Medicine - T. Nott

thirty five

April 18th, 1998

When I wake up the bed is empty. Sunlight sneaks in through the curtains and illuminates the half of the bed where my boyfriend should still sleeping. Theo must've left recently because the sheets are still warm, but his absence is unsettling until I see that he left a note on the nightstand.

Went to get coffee, be back soon - T

I set the note back down on the nightstand and get out of bed. We have to go back to London today to go to Kings Cross Station. I've gotten so used to being alone with Theo these past two weeks that I don't want to go back to separate dorms and other people interrupting.

Theo's trunk is already packed and ready to go by the door, so I get changed and pack up my trunk as well.

Just as I finish pulling my hair back into a braid, I hear someone unlocking the hotel room door.

Theo comes walking into the room with two cups of coffee and a bouquet of red tulips. He smiles when he sees me. "Good morning, Alex," He says. I meet him halfway and stand on my tiptoes so that I can kiss him. I hold his face between my hands and Theo grins into the kiss.

"Morning, Theo," I mumble against his lips.

When we break apart, Theo hands me a cup of coffee. "This is for you," He says. "It's from the cafe down the street that you like." He hands me the bouquet of flowers. "And these are for you."

"What for?" I ask, smiling at him.

Theo shakes his head and wraps an arm around my shoulders. "Do I have to have a reason to get my girlfriend flowers?"

"Hmm, I guess not," I say.

"Exactly," Theo replies before pressing the side of my head.

I set the flowers and coffee down on the dresser and wrap my arms around Theo's abdomen. "I don't want to go back," I admit.

"Me neither," Theo agrees. "But we've only got two months left of school." He hesitates for a second before looking back at me. "So after that, we can do whatever we want. Life could be like this."

I nod, knowing the idea that he's suggesting. "Well if we're going to move in together then I want to have some input on it," I say.

"What do you want?" He asks.

"I want a white house, with lots of windows," I start, "And lots of plants."

Theo smiles, "Anything else?"

"Yes," I say. "I want a balcony overlooking everything. We can drink coffee, and watch everyone who walks by."

"Okay," Theo nods.

I look up at him. "You promise?"

Theo hums in agreement. "I promise."

He kisses me softly and I feel so overwhelmingly in love with him. Who would've thought that we would end up like this?

"What do you want?" I ask Theo.

Theo shrugs, "Just you."

"Just me?"

"Well, maybe a dog too," Theo adds with a laugh. "But it's you and me forever, yeah?"

"You and me," I agree. I run my hand through Theo's hair, letting my hand rest at the nape of his neck. "We can make that happen," I say.

Theo smirks at me and leans down to kiss me. It's just a peck and we pull away briefly before he kisses me again, and again, and again.

"Theo, we're going to be late," I mumble against his lips, trying not to smile.

"Let's be late then," Theo replies, going to kiss the corner of my mouth.

I place my hand on top of his that is currently resting on my cheek. "We'll miss the train," I add.

Theo groans and pulls away. "You're right," He says. Theo leans back in and kisses me one last time. "Be better get going then."

- - - - -

As much as I don't want to go back to Hogwarts, it is nice to see all of my friends again after two weeks. I was starting to miss them a bit.

Theo and I are the last ones to get to Platform 9 ¾, so everyone was already on the train. We sat down with Daphne, Blaise, Pansy, and Draco in a compartment and talked about what happened over the Easter holiday.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, except for Draco.

He had some concerning information regarding Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley. Apparently they had been captured with the Sword of Gryffindor and held at Malfoy Manor until they managed to escape.

None of us had much to say on the matter.

I've spent the whole year trying to ignore the fact that the war is coming to a head and that all of us are soon going to reap the consequences off it. Now, it's inevitable, and it's only a matter of time before things escalate into a full blown battle.

I haven't put much thought into what role I would play in everything. All I know is that I want to keep all of my friends and family safe, especially Matthew.

I really don't like the Death Eaters.

I don't agree with anything that they stand for despite coming from generations of pureblood supremacists.

My dad was a Death Eater, and the man who would've been my godfather, Regulus Black, and Draco is. I don't think that any of them were bad people, but I'm biased. As for the rest of the Death Eaters, like Theo's dad, Pansy's dad, and the Carrow twins, I think that they're the worst people that the world has to often.

The train ride goes by quickly and when we get to the Great Hall for dinner, there's noticeably less students than there was before the Easter holiday. More and more people keep getting pulled out of Hogwarts or not coming back after the holidays.

Headmaster Snape doesn't address it and he doesn't make a speech before we all leave to go back to our common rooms.

"How's the wedding planning going?" I ask Daphne.

I'm sitting on the couches in the common room with Theo and Pansy. Draco is sitting in the one of the armchairs across from us, and Blaise is sitting in the other with Daphne on his lap.

"It's good," She answers. "Stressful, but good."

"It's not that stressful," Blaise comments.

Daphne rolls her eyes at him. "That's because your future mother in law isn't breathing down your neck about every single decision you make."

"I warned you that my mum would do that," Blaise replies, trying not to laugh.

Theo leans closer to me and grins. "At least you won't have to worry about the whole overbearing mother in law thing," He jokes.

"Theo, oh my god," I exclaim, trying not to laugh. Theo looks amused by my reaction and kisses my cheek.

"Stop dirty talking in the common room," Draco says.

"We're not dirty talking, we're talking about our dead parents," I deadpan.

Blaise pinches the bridge of his nose. "Oh Merlin," He mutters, shaking his head.

"I never know if I'm allowed to laugh or not," Pansy says.

"You can laugh, it's funny," I tell her.

Daphne shakes her head and smiles. "You're both ridiculous," She teases.

When we all get tired, I saw goodnight to Theo and we both go back to our respective dorms. We spent the whole night ignoring the fact that we are all on borrowed time.