Winter, Books and Thestrals - Theodore Nott
[ Theo x reader ]
Summary: While most of the students spent time together outside in the snow, you found Theo, peacefully reading a book in the library.
Warnings: none
Word count: 2,067
"You're such a nerd, Theodore," you chuckled, gaining the attention of the slytherin boy sitting in the library when he looked up at your figure leaning against one of the shelves. "It's snowing outside and you're here, reading."
"Yes. It is snowing outside, so what are you doing here?" Theo grinned, pulling a chair from the other table next to his. He patted the seat as a signal for you to sit next to him and you happily obliged.
"To find you. I didn’t see you outside, and if you thought I was gonna let you sulk in here all by yourself, then you're mistaken." You knew he was more of a loner and often preferred to spend time for himself instead of following his group of friends around all day, but you had to admit that you enjoyed those certain times since you two would occasionally bump into each other, and the only moments that you’d spend together is when neither of you were with your friend groups.
"I'm not sulking," he said, sounding terribly offended by the accusation. You of all people should know that reading books in the library and gazing out at the other students running about and building snowmen during the chilly weather was one of the most heart-warming activities.
For years you've talked to Theo, yet you weren't necessarily best friends. You hung out with your friends more often, and the two of you barely went anywhere together, though you'd always know where to find him
“You can’t stay here forever. The snowballs aren’t going to make themselves,” you whined, hearing the gentle ‘thud’ as the side of your head fell to the table, next to where his book laid. You kept your gaze at the soft brown eyes that stared back at yours before Theo quickly looked away and brought his line of vision back to the book. He wasn't usually flustered around you, except in moments like these, where you two would gaze at each other and say nothing. Though the whole staring contest won't last long with Theo always looking away after a few seconds.
“Yes I can.” You lingered there for a moment and kept your eyes on Theo who’s eyes were on the book, but didn’t seem to be reading at all. He looked to be stuck in the same sentence, over and over again, and couldn’t get himself to focus.
“Fine, but we’re not going outside,” Theo snapped and closed his book shut a while later once he discovered he couldn’t bring himself to focus with you staring so intently at him. You grinned and linked your arms with his, beckoning him to the great hall.
The doors were opened when you got there, lights and all sorts of decorations brightening up the room and lifting the christmas spirit. A few students hung out in the great hall, though not many since most were outside, playing in the snow.
“Peppermint or gingerbread?”
“Neither. I prefer the traditional hot chocolate,” you answered nonchalantly, watching Theo prepare two mugs for the both of you as you took your seat near him.
“Thanks,” you muttered, sipping little amounts of your drink as you looked out the window. You could feel Theo’s gaze on you the entire time, and you started to fiddle with the mug in nervousness before turning to look at him in question.
“What?”
“Hm?” He steadily avoided your gaze. What you didn’t know was how so at peace you look with the gentle smile on your face, and how the sunlight shone in a certain angle that made him unable to take his eyes off you.
You decided to avert the question and prevent the awkwardness that threatened to seep in, and bring your eyes to look around instead. You always enjoyed Christmas at Hogwarts for this reason. The festive decorations, the fun winter activities. Though you missed Christmas with your family back home.
Whenever you visited the Weasley’s because the twins dragged you into their home, they reminded you of your own warm-welcoming family that were miles away.
And now, looking at the boy beside you, you felt a twinge of guilt. He’d finally opened up to you about his childhood in the beginning of the year and how his dad raised him as not much of a talker, which was what brought up the topic in the first place.
“Your hot chocolate is gonna turn cold if you keep staring at me like that,” Theo pointed out, pulling you from your thoughts.
“Right, sorry.” You swore you could see his amused smile as you looked down in embarrassment.
Theo had always been smart and calculating, you just hope he wasn’t smart enough to notice the unsubtle feelings that were starting to form towards him. It was new, but it would take a bit more for you to admit them to yourself, let alone the boy sitting beside you.
***
“Not your strongest suit, huh?” Terry grimaced as the occamy scowled at you and flew away. This was utterly embarrassing when the entire class was watching the two of you, especially with Nott silently observing in the corner.
Ever since the little moment you shared with him in the great hall, your body had a mind of its own whenever Theo was around. Your heart would race and your hands would get all nervous and shaky, and it wasn’t the least bit enjoyable to you.
“Next! Parvati.”
“It’s not my fault occamys are hostile,” you shrugged in reply, walking back to where your friends were huddled together. Parvati started feeding and petting the occamy, much to your dismay, and Terry shot you a look of pure stupid arrogance.
“Lover boy’s watching you.” Your cheeks heat up, knowing exactly who Goldstein was talking about, and before you could stop yourself, you snuck a glance at Theo who was leaning against a tree, not seeming to pay any mind to you.
“Very funny,” you stated dryly, shooting a look at Anthony who merely shrugged and responded, “He was, I swear.”
Telling you friends was a bad idea. In fact, you never recalled telling your friends about your friendship-relationship thing going on with Nott. They just happened to notice moments where you’d run off to Theo to give his notes back or find you sitting with Theo in the library which led them to start teasing you because he’d say more words to you than to anyone. According to them, Theo’s quiet self being more talkative to you meant that he enjoyed your company, and the fact that he never seemed bothered whenever you approached the slytherin, despite your chatty self, just gave them another excuse to tease you.
You noticed the group of students start to disperse as the lesson came to an end, and you thought better than to walk back with your friends who would just tease you along the way for your obvious response to Anthony Goldstein’s comment, and instead find Luna amongst the crowd.
“Hey, Luna. Mind if I walk with you?” Luna shook her head in reply and happily strolled through the woods beside you. She was an odd one, but you were glad the ravenclaw considered you as a friend.
“Look,” Luna calmly pointed towards nothing but the woods. You furrowed your brows in confusion, seeing nothing there other than the few students that were not already ahead of you.
“Look what?”
“Thestrals.”
“Oh.” You didn’t really know what to say. You’ve never witnessed any deaths except for the poor bugs that your sibling would kill, which most definitely did not count. “How many are there?”
“Just a few.”
It was then when you noticed Theo sitting against a tree, holding his advanced potion making book, and Luna seemed to have noticed too because she quickly said her goodbye and strolled away from you to pet what you assumed was a thestral and probably not the air.
Looking around, you slowly approached the slytherin. You’ve completed all your subjects for the day, and it wouldn’t hurt to hang out here for a while.
“Only you’d study in the middle of the woods.” Theo glanced up at you, and shifted to make room for you to sit beside him.
“You would, just as much. Don’t act as if you don’t enjoy reading.”
“Not when I’d have to clean my robes even more because of the dirt and when thestrals are swarming me.”
“You see them too?” He questioned as you sat beside him in the branch that wasn’t as muddy as the ground and shook your head in response, making sure to leave a bit of distance between the two of you just for the sake of your now quickly beating heart.
“You’re fortunate. They’re unpleasant little creatures,” he shook his head and resumed his reading.
“Why are you still reading that as if you haven’t memorized every single word and alchemical symbol already?”
“Why are you so talkative today?” You didn’t take that offense well and Theo’s smile dropped once he noticed the look you were giving him. “I’m kidding. You’re always chatty.”
That did not make it any less offensive.
Theo shifted closer and continued to speak, hence your silence, “But I like that about you.”
That made it slightly less offensive.
“Didn’t think I would, but here I am. I remember how sickeningly talkative you were when you first bumped into me in our first year, and thought I was going to go mad if I kept listening to you.” That particular statement made your lips curve up into a smile, and when you turned your head to look at him, his eyes immediately found yours.
Merlin, since when did he get his close? Your breath hitched as the sleeve of his arm brushed against yours, his head slowly moving forward as his eyes locked its gaze on your lips.
Frozen in place from the close proximity, Theo took the chance to press his lips against yours, moving deliberately slowly against your lips as his hand cupped your jaw, bringing your head closer towards his.
For a moment you just sat there in surprise before you finally responded, shifting closer towards Theo if that were even possible. Your head was spinning and warmth blossomed in your chest at the course of his actions that ended all too soon.
Theo pulled back for a moment, relishing the feel of your lips brushing against his and your forehead resting against his. His thumb gently brushed your cheek as your eyes slowly opened to see his brown ones.
“I still find you annoying.” He laughed as you pulled on his shirt to bring his lips back to yours, melting into one another's arms.
***
"Where were you?" Terry asked as you finally walked into the common room all flushed, your clothes and hair slightly disheveled.
"More importantly, what were you doing?" Anthony smirked knowingly at you before continuing, "Luna told me she saw you last with lover boy. Was he as good as they say he would be?"
"Oh my god, no. No, we didn't do anything of that sort."
"So something did happen?" You gave Anthony a glare as you made your way to the couch, bombarded with what felt like a million questions from your curiously excited friends.
Theo's friends however, were much less pleasant to him. When he first stepped foot into the slytherin common room, the group halted their conversation and gave knowing looks. He never understood how rumors spread that fast in Hogwarts, especially between Draco and his goons.
"What have you been up to lately, Theo?" Pansy remarked with a hint of satisfaction. They usually never bothered to question what he was up to when he wasn't with the group, which was pretty often, so the abrupt attention could only mean that they've, for sure, heard about his little "interaction" with you.
He rolled his eyes in reply and made his way to his dorm, ignoring the teasing comments his friends threw. At least tried to ignore them. His face was beet red just at the thought of his little session with you, the way your lips felt, the tangling of your hands in his hair, and how sweet you tasted— it was all beginning to become too much for him, and he looked forward to more moments like those, which would most likely be happening soon.
