It was just another, stupid, boring day for Theodore. He yawned, and climbed out of his bed, in the Slytherin boys dormitory. He looked to the right of him.

Sleeping peacefully was his good friend, Blaise Zabini.

Blaise was rich and good-looking, with wit to match. He was tall, with slanting eyes. No doubt he inherited his looks from his mother, who married 7 times at the last count. He was very prejudiced, and wasn't very fond of anything but purebloods. Theodore looked at himself, and compared his looks to Blaise.

He was thin, but instead of giving the impression of being tall, it made him look skinny and lanky. His eyes were boring grey, and his hair was an everyday sort-of brown. He blended in with the crowd, and sometimes Theodore wondered whether he was invisible at times.

Then Theodore looked to the left. There was the bed where the Slytherin poster-boy, Draco Malfoy used to sleep, until he went off at the end of last year. Malfoy hinted heavily about his involvement with the Dark Lord, and bragged about it. He used to sleep perfectly, without even making the slightest noise. Theodore didn't like the look of Malfoy's smooth, blonde hair, which always looked tidy. His hair, on the other hand, was sticking out everywhere. He didn't like how Malfoy used to be as still as a corpse when he was sleeping either. Theodore narrowed his eyes at the thought of Malfoy being a prefect. 'I mean, Malfoy?' he often thought.

Theodore didn't like Malfoy very much.

Another person Theodore didn't like much was his father. His father was old, and was even more prejudiced than Blaise. Not that much people used to know this (they do now, after he was arrested, anyway), but his father is a Death Eater.

He wasn't proud of it.

Malfoy was proud of his father, and frequently bragged about how his father is better than Theodore's father at serving their lord.

Theodore didn't get it. He never considered the "Dark Lord" as his lord. He didn't think torturing innocent Muggles and blackmailing people were good things to do.

Theodore shivered. It was cold in the Dungeons, where they received barely any sunlight. He envied those Gryffindors in their little tower.

Must be nice and warm there, he thought.

He eventually changed to his school robes. He doesn't take baths in the morning. It was too cold.

Blaise was still sleeping. Theodore would've loved to wake him up, just to annoy him, but he had better things to do than dodge curses from his best friend He didn't seem to like waking up early.

When he was here, Malfoy didn't need to wake early, as he knew a charm to make his hair tidy in an instant. He wouldn't tell anyone else what it is ('the moron…' Theodore thought). Theodore could use that charm.

Theodore grabbed his wand from the bedside table, and with a little wave, he Summoned the comb and grabbed it. It took a lot of tedious effort to comb his hair, but he did it.

He was very good with his Summoning charm. He was good at Charms.

He wasn't very good at Transfiguration. It was just not his thing. You could even say he was horrible at it.

Theodore heard Blaise's yawn. He woke up earlier than usual.

Theodore was quite fond of Blaise, as a friend. He can be a bit stuck up and over-the-top, but overall, he was a loyal and dedicated friend.

They took all the same classes together. From Ancient Runes to Potions, they stuck together like a good job of the Sticking Charm.

'Why are you so early?' Theodore asked Blaise, who took Theodore's comb from the bedside table, and started tidying up his hair with it.

'Got a date today. I'm meeting her near the Quidditch pitch.'

'Who's the girl?' Theodore questioned.

'Uh… I'm not sure what her name… I just thought she looked okay, and I asked her whether she's a pureblood or not, and she is. So I asked her out, simple,' Blaise answered coolly.

Theodore gaped. 'You're going out with her and you don't even know her name?' He wished he could do that, but none of the girls wanted to go out with "that Slytherin boy nobody noticed".

'Look, it's nothing serious, so no worries!'

'How are you supposed to date her when it's not even a Hogsmeade weekend?'

'Oh, I know this part of the grounds, right, it's got this really cool garden, and I reckon she'd like those kinda stuff, y'know… Remember the one I showed you last year? The one with all the roses and stuff?'

Blaise had a knack of finding perfect areas to take his dates to, and usually he'd show Theodore first to see whether he approves of it or not.

'Uh… yeah…' Theodore admitted. 'But don't you have prefect duties and stuff? Shouldn't you be dating less and working more?'

'Aw, stop mothering me…' Blaise said in a teasing voice. 'Anyway, I don't really enjoy being a prefect that much, except that I can hand out detentions…'

Theodore wished he could be a prefect. Maybe he could abuse his position as well, but he was too soft to do that. He'd feel guilty later.

-----------------------------------

Blaise came into the common room, and found Theodore sitting on one of the armchairs.

'I finally found out what her name is!' he announced. 'But since her sister's kinda friendly with Potter and all, she's unsuitable!'

Theodore rolled his eyes. 'Who is it now?' he asked warily.

'Padma Patil. Y'know, Parvati Patil went to the Yule Ball with Potter–' (Blaise made a disgusted face) '–and she went with Weasley, so the both of them can be labelled as blood-traitors!'

'Whatever… If you don't like those "blood-traitors", then you should look through Slytherin!'

Blaise shuddered. 'No offence, but most Slytherin girls aren't that hot. I mean, would you be that desperate to go out with Millicent Bulstrode?'

Theodore shuddered as well. At least at the Yule Ball he went with another girl. She was a Slytherin in their year, called Myrica, who doesn't say much. Trying to start a conversation with her was like speaking to a rock that won't talk back.

At least she doesn't strangle people, unlike Millicent, though.

'Oh, and guess what, Slughorn said he was planning something "fun" starting on Tuesday, in our next Potions lesson.'

'What?' Theodore asked curiously.

'Well, I don't think it will be, but he's still going to do it. He's going to…'