sugar & spice

chapter seventeen

"Are we going to talk about it?"

She tore her eyes away from her potions textbook. Across the table, Theo tapped his quill against his parchment. How he managed to do that without dribbling ink all over the place, she wasn't sure.

"Talk about what?" she asked when he didn't go on.

He shrugged, the very picture of nonchalance save for the spark in his eyes. "You know."

"I really don't." She shook her head. "Tell me."

Theo nodded, dropping his eyes back to his parchment. "Did you finish your transfiguration essay yet?"

What? This conversation wasn't making a lick of sense. "Yes? I finished last week."

"So early?" Theo glanced up at her through his lashes, his lips pulling to the side in a smile. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. You are brilliant."

Okay? She laughed lightly. "Thank you?"

Theo rolled his eyes. "Okay, that missed the mark. Good job, Hermione. You're such a good girl."

She froze, knees knocking under the table. Her eyes flew to his, and he was watching her closely, a knowing little smirk on his face. She cleared her throat. "Thanks."

"Again, I say,"-Theo huffed, amusement and something else she couldn't put her finger on, making his voice warm-"are we going to talk about it?"

"Do we need to?"

He gave another decidedly unaffected shrug and dropped his quill. "Are you opposed?"

They were in the library, but it was during her open period, a time when most students weren't anywhere near. Usually Theo was in class, but his block of potions had been canceled thanks to a mishap earlier in the day. Apparently a second year had knocked over an entire cauldron of Drowsiness Draught, effectively knocking out half the class based on the wafting fumes alone. They'd had to close off the entire classroom to let the potion expire because each time someone stepped inside the room for longer than a moment, they conked out.

But no, she wasn't opposed to talking about it, she just...didn't know what to say. She shook her head.

As if sensing her discomfort, Theo reached across the table, grabbing her hand. "We don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable."

"Merlin." She shook her head, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "You and Draco seem to think everything makes me uncomfortable. I'm not, for the record. I just don't what you want me to say."

Theo studied her for a moment, his gaze soft but intense. "You like it when I tell you what to do?"

She nodded. "In the...proper context, yes."

He huffed. "Should I be offended? I don't boss you around outside of bed...much."

"Much." She laughed. "I don't let you get away with it otherwise."

He seesawed his head. "Debatable. I got you to clear the air with Draco and go to a Quidditch game, and a Quidditch after party, and-"

"Okay. Those are awful examples seeing as one, you didn't boss me, you begged, and two, I secretly wanted to do those things so getting me to say yes wasn't really a hard-won victory."

He cut his eyes. "Minx."

She grinned.

"Fine," he amended. "You like when I tell you what to do in the proper context."

"Yes."

"And you like when I"-Theo flicked his brows upward-"praise you."

She bit the inside of her cheek and nodded.