Smoke and Stars - A Theo Nott Story

The Astronomy Tower

Theo was surprised to see Aria in the Astronomy Tower and he was even more surprised to see her tear-stricken cheeks. Something happened, he mused. Immediately, his heart sank, though he didn't quite know why. The fact that she turned to the Astronomy Tower, one of the most dangerous places in Hogwarts when unsupervised, unnerved him. He knew potentially why she was there; she wanted to escape. Permanently. Something surged in him as he watched her lip tremble and her body shake with distress. He wanted nothing more than to find out what happened, to fix it and comfort her and never let her cry again. But as he watched her put her walls up — closing off her body language and hardening her softened eyes the moment she saw him — he realized that he couldn't bear to be behind them. He realized that he couldn't bear to have her shut him out.

And so, even though he wanted to know why she was crying more than anything, he didn't push her. He didn't ask her what was wrong, he didn't even attempt to comfort her. She would tell him when she was ready if she was ever ready. Instead, he focused on just getting her to stay with him. To stay alive. He focused on being there for her. 

Sitting next to Aria in the Tower was nice, even with her sniffling in the background. Actually, he kind of liked the sniffling. It reminded him she was still here. He enjoyed the warmth she gave him and the feeling of having someone to be with after years of being up there in that tower alone. And though she had yet to tell him what was the matter, the fact that she admitted his presence was of some comfort to her made him feel like he was walking on air. He would be there for her for the rest of his life if she let him, a thought that made his blood run cold with fear. What is she turning me into? he wondered. I'm meant to be alone. But as he sat with her in that tower, he realized that he could never want to be alone again, not truly. He had found comfort in Aria Berkshire, perhaps even more. He could never let that go, not when he had only just found it.

After a few hours of blissful silence, he had sensed that Aria was becoming tired. The girl's shoulders slugged and her eyelids drooped as she stared at the stars. Theo would have stayed there all night with her but there was a slight nagging voice in his head that reminded him she would get cold. He walked her to the Slytherin Common Room, watching, frozen, as she trudged up the stairs. His legs twitched as soon as the sound of a door closing happened in the distance. Theo desperately wanted to follow her but he knew that he couldn't. He was becoming far too attached to this girl, a girl that he couldn't afford to be attached to. She had shown absolutely no interest in him and the fact that she was Enzo's sister crossed his mind every few minutes, if not more. No, he couldn't follow her, no matter how much he wanted to.

As Theo lay in his dorm — accompanied by the sounds of Mattheo loudly snoring, something he had done since they first roomed together in their first year — he began to think. I can't be with her. I can't afford to like her. She's a Berkshire. And not just any Berkshire. Enzo Berkshire's sister. She's out of my league, out of bounds, out of everything. I don't like her. No, this little infatuation ends now. He would no longer speak to Aria Berkshire. He would no longer see Aria Berkshire. He would no longer even think about Aria Berkshire. Theodore Nott would never care about Ariana Berkshire again.

But that all went to hell the moment he went up to the Astronomy Tower to smoke — the cigarette being the only thing that could make him forget about her — the next day and she showed up in the cutest oversized gray jumper that accentuated her long, pale legs by covering her shorts completely. The sleeves of the sweater were long, too long actually, but they somehow made her look more adorable. Theo felt his mouth begin to water as he snuffed out the cigarette and stared at her as if she were the entire universe. 

In a way, she was.

Aria walked over to the ledge where they had sat the night before and didn't say a word. She barely even looked at him, an act that hurt his ego a little too much. He raised an eyebrow but didn't question it, instead sitting down next to her and looking at her.