Chapter Twenty Three

                                    

                                          
Sorry for the long wait, but I'm finally back! Thank you for all the lovely messages x
                          


                          
Day Thirty 
                          
Their boots crush the pebbles underneath as they walk further into the forest. The sky was growing darker and more grey by every second, and Hermione reckons it's about to rain. Heavily. 
                          
"It's going to rain," Theo voices her thoughts. Draco nods his head, looking up at the sky. "I love rain," Hermione says softly. 
                          
Draco turns his head to look at her, his eyes shining under the light from her wand. "It reminds me of destruction and repair. It's just like how sometimes we're weighed down by our burdens, our loses, our defeats. And then we repair ourselves, we heal, and we rise again," she says, not looking at him.
                          
"The rain reminds me that this, too, will end someday." Now she looks at him, and he's still staring at her. She realises what he might be thinking, so she bites her lower lip and turns her head away.
                          
"Hurry up! I think I can hear someone," Theo whispers and begins to jog towards a large tree. 
                          
Hermione and Draco follow close behind, and Theo waves his wand around, warding the area. Soft murmurs and light footsteps can be heard. Hermione listens closely and keeps her eyes wide open. A blond beauty steps into her line of view first, and then two brown haired witches walk in with wands held high in their hands. 
                          
"See? You were imagining things," one of them says. "No I wasn't," the blond one snaps. "There's someone else here as well," she says, her accent thick.
                          
Hermione holds her breath as the three witches walk towards them. She feels Draco grab her hand, stilling the shivers that were running through her body. 
                          
The blond witch's eyes roam over directly where they're standing and the Hogwarts Trio stops breathing. "There's  no one here," the blond one declares, her eyes still at the same spot. 
                          
"See? I told you," one of them says. "Let's go now," says the other one..


                          
ooo


                          
"I reckon that was the Beauxbatons Trio," Theo says, scratching his elbow.

                          
"How smart," Draco drawls, earning a glare from the brown haired man. "She knew," Hermione says, "the blond one knew we were there." 
                          
"What makes you say that?" Draco asks, turning his head to look at her. "Just a feeling," she replies, shrugging a shoulder, "but I know."
                          
"Now, how do we find fucking forgiveness in this god forsaken place?" Theo scowls. Hermione turns her nose up at his language and says, "Try asking me to forgive you for all the times you've sworn."
                          
"That'd be a long shot," Theo replies, smirking at her. 
                          


                          
ooo
                          


                          
Day Thirty One
                          


                          
Hermione rolls onto her stomach to suppress the growls of hunger emanating from it. Her hand instinctively reaches for the blanket and she's pleasantly surprised when she finds herself covered in two. One smelled like aftershave. A half smile graces her sleepy face till she mentally slaps herself and forces herself to get up. Standing up and stretching, she looks ahead and finds Draco and Theo leaning against a tree, talking. As if feeling her gaze on him, Draco turns his head towards her and gives her slow, meaningful smile. 
                          
She blushes a bit because she looks ridiculous. Two blankets hanging off of her shoulders, her pyjama bottoms ridden up to her knees, her hideous socks and her wild hair. Yes, absolutely ridiculous. He smirks at the red that tints her cheeks and she raises her chin in response, making him shake his head and look away. 
                          
After the daily morning rituals, Hermione makes her way over to her partners. "What's cooking?" she asks, folding her arms over her chest. "My brain," drawls Theo, "by the great Chef Malfoy."
                          
Hermione laughs a bit at that, and harder when Draco sneers. Draco sneers. Not Malfoy sneers. She shakes her head. Since when does Draco's sneer make her laugh? She smacks the thought out of her mind and looks at Theo. "And what are the ingredients?" she asks, smiling. Theo scrunches his nose up in disgust and says, "his theories about the fucking clue."
                          
"Oh," she replies, "Care to share with me, Malfoy?" she turns towards him and looks at him in the eyes. Her stomach tingles. Because she's hungry and because he looks edible.
                          
"Oh yes, Granger," he says smirking, and takes a step towards her. Theo turns his head the other way just as Draco's lips meet hers. A slow, sensual kiss; that's what it is. A kiss that leaves Hermione breathless and a little weak in the knees. Theo pretends to gag in the background and keeps shaking his head the entire time. 
                          
"What was that for?" she asks the man whose smile was enough to make her smile. "For talking too much," replies the smug bastard. "Oh? I'm sorry then," she says, rolling her eyes. 
                          
"Granger!" Theo yells, startling them both. "For fuck's sake!" Draco glares at him but Theo ignores him and shakes Hermione's shoulders. "Say it again. Say it." 
                          
"Have you finally lost it, Theo?" Hermione examines his face. "You never apologise, Granger! But you did it just now! Maybe it's the way out. Maybe Draco needs to say 'i forgive you Hermione.' "
                          
Hermione smacks her forehead and Draco lets out a low growl.  "No, you guys don't understand. It's worth a shot!" Theo argues. Hermione lets out a long sigh and looks at Theo uninterestedly. "It won't work, Theodore Nott, but if you insist," she says with a false smile, "I'm sorry, Malfoy." 
                          
"Fucking hell," Draco swears, running a hand through his soft blond hair and says, "I forgive you." They both turn their heads to look at Theo and find him looking back at them with a hopeful expression on his face. "Bloody lunatic," Draco mutters under his breath. Theo huffs out a breath and the smile falls from his face. "It was worth a try, wasn't it?" he mumbles. Hermione, being the soft-hearted person that she was, moves forward and pulls Theo in for a hug. 
                          
She's surprised to find that his arms that wrap around her back are shaking. She tightens her grip on him and feels him bury his nose inside her wild curls. Wetness slides down the back of her neck and her heart breaks for him. "You'll be back with her soon. I promise," she whispers in his ear. She feels him stiffen a bit and then he pulls away. 
                          
Without looking back, Theo begins to walk deeper into the woods. When Hermione begins to follow, Draco grabs her around the waist and pulls her back. "He needs time alone," he explains when she opens her mouth to argue. "He needs someone," she says. "The someone he needs is not here. I know Theo. He hates losing control of his emotions in front of people, so pretend it never happened when he comes back." Hermione chews on her lower lip and nods her head. 
                          
"Stop," Draco murmurs, tilting her chin up. "You're thinking too much." 
                          
"Make me stop," she whispers.
                          


                          
Plot twist coming up soon..