ℑ𝔫 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔇𝔞𝔯𝔨 𝔬𝔣 𝔑𝔦𝔤𝔥𝔱 (𝔅𝔶 𝔐𝔶 𝔖𝔦𝔡𝔢)
In the dark of night
By my side
In the dark of night
By my side
I wish you were
I wish you were
INXS
One may assume that the worst day of Theodore Nott's life had to have been the night he was turned into a vampire.
This assumption is incorrect.
To be honest, the day he turned into a vampire was one of the best. Not in the sense that Theodore had any gainful enjoyment from this change within him, but best as in that after it all transpired, he let out a breath of relief. You see; he'd been waiting for the proverbial 'other shoe to drop' for what had felt like forever, and now, it had happened.
All that was left to do was figure out how to survive like this, as this 'other creature'.
No, the worst day of Theo's life occurred six months earlier.
It was the day that everything was taken away from Theo, the day he grew up all at once. It was the day his childhood innocence was jettisoned, the day he felt very small and helpless for the first time, and the day he realized that he was going to be pulled into a war he very much did not want to be in. He'd thought, stupidly, that because he was a child, Voldemort would ignore them.
This was the day that Theo was proven so very wrong.
The day in question was July 13th.
That was the day after Draco Malfoy was bitten by a werewolf at Voldemort's behest.
He'd heard the stirrings of it; his ancient father muttering about how the Dark Lord was very displeased with the Malfoy's attention to detail of late. He'd told Theo that Lucius would pay.
But his father was a terrible person with an even worse temper, and at the best of times would like nothing more than to see 'friends' be smushed under the thumb of someone else. Theo often ignored his half-crazed assertions, as half of the things that Thaddeus was 'sure' Voldemort was about to do turned out to be false.
Besides, at this point, Theo would have never dreamed that Voldemort would go after Draco, who was scarcely sixteen and hadn't done anything with the war. No one could have thought that.
He didn't owl Draco that night, not that Draco would have answered. He just bit his tongue, gave a monotone, 'Yes, of course, Father' and retried to his room hoping his dad would get drunk and doze off in his study without bothering him anymore. It was a safe bet. His father only seemed to recall his son's presence when he was sober, which was practically never. And even if he did remember that he'd passed his genetics down to someone, he was mostly talking at Theo or chastising him.
Theo spent most of his time at Nott Manor in long, solitary silences, other than the few times that Daphne or Draco popped around to see him.
Theo had the passing thought of seeing if Draco wanted to go somewhere tomorrow, perhaps Diagon Alley. If Voldemort was truly displeased with his father, Lucius Malfoy would be just as much a terror as Theo's own father was, and Draco would probably appreciate a chance to escape for a bit.
Theo was awakened the next morning by his father's laughter.
This was deeply disturbing on many levels, most pointedly the fact that Theo was sure his father had never gleaned any enjoyment from anything ever. You could tell that man the funniest joke in the world, and his father would just narrow his eyes and probably hex you.
Theo, already on high alert, changed quickly and carefully made his way downstairs to find his father grasping his stomach and holding a piece of correspondence. At first, Theo was sure he was wrong and his father was having some sort of fit, or a heart attack. Thaddeus looked up, bursting into laughter again and now Theo was sure his father had lost his mind. It was a long time coming, Theo thought with a hint of frustration, but his father had to have lost his marbles.
"Boy, I told you! I told you it was coming!" Thaddeus said, waving the paper above his head.
"What was coming, father?" Theo asked.
Theo ducked as Thaddeus took a swing at him. "Don't you ever listen?" Thaddeus thundered, his expression changing from amusement to fury, "Disrespectful little shite-,"
"What's happened?" Theo asked, far used to being called a variety of colorful names. It didn't mean he liked it.
"The Dark Lord has put the Malfoy's in their place," Thaddeus replied with a creepy, vile grin. Theo felt his mouth go dry.
"Malfoys?" He asked, emphasizing how his father had not just said Mr. Malfoy, but the whole family.
"All of 'em," His father confirmed, slapping the paper, "Just got the news this morning. Your little friend is an example of how to fuck something up so supremely that even their children and their children's children will remember what a pitiful excuse their father is."
Theo lunged for the paper, breath hitching. His father was so shocked at Theo's actions, that his boy would make such a split-second movement, that he barely grasped the paper and it was easy for Theo to pull it against his chest.
His heart pounded as he scanned the correspondence. He didn't think he read most of it, just scanned for words that jumped out at him.
Disappointed.
Punishment.
Remembrance.
Bitten.
Draco.
Werewolf.
Theo felt the paper slip from his fingers, sashaying down onto the carpeted floor. He looked up at his father, eyes wide. Thaddeus was preening in superiority, his chin jutted out and his eyes gleaming with pleasure.
Before his father could say anything, Theo turned and grasped a handful of powder beside the fireplace and threw himself into the flames, hardly choking out 'Malfoy Manor' in time.
He stumbled ungratefully into the Malfoy's receiving hall, too horrified to be able to pick himself up at the exit. He tumbled over his feet, soot catching on his trousers and fingers as he broke his fall.
"Mr. Nott."
Theo looked up to see Draco's father. In just a few days, he seemed to have aged a hundred years. Theo caught his breath and stood to face him, focusing on his hard. Lucius' face was sallow and gaunt, and his eyes had lost that spark to them; the spark that he always had that made people feel like he was indeed better than you and you all knew it. His fingers shook as he held his cane and he seemed to be leaning on it more than he ever had. His hair was not tied as it often was, but splayed over his shoulders, and seemed less luminous than it often did.
"Sir." Theo managed to croak out, all his apologies and sympathies catching in his throat.
He'd thought perhaps he was wrong. Maybe his father had gotten a joke missive. But seeing the Malfoy patriarch's face confirmed it; Draco was bitten last night.
"No doubt your father told you the news?" Lucius surmised, "Am I to take it that he's gloating?"
Theo licked his lips, looking at the floor. Lucius just gave a sharp, controlled nod, pressing his lips into a thin line.
"He always has been so pleased with other's misfortunes." Lucius managed to mutter, eyes narrowed, "But he should watch his back too." Lucius looked right at Theo, an intense, frantic, sort of expression, "And you should watch yours too, boy," He said softly.
Theo didn't know how to respond to that. He felt a gothic sense of horror chill his bones at the sureness of Lucius's tone.
"Do you know something, sir?" Theo asked, his voice quivering. Lucius blinked, the expression gone.
"No." He said, squaring his shoulders, "But it has been made clear that anything could happen to anyone."
If he did know something, he was a bloody good liar, because Theo was almost inclined to believe him. Then he recalled the look he'd been given, as though Lucius felt he was already looking at something long past, and Theo decided to keep a weathered eye open from now on…reminding himself that yes, anything could happen.
And more than likely, something would. He just was not sure to what degree it would be yet.
"Can I see him?"
"He'd probably appreciate the company," Narcissa spoke, entering from the far room, "We're so glad to see you here, Theodore." She said, kissing his cheeks.
"Of course, ma'am. Draco's my best friend. I was…" He didn't know how to put it into words, "Shocked this morning." But shocked seemed too tame of a reaction, but he didn't know how to articulate anything else.
"He's in his room, recovering. I'll have one of the elves bring you both up some tea and some snacks," Narcissa said. It was clear she'd been sobbing all morning because there was a faint ring of red around her eyes, but she'd managed to clean herself up as best she could.
"The meat better be rare," Lucusi snapped as he stalked out of the room, "I doubt he'll eat anything else now."
Theo caught a glimpse of Narcissa hissing angrily to her husband as she followed him out, scolding him for his comment, and leaving Theo in the receiving room alone.
He didn't knock on Draco's door. They had passed the point of such politeness with each other years ago.
Draco was laid up in bed, his shoulder bandaged with a large, fluffy bandage.
It looked like he had been aged up ten years too. Gone was the childlike mold of his face, replaced with the harrows of adulthood and tragedy.
"Mate, you look like shite," Theo forced out, not going to wail at his beside about the unfairness of this. Draco would find it annoying and Theo would not demean himself by doing so. Plus, his words were the truth.
"Good to see you, Theo," Draco whispered, "You're one of the only ones I wanted to see. Pansy's been trying to get a hold of me for hours. She's sent five owls. I'd take Blaise, but he's never available in summers." Draco said, staring at his ceiling, "And Crabbe and Goyle are being obtuse, per usual."
Theo choked out a laugh, "Yeah?"
"I guess they didn't get to read the whole message. Not that they can read, granted. I suppose they just heard 'bit' and both assumed Voldemort sent a blast-ended skrewt on me. Crabbe at least sent over Dittany; we certainly have enough, and it wouldn't help, but it was something." Draco said, motioning to a pile of letters.
"Can I see it?" Theo asked, unable to take his eyes off Draco's shoulder.
Draco shrugged, unraveling it slowly, wincing as he moves his joints, "I'm still sore. I mean, getting bit by anything is no walk in the park."
"Fenrir?" Theo guessed.
"Yes." Draco balled the bandages around his hand, moving his shoulder to let Theo see. There were jagged marks, deep and still bloody, that marred his shoulder. It looked like Fenrir had grabbed and shaken him like a chew toy, or yanked his teeth out. Draco's entire shoulder was disfigured now, and Theo doubted it would ever look proper again.
"Great Salazar, Draco!" Theo said, feeling bile rise in his throat, "Did you know?"
"Of course not!" Draco snapped, "I wouldn't have gone! I would have…" He trailed off, unable to think of what he would have done because the answer was that when the Dark Lord wanted to see you, you went. There was no 'would have'. The most likely answer was he would have attended, scared out of his wits. But they both pretended for Draco's sake that maybe he would have fled.
"He invited us all to dinner. Wanted to talk about my father's work of late. He phrased it like my father was being rewarded. I don't…recall much. Just that we realized he was displeased and then, all of a sudden, Fenrir was behind me." Draco looked positively ill, "And my mother was screaming. That's what I really remember; the pain, and mum wailing."
"Fuck," Theo muttered, rubbing his eyes, "How are you feeling?"
"I hurt. I'm tired. And I'm…" Draco paused, trying not to tear up, "I'm so bloody afraid, Theo. Of my first moon. Of the pain. Of what I might do. And that's not all…" Draco added.
"There's more?" Theo asked, shaking his head, "What more could Voldemort possibly want from you?" He asked with a snarl.
"He wants me to kill Dumbledore this year."
There was a long, horrified silence as Theo just stared, uncomprehendingly at Draco.
"He…what?" He asked. Draco met his expression, shrugging.
"You're…you're a kid!" Theo said, his voice rising to a thunderous decibel, "Dumbledore is a master wizard! You're going to die, Draco! You're going to fucking die!"
"He says that this will give me more strength," Draco said tonelessly, "And a better advantage. That Dumbledore likes to collect those on the outskirts of society, so he'll be more inclined to be sympathetic to me. As a werewolf." Draco started to re-bandage his wound, "I don't know what to do, mate."
"You'll never land an 'Avada' on him, that's for sure," Theo said, hunching over and starting to brainstorm, "And he's too savvy to see most spells coming, I'm positive of that. If there were ever a time to be sneaky, to be cunning, to invoke Salazar…this is it."
Draco frowned, "You're not suggesting I do it?"
Theo blinked hard, feeling a sense of hopelessness and lack of control that they weren't supposed to be feeling at this age, not yet, bubble inside of him, so violently he thought he'd burst right here. In response, though, Theo just gave Draco a long, scared look. They could pretend Draco would have run away if he knew what was in store for him last night, but they couldn't pretend with this.
"What other choice do you have?"