Friends, Enemies, and All the Broken People

16. The Weasley Dilemma

So this is kind of a longer chapter than usual as a reward for your patience and support. This chapter needed to do a lot of thing for our characters and I didn't want to torture you with a long wait.

Thanks to my lovely beta. Betawork done by etoiledelune. Also shoutout to my other WIPtember buddies for setting all the challenges to get me writing at a faster pace.

As always, thanks for being here!

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Theo had been feeling majorly neglected. Hermione would've liked to say that it had been subtle and her incredible perceptiveness is what clued her in.

But subtle was not in Theo Nott's vocabulary.

No. Words like dramatic, over-the-top, outspoken, and bold were more his style.

Which is why she was not surprised when he flung himself across from Hermione and Draco at breakfast and declared (yes, declared), "Have you two forgotten about me now that you're having insanely satisfying and regular sex?"

Draco seemed more annoyed than shocked himself. "No, my dearest darling Theo, we have not forsaken you simply because we have each other," he responded, voice oozing sarcasm.

"Oh thank Merlin! I was so worried that I'd forever be deprived of staring at your unnaturally pale skin and Granger's mass of unwieldy curls. Can you even imagine?!" Theo threw an arm over his eyes and his shoulders shook with fake sobs.

"And I thought Harry was dramatic with his whole 'it's always me. It has to be me!' nonsense," Hermione mumbled.

Daphne was the only one who seemed to have heard her and she began choking on her pumpkin juice. "You have to warn me when you're going to be sassy! I'm never prepared for it."

Theo and Draco had started arguing over which one of them Hermione would miss more if they both perished in a Quidditch accident. Hermione hoped that if she continued to ignore them that they wouldn't ask her to weigh in.

"Perhaps you should always be prepared for my sass then," Hermione smirked in response.

"Oh no, Draco is rubbing off on you," Pansy remarked as she sat next to Theo, ending the argument by grabbing Theo's chin and planting a quick kiss on his lips. "That smirk was very Malfoy-esque."

"Please don't adopt any of his other qualities. I can only deal with one mercurial sod at a time," Theo begged.

Hermione shook her head as she took in her new friends. She'd always had a good time with her Gryffindors but she couldn't imagine life without her Slytherins anymore. They were sarcastic and honest. Ridiculous and exasperating. But they were fierce in defense of their friends.

Not all that different from Gryffindor but it was something about their incredibly posh mannerisms that made it so much fun. It was like, she imagined, seeing Prince Harry on a night out or walking in on the Queen yelling about soggy-bottoms on Bake Off.

Utterly normal but so out of place with everything about how the rest of the world saw them.

"'Mione, can I talk to you for a second?" Ginny said, coming up to the table. Hermione started to nod before Ginny spoke again. "Alone, preferably."

Draco tensed beside her but she patted his thigh under the table. "Sure thing, Gin."

Hermione got up and gathered her stuff, Draco held up a lone croissant and she rolled her eyes before she took it. Draco turned his head to present his cheek for a kiss and she happily obliged while also messing up his perfectly styled hair that he'd spent fifteen good minutes on this morning.