Harry Potter 1. Chapter 1

_A/N: Here is a new story that will ultimately be Theo-mione. I hate to put it so blatantly, but if you thought you had to wait awhile for updates on one of my other stories, you haven't seen anything yet. This will be longer in between updates because I only have a few chapters ready so far. It is a story I've spent over a year researching myths and folklore for, and it will be a very involved plot. I hope you enjoy it, and please let me know what you think because it has taken quite some time already just to prepare for it. Without further ado, I give you chapter one of The Union._

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It was a blustery day, and Hermione Granger was currently navigating the streets of downtown London, swiftly making her way toward the Leaky Cauldron. She was supposed to be meeting her best friends Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley for one last drink before her return to Hogwarts the next day. She'd made Head Girl, little surprise there, but the dynamic duo weren't going to be returning at all. They'd be on their way to begin Auror training the day after tomorrow.

The Muggles on the street didn't even look at her as she disappeared from sight into a door completely invisible to their eyes. She stepped into the first part of the wizarding world that she'd ever seen beyond Professor McGonnagall's small bit of magic when she dropped off her letter of admittance to Hogwarts. It was a bit like coming home for her.

She'd had to modify her parents' memories to hide the fact that they had a child during the great wizarding war, and she had little regrets. That is until after the war when she realized that she couldn't live with herself leaving them in Australia, completely oblivious to the wizarding world. It took nearly two months to reverse the powerful memory charm she'd placed on them, and not once did she get to see anything to do with the wizarding world the entire time. Her parents were now back to living in their old house in London where she'd stayed the last few weeks with them.

She was wearing jeans, a white blouse, neutral suede boots, and matching cap, carrying her beaded handbag. She looked around the pub, taking note of the ever present shady characters sitting alone in the back corners, the musty smell that assaulted her senses and seemed to never go away, and the gruff looking bartender wiping down the grimy bar with an even grimier cloth. It was while she was standing there taking in the familiar old Leaky, that the floo over by the stairs activated and a young man with black hair stepped out.

"Mione!" The boy-who-lived ran over and hugged his best female friend.

"Harry!" They were both grinning like buffoons when a red-head tripped out of the fireplace and landed in a heap on the floor. The two just laughed at their third companion as he struggled to get to his feet. Eventually, Harry took pity on him and gave him a hand up. "Honestly, Ronald! How do you expect to be an Auror when you can't even stand on your own two feet!"

"Nice to see you too, Mione," Ron grumbled as he managed to catch his feet.

"Let's have a pint, yeah?" Harry walked over to the bar and ordered three fire whiskeys and three butterbeers. Hermione picked the least filthy table and the boys followed suit, sitting opposite her. Their drinks floated quickly across the room to be set down before each member of the golden trio. "To new beginnings!" Harry raised his glass of fire whiskey, the other two mimicking this movement.

"To new beginnings!" They chorused together, tossing the drink to the back of their throats. After a few coughs disguised as throat clearing, the three settled in to chit chat.

"Are you excited about being Head Girl, Mione?" Harry was always the one to drive the conversations.

"Of course she's excited, mate! This is all she's wanted since first year!" Ron laughed at his own statement. Hermione looked uncomfortable.

"Well, um, yeah. I guess." She shifted in her seat, taking a sip of her butterbeer to keep from having to look at her friends.

"What does that mean, Mione? You guess?" Harry was a lot more observant than people gave him credit for. He could see right through her.

"It's just that—" Hermione was cut off by the clueless red-head across the table from her.

"What, Mione? Rather be Minister for Magic now?" Ron laughed again. Harry took a moment to wonder why his best friend couldn't see that something was bothering the woman he thought of as a sister. Hermione had stayed by his side throughout the war, even when Ron was so quick to turn his back on the both of them.

"What is it, Mione?" Harry was looking directly at her now, needing to understand what had changed her, as it was clear something had.

"It's just... I'm not sure. I don't feel like myself. Haven't, really, since I turned eighteen." She looked at the wall beside Harry's head. She wanted to see his reaction, but also didn't want to look him in the eye.

"Mione, you turned eighteen while we were on the run." Harry was confused. He must have missed something. Hermione sighed, she was defeated.

"I thought that the stress of the war was what was causing it." She slumped down into her chair.

"Causing what exactly? What have you been feeling?" Harry was starting to pick up on something that Hermione had managed to hide for almost a year now. She tried to laugh it off, thinking that maybe he'd just drop it until she was sure herself what was going on.

"Oh, Harry! Just ignore me! I'm sure it's nothing." She forced a smile, hoping to disarm her best friend from thinking too much. She should have known it wouldn't work.

"Okay, Mione. Whatever you say." Harry drained the rest of his butterbeer and stood to leave. Hermione knew that it was too easy and he would want to talk to her one-on-one without Ron. Soon.

"Well, have fun with your training." She actually succeeded in sounding cheerful, she really was happy for them.

"Will do, Mione. Enjoy your last run at Hogwarts." Harry had a sad, faraway look in his eye at the mention of one place he had ever called home. Hermione was sad for him, but he made his choice and now he had to live with it.

"See you, Mione!" Ron gave her an awkward one-armed hug which she halfheartedly returned before he disappeared through the floo network. Harry smiled once again as he hugged her tightly to him.

"Don't think that this conversation is over," he warned. She actually grinned at that.

"Never thought it was." The two separated and went their own ways; Harry to the Burrow with Ron, and Hermione on a walk through Diagon Alley. It was as good a time as any to pick up her school supplies. With a sigh, she checked her bag before trudging to the back of the pub, tapping a few bricks to open a doorway, and stepping into the wizarding world.

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_A/N: Please Review. This one is going to take some motivation..._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Here is chapter two of The Union. I do have several chapters written, and will update fairly often until I run out of pre-written chapters. Beyond that, I will do my best to write as quickly as possible. Please let me know what you think!_

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Theodore Nott was bored. He hadn't wanted to come to Diagon Alley, but some of his friends wanted to come and, deciding that he needed some school supplies, he decided to tag along. He was currently standing outside of Quality Qudditch Supplies, waiting for his friends to finish drooling over the latest Galaxy 5000 broomstick that just came out. It was supposedly the fastest race broom in the world, but he would never find out because he hated flying.

He was watching a little girl skip along ahead of her mother just to get reprimanded. He noticed the girl smiled, then skipped off again just to get too far ahead. He smiled slightly, enjoying his people watching. He had no sooner had that thought when all the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. His eyes were drawn a little bit down the street towards the Leaky Cauldron entrance to the Alley. A beautiful woman in Muggle clothes was just stepping out of the building, looking all around her. She had long, wavy brunette hair, a perfect figure with a good sized bust and bum, as well as being the perfect height, probably coming up to about his neck.

She only took maybe a dozen steps before she stopped in her tracks. Her eyes immediately went straight to Theo and they locked with his. The two stood almost in a trance looking at one another. Somehow, he knew exactly who the woman was, even before she took that first step down Diagon Alley. The woman in question was none other than Hermione Granger, one-third of the golden trio, and the woman of his dreams. Literally. He'd been dreaming of her every night for the past nine months, since his eighteenth birthday.

In all fairness, it's not like he'd never dreamed of her before that, but it had definitely picked up in frequency. He'd talked to her before, never one for house rivalries. Apparently she wasn't either, because she never had any problem sitting next to him in their advanced classes and even partnering up a few times. They had always worked well together, but it hadn't ever consciously crossed his mind until the dreams started. Now, he pretty much thought about her all the time.

A door opening next to him snapped him out of his trance. He looked over to see his two best friends, Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini, exiting the shop. One of them must have just told a joke, because they were both laughing. It all happened in just a split second, but by the time he looked back up to see where Hermione was, she was nowhere to be seen. His eyes flicked around a few times, but he couldn't find her.

He turned back to his friends and followed them to the robe shop. He needed some new robes. Not that he couldn't wear the same ones from the year before, but his mother felt he deserved them for making head boy. He wished he knew who head girl was, as they would have to share a dorm area. It was going to be a long year if it was someone that he couldn't stand.

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Hermione stayed inside Flourish and Blotts' for awhile, hoping that Theo wouldn't still be standing out by the Quidditch shop. She needed her books for school anyway, but she had hoped to get those last so she could wander around the book store before having to go home. Oh, well. It took her no time at all to pick out her school books, so she decided to meander through the history books.

It had been awhile since she'd had a book for recreational reading, and while at one time she would have enjoyed spell books, or books on the dark arts, now she just wanted to learn as much about wizarding history as possible. For some reason, that seemed very important.

There was quite a bit that she didn't know about wizarding history and the pure blood traditions, so she would look it up. She was hoping that somewhere along the way, she would find out what all of her dreams about Theodore Nott meant. She hardly even thought about it as she plucked a book off the shelf and added it to her stack. She hadn't recognized the cover so just assumed she hadn't read it. It was from the right section of the store and she didn't feel like looking too closely.

She paid for her books at the front register and shrunk them down to be placed in her bag. She didn't bother to sort them, just made sure they were stacked when she dropped them in there. It was as she was leaving the shop that she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She looked up to see Theodore Nott, Draco Malfoy, and Blaise Zabini headed toward the shop she just came out of. She needed to pass them to get to the other shops she needed to go to, and decided that it wouldn't kill her to walk near them.

Just as she was walking past them, she felt a jolt straight to her core. It made her gasp, causing both pain and pleasure. She didn't realize that she'd stopped walking, but only took a moment to recover and, refusing to look behind her, walked off to her destination: the Apothecary.

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Theo stopped short when Hermione walked past him and his friends. It was like he was hyper-aware of her presence, feeling it all the way down into his bones. With the hyper-awareness came a jolt of painful pleasure through his body, making him hard instantly. He was frozen in place for a minute before Draco's voice cut through his thoughts.

"You alright there, mate?" His awareness of his surroundings came back all at once. He turned to look for Hermione, but once again, she'd managed to disappear. He turned back to where his friends were standing, to see them looking rather concerned for his sanity.

"Yeah. Let's just go." He led the way into the book store, barely listening to Draco and Blaise as they whispered behind him.

"Was that Granger?" Draco seemed surprised.

"I think it was. When did she get hot?" Blaise was equally as surprised by the now beautiful brunette. Well, Theo had thought she was pretty before, but apparently no one else had noticed her.

"She didn't look like that last year." Draco would know, she'd been tortured in his mansion.

"I wonder if she'd be interested in going out with me." Blaise had a smirk on his face that just didn't sit well with Theo. With a grimace, he turned to look at his best friends.

"Leave her alone, guys. If she wanted to talk to any of us, she would have stopped just now." Theo looked them both in the eye so that they knew he was serious about them backing off. They both held up their hands in surrender, acknowledging that they knew what he was getting at. The three of them dropped the conversation and went about getting the rest of their school supplies.

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_A/N: Please review. I appreciate each and every one of them, and it gives me a reason to continue writing._


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: I've been working a lot, and am going to be going back to college in January. Once that happens, I really won't be able to update as much as I'd like. For now, I will do my best to update weekly. Here's chapter 3 of 'The Union'._

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Hermione had missed the Hogwarts Express. She hadn't realized how good it felt to step aboard the train until she knew that it was her last trip to Hogwarts. She wasted no time in finding the car at the end of the train. It was about four times the size as the other cars, being reserved for the Head Boy and Girl. She used a bit of magic to get her trunk in the rack above the seat she sat in, and settled in to look out the window for the next several hours.

She knew that she was supposed to have a meeting with Headmistress McGonnagall and the Head Boy, but no one was around, so she was resigned to wait in lonely silence. She had no sooner had that thought then she heard the door to the car slide open. She didn't even need to look to know who it was. She could tell by her body's reaction. Theodore Nott had just stepped into the room.

She tried to force her body not to tense up, but knew she failed. He took slow, deliberate steps over to where she was sitting, and proceeded to take his time with loading his trunk into the overhead without using magic. The little bit of exertion caused his muscles to ripple underneath the skin-tight Muggle shirt that he was wearing to be able to walk through King's Cross Station without causing a stir; the movement also caused his scent to intensify and envelope her. She took in a deep breath and pleasure shot through her. She had to stifle a moan, but knew that Theo had to have heard it anyway.

After his little show, he sat in the seat directly across from her. He took to blatantly staring at her, clearly waiting for some sort of acknowledgment on her part. To her credit, Hermione didn't disappoint.

"Hello, Theo." She offered a tentative smile, never having felt nervous around the quiet Slytherin before. With a nod at her words, Theo smiled handsomely at the brunette witch, causing that strange pain-pleasure to once again shoot through her. It took everything in her power not to gasp, instead viciously biting down on her lip. Theo, always the gentleman, didn't acknowledge the obvious effect he had on her, but he could definitely tell, as he felt it too.

"Hello, Hermione. I can't say I'm surprised to see you in this cabin." Hermione blushed at his assessment. She wasn't exactly surprised to see him either, that was just her luck anyhow. The two passed part of the train ride chatting mindlessly, attempting to ignore the effect they had on one another, and renewing the tentative friendship that they'd sort of had before. They always got along alright anyway. Both of their heads snapped to attention, looking at the door to the cabin that was now open and admitting the Headmistress of Hogwarts: Professor McGonnagall.

"Miss Granger. Mr. Nott." The older woman nodded her head at each in turn, closing the door behind her to begin telling them their duties. Having been a prefect, Hermione figured that the same duties would pertain to being Head Girl. Oh, how wrong she was.

Professor McGonnagall proceeded to explain that the two of them would be sharing housing quarters, which was expected, that their personal responsibilities were to help the younger students whenever they were needed, also completely expected, and to show a united front of Slytherin-Gryffindor for everyone to see and accept that war changes people, that, while extremely cliché, was also not completely unexpected. The unexpected part came when Professor McGonnagall asked Theo to please step out of the compartment and perhaps sit with his friends for the remainder of the trip. Theo nodded slightly, not liking the idea of leaving Hermione. He wasn't sure why he felt that way, but chose to ignore the feeling and find Draco and Blaise instead.

McGonnagall waited for Theo to close the door to the compartment before saying another word. The two young people's eyes locked for a brief moment, neither of them understanding the spark they both felt as they did this. It was another few seconds after they heard the Head Boy's feet walk away from the door that the headmistress finally spoke.

"Miss Granger, how are you feeling?" The older professor had always had a soft spot for the intelligent young woman, more so now that they'd fought along side one another during war. The fact that one of her favorite instructors cared so much caused Hermione's eyes to turn glassy.

"Different." It was quite the understatement to say the least. Everything was different now after all. She was having strange feelings for Theo; that was different. She no longer had Harry and Ron by her side; that was different. She was going back to a school that had been a battle ground just a few short months ago; that was different. Everything was just different.

"That's to be expected, Miss Granger. I imagine it feels as if your best friends deserted you," okay, she was going for the lack of Harry and Ron. That was something she actually didn't mind talking about compared to everything else," but they haven't. Those boys love you so very much, school was just never something for them. Now, granted, I would have loved to see them both return to finish their education, but I don't fault either of them for choosing the path that they did."

Hermione nodded in agreement. She didn't blame either of them for wanting to do something that was so important to them. She herself would probably have chosen her dream job over returning to the school. That was largely due to the fact that the school, in her mind anyway, was still a battle ground where she'd lost so many of the people that she cared about. She had to take a fortifying breath to even speak, having let her mind run away with her to places she'd rather not think about.

"Yes, Professor. I understand what they did, but I still don't like that they won't be here for what should be our final year together." There, that sounded awfully diplomatic. Now Professor McGonnagall would never know that she wasn't really listening to her. That was very unlike her, but she was having trouble concentrating on anything except thoughts of Theo anymore.

"That's perfectly alright, Miss Granger. If you should ever need to speak to someone, my door will always be open to you. Alternately, if you find you are uncomfortable speaking with me about anything, Ginevra Weasley would be more than willing to speak with you on any matter." The older witch tried to comfort the younger one, but Hermione really didn't care much about anything at the moment.

"Thank-you, Professor." With a last stern nod in Hermione's direction, the other woman walked out of the train compartment and up to where the engineer was driving the train, leaving a slightly annoyed Hermione Granger behind. She could have been talking to Theo that whole time! With a sigh, she noted that they were almost to Hogwarts and changed into her school robes before they arrived. She didn't see Theo again until that night, when they were to stay in their rooms together for the first time.

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_A/N: Please review. This story took a lot more effort to both get started, and continue writing than most of my work. Please be gentle._


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: Here is chapter 4. I am so sorry that it has taken me so long to upload anything at all on here. I've been pretty busy lately with family and going back to school. I'm only home today because I couldn't make it into work. Actually, my toilet was the one that couldn't make the trip with me. I am sicker than sick today and don't even know if anything I am typing right now makes any sense. Anyway, please enjoy._

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The head's common room was really very elegant. Done completely in beige tones with lavender accents, it was just the right amount of hominess. Hermione loved it. She walked through the room and toward where she saw a spiral staircase in the corner. She'd always wanted to walk up one of these! Taking her time, she ascended the stairway and disappeared onto the floor above.

Theo had been watching all of this with interest. The young witch was very expressive and captivated his attention whenever she was in the same room as he. Granted, that could have something to do with all of those naughty dreams about her, but even before that she was quite a breathtaking creature. It wasn't just a moment until he heard her soft voice carry down to him from above. He followed her without question and came to find her grinning broadly, standing in front of a very large library.

"Look, Theo! All of the books of Hogwarts are ours for the taking! We need not even go to the library!" Hermione was already flitting around, trying to find the next book to capture her attention that she hadn't read yet. She made her choice and returned sheepishly to his side. "Sorry about that." She bit her lip, looking away from the now grinning face of Theodore Nott.

"It's quite alright, Hermione. I know how much you love to read." She blushed at this assessment, given the accuracy of it. "What did you pick out, anyway?" This question seemed to cause her to blush all the more. She held the book protectively to her chest, effectively hiding the title, as well as the author's name from view. She shifted uncomfortably, torn between out right telling him, or just playing it off. With little to no thought, she found herself blurting out that she wanted to read 'Hogwart's a History' once again. Theo chuckled good naturedly but understood himself the allure that a favorite book had on occasion.

"Perhaps we should locate our personal rooms and retire for the evening?" She was nursing a rather faded blush on her cheeks as she tried desperately not to look at the handsome man standing far too close for comfort. Theo let her have this one, noting to himself that she couldn't be shy around him like this for long. After all, they had an entire year to get used to being in close quarters.

"As you wish, Hermione." Theo turned on his heel and walked off the other way down the hallway that they were standing in. He made it all the way to door at the end, opened it, disappeared inside, and, with a muffled curse, walked all the way back to where she was still standing, just watching his masculine figure shuffle about. She raised a confused eyebrow as he walked into a door that she hadn't seen only a few feet away from where she was rooted to the spot.

"Err… Theo? What are you doing?" She forgot all shyness, and the sexy thoughts of him flew out the window quickly. He looked at her, trying not to make eye contact as a faint blush seemed to overtake the Slytherin's features.

"Your room's down there." Was all he got out as he ducked into his room. He closed the door behind him and heard a laugh coming from the other side. That sultry laugh did things to his body that he wasn't exactly proud of, and he knew that it would be a long night.

Hermione slipped into her room, still chuckling at how adorable Theo was when he was flustered. She immediately realized that anyone would be flustered if they'd walked into a room decorated entirely in lilac and white. She truly had a very girly room; she immediately loved it. Even the great Hermione Granger wanted to feel girly every once and awhile, and apparently the castle understood that. She was a bit miffed that Theo's room was closer to the Library, but shrugged it off as unimportant.

She laid back on her bed, stretching languidly. She could get used to the luxury after nearly a year of sleeping on little more than rocks and twigs. Well, that was a rather imprecise statement as far as what actually happened went, but she refused to think on those dark times any longer that night. Getting to her feet, she explored her new room. She loved the fact that she actually had furniture to put everything away in and, the best part, it was all already put away! She didn't see her trunk anywhere, but that didn't seem to matter as everything was where she would have put it on her own.

Feeling the need to brush her teeth, she took note that there was only one other door off of her room, and it was her closet. She sighed, a en suite bathroom would have been too much to hope for, and walked back out into the hallway. She found the bathroom halfway between her and Theo's rooms, and knocked softly to be sure he wasn't already in there before pushing her way in.

The bathroom was rather large, although what one would do with such a large amount of unoccupied space in a bathroom was beyond her. The shower was at the far end of the room, a stall unto itself, the toilet to the right, and the sink to the left, just inside the door. There was a rather large bathtub off to the side, but she figured that she wouldn't exactly have time to soak in a fancy tub this year. However, she vowed to indulge at least once before the end of her final year at Hogwarts.

Walking over to the sink, she quickly took note of the 'his' and 'her' style that it was organized. All of her toiletries were arranged around the right-hand sink and in a small cabinet above, while she assumed Theo's matched on the left side. Quickly brushing her teeth, she retreated from the cavernous room to the comfort of what she already thought of as her home.

Once dressed in her short, silky purple nightie, she lay back on her bed once again. She always did have a thing for pretty lingerie, but rarely did she bother with it. It was actually at her mother's insistence that she buy a whole new stash in celebration of being made Head Girl. She quickly agreed and the two women spent mountains of cash on things that would probably give her father nightmares if he found out.

Her thoughts quickly turned down a naughtier road, namely, Theodore Nott. The man was literally within her grasp, close enough to pop right up in bed with him some night, and the thought was driving her mad. So close, yet so far. She knew that she would have to work up to him seeing her as a potential bedmate, but she could be patient. She had been so far, anyways.

She imagined what he would do if she did just wander into his room one night. Would he be awake reading? Or would he be sleeping and she have to wake him? Oh, the possibilities!

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_Please review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: I hope you all enjoy this next installment of _The Union_. Please let me know what you think._

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Hermione awoke the next morning, her thighs slightly sticky in between. She'd spent all night dreaming about the wizard just down the hall from her, and they weren't exactly G-rated. She got out of bed, gave a stretch, and grabbed a clean uniform, bra, and panties from her dresser. She poked her head out into the hallway to make sure that Theo was nowhere to be seen before dashing to the bathroom. She gave a courteous knock on the door, and slipped in when she didn't hear an answer.

She locked the door before turning on the shower. She could be quick if she had to be, and figured that it would be nice for Theo if she was. She was only in the shared bathroom for twenty minutes before she heard a knock on the door, followed by a jangling of the knob.

"Just a minute, I'm just about done." The jangling stopped, signaling that Theo had heard her. She was true to her word, and opened the door in just about a minute. However, Theo was nowhere to be seen. She assumed that he had gone back to his room and did the same. There was still a good half an hour before breakfast started, so they were both early risers apparently.

Hermione heard the shower kick on in the bathroom, and had to scold herself for all of her naughty thoughts of a naked, wet Theo. Although the out of character thoughts had been going on for a while, she still wasn't comfortable with them; especially since they were going to be working together throughout the school year. She decided that she was going to read a bit before they had to head down for breakfast, and found the book she'd bought at Flourish and Blott's the day she'd been avoiding Theo in Diagon Alley. She took the time to study it this time, taking note that it had a plain cover with just an odd marking on the front. There was no mention of an author anywhere on it or in it. There wasn't even a cover page of any kind; it just started right into the book.

She sat on the edge of her bed and started reading.

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Theo took longer in the shower than he would care to admit. He woke up with a hard-on for the witch next door, and needed some sort of relief. It was really getting ridiculous, but it was almost a daily thing that he would have to rub one off before starting the rest of his day. This was due to all of the erotic dreams he was having of his fellow Head student, since he'd turned eighteen.

When he'd knocked at the bathroom door and she'd said she'd just be a minute, he hurried to leave the doorway, lest she see the affect that she had on him. He'd just gone into his room and waited until he heard the door to her room close behind her before running into the bathroom and locking the door. He wasn't sure how he was going to handle a year of such close proximity.

He finished his business in the bathroom and went to find Hermione. He was starting to get hungry and took note that it was time to go down for breakfast. He knocked on her bedroom door, and she answered looking as if she'd been concentrating on something. It was much too early in the day to inquire as to what that would be, so he just asked if she wanted to go for breakfast with him.

Hermione gathered what supplies she would need for the first day of classes, and followed Theo out of their dorm. They made polite conversation about a little bit of everything: how they'd slept, what their duties might entail for the year, what they'd done over the summer holiday. Theo told Hermione that he'd gone to visit family on the continent, and had spent some time with his best friends: Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini.

Theo and Hermione parted ways when they made it to the Great Hall, he going to sit with his friends and she with hers. He sat down across from Draco, but next to Blaise, looking out over the rest of the people filling the hall. There really weren't too many people in there just yet, but they were trickling in a few at a time. No one wanted to be late for the first day of class, especially not all of the eager first years.

"How's your new dorm look, mate?" Draco broke him out of his nonsensical thoughts, bringing his attention back to the fact that Hermione slept just down the hall from him the night before. He could have almost snuck in while she was sleeping and surprised her with a wake-up call; he'd definitely had had a dream about it the night before.

"It's rather large, two stories, a private library, a private commons. There's only one bathroom, but it is very large, and we did alright having to share. I'll have you gents over to check it out this weekend. I'm sure Hermione won't mind." Theo took a pitcher and poured himself a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Well, as long as Granger doesn't mind, then I guess it's ok," Draco scoffed at Theo's choice of words. This caused the young man in question to look up at his old friend and nod as if he'd just said something stupid.

"It's her home too, Draco. She has as much a right to say who visits as I do." This time Theo picked up a few slices of bacon and a hard-boiled egg, digging into breakfast.

"I think it's damn decent of you to even consider her feelings, but I bet it's because you have other things on your mind," Blaise waggled his eyebrows, clearly trying to make a point. Draco caught on before Theo did.

"Oh, yeah, mate. If you're going to tap that before the end of the year, you'd best stay on her good side." The dark Italian and the fair-haired wizard guffawed loudly, having made up in their minds what was going to happen.

Theo just shook his head, it was best not to show any emotion when it involved those two or they'd pick up on it and run with the information. The three friends spoke amicably for the remainder of the time before their first class of the year. Draco and Blaise had Transfiguration, Theo had advanced Arithmacy.

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_A/N: Please leave a quick review!_


	6. Chapter 6

Hermione took her seat at the front of the classroom. She was the first one to her Advanced Arithmacy class, and wondered who all else would actually be there. There weren't too many people in seventh year that would be interested in the subject that she could think of. As she had the fleeting thought, the one person that she should have suspected would show up, took a seat next to her: Theo.

"Hello, Hermione. Fancy seeing you here," Theo smiled at his fellow Head, causing Hermione to give a short laugh of disbelief.

"Really, Theo, you're surprised to see me in an advanced class? I have a feeling, actually, that we probably share a lot of classes." Hermione had just had the thought when he sat down, but he was just as intelligent as she was and had probably signed up for every advanced course that he could, just like her.

"I have a double of Advanced Transfiguration next, and a double of Advanced Ancient Runes after lunch. You?" Theo began taking some parchment and a quill out of his bag, as well as his text book.

"Same here. Although I also have Astronomy at midnight tonight," Hermione copied Theo's movements, folding her hands on her desk when she was done.

"I didn't take Astronomy this year; never cared for it." Theo almost looked embarrassed by this admission. Hermione chuckled a bit at that.

"I'm the same way with Divination. I have no interest, and think the whole thing is just a crock. I think Lavender Brown was the only one that was taking the Advanced version this year."

"Well, her and myself." Theo looked sheepish. It's not like he liked the subject, but he loved learning, and wanted to learn all that he could from every subject. The exception was Astronomy, and it was because he'd been forced to study it as a boy by his father, and had no fond memories of it at all.

Hermione was laughing about that, but stopped abruptly when Professor Vector entered the room. That's when she noticed how many other people were sitting at tables all around them; most of them Ravenclaws, and one Hufflepuff. There were eight people in the class altogether.

"Good morning, class, and welcome to seventh year Advanced Arithmancy," Professor Vector swished her wand and writing started appearing on the board. "You are all here because you've excelled in the previous classes I've taught you in the subject, and it's only fair that I warn you that this year, you will be self-lead. I will assign you one collaborative assignment for the end of the year, take a look at whom you're sitting with as that is your partner for the year, and you will turn in one assignment every week that you've assigned yourselves." She stopped talking for a minute, wanting to be sure that everyone was listening to her before continuing. "Copy down the list on the board, as it is a list of approved individual assignments that you can complete weekly for credit."

The class fervently scribbled down the list of six things before turning back to their teacher. Professor Vector waited until all eyes were on her before flicking her wrist again and erasing the board. This time, the requirements for the end of year collaborative assignment appeared. Hermione wrote everything down before asking any questions on the subject.

"Professor, these requirements are rather vague, will we be getting more information later on, or are we just to interpret the information as we see fit?" The question was a fair one, the teacher very aware of how detail-oriented her favorite student was.

"Well, Miss Granger, that is a very good question. However, if you'd been paying attention in that the class is to be entirely self-lead, you would know that it was entirely up to you to interpret all data as you see fit. Now, does anyone have any other questions?" When no one spoke up, Professor Vector went to sit at her desk in the front right corner of the room. "You may use the remainder of our time together to discuss your year-end project with your partner."

Hermione turned to Theo, clearly dumbstruck by the abrupt nature of the class. She was at a bit of a loss without any structure whatsoever, but decided that she was far too self-motivated to just ignore the assignment completely.

"Well, Theo, I think that we should do our presentation on the Founders. It seems that that would be the most interesting, albeit the most time-consuming, of topics we could possibly choose. Any suggestions?" Hermione quickly came up with an idea, already pulling out a new piece of parchment to begin writing on.

"I like that idea, Hermione. And we have all kinds of books to pull information from back in our dorm," Theo was starting to get excited about getting to spend so much time with the woman he'd been fantasizing about.

"Let's get started, then."

—

The next two classes that the two shared, they sat together at the front, taking notes. Advanced Transfiguration was to be twice a week, one day for theory and one for practicum; Advanced Ancient Ruins was to be one day a week and there would be a quiz on the reading material every class.

By the end of the day, Hermione was exhausted just thinking of all the tests and projects that she would be working on throughout the year. She was kept sane just by the fact that Theo was so calm about the whole thing. He'd laughed off her stress at the conclusion of Ancient Ruins, and distracted her with thoughts of seeing her friends in just a few minutes at dinner.

"It just seems like so much!" She exclaimed, knowing that it was only the first day of class.

"Well, that's what we get for taking advanced everything. It'll be a breeze for you though, you are the top in our year." Theo smiled at the light blush that spread across the witch's features.

"You're right, Theo. Would you like to get started on our Arithmancy project tonight? I have to stay up for Astronomy anyway." Hermione added the last hastily, not wanting to sound like she was so eager for homework. Theo saw right through her ruse, knowing that she never held any assignment to the last minute.

"Of course. Better to get all of the equations out of the way so we can concentrate on our report." He agreed with the idea of not waiting to do anything; it just made everything seem much worse if it was put off.

The two made plans to go to their personal library after dinner and get started, before parting once reaching the Great Hall. Theo went to take some more ribbing from his friends, and Hermione went to tell her friends all about her new classes.


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: So it's been awhile since we've checked on our favorite Head students. Sorry about the wait, I apparently have a very short attention span. Well, here you go._

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It was now three weeks into the school year, and Hermione was beyond frustrated. She so badly wanted one Theodore Nott, and her wet dreams about him were getting worse. She had sent an owl to Harry requesting some Muggle art supplies, not giving an explanation as to why she wanted them; she hoped a hobby would help keep her mind out of the gutter. He had wasted no time in sending them, as well as a short note as to how the Auror Academy was going. Harry was, of course, top of his class; also not surprising, Ron was the bottom. Hermione loved him like a brother, but the man was an idiot. She had been so proud of him for wanting to do something so extreme, but now she wondered why she hadn't tried to convince him to do something else. According to Harry, however, he was thinking about dropping out to help his brother George at the joke shop.

Ever since Fred had died in the Battle of Hogwarts, George was struggling to hold on and keep his business from floundering. Where he'd been such a people person before, he could barely speak to anyone now. Maybe Ron would do better there than in the Academy. She would always be a firm believer that he should have finished school, though. Then maybe he would have done better with all of the training.

As she was thinking about her two best guy friends, she started absentmindedly painting on a blank canvas. She was swirling some colors together, blending others, creating a work of art. Her mind switched to school and her Arithmancy project with Theo. They'd finished working out all of the equations that they would need for their presentation, they just needed to do some more research and write a few essays before coming up with what they wanted to say.

She was so excited to learn that Theo had a passion for school that rivaled hers; spending whatever time they both could studying together in their private library. Of course, they also had prefect meetings, and round schedules to write up in between, so they were kept busy. Hermione never put two people from the same house as partners for rounds, and Theo couldn't argue with the logic of making new friends. She did, however, always put the two of them together; which he very much enjoyed.

Hermione's hand continued to move across the canvas without thought. Her mind wandered off to Theo himself. He was so sexy. It was torture living so close to him, but not being able to touch him. She was almost to the point where she was ready to tell Theo about her attraction and see where it went. This idea was swiftly dismissed, however, at the possibility that he would laugh at her and shoot her down completely. She didn't have enough self-esteem to deal well with outright rejection, so she would just keep any naughty thoughts to herself.

She stopped painting, standing back to see what she'd created. She set down her supplies and had to hit herself in the head with her palm, as she looked at a classical-style painting of Theodore Nott. She used her wand to dry the painting, deciding to hide it in the back of her closet. She was so embarrassed; good thing he would never see it.

—

Theo was starting to feel overwhelmed; not by school, by Hermione. He found himself sniffing the air as she passed like a dog in heat; finding any excuse to sit next to her: class, studying, a question; brushing up against her nonchalantly as they walked down the hall or sat close together. He was getting awfully tired of having to touch himself every morning, and was beginning to contemplate just telling her how he felt.

He brushed the idea off as silly, since girls were more interested in a relationship and he wasn't in that mindset. He was still holding out hope that she would want a purely physical relationship, but wasn't to the point where he could bring himself to so blatantly ask.

Theo was working on an assignment for Divination. The assignment was, surprisingly, to figure out who was most likely to die in their year. As there was no rhyme or reason to the subject, Theo was currently trying to map out the lives of everyone in his year. He'd used tea leaves on the few people that actually drank tea in the Great Hall, and used the crystal ball on everyone else. Even doing so, he was no closer to an answer. It seemed to him like everyone was destined to live in a Voldemort-free era, and that sounded like no one was likely to die.

Opting to write his essay with the conclusion that now that there was no longer a dark cloud hanging over the wizarding world, no one was likely to die in his year. He knew that it wouldn't be the answer that Professor Trelawny was hoping for, but hoped for decent marks on the paper anyway.

He was just finishing up when he heard Hermione open the door to her room. He poked his head out of the library to ask what she was up to, but saw she'd already gone downstairs to their commons. He shrugged and finished his essay. It wasn't due for another two weeks, but that would just give him time to revise it a few times before he turned it in.

He made his way to his room, deciding to turn in a bit early for the evening. More sleep than normal never hurt anyone, but he doubted he would actually get any more sleep. His dreams were picking up in both frequency and intensity. He had taken to setting up silencing charms around his room just to keep Hermione from possibly waking up from hearing something untoward from his room. He used the restroom and brushed his teeth before setting his nightly charm. It didn't take long to slip into another dream.

_Theo knocked on the door to Hermione's room, not waiting for her to answer before barging in. She was sitting on the side of the bed in surprise at his rudeness, one hand covering her naked breasts and one frantically searching for a sheet to pull over her. Theo didn't give her the chance to hide herself completely from his view and walked right over to where she sat._

_He yanked her body up to press against his, pulling her arms to her sides in the process. He pressed a hot kiss to her mouth, then to her throat, eliciting a moan from the witch. She started clutching at his clothes, trying desperately to rip them off of him in her haze. She gave up with her fumbling and vanished his clothes with a wave of her hand, using wandless magic._

_He registered a slight surprise at that brief exposure to such an advanced form of magic, but forgot almost immediately why he had had the thought to begin with. He pushed the now writhing woman back against her bed, slowly lowering her onto the bedspread. She wriggled a bit under him, and pulled her panties off, leaving her completely bare for him to see. He didn't take the time to do so, as he was too busy nibbling at her neck as he pushed her legs apart._

_He pushed the head of his cock against her opening, giving a few thrusts until he was in to the hilt. She had stopped breathing for a few seconds at the intrusion, loving the feel of how he stretched her until she felt like he would rip her apart. The two started moving; synchronized completely with every thrust._

_The two shared a passionate kiss, right as Hermione reached her climax. Theo gave a shout at the feel of her gripping him like a glove. The imagery sent him over the edge as well. He grabbed the witch's leg and pushed it up, going deep for those final few thrusts before—_

Theo was jerked out of his erotic dream right at the end, his pajama bottoms stuck to him. He was breathing heavily and gave a loud curse as he just stripped down to nothing, laying there in the cool air for a while before being able to fall back to sleep, just to have another one of those dreams.

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_A/N: please, review_


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