Theodore Nott and I have been best friends since we were three. Our parents were close, and we were raised together as pure-bloods. We’re both Slytherins. In third year, I developed a crush on him that I’ve never outgrown. He has no idea. In fourth year, my parents died in a Muggle accident. Since then, I’ve spent every summer alone at my manor with only the house-elves for company. The summer after seventh year, Theo and I were finally old enough to stay at my manor alone together. We got drunk, sang karaoke, and kissed. Neither of us has mentioned that night since. We don’t know how to bring it up, and the silence between us has become an unspoken secret. Now it’s eighth year, two months into term. We’re still best friends, acting as though nothing happened. But when Daphne Greengrass attempts to ask Theo on a date, I’m forced to confront the possibility of losing him to someone else—and the feelings I’ve spent years hiding.
Published