Regency in Diagon Alley [Theodore Nott | Harry Potter AU]

Prologue

Carina was having second thought with the plan in motion for two reasons: Roman's uniform stank, and the Gender-Swapping Potion could only last for an hour and they have been trekking for the past thirty-five minutes – add to that the ten minutes that took them to get out of the castle and avoid Filch and his cat, Mrs. Norris to catch them. Normally, in such circumstances, she could just take the potion again but the vial she took was the last in their stash. It has been a busy week for them all, and sometimes it is Roman and Theodore who would use the potion so their consumption of all twenty-four vials were fast. Also, it's too late now to walk back when they were already halfway through the Forbidden Forest. They have already circled the centaurs reading the stars for their fortune telling, Roman has stepped on dung, and they spent most of the journey wondering what magical creature excreted that much.

Carina thought it was one of the centaurs.

Roman guessed it was it was one of the unicorns.

Theodore turned down their guesses because centaurs do not defecate near their stargazing spot and unicorn dung would be sparkling with glitter ("You just made that up!" Carina accused him. "Yes, the boy who has a menagerie would make up something like that," Theodore replied). In the end, they decided it was either Crabbe or Goyle's shite and laughed about it, not bother to find a logical reason why those two boys would journey to the forest to use the bathroom.

Coming across an obstacle that took on a form of a large fallen tree blocking their path, Roman puffed his chest and climbed the large trunk. Carina and Theodore watched as he skillfully and flawlessly manages to get to the very top without any help from them. Once he was straddling the trunk, he held out his hand for Carina to take.

"How much further is this place, Rome?" Carina asked in a deep voice that still startled her, even when she has transformed to a boy numerous times. There was just something about the male voice that always seemed so loud.

Theodore grunted in displeasure as he had her step on his palms and gave her a boost to reach Roman's hand. He was thankful that she was wearing Roman's trousers or else he would have a harder time helping her while trying to preserve her dignity.

"Too late to whine now, Black," he said. "We have traveled a long way, Roman stepped on shite, you stink –"

"You know exactly what a girl wants to hear, Nott," Carina rolled her eyes. She heaved as her torso hung on the trunk and as Roman patted her on the back and grabbed the belt of the trousers to help her sit up.

"— and, I have ruined my new flock," Theodore continued. Once she was settled on the trunk, she held out her hand to him, Theodore wiped his hands on his frock before startling the climb and taking her helping hand. At the top, straddling the large trunk, Theodore paused to catch his breath.

"Don't tell me you're tired now, Nott," she teased.

Still catching his breath, Theodore opened his mouth to say something until he realized how close they were. Even as a boy, Arin – the name they gave her whenever she would transform as a boy – still had traces of Carina's original feminine features. Through the alterations of the potion that made her jaw prominent and her facial structure more profound, he could still see the girl's high cheekbones, the slight pump cheeks, thin, pink lips, soft jaw, long lashes... her silver eyes. Her eyes always stayed the same. There was a saying that the eyers were windows to the soul, maybe that was why her eyes never changed when taking the potion.