Rendezvous by Lemonstar

..Theodore/Hermione.. Even if she did ask him why he constantly pulled her into the dark alcove to kiss the breath from her lungs, she knew that he wouldn't give her a response. Not even he knew the answer.

..XX..

She never asked him why he constantly pulled her into the dark alcove hidden behind an intricately woven piece of tapestry of the Hogwarts crest.

She seemed to sense that not even he knew and her questions would simply go unanswered by him until he did figured things out for himself. It wasn't in her nature to go along with something – especially like this – without questioning it but for some reason, when she was with him, she remained silent and let this situation take its natural course.

He was taller than her – her head barely reaching his shoulder – and she had to nearly stand on her tip toes so he wouldn't have to crouch down so much to kiss her. She'd arch her neck and tip her head back and he would still have to bend down so their lips could meet and though she doubted that it was entirely comfortable for him, it never seemed to actually bother him.

He was also lean but when he pressed against her, she could feel the well-defined muscles that his robes successfully hid from everyone's eyes. His black hair was grown out shaggy, the strands touching the tips of his ears, and she discovered that she loved running her fingers through it, gripping it as he captured her against the wall and kissed her until she couldn't breathe.

He seemed to like her hair too, his hands burying in it, directing her head to where he wanted it to be, or playing with the ends of the curly strands that went to nearly the small of her back. She had always hated her hair though finally, upon their seventh year, it seemed to have calmed down immensely – the bushiness and wildness of it smoothing down until it fell in heavy thick curls and waves. Lavender and Parvati were most curious as to how she had managed it but she wouldn't dare tell them about the magically brewed shampoo that she had found that summer in Knockturn Alley of all places. Her friends would surely go mad if they discovered that prim and proper Hermione Granger, best friend to Harry Potter and one-third of the Golden Trio, would even look in Knockturn Alley's direction, let alone step foot in it.

Hermione was discovering though that there were many things her friends didn't know about her – this being one of the big examples. She didn't even want to try and imagine her friends' reactions if they saw her now.

She liked the feel of his lips on her and he didn't kiss at all how she had expected a Slytherin to. She would often stare at him as he sat with his other housemates in the Great Hall during meals, her eyes almost always becoming rather entranced with his lips – thin and a pale pink – that gave her such gentle yet hungry kisses, he usually always left her shaking afterwards.

She wondered if he watched her too. She had never caught him though and she supposed that he was able to control himself far better than she was. Or maybe, he didn't care to look at her and that was why he always pulled her into the dark alcove.

These secret trysts of theirs had been going on for nearly two months now and still, she had no idea what they were doing. Each time she thought to herself that she had to talk to him about it, the instant he pulled her into the alcove, her mind completely shut off and all she could do was feel him and kiss him and taste him – a taste of peppermint and boy that stayed on her lips for hours afterwards.

Voldemort had been defeated in an unexpected battle during their sixth year that gained Harry the new nickname of the boy who won and Ron and Hermione were both decorated as war heroes, never leaving Harry's side during the fight. When they returned to Hogwarts for their seventh year, things, thankfully, hadn't changed that much. Dumbledore resumed as Headmaster and Snape returned as Potions teacher. The ghosts continued causing havoc, the house rivalries were dealt with on the Quidditch pitch. Although most of their fathers were now locked away in Azkaban for being Death Eaters, the Slytherins remained just as cruel and snobby as ever.

Some things never changed – thankfully. Hermione welcomed the routine.

But this, sneaking off and snogging Theodore Nott, was not at all how things were supposed to be. Hermione didn't know what was going on between them or even if this was supposed to be constituted as anything. And she hated that she didn't know and anytime she thought to ask, she immediately lost all train of thought the instant he wrapped his arms around her and started kissing her.

They were both in the library one night while nearly the entire school was in the Great Hall, eating supper. She was sitting at her usual table in the corner, her quill a complete blur as she scribbled quickly on her parchment, researching on the Goblin Revolt of 1628. It was a fascinating subject and she already had two more feet for the report that was necessary.

Realizing however that she needed one more book to cross-reference some facts, she got up and began down the main aisle towards the desired stack where the desired book was located.

He stood in the very aisle she needed and for a moment, they looked at one another silently. They actually had never spoken to one another before. They knew who they other one was but that was the extent of their knowledge. She knew that he hung out with the likes of Malfoy and Zabini but also noticed that for the most part, he was usually almost always alone. His dark hair hung in his face but she could see his matching dark eyes flashing at her, wondering what she wanted.

Unlike Ron or Harry, who never had any patience when it came to the Slytherin house, Hermione reminded herself that she actually didn't know Theodore Nott and one of her new year's resolutions had been to not judge a person by their house. Everyone thought that they knew her without actually having a clue and she was now trying to extend the courtesy towards others that they never showed her.

He was quite handsome as they continued staring at one another. She wasn't sure why she thought such an inappropriate thing but she couldn't seem to help herself. He wore grey slacks and a white button down shirt with his green and silver tie hanging loosely around his collar. He was holding a book – the book that she needed but she couldn't decide whether or not he was done with it.

He moved then, his eyes still set on her, and he went to the bookshelf, lifting his arm to slide the book back to the empty slot where he had gotten it from.

"Wait," Hermione burst out louder than she had meant to, taking a step towards him. "That's the book I need." She swallowed a sudden dry lump that had formed in her throat as he continued staring at her intently. "Please?"

She expected him to start laughing or make a cheeky remark about a Gryffindor pleading with a Slytherin but he remained silent. Instead, he nodded and pulled the book down again and held it out for her to take. Hermione took another step forward and took it, wrapping her fingers around the spine but it was heavier than she, and her grip, had been expecting and as soon as he pulled his hand away, thinking she had a hold on it, her hand dropped from the sudden weight and it fell onto the floor with a resounding BANG! that echoed throughout the library like a muggle gunshot.

Hermione instantly felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment and she dropped down to collect the book but so did he and they grabbed it at the same time, their fingers touching. She lifted her eyes and nearly gasped with the intense stare he had fixed on her. No one had ever looked at her quite in that manner before but she seemed to know what it was the instant she saw it. Pure unadulterated lust. For her.

For her?

She quickly looked away, taking the book in both hands and picking it up, standing back on her feet and hugging the volume to her chest. She scurried away from him like she had done something wrong and without sitting down again, she gathered her things and left the library as quickly as possible. Her heart was pounding through her chest and her cheeks were still flushed. Why on earth would Theodore Nott be looking at her, Hermione Granger, like that?

She was still thinking about it the next night when, as head girl, she was patrolling the halls, barely noticing anything around her, let alone students out breaking the rules. She wasn't paying attention and she shrieked with surprise, not having time to grab her wand from the back pocket of the blue jeans was wearing, when a hand suddenly shot out from the alcove hidden behind the tapestry and she was pulled inside. She opened her mouth to scream or to demand who had grabbed her but then lips were molded to hers and she instantly found herself melting into the kiss.

"Lumos," the person whispered, barely removing his lips from hers and she noticed that he was holding a wand in one hand with the tip now glowing with the eerie bluish light and she looked at the boy who had accosted her with his lips.

"Theodore," she gasped with surprise and a hint of excitement but he didn't let her say anything further before he lowered his mouth to hers again and kissed her until she had no thought at all remaining.

And so it went for the next two months.

During the day, she would watch him, cast constant glances in his direction, but he never acknowledged even her existence until the night came and they both met in the alcove. They would cling to one another and kiss frantically as if it was the only thing to keep themselves from going mad.

She wondered how it was possible to like a person when they had never actually exchanged nothing more than a few words to one another but Hermione was fairly certain that she liked him. More than liked actually. She lived for the nights now, the days becoming just a mere inconvenience to how she really wanted to spend her time. She wondered if he craved her like she did him or want her as badly as she wanted him. She wondered, though she doubted he did, if he counted down the hours of the day until he could see her again.

Theodore was so quiet, such a mystery. Two months of snogging him for what felt like hours at a time and she still knew nothing about him.

It made her heart sag heavily when she thought about it. As much as she longed for nighttime now, a part of her also hated it, knowing that together, they would probably never see the light of the day. All they had was that alcove and musty smelling piece of tapestry and the faint light their wands provided. This was all they would ever have and it was evident that this was all he wanted with her. She didn't know why he had chosen her but he had and she both loved and hated him for it.

She wanted to ask him if he liked her, why he kissed her, why he did this with her, if she was the only girl in his life at the moment, but she never seemed able to – almost afraid of the answers. The irony was not lost on her. She had faced the most evil, dark wizard of all time and yet, she felt more fear thinking of asking Theodore her questions and hearing his answers. She had a feeling that she wouldn't like what he had to say.

So instead of talking, she kept wondering and running to the alcove each night to meet him and the instant his lips were on hers and his fingers were in her hair, all else was forgotten.

And for those precious hours every night, those were the times when Hermione realized that nothing would ever be the same again for she, somehow, had fallen in love with Theodore Nott.

..XX..

A/N: I still adore Marcus/Hermione but I wanted to write a completely random story – like this one – using another not at all developed character and Theodore was the lucky winner. Thank you for reading and please let me a review to let me know what you think. I am still uncertain if this is a one-shot or a multi-chaptered story. Depends on the reviews. Thank you very much in advance.