Theo
"Alright class, in preparation for your N.E.W.T.s we are going to work with boggarts today, which you should remember from third year," says Lupin.
Ah yes, I remember those little shits. Mine turned into a gnome, and Blaise never stopped making fun of me.
Those things are deadly—my mom used to have them in her gardens.
We line up, and I head towards the back with the rest of the Slytherins.
Dalton was just a couple people in front of us, which caught be my surprise.
I wonder why she doesn't want to show off for once—what is she afraid of?
One by one, we go through the line. I don't even pay attention to everyone else's, I just let my mind wander about other random things.
"Mr. Nott," Lupin motions to the cabinet with his hand, snapping me out of my thoughts.
"Right, sorry sir."
I step forward as the boggart comes out, expecting to see another gnome or something dumb, but when the boggart transforms into a small girl crumpled on the floor, it feels like my chest is going to collapse.
"Ce-Cecilia," my voice breaks, and I rush to my knees beside her.
She's bleeding out, so, so much.
"Theo—" she mutters.
"I'm here, Celia," I choke, trying to stop her wounds from bleeding more.
But there's so much.
My hands are drenched in red; I can see her face going purple. My heart is pounding so fast that it feels like it's going to burst.
But I need to stay strong for her.
"It hurts, Theo," she whimpers.
And that's when I lose it. I fall to the floor beside her, clinging onto her body like my life depends on it.
"I'm sorry, Cecilia, I'm so sorry I didn't protect you—" I sob.
I can feel the life draining out of her. And my life, along with it.
I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't do as I promised.
But all of a sudden, the body disappears, leaving me still on the floor.
The trance disappears as soon as it began, hot tears still streaming down my face.
It dawns on me that this wasn't real, that it was just a boggart, but I'm still so shaken that I can't even turn to face the professor.
At some point, he had dismissed the rest of the class, leaving just us in the room.
"You are strong, Theodore. Even if you don't see it," he finally says.
"I don't need your pity," I say as I storm out of the room.
Why he decided it would be a good idea to do face our worst fears in the first place, I have no fucking clue.
I head straight to my bed, sighing as I lay down on my back.
It wasn't real, I try to tell myself. But it felt like it.
And if it did happen, it would be all my fault.
I reach into my drawer for a cigarette, but as I do I hear a knock on the door.
"Who is it," I say sharply.
"It's me, Cecilia."
My heart swells in relief, but I still don't want her to see me in such a mess.
"Do you need something?" I ask softly.
"No—I just wanted to check in on you."
Her sweet voice is what leads me to let her into my dorm immediately.
I don't care if she doesn't want me to, I hug her right away, making sure she was still okay.
She doesn't even say anything and just hugs me back.
Sometimes I forget how old she is getting, how bright she really is.
"You never want to check in on me, you sure you're okay?" I say.
"Are you okay?" She says in her usual playful tone.
"Yeah, I'm okay now," I give her a smile, "Seriously, though, what are you doing here?"
"Umm... nothing."
"Come on, Celia, tell me," I press. But I can't even help myself from smiling—I'm just glad to see her here.
She is my everything; the only real family I have left.
"I wasn't supposed to tell you, but... Lenore told me to come."
"Lenore? Why?" I say shocked.
What the hell did she care for? To humor me?
"She just said you'd want to see me, and she gave me a cookie, so..."
"And how did you even get in here?"
"She told me the password," she shrugs.
I was at a complete loss for words.
"You're sure? That's what she said?" I ask again. I must not be hearing her right.
"Why don't you believe me?" She asks with a sad look.
"No, no—I do believe you Cecilia, I do. I'm just surprised that she did that—that's all."
"Well, I'm not. I really like her," she replies.
"I know, you do..." I was about to add that she didn't really know what Dalton was like, but I didn't want to burst her bubble.
"I hope it was worth the cookie?" I tease.
"Oh, definitely," she smiles and hugs me again.
"Bye Theo," she says.
"Bye, Cecilia," I kiss the top of her head before she leaves.
Now, I had someone I needed to talk with.
_______________
I scout out Dalton after dinner that night, making sure to keep an eye on her all throughout dinner to see when she was going to leave.
And when she did, I almost bolted from the table, leaving all of my friends confused. But I didn't even care, I just needed to talk to her.
"Oh, hi, Nott," she says as I walk beside her.
"Why did you do it?" I ask, cutting to the chase.
"Cecilia," I add softly.
"Man, the cookie didn't keep her quiet, did it," she sighs.
"Nothing keeps her quiet," I say lightheartedly.
"I mean, after the boggart..." She finally says.
"Yeah, but why?"
I stop her in the empty corridor, gazing into her brown eyes for an answer. To say I was confused would be an understatement.
"Were you trying to mock me?" I add harshly, "Because it was a great joke—"
"You really think I would do that to mock you?" She says, like it's the most ridiculous thing in the world.
I just shrug. I know she hates me, I don't see why she wouldn't do that.
She hesitates, but when I continue staring at her for an answer she must know I wasn't going to let this go.
"I have a younger sibling, too. I... know how it feels."
The clenching in my jaw stops, and it's like I'm seeing her as a completely different person.
"No one else in the class had that as their boggart, but—mine was. In third year, at least. I asked Lupin to skip out on it today," she looks away as she says this.
I know that look—I do the same thing when I rarely open up.
"Your brother," I say.
She nods softly.
She doesn't even have to say anything else for me to know exactly what she means.
"Thank you," I say quietly, "I—really needed to see her."
"No problem."
The sincerity in her voice was unlike anything I've ever heard. And for her to do that for me?
No one else would have ever. Not even Zabini. Sure, we're close, but guys don't do that type of thing.
"Why do you care, though?" I didn't mean it aggressively.
I just still don't understand why anyone would ever do anything to help me.
"I still have morals, Nott," she adds with a smile, reminding me of the last time I said that to her with the Gryffindor guy.
I chuckle, my spirits lifting unexpectedly.
"Sure, you do," I say sarcastically.
"Wait—the common room password, how did you know it?" I add.
"Olive tells me it so I can come over whenever," she shrugs.
"Ah, okay. Well, now you can come over to work on the project?" I suggest playfully.
I said it before I could think of what that actually meant, I didn't mean for her to think I was implying something else.
"You're just too lazy to go to the library, aren't you?"
"Fine, maybe a little."
"I knew it, Nott," she shakes her head with a smile.
"I'll see you later, Dalton. And thanks again, really."
"Of course, I'll see you in class," she says before heading down the corridor.
I stand, still in disbelief. Her voice ringing in my head.
She really doesn't know how much that meant to me.