Disclaimer: Not my characters.

This story is part of my Hermione/Theo mini-series entitled: Of Writing and Falling in Love. Each story/one-shot has a separate plot and characterisation from the others, dependant on the prompt I am given.

Prompt: Must use the phrase 'Post hoc ergo propter hoc.'

NB: This is NOT mean to be a fluid story, but snapshots of memories that describe the journey of Theodore and Hermione's relationship. This means that the lengths of chapter will vary, and there are time gaps inbetween each chapter.

Of Memories and Waiting.

1.

"Why do you wait for him?" Hermione looked up from her book with a frown.

"Why do I wait for whom?" The man looked at her quizzically, eyebrows puckering into a frown before answering her slowly, as if it was obvious.

"The freckled red-head." She gave a wry smile, fingertips sliding between the pages of her book and flicking the next one over.

"You'll have to be more specific I'm afraid – there are rather a lot of those around here." He took a step closer to her, reaching out his fingers to steal her book. She shifted slightly so he touched thin air. His tone became frustrated.

"You know exactly who I mean. The youngest male." A false look of understanding dawned on her face, and her fingers clicked as if the answer had just come to her.

"Oh, you mean Ronald?" He nodded. She shrugged. "I'm not waiting for him." The brown-haired man looked taken aback. Taking another step closer, he slid gracefully into the seat beside her. She wriggled slightly, a little uncomfortable with his closeness. His frown deepened when he noticed and moved the chair so there was more space between them. Hermione wondered about the touch of heat that flickered away from her after his move.

"Then why does everyone say that you are?" He seemed genuinely confused, so she placed down her book on the table carefully, before looking across at her questioner.

"Perhaps the same reason that results in most people here thinking that you believe in that pure-blooded spiel Mr Nott – you haven't disproved it." He sent her an unamused look, and her mouth twitched with the effort not to giggle. He inched his chair closer to hers, gaze boring hard into hers.

"But I never called you any names or bullied you at school. Surely that has to count for something?" She raised an eyebrow.

"True, but you have to think of it as guilt by association. Or I guess your situation could be described using the phrase;post hoc ergo propter hoc." Theodore smirked.

"Granger, sometimes I swear that you make things up just to see if lesser-intelligent beings believe you." A flash of his pre-war personality shone through in his teasing, and an almost smile graced Hermione's face. She replied flatly.

"You mean like freckled red-heads." He held his hand up in a gesture of surrender.

"Hey, you said it, not me." There was a pause as Hermione went to pick up her book again. Theodore plucked it out of her hands before dodging her flailing attempt at retrieving it. Hiding it behind his back, he smirked at her displeased expression and motioned for her to sit back in her seat. Blushing at her sudden proximity to him, she did so without a thought.

"Now now Granger, we haven't finished talking yet. Don't tell me that you've forgotten your basic manners already?" Eyes narrowing, she waited for him to continue. "Now, tell me what that little phrase of yours means and precisely how it relates to everyone – sorry, most people – avoiding me like I still carry the plague, then we can both be on our merry way." Rolling her shoulders back, Hermione relaxed in her at the familiarity of increasing somebody else's knowledge before answering him.

"Well, it's a flaw in human logic, literally translated as 'after this, therefore because of this.' When we see two scenarios occurring chronologically we automatically assume that there the second is a result of the first, when in reality the situation could be inverted – or there might be no correlation between the two." She paused for breath whilst Theodore absorbed the information he was given. "In your case people saw Malfoy talking, heard his pureblood elitist rubbish, falsely connected it with the fact that he was in Slytherin and hey presto – wrong conclusion drawn, 'all Slytherins must be pure-blooded fanatics interested only in 'their' kind's lives.'"

Theodore drew himself out of his chair and hesitated, looking at Hermione with unfathomable eyes. She held her breath – but was unsure as to why – before he brought a hand tentatively to her shoulder and held it there for a second, withdrawing it quickly and nodding at her.

"Thanks for clearing that up Granger."

And with those words he left her alone.

10/07/12