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After Theo and I finished talking about Nott and the stupidity of his housemates, our conversation became much lighter and more relaxed.
That was when a voice echoed through the corridor.
"Ahem."
The sound of someone clearing their throat made both of us look in that direction.
Lily and Astoria were standing there side by side, staring at us with expressions that made it pretty clear they were done waiting.
Tori had her arms crossed, while Lily kept her hands on her hips and tapped one foot against the floor, clearly impatient.
"How much longer are you two gonna keep talking?" Lily asked.
"Yeah... we gave you some time, but it's already been more than seven minutes." Tori complained, making a small pout.
"Seven minutes and forty-three seconds, to be exact." Lily added solemnly.
I raised an eyebrow.
"You actually timed us?"
"Of course." The two girls answered at the same time, nodding as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"What kind of elite guards would we be if we didn't even do that?" Tori asked, looking genuinely offended by my question.
Lily immediately nodded.
"Yeah. And besides, you're still spending the rest of the day with us, so every second counts... even the wasted ones."
Unconsciously — or maybe not — she glanced at Theo when she said that.
"Wasted..." Theo repeated quietly, his lips twitching.
He fell silent for a moment before slowly turning towards me.
"...Are they always like this?"
"They're your housemates..." I rolled my eyes. "You should know them better than I do."
Hearing that, Theo paused.
Then he looked back at the girls.
Carefully, he looked from Tori to Lily, as if analysing the two of them.
They were still standing there with impatient, challenging postures, looking like two annoyed mothers staring down children who had just done something stupid.
And unfortunately for Theo, most of their attention was focused on him, as if he were the main culprit.
The poor Slytherin boy visibly sweated under their gaze.
"...Er... the Moon and Greengrass I know are probably impostors."
He paused for a moment, looking slightly uncertain.
"Or maybe some kind of nice clones?"
"Hey!"
"What do you mean by that!?"
The two immediately protested, narrowing their eyes at the Slytherin boy.
Seeing this, I couldn't hold back a small amused snort.
Turning her attention back to me, Tori puffed out her cheeks.
"Yesh, yeah, go ahead and laugh at us... but even though you two took so long, we were still taking our guard duty very seriously."
"Yeah." Lily nodded. She then pointed down the corridor. "A Hufflepuff girl almost came through here, but thanks to us, she changed direction."
"Oh, really? And how'd you manage that?" I asked, amused.
"Simple." Lily replied.
She then crouched down and picked up a small twig from the floor.
Drawing her wand, she lightly tapped the twig with it.
With a flash of magic, the small piece of wood transformed into a baseball bat.
Lily held the transfigured bat in one hand and lightly tapped it against the palm of her other.
"See? Like this."
For some reason, despite her cute and innocent appearance, she managed to look extremely intimidating at that moment.
Especially because of the dangerously excited smile on her face, which made it perfectly clear just how eager she was for an excuse to use that bat.
Looking at her, Theo remained silent for a few seconds.
Then he swallowed.
"...Terrifying."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't a compliment."
"It was to me." She smiled, clearly pleased with herself.
Watching the exchange, I let out a laugh.
And apparently, it was contagious, because Theo couldn't keep a straight face for long either.
With an amused look on his face, he let out a quiet laugh as well.
It was quiet and brief, but far more spontaneous than any laugh I'd ever heard from him.
Seeing that, I couldn't help but smile a little wider.
For a few seconds, he didn't look like the withdrawn, apathetic boy who used to wander the corridors of Hogwarts with that gloomy expression.
Right then, he just looked like... a boy our age.
Of course, there was still a long road ahead. Getting over years of fear and trauma wouldn't happen overnight.
But, at least, it was a start.
With an almost imperceptible smile on his face, Theo spoke again.
"Well, I've said everything I had to say, so I think I'd better go." He said, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Don't tell me you got intimidated by them?" I asked, giving him a playful look.
"No." He answered a little too quickly.
That only made my teasing look even more obvious.
"Ahem..." He looked away. "Actually, I just don't want to get in your way. You three seemed pretty busy."
"And besides, I still have to finish my homework, which, by the way, is already pretty late."
"Homework?" I raised an eyebrow, curious. "What subject?"
Theo grimaced.
"Astronomy. It's an essay we're doing in pairs, and I have to go over everything from last term before I can finish it."
"Oh." I nodded. "And who are you paired with?"
"...Millicent Bulstrode."
...
...
I gave him a sympathetic look.
"Well... could be worse." I tried to cheer him up. "You could've been paired with one of Malfoy's personal bookends... or even Malfoy himself."
Theo seemed to think about that for a moment.
"Yeah..." His frown deepened. "That would've been way worse."
"But anyway..." I continued, giving him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Good luck, mate."
"Thanks. I'm going need it." He replied, half-serious, half-joking.
After that, Theo and I exchanged a few more words, with him thanking me one last time before saying goodbye.
He then said goodbye to Tori and Lily as well before finally turning around and calmly making his way towards the dungeons.
And, for the first time since I'd met him, Theodore Nott walked away with a smile on his face and a noticeably lighter step.
I watched him disappear down the corridor, lost in thought for a moment, until I felt the two girls approach me.
"Finally, he's gone." Lily grumbled as she stopped beside me.
"Lily." I lightly scolded her, unable to hide my amusement.
"What? He was stealing precious time from our fun day!" She defended herself, making a small pout.
Seeing that, I could only smile wryly.
But even knowing she was only joking, I couldn't help feeling a little guilty.
I'd promised Lily and Tori that I'd spend the entire day with them, without letting anything or anyone get in the way of our time together.
And even so, without so much as a complaint, they'd given me some time to talk to Theo alone.
And even though I could feel their curiosity, neither of them had even asked what we'd talked about, simply respecting our privacy.
Realising that, I looked at the two girls beside me gratefully.
"Thank you." I said softly. "Both of you."
That seemed to catch them off guard.
"Y-you don't need to thank us..." Tori looked away shyly.
"Yeah... we knew it was probably important. Obviously, we weren't going to stop you from talking to him." Lily replied.
"But..." She raised a finger, staring at me with a serious expression. "Even so, I think you should make it up to us."
"Oh, really?" I smiled, grinning.
"Yeah." Tori nodded firmly. "And as compensation... you're going to have to spend another day with us."
Saying that, she stared at me, waiting for my answer.
Seeing her firm yet hopeful expression, my gaze softened.
"Well... I can do that." I said.
Hearing that, both of them immediately looked satisfied.
"But..." I continued. "The school year is practically over, so it'll be difficult to arrange another day for this."
"That's not a problem." Lily dismissed my concern with a wave of her hand. "You just gotta remember to keep one day of the holidays free."
I raised an eyebrow.
"But what if I'm busy during the holidays?"
"Oh, I'm sure you'll find a little time for your two favourite Slytherins." she replied, smiling at me as she hugged Tori's arm.
Tori was smiling too, clearly happy with that conclusion.
"Oh, and what makes you think my favourite Slytherin isn't Snape?" I asked, unable to resist teasing them.
In response, the two of them simply stared at me with completely blank expressions that practically screamed, Seriously?
"...Just kidding." I raised my hands in surrender.
Then, a small smile tugged at the corners of my lips.
"But alright... I promise." I added warmly. "We'll have another fun day together during the summer holidays."
The moment I said that, the two exchanged a triumphant look, quietly celebrating their little victory.
'Why do I feel like I just walked straight into a trap?'
The conspiratorial looks. The smiles that were far too clever to be innocent.
All of it made me suspect they'd planned this from the very beginning.
But honestly... I didn't mind one bit.
If it made them happy, then what was the problem? Besides, I couldn't deny that I was having a pretty good time with them too.
With our little deal settled, we went back to what really mattered: enjoying the rest of our day together.
The day was already coming to an end, so Tori and Lily wanted to make the most of every minute they had left.
With an excited but still relaxed air, we continued down the corridor without any particular destination, simply letting the castle decide where we'd end up.
While watching the two girls walking a few steps ahead, arm in arm and whispering to each other, I couldn't help but notice something.
Tori walked with quick, cheerful steps, talking nonstop with a big smile on her face.
Her face had colour and she wasn't tired. Her movements were light and natural, and even the way she laughed seemed different.
At that moment, she looked... normal.
Like any other child.
For a few moments, my attention was completely focused on her.
Ever since Tori had taken a small amount of the Elixir of Life, the Blood Maledictus that had tormented her for so many years had practically stopped affecting her body.
Her health continued to improve week after week, and her growth had finally returned to normal.
And, for the first time in a long time, Astoria could simply be an eleven-year-old girl.
That made my chest feel a little lighter.
Seeing that small change made everything worth it.
But, at the same time, it also reminded me of something else.
The promise I'd made to Marcel.
'It's good to see that Astoria is doing well... but I'm not done with this yet.' I thought, slowly closing my hand into a fist.
I didn't intend to just free Astoria from this despicable curse.
I was going to make sure it disappeared from the Greengrass bloodline completely.
It didn't matter how difficult it was or how long it took.
One day, no child of the Greengrass family would ever have to be born carrying that cruel fate.
Then, a small, cheerful laugh pulled me out of my thoughts.
Looking at the little Slytherin again, I saw her laughing as she argued with Lily about which cake from their favourite bakery was the best.
And, at that moment, she looked exactly like she always should have.
A happy child who was already starting to pick up some of my more... questionable habits.
Before I knew it, an affectionate smile appeared on my face.
'Just a little longer... and then I'll fulfil that promise.'
End.
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