Chapter Text
Chapter 1
It had been two weeks and three days since she and Ron had broken up.
It had been two weeks, two days, and six hours since she found him making out with Lavender Brown in the eighth year common room.
It had been two weeks, two days, five hours, and fifty-nine minutes since she had yelled, “Are you fucking serious?!” and accidentally caused three glass candelabras to explode in a surge of emotion-fueled magic.
Her situation hadn’t improved much since then.
If someone had told Hermione two weeks and four days ago that even having the library to herself on a quiet Saturday afternoon wouldn’t cheer her up, she wouldn't have believed them. Now she found herself in her favorite armchair, pretending to read her favorite edition of Hogwarts, A History, and in reality silently stewing over the fact that Ron had apparently begun working his way through the seventh and eighth year girls now that he was a single war hero.
She was so deeply engrossed in her fantasies of hexing him in the face in various locations around the school that she didn’t hear someone approaching her comfortable seat.
“Granger?”
Hermione jumped and looked up to find a tall, handsome young man from her own eighth year. He was wearing expensive clothes, a loosened emerald green tie, and a smirk that implied he knew something entertaining and slightly suggestive that others didn’t.
“Nott.”
Theodore Nott invited himself to sit in the matching armchair facing her own and leaned back with the easy air of someone who has been quietly in charge for most of his life. He crossed one ankle over the opposite knee and rested his arms on the armrests, his amused grin never leaving his face as he studied her own sulky expression.
“What do you want, Nott?” Hermione asked after a few moments of silence, not in the mood to prolong their interaction.
Theo sighed theatrically. “Ever the blunt conversationalist, Granger. Whatever happened to the niceties of small talk? Maybe a bit of witty repartee? A discussion between intellectuals?”
“What do you want, Theo?” Hermione repeated in the same dull voice as before.
“I have a proposition for you,” he said easily.
“And what’s that?” she asked dryly.
Theo uncrossed his legs and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees. At this distance, Hermione could see flecks of brown in his green eyes. With his strong cheekbones, perfectly imperfect tousled hair, and strong forearms, he made an attractive picture. Hermione could have appreciated all of these facts if she hadn’t been in such a sour mood.
“You should date me.”
___
Hermione found herself in her four-poster bed later that night, staring at the ceiling and feeling very confused as to how exactly she had gotten herself into this situation. She reviewed everything that had happened that afternoon, trying to decide how her life had gotten so complicated.
Her first reaction to Theo’s proposal was disbelief. She had let out a snort of laughter before seeing his face change to a more firm countenance.
“I’m serious, Granger.”
“You’re serious? You want us to date?” she asked in disbelief pointing back and forth between herself and the boy in front of her.
“Yes. I think it would be in the best interest of both of us,” he replied, relaxing back into his chair.
“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t quite understand where this sentiment stems from,” Hermione responded, trying to figure out his angle.
“I’ve heard about Weasley’s...indiscretions,” he said carefully.
Hermione huffed. “We aren’t together anymore. He can do whatever he wants.” Her tone did not suggest belief in her own statement.
“Fine, his busy extracurricular schedule then,” Theo amended. “You may not care what he gets up to in his free time,” he continued, in a voice cognizant that she did, in fact, care what he got up to, “but I don’t think he would like it if you took up with one of your mutual classmates. Especially if they wear green and silver.”
“So...you’re willing to help me make Ron jealous? Assuming I were interested, what’s in it for you?” Hermione was curious against her better judgment.
“I have my reasons,” he shrugged.
“Not good enough. I’d need to know more before I agreed to something like that.”
“Fine. I’ve found myself in a bit of a similar situation with Daphne and I don’t think she’d like seeing me with Gryffindor's sweetheart. I’m not looking to win her back, but I wouldn’t mind giving her a little taste of her own medicine. And you’re intelligent and certainly not bad to look at, so why not?” Hermione could tell there was more to the story, but she was distracted by his admission that he might find her somewhat attractive. She hadn’t grown up with many confessions of the sort, and though she knew she’d grown into her looks, she still wasn’t used to men giving her appearance much appreciation.
“It can be whatever we want it to be,” he continued, trying to gauge her reaction when she didn’t immediately answer. “I’m not looking for a long-term relationship or anything. We can just have a bit of fun and see what happens.”
Hermione considered this for a moment. Of the Slytherins she knew, Theodore Nott was one of the least offensive. Really, all of those who had chosen to come back for an eighth year at Hogwarts had worked hard to make amends for their actions and had been cautiously working to integrate with the other houses. This was an especially welcome change since the eighth years all had to share a single tower, built to accommodate the additional students that year.
Theo was funny, handsome, and admittedly almost as smart as Hermione herself. They shared almost all of their NEWT level classes and she’d always noticed his thoughtful responses in class discussions. Maybe she should give him a chance. And if it happened to irk Ron, well then so much the better.
“I’ll do it,” she said quickly, before she could change her mind.
“Great! How about a study session in the library after supper tomorrow. I'll pick you up from your table in the Great Hall and we can let everyone see us leave together.”
“Um..sure. Yes. Okay.” Hermione got flustered at how quickly this was playing out, but if nothing else he had startled her out of the gloom she’d been experiencing since her break-up.
“It’s a date,” Theo smiled as he stood up from his seat and winked at her before heading out of the library.
Hermione had gone to bed early and replayed this scene over and over trying to pinpoint exactly when she had gotten in over her head, but it had all happened so quickly and felt so inevitable she finally gave up. Maybe it was time for her to just have a bit of fun like Theo had suggested and like Ron was obviously having himself.
She tried to push her nerves to the back of her head and get some sleep. She had a date tomorrow after all.