Shadow of the Prophecy

Ch.3 - I Have Written You Down Now, You Will Live Forever

Theodore Sallow

September of his 6th year

Theodore fears he is going mad. Now that he has met Helena Haggerty, he cannot help but to notice her everywhere she is.

He sees her in the hallways, flitting here and there to classes, and he sees her in the Great Hall at meal times. His eyes cannot seem to help but observe what she likes there. Apple tarts are a fan favorite of every Hogwarts student, but she seems to like them especially. She has one every morning with a glass of milk.

He sees her reading all over the castle, tucked in this nook or that on benches and plush alcove cushions. Her legs are often curled under her and she is laid across the space with whatever book she studies aloft; an oil painting in all but the right medium. Some of the books have illustrations on the cover and are unlike any textbook or article he has ever seen, and some of them are most certainly textbooks.

He sees, too, the company she keeps.

The day after that night in the library, he had spotted her in the vestibule of the Great Hall, arms linked with Basil Zabini. Later that day he had witnessed how Zabini had placed a note in the girl's hand in the hallway and how she had blushed when Zabini had mouthed something to her before scurrying off. Then, on the Quidditch pitch, his eyes had found her immediately as she had walked across the grounds to sit and paint. His heart had beat faster until he had seen her greet Sirona Ryan, the Ravenclaw Seeker, and Sarah Dale had sat down beside her in the grass. He had taken his disappointment out on the bludgers.

Still, most observers for the Quidditch team practices were significant others, and he had cheered himself considerably (and against his better judgment) with the idea that maybe he had read too much into her interactions with Zabini throughout the day. That was, until he had taken a break in his practice and noticed it was a picture of Zabini she was working on. When she had noticed him eying her work, she had looked startled and embarrassed, and he had kept the conversation short in order to beat a hasty retreat back to his teammates in order to save some of his dignity.

That night he had written some such nonsense in his journal about muses being given over to women, right under the entry describing his encounter with her the night before, and then he had gone back and scratched it out.

***

Helena had been generous with her assessment of how long it would take her to learn the more complicated casting of Alohomora. Theodore is annoyed, and bemused, at the various places he has needed to chase her out of on his nightly patrols.

Three nights after that night in the library, on a patrol set on the Grounds, he had found her fiddling with the locks to the Thestral stables.

"I can't see them anyway," she had admitted, cheeks a lovely pink again as he had taken her arm and guided her back toward the castle. He had ushered her back inside with what he had hoped was a glare disapproving enough to send her back to bed.

Five nights after that night in the library, he had caught her sneaking about the faculty tower. She had laughed when he had marched her to the tower door and pointedly relocked it behind her.

Nine nights, and Theodore had stood tiredly behind Helena in the hallway as he had watched her, smacking her wand as it sparked, in front of an Arithmancy door. He had looked to her wand, and then to where the Arithmancy legend was glowing only faintly, and then back to her wand. Briefly, he had wondered if he could convince Greengrass to part with some Firewhiskey.

"He-" He had started and stopped, massaging his temples. "Haggerty. What are you doing?"

She had answered him without even turning her head or acknowledging that he was the one behind her. He would have found it inconsiderate and rude if he hadn't been so emotionally exhausted at the mere thought of having the conversation.