OOO
Even the blue skys and light breezes that abounded the day of their first flying lesson couldn't cheer Theo. He hated flying, detested and loathed it, and having to fly with the Slytherins around was going to be even worse. They were spoiling for trouble; a fight had nearly broken out that morning over a Remembrall that Neville had been sent. Pansy had plucked it off the table and started to tease him, and the situation might have escalated had McGonagall not walked over at that moment. If they were that eager to be an annoyance, swooping around on broomsticks with them would only lead to more insult-slinging and verbal barbs.
Standing next to him, however, Harry looked rather eager, which worried Theodore as well. Technically he was supposed to be touching a broomstick, at least one meant for something other than sweeping, for the first time in his life. Truthfully he, like Draco, was already rather skilled in his flying abilities and Theo wasn't sure if he could resist the temptation to show off, particularly with the Slytherins there. While Theo would have loved to see Harry make them eat crow as much as anybody, he was aware of the risk it posed if Hooch or anyone else grew suspicious of his level of proficiency. After all, natural talent could only account for so much.
Nothing he could do about it now, though, he supposed, apart from hoping for the best.
"Up!" He called to his broomstick which reluctantly drifted into his hand. Harry's, not surprisingly, flew into his, as did a few of the other brooms - Ron's and Pansy's included, much to his disappointment. Hermione's simply rolled over and Theo couldn't resist giving her a shade of a smug smirk when she looked up. When he did, he noticed that she bit her lip, as if to prevent herself from giving him an undignified reply.
Most of them, however, simply sat where they were. Given the look on Neville Longbottom's face, they were probably just as happy that the brooms didn't jump up. The sooner the brooms were in hand, the sooner they would be airborne, and Neville very evidently wished to postpone that moment for as long as possible. When the boy finally did wind up on the broom, after a legthy grip-correcting lecture given by Madame Hooch to each student in turn, he not only hovered but shot straight up into the air, at which point he promptly fell back down to the earth. Theo averted his eyes and winced when he heard the crack.
The moment Madame Hooch led the sobbing boy away, heading for the infirmary to see what could be done about his obviously broken wrist and threatening any who even thought about touching the brooms in her absence, a predictable spate of laughter broke out on the Slytherin side of the group.
"What a crybaby!" Pansy crowed. "I'm surprised they even admitted him to Hogwarts if he hasn't even got to sense on how to operate a broom."
"They let you in and you haven't got sense at all," Nott retorted, riled by her air. He wouldn't deign to call Neville sharp or even competent, but the boy was good-natured; and Theo still felt a rush of heated anger towards the girl who had torn his book.
"Well look who's talking, the blood traitor," she snapped. "Though at least you had enough marginal talent to get into the second worst house - unlike the other one who got tossed into the idiot bin." There was a smattering of laughter among her fellows, Ron included.
"Better a badger by name than a pug in looks," Harry joined in.
Pansy's mouth fell open and Ron stepped up to her side.
"She's not the one with a disfigured forehead, scar-face," he growled. Noticing something in the grass, he stooped and picked it up; it was the Remembrall. "Think your friend would like this back, Potter?" He sneered and jumped on the broom. "Maybe a trek through the Forbidden Forest to get it back will help remind him to keep better track of his things."
Ignoring an indignant cry from Hermione coupled with a protest about them getting into trouble, Harry leapt on his own broom and gave chase. When Ron finally tossed it away, Harry went into a dive that even Theo had to admit was rather spectacular, managing to catch the orb seconds before it would have shattered on the ground. There was a spate of applause which quickly ended when the other Gryffindors realized that McGonagall had seen Harry fly - though Ron was landed by then. The blood drained from Theo's face and he wondered if she would make good on Hooch's threat.
Harry was bustled away and Theodore spent the rest of the lesson in a daze, wondering how he would explain an expulsion to Sirius and fearing for Harry should he be sent back to his aunt and uncle's home.
OOO
"We can't win!" Pansy vented. "He gets caught and what does he get? A place on the Quidditch team!"
"What?" Blaise Zabini snapped from across the table.
"Oh yeah," Ron chimed in bitterly. "We overhead him whispering to his stupid friends about it and talking over it with those moronic twin brothers of mine. He's going to be their Seeker. Can you believe it?"
"Are you sure?" Daphne asked, reaching for a dinner roll.
"Positive. We just came back from there. You should have seen the looks on their stupid faces," Pansy continued to grumble. "It makes me sick just thinking about it - they get away with everything, get rewarded for their misbehavior!"
"Makes me sick," Ron agreed and the other Slytherins nodded their consenting opinions in the matter. Only Millicent failed to join in the banter, keeping to herself at the end of the table, her head down.
"You can bet a Slytherin would have been kicked out like that," Pansy snapped her fingers.
"And they say McGonagall doesn't favor them," Ron scoffed.
"Did you do anything about it?" Blaise inquired through a mouthful of food.
"What could we do? The duel-plan didn't work last time; either they got lucky or they knew it was a trap. But if we asked a second time, they'd know for sure now if they didn't before. And we're in front of all the teachers here so we couldn't just fight them outright." His nervous fidgeting betrayed Ron's frustration and agitation. "But we'll think of something, you can bet on it."
"At the very least Slytherin can wipe the field with him when Quidditch season gets underway." Pansy patted his back consolingly. "If he's only a first year he can't be that good, no matter how much talent McGonagall thinks he has. And most of our champion team from last year is back so it shouldn't be a problem."
"I sure hope so," Ron grimaced. "Otherwise..."
He didn't finish the thought and didn't need to; losing to Harry Potter at Quidditch was an embarassment they all wanted to avoid, even if they could do nothing more to help than cheer the team on from the stands.
OOO
When news of Harry's broomstick finally reached Draco, he wondered if he would be able to prevent Sirius from changing without considering the consequences. As soon as Harry told them the news at their usual after dinner lake-side gathering, Dragon began jumping around, barking and panting, easily as excited as Harry was about the way things had turned out. Draco shared in the enthusiasm, only ever so slightly tinged with jealousy, while Theo rolled his eyes at the lot of them.
"You just got lucky, you know that?" He admonished, though truthfully he felt relieved that there had been no serious consequences or punishments.
"Youngest Seeker in a century, can you believe it? And I even got my own broom that I didn't have to sneak in!"
"You will let me ride it sometime, won't you?" Draco pleaded, casting a longing look at the package.
"Well, maybe," Harry teased. "If you're nice. And if you give me a leg up on homework."
"Harry!" Theo snapped.
"Oh, alright, fine. You can try it out some time."
"Yes!" Draco grinned and pumped a fist into the air. "This is going to be so amazing! And you'll even get to be the best Seeker for a while."
Harry laughed. "A while? What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know. Until I get to try out for the Hufflepuff team and blow everybody away."
"Yeah right! They already have a Seeker, stupid," Harry pushed him playfully.
"I know - Cedric Diggory. Well I'll be even better than he is - and if they go with seniority, then I guess you get a reprieve for a bit until he graduates."
"Pft. Sure, Draco. Oh, I'm sure you'll make the team - as a water boy or broom polisher or something." He scratched Dragon behind the ears.
"Wait until you're first game is over before you go shooting your mouth off," Draco advised with a grin. "You might just get demoted after they see how clumsy you are!"
"If by 'clumsy' you mean 'awesome' and 'skilled' then yes, I might be off the team - when I get promoted to being a professional."
Another nudge from Harry and the two started to tussle, disagreeing loudly over which one was better on a broom and alledging how terrible the other was bound to be at Quiddich.
"Knock it off you two!" Theo broke in. "Did either of you think while you were wrestling about that tonight was the night we agreed to tell Harry and George about... about Dragon?" He cast a look in the dog's direction and the scuffling came to a halt. "You should have asked them over at dinner, Harry, when they came by to congratulate you."
"Slipped my mind. There were other things on it," he said, tossing a grin in Draco's direction. The silver-haired boy 'hmphed' and looked away.
"We need to get this over with before something happens. The sooner the better - remember? Why don't we stay out here and relax and you go up to the commons room and invite them out here. There's still a good amount of time before the sun sets, if you hurry." A puase. "Well? Get moving!" He ordered impatiently.
"Alright, already! I'm going, I'm going!" Harry brushed the grass off of his robes and ran in the direction of the castle.
While they waited, Draco flopped back down and secretly hoped for the giant squid to make an appearance. Perhaps he ought to start bringing - well, whatever it was that squids ate. Theo pulled a book out of his pack and began reading, and when Draco noticed he rolled his eyes.
"Can't you lay off the studying for a second? It's a lovely evening - why spend it staring at a page? Look up at the sky or something!"
"I see enough of the sky in the Great Hall, thank you. And this isn't a book to study. It's a book I'm reading for pleasure."
Draco eyed him suspiciously; he was well enough acquainted with Theo to know about some of the things the boy considered 'pleasure.' Nevertheless, his curiousity got the better of him and he sat up, trying to read the title on the cover.
"Ethan Frome," he read. "What's that about?"
"It's about a man and his wife's cousin and things not working and... oh, wy don't you read it yourself and find out?" Theo snapped. "It might do you some good."
"I read!"
"I've told you before, comic books don't count."
"Some of them are graphic novels!"
"The word 'novel' does not make it literature; they're still made up of more pictures than words, so they don't count either."
"Well they should," Draco huffed.
Theo refused to respond and they lulled into silence until they heard hurried footsteps approaching.
"Hey guys!"
Draco sat up and Theodore clapped the book shut. "Have you told them anything yet?" Theo asked Harry sharply the moment he saw them.
"No. Thought it would be best to wait for you guys."
Draco nodded and Harry sat down on the grass next to him, soon followed by Fred and George.
"What's up?" George asked.
"Let's not bandy about," Theo said abruptly. "Do you two have the Marauder's Map?"
They paled beneath their freckles and looked at the three first years as if they had suddenly sprouted extra limbs.
"How do you know about that?" Fred managed to whisper after recovering from the initial shock.
"Well..." Draco took a breath. "It's a bit of a long story. All we ask if that you listen to it and take us seriously. OK?"
The twins exchanged glances. Everything suddenly seemed much more solemn; even the air around them felt heavier.
"We will, I guess," George agreed. "Right, Fred?"
"Right."
"It's like this..."
OOO
When Draco's owl finally arrived with the letter, it was all Ginny could do to keep herself from hurting the animal by ripping the parchment off it's leg. She fumbled with it in her eagerness to read it, and once she managed to straighten it out and get a look at the text, her eyes scanned over it quickly, drinking it all in. The moment she finished, she couldn't suppress the laughter that escaped her throat. Then, without wasting another moment, she tossed Artemis a bit of the cookie she'd been munching and then ran inside to the kitchen.
"Mum, Mum!" She waved the paper around eagerly. "It worked! They sent a letter!"
Mrs. Weasley turned away from the stove and smiled at her daughter. "See, there? Didn't I tell you?" She came over to where the girl was standing. "What does it say? Can you tell me?"
"Yeah, all sorts of stuff. Harry and Theo got in to Gryffindor..."
"Theodore Nott?" Mrs. Weasley failed to hide her surprise.
"Yeah, Draco says that Theo demanded to be put in there with Harry," she grinned. "And listen to this - Draco got into Hufflepuff!"
"Draco Malfoy in Hufflepuff..." If it was possible, this shocked Mrs. Weasley even more. "Well I never! How are they doing at school?"
"Pretty good. Snape's a jerk, but we knew that from Fred and George."
"Ginny! You shouldn't talk about him so. You haven't even met him!"
"He docked Harry points for knowing the right answers, Mum! Anyway, they're doing OK in all their other classes. Draco says that Theo's been competing with this one girl in their class, Hermione Granger. Ssays she reads almost as much as he does and gives answers to everything."
"Sounds like a bright girl."
"Bet Theo's brighter," Ginny replied a touch defensively.
"Is there anything else? Do they say anything about... you know. Ron?" Her soft voice was tentatively hopefully.
Ginny shook her head and dropped the parchment down to her side. Ron had been mentioned, but none of it had been good. There was no reason to let her mother know that, though. She'd only worry.
"I'm sorry Mum," she murmured.
Mrs. Weasley dabbed at her eyes and turned back to cleaning the dishes in the sink. "Oh, don't worry about me dear," she said in a voice that was forcibly cheerful. "I'll be fine. I'm sure we'll hear about him soon enough."
The girl doubted it but didn't say anything more about it. She took the letter to her room where Artemis was already at the window, knowing from experience to wait for a reply. Ginny reread the letter twice over, then reached for a quill and some parchment to make her reply.
OOO
"What am I supposed to do with him?" Ron cast an eye on Scabbers who was wriggling in his grasp.
"Let him go outside, or something. Or even in the castle. Not near the kitchens - maybe out the door in the dungeon or something. That's supposed to be a rat's natural habitat, right?"
"I guess. But he's never had to look for food for himself or anything."
"I'm sure instict will kick in," Pansy retorted impatiently.
"Instinct? Are you sure?"
"It's a rat, Ron! Does it matter? If it dies - big deal! One less rat!"
He sighed; Scabbers had been with them since childhood but even he had to admit that the rat was looking like it had seen better days. Given how old the animal had to be, it was probably on the brink of death anyway. What good would it do to keep it?
"Fine. Let's let him go on the lawn. The House Elves or some owl might get him if we keep him inside."
Pansy breated an audible sigh of relief. "About time." She grabbed a light cloak. "Let's go."
They made their way out the front door with Scabbers in a box, moving about furiously. It was, Ron thought, as if he knew what they were doing. Maybe he did - animals had funny senses like that. It couldn't be avoided though. And to be honest, he'd always been a bit embarassed at his choice of animal. Stepping out onto the lawn, they ran together over towards the forest.
"Well look who it is," Ron narrowed his eyes, noticing a group by the lake. "Potter and his pals - probably gloating about today."
"Ignore them," Pansy said, shivering a bit. "Get rid of the rat and let's go - something about those trees gives me the creeps."
Ron nodded and, in one swift motion, removed the lid and tossed the rat into the shadows of the Forbidden Forest. He thought he heard it squeak as it landed, but he couldn't be sure. There was a tug at his sleeve from Pansy and they ran back inside together. The front door slammed shut behind them and she smiled as they made their way back down to the Slytherin common room.
"So what would you like to replace him?" She asked brightly. "An owl? You could probably use one. Nothing stupid like that toad the Longbottom moron has; that'd be worse than the rat. You could get a cat, too, though it wouldn't be nearly as useful as the owl."
"The owl sounds about right," Ron agreed, conceding to but still a bit embarassed by her generosity.
"Then pick a breed." She stopped on the stairwell. "Shall we got to the library and find a book on them? I have to say, I never thought about it myself."
"Yeah, we can. No snowy owls though," he said in a faux-stern voice.
She laughed and he smiled; then they made their way together up the endlessly shifting flights of steps.
OOO
I know it's been awhile - ran a little low on inspiration for a bit. I hope you enjoyed and that you'll leave a review if you feel so inclined. Clearly a few things have already been altered in the books' progression, but there should be a few familiar events coming up in the next few chapters - including the Halloween night, which might not go entirely as expected, and the Mirror of Erised which will reveal some things about Theo. All of which I'll hopefully get to before the big July finale. :-)