laconic • t.nott ✓

41 ➺ protect her

「 PROTECT HER 」

THEO STIRRED AWAKE, BLINKING IN the darkness.

It wasn't morning yet but something had woken him up. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, he sat up in bed, a distinct sense of wrongness growing inside him. He looked toward Blaise. He was sleeping, unaware, his arm around Theo's waist. Careful not to disturb him, Theo reached out to push the curtain aside. The others were sleeping and it was silent ...

No.

It was not silent. Faint murmurs reached him when he strained his ears to listen. They were coming from the doorway - the common room. He tried to convince himself that it was just a couple having a fight but when he listened carefully, he could tell there were more voices than two. Far more.

He gently pushed Blaise's arm aside and let his feet fall to the floor. It wasn't that it was uncommon to hear voices from the common room late at night. But there was a certain tension in the way the voices rose and fell and Theo decided he had to check.

Before he could stand, Blaise grabbed his shirt from behind. "What's going on?" he asked groggily.

"I think something's happening," Theo said in a low voice. Blaise was now fully awake and had a hand on his shoulder.

"What are you talking about?"

Theo got to his feet and carelessly put on his shoes. "There are people outside."

As if on cue, someone banged on their door, causing both of them to jump. Then Slughorn's voice floated through the air, amplified. "Come into the common room, everyone. This is an emergency."

Draco, Crabbe, and Goyle peeked their heads out from behind their own curtains, faces drooping. Blaise leapt to his feet and started to rummage through the clothes piled on the floor and on their beds. He threw something warm around Theo's shoulders and put on a nightgown himself. He grabbed Theo by the elbow and dragged him toward the door. "Come on."

Professor Slughorn stood in his nightgown, surrounded by a gaggle of nervous-looking first- and second-years. More people were coming out of the dormitories, paused at the stairs to take in the sight of Slughorn's large form in their cosy common room. Theo and Blaise glanced at each other briefly before making their way to the slowly growing crowd.

Blaise looked around until he found Corben and dragged him toward themselves. He kept a firm grip on his arm like he was afraid he would run away. Corben was perhaps too sleepy to protest.

Slughorn waited until people had stopped coming in from the dormitories. He asked everyone to make sure that all of their roommates were there with them and said, "Form a line. Or two. As many as you need. And follow me to the Great Hall."

A cry of protest rang around the room, reverberating off the low walls. Questions of why and how and what is happening bombarded the Slytherin Head of House until he held up his hand and spoke above all of them. "Everything will be explained once we get there," he said as the mutters began to cease. "Professor McGonagall is there; she will answer all your questions. Now, please. Follow me."

The older students stood aside to let the smaller ones pass. Theo was amongst the last ones to leave. He stood close by Blaise, a nervous thudding inside his chest.

"Do you think this has anything to do with Potter or You-Know-Who?" Theo asked.

"Yes," Blaise said simply.

The Great Hall was filled to the brim with alert but drowsy students in nightgowns. The contrast of the colourful attire to the usual black robes hit Theo's eyes quite strongly. He held Blaise's hands as they made their way to the Slytherin table and sat. Professor McGonagall was at the podium, facing them.