Chapter Text
To put it plainly, things had really started to go off the rails recently. Theo had been so singularly focused on studying for his O.W.L.s at the end of the school year that he hadn’t noticed his father hadn’t written him for nearly the entire month of June. If he had been paying attention, he thought, all of this wouldn’t have come as such a surprise. If he had been paying attention, he would have realized that something was afoot.
The morning after exams, he’d started packing his things, preparing for a ride home on the Hogwarts Express the following day. After five years of packing to go home, Theo had it more or less down to a science. Books at for personal reading at the bottom of the trunk, then books for school, then trousers, then jumpers, then shirts, then socks and underclothes. This term he only had one pair of shoes with him, so there was no need to pack those away. Those would travel home on his feet.
After many hours of diligent studying and notetaking, his school materials warranted special care, and so those were always packed separately. He tucked his parchments into small wooden storage tubes labeled by subject and placed them into his school bag alongside his quills and ink. In the leather satchel’s side pocket, he tucked a few coins away in case he decided to purchase a snack for himself on the train – just the right amount for a cauldron cake and an Exploda soda.
Out of the corner of his eye, Theo watched Gregory Goyle sweep his arm across the surface of his desk, sending all of the boy’s school materials haphazardly into the bottom of his trunk. As he watched Gregory fling the contents of his chest of drawers into his trunk, Theo considered warning the boy that he was bound to destroy all of his class notes if he didn’t pack carefully, but then realised that probably wasn’t of any concern to Gregory, who was neither bright nor studious. Theo didn’t have many friends at Hogwarts, but he found that when the choice was between chumming with people like Goyle and going it alone, keeping to oneself was infinitely preferable.
By the time afternoon rolled around, all of his belongings were packed away and Theo was able to wander, carefree, to the Great Hall for lunch. There were no classes or commitments today, and so he thought he might spend the rest of the afternoon enjoying a bit of tea and doing some pleasure reading.
Professor Snape was standing outside of the Great Hall, presumably looking to catch any students running in the corridors for a last chance at taking house points. Theo gave a friendly nod to Snape and made to enter the hall, but he was interrupted.
“Mr. Nott, a word?” Snape said slowly, his voice low.
“Professor?” Theo cocked his head and wondered whether he’d somehow landed himself in trouble.
“Follow me, please.” Snape turned sharply, his robes billowing behind him.
What was going on? Theo racked his brain. He had been studying for the last month, and unless staying in the library after hours now warranted a stern private conversation, he couldn’t think of any reason why he might be following Professor Snape to his office. Or perhaps it was the other way around, he considered. Was Snape going to tell him that he’d been picked to be a sixth-year prefect? He didn’t think any of that was decided until over the summer, but maybe his diligent nights of O.W.L. studying had earned him the spot early.
He’d find out soon enough, he supposed – they’d finally reached Snape’s office. Theo tried to read his Professor’s face, but Snape looked stony as ever. His lips were pressed into a stern looking line, but wasn’t that always the case?
“Please sit.” Snape instructed, motioning toward the chair across the desk from his own. As Theo lowered himself into the seat, he heard the bolt on Snape’s office door slide shut. What was going on? The young wizard’s stomach began to twist. When Snape finally sat down at his desk, he looked…worried? Theo didn’t think he’d ever seen his professor look worried before. “Theodore, I have some uncomfortable news for you.”
The room was silent for a moment as Snape considered his words. Theo could feel his heart start to pound.
“There’s been an incident at the Ministry. Your father—”
“No!” Theo yelped. His breath caught in his throat and the edges of the room started to warp and blur. He’d heard about the attack on Arthur Weasley at the Ministry over the Christmas holidays, and Weasley had nearly died. Had something happened to his father? He gripped the arms of his chair so tightly that he started to feel dizzy.
“He’s been arrested.” Snape blurted, looking uneasily at the teenaged boy in front of him who had doubled over and begun to wheeze.
Snape grimaced. He’d never been good at handling delicate issues with students, but Dumbledore insisted that he needed to be the one to tell Nott about what had transpired inside of the Department of Mysteries. Crabbe and Malfoy had been easier to tell – they both had mothers to look after them, to pick them up from King’s Cross when the Hogwarts Express arrived tomorrow – not so for Theodore. Francis was the only parent Theodore had left.
Theodore Nott, the boy sitting with his head wedged between his knees, was functionally an orphan for the foreseeable future.
Snape rose from his desk and shuffled over to a shelf on a nearby wall and began to search its contents. He needed a moment to figure out how to proceed. The first step was dealing with this panicked outburst, certainly. He had brewed something that might do the trick a few fortnights ago…. Snape pondered the shelf, trying not to notice the sound of Nott’s labored breathing.
“Here.” Snape extended a phial toward the boy. Its contents shimmered a pearlescent blue and clung to the sides of the glass like mercury. “Calming Draught.”
Theo extended a shaky hand and clutched the phial, then uncorked it and slurped down its contents. After a moment, he sat up and let out a long exhale. Gradually, his face changed from a blotchy pink to its usual color.
“Shit.” Theo whispered, dragging a hand across his face. He hardly cared that he just swore in front of the head of his house, an act which would have been unthinkable under normal circumstances. Snape didn’t scold him. If anything, the professor looked like he was feeling relieved, too.
Now that the panic had subsided, Snape felt ready to proceed.
“There was a break-in at the Ministry last night. Your father was arrested. I hate to say it Theodore, but the situation isn’t good. It’s likely he’ll serve time in Azkaban.”
“Where is he now?” Theo questioned.
Snape hesitated, “He’s there. In Azkaban. The offense…it was serious. He’s suffered a few injuries, too, but he’s being treated.”
Theo opened his mouth to speak again, but Snape continued before he could get a word in edgewise.
“Doubtless, you’ll have a lot of questions in the coming days, but for now there’s the issue of term ending.” The boy looked like he’d been stupefied. “Your father and several interested parties are in the process of pulling some strings. They’re hoping that he’ll be able to secure his release in advance of the trial so that he can make a few arrangements. You’ll be looked after.”
The situation was beginning to become clearer to Theo. Snape was speaking to him as a friend of his father’s now, not as his professor or his head of house. The “interested parties” Snape referred to – certainly that must be the Dark Lord, or maybe some of His associates. Theo supposed that his father must have been involved in some sort of mission, and that the mission must have gone extremely poorly. It was at this moment that Theo remembered his father hadn’t written him lately.
“How are you feeling?” Snape looked as though he were afraid that Theo might start wheezing again.
“Like utter shite, honestly. But thanks for asking.”
“We think it’s best that you stay behind at the castle for a few days.” Snape began choosing his words carefully again. “It seems likely that your father will be granted release shortly. After that happens, he’ll Floo here to take you home.”
“I know my way around London. I can find my own way home from King’s Cross.”
Theo noticed the professor tense ever so slightly at the suggestion. Was there something Snape wasn’t saying?
“That won’t be possible, I’m afraid. You’re…underage. We think it would be best that you didn’t—”
“Aurors,” Theo interrupted.
“Aurors?” Snape asked, narrowing his eyes at the boy.
“Aurors. If my father’s been arrested, I’m sure they’re searching the house top to bottom. Is that why I can’t go back?”
Snape sighed, wondering whether Theodore Nott might be a bit too clever for his own good. Dumbledore thought it was better that the boy didn’t know his family home was currently being turned over by a team from the Ministry, but it seemed he had worked it out anyway.
“They should be finished in 48 hours.” Snape conceded. “In the meantime, no one is permitted entry. Including you.”
“All right, I suppose it’s settled, then.” Theo said matter-of-factly. “I’ll head down to the common room after lunch and unpack a few of my things. Any other unfortunate news for me?”
“No,” Snape replied.
Theo thought for a moment, and then decided to try his luck. “Professor, can I have access to the prefect bathroom after everyone leaves? A consolation for the circumstances, if you will.”
Snape rolled his eyes. “Go to lunch, Mr. Nott.”
"Is that a no?” Theo asked with mock incredulity. “Bad news left and right this afternoon.”
There was nothing more to discuss, so the boy stood and made his way out of the office. As he walked down the corridor toward the Great Hall, Snape called after him.
“Mr. Nott.”
Theo turned. “Yes, professor?”
“The password is ‘wishy-washy’.”
As he continued toward the Great Hall, he smiled to himself. At least he knew how to make the best of a bad situation.