Author's Note: Yay chapter two! xD The world of Harry Potter is © JK Rowling, as always.
As the sun started to rise the next morning, Theodore Nott stretched before curling up under the covers of his bed. His head felt a little painful from the amount of firewhiskey he had downed the night before, but he was mostly used to drinking and it was by no means a bad hangover. Of course, it seemed more difficult than usual to force himself out of bed, but as time slowly started to tick by, he forced himself to get up and get ready for the day ahead. No matter how hard he searched around his room, his wand was nowhere to be found, and he was left to assume that the wand was lying on Mariana Kimboll's desk. "Damnit…" he groaned, wishing that he could have just summoned the wand instead of climbing the stairs to retrieve it. The only problem was that he needed a wand so summon his wand…
Breakfast was already starting by the time he reached her room, but he knew she had yet to leave as he hadn't seen her. He knocked gently on the door, but was met by no response. "Mariana? It's Theodore Nott. I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm afraid I've left my wand in your office. Mariana?" He thought he heard some commotion inside, and upon realizing that the door was unlocked, he let himself in. Glancing around her messy office (though this was no oddity, as her office was always out of order, which was completely opposite of his nearly obsessively clean office), he saw her lying on the couch in the middle of the room, her head hanging over the side into a waste bin. She looked positively mortified that Nott was standing there, but he quickly snatched his wand off of her desk and cleaned up the waste bin as he kneeled down beside the couch, worry plain on his face. It was what he would call a pretty rotten hangover, and it was all his fault that she wasn't feeling well… "Mariana, are you okay? Do you need me to get you anything?"
She shook her head, waving him away. "No, I'm fine, just leave me alone…" she groaned, clearly not wanting company.
He shook his head, glancing at the clock. He had over an hour until his first class, and he wasn't about to leave her alone when she was sick. "I'll be right back," he explained, and disappeared.
Just as he had said, he returned five minutes later bearing a tray, which he set on the coffee table in front of the couch. Handing her a vial of liquid, he told her, "Drink this. It's from Madam Pomfrey, to get rid of your headache."
"Theodore, what in the world—Wait, how did you know I've got a headache?"
"Never mind that. Just take it." After she did what she was told, he handed her a glass of orange juice from the tray. "And fruit juice is good, but Vitamin C is even better for hangovers, so here's orange juice. And if it is too sweet, I've brought a glass of water. Oh, and you should eat a piece of toast," he explained, sitting her up and taking a seat on the couch before laying her back down across his lap, his arms wrapped around her for comfort. "You should get some rest, too. I'm here if you need anything."
"I've got to tell the headmaster to get a substitute for my morning class—"
"I've already told him that you're ill. It's taken care of."
"Why are you doing all of this for me?" she asked him, looking up at him with a curious expression. "We'd barely even spoken to each other before last night."
"I suppose I know exactly what a hangover feels like. I've had lots of them."
"I've had hangover before too, though… I can take care of myself. You really should go. I appreciate all this and everything, but—"
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm the one that suggested we have a drink last night, and you can't deny that it's nice to have someone helping you out when you've got a hangover." Just as he spoke, she leaned over again to vomit into the waste bin, and he brushed her hair out of her face as she did so. Once the wave had passed, he cleaned out the bin again with a flick of the wand. "Seriously, you should eat that piece of toast."
"Listen, Theodore, I really can take care of myself. I'm a grown woman and this isn't my first hangover. Please, I appreciate the notion, but I think you should leave." She absolutely mortified that he was there, and while it was sweet that he was nice enough to hold her hair back and bring her breakfast, she couldn't stand for him to see her in such a state.
He gently stroked her arm, completely ignoring her request. "Shh… Just try and get some rest. Then I'll leave." As she dozed off in his arms, he started to realize how lucky he was, and how it was probably the only opportunity he would ever have to hold her in his arms. She was so beautiful, even more so when she was asleep… No, then he couldn't see those eyes of hers. But the simple fact was that she didn't trust him, and she could never care for him.
It had almost been an hour, and Theodore was about to leave to go teach his morning class when Mariana woke up. "You're still here?" she asked, but catching herself as she realized how cross she sounded, she decided to fix that error for the sake of not being rude. "I'm sorry about asking you to leave. I really do appreciate what you've been doing for me, Theodore."
"Don't worry about it. You feeling better?"
"Yes, a bit. I'll probably just get some more rest before my afternoon classes." She sat up and stretched before looking at Theodore. "You've been so much help today. How can I repay your kindness?"
"Lunch. Have lunch with me this Saturday on the Hogsmeade trip."
She laughed slightly before she realized that he was serious—that was really all he wanted? "That sounds perfectly fine with me. So, the Three Broomsticks?"
"Sure. Meet me at noon on Saturday in the Three Broomsticks. I have to go now, but I'll see you then. He failed miserably at hiding his grin as he left the room. Mariana remained on the couch, shaking her head slightly, but there was no denying the smile stretched across her lips as well.
The week moved by as any would, with nothing out of the ordinary taking place within Hogwarts. Saturday arrived with as much anticipation from both students and staff as any, but Theodore Nott was particularly ready for noon of that day. The day couldn't have been more pleasant for late September, and if anything it was slightly warm for Scottish autumns. The sky was clear and blue, without a single cloud in sight, and Hogsmeade was bustling with activity. Nott arrived at the Three Broomsticks at a quarter to noon and sat down at a table by the window, but he didn't have to wait more than five minutes before Mariana's arrival.
She was wearing her favorite ruby red robes, and Nott was once again left questioning how he could have missed her beauty before. Smiling, he bid her sit down with him before asking what she wanted to order.
"Oh, well I suppose a butterbeer," she said, sitting down at the seat across from him. She looked a little nervous, but he simply nodded and approached the front counter.
"Two butterbeers please, Lydia."
The younger barmaid had only been working there for a little over a year and a half under Madam Rosmerta's employment, but she winked at Nott, one of the regulars on Hogsmeade visits. "You got it, Ted."
She handed him the two mugs and he traded for a couple of silver sickles, though Mariana was digging in her purse as he made his way back to the table. "Put those sickles away, Mariana Kimboll. The butterbeer is on me," he said, his voice sounding almost cross as he handed her a mug.
"But I thought I was here to repay your kindness the other day?" she said with a shy smile, her pretty blue eyes glancing up at him from across the table as she took a sip of the butterbeer.
"Are you really just having lunch with me for a payment of a debt?" he asked, seeming somewhat curious.
"Well, I didn't mean it was just that," she added quickly, looking slightly taken aback. "But tell me, Theodore… Why are we suddenly having lunch together?"
"Well, the other day you questioned why I was helping you, as we had barely even spoken before that. And I realized that we hadn't, and even though I've been here for a few years now, we don't even know each other. So, I didn't think it would hurt anything for two colleagues to have lunch together. I had fun the other night, but perhaps next time we should put moderation to practice."
She smiled, shaking her head slightly. "Yes, it was a rather enjoyable evening… But the next morning wasn't so wonderful. Thank you for what you did for me, by the way. And I'm sorry if I said anything rude to you."
"Oh, don't bother to apologize. I can't tell you how many times I've been rudely kicked out of a hungover woman's room in the morning," he joked, his voice slightly sarcastic.
"You scoundrel!" exclaimed Mariana, genuinely laughing for the first time at him. She could hardly believe that she was actually having lunch with Theodore Nott—a convicted Death Eater's son—and on top of that, she was enjoying herself. It seemed so odd now that she thought about it, but perhaps there was something more to him than everyone thought. "Well, since we're here to learn more about each other, why don't you tell me about yourself? For being colleagues for several years now, I don't think we know the slightest bit about one another."
Theodore nodded his head, his lips tugging slightly upward into a warm smile. "Well, first of all, I have only been kicked out of a hungover woman's room once, and that was with you the other day. At least I don't remember if it's ever happened before," he began, hoping to add some levity to the conversation and clarify that he wasn't as irresponsible as she probably thought he was. "But I don't think I'm really all that interesting. I was raised pretty normal for a wizard, you see. My mum died when I was three, though, and Dad worked all the time at the Ministry. I always thought it was to forget about her, since he was never home. My childhood was just really normal and mundane, then I went to Hogwarts. Hogwarts was pretty much the same. I was sorted into Slytherin with the rest of my family and I started playing Quidditch in my third year. You've probably already been told this by the rest of the staff, but my dad went to Azkaban because he was a Death Eater. And yes, that is true. My dad was very loyal to You-Know-Who, as was the rest of my family. Personally, I never saw the point in the 'noble cause,' but I never said anything to him. He died just a few years later, and after that I had my fun before hearing about a job at Hogwarts, and I decided to go for it. And the rest you already know. But I'm boring—tell me about you instead."
She paused, her eyes having dropped since the mention of his father being a Death Eater. Theodore doesn't believe in pureblood supremacy? she wondered to herself. But how does he not, when everyone says he was a Death Eater too? Mariana couldn't help but feel a sense of relief at his words, if he really was telling the truth. "Well, I think I had a very normal upbringing myself, until I got my Hogwarts letter soon after I turned eleven."
"You didn't know you were a witch?" Theodore asked, confused. How could she have not known?
"I'm a Muggle born. I had no idea the wizarding world even existed."
"Oh."
"Is that a problem?" she asked, her tone slightly harsh. Of course, she wasn't to be blamed for such a tone with a man like Nott, given his history.
Theodore paused a moment, then his warm smile returned. "No, of course it isn't a problem, Mariana."
She regretted the tone she had used with him, but instead decided to continue on. "So yes, I was raised by Muggles the Muggle way, went to Muggle school and suddenly everything was turned upside down."
"My god that must have been exciting! I can imagine not learning about magic until you are older would make you a little more appreciative. You've done things the Muggle way, where those of us born into wizarding families have been somewhat spoiled all our lives."
"Yes, well it was really exciting, and it does make magic seem a lot nicer, though I suppose that after all these years I have gotten used to it. It was a little overwhelming and scary, too. On the other hand, I think it may be nicer to be raised with magic so there isn't so much to learn all at once about an entirely different world. One day you are making the bed and doing the chores by hand, and the next you discover that you are a part of a world isolated from the only one you've ever known. Besides that, you have to live between both worlds when you have Muggle parents. Still, I wouldn't trade my Muggle family for any wizarding one."
"Funny you say that, when I sometimes think I would trade my wizarding family for any other," joked Theodore.
Mariana smiled before continuing. "Well, so I came to Hogwarts that fall after I got my letter, and it was amazing. I was sorted into Ravenclaw, but I really only had a few friends within Ravenclaw. I didn't play Quidditch or anything, so I don't suppose I stood out very much. After Hogwarts, I got a job in the Ministry, but my second year there turned out to be too dangerous with the war and I quit. A little while after the war was over, I started teaching here at Hogwarts. So you see, there's not much more to my story than to yours."
"Well there we go—two boring people having a drink together." Both laughed, but Theodore couldn't help but notice how pretty she was when she smiled, and Mariana even noticed that he was quite an easy man on the eyes now that she took a good look at him. The two talked for a while, just swapping small talk and tales of students' mistakes, rule breaking and absurdities. Eventually it started to get later in the afternoon, and when it was time to escort the students back to the school, they left together and got a carriage together. For a few moments on the ride back to Hogwarts, they had remained silent, until Mariana spoke.
"So what now, Theodore? Now that my debt to you has been repaid, is that all you wanted? Just a day of lunch?"
"Is that what you think? Mariana, I—I want this to be the beginning of a new friendship. I've really enjoyed your company lately, and it made me realize how lonely I actually am at Hogwarts. Please, all I ask for is your friendship. Unless that isn't what you want, of course." Oh, how he wanted to add that he was beginning to want more than friendship, but they simply weren't meant for one another. Not with his family and the fact that they were colleagues… It would just be too complicated, no matter what he thought about her. Unless there was some way to make it work—if she only felt the same for him, it would all be worth it. He tried to tell himself that it was nonsense. They barely knew each other, and he shouldn't have been having any feelings whatsoever for her. Love at first sight was for fairytales, not for him. You don't even know her well enough to love her, Theodore!
Mariana had paused to consider his words. All he wanted was friendship? She couldn't see what it could hurt. After all, he had been fun to talk to, no matter how slow she was to admit it. He was definitely not what everyone said he was, so why not? "I'd like that, Teddy."
He had been glancing out the window of the carriage when she said it. Teddy. He had never allowed anyone to call him Teddy throughout his life—if anyone dared, he always corrected them. It was either Theodore or Ted, but not Teddy. However, when she said it, there was something different about the name. Was it her voice alone that made the nickname more appealing, or would he have felt the same way about any other nickname? Whatever it was that possessed him, he didn't correct her. Instead, he found himself falling faster for her, and he was sure that she wasn't feeling the way he was. However, as the temperature outside had dropped quickly since their departure that morning, he noticed her shiver slightly and he decided to take advantage of an opportunity he would have kicked himself later for passing up. "Are you chilly?" With her nod, he took his cue. Slowly he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her slightly closer to him for the warmth. It just felt so… Right.
Once the carriages arrived at Hogwarts and all the students had been ushered inside, they walked together toward their offices, not separating until reaching the third floor of the Grand Staircase, where they were to go their own separate ways.
Mariana smiled before bidding him good night. "Thank you for inviting me to lunch with you. I really had fun today, Teddy."
"It's no problem. I was happy to spend the day with you. Well, we should talk again. As friends, you know. Maybe next week when we're not busy?"
"That sounds wonderful. Good night."
"Good night, Mariana."
