A/N Warning this chapter contains child abuse.
Chapter 2: A Manor of Speaking
16 Years Ago
Theodore was supposed to play in his room when the weather was bad. It had rained now for four days in a row, and he had become bored with his room. After four days, the six-year-old needed to run. Theodore waited until his father had left for the Ministry on business and Clair had busied herself preparing his lesson plan for the next week. Theodore grabbed his toy racing broom and ran through the manor, as he pretended to be the seeker for England's team in the Quidditch World Cup. He chased that snitch from his bedroom through all the empty guest rooms on the second floor. It evaded his reach, down the stairs to the first floor and through the ball room, the formal dining room and sitting rooms. He almost had it when it went into the small parlor, where his mother had always taken tea with her friends. That snitch went back up the stairs to the second floor, past the library, then back down the stairs. It flew through the kitchen and back when the staff yelled at the seeker to get out of there. It found its way into Theodore Sr's study that had somehow been left open while father was away. It finally hovered above the desk, just out of the seeker's reach. If the seeker could just get up on the chair, he could reach that snitch.
Theodore climbed onto the large chair that swiveled and made him loose his balance. He caught himself on the back of it, then turned to see the snitch still waiting for him. England's seeker only needed to lean forward, just a little more. Just a little more. He had it, England's seeker caught the snitch! England Wins! In celebration, Theodore danced in the chair, whooping and hollering at the outstanding performance of England's Team. He heard a crash as his broom hit a picture frame on the desk and sent it hurling to the floor. The celebration was over. Theodore jumped off the chair and ran to the pieces that laid on the floor. Perhaps, Tom, his father's butler, could fix it. Theodore started to gather the pieces in his hands, when he heard a voice that sent chills down his spine.
"What in Merlin's name, are you doing in here?" Nott Sr's voice, thundered through the room.
Theodore began to shake, while he looked up at the six-foot five-inch wizard who was Theodore Nott Sr. "I was only playing, sir." He stood as tall as he could. Being six, his slightly less than four-foot frame, was nothing, next to his father.
His father surveyed the room, noted the broom on the floor and broken frame in Theodore's hands. It only took mere seconds, for him to piece together what had happened.
"What have you done? Give me that, this instant." Nott Sr. held out his hand for the pieces.
Theodore placed them in his father's hand, as quickly as possible, then took several steps backwards and ran into the desk. He stood there and shook, while he waited for his father to speak.
His father looked at the picture frame, his favorite one of his wife, ruined in his hands. "What have you been told about playing in here, young man?"
Theodore tried not cry and spoke as clearly as he could, "That I am not allowed, Sir."
"So, today, you thought the rules didn't apply, did you?" His father set the pieces on the desk. "I am waiting, Theodore!"
Theodore's eye's betrayed him, as tears began to run down his face, "No, Sir."
Theodore's father slapped him across the face, which caused the six-year-old to stumble and fall to the ground. Theodore's father had struck him before, but the searing pain that stung his face this time, was unlike anything he had felt previously. He put his hand to his face to cover the welt that had formed quickly, while he tried to stand back up. He had already learned from times before, laying on the ground like this, was unbecoming of a Pure-Blood male. In his mind he was moving fast, but not fast enough. His father reached down, grabbed the hand which covered the wound and roughly pulled him to his feet.
"Stand up, Theodore. Stop cowering on the ground like a muggle. You broke the rules, now you must pay for your choices." Nott Sr. walked around the desk and picked up the toy broom. He returned to stand in front of his son. "How many pieces did you break mummy's picture into?"
Theodore, very nervously, turned to face the desk, he counted the pieces, then turned back to his father, "Five, Sir."
"Then you shall receive five lashings." His father told him, "Turn around."
Theodore cried uncontrollably, "Daddy please, I didn't mean to do it. I was bored being stuck in my room."
Theodore felt another slap hit the same spot; this time it was the back of his father's hand. The Slytherin class ring the man wore, sliced open his cheek.
Nott Sr., heard Clair, as she ran down the hall and yelled Theodore's name. She obviously realized she had lost track of the boy. He would deal with her later. Theodore's father waved his hand and displayed the wandless magic he was able to perform. He slammed the study door in her face and locked it. Nott Sr. turned back to his son, grabbed him behind the neck and lead him to the couch, where he pushed him on it, face first. Theodore knew not to fight but couldn't help the tears and the scream that followed each blow to his back with the toy broom, which broke in half, with the fifth and final strike.
Twenty minutes later, Theodore laid face down on his bed with his shirt off and continued to cry, while Clair cleaned his wounds. "Oh, little love, I am so sorry that I got all caught up in work today, instead of playing with you. This shouldn't have happened."
Clair couldn't help the tears that fell down her face, while she tended to her charge. With carefully worded charms and a few waves of her wand, Theodore was on the mend. She got him ready for bed, then gave him some hot chocolate with a sleeping potion. With-in minutes, Theodore was fast asleep. Clair went down the stairs to the study. She took several deep breaths, before she knocked. She heard Nott Sr. tell her to enter. One last deep breath and she had gone in to face her punishment.
xXXx
Theo had been back in his family home now, for five days. Every morning, he met with the lawyers to visit the ten factories the Nott family owned. Each one producing different office or medical supplies. St. Mungos got all the supplies they needed to run an efficient wizarding hospital, from their factory in London. They also had at least one factory in Italy, Bulgaria, Spain, and France. All the meetings went well, save the two in London. Theo got the distinct impression from the managers of both, they would prefer to continue working with Mr. Prince. He figured it was because of his age and tried to put it out of his mind. He had plenty of other things to occupy him, once he got back to the Manor each night.
Theo spent the better part of the first two nights interviewing new staff members. His mother had not liked the idea of house elves, so they never had them. Once, she had passed away his father had kept the human staff she had employed. Theo grew up used to them. Now that he was the head of the family, he chose to honor his mother and only have human staff as well. Now that he had a full staff in place, a butler, a cook, two house keepers and a grounds keeper, he could start redecorating the house. He kept them all busy, going from one room to the next, telling his new butler Tony what he wanted done in each room. Most of it, involved removing all his old ancestor's portraits and dreary items that reminded him of the dark ways his father had believed in. Theo wanted the house fresh, open and bright. So, new curtains and paint were ordered. He would roll up his selves every night and help the staff. They had started on the rooms that would be used the most since he had no plans in the near future of entertaining large crowds of people. Theo figured, if he ever married, (which he highly doubted since he had never gotten over his first love) he would allow his wife to redo the first-floor entertaining rooms. He doubted they would get used until that time anyway. He wanted the more intimate parts of the manor redone, first.
They started with the kitchen, which mostly meant paint and an update of all the things the new cook wanted. He gave her full power over the entire room: colors, appliances, pots and pans, everything. After all, it was to be her work area. The family dining room, which would still sit twenty people, was done in light wood, a pale light blue paint. The white lace curtains which his housekeepers chose were hung. He wasn't really into lace, but he did agree once they were up, they helped open up the room and give that bright feeling for which he was looking. Theo had always hated the dark wood they had before and the dark green paint that seemed to be his father's theme throughout the manor. Theo had enough green growing up and living in Hogwarts. It seemed to be a norm, for the Pure-Blood families, that green and silver dominated their lives. Theo was over it.
He allowed his butler the right to redecorate the library as he saw fit. Theo was pleased, when the room transformed from a dark room that needed bright lamps to read by, with green velvet on the walls and floor, to wood floors and white walls, with light wood shelves, instead of the dark ones the books had gotten lost on. There were two windows in the room, Theo had not known were there, as they had dark green, heavy curtains covering them that always stay closed. Now, they were open, with light green shear curtains that allowed in the sunlight.
The staff rooms were on the third floor. Theo allowed each of the staff member's an endless budget to decorate their rooms for themselves. They were the ones living in them, not him. On the fifth night, he was sitting on the floor of what once was his father's study, but was now gutted, except for the bookshelves against the back wall which he chose to keep and the desk. He was removing, what the muggles call vinyl records, from a box one by one, trying to decide where in the room he wanted to put them and his turn table. Theo heard a knock on the front door, but knew Tony would get it. After a few minutes, Tony lead Blaise Zabini into the study.
"Damn, man look at this place. I thought I was in the wrong manor for a minute." Theo looked up at the voice of one of his best friends. He jumped up off the floor and gave the other man a clap on the back.
"It is so good to see you, mate. I sent an owl six days ago, when I got in town. Where the hell have you been?" Theo asked, unsure he really wanted a truthful answer to that question.
Blaise was a bit of a ladies' man and never seemed to have the same woman on his arm twice. Although, he always did land back with Tracey Davis, when there was no one else. Theo never understood why, he just didn't give it a go with the girl, blood lines be damned.
Blaise gestured with his arms, as he always did. "Oh, you know, here and there." He laughed, "Mostly on babysitting duty, up until the last six months or so. This week, I have been busy moving. Same as you, it seems." Blaise looked around the room at all the boxes, with strange things in each of them. "What is this stuff, anyway?" He picked up a bright blue, oval shaped ball, with a white star on it.
"That," Theo said, while taking it from Balise, "is an autographed American football, from the quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys and is not a toy." He set the football on the stand, he grabbed out of the box, on the heirloom desk. The only piece of furniture from the study that he chose to keep. "What do you mean, babysitting duty?"
Blaise sat on the corner of the desk, "Malfoy. I have been living with Malfoy. Someone had to make sure he didn't drink himself to death or worse the last few years. He couldn't stomach living with his mother and father, after they were all pardoned. Between, the nightmares and people trying to hex him when he walks down the street, it's a wonder he is still sane."
Tony brought a selection of beers on a tray to Theo and Blaise and set the tray on the desk and left the room. Theo picked one up, opened it and took a drink. "Oh wow, I haven't thought much about Draco, since his trial." He lied then took another drink. "I take it the wizarding world didn't forgive as easily, as Potter than?"
Blaise gave Theo a look knowing he was lying about not having thought of Malfoy then looked at the drinks, and scrunched up his nose, "No, many people feel the Malfoy family got off too easy. What is this?" He picked up one of the beers.
"American beer, I have rather taken a liking to it." Theo told him, taking another swig. Blaise shrugged and cracked the top of one giving it a try.
"Well, I guess I better make time to go and see him, one of these days. Where is he living now?" Theo asked between pulls of his beer.
Blaise smiled at the beer. "We had a flat together in muggle London. We tried to stay a couple blocks from Diagon Alley, but people figured out where he was staying and would send howlers all the time or waited outside to harass him if he ventured out. I'll give you the address."
"Where are you living now?" Theo set his beer down and started unpacking one of the boxes again.
"I moved back with my mother. She has that manor house all to herself. I took the west wing. Looks like you're doing a nice redecorating job on your place." Blaise continued, with his beer.
Theo looked around the study. "Yeah, if I am going to live here, I had to get my father 'out' of the place. So, is Draco doing better, is that why you're not babysitting any longer?"
"Yes and no. He is doing a lot better than he had been. But I don't have to babysit any longer because baby Greengrass took over." Blaise raised his eyebrows, in a you know what I mean, sort of way.
This caught Theo's attention, "Greengrass, Daphne's little sister." His eyes lit up. "Are they back in town?"
"Thought you might be happy to hear that, mate. Yeah, they came back to London a little over a year ago. I ran into Daphne at Gringotts and invited her to a party, Draco and I were having." Blaise smiled at his friend's inability to hide his excitement to this news. "You should be warned, she is dating Flint. You will have to bring your A game."
Theo brushed invisible dust off his leather jacket, "Please, she never could resist the Nott charm. Winning her back from that git, will be easy."
xXXx
14 Years Ago
Theodore laid on the grass, under a large tree, in the middle of the Malfoy gardens. His father had taken him to another infernal Pure-Blood get together. Theodore liked a couple of the boys his age. Blaise was cool and Draco wasn't bad, when he was by himself. Truth be told, that was who Theodore enjoyed spending his time with. But when a crowd gathered, for some reason, Draco would turn into a prat who always had to be the center of attention. Theodore preferred not to be in the limelight. It was easier to not do anything to embarrass or anger his father, if he was alone. So, once all the other kids would arrive, he would sneak away. It also made it easier to hide any injuries that were not fully healed. Today it was his ribs. He had not put his shoes on the mat properly by the door, when he came in after he played outside that morning; it had earned him a blow to the chest with his father's briefcase. Clair had promised, there was no permanent damage, but it still hurt like hell.
He laid there for over an hour and just let the breeze blow over him as he enjoyed the peace and quiet. That was interrupted, when he heard the other boys talk excitedly, while they came in his direction, so he sat up.
"Theo, what are you doing?" Draco sounded snotty as ever as he raised his voice to talk to Theodore. "The rest of us are going to impress the girls and play a pick-up game of Quidditch, come on."
Draco's statement had not been presented as an option, but Theodore declined anyway. "Sorry, Draco, I can't" Theodore laid back down.
Draco stood over him, "What do you mean, you can't?"
Theodore sat back up, "I mean, I can't."
"And why not? Scared you will fall off your broom?" The group of boys laughed, as they told Draco, what a good one that was.
"No, I don't feel well." Theodore didn't like how the boys laughed at him. It happened all too often when Draco was around. He really wished Draco's followers would go away, so he could talk to his friend alone. Only eight years old and somehow Draco commanded the entire group of Pure-Blood boys, from age eleven down.
Draco grabbed Theodore by the wrist to pull him up. Draco always tried to get Theodore to join in with the others. "You look fine to me, don't be such a baby."
Theodore winced when Draco pulled on him and grabbed his side. Draco let go of his hand and gave Theodore a look which said he knew what was wrong. He turned to the group, "You guys go on ahead, we will catch up." He then turned back to Theodore. "What's it this time, gut or ribs?"
Theodore sat back down. "Ribs, Clair says I am fine though; it just hurts."
Draco sat down beside him. "Dobby!" With a small crack, the tiny house elf was there, "Get Theo some of that potion you give to me for pain." With a crack, the elf was gone.
"You don't have to do that, Draco." Theodore didn't like that he would owe him. Draco was by and far Theodore's best mate, that is, if he had a best mate, but that didn't mean Draco wouldn't use something like this to get what he wanted later on. Theodore also hated that somehow Draco knew, what was going on, even though they had never talked about it. That either meant, Draco went through the same thing, or Theodore didn't hide it well. Neither thought was a pleasant one. A moment later Dobby returned and handed a small vile to Draco and was gone, just as quickly.
"Just take it and shut up." Draco sneered at him. Theodore accepted the vile and downed it, while he made a face at the taste. "Good, now you can come and play with the rest of us." Draco got up and dusted off his pants.
Theodore didn't look Draco in the eye, "I don't know how to fly."
"What do you mean, you don't know how to fly? I learned when I was four, we are eight now. You must know how by now." Draco spat out.
"Father always says he will teach me but never has the time." Theodore looked at the ground.
"Guess, you will have to stand and watch with the other girls then." Draco's lip curled up as he walked off.
Theodore stood up. "Draco, would you teach me?"
Draco whirled around, "I am not a servant. Go home and teach yourself."
"I don't have a broom." Theodore said, at almost a whisper.
"You don't even have a broom." Draco scoffed. "You must be the worst Pure-Blood wizard I know."
Theodore sat back down, "Never mind."
Draco thought for a few minutes, "Fine, I will show you how to get off the ground, then you're on your own. I have an older broom in the shed you can borrow. You can't let my father find out, though. Understand?"
"Of course, my father can't find out, either." Theodore stood up and followed Draco. After they retrieved the broom, they went to what they hoped was a more secluded part of the gardens, to practice.
While Draco showed Theodore, how to mount his broom and kick off, two of the girls had left the group in search of Draco. Pansy had whined to her best friend that she only wanted to watch Draco. The rest of the boys were far too plain for her. From age six Pansy's mother had told her how perfect it would be if she and Draco were to end up together. He was the heir to the most powerful Pure-Blood family in all of Britain and Pansy liked the idea of being powerful. At age eight, the girls really didn't fully understand what being in a relationship meant. However, Pansy had already decided that Draco was the boy she wanted to be in a relationship with. She had dragged Daphne, with her to find him. Once they had, they hid behind a bush to watch. Pansy went on and on about what a great teacher Draco was, and how nice it was for him to help that loser, Theodore Nott, learn how to fly. Daphne couldn't have cared less about Draco, she always thought he was self-centered and rude. Theodore, however, was quiet and always seemed so kind; she couldn't take her eyes off him.
Pansy looked at her friend and frowned when she noticed how Daphne smiled proudly at Theodore. "You have got to be kidding me, Daph. Theodore, really? He is not even good looking."
"I think he's cute." Daphne blushed and realized she had never thought of a boy as cute before.
"Oh please, he is so boring compared to Draco." After a few minutes Draco had left and only Theodore remained, to practice on his own. Pansy grabbed Daphne's hand, "Let's go back now."
Daphne pulled her hand away, "You go on. I don't want to get in the way, when you finally get Draco alone." Pansy smiled and flipped her hair in a way she saw the older girls do and assumed it was supposed to be attractive. Then she gaited off without another word.
Daphne stayed behind the bush and watched Theodore practice, until he had gone a little higher than he should have and fell off the broom. Daphne gasped and ran over to him, "Theodore, are you okay!"
Theodore stood up and blushed from embarrassment. "Yeah, just tore my pants, that's all" He dusted himself off, "Where did you come from?"
Daphne was the one who looked embarrassed now, "Sorry, I was watching you from over there." She pointed at the bush. "Pansy had insisted on looking for Draco and didn't want him to see us." She explained to him while she looked at the ground.
"Where is she now?" Theodore asked softly.
"She left, when Draco did." Daphne chanced a glance up at him.
Theodore smiled at the fact Daphne had stayed behind for him. He didn't understand why at the time, but as he looked at her, his cheeks felt warm. When she looked back up at him, he quickly looked at the broom in his hand. Daphne brushed grass out his messy brown hair. She like that he kept the top a little longer than the sides, it made his hair look good, even when messy. Theodore looked up at her through his lashes so his head wouldn't move. It felt good, when she had brushed her hands through his hair. But he was too scared to tell her.
"I guess, we should go find the others." Daphne suggested to him, as she pulled her hands from his hair and took his hand.
Theodore beamed at her, "I need to find a way to get the broom home first. Without my father finding out."
Daphne let go of his hand and took the broom from him, "May I?"
"Sure." Theodore tried not to sound disappointed that she no longer held his hand.
"Minni!" Daphne called out. A little elf, with a pink dress on, appeared. "Theo, this is Minni, she goes everywhere with Astoria and I. Minni, would you please, take this broom to Nott manor and put it in Theo's room?"
The elf took the broom, "Certainly, miss." Then she was gone.
Daphne took Theodore's hand again and started to lead him to the group of kids. She noticed as he smiled at her, "What?"
"No one calls me Theo, except Draco and sometimes Blaise." Theo admitted as he became lost in the blue of her eyes.
"Well, now, the three of us call you Theo, if that's okay." Daphne stopped and waited for his answer.
Theodore was pulled out of his gaze of her eyes and gave her hand a squeeze, "Sure, it's okay, I like the way it sounded when you said it."
A/N Thank you for reading, I am not the type of writer who only continues if they get tons of reviews, as I am writing for myself as well as for you. Thoughts are helpful, good or bad. Either way, I will continue to write.
