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It was late at night, almost midnight when Hope got out of her bed and looked over at Pansy who was peacefully sleeping in her bed.
Hope slipped in her slippers and walked out of room, closing the door quietly behind herself. She climbed down the stairs but stopped when she heard some voices from common room downstairs.
Curiosity took the best of her and she jogged downstairs to find Leo and Draco walking out of the common room.
Finding the perfect chance, Hope decided to follow them but was stopped by another voice belonging to Theodore Nott.
"What are you doing here?" She asked with a small smile on her face. He always managed to light up a smile on her face even without doing anything.
"Couldn't sleep." Theodore lied,scratching the back of his head.
He had to lie. Leo had asked him to watch over Hope as he suspected that Hope might have heard his conversation with Draco. Theodore asked how he could be so sure that Hope heard them to which Leo answered that he had noticed her suspiciously staring at Draco's arm.
"Oh me neither." Hope said, bringing Theodore out of his trance.
"So. . ." Theodore began walking closer to her,"You wanna go outside?"
"Now?" Hope raised her eyebrows at him,"We aren't supposed to roam after curfew."
"Oh are you scared?" Theodore teased her making Hope go red in the face.
"Of course not." She replied immediately.
"Let's go then." A smirk made its way on his face.
Hope nodded and motioned him to walk down the stairs. The two of them exited the common room, theodore stuffing his hands inside the pocket of his pants.
"You wanna eat something?" He asked all of a sudden, trying to initiate a conversation.
"No, why are you hungry?" Hope questioned back.
"A bit yes." Theodore nodded.
"Then let's go. I don't mind." Hope answered with a smile and mentally cursed herself for smiling so much.
Theodore gave her a small smile and turned around a corridor. He unlocked the door and stepped aside for Hope to enter.
"The elves might be sleeping so just be quiet." He said earning a nod from Hope who hopped on one of the counters.
Theodore grabbed a bottle of firewhiskey from the cupboard and sat down besides Hope who couldn't help but feel overwhelmed as their arms touched together.
He flipped the cap open and gulped down the liquid before offering Hope who denied. A consoling silence fell over them, dissolving them in its ambiguity until Theodore decided to speak up.
"Why don't you have a last name?"
The question startled as well as confused Hope and she thought about answering it. "Because. . . i'm an orphan." She spoke realizing what a stupid answer it was.
Theodore chuckled before turning to face her properly, staring at her for a moment. "You do talk some shit." He couldn't stop laughing and Hope instantly knew he was drunk.
"It's just that I don't have an answer." Hope admitted, fumbling with her fingers,"Why did you ask though?"
"I don't know." Theodore shrugged with a dreamy faze in his eyes,"I just wanted to hear your voice. I hate silence."
Hope cracked a small, shy smile, finding it difficult to keep her feelings under her skin. She stole a glance at him to find him already looking at her.
"What do you know?" He asked again, taking Hope by surprise. She waited for him to complete his question and when he did her ears couldn't believe it.
"About draco." He finished, looking at her with expectation that she would answer him,"What is that you know? Leo asked me to keep an eye on you."
Hope was surprised to say the least. She didn't expect leo to go that extent that he would ask theodore to keep an eye on her. "I don't know anything. He's being paranoid." Hope lied.
She couldn't tell him about the suspicion that Draco and Leo might be death eaters.
"What do you think I know about them?" Hope asked making theodore stare at her.
He sighed, his face reflecting agony as he pulled his sleeves up to reveal the dark mark. Hope was shocked. She never expected theodore to be the one to join the dark lord.
"Why?" The words left her mouth as she looked up at theodore whose face was expressionless.
"Father forced me into it. If I didn't get the mark, he would have probably got me engaged with some other pureblood beauty." Theodore whispered, his eyes glued to his hands.
Hope stared at him in surprise. Numerous thoughts clashed in her mind making her head ache. She turned away from him but had to stop when theodore grabbed her hands lightly, grazing his thumb over her dorsal. Butterflies erupted in her stomach making her feel giddy.
"I'm not a monster." The vulnerability in his voice made Hope break into a misfit of sobs. She had no clue why she ended up crying but somewhere her heart pained seeing theodore's dejected face.
"I'm a human." He continued further,"I don't wanna do this. I don't want to be a monster like my father. I have no other way."
That was the last straw for Hope. She threw her arms around theodore, pulling him in a hug and rubbed his back in comfort. Tears cascaded down her cheeks and dropped on theodore's shirt like flies.
"Are you crying?" He asked as he pulled away, keeping his hands on her shoulders,"Did I hurt you?"
"No!" Hope immediately said, wiping her tears away,"It's nothing."
Theodore smiled at her which made Hope's stomach flip and a dreamy gaze adorned her eyes.
"I've always admired your personality, theo." Hope didn't realize the words left her mouth so easily,"You are different. You're a pureblood but the blood status doesn't matter to you. Just for the sake of your prestige you act like you hate blood traitors but you don't. You're really sweet to be exact."
Hope took a deep breath, the realization striking her that he would probably forget everything in the morning but she just wanted to get it off her chest. At least the moon and the stars were listening to her and that was enough for her.
