FIC: "Slytherin's Secret" (Theodore/Hermione, Draco)
Title: Slytherin's Secret
Author: the_woods_
Prompt: "a broken circle"
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Theodore/Hermione, Draco
Summary: Some moments of truth.
Warnings: -
Word Count: 2,200
Chapter Four:
Draco’s sneer greeted him when he came back to the dungeons. Theodore had managed to slip away from the Muggle lights display while Granger and her minions were busy. The students and professors were probably still out there; gathered by the lights, navigating around the lake, enraptured by Granger and her show and tell.
Theodore couldn’t afford to stay there any longer than necessary. He didn't like crowds. He didn't do group activities. And he certainly didn't partake in anything extracurricular. As he made his way back to the inside of the castle, he wondered if Granger had spotted him in the crowd during her presentation.
“Enjoy the fairy show, then?” Draco called out as Theodore passed him.
“Give it a rest, Draco.”
Theodore came to a stop, surprised to hear Blaise’s voice defending him. Blaise did not look away from the flames of the fireplace. His brown complexion, illuminated by the heat, seemed to glow softly. Blaise had always been contemplative, Theodore thought.
Draco appeared to be thinking the same thing. “Something on your mind, Zabini?”
He turned away from the fire, hands in his pockets. Facing Theodore and the blond Slytherin, Blaise sighed. “Granger offered me a prefect position.”
Theodore raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised. Draco’s exaggerated jaw-drop did enough to portray his disbelief. “What?!”
Blaise ran a hand over his head. He let it rest on the back of his neck. “She told me to think about it. Gave me a week before I give her my answer.”
“Heads can assign prefects?” Theodore asked.
Draco snorted. “Granger can assign prefects.”
The underlying message in his retort did not go unnoticed by Theodore. He stiffened slightly. “What are you trying to say?”
“You know bloody well what I’m trying to say,” Draco all but growled. “That Mudblood bitch has got everyone in this blasted hellhole under her thumb.” He began listing maniacally. “The professors, the other Head, McGonagall, every single student listens to her-”
“That’s what happens when you’re a Head,” Theodore drawled.
“-I wouldn’t put it past the Ministry to be sucking up to her once we graduate,” Draco continued, unfazed. “She’ll be running the Wizarding world into the ground with her mad Muggle rhetoric.”
“You know,” Blaise teased, “she probably could get away with something as loony as that.”
Draco plopped onto the couch and glared. “Are you going to say yes?”
Blaise’s arm dropped back to his side. Theodore decided to fill in the silence. “Why not? You get good grades. One of the more respected Slytherins. Was part of that ridiculous Slug Club-”
“Still bitter, Nott?”
Theodore smirked.
“Isn’t like you missed anything,” Blaise said. A sly grin crept onto his face. “’Cept Potter pissing his knickers over Weasley every time she came in.”
“I heard McLaggen was all over Granger that year,” Draco said, watching Theodore carefully.
“Keeping tabs on two-year gossip, are we?” Theodore answered nonchalantly.
Blaise shifted slightly and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “The Carrow twins hated those dinner parties. I remember one time-”
“Oh, come off it, Nott,” Draco interrupted, standing up. “Just admit you fancy that sexless, bushy-haired know-it-all!”
Theodore stared. “You’re obsessed, mate. I’m starting to think you have a thing for Granger.”
With that, he sauntered off to his room. He closed the door and disrobed quickly. A flash of his reflection in Draco’s large-scale vanity mirror caught his attention. Most boys in Hogwarts didn’t have any type of mirror in their room-hell, most girls didn’t have such an extravagant tool, either-but this was Draco’s room, as well. He was perhaps the most compulsively obsessed with being impeccable in the physical attraction department; much more than Theodore or Blaise, anyway.
Theodore looked at his reflection, eyes glued to the faded mark on his left wrist. He made a motion to hide it, to shield his forearm from the mirror, but hesitated. Instead, his hand found its way to the base of the dark pattern. Grazing over it with only two fingertips, a tingle shot through him and climbed down his arm.
Can you imagine? Granger had said. Having to constantly cover it up when you walk down the street? It was one of the first words they had exchanged, and still her presumptuous nature shined through. Theodore didn’t have to imagine anything; he covered it up every day.
x.x.x
You never told me what you thought of the Christmas lights.
It was Monday, which means Theodore was trapped in Arithmancy with Granger by his side. She had passed him a folded piece of parchment with her handwriting etched into its surface.
He skimmed over the note and chose not to glance at her, even though he could feel her staring at him from the corner of her eye. Instead, he tapped once, twice on the desk with his quill before responding.
“I was there, if that’s what you’re asking,” Theodore whispered.
Granger huffed and took the parchment back. She madly began scribbling in a way which had become familiar to him. He was very well acquainted with her borderline possessed note-taking skills during their time in the library.
She pushed the note back to him and brought her attention to the front of the class. He wondered why she always sat next to him. He preferred the back of the class. She liked to sit in the front. Usually, they compromised by wordlessly choosing a table off-center and in the middle.
Don’t be silly. I saw you there, what I want to know is what you thought of it.
Theodore turned his head slightly and caught her gaze. “I was impressed,” he said softly. “You-it was brilliant. Magical, even. I’d pay to see the next Muggle invention you present.”
Granger grinned widely and he had to look away. She reached for his balled fist and encased it in her hand. He felt her squeeze gently before she retreated into her goody-goody student role. Theodore let his fist unwind and tried to focus on the text in front of him.
The pair traveled immediately to the library after class. It was one the first time they openly walked together somewhere, Theodore realized, and their classmates were definitely taking notice. He pulled at his tie awkwardly and stared straight ahead.
“Feeling alright, Nott?”
He nodded once. Granger gave slight grin and Theodore could tell she was skeptical of his answer. “You don’t like it,” she said. “The attention.”
“It’s not the attention,” Theodore muttered, his pace increasing. “They’re judging us.”
“Judging us?” Granger echoed. “How do you mean?”
They’re trying to figure us out, Theodore wanted to say. Why someone like you is with someone like me. He bit his tongue and walked on, Granger a few steps behind him.
As they rounded a corner, Theodore nearly ran into Potter. Just my luck, he thought bitterly as Granger joined them.
“Hi Hermione,” Potter said, still looking at Theodore.
“Hey Harry,” she answered. “Didn’t Ginny tell you? I’m going to hit the library before supper. She said you two had some plans for wandering around the grounds-”
“Right,” he said distractedly. He turned away from Theodore. “Hermione, would you mind if Nott met you at the library? I wanted to talk to him for a moment.”
Theodore watched as Granger swelled in fury. “Harry,” she exclaimed rather harshly. “I already told you and Ron. I’m fine. Now go!”
Potter stood his ground. Granger instantly switched tactics. “Anything you have to say to Theo, you can say in front of me.”
It was the first time he heard her use his name. He kept a straight face and stared at Potter. Either the Scarhead had grown, or Theodore simply hadn’t noticed how wide his shoulders got. Still, he was thankful he wasn’t facing the other Weasley. Theodore unconsciously straightened his posture as Potter took a step toward him. He could tell the Golden Boy was rethinking his words, due to Granger's presence.
“Hermione claims you aren’t slipping her potions, or using imperius on her,” Potter said, “but when we find out you are-” Granger coughed and Potter stopped. “If we find out you are, you’re as good as dead.”
Theodore stood his ground. “That it, Potter?”
The Gryffindor narrowed his eyes at him before saying goodbye to Granger and walking off.
“Sorry about that,” Granger said. “They think you’re up to something.”
A sarcastic sound found its way out of Theodore’s throat. “Obviously.”
They made their way to the library and sat at their designated table. Wordlessly, they took out their books and parchment and evaporated into their own readings. The pair was like this for some time before Granger blinked and looked up.
“Do you think they’ll put Voldemort in the history books?”
Theodore dragged himself away from the book in front of him. He closed it softly and stared at her. “Doubt it,” Theodore said. “Or they’ll just sort of brush over this period, as if he was a small blemish on a prettier history.”
She blinked, the expression on her face disagreeing with his sentiment. ”Then what are you doing here? What’s the point in all this research? Why are you trying to prove that Salazar Slytherin created a secret society where it was practically encouraged to maintain sexual relations with Muggles?”
“Why are you?”
Granger exhaled and brushed her lengthy hair back from her face. “It’ll alter history,” she said. “It’ll change perceptions-especially about Slytherins.”
“You should know attitudes don’t shift overnight,” Theodore pointed out.
She only grinned. “I know. That’s why it’s best to sort this Salazar mess out as soon as we can.” Granger stopped and held a contemplative look on her face. He was tempted to ask her what she was thinking.
A silence between them passed. “Who else knows about this?” Granger finally asked.
“About us?”
“About the secret society research.”
Theodore shifted in his seat, slightly embarrassed. “No one. Me, you, Blaise, Pansy, Draco. Only Blaise really asks about it, though.”
She nodded slowly and drummed her fingers against an open book. “There’s another connection that might be useful.”
He turned his attention to her fully. “What do you have?”
“Well,” she started, “in the Muggle world, science claims we’re made of something called genes. Biology is based on genetics; the passing of parents’ genes into the offspring.” She searched his face for some sign of familiarity. When he nodded, she continued on. “Attraction to someone based on their biological scent-their smell without perfumes or potions-means that his or her genes are different from your own. There's less of a risk for spawning a child out of incest. It’s why siblings always hate each other’s smell.”
“Nature takes control of our response to desire,” Theodore interpreted, “in order to keep future generations as diverse as possible.” Revelation dawned on him. “That matches what this text says about the society’s rule for Muggle mating,” he mused. “The sweeter the scent of the Muggle, the greater possibility for magical offspring.”
Granger leaned toward him and glanced at the line he was pointing at. “Exactly,” she breathed excitedly. “Salazar’s society understood why quote ‘bad blood’ of Muggles proved to actually be good blood,” she continued. “This society needed Muggles for mating so that their gene pools wouldn’t be stale and diluted with similar blood.”
He took the chance and looked at her. She was smiling brightly. “Amazing, isn’t it?” she said. “How often the magical world comes full circle with the Muggle world?”
“Yeah,” Theodore answered honestly. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
“We’re really making progress,” Granger said as she closed a book.
Theodore smirked. “You still believe in progress?”
She looked up in confusion. “Don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Humans travel in circles. We make the same mistakes, repeat the same patterns. We like to think we’ve learned from history, that we’ll do better next time-if there is a next time,” Theodore added. “But we don’t. We never do.”
She considered his words in seriousness. “You think something-someone like Voldemort-would happen in the future?”
He sighed. “I think something like the Dark Lord has happened, just happened, and will probably happen again.”
“But there’s nothing in the history books about any type of Muggle or Muggle-born purging.”
Theodore laughed quietly. “There’s nothing in the history books about this, either,” he said, pointing to the books around them.
“Touché.” Granger packed up her things, and Theodore followed suit. She lead the way out of the library and into the corridor. They usually parted here and entered the Great Hall separately.
Something held them there, if only for a moment. Theodore shifted his bag’s strap from shoulder to shoulder. Granger sighed.
“But don’t you think,” she argued, “patterns can be broken?”
He gave her a quizzical look.
“Circles,” she established. “Not everything goes around and around forever.” She smiled a bit sardonically, and he wondered-not for the first time that day-what was going on in her head. “Some things are meant to be broken.”
Theodore grinned mischievously. “A spot of rebelliousness from the Head Girl?”
She laughed. “All that running around with Harry and Ron all these years.”
With a wave, Granger turned and headed for the Great Hall. Theodore waited a moment before walking in the other direction, in a relatively pleasant mood.
Author: the_woods_
Prompt: "a broken circle"
Rating: PG
Pairing(s): Theodore/Hermione, Draco
Summary: Some moments of truth.
Warnings: -
Word Count: 2,200
Chapter Four:
Draco’s sneer greeted him when he came back to the dungeons. Theodore had managed to slip away from the Muggle lights display while Granger and her minions were busy. The students and professors were probably still out there; gathered by the lights, navigating around the lake, enraptured by Granger and her show and tell.
Theodore couldn’t afford to stay there any longer than necessary. He didn't like crowds. He didn't do group activities. And he certainly didn't partake in anything extracurricular. As he made his way back to the inside of the castle, he wondered if Granger had spotted him in the crowd during her presentation.
“Enjoy the fairy show, then?” Draco called out as Theodore passed him.
“Give it a rest, Draco.”
Theodore came to a stop, surprised to hear Blaise’s voice defending him. Blaise did not look away from the flames of the fireplace. His brown complexion, illuminated by the heat, seemed to glow softly. Blaise had always been contemplative, Theodore thought.
Draco appeared to be thinking the same thing. “Something on your mind, Zabini?”
He turned away from the fire, hands in his pockets. Facing Theodore and the blond Slytherin, Blaise sighed. “Granger offered me a prefect position.”
Theodore raised his eyebrows, genuinely surprised. Draco’s exaggerated jaw-drop did enough to portray his disbelief. “What?!”
Blaise ran a hand over his head. He let it rest on the back of his neck. “She told me to think about it. Gave me a week before I give her my answer.”
“Heads can assign prefects?” Theodore asked.
Draco snorted. “Granger can assign prefects.”
The underlying message in his retort did not go unnoticed by Theodore. He stiffened slightly. “What are you trying to say?”
“You know bloody well what I’m trying to say,” Draco all but growled. “That Mudblood bitch has got everyone in this blasted hellhole under her thumb.” He began listing maniacally. “The professors, the other Head, McGonagall, every single student listens to her-”
“That’s what happens when you’re a Head,” Theodore drawled.
“-I wouldn’t put it past the Ministry to be sucking up to her once we graduate,” Draco continued, unfazed. “She’ll be running the Wizarding world into the ground with her mad Muggle rhetoric.”
“You know,” Blaise teased, “she probably could get away with something as loony as that.”
Draco plopped onto the couch and glared. “Are you going to say yes?”
Blaise’s arm dropped back to his side. Theodore decided to fill in the silence. “Why not? You get good grades. One of the more respected Slytherins. Was part of that ridiculous Slug Club-”
“Still bitter, Nott?”
Theodore smirked.
“Isn’t like you missed anything,” Blaise said. A sly grin crept onto his face. “’Cept Potter pissing his knickers over Weasley every time she came in.”
“I heard McLaggen was all over Granger that year,” Draco said, watching Theodore carefully.
“Keeping tabs on two-year gossip, are we?” Theodore answered nonchalantly.
Blaise shifted slightly and tried to steer the conversation in a different direction. “The Carrow twins hated those dinner parties. I remember one time-”
“Oh, come off it, Nott,” Draco interrupted, standing up. “Just admit you fancy that sexless, bushy-haired know-it-all!”
Theodore stared. “You’re obsessed, mate. I’m starting to think you have a thing for Granger.”
With that, he sauntered off to his room. He closed the door and disrobed quickly. A flash of his reflection in Draco’s large-scale vanity mirror caught his attention. Most boys in Hogwarts didn’t have any type of mirror in their room-hell, most girls didn’t have such an extravagant tool, either-but this was Draco’s room, as well. He was perhaps the most compulsively obsessed with being impeccable in the physical attraction department; much more than Theodore or Blaise, anyway.
Theodore looked at his reflection, eyes glued to the faded mark on his left wrist. He made a motion to hide it, to shield his forearm from the mirror, but hesitated. Instead, his hand found its way to the base of the dark pattern. Grazing over it with only two fingertips, a tingle shot through him and climbed down his arm.
Can you imagine? Granger had said. Having to constantly cover it up when you walk down the street? It was one of the first words they had exchanged, and still her presumptuous nature shined through. Theodore didn’t have to imagine anything; he covered it up every day.
x.x.x
You never told me what you thought of the Christmas lights.
It was Monday, which means Theodore was trapped in Arithmancy with Granger by his side. She had passed him a folded piece of parchment with her handwriting etched into its surface.
He skimmed over the note and chose not to glance at her, even though he could feel her staring at him from the corner of her eye. Instead, he tapped once, twice on the desk with his quill before responding.
“I was there, if that’s what you’re asking,” Theodore whispered.
Granger huffed and took the parchment back. She madly began scribbling in a way which had become familiar to him. He was very well acquainted with her borderline possessed note-taking skills during their time in the library.
She pushed the note back to him and brought her attention to the front of the class. He wondered why she always sat next to him. He preferred the back of the class. She liked to sit in the front. Usually, they compromised by wordlessly choosing a table off-center and in the middle.
Don’t be silly. I saw you there, what I want to know is what you thought of it.
Theodore turned his head slightly and caught her gaze. “I was impressed,” he said softly. “You-it was brilliant. Magical, even. I’d pay to see the next Muggle invention you present.”
Granger grinned widely and he had to look away. She reached for his balled fist and encased it in her hand. He felt her squeeze gently before she retreated into her goody-goody student role. Theodore let his fist unwind and tried to focus on the text in front of him.
The pair traveled immediately to the library after class. It was one the first time they openly walked together somewhere, Theodore realized, and their classmates were definitely taking notice. He pulled at his tie awkwardly and stared straight ahead.
“Feeling alright, Nott?”
He nodded once. Granger gave slight grin and Theodore could tell she was skeptical of his answer. “You don’t like it,” she said. “The attention.”
“It’s not the attention,” Theodore muttered, his pace increasing. “They’re judging us.”
“Judging us?” Granger echoed. “How do you mean?”
They’re trying to figure us out, Theodore wanted to say. Why someone like you is with someone like me. He bit his tongue and walked on, Granger a few steps behind him.
As they rounded a corner, Theodore nearly ran into Potter. Just my luck, he thought bitterly as Granger joined them.
“Hi Hermione,” Potter said, still looking at Theodore.
“Hey Harry,” she answered. “Didn’t Ginny tell you? I’m going to hit the library before supper. She said you two had some plans for wandering around the grounds-”
“Right,” he said distractedly. He turned away from Theodore. “Hermione, would you mind if Nott met you at the library? I wanted to talk to him for a moment.”
Theodore watched as Granger swelled in fury. “Harry,” she exclaimed rather harshly. “I already told you and Ron. I’m fine. Now go!”
Potter stood his ground. Granger instantly switched tactics. “Anything you have to say to Theo, you can say in front of me.”
It was the first time he heard her use his name. He kept a straight face and stared at Potter. Either the Scarhead had grown, or Theodore simply hadn’t noticed how wide his shoulders got. Still, he was thankful he wasn’t facing the other Weasley. Theodore unconsciously straightened his posture as Potter took a step toward him. He could tell the Golden Boy was rethinking his words, due to Granger's presence.
“Hermione claims you aren’t slipping her potions, or using imperius on her,” Potter said, “but when we find out you are-” Granger coughed and Potter stopped. “If we find out you are, you’re as good as dead.”
Theodore stood his ground. “That it, Potter?”
The Gryffindor narrowed his eyes at him before saying goodbye to Granger and walking off.
“Sorry about that,” Granger said. “They think you’re up to something.”
A sarcastic sound found its way out of Theodore’s throat. “Obviously.”
They made their way to the library and sat at their designated table. Wordlessly, they took out their books and parchment and evaporated into their own readings. The pair was like this for some time before Granger blinked and looked up.
“Do you think they’ll put Voldemort in the history books?”
Theodore dragged himself away from the book in front of him. He closed it softly and stared at her. “Doubt it,” Theodore said. “Or they’ll just sort of brush over this period, as if he was a small blemish on a prettier history.”
She blinked, the expression on her face disagreeing with his sentiment. ”Then what are you doing here? What’s the point in all this research? Why are you trying to prove that Salazar Slytherin created a secret society where it was practically encouraged to maintain sexual relations with Muggles?”
“Why are you?”
Granger exhaled and brushed her lengthy hair back from her face. “It’ll alter history,” she said. “It’ll change perceptions-especially about Slytherins.”
“You should know attitudes don’t shift overnight,” Theodore pointed out.
She only grinned. “I know. That’s why it’s best to sort this Salazar mess out as soon as we can.” Granger stopped and held a contemplative look on her face. He was tempted to ask her what she was thinking.
A silence between them passed. “Who else knows about this?” Granger finally asked.
“About us?”
“About the secret society research.”
Theodore shifted in his seat, slightly embarrassed. “No one. Me, you, Blaise, Pansy, Draco. Only Blaise really asks about it, though.”
She nodded slowly and drummed her fingers against an open book. “There’s another connection that might be useful.”
He turned his attention to her fully. “What do you have?”
“Well,” she started, “in the Muggle world, science claims we’re made of something called genes. Biology is based on genetics; the passing of parents’ genes into the offspring.” She searched his face for some sign of familiarity. When he nodded, she continued on. “Attraction to someone based on their biological scent-their smell without perfumes or potions-means that his or her genes are different from your own. There's less of a risk for spawning a child out of incest. It’s why siblings always hate each other’s smell.”
“Nature takes control of our response to desire,” Theodore interpreted, “in order to keep future generations as diverse as possible.” Revelation dawned on him. “That matches what this text says about the society’s rule for Muggle mating,” he mused. “The sweeter the scent of the Muggle, the greater possibility for magical offspring.”
Granger leaned toward him and glanced at the line he was pointing at. “Exactly,” she breathed excitedly. “Salazar’s society understood why quote ‘bad blood’ of Muggles proved to actually be good blood,” she continued. “This society needed Muggles for mating so that their gene pools wouldn’t be stale and diluted with similar blood.”
He took the chance and looked at her. She was smiling brightly. “Amazing, isn’t it?” she said. “How often the magical world comes full circle with the Muggle world?”
“Yeah,” Theodore answered honestly. “Yes, I suppose it is.”
“We’re really making progress,” Granger said as she closed a book.
Theodore smirked. “You still believe in progress?”
She looked up in confusion. “Don’t you?”
He shrugged. “Humans travel in circles. We make the same mistakes, repeat the same patterns. We like to think we’ve learned from history, that we’ll do better next time-if there is a next time,” Theodore added. “But we don’t. We never do.”
She considered his words in seriousness. “You think something-someone like Voldemort-would happen in the future?”
He sighed. “I think something like the Dark Lord has happened, just happened, and will probably happen again.”
“But there’s nothing in the history books about any type of Muggle or Muggle-born purging.”
Theodore laughed quietly. “There’s nothing in the history books about this, either,” he said, pointing to the books around them.
“Touché.” Granger packed up her things, and Theodore followed suit. She lead the way out of the library and into the corridor. They usually parted here and entered the Great Hall separately.
Something held them there, if only for a moment. Theodore shifted his bag’s strap from shoulder to shoulder. Granger sighed.
“But don’t you think,” she argued, “patterns can be broken?”
He gave her a quizzical look.
“Circles,” she established. “Not everything goes around and around forever.” She smiled a bit sardonically, and he wondered-not for the first time that day-what was going on in her head. “Some things are meant to be broken.”
Theodore grinned mischievously. “A spot of rebelliousness from the Head Girl?”
She laughed. “All that running around with Harry and Ron all these years.”
With a wave, Granger turned and headed for the Great Hall. Theodore waited a moment before walking in the other direction, in a relatively pleasant mood.