A/N: Hello! So I actually started this story a few years ago, and sometimes I'll come back to it and add something, but I decided to finally be brave enough to post it. I opened up the document and realized that over time I've written about 160 pages already which is more than 60,000 words, and they were all sitting there with no one to read them so...here you are! It's a little different from my other story, and it's my first time writing third-person, but I think I actually prefer writing that way. Anyways, I hope you like it. Or not, I don't mind.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This story is just for fun, to practice my writing and also because I still can't let go of the wizarding world after all this time.

(Always)

Chapter 1-

The first time Elizabeth Fairchild met Theodore Nott was in the library one day during fifth year. Of course, they'd known each other before – or rather, of each other – seeing as they had some classes together, but they had never spoken to each other or even acknowledged the other's presence. Until now.

Elizabeth, or rather, Lizzie as her friends called her, was in the library to write an essay for Potions. It was only the second week of school and there was already so much homework! She found a book and made to find a table to sit at. She sighed as she realized all the other tables were full of people, and she was frankly not in the mood. She spotted one in the corner, and there was a Slytherin boy sitting there quietly reading a book.

Sure, she could have sat anywhere, but seeing as she wanted somewhere quiet to work, sitting at a table with her fellow housemates where they were more likely to chatter about some random nonsense than doing any actual work (seriously, where was Madam Pince these days?) would surely not help her at all. Besides, she was feeling daring, so she approached the notoriously unapproachable Slytherin.

.

"Excuse me, can I sit here?" Said a cheery voice. Theodore Nott looked up to see a blonde-haired girl staring at him with a smile on her face, yellow robes indicating she was a Hufflepuff. She was in his year, he knew that much, but he had forgotten her name. He never paid much attention to those outside of his own house. The boy ignored the girl, going back to his reading before the question was then repeated.

Theodore did not even look up when he asked, "Why?"

"Umm…because I don't want to sit at some random table with pesky Ravenclaws complaining about my lack of intellectual skills," She pointed to a few nearby tables filled with Ravenclaws, "And people from my own house can be distracting. Same goes for sitting with the Gryffindors. And to be honest, those friends of mine at that table," she pointed to a table just barely out of view, "actually hate me. And I hate them too so…" Theo didn't know how she could say all that while still in a cheery and happy voice. He shook it off. It wasn't his concern.

"So?" Theodore said sharply. He didn't care that he was offending the girl and coming off as rude. He didn't really care for much at the moment. She'd interrupted in his reading!

"Actually, now that I think about it," The Hufflepuff continued (ugh! Why was she still here?), "the library seems unusually packed today…"

"Probably the potions essay." Theodore answered curtly, more to get rid of her than to quench her curiosity.

She tilted her head, resting her hands on the chair in front of her, right across from Theo. "Well yeah, it's one of the bigger ones. But curiously, there are barely any Slytherins here…" She trailed off, looking at him with a meaningful stare.

It was then that Theo finally looked up from his book to catch her stare and allowed a smirk to grace his lips. It was common knowledge that Snape favored Slytherins. Most had filled half their essays with random nonsense, yet they were sure to receive a good grade nonetheless. Because it was Snape. And everyone knew it. That's why everyone else was off working their bums off while most Slytherins were either off in the common room or just relaxing outside. Theo, however, finished his essay much earlier than any of the buffoons in his house and then went on to enjoy the quiet company of the library and its books with seemingly infinite knowledge.

Today had been a bit different. With the room packed with so many students determined to get a pass grade on this one assignment, it wasn't as quiet as it usually was.

Theo raised an eyebrow and the girl smiled back at him. Ugh! Why wasn't she just leaving? Either she was just too dim to understand that he wanted her to go away, or she was just being stubborn. He guessed it was a mixture of both. Well, he would have to make it clearer for her. "Why are you still here?" He said, irritated and angry.

"Well I was just asking if I could sit here, it's not like I'm trying to bother you or anything," She said, losing the hint of cheeriness in her voice, clearly affronted by his tone of speaking. But then she gave a chirpy smile, making him wonder how one could pretend to be so happy and nice towards another who was offending them. Even her tone of voice became cheerful again, "In any case, I was just waiting for an answer."

He blinked, before realizing that he may have been a bit harsh, although she was being somewhat irritating. He was angry. He wasn't having a good day. Sure, he had the opportunity to slack on Snape's essay (not that he did, and would ever do, in any case), but nothing made up for the letter his father had sent him early in the morning. And then he had come here to read and set his mind at peace, but this annoying girl had to come and ruin it.

"Sorry," He mumbled. The young witch looked startled (and she had good reason to be) before quickly composing herself, giving him a smirk of her own.

"What was that?"

Theo was tempted to bang his head on the table. The brunette had clearly heard him right the first time, she just wanted to torment him. She probably knew that he wasn't much of an apology-giver.

He spoke a little louder, "Sorry, okay? Are you happy now?"

He wasn't thinking straight. He shouldn't have apologized. It's not what the Notts were supposed to do. But what could Theo do? He hadn't had a good day, and then this girl just came into this mess, that's why he was acting so weirdly. He blamed it all on his father. If he'd never sent him the letter, his day wouldn't be miserable and he certainly would not be so out of his mind as to apologize to this girl.

The girl's smile widened, "So can I sit here?"

For a moment he said nothing, then he went back to his book, completely ignoring her. Lizzie took that as a "no" and turned around, starting to walk away when she heard his voice again,

"Well I never said you couldn't." Lizzie saw that he hadn't even looked up from his book again, as if he hadn't said anything, yet she smiled and took a seat across from Nott, setting down her bag, pulling out a quill and parchment, and opened up her book.

They sat in silence for a while, neither acknowledging the other. Theo finally looked up and over at her. He tried to remember her name. What was it? It was Fair-something…Fairchild? He didn't recognize it from anywhere, so it must be a muggle name. He scrunched his eyebrows together, trying to recall her first name. He thought he'd heard people calling her "Lizzie."

Whatever her name was…well, she was pretty. Sort of. Not in the conventional sense, but in a more natural way. Her long, blonde hair seemed to glow golden when it shined in the sun (and as their table was right up against the window, on a sunny day, Theo got to admire this trait). Her eyes were hazel and her skin was lightly tanned. Much darker than his pale complexion. And her smile (when it wasn't aimed at him to annoy him) was bright and overall she echoed an epitome of happiness and light. Everything he was not.

But then he remembered why he'd never paid any attention to this girl, not even bothering to remember her name. She was a Mudblood. That was it. If the fact that she was in Hufflepuff wasn't enough, then her lack of magical parents certainly meant she didn't need to be remembered. Theo only had to associate with purebloods of high status. In some cases, half-bloods, such as Snape, but he only needed to know those in his parents' social circle. And now that the Dark Lord had returned, the list extended to include his followers (although most of them were part of his parents' social circle anyway). But he had no need to associate himself with a nobody. With someone of no status and no magical bloodline. They offered no benefits for his family's status.

Theo resisted the urge to sneer at her when he realized her bloodline. But he didn't, because he was better than Malfoy and could pretend to be…let's say…more amiable towards Mudbloods than the others, because that would help keep the Dark Lord's return secret for longer.

But the fact that he'd apologized to her. The thought alone made him want to gag. Theodore Nott, apologizing to a Mudblood. Letting her sit with him. But now she had seated herself and made herself comfortable and he couldn't get rid of her. And he couldn't just get up and leave either. He was here first, and he didn't want her to think that he was leaving because of her (even if he was).

No, she was just Mudblood. A nobody, and so she should have no effect on him, right? Right, so he would just pretend she wasn't there. That was easier said than done. He wasn't used to people invading his personal space. The other Slytherins had quickly realized that he would only offer them glares if they invaded his space and so usually just left him alone.

.

Lizzie looked up and caught him staring at her. She gave him a smile, though she felt uneasy under his intense gaze.

This is the son of an ex-Death-Eater you're sitting across from, she reminded herself. And…if what Harry Potter was saying was right…if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was really back…than there was a chance that Nott's father had returned to his Death-Eater duties.

She knew that Nott Sr., along with many others, claimed to be Imperiused after You-Know-Who had disappeared fourteen years ago. But according to what her friends had told her, many still suspected Nott and a few others of lying. There was so much evidence pointing to it.

Then again, she didn't really have any knowledge of her own to rely on. She was muggle-born, after all.

She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts, then continued on her essay. It was hard. Of course, being Potions – especially from Snape – it was bound to be difficult but this one was one of the most challenging to complete. Which explained all the people in the library. They were all in her year, too.

"That's wrong."

She looked up, surprised. Nott was nodding at her paper. "I'm sorry, what is?"

He pointed to the last line she had just written. "That."

She raised her eyebrows. Was he watching her this whole time? Or did he just happen to look up at the same time she wrote down the properties of some potion she couldn't even remember how to pronounce?

But the question that came to her lips was, "You can read upside down?" She was sitting across from him, after all.

.

Theo sighed and resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. He'd glanced over to see if she was still there because other than the scratching of her quill and occasional sigh she hadn't made any noise. Which surprised him considering her earlier eagerness to talk loudly and endlessly.

Well, he couldn't miss the glaringly obvious mistakes she'd made. They were niggling in his brain and he couldn't just sit there and watch someone write down something so stupid. She'd spelled the name of the potion wrong and listed some of its "properties" that were untrue. He couldn't let anyone, especially not her, get away with this!

Although, he had to admit, she definitely wasn't as idiotic as he'd first assumed. What was easy to him was often what others struggled with. Academically, at least. And, he excelled in Potions. It was his best class, but Snape rarely ever praised him or even noticed him, passing over him to save all his praises for his favorite student instead, Malfoy. And the other teachers never praised him for his good work. He simply got good grades and went along with it. But he didn't mind. In fact, unlike Malfoy, he enjoyed sitting in the back of the classroom, barely being noticed by anyone. He preferred the peace and quiet.

But while he never helped people with their homework, he couldn't just sit there and watch her continuously getting things wrong. It kept nagging him, his brain telling him to just do something. So even though he tried to resist, he ended up caving and pointed to where the girl had just written down an utterly incorrect statement.

And what did she say in return?

"You can read upside down?"

Really? Not even a thank you? He had just saved her some of Professor Snape's wrath, and she responded by asking if he could read upside down? How ungrateful!

He grit his teeth. "Obviously."

"Oh, well, um…what's wrong about it?" She asked.

Theo sighed, and listed all the properties of the potion, along with all the things that could go wrong with it.

"You know all of that off the top of your head?" She said, eyes widening. She seemed shocked that he knew all of that but also impressed.

Still no gratitude from her. What should he have expected? She obviously had no class or even knew the social rules of being polite.

But he couldn't just say that out loud.

"Why? Do I seem like someone who wouldn't know this off the top of my head?"

"No! I didn't mean…" For once, she seemed to get flustered, if her reddening face was any indication, and simply gave up on the conversation before picking up her quill to scratch out the past sentence and rewrite it.

Theo went back to his book before hearing her mutter, "thanks, by the way."

He didn't respond, but let a smile grace his lips, hidden from her by the book in front of his face.

However, glancing over again, he couldn't stop himself from correcting all her other errors. He pointed to another spot on her paper.

"This is spelled wrong." He pointed to the word above it. "So is this. Snape will murder you."

.

"Oh!" Lizzie said, still shocked from the fact that he was helping her. Still, he seemed irritated so she decided to just look up the spelling of the specific ingredients herself in the textbook.

"Thank you," She said again, sincerely grateful because Snape's wrath was not something she wanted to face.

She was grateful, but also embarrassed. She wasn't stupid. No, she was decent at Potions. She received good marks in all her classes.

However, as a Hufflepuff, other students – and some teachers too – often underestimated her and her fellow Housemates. They viewed Hufflepuff as an inferior House, and assumed that Hufflepuffs didn't care much for grades, even though they did.

Many in Hufflepuff often felt the need to prove themselves. To prove that they could do as well as or even better than any other House. Well, maybe not Ravenclaw, but other than that. They were not dumb. Or stupid. Or unintelligent. But no one seemed to see that.

And they were not all nice, happy, trusting, easygoing people either. Not all the time. Maybe it took a little longer to get on the bad side of a Hufflepuff, but it still happened.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, Lizzie wrote the last word of her last sentence and put a period with a satisfying, "there, done."

"Talking to yourself now? I knew you were mental."

Oh, yeah, she'd almost forgotten about the Slytherin. Well, sort of, besides the somewhat-scratch that, very-unexpected help he'd given her. And he seemed to not want to talk to people, so why was he initiating conversation now?

On another note, if she'd had half a brain to remember he was still there, she would've held her tongue. Lizzie actually did talk to herself quite a bit. And it wasn't just simply muttering under her breath, as she'd done now. No, when she was alone she would often talk to herself for lengthy periods of time. And she wasn't crazy or insane. She wasn't mad. No, her parents had already taken her to a psychiatrist a few years back who had declared her perfectly sane.

It was just a rather curious habit that was extremely prevalent when she was younger and had lasted until now, although now she made sure that she was completely alone before letting herself speak. It helped her organize her thoughts, and she'd heard that many sane people had the same habit.

However, to the general public, a person talking to themselves was a sure sign of mental instability, no matter how untrue it was.

To Lizzie, however, it was just a habit of hers that wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried (she'd always end up talking out loud to herself when she was thinking hard, without even noticing). It was okay, because it helped her think, and really, who had to know if she only did it when she was alone?

And although Lizzie knew she shouldn't care about what others thought, at Nott's words, she felt herself go a little pink. She hated how she was always able to be embarrassed so easily at even the slightest things.

She wanted to say something like so what if I'm talking to myself? Why should you care? Or something along those lines, but she couldn't risk it.

She didn't want Nott to think she was crazy, or for him to spread it around to the other Slytherins. And she knew she was overreacting, because how could Nott find out her habit only out of her reaction to a rather snarky comment he made?

Still, she was a worrier, and so she looked up from her finished paper, focused her eyes into the best glare she could manage, and said,

"Do you have to be so unfriendly all the time? I mean, seriously, I just finished my essay and now you make fun of me for being satisfied with finishing it? It was grueling!"

Argghh! Curse her mouth for speaking before her brain!

.

Theo raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't serious. People like you always overreact to the smallest of things."

Theo himself didn't know why he'd spoken when she'd finished. He could've just waited until she packed up her bags and left, and then he could have his peace and quiet again.

No, instead he had to say something that obviously set her off, although he didn't know why it made her seem so angry. He prided himself on being good at reading people, and she seemed extremely angry while also…embarrassed?

Either way, he supposed it was just amusing conversing with this girl. Usually he wouldn't give someone like her the time of day, but it was actually kind of nice to talk to someone outside of his House. Someone new. A stranger. He would never admit it to her though. Or to anyone, for that matter.

.

Lizzie knew she did overreact, although it was a rather cruel joke to say. "Sorry, I tend to say a lot of things without thinking."

Mostly because I have a tendency to think out loud anyways, she thought. But on the outside, she plastered on a smile while she packed up her things.

Nott didn't give any indication he heard her, as he'd gone back to that book of his.

Lizzie frowned.

Wasn't it common courtesy to listen when someone was speaking to you? Or at least pretend to listen? Lizzie talked a lot, yes, but that didn't mean she wasn't a great listener. She would never leave someone hanging after they'd just apologized. She'd give an indication that she accepted it!

Okay, whatever. This was just something small. Lizzie didn't want to get needlessly angry over something petty.

"By the way," Lizzie started, smiling again, "thanks a lot for your help. I really appreciate it. I'll make sure to return the favor sometime."

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Nott asked, still looking at his book.

"Er," She was at a loss of what to say. How would she do that? Ugh, she should've just not offered to return the favor. This was so embarrassing.

"Whatever, I don't need anything from you," Nott said harshly, "Besides, what could you possibly do for me?"

Lizzie frowned again. Even if he didn't want anything, she normally wasn't one to just let a favor go unpaid. Especially since this one saved her from Snape's wrath. And it wasn't like he was her friend or anything. Because with friends, you always do things for them knowing they will always do things for you too.

Granted, it was only homework. And he was being incredibly rude about her goodwill. But she still felt uncomfortable because he'd helped her without her asking. It made her feel as if she was indebted to him somehow.

"Well, my offer still stands. If you want anything, don't hesitate to ask!" Lizzie picked up her bag and thanked him again before walking out of the library as fast as she could.

.

Theo didn't even know why she bothered. It was only homework, although evading Snape's wrath was definitely something to be thankful for. And how stupid, to think that he would ever ask her for a favor? He never even asked his own Housemates for anything. Ever.

Still, it was new, unexpected. He didn't think she would be that grateful to him that she would promise him something in return. He assumed most would just drop it and not bother trying to pay him back, especially since he was a Slytherin.

Maybe it was just a Hufflepuff thing. He'd never had a conversation with one before. And this one seemed interesting. Maybe the next time he saw her, he wouldn't be completely averse to talking with her.

He just hoped the others in the library didn't notice or care, because he knew how fast gossip could spread at Hogwarts, and he really didn't need to deal with the other Slytherins questioning why he let a Mudblood sit near him or why he helped her – it was a good thing he sat in that one secluded corner of the library.

He still didn't know why he helped her himself, really. He just did. Besides, in all of his days reading in his corner in the library, she'd been the only one to approach him.

.

Lizzie glanced over her shoulder one last time, thinking about this curious person who was both rude, apologetic, and helpful to her all within the span of a few hours.

And she could've sworn, before leaving, she'd seen the faintest hint of smile on the boy's face.

Next chapter will be out soon! Please follow, favorite, and review!

~Saturn10710~