Over the next few days, i expected the tension between Theo and me to lessen, to ease now that i had made that small step toward acknowledging what was happening between us. But instead, it felt like it only deepened. It was no longer the sharp, brittle tension of keeping secrets. It was heavier now, charged with unspoken promises and quiet understanding.
And with that new depth came a terrifying sense of vulnerability.
The first sign of the shift was how Theo's presence in my day-to-day life became more deliberate. It wasn't as if he was always there or even sought me out, but i started noticing the subtle changes: how he would sit closer during meals, how his eyes would catch mine across the library, how he seemed to appear at the exact moment i found myself needing someone to steady me.
I didn't know how he managed it, but it made me feel both exposed and oddly safe at the same time.
It was the weekend, and the common room was unusually quiet. Most of the other students had either gone to Hogsmeade or were off doing whatever it was they did on weekends. I didn't feel like facing the bustling village and the fake smiles, so i had holed up in the Slytherin common room, pretending to read a book.
The truth was, i couldn't focus on the words in front of me. My thoughts kept drifting to Theo, to that look he had given me after our conversation in Hogsmeade. There was something in his eyes, a kind of certainty that scared me more than anything else.
The last thing i expected was for him to walk in, looking for me. But then again, i wasn't sure what i expected from Theo anymore.
He approached quietly, his steps barely making a sound on the carpeted floor. I didn't look up until he stopped in front of me, his shadow casting a long line over the pages of my book.
"Are you avoiding me?" he asked, his voice low but steady.
I sighed, closing my book with a soft thud. "No."
"Liar."
I glanced up, meeting his gaze. He looked at me with that same infuriating intensity, and for a moment, I felt the urge to lash out, to push him away and reclaim the safety of my carefully constructed walls. But i didn't. Instead, i just sighed again and leaned back in my chair.
"Maybe," I admitted quietly. "A little."
Theo raised an eyebrow, his lips twitching in what might have been a smirk if the atmosphere between us wasn't so charged. He pulled up a chair and sat down across from me, resting his arms on his knees. "Why?"
"Because you're..." I paused, searching for the right word. "You're relentless."
"Someone has to be," he replied without missing a beat.
I stared at him for a moment, trying to find the words to articulate the confusion swirling in my head. Theo wasn't supposed to be like this. He wasn't supposed to care, wasn't supposed to push me to confront things i wasn't ready to face. He was supposed to be just another Slytherin - a perfectly contained mystery with sharp edges and carefully guarded secrets. And yet, here he was, trying to get past my own walls in a way that no one else had ever bothered to try.
"Why do you keep doing this?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.
Theo's expression softened, and for a moment, he looked almost... vulnerable. "Because i want to understand you."
The honesty in his voice took me off guard. I had expected something clever, something cutting and sarcastic. But not this. Not something so raw and real.
I didn't know how to respond. My instinct was to deflect, to retreat behind a mask of indifference. But the look on Theo's face - open, almost hesitant - made it impossible to fall back on old habits.
