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"No."
"You swore you wouldn't say no."
"That was before you brought out a bag of...where did you get this stuff, anyway?"
Hermione stared at the pile of increasingly ridiculous costumes at her feet, dumped unceremoniously from three large plastic bags. Theo scrunched the bags down into smaller and smaller balls, before shoving them into the little container under the sink where they kept all their recyclables. When he returned to their living room, overrun with bright neon's and bold strips of felt, his steps skipped and he barely stopped himself from clapping his hands excitedly. More so at the morose resignation on his fiancée's face than anything else.
"I ordered it all last week when I was over at George's. The internet is a fantastic invention, I don't know how wizards ever thought muggles were inferior."
One finger extracted from her folded arms, Hermione shot him a look of exasperation and warning. "Watch it, Nott."
A crooked smile dusting his face, fighting to bloom into a full smile, Theo took a huge side step to stand behind the woman who was likely desperately seeking a loophole to their agreement. Wrapping his arms around hers, she was effectively trapped within his expansive embrace. They both knew she could break away if she really wanted to, though.
"Introducing you and George was the worst mistake of my life," she muttered.
He rested his head against her hair, his chin propped up by a halo of curls. "You mean to tell me that setting Draco and Ginny up on a blind date wasn't your worst plan?"
She stomped her foot, missing his by inches as he pulled it away. "You swore to never mention that again!"
Theo laughed and held onto her tighter, lifting her short body up off the floor for a moment, so he could pull them both onto the couch behind him, holding her on top of him where her hair began to smother him. He didn't mind, he deserved that much for playing dirty and mentioning the moment Hermione had realized two of her good friends were very, very gay, though Draco and Ginny were now a terrifying duo on the Quidditch pitch, leading the Tornados to win the World Cup last year. Once Draco got over himself, he realized he was a much better Chaser than Seeker anyway.
"I concede," she grumbled, attempting to regain use of her arms, though she turned to snuggle into him instead of running away like he suspected. "I don't regret introducing you to George, but Merlin, why did you coerce me into agreeing to couples' costumes?"
"Harry insisted it's all the rage in the Muggle world, and since we'll be partying there this Halloween-"
Hermione's head shot up, narrowly missing knocking into Theo's nose. "Wait, you mean to tell me that Harry convinced Draco to wear a couple's costume?"
The grin still dancing around Theo's lips melted into his most wicked smirk. He let the little cogs fall into place on their own, the surprised look on Hermione's face melting from incredulity to conspiratorial glee.
"Oh, I can't wait to see this," she said, all but diving towards the pile to sort out the wheat from the chaff in terms of her husband's questionable costume taste. "But none of this will do, give it all to Molly so she can pass it out to all those grandchildren. If we are going to witness Draco dressed as some ridiculous...pepper shaker or something - you laugh! But you've seen Harry dress himself without help; it's a nightmare. We need to make sure our costumes are leaps and bounds better than..."
Hermione's lips kept moving but no sound came out as she stared into the distance, her eyes darting back and forth. Theo continued to recline on the couch to watch her bend over on her knees to rifle through the costumes. With the speed of a cheetah, but none of the grace, Hermione shot up to sprint down to their entertainment room wh9ere she kept reams of books and movies, returning with a triumphant whoop. A shiny, unopened copy of a DVD was gripped between her fingers like she'd grabbed the Triwizard Cup.
"Star Wars?" Theo read off the cover before she delicately pulled the shiny disc out and popped it into their sound system, practically jumping over their coffee table to cuddle up next to him again.
"I know we weren't supposed to watch this until May," Hermione said, referencing Theo's broad "Muggle culture" training to occur before their wedding so he would feel comfortable speaking to members of her family after the ceremony, "but now we have to."
After finishing the first, which she explained was actually the fourth chronologically, he started to see the pieces of her plan fall into place. The pair couldn't stop grinning as they dug through their closet to find serviceable pieces to dress as Han Solo and Leia Organa, making notes of what they'd need to buy.
As much as Hermione hated the idea of a couple's costume, it was all worth it to be able to watch Harry and Draco walk around as Jack Skellington and Sally, respectively. She didn't even mind having her hair charmed to stay in two obnoxious buns for two weeks when she told Draco he looked good in a dress and heels. And, though Ron tried to steal the show by arriving stag dressed all in orange, ("You get it? Nothing rhymes with orange, and I'm going stag?"), when Ginny and Katie Bell arrived as a plug and socket, a working plug and socket complete with sparks and lights, the champions were clear.
"Aren't you glad you lost that bet?" Theo purred into Hermione's ear halfway through the party. Ginny sprinted past the corner they were huddled into, chasing Katie and demanding that it was her turn to be the plug, and Theo chuckled against Hermione's neck as he moved his lips further south below the obnoxious buns.
Hermione didn't reply, just pulled her fiancé's arms tighter around her, and enjoyed the happiness of the moment.