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Hermione had come in for a specific book, of course. She needed to know more about hags before she could properly represent them in the next set of bills she was planning.
But now she had a pile of books following her around the store. With no one in her life to tell her no, trips to the bookstore were a dangerous — and wonderful — way to pass the time. It was a separate hobby, really, from the actual reading of books. Hermione did plenty of reading as well, too, but her bookshelves were groaning with the mass of books she had purchased, some of which she had to admit she had neglected to read.
This store always stocked the best books, so it was even harder to say no here.
“Have you seen this one?” a voice asked from the other side of her pile, handing her a tome on New Age muggle runes that she had been planning to mail order.
Hermione squealed aloud then threw her hands up to her mouth. “Oh! Oh no! I’m so sorry,” her voice dropping to library-quiet by the end.
There was an intriguing male chuckle before he assured her, “It’s fine. Nothing to worry about.”
“Well, perhaps with you, but I doubt the shopkeep liked it,” she said, trying — and failing — to catch a glimpse of the man. This was not the first time she had a conversation like this, trying to peer around her books but failing to catch sight of the man who seemed to know her reading habits so well. The mystery was yet another reason to keep shopping at The Lion’s Page.
“She won’t mind,” the voice said.
Hermione rolled her eyes. “You can’t know that.”
“I’m her boss, so I think I can,” the voice informed her, cocky now.
Hermione swung her head all the way around the stack of books now, determined to know the identity of this man who was apparently the manager — maybe even the owner — of her favorite bookstore. No one was in sight, though the sound of that chuckle now came to her from a few aisles away.
She didn’t quite run, but walked very hastily, her stack swaying precariously as it followed at top speed, to get there before…
He was gone, the aisle empty.
Whoever he was, he was clearly toying with her. How childish. Well, she wasn’t letting him continue this. Stepping more quickly, she looked down the next aisle, and the next, until—
BAM!
She ran straight into something, her stack of books slamming into her and crashing to the ground around her.
As it turned out, she had run straight into someone. And that someone was now having a full-on laugh at her — in that rich, masculine voice that had been chuckling at her earlier, making fun of her everytime she came in for months, she now realized.
Hermione was torn between embarrassment and anger.
Shaking with warring emotions, she looked over the man she had run into. He was tall and handsome. He had dark, wavy hair, almost as messy as Harry’s. His blue eyes were nearly sapphire, a mesmerizing color. And they were staring straight at her, assessing her as surely as she was him. Hermione realized she recognized this man, though it had been since Hogwart’s.
“Theo?” she asked tentatively. “Theo Nott?”
“The one and only now that my father was given his much-deserved Kiss,” Theo said as he scrambled to his feet and held a hand out for her.
“And now you… you manage a book store?” she asked, incredulous. “Aren’t you disturbingly wealthy?”
Theo chuckled again as he pulled her up. He began gathering the many books from her pile as he explained himself. “I was. I gave as much of it away as I could and bought this bookstore with what I had left. There’s still a trust fund that pays me a nice sum per month, but the obscene wealth is finally with people who can use it.”
“And that’s why your prices are so good here!” she surmised.
“It is,” he said with a smile. “I don’t need to make money from sales. I just enjoy spreading the love of reading.”
“Is that why you host so many children’s activities?” Hermione asked, excited by her understanding.
“It is,” he said, seeming just as excited that she understood.
But then she paused. “If you don’t really need the income of a bookstore, why did you buy The Lioness's Page?” she asked.
“What better way to catch my favorite lioness?” he asked with a smile.
Hermione was taken aback. What did he… could he mean… “Surely you’re not implying that—”
“That I bought a bookstore because I hoped my favorite Gryffindor Princess would be lured in and give this poor besotted man a chance?”
“That… yes…” Hermione agreed faintly.
“I am saying that actually,” Theo said with a dimpled grin. “Has it worked?”
“I… well… I suppose you’ve earned a chance.”
“Are you ready for a date right now?” he asked.
Hermione laughed. “So eager…”
“If you knew how long I’ve waited—”
“You bought this store more than a year ago,” Hermione realized.
“Oh, it’s been so much longer than that, my Lioness.”