Medicine - T. Nott

thirty one

March 14th, 1998

There's a tiny bit of light illuminating the dorm when I wake up the next morning. The sun is shining down but it dissipates as it reaches the Black Lake, so the room is still mostly dark.

Theo has his arm draped over my waist, where we're still holding hands, and his head is resting in the crook of my neck. His thumb is brushing the back of my hand, so I know that he's awake.

I squeeze Theo's hand and he continues to brush his thumb over the back of my hand.

"Good morning," Theo says. His voice is groggy from sleep and it makes me die a little bit inside.

I back my hips up against Theo and he inhales sharply. "Morning," I reply. I can feel him against me and Theo tightens his arm around my waist.

"You never know how to stay still," Theo says, his voice low.

"I know," I say.

Theo kisses the back of my shoulder before kissing the side of my neck. I use my free hand to reach behind and run my fingers through Theo's hair.

"Can I kiss you?" Theo says.

I roll over so that I'm laying on my back now. Theo leans in and kisses me. It's completely innocent, and it's one of the first times that we've kissed just for ourselves, not for anyone else, and it's our first kiss will no ulterior motives.

We break apart and Theo kisses me on the cheek before laying back down and looking at me.

"Be my girlfriend," Theo says.

I turn onto my side so that I can look at him better. My fingers brush across the freckle on his left cheek, then the one on his jaw, and the one on his chin. Theo watches as I try to memorize every single freckle, dimple, and crease on his face.

"Okay," I say, looking into Theo's eyes.

"Really? You want to?" He asks.

I laugh softly because I honestly can't help it. "Of course I do," I say. "I thought that was obvious by now."

"It is," Theo teases. "Just wanted to make sure that you're not sick of me yet."

I shake my head. "I don't think I'll ever get sick of you," I admit.

"We'll see," Theo teases, his voice soft.

We both go quiet for a minute. Theo is staring at me like he's never going to look at anyone else for the rest of his life. He's tracing patterns on the bare skin of my back with his fingers.

"I love you," Theo says.

I grin, "A horrible decision, really."

"Shut up," Theo says.

"Nope, you're stuck with me now," I joke.

Theo grabs me and pulls me closer to him. I laugh as he starts peppering my face with kisses. He kisses both of my cheeks, the tip of my nose, my forehead, the corner of my jaw.

I stop laughing when Theo's lips hover over mine. I go to kiss him but he pulls back and smirks down at me.

"I hate you," I tease.

Theo smiles, "I know."

I stare at him from where his face is hovering a few inches from mine.

"I love you," I whisper.

Theo smiles widely and leans in to give me a chaste kiss. "I love you too," He says.

I smile at Theo and he lays back down, pulling me close to him. I rest my head on his chest and listen to the sound of his heart beating. His skin is warm against mine as we lay with our legs tangled beneath the sheets.

"So, tell me about this trip," I say.

Theo runs his hand through my hair. "Well, we'll spend the two weeks of Easter holidays in Amsterdam, as long as that's okay with you. We can always go somewhere else if you'd prefer that."

"No, Amsterdam sounds lovely," I say.

"Good," Theo says. "I found this hotel right in the center of the city that I think you'll love."

I hum in agreement and wait for Theo to keep talking.

"And we can do anything that you want while we're there. We can be total tourists and go out every day or we can stay in bed all day if you want," Theo continues. "I just want to be with you."

"And you'll have me," I say.

- - - - -

Theo and I do eventually get out of bed even though it isn't until lunchtime. We shower together which takes forever since there are a lot of wandering hands. I end up using accio to get clothes from my dormitory so that I don't have to wear last night's clothes or walk all the way to my dormitory.

We walk down to the Great Hall for lunch and Theo holds my hand the whole way. We look like one of those sickeningly happy couples that makes single people want to gauge their eyes out.

Both of us are in extremely good moods as we walk into the Great Hall slightly late for lunch.

All of our friends are already at lunch when we get there. The second that Daphne and Pansy lay their eyes on me I can feel them trying to put all of the pieces together. They're going to beg me to tell them what happened last night.

I sit down next to Pansy and Theo sits on my other side. Draco, who is sitting directly across from Theo, glances at Theo's neck which is covered in love bites and smirks.

"Have a good night, you two?" He asks.

"Great night, thanks for asking," Theo says.

I attempt to hide my smile with my hand, but Daphne already saw and is raising her eyebrow at me. I go out of my way to not make eye contact with her. I fill my plate with food and Theo does the same. He rests his hand on my thigh underneath the table and we sit so close to each other that our elbows knock together.

The six of us eat in silence for a few minutes before Pansy loudly sets her fork down on her plate and we all look at her.

"Okay, so are you two good now or what?" Pansy asks. "Because you're all cuddly and you both look like your necks got mauled by a vampire or something."

Theo looks at me and grins and I can feel my cheeks turning pink.

"We're dating," I say.

"For real this time?" Daphne asks.

Theo smiles, "Yup."

"Fucking finally," Blaise says. "Draco, you owe me ten galleons."

"What?" Theo and I both say.

Draco waves us off. "Don't worry about it," He says. Draco reaches into his pocket and hands Blaise ten galleons.

"Well, I'm glad you guys are happy," Pansy says. She grabs her fork and continues to eat her lunch.

"Same, even though I had to walk all the way back to the Head dorms so that I could sleep in a bed after I got locked out of my dorm," Draco says, teasing but also sounding slightly irritated.

Theo laughs, "Probably for the best though, mate."

Draco jokingly rolls his eyes and all six of us start up a conversation about the upcoming holidays which stems into a discussion about wedding planning. Blaise and Daphne are aiming for September as of now.

I feel so happy sitting close to Theo and talking with all of our friends. For the entirety of lunch, Theo and I are touching. Whether it's his hand on my thigh, or purposely knocking our knees together, or holding hands, we're always touching.