laconic • t.nott ✓

36 ➺ buttered toast and fruitcake

「 BUTTERED TOAST AND FRUITCAKE 」

"I BROUGHT YOU SOME FOOD."

Theo blinked as the light stabbed his eyes. Blaise stood by his bed, pushing away the random pieces of parchment and some sweet wrappers from the bedside table to place a tray on top of it. Theo rolled over under his quilt to squint - buttered toast, some grapes, and a goblet of orange juice.

"Have you eaten?" Theo asked, forgetting for a moment that he was mad at Blaise.

Blaise sat at the foot of his bed and nodded. Theo's eyes were glossy so he rubbed them with his fingers. When he let his hands fall, Blaise was staring intently at him, averting his gaze when their eyes met.

"Are we skipping first period, then?" he asked. A faint smile quirked up the corner of Blaise's lips.

"It's over in twenty minutes or so."

Theo slid off the bed, letting his feet touch the cold stone of the floor. He observed the food on his table, frowning a little. But he didn't say anything and grabbed some of his clothes to go to the bathroom and change. He returned in ten minutes to find Blaise seated at the same spot, twisting his fingers together. He wasn't looking directly at Theo, which was odd because Blaise never seemed to have any problem making eye contact.

The sight of the food caused his stomach to rumble. He sat opposite Blaise and placed the tray between them but didn't touch the food. He studied Blaise - he was now very interested in his shoes.

"You didn't eat," Theo stated. Blaise glanced briefly at him, a look of guilt flashing over his eyes that was gone in an instant.

"What do you mean?"

Theo waved his hand over the toast on the plate - buttered and tantalising. "Are you telling me the Carrows have increased our ration?"

Blaise's brows weaved together. "No, I'm not."

"Then how come I have one whole toast for myself?" Theo countered. "We had to share one apple among three people two days ago; there's no way I would get an entire toast."

Blaise shrugged noncommittally. "The Dumbledore's Army has been quiet for a week. And the Inquisitorial Squad is working productively I'm sure."

But Theo was already shaking his head. "Don't give me that. I'm not dumb. Don't expect me to believe that you ate by yourself in the Great Hall and brought my share back. You would have brought yours too and eaten with me."

Blaise rolled his eyes, scoffing. He leaned against the footboard and said, "Don't flatter yourself."

Theo narrowed his eyes. He fought the urge to stretch out his leg and kick Blaise in the shin. But then he laughed, and Blaise laughed too. There, Theo though, now he should know what I feel like when he reads my mind.

Theo took the toast and carefully ripped it in half. He held one of the halves to Blaise, who stared at it but didn't move to take it. He waved it in front of Blaise's nose, hoping that his hunger would overpower his stubbornness. It worked. With a defeated sigh, Blaise accepted the toast. Instead of eating it, however, he stared at it as though it was a rare object.

And under the current situation, Theo thought, it really was.

All too soon, the plates were empty. The small amount of orange juice in the goblet wasn't enough to moisten their throats, especially as Theo threatened that if Blaise didn't drink half of it, he would spill the entire drink on the floor. Were it not for the jug of water by his bed that the house-elves refilled every night, Theo didn't know how he would have survived.