Invisible String | TVD x WIZARDING WORLD

IN MY DEFENSE, IT WAS A WHITE SHIRT AND BAD DECISIONS

"Ahh, should've known."

I turned back, unsurprised, to find Theodore Nott standing at the edge of the woods, arms crossed like he was trying too hard to look unimpressed.

This had become routine by now—sneaking out past curfew, slipping away to the Black Lake, writing letters back home—never sent them though, but pretended like that filled the hollow. There wasn't really much else to do. Not when the castle felt too loud and too empty at the same time.

The exams were coming up—yeah, I knew. Everyone kept reminding me like I didn't already hear the whispers in the corridors. But I was good at the academic stuff. Always had been. Bonnie had started teaching me magic long before Hogwarts ever accepted me. And considering I could literally bring the dead back, maybe I was a little overconfident. Sue me.

Still, there were things I cared about more—things bigger than grades. Like Grindelwald. And Newt Scamander. And the truth in-between them.

"Guilty," I said, raising one hand in surrender as Nott dropped down beside me with a grunt, kicking at the dirt like he hadn't come out here just to check on me.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, like it was casual.

"Nah." I shrugged. "Mind won't stop spinning."

He hummed like he understood, because he probably did. There was something about the way Theo listened—like he didn't just hear your words but saw all the cracks you tried to cover up.

"Good," he said after a pause, a small smirk tugging at his mouth. "I thought vampires couldn't sleep, but then I saw you one morning—screaming bloody murder about illegal and non-existent hours like the sun had personally declared war on you."

"Haww, shut up, Nott!" I groaned, nudging him with my shoulder. "I don't scream that loud."

"You did not hear that from all the way in the Slytherin dorm."

"Oh, but I did, Gryffindor." His smirk deepened.

"The entire Slytherin corridor heard you threaten to hex the morning into another dimension."

"It was 6 a.m. Mione opened the curtains like it was a goddamn musical."

"You shrieked and dove under the bed like a gremlin."

"It was sunlight, Nott! Weaponized sunlight!"

He chuckled, the sound low and lazy, and for a moment, the silence that followed felt like it belonged to us. Like this—being here, bickering beside the lake with nothing but moonlight and secrets—was some kind of ritual we both refused to name.

Theo glanced at me sideways, eyes a little too soft. "You've been coming out here a lot lately."

"And you've been following me a lot lately," I said, meeting his gaze.

"I don't follow." He stretched his arms back, feigning nonchalance. "I simply... end up where you are. Coincidence."

"Mhm," I said, unconvinced, lips twitching.

He didn't deny it. Just looked at me again, really looked, like he was memorizing something he didn't want to forget. The way my hair blew with the wind. The ink smudges on my fingers. The weariness under my eyes.

"You alright?" he asked quietly this time.

I hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. Just... thinking too much. About everything."

"Don't think too much," he murmured, voice rougher than before. "It's dangerous. Gets you in trouble."

"Maybe I like trouble."