Death by Granger [rewritten version]

13

"You're being incredibly unhealthy right now," Ginny said, walking behind Hermione.

"I don't know what you mean."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You can't walk around and pretend like you didn't have a good chunk of the students a scare. Not to mention, the professors. Apparently, half of them went to ensure the younger students stayed in the castle while the others went to get help. I even heard the McGonagall was calling Shacklebolt."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, it's over."

"It might be easy for everyone else to pretend like that didn't just happen but they weren't sitting by your bed day and night for a week, worried about you."

"Ginny, I appreciate the concern but—"

Ginny grabbed Hermione's wrist, forcing her to stop and turn. "I'm not talking about me."

Hermione nodded to herself. "Theo."

"He couldn't sleep, Hermione. Ron and I swiped Ponfrey's stuff and drugged him once. He's still mad about it, I think. It might be easy for you to go about your day and expect no one to come to you and talk about it, and I can do that, but what about him? He was the one afraid you wouldn't even wake up. He's the baby of your group, you can't do that to him."

Hermione sighed. "Fine . . . Fine, I'll talk to him."

"Okay," Ginny said, nodding. "Now get to class. I'm late for Arithmancy."

•=•=•=•=•

Hermione opted to skip her History of Magic lesson when she popped her head in the classroom and couldn't find Theo — he, like her, preferred to arrive early to most of his classes.

She didn't have to think too hard about where to look for him and quickly found him at the top of the Astronomy tower.

"Knock knock," she said gently as she came up behind him.

"Hey," Theo said, turning away from the balcony and smiling. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Shouldn't you?" Hermione countered, dropping her bag on the floor and walking out onto the balcony. "Ginny told me you stayed the whole time."

Theo scowled slightly. "I told her not to."

"Hey, look at me. I'm not gonna leave you again. I promised when we we got back together, the four of us, didn't I?"

"Ginger thinks it was Pansy," Theo said, keen on changing the topic.

Hermione nodded and leaned backwards on the balcony. She folded her arms and stared at Theo. "I wouldn't be surprised."

"Ginger also says she's seen Potter and Pansy together."

Hermione made a face of clear disgust. "Maybe they're just dating? I hear Ginny and Harry aren't together anymore."

"Really? You really think Pansy is the type to hook up with a Gryffindor? She'd rather die a spinster."

"That's true. But Harry's not . . . cruel."

Theo shrugged. "Knowledge changes people. Maybe he knows you were a Death Eater."

"I like to think Harry is the kind of person to ask me about it — to confront me before he does anything."

"Like I said —" Theo shrugged again "— knowledge changes people."

Hermione leaned back against the railing and stared down at her shoes. "Maybe," she murmured.

•=•=•=•=•

Pansy shoved Harry. "A Hate Potion?! That's what that was? How daft are you?!"