The Dark Promise// Theodore Nott

CH 13

It took everything in her power not to read all night. She knew she had to sleep, but just couldn't. She laid there thinking about how she was wasting precious time. She could be learning the exact thing to help Theo's dad, but instead she was laying in bed, staring at the ceiling. She grunted in frustration, sitting up in bed and closing the heavy curtain. She dug the book from under her pillow, casting lumos so she could see. The book was much smaller than the original and Ms. Glass was right, it was a continuation. It was like the author had found this out after publishing the original.

It told in great detail of how to temporarily satiate the eating curse. The Eating curse would stop feeding on its host if fed the essence of another. It could be a part of their personality, their love for someone, or their sanity. Sanity. Theo's father was going mad. Theo did mention that before he left for the term, his father was deeply worried about something. Did he know the dark lord was coming back? Did he know he was going to have to give him apart of himself?

Olivia's heart fell in her stomach. When Theo went home for the holiday, what would he find? In any scenario she could think of, it wouldn't be good. She needed to talk him out of going home. Or maybe she could go with him as a backup. That thought scared her too. She wanted to be there for him, but if something sinister was waiting at home for him, it wouldn't fare well for her. She was a half-blood.

She knew it sounded selfish, but she had to protect herself too. She thought of Hermione not coming back next semester. She applauded the girl for protecting herself and following her gut. She needed to do the same. Sleep did not greet her that night. Instead, she read the book over and over, trying to see if there was anything she missed. All she wanted was to tell Theo and make a plan. Plans calmed her. Plans kept them safe. It would make her feel like she had some sort of control over the situation. She just hoped her and Theo saw eye to eye.

The next morning at breakfast she was feeling exhausted. She tried to eat something since she had barely ate the day before. The encounter with Malfoy had made her lose her appetite. She glanced at the Slytherin table like she did every morning, expecting to see Theo sitting there alone, eating his breakfast, or reading his fiction. To her surprise, he wasn't there yet. But Malfoy was. When she skimmed over the rest of the table, she could see Malfoy leaned over his plate, looking annoyed. Pansy was blabbing away, her hand sitting on his shoulder.

He raised his eyes, catching her staring. The corners of his lips pulled up, flashing her a sly smile. He looked like a fox who had just spotted his prey. Olivia gave him a dirty look before rising from her seat, throwing her bag over her shoulder. She wasn't going to wait for Theo, she needed to find him now. She waited outside the Slytherin common room, pacing as she stared at the clock. For a moment, she wished she had been sorted into Slytherin house. This would make communicating with him a lot easier.

A few late risers left the common room, along with Theo. His eyes looked more tired than usual. It would seem he didn't get much sleep either. When he spotted her, he smiled. "Were you waiting for me? Sorry, I didn't sleep well last night and once I finally got to sleep it was hard to get up." The two embraced, the tight hug feeling comforting for the both of them. Theo leaned near her ear, whispering. "You have some bad news for me huh?"

"Yea, it's bad. I wish it wasn't" She said, looking up at him. Theo bit his lip, knowing this was coming. He figured that if he didn't think too much about it or pushed it in the back of his head, it wouldn't be true. Now he had to face reality and take on whatever she was about to tell him. "Go ahead and give it to me. If you don't tell me now, I'll be worrying about it all day." Olivia's lip quivered, trying to find the best way to put this. There was no best way, she would just have to say it. "I believe you-know-who is taking parts of your father to satiate the eating curse. He probably took his sanity first. Since you haven't heard from him in a while, I'm assuming he has taken other parts of him as well."