TW: Just the usual for mentions of torture and war
ooo
Theo let out a relieved sigh, as the common room door clicked shut behind him and swiftly blended back in with the wall. He didn't usually come out here anymore, not since his fight with Neville, but the noise in the common room had been particularly unbearable today, and when Theo had tried to escape into the boy's dormitory instead, things had only gotten worse.
They had all been forced to listen to Vincent Crabbe boasting about how good he was getting at the Cruciatus Curse, until Blaise finally snapped and told him to shut up. This only seemed to encourage Crabbe even more, whose descriptions of his torture victims were getting more and more explicit until Theo finally couldn't take it anymore and left.
He took a couple of seconds to let the cool dungeon air wash over him and tried to even out his breath, before he tried to decide what to do. He could turn left, away from the spot he and Neville usually occupied, but he knew that the closer he got to the Entrance Hall, the greater the risk of being caught out of bed. …Or he could turn right and hope that, after six days of Theo avoiding the place like the plague, Longbottom would have given up on meeting him there, and that he'd have the place to himself once more.
Deciding that he'd rather face Neville than a grumpy Filch, he turned right and walked further into the labyrinth of the dungeons towards the spot where he and Neville had spent so much time together, rounded the corner and…froze.
Neville was already there. — Sat on the floor with his legs pulled towards his chest and a heavy-looking book propped up on his knees.
Theo hesitated for several long moments, heart racing and chest constricting painfully, as he watched the other wizard read, wishing that he could just go over there and drop onto the floor next to him like he always used to do. He didn't even want to talk… just sit and be with him. Because, as much as he had tried to deny it, as much as he hated himself for being so weak, he had really missed Neville. — And just seeing him sit there like that, so obviously waiting for Theo to come and talk to him, made him want to forget all about their stupid fight and just go back to how things used to be.
Sucking in a deep breath, he gathered all his courage and began to walk towards the reading Gryffindor, slowly, like someone would if they had to approach a sleeping dragon.
Neville's head snatched up the second he heard the soft footsteps on the floor, looking like he'd just been caught breaking into the headmaster's office again, before he seemed to recognise Theo, let out a sharp gasp and scrambled to his feet.
"Hi…" He breathed when Theo finally came to a halt in front of him, his eyes wide and almost fearful.
Theo took a moment before he replied, fighting with the urge to shout at him again as the memory of the Gryffindor's stupid stunt from the week before penetrated his mind, before he finally seemed to get the upper hand on his emotions and forced out a shaky. "Hi." instead.
Unsure of what to say next, they both stood there and stared at each other for several long seconds until Theo decided to sit down and Neville followed suit, letting himself drop ungraciously onto the floor next to him.
It felt awkward, — as if they had forgotten how to talk to each other — but Theo wanted to make this work somehow.
He opened his mouth, not sure what he was going to say when Neville beat him to it: "I want to be your friend!" He blurted, and even in the dark Theo could make out that his face had turned desperate, with great, remorseful eyes staring pleadingly over at him. "I - I just didn't think you'd want… I mean… but then you said…" He trailed off and Theo could feel the embarrassment radiate off him in great big waves.
"What about all your other friends?" Theo voiced the thought that had been plaguing him for the past week. "I would have thought you have plenty on your plate with all of them?"
A small crease appeared between Neville's eyebrows as he looked at Theo in confusion. "I don't…" he cleared his throat, and Theo was sure he was blushing. "I mean… I don't really have any, uhm…friends…like that."
"What!?" Theo practically spat the word out, feeling incredulous. "What the fuck are you on about? You're constantly surrounded by them." He paused briefly, having to fight down a wave of jealousy, before he added a quiet: "Everyone adores you."
Neville gaped at him, shaking his head in disbelief. "People tolerate me." He explained, his lips pulling into a bitter line. "That's not the same as being friends." He sighed. "Look, I'm not saying that I don't care about them. I do! My classmates are always really nice to me and they don't mind having me around, but I don't think any of them would even notice, let alone care, if I just stopped tagging along. I'm not…"
He paused, looking frustrated, and then pushed himself off the wall and scooted awkwardly across the floor until he was sat right in front of Theo, his eyes wide and imploring as he continued. "I'm not used to people caring about me. When I got caught the other day, it didn't even cross my mind that someone would wonder where I'd gone off to, except for maybe Ginny and Luna, and they were right there with me."
Theo's heart leapt, as Neville reached out and placed a careful hand onto his knee. Every part of Theo's brain was screaming at him to jump up and move away, but he couldn't find it in himself to do so. There was something about the warm weight of Neville's hand that seemed to ground him. It almost made him want to push his knee further into Neville's palm, — to seek more of the reassuring touch.
"I should have thought about you, Theo." Neville almost whispered now, big, hazel eyes still gazing at him imploringly, and causing Theo to shudder involuntarily. "And I'm really — really — sorry that I didn't. I should have tried to contact you somehow and let you know that I'm okay. I didn't mean to make you worry so much."
"You wouldn't have been able to contact me." Theo rasped, despite all his Slytherin instincts. 'Don't defend the git.' a small voice in his brain whispered. 'You're giving him an easy way out. You should be making him feel guilty and then use it to your advantage.'
"I should have at least tried!" Neville protested, apparently in agreement with Theo's inner voice and doing a brilliant job at making himself feel guilty.
But Theo shook his head. He didn't want to guilt trip Neville. He just wanted them to be okay again.
"Oh will you just shut up?" He huffed out, which must have sounded a little harsher than intended, because Neville instantly snapped his mouth shut.
"Let's just forget about it, okay?" he pressed on, and then proceeded to do the least Slytherin thing he'd ever done in his life: He stretched out his hand and offered it for Neville to shake. "Friends?"
Neville stared at him for several, torturous seconds, shock and disbelief written across his friendly face, before his lips split into a wide, lopsided grin and he nodded. "Okay." He breathed, voice shaking with suppressed glee as he accepted Theo's hand. "Friends."
Theo's breath hitched as Neville's hand wrapped around his in a firm grip and had to suppress a shudder at the sensation. Neville's fingers were longer than Theo's, his palm wider, with rough, calloused skin; and yet somehow his touch still felt soft and incredibly tender. 'Gentle hands' Theo's mind supplied unhelpfully, as his whole body began to thrum with a warm, anticipating hum.
When Neville finally let go, Theo felt a small, inexplicable twinge of disappointment in his chest, but he shook it off quickly and dropped his hand awkwardly to his side while he watched Neville scoot back into his spot beside him and lean his back against the wall.
"It drove me absolutely mad that I didn't have a way to contact you." Theo admitted after a short silence. Saying it out loud made him feel incredibly vulnerable, but he thought that if they were going to give this 'friends' thing a go then he might as well be honest. "I felt so helpless, because I couldn't even ask one of your housemates without risking that someone will see and tell my dad." He turned his head to look at Neville, a heavy feeling in his chest as he added "If my dad finds out that I as much as talk to someone from the other side he'll kill me. He can't know."
Neville didn't answer straight away. He looked like he was contemplating something, his teeth gnawing at his bottom lip for several long seconds, before he let out a heavy sigh and seemed to come to a conclusion.
"It's a shame we don't know how to make more of these." He murmured, as he shifted slightly to the side and, with what looked like a lot of effort, fished something out of his pocket.
Theo stared at the object with mild intrigue: A round and golden coin, shining enticingly in the low light of the wall-torch above them.
"A Galleon?" He asked, not really sure what to make of all this. "What do you need money for?"
"It's not real." Neville explained, holding the coin out for Theo to inspect. "Hermione made them for us back in fifth year when, …well, we were trying to find a way to practise Defence Against The Dark Arts without Umbridge getting wind of it and needed a way to communicate times and dates of our meeting. — It's brilliant! You see…" He leaned in to allow Theo a closer look and pointed out a series of numbers and letters etched into the edge of the coin. "Each of us has a coin, and they're all connected, which means that if I change what it says on mine, the writing on all the other coins will change too. They get really hot when that happens, so you can feel it in your pocket."
Theo took the coin from Neville and studied it with wonder, only just about able to make out what it said in the dim light of the torches on the wall.
"Fri, 17/10, 8pm ROR" the inscription read.
"That's…really clever." He admitted, turning the coin in his fingers. "I assume it's a Protean Charm?"
"You know it?" Neville stared at him with intrigue. "Apparently it's NEWT level, so I was hoping Flitwick would cover it with us this year, but I haven't been able to find it in the book."
Theo nodded. "I've read about it. Can't say I've ever tried casting one though." He flipped the coin to inspect the other side. — It was flawless. The exact copy of a regular Galleon, down to the tip of the wizard's hat imprinted on it. "And Granger made these in fifth year?"
He handed the coin back to Neville, who nodded and smiled. "She's very smart."
"So I've heard." Theo drawled, trying to hide how impressed he was by the Muggleborn's charm work, but feeling rather inspired. Surely, if Hermione Granger had been able to figure this out at the tender age of sixteen, Theo should have no problem creating something similar now. He was, after all, quite the Charms prodigy himself.
"It would have to be something that isn't connected to all the other coins, of course." He mused. "...something we can use to communicate without anyone else interfering. — Just the two of us."
"You think you could do it?" Neville asked, looking awed.
Theo shrugged. "I'll have to look into it, but it should be -" He broke off, a sudden rush of anxiety coursing through him at the sound of a soft thud coming from somewhere further down the hall . "Wait…did you hear something?"
His heart plummeted, as he heard it again: footsteps.
"Shit!" he hissed, jumping up and taking several steps away from Neville. "Someone's coming!"
"What!?" The other wizard scrambled to his feet, eyes wide and fearful as he mouthed "What do we do?"
Theo put a finger to his mouth, silently urging Neville to be as quiet as he can, then motioned for him to follow him. Together, they retreated further into the darkness of the dungeon's labyrinthine corridors; barely daring to breathe so as to not make any unnecessary noise, while they listened for any signs that the intruder was following them.
Theo very quickly decided that, whoever the unidentified night-wanderer was, it wasn't Filch or any of the professors. He'd know the old caretaker's slow, shuffling gait from a mile away, and all the professors usually walked with confidence, — their robes rustling and heels clicking loudly on the hard stone floor, as they marched through the empty castle with fearless strides.
This person, however, was trying to be quiet. Their footsteps were barely audible, nothing more than a soft, rhythmic tapping of carefully placed feet as they slunk down the corridor.
Whoever they were, they didn't want to be caught either, so probably another student out of bed.
As if to confirm Theo's suspicion, the footsteps suddenly paused and a low, silky voice that was much closer to them than Theo had anticipated whispered "Theo? Is that you?"
Theo felt like his heart was about to jump out of his throat, as he bit down the shocked gasp that had threatened to escape his lungs, and gestured silently at Neville; trying to communicate to him to stay hidden and not make a sound. Neville seemed to understand, because he nodded, a look of wild panic on his face, and pressed himself against the wall in an attempt to blend in with the darkness around them.
Theo cast him an apologetic look, feeling a little guilty to leave his newly acquired friend in the middle of a conversation like this, before he took a deep breath, turned around, and walked straight towards the source of the whispered voice.
"Blaise!" He hissed the moment he was able to make out the fellow Slytherin. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Looking for you." Blaise answered, his dark eyes flitting nervously to a spot behind Theo, as if he was waiting for something to jump out of the dark and lunge itself at them. "Were you with someone?"
"What!? No!" Theo said much too quickly.
Blaise's eyebrows raised, his dark chocolate eyes boring into Theo's with such an intensity that it was almost impossible not to squirm under his gaze.
"You were, weren't you?" He eventually hissed, eyes widening with surprised glee. "Holy shit, Theo! Who is it?"
"No, I wasn't." Theo insisted, knowing that the quaver in his voice was giving him away. "Why would I meet someone in the middle of the night?"
"Oh, please!" Blaise laughed, a teasing smirk on his lips. "We both know why!...Now , come on! You've always been exceedingly bad at lying, so just tell me! Who is she?"
Theo could feel his face grow hot. So Blaise really thought he'd come out here to snog a girl? He wondered briefly what his friend would think of him if he'd known who he had really been talking to…and what conclusions he would draw from that.
"Don't even think about it." he thought grimly, because a small part of him wished that he could tell Blaise all about it. "If you tell Blaise, then Pansy will know too, and once Pansy knows the whole Slytherin House will know, so you might as well go and tell Father yourself."
He couldn't let that happen. So, instead, he put on the haughtiest expression he could muster and levelled Blaise with a warning glare. "That's really none of your business." he snapped, voice turning cold. "So I would really appreciate it if you stopped asking such stupid questions."
Blaise looked taken aback by Theo's frigid tone, but wasn't quite ready to let the topic go.
"Oh, come on!" He laughed. "What could be so bad that you don't want to tell me about her? She's not a Hufflepuff, is she?"
"No she isn't!" Theo snapped. 'There isn't a 'she' at all…' "So leave off, will you?"
"Alright, alright." Blaise sighed, looking a little put out. "But I'll find out eventually.
Theo really hoped he never would.
"Anyway, what are you really doing out here?" He asked, in an effort to steer their conversation into a different direction. "Surely, you're not breaking curfew just to spy on me?"
At that, Blaises' face took on a sour expression.
"Couldn't stand to listen to Vince any longer." He explained, his lips curling into a disgusted sneer. "He's completely lost the plot. Did you hear him boast about torturing those second year Ravenclaws?...absolutely disgusting."
"I know." Theo agreed darkly. "He's out of control. Even Greg looked uncomfortable with all the crap he was spewing. …I wonder why Draco didn't say anything to stop him."
Blaise let out a derisive snort. "I don't think Draco has that kind of power over him anymore. Not since what happened in June. Crabbe's not gonna take any orders from the boy who disgraced his whole family in the eyes of the Dark Lord."
Theo nodded. He had a strong feeling that Blaise was right. No one really knew what had happened the night of Dumbledore's death, but Theo was sure that Draco had been involved and that he had failed to carry out the Dark Lord's orders; thereby bridging shame upon his entire family.
Draco hadn't been himself since it happened. He used to be proud of his involvement in the war and boast about it to no end; but Theo couldn't shake the feeling that that had changed. That, maybe, Draco felt just as stuck in this mess as he did…
Making a mental note to try and speak to Draco more often, Theo let out a sigh and shrugged. "Not much we can do about any of it, I'm afraid."
"I don't know…" Blaise said darkly. "My mother insists that I stay out of it. She doesn't want our family involved in the war at all. But how can anyone look away when literal children are being tortured and taught how to kill?" he shook his head. "No, I think eventually we'll all be forced to choose a side."
Theo didn't know what to say to that. He always knew that the Zabinis had preferred not to take a side in the war. If he was entirely honest, he'd been surprised to see Blaise return to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year. He had expected him to go to Italy with his mother. Yet here he was, talking about joining sides and defending helpless children. …He'd always been braver than Theo.
With an anxious writhing in his chest, Theo's mind drifted back to another brave wizard who wasn't afraid to stand up for what he thought was right — a wizard who was right there, hiding in the dark just outside their line of vision, and was, no doubt, listening in on their conversation. — And, for whatever irrational reason, Theo found himself wishing that he could join him, even if it meant that he would have to choose a side.
"I think you're right." He eventually said, knowing that Neville would hear. "We have to do something."