The Slytherin Common Room was usually a fairly calm environment for Theodore Nott to bury himself in a book or converse quietly in the corner with those he considered friends. He didn't consider himself one of the more popular students at Hogwarts, or even in the house of Slytherin, but he was well respected, especially now that his father had been revealed as a death eater. Much like the more famous Draco Malfoy, the students residing in Slytherin have been regarding relatives of proclaimed Death Eaters in much higher authority now that the Dark Lord has revealed himself once more.
Although, Theodore, better known as Theo to his friends and followers, was not one to bask in the glory of the Dark side. He very much preferred to stay neutral in the whole situation, instead of taking full advantage of it, like Draco was doing. Theodore had always considered Draco a loyal, mutual, family friend, whom he felt was his equal, as a pure-blood and as a powerful wizard. Of course Draco could be a real jerk when he wants to be, he is extremely arrogant, unlike Theodore, who is quite humble and dislikes attention. Some people would call Theodore a loner, but most know better. He has many friends and fans alike, but enjoys being alone more often then not.
Theodore's father was in fact a death eater, and Theo had been a bit distant from the rest of the world since the murder of his mother 5 years ago. She was unjustly killed by an Auror in a very unlikely situation involving his father and 3 other death eaters. One of the Death Eater's present was Draco's father Lucius. No one had ever really given Theodore the details of his mother's murder, but he had hated his father for 5 years for bringing the entire situation down on her. Theodore's mother was a good person and she left quite a large, empty whole in Theodore's being.
Theodore was a simple looking young man. He was not very big, and he was not very tall. His hair was not a shocking silver/blonde, but a deep and endless black that curved around his face in wave less strands. His eyes were not a piercing exotic colour, but simply a whole black pupil, giving him a slightly mousy look. His eyes were always rather intense though, as though they were focusing on something more then the thing they were actually looking at. Theodore's skin was not a perfect pale shade that was sported by many of the Slytherin's, and he was not a bronze that many of the athletes had achieved over the summer, his skin was a colour somewhere between deathly pale and a warm tan. His body, wasn't tall and skinny like a lot of the students were becoming, it was in also in between. He was well built, but not necessarily tall; he was physically strong, but that mattered not to Theodore.
He was sitting on a worn down leather sofa, that should have been able to sit at least three people, except that he was stretching his legs over most of it. Theodore was simply wearing chosen pieces of his Slytherin uniform. The dress pants were slightly baggy over his legs, and his feet, which were covered with a pair of black socks, were otherwise bare. His shoes were tucked underneath the sofa, because his mother had taught him not to put shoes on furniture, another example of Theo's manners and proper upbringing. He was also wearing his white, button up dress shirt. The sleeves were unbuttoned and rolled up once or twice, the buttons were undone down past his collar bone and it was as neatly untucked as possible. He had a leather bound novel propped up in front of him and he had one of his muscularly defined arms wrapped around the hard cover.
His eyes glided automatically across the page, and he pulled it closer, squinting to make out the next line. The book had been printed quite a long time ago and the lettering, over many years, was beginning to smudge together, so that it was barely legible. Sighing in resignation, he closed the book, and set it down beside him, where it promptly vanished. He had put a rather useful spell on the book, so that it went back to his bedside table every time he put it down with no intention of picking it up again. This spell had its upsides, but sometimes when he put it down, absently thinking about something, else, the book would slip his mind for a moment and he would spend a few minutes searching for it before he remembered the spell.
He pushed himself out of his oddly contorted semi-sitting position so that he could sit properly on the sofa, leaning on the arm of it only slightly. He was incredibly comfortable, although rather annoyed by the small group of first years who were gabbling away halfway across the room. Now that Theodore was older, he really didn't have much compassion for the younger generation, they annoyed him greatly. These new-comers didn't have the same respect for authority that he had when he had entered Hogwarts. Trying his best to ignore the children, who seemed to be engaging in a wild reenactment of the last quidditch match, he turned his dark eyes towards the blazing fire in front of him. Over the noise of the common room, which was becoming more crowded every minute, he could hear the faint crackle of the magically burning wood in front of him. Every so often a spark would go dancing into the air and die almost immediately.
He felt his mind wander off into oblivion, resting momentarily on images or thoughts that were particularly interesting. His concentration on nothing was broken quite suddenly by a tall boy with flaxen hair sitting down deliberately hard on the sofa next to him. Snapping out of his thoughts, Theodore leaned back and looked at the young man; whose silver gray eyes were staring intensely at Theodore, as though he was upset that pleasantries had not been yet.
"Evening Draco," Theodore said, keeping eye contact with the young man, which was rather difficult, because Draco did blink quite a lot.
Draco nodded, apparently this greeting pleased him. "Hello Theo." Draco said. Theodore noticed that Draco had not used his full name, and took that to mean that this conversation was not as formal as it seemed.
In contrast to the rest of the room, Draco Malfoy was like the milky white moon hovering forebodingly in the sky. With his perfect, pale complexion, he was standing out quite obviously against the dark colouring of just about everything in the common room. Draco eyes darted away, towards the first years who were still talking loudly about something Theodore cared nothing about.
"How has your day been going?" Theodore asked, casually, leaning further back into the sofa and getting more comfortable. Theodore's day, of course, had been just like every other day this semester, and he doubted that tomorrow would be any different. Routine was a good thing for Theodore though; he was quite used to it, and felt more at home if he was on a tight schedule. Theodore knew that Draco wasn't going to ask how his day had been going though, because Draco didn't care much.
"The same as yesterday," Draco said offhandedly. He had broken eye contact with Theodore for a moment and his eyes were roaming around the common room with a hint of worry glinting in them, but it was hard to tell. When Draco's eyes snapped back to meet Theodore's, they were as blank as always. "Can we go somewhere more private?" Draco asked, the worry now lacing his usually cool voice. Anyone who didn't know Draco that well would have no idea he was probably squirming with anxiety inside, but Theodore knew.
Theodore's eyes suddenly grew darker, if that was possible, he felt his muscles tighten up involuntarily and he had to consciously relax them so that no one noticed he was tense. He leaned forward again, away from the back of the sofa, and stared at Draco, searching his eyes for any clue of what was so important that they had to talk in private about it. Then, Theodore found it, the tiny shimmer of fear that flickered though his gray eyes like a bolt of lightening through a thunder cloud. It was the Dark Lord. Theodore suppressed a shudder and nodded, only slightly. A wave of relief seemed to pass though both of them, knowing that they could count on each other when matters of Voldemort forced themselves into their lives.