Theodore Nott is generally considered a sensible person. A Slytherin to be sure, but a sensible one, a Slytherin who can be made to see logic and reason. Theo's sensible attitude manifests itself in three ways. Theo is always on time. Theo listens when people speak, no matter their blood status, their friends or their House. Theo doesn't always agree, but listening is generally a good precursor to forming an opinion, in his mind. Theo also has ten Truths. According to his psychiatrist, Theo's Truths are a defense mechanism that evolved from his abusive father's causing him to doubt everything and second guess himself constantly. Essentially, the Truths are a sign of Theo's messed up childhood and PTSD from the war. Blaise thinks that the Truths are a bit silly but is still tolerant of Theo's need for them. Luna hates them. Luna tells Theo that nothing is certain, that the only limits are the imagination, that anything is possible. That is not a welcome idea, in Theo's mind, considering that half of his Truths deal with impossibility as safety. Theo doesn't much like Luna. Blaise thinks that Luna invented the wand and is cleverer than all the Hogwarts headmasters. This is becoming an issue.

Theo sees Blaise entering the room and is relieved that Luna is not with him. He turns to Blaise and asks where she is. Blaise responds "Oh, somewhere…" with a slightly dreamy smile. Theo frowns. Blaise used to need Theo to help him, to stop his cycle of self destruction. Now, it seems that Luna's dreamy, slightly batty imagination is usurping their close relationship. Theo knows that he needs to tell Blaise how he feels. He's watched enough movies to know that if he doesn't, their relationship will corrode for no reason other than mistrust and lack of communication. He didn't object to Luna at all when they started dating her three months ago. He thought she was sweet, albeit a bit naive. He thought she would make their relationship richer, more interesting. And she did. For a while. Then, she was everywhere and Theo had only ever loved one person in his life and he wasn't ready to try and love two. But Luna hadn't actually done anything that they couldn't have addressed until she questioned the Truths. That was Theo's number one rule. You do not question the Truths. He knows that if you question the Truths, pretty soon you are in free fall, with nothing to ground you, nothing to separate past and present and future and the things inside his head. When he hallucinates, Blaise gets frightened and doesn't know what to do, so he goes and gets drunk, which is really rather counterproductive. One of the beautiful things about Luna is that she knows where Theo's meds are and she knows how to sit next to him and rub his back. In fact, that's what was happening when he first mentioned the Truths. He explained that Truth number one is that he is Alive. She inclined her head, or at least he thinks she did, I mean he wasn't really all there at the moment, and she said something he couldn't hear over the sound of his own hyperventilating and she shook her head. That damning head shake. There was the line and there was Luna, on the other side. And he couldn't confront her about it right now because he was a little busy defending himself from his drunk father at the moment, sorry. He could see his father's leer and he could see Luna and he knew, quite logically, that negative association was going on but he couldn't really help it. Anyway, Luna's disregard for the Truths, which she dismissed as nonsense and limitations sealed the deal. It doesn't matter how wonderful someone is if they completely reject your life philosophy.

So now, he explains to Blaise that Luna doesn't believe in the Truths. Blaise says calmly, "Why don't you talk to her about it?" and Theo recognizes that the idea definitely has merit. So he waits on the sofa until Luna comes home later that day, around four. He says that they should talk, and he explains that the Truths are very important and he can't be with someone, no matter how lovely they are, who throws away the Truths as nonsense. She nods seriously, and then, to Theo's shock, says that she's trying to help him realize his delusions are in fact, delusions. Now, Theo is a bit offended that she just called him delusional. He looks at her, surprised. He always thought she respected him. She adds that Blaise and her have discussed him, discussed him, like a dog they are trying to decide if they want to put down, and that Blaise and her think that humoring his delusions, that word again, delusions, is making him worse. In fact, she adds, they were talking about maybe some group therapy for him, with other wizards and witches who survived the war. Theo stares at her. She smiles at him cheerfully, like she expects him to be happy that she thinks he's unstable. "Now, Theo, don't be like that," comes Blaise's voice from the door. Theo turns to Blaise, the one person he's ever loved and he sees that Blaise is looking incredibly self righteous. Theo says "I don't believe that this is a good environment for my recovery. I believe that I should move away for a bit." He knows that this is a big deal, but he doesn't really know what to do. In the past, Blaise was always on his side. Telling him what to do. Now, Blaise comes over to where Theo's sitting and sits down next to him and tells him that maybe it's for the best. Theo knows that Blaise is pushing him away, like he does every few months. Normally, though, Blaise cites his own issues. He's never used Theo as the problem. He looks at Luna, who he thought might have been on his side, although it's clear she isn't anymore. So he stands up and says what he's feeling, "I think that using my mental issues as a reason to push me away, Blaise, is quite unkind, especially when I'm trying to move on, to be better. I just, you don't," Theo is annoyed to discover himself breaking down. "It's hard. Neither of you have it the way I do. I get that you want to be together, without a damaged third link, but I love you. And I don't want you to push me away. I want us to all be together. But both of you seem to think I'm crazy, and I can't live with people who think that. Because I'm not crazy. The Truths don't mean I'm crazy. I'm not crazy." He knows that now he's saying it to reassure himself as well, because he can see crows in the room. He can hear screaming in his ears. He feels his scars throbbing like new pain. He shudders. Luna is looking at him with an intense sort of confusion. She asks if he wants what's best for Blaise. She says that Blaise can't handle Theo, not like this. She says all the right things, in a voice from Hell. So logical. And everyone knows that Theo doesn't argue with Logic. Logic and the Truths. The last pure things. So he looks at Blaise, who won't meet his eyes and Luna, who will but has no compassion, and he shrugs.

The next day, he moves to Nott Manor.