoy the ride. Things have a way of playing out nice when they’re meant to be,” she smiled.
Maybe Ginny wasn’t wrong.
********
“Are you smoking inside the school, Theodor?”
Theo smiled at his full name on her lips, and blew the smoke slowly out of his nose.
“Technically, I’m smoking out of the window, Granger.”
He was leaning against the frame of a window near their Potion’s class, his hand perched on the windowsill with a cigarette between his index and middle finger. He turned and found her three steps away, a hand on her hip and a stern look trained on him.
She peered at his fingers and frowned. “Is that a Muggle cigarette?”
“Why, want a hit?” he teased, leaning into the frame for the last drag on the filter.
Hermione crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s bad for your health.”
Theo blew the smoke into the night, then put out the cigarette against the outer sill. “I know, I’m trying to quit, but it’s not that simple.”
He took his wand, transfigured the cigarette butt into a small yellow flower and let it there, moving to close the window.
“How did you even manage to open that thing? They’re sealed,” she asked, walking to the Potion’s class door.
He smirked. “You have no idea how resourceful I am, Granger.”
She snorted and disappeared inside the classroom. Theo followed her and closed the door behind him.
“How does it look?” he asked, observing her clinical examination of their cauldron.
Hermione lowered the wards with the tip of her wand and assessed the potion. “The color is right, the swirls are just as described in the manual.” She sniffed the liquid and nodded. “Smell matches the expectations as well.”
Theo took a step behind her to gaze into the cauldron, grazing her back in the process. He was at least a head taller than her and easily towered over her petite frame. “Good, then we proceed with the stirring?”
Hermione looked at him from over her shoulder and went slightly stiff, realizing how close their bodies were. He could feel her mane of curls tickle his jaw. And he loved it.
“Yes, do you want to do it?” she asked, her voice breathy.
“You stir and I count?” he countered, lowering his head just enough to hoover near her temple with his chin.
She cleared her throat. “Alright.” Then conjured a ladle out of thin air and sank it to the liquid. She made one full circle counterclockwise.
“One,” he murmured. Hermione shifted her weight from a leg to the other and gave another stir.
Theo laid his right hand on the table, next to the cauldron. “Two.”
Hermione inhaled and stirred again.
“Three,” he said, his left hand resting on the other side of the cauldron, bracketing Hermione gently. She tucked a curl behind her ear and gave the final stir. Theo leaned in, his cheek a breath away from hers.
“Four,” he whispered. The potion bubbled and became a pale shade of grey.
“Okay, in three days it should become a translucent white, if we did everything right,” she said, her voice shaky.
Theo smiled. She was nervous, she was affected by his proximity. So, he hadn’t misinterpreted her the previous night in the library. She felt something, too, even if it was just physical attraction. It was there. Thank gods, it was there.
Theo had spent the night before thinking about her soft lips and rosy cheeks inches from him, wondering how sweet she would taste. Then, he had been on the verge of insanity that morning, looking at her from a distance, respecting her need for space, thinking that maybe he’d seen something that wasn’t there. But now he knew it was and couldn’t resist any longer.
He slowly lifted his hands from the table and reached her waist, giving her the time to stop him, to wiggle away from his body.
She didn’t. He felt her small intake of breath, her body tense under his feathery touch, and splayed his fingers on her stomach, staying as still as possible.
“Hermione,” he murmured near her cheek, her name on his lips like a sigh.
She exhaled and relaxed, slightly leaning into him, their bodies now fully touching. A jolt of pleasure pulled behind his navel and Theo bowed his head in her hair, inhaling deeply. She was intoxicating.
The distant echo of voices approaching made their eyes snap open in unison. Hermione looked at him, panicking.
Stil panting with want and a hard on in his trousers, Theo snatched her wand and tapped the cauldron to restore the wards, then grabbed her fingers and pulled her to the end of the class, towards the ingredients cabinet. They hid in its shadows, his arm snaking around her waist and pulling her flush against him. Hermione’s eyes widened and she blushed furiously. Theo winked and put a finger on his lips, right when the door opened.
“Let’s hope it didn’t explode in the meantime,” Boot groaned, keeping the door opened for Daphne. Theo arched a brow at the decent gesture.
Daphne reached their cauldron and looked inside, lowering the shielding spell.
“Nope, still here. The color is a bit off, but it didn’t explode.”
Boot conjured a ladle and handed it to her. “Four turns, counterclockwise.”
Daphne nodded and complied, making quick work of it. Then vanished the ladle and looked up at Boot, her catlike smile pulling her full lips up.
Theo knew that smile. He knew what was going to happen next. He placed a hand on Hermione’s mouth, gentle but firm, seconds before Boot lifted Daphne on the table and kissed her deeply, hands sliding up her thighs and under her skirt.
Hermione’s gasp of surprise was drowned into Daphne’s moan of pleasure and Theo almost laughed out loud at the turn of events. Oh, he was going to tease her friend to no ends later in their common room. But now he had to get him and Granger out of the classroom if they didn’t want to attend the screening of a porn right there. He let Hermione’s mouth free, grinning at her shocked expression, and took his wand from his back pocket. He tapped her head and disillusioned her, before doing the same to his body. They were perfectly invisible, the ripple in the air around them easy to overlook if one was focused on something else. And judging from the wet noises they were making, Daphne and Boot were definitely focused on something else.
Theo slid his arm from Hermione’s waist and laced their fingers, tugging her carefully towards the door. They tiptoed around the tables and walked out, making as little noise as possible. When they were in the corridor, Theo didn’t lift the spell until they’d turned the corner. As soon as they were visible again, he locked eyes with Hermione, whose incredulous expression was still firmly in place, lips parted in awe and brows lifted.
He gave her an apologetic glance. “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
She blinked and bursted out laughing, throwing her head back, hands flying to her mouth. Theo watched her in wonder, a chuckle bubbling in his throat at the sight of her so happy and carefree.
Sweet Merlin, she was perfect. And he needed her more than air.