Always : Theodore Nott

Chapter 59

Theo slammed his dorm room door shut with such force it was a surprise it didn't come bouncing off it's hinges. He paced the room and ran his hands through his hair as his stomach twisted and churned.

His heart rate was off the charts as he circled the same spot over and over and over trying to calm himself down.

He had fixed it.

All the hexes he could think of had been placed on that cabinet.

And he had fixed every, single, one of them.

Every. Single. One.

He didn't even realise that Malfoy had it in him, the actual raw ability to counteract such spells. His mind swam and the pounding in his chest was so loud his ears began to ring.

Theo quickly muttered a silencing charm on the room before he stilled for a moment.

He took a deep breath before a gut-wrenching scream and string of curses came out of his mouth. He didn't know how long he had been screaming for, but when he finally did stop his throat was utterly raw and when he opened his eyes he found his entire room to he literally turned upside down. It looked as though a devastating hurricane had ripped through it and destroyed it.

His breath took several minutes to return to a normal rhythm as he debated his next course of action.

Aurora.

He needed to tell Aurora.

But first, he thought someone else needed to know what Malfoy had achieved over the duration of the evening. He took one final breath and cast a tidying spell and watched as the room returned to its previous state. He opened his door and took off down the dark corridors, desperate to rectify the situation at hand.

••••••••

Dumbledore was sat in his office, gently stroking Faux and reading the Quibbler before his attention was diverted to the breathless individual who basically fell in the door.

The two stared at each other for a moment or two, both in utter disbelief at the sight of each other.

"Good evening, Mr.Nott?,"Dumbledore said, as confusion took over his weary features.

Theo stood, chest heaving for a moment or two before answering.

"Sir I-I. I eh-,"he stuttered.

Dumbledore eyed him suspiciously.

"Do remember to breathe Nott, quite a vital function I've found,"he said calmly.

Nott knew what he had come to say, but somehow now that the time had come, words seemed to be failing him.

"Sir, I know that you are aware of what's been going on,"he said after a beat of silence.

"Define what's been going on Mr.Nott?,"Dumbledore said, setting the paper in his hand down.

Nott took note of his obvious tone of suspicion.

"Sir, I don't know how to explain it all if I'm being frank, I am sure you are aware of what I'm referring t-,"Nott began.

Dumbledore cut him off rather quickly.

"Ah yes! Of course, how could I forget? How you and Draco Malfoy have been plotting to smuggle a band of deadly criminals into the institution that you both owe so much to via an old cabinet, on behalf of a master who would kill you both in an instant if under the impression it would benefit his own goals? That? Of course, I remember now,"he said, harshness cutting through every single word delivered through a light contradictory tone.