A/N: I of course disclaim any and all rights to Harry Potter or any of the music/paintings/poems that I referenced in this story. Warning for character death. This is a sort of dark story - nothing crazy though - that is based on the idea of Totentanz/Danse Macabre/The Dance of Death. I suggest looking up the paintings, listening to the song by Liszt and reading the poem by Goethe.

Updated for grammar and clarity on 10/26/15

Hermione sighed in relief once she made her way outside of the castle. The crisp October air was already setting a chill to her bones, but she welcomed it. There was a thick fog settling along the Hogwarts grounds, but she was still able to see. This was the exact reason why she loved autumn so much. The crispness, the changing colors, and the overall spookiness of the season. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by things that would have frightened her before she came to Hogwarts, like poltergeists, ghosts, spells, hexes, and of course the fact that she was a witch, there was something eerie and a little bit sinister about a nighttime fog in October.

She began walking away from the castle towards the Forbidden Forest. She happily took a bite out of the apple that was the only thing she was able to grab when she left dinner in a huff. You would think that being one third of the team who finally brought Voldemort to his knees would mean eternal happiness. Unfortunately for Hermione, this was not true.

She had returned to Hogwarts for the so-called eighth year to complete her education. Harry and Ron had dutifully joined her, despite being told that they could join auror training immediately. Things had seemed great for a time - she and Ron had decided to date after their impulsive kiss in the Chamber of Secrets. After seeing how many witches wanted to be with a war hero, though, Ron had drifted further and further away from Hermione, eventually suggesting that they go on a break. She insisted then that they were over - she wasn't just going to wait around for him to be done sowing his wild oats. He had reluctantly agreed, and she had watched him date a revolving door of witches over the summer, without so much a second thought to her.

That changed however, this fall when they returned to school. He had becoming incredibly protective of her and jealous of the boys she talked to, despite hooking up with Lavender on a regular basis. Tonight he told her that he "wouldn't allow her to allow Neville to look at her that way." He wouldn't give it up despite her constant reminders that Neville was very happily dating Hannah Abbott. It made her so mad that she just had to leave, had to get away from that red haired git!

Now that she had made it all the way to the forests edge, she wished that she maybe had a cloak. She had left in just a pair of skinny jeans tucked into brown leather boots and a large cream colored cable knit sweater. She faithfully sprayed the sweater with a spritz of her mother's perfume each time she wore it. When she removed her parents memories of her, she knew it would be permanent. Still, she wasn't ready to go in yet. She sat down on a large walk that overlooked the lake, watching the last rays of sunlight disappear on the horizon. Before long her apple was down to it's core and her fingers were sticky. Throwing the core over her shoulder, she began heading back in. She had been hiding out here long enough.

Standing up, she realized that the fog had become much denser while she was watching the sun set. Now there was no more light in the sky and it was getting darker by the second. The pleasant crunching the the multi colored leaves that blanketed the ground had become somehow sinister. She sped up her steps, and quickly realized that she heard another set of footsteps following behind her. Her fear quickly morphed from that fun, giddy kind of fear that people get when they go to a haunted house to the kind of fear that gripped her when they were sneaking into Gringott's.

She spun around, stopping completely. She heard the footsteps stop as well. "Lumos." She whispered quietly in the night, peering into the thick fog for a sign of any silhouette. "Show yourself!" She finally shouted. Slowing, the footsteps began again, and a giant figure emerged. "Oh! Firenze, it's you." She breathed out a sigh of relief seeing the familiar figure of her professor.

"I am sorry Miss Granger. I didn't mean to frighten you." He spoke in a crisp voice. He didn't question her about being away from the castle so late at night. "Please allow me to escort you back to the castle." It was more of a command, but Hermione was thankful for his offer. After the fright she had given herself, she didn't really want to walk by herself. The centaur had stayed on as the Divinations professor after the war, but he still lived in the Forbidden Forest. "Miss Granger, I am afraid that the stars have never been kind to you."

She smiled at the Divinations reference. "Well, maybe it's because they know I've never been kind to them. You know I've never had a knack for Divination." Hermione had approached Firenze about letting her sit in on one lesson with the third years to see if she had a knack for it under better tutelage than Professor Trelawney, but she just had absolutely no talent for it.

"Be that as it may, Miss Granger, you still have a destiny, and I am afraid that destiny is perilous for you." The large half-man had a concerned look on his face. They had reached the castle. "I just want to remind you, Miss Granger, love is very powerful, and with every great power comes great danger. Please, be careful."

She could feel her heart beating against her chest. "Well, that's rather vague, but I promise to be extra careful." She gave him a smile which he did not return. "Thank you for seeing me back safely." She walked in the huge oak doors, hearing them close behind her with a thud, but being inside the warm, light castle did nothing for her nerves. She just wanted to get back to her room as soon as possible.

Her steps quickened. By the time she was up the first three sets of stairs she was walking as fast as she possibly could to get back to the common room as soon as possible. As she was turning the corner near the library, she suddenly slammed into what felt like a wall. A very warm wall.

When she regained her bearings she noticed that she was on the ground, as was the "wall," with books strewn over the floor. "Oh, I am so sorry! I was walking so fast, and I didn't look where I was going." She looked up into the seemingly amused eyes of Theodore Nott. His eyes were bright green, the color of moss after a long rain. She was confused why he seemed to be happy to be bowled over by Hogwarts biggest bookworm. She blushed over his intense scrutiny, but then began busying herself by picking up the rather large stack of books he had been carrying. She stopped after seeing one book that really piqued her interest. "Oh, New Theory of Numerology! Harry gave this to me for Christmas. It was very useful. Some of the theories are really interesting, but I haven't had a chance to apply them yet." Hermione's smile grew bigger.

"Well, once I finish it I will have to let you know." His voice was deep and smooth. He never answered any questions in class so she had never really paid attention to his voice before. It made her feel giddy. Plus, she reminded herself, it was nice to talk to someone who actually had an interest in arithmancy, doing reading outside of class. Once all of the books were collected, Theo helped her stand up.

"I would really like that...none of my friends are taking arithmancy and it's my favorite subject-"

"Get your filthy Slytherin hands off of Hermione!" Hermione spun her head around and narrowed her eyes at Ronald Weasley.

Theo quickly let go of her arm, and gave her a small smile. "Of course. Goodnight Granger." He turned and walked away, starting to walk down the stairs to the dungeon.

Once he was out of earshot, Hermione let out an exasperated sigh. "I can't believe you Ronald! Nott wasn't doing anything to me. I literally ran into him and he dropped his books. I was just helping him pick them up." She gave him her sternest look, but he didn't seem to be phased by it.

The pair began walking up the stairs towards Gryffindor. "Well you didn't see it like I did, Hermione. You should have seen the way that he was leering at you!"

"Ugh!" Hermione was exasperated. "Not every boy at this school is trying to get in my pants Ron. Not Neville, not Nott, not anyone. And I don't really think you have permission to care. We aren't together and we aren't getting back together."

Ron seemed flushed with anger. "We could be together if you would just stop being stubborn about it."

Hermione was getting madder and madder by the second. "Listen, Ron, you were the one who decided you wanted to see other witches. I will date whoever I want and it's none of your business. You don't get a say any more Ronald." She locked her jaw and clenched her teeth so that she wouldn't say anything to end their friendship. She sometimes couldn't believe him. He was always on Lavender Brown as if he wanted her to be jealous. Well, it wasn't going to work. She could care less whose throat he stuck his tongue down. She did care about him blowing up every time a guy even looked at her.

Luckily, they reached the common room in record time and Hermione quickly ran up the stairs to the girls' dorms without staying to talk with anyone. She left Ron gaping at the bottom of the stairs.

The eighth year girls - just her, Lavender and Parvati - were in the seventh year dorm floor, but that only included Ginny Weasley. The rest of the girls in Ginny's year declined to return to Hogwarts after the war. Right now, it was blissfully empty, and Hermione laid down on her bed.

It only took a few minutes in the silence to forget about Ronald and his overreactions. Her mind soon wandered to Theo Nott. He was very smart, she knew that much. He was in all of her classes, taking as many N.E.W.T.s as she was. He was by far the tallest guy in their year, well over six feet tall. He was also skinny...but not skinny, more like, lithe, lean. His hair hair had been a dark blond when they were younger - not at all like Malfoy's - but over the years it had gotten darker and darker until it was a rich brown. But his best feature had to be his eyes. She hadn't looked at them until today, but they were a startling bright green.

She didn't know much more about him. She knew that his mother was dead long before they had started at Hogwarts and that his father had died during the War. He was a much older man, apparently the only surviving Death Eater from Voldemort's school days. She also knew that he wasn't one of Draco Malfoy's cronies, which was refreshing for a Slytherin. Otherwise, she just knew him as being rather quiet.

She rolled over on her side and began looking through the small bedside table to the right of her four poster. She pulled out her copy of the New Theory of Numerology. Opening it up to the first page, she began reading until she fell asleep.

It was Tuesday, four days after what Hermione was fondly referring to as "the incident" with Theo. She was oddly excited because it was her first Arithmancy class since she had talked to Theo. Although she wouldn't admit it to herself, she was kind of excited about seeing him, but she didn't know why.

She ate her breakfast at record speed and quickly rushed off to the classroom. Arithmancy was by far her best subject and so she had always enjoyed the class, but it was also a class that she didn't share with any of the Gryffindors. Shamefully, this made her enjoy it even more. It was enjoyable not to have to be helping someone with their homework in at least one of her classes. Also, everyone in this small class was very serious about their academics, which was a refreshing change.

Hermione was practically skipping by the time she got to the classroom. She didn't really know what she was hoping for. Maybe that Nott would glance at her, give her some kind of knowing nod. She was the first one in the classroom, there before even the professor. She still had about twenty minutes before class started, so to busy herself she pulled out her notes from the last lecture.

She was so absorbed in her reading, quietly biting her lip as she was known to do when she was concentrating, she didn't even look up when Professor Vector came into the room or when someone slid into the seat next to her. Padma Patil usually sat next to her. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed rather large hands, pale, and with long fingers. They were definitely not Padma's.

Glancing up, she gasped as she noticed that it was actually Nott sitting next to her. "Morning Granger. You left breakfast early."

Hermione blushed from the tips of her ears down to her toes. The fact that he had noticed her leaving made her heart race. She was glad that he had noticed her. She was afraid to examine why.

"Yes, well I wanted to read over my notes before class." Hermione bit her lip, looking at him. His green eyes seemed to be smiling, laughing at her. "Listen, Nott -" Hermione was about to apologize for Ron, but before she could, Professor Vector began lecturing.

Throughout the lecture, Hermione dutifully listened to the lecture, but she couldn't forget Nott's presence next to her. She felt each and every muscle in her body tightening so as not to accidentally brush against him while taking notes. When the lecture was over, Hermione hurried herself with putting her things into her bag. Maybe she could apologize to him on the way towards the Great Hall, but when she turned towards his seat, he was already gone. She tried to mask her disappointment. It didn't work.

While everyone else was spending their day in Hogsmeade, Hermione was making her trip back from Hagrid's. He had spent a long time cultivating a pumpkin for her over the season. Well, more than one pumpkin actually. She had been shocked when she saw the humongous pumpkin sitting in front of his house. She should have known that Hagrid had a love of all things large, so she really shouldn't have been surprised by the giant pumpkin...but still, she was relieved when he showed her her actual pumpkin. It was much more reasonable - still large, but she was easily able to carry it.

She was excited to get the back to the Room of Requirement to partake in one of her favorite Halloween pastimes - making a jack-o-lantern. It had been such a long time since she had made one, what with the war and all. And she couldn't think of a better time to make one, when there would be no one around to look for her, bother her. Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Lavender had all made their way down to Hogsmeade after breakfast. There was no way she was going to be a fifth wheel on that wagon.

The castle was completely quiet except for the wind that beat against each window. She quickly made her way up to the seventh floor, looking for that old familiar tapestry. Once she stood in front of it, she walked back and forth, wishing for a place to carve her pumpkin.

When she entered she gasped at what she saw. It was her house. Or her old house rather. Before her parents, not remembering that they ever had a daughter, sold it and moved to Australia. She smiled though, the house was just like she had left it - warm, inviting, and it had everything right where it belonged. This would be the perfect escape for her. She walked through the living room into the kitchen. They were connected by open double doors, making it seem like nearly one room.

She set the pumpkin down on the table and cleaned off the exterior. She then cut off the top and got out a large metal spoon from the same drawer they had always been kept in. Scooping out all of the guts of the pumpkin, she put them into a colander in the sink. Moving her hands within the mixture of seeds and pulp, she slowly removed all of the seeds and placed them on a cookie sheet, an old favorite. Once her pumpkin seeds were seasoned and placed in the oven, she returned to her pumpkin.

She smiled. The room had just put on one of her father's old records - I Put A Spell On You. She had always been frightened of the song when she was younger, the lyrics always possessive and wild and terrifying to think that someone could do that. It was ironic to her now that she could actually perform spells. Hermione picked out one of the knives from the block on the counter and began carving the pumpkin. She had just finished one of the pumpkin's triangle eyes when she heard someone enter the room.

Spinning around, knife still in hand, she looked at the intruder. "Oh! Nott, it's just you!" She relaxed her arm so that the knife was no longer pointed at him like a weapon. "You gave me a fright. We really must stop meeting this way."

"What are you doing?" He asked, warily eyeing the knife that was still in her hand.

"Oh, I, um, I am making a jack-o-lantern." She replied, stepping aside to show him the pumpkin. "It's a muggle Halloween tradition. We usually leave them outside our front doors." Her pumpkin was currently looking rather wonky with only one eye cut and no candle inside it to give the full effect.

He nodded. He was standing awkwardly in the middle of the room, like he didn't know what to do with himself.

"And what brought you to the Room of Requirement today?" Hermione asked, curious as to what he was doing, still standing in her...house?

"Well, I was going to do some studying. This place usually has books that the library doesn't." He replied casually, without a hint of disappointment.

"You'd rather spend your day studying than out at Hogsmeade?" Hermione asked, completely in shock that someone else besides her would rather spend their spare time studying rather than spending time running around Hogsmeade. Her friends had always made her feel horribly guilty about it.

Nott snorted. "And what, hang out with Crabbe and Goyle? Zabini's alright, but not too keen to talk about much besides Quidditch. And Malfoy, Merlin, you would think that the war would have taught him some humility, but he's just as big headed as he always was." He took a deep breath and then began to backpedal. "Not that they aren't my friends - they are - its just that sometimes...I need a break." He rubbed his hand on the back of neck. "But I can see that the Room is in use, so I can just head to the library."

"No! Stay!" Hermione said quickly. She blushed instantly. "I mean, I don't mind if you stay here. It won't bother me. If you wanted to do a little bit of studying." Hermione was so embarrassed. She was definitely rambling, but the idea of him leaving made her feel upset. She had no idea why she was turning into a pile of mush around him. Or why she wanted to spend time with him.

But she would have to face the facts soon. She was attracted to him on a physical level. And she was starting to like him as a person as well.

"Alright, if you don't mind." Nott sat down on her couch and pulled out a few large books and set them down on the table. "And why are you not at Hogsmeade Granger? Besides muggle traditions, of course. I thought the Weasley siblings would be taking you and Potter on a double date." He asked nonchalantly.

Hermione smirked. "Ha, no, same as you. Although they are my friends, sometimes they can be a little...overbearing. Ron and I aren't together, but I still don't want to see him and Lavender make out for several hours."

"Ahh. Are you sure you two aren't together? He seems rather possessive of you." Nott commented, trying to make it seem off hand. He didn't want to see too interested in her relationships.

"Yes, well, I have been meaning to apologize to you about the other week. He was really out of line, saying you had your dirty Slytherin hands on me. I tried to explain that I was just helping you pick up some books, but he seems convinced that you are interested in me romantically." Hermione said, realizing her mistake after it had already been stated. She quickly turned and began taking the pumpkin seeds out of the oven.

"And what if I was interested in you romantically? What would Weasley do?" Was she imagining things or did she detect a hint of hopefulness in his voice?

Hermione was glad she was turned away from him so he didn't see the smile on her face. "Ronald doesn't have a say in who I am involved with romantically." She was sure though that you could hear the smile in her voice.

Nott cleared his throat. "So where are we exactly?" He asked, looking around the homey interior of the Room of Requirement.

"This is...or was I suppose, my home. Where I lived when I wasn't at Hogwarts." She replied quietly. She hadn't really had this conversation with anyone yet. No one had bothered to ask.

"Won't you move back here after school? Until you can find a job of course." Nott asked.

Hermione sighed, sitting down in the chair next to the couch. "Well, when it became clear to me that Harry, Ron and I had to go on the road, looking for horcruxes, I knew that my parents would become targets. I had to...obliviate them of all memories of me. I also left a suggestion in their brains that they had always had an intense desire to move and go to Australia. They did." Hermione found it hard to swallow.

Nott just nodded. "But, why can't you just go find them now?"

Hermione felt tears forming in her eyes. "I did too good of a job with the obliviate." Hermione blinked, forcing the tears to recede. She wasn't going to cry in front of Nott. She barely knew him, and it was embarrassing. "There is no way to retrieve the memories. I am an orphan now." Despite her resolve, her voice still cracked. "Sorry, I haven't talked with anyone about this yet." She revealed.

Nott just nodded and sat in silence for a while. "It gets easier." He said finally, quietly. "Being an orphan."

Hermione was shocked that he was sharing this with her. She had heard from the rumor mill that he didn't want to talk to anyone about his father's death, but here he was, talking about it with her. It made her feel better just to talk about it with someone who understood what she was going through. "What was it like? Losing your father?" She asked, her voice equally quiet.

He was silent for a while, contemplating how to explain it to her, but then he cleared his throat. "To explain that, I need to take you to one of my favorite places in Hogwarts."

Hermione nodded, standing up. Leaving her pumpkin on the table, she stood up and followed Nott out of the Room of Requirement. He took her down to the Six Floor and they began walking down the corridor until they reached the door which lead into the Glanmore Peakes' Corridor. When they made it into the corridor, Nott absentmindedly grabbed her hand to guide her. He was walking quite quickly. She tried to ignore the butterflies that came with seeing her small hand enveloped in his larger one.

They walked through the corridor into the East Wing. He lead her through a door that she never would have noticed. The hallway that they entered was rather narrow and old. It was quite eerie and Hermione realized that she was totally alone with Nott. The castle was almost completely empty, but this hallway was...totally unknown. It was as if it had never been seen by a witch or wizard. She knew that it wasn't on the map. Finally, after what seemed like ages, they came across a door, which Nott opened.

Hermione was shocked by what she saw. There was a huge mural across one of the walls. But otherwise the room was empty. "It's called The Dance of Death."

Hermione let go of his hand, reluctantly, and began to walk closer. It was a collage of pictures, of all kinds of people, walking with Death. The old, the young, the rich, the poor, the priest, the clergyman.

While she was observing the painting, Nott began talking. "My father was in his fifties when he married my mother. She was sixteen when they married and I was not born much later. They were never happy together. My father was a notorious philanderer. And she was holed up in a big empty house, more or less alone, not allowed to leave. I was five years old when she died. I found her..." He trailed off for a moment, and his eyes unfocused as if he was remembering it. "He never told me how she died, but I am pretty sure that she just stopped trying. Still, he was largely to blame. They fought constantly and it was their only interaction."

He walked towards the picture to stand beside her. Hermione was so intrigued by his story and the painting. "My father and I never had a close relationship. We didn't have any of the same interests and he never tried to forge a relationship with me. I was just apathetic about his death." His voice had none of the same nostalgia that he'd had when talking about his mother.

"But how? He is your father. You didn't feel anything?" Hermione asked, looking at him, surprised.

"I found this room the second year I was at Hogwarts. Before I found the Room of Requirement, I spent my alone time wandering the castle. This painting helped me accept and understand my mother's death. Everyone will die. Death comes for everyone. You cannot hide from him, not if you are a child, not if you are old, not if you have all the wealth in the world." His voice was barely above a whisper.

Hermione was particularly entranced by one picture. It was a completely naked young woman, being embraced from behind by the skeletal figure of Death. The embrace was sexual, and she seemed to writhe in his grasp from pleasure. She felt a shiver go up her spine when Theo whispered close in her ear. "Even the virginal maiden will die."

Hermione tore her eyes away from the painting and stared into Nott's bright green eyes. They didn't say anything for a while, just looked at each other. Hermione was shocked. She had only known Nott for a few days and already she felt like he understood her better than anyone she knew. Nott looked out the window. "We should leave. If you don't leave before sunset, the armor won't let you leave the corridor."

He took her hand again, this time with full intention, and he lead her back to the Room of Requirement. She felt an overwhelming sense of catharsis entering her bright, cheery home again after being in that dark, untouched room. She also felt very close to Nott. How was it possible that he was the only one who'd asked about her parents?

Wordlessly, he had sat back down on the couch in her house, and she began carving the pumpkin again. While she was working, Nott had gotten up and began playing a song on the piano in her living room. It was one she recognized. "Franz Liszt. Totentanz." She said, and noticed him smiling out of the corner of her eye. It was an eerie and dark song, but at the same time it was somehow comforting for her, and it was perfect for the season.

"The Dance of Death." He replied, amused.

"How is it that you are familiar with Liszt?" She asked, listening to dark after dark note. She couldn't help but think that it fit the mood of the painting perfectly. She watched his fingers dance along the keys. They seemed impossibly long and graceful.

"Granger, you of all people should know that Liszt was a wizard." He saw her scoff. "Aren't all of his performances described as...magical?" He smirked at her, and she blushed. She supposed she wasn't certain that Liszt wasn't a wizard.

When the song was over, Hermione had finished her pumpkin and they both knew that it was time to return to their separate lives. They walked towards the door, Hermione with the large pumpkin in her hand. "Granger -"

"Hermione." She cut him off. "Please call me Hermione."

He smiled at her. "Then will you call me Theo? You were right, the book was useful. I wouldn't mind exploring some Arithmancy with you."

Before she had time to respond that she would enjoy it as well, Theo leaned down and pressed his lips against hers. He pushed one of his hands into her hair, pulling her closer to him, their bodies separated by the pumpkin. Hermione sighed into the kiss, surprised by how right it felt to have their lips meet. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip, and then pulled away. "See you in class, Hermione."

When Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room, her friends were waiting for her. "Hello Hermione, we were just about to go to dinner. Want to walk down with us?" Ginny asked, cheerily, holding Harry's hand.

"Sure, just let me put my jack-o-lantern upstairs. I will be right back down." Hermione replied, unable to remove the smile from her face.

When she had disappeared up the stairs Harry commented, "Hermione seems very happy tonight."

Ginny smiled. "I think Hermione found a guy." Ginny was happy for her friend. She was always much too focused on school work and this would be a good distraction for her.

Ron, however, violently pulled away from Lavender. He was not happy about this. Not one bit.

Hermione had a bounce in her step for the rest of the week. Although she hadn't spoken to Theo again since their brief kiss, whenever he saw her in the hallway he gave her a smile that made her feel so warm and wanted.

Since the kiss, Ron had been annoyingly close to her. He was spending time in the library when she studied, continuously offered to walk her to class, and always sat too close to her at meal times. It was driving her crazy. The library was particularly upsetting because he would sigh the whole time she was there. Whenever she suggested he head back to the common room, he would become very accusatory, and ask her if she was meeting someone.

Ginny and Harry were apologetic about it, but she just couldn't shake Ron and it was getting very annoying.

But it was a delightful surprise then, on Friday morning, when Theo approached the Gryffindor table. Hermione was thoroughly engrossed with a rather large book, trying to ignore Ron's loud quidditch conversation which was interspersed with his constant eating.

"Granger." Hermione looked up from her book and saw Ginny's shocked face looking behind her. Hermione quickly spun around to see how came to speak with her.

"Oh. Hello Nott. Can I help you?" She only used his last name because he used hers, but she desperately wanted to call him Theo. Using their first names was like a secret nickname that only they knew about. Of course that wasn't true, though.

"I just wanted to let you know I spoke with Headmaster Snape's portrait and he agreed to let us use his personal library for our Muggle Studies project." Theo said, cooly. "He said we should use it tomorrow after classes so that he can supervise."

Hermione looked at Theo perplexed for a moment, but then quickly recovered, smiling. Headmaster Snape had been killed in the final battle, but they had kept his library and personal study in tact. He was extremely selective about who he allowed in though.

"Really? He will only let you use it Friday night?" Ron asked Nott rather rudely.

"Yes, apparently even as a portrait he still has no sense that students might like to do something else on a Friday night besides studying." Nott responded with an annoyed sigh, though when he let his green eyes dance over Hermione's face again, she knew he wasn't nearly as broken up about it as he was pretending.

"Sounds great Nott. See you then." Hermione quickly hid her smile, but when she made eye contact with Ginny, she knew her friend knew. Ginny was the only one they knew who was taking Muggle Studies. There was definitely no project. But Ginny gave her a smile, letting her know that she wouldn't tell.

Hermione could barely get through dinner thinking about being alone in a private library with Theo for however long that they would be there. She was also giddy about getting to explore Snape's numerous books.

She had made sure to wear a clean uniform and a black lace bra and underwear. Not that she thought anything was going to happen, she did want to feel sexy around Theo. She hoped that something would happen. She had taken extra time on her makeup, which was subtle, but Ginny had noticed and told her that she looked very pretty.

Once she had finished her stew, which warmed her up from the cold weather outside, she stood up and made her way out of the Great Hall. She stood right outside of the giant oak doors which guarded the large room. It took only two minutes for Theo to come out of the Great Hall. "Hello." She said, smiling.

He appeared surprised. "Waiting for me, Hermione?"

"Yes, I thought it would be easier for us to just walk to Professor Snape's together." She looked at him, excited that he appeared to be as eager as she was to spend some time together. He didn't have his robe on so she could fully appreciate his form. His silver and green tie had been loosened, but it was still tucked under the gray sweater vest that he wore over the white button down shirt. She didn't know if it was because she was so attracted to the green eyed Slytherin, but he seemed to make the uniform look really good.

His eyes seemed to be smiling and she noticed he was smirking at her. She blushed bright red. She couldn't believe he had noticed her checking him out, and that he didn't seem to mind. "Shall we head down then?" Hermione just nodded and they began the walk down to the dungeons.

When they made their way down the steps, Theo started talking. "Sorry about the ruse I had to pull, I am glad that you went along with it." He said with a smile. They reached the door that marked the entrance to Professor Snape's office. He whispered the password, and held the door open for her. "I've been...wanting to spend a little more time with you, but it seems that you have a new guard dog whenever you are in the library."

"Yes, Ron has been unusually annoying lately. He keeps asking me if I am planning on meeting someone, and that's why I don't want to spend time with him..." She smirked, thinking about the fact that she in fact did have someone to meet now. "It's so annoying, he is jealous, but we are never going to be an item again. We tried that once and he said he'd rather see other witches and eventually settle down with me, as if I would be cool with that."

Theo had a scowl on his face. She hoped that he wasn't put off by her relationship issues. She quickly changed the subject. "So, Theo, what is our project meant to be on?" Hermione asked, looking around the room. There was a crackling fireplace in the room, which was nice because the dungeons were always quite chilly. The walls were floor to ceiling books. Hermione had never seen so many books before. "This is so amazing, I hope I have a library like this someday."

"Yeah, Professor Snape was rather nice to allow us to use it. I do want to spend time with you, but I will admit that this does have a little bit of an academic purpose to it. I was hoping that you could tell me more about the Salem Witch Trials." Theo replied, running his fingers through his hair, a sign that he was nervous.

"Why of course I can!" Hermione walked over to the bookshelves and quickly found one that she was looking for, thanks to Professor Snape's impeccable organizational skills. She then sat down on one of the plush couches. Theo flopped down next to her. Hermione opened the book and began explaining, answering all of Theo's questions dutifully.

After a while, Hermione had noticed that Theo put his arm on the back of the couch, around her shoulder. He was leaning against her to see the book, his warm body brushing up against her. It excited her to feel the hardness of his body compared to the softness of her own. She turned her head to look at him and she found him staring at her instead of looking down at the book. She took a deep breath, trying to contain the shudder that was threatening to move throughout her body. "The thing that strikes me the most about the Salem Witch Trials is how quickly good people can do such evil things. All that death..." She trailed off.

Theo swallowed. She watched his adam's apple bounce down and back up, and she thought about her lips trailing over the column of his neck. "But remember, Hermione, we are all going to die at one point or another. There is no point in worrying about it. You should just live for the now." With that statement, his head dipped, and his lips pressed against hers.

The kiss was lazy and his lips were warm against hers. He slipped his hand up into her curls and pulled her closer to him. Theo sucked her bottom lip in between his and nibbled on it, giving her shivers up and down her spine. She felt his tongue caress the seam between her lips and so she sighed, allowing it to enter her mouth, coaxing her tongue to move against his. Hermione had been kissed before, but nothing like this. This made her feel heady, drunk with desire. She put her hands against his chest, pulling him closer, so that she could feel him pressed against her. His weight felt delicious.

Theo gently eased her back so that she was resting against the arm of the couch. She felt him bring one of his hands down from her head and to her uniform shirt. She felt him bring his fingers up to the buttons and deftly slip the button through the hole. And then another. And then another.

She felt the cool air hit her exposed decolletage and goosebumps rise on her chest. She shivered, but she knew that it wasn't from the cold. She wanted this, him, it felt like more than she had ever wanted anyone. She felt so connected to Theo. He removed his lips from hers and looked down at her. "Merlin, Hermione. You look...beautiful." Before she had time to respond, he dipped his head down and began kissing her neck, leaving red marks - love bites - on her collarbone.

Hermione allowed her fingers to tangle in his short dark hair, holding him to her neck, sighing into his ear. She felt him shiver when her hot breath traced over his neck. She felt powerful with him, that she was able to drive him to desire. One of his hands reached up and began caressing her breast through her bra. They both made a small noise of pleasure when he felt her nipple pebble and tighten under his deft fingers.

"Ahem." Came a voice from the corner. Theo and Hermione ripped apart and looked around. Their eyes settled on a painting of Headmaster Snape in the corner of the room. "Mister Nott, when you requested use of my library, I understood that there were some romantic intentions involved, but I really must draw the line at second base." Hermione blushed so brightly, sloppily buttoning up her uniform shirt and straightening out her skirt. "Also, it is nearly curfew. You should head back to your separate common rooms." Hermione and Theo nodded.

Leaving the room, Theo walked her to the stairs out of the dungeon. He seemed just as flustered as Hermione did about getting caught by Professor Snape, but at the same time, she felt that he wouldn't have any qualms about doing it again. "I had a lot of fun studying with you." He said with a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling in humor. "Say, Hermione. I was thinking...about the Halloween dance. Would you save a couple of dances for me?"

Hermione swallowed and nodded. Hogwarts had a traditional Halloween dance, but it was much more casual than the Yule Ball. However, it was still a well needed and deserved night of "well mannered frivolity" for the students and everyone would dress up in costumes. "Yes, I would love that. Maybe we should dress up as a 17th century American witch and wizard."

"I would like that. Perhaps afterwards we could go looking for the Devil in the Forbidden Forest." That thought made Hermione bite her lip to keep in a small noise of pleasure that she would have made at the notion. She couldn't think of any other way to spend Halloween night with Theo. He seemed to have a penchant for the macabre, as did she this time of year. "Goodnight Hermione." Theo bade her, placing one last lazy kiss on her lips, before turning towards the Slytherin common room.

Hermione was practically skipping up the stairs out of the dungeon. When she made it to the first floor she was completely shocked by someone grabbing her. She looked around and saw that it was none other than Ronald Weasley. "Ron! You frightened me!" She noticed he had somewhat of a crazy look in his eyes.

"Hermione. What do you think you were doing?" He asked, completely serious, no sign of humor in his blue eyes.

"Theo and I were working on a project for Muggle Studies, Ron, you knew that." Hermione insisted.

"No, what were you doing letting him kiss you. Don't you realize that he is just playing with you - taking advantage of you! Don't you think that he is running back to Slytherin right now to tell Malfoy and Zabini and all those other snakes about how far Mudblood Bookworm Granger puts out?" Ron had a steely quality to his voice.

She didn't want to admit it but hearing Ron use the word Mudblood upset her, even though she wanted to prove that words couldn't hurt her. Worse, she hadn't thought about what Theo's intentions might be, if he was just using her. It did seem rather sudden. And it was a little bit surprising to her that someone as good looking as Theo would be interested in her. She hadn't sat down and looked at the big picture once, too overcome by his green eyes. "I-I-"

Ron cut her off before she could stutter out a sentence in rebuttal. He slammed her back against the hard, cold stone of the wall. "Remember, Hermione, you are mine and only mine. I will have you."

"Ouch, Ron! You're hurting me." Hermione told him and he eased his grip on her arms and let her down from the wall. They walked back in silence to the Common Room. Ron was making her more and more nervous. She had realized that he must have some kind of latent feelings for her, but at this point he should have moved on. His behavior was bordering on the obsessive.

When they returned to the common room, Hermione went straight up to the girl's dorms, not saying anything to Ron. Ginny was waiting on her bed, reading Witches Weekly. The room was empty except for the redhead. She looked up seeing Hermione enter and quickly shut the magazine. "Tell me EVERYTHING Hermione Granger you naughty girl!"

Hermione couldn't help but smile, setting her book bag down. She needed a little girl talk, especially after what Ron had told her. She sat down on her bed. "Well, I ran into Theo and he accidentally dropped all of his books, which got us starting to talk about Arithmancy. Then on the last Hogsmeade trip, I was in the Room of Requirement and he happened to stop by, and we talked and...he kissed me." She smiled. She felt giddy, sharing this. "We tried to spend time together...just in the library and such, but Ron wouldn't leave me alone."

"And so he thought up a wonderful Muggle Studies project in a private professor's room so that Ron couldn't interrupt you even if he tried! It's so devious. So Slytherin!" Ginny took in Hermione's appearance. The buttons on her shirt didn't match up and she looked thoroughly kissed. "And it looks like you used your time wisely!" Ginny wiggled her eyebrows. "I thought I told you to tell me everything..."

Hermione giggled and proceeded to tell Ginny about what transpired in Professor Snape's office including Professor Snape interrupting them, which of course led to a fit of giggles. Hermione then told Ginny what Ron said about Theo using her, although she left out the part about his threat. "Hermione, Ron is obviously desperate to get you back so I wouldn't take what he has to heart too much. Also, who cares if Theo is just looking for a kiss or two. So are you! You are a gorgeous, smart witch and perhaps it is you who is taking advantage of Theo! If you both like each other as more than just a kiss here or there then that's all the better." Hermione nodded. She hadn't thought about that at all. It made her much more comfortable, but she still thought she would ask Theo what was going on between them. "Now. Tell me what you are going to wear to the Halloween dance!"

Hermione had found the most perfect spot in the library. It was up on the second floor in the stacks and up a second staircase into a mezzanine level. She was positive that Ron wouldn't be able to find it. She highly doubted that it was located on the Marauder's Map because even she was unaware of it's existence and she loved the library. She had subtly told Theo about it and he found her little corner of the library. There was a window seat with a comfy cushion and a desk that they could both sit at.

They met there everyday for the whole week, spending half of their time studying and half of their time snogging, going a little bit further each time. Finally on Thursday, when they were sitting in the window seat, she pushed him away slightly, looking into his confused green eyes. She could spend most of her time just looking into his eyes. She was lovesick.

"Theo, I have to ask, what are we doing?" Hermione had finally gotten all of her Gryffindor courage together to ask what she'd been wondering. She did love just having a snog with him, but she wondered if they could have more.

Theo ran his hand through his chestnut brown hair, in a motion that was now familiar to her. "Well, I mean, I thought it was obvious. I really like you Hermione." He told her, honestly. He had a faint blush on his cheeks and it only served to endear him even more to her.

Hermione smiled. "I really like you too Theo." She responded. "It just all seems so fast. I haven't felt this way about anyone else before." She wanted to be as honest with him as possible. She knew that he could crush her feelings in a moment if he wanted to.

"I agree. I've gone from being painfully attracted to you, to actually learning about you, to...fuck, snogging you in the library. I know you understand me better than any of my friends in Slytherin...and I want to see where this goes." He kissed her forehead again. Then he kissed the tip of her nose and finally her lips. His lips felt hot and moist against her's and they fell into an easy rhythm that was familiar to them both.

Hermione pressed her body as close as possible to his, moving to straddle him. She sighed in relish feeling his hardness pressed against her core, separated only by his pants and her panties. She felt his hands reach under her uniform skirt to rest on her firm behind. This was by far the furthest that they had ever gone, and Hermione only wanted to take it further.

She reached behind her, fumbling around on the table, trying to find her wand. She finally got a hold of it and began wordlessly putting up silencing and notice-me-not spells, despite the fact that they had never seen one other person up here. She figured the only thing more embarrassing than getting caught by Headmaster Snape's portrait would be getting caught by Madame Pince.

Theo stopped kissing her. "Hermione, what are you doing?" He asked. He quickly started placing a trail of kisses down her neck and onto her collar bone and further down.

"Can't you tell?" Hermione asked, with a hint of laughter in her voice. She ground her center down against his lap, enjoying the sound of his involuntary moan. "I want to go all the way." She whispered, trying to appear confident in herself.

"Here, in the library?" He asked between kisses.

Hermione took his face in her hands and kissed him soundly on the lips. "Yes, I want you to be my first." She dove in for another kiss, but was unable to, when Theo's hands shot up and grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from his face, holding them at her sides, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"No, Hermione." Was all he said. It was so hard for him to utter the words, but he did.

"What, don't you like it?" Hermione suddenly felt incredibly self conscious. Was she bad at kissing?

"Yes, of course I like it! I think you can feel that I like it. But I can't let you have your first time in a library, on the spur of the moment. You need to make sure that you want it." He tried to reassure her. He was doing the right thing, but he felt awful seeing how it made her doubt herself, how beautiful she was to him.

Hermione wriggled insistently against him. "I know that I want it! I am sure that I won't regret it. Please Theo, I like you so much." She was pleading, begging him to understand.

"Hey, I didn't say that I wouldn't! It's just..." Theo took a deep breath. "You need something more special then in the library on only a moderately comfortable bench. I know somewhere we can go." He saw her face brighten and she tried to lean in and kiss him, but he stopped her. "And not today. Halloween. That way we can get away for a while." There was only so much a bloke could take before he embarrassed himself in front of her.

Hermione sighed and nodded. Although she was frustrated, she knew she should be happy that he was being so considerate. She gave him one last kiss on the lips and slid off of his lap and began disassembling her wards.

"You're really a virgin?" He asked her slyly, noticing her blush. She just nodded. "I would have thought Weasley or Krum..."

"Viktor? I was fourteen Theo!" She was shocked.

Theo just laughed at her. "Hey, I was fifteen. Plus he's an international Quidditch star. Don't most girls go for that?"

"Most girls." She smiled. "But not me."

Hermione glanced down at her outfit. She wasn't sure how historically accurate it was after some of the...adjustments Ginny had made, but she still liked it. She doubted very much anyone would be able to tell. She wore a long dress, which touched the floor, over a ruffled petticoat. The dress was a kind of oatmeal color. She wore a blue apron over the top of it. She also wore a kind of corset and Ginny insisted on tightening it. She wanted Hermione to show off her cleavage.

Hermione was embarrassed, but looking herself in the mirror, she appreciated her friends effort. Ginny and Harry had decided to go as Ariel and Prince Eric - an idea that Harry had suggested. Hermione thought it was cute that they were going as Disney characters, it was definitely original for the wizarding world. She was sure that Ron would flip when he saw Ginny's revealing outfit, though, which would give her time to slip down to the Great Hall, unnoticed.

As the pair walked down the stairs, what she predicted was true. Harry and Ron were standing by the fireplace. As soon as Ron saw Ginny come down the stairs, he immediately marched over to her, grabbing her arm, trying to transfigure her costume. Unfortunately for him, Ron was not very good with transfiguration and Ginny was very adept with her Bat Bogey Hex. Hermione smiled and walked over to Harry. "Harry, I am going to head down to the Great Hall."

Harry smiled and nodded, but before she could leave, he asked her, "Is he treating you right? Ginny said you found a guy. I have noticed that you have been a lot happier this month."

Hermione was a little bit shocked that Ron hadn't told Harry about Theo. "Yes he is. He is making me very happy."

"Are you going to tell me who he is?" Harry was genuinely curious. Ginny had been very tight lipped, though he suspected she knew the mystery man's identity.

"Ha, so you can intimidate him? I think not Harry Potter. You can see us together tonight and interrogate him tomorrow about his intentions with me. Just, let me have this night." Hermione smiled and Harry nodded. "See you three in a little bit."

When Hermione left the Common Room, she nearly ran down to the Great Hall. She was very excited for the dance. She hadn't been this excited for a dance since the Yule Ball. When she walked down the grand staircase, she saw Theo waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs. She couldn't help but smile, seeing his outfit. It was less Puritan and more riding attire. He was wearing tan britches and dark boots, with a loose white linen shirt tucked in. It had lacing at the color that was only partially done up, leaving an exposed patch of chest. He was very handsome.

She skipped down the stairs and he kissed her on the lips. This surprised her. Although they had been seeing each other in secret, neither of them had brought up making it public. However, it seemed like Theo no longer cared about keeping it secret. "You look beautiful." He said, and his honesty was reflected in his green eyes. "Shall we go in?"

Hermione nodded and allowed him to lead her into the Great Hall. It was decorated wonderfully, but kind of in a child's idea of Halloween. Huge bowls of candy were placed on every table. Cobwebs were draped everywhere and the Weird Sisters were playing. There was a mass of people on the dancefloor dressed as vampires, muggles, fairies, everything you could think of. Hermione and Theo went to the punch bowl before hitting the dancefloor.

"Ah, you two have turned to history for your costumes." They looked up and saw the ghost of Professor Binns.

Hermione smiled and nodded. "We were going for the Salem Witch Trials for inspiration."

"We just learned about it in Muggle Studies." Theo added, winking at Hermione.

"Very good! I am impressed with your ingenuity." Professor Binns turned to leave. "Oh, and I should warn you - go easy on the punch. I think I saw Seamus Finnegan put in quite a bit of Firewhiskey."

Hermione nodded, rolling her eyes. It would be Seamus to do something like that, ever since the Weasley Twins had left Hogwarts. Regardless, she still took a cup of the punch. The bite of the firewhiskey made her eyes burn and warmed her stomach.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Harry, Ginny, Ron and Lavender entering into the dance. She wasn't ready for that confrontation yet, so she grabbed Theo's hand. "Do you want to go dance now?" Theo nodded, and followed her onto the dancefloor.

They danced for a few songs. Neither of them were particularly good dancers, but it was still fun. The Weird Sisters were doing a great job, playing a variety of songs. It wasn't long though before the pair was thirsty. They made their way to the punch table again for a second drink. Hermione barely had time to bring her cup to her lips before Ron was grabbing her away from Theo.

"Ronald! What are you doing?" She asked, trying desperately not to spill her drink all over.

Ron didn't even wait to get out of Theo's earshot. "What the hell do you think you are doing, Hermione? Coming with that bloody Slytherin? I thought I had made myself clear - you're mine."

"No, Ron, I am not your's and I never will be." Hermione insisted, wrenching her arm free of his grasp. "Now please leave Theo and I alone!" Theo had moved to stand behind her and put his arm on her shoulder for reassurance. Although Ron was tall, Theo was taller, and Ron seemed to shrink under his gaze.

"Let's go have another dance, Hermione." Theo finally said, breaking the tension. Hermione nodded, taking his arm as he led her back to the dancefloor.

Once they were alone, Hermione immediately began apologizing. "I don't know what's going on with him. I have told him so many times that we aren't going to have a relationship." It was terribly embarrassing. They had been such good friends, but these days it was like she didn't even recognize him.

Theo kissed her on the forehead. "Don't worry about it tonight, Hermione. Tomorrow morning, though, I think you should let Headmistress McGonagall know. I don't want to have to keep sneaking around to see you."

Hermione smiled at the thought. She was excited and nervous to formally introduce him to her friends. She hoped Harry wouldn't be too hard on him. She smiled wider when she heard the next song that the Weird Sisters had decided to play - I Put A Spell On You. It reminded her of the day in the Room of Requirement with Theo.

Theo pulled her close to his body, so that there was no room between them. She sighed, resting her head on his chest. They swayed side to side in time with the music. She looked up to see Theo smirking down at her. "You know, this song reminds me a lot of you." He whispered to her. "I feel like you've put a spell on me. I can't believe how much I have grown to like you in such a short span of time."

Hermione nodded. "I know how you feel. I feel closer to you than I do to any of my friends." She stood up on her tip toes to plant a kiss on his lips. "But I promise that I haven't used any spells or love potions." She said, the honesty shining in her eyes.

Theo joined her in laughter. She enjoyed the feeling of his laughter rumbling in his chest against her ear. "Well, I wasn't formally accusing you." He replied with a wink. When the song came to it's end, he whispered into her ear again, so that only she could hear it, "Are you ready to get out of here?"

She nodded eagerly. As Hermione and Theo headed out of the Great Hall, they failed to notice the brooding look of Ron Weasley focused on their backs.

They stopped by the broom cupboard in the entrance hall and transfigured two brooms into cloaks because it had gotten considerably cooler. Once they were fully covered, they opened the two big oak doors and headed outside. "I know you said you wanted look for the devil in the Forest, but where are you taking me Mister Nott?"

"Someplace special. I doubt most of Hogwarts know about it." They made their way down the main path. It was very foggy again, with the thick, white fog rolling off of the Black Lake. They walked along the Lake's edge towards the greenhouses. Hermione couldn't have imagined a better Halloween night. There was a huge full moon in the sky, its light giving everything an eerie glow. When they reached the edge of the Forbidden Forest, she could tell that it was alive with activity.

Grabbing Theo's hand, she remarked "It's so spooky." It was nice to be able to snuggle up to him and feel like he would protect her.

"I thought you enjoyed spooky." He said, skeptically.

"I do!" She responded eagerly. "Will you tell me where we are going now? Surely we have to be nearly there?"

"We are going to the Herbology Professor's House. It's been abandoned for a while, since Professor Sprout is Head of Hufflepuff so she has to live in the castle. I hope you don't mind, though, it is right by a cemetery." He finally told her.

That thought startled Hermione. "No, I don't mind. It's just...I had no idea that Hogwarts had a cemetery. It's not mentioned in Hogwarts, A History..." she trailed off. She saw the building. It was an adorable little cottage right on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, next to a small greenhouse. It was close to the greenhouses that the students used, but it was behind a bend in the Forbidden Forest, so she doubted that anyone would ever see it. On the far side of the cottage, where was what appeared to be a small cemetery, surrounded by a stone fence.

Hermione tore her eyes from the cemetery, as they had finally had arrived at the door of the cottage. Theo held the door open and Hermione entered first, coming to rest in the darkness. Theo mumbled a spell and a fire came to life in the small fireplace, filling the cottage with warmth and light, illuminating the small one-room haven. There was a desk in the underneath one of the windows and a bed in the corner. In front of the fireplace, a cozy couch sat, which Hermione would use as a little reading nook, and a clock ticked on the mantle. One of the walls was floor to ceiling bookshelves, covered with Herbology texts.

It was perfect.

She could tell that Theo had spent some time cleaning it up and she totally appreciated it. Hermione turned to look at him. He was looking nervous standing near the door, waiting for her opinion. "Oh, Theo, I love it! Thank you so much for doing this." It only took three steps to close the gap between them. She was on him in a rush of kisses, trying to pull him towards the bed.

He pulled away and Hermione could not stop herself from groaning. "Hermione, I have to ask one last time...are you absolutely certain you want to do this now? With me?"

"Yes, I am sure." She reached up and unclasped her cloak, allowing it to fall to the floor in a heap. Theo mimicked her actions. She closed the distance between them again, untangling the laces of his shirt, opening it up, pulling the fabric up to untuck it from his pants. Moaning, Theo put his hands on her shoulders, walking her back until her knees hit the bed and she sat down on it. He pulled the shirt up over his head, throwing it behind him.

Hermione bit her lip, this was the most of him that she had seen, and she liked what she saw. He was pale, but not in a bad way. Theo was lean, with slight definition. He certainly wasn't the weedy boy from first year. He pushed her back on the bed, crawling over her body. His lips were urgent against hers and she felt his deft fingers unlacing the ties at the front of her corset. He was fumbling a little and had to break the kiss to look at the laces. "Blast, it looks so good, but it is so difficult to get undone." Hermione laughed as well.

When it was finally off, it joined his shirt on the floor. This time when their bodies met, they were separated by only the thin fabric of her dress. Hermione could feel her nipples harden, and blushed. Using his knee, Theo nudged her legs apart so that he was cradled by her body. When Hermione felt his hand reach up to cup her breast, stroking her nipple through the fabric. She opened her lips in a sigh. Their tongues met, stroking against each other.

Theo was wriggling to remove his boots and the movement made Hermione moan. Sensing her impatience, Theo reached down to pull grab her dress by the hem, to pull it up over her head. Hermione shivered at suddenly being exposed to the cold, her nipples tightening even more. Theo then stood and shuffled out of his britches and Hermione quickly pulled down the petticoat that was cinched at her waist, leaving her completely bare to his eyes. "My, my, Hermione, you mean to tell me you were totally commando the whole evening?" Hermione blushed, but did nothing to cover her nakedness.

Theo looked over her body and settled on her eyes. "You're gorgeous." Was all he said. Hermione was having a hard time keeping her eyes off of his manhood which was straining against the fabric of his boxer briefs. It didn't take long for him to rejoin her on the bed. He brushed one of her curls behind her ear, caressing her cheek. Hermione responded by grabbing the elastic of his boxer briefs and pulling them down over his hips so finally he was as naked as she was. Their lips met again, only now it was tender and full of promise of many kisses like this to come. Hermione was no longer cold. Instead, it felt as though a fire had been ignited in her center.

She felt Theo's hand caress her down her side, sliding along the dip of her hip, his fingers gently trailing down along her womanhood. He hissed finding a wet heat there. He let the tip of his finger slip between her folds, allowing it to linger for a moment, toying with the small pearl at the top of her sex, before moving further down, dipping into her sex.

Hermione was keening, never having had a man touch her there before. She felt delicious, but she knew she needed him inside of her. "Ready?" She asked.

Theo rolled on top of her, allowing himself to settle between her thighs again. "It will hurt, but I promise it will get better." He said, his green eyes apologetic. And with that he entered her.

He was right, it did hurt, like a tight pinch, but it didn't last. Soon she was overcome with a sense of fullness. Theo leaned down, capturing her lips in a reassuring, lazy caress, before pulling out of her and thrusting back inside. Hermione moaned against his lips, in complete delight at the sensation. "Again?" She murmured against his lips. And Theo obliged, entering her again and again and again. Hermione was barely able to contain herself, somewhat embarrassed by the soft, feminine moans that she was making.

Theo grabbed her knees, pressing them back towards her body until her thighs were pressing against her stomach, allowing for deeper penetration. With this, Theo's masculine groans joined hers and they were hurtling closer and closer to completion. When Theo hit a spot inside of her, she was in the throes of orgasm, her body shuddering in pleasure, her toes curling and her face contorting, just trying to hold onto the pleasure that was coursing through her.

It took Theo only a few more thrusts into her welcoming heat to join her over the threshold. He rolled over onto the bed so that he wouldn't hurt her with his weight, but pulled her body to him, so that her head could rest against his bare chest. Hermione was relaxed listening to the fast beat of his heart against her ear, and felt her own heart matching the rhythm. He kissed the top of her head.

"That was...so perfect Theo." They laid like that for a few minutes, their bodies cooling and their hearts slowing. Soon the clock on the mantle was striking midnight.

"I suppose we should head back. I don't really fancy detention with Filch for a month, even though just staying here tonight sounds pretty great." Theo finally said. He gave her one last lazy kiss on the lips before standing up and redressing.

When they were redressed, Hermione felt like she had to tell Theo the thing that had been on her mind for a while now. She didn't know how long she'd been feeling this way, but it seemed like one day she realized that she was in deep. "Theo, I have to tell you...I...I really lo-"

Before she could get out the three little words she was longing to say, the door was bursting open. "How dare you!" Ron roared, wand drawn.

"Ron, what the hell are you doing?" Hermione asked, this was the first time she was genuinely frightened for her safety.

"You slut! You whore! How could you defile yourself with this filthy no good Death Eater Slytherin?" Ron's eyes were crazy with rage and it seemed as if he were almost on the verge of tears, as if this was some huge betrayal. Hermione reached for her wand but remembered that she had set it over on the nightstand by the bed.

However, Theo was able to draw his wand from a pocket in his britches. "Expelliarmus!" Theo shouted, deftly catching Ron's wand.

"It's alright. I am going to show you Hermione - if I can't have you, no one can." His voice was low. He reached behind him, to reveal a long dagger. Theo looked dumbfounded.

"Ron, please be reasonable?" Hermione asked, but the words stuck in her throat, as Ron thrust the dagger into her chest between her breasts. Hermione wasn't able to formulate any words, falling to her knees as her dress was quickly strained red with blood. Ron removed the dagger, watching the life leave her eyes.

"Don't think I forgot about you." Theo just stood there in shock. Had this really happened? Had Ron Weasley really just killed Hermione? His Hermione? That he loved? His wand arm went limp. He barely felt the sharp sting of the dagger as it entered his chest near his heart. He was cognizant, though, of Weasley removing the dagger and him crumpling to the ground next to Hermione.

He was sure it was a dream though, when a few seconds later he felt his eyes open, and he stood up. Ron was still in the room with them, holding the bloody dagger, staring at him, as if in horror. He dropped the dagger and left the cottage.

Theo turned when he heard a noise, seeing Hermione struggling to get up. That's when his heart sank. It wasn't a dream, it's just that they were ghosts now. Hermione still looked beautiful, even though she was translucent. She was still dressed in her costume, as was he, he supposed. Hermione looked at him and seemed to understand what had happened to them as well. He heard her crying softly, her head in her hands.

Theo wrapped her in his arms and was surprised to find that she still radiated warmth to him. "It's okay, it will be okay. We all have to die. There is death for everyone. We are still together." He promised her. In his heart, he knew that they would be together.

He watched as Hermione's face contorted in rage. "Let's get him." Theo nodded. It was strange, he thought, walking as a ghost. They didn't even need to open the door. Instead, they just glided through the solid wall.

Ron was still there, in the little clearing in front of the cottage, as if in shock. He stared at his hands which were still covered in their mingled blood. Hermione turned to see what the movement was in the corner of her eye. Hermione was also surprised to see the cemetery that she was previously unaware of seemed to be coming alive. One by one ghosts seemed to be rising from the graves, shaking and groaning, as if they hadn't been up in a long time. Some were dressed, some were not. Some had flesh clinging to their bones and some still even looked human. They all seemed to be dancing in a grotesque way, to music that no one could here.

Ron finally looked back to see the couple coming from within the cottage. "You should have run, Weasley." Hermione said, pure malice in her voice.

With that, Ron did start running as fast as he could back towards the castle. Unfortunately for him, he was unfamiliar with this part of the grounds and it was still quite foggy. And he had nearly one hundred ghosts following after him. Ron was gripped with fear, feeling branches smack him in the face and cutting his arm. It felt as if the forest was helping them, trying to hold him back to be sacrificed to a legion of ghosts.

Hermione and Theo were gaining on him by the time he passed the greenhouses and he was panting. But he knew that he was nearly to the castle, so he kept running as fast as he could. When he reached the giant oak doors of the castle, he had about thirty seconds lead on Hermione, Theo and the rest of the ghosts who were hungry for blood. The doors wouldn't open though, no matter how hard he pounded on the doors, begging to be let in.

And then, Hermione was on him, whispering in his ear, "You can't escape the Dance of Death." And with that he was engulfed, unable to stop himself from screaming.

A/N: So! Wow! That was fun! I hope you guys enjoyed the story even though the end is dark. I thought it was a good idea for October/Halloween time, for a little spookiness. I really hoped that you liked it! Please let me know what you think, since this is the first time that I have written a story like this. I am considering writing another longer one shot like this with Snape/Hermione for Christmas/Winter. Please let me know what you think or let me know if you have any other suggestions. If you are looking for more to read from me, please check out Arrivederci or Here I Dreamt I Was A Rosier. Let me know! Thanks - Marina.