𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗻'𝘀 𝗯𝗹𝘂𝗳𝗳, theodore nott

˗ˋ 02

CHAPTER TWO
✧
-: sixth year :-

── IN WHICH THE
PLOT IS REVEALED

. . .

"TEDDY, YOU'VE GROWN." As soon as the tall, ornately decorated doors closed behind them, a sense of relief and the feeling of being completely ordinary washed over them. It was commonplace for the meetings to be sealed with a charm that allowed no eavesdroppers, and so, Cerise could turn towards her friends with no sense at all of the formality that had

"I was under the impression I had stopped that by now." Theo mused, grinning as the girl hugged him. "I take it you're not joining like Mr Death Eater over hear?" His raised thumb jerked towards Draco, who rolled his eyes.

"Don't let that nickname catch on." Cerise shook her head, eyes and smile gentle as they landed on her boyfriend. "But as of now, I'm tattoo free." As if she needed to prove it - and she really didn't, they would believe anything she said at a drop of the hat - the sleeves of her blouse were pushed up to her elbows, revealling the bare skin that Theo had witnessed be marked by Bellatrix's wand.

And that did remain there, a small, angry circle where it had been prodded and forced. But it was no Dark Mark, and that was all that mattered.

The four of them began to make their way down the hallway, shoes against the soft woollen rugs that lined the dark wood. Portraits of blonde ancestors watched over them, some still and some moving - a group of once Malfoy wives peered at them behind neatly painted hands, ring fingers embellished with rather large, dark rocks. The old patriarchs muttered and mumbled amongst themselves, and Cerise couldn't help but wonder their reactions to the youngest member of the Malfoy family becoming a Death Eater, lest being asked to leave the meeting.

At the end of the hallway stood a scene that almost looked as though it could be the background of one of the depictions, an archway leading out onto a small balcony, veiled curtains pulled back to reveal the area. The sun was about to fully set, the globe of honey-like light on the very edge of the horizon miles away across the rolling fields of Wiltshire, staining the sky a mixture of deep purple and pink. The clouds were a golden amber, the sky high above them already a deeper blue.

Cerise pushed herself up onto the stone fencing, Draco coming to a stop beside her as Theo and Blaise positioned themselves either side. Crabbe and Goyle stood near the entrance, and it seemed they were just missing Pansy from their group. It was unfortunate that, unlike the Zabinis, Malfoys and Notts, Lysa and Anderson Parkinson preferred to keep their daughter out of that world. But she didn't doubt it wouldn't be long until Pansy began to frequent them just as much as the others; during the next year they would all turn seventeen, and thus, become adults.

"Here. Figured we could all use it." Theo reached into the pocket of his suit jacket, the small cardboard carton of beige and red flicking open to reveal it half-way empty. "Might be crucified for getting another Muggle brand but-"

"We all know they're better than whatever they put in the ones from bloody Vear's." Cerise scoffed, a hand on Draco's shoulder to steady herself as she reached for one. "Whose got a lighter, Blaise?"

The twin already had the ornate gold tool that he had most certainly stolen from either their family manor or the visit to Italy and Spain previously in the summer, flicking the lever, grasp tightened around the engraving of a snake as he lit his sister's, then another for Theo.