Theodore Nott scowled as he bent over a piece of parchment in the Slytherin Common Room. He had been hunched over this Potions essay for hours now, trying to get it done before morning. It wasn't even his homework.
A glance at the large clock over the fireplace mantle told him that it was nearly two in the morning. Draco had still not returned.
The blonde disappeared every evening, not returning until the early hours of the morning to sleep for an hour or two. Then he would wake up, get dressed and make his way through the day's lessons like a lifeless zombie.
Draco was his friend, and a fellow Slytherin, so naturally Theo had been covering for him for several months now. Doing his homework, making excuses for his inattention during class, making sure he ate something at dinner; it was never-ending. He wondered if Draco had even noticed his efforts. His sunken grey eyes didn't seem to see anything anymore; he was too caught up in his own worries.
With a sigh, Theo returned to Draco's essay. Unfortunately for him, Draco had always been one of the top students in their year, while Theo was just an average student. While quite intelligent, he loathed standing out, and so often got by in his schoolwork with the minimum effort needed. To copy Draco's attention to detail meant far more research than he was accustomed to. It was tiresome.
Most people probably considered loyalty a foreign concept to Slytherins, more in the territory of the Hufflepuff house, but Theo understood that you never made it to the top without loyal friends at your back. Still, it begged the question; where do you draw the line?
Night after night he stayed up until well past midnight completing Draco's homework as well as his own. He fielded enquiries from professors and friends alike, tried to get him to classes on time and eating fairly regularly. He was controlling virtually every aspect of Draco's life, just waiting for him to snap out of it and confide in him, but he was so tired.
Theo put down his quill with a sigh, running one hand through his hair. He was starting to get really worried. This had gone beyond brooding teenage boy. This was serious. Draco was barely sleeping or eating; he was pale, rapidly losing what little weight he had left, and dark shadows permanently marred the skin under his eyes. Theo's glamour spells could only hide so much, and people were starting to notice.
He looked up suddenly as the portrait slid open, and Draco stumbled in. The old Draco would never have stumbled. He had been graceful and assured, confident in his place in the world. This boy was a stranger.
'Draco,' he said quietly, breaking the silence.
The blonde looked up, obviously startled. Lately Draco's gaze had been distant as if he was looking through you, yet now they stared at each other, and Theo was surprised to see that Draco was really looking at him and seeing him for once.
'Theo,' Draco responded, giving him a polite nod of his head. He looked unsure of himself, as if he didn't quite know what to say.
'You're back,' Theo remarked coolly, a hint of disapproval in his tone.
'I never went anywhere,' Draco dismissed him, making to walk straight past him.
Theo got to his feet, using his height and presence to block his shorter, frail friend. In a fight, whether physical, magical, or intellectual, Theo would have him beaten without even raising a sweat. Draco backed down immediately, and sighed in frustration at himself.
'You want to tell me what's been going on with you?' Theo asked him. Draco avoided his eyes and moved over to the leather couch by the fireplace. He stared into the embers sullenly.
Theo stayed where he was, giving his friend the space he needed, but still staying between Draco and the dormitory. He would get his answers. He deserved them.
As the other Slytherin considered his response, Theo twirled his wand in his hand, thinking hard. His own father had been sending him cryptic owls recently, telling him to be prepared for what was to come. Theo had known for many years now that his father was a Death Eater.
Personally, it had never been his ambition to follow in his father's footsteps. It was too messy, too dangerous; Theo didn't have that sort of narrow-minded hate inside of him, that capability for irrational violence.
He knew that Draco had been under extreme pressure from his father over the holidays to commit to becoming a Death Eater after graduation. The difference was that Draco had been proud of his father, of the things he did, that to be a Death Eater was to follow the way of glory and righteousness. So naïve.
There was no glory in killing, in raping, in torturing, no glory in targeting those who were different for something they couldn't really help. So what if he was a pureblood? It didn't give him the right to murder.
Theo had heard a rumour that the Dark Lord was currently in residence at Malfoy Manor, which was the main reason he had been going to such lengths for the boy, but he was sick of watching his friend waste away. If they talked about it, surely they could find an alternative? They were nearly at the end of their sixth year; time was running out for Draco.
'I was given a mission,' Draco broke Theo's line of thought.
A mission? But that meant –
Theo stared at the back of Draco's head in horror, his heart sinking in his chest. He had given in, been initiated early, he had gone through with it.
'Why didn't you tell me?' Theo barked, tears of frustration welling in his eyes. All this time, he had been covering for a Death Eater, for someone just like his disgusting old man.
'I knew you wouldn't understand,' Draco snapped.
'You're better than this!' Theo shouted, starting to see red. 'How could you do this?'
'They have my mother!' Draco screamed, looking more alive in that moment than he had all year.
'Then you should have come to me,' Theo snarled. 'We would have thought of something!'
'There's nothing you could've done,' Draco bit out, his teeth clenched together in anger.
He had been sure that given enough time he could have made Draco see that he didn't have to follow in his father's footsteps. That he could have been his own man, but he was too late before he had even really begun.
'You never gave me the chance. Now we'll never know,' Theo said quietly.
Theo squeezed his eyes shut tightly, and suddenly it was all too much.
'I won't stick my neck out for you again.'
It was said almost sadly, though there was an undertone of steel to his voice. He meant it. He was done.
No more.
Draco watched him go, his last support, and knew that he was completely alone. With a grim look on his face, he glanced at the clock, pulled out his wand, and made his way up to the Astronomy Tower.