XX.

In the two hours between dinner and the duel, Dorathea had made good use of her new house and headed straight to the library. Harry had never bothered looking up the rules, not even when challenged to a duel himself, but Dorathea was now wary of all things traditional. If she could get caught in an unintentional marriage just by wearing her hair in a certain way, she didn't want to accidentally promise her firstborn child to Greengrass just because she forgot to bow at the right time.

Luckily, it seemed she was not alone in her concerns. Madame Pince took one look at her blue and bronze robe and pointed her to a far corner of the library with the offer to help her find any supplementary material if she needed it. At least some rumors were true; Ravenclaws really did have an advantage with the librarian.

After one and a half hours of skimming and looking up obscure Latin terms, Dorathea shut the last book and breathed a sigh of relief. While there was an ungodly amount of dueling etiquette (tombs and tombs judging by the stack on her table), most of it was confined to the duelers, their seconds, and ensuring the proper procedure was followed. As the Subject of the debate, Dorathea's essential work had finished as soon as her honor had been offended. Often the subject of the duel was not even invited to the duel itself but expected to quietly await the results (which should be delivered in an ivory white envelope with a blue ribbon and a fragrance charm to indicate the depth of relationship, Dorathea learned). At least Theo had decided to ignore that rule. Dorathea did not want to sit in the Ravenclaw common room for hours until someone told her if her brother was ok.

It seemed as though many other witches and wizards throughout history had the same thought because there were several chapters in the books dedicated to the Bestowing of Favors on the duelers. The Favor was a physical indication of whom the Subject desired to win the duel. It was usually a small item: a ribbon from the hair, an embroidered handkerchief, or, for the more dramatic, a strip of cloth torn from the robe. The favor could be sent to the intended before the duel (this time in a light green envelope with a yellow ribbon and the scent of jasmine), but was more commonly bestowed upon the dueler before the duel.

Upon learning this tidbit, Dorathea had pulled the blue ribbon from her hair to act as her favor. There was no question in her mind who she wanted to win this fight!

"Lady Nott, might I wear your favor for this duel?"

When Dorathea heard Draco's request, she forgot all of Lady Malfoy's instructions on proper composure and let her mouth drop open in surprise. Did she hear Malfoy correctly? Theo was staring at Draco with equal astonishment and, across the room, Daphne had gasped. Clearly, Dorathea had not misheard Draco's remark and his impudence was as shocking as she assumed. What could Draco possibly be thinking? After everything that happened, how could he think she would be interested-

Theo glanced down at her and his eyes were so carefully guarded with the slightest hint of fear that she might actually cross the room and bestow her favor to Draco and Dorathea suddenly realized that in all the confusion, she had never directly said no to the proposed engagement. She had denied any knowledge of it and taken down her hair, but she hadn't removed the locket or told Theo she didn't want to marry into the Malfoy family. Implied, yes. Stated directly, no. Theo would be in his right to challenge Draco to a duel regardless of her own interest and had apparently never thought to ask her directly until this moment. Dorathea needed to sort this out immediately.

"Absolutely not." She said and her voice rang clear in the dungeon room. Dorathea turned to her brother and pulled the blue ribbon from her pocket. Theo's gaze cleared when he recognized the hair ribbon he had given her. Dorathea raised her chin and, in her grandest manner, stated clearly, "Lord Brother, I grant you my favor that you might be triumphant in this duel." That was the traditional phrasing that one of the books recommended.

"Lady Sister, I accept and promise you I will," Theo replied with the appropriate response and held out his arm to accept the ribbon. Across the room, Draco's face had gone carefully blank and Dorathea almost wished she had the Malfoy ability to read emotions so she could know what the boy was feeling.

"You can wear my favor, Draco," Pansy said, hesitantly holding out a pink ribbon. It was clear she had just unwound it from her ponytail. Pink, Dorathea thought unkindly, was not her color. Then she felt slightly ashamed of the thought. Draco shook his head and Pansy deflated slightly. Dorothea's guilt increased. Pansy hadn't actually done anything terrible to Dorathea besides some gossiping and pointing while Dorathea had disrupted her whole world.

"She is your betrothed, Malfoy" Dorathea called out, not looking up from where she was weaving a complicated knot of protection around Theo's arm. "It's only right that you wear her favor."

Draco opened his mouth as if to protest, but Dorathea kept her eyes resolutely on her work. She didn't want to challenge or encourage him. Maybe he picked up on her emotions or maybe his better nature exerted itself because Draco only closed his mouth and then nodded. With a perfectly blank face, he held out his arm to his house-mate and allowed Pansy to tie it into a bow around his upper arm.

"Thank you, Pansy." He told her with icy formality. The girl colored slightly and took a step back to where Greengrass, was watching the procedures with sharp-eyed interest. Dorathea finished up her more elaborate knot as well and stepped back to admire the effect. Not too tight so as to restrict emotion, not so loose that it might fall off and she had felt the small sliver of family magic be tied into the binding.

Feeling slightly impetuous, Dora leaned forward and gave Theo a quick hug. Then, in a voice only he could hear she whispered, "Kick his ass, Theo." The crude words that she remembered from Dudley's programs sounded strange in her mouth. Theo looked startled for a moment and Dora worried she had misstepped, but then Theo grinned and gave her a quick, tight hug in return.

"I will."

Dorathea stepped back until she was beside Lisa. The other Ravenclaw might not be Dorathea's first choice of companion, but it was clear they were both on Team Theo and Dorathea wanted to make her support absolutely clear. Theo's second gave her a wry smirk.

"I love seeing their panties get in a twist," She whispered. Dorathea wondered if she meant about the Dorathea turning down Draco's request, telling him to accept Pansy's favor or some other incomprehensible joke that only Lisa seemed to understand. Dorathea then wondered if she cared.

"It's a pity it's not to the death," Lisa continued, rocking back on her heels as the two boys stepped to the middle of the floor. Dorathea gave her a scandalized look, "I offered to negotiate for one, you know. Theo was all for it; he's that scared of losing you again. But Draco suggested to first blood instead."

"The audience is supposed to remain silent during a duel," She told Lisa frostily and clasped her hands before her as she watched the wands being raised in the all-important ritual before the duel.

Dorathea had no idea what to do with Lisa's new revelation. In all her life, she'd never known anyone who was willing to die for her before- other than her original parents. Harry had been ready to die for Ron and Hermione and had never stopped to consider if the feeling was mutual. But Theo had been willing to die for the honor of a sister he had known for less than a month.

No, Dorathea corrected as she studied the tension in the narrow shoulders that bowed to Draco, Theo was willing to kill for her. The thought both warmed her and sent a warning shiver down her spine. What would Theo do when she had to become Harry again?

Anders raised his arm and waited for the perfect moment of anticipation before bringing his wand down with a bright burst of sparks, "Begin!"

A/N: I am terrible at writing duels so will be skipping the actual discussion of the fight. But if any of you lovely readers feel inspired to write out the Duel between Draco and Theo, I would be more than happy to showcase it at the end of the next chapter!

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