The Arrangement: Theo Nott Short Story

Chapter 5- Family Dinner

That following morning, after Kat's confession, was no less than perfect. She woke up feeling the warmth of Theo's embrace. He laid behind her, both of his strong arms held her like he was terrified she would slip away...part of him thought she would. 

They both had french toast that morning. 

He was late for work but assured her it was fine, he just wanted to be with her for a few more moments. They discussed what their relationship would look like moving forward. Taking a step back meant no more yelling, no more secrets, and certainly no more sex for the time being. 

Theo wanted to take her on every surface in their home but they needed to focus on the basics for now. It's not like they didn't no each other at all, they had a few classes together in school but they didn't speak much. 

He remembered seeing her from across the classroom, her hair was shorter then. He always noticed her with the weasels or with Granger. She didn't step out of her friend group much. However that didn't stop her from always being around. They had at least two classes together every year since they were twelve.

She never noticed him though. They had a conversation one time when he had forgotten his textbook, which she shared her own, without paying him too much attention. He wanted an excuse to talk to her, any reason would do. 

*Flashback, 5th year at Hogwarts*

" - so of course I was like, Daphne over Astoria for sure - Theo, are you even listening?" Blaise said, knocking his shoulder. 

"Sorry." Theo mumbled, his cheeks turning a slight tinge of pink. Theo was most certainly not listening. 

"Where's your head today Nott?" Draco asked before looking at Theo's line of eye sight. 

Looking across the courtyard, there she was. Blonde hair flying around in the wind, the corners of her brown eyes crinkled as she was laughing at something one of her friends had said. She had conjured up a snow flurry to follow Ronald around, in spite of his yelling. 

Katherine McKinnon.

Draco smirked but didn't say anything until Blaise left. Only Draco knew about his curiosity of the Gryffindor girl, but it felt like more than that. Neither of them liked to talk about certain things in front of Blaise. It's not his fault he was taught to hate certain blood statuses but it made conversation easier if they didn't involve him. 

"Why don't you just go talk to her?" Draco asked for only him to hear. 

"I don't know what you're talking about. I merely glanced up, she just happened to be there at the right time - or wrong time....or whatever"Theo said, his eyes still on the laughing girl.

"That's a load." Draco laughed. 

After the laughter died down, her friends carried on with their personal conversations. Katherine sat there, twirling her wand in her fingers. She waited for the conversation to be directed towards her but it never was. She mouthed something towards the ground, making a tulip sprout up. She smiled to herself but the others didn't notice.

Theo did though. He hated that they ignored her sometimes. He hated the look on her face when someone spoke over her. He knew the feeling all too well and he wanted to protect her from that. He wanted to tell her that he was listening, even if no one else was. 

"She looks lonely." Theo whispered, barely reaching Draco's ears but it did.

"She's dating George Weasley mate, she's not lonely."