Harry and Theo's friendship grew stronger as the summer wore on. Harry had told Theo all about his school adventures and Theo told Harry about his mum. Neither of them talked about the Dursleys. They talked, studied, argued, and listed to muggle music via an MP3 player with a broken screen that Harry found in the closet of Dudley's broken toy room but always enjoyed their time together. Theo started to bring potions for Harry which helped a lot and Harry got Theo muggle library books to read since his father would never allow them in their manor.
"I've been meaning to ask but... how can you do magic during the summer? Harry questioned. He combed his bright red hair with his hand working out the kinks with his fingers. Theo's eyes followed it.
"I didn't buy my wand. In fact, it wasn't originally mine," He told Harry. They were sitting on Theo's jacket hidden by the tall grasses. Theo wore a deep blue tunic with medium-sized sun-shaped buttons. Harry felt like a street rat next to him and while it was true he wished he had nicer things to wear.
"You didn't? Neville uses his father's wand but it doesn't work right for him and Ron uses his brothers but the results are not as strong. Does it ever give you problems? Harry asked curiously.
"No," Theo smiled fondly, he knew Harrys love for learning queer magical facts," We keep all of our wands in our Gringotts vault and when we turn eight, we choose the one that calls to us. Most of the wands in my family are made of bone or bonded with blood which makes them more powerful and only usable to a Nott descendent," He explained," Many were made before the Trace was even created."
"Woah," Harry breathed," Not gonna lie Nott, that's kind of badass," Harry admitted with a wry grin. Nott snorted and shifted his book in his lap. Nott was finishing up his charms homework while Harry read about different kinds of Art Magic like tapestry weaving, portrait painting, and coolest of all, magical tattoos.
"Would you ever do the Mark my Soul spell on yourself?" Harry asked. He wasn't concerned about Theo not knowing what he was referring to since he bombarded Theo with questions about the intimate sounding spell. Theo looked at him weirdly.
"I don't know," He spoke slowly," Would you?"
"I'm gonna cast it as soon as I can use magic again," Harry admitted. Nott knew about his wandless abilities but this spell was too complicated and easy to mess up for that. Theo's eyebrows furrowed slightly like they always did when the Slytherin slightly fathom something harry did or said.
"Why? Who would want their life story on display for just everyone to see?"
"My life story has always been on display for anyone who just looked closely enough, Theo," Harry laughed softly," But I had some good moments too and I would like to have those with me even if it comes with some bad ones," Harry said tracing the scar on his face. Theo leaned forward hands on his knees. he looked at Harry intently.
"That's why?" He challenged.
"That and it would really piss of the Dursleys," Harry smirked at the blue-eyed Slytherin mischievously. He threw the book aside and flopped down onto his stomach right next to Theos legs. He laid his head on his folded arms and looked up at the blond. The sun created a hallow around the boy's head and softened the harsher lines with the light of the dying day. The pink rays bounced off his eyes and set a rosy hue on his cheeks.
Am I allowed to look at (him) like that?
Theo laughed and threw his book aside to lay down next to Harry. The evening light was kind to him, Harry noticed. He noticed the strong line of his nose, the elegant curve to his neck, and his eyelashes. Eyelashes? Who notices eyelashes? Harry did the poor sod. Harry looked away from the boy in frustration.
Could it be wrong when (He's) just so nice to look at?
Theo was warm next to Harry. Like indecently warm. Harry who had been perfectly fine before felt cold with Theos warmth a few inches away. His hair was spread out beneath his head and his eyes were closed so peacefully. All Harry had to do was stretch his fingers and he could feel for himself. Shamefully, he did.
(He) smells like lemongrass and sleep
Harry breathed shakily through his mouth. He was close, too close! His morals screamed. Harrys fingers played through the ends of Theo's hair. Did Theo even consent to this though? Harry panicked. He never asked to be looked at like that. He never asked for his hair to be played with even if he did sometimes reach out a pull one of Harrys curls as they walked.
(He) tastes like apple juice and peach
As Harry pulled away a strong hand wrapped around his wrist. Harry sat up but still, Theo said nothing. After a few moments of Theos thumb swiping comfortingly across Harrys thin wrist, the blond shuffled and moved until his head was in Harrys lap. His eyes never opened. Theo never spoke.
You would find (him) in a Polaroid picture
His hair was strawberry blond spread across Harrys lap. The blush pink evening light accentuated Theos collar bones. Could bones be attractive? Obviously, they could since Harry kept salivating over them. Theo's appearance to Harry was almost angel-like. Logically Harry knew that the purple bruises under his eyes weren't supposed to be endearing, and the fact that his mate's lips were shaped like a bow wasn't important.
And (he) means everything to me
Theo was his confidant. His best friend. Ron and Hermione hardly came close with Ron's toxic jealousy and Hermione's somewhat subconscious tendency to look down on him, Theo was his equal. He could look at Harry and know that he didn't need to talk about his feelings or laugh right then and let him lay down on his balled-up over robes and sleep. He didn't demand his trust but he earned it with self-made potions and salves and stories about his dead mother.
I'd never tell
Theos eyes squinted up at him, almost colorless they blended in with the whites. Harry thought that if he ever for any reason had to draw Theodore Nott's eyes he would have to melt down the glass and use its pigment to paint them because the shifting blues, greens, and steel greys couldn't be captured in charcoal or ink. They were gossamer disks, his most emotive feature. They danced and they glowered and when they were together they were almost always unmovingly on Harry.
No, I'd never say a word
Harrys hands shook as he parted Theo's hair with his fingers. Theo didn't even shift away, he just closed his eyes and let the tension bleed from his shoulders. It was unfairly soft, fluffy with no fuzz. Did everyone have hair like this? Or was it just a Theo Nott thing that Harry was doomed to go insane over?
And oh it aches
Harrys heartbeat traitorously against his broken ribs. It really hurt but with his thin fingers sliding through Theo's smooth silky hair he couldn't find it in himself to care. It hurt that Aunt Petunia was right. Harry was an immoral, vulgar, visceral boy who shouldn't touch the good china. It hurt looking at Theo's relaxed face. It squeezed his heart and filled his stomach with needles.
But it feels oddly good to hurt
Harry smiled beside himself anyways. He had been guilty of many things conjured wrongs or not but rarely did they feel this good. And besides, he didn't need to bother Nott with it. He'd take these moments as they were, using them to fuel a Patronus in his mind.
"I could do it," Theo offered. Harry looked up at him from where he was writing in his new notebook, a precious gift from Theo. It was a leatherbound book, white with Harrys full name of a golden plack on the front. Harry chose to use it for ideas he had and Rune sequences. At the moment, he was trying to create flying shoes. He wanted an Enchanted pair of shoes that gave him the power of flight with embroidered runes. All Harry had to do was figure out what runes and what sequence to put them in. It sounded easy but it was a bit harder when you knew there were thousands of runes and many different languages that used them. Some of them looked really similar to each other but meant totally different things.
"Do what?" Harry asked absently looking at his pages of notes. He added small notations to his work then closed his book. Theo played with his wand in his hand. It was ten inches long, slender and nobby, bleach white stretch of bone that had a circular orb of moonstone at its base. It was an enchanting wand made of the bone of Blackbeard's first wife who apparently was one of Nott's ancestors. It had a heartstring of a kelpie for its core and it was bonded with Theos blood upon his claim. Harry himself was amazed at the bond between Theo and his wand. It was a part of him, Harry realized, Harrys wand never felt like that. Warm? Yes. Right? Sometimes. But never whole. Theo had promised to look into it and maybe look up some more unconventional wand crafters that followed the old ways of making focuses.
"The tattoo spell for you," Theo explains. Harrys head shoots up.
"Really?" Harry asks with a breathless grin. Theo responds with a mischievous grin.
"Yes," he agrees," But you'll have to do it for me," Theo suggests. Harry cocks his head.
"With your wand?" He asks shocked. Theo nodded.
"It likes you," Theo shrugs. Harry physically stops himself from retorting 'Oh, does it?' immaturely and nods.
"When do we do it?" Harry questions jubilant. Theo smiles fondly.
"Carpe Diem!" He challenged with a wily smirk. Harry groaned but put his notebook aside and crawled over to Theo with a smile. Pompous swot.
"You first," Theo insisted.
"Self-serving Slytherin," Harry retorted with an amused snort. Theo just shrugged unrepentantly.
" Ready?" He asked pressing his wand in between his collar bones. Harry swallowed looking up at the tall boy and nodded.
"Yeah," He breathed. He felt Theos magic float just above his skin ready for Theo to whisper the spell.
"Animadverte!" He said. Harry felt the magic settle even if no marks were left. The Mark my Soul spell was a spell that worked slowly adding tattoos as it examined your memories and magical core but Harry was comforted by the feeling of Theos magic stirring underneath his skin. The spell was an intimate thing but not as intimate as Theos wand in Harrys hand. Like Harry had thought, the wand felt like a living thing. Harry hadn't thought, however, that Theo's wand would feel better than his own.
"How does it feel?" Theo asked calmly but his eyes shifted. Harry stopped looking at the wand so intently and laughed nervously. He ran a bandaged hand through his long curly red hair that hung in long ringlets not far from where Theo's magic had entered Harry's skin. He never wore his beanie when he was with Theo.
"Fine it, uh, feels good. You ready?" Harry rambled. Theo stared at him for a moment then the wand clenched possessively in Harrys fist. A slow smirk came over his face as he nodded smooth curtain of hair flipped over his face. His eyes were defiantly grey then, Harry wasn't imagining the smug glint of silver that warmed them.
"Go ahead," He sat straight, legs crossed, deft fingers tapping restlessly on his knee. Harry was nervous when he pressed the wand to the loose neckline of Theo's shirt. His warm magic was humming underneath his skin and with Theo's focus in his hand and Harrys magic reaching out to stroke tantalizingly against Theo's. Which was why Harry's mouth was embarrassingly dry when he muttered the spell.
"Animadverte!" Harry said firmly. He felt the burst of magic leave him. His breath left him sharply. Their eyes met as a brilliant golden glow faded into their skin. Harrys hands shook from exertion. Theos breath came out ragged and uneven.
"Was- Was that suppose to happen?" Harry asked uselessly. Harry had read the spell extensively. He KNEW that the spell wasn't supposed to act like that. There wasn't supposed to be some gold light, they're eyes were not suppose to glow and they should most defiantly not feel each other's magic tethering itself to their cores. Infuriatingly, Theo looked largely unconcerned.
"Maybe not," He said plucking his wand from Harrys limp hand and banishing the dust that had settled over them, more so on Harry whose clothes were nearly clean after Theo was finished. Harry looked at Theo as if he was a loon, a pretty loon but still bat shit crazy.
"Excuse me?" Harry gaped at him," What the fuck, Theo?!"
"Oh, calm down, Harry. I'm fine, You're fine. There's no reason to be dramatic," That gorgeous motherfucker had the audacity to roll his very well proportioned eyes at him. Harry fumed.
"I can stil your magic, Theo!" Harry hissed at the lounging boy. Theo raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" He drawled curiously," Well, there's nothing we can do is there? We just need to wait and see how the magic manifests. We can read about it but most magical abnormalities are just that. Abnormalities," His expression said that Harry should know this because he, himself was one. Harry bristled.
"Your not worried about this? Not at all?" Harry challenged not a little miffed.
"Nope," Theo popped.
"Why?" Harry asked suspiciously. The words of Ron, Hagrid, and Sirius filled his head.
He's a Slytherin, a filthy death eater who probably wanted my mum dead, he probably wants me dead-
"Because it's you," Theo admitted. Harrys anger abandoned him. He sighed dramatically and flopped onto his back.
"Shut up," He smiled.