Chapter Text
I will give you all of me
Just leave your lover, leave him for me
Leave your lover, leave him for me
We sit in bars and raise our drinks to growing old
Oh, I'm in love with you and you will never know
- Leave Your Lover by Sam Smith
"Are you okay, Theo?" Tracy put a hand on his arm.
They were sitting on the grass near the lake, the wind wasn't cold, the sun was shining shyly since it was early in the morning, and they wanted to be outside and enjoy the nice weather while they could. The cold days weren't far.
"What?" The boy blinked before looking at her.
"You spaced out. What were you looking at?"
Theo shook his head. "Nothing."
She looked at him like she didn't believe what he was saying, but dropped the subject and started talking about homework. Theo was glad that she respected his silence and didn't make him talk; he didn't want to tell her what he was looking at, she would have questions and he wouldn't be able to answer them. He didn't have the answers, he didn't know why he was always following the boy with his eyes.
Since Liam Dunbar and his friends had come to the Slytherin table one morning, on the first week back at Hogwarts, asking for a truce, Theo found his eyes glued to the boy, whenever he was in sight. Theo couldn't stop doing it and he wasn't about to tell Tracy that; knowing her, she would try to put crazy ideas in his head and nothing pretty would come out of it.
"Are you coming with us today?" Her voice interrupted his confused thoughts.
"Where?"
"The Three Broomsticks, obviously," she raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you forgot."
Seeing Theo looking clueless, she shook her head and sighed. She knew that something was worrying him, but she knew him well enough to know that he would only tell her what was wrong when he wanted to.
"Liam and his friends invited us to go with them," Tracy clarified.
"They did?" He looked at her surprised.
"Yes, Theo," she rolled her eyes. "You were there when they did."
"I must have been distracted," he shrugged
"Yeah, distracted," she smirked. "Are you coming with us or not?"
"I don't see why not."
__________________________
It was the beginning of October. The sun was high, covered by white clouds, there was no wind and the air was warm. The weather being so nice was a little unusual, but the Hogwarts' students were happy to enjoy it, especially the 3rd years and above since it was a Hogsmeade trip weekend.
That's why the Slytherins could go there and meet with Liam and his friends outside of the castle. Theo, Tracy and Brett - Josh had detention and wasn't able to get out of it to go with them, - were walking to the Three Broomsticks and talking about the last potions class and the mess a Ravenclaw boy did when he spilled his cauldron.
"If it was with Professor Snape, he would be dead by now," Tracy laughed.
"True," Theo nodded. "Potions isn't the same with Professor Slughorn."
"At least with Professor Snape we were always on top," Brett smirked and pointed at the Slytherin crest on his uniform.
"That really wasn't fair," Tracy faked a pout.
"And we are not Hufflepuffs to care."
They were laughing when they opened The Three Broomsticks' door, which attracted some attention to them, they tried to ignore it and looked around to find the people they had come to meet. The others were already sitting at one of the tables; Corey Bryant - a Hufflepuff -, and Mason Hewitt - a Ravenclaw - were talking quietly among themselves; Dunbar - ever the Gryffindor - was talking to Nolan Holloway - another Hufflepuff - with his arm around Hayden Romero’s - the only other Gryffindor at the table - shoulders and a glass of Butterbeer in his hand.
When she saw them, Tracy waved her way between the people and the tables with Theo and Brett following her and sat on one of the vacant chairs at the table.
"Hello," she smiled. "Did we make you guys wait?"
"Not much," Mason returned the smile. "We got here five minutes ago, more or less."
"Good," Tracy looked behind her at the two boys she had come with. "Aren't you guys going to sit?"
Brett shared a look with Theo and shrugged sitting on the empty chair next to Nolan, leaving Theo to sit next to Tracy and in front of Dunbar. When they were all seated, Tracy called the waitress and ordered Butterbeers for all of them.
"I'll pay this round," she winked.
The waitress came with the drinks and smiled warmly at them after she looked at their uniforms.
"The last time I saw such a big group with all the four houses together was a long time ago."
"I hope you see more groups like ours,” Dunbar smiled at her. "The rivalry between the houses, especially Gryffindor and Slytherin is ridiculous," he looked directly at Theo when he said the last part, making the boy frown.
With a last warm smile, the waitress left them alone and went to another table.
"So, how's life?" Nolan asked after an awkward silence.
"You really don't know how to make conversation, do you?" Brett laughed and the other boy blushed, looking down. "Hey, don't be like that; I'm not making fun of you."
"Are you sure, Talbot?" Corey glared.
"Corey," Mason warned.
"Yes, I'm sure, Bryant. If I were making fun of Nolan, here, I would have said something meaner."
Corey looked like he was ready to answer, but Nolan beat him to it. "Honestly, don't start fighting. I didn't even feel offended."
"If you're sure, Nolan," Corey sighed.
"I have a question," Tracy interrupted, suddenly. "Since when have you two been together?" She gestured to Liam and Hayden.
Theo knew that she was only trying to stop a possible word-fight between Brett and Corey; she loved gossip, there was no way she didn't know since when Dunbar and his girlfriend were together. Theo thought that the effort she was making to have them and the other students getting along was amazing; he would never have guessed just how determined she could be about something like that.
"Not that long," the other girl smiled. "Though, I have had a crush on him since forever."
Everyone except the three Slytherins laughed like it was some kind of inside joke and Dunbar blushed, muttering something under his breath. However, even though they were laughing about the subject, there was some kind of tension between Liam and his girlfriend that no one seemed to notice, or everyone seemed to ignore.
But they weren't the only tense ones, Theo felt something weird creep inside him and felt himself tense up when they moved a little closer, maybe trying to ignore the tension. Theo couldn't understand what was happening with him; the last time he had felt something remotely like that had been back in 4th when Tracy had been flirting with an older Slytherin boy at the Yule Ball when she was supposed to be his date, but the situation was completely different or wasn't it?
From the corner of her eye, Tracy saw Theo looking down at his glass of Butterbeer like it was some riddle he was trying to solve and shook her head. Her best friend was acting weird again, just like he had been for weeks now. She was starting to get worried about him, it wasn't normal to see Theo space out, his gaze focusing for some time on something she wasn’t sure he was even seeing, sighing and glaring, but it was happening and she knew something was wrong with him. She would do anything to find out what it was and how she could make it better, she just wanted to help her friend, but she didn't know how.
"Theo," she called.
The boy looked startled at her. "Yeah?"
"You just spaced out, again," she said when she felt the others looking at them. There was no way she would confront him in front of them.
"I was just thinking," he shrugged and took a gulp of his drink. Always the same excuse, he wasn't fooling her.
"If you say so," she looked at him thoughtfully, before turning to talk to Hayden.
Theo just sighed and started tracing random patterns on the table with his finger, still deep in thought. Why had he felt like something inside him was squeezing painfully when they started talking about Dunbar and his girlfriend? It couldn't be like 4th year, it just couldn't. It made no sense.
Suddenly, Theo felt a foot nudge his under the table and looked up, catching Liam’s eyes. Theo raised an eyebrow - what did Dunbar want? Liam didn't talk and just looked at Theo with interest and curiosity, and Theo had never thought that he would ever be the one Dunbar would look at in that way, they had always looked at each other with something like... He didn't know, but it wasn't like this, that was for sure. Something fluttered inside him and Theo cursed himself, not wanting to know what it was.
After looking at him like he was trying to guess what the boy was thinking, Liam just shook his head and looked away; leaving Theo to try and understand what the gaze and the feelings swirling inside him meant.
____________________________
"Today was surprisingly fun," Tracy sat on one of the sofas in the Slytherin common room.
This year Hogwarts was different. During the final battle the castle had suffered a lot of damage and everyone knew it would never be the same; some parts of the castle were still forbidden since they still hadn't been repaired, but the determination to open the school in September had made the professors and people all around Great Britain work hard during the summer so it would be possible. It still wasn't finished, but they were getting there.
"Who could have guessed that little Dunbar and his friends could be fun," Brett laughed.
It was true; in their eyes, that group of students was just idiots who got themselves in unnecessary danger impulsively, especially Liam who seemed to be the leader of their little ‘pack’, and they had never wanted to associate with them, but the war had changed them too, and now the Slytherins were glad they had the chance to get to know them better.
Tracy and Josh continued talking for a while, commenting on the afternoon and the people they had spent it with. Brett was still wary of them, but Tracy was starting to like them, after all, she saw in Hayden a girl that she could be friends with, and she was glad for the opportunity since her female friends hadn't returned to Hogwarts after the war, preferring to move to Beauxbatons.
Tracy was getting ready to argue with Brett some more and defend Hayden against something idiotic he was saying, when she noticed the missing piece of their group (the one that wasn't in detention) sitting by the window. She nudged Brett, cutting him mid-sentence and making him scowl, before pointing at Theo.
"Theo?" She called softly.
The boy was looking at the merpeople that passed by the window, with his knees to his chest and his arms around them, with a frown and a thoughtful expression on his face. He didn't look like he had heard her at all.
"What's wrong with him?" Brett asked, in a whisper so Theo wouldn't hear.
"I don't know," the girl sighed. "He has been like this almost since the beginning of the year."
"Do you think it's because of all that happened? The war, the Dark Lord, his parents..."
"Honestly, I don't think so. It seems like something different."
Not knowing what was wrong with their friend, but wanting to help, they both got up and walked to the window where he was; Tracy sat next to him and Brett leaned against the wall.
"What's wrong, Theo?"
He shrugged. "Nothing."
"That's not true and we all know it. I've ignored it for too long. You are our friend, Theo, we worry about you."
"And I'm thankful for that, but..." he sighed and looked at his friends. "I don't know what's wrong with me."
Brett and Tracy fell silent and looked at each other, but none of them knew what to say. They had never seen Theo looking so defeated; it didn't look good on him. Brett put a hand on his arm and Tracy an arm around his shoulders, trying to comfort him somehow. They weren't good with comforting, none of them were, so they really didn't know what more they could do to show that they were there for Theo, no matter what.
But they didn't need to do more than that, Theo knew that they cared and worried about him and he was really glad that he had them both as friends. Knowing that they were there for him, that they respected his silence and could comfort him without words meant a lot to him.
Theo had always known that he was a Slytherin, the hat had only confirmed it, and ever since first year he had always felt welcomed and at home with the snakes, like it was there where he belonged. But he had never felt quite like this, he had never felt so grateful for the colors he wore; the sorting hat had been right, he had found his true friends amongst Slytherins and, thinking about it, he realized that the house had never meant more to him.
They stayed in silence, looking out the window for some time, with the light weight of comfort above them; and Theo didn't need more.
__________________________
Theo was at the Slytherin table with Tracy, Brett and Josh having lunch. It was Friday, one week of socializing with new people and Brett was telling one of his famous stories, the story of that one time he went to France. Well, he had gone there multiple times, he didn't fail to remember them, but that one time was special.
"Brett, darling, we really don't care about your rendezvous with French girls and boys," Tracy rolled her eyes.
"Shut up, Tracy, even if you aren't interested that doesn't mean Theo and Josh aren't."
"We are not," Theo said without missing a beat.
"Not, really," Josh agreed.
Brett shut up after that, muttering to himself about stupid friends, amazing French girls and handsome French boys while eating his food. He didn't look at his friends for some time, letting his eyes roam the Great Hall and avoiding them, even though he wanted to add something to the conversation sometimes.
"What do you think it's happening?" Brett pointed at the Gryffindor table, completely forgetting just how annoyed by his friends he was.
"Trouble in paradise," Tracy stared at the other table with a frown.
"What do you mean?"
"I think it's something between Hayden and Liam."
"Why do you say that?"
"She looks mad and he looks like he is trying to get a point across."
They all looked at the Gryffindors curiously. They weren't making a scene and if Brett hadn't been observing the other students while not looking at his friends, they wouldn't have noticed that something was happening, but now that they had it was obvious that something wasn't okay and that Hayden and Liam were in the middle of the argument.
"Maybe he cheated," Josh suggested.
"I don't think so," Tracy shook her head. "Liam isn't the cheating type."
"How do you know that?" Brett asked.
"I just think that he appreciates what he has too much and knows the importance everything has. He wouldn't do something that could make him lose her. She is too important.
He’s not that kind of person."
"How do you know Dunbar so well?" Brett looked at her surprised.
"I don't know him, I'm just assuming," she smirked. "But, to answer your question, it's because I'm observant. Unlike you."
"What do you think, Theo?"
"What?" Theo looked up from his food.
"Do you agree with Tracy?"
Theo knew that she was right; he had spent so much time watching Dunbar that he had picked up some things. Dunbar was the kind of guy that cherished what he had and did everything to keep it with him and out of danger, he wouldn't do something as stupid as cheating. But Theo would never admit just how well he had gotten to know Dunbar just by observing him, it would come out a little weird and his friends would ask him questions, so he wouldn't say any of that.
"I think she might be right," he shrugged.
"OK, then, I give up" Brett raised his hands in surrender with a smile.
They kept eating while keeping an eye on the Gryffindor table, still trying to understand what was happening and speculating about what it could be. Some of their theories were some of the stupidest anyone could have come up with and they had a good laugh about it before anything changed at the other table.
"I'm gonna talk to Hayden," Tracy got up when she saw the girl exiting the Great Hall, calling Hayden’s name and not looking back at her friends.
"Since when are they friends?" Josh looked at Theo, confused.
"I don't know, but let them be," he shrugged. "She needs some girl friends."
"You’re right," Josh nodded. "She needs someone to talk with about makeup and dresses and all that shit that we don't understand."
"At least we will know what happened over there," Brett looked at the Gryffindor table where Mason and Corey were looking sympathetically at Dunbar, who had his head in his hands. They had probably noticed the argument from their own tables and went there to see if their friend needed anything.
"I guess we will," Theo laughed at the smirk on his friend's face.
_________________________
Later that day, Theo, Josh and Brett were sitting in the Slytherin common room, Theo was helping a 1st year with his homework and Brett and Josh were playing chess.
"Do you think it will take Tracy long to come back?" Brett asked while moving one of his pieces.
"I don't know," Josh shrugged. "Why?"
Theo rolled his eyes, already knowing the answer to Josh’s question, and ignored them, focusing on answering the questions of the little boy he was helping.
He had always liked studying in the common room more than studying in the library; he knew that the older Slytherins would always be willing to answer the younger's questions and help them with what they needed. Now that he is one of the older ones, it's his duty to help the little Slytherins.
Some time after that, when the 1st year boy had finished his homework and the chess game had finished with Josh’s victory, the three boys were sitting on the sofas, waiting for Tracy to return.
"Stewart!" Brett called when the girl (finally) got in the common room.
"What do you want, Talbot?" She grinned, knowingly.
"Did you talk to Hayden?"
"Yes, I did," she sat on the sofa next to Theo. "You want to gossip, don't you, Brett?"
"Is that even a question?" He smirked.
“Liam and Hayden broke up," she sighed.
"Why?" Theo asked.
She shrugged.
"Hayden said that their relationship wasn't working. That they are better off as friends."
"Are they okay?" Theo asked after a little silence.
"Are you worried about Gryffindors, Theo?" Josh raised an eyebrow.
"Aren't we supposed to be their friends? That's why I'm asking."
"Anyway, according to Hayden, even though they had an argument, they are both fine and know it was for the best."
"So, Hayden is single now..." Josh smirked.
"Seriously, Josh?" Tracy shook her head. "The girl just got out of a relationship."
"So what? You said that she was fine."
"You're impossible," she laughed.
Theo looked at his laughing friends with raised eyebrows and smiled, forgetting the Gryffindors and shaking his head at the Slytherins, knowing that he couldn't ask for better friends. Even if he made new friends, these three would always be a part of his life and he wouldn't trade them for anything.