it started with a kiss, how did it end up like this?

Letting It All Out

Theo Nott asking her on a date was not how Hermione had expected to start her morning. After also waking up in Draco Malfoy's flat, she was starting to think she was in a parallel universe. She had felt her whole body stiffen as soon as the words left his mouth. After all, he was still one of the boys who had tormented her throughout her time at Hogwarts, right?

She had remembered saying the same thing to Padma and the boys after Theo had given her an apology. But their reactions had only confused her. She had only gotten a shrug from the boys and a roll of the eyes from Padma. When they had started to interrogate her about said apology, she chose to drink instead.

She must still be drunk. Agreeing to a date while she was still hungover, yep sober Hermione would never. But she was curious. One of her more dangerous qualities, Neville often liked to point out. So here she was, trying to pull herself together in the restroom of a muggle café. She took one last look in the mirror before making her way back to the table.

She saw his knee bouncing before she sat down. He was tapping his fingers along the edge of the table too. He hadn't seemed so jittery on the walk over. But he looked ready to jump out of his seat and bolt.

"Regretting coming here together already?" She tried to keep any hurt out of her voice. Perfectly transitioning into her work persona.

"What? No, of course not... just still finding it a bit unreal that you even agreed." He mumbled the last part. "Why did you, by the way?" He asked with a bit of a grimace.

"Excuse me?" Had he really just asked why she agreed to go out with him? Then again, she couldn't give him a straight answer, so maybe he was right in asking it.

"I just mean," the words came out all at once before he took a breath and started again. "Well, I honestly couldn't believe you said yes. Obviously, I was hoping you would. But considering our past, I could see why you would say no." Yes, saying no had been her first instinct. But after giving herself a second to think about it, she decided she wanted some answers.

"Mostly, I was curious." His brows shot up at that.

"About me?" He asked, as his cheeks turned a bit pink. She felt herself fighting off a blush of her own at how much she liked the sight. She quickly looked away and feigned a cough. She was not attracted to a blushing Theo Nott. No, she was not. She only agreed to this 'date' because she wanted a question answered, that was all.

"About something you said last night." Even after all the drinks, his words had stayed with her. "You said you were a stupid kid who didn't know how else to get someone's attention." He looked panicked as she finished reciting his statement.

"Caught that, did ya?" He looked nervous. He was rubbing his neck and staring into his lap. "I've had a crush on you since third year." Hermione could almost see the relief roll off him, as if he'd been holding so tightly to the words that letting them go had relieved a physical pressure. "If you asked my mates, they would probably say I was obsessed with you, which wouldn't be too far from the truth. And those first few times I ran into you, I don't know what happened to me. I just couldn't stop looking at you. By the time I realised you probably thought I was just some prick who wouldn't get out of your way, I couldn't just say something or stop doing it either." He kept on as if his words weren't shocking her to her core. Hermione couldn't even keep up with him. Finally, his word vomit came to an end. He looked both unbelievably relieved and utterly shocked that the words were out of his system.

"Wow, that's more than I was expecting." She didn't know what else to say. He had shown his side of most of their interactions, and now the 'tormenting' she had received from Nott didn't really seem like that. The eye roll from Padma made a lot more sense now. "Got anything else you want to let out, Nott?" She felt the corner of her mouth lift of its own accord.