Smoke and Stars - A Theo Nott Story

The Keys to the Locked Doors

Theo Nott scowled as the sorting hat screeched out the names of the various houses. "GRYFFINDOR!" Migraine. "HUFFLEPUFF!" Nuisance. "RAVENCLAW!"  Yawn. He was close to covering his ears in hopes that he wouldn't have to listen to it anymore. The only reason he hadn't yet was because he was waiting to hear Dumbledore announce the beginning of the feast.

The Great Hall, like always, was filled with floating candles, a starry night sky, and lots of hungry students, him included. It was the only reason he went to the stupid ceremony. The food was divine. The rest was... not. Crowds, celebration, unnecessary fluff. None of those were his forte.

Theo's best friends — Mattheo and Enzo — were talking animatedly about their summer breaks. Just like he always did, Theo listened but never contributed to their conversation. He was always much quieter than his two friends, plus he never did anything during his break so it wasn't like he had anything interesting to contribute to their boisterous conversation. For his summer, Theo sat in a large house while he ignored his father and his father ignored him. He smoked a lot, he slept a lot, and he read a little. The most interesting thing that happened to him was the grey cat found at the edge of the gardens, though that disappeared after a few hours and never returned. Most breaks, he never even encountered a human to speak to. His food would be resting by his bedroom door at mealtimes and his father rarely left his study. The maids cleaned in the early morning when he was asleep and again in the evening when he was walking in the gardens. At home, Theodore was even quieter than usual, if that was even possible.

But now, Mattheo and Enzo had a new topic to discuss: Enzo's younger sister. The one with the big blue eyes that had intrigued him on the train. She looked identical to her brother — brown hair that was mostly straight, those big blue irises that looked like the pond found in his backyard, and ivory skin that was dotted with the faintest of freckles — but she acted nothing like him. Enzo was the only person Theo knew who gave Mattheo a run for his money as far as talking went, a high bar to beat. He was charming — annoyingly so sometimes with the way women practically flocked to him — friendly, and overall a little too cheerful. But this girl, Aria, was nothing like that. She was quiet, observant, and a little bit studious, at least from what he could gather. Theo would bet ten galleons that she had figured out the secrets of the entire compartment by the time they reached Hogwarts. And while she may have been looking out the window, he could tell that she was listening.

She was different. And not just from Enzo. 

Perhaps that was why he was listening to Mattheo and Enzo's incessant chatter more the usual.  Yes, they were his best friends, but they were always a bit much at the feast while they had months' worth of stories to recount. Still, he listened with a cold sort of intrigue. Not to hear about her, no, of course not. At least that's what he told himself. Because being interested in his best friend's younger sister — being interested in anyone, really — was something he just couldn't do.

He was a loner. Ever since his mother died when he was four, Theo was alone. In that great house, he was alone. Even in Hogwarts, most of his time was spent alone. He was a solitary creature and that was how he liked it. When he was alone, he couldn't let himself down. When he was alone, he didn't notice her absence as much. Plus, Theo had never been an extrovert. No, he was quite the opposite. He wasn't the goofy, boisterous extrovert like Mattheo. He wasn't the charming happy-go-lucky prince like Enzo. He was the shadow on the edges of the wall, the silent one that watched with observant eyes. He was aloof, distant, withdrawn, everything in between. It was just who he was. When he was alone, he didn't have to pretend otherwise. He could just be himself.

But for that brief moment Theo stared into Aria's eyes, he didn't feel alone. And he wasn't sure whether that terrified or thrilled him. Part of him felt like the answer was both.