Nott Your Boyfriend | A Slytherin/Hufflepuff Romance

Chapter 7: Dating The Son Of A Death Eater

"Didn't you read The Daily Prophet this Summer?" Hermione asked, looking more concerned than angry now she had seen Susan's reaction.

Susan Bones had indeed read The Daily Prophet during Summer. She remembered the article on Lucius Malfoy's trial. Was there anything mentioned on Nott? She wasn't sure anymore.

"His father was there in the Ministry in June, Susan," Hermione explained. "I stunned him so I should know."

Tears welled up in Susan's eyes. "I'm so sorry, Hermione. I knew about Malfoy's father but I can't remember Theo's father being mentioned in the papers. I didn't mean to offend you."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Offend me? That's not what this is about. I'm worried about you. I know you've had to endure a lot during the past few months and when I saw you holding hands with Nott I was scared you could get hurt."

"Theo's not going to hurt me," Susan said a hundred percent convinced.

"Theo?" Hermione said skeptically.

Susan blushed. Maybe now was not the time to use the nickname. It had just slipped out without her realizing it.

Hermione went to get some tissues and offered them to Susan. She took them and dried her eyes.

"I will talk to him about this, Hermione."

Her Gryffindor friend nodded. "Be careful, okay. I don't understand why you're dating Nott but you seem to care about him. I will try to trust your judgement."

Susan blew her nose and threw away the tissues. As it turned out, she sure was dating a Slytherin bad boy. But Theodore's father actually being a Death Eater made things a bit too real. A lot of her family members had been killed because of You-Know-Who. Did Theodore actually agree with all this pureblood supremacy nonsense? She was scared to find out.

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Theodore Nott had arrived early in the library and had already collected a pile of books that could help them with their essay. Now he just had to wait for Suzy.

When she arrived he smiled and waved at her. She was still wearing her Hufflepuff pullover, just as he was still wearing his Slytherin tie. She didn't wave back.

She sat down in the chair across from him not looking like her usual cheerful self. "Suzy?" he asked, furrowing his brows. "Is everything okay?"

She looked at him and said: "Your father's a Death Eater."

Theodore didn't know what he had expected her to say, but it wasn't that. He blinked.

"You didn't tell me that," she went on when he didn't reply immediately. She sounded hurt and a bit scared.

He scoffed, which probably wasn't the right thing to do. "I'm sorry I don't introduce myself to people that way. Hi, I'm Theodore Nott. My father's in Azkaban because he's a Death Eater. Nice to meet you."

"So it's true?" Susan asked.

Theodore crossed his arms and looked away. "Yes." From the corners of his eyes he could see Susan shifting in her chair. She was nervous. Because of him. She was judging him because of his father's crimes, he knew it.

"Must be hard, having a parent in prison," she suddenly spoke. He looked at her in surprise.

Theodore hesitated, but then said: "It's actually harder when he's around. He's not that good at being a parent anyway."

Why he said this, he didn't know. He never talked with anyone about how things were at home.

"Theo?" Susan said with tears in her eyes. "I need to know a few things."