Chapter 1
FRIEND.
Theodore Nott was your stereotypical loner.
Didn’t say much, didn’t do much to disturb the peace. He was a Slytherin, which may have been part of the issue. Slytherin's reputation wasn’t one to be proud of, so the discussion between other houses, if any, was limited. Theo thought it was funny, until he realized they were actually intimidated.
The only time he spoke up was during exam season, in which case he’d blow everyone in his year out of the water. Except for Hermione Granger. He could never seem to catch up to her.
For some reason, people had observed his lack of discussion as a mystery to be solved. Thus, when Theo walked by just about any girl, he was met with eyes of wonder and breathy hellos. He was intriguing to them, he supposed. Though he wasn’t sure what was so intriguing about never saying a word.
People liked that. Leaving someone up to interpretation was easier than seeing them for who they really were. People were often disappointed when they discovered who Theo really was.
In this case, it was a Ravenclaw girl named Tanya Barbier. She’d asked him out on a date (Salazar knows why he agreed) and they met up at the Three Broomsticks.
In short, it didn’t go very well.
After she had stormed out, Theo made his way to the Quidditch Pitch. Not to play. He didn’t get off on flying a broomstick, just preferred to sit on the bleachers.
For the most part, it was quiet. He liked that quite almost as much as other people enjoyed infiltrating it.
Today was Saturday practice for the Slytherins and Ravenclaws. He knew that by memory, being up here so many times. The Slytherins were due to switch in about an hour, though they often fought for extra time. Another reason as to why Slytherin had a terrible reputation.
It seemed as if the players flying above him heard his thoughts, because one of them shouted,
“We got two hours left, don’t we Malfoy?”
“One, Flint. One,”
“The Ravenclaws can shove that extra hour up their ass, for all I care,” Flint retorted, “Their team is taking the piss anyway, with the job they’re doing this season,”
“If you want the Ravenclaw Captain to get our practices suspended again, go right ahead. You’re the Captain,”
After that, Theo couldn’t decipher their conversation. It must have ended badly, because Malfoy launched his broomstick across the field as soon as he came down.
Theo’s eyes followed him as he gathered his things, begrudgingly retrieved his broomstick, and cursed out his Captain. Until his eyes met Malfoy’s
“What the hell are you looking at?” he shouted.
Theo wasn’t used to being spoken to directly.
“Having a bad day?” he asked in response, “You look mad,”
“Yeah, I am pretty fucking mad,” Malfoy replied, his volume remaining at the same level, “I’m going to be benchwarming for the next two matches,”
“Why?”
“Who fucking knows?” and there was a laugh at the end of his sentence, as if he found this hysterical.
Theo thought the conversation was going to end there. Draco Malfoy didn’t say much either, though when he did, it was always to infuriate others.
“How about you?” he suddenly asked, “You’re always here,”
“I like it,” Theo explained, coming a few rows down, “It’s quiet,”
“Yeah,” Draco said, “I used to do that too, sit up on the bleachers. I thought I was the only one, until you started showing up,”
“You just called me a loser,”
Draco scoffed, “I did it too. What’s your point?”
“I don’t know,” Theo shrugged. He rested his back on the cold, grated metal of the bleachers.
“I’ll come up there sometime,” Draco suggested, “So you can be a loser with someone else,”
“You’re hardly a loser,”
“I want to be. I hate being in the spotlight all the time,”
That surprised Theo.
“I probably won’t talk to you, you know that?” Theo said, trying to convince him to leave, “I’m very boring,”
“Wasn’t expecting anything anyways,”
The two drifted into a comfortable silence, looking at the other for a moment. They weren’t used to it, the acceptance of quiet. The embrace of it.
“See you around, Malfoy,”
Draco gave him a small smile before walking off the field, “See you around,”
Going his direction, Theo knew that somehow, someway, he’d found his first friend.