ivy | theo nott

"Hi," The crisp, familiar voice rang from just behind Grace's ear as Draco slid into the open space beside her, apparently not noting, or rather, not caring for Terry's scowl at the Slytherin's appearance.

"Draco." Grace smiled, crossing one leg over the other and turning to face him.

"Think I could steal you for a bit?" He shot her a charming smile, and she practically forgot that there was anyone else in the Great Hall.

"Steal me? This close to curfew?" She glanced at the watch on her wrist, as if she had any plans to turn him down.

"Would I ever get you in trouble?" His teeth flashed through half a smirk and she shrugged, bidding Leah and Terry goodbye and letting Draco lead them out to the hallway where the rest of his friends were waiting.

"Oh, I told them you would come!" Enzo cheered, quieting at Blaise's warning stare as they began the descent to the dungeons.

"Come where?" She asked once they were out of ear shot of any remaining students finishing up their dinner.

"Nigrum lacum." Theo muttered, the closest to the wall where the hidden doorway had appeared at his words, the boys pushing through first as the low hum of music floated into the hallway before the door slammed behind Grace.

"Our party!" Enzo exclaimed now, apparently aware that he could be as loud as he pleased now, the silencing charm someone had obviously put on the exit was doing an excellent job.

"What are you celebrating?" She asked, her eyes scanning the room and landing on the golden blonde Slytherin, her voice carrying over the music, though she seemed blissfully unaware.

"Uh... the weekend?" Enzo clapped two hands on Grace's shoulders and shook her quickly before racing deeper into the crowded room out of sight.

"Good riddance. He can be someone else's problem tonight." Blaise smirked, nodding for the group to follow him inside. "Who needs a drink?"

"Me." Theo's voice rang out practically before Blaise had even spoken, leading the way towards a table near the edge of the room, lined with different colored bottles.

"Can I get you something?" Draco leaned forward so that his lips were behind Grace's ear, as if she could have missed his words without the help.

"Oh... whatever, anything. I probably won't stay too long, it'll be curfew-"

"Grace!" Daphne squealed, waving her over to the couch as Draco chuckled and took his leave to follow his friends to the drinks. "You guys remember Grace?" She nodded towards one of the girls who had been at the party on New Years who offered Grace a thin smile. "Adelaide, would you be such a dear?" She held out her empty glass to the Slytherin girl and shot her a wide eyed, pleading look for only a second before her friend had followed Draco into the crowd to refill their drinks. "Where are the boys? Getting drinks, I'd assume?"

Grace smiled easily, "I think so."

"Okay, good, so we have a few minutes..." Daphne's smile faltered slightly. "I heard... about you and Draco. The engagement." She whispered, and though she was doing her best to act sympathetic, there was a shimmer in her eyes that told Grace part of her was hoping for some beautiful romance story. "I can't even believe it. From Draco, that is. His parents have never really seemed the type. Maybe his father, but honestly, I always rather thought Narcissa was in charge over there... I'm rambling, sorry. I just mean... How are you? With everything?"

Grace swallowed, sure that the smile she had forced over her lips no longer looked real. "It was a shock... We've talked it over, Draco and I. I mean, a shock for both of us, really."

"Well... It's still so new. I'm sure Draco can convince his parents to call it off, anyway. Got them both wrapped around his little only-child finger, he does." She shrugged, tucking her legs beneath her on the couch as a mischievous grin rose to her face. "If you wanted him to, that is."

Grace could feel her eyes go wide, and she prayed her face didn't look as warm as it felt.

"Daphne..."

"I'm just asking! I can keep a secret, promise. Even if it doesn't seem like it... I won't tell. Or if you're not interested, you could tell me that too. Then I could put all of my efforts into helping you both figure a way out of it."

Grace choked out a small laugh, leaning back into the couch behind her and biting back a sigh.

"Also, how has Naughty-Nottie been? Behaving?" She changed the subject, and Grace blinked twice, trying to process her words. "Theo?"

"Oh..." She felt her face fall and hurried to fix her lips into a confused smile as she shrugged.

"Is he being sweet to you?" Daphne pressed.

"Did you tell him to be?" Grace asked, pieces of the puzzle now clicking into place. The flowers, his apologies.

"No! I mean, honestly, I didn't say much to him at all, aside from a few choice curse words and screaming at the boys to let me hit him. Just once!" She threw her hands up in defense as Grace laughed, her eyes looking up to meet Draco's at her side as he pressed a glass of deep red liquid into her hand.

"That's over with. Right?" Draco glanced to Grace, as if to check if Theo had done anything else that he hadn't heard about. "Nott's always going to be an idiot, Grace will get used to it like the rest of us have."

"Be nice, Malfoy, he's your best friend." Daphne laughed, taking her drink with an over-dramatic thank you as Adelaide returned.

Blaise and Theo made their way back to the group, Theo remaining pointedly quiet as everyone chatted, or rather, as Daphne did, everyone else chiming in during the brief intervals where the blonde had to take a breath of air. Grace wasn't sure how much time had passed since dinner, though she found that she didn't seem to care. Was it a very long walk back to Ravenclaw tower? Yes. And was it very likely after curfew by now? Another yes. But each time she looked over to Draco on the arm chair beside her, his infectious laugh filling her chest with warmth, was one more nail in the coffin of her spending the night on this couch.

"They wouldn't even let Theo try out until fourth year! He had to promise to stop getting into so many fights." Draco was practically bent over with laughter, Blaise simply smiling to himself, shaking his head slightly as Daphne giggled.

"Or stop getting caught." Theo shrugged, the ghost of a smile hovering on his face as he finished off his drink, his eyes flickering around the group, lingering on Grace's which were still stuck to Malfoy. He looked down to the empty cup in his hands before standing and starting back towards the crowded table of drinks once more.

The conversation didn't waver as he left, the boys moving onto their upcoming Quidditch match as Grace glanced to where Theo had disappeared to, a tall red-head sliding up to his side, her arm wrapping around his as she offered him a sugary smile.

"Uh-oh, Daph." Adelaide muttered, a smirk evident in her words as Grace pulled her attention back to the group. "Little sister alert."

Daphne's craned her neck for only a second before spotting the brunette near the other end of the room, Enzo leaning up against the wall, towering over her, twisting a lock of her hair between his fingers with a grin.

"Oh, for fucks sake." Daphne groaned. "She knows better!"

"I'm not sure she's doing anything! Looks like that's all Enzo to me." Blaise defended, and Grace glanced over to see Draco standing from his seat, his eyes locked on the pair across the room, his plastic cup crumpled in his fist.

"I'm..." He stuttered, pulling his eyes to the floor, "Going to bed."

"Draco-" Daphne called, glancing between him and Grace, though Malfoy was already nearing a staircase that Grace assumed must lead to the boys dorms.

"I can go check on him..." Blaise offered, his eyes meeting Grace's awkwardly before she shook her head.

"It's alright. He must be tired."

"Well, I can walk you back whenever you're ready." Blaise said, "Just let me know when you want to go."

"Or I can, Grace." Daphne said, settling her hand on her knee reassuringly. "God, these boys... they're going to make sure you never come back to hang out with me, aren't they?"

Grace laughed, shaking her head once more and assuring Daphne that she would still be around before Adelaide struck up a new conversation, pulling Daphne's attention to her as Grace's mind settled back to Draco's sudden disappearance.

The couch dipped beside her and her eyes flew to meet the green ones, backing away towards the arm of the couch at their proximity.

"Got you another." Theo muttered, holding out a new drink, filled to the brim. Grace paused, glancing between her empty cup and trying to think of a good way to turn down the new one. Maybe it really was just time for her to head back up.

"I can walk you back to your dorm if you want." He offered, the drink still in his grasp between them. "I saw Malfoy left."

"That's quite alright." She shook her head, finally meeting Theo's gaze.

"Take the drink, Gracie." He ordered, though his face looked soft, "I didn't poison it."

Grace nodded, taking the drink from his hand and muttering a quiet thank you.

The room was beginning to clear out now, Daphne and Adelaide had gone to join Astoria who had finally managed to lose Enzo in the crowd, judging by the way his hands were already wrapped around another girl on the dance floor. A girl with deep red hair, who was nearly taller than Enzo in her heels.

"Looks like Lorenzo might be stealing your girl." Grace mumbled, nodding towards the dancers, Theo's eyebrows sinking in confusion.

"My girl?" He repeated.

"Yeah, from..." Grace trailed off, taking another sip of her drink, not wanting to admit she had been watching him earlier.

"Tessa?" He went on, leaning back into the leather couch. "Enzo can have her."

Grace rolled her eyes at his words, "Because you're done with her?"

Theo's eyes widened and he jerked around to face the blonde at his side. "What? No! That's not what I said-"

Grace could no longer contain the laughter bubbling up her throat at his panicked expression.

"I was joking." She grinned as the worry faded from his face. "Daphne must have really done a number on you to scare you into respecting women."

Theo's eyes narrowed, his mouth set into a scowl. "I respect women. And Daphne couldn't take me if she tried, don't let her fool you."

"Heard that, Nott. And I absolutely could take you." The blonde called, hardly sparing Theo a glance before returning to her conversation and Theo rolled his eyes.

"God... How'd you manage to get my entire house on your side?" He grumbled and Grace shrugged, taking the final sip of her drink.

"Because she's nice." Blaise cut in, grinning down on his friends. "Grace, want me to walk you back now?"

"I can walk her." Theo offered, already on his feet before Grace answered.

"I'll be fine. No need for you two to get into trouble on your way back."

"You could get in trouble on your way up." Theo argued.

"Well, you're twice as likely." She said, "And twice as loud. Night everyone." She waved, the exit sliding open for her as she started into the chilly hallway, ears peeled for any sign of Filch. Or worse, Peeves.

➺

Grace stifled a yawn as she finally reached the top of the steep staircase leading to the Astronomy room. Even after a very relaxing weekend consisting mostly of studying in her dorm, partially to catch up on rest from being up so late on Friday, though Grace knew most of it was an excuse to ensure Theo wasn't able to sneak any more flowers into her room.

Even though she knew he could get into Ravenclaw tower, or that he had already at least once, part of her was still sure he had found another way to get the flowers into her dorm. An owl, a house elf, something. There was no way the Slytherin had climbed all of those stairs and sought out her dorm... worked out which night stand was hers...

She shook her head, stepping through the open doorway, relieved that she had at least beaten Professor Sinistra, though the feeling was short lived as her eyes landed on her friends, Terry deep in conversation with Anthony Goldstein who had taken what was surely meant to be Grace's spot at the end of the row of Ravenclaws. Leah turned at last, her eyes meeting Grace's and offering her an apologetic shrug before moving to stand, likely planning to find another set of seats so they could sit together.

"Oh, Grace!" Daphne called, obviously not noting the way half the room turned at her voice as she waved the Ravenclaw over to the last empty spot in the last row. Draco sat at her side, meeting Grace's eyes fleetingly before leaning back in his seat lazily. At Daphne's other side, sitting beside the open seat, Theo was smirking, his green eyes latching onto Grace's.

"Gracie." She could hear the smile in his words without even having to look.

"Morning." She said, loud enough that she could have been speaking to Daphne two seats over.

"Morning class, thank you for settling in! Sorry I'm late." Professor Sinistra called, the door shutting quietly behind her as she made her way to the front. "As promised, we're prepping for star charts next week. They're not hard, but they do require a bit of studying if you're going to get them all down."

"How was your weekend?" Theo spoke, pulling Grace's attention from the front of the room. "Didn't see you much."

"Were you looking for me, Theodore?" She asked, forcing her eyes on their Professor as she began passing out scraps of parchment.

"What if I was?" He dropped his voice lower, ignoring the stern look Sinistra was offering to him as she handed Grace her assignment before continuing down the row. Grace decided not to answer, looking down at the constellation before her with a sigh. Ursa Major was one of the harder constellations to chart, especially from memory. She glanced down at her blank star chart before her eyes flickered to Theo's parchment beside her.

She pulled her eyes away at once as they met his green ones, ignoring the smirk rising to his lips. She had only been curious what he had gotten. How she wished she was next to Leah and Terry now.

Before she had even reached for her quill, Theo held his slip out between them, tapping it against Grace's hand, forcing her eyes back to his.

"What?" She asked, shaking her head in confusion.

"Swap me." He ordered, not moving, the paper still against her hand.

"That's the easiest one." She pointed out, as if that could have escaped his attention.

He shrugged, pressing it into her palm and snatching hers from the desk. "I like a challenge."

Grace paused, finally letting her eyes fall to her new assignment, ignoring the feeling of Theo's gaze drifting to her every few minutes as they worked in silence.

"Well... thank you." She said, quietly, though she didn't think Professor Sinistra would really mind some light chatter.

"Of course." His tone was dry, though she could still feel his eyes on her as she set to work. "How many more favors until I'm back in your good graces?" A smirk spread across his lips. "See what I did there? Graces-"

"Nott..." She shook her head, running her fingers over her forehead, hoping to convey just how much the Slytherin boy was testing her, though his smile didn't falter as he set to work, flipping through pages of his textbook beside her well after she had finished with her own chart.