tul1p3

[tul1p3]

I'm not her

Summary: Your sister went missing about a year ago but it seems anywhere you go, her name follows.

Theo Nott x Reader

warning: fluff, ooc people, implications of sex, mentions of loss of a parent/sibling, google translate, very fast burn/ lack of real plotline, very rushed ending

Wc 6.8k

a/n: My first piece of work, hope you like it ;)

Prologue (3 years ago)

Aaliya was late - really late. 

“She was meant to be here about-” Theodore began, however Tom Riddle cut him off abruptly.

“An hour ago,” Tom quickly cut in, his eyes burning a hole in the wall. The seven of them sat there wondering about Aaliya’s whereabouts. She wasn’t ever late and if she was she’d let them know. 

Another hour went by before the boys finally left Matteo’s dorm room to search for her, with the conclusion that something terrible had happened to her . What if we don’t find her? The thought ran through every single one of their minds; although none of them dared express it.

The boys had been searching for an hour; they thought of all the places she could be but to their frustration she hadn’t been found - yet.

Dumbledore’s office was composed mainly of hardwoods: oak, mahogany, balsa, the list went on. Theodore leaned against one of the many shelves in the office, his eyebrows furrowed and eyes etched with fear. The boys all stared at Dumbledore hoping he had a solution as to what to do.

“So -” Dumbledore tactfully began.

“Yes, we believe she’s missing,” Regulus impatiently muttered as if saying it louder would make it any more real. Dumbledore looked worriedly between the seven boys. In all of his years teaching, a student had never gone missing with no traces.

 “I’ll send out a search party to look for her.” Dumbledore spoke in a composed manner despite the angst he felt within him.

“A search party?” Anger was beginning to overcome Tom at Dumbledore’s pathetic attempt to search for Aliyah. “We’ve already searched everywhere that's going to be of -”

“Thank you, Dumbledore,” Enzo looked threateningly at Tom. They couldn’t afford to get angry at Dumbledore when he was really their only chance of hope. Enzo guided Tom out the door as Theo, Reggie, Matteo, Blaise and Draco followed swiftly behind. Once successfully out the door, Tom broke from Enzo’s grasp. Looking betrayed, he began to speak:

“Why wouldn’t you let me finish? Don’t you understand? We are not gonna find her like this,” he spoke irritatedly.

“Because getting angry at Dumbledore is totally going to bring her back,” Enzo replied sarcastically, accompanied by an eye roll.

She was never found. Never confirmed dead. Never confirmed alive. Just missing. 

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Zara

After a long day at Hogwarts, I placed my books in my locker. Charms had gone well, and astronomy and herbology helped gain me a few new friends. Just as I was about to close my locker, in my peripheral vision I noticed a group of boys eyeing me warily - one of whom I recognised as Draco Malfoy. Fear began to consume me as all their eyes remained fixed on me for what felt like an eternity. As the group got closer, I froze in my spot waiting for the worst to happen. 

“You look oddly familiar,” one of them stated cautiously as he examined me.

I laughed nervously, unsure of what he wanted me to say.

“You remind us of a student who used to attend here.” Another one chimed in, he was tall and lanky, his brown hair falling perfectly on his face. Thankful that they weren’t attempting to bully me or something, I engaged in the conversation.

“What was her name?” I asked curiously not expecting to know who they were talking about. I mean there could be thousands of people that share a resemblance to me.

“Aaliya Bellrow,” Draco answered immediately. Colour drained from my face, as recognition washed over me. For a brief moment, I shut my eyes. I prayed it wasn’t obvious that I’d been affected by the name. Abruptly, I turned on my heels before walking away ignoring the confused looks I was leaving behind. When I rounded the corner - out of anyone’s sight - I broke into a quick run, desperate to get away.

My sister. My sister. My sister. Ever since that unfortunate night, it’s like she followed me everywhere. At home, it was painfully explicit the gap she’d left. My parents were silent, hardly ever asked about me - and if they did it was often something to do with her. Aaliya took that class as well, right? I was constantly reminded of my uncanny resemblance to her and annoyance flared inside me every single time; however, this time it just hurt. The boys had meant no harm - just like everyone else. But just because they hadn’t meant to cause upset doesn’t mean they didn’t.

The door of the stall was cool against my bare back. Chatter sounded lowly on the other side of the small cubicle I had locked myself in. Gradually, my breathing returned back to normal and my chest heaved at a calmer rate. Inevitably, I stood up on my two feet, straightening out my blouse and skirt. I opened up the stall, the door swinging back as it revealed two girls whom I recognised. Pansy and Astoria.

“Are you okay?” Pansy questioned quietly, eyeing me dubiously.

“Yeah, I’m perfectly fine,” using all my effort to do so, I attempted to give a reassuring smile but it seemed my response had fallen on deaf ears as well as my smile on blind eyes. Astoria reached aggressively for my hand before pulling me away, and out the bathroom. Determinedly, she dragged me across a series of hallways before we finally arrived at a stop. The sign above read:

SLYTHERIN’S COMMON ROOM

As we entered, people turned to look at us before returning to whatever it is they were doing before. Although, one group in particular did not. Once again, their eyes fixated me; they were probably wondering why I’d fled so suddenly. Astoria and Pansy walked ahead towards them with me trailing a small distance behind the two. Smiles adorned their faces as we approached. Astoria subsequently introduced me to them like I hadn’t seen them just under half an hour ago - but obviously she hadn’t known that and I still didn’t know their names to be honest. Interrupting Astoria’s quick debrief before she’d been able to say my name, Tom sharply turned to me and asked:

“Why’d you flee so quickly?”

 I eyed him, contemplating whether I should reveal the reason I’d had to leave. Upon quick thinking, I replied:

“I had a panic attack and needed air.” They all seemed sympathetic and ready to let it go, however Tom seemed adamant on getting the full truth out of me.

“What was it that triggered it?”

My jaw slacked slightly, astounded at his direct and blunt tone.

“I’m not obligated to tell you,” I gave back, equally as harsh.

The others smirked as if it wasn’t a regular occurrence that someone would answer back to him.

“But…since you’re so desperate to know,” their ears perked up in anticipation, “Aaliya is - was - my sister, hence the uncanny resemblance.”

Immediately, their smirks dropped and their eyes filled with confusion. Astoria and Pansy who had previously seemed engaged in their own conservation also turned to look at me. Everyone looked at me in a way that willed me to elaborate:

“Umm Aaliya was my older sister; she was amazing. She was kind. She was everything I hope to be one day. Presumably you already know what happened. But yeah I miss her and I wish everyday she were still here,” I ended with a nervous chuckle, the change in atmosphere made me uncomfortable.

“You speak like she’s dead,” Tom eyed me irately, as if I didn’t have the right to do so. This evidently affected the rest of the group too as their eyes seemed to agree with him.

“Because she is.” I replied confoundedly. Collectively, they all began to shake their heads and Enzo said something that had me thinking maybe they didn’t know the whole truth.

“You don’t know that, Aurors never confirmed her dead so until they do so- she’s just missing,” he released a sigh at the end like he’d been holding his breath while he’d spoken. Now it was my turn to sigh and as I did a small tear slid down my cheeks as I was forced to tell the group what they clearly didn’t know.

“The Aurors did confirm her death though that’s the thing; she was found three months later, we had the funeral a month after and well… yeah,” I trailed off not knowing what to say to them.

 “I don’t know who didn’t tell you but I’m sorry because she is most definitely…dead, I saw her with my own eyes.”

“You’re lying.” Tom stood up abruptly before leaving the room. I looked around at the others who seemed to be in a state of shock; sadness filled me as I realised while their friend had been taken literally a year ago, I’d just taken her from them the second time - and for good. Unexpectedly, everyone stood up, leaving the common room - everyone except Theodore Nott.

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The section of the common room I was in fell silent. I looked solemnly at Theodore, the look on his face was unreadable. Feeling bad, I went to sit beside him leaving a little gap between us. Gradually, I turned to look at him, his eyes pinched shut and I almost regret saying anything about Aaliya. Eventually, he opened his eyes and turned to look at me. He was silent for a while before lowly saying,

“What’s your name?” A hint of an accent came through as he spoke.

“Zara,” I mumbled, the name almost foreign on my lips considering I didn’t get time to say it during the earlier introductions. Silence fell once again as I waited for him to say something - anything. But he didn’t.

“I’m guessing you guys were all very close to her?” I continued to stare at him, noticing his sharp jawline and greenish eyes. He chuckled faintly beside me - so weak I almost didn’t hear it. Slowly, he began to nod his head.

“Yeah,” he trailed off before starting up again, “she is - was - an amazing person, always put everyone before herself and never failed to make any of us laugh.” Though he looked as if he wanted to continue, he trailed off again. For the first time, he turned to look at me. His eyes burned daggers into the side of my face. 

“Tell me about you,” he said nonchalantly. Confused, I turned to look at him - since Aaliya had died no one had taken much interest in me; how I was coping, if I missed her, even a mere are you okay proved to be difficult. Presumably my shock was visible because subsequently Theodore nudged me with his knee, reminding me I needed to answer.

“Um, I don’t really know what you want me to say,” I chuckled nervously under his unwavering gaze. He didn’t push after that so we fell into a comfortable silence. 

Unanticipatedly, he stood and began walking away; he reached into his pocket to pull out a lighter and a pack of cigarettes before turning to me to ask:

“You coming or what?”

The autumn breeze of the early evening was refreshing against my cheek. With Theodore beside me on the astronomy tower, the air smelled like a mixture of nicotine and peppermint. None of us were talking, so silence penetrated the evening sky. I liked the calm, the serene view, and the chill atmosphere. It’d been ages since I’d felt like this: free, without the weight of expectations to carry. After a few prolonged moments of silence, I finally caved and broke it,

“Can I call you Theo, or better yet Teddy?” I raised an eyebrow as I finished my question knowing that I was damn well pushing my luck with the last part - considering I’d only met the guy about an hour ago. Briefly, he paused what he was doing and turned to look at me oddly. I tilted my head to the side slightly in an attempt to subtly encourage him to answer my question and explain the look on his face.

“My mother used to call me Teddy; no one knows that so I don’t know...hearing someone even ask is just strange.” Hesitantly, he resumed his smoking, not taking his eyes off of me. I nodded, debating silently in my head whether to ask my next question.

“You say ‘used to’, does she not anymore?” Finally, he removed his eyes from my face and pinched them shut tightly like he did earlier. 

“She’s dead.” After the direct response, he let out a puff of smoke before he dropped the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it to force the flame to die. Following this, I looked forward; I remained mute as I knew all too well that sometimes words needn’t be exchanged after such admissions. As the minutes went by the quietness seemed to stick even more, we stood there occasionally glancing at one another but mostly just deep in thought. 

After approximately an hour, Theo backed away from the edge of the tower and began walking away. Consequently, my eyes followed as he walked away and out of the blue I heard,

“The answer’s yes.” 

Clearly, he must have sensed my confusion as he turned back around, smirked and reminded me of the question I asked earlier.

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I found myself back in the common room again. Everyone had dispersed and it remained just me. At the front, the fire crackled unstably; it radiated a nice warmth towards me. From the slightly ajar door, I could hear the sound of footsteps and hushed voices fast approaching. As expected, Astoria and Pansy walked in with the boys who followed close behind. They gathered around the sofa I was sitting on and all got comfy. Teddy came to sit beside me, his arm slung lazily behind me to rest on the sofa edge. Glancing carefully around, it seemed as though nobody was still affected by the shocking news from earlier however I knew better - it was just a facade.

“Let’s play truth or dare,” Astoria suggested thoughtfully. Nods came from around the room and I too found myself agreeing. Astoria turned around in her seat to look directly at me.

“Truth or Dare?” She questioned. I contemplated my options carefully before settling on Truth.

“Who are you the most attracted to in this circle?” My heart rate picked up a little bit at the question, knowing immediately who I was going to choose. Sharply, his green eyes cut to me - watching me intently. His mouth turned up in a smirk like he knew it was going to be him. Inwardly, my eyes rolled at his cockiness but nonetheless I said his name,

“Teddy.” At that, I got a few perplexed looks before everyone figured out I meant Theo. Astoria and Pansy gushed over the fact I had given him such a cute nickname while Teddy himself continued to stare at me but his smirk had dropped completely. Worried, I gave him a brief smile to which he unexpectedly returned with his own smile - lasting only mere seconds though. It was now my turn to pick on someone ; I turned sharply towards Tom. 

“Truth or Dare?” I asked smugly hoping he would pick dare so I could suggest something embarrassing. Unfortunately for me, he didn’t.

“Truth,” Tom raised his eyebrows as he looked at me, clearly knowing I’d wanted him to say dare.

“You still think I’m lying?” I hadn’t hoped to bring up Aaliya again but I couldn’t help but fixate on Tom’s words from earlier. You’re lying.

Warily, I eyed Tom and to my surprise he uttered the words that sent a wave of relief through my body.

“No.” Tom didn’t waste a second before he swivelled round to face Mattheo. As anticipated, as the game went on arguments were caused and in some cases previous disagreements solved. Within the hour, I had been dared to leave an anonymous love note for some random Hufflepuff, dared to steal Enzo’s file from Dumbledore's office, and asked what the biggest lie I had told had been. Much to my dismay, it was now Tom’s turn to ask truth or dare and something in my gut told me he was going to choose me. As expected, Tom turns to face me and asks:

“Truth or dare?”

Neither option appealed to me however I didn’t feel like putting my life in the hands of Tom so I concluded Truth was the safer option.

“Truth,” I stated, hoping that Tom was merciful with his question.

“Did Aaliya talk about us a lot?” Although his eyes were almost impossible to read, I knew he was holding back and I needed him to ask what he truly wanted to know.

“Ask your real question.” For a brief second he seemed astounded that I’d said that, but he quickly recovered and rephrased his question.

“Did Aaliya talk about me?” There it was. At this, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat as memories of our numerous late night talks where we’d laugh and it’d be us against the world forced their way into my head.

“Um…I don’t know honestly,” He appeared skeptical so I elaborated, “I vaguely recall her talking about some “guy” she had liked, but she never mentioned him again - said he was cold and would give her mixed signals so that was that. She never gave a name so I don’t know if it was about you but if the shoe fits.” I shrugged my shoulders and gave an accusatory look to him.

Something dark seemed to take over Tom’s expression and like he did earlier he stood up promptly and left the room.

“Does he make a habit of that, or is it just me?” I asked the question to no one in particular, and based on everyone’s silence something told me it was the latter.

 Our game ended with his sudden departure and everyone said their goodnights and left for their rooms - me included. However, Teddy lingered with me and made no move to go to his own room. Undeterred, I carried on walking to my dorm room with Teddy trailing closely behind. After a few minutes, I stopped outside a large rustic wooden door; Teddy too halted. Confused, I glanced up at him wondering if he was going to explain what he was doing. Despite his indifferent and unemotional face, the words he uttered next didn’t mirror his expression.

“I liked the nickname,” he admitted nonchalantly, “reminded me of my mum…it was comforting.” Touched by what he’d said, I nodded and smiled at him.

“Goodnight.” I whispered before slipping silently into my dorm room and shutting the door gently. 

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Light shone through my blinds as the sun rose and the unbearable brightness seemed to effectively wake me up. I lay on my bed doing nothing as I prepared myself for my second day here. Shortly after, I headed to the shared girls’ bathroom and got ready for breakfast. On my way to the canteen, I sighted Astoria and Pansy who were giggling excitedly amongst themselves; feeling lonely, I decided to approach them. Astoria noticed me first, pulling me into a hug and asking how I slept. Pansy followed suit - except she left out the question part. Assuming she was doing so before, Pansy carried on making jokes about the teachers in our school while Astoria and I laughed uncontrollably. Finally, we reached the canteen where we could see the boys were already sitting down at a table in the far corner. When we reached the table, Teddy subtly moved over an inch allowing me a place to sit down. Softened by the gesture, I took his invite and sat beside him. A few at a time, we got up to collect our breakfasts before returning back to the table to eat. The time was 8:00 and the bell didn't ring until 8:30 so that gave us 30 minutes to eat and discuss whatever amongst ourselves. 

My first lesson was potions which I’d managed to get lost to on the way there twice. However, thankfully a prefect had guided me to the classroom, preventing a third time.

After potions, I had a double period of herbology, which I learnt I shared with Enzo Berkshire when I walked into the classroom and found him sitting in the back. He waved me over to sit on the empty seat beside him. A loud blaring bell rang soon after I took my seat signaling the beginning of class. Professor Pomona waltzed in and began assigning everyone partners for a project;  since I was sitting beside Enzo he was assigned as my partner. The project was to fuse two existing plants and do a 5000 word write up about it. While the task may have seemed simple - I mean how difficult could it be to fuse two plants - writing 5000 words would be long and tiring.

Professor Pomona Sprout gave us the whole time of both periods to work on our projects; occasionally she’d give us breaks. By the end of the two hours, Enzo and I had successfully managed to fuse the Moonwart and Rue plant. 

“We should work on the second part soon,” Enzo suggested as we exited the classroom; I nodded in agreement. Enzo sharply turned to me, and gave me a huge grin before offering a high five.

“We make a pretty good team.” He announces as I returned the high five giving him my own smile as well. When I turned back around I saw Teddy leaning against a pillar eyeing us coldly. Enzo and I approached where he was standing,

“Hi Teddy,” I said gently, aware from his facial expression that he was mad and not wanting to do anything to worsen it. Seemingly, the nickname had an effect on him as his jaw seemed to relax and his eyes evidently softened. Enzo said something as well but I was too occupied with reading Teddy to notice. A moment later he returned mine and Enzo’s greetings before he finally straightened. Collectively, we all headed to the canteen to meet up with the rest of the group for lunch.

Enthusiastically, Astoria dragged me down to sit beside her as I joined the lunch table. She began to rant about a girl in her class that had annoyed her endlessly last period. Periodically, she’d quiet down but then she would start up again as she remembered something else. Across the table, I made eye contact with Mattheo and Enzo who seemed to notice my disinterest in Astoria’s words. They both laughed amongst themselves when I yawned; this thankfully went unnoticed by Astoria. However at the sound of their prolonged/ laughter, I smiled attempting to resist laughing too however that didn’t work. Even Tom who sat at the head of the table had the faintest smile on his face. Confusedly, Astoria looked around, likely wondering why we'd broken into fits of laughter. I just slightly shook my head as if to say ‘don’t worry’ and surprisingly Astoria just resumed what she was doing.

It was the last period of the school day and today everyone had a revision session - I’d decided to go to the library to get some peace, even if it had only been for a few minutes. Enzo had spotted me, joined me and now we were working on the second part of our herbology assignment. Profesor Pomona had given us a list of questions we had to answer in our write up so Enzo and I equally divided up the questions. I was nearly done with my questions when I saw Teddy and Mattheo making their way over to us. Mattheo had a dubious smirk on his face as they reached where we were. Accordingly, I scooched over, allowing room for either Mattheo or Teddy to sit down - Mattheo got their first. Teddy’s jaw tightened at his friend’s move but he went to sit beside Enzo anyway. Theo was the first to break the silence.

“What are you guys doing?” He asked - almost uninterestedly.

“We were working on our herbology project before you guys came,” Enzo replied accusingly. Mattheo at least had the decency to look apologetic, however Teddy clearly did not.

“It’s fine, you came at the right time. I was almost done anyway.” I directed my words mainly at Mattheo. With that, I slammed my laptop shut before packing up my bag and standing up.

“Umm…I’ll leave you guys to it, I think I’m gonna go find Astoria and Pansy.” 

As I left the table, my eyes lingered on Teddy before I finally exited the library.

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It was silent at the astronomy tower with just me there, the sky was getting darker and I could see various students down below heading to their dorm rooms as school ended.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” a voice said from behind me.

Terrified by the sudden words, I jumped back clutching my chest. Hesitantly, I turned around to see who the mysterious person was. Theodore Nott.  At the realization that he was avidly staring me down, I became self conscious.

“Why not?” I asked curiously.

“I don’t know, Aaliya hated this place so I guess–” Teddy abruptly cut himself off realising how it sounded. “And It’s just that you said you were going to find Astoria and Pansy so I thought I’d be the only one here.” 

I don’t know if the last part was genuine or if it was to save face.

“Oh - I’ll go if you want to be alone.” The Aaliya part hurt a bit - the assumption that we’d liked or disliked the same things as if we were the same person. I started retreating back to the staircase, however Theo’s hand grabbed my wrist instantly pulling me towards him.

“Stay.”

With that single word his hand released my wrist although he remained where he was standing. My breathing became heavy as I was hyperaware to our close proximity. Teddy studied me, lips tipped up in a smirk. Ensuingly, I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth, nervous due to his unwavering gaze. His head tipped up slightly, eyes shutting as if he were in hurt. “Are you okay?” I asked, genuine concern etched into my voice.

“I can’t…I can’t think straight when you bite your lip like that.” Teddy spoke, pain evidently laced into his voice.

“Oh.” My voice came out light and airy. Gaining back some confidence, I gently lifted my hand up to bring Teddy to look back at me. He finally looked down again to me while I subconsciously stroked his cheek. Then in the space of a few seconds, Teddy’s lips were on mine.

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Teddy traced delicate circles across my stomach as he spooned me from behind. After our kiss on the Astronomy Tower we’d talked for a while before coming back to my dorm to cuddle. It was peaceful considering we were laying in complete silence. Then a few seconds later, Teddy broke it. 

“My mother would have liked you.” Although he had not said much, the six words touched me in a way that no could ever understand the gravity of. It was warming to know that, and unfortunate that I’d never have the opportunity of seeing her.

“You’re Italian, right?” I really hoped he was, otherwise I’d seem like a fool. Although, I was pretty damn sure he was as that would explain the accent.

“Good ears cara mia,” Teddy replied, confirming that he was indeed Italian.

“What does ‘Cara mia’ mean?” Instead of answering my question Teddy just laughed and switched off the lights. Knowing that I wasn’t going to get a reply, I closed my eyes and went to sleep feeling the light touch of Theo’s hand.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hurriedly, I entered the canteen with Theo behind me. We’d accidentally overslept and breakfast was due to finish in 20 minutes. Enzo and Mattheo were the first to see us as we walked towards the table.

“Well well well.” Mattheo announced, a smirk evident on his face. The rest of the group turned to look at us - their empty breakfast plates laid out in front of them. 

“Morning.” I rushed out hastily and took my seat - Teddy beside me. Everyone looked at us interested; conveying a thousand questions with their eyes.

“Where were you two?” Pansy questioned first.

“Sleeping.” Teddy replied before popping a piece of toast in his mouth.

Pansy raised an eyebrow suggesting she didn’t believe us. “It’s true, we just overslept.” I stated, defending Teddy.

“Where’d you sleep then Teddy cause you sure weren’t in your dorm?” Astoria asked.

“Zara’s dorm.” Teddy answered smoothly.

“Where were you guys yesterday evening then?” The next question came from Enzo. Unaffected, Teddy continued to eat however I paused very visibly.

“We were at the Astronomy to–” my words were cut off harshly by Tom.

“Aaliya hated that place.” This seemed to finally make Teddy halt, realising he’d basically said the same thing earlier. Tom saying it probably made him hear just how ignorant it sounded assuming we would hate the same thing.

“Well luckily I’m not Aaliya then.” I mumbled annoyedly, irritated that I’d been told the same thing twice. 

“Lucky for you, unfortunate for us because I guarantee that everyone at this table would much rather have Aaliya sat where you are and not you.” The words were spoken low but firmly and each one seemed to achieve exactly what they intended to do so.

I looked upwards attempting to fight back the tears but Tom knew what to say to hurt me so it proved to be no use. The rest of the group were staring at me, clearly shocked by what Tom had said. Instantly, I jumped up from my seat and began to walk out the hall ignoring the calls for me. I could hear someone’s footsteps behind me so I turned around to see Teddy had followed me.

“Just don’t…please.” And with that I turned back around and hurriedly exited the canteen alone. 

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The quidditch grounds were eerily quiet. After I’d left the hall, I had decided to skip first period and come here as I knew it’d be quiet. A lone tear lingered on my cheeks as my mind continuously replayed Tom’s cruel words: ‘everyone at this table would much rather have Aaliya’.  No one at the table had disputed this - they hadn’t needed to, considering I’d only met them a few days ago. 

I’d found sanctuary on a bench near the top of the stands. In the distance, trees and plants blew back and forth calmly; meanwhile birds flew enthusiastically across the sky leaving the echoes of their chirps and tweets. Without warning, I felt a light tap on my shoulders as someone took a seat beside me. I turned gradually to face the person only to meet eyes with Hermione Granger. Quickly, I wiped the tears still present on my face before giving her a half-hearted smile.

“You’re Zara, right? I believe we share potions together.” Her words were gentle as she spoke then she proceeded to place a comforting hand on mine.

“Yeah and herbology - which we actually have right now,” I added on, before continuing “Why aren’t you in class right now? I know that sounds hypocritical but you don’t really seem like the type to skip.” 

She didn’t seem to take any offense to this as she just laughed and explained,

“Don’t worry, you’re right. We were assigned the task of finding a rare plant on school grounds and, well, I spotted you up here alone so I thought I’d come up.”

“Oh, thank you, that’s very kind of you. What plant is it you're looking for?”

“Aglaoph–” Hermione began, however she didn’t get to finish.

“Aglaophotis. I know where we can get that.” With that, I grabbed her wrist and pulled her up and out her seat before leading her away from the stands. I broke into a run across the quidditch fields with Hermione sprinting behind me. After what felt like an eternity, we reached a part of the forest that I’d not seen anyone visit yet. 

“It’s somewhere around here.” I stated, before pacing around in an attempt to find it; Hermione did the same. Then suddenly, she yelled out;

“Found it!”

And just like we did coming here, we both began bolting. Breaking into fits of giggles on the way, Hermione kept relentlessly thanking me, talking about how she owed me one. As we entered the classroom, our hopes were crushed as everyone seemed to already be back here. Professor Pomona paused what she was saying and looked towards us expectantly before commenting,

“No one else was successful in finding the Aglaophotis girls, are you the same?”

A grin graced both mine and Hermione’s face as we both proudly held up the plant while Hermione mouthed another ‘thank you’ at me.

“Well done, that’s ten points for Slytherin and ten points for Gryffindor!” Professor Pomona declared while the rest of class collectively cheered and clapped.

In the back of the classroom, I sighted Enzo looking regretfully at me, reminding me of the events from this morning. He looked towards the empty seat beside him, as if inviting me to sit on it. However, Hermione also had a spare seat beside her and so I took that one. She grabbed my hand and squeezed it appreciatively as I sat down. There was about 20 minutes left of herbology and everyone had gone up to present their projects from last lesson - Enzo and I were last. I avoided any attempt at eye contact with Enzo through our presentation and focused solely on getting it done; We scored an 18/20 on our project. Finally, the bell rang signifying the end of the lesson. Enzo tried to follow after me as I left class however I just ignored his attempts. 

On my way to potions, I saw Theo at his locker and he coincidentally turned around at the right time to see me walking past. Instantly, he slammed his locker shut and followed after me. I picked up my pace not wanting him to catch up to me. Although, the universe didn’t seem to want the same thing as I felt Theo wrap his hand around my wrist pulling me into the janitor’s closet.

My body pressed against his, as the janitor’s closet seemed to be very cramped and small.

“Let go of me Theo.” I whispered while I attempted to pull my hand out of his unwavering grip.

“Don’t call me Theo…please.” If I didn’t know better, I’d almost say he was begging but Theodore Nott doesn’t beg.

“Look, I’m sorry about what Tom said this morning, è uno sciocco.” he continued, his eyes conveying the sincerity of his words. I turned my face away from Theo not wanting to look at him right now.

“It’s true though, no? I mean no one said anything because you and I both know he’s right.” I rushed the words out not wanting to cry again.

“No, it’s not tesoro. You left in such a hurry you didn’t see but trust me, I definitely put Tom in his place, okay?”

Teddy brings his palm to touch my cheek and brings me to look at him. Reluctantly, I oblige rotating my face to look at him directly. Teddy’s arms then engulfed me in a hug and I nuzzled my head into his neck seeking comfort before rising up on my tiptoes to kiss him to which he immediately responded.

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After mine and Teddy’s encounter in the closet, he kindly walked me to my next lesson which was a double period of potions. For lunch, I’d eaten it with Hermione and her friends: Harry Potter and Ron Weasley in the library so I didn’t have to face Tom, or the rest of the others for that matter. The rest of the day went by quickly. 

The slytherin common room was quiet apart from the few hushed voices around the place. I was sitting on the couch studying for my first potions exam since joining Hogwarts this semester. Then to my right, I saw the slytherin common room door swing open; in waltzed Astoria and Pansy who appeared to be gossiping about something. They evidently paused as they spotted me sitting on the couch. Astoria was the first to break the awkward silence that had surrounded us three.

“Hi, I’m sorry about what Tom said earlier - he was way out of line - and we’re sorry for not speaking up.” Astoria looked nervous as she approached where I was and sat next to me. Pansy, who sat on the arm of the couch, then chimed in agreeing,

“Yeah, I mean Tom is…well Tom but he was wrong for what he said. Even though we only met you a few days ago, we really like you and love having you as a friend.”

I finally put down the book I was pretending to read while they talked to me, and rotated to look at them.

“Thank you, that actually means a lot.” I replied genuinely. They  both nodded in sync and started up their gossip again after catching me up. 

During Astoria’s passionate rant, Tom Riddle - the one and only - stormed up to where I’m sitting before staring me down long and hard. Scanning his face closely, I realised he has a purple bruise around his eye that seemed somewhat fresh. Taking away my attention from his face, he then muttered the one thing I’d never expect to hear from his mouth: an apology.

“I’m sorry.” He grunted out quietly like it was hurting him. Before I had time to reply he’s already turned back around and exited the common room. In the corner of the room, I see Enzo, Mattheo and Teddy laughing at what just occurred. My eyes narrowed at the sight, meanwhile I suddenly recalled Teddy’s words from earlier ‘I definitely put Tom in his place, okay?’  Anger bubbled inside of me as I registered that the bruise must have been Teddy’s doing, no doubt.

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“What the hell is wrong with you Theo?!” I exclaimed. 

When I had understood what he’d done, I had dragged Theo away from Mattheo and Enzo and back to his dorm room immediately to scold him.

“Ugh, please stop calling me Theo.”

“Is that really what you’re choosing to fixate on? How about you explain to me why the HELL Tom has an f-ing bruise near his eye.” I was pacing around the room briskly in an attempt to work out my irritation; this did not appear to work.

“I already told you earlier that I’d dealt with him. He doesn’t get to go around saying rude things, especially like that, to you.” Teddy quietly admitted. I took a deep breath before gently saying,

“And you don’t get to go around hurting other people just because they were mean to me.”

Teddy’s face clearly expressed he strongly disagreed however he made no move to voice it. Tired of arguing with him already, I crawled into his lap and wrapped my arms around his neck. I leaned forwards to kiss Teddy and I felt his body relax under mine. His fingers toyed with the hem of my skirt and my fingers found their way into his curly locs. 

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It was the middle of the night; I, however, couldn’t sleep. Although Teddy seemed to have no trouble sleeping peacefully. On the floor, my uniform lay scattered as I now sported one of Theo’s t-shirts instead. The view from his window was beautiful: the moon was bright in the sky which was a deep blue. In the distance, I saw an owl approaching swiftly. A message for Theo. I was about to wake Teddy up, however the owl seemed to halt specifically in front of me. Consequently, a white scroll was then dropped by the owl right into my hand before it left.

Dear Zara,

I didn’t think there’d be a day where I’d be able to write this to you but it seems a miracle has been performed. Your father and I received a call from a lab that there had been a mistake with some data processing a while back. The young girl we buried is not Aaliya. DNA samples got mixed up and, well, Aaliya has been found. We’ll send transport for you, first thing in the morning. I love you darling and we’re gonna be a complete family again.

                                                                                                      Love Mother xoxoxo

Tears streamed down my face as I read the final sentence ‘we’re gonna be a complete family again.’ In my peripheral vision, I saw Teddy making his way towards me.

“Are you okay, Cara mia? What are you doing up?” Theo questions as he rubbed his eyes trying to fully wake himself up. Lost for words, I carefully handed him the letter to which he opened and silently read. Instantaneously, Teddy turned to me and buried me in a hug. To the wildlife outside, we seemed like just two innocent silhouettes sharing a warming embrace. However, Teddy and I knew that life would soon change. It’d be complex, but it’d be better.