Blood Bound

Chapter 26 - Amicissium

Not that she would ever admit it to her friend, but Hermione was secretly thankful for Ginny's insistence that attending other houses' quidditch games was necessary to 'size up the competition', otherwise she would have had much more trouble explaining to Harry and Ron her newfound interest in the Hufflepuff vs. Slytherin game.

No this is much easier, she thought to herself as she passively allowed Ginny to drag her by the wrist through the castle doors and out towards the quidditch stands with Ron and Harry following close behind. The two boys had been convinced by a sweetly smiling Susan Bones to sport matching yellow scarves with badgers printed on them, while Ginny had caved to a persistent Hannah Abbot and was now wearing a bumble bee striped toque that clashed horribly with her hair.

Hermione had also allowed herself to be wrapped in a yellow scarf, but denied switching out her bright blue jumper for a Hufflepuff one. She hoped that wearing his favourite colour would send the message to Draco that she was secretly cheering for him, even if she couldn't wear his house colours.

Their group was just about to climb up the Hufflepuff stands to find Hannah and Susan, who'd said they would save seats, when a voice drawled from behind them.

"I must say, for a group of lions you sure do look an awful lot like badgers" Hermione turned on her heel, struggling to stifle her smile as she rolled her eyes at Theo's antics. The rest of her group stood and watched with various expressions as the Slytherin sauntered over and swung an arm over her shoulders. Ron's eyes narrowed and his ears flushed red with anger while Ginny and Harry looked on with expressions of amusement and mild curiosity, respectively.

"Now Theo, don't be nasty" she chided him, but he simply ignored her and rested his chin on top of her head to look at her companions.

"I don't know what you're talking about 'Mione, I was being perfectly pleasant, dare I say even downright friendly." He gave her a smirk and a wink before he continued, gesturing to Ron and Harry. "Now would you be so kind as to introduce me to your friends?" He indicated both of them with his hands and his words, but Hermione noticed his eyes didn't wander from where he was staring at a very fidgety Harry.

"Don't be stupid Nott" Ron sneered from where he was standing beside his sister -who was rolling her eyes at his hostility- with his arms crossed in front of him defensively. "We went to school together for six years."

Theo seemed unaffected by Ron's animosity and simply grinned pleasantly and continued on in his usual cheerful tone she'd come to think of as uniquely 'Theo'.

"Extremely correct Ronald, unfortunately prior to his untimely and extremely welcome death, my father forbade me from interacting with anyone at Hogwarts who wasn't sporting a Slytherin uniform. You might find my newly-orphaned self much less prattish." Whatever Ron was about to say in response died on his tongue when Theo extended his hand and kept talking. "Theodore Nott Jr., I was secretly a huge fan of your older brothers' work while they were here, I was sorry to hear about Fred."

Ron mutely reached out and shook Theo's hand, all previous malice disappearing at the mention of Fred. With a nod Theo turned and extended the same hand to Harry, though his eyes seemed to have heated into more of a leer than a casual gaze as he met the other boy's green eyes.

"Ah and Britain's favourite saviour and boy-who-lived, it's a pleasure to officially make your acquaintance." It did not escape Hermione's -or Ginny's by the smirk on her face- notice the emphasis the Slytherin put on the word pleasure, nor did the blush that seemed to sprout on the golden boy's cheeks at his words. Harry recovered quickly though, and reached out to take Theo's hand, matching the boy's Slytherin-esque smirk with one of his own.