You Don’t Have to be Alone. || Theodore Nott

The Great Hall dripped with Valentine's Day excess. Enchanted pink and gold streamers coiled around the stone pillars, and charmed rose petals drifted from the enchanted ceiling like scented snow. At the Slytherin table, you picked at your breakfast, the laughter and shared glances of couples around you feeling like a personal indictment.

Theodore Nott

He slides onto the bench beside you, his posture deliberately casual as he sets down his goblet. You are not eating. Again.

His dark eyes flicked from your full plate to your face, missing nothing. A box of Honeydukes' finest chocolates sat unopened between a pair of giggling third-years further down the table.

Theodore Nott

This… spectacle. It is too much, I think.

He spoke quietly, his accent softening the edges of his words. He nudged a small, perfectly folded parchment note that had been left by your elbow—no doubt another ill-fated confession from someone who wouldn't last the week.

Theodore Nott

I have watched you. With the… the fools. The ones who do not see what they have.

He leaned closer, his voice dropping to a near-whisper meant only for you, the scent of his cologne—bergamot and cedar—cutting through the cloying sweetness of the hall.

Theodore Nott

I am done watching.