laconic • t.nott ✓

06 ➺ dementors and snow

「 DEMENTORS AND SNOW 」

THERE WAS SOMETHING ODD ABOUT fighting with your friends that Theo hadn't noticed earlier - you start missing small parts of them that you wouldn't usually pay attention to. Not that he and Blaise were fighting; he was just a tad bit bitter toward him to pay him more attention than was necessary, but he realised one late October evening as he sat alone in the Slytherin common room doing his homework, that he missed the presence of Blaise around him.

He couldn't exactly say that Blaise was pleasant company. He was more like a statue than a person - an obnoxious statue that liked breathing down his neck and demanding him to go to bed early, to eat more, to stop focusing so much on homework. Even now Theo wished Blaise was sitting beside him and criticising his choice to study rather than go out for a walk. He realised he missed walking along the dark corridors with Blaise, he missed the curt way he said goodnight to him every night before bed, he missed how his hands felt on his skin every time he dragged him out of the common room into the dormitories...

Theo blinked several times and stared at the book in front of him, confused out of his wits. Why was he thinking so much about Blaise? He had made it clear that he did not approve of him hanging around with Luna, and besides, Luna was much better company than him. Theo had started sitting with Daphne during classes and mealtimes, and he liked talking to her although sometimes he got tired of listening to her droning on and on about how her sister could do so much better than Draco Malfoy.

"Theo."

Theo jumped and nearly dropped the large book out of his hands. He didn't need to look around to know that it was Blaise standing behind him. He didn't say his name like a question. He had merely stated it like he was announcing names to summon people for their death sentence.

Blaise sat on the arm of the armchair he was on but Theo didn't look at him. His legs propped up on his chair, he continued staring at the book although he was hardly registering the words in his mind. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Blaise scrutinising him. It made his skin tingle, but he ignored him completely.

"Are you ever going to talk to me again?" asked Blaise in the same monotonous voice he always used. Theo wondered how he did it.

"Theo, stop being so childish," Blaise snapped all of a sudden, causing him to start. But he didn't deter in his determination to ignore his friend. "You can't ignore me forever. You're just being stubborn."

"I notice you still haven't apologised," Theo spoke finally, not looking up from his book.

"For what?" Blaise had the gall to ask.

"For trying to control who I talk to," began Theo, lifting his eyes at Blaise. "For calling Luna a nutcase."

Blaise scoffed.

Theo turned back to his book again, laughing derisively. What else could he expect?

After several more minutes of him ignoring Blaise like he was just a painting on the wall, Blaise left. The initial anger Theo had felt upon his appearance dissolved as soon as Blaise disappeared into the dormitory and he found himself losing any little interest he had in studying. He wished he could go and talk to Luna right now, but since it was past dinner time and curfew would hit soon, he doubted he could do that.

November came with a flurry of snow and wind. The weather turned so monstrous that all classes that took place in the grounds were cancelled. Not that it mattered to Theo, for all his classes were inside the safety of the castle. Students could be seen huddled close together as they crossed the corridors and even the Carrows seemed reluctant to venture out of their offices more than was necessary. The only ones who seemed to thrive in this cold were, of course, the dementors.