Chapter 15
“On a scale of one to impossibly overwhelmed, how are you feeling right now?”
Theo turned his head towards Boy Wonder, his bright green eyes smiling behind his signature round glasses. Harry sat next to him on the old, crooked bench in the backyard of The Burrow, handing him a steaming mug of Hot Toddy. Theo took it, wrapping his long fingers around the warm porcelain and inhaling the citrusy, sweet aroma spiraling up from the amber liquid. He sipped, closing his eyes and savoring the cozy warmth spreading inside his chest.
“Slightly flooded, but I can take some more. Not mince pies, though. I think I’ll pass out if I eat another crumb, I’m stuffed,” he said, a chuckle in his low timber. Harry laughed and took a sip from his mug.
“They are a handful, uh?” he asked. Theo looked at him and saw the warm fondness written all over his face. The Weasley had been a family for this lonely boy in a moment of confusion and crucial change. He could see his deep love for them and he could actually understand it.
“They’re remarkable people. I’m grateful for their hospitality, considering who I am…” Theo trailed off, his gaze roaming over the snowy view of the hills behind the field.
“What do you mean? You’re Hermione’s boyfriend and a good fella, mate, that’s who you are,” Harry shrugged, offering him one of his good hearted smiles he apparently had for everyone.
Theo scoffed and took a long swig of his whiskey.
“Let it go, mate,” Harry said, his intense gaze still trained on him.
Theo locked eyes with him, his troubled oceans clearer in the white scenario of Christmas afternoon. “What?”
“All of it. The war, the deaths, the guilt. If you don’t, they’ll pull you under. You need to look ahead and focus of what you want to be, not what others pushed you to be in the past. Fly away, mate, don’t linger,” Harry said, a hint of sadness in his tone. If there was someone that knew burden, Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived, was it. And he was suggesting him to let go, it probably meant he was trying to, as well.
Theo inhaled deeply and gulped down the dregs of his hot drink.
“I’m afraid I’ll never be enough for her,” he heard himself confess, no more than a mumbled out-loud realization, that tore his soul apart every waking moment.
Harry observed him for a while, then nodded.
“I know the feeling. And I get it, you know? I’ve known Hermione for years and she is…” he paused, considering, his gaze lost in the grey sky, his lips stretching in a smug grin. “She is unique. The smartest person I’ve met by far, and she is a lot to handle!” he laughed. Then he looked back at him.
“But she chose you, mate. And I can assure you she knows what she wants and what she needs very well. Just love her and take care of her as best as you can. Be there for her, support her in her greatness,” he said, the loving fervor of a brother lighting up his face. “She’s been in charge of me and Ron and basically the wizarding world’s fate for seven years. She needs someone that can understand what it means to have a brain like hers. And judging from what Ginny says about you, you can definitely be that someone for her.”
Theo snorted. “Don’t trust Ginny on this. I’m keeping her team alive with my tricks, she’s biased.”
Harry chuckled. “Are they really this bad?”
“Her best Beater knocked himself down while swinging his bat to catch a Bludger. He broke his nose, almost choked on his own blood and fell off his broom. During the Seeker’s trials, Potter,” he explained dryly.
Harry groaned and covered his eyes with a hand.
“Poor baby, she’s probably crying in the shower after every training session,” he said, just a tad amused.
“Well, she’s more the angry type rather than the sobby one,” Theo laughed. “I went to watch the last match, with Hermione. Twenty minutes in and they were two hundred points down against Ravenclaw. Gryffindor Seeker was watching the action like and idiot and didn’t see the Snitch hoover over his head. Ginny noticed and charged against him, shouting like a Banshee. She almost threw him off his broom. Madam Hooch had to fly up to diffuse the tension,” he told him, barely containing his amusement. Ginny on the Quidditch pitch was a menace and he actually enjoyed watching her play. But when she was angry at her team, she was in her prime.
Harry shook his head. “I’ll talk to her, she’s too tense.”
Theo smirked and cocked his brow. “You should shag her more, Potter. It helps a lot with tension.”
Harry snorted a laugh. “I have free Sundays, now that I think about it. I bet McGonagall won’t be mad at me for visiting my girlfriend a little more frequently.”
“Especially if it helps the team’s comeback,” Theo suggested, his mischievous dimple on display. They exchanged a knowing glance and bursted out laughing like old friends.
*******
“I think I won’t eat again till January,” Hermione huffed, kicking away her shoes, while still closing the door behind them. Theo took off his coat and swirled his wand around, switching on all the lights in the kitchen and living room of her house.
“Molly cooks better than Hogwarts Elves, if that’s even a possibility,” he said, still incredulous at the amount of food he had been able to shove down his throat. Hermione flicked her wand at the fireplace and jolly flames erupted, immediately warming up the space. It was already dark outside, the snow softly reflecting all the Christmas lights decorating the neighborhood. She slumped down on the couch, her head resting on the comfy cushion, while Theo lit up the Christmas tree they had set in a corner near the window. Then, he sat beside her. Hermione immediately snuggled into his side and he snaked his arm around her shoulders. Inhaling her unruly curls, he closed his eyes, relishing the warmth of that domestic moment, the sweet scent of festivities, a mix of pinewood and smoke and spices, lingering on their very skin. It dawned on him that he had never been this content and calm in his entire life.
Christmas had always been a sad business in his family. After his mom’s death, he had spent the festivities with an abusive, drunken father, that didn’t see the need for that stupid holiday. So, Theo had never had a Christmas tree, nor a special lunch. The only gifts he’d received had been from his aunt and uncle, and even those had been frequently intercepted by his father and thrown into the fire. In his Third Year, Nott Senior had even beaten him up on Christmas Day, leaving him in bed with four cracked ribs and a dislocated shoulder till the end of the holidays. Theo had managed to patch himself up before going back to school, using a couple of spells read in a book he had accioed from his library. He had stopped coming home for Christmas after that episode and his father hadn’t even noticed his absence.
“Thank you for coming today, it meant a lot to me,” Hermione whispered, snuggling closer to him. Theo smiled and kissed the top of her head.
“Thank you for having me, baby. I hadn’t celebrated Christmas for a while before today,” he said, drawing lazy circles on her shoulder, her oversized ugly sweater slightly slipping down, revealing her warm skin. Her head whipped up at his words, a sneaky smile on her lips.
“And it’s not over yet!” she squealed, jumping from the sofa and running out of the living room. “Wait there, I’ll be right back!” she called from the stairs. Theo raised his brows and sat straighter on the couch. Hermione’s socked feet pattered back down the steps and she reappeared with a box in her hands and an adoring expression on her face. Theo’s eyes couldn’t get away from her beautiful lips turned up at the corners, her shiny eyes, full of bursting love and anticipation. But the big silver bow on the lid of the box was looming in his peripheral and he couldn’t really ignore it. Especially because it was part of her excited skipping. She plopped on the couch and handed him the box, her smile spreading wider.
“This is for you.”
Theo looked at the box and then up at her pretty face. He had no words to express the storm of emotions playing in his chest, so he took the gift and put it on his thighs. He gently lifted the lid and frowned. There was a cube resting on a carefully wrapped rectangular something. He took it out, examining it closely. It was made of tiny, colorful square faces, nine on each side of the solid, all of them arranged in a casual order. Theo turned it in his fingers and counted six colors. He prodded a little on the angles and a row of squares moved sideways, hinging on some kind of mechanism.
“It’s called a Rubik cube, and judging from your confused face you’ve never heard of it,” Hermione said, barely contained happiness seeping from her voice. Theo looked up at her, lips parted and round eyes.
“What is this?”
Hermione chuckled and pointed at the cube. “It’s a muggle puzzle game. The point is to twist and turn it until each face is made up of a solid color. You have to figure out the sequence of movements to get there. It’s stress-relieving for some people.”
Theo turned his attention to the plastic object and pushed and pulled a couple of times, to test in which directions it could be twisted and reassembled. It was amazing, and he needed to figure it out.
“I thought you might like it, as a challenge first and as an anti-stress when you’ve got the hang of it. You know, to help you calm down after a nightmare or…” she went on, but Theo cut her, capturing her lips with a passionate, burning kiss, one hand behind her neck and the other firmly around the cube. When he pulled away, Hermione was breathless.
“Seems like you like it,” she gasped.
He leaned in for another, gentler kiss. “I love you.”
Hermione smiled, then she nodded to the box. “There’s something else.”
Theo sighed and shook his head. “This was more than enough, Granger. I mean, this and a bow around your naked body would have been just perfection.”
Hermione snorted. “Now you’ve spoiled my final surprise, Nott.”
Theo growled and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Naughty girl.”
She giggled and kissed him on the nose. “Finish opening this and then you can unwrap me.”
Theo smirked and pulled the other present from the box. The brown paper was decorated with miniature dachshunds in Christmas jumpers, and a red and white twine twirled multiple times around the object. Theo ripped a corner, the spine of an hardcover book peaking through. He chuckled.
“I couldn’t help it, I had to get you a book,” Hermione said, tucking a curl behind her ear. Theo took out the book and read the title on the olive green cover.
“Atonement,” he murmured, then opened and thumbed through the first pages.
“It’s one of my favorites. The story is quite sad, especially the ending, but…” Hermione paused and reached for his wrist. Theo looked up, meeting her warm, brown eyes, so soft and caring. “It helped me understand that we can’t change what has been, even if we feel responsible for it. We need to live with it. And it has to be okay.”
Theo turned his hand up and laced their fingers. “I know.”
Hermione smiled and kissed him on the corner of his lips and felt them raise up.
“Now, it’s time for your presents. Close your eyes,” he said, carefully putting back the book and the cube in the box. Hermione’s grin stretched to her ears and she sat straighter, diligently closing her eyes.
Theo smirked and went to the Christmas tree. He tapped his wand on something invisible and a rectangular wrapped thing appeared, with a blue velvet box on top of it. He hid the box up the sleeve of his ugly sweater and carried the other present to the sofa. He gently set it in Hermione’s lap.
“Open.”
Buzzing with anticipation, she looked down and tore the simple blue paper in half. A leather-bound tome appeared, and it looked like a very ancient one. There wasn’t a title, so she opened it carefully and flipped a couple of empty pages, made out of aged parchment. Finally, a handwritten line of text appeared. She frowned, her lips parting. Then she gaped and her head jerked up.
“Theo! This…how did you…it’s…” she stammered, dizzy and speechless.
“…the oldest bound book in wizarding literature, yes,” he finished, with a subtle, cocky grin.
Her eyes bulged. Of course she had known, but hearing it out loud was shocking. “Theo, this books is worth a fortune!”
He shrugged. “It was in my library at Nott Manor. I want you to have it, since you’re the only other person beside me that could possibly appreciate it.”
“But Theo, I can’t! It could get ruined!”
Theo cocked a brow. “A book ruined? In your hands?”
Hermione huffed and puffed, searching for a better excuse, but nothing came, other than more stammering. Theo chuckled and traced her jaw with his index.
“Please, baby. Keep it for me.”
Hermione exhaled, her eyes still huge with surprise, but then nodded.
“It’s perfect, Theo, really. I don’t know how to thank you.”
He shook his head. “You don’t have to. All that’s mine it’s yours, especially if it’s made of paper and ink.”
Hermione beamed and turned back to the tome, slowly turning another page. Theo cleared his throat and she looked up. He was holding the velvet box now and he looked nervous. Theo was never nervous, or at least he never let it show when he was. Hermione’s gaze travelled to the box. It was square and flat and it reminded her something her father had once gifted her mother. Realization struck her in the chest and her breath hitched.
“Theo…”
“It’s tradition, in pure-blooded families, to gift jewelries to wives and girlfriends at Christmas. I usually abhor anything that has to do with pure bloods, but this…this I like,” he explained, observing her incredulous expression with shaky worry. Had he gone too far? Had he scared her? He inhaled.
“I wanted to give you something unique and beautiful, as you are,” he simply said, then opened the velvet box, his stupid fingers slightly trembling. Hermione gasped. A gold, thin necklace rested on black satin. Right at the centre of the chain, a delicate blue sapphire pendent hung, encircled by a gold filigree frame that swirled like the wards she’d casted on their cauldron months before. With trembling fingers, Hermione lifted the pendent. It caught the soft lights of the room and many shades of blue bounced back. Just like his eyes.
Theo swallowed, his fingers twitching a little. “It’s…”
“Us,” Hermione finished, looking up at him, tears shining in her eyes.
Theo’s muscles loosened, breath slowly escaping his parted lips. She wasn’t scared. She was glowing. His head felt suddenly light and fuzzy, warmth enveloping his body with the promise of a bright new world ahead of him. Ahead of them.
“It’s us.”