Disclaimer: As I'm not J. K. Rowling, I do not own the world of Harry Potter. For Season 2 of The Quidditch League Competition.

Team: Falmouth Falcons
Position: Chaser 2

Prompts: (word) respite; (quote) "It's better to be unhappy alone than unhappy with someone." -Marilyn Monroe; (color) aquamarine.

x ~ X ~ x

Stay

x ~ X ~ x

"When I die, make sure I get a good eulogy."

Theodore turned from where he lay uncomfortably on his back on the ground.

His clothes were torn, his body was covered in cuts and lumps and bruises. He felt exhausted down to his very soul, but as his silver eyes clashed with the aquamarine of his companion, he felt entirely too awake.

He knew the girl was usually sarcastic, with a dark sense of humor- it was one of the many things that they had in common- but at this moment, he couldn't bear the thought of her speaking of her own death.

"You're not going to die, Tracey," Theodore spoke firmly, his eyes locked on his best friend of seven years... on the girl he'd secretly been in love with for the better part of those seven years.

Tracey smiled weakly, not even wincing as her lips stretched open the cut that split her bottom lip. A bruise was forming on the right side of her jaw, and there was a small open cut with dried blood by her hairline.

Like Theodore, she was riddled in dirt and her clothes were torn. But still, Theodore felt she was the most beautiful creature in existence.

"We're in a battle, fighting wizards with decades of more experience than us. I'm just being realistic and covering my bases here, like a good Slytherin ought to," the cynical girl teased, giving him a tired smirk that didn't fully light up her amazingly blue eyes.

Theodore sighed as he narrowed his gaze on the auburn-haired girl who refused to cooperate with his desire not to spiral into despair.

After all the years they'd known each other, Theodore still was unsure whether her cynicism was sincere, or was merely a mask of bravado to ward off the world.

"Well if you're going for realistic, then it is far more likely that you'll outlive me. You always were the better caster," Theodore pointed out.

Tracey sighed and turned on her side, tucking her hands under her face, her wand still held in her hand. In spite of the cushioning charms they placed on the patch of deserted hallway they chose to retire in during the respite in battle given to them, Theodore knew that Tracey could not be remotely comfortable.

Theodore was amazed that even in their circumstance, she could cause his breath to hitch and his heart to race by merely lying so close beside him, and looking at him with those gorgeous eyes.

"No one is going to kill you, Theo. Your dad's one of them."

Theodore turned away from Tracey then, and closed his eyes.

"I'm as good as dead to him now, Trace." For a moment, dark thoughts filtered through his mind, causing him to frown. He didn't want to think about it so instead, he turned back around to look at Tracey, only to find that she was biting her lip and looking torn. As if she wanted to say something to comfort Theodore, and was holding herself back from saying something awful about his father in order to be sensitive to his feelings.

To say that his relationship with his father was dysfunctional and complex, was putting it lightly. And in truth, Theodore wasn't sure what to feel for the sadistic old man, who in spite of putting his only son through hell, was still his only family.

"I'm sorry about Blaise," Theodore said softly, wishing to avoid any talk about his father... wishing to banish the old man from his thoughts so that his heart might unclench.

Tracey sighed and shut her eyes and Theodore felt as if he was pierced by a rod through his chest. Jealousy reared it's head, but it was an old companion to Theodore and he pushed it down as he stared at Tracey, wishing in spite of the pain it might cause, to know her thoughts about her boyfriend.

"My mother once told me 'It's better to be unhappy alone, than unhappy with someone,'" she whispered quietly, in that secretive tone she always used when she spoke to him of her muggle mother... a secret he'd kept that no one else in their House ever knew... even Blaise. "I've been unhappy with him for so long that I can't believe I didn't follow her advice sooner."

Theodore stared at Tracey uncomprehendingly as the girl looked up at him.

"Blaise has always been self-serving, and selfish... I knew that he wouldn't stay," she explained, seeming to understand his question without him having to speak. "Just like I knew that you would."

Theodore thought he couldn't breathe as he stared at Tracey's soft and shining eyes. Something had changed, and she was saying more with her soft tone than he could decipher, but he thought his heart was taking flight in his chest.

"I'm really tired, Theo," Tracey whispered, her eyes shutting as they became too bright and glassy, her voice tight with what sounded like fear.

With trembling hands, he reached forward and stroked her hair back, feeling his heart in his throat. When Tracey opened her eyes and looked at him, he found that his brilliant mind refused to work and that any words of comfort he could offer her, would be hollow.

A part of him wished that he could merely ask her to run away with him, and leave the fighting behind while they could, but he knew that no matter how tired she was, and no matter how afraid, that she would see this through to the bitter end. That she, unlike him, believed fervently in what she was fighting for where as he only cared about Tracey...

"Why do you want me to do it anyway?" he found himself asking unconsciously, startling Tracey from her anguish.

She blinked for a few moments, the wetness gradually disappearing from her eyes as she tried to keep up with the conversation he'd derailed.

"Do what?" she asked, the confusion clear on her face.

"Your eulogy," Theodore replied, swallowing the lump in his throat at the thought.

For a moment, Tracey hesitated and merely looked at him and Theodore knew that something had changed. Something so monumental that his world was tilted off kilter and he was hanging on breathlessly by a thread.

"Because you know me best," Tracey replied, and Theodore felt his hopes slowly sinking until she parted the beautiful but battered bow of her lips once more. "Because you see the best in me... and adore me even with all my faults and failings... because you make me feel beautiful and special in a way no one ever has, with just a look. I'm only sorry it's taken me this long to find the courage to acknowledge it."

Theodore was unsure what to say for a moment, his heart thundering so loudly in his chest, that he felt as if he had gone deaf and was imagining the words she spoke in his head. Or that he'd slipped into a dream.

With the ruined castle fading around them, and the morning's light just filtering through the broken wall and lighting Tracey's slender figure where she lay next to him, he was convinced almost entirely that he'd slipped into a dream.

"Am I dreaming?" he asked, his voice feeling disjointed and distant, and he didn't think he'd made the conscious decision to speak the question aloud.

Tracey dropped her wand in response, to free her hand and cup his cheek, forcing his eyes to focus all the more intensely on her as he relished the feel of her warm hand gently ghosting on his cheek.

"No, Theodore. I want you to know... need you to know before all of this is over that... I love you," Tracey confessed, her cheeks turning pink and her eyes seeming vulnerable even in spite of her resolve.

"I've wanted to hear that for a long time," Theodore whispered, turning on his own side and leaning his head so that his forehead pressed against Tracey's.

"This isn't the end for us, Tracey. I promise you, I'll fight for our happiness. Just stay with me," he pleaded, suddenly afraid.

In his life, things never went well for him and he felt that if his greatest dream was coming true, it was only so that it would be ripped from him. But he felt that it might okay, that it would be fine, if she only promised to stay, because she'd never lied to him before.

Tracey stared at him, her eyes wide and uncertain, but she nodded her head, as if she knew just what he was thinking. Knew what he needed.

"I'll stay... I won't leave you."

~Fin~