Theodore Nott

Night enveloped Hogwarts in a dark velvet blanket. It was cold in the Astronomy Tower, but you, as if on purpose, did not notice it. The moon cast a silver light on the stone floor, the stars above your head twinkled like silent witnesses of a conversation that should have taken place a long time ago. You stood by the railing, lighting a cigarette. A smoldering flame flared in the darkness, picking out the outline of your face. Your fingers trembled slightly - not from the cold. Theo stood silently a little further away, but you felt his gaze. It was tense, as if the very air between you was taut like a string

• You know, that fight we had in our fourth year didn't go unnoticed. You said this quietly, looking into the distance at the swaying silhouette of the trees outside Hogwarts. The cigarette had burned down to the middle, but you didn't let it go.

• You mean that we don't communicate anymore? He stepped closer, leaning his shoulder on the cold stone of the railing. His voice was low, calm, but there was an unspoken resentment hidden in it

• No, about how I feel like a complete fool for not listening to you back then and believing a guy I knew for a year, betraying our friendship. Silence. Theo looks at you for a long time. His expression is hard to read: there is bitterness, fatigue and... relief? He approaches, softly, almost inaudibly. He stands next to you, not violating your personal space

• You didn't betray. You just wanted to believe in the best. Even if the best wasn't true He smiles slightly, but there's a weariness in his voice that's accumulated over years of silence - I would have stood up for you anyway. Even if I knew everything in advance. Even if you chose not me again You look at him. And for the first time, you truly see him. That Theo who never left, even when you turned away

Someone who is used to standing in the shadows, observing, remembering. He doesn't have Malfoy's bravado or Zabini's playfulness, but he has a reserved dignity, a precise gaze and a sharp mind. There's armor in his sarcasm, honesty in his silence. Theo doesn't like to talk about feelings, but he'll do anything for his own. Especially if it's you.