Slytherin Heart

Zacharias Smith X Theodore Nott

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

A/N: This is for Mew & Mor's Weird Pairings Competiton (the 2012 Edition). My slash pairing was Theodore/Zacharias.

'I always wondered why that boy was in Hufflepuff, and not in Slytherin.

Zacharias Smith: that was his name. He was a pureblood, for sure. With his blonde hair and brown eyes, he was pretty average looking. But he caught my eye. I'm not sure why, exactly.

I assumed it was the way he was. He was haughty, and superior, and so willing to share his opinions, whether they would hurt your feelings or not. It was as though he cared about nothing but himself. It was a trait I admired, I supposed.

He was a Slytherin at heart, but a Hufflepuff in reality. It didn't make sense to me.

Was there something there? Was there really loyalty, and selflessness, and fairness? I couldn't see it. But perhaps it was hidden inside, somewhere deep down.

I wonder if I'll ever see it myself?'

_oOo_

"Out of my way," Theodore snarled at the group of first years before him. They cowered out of the way, and looked fearful of the surly fifth year Slytherin.

He shoved his way through the crowd and kept his eyes on the blonde haired boy before him. The boy glanced furtively to both sides before sliding discreetly down a corridor. Theodore watched at a distance for a moment, before silently pursuing him.

Theodore followed the boy, Zacharias Smith, up a flight of steps, and found himself on the seventh floor. Zacharias looked about again quickly before dashing forward. Theodore quickened then, and tailed him around the next corner.

He leapt back in surprise. Zacharias had stopped moving and had turned to face Theodore.

"Theodore Nott, right? Why are you following me?" There was an annoyed, yet curious edge to the boy's voice.

Theodore was taken aback at the sudden confrontation. "I-I wasn't…" he stammered. He was irritated at his own carelessness. He had been following too closely.

"You were. I noticed you back on the fourth floor. Anyway, what else would you being doing up here?"

"No, I wasn't'. I was…looking for Malfoy. You seen him?" Theodore cursed his own stupidity.

"Malfoy, huh? Nope. Not up here. You should try looking somewhere else. Maybe your common room?" There was a hint of mocking in Zacharias' voice.

"Do you think I would walk all the way up here if he was just in my common room?"

"Maybe not. But I think you'd walk all the way up here if you were, oh I don't know, following someone perhaps?" Zacharias was being openly mocking now.

Theodore was starting to get annoyed. "Why would anyone possibly want to follow a jumped up little Hufflepuff like you?"

Zacharias grinned widely. "Jumped up, am I? At least I'm not the one who's following a random boy around a castle."

"I am not following you! Give me one possible reason why I would?" Theodore cried indignantly.

Zacharias frowned. "Hmm… well as to that, I have no idea. Unless..." He smirked, "Unless you want me for something."

Theodore sighed, "What could I possibly want with a useless Hufflepuff…?"

"I'm not useless."

"You are. I bet you can't do anything right." Theodore wasn't sure where these words were coming from. He liked this boy, admired him, yet there was something about him that riled him up. "You shouldn't have even bothered coming to Hogwarts. You're as useless as a squib."

"Shut up."

"No. You're a waste of space."

"I said shut up!"

Zacharias shoved Theodore then, not even bothering to get his wand from his pocket. He pushed him into the wall, and Theodore groaned as his shoulder hit the hard stone. He put his hands in front of his face as Zacharias sent a barrel of punches towards him.

"St-stop! Ouch, stop. Le-Lea-ve me alone!" Theodore managed to get a hit in before Zacharias pummelled him some more.

"No, I won't stop. I'm not useless!"

Theodore grabbed one of Zacharias' fists and twisted his arm. The boy yowled in pain, but Theodore kept twisting until the barrage had stopped. He pushed Zacharias then, so that he was shoved up against the opposite wall.

"Touch me like that again, and I will rip your face off!" Theodore growled.

"Yeah, and then you can be just like that Death Eater father of yours."

Theodore's eyes widened at the accusation, before narrowing angrily. "Don't say things like that."

"Why not, it's true. I'm a Hufflepuff, remember. I don't lie."

Theodore leaned in close, so that his breath was mixed with the other boy's. He glanced up and his dark eyes met Zacharias' warm ones, and Theodore was lost for a moment. His expression softened briefly, before narrowing once again.

Zacharias looked at Theodore strangely. He looked uncomfortable with the closeness of their faces, but did not comment. He looked confused, and uncertain, like he was suddenly unaware what they had truly been talking about.

"Are you going to tell me why you followed me?" Zacharias ventured.

"…"

"Please?" Zacharias seemed different now. The anger had deflated and his expression was resigned.

"I wasn't-"

"Stop lying."

"Fine. But I'm not telling you the truth, either. I followed you, yes. What of it?" Theodore pulled away from the boy, and felt lost in his own mind. Why had he followed him? Did he want to talk to him? Did he want to reveal his feelings? That can't have been it. But he'd needed…something. The boy's acknowledgment, maybe.

He suddenly felt very uncertain too, and all he wanted was to be as far away from the boy as possible.

Zacharias spoke. "But you admit you were following me…?"

"Yes. Look, just leave it, okay? Pretend it never happened. Whatever."

Theodore turned his back and walked the way he came, all the while fighting something was warring inside him…

_oOo_

'Yes, I had always wondered why that boy was in Hufflepuff.

Zacharias Smith... I'd seen his blonde hair and brown eyes up close now, and he was more than average looking. He'd caught my eye, literally this time, and I was beginning to see why.

It was definitely the way he was. He was haughty, and superior, and so willing to share his opinions, whether they would hurt your feelings or not. And boy, could he hurt your feelings. But I could hurt feelings too, and I'd done that to him. We were one and the same.

It no longer seemed to matter whether he was a Slytherin or not, or a Hufflepuff, or whatever. A person defines themselves. They don't need a house system to do that.

The loyalty, the fairness and the selflessness, I couldn't see yet. But perhaps, in time, he would open up to me and I'll see it myself.

But the question is, will he ever get to see the goodness in me?

I doubted it.

There was none.'