distance | h. potter

CHAPTER ONE

. . .

RAINBOW LIGHT REFLECTED OFF of the walls, peering in through the windows in a pretty haze. The desk sitting in the room was speckled with pieces of parchment and snack wrappers, but mostly a collection of dung bombs.

The chair right in front had a couple of shirts draped over it, a few of which were previously displayed on the wall and hung up as a badge of honour. They were mostly Quidditch jerseys, but a couple were from basketball teams.

Theo Dyre sat up suddenly from where he had been sleeping on the ground next to his bed, a bright light glinting in his eyes as he jumped up and scrambled to get ready for the day.

He stumbled over his socks and cursed loudly, pulling on a pair of jeans and one of his many Quidditch jerseys, smelling it quickly before deeming it fit for wear. Theo didn't bother trying to brush out his hair, dark hands running their fingers through his curls before shaking his head and pulling his socks on.

"Ma!" Theo called as he left his room, sliding on the mahogany floors of his home to the kitchen, grabbing an apple as he did so. His mother, Anandi, looked up from the waffle maker, an amused smile on her face at the excitement that Theo was showing. It was contagious, as most of his moods were.

"I've got to go to something really important! I hope you remembered it's today, and I swear I'll be back soon as I can, so can I leave like right now? Please, ma, I-"

"You're going to that Quidditch game with your friends today, yeah?" Anandi cut his rambling off. Theo nodded rapidly, making his way through the apple he was eating quickly.

"Come back home soon as you can, yeah?" Theo took that as the okay to go off, scrambling to his feet and throwing his apple core in the garbage. He ran to the door before being stopped after hearing her yell.

"Grab a jumper, then you can go!" He rolled his eyes but did so without any argument, knowing he was lucky even being allowed to go.

Since he had found out he was a Wizard, there was little that his mother would let him do out of fear that something would get him. With the addition of the hasty death of his late father, it was the perfect mixture for an extra overprotective parent.

She was justified in her attempts to keep him safe, Theo came to realize. His first year at Hogwarts was fairly peaceful, but his second one had had a giant murder snake petrifying students of all sorts wherever he could. His third was dwarfed by that event by a mass murderer breaking into his house's dorm and trying to kill one of his classmates.

And of course, one of the worst yet, his fourth year. A student at Hogwarts dying after a tournament that had real-life dragons as one of the obstacles. It was fucking terrifying. At the center of these events, there was one person.

Harry fucking Potter.

The boy was something of a legend in the Wizarding World, Theo came to realize. His name was well-known by his supporters and enemies alike. He couldn't imagine being saddled with that much responsibility and fame as a baby and turning out that well. It seemed impossible, considering how he had seen teens get a big head over a bit of popularity in elementary.

Harry had quite a small social circle, though. He had always stuck to his two friends, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. They wouldn't be Theo's first choice in friends, to be honest. The two were almost always fighting, and Hermione's bookish nature would clash nicely with Theo's loud and hyper personality.

Not that he could say he had friends. He was more of the person to float around, a foot in every social circle but none to call his own. It bothered Theo some days but he didn't cry over it. He was content with his mother and the friends he would talk to in his classes and over meals.