It had been a slow night for Daphne Greengrass and Theodore Nott. Only 5 students were brought to the hospital wing, it was one of the best nights they had seen in a long time. All their efforts were now bearing fruit. Quietly they walked out of the hospital wing and crept back to the Slytherin common room. Daphne looked out of the window and marvelled at the beauty of the night sky. She stopped near one of the windows, leaning her head on the glass.

"We shouldn't stay out here for long; if we get caught we would have hell to pay." Theo whispered to her as he came to stand behind her.

For a moment Daphne continued to look out and then she leant her head back resting it on Theo's shoulder. To be completely honest, she was sick and tired of the pain, lies and the constant fear they lived in. "I am tired Theo. I just so sick of all this. I am sick of the Carrows, of this constant fear. I wish things could go back to the way they were before the Triwizard tournament. I don't even care about getting caught right now."

Theo said nothing, but slowly, almost hesitantly he snaked his arm around her waist, drawing her close to his body, holding her protectively. Daphne kept a hand on his arm, tracing patterns on his sleeve as he buried his head on her shoulder.

"It looks so peaceful outside." Daphne said softly, "It's as if the moon, this night, they don't even know that there is a war going on. It's just so calm."

Theo tightened his grip on her waist as he lifted his head to look out, it indeed was peaceful outside. They stood like that for eternity, comforting each other.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Amycus Carrow leered behind them. Nott turned swiftly, covering Daphne.

"What do you want, Professor?" Nott asked, a threat laced in his soft voice.

"Who are you hiding behind you, Nott?" Amycus asked, eyes glinting with excitement. "Is it a filthy half-blood? What will the Dark Lord say Nott? Tut, tut."

"That would be between the Dark Lord and me. What I do here is none of your business. You are excused." Theo snapped.

Carrow's face morphed into an ugly expression. "You are still my student, Nott. And you are out of bed after hours-"

"What will you do then? Put me in detention? Do you not know whose son I am and where I stand?"

Carrow paled visibly but drew his wand nevertheless. "Your father cannot blame me for something he would know nothing about."

In an instant, he turned into a board and fell down. Daphne stepped out, her eyes flashing. "I am sorry Professor, but I do not allow anyone, including death eaters to threaten the people I love. And I really cannot allow you to remember this either. Obliviate."

Theodore Nott stood rooted at the spot. No one, not even his mother had ever openly admitted to loving him. Such emotions were a waste in Nott household. He knew his father and mother cared about him but they were not vocal about it. He kept staring at Daphne, his marriage with Daphne had been arranged, and he performed his duty with utmost faith and devotion but now things were different. The more time he spent with her, the more he realized that Daphne was a fascinating young woman. She had strong opinions and views and she was never afraid of expressing them in front of him. She was extremely protective of her sister, it was this protectiveness that drove her to join Astoria and Dumbledore's Army, and it was his duty towards her that forced him to follow her. But now that they had been working together for months, he realized, he liked healing people, he felt guilty about torturing his schoolmates but when he healed people, it eased his guilt. He liked the look of absolute pride that he sometimes saw in Daphne's eyes. Tonight as he touched her, something coursed through him, an emotion which made him fear for her life, which made him want to protect her from all of this. And now as she said she loved him, a bolt ran through his body, rooting him in his spot. He watched her, eyes wide, some unknown emotion coursing through his veins, as she altered Carrow's memory and turned to walk away. She had taken a few steps when she realized that Theo had not followed her, she turned and saw him staring at her eyes wide.

"You coming? He would come around soon enough."

He did not reply, he kept staring at her, his brain working furiously to analyse, understand and document this emotion and its effects. She waved her hand in front of him.

"Hey, Theo. You coming?"

He snapped out of his confusion and nodded, following her out of the corridor. Before he knew it, some foreign energy possessed his mind as he took Daphne's hand in his and pulled her towards the entrance hall. Daphne pulled back, confusion evident on her face. "Let's go for a walk." He said almost gruffly pulling her to his side again. Silently, they walked to the lake. Theo sank under a tree and was surprised at the relative warmth in the air before realizing that Daphne had cast a warming spell around them. He held her hand as they sat side by side.

"Daph?" He asked suddenly.

"Hmm…"

"Did you really mean it?"

"Did I really mean what?"

"Did you- do you- do you love me?" He faltered and mentally smacked himself; his father would have smacked him for stuttering in front of a woman.

Daphne did not answer, but her grip on his hand tightened for a fleeting second. Maybe he had asked the wrong question, he turned to look at her and found her blushing deeply. Her deep lashes covered her lowered eyes and he couldn't decipher the emotions in them. He put a finger under her chin and lifted her face so that he could look in her eyes. His mother always said that a person's eyes were windows to their soul.

He stared into her eyes, captivated by their sparkle and the depth of emotion in them. He knew that Daphne had not always loved him. Despite the arrangement of their marriage, Daphne regarded him with cool disregard. More often than not saw him as an acquaintance. When had that changed?

He kept looking into her eyes, he didn't care whether it was day or night. "When?" He asked after he found his voice. He was surprised by the fact that even his voice was choked with emotion.

Daphne shrugged and turned to look out at the lake. Blushing under his intense stare. "I don't know." She said slowly, "I didn't really take an effort to get to know you. But now that I have spent so much of time with you, I don't know when I started loving you. I realized I love you when Carrow threatened you tonight. I felt so angry, I wanted to rip his head out for threatening you. No one threatens the people I love." Daphne said crossing her arms angrily. Theo almost laughed; she was breath taking even in her anger. Blue eyes, which shimmered like silver orbs in the moonlight, golden hair tossed back and ruffled lightly by the wind. Round flushed cheeks, flared nostrils and full lips, pursed together.

He tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear; she turned to look at him and smiled. He smiled back, a true smile, the one which reached his green eyes.

"Calm down, tigress." He said leaning closer a playful smirk on his lips. She laughed. Theo's smiled widened. If you were to ask Theodore Nott, fifty years from that day, he wouldn't be able to tell you what possessed him to do something so spontaneous. Notts were deliberate people, always calculating their next move, always thinking about all their actions but that night, for the first time in his life Theodore did not really see himself as a Nott. He pulled Daphne to him and pressed his lips against her.

Her lips were warm, and they tasted like pineapple and cream. He kissed her, snaking his arm around her waist as they fell on the grass, he pulled her to him. He ran his other arm in her hair, after the initial shock wore off; she kissed him back with a passion. Before they knew it, his tongue had found his way inside her mouth, she moaned and electricity coursed through him. He nibbled her neck, sending waves of pleasure down her spine. After what felt like hours they resurfaced. Daphne sat up to redo the buttons on her shirt, Theo laid back and ran a finger down her back, not really caring about his undone shirt and tousled hair.

"Daph."

She turned to look at him, her hair beautifully messed up.

"You know we would get married someday."

She nodded, lying back and snuggling next to him.

"I want to make you a promise." He said, playing with her hair. "All through our relationship, I would be just me, just Theodore with you. I won't be a Nott around you."

Daphne said nothing. She knew it meant a lot to him, to make this promise to her. She kissed his chest. They continued lying on the grass in relative peace and before they knew it they were both asleep, finally giving in to their fatigue. Holding on to each other and sleeping like the children that they were.

AN: Sooooooooooooo, another chapter. Please do review and tell me what you think about it. I am trying to add a lot of stories here. Hope you like it. I really, really, really need your review, so don't forget to review. Happy Reading.

Much love

The Fishes