Title: Neglected
Rating: Mature Audience, M
Genre: Romance / Drama / Suspense
Main fandom: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
Sub fandoms: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban & Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Warnings: Underage, Mentioning of Child Abuse, Graphic Depictions of Violence, Explicit Language
Description: Contrary to popular belief, Theodore Nott did not give a sodding fuck for whatever claims his Death Eater father made, did not follow pure-blood beliefs nor did he have the shallow impression that Muggle-borns were inferior beings, and if ever asked by Severus Snape, Theo Nott should very much have been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin ― Creature/Veela fic, DM/HG & TN/LL
Notice: This story will be a fusion between the books and the movies as there are some scenes from the films I enjoyed over the ones in the books, particular the one in which Hermione punches Draco on the day Buckbeak is to be executed. Also, there will be a bit of a... disregard of the dates, as Buckbeak's supposed execution took place on 6 June. In this story, in order for the pieces to fit better, it is now supposed to take place two days earlier, on 4 June, as Draco's birthday is on 5 June. You will understand this as the story proceed.
Attention: This story is a very cliché Veela!Draco Malfoy telling, inspired by the amazing (in my opinion) Lightning by floatsodelicately on AO3. If you wish for something spontaneous and... unusual, I recommend Mine by Curiositykils and Deity by Freya Ishtar.
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from the world of Harry Potter nor do I make any claims on the universe itself. It all respectively belong to the amazing author, J. K. Rowling.
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NEGLECTED
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"The words with which a child's heart is poisoned, whether through malice or through ignorance, remain branded in his memory, and sooner or later they burn his soul."
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind
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Prologue
Trust
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"The truth is: everyone is going to hurt you. You just got to find the ones worth suffering for."
― Bob Marley
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Contrary to popular belief, Theodore Nott was not a loner, was not the quiet, shy boy who walked around Hogwarts all by himself and occasionally with his childhood comrade Draco Malfoy, was not the type of boy who'd do his homework and receive at least an Exceeding Expectation; and he was definitely not a bully either.
He was an intelligent boy, cunning and ambitious, and incredibly resourceful, excessive traits exhibited by any student in the Snake Pit, as was only natural as he was a student of the most noble House of Slytherin at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That, however, did not necessarily mean he was one who did extraordinary well in classes, quite the contrary. While receiving high and acceptable, above average grades by his accomplished work, it was not something Theo spend the majority of his spare time on doing, conducting homework to become the absolute best — that was Draco's job, in which he prodigiously competed with Bookworm Granger, while terrorising said girl along with her friends outside the Common Room and Library. Theo was simply — to put it mildly — too lazy to put his heart into it the way Draco did; he didn't exactly envy the Malfoy Heir, more admired his headstrong determination and stubbornness. Albeit that feistiness sometimes worried him and made him frown.
If he could get away with it, Theo would actually be the one to sabotage all the excitements during classes in the most cunning and subtle way possible just for his own amusement, and maybe pull a prank or two on Granger (and perhaps Snape, too, if they had shared potions with the Gryffindorks) before Draco, for reason or another, would stop him. And speaking of sabotaging, if there was one other thing that Theodore absolutely wasn't, it was being quiet and excluding himself from larger group discussions, because he certainly never shut up when it came to voicing his opinions, however inadequate the timing may be (mind you, though, it was only in front of his friends when he decided to "speak out of term". Usually, so, at least).
Nevertheless, most important thing to note of all when exploring the character that was Theodore Mathias Nott would be the way that he did not give a sodding fuck about whatever claims his "ex"-Death Eater father made. He did not follow pure-blood beliefs nor did Theo promote the importance of "securing" magical benefits. Neither did he have the shallow impression that he was, supposedly, superior compared to Muggle-borns and Half-bloods ― not by much, anyway ― and, he reflected, if ever asked by Professor Severus Snape, Theo admitted that Snape's answer would be prompt and accurate, without a hint of hesitation: Theodore Nott should very much have been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Slytherin.
Snape's only remedy, if you could even call it that, was that Theo at least knew not to display his obnoxiousness to the public eye. Otherwise, Theo was sure Snape would have expelled him quicker than he would have snapped at Golden Boy Potter.
So no, Theo was not your stereotypical Slytherin. If anything, Theodore Nott hated quite a lot of things, particular his father and the Blood Mania people ― especially in Slytherin House ― threw above their heads, just as the next person beside him was revolted with his own mother, her twisted love for money, and her suspected murdering of men. Not that Blaise hated his mother the way Theo hated his father, far from it; Blaise actually loved her beyond imagination. He was just a bit uncomfortable with her whole ordeal of switching husbands for her own, greedy benefits to reassure a wealthy lifestyle for her and Blaise. The latter he could welcome with wide open arms, the former… not so much, especially when the inevitable happened and she would move on to the next rich man.
Both Theo and Blaise were respected males and friendly acquaintances with Draco Malfoy, though, one more so than the other. Although his absurd obsession with Harry suicide Potter (The Boy Who Suffered From Schizophrenia) was a keen and amusing sight, it also graced the line to fucking annoying. However, no one dared to cross Draco and question his overall hatred for anyone below his worth. Whatever that was. Although, it would be really nice if there could be peace between Potter and Malfoy, just for a week, at least. Preferably for the rest of their time at Hogwarts, actually.
(Not that such a thing would happen anytime soon; actually, Theo was pretty sure the chances of the Dark Lord declaring his undying love for Professor Dumbledore were much higher than that of executing the rivalry between the black-haired Gryffindor and the platinum-blonde Slytherin.)
Because, if Theo was being honest with himself ― and he really was ― he really hated the biased picture people like Potter and the Weasel created about Slytherin House, and Malfoy and his goons, as well as Pansy Parkinson, did not make the job of turning the tables around an easy task to accomplish.
So yes, there were, indeed, a lot of things Theodore Nott hated in this fucked up world.
While Theo was somewhat jealous of Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy for hanging around Draco more often than he was ― at least so in public ― he never complained. He knew the importance of an image, essentially if you were classed as high in the society as the Nott's were, and Theo kept it up just as well as Draco did ― though, mind you, it did not take much of an act, if at all, for Draco to feign his opinions; most of them he very much believed in. Theo, on the other hand, didn't, and to some extent, Blaise didn't either ― although the extension of what he did not take to the heart was minimal ― and Draco respected that, however confused he was about the situation, which only showed how much he valued his friendship with both of them, essentially the brotherly bond he shared with Theo. And Theo knew that if problems ever arose, he would be the first to know. Not Greg or Vince, him. Well, maybe Pansy would know before he would, but Pansy would know anything in a matter of seconds just by analysing a situation with her hawk-trained eyes, or by mending together bits and pieces of information from the gossip wandering around Hogwarts ― there was, after all, a reason why some people refereed her to as the Gossip Queen of Hogwarts and Slytherin's Princess, and no, it was not because she wasn't the brightest of the bunch (those were just rumours started in Gryffindor House; Pansy was actually quite clever).
That was all fine and fancy for her; Theo would not use his knowledge on such petite nonsense, anyway. But what Theo did know, was that those two, Greggory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, could not be trusted. Not because they were disloyal, quite the opposite; Crabbe and Goyle were great friends, just too dim-witted to keep a secret and would more often than not slip information without realising what they were saying ― something of which couldn't be said about Theo, especially if it was something Draco decided to disclose regarding important matters.
So, when he jolted awake just when the clock struck midnight on 5 June because of a terrifying scream ricocheting around the third year boy's dorm ― its origin coming from Draco's bed, no less ― Theo knew he was to take care of things and of only few, he would know about this secret for a very long time.
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A/N: So, what do you think? Notice, it says pro-logue. I'm working on more; just wanted something posted because I, for once, feel like it. Also, this is purely Dramione with Veela!Draco and is inspired by floatsodelicately's fic, Lightning. The introduction with the POV being Theo's just suited it all best. Also, this story is compliant until Book 5, although, for Draco's part, the compliance last right to where Hermione punches him in the face in third year.