mind over matter - theodore nott

o2. amortentia

AMORTENTIA

Cigarettes, aftershave, burnt wood.

The smell lingered, it followed me, everywhere I went. But the strange thing was, that it felt like it had always been there. I was just too late to notice. Amortentia was known to cause severe obsession with one who smells it, but is obsession really possible if you smell somebody that you don't know? I guess I'll find out sooner or later.

Divination was next period. I've never really had a strong feeling about divination, it wasn't my favourite nor did I hate it. I guess I never really payed much attention in it during my everlasting years at hogwarts.

As I arrived in divination with Lena, the smell that had lingered from the amortentia grew stronger. My eyes scanned around the room once again, trying to figure out where the now-familiar scent was coming from. Too many students were huddled together to be able to figure out who it was so I didn't really bother to look for long before taking a seat beside Lena and placing my divination book onto the table I had acquired.

"Oh my god, Pansy won't stop giving me death stares. It's actually getting so annoying. What the fuck is her problem?" Lenora complained as she slammed her book onto our table.

I was quick to answer her this time, somehow not stuck in a world of my own. Which was severely strange since I never found myself not stuck in a world of my own, fake scenarios playing 24/7 and anxiety overpowering in my highly imaginative mind. Sometimes I thought my mind could be too imaginative. I'd just be closing my eyes in the shower to wash out my shampoo and imagine a fucking serial killer standing in front of me with a knife preparing to stab me. "She just needs to let it go. You fell out over a year ago, surely she can forget about it now. Even she said herself that she prefers it just being in a group of four, anyways. Just don't look at her." I stated before tucking my hair which was covering the side of my face behind my ear and slouching slightly against the wall that was behind me as there weren't any proper bloody chairs in here, only benches.

"I don't get it though, she acts like we're all 'besties' when it's just us but then around the others she's a bitch." Lena complained once more, leaning forwards onto the table and resting her head in her hand. I scanned the room for a second time as everyone had sat down. The scent wasn't as strong as it was when we first arrived, not where I was sitting. As I was looking from person to person trying to figure out the mystery that lay unresolved in front of me, a certain pair of eyes locked with mine. They distracted me from everything. The pair of eyes belonged to the slytherin boy I knew only as Nott, for it was somehow only this week I had fully noticed him. I knew everyone's name from my year, but his was one I couldn't recall. A strange feeling overcame me when his eyes stayed locked with mine for however long they were. It felt as if everything just stopped, even myself. My legs relaxed after anxiously shaking up and down. I could almost feel my cheeks getting flustered and my thoughts were put on pause as the slytherin boy subconsciously tangled his way into my mind, his tired dark blue eyes not looking away from the almost-restless light blue eyes of mine. As my heartbeat began to quicken, I had no thoughts decide on my actions before I turned my head in knowledge of myself going bright red in only a matter of time if I hadn't reluctantly looked away.

"Flo, we can study in the common room tonight if you want." Lenora interrupted my intense thoughts that had gathered after making eye contact with the Nott boy.

I turned my head to look at her flicking through the pages of her divination book. "What do you mean? What do we need to study for?"

"Divination? Miss literally just said that we have to do partnered projects and me and you are together." She informed me, realising that I had been zoned out the whole time professor Trelawney was speaking about the newest assignment. I'd calmed down now, seeing as though only a moment ago my heart was beating faster than usual and my cheeks were getting heavily flustered but for a new reason I had only just encountered, and was never to get rid of.

"Oh, okay. Sorry." I apologised before leaning forward onto the round table covered with a burgundy red table cloth in front of me. I've never been one to study much. Sure I'd do the occasional panic study after being told I have a test the next day but other than that I honestly couldn't be bothered. Bloody hell, I don't even know what to do with myself anymore. I barely had any interest in things that I used to love, cooking, archery, watching tv, even hanging out with people outside of school terms is never seen of me anymore. My mind was going downhill at a fast pace, and there wasn't much able to bring it back up. The 'much' was soon becoming an 'anything'.

I snook a few more glances at the Nott boy here and there, obviously not making it look too obvious that I was intentionally looking at him. But god, was it hard to keep my eyes away from him. My glances were interrupted by Trelawney choosing Nott to be the one to read his tea leaves. The last time we did tea leaves was in third year and even now I still find it as tricky as it was then. He looked as if he was snapped out of his thoughts when she approached him, his mind becoming wary of the professor asking him a question. "Um, an unexpected good fortune, good luck." He replied, not really bothering to be confused about what it could mean.

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

Me and Lena were sitting down in our common room at the round table, studying for the assignment we were yet to complete. A loud bang was heard as Draco playfully pushed a familiar boy into the common room, Blaise following closely behind, all entering from the dungeons. My attention turned to where the noise had been made, immediately seeing Nott stand up straight and notice me and Lenora studying at the table. His eyes locked with mine as he was nudged by Draco running past before he reached a hand up to his hair and ran his fingers through it, fluffing it up. I could've sworn I saw him smirk slightly as he stood up and locked eyes with me for the third time that week. Lena stiffed a small laugh from her place beside me and hid her smile with her hand when the three boys left the room to go up to their dorms. "He was staring at you." She said.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" I picked my quill up and began writing down my divination notes as I had been before the distraction that had just occurred.

"Theodore, he was looking at you the whole time he was in the room. Have you two ever even talked?" She questioned, copying me in my actions.

"No, I didn't even know his name before you just said it." I told her truthfully.

Theodore Nott. Now that she'd told me, his name rung a bell. And now I didn't have to carry on referring to him as 'Nott' in my head when thinking of him.

It wasn't until after he left the room that I began worrying about my appearance, sorting my hair out and wiping my finger under my eyes for any excess makeup that was bound to be there. "You're defo starting to have a crush on him." Lenora said, flicking through her book.

"No I'm not, I haven't even spoken to the guy. C'mon, Lena, I don't fall for people that easily." The thing is, I was lying when I said that. I just didn't know it yet.

"Well do you know who you smelt in the amortentia yesterday? It could very well be him. He smokes, wears aftershave I hope, and the burnt wood could be something to do with the fires here." She smartly stated.

Maybe she was right. Maybe it was Theodore who I smelt in the amortentia. I doubt it because I didn't even know him when I smelt it, but anything's possible, really.

"Wait, but if it is him, aren't both your parents aurors?" Lenora added.

"Yeah? They're both like heavily against death eaters and all that shit, I swear in the muggle world they'd both be cops or som- Oh." I realised what she was getting at by the time I had almost finished the statement. My parents and Theodore were probably enemies, great.