beautiful - harry potter

chapter 24

TW: mentions of r*pe

"Happy birthday to me!" Draco shouted gleefully as he slid down the banister of the moving staircases. Thalia stifled a giggle as Theo slid down the banister after Draco and rammed into him at the end, causing both boys to fall down. 

Thalia and Blaise skipped down the stairs as quickly as possible, since Draco and Theo were becoming very impatient.

Today was June 5th, otherwise known as Draco's birthday. He made it the biggest deal and everyone always sent presents and there was always a huge party. Draco always feels 'generous' so he invites the other three houses instead of it just being Slytherins.

"Come on, Lia! Blaise!" Draco shouted. He got to his feet and put his hands on his hips, tapping his right foot like the way a stern mother does. Blaise smiled and shook his head as him and Thalia finally made it down to the same floor.

They'd eaten breakfast in Draco's dorm, which of course, was cinnamon buns with peanut butter, Draco's favorite. Unfortunately, since they'd eaten breakfast in Draco's dorm, they'd lost track of time and became terribly late to their first period. But as always, they were in no rush.

Draco was so happy that he didn't even realize what he was doing when he slung his arm over Blaise's shoulders. Blaise froze for a second but he let Draco's arm stay there as the group walked down the abandoned corridors.

Thalia slipped her hand into Theo's as the Slytherins continued on their way. The sun was out and its rays were shining everywhere, causing the little floating specks of dust to be visible to the human eye. 

The air smelled of pollen and Theo's nose was too stuffy and a tad bit red from having an allergic reaction. Thalia giddily breathed in the fresh air and had a skip in her step when she strutted. 

They burst through the doors of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as quietly as possible and saw that the desks were pushed to the sides of the room. A familiar brown closet was in the center of the room and Professor Moody's back was to them.

The Slytherins fell in line with everyone else and shot each other smug looks. "Coming late to class again," Professor Moody said clearly. "10 points from Slytherin. Each."

He spun around and the group looked at the floor in shame, then glanced at each other sneakily. "We've just finished reviewing boggarts," Professor Moody announced, "and since all of you were late, why don't you four go first?"

Draco looked hesitant. He knew that his boggart hadn't changed in the last year and he wasn't looking forward to facing that again, especially on his birthday. Thalia sent him a sorry look and removed her hand from Theo's as they walked forward.

"The rest of the class, line up behind them," Moody instructed. Thalia stood behind Theo, Blaise behind her, and Draco last. The rest of the class fell into line and Professor Moody removed the large silver lock on the closet.

Theo readied his wand as a grey smoke left the closet and went onto the floor. The smoke moved around for a second, shifting into Theo's worst fear. On the ground was his mother, looking as lifeless and pale as ever.

It was strange that Theo still feared that because his mother was dead in real life. He still had nightmares about it though, and he wasn't sure why. She passed when he was younger, maybe 8 or 9. 

"Riddikulus," Theo said loudly, pointing his wand at the boggart. It shifted into his mother alive and well, smiling up at her son. Theo smiled back politely and made his way to the back of the line as Thalia stepped up.

She took her wand out and pointed it at the boggart, which started to shift. It morphed and stood taller than her as it shifted into Theo. He looked the same as he did mere seconds ago, except his look was blank and his gaze was cold.