The loud hacking sound coming from the office next to her interrupted her concentration, causing her to ruin the potion she was working on. Her annoyance at her ruined work warred with her worry over her work-neighbor. She never heard any sound coming from his office. When the sound did not dissipate, her worry overcame her annoyance and she decided to go make sure he was okay.

She quickly left her office and approached his office door. Dismayed to find it warded shut, she began to panic slightly as she heard the coughing getting more violent. Deciding this was an emergency and that she could waste no time, she shot a Blasting Curse at the door, blowing it off its hinges. Rushing into the office, she saw the occupant staring at her with wide eyes as he tried to control his coughing.

"Theo! Are you okay?"

He couldn't speak, instead just shaking his head in the negative.

"Oh my Merlin, are you choking? Hold on, I can help you," she said, knowing she sounded slightly shrill. She moved to stand behind him, wrapped her arms around his waist, and began to move her hands in a quick upward thrust. This accomplished nothing besides making him cough harder.

"It's okay, Theo. You're going to be okay," she said, trying to soothe him, thinking he must be scared.

"Gra… Granger. I'm fine."

The coughing finally having subsided, she dropped her arms and stepped away.

"Are you sure? You don't look so good."

"That's because I'm ill. Have been all weekend. I thought I would be fine but apparently not," he said, his voice low and gravelly from all the coughing.

"You're… ill?"

"Yes. You know, Granger, if you wanted to get your hands on me, all you had to do was ask."

"I… what? How dare you? I was just trying to help; I thought you were choking! The Heimlich Maneuver is a very effective way to dislodge an object stuck in the throat."

"If you say so. I think you just wanted an excuse to feel my abs. You know, you could have gone a bit lower if you wanted."

"Theo!" she yelled, her face quickly turning bright red.

"Don't deny it. We both know you fancy the pants off of me. In fact, I wish you would take my pants –"

"I do not fancy you!" she exclaimed, cutting him off before he could finish his sentence.

"Oh? So if I asked you to dinner, you'd say no then?"

She eyed him warily.

"Are you having me on?"

"Would I do that to you?"

"Yes."

"Granger! You wound me!"

"I highly doubt it is possible to do any damage to your obscenely big ego."

"That's not the only part of me that's –"

"Stop!"

He smirked at her obvious embarrassment and sent a wink her way. It was extremely hard not to melt into a puddle of goo. He was right, she did fancy him and if she was honest, she had for a while.

"So, what do you say? Now that I know you obviously want me as much as I want you, dinner tomorrow at eight?"

"You… you fancy me?"

"Really, Granger, I don't know how much more obvious I could have made it. But yes, I just happen to fancy you."

"I'd love to have dinner with you, Theo."

She was rewarded with a large smile at her words. They briefly discussed the details, and then she went to return to her own office when Theo called after her.

"Granger, don't forget to fix my door on your way out."

Cheeky git.

Thanks to Raybe for the beta duties!

Written for: The OTP Prompt Competition.
Pairing: Hermione/Theo
Prompt: [Scenario] We're neighbors and I hear you coughing like crazy so I accidentally knock down your door because I think you're choking. Wait, you're just sick? AU