oXo

A Foreign Affair

A Theo Nott Romance

Chapter 11

February passed quickly as Lessie found herself spending more time with Hermione, Harry, and Ron. Between sitting with Theo in classes, the occasional Hogsmeade trip with Theo, Draco, and the rest of the Slytherin gang, she spent her time becoming more invested in Dumbledore's Army. Subsequently, she also attempted to learn more about the things that have happened at Hogwarts the past few years.

"We need people to believe Harry," Hermione said one day as she and Lessie walked through the hallways after their last class of the day.

"How do you plan on doing that?"

Hermione gave her a sidelong glance, and as quickly as it left, there was a small hint of a smile on the girl's lips. "You'll find out soon enough. For now, it helps knowing that there are people like you who understand."

The two girls were near the library when they ran into Ron and Harry.

"Are you going to study with us?" Hermione asked as they boys greeted them with smiles.

"I think I'll pass today," said Lessie, offering an apologetic smile. "I didn't sleep well last night, so I think a nap is calling my name."

She returned to the Slytherin Dungeons and hurried to her room. It was true that she didn't sleep well last night. She had stayed up very late, with her curtains drawn about her bed with old texts from the reference section in the library. She had found a large textbook that held major Daily Prophet articles from the past decade. Though she knew the major events relating to the rise and fall of Voldemort, the articles were more informative after spending time at Hogwarts.

Same as last night, Lessie drew her curtains and continued to read. She learned the named of the prisoners who escaped from Azkaban—Voldemort's most loyal Death Eaters. She read about the reasons they were imprisoned to begin with. She read about Harry's parents dying, and the fall of Voldemort. She also read the articles that documented last year's TriWizard Tournament. Somewhere in the middle of her reading that afternoon, she had fallen asleep.

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It was the loud clamor from beyond the dormitories that woke her. Lessie sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She peeled back her curtains, wondering what time it was.

Waving a hand through the air, yellow mist appeared in the front of her in the image of a clock face with the current time. She had slept through dinner. Lessie waved her hand through the yellow mist to dispel the time charm as she got out of bed.

The voices from downstairs were louder now that she was more coherent, and after running a brush through her hair, she decided to see what all the fuss was about.

Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Blaise, and Theo were sitting at one of the large wooden tables with other students gathered around them, and none of them looked happy. Theo spotted Lessie as she came down the stairs. Theo gave Goyle, who was sitting in the chair beside him, a look. Goyle looked up to see Lessie, and immediately vacated his seat so Lessie could sit beside Theo.

Theo casually draped his arm across the back of her chair as she settled. The small action of Goyle leaving his seat at a single look from Theo was almost unnerving—she had no idea that her quiet and usually introverted Theo held such a powerful sway over his peers.

"I didn't see you at dinner."

"I came back to take a nap because I didn't sleep well last night. I guess I slept through dinner too," said Lessie. From the corner of her eye she watched as Goyle pulled up another chair and sat near Draco.

"Funny," said Blaise, raising an eyebrow suggestively. "Theo was snoring away in his bed all night, so it couldn't have been him who kept you up."

Lessie rolled her eyes at Blaise's lewd humor. "Not that I need to tell you, but I was up reading, Zambini. Reading."

"Reading," Blaise scoffed. "It that what they call it back in America? Were you "reading" late with some of the Gryffindor wankers you've recently become so fond of?" Draco and some other nearby Slytherins snickered.

"Are you always this pleasant?" Lessie asked, her eyes narrowed at the arrogant boy.

"Watch it, Blaise," said Theo, his voice eerily calm. Blaise scoffed again and rolled his eyes, looking away.

Lessie glanced at Theo, noticing the tense set of his jaw, and the hard look in his eyes. If it wasn't for that, she wouldn't have known that Theo was upset.

"Theo?" He had gotten used to her calling him "Theodore", but had asked her to only use it between them, as he didn't want anyone else calling him by his full name. "What's making everyone so tense?"

Theo glanced at Lessie, then his gaze flicked over to Draco who watched them intently. Draco shrugged his shoulders and slid a confiscated magazine over to Theo.

"It's better if she finds out from you than from someone like Potter or that filthy mudblood she insists on being friends with."

"She is right here," Lessie said, her temper beginning to rise. She glanced down at the magazine under Theo's hand. "Theo, what are you hiding?"

"I'm not hiding, Alessandra." Theo blew out a heavy sigh. His thumb flipped through the magazine pages before it opened up to an article. "Just…read it yourself. And please, whatever you do, Alessandra, keep an open mind."

Lessie gave Theo a look before she picked up the magazine to read the article. It was an interview with Harry Potter. As she read the interview, she was unaware of everyone leaving the table while she read, leaving Theo and her alone.

Finally she neared the end of the article, and she felt her blood turn to ice when she read the part where Harry named several Death Eaters. Among them, were Crabbe, Goyle, Malfoy…and Nott.

"You're a Death Eater." Her voice was quiet as she closed the magazine.

"I'm not. My father was—is." Theo lowered his voice, because although everyone had left the table, the common room still had other occupants.

"You…" Lessie trailed off, there were no words to contain her shock. A few weeks ago, she had pieced together the possibility of Theo's family being involved in the Dark Arts, but she didn't want to believe it. Now her suspicions were confirmed.

"Can we talk somewhere private," Theo asked, his voice a plea. His eyes were wide when he looked at her, as if begging her to understand. "Please, Alessandra, and I'll answer any question you have, I swear."

She became aware of his hand around the back of her chair, and suddenly she wanted space from him—she didn't want him touching her body, not right now while she was furious. She wanted to be as far away from his as possible, but at the same time, she wanted answers. "Fine," she said curtly. "Our seventh floor room."

Lessie bolted out of the chair and left the common room. Usually, it was her that needed to keep up with his long-legged stride, but as she was fueled by her growing anger, it was Theo who had to struggle to keep up with her fast pace.

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In the seventh floor room that held their secrets, Lessie kept the piano between them as she regarded Theo quietly. She had brought the magazine with her, and that was opened to Harry's article between them.

"Alessandra, I…" Theo trailed off and shook his head, words dying on his tongue.

"Is there anything else about you that I should know? Are you part werewolf too?"

"Don't be absurd, Alessandra."

"I'm not being absurd, Theodore. Being someone who hurts other people based on their blood status is wrong." Her voice was terse, unrelenting. Theo flinched in response. From across the piano, Lessie searched his face, and it was the strained look, just like the plea in his voice earlier, that robbed some of her anger.

"Yes, my father is a Death Eater," Theo said, his voice slow, even. "He was one long before I was born. And yes, it is true I come from a long line of people who believe in blood purity, but I don't know, I guess I think differently than all of them. My mum thought different than most of my family, and I guess that's me too."

Theo slowly began to walk around the piano toward Lessie, and she watched him warily. She didn't pull away when Theo put a hand over hers. "Don't you think you're overreacting?"

"Overreacting?!" Lessie pulled away from Theo and glared at him, her temper rising again. Year later, Theo would say this was the moment he learned to never tell a woman she was overreacting.

"How am I overreacting?! I'm not like you, Theodore, I wasn't raised in a social circle where dark magic is considered normal. So, I think I'm reacting very well when I feel like my safety is threatened."

"Your safety? How is that threatened? Death Eaters are mostly prejudice against muggle-borns, and last I checked, you were a damn good witch with quite the knack for potions."

Lessie, in the span of a second, bit her tongue and arranged her face passively. But when she looked up at Theo, she saw him watching her intently, and she knew he saw her every emotion. Perhaps it was the fact that he was more of an observer than a participant in life, or the fact that he knew her well, but Theo's voice slowly softened when he addressed her.

"Alessandra. What aren't you telling me about your family?"

"Nothing."

"Alessandra."

Lessie blew out a sigh. "I'm a half-blood. My mom comes from a long line of pure-blood Spanish witches and wizards, and my father is a no-maj."

"Being a half-blood isn't bad," said Theo, and Lessie snorted.

"It isn't bad in other houses," she corrected. "But in Slytherin, I've noticed that half-bloods are treated with less respect than anyone with pureblood. And I have every right to be upset by that. I'm not angry at you, because it's not your fault you were born into your blood status, and it's not my fault that I was born into mine. But I am irritated that just as easily as you can play no-maj songs on the piano and enjoy books from no-maj authors, you also easily scoff at those who are different from you. Theodore, if you don't make a decision between choosing to treat everyone equally or not, or if you don't care to form an opinion, then you might as well enable those who are active Death Eaters."

Theo quietly moved toward Lessie again and put an arm around her shoulders. She felt him gently turn her so she would face him.

"You're right," said Theo, and she looked up, searching his Pacific blue eyes that shone brightly in the dimness of their secret room. "But my opinion will not change overnight." Theo caught Lessie's look, and he hurried on. "Even so, I am not my father, and I never will be. I will never be a Death Eater. And secondly, I won't let anyone harm you. As long as we're alive, I promise I will keep you safe."

"I can keep myself safe."

"I know you can," Theo smirked slightly, and tilted Lessie's chin up so their eyes were locked. "I've no doubt that you could jinx me into oblivion if you wanted to, and you are very clever, so I know you can keep yourself out of harm. But I think every bloke wants to know that he can have a chance at being a girl's hero."

Lessie searched Theo's eyes. Gently she took his hand that was under her chin and pulled it away from her. "Theodore…" she breathed out a sigh. "I need some time to think about all this, okay? Just a little space. I'm not saying I want a break, but I am saying I just need to think on my own."

"Okay," Theo agreed after a moment's pause. "I'll give you space." As a sign of good faith, he even took a couple steps back, and Lessie had to smile.

"Thank you." Lessie could almost hear Theo's unspoken words racing across his mind, and she was infinitely grateful with the patience he was offering her. Carefully she touched his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze before as she left the room.

"Oh, and one more thing. I know that I can keep myself safe, but when I need a hero, you'll be the first person I think of."

O

Theo watched as Lessie left, and he found himself admiring her all over again—the straight set of her shoulders that spoke about her strength and independence, and the soft curves of her hips as she glided away—Alessandra Aragòn, was unlike any other girl he had had the pleasure and displeasure of meeting, and to him, she was magic personified.

Once she was gone, Theo sat at the piano and stretched his fingers over the keys, playing a few chords. Though as he was alone with his thoughts he began to brood. Eventually he stood from the piano and stared at the magazine again. Angrily he tore Harry Potter's interview out of the magazine and ripped it to shreds.

Potter had taken an unwise risk in exposing his father and ultimately threatening the livelihood of his family. Theo knew that the interview would have repercussions both in the long run and in the immediate future, and Theo had to make Harry Potter pay somehow.

Minutes later as he walked back to the Slytherin dungeons, Theo had almost worked out the perfect plan of retaliation that he would set into motion when the time was right—once he was certain that no matter what, Lessie would be kept out of the crossfire.

Author's Note:

THOUGHTS FOR YOU: So I've finally read Cursed Child...Oh the possibilities... :)

Your reviews are absolute LOVE.

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