Disclaimer: I don't any characters in this piece.
The song is Tegan and Sarah's The Con.

And In A Life Like This…

Chapter One:
…It's Memorable

I listened in,
Yes, I'm guilty of this, you should know this.
I broke down and wrote you back,
Before you had a chance to.
Forget forgotten, I am moving past this,
Giving notice.
I have to go,
Yes, I know that feeling, know you're leaving.

Theodore Nott had been a weedy boy as a child. He was scared of his father and what would happen to him were he to mutter even the slightest bit of dissent about the Dark Lord and his dangerous ideals to Nott Snr. Once upon a time he had also worried about whether his father may be in danger too, if he ever spoke his true feelings, but a fight with the old tyrant had left Theo neither wanting to know or care if he lived or died.

"I'm not Saint Potter," Theo would come to repeat often, bitterness in his voice. "I don't care about people who never cared about me."

It would soon emerge that as much as son disliked father, nothing would ever rival the unnecessary and unsubstantiated hate that Theo's father had always had for him.

To Theo it had always seemed he held the boy responsible for his mother's tragic death, although he was only four at the time and the only human within the walls of the Nott Estate with his mother that fateful afternoon. His father was too ashamed to show his face at the cruel (and very Muggle) death of his wife of 10 years and the mother of his only child and heir to the vast but ill-gotten Nott wealth.

So, at age 29; beautiful, terrible and pure of blood, Amerita Nott died of cancer with only her son and her loyal house-elf by her side.

The next 7 years of Theodore's life remained as empty and loveless as he had expected. His father, it seemed, was more determined to make money than even discuss with his young son the truth and realities involving Amerita's death.

Alexander, like all wizards of his stature, had convinced himself that he, and all those he was affiliated with, were untouchable by such things – Muggle things. He truly believed his life was worth more than anyone's because his blood was pure and his heart was cold. Emotions, it seemed to Theo's father, were a hinderance rather than a help. It had made him what he was and would forever be; a loser, an egotistical jerk and a Death Eater.

So Theodore would come to hate this man. Hate him for who he was and who he wanted to be. Hate him for what he'd done to Amerita.

Theo would become as disillusioned and cruel as his father, but would not notice it until it was too late. It was at this stage in his life that he became a prime candidate for the next generation of Death Eaters upon Voldemort's return to power.

Calm down, I'm calling you to say,
I'm capsized, erring on the edge of safe.
Calm down, I'm calling back to say,
I'm home now and coming around, coming around.
Nobody likes to,
But I really like to cry.
Nobody likes me,
Maybe if I cry.

It was at age 11, sick of spending his life with only his school master and house-elf, that Theodore would get his previously denied freedom. Age 11 meant the coming of his Hogwarts letter, and not even his father could or would destroy such a perfect time.

Theo had already proven twice that he was no Squib. At age 8 he had successfully locked his school master out of the house with only a thought and a scream. Evetually Alexander had stepped in and brought an end to the mess and what Theo had thought would end with praise actually ended with Theo cleaning the bathroom floor and being denied dinner. The loyal house-eld, Knobb, who had always made it clear that he worked for Theo and Amerita alone, had snuck up with the most delicious stew a little after Alexander left for work again that night, assuring Theo that Alexander had not been treated to the same thing.

The second time had been at age 10 when, sick of Knobb doing substandard work in the cleaning of his bedroom, Alexander had pulled out a handkerchief and was intending to force it into the shaking hands of the sobbing elf. At Theodore's shocked gasp the handkerchief flew from his father's grasp and tumbled through the air for almost 30 seconds before promptly bursting into flames.

"Knobb works for me. He isn't yours to dismiss." Theodore had managed to yell at his father before Alexander gave the elf a hearty kick out the doorway and slammed the door in both their faces.

So, more than anything, the large tan envelope with a green seal was a god-send.

It not only meant a new and more magical life. It not only meant going to the place where he could be who he wanted, when he wanted. It not only meant wands, potions and books piled high with energy and answers within their pages. No, more important than anything inside the Hogwarts walls, it meant freedom.

Spelled out your name and list the reasons.
Faint of heart, don't call me back.
I imagine you and I was distant, not insistent.
I followed suit and laid out on my back,
Imagine that.
A million hours left to think of you and think of that.

A/N: Alright, so this is a 5-parter about my favourite obscure character: Theodore Nott. This is the story I've created for him from a few years of RPing him, so I'm finally pulling it together.

This is Chapter One: And A Life Like This… It's Memorable (Theo'd life before Hogwarts)
Chapter Two: And A Life Like This… It's Hard (Theo's first 5 years at Hogwarts)
Chapter Three: And A Life Like This… It's Broken (Theo's time under his father's controlling grasp)
Chapter Four: And A Life Like This… It's Not Mine (The 7th year, Battle of Hogwarts and Theo's final redemption)
Chapter Five: And A Life Like This.. It's Saved (Theo's future)

So, please, read and review!

Peace
Kate-Emma