Perfectly in Pieces

Chapter 11: Theo

TW!! - depictions of rape, abuse.

____________________

She won't stop crying.

He doesn't have a lot of history with girls, let alone crying girls, and if he was being honest, her crying is making him nervous. His leg shakes up and down as he sits in the chair, watching her cry between her hands.

It isn't a pretty cry. No, Hermione is an ugly crier.

Don't say that, you idiot. You may not know much about girls, but telling them, they don't look good while crying sounds like it'll only lead to more crying.

How can he make it stop?

"Hermione, he is more than likely going to be okay. The safehouse raiding unit is one of the safest units in the Dark Lord's army. Pretty sure Draco knew that when signing us all up."

She sniffles, and Theo accio's a handkerchief over to her. She blows her nose. Not a delicate little blow, but what he imagines an elephant sounding like.

"Thanks." She wipes the back of her hand under both of her eyes even as the tears continue to come. "He signed you up for the job?"

Theo nods his head. "Yeah, signed us all up. The other jobs were less than appealing, ranging from enforcing the Dark Lord's beliefs and laws on children at Hogwarts to annihilating whole groups of people. Seriously, it has been months since we have done anything more than just sitting outside for hours watching nothing."

She blows her nose again, and Theo tries to hold back his grimace. "What happened before these last couple of months? What happens when the lead is right?"

He did not want to answer those questions. At least not sober.

"Do you mind if I drink?"

She looks at him and shakes her head. "No, I think I'm fine with that. Thank you for asking."

He accios a bottle of firewhiskey and a glass from the kitchen. He pours some into the glass, and downs the contents in one swig. It burns his throat and stomach, but he welcomes the painful distraction. He used to not be able to be around the stuff since some of his beatings, and near-death encounters occurred due to the use of the substance, but over the last year, he had found it didn't spark the fear in him it once did, and then when he had tried some for himself, he was hooked.

According to Draco and Blaise, he was a happy drunk, unlike his father.

"Can I have some?"

Theo looks across at Hermione, staring at the empty cup in his hands.

"You drink?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "Not all the time, no, but I have before. My two best friends were blokes, you know, and we spent almost a whole bloody year out in the woods together with a lot of boredom. Drinking became a way to pass the time and to make it more interesting."

Theo accios another cup, and she reaches for it after he pours the amber liquid in. She takes a sizeable impressive gulp, and he laughs when she grimaces as it goes down.

"Phew! It has been a while, though. Forgot how strong firewhiskey is."

"I have wine if you prefer it. But I want to hear about these drunk and interesting times with Potter and Weasley."

She smiles up at him and leans back in the chair, taking another sip. He pours himself some more. "Harry was a horribly silent drunk. Get more than three drinks in him, and he would go mute, just staring in one direction for minutes before blinking. And Ronald is an absolute tosser! He always gets pissed and ends up passing out, but not before having the worst mood swings I believe a person can ever have."