Although Theda had planned to unpack when she returned to her chambers for the night, she was far too tired now. Before her interaction with Severus in the storeroom she had been feeling exhausted, and now that was coupled with something more. The air felt heavier when Severus was around, and it was enough to make her nauseous. This was a feeling Theda had experienced many times in her life, and she knew exactly what it meant.
"He's in pain." she thought.
Theda had always been hyperaware of the emotions of others. To be more accurate, she was not only aware of others' emotions but extremely susceptible to them rubbing off on her. What she felt went beyond empathy - it felt, to her, supernatural, at times. Large gatherings had always been difficult for her; she could feel every emotion in the room all at once, which was just too much for her to sit through for very long.
She hadn't noticed the painful emotions brewing in Severus during dinner as she had been overstimulated by all the joy, anxiety, nostalgia, excitement, and every other feeling exhibited by the students and staff. When they were alone, however, she could very clearly sense the raw, unpolluted pain emanating from him.
Despite the toll this seemingly unique ability took on her, Theda had found it very useful over the years as it had given her clarity on many occasions in her personal relationships. Not everyone wore their hearts on their sleeves as she always had, and thanks to her ability to see through dismissive comments like "I'm fine", and "Everything's okay", she had always been an excellent peacemaker, coaxing even the most reserved people out of their shells. She'd always been someone people felt comfortable confiding in, even complete strangers on more than one occasion. She took a lot of pride in being a safe person for others to turn to, even if it did mean sharing their pain.
"Still," she thought, "I hope returning to Hogwarts wasn't a mistake. I don't know if I can handle being around this many people as well as I used to... Perhaps I've grown...weak."
Theda woke up around 9:00 the next morning, having given herself permission to sleep in, knowing that she needed it after last night. She stepped into her slippers and finally began unpacking. Her chambers, like the chambers of all of her colleagues, consisted of three rooms. The first was the main room, which included a spacious seating area with a large fireplace, as well as a small kitchenette.
She stocked the cabinets with all her favorite teas and snacks, then began decorating the rest of the room. She removed a small satin bag out of her suitcase and from it she retrieved throw pillows, quilts, and curtains, followed by an almost absurd amount of books. She made quick work of putting them all just as she wanted them, grateful in this moment for her ability to use magic. "Work smarter, not harder" was her credo, and she always knew she never would have made it in the muggle world.
She then began hanging photos all over the room. Soon there were galleries of moving photographs on each wall, all black and white. Her photographs were her most prized possessions.
She reached into the bag and pulled out two more photos, the only ones in color. She placed them on the mantle above the fireplace. Looking back at her from the frame on the left was an elderly woman in a nurse's uniform, smiling and waving. In the right frame stood a young man, who was laughing and holding his hands up to cover his face, as if he'd just noticed his picture was being taken when he least expected it.
Once she had added her personal touches to the living room and bedroom, she moved on to the spare room. She had originally been planning to use the room as a study where she could grade papers, but after her conversation with Severus last night she'd come up with another plan for the room.
When she had finished unpacking, Theda spent the afternoon cooking her favorite meal, New England-style clam chowder. She decided she would cook for herself so she could skip dinner in the Great Hall tonight and use the spare time to take a trip to the storeroom to get some ingredients for her potion-making. She knew Severus would be teaching classes during the day and didn't want to disrupt him.
As the students and staff gathered in the Great Hall for dinner, she made her way down to the dungeons from her chambers up in the Ravenclaw Tower. When she got to the potions classroom she was pleased to discover that it was, in fact, empty, so she could access the storeroom undisturbed.
"Let's see," she said to herself, "I need anjelica, fireflies, herbaria, wormwood essence, and saltpeter."
She removed five small glass jars from her bottomless satin bag and began filling them with the necessary ingredients, measuring them carefully so she could account for how much she had borrowed. Just as she had finished logging what she had taken, there was a quick knock at the door, followed by a long creaking as it was slowly pushed open.
"Why, hello, Theda."
"Oh, hello, Gilderoy." She said, smiling meekly. "What are you doing down here?"
"I might ask you the same question." He said in a flirtatious tone.
"I'm just collecting a few ingredients for some potions."
"Is that so?" He asked in a suave voice. "You sure you're not hiding from me?"
"Hiding from you? Why would I be hiding from you?" She asked.
"Don't play coy with me." He said, teasingly. "You and I both know that you were making eyes at me all throughout the feast last night. I must applaud your commitment to this 'hard-to-get' act, but I assure you, you may drop the pretenses. The feeling is quite mutual."
Making eyes at him? This did not ring a bell to Theda, who genuinely had no interest in Gilderoy whatsoever.
"I'm sorry, Gilderoy if I gave you the wrong impression. I can sometimes zone out and...I sort of end up staring off into space. I think that may be what happened last night. I wasn't trying to send you any romantic signals."
"Come now, Theda. I told you, you no longer need be demure. You already have my attention."
"Gilderoy, I understand how awkward this is for both of us, but I really must insist. I was not trying to grab your attention in any way. I'm not interested in pursuing anything romantic with you, or anyone for that matter."
"Methinks the lady doth protest too much." He said. "The more you try to deny me, the more you reveal the true desires of your heart."
Theda was stunned. She had never in her life encountered anyone so dense, so incapable of taking a hint.
"I'm sorry, Gilderoy, for the misunderstanding. I really must be going now."
Gilderoy blocked off the door with his body, slowly leaning his head toward hers as she tried to push past him.
"I must admit, this little game of yours is only making me want you all the more. There's tension between us, you can't deny that."
Theda jerked her head to the side, narrowly avoiding Lockhart's lips as he leaned in for a kiss. She was shocked at how aggressively he was pursuing her.
"You're terribly cute when you pretend to be scared." He said, grabbing her jawline as he leaned in once more.
Gilderoy suddenly jumped when the door behind him swung open.
"Severus!" Theda gasped, relieved that she had been saved from Gilderoy's advances.
"Ahh, Severus, old chum." Gilderoy said, turning on the charm and flashing his blindingly white teeth. "This is rather embarrassing, I must admit. Allow me to explain. You see, Theda here intimated to me that she wished to speak to me alone and suggested we meet in your storeroom. We didn't think anyone would be down here this time of night."
Theda was too stunned to speak. She wanted to protest, to explain what had actually happened, and to slap Gilderoy as hard as she possibly could.
"Severus, Gilderoy just-"
"-Just wanted to seal the deal with a little kiss, yes. But pumpkin, I'm afraid we'd be embarrassing poor Sev so I'm afraid we'll have to take this somewhere else. We'll get out of your hair, mate." He said, grabbing Theda's silk bag from her hands. "Come, my pet."
Severus said nothing, as he stepped aside so Lockhart could exit the storeroom. Before doing so, however, Lockhart grabbed a small vile off one of the shelves filled with a shimmering gold serum.
"Ah, I do apologize, Severus. I meant to grab this when I first came in but Theda practically threw herself at me and it slipped my mind. You won't mind if I make good use of this felix felicis, will you? Not that I'll be needing any help getting lucky tonight if you catch my meaning." He chuckled as he tossed the vial into the silk bag. "Appreciate it, Sevvy. I'll have my owl bring you a personalized copy of Magical Me as thanks."
The look on Severus's face was one of pure disgust.
"Severus, please let me explain-"
"-No need, Miss Desmond. Please go with Mr. Lockhart so I can take inventory of my storeroom undisturbed."
"I-"
"Come, cricket." Gilderoy interrupted, taking hold of Theda's arm and escorting her out of the dungeons. "Let's go to dinner. We've bothered the poor man enough."
