Shifted

Last Days

There was nothing left to do but wait.

"The imperius can't last forever." Theo's voice was adamant, but Harry's pale face held doubt.

"I really meant it."

"Not even the Chosen One can't cast a permanent unforgivable," Draco insisted. He sat on the couch, pretending to be invested in a book from Lupin's stash, but he hadn't flipped the page in over five minutes.

"Not from this distance," Theo muttered.

"From any distance," Draco snapped. "There's nothing special about Potter except the fact that his family lost a coin toss on Halloween night."

"Draco!" Hermione smacked a hand at the back of his head. "What's wrong with you?"

"We should be planning."

The idea that Lupin would see Theo, shoot first and ask questions later had been wearing heavy on the group. Draco had never handled his stress well and always had a silver tongue. Sometimes he just hit the nail too hard on the head.

Harry, ever the peacekeeper, seemed uninterested in rising to Draco's bait. His hands carded through his hair anxiously, messing it up spectacularly in a way that made Theo's eyes shine mischievously.

"I have a plan," Theo said.

"Yes, one you won't tell anyone else about." Harry's voice sounded hurt. As if being left on the outskirts of Theo's most devious ideas was something he wasn't accustomed to. Like they'd been confidantes for years.

He stayed cool under Harry's frustrations. Hermione suddenly understood what infuriated Ron so much during their duels. It was easy to feel like a small petulant child under the knowing gaze of Theo. "If I tell you, it will ruin the surprise."

"I'm not big on going into a situation where people can die blind."

Theo shrugged. Snagged one of the knives Hermione had been polishing off the table and spun it between his knuckles.

Before she could stop, her fingers wrapped around Theo's wrist and tugged hard enough he stumbled off the couch, crashing onto his knees next to her.

"If you want to stay in ownership of all your appendages, I suggest you keep them off my knives."

"Why have you never magicked them?" Theo released his grip, but didn't pull away. Even if they had recently made up, Hermione hated how impossible it seemed to rattle him. Theo calculated everything. Nothing was done or said without its purpose.

"My knives?"

"There's nothing extraordinary about them, even if the engraving is beautiful. They're just muggle made."

Muggle made, as if it was a curse. Like she was a fool for using them in their natural state.

"They do their job just fine without magic."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Of course not."

Hermione whipped around to face him. He must have been attempting to set a record for stupid comments said in one period. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"There's so many things you could do to improve your use of them. You could cast a spell to make them act like a boomerang. Then you'd never be in danger of losing any of them."

"I've not lost them yet," Hermione argued. "Besides, who knows what they might accidentally slice in their path back towards me. I like having total control."

Theo winked. "You're a lucky man, Draco." He turned to Hermione. "You could make it so the blade never dulls."

"I find peace in sharpening them."