…Toad Removal…
I pace back and forth in the library while reading a book and biting my lip nervously. I'm so engrossed in my book I run right into Theo. "You're scaring Madam Pince, Lia." He whispers. I look over and sure enough Madam Pince is looking at me with a worried expression. I nod to show her I'm fine. Theo takes the book from me and puts it back despite my protests.
He throws me over his shoulder, grabbing my bag, and carrying me out of the library. I'm set down in an empty classroom. I frown up at him. "What's wrong? You seem stressed." He mumbles. I try to get past him. "I need to study Theo." I whine as he blocks every attempt I make. "Why? You're always studying. You're going to do just fine. What more do you need to study for?" Theo wraps his arms around me.
I feel the tears filling my eyes and splash onto my cheeks. He catches me as I start to slip to the ground and carries me over to a desk. He sits me in his lap and wipes my tears away. I tell him how I ran into Umbitch this morning and her comments about what I should be doing and how I should dropout of school. I let my tears fall freely and he tries to calm me down.
He places my head on his shoulders and I can feel him shaking. "You hurt yourself." He whispers taking my hands in his. There are obvious marks where I dug my fingernails into my palms. I didn't realize I'd done it. They've stopped bleeding and are a bright angry red. My expression must show how out of it I was and how much I'm freaking out because Theo sighs.
"My poor Lia. Come on love. I'm taking you to Madam Pomfrey." He places me on his back and carries me up to the Hospital Wing. It's already late afternoon so it's not too busy. She frowns when she sees just how much damage I did. I wince as she cleans up my hands, applies the medicine, and bandages my hands. We thank her and leave. Theo frowns at my bandaged hands. I've been staring at them wiggling my fingers.
He takes my hands and kisses them. "Bye-bye pain." He whispers. I stare at him blankly then jump into his arms kissing him. "Too tempting." I whisper. "Far too tempting." He whispers back. I frown and lean back a little bit. "You got taller." I mumble. He sets me down now frowning too. "Did I?" he asks unsure. "You did! I used to have no problem wrapping my arms around your neck or putting my head on your shoulder. now I either have to jump or wait until you're sitting down!" I huff.
He's fighting a smile and I whine. "It's not funny! You got taller in a short amount of time! What the hell!" I start measuring the new distance with my hands. Theo takes my hands and pulls me closer. "Ok, ok. I'll try not to have another growth spurt until you're ready." he kisses the top of my head. I'm still grumbling by dinnertime, and he pulls me to the side.
"What can I do to get you to stop pouting?" he wonders rubbing my arms. "Shrink!" I answer with hesitation. Theo snickers and I stomp my foot. He pulls me into a hug but he's laughing too hard. I squirm out of his arms and into the hall. "What's wrong now Lia? Oh my god! What happened to your hands?!" Padma gasps. I tell her about my run in with Umbitch after breakfast.
"Ok, so that solves one mystery. Why are you so upset?" she frowns. "Theo got taller." I pout. Padma freezes and turns to me. I hang my head. "I know. it sounds childish but it's the little things. He gets smarter. He gets taller. He gets irritating. He gets adorable." I sigh and shake my head. "Only you would nitpick over something that trivial." She smiles. I pout and she nudges me until I start eating.
"Oi! Stop pouting before you get in trouble." She smirks nodding back at the Slytherin table. I turn in time to see Theo making pretend height measurements and catch Daphne's eyes. I motion for her to smack him, and she shakes her head with a smile. She nods with her eyes until I'm satisfied with how far back her hand is and she smacks him. "What the hell Lia!" Padma coughs.
"Daphne understands my pain. Her boyfriend is also extremely tall. Shouldn't have to get a ladder for anything." I pout. Theo finally notices me staring and sighs. I slingshot a roll at him with hastily written note attached before turning back around. "Strike one." I whisper. I walk arm in arm with Padma up the stairs. "Lia. Lia! Amelia!" Theo calls. I try to speed up, but he catches up in no time flat. "Sorry Padma I need to borrow Lia." He pants. I guess he ran up the stairs.
Padma smirks. "Oh, no problem. Take your time." She wriggles out of my grip and skips up the stairs to talk to Hermione and Parvati. Theo traps me in his arms and carries me back down the stairs. "The hell do you mean strike one!" he growls quietly in my ear. "Exactly what it said. Strike one." I grumble. He pulls me into a random classroom. I sit on the floor, and he sighs heavily before sitting next to me.
"You can give me all the strike you want it's not going to change a thing." Theo mumbles. I scoot away and turn away from him. He pulls me onto his lap. He examines my face carefully. "I got something in the mail today. I think it'll help you feel better." He whispers. I pretend not to be interested and jump when I feel cool metal against my skin. "Don't break them again, please." Theo kisses my cheek.
The newly repaired bracelet and necklace shine in the moonlight. I sniffle quietly. "I figured it was probably something along these lines. Why didn't you just say so? I could've put a rush on it and gotten them back to you sooner." He chuckles. I tackle him and start kissing him. "I definitely should've put a rush on it." he pants. I pepper his face in kisses not giving him a second to think or change the tide in his favor.
I do extremely well in my exams much to Umbitch's surprise. She starts to rant about my behavior in her class and Theo has to lead me away because I'm clenching my fists. "One hit and it'll shut her up for good." I plead. Theo frowns at me. "I didn't say it would be a physical punch." I frown too. There's a quizzical look in his eyes. "No." he shakes his head calmly. I sigh and fold my arms.
When the examiner calls me forward for the next part of the exam I step forward. I see Daphne telling me to go for it out of the corner of my eye while Theo and Blaise shake their heads. I smile politely as I listen to the repeated instructions. Umbridge seems to have gravitated over despite being called over to an entirely different section of the room.
I wait patiently while the examiner reviews my work and shoot Theo a smile. The examiner begins to smile and do a little jig. "Your work is near perfect. No, it's impeccable." The examiner spins around to show the others my work and knocks the toad woman on her ass. Daphne doubles over in silent laughter. The examiner looks around, but Umbridge has scuttled out of the room clutching her nose. "Oh well. Shouldn't have been hovering like that. Nothing I can do about it." the examiner shrugs and goes to show their peers my work.
I wink at Theo who's shaking his head and waves for me to come over. I signal that I'm in the middle of an exam and that would be inappropriate. He gets called by a different examiner before he can respond. The exams continue and when it's time for our Astronomy Theo makes sure I'm between him and Daphne. It turns out to be unnecessary.
The shock of watching Umbridge and her gang take down McGonagall hits hard though and it takes repeated nudging from the both of them to get me to refocus on the exam. I'm in a daze as we walk back down the stairs. Hermione keeps shooting me looks but I shake my head. Daphne and I are on the same page though.
We spy Umbitch and her gang patrolling the grounds and before Theo and Blaise can stop us Umbridge is flat on her back spinning towards the lake uncontrollably while the Aurors stare after her in shock. Everyone quickly dips out of the windows as the Aurors turn to the school. "Bad behavior Lia." Theo whispers in my ear. "I don't know what you're talking about darling." I smile. He stares me down until the professor scolds us for not going back to our respective dorms.
Theo gets extremely clingy as the year comes to a close. We're in the courtyard when Umbitch comes streaming from the castle closely followed by Peeves. "Ah, the exterminator is here!" I laugh. Peeves shoots me a smile and speeds after the toad woman. I whistle to myself waving my wand in the air. Umbitch's belongings come dragging themselves down the stairs after their owner. I wave along with all the others until Theo pulls me back inside.
"I was behaving!" I complain. "No, you were not. As funny as that was that was still misbehaving." Theo scolds as he half-drags half-leads me up the stairs. I sit on a bench when he finally stops and fold my arms. "Come on. You've been yawning all day. Did you think I didn't notice? Go on. Go get some sleep." he waves me towards the common room entrance. I kiss his cheek as I pass.
He walks down to the carriages with me on his back. "What are you going to do this summer?" I ask quietly. We've been avoiding the topic, but I refuse to put it off any longer. "Not now please." He whispers. "But I'm worried about you." I whisper letting him hear the worry and sadness in my voice. He sighs heavily and puts me down in the carriage. His eyes finally meet mine and the last wall of defense he's set up in the past week crumbles.
"Fine but on the train. Not here." he groans sitting next to me. I nod and he rests his head on my shoulder. "You can't interrupt me. Not once, ok? I want to get everything out without any questions." He whispers taking my hand in his. "Ok." I murmur softly and kiss the top of his head. he leads me through the train until we find an empty compartment. He locks it, puts an imperturbable charm on the compartment, and lowers the blinds.
He sits across from me and laces his fingers together. "My parents had me pretty late in their life. Mum didn't care much but dad, dad was different. He was very strict with me from a young age much to mother's displeasure. They didn't see eye to eye when it came to scolding me and dishing out punishments. Dad would lose control sometimes. The first time I was three, no four years old. I don't even remember what I did to set him off, but he whipped me so hard I passed out. When I woke mum was screaming at him while covering my body with her own. Dad looked mortified and didn't come near either one of us for a week. When mum turned to me after he left, I saw this nasty gash above her right eye. Dad had hit her too without realizing it." Theo lifts his shirt and turns running his fingers down a long scar down his spine.
I shiver and he turns back around dropping his shirt. On and on he goes through the scars. Some now gone. Some so terrible I fear he'll have them for the rest of his life. "Then when I was about seven or eight mum had, had enough. I was playing around and accidentally knocked over an expensive vase. Dad was livid and drunk off his ass. By that time mum had begun hurting herself. Sometimes it was the one thing that would snap dad out of his fits of rage. He'd caught her teaching me how to cut myself." he runs his fingers over both wrists and a sad smile appears on his face.
"Dad tried to check mum into St. Mungo's, but she wasn't having it. Said if she left me with him, I'd never make it past the age of nine. They got into a fight. It all happened so fast but there a flash of light and mum dropped to the floor, dead. I crawled towards her trying to wake her up. Dad dragged me away from her. Draco's father came by to help clean up the mess while Draco's mother took me to their house for a bit to get cleaned up. When I came back home her body was gone and dad was so drunk, he couldn't put two words together to save his life." Theo has tears running down his face.
I reach out and he takes my hands. "They covered up what really happened, and we had mum's funeral soon after that. He wouldn't even let me go to her funeral. After that, his drinking got worse, and he couldn't even look at me. when he did, sometimes he'd call me her name, saying I have her eyes. There were times he used to lock me in my room for days at a time because he couldn't stand to see her face." Theo can barely get words out now.
I slide onto his lap and hold him tight. "I learned to avoid him, and he learned to avoid me. It got easier once I could attend Hogwarts. He was just like Draco's father. Wanted me to go to Durmstrangs. The farther away the better, right? Ugh, and don't get me started on how much of an ass I was the first three years of school. I shouldn't have made fun of anyone's blood status. I could barely even keep myself together." Theo chuckles sarcastically. He takes a deep breath calming himself. "I'll be staying with Blaise and his mother this summer and maybe for the last two years of school." Theo sighs and leans his head back.
"You're mine." I whisper. I didn't realize it before but we both realize it now. I have tears streaming down my face. "I know. I'm yours. Please stop crying." He whispers wiping my tears away. "Mine!" I sniffle throwing my arms around him and hugging him tightly. He repositions me so I'm straddling his lap. "I know." he mumbles.
I don't ever want to let him go but the train is pulling into the station. He wipes the last of my tears away. "Come on Lia. I can't return you to your parents looking like I just broke up with you." He smiles. I lightly smack his arm. "Stop joking around." I mutter. He sighs and gets up placing me on my feet. The charm wore off as we pulled into the station, and we can now here the commotion outside.
He kisses the top of my head. the door slams open and I jump. "Mum said she'll give you guys a few minutes, and you can go say hi to her parents." Blaise announces with a smile. "Have you two been crying?" Daphne asks in wonder. I put my head on Theo's chest rubbing my eyes. When I've completely calmed down, he takes my hand leading me off the train. "Hmm, let me guess. Where are your parents?" he asks himself. He snaps his fingers and grabs my things. We walk through the barrier and find them watching a very heated looking scene between the Order and who I'm guessing are the Dursleys.
Hermione and Ginny see us first. Mum and dad jump when they see Theo and it actually makes me smile. "Mum. Dad. This is Theo. Theo these are my parents." I introduce them awkwardly. Theo coughs to hide his laughter at my terrible introduction. Hermione pulls me to the side as Theo takes the reigns putting my parents and everyone around us at ease in no time flat. Blaise's mother ends up giving him permission to come over to our house later this evening to talk since they live not too far from our place.
Mum stares at me as I unpack. I redid my room over the holidays tossing everything Jason touched and cleaned and cleaned until my room was unrecognizable. "You never told us just how much you two genuinely care for each other." Mum sighs. "Yes, I did." I laugh. "No, Amelia you didn't. I joked before about him proposing but seeing you two together today… I… I don't know. I feel like…" mum sniffles and I turn to see tears streaking down her face. I hurry over and wipe her tears away.
"He cares about you so much it was like it was personified. If he asked to marry you right now, I'd give my permission. I trust you. I trust him." she whispers pulling me into a hug. Dad walks by and shakes his head. "Amelia already cried once today and now you're making her cry again." he tsks. Mum pouts at him then walks into my room to help me unpack. She holds up the open box of protection.
"Before you say anything or jump to conclusions let me explain!" I plead. Her and dad sit on my bed and listen as I tell them about the difficulty I had telling Theo the truth about my past relationships, and the prank that followed with the punishment. They listen carefully and mum hits dad's leg a few times when he snickers. I sit on my new desk and watch them carefully. They both agree that Theo's punished me enough already.
I head down to the kitchen to help mum make dinner and end up taking over entirely when I realize she has no clue what she's doing. The doorbell rings and I hear my father greet Theo. I wash and dry my hands and hurry out to say hello. Theo grins when he sees me. "Now that's a look I've never seen before." He chuckles pulling a small camera out and taking a picture. I look down and see I'm still in the pink flowery apron mother put me in. I blush to my roots and hurry back to the kitchen.
I finish up dinner and join everyone in the living room. I find them going through my childhood and baby photos. My blush returns and I turn to leave but Mione pulls me back. I sit next to Theo and try my damnedest to get him to focus on anything else. By dinnertime I feel like a tired empty shell.
Theo holds my hand and keeps finding tiny excuses to touch me. I relent control of the evening. It's far too obvious to me that my blush is not going to go away at all. "So, Theodore, what are your intentions with my daughter?" dad asks leaning forward. Theo looks at me for help but I'm slightly out of it. "Erm, I guess for now I just like being with her. In the future I'd like to… maybe if she wanted to… I can't really see myself without her sir." Theo is now blushing just as bad as I am.
Dad seems satisfied and leans back in his chair. "You know when we found out about Amelia's past relationships, we were a bit worried but now I don't think we have to worry about her." Dad sighs taking a sip of his drink. Theo relaxes a bit and mum clears her throat. "Why don't you two go up to Amelia's room while we clean up." she waves us out of the room. I don't question her. I just grab Theo's hand and lead him up to my room.
"This is my room." I gesture around awkwardly. Theo takes it upon himself to walk around looking through my things. "Everything seems new and unused." He comments. "I'd been meaning to update my room for a while then after everything last summer… I mean I…" Theo pulls me into a hug not letting me finish. "Tempting. Too tempting." He whispers in my ear. I smile and hug him back. "Tempting." I whisper.
After that night Theo starts coming over more often. Mum and dad are already taken with him. I sit at my desk reviewing the list of supplies for this term. I hear mum's excited voice at the door then footsteps on the stairs. I barely have time to walk halfway to the door before Theo walks in with a smile. "Got your list?" he asks. "You did not come all the way here just to ask me that." I pout.
"Daphne is hanging out with Blaise and Mrs. Zabini is shopping and I wanted to know if you wanted to…" I cut him off with a kiss. I grab my purse and my supply list. I let my parents know we're headed out. Mum requests that I get some ingredients for dinner on the way home, and I wait patiently while she scribbles a quick list.
Theo holds my hand as we walk down the street. We stop by Diagon Alley quickly restocking on all of our supplies and even get our new books. I frown when he leads me to get his uniform altered. I didn't grow much over the summer but he's now a whole entire head taller than I am. Once our school shopping is done, I lead him to the nearest store. I'm in dire need of some new clothes.
More than once his quiet and curious nature drifts off and I have to track him down. I pick us up two ice creams from an ice cream shop. We sit on a park bench enjoying the cold treat. "Why the random treat?" Theo asks taking a bite of mine. "I'm replenishing my energy before our last stop." I sigh and run my fingers through his hair. He looks at me with expectant eyes. "If you behave and don't wander off, I'll make you a treat tomorrow." I promise. He thinks it over for a few minutes then nods kissing my cheek.
It's painfully obvious Theo wants to look around the store, but he stays by my side. I have to bite my lips to keep from laughing. His eyes dart to and fro taking everything in so it's easy to sneak his surprise for tomorrow in without him noticing. I pay for the groceries, and he helps me carry them home. I send him into the living room to watch tv with dad and in no time, I can hear them joking around.
Mum smiles at me. "His curious nature is stronger than yours." She chuckles. I nod putting the ingredients for his treat away. I notice mum is butchering whatever she's trying to make, and I send her into the living room with the boys. "Go on. let the only one in this family who knows how to cook handle it." I smile. I finish up in no time and place dinner in the oven for the last 20 minutes.
Hermione surprisingly has emerged from her book den and joined our mini society. Theo is telling them about his childhood, and I can tell he's hurting. I sit next to him and cover his hands with mine. He makes it through without crying this time. Mum however is a mess. She's crying so much dad has to escort her out. I run my thumb across the back of his hand. "Tempting." I whisper kissing his cheek.
He kisses the top of my head and puts his face on the crook of my neck. "I really like your mother. She reminds me of my mother. I think they would've gotten along great." He sighs. I smile at him and boop his nose. After dinner I walk him to the front door. "Time for you to go now darling." I whisper teasingly. He frowns and I hand him a container of leftovers from tonight's dinner. "In case Blaise, Daphne, and Mrs. Zabini are hungry." I laugh when he looks at me in confusion.
I wake early the next day to start on his treat I'd promised. Mum is the first to wake up. The delivery owls swoop in and drop off the larger items I couldn't carry and the last ingredient I needed for Theo's treat. "When we picked you and Hermione up from the station, I assumed you were crying because you wouldn't be able to see Theo as much but after last night… you were crying because he told you his story, weren't you?" mum sniffles.
I nod unable to speak. "After dad took you out of the room, he said you remind him of his mum, and he thinks you two would've gotten along rather well." I smile at her. She brightens considerably as she makes herself a cup of coffee. "Oh, he also likes you a lot. I'm glad. He likes being here with you and dad. I'm glad he's not home with his father." I sigh. Mum pauses and turns to me. "Do you just want to marry him right now?" she asks. I cough choking on air and dad who's just woken up and walking in stumbles and pales.
"Mum! I'm not ready for that yet!" I cough trying hard to regain composure. She tilts her head innocently and pouts. "I saw how quickly you reacted last night. It's like you two have been together 20 years instead of a few months." Mum pouts. It's then that I realize it's almost our anniversary. I blush to my roots and mum places a hand on my forehead.
"It's almost the one-year anniversary of my first relationship." I mumble. I smile and turn back to mixing the treat. Mum and dad have some sort of half mumbled half silent conversation behind me. Theo shows up just in time. I make sure his eyes are closed and lead him to the kitchen. He opens his eyes and the most dazzling smile I've ever seen appears on his face.
I shield my eyes and turn away. "Ugh, it's too bright!" I groan dramatically. He tsks and rolls his eyes. I turn and cut him a slice of the cake I made and place a huge scoop of ice cream next to it. He takes a bite and automatically tries to run and hide with the entire thing. "Theo! You can't take all of it for yourself." I laugh. I made a butterbeer cake with caramel frosting and butterbeer ice cream with butterbeer fudge swirls. When I finally cut myself a slice and go to try it, he snatches it.
I jump on his back trying to get my slice back. I frown and whine when wolfs my slice down in a second. I slide off his back and pout by the pantry. "Aww, what's wrong?" dad asks walking in with mum and Mione. "He took my slice and ate it." I whine. Hermione rolls her eyes. "They're always having arguments like this." she sighs. Dad turns to see Theo wolfing down two more slices of the cake.
Theo shoots my dad an innocent look that if I wasn't a bit upset would make me smile. "Let me guess. Another argument over butterbeer." Mione smiles. I nod and pull a cold bottle from the fridge and crack it open. Theo's eyes zero in on the bottle like its prey. I hide the bottle behind my back. "No!" I mouth. He frowns and waves me over. Mione scoots past him and manages to get cake and ice cream for the three of them and they hurry from the room.
"Please?!" he whines. I shake my head. He starts walking around to me and I hurry in the opposite direction. The keep away game only last five minutes thanks to his long legs. His arms circle around me and he kisses my cheek at the same time snatching the cold drink. He knocks back the drink and I frown. He hands back the now half full bottle and I knock back the rest.
He's very apologetic afterwards kissing me softly. "Thank you for the treat." He whispers hugging me. We rock back and forth, and I hum happily. I take him up to my room though I had to coax him with butterbeers. We lay on my bed in each other's arms. He's knocked out after an hour, and I stroke his hair and kiss him softly all the while humming softly. I wake him up after a few hours and send him off with cake and ice cream. "Try not to eat it all yourself." I tease. He frowns and sulks as he walks down the street.
I hug mum and dad goodbye on the platform. Hermione hasn't arrived with the Weasley's and Harry yet, so I board without her. I let out a squeal when I see Padma and Daphne. I jump into their arms. "I missed you guys so much!" I pout. We stumble into an empty compartment, and I close the door. I get all caught up on their holidays and when Daphne starts raving about my cooking blush.
"You can't convince me otherwise Lia. Theo barely wanted to share. He looked like… well… that!" Daphne grins pointing at the door. Theo stands there watching me with sad puppy dog eyes. I sigh and stand up. I open the door just enough and smile. "Yes sweetheart." I tilt my head up to look at him. He doesn't say anything just looks past me to where I was sitting. "Ah, you just wanted to say hi and you're going to find Blaise and Draco!" I gasp. I hear my friends cough to hide their laughter. "Well, I'll see you later then." I stand on tiptoe and kiss his cheek then slowly shut the door and close the blinds.
I sit down watching Theo feet. He stands there for a minute then I hear a groan oof frustration as he sets off down the corridor. "Poor thing. You know he wanted to come in." Daphne giggles. "I know but I've spent almost everyday with him either in my room or his. I think he needs to spend a little time with his friends too." I nudge Padma and Daphne. "Why'd you nudge me! I'm the only one here who isn't dating anyone." Padma pouts.
"Do you have someone in mind?!" Daphne leans forward eagerly. A light blush appears on Padma's cheeks, and we spend the rest of the train ride trying to figure out who it is. Theo scoops me up as soon as I step off the train and shoot my friends an apologetic look as he carries me off. I sit in his lap frowning at him. "Wow, you lasted an entire two hours." I mumble. Theo shrugs and kisses me until I smile.