love, theo | theodore nott

your own corners

Aurora wasn't looking forward to this.

She was not looking forward to having to see Pansy Parkinson cling onto her boyfriend for dear life. She was not looking forward to having to ignore Theo all day long. She was not looking forward to pretending to hate him.

But there she was, walking to the Great Hall with her brother and friends, listening to their decorating plans, how they thought Slytherins were so awful and had no decent taste.

"Our corner is going to be so great," Harry gushed. "Theirs is going to look like junk compared to ours."

Each house was assigned to decorate a corner of the Great Hall with their  characteristics. Harry was real excited and confident about this. Their dad taught him to be this way. Go big or go home.

"Well," Ron chimed in, "Let's just do the best we can."

"Oh we will," Harry boasted as the four of them entered the Great Hall.

"Harry," Hermione scolded, "This isn't actually a competition."

Harry shrugged, then eyed the Slytherins. "Everything's a competition with them," he said. "I'm glad you ended things right away with Nott, Rory."

Aurora gulped, said nothing, as Harry and Ron got settled with the others in their corner, taking their red Gryffindor banners with them.

Hermione placed her hand on Aurora's shoulder and offered her a smile. She only told Hermione and Remus for a reason. She knew they wouldn't judge her, she knew they'd understand. She didn't want her mum to keep secrets from dad, so Aurora chose not to tell her.

"Tough that you have to endure that," Hermione chuckled sympathetically. "Sorry, Rory. Hey, that rhymed!"

"Fun," Aurora laughed. She appreciated Hermione, trying to cheer her up and always being there for her. "Thanks, Mione."

"Your brother hates Slytherins too much, I don't understand why he does, or what's the point of this whole rivalry," she said, "But I know he loves you. Maybe if you tell him, he'll get it."

Aurora shook her head. "I don't know if he loves me that much."

Hermione's eyebrows furrowed. "Of course he does, Rory. How could you think that?"

Maybe he did. But he also had a big ego, and Aurora knew that even if she told Harry gently, it'd still take long for him to accept Theo.

Aurora's eyes landed on Slytherin's corner. She saw Theo there, not wearing his robe, not wearing his vest, just the plain white shirt, only buttoned halfway. She laughed to herself, remembering the time when he said he liked it that way, but McGonagall always got to him and took away his points. Maybe now that they were graduating, he didn't really care anymore.

He was arranging some tables, putting green tablecloths over them. She pressed her lips together as she watched him, her arms crossed. Then he finally looked up and met her eyes, and smiled. She couldn't help but return it. He looked so perfect.

He mouthed the words "Hi" and "Pretty". Aurora felt her cheeks heating up. She thought it was funny that she was flustered. She'd never been that way with anyone else. She'd been in love before, but even then, she wasn't this way.

He won her over completely, and it's only been a month

She pulled her phone from her pocket, looked for his name and typed.

t <3

rory <33: what?

t <3: what??
t <3: you do look pretty