X~~~~~~~~~~X
Wiltshire – July, 1998
It had taken two, almost three months to get used to his—no, her new body, but Theo—Theia was finally on track to start her new life: she'd finally gotten her ears pierced last week, had bought a sexy black dress, and had gotten a 'Brazilian' wax job done today, too.
Having spent years observing women and practising their facial expressions and hand gestures and how they walked, he—she had discovered no issues with feminine mimicry. Walking in heels however, that was still proving challenging.
No matter, she'd conquer that, too, in time.
When Theo had planned his 'death' he'd been careful and meticulous, leaving nothing to chance—not even Draco's reaction to the news. Most of all, he'd needed that to be convincing and real, not just for the Ministry investigation, but for Draco to accept that his male best friend was now dead.
Although he'd regretted hurting Draco so egregiously, according to the papers, Theo had succeeded in his scheme and was now officially declared dead by the Ministry. His distant, overseas 'cousin', Theia Variel, would be named heir to the vast Nott fortune within the month, and then Theo/Theia would have access to its deep vaults.
–And money, Theo knew well by now, could buy a person anything…including a new life.
X~~~~~~~~~~X
Wiltshire - July, 1999
"Kiss me."
Under the cloak of a Disillusionment Charm, Theia watched from a hidden nook within Narcissa's rose garden's gazebo as Pansy Parkinson attempted to coax a kiss from Draco.
Just a few minutes before, she'd snuck onto the Malfoy property, past its wards, using the tricks she'd learned when she'd come here in secret in the past as Theo. She'd intended to peep at Draco and learn what he'd been up to over the past year, but this was not a scene she'd expected at all.
Her heart twisted in her chest as she watched Draco easily give into Pansy's demand with a nonchalance that was almost eerie. She noted the deadened expression in his eyes, the stiff formality in his movements, and the lack of passion in his acquiescence.
The kiss had all the excitement of cardboard.
Apparently, Pansy was aware of her partner's lack of interest. She broke the kiss, tensed with indignation, raised her hand, and then brought it down with some force. The crack of her palm across Draco's cheek was loud, and the hit turned his head. Draco seemed completely unfazed, however, as if he'd expected such a reaction and yet couldn't be bothered to care. He hadn't even really winced at the blow, as if even that pain was nothing to him.
"You poor, dumb bastard," Pansy growled. "You're still not over him, are you?"
Theia felt all the blood drain from her face.
Him? Draco was attracted to a man? Since when?
Throwing her hands up in the air, Pansy shook her head and started to stomp off. She stopped and turned back around, marching right back into Draco's space, sputtering like a mad kitten. "You need to let him go, move on. I thought our little intervention in April worked, but you're still the same: like an Inferius, walking around without a soul. It's been–"
"I know how long it's been," Draco interrupted her, his voice as calm as could be, but equally as indifferent as the rest of him.
All of the anger seemed to drain right out of Pansy, like someone had turned a tap within her emotions, releasing all of her despondency. It ran all down the length of her body to form a puddle at her feet. Her shoulders slumped and her head bowed, and there were tears in her voice. "You'll die if you keep on like this, Draco. Don't you see? You'll die, and then what will Greg, Blaise, and I do? We've already lost Vince and Millie and…him in the war. Daphne's moved to Russia to be with her new husband's family. Our snake's circle is getting smaller. You were always the centre of it all. We need you back!"
Something changed in Draco's face then. Like a light turning on, there was a paradigm shift of just the tiniest amount, enough to cause Draco to reach out and wrap his arms around Pansy, and to embrace her with feeling. He hugged her as he used to do with Theo when they'd been children.
"I'm sorry," he offered his former girlfriend. "I'll...try, okay?"
Pansy nodded, hugging Draco back. "You'd better."
Swallowing down the lump in her throat, Theia nodded. Draco was going to be okay. Whatever had changed him into this zombie of a man—the outcome of the war, most likely—it seemed he was going to be fine. He had Pansy, and Blaise, and Greg, and his parents.
Theia wasn't needed here after all.
With painful reluctance, Theia turned away, determined to try to get on with her new life without dragging Draco into it. Apparently, her best friend had moved on with this mysterious man Pansy had spoken of, and now it was too late for Theo to go back, too, to try to pick up where he and Draco had left off.
Maybe it was better this way, though...better to just let go.
X~~~~~~~~~~X
Wiltshire - July, 2000
Sitting on the porch swing, enjoying the summer morning breeze coming off the ocean, Theia opened the Sunday Edition of The Daily Prophet and began skimming through it, keeping up on the news in the wizarding world, despite having very little contact with it of late.
It seemed the Chudley Canons, coached by Oliver Wood, had actually won their last several games, and they were now considered serious contenders for the English Cup. That was a nice change up for them.
Ernie, the old driver of the Knight Bus was retiring at long last. There was a party planned for him later that month by Magical Transportation to send the old coot off in style.
She chuckled reading that Gringotts had put out a Public Relations spread in conjunction with the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to reassure its customers that magical creatures were no longer held captive in their deep, subterranean vault system. After that mess with the dragon during the war, they'd decided upon a strict policy to prohibit live guardians, and had been working with the new Ministry since to clean up their act.
The Minister announced some new reforms for Azkaban.
Blah, blah, blah.
She flipped to the gossip section, wondering if there would be any juicy news regarding possible Death Eater suicides again this month...and nearly dropped the paper in surprise at the half-page spread on Draco.
The picture was of Theia's best friend out on a date with Daphne Greengrass' younger sister, Astoria, as they sat eating dinner in some swanky restaurant. Clearly, the photo had been taken without permission, as the two people in the picture had no clue they were being captured on film. Draco and Astoria were seated across from each other, and Draco was twirling a wineglass and sipping from it, as his date blabbed on and on about something that seemed of the utmost importance to her. The image played over and over. The headline below the picture read, "Malfoy Heir Woos Int'l Co-op Head's Daughter". The subtext under it speculated, "Sly Political Manoeuvering or a Legitimate Romance?"
Theia put the paper down, went back inside her little cottage, and got a drink of water to whet her suddenly dry mouth.
What had happened to the mystery man Draco had been interested in? She'd thought...
It took her another half-hour of pacing and internal arguing before she decided to go read the actual article. It seemed Draco had been dating Astoria for three months already, and the two had been spotted in various locales around the U.K. and France, shopping and on dates. This recent picture had been taken in a Paris restaurant just the night before, and the author of the piece, a Betty Braithwaite (protégé of Rita Skeeter), made a not-so-subtle suggestion that Draco might be intending to win his family's political influence back by marrying into the Greengrasses, who had never sided with Voldemort during the war and were therefore considered one of the few 'respectable' pure-blood families still in existence.
Regardless of Draco's motives, Theia knew that if her former best friend and Astoria continued to see each other for a total of six months, there would be a match made between the families, per custom. He was half-way to fulfilling that familial duty he'd always gone on and on about back during their school days.
That was good, right? It meant Draco was doing well, and had a chance at a life of merit. It meant he'd have fulfilled his life's purpose of marrying a perfect pure-blood bride with an inheritance, and producing an heir. It meant he didn't need Theia coming around, poking her nose where it didn't belong, and mucking up his chances at happiness.
Right?
As she glanced at the picture again, she honed in on the small details that only someone who really knew Draco would recognise. His eyes were unfocussed, glazed. Clearly, he wasn't listening to Astoria's droning on and on. He was also frowning and somewhat stiff, and when he sipped at the wine, it was more like he was gulping it down, hoping to drown out his situation with a solid alcohol buzz.
Draco didn't want to be there. He clearly didn't care for Astoria, either. There was no passion in his gaze, no interest whatsoever in his partner.
Theia would bet her knickers that the reporter's conjecture had been spot-on and Draco was with the youngest Greengrass merely to make a political match. But...but...Draco deserved more. He deserved a love match with a witch who would cherish him and give him what he needed.
Theia could give him…
No, she couldn't. She couldn't have children. As a Hermaphroditic Metamorphmagus, she was unable to reproduce no matter how she could alter her form and sex. Whether as a man or a woman, Theia/Theo was unable to reproduce.
That little fact was the death of her hope, as Draco was looking to marry for heirs, not just wealth and social positioning. It didn't matter that Theia loved Draco enough to have shed her old life as a man, taking on the form and persona she currently wore, and it didn't matter she had Willed the Nott inheritance into her own hands upon Theo's "death", and it didn't matter that she could convince the world that she was a witch of power, with her new wand in hand and Theo's talents under her belt. All of that was not enough. She would never be what Draco needed.
She would never have him, would she?
She stared at the photo again, running a fingernail lovingly over Draco's features. If only she'd been born a 'real' woman, they would have been perfect for each other.
Tears fell onto the newspaper, blurring her best friend's image, blurring the world.
X~~~~~X
"This one."
Draco pointed his wand at the dried up bud and brought the dead rose back into full bloom. Given it was the end of October, such a feat should have been beyond him, but Theo's old wand had an affinity for creating miracles, especially of the healing kind.
Snipping the blushing, revitalized rose, he then used his wand to remove its thorns and excess stems. When it was perfect, he brought it to his nose. No, he wouldn't give this one to his new fiancée when he went to visit Astoria later that evening. It was too sweet for her, and besides, it reminded him of someone else…
Images of his childhood were instantly conjured by the lovely fragrance, bringing with them a sharp ache in Draco's chest: running with Theo through the paths between the prickly bushes filled with such dangerous beauty, and lying in the middle of the gazebo on their backs, side by side, staring up at the vine-covered ceiling and talking about their childish desires and dreams. Back then, Draco had wished for ridiculous things: a new broom, to be famous someday, to go skiing in the Alps. Theo had only ever voiced one wish: to be with Draco forever.
At the time, Draco had thought Theo's request a foolish one, because he'd always believed they'd be together, that nothing would separate them. He'd been the fool.
As he re-entered the Manor from the back entrance, he headed down the long hallway, intending to go up to his room and engage in his favourite pastime: moping. Instead, his family's house-elf, Fletcher, was waiting for him at the foot of the stairs that led up into the private suites and seemed anxious and excited to talk to him.
"Master has a visitor! Fletcher shows Master's guest into the Sitting Room, as Master prefers."
Draco frowned. He hadn't been expecting anyone, especially during the middle of a weekday. "Who is it, Fletcher?" He waved his hand, uncaring as to the identity of his unannounced visitor. "Never mind. Tell them I'm too busy and to leave their card. I'll call on them later."
The elf pulled at his long ears, a gesture of anxiousness. "Fletcher doesn't mean to disagree with Master, but Fletcher really thinks the Master will want to see this guest."
Sighing with irritation, Draco yielded. Better to get this over and done with so the blasted elf would leave him in peace. He stomped down the hallway, rounded the corner, and headed into the Sitting Room.
An unfamiliar woman was standing at the window, looking out. When Draco entered, she turned.
Draco's heart flipped over in his chest.
It was like looking at Theodore Nott's female fraternal twin, if he'd had one. Same features, same eyes, only sculpted by feminine beauty the likes of which had Draco's blood rushing through his system. In his back pocket, Draco's wand began to vibrate, as if it was excited by the stranger, too.
The woman's shy, hesitant smile utterly beguiled him.
"Hello, Draco."
The rose he'd been holding onto slipped from Draco's fingers, and his whole body began shaking. Tears stung his eyes, blurring his vision.
"Theo?"
TO BE CONTINUED...
Author's Notes: Preview of next chapter -
Draco's gaze roamed over his best friend from head to toe, taking in every delicious curve and every tantalizing glimpse of her skin. He noted the flush of desire painting Theia's perfect skin, its presence stamped upon her face and defined by the tension in her shoulders and hips...
"I want it to be you, Draco."
.
And there you go: Female!Theo enters the scene! What will this do to Draco's relationship with Astoria and his friendship with Theo/Theia? Hmmm...
I really love to hear your thoughts about the story! It's so wonderful to see the story receive such positive reinforcement from all of you. We're now entering the drama-angsty part of the story, so be prepared for the heartwrenching stuff. :)
Please review!
XOXO,
- RZZMG
