Theodore has always been a loner.
When he started attending Hogwarts he was a boy with traumatic memories and a victim of domestic violence, how could he be friends with anyone without betraying his secrets? He was also far more intelligent than most of the Slytherins in his year so talking to them was boring. The only other boy with an equally superior mind was Draco Malfoy, but he was wasting his brains on that unhealthy obsession with crushing Harry Potter and Theodore had no time for idiotic rivalries.
He got used to wandering around the school by himself, glad that here he could escape from his father's torture. He spent most of his time in the Library, doing his homework and learning all he could so one day he would be able to confront his father and avenge his mother.
One day near the end of Second Year he threw a couple of thinly-veiled insults at Vincent and Gregory – who as usual didn't understand they had been insulted – and he heard a feminine laugh. Glancing around, he saw Daphne grinning at him and giving him a thumbs-up. Then to his surprise she winked and turned to face Pansy, calling her the most abhorrent things yet disguising the barbs so well that Pansy just blinked before huffily walking away.
When Daphne smiled at him once more Theodore realized that being a solitary sort of person didn't mean he had to be constantly on his own. Even with all the break-ups that happened when they were older, once Daphne became a part of his life he never felt alone again.
