Chapter Text
How exactly they had made it here, Theo had no idea.
It was a bright and sunny Saturday; and as such, most of the students had decided to make use of the weather by spending their time outside. Some of the older students even gathered in small groups for an outing to Hogsmeade, the little walk towards the small village always welcome after days and weeks spent inside the stuffy castle.
The day had begun as many others did and nothing was yet out of the ordinary. Even Draco standing by his side was not an unusual picture, and neither was the absence of Blaise, who usually ran late to these outings for some reason or another.
What was unusual was the company they would soon spend the day with.
“One day, you will have to explain a few things to me,” Theo said under his breath, just loud enough for his friend to catch as their gaze stayed glued to the wide doors of the castle.
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Draco look at him for just a fracture of a moment, before his head turned back.
“Such as?”
“Honestly? You couldn’t think of one question I would have for you right now?”
“Enlighten me,” Draco replied, his usual nonchalant demeanour grating on Theo’s nerves already.
He usually had no problem with Draco, but there was so much wrong about this situation.
“Well, for one,” Theo began, finally letting his eyes stray from the doors, just so he could watch every subtle move of his friend. “How on Earth were you able to convince Miss Granger to agree to this outing with you? Everyone knows she never goes with a gentleman by her side - aside from her two friends, that is. Which, to be honest, is quite another thing. She could have said yes to just about any gentleman - and she did so to the one person who is in constant discordance with the man she loves like a brother?”
“I think Miss Granger is very much able to think for herself, wouldn’t you agree? She knows Mr Potter is just as much to blame for our… discordance as I am.”
“That answers only half of my question,” Theo told him, quickly checking the doors again. Maybe they should not have been here so early - waiting for their company to arrive was torture.
Draco shrugged his shoulders - a very uncommon gesture for the man, who usually let his words speak for him, not his body.
“You would have to ask the Miss herself. I merely asked - she was the one to agree.”
“Which brings me to my next question, actually,” Theo replied, not giving his friend a moment to relax. “Why did you ask her?”
Instantly, Draco’s gaze was on him, the two men staring each other down.
Just to clarify, Theo continued.
“Why are you helping him with this, Draco? Why did you agree to play with Miss Granger just so Blaise can pursue Miss Bones? Have you no regards for Miss Granger’s heart? Or Susan’s? Or…”
He suddenly caught himself and swallowed the last word that had almost fallen from his lips. And, oh Merlin, had he just used Miss Bones’ given name? He should be able to control his feelings much better than this. He had to.
None of this mattered though. The slight softening of Draco’s usually hard gaze told him that his friend knew what he had wanted to say. Knew of the feelings warring inside of him.
In yet another unusual gesture, Draco dropped his gaze, turning back as if to watch the doors. Yet, his gaze stayed downcast as if trained on a particular blade of grass at his feet.
“It’s much more complicated than that.”
“How?”
“You’re both my friends,” Draco told him in a spurt of sincere honesty, even going so far as to catch his gaze once more. “Don’t make me choose whose side to take. Not over the affections of a girl. Please, Theo. We promised to never do this to each other.”
Pressing his lips together, Theo wanted to tell Draco so much. Wanted to yell and swear, maybe even curse his friend.
If it wasn’t for the truth of Draco’s words.
He hated this, yes. But Blaise had first mentioned his feelings for Miss Bones - however fleeting they might be. All because Theo had been too shy to do so and neither friend had recognised it before it had been too late.
As per their agreement, Theo would now have to suffer through it.
People might think the worst of their house - but in the end, Slytherins were loyal to a fault, if only to those closest to them.
That still did not take away from the rest of Draco’s wrongdoing.
“But you did choose a side,” he raised his hand as he saw Draco wanting to argue, relenting, “I know what you want to say and I know you’re right. Blaise has prior claim, so you helping him is not choosing a side. Even if it feels like that to me.” Sighing, Theo calmed his voice, willing the bite out of his voice and also willing his friend to understand. “But aside from the agreement between the three of us - there are still hearts you’re playing with. I love and respect you, Draco. But I do have a hard time overlooking that fact. I had thought more of you.”
For a moment, it appeared that his friend wanted to say something in regards to this matter - but the words seemed to be stuck in his throat, as no sound passed his opened lips.
If ever he would find the right words, they would never find out, their conversation interrupted by the castle’s opening doors. Revealing two beautiful sisters.
Theo’s heart stuttered for two, three, four beats. His breath caught in his throat. It was the same reaction the sight of Miss Susan Bones had caused him for the past three years. As usual, he had to remind himself to breathe normally, forcing the stuck breath out, counting - one, two, three - and slowly suck in air again. Once he had his breathing under control, his heartbeat became semi-regular again as well. Out of experience, he knew that it would not change until long after Susan was gone again.
This ought to be an interesting outing.
The accelerated beating of his heart was undeterred when Miss Bones’ expression visibly fell as she took in the two gentlemen waiting for them - or rather the absence of certain other Slytherin.
It was Miss Granger, however, who spoke first after they had all greeted each other, abiding by etiquette.
“Will Mr Zabini not join us? I was under the impression he wanted to accompany my sister.”
Theo did not miss the accusation barely hidden in the tone of her voice and a very dark side inside of him was gleefully smirking over Miss Granger’s disapproval. However, the good and loyal side of him won out, prompting him to speak on behalf of his friend.
“He will join us shortly. Our dear friend has been… held up, unfortunately. He asked us to keep you company and to please meet us at the Three Broomsticks within the hour.”
“Held up?” Miss Granger replied, her eyes squinting with cold calculation. “He goes to such lengths to be allowed my sister’s company and then he gets ‘held up’?”
Theo’s eyes went wide as he turned towards Draco. He must have misheard. Had Miss Granger just…? No, she could not know what lengths Blaise had really gone to, could she? There was no way she would know Blaise had bribed Draco in some ways and then still agree to this outing.
Draco, however, looked unfazed, watching on as Miss Granger turned to her sister.
“You surely have picked yourself a fine specimen there!”
Theo agreed wholeheartedly with her assessment. He wondered just what she would say if either of them would let it slip that a stupid broom race was the reason for Blaise’s absence. As if it could not have waited. No, of course Blaise would agree to it as soon as he had been challenged.
“Hermione, please,” Miss Bones whispered, a soft blush colouring her cheeks. There appeared to be a silent conversation between the sisters, before Miss Bones added with much more confidence, “I’m sure Mr Zabini has a very good reason. Let’s just do as he asked.”
“Oh, of course,” Miss Granger replied, actually rolling her eyes in such an unladylike gesture Theo had a hard time not to laugh out loud in shock. “Let’s just do as the gentleman told us to. Because we have nothing better to do as to follow his every whim.”
Despite her complaining, Miss Granger went ahead, moving towards the gates and the path that would eventually lead them towards Hogsmeade. Theo caught a glimpse of his friend’s face, astonished to see those usually stoic features lifted in the barest hint of an amused smile - a smile too hard to catch for anyone not intimately versed with the man.
Within a heartbeat, smile still playing around the corners of his lips, Draco followed Miss Granger, quickly catching up and walking by her side, leaving just enough space between them as decorum dictated.
That left Theo with Miss Bones. Turning towards her, he swallowed his nerves as best he could, gesturing after them in some kind of invitation.
“Shall we?”
Without any reply, Miss Bones stepped past him, following the others, ignoring Theo completely.
Sighing, Theo prayed for strength, before finally following.
This ought to be an interesting outing indeed.
~*~*~*~
Draco had never noticed just how long the path towards Hogsmeade really was. Or how quick the distance could be passed.
He knew this was contradictory - and that it was all due to his company.
It had only been a short few weeks since he had agreed to his friend’s pleading, indulging him even in a wager. It was a well known fact that Slytherins were gamblers at heart, loving the thrill of a good game and a daunting bet. Though Draco would not have needed this incentive after Blaise had begged for his help it had still been a nice addition.
At least, back then.
By now, it felt as if it had been the most terrible mistake Draco could have ever made.
Not only was Theo right, of course. Gambling with a lady’s heart - two, if one counted Miss Bones as well - was beneath the honour of a gentleman. Not that he would have thought Miss Granger’s heart in danger when he had first agreed to the bet. He only wished now he was still as sure about that.
What was worse, however, was that Draco knew himself quite well - well enough to have realised that his quest for Miss Granger’s affection would not leave him unharmed or unchanged.
He was spending too much time in her proximity lately.
Time that had given him the opportunity to see a side of her he had never imagined to find.
Only a few short weeks - and already, merely being in her presence caused time to stand still and yet fly by simultaneously.
The path had never seemed so long - because Draco could sense the unease Miss Granger was still feeling. If he had to take a guess, it was not only because of him and their last conversation during which he had invited her to join them today. Surely, it was also on behalf of her sister and the absence of Blaise.
While the trail appeared unending, they would reach the village far too soon for his liking - for he would be prepared to stroll for hours by her side if only to converse with her.
For years now, Draco had not spared much thought about Miss Granger. Everybody knew her as the know-it-all, the overachiever, the stuck-up prude. The shrew.
She was “the sister” or “the friend of” - but to no one was she simply “Miss Granger”.
However, the more time Draco spent with her, the more he realised just how wrong people were for doing so. He had a hard time deciding what was more enticing about her by now. Her wit and sharp tongue, surely - Draco would never be able to love a meek woman, only there to say ‘yes’ and ‘thank you’ to her husband.
But there was more than that, if only one looked closely enough. While Miss Granger appeared not to be a lady who spent much of her time worrying about appearance and presentation, there was still a natural beauty, a natural graze about her. More than once, Draco had to force his eyes away from her lovely face, to disallow his gaze from lingering too long.
If it had not been for the stoic mask he had learned to wear from before he was old enough to see over the dining table, Draco was sure his feelings would have been easy to read, openly displayed for the world to see. As it was, he was thankful that the only person who might have been able to read him was occupied by his own troubles.
Turning just enough to glimpse his friend, Draco decided to break the silence after all.
“I apologise for Mr Zabini’s absence.”
“I am sure it was not your wrongdoing that caused his tardiness,” Miss Granger replied, her soft voice still holding a shadow of her previous annoyance.
Draco nodded. “Of course not. Still, I regret it came to this. Your sister seems rather… peeved by this development.”
That caused the young lady to sigh and for a moment, it looked like she shared the pain her sister seemed to feel. Within a heartbeat, however, a dark shadow came over her, a frown marring her beautiful features.
“Well, if she was, she should learn not to go along with everything he does.”
“I beg your pardon?”
For a moment, Miss Granger pressed her lips together and Draco swore he could see her thoughts racing, most likely debating if she should say what was on her mind or not.
Draco wished for her to go on, to speak her mind. Though she often masked her comments with snide remarks, her words always held a seed of truth and wisdom.
And Draco was helpless against the appeal such honesty held for him.
“Mr Zabini thinks it is alright to keep my sister waiting. Because he was ‘held up’ by some other business. Once he deems the time fit to grace us with his company -” Draco was hardly able to repress a chuckle at such snark in her voice, so completely unladylike it was refreshing; like hardly anything else had been in a while. “- he will find my sister waiting for him. Like the good little lady he’s expecting and hence; he will see no fault in his behaviour.”
“So you say she should not wait for him?”
“Only if she wishes to see this behaviour repeat itself.”
Draco found himself thinking about her words before he settled on a reply.
“Don’t you think you might just be a tad too hard on him, Miss Granger? You’re judging him without knowing the cause for his absence.” Not that it was a noble one, but that was hardly the point right now. “More so, you make this out as an illustration of his character and future behaviour.”
“Is it not?” Miss Granger challenged, looking up at him. “Has he not known of this time and date for weeks now? Has he not done so much to be able to be here with my sister? And yet. He has finally reached his goal - and now something else is more important? What does this say about him, if not that my sister and her feelings are not of the utmost priority to him at this moment. Even though that is exactly what he whispered into her ear the other day?”
“You measure a man’s feelings by the lateness to an appointment then?”
“No, Mr Malfoy,” Miss Granger said, stopping as they reached the outskirts of the village, most likely to wait for their company. “I measure it by his will to spend every second he can in the company of the woman he claims to love.”
He was sure that their gazes lingered for much too long to properly abide by decorum but he found himself unable to look away. Her gaze was as intense as it had been the other day.
The day he had asked her to join them on this outing.
~*~
“An outing? With me?”
The way Miss Granger’s eyes went comically wide - as if this was an absurd thought, as if she was searching for the joke in it all - had something tug uncomfortably at Draco’s heart. He wanted to reassure her, wanted to tell her that she need not feel like this. But he knew why she was wont to do so - and there would be no words he could use that would convince her otherwise as of this moment.
So the best he could do was to have her understand that at least in this instance, it was not a trick to harm her feelings, but an honest invitation.
“Of course, Miss Granger. Why would I ask if I didn’t want your company?”
Her brows were furrowed, her thoughts quite obviously focused on solving this riddle. Without a reply, she turned, beginning to sort back the few books she had perused before, most likely for their latest homework if the titles were anything to go by. Once the last one was safely tucked back into the correct shelf, she finally replied.
“Is it really my company you are seeking?” A quick turn had him pinned down by her gaze and he found himself unable to look away. “Or is it that of my sister? I am sure a certain friend of yours will be in attendance?”
Draco gulped down the initial shock, fighting to keep his outward calm demeanour. He had suspected her to figure it out sooner rather than later. However, he would not give in this quickly.
“Miss Granger, I fear I don’t know-”
“Ha!” Miss Granger exclaimed, folding her arms across her chest, eyes stormy. “Mr Malfoy, please do not do us both the dishonour of pretending not to know what I am speaking of. I think we both know very well of what I’m accusing you.”
Pursing his lips, Draco quickly came to the conclusion that honesty would be the best way here. In one swift move, he pushed away from the table he had been leaning against and made his way over to Miss Granger while he conceded.
“Alright, I agree. I should not insult your intellect by pretending you have not figured out the exact cause of my proposal. For that, I apologise.”
He waited for her to react in any way. Unexpected relief washed over him as she finally nodded, gesturing for him to go on.
“I can promise you, my invitation has been of a genuine nature. But yes, of course, I would also like this to be a chance for my friend to see again the girl he has set his heart on. I will not judge the decree your aunt has put upon their association. I am certain she has her reasons. But will you blame me for standing by my friend’s side as you stand by your sister’s? Your sister is not the only one to suffer from this rule.”
“This rule is there to protect her. To see if Mr Zabini’s love is as strong as he claims it to be or if it is as fleeting as we suspect it is. Not for his friend to try and find a way around it.”
“That is not what is happening here,” Draco tried to explain - tried to not feel guilty over the lie he hardly moved past his lips.
“Oh, is it not?” Miss Granger replied with a huff. “Pray tell, what else could it be?”
Swallowing hard, Draco was unable to find the words. He had thought about this situation before. Had suspected - known, really - that it would happen. Some time had gone into thinking of replies. Of ways to make this happen.
But staring into her eyes now… Into the heated gaze that held the barest hint of underlying insecurity…
Draco was unable to form any of those well-practised lies.
Forcing himself to stay calm and not think about what this could mean, Draco finally replied.
“Once again, you’re right, Miss Granger,” he confessed in a soft tone, watching the surprise on her beautiful face. “But only partially. I do apologise for thinking you might not see through this. But my invitation still stands, as I do genuinely wish to spend more time in your company. You may use it as you like. You may decline, if you think this is the best way to protect your sister from the world. Or you take this as a chance to spend a day observing my friend interact with her. Take your own picture of his feelings. The decision is up to you, Miss Granger.”
Her gaze was locked on his and with a sudden start, Draco became aware of just how close they were standing.
Far too close for any rules of etiquette.
Yet, he found himself unable to step back and if he had learned anything about the lady in front of him, she would not take a step back either as they both waited for her reply.