Like Honey (Draco x Hermione x Theo)

Chapter 4

Hermione liked to think she had become proficient at cooking eggs. The Weasley chickens were the only consistent source of food they had now that bounties were put out for the Order. She knew that the only think that could drive someone crazy, besides the overwhelming fear that came with war, was repetition.

So, she learned.

"How do you want your eggs?"

She could do it all. Scrambled, poached, omelets, boiled, baked, shirred. She even saved the grease from the few times they were blessed with a cut of pork to fry them in. It was something to focus on; the perfectly cooked egg. The right amount of salt, the flawless crisp of the round edges. It was a distraction.

And over the last three days, she did nothing but fry eggs. Each morning she'd wake up, eyes heavy and mind groggy, and patter softly down the hallway. Each morning she expected their door to be open, the bed to be made, and them to be gone. Each morning the door stayed shut, the only inkling that they were still inside were the flickering of lights and soft voices that sometimes could be heard from the hallway.

Each morning Hermione distracted herself by making eggs, plating them, and setting them outside the door. Hoping that it would open. Hoping that it wouldn't.

This morning in particular, Hermione knew she had overslept. She had just been getting through the last few chapters of The Tales of Beedle the Bard, bequeathed to her by Albus Dumbledore after his death. She didn't particularly care for it. She had long outgrown fairytales. But she owed it to him, if anything, to at least finish it.

The sky was already a bright blue, the sun at least a quarter of the way up from the horizon. Hermione sighed, rubbing her eyes of sleep, and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. While she was usually the first awake, all the other doors were already open and their inhabitants gone. Hermione sighed and then did a double take, her drowsiness replaced by a jolt and a knot in her throat. Their door was open.

She clutched the door frame and peeked inside. Everything seemed in place, even the bed was perfectly made and pressed. Did they go to the village? Were they there now? Perhaps she should have given them more... something. A wand. Something to protect themselves, if they were enemies for both sides now.

Voices carried up the stairs and Hermione followed them into the kitchen to find Ron and Harry picking at their plates of bare, still wet eggs.

"Sorry," she sighed, wrapping her arms tightly around her waist. "I overslept. I can make new eggs if you'd like."

Ron nodded eagerly while Harry swallowed his forkful politely and gave a tight smile. "Is'alright. We don't have much time anyway. Moody and Kingsley will be here soon."
Hermione's heart leapt into her throat, thrumming nervously. "They never come on Saturdays."

Ron grunted and shrugged. "Urgent when it comes to Slytherins I suppose."

Hermione licked her lips. "Because... because they fled?"

"Fled?" Harry furrowed his brows, shaking his head. "They're in the living room."
"Fled," Ron reiterated with a snort. "As if anyone else would take them."

Hermione ignored them, her mind racing as she slowly approached the entrance of the living area, expecting to see Malfoy and Nott hung by their thumbs after being caught trying to leave.

"... yes you are," Nott cooed at the bundle of blankets in his arms that Hermione immediately recognized as Teddy. "Draco, do you want him?"
The blonde grunted, his arms folded loosely over his chest as he shot a disgusted look to Nott, neither had spotted her yet. "What am I supposed to do with it?"