ELIXIR: A Harry Potter Fan Fiction

Four. Theo.

The air was very chilly on Wednesday morning when Caiti headed outside for Herbology. Frost covered the grass and the sun, just now beginning to poke out, was peakish and wavering, barely serving to warm the skin on her face which had gone pink with cold. It was only the middle of September, but already Caiti had had to break out the old winter cloak with its silver fastenings down the front. She hugged her arms to her chest, her bag slipping off her shoulder, and hurried across the lawn to the greenhouses.

Inside, she spotted Theo, already there, and immediately made for the opposite side of the dungeon, standing near a Hufflepuff girl she had always rather liked named Penny.

"Morning," Penny said brightly.

"Morning," Caiti said back. "Chilly out, isn't it?"

"Very," she nodded. Caiti saw that her cheeks too were looking rosier than usual and she had not yet removed her gloves.

They could not talk much longer, though, because old Professor Munslow had just shuffled into the room. He had wispy white hair poking out under the Sherlock cap he wore, and his glasses were about two centimeters thick with prescription. "Hello to my sixth years," he said kindly. "Now if you'll remember last year, we worked with screechsap seedlings," he said, slow and deliberate. "Today, we'll be learning how to care for the screechsap which is nearly ready to be planted. But before we begin, I have taken the liberty of pairing you all up myself. Now let's see," he began, unfolding a piece of parchment from his pocket. 

"We have Amelia and Penny..." Penny smiled her goodbye to Caiti and went to find her new partner. Caiti did not listen too closely until she heard her own name. "Caitlyn and Theodore," he was saying. Her eyes snapped up and Professor Munslow was giving her a knowing smile like he was doing her a favor. Of course, they had only broken up just before summer. The teachers, who could usually be counted on to know all the student gossip, might not have realized yet. Grudgingly, Caiti picked up her bag and met Theo halfway, the two of them coming to stand at an open spot at the table. Caiti looked straight forward, refusing to look at him.

Once everyone had been paired up, Professor Munslow began to explain their task. Caiti tried hard to pay attention, but her vision was physically clouding with discomfort and she felt stiff and distant. In what seemed like no time at all, he was saying, "And that's that! Shouldn't be too complicated, but of course, be very careful, make sure you're wearing the gloves around the table... and ask questions if you have any. Now, off to work." He finished with a quick double clap and fell quiet.

At first, Theo tried just talking about their screechsap, reiterating all the directions Caiti had not paid attention to. She worked in a stony silence, never looking at him, but after about ten minutes, they accidentally made eye contact around their plant and Caiti's stomach did something funny. She looked away again, but this time, she spoke.

"So..." she said quietly. "I heard you made the quidditch team."

Theo seemed relieved she was speaking to him again. In her peripheral vision, she saw his shoulders relax. "Yeah!" he said too quickly. "Seeker. I'm pretty excited."

"Yeah, that's..." Caiti paused, trying hard to sound genuine. "That's really great. I'm happy for you." She glanced up at him again, but she did not maintain eye contact. It hurt too much. But even not looking at him, she felt she could see his eyes in front of her, burned into the air like spots of light when you accidentally look into the sun: bright hazel, ringed with green. She thought his eyes were probably the first thing she fell in love with.

If she had fallen in love with him at all.

"Thanks," he said.

They were quiet for a few minutes until Theo accidentally bumped one of the screechsap's branches, tickling it, and it let out a feeble screech. A small amount of orange sap shot out from the tips of the offended branch. The schreechsap curled itself up, away from Theo, as though to protect itself from the tickling.