Chapter 17
Grace held back a sigh, flipping the page of her book and hurrying to jot the next line of notes down, knowing it would do nothing to dissuade him from bothering her. She had smelt him before she heard him, the expensive cologne, the faint smell of tobacco beneath it.
"You been holed up in here all day, bellisima?" Theo's grin leaked into his voice, though Grace didn't bother to look up.
"What makes you say that?"
"I've been looking for you. Guess I should have known to check here first."
She hummed in agreement, tracing one finger over the paragraph before her, trying to focus.
"You been avoiding me again?"
"No, Theo."
"You sure?"
"Why would I be avoiding you?"
"Bec..." He trailed off, his eyes flicking around the empty tables around them before he pulled the chair out beside her. "I don't know. The other night. I might have pissed you off at your party-"
"It wasn't my party." She shrugged.
"But I did piss you off." He felt a grin rise to his face without his permission, though her blue eyes still hadn't met his face.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Are you ever just going to yell at me? I hate the silent treatment." He groaned, dropping his head dramatically to the table beside her and she pulled her lip beneath her teeth to stifle the laughter.
"Theo... I've really got a lot of work to do-"
"What? Transfiguration?" He reached down to the floor, rummaging through his bag quickly.
"Yeah, and-" She trailed off as a thick scroll of parchment rolled towards her on the table, finally meeting the green eyes.
"I did it." He said, watching one of her eyebrows furrow in confusion. "I did it for you. You can copy it into your own writing or whatever. So will you please hang out with me now?"
Grace lunged for the paper, unrolling it and scanning over the first two pages which already contained more than she had even planned out in her notes.
"Theo, are you joking?"
"Yes, what a good one, huh?" He rolled his eyes, leaning back further into the wooden chair and watching as she continued to skim over his work. "Come on, everyone's been doing nothing but schoolwork these days and I'mย bored."
"Bored enough to do two versions of the same project?" She felt her lips pulling to an easy smile, though she couldn't ignore the jolt that ran through her stomach as she met Theo's eyes again. His words from the party running through her head. The feeling of his breath on her skin.
I want to kiss you right now.
"Exactly. And now you're done, and you're officially out of excuses to not spend the afternoon with me."
"Other than the fact that you wreak of cigarettes?" She teased, enjoying the way his eyes narrowed and his lips fell apart only slightly.
"Non mettermi alla prova..."ย He muttered and Grace laughed.
"No Italian!" She ordered, "Why don't you just go study with your friends? Are you not at all worried about OWL's?"
"I think I'll be just fine." He smiled, lazily, resting his head on his fist, "Why do you bother to study so hard when you can easily relax the rest of your life as the future Mrs. Malfoy?"
Her lips curled into a sneer, though it brought out a deep rumble of laughter from Theo as she rolled her eyes.
"I might like to actually do something with my life... you know, other than be married off. Get a job or something?"
Theo scoffed.
"Malfoy women have jobs. It's calledย mother.ย Party-planner, house-keeper,"
"Are you trying to piss me off?"
"Why? Am I succeeding?" He grinned. "You can do whatever you want to, Gracie. I just wish you knew that."
She froze for only a second as she felt his fingertips trace lightly over her hand on the table before she pulled it from his reach, her eyes flashing to his and then to her lap, her heart beating ferociously against her ribcage.
"I do know that." She nodded, feeling the flush crawling up her neck.
"Then why-"
"Theo." She met his gaze again, the rest of his sentence dying on his lips. "Please. Stop."
He didn't blink, eyes linked with hers until the silence of the library could practically suffocate them before he nodded once.
"Alright."
"Alright..." She took a deep breath, folding up her notes and beginning to pack up her bag before looking to him again. "So what are we doing then?"
"Sorry?"
"You came to find me? You did my project so I'd hang out with you? What are we doing?"
"Oh!" He stammered, "I... well..."
"You didn't think I'd say yes?"
"No, honestly, I thought I'd be leaving the library with a few new bruises - hey!" He jumped from his seat as she swung out in a failed attempt to swat at his arm. "Come on, then... We'll hang out."
He reached for his own bag and then Grace's, slinging both easily over his shoulder before starting towards the exit and turning down the familiar hallway and up the nearest flight of steps, Grace hurrying to keep up as they walked.
"Where are we going?" She begged as they climbed further through the school. There weren't a lot of options this high up, and the Ravenclaw tower was almost completely across the castle. The only thing up this way was the Astronomy tower.
Theo didn't answer as they finally reached the wooden ladder leading up to the familiar doorway. Theo nodded up, waiting only a moment before she grabbed for the rickety pegs and started their ascent into the tower. She had only just stepped onto the platform when Theo emerged behind her, his breath fogging up in the March winds at once.
"Why up here?"
"Because there's never anyone up here. Still too cold."
"Yeah, I don't blame them." Grace laughed, hugging her arms around herself as Theo led them towards the balcony, scanning over the expansive grounds. There were students, small black outlines in the distance, dotted every so often, enjoying the start of Spring which was just around the corner. "Do you come up here a lot?"
Theodore shrugged slightly, glancing over and watching her eyes scan along the outline of the treetops of the forest before them.
"Not a lot of windows in the dungeons." He explained.
"This is a lot of steps to keep up such aย rigorous smoking habit."
"I don't smoke that much." He lied, and Grace held back a laugh.
"Right."
"Alright!" An easy smile had pulled to his lips without his notice as he watched her.
"Want my jacket?"
"What?" Her eyes finally met his, widening as he started to slip his arms through his coat. "No! No, I'm fine. It doesn't feel that cold anymore."
"You're always cold." He argued.
"Yes, only in all of your favorite hang out spots."
"You're saying Ravenclaw tower doesn't get cold?"
"Why do you think I was working in the library, where you could so easily track me down?"
"Ah, you forget I can also easily track you down in your dorm."
"Oh, trust me, I could never forget that." She tried for an eye roll, though Theo could see the smile peeking through her expression.
"So you admit you were trying to avoid me."
"Well, seeing as no where is safe anymore." She teased, turning to face him, her back pressed against the wooden ledge.
"Answer the question, cara mia."
"Well," She started, ignoring the Italian, "I thought we had agreed you'd be on your best behavior."
"What did I do?" His lips spread into a grin, and she could tell he was barely holding back a laugh.
"You think that was your best behavior?"
"I didn't get into any fights!" He pointed out, enjoying the pink that was rising to her cheeks.
"You don't think you maybe had a bit much to drink?"
"I didn't drink that much." She raised an eyebrow, pausing to let him reconsider for only a moment before he shrugged. "Alright, a bit. But not too much."
"Not too much? You obviously don't remember what you-"
"I remember." He cut her off, the green in his eyes flashing brightly in the sun as it neared the forest in the distance.
"You..."
"I remember what I said."
She could feel her heart hammering against her chest and prayed that Theo wouldn't be able to hear it, willing herself to pull her eyes from his as he watched her, neither of them speaking again, the only sound from the wind whistling through the platform.
"Have you been sleeping better?" He asked, finally breaking the silence, and Grace could practically feel her nerves drop at the words.
"A bit."
"No more falling asleep while studying? Not carrying your weight on projects?"
"That was one time-"
"Twice." He corrected, smirking as she rolled her eyes. "So you... you're less worried about it now? About Draco... the marriage?"
"No." She scoffed out a laugh, dropping her chin onto her elbows and watching the small group of people headed back from the Quidditch pitch. "I just try not to think about it."
"Well, that's one way to go about it." He chuckled, "I mean... not saying he would want to, because you're a catch and all," He grinned as she shot him a glare, "But if anyone could get himself out of an unwanted arrangement with his parents, it's Malfoy."
"Yeah... That's what Daphne says."
"See? And she's always right." Theo shrugged.
"My parents will be angry if he does manage it..." Grace whispered, picturing her mother the day before she'd returned to school. Her face when she'd protested.
"Well, what can they do? If he doesn't want you, he doesn't want you." Grace started to sigh, though it quickly turned to laughter as she rubbed two fingers along her temples.
"We'll see." She mumbled, her mind drifting to the blonde Slytherin, likely perched on one of the leather couches a few stories beneath their feet, nose in a book.
"My dad used to talk about it." Theo said, waiting for Grace's eyes to meet his. "Marriage. Picking someone for me."
"Are you serious?" Grace scoffed, "Is this really that common? I thought they'd done away with this a hundred years ago."
"Yeah, well... the old families love their traditions. And nothing's more important thanย joining their houses."
"Well, who was the lucky girl?" Grace teased, watching as Theo shook his head at once.
"I didn't let him get that far. Told him he didn't know shit about love or marriage and to stay out of my life. And he never really brought it up after that. Told me to fuck off and to mind my manners, but as long as I listened to the first half, I didn't really need to worry about the second."
"Theo..."
"It's fine." He plastered on half a smile. "That was supposed to be a light hearted story. Did it not come off that way?"
"Not really... keep practicing." Grace let her gaze linger on his face a little longer, to make sure his smile didn't fall. "Do you guys fight a lot? You and your dad?"
"I dunno... What's a lot?" Theo grinned, shrugging when Grace didn't look away. "I stay out of his way, he's rarely ever around... Hogwarts nearly ten months of the year. It's a good system."
Grace felt as though her heart was being pulled to the ground beneath her as she listened. Theo's words, and the way he said them without a second thought. As though it truly didn't bother him.
"Maybe I shouldn't have fought him so hard on the arranged marriage, though." He mumbled, letting his eyes trace over the grounds below them once again. "He might have beaten the Malfoys."
Grace let out a sharp laugh without thinking, "And then you'd be stuck with me instead, Theo."
Theo's eyes flickered to hers, the familiar smile no where to be found. "Stuck with you. Yeah." He paused for another second,ย "You're right. What a nightmare." He groaned, throwing his hands to the top of his head and stepping back from the ledge.
"Alright-"
"No, you're right! Thank you for saving me from such a horrible life. You're Malfoy's problem, now." He grinned as her laughter echoed through the tower, a true, genuine laugh that sent a warmth through his chest. "Come on. Let's get to dinner."
ย