Love Changes (Dramione)

[twenty]

"It still doesn't make this okay." Theo shook his head "I was brought up better than this. I don't use people."

"You wouldn't be the only one who'll benefit from this arrangement." Celine pointed to herself "My parents would be thrilled their only daughter will be marrying into a Sacred Twenty-Eight family."

Theo sighed "I wish I could ask you this under different circumstances." he shook his head 

"You mean when you're in love with me." Celine said, she was very cut-throat. If this were any other day, Theo would be greatly impressed. "I get it, Theo. Your proposition?" she asked. She was doing quite well in pretending like her heart wasn't shattering into a million pieces before her

"We grew up together, Cel. We spent our summers in each other's manors every single year. If I had to pick a friend to do this with, it'd be you. I will find comfort in knowing that I'll be doing this with somebody who already knew me; somebody I could trust. After everything we've been through with our families, I can't imagine any other person I could do this with." Theo sighed and walked up to her "I'm not just saying this because I need you to do this with me, but because it's also the truth. You've caught my eye, Cel. I am attracted to you and I do want to try with you. If you'll have me?"

Celine couldn't help but frown "I know your tricks, Theodore Nott. We grew up together, so I know that you'll do and say anything just to get what you want." 

Theo cupped Celine's cheeks "Fine, you know me. Then answer this: would I have kissed you that night of the viewing if I hadn't been attracted to you? Would I have agreed to go and watch with you if I didn't like you? We didn't know of the law then."

Celine met his bright blue eyes with her own "No." she said

"Then you know that I'm being truthful with you right now. I do like you, I want you." Theodore said, dropping his hands to his sides "If this dumb law didn't just barge into both our lives, then I'd be asking you out on another date right now, instead of marriage."

Celine laughed lightly "Uh-uh," she shook her head "Your marriage proposal has to be more grand than this, Theodore Nott. As one of your oldest friends, you owe me that much."

Theo smirked "That's a yes, then?"

"It's not like there's a more suitable pure-blood around here besides yourself." Celine shrugged. She wasn't ecstatic. She wished they'd be dating under different circumstances, but they haven't got much of a choice. "On the condition that you....will really try, Theo. I don't mind spending the rest of my life with you, we've been doing that for the longest time already. You're my best friend, but I don't want to die without knowing what actual romance is. Without knowing what it's like to be courted, taken out on dates and spontaneous escapades."

"Romance, that's your only condition?" Theo cocked a brow "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"Yes, I'm talking to the boy who choked after stuffing his mouth with too much bon bons when we were eight." Celine rolled her eyes

Theo laughed "Romance is too easy. I'll have you swept off your feet in no time.", but Celine was wearing a rather serious expression again "What?"

"You really mean it though, right, Theo?" Celine asked, her eyes almost pleading "You're not just saying or agreeing to all these because you need my...blood status?"

Theodore Nott sighed heavily and wrapped his arms around her "I mean it, Celine. With all my heart I mean it." he said quietly "Would I lie to my best friend?"

Cel shook her head against his chest "That wouldn't be the Theo I know."

"If you'd come back earlier than when Hermione Granger entered my life, then maybe we wouldn't be asking each other these doubts right now." Theo sighed