End of Sallow

***Why you always running in place?

CW: THEO THINKS ABOUT SMOOTSMOOT. AND.. SELF LOVE. SEXUALLY. ._.

Theo shot up in bed the minute he felt someone's presence in the dorm room. When he saw Alec in tiger form, he relaxed immediately. "What is it, Alec?" He whispered, careful not to wake Levi.

The tiger jerked its head towards the door and Theo sighed, getting out of bed. He didn't bother changing as they left the room. As soon as they got into the common room, another student jumped and screamed, pointing at Alec. Theo froze, his mind racing. "I-I casted a spell on my cat, and this happened. Nothing to fear, promise!" He lied quickly.

The student's eyes never left Alec's tiger frame, and Alec gave a hiss. The student jumped and Alec chuffed. Theo slapped the top of his head, which made Alec's ears tilt back as he turned to give Theo an unamused look. As much as a tiger could give, anyway.

"Bad kitty," Theo said before looking at the student. "I'm going to go find a teacher to help me real quick."

The student didn't seem to care that Theo was leaving the common room, just never took his eyes off of Alec. Which was fair.

Once out of the common room, Alec shifted and told Theo to follow him.

"How'd you get into the common room!?" Theo whispered.

"Snape." Alec answered easily, glancing around and strolling up the stairs and right out of the front entrance to the castle. There was absolutely no one in sight.

It had been a full three months into the school year, and this was completely out of the ordinary for him, but Alec swaggered along like it was another day.

"Where are we going?" He asked quietly. Stupid, he realized, as no on else was out here.

"Ya got eyes, don't ya?" Alec teased, nodding towards the forbidden forest.

"Why?"

Alec's amused expression faltered. He glanced at Theo and sighed. "You didn't think ya'd get outta Podex's grasp at school, did ya?"

Theo's heart dropped. He knew he wouldn't, Alec had warned him before coming. But he could have hoped. He was learning magic that Podex had never even mentioned at the school. The food was divine, and Levi and he had grown pretty close over the past three months. His father was blind, his mother had been cursed as a child and lived through it. He was close to his aunt, uncle, and twin cousins, who were abroad.

Theo hadn't opened up about his life to Levi, but Levi seemed to take it gracefully. Levi had also taken notice of Alec and had asked questions, but again Theo had evaded them.

Alec would always come sit with him at lunch and dinner if the professors permitted it, and Levi would always give them space. Levi was good at making friends. He was kind, polite, approachable. Evidently, the last name "Gaunt" was a curse and a lot of people feared him, but Levi was determined to change the way people saw him. And as far as Theo was concerned, he had been doing a great job.

He followed Alec into the forest until they reached some type of troll cave, and Theo frowned. "Are we fighting a troll?"

"He is a bit of a troll, innit he?" Alec grinned, and Theo followed, still confused. They walked into the cave and past an illusion, for Theo to stop short. Hundreds of people moving around, most with black cloaks, hoods pulled over their heads.

"Come on, keep up." Alec sighed and Theo started to move again.

Finally, deep inside the cave near a dark alcove, Podex sat, a file in his hands.