Rediscovering Reality

We'd Be Crazy

"Oh- here." Theo said quickly shaking off his jean jacket and passing it to me.

"Thanks but wont you be-"

"I'll be fine." He stopped me, punctuating his remark with a smile. I resigned to the fact that he was stubborn enough to not take his jacket back and wrapped it around my shoulders. 

"So what did Krum want to talk to you about earlier?" Theo raised one of his eyebrows. 

"The same thing everyone wanted to talk to me about. 'i think we'd make a great couple and id love  to get to know you and yes i am highly aware your family has money but i'm going to do a terrible job at pretending i have no idea and i've already talked to your parents and they think we'd make a lovely match'. Apparently he already asked my parents if he could ask me on a date. But he wasn't even close to the same guy i knew years ago." I took a small sip of my drink. 

"Would you have thought about the date if he was?" Theo asked with curiosity creeping into his voice. 

"I dont think so," I shrugged, "Everything i liked about Krum was what younger me needed- or thought she needed. Looking back he wasn't...right. For me at least. He was just the opposite of what was in front of me and i thought that is what i wanted." I wasn't quite sure what i had been thinking when i said yes to Krum for the Yule Ball. 

Actually i was. 

It was- he cares about me and will stay with me while i read books and is interested in my interests and he isnt like Harry or Ron. 

"What do you mean the opposite of what was in front of you?" Theo replied. 

"Harry and Ron ignored me until they needed something. And never stopped talking. And didn't think before they talked. And were both so caught up in the now they didn't take a second to look at the future, " I paused, "And Krum barely talked, because he had nothing of substance to say; he didn't ignore me, because i was the one girl not infatuated with him; and he was so caught up in the future he was scared of doing anything to mess up his career and chances at a great life. They were opposites. But the same in the end." 

Theo hummed in understanding next to me. And for a few moments we sat comfortably sitting next to each other without a single word being uttered. 

theo

"Hey I'm sorry about your dad." Mari said suddenly after a few minutes. 

I turned my head slowly, "It's....well i was going to say its okay but its rubbish so im not going to say that." I found myself scoffing. 

"Yeah i... I understand." Her eyes told a different story. Not that she understood. But that she had lived it and still struggled with it. She didn't just understand, she was in the middle of understanding...in the present tense. 

"How did you even know about that?" 

"I read the paper....and Blaise let it slip one day. I wouldn't trust him with any big national secrets recently. He can't seem to keep his mouth shut." She giggled and swirled her drink around in her glass. 

"He was never that great of a dad if I'm being honest. I mean he tried to care but he just got so caught up in the idea of the war that...." I paused for half a second. Maybe it was the whiskey or the night air or maybe it was Mari sitting there radiating understanding and safety but i couldn't seem to turn on my filter. "I think he forgot that he had a kid who was just a kid and not a piece in a game."