How the Times Have Changed
To Tom’s misery, Druella had stolen Thea to partner up for the entirety of double herbology – and it seemed that every herbology class would go the same way henceforward – and she had done so again once the bell had rung, leading Thea away from the greenhouse before Tom could even get a word in. Escaping a situation that smoothly was undoubtedly a hard-earned skill she had applied in past social gatherings.
Meanwhile, Thea had been brought to the courtyard where they met up with Walburga. The seventh-year greeted them affably as they settled into one of the picnic tables that decorated the open-air space.
“Alright, Wally and I actually have something for you!”
“Okay?” The excitement in Druella’s face had Thea looking at her in suspicion but she took the booklet that Walburga passed her across the table, nevertheless. Looking down, her face flamed up when she read the title and she looked to the ladies in surprised confusion. “What?!”
From Courtroom to Courtship: The Gifts of a Lord.
That was certainly self-explanatory, and Thea hadn’t wanted to assume.
Instead of explaining themselves, Walburga simply nudged her chin at the inconspicuous booklet. “You should take a look at section two on courtships.”
“Again, why- huh?!”
“You can consider it a part of your training for high society,” Walburga said with a discreet smile. “You should always be careful of any gifts that a lord has bestowed upon you so that you don’t accidentally accept a courtship proposal.”
Druella paused in her giddy countenance and gave a disgusted shiver. “Almost happened to me with Carrow. Salazar, and he had been three times my age too!”
“Okay…” But, alas, something still didn’t feel quite right to Thea; from Walburga’s faux innocent smile to Druella’s expectant eyes, something was off. “Hm…”
Apprehension was crystal clear in Thea’s expression as she narrowed her doubtful eyes at them until Druella caved in. “Okay, so- Wally and I may or may not have stumbled across Riddle and Malfoy chatting in the common room last night…” Thea’s eyes narrowed further. “…about lordship customs… specifically courtship acts.”
The scepticism had yet to be erased from Thea’s face and she regarded them hesitantly, “and you think…”
Walburga raised an eyebrow. “Think? Oh, honey, we know so.”
“But-” Confusion struck the two when Thea remained adamant. “I mean, there’s no guarantee that he’ll become a lord?” Thea knew she was being ridiculous to the point of irrationality the moment the words escaped her.
“Aren’t you the one who’s most confident that it’ll happen?”
“Well- yes! And I am! I’d find a way to curse the damned ring if it doesn’t accept Tom because that’d just be asinine!”
“Then, what’s wrong?”
Thea paused at Walburga’s words and glanced down at the book in front of her. Her insecurities had been flitting in her mind ever since the implications of the book had sparked the idea in her and they were making her unreasonable. When she had expressed them out loud, she appreciated the sympathy they sent her despite their puzzlement. “I thought you liked him?”
The women smiled fondly at the hint of shyness that overtook Thea’s countenance. “Of course I do! Helga, help me, I’ve never liked anyone before but – Merlin knows – I feel lovestruck every time he looks at me! Gosh, everything he says sends my heart aflutter and the way he cares is just so, so lovely!”
Then, a beat.
“I think I love him?”
Thea stared into space, wide-eyed as the realisation hit her full force. Love? She loves him? She may know how it felt to love platonically but, romantic love? That was new. Do people fall in love this quick?
But, the more she thought about him – dreamy eyes that looked at her in pure wonder and affection, warm hands that left flames in its wake on her body wherever he had touched, and lips that spilled sweet, sweet words that made her giddy and yearning for him – the more she was sure that these feelings she held for him were something akin to what people would call ‘love’. The way she longed to hold his hand and craved his comforting presence more often than not, or the way she felt appreciated and loved – so loved – whenever he eased her troubles willingly, or how she wanted him to want her back just as she wanted him immensely; these weren’t things she sought in other people romantically and she couldn’t imagine only loving him as she did, Tally. Perhaps her love for Tom had started out platonic but as time had passed, Tom had shown her a love like no other and she could only love him back in kind.
Oh, how she loves him.
Thea felt a hand caress her shoulder gently and snapped out of her thoughts to return her attention to both ladies, who had understandably given her a needed time and space for her to grapple with her emotions. “Sorry, I spaced out. I, uh… yeah.” She offered them a weak smile which only eased their worries a tad.
“Oh, love, we didn’t mean to push it all onto you at once.”
“No! No- you’re alright! I just… didn’t know that my feelings ran that deep. And I guess I’m scared that he won’t reciprocate it.”
Druella gave her a genuine smile that left no room for doubt. “And we mean it when we say that we really do know that he will.”
Walburga nodded, “I’ve – quite literally – never seen anyone more endeared by someone than the both of you with each other. You should see how he speaks of you in your absence, that man is utterly infatuated with you. It’s clear that he would raise hell and damn heaven if it meant that you would look at him the same way he does, you.”
“…You really think so?” Thea’s voice was the quietest it had ever been as the conviction in their words battled with her self-doubt. Their nods and affirmative words touched her heart and she let the smallest ignition of hope flicker in her. She, herself, had seen the adoration gleam in Tom’s eyes as he gazed upon her, and knew that their confidence was not unfounded. “Thank you, guys, genuinely. This means so much to me.”
“It’s no worry at all, love. We just want you to be the happiest you can be! Until Riddle can man up and tell you of his feelings himself, we’re here to reassure you that your sentiments are valid and returned.”
Druella’s hand had left its grip on Thea’s shoulder and had taken her hand instead, caressing her softly in compassion for her friend.
As if trying to contest her own happiness, however, Thea’s thought pointed out a different concern. “And you both don’t mind it? If I end up with Tom?”
Walburga furrowed her eyebrow in confusion. “Why would we?”
“Yeah, I mean, besides the fact that I’ll have to fight against him for your time, why would we have an issue with it?”
“Well- because…” Nonsensical reasonings began popping up in her mind that she swiftly tried to subdue. “I’m not exactly… a pureblood.”
Shame crossed Druella and Walburga’s faces. “We understand where you’re coming from, Thea, but you have to believe us when we say that it doesn’t matter. We’ve had our fair share of eye-opening circumstances when Riddle was first sorted into Slytherin, and even more when he turned out to be the best in our year. The idea that, perhaps, the purity of our blood has no say in how magical one can be, has only been reinforced by you since. Such a magnificent witch you are, and blood has nothing to do with it.”
“Wally’s right.” Druella added in, “we’re maybe a tad scornful at the lighter sect now because they disapprove of our magical traditions, but nothing to do with blood. It’s much harder to convince our parents of that and so we’ve stuck to keeping up pretences when necessary, but we hardly believe it anymore when we’ve got literal proof in front of us that tells us otherwise.”
Relief settled the nerves churning in her gut and Thea let out a small sigh. “I’m glad you think so.”
“I can’t even bear to imagine losing this friendship we’ve made just because of those stupid ideals.”
Thea gave a light chuckle, “I know! Even with the fact that we’ve only just met recently, I really do appreciate you both.”
Fond emotions heavy in all their hearts, the two women shared their words of affection too. Soon, laughter and cheery voices filled the air as they flipped through the thin book to brief Thea on the gifts that a lord would give to their chosen suitor. The love threatening to burst out of Thea only swelled bigger that evening, when her eyes fell on Tom as she, Druella, and Walburga approached their table at dinner.
He had locked eyes with her upon noticing their approach and had visibly softened as a small smile formed on his lips. Simply seeing her effects on him had her almost fully convinced of his reciprocity, save for just a hint of uncertainty that persisted.
With her felicity, came impulsive actions.
Tom had walked her back to the Hufflepuff dormitory when she had stated that she had to leave early so that she could get a nap in before her astronomy class. Their idle chatter died down once they had made it to the rows of stacked barrels and their clasped hand parted once Thea had tapped the appropriate tune onto the right barrel.
“I’ll see you tomorrow, love.”
“Mhm,” Thea gave a hum and Tom raised a questioning brow when she made no move to leave. Instead, she took a step forward, still with a bright smile on her face, and leaned forwards to touch his cheek briefly with her lips. “Goodnight, love.”
Just as swiftly as she had unknowingly stopped Tom’s heart, Thea backed away and stepped through the entrance to her common room, giving him no time to act as he desired and leaving him breathless by the door. Both their hearts were pumping fervidly, Thea’s with the added adrenaline rush. Even as she awoke the next morning, there was a lack of grogginess that was usually present on a Thursday morning due to the double astronomy periods the night before. On the contrary, she started the day joyfully and energetically, a fresh lightness to her steps that nearly had her skipping her way to the hall for breakfast. Tom greeted her with a hand on her back once she had settled onto her seat, a dark glint in his eyes that she suspected she might have invoked from her previous actions.
“How was your class last night?”
Even as he listened attentively, his stare never eased up on its intensity. If she had caught his sight falling onto her lips every so often, she made no comment on it but knew from the heat in her cheeks that he was aware of her notice of it.
There was a slight shift in the air between them, and Thea had seen the tiniest of tension in Tom’s composure. Her curiosity was satisfied only later that day, however, when they were in the library after potions. As they wrapped up the period to head to transfiguration next, Tom had struck up a conversation.
“Are you busy tomorrow night?”
Confused, Thea replied nonetheless, “not before astronomy at twelve. What’s wrong?”
His tension took the chance to stiffen his posture imperceptibly, but his voice remained smooth as ever as he spoke. “I heard the night sky would be clear then.”
“Oh?”
He gave an affirmative hum. “Forecasted no clouds, apparently.”
“I suppose the view would be beautiful then,” Thea had a sense as to where this was headed to and she was more than happy to play along, an amused grin now playing on her lips. “It’d be a shame if a sudden class was to be scheduled in the astronomy tower at 9pm.”
At once, Tom’s shoulder loosened up and he breathed out a small sigh of relief that she almost missed. A pleased smile formed on his face as he took her hand when she went to his side to begin their walk to their next destination. “A shame, indeed.”
When Tom dropped Thea off by her dorm again that night, he was quicker to plant a short kiss on her forehead this time. Their hands were still intertwined, so that left her with no option to run away, stilling on her spot instead as pink rose to her face.
He brought a hand to caress her cheek and lifted her head up to face him fully. “Goodnight, love.”
With more privacy here, as there were no one else roaming the halls at the moment, Thea allowed herself to nuzzle into his touch and closed her eyes briefly. “Goodnight, my love.”
The term of endearment that had left her tongue softly wasn’t the only thing that took him by surprise when she gave him another kiss on the corner of his lips before, much like yesterday, slipping away from his grasp with a promise shared into the quiet of the evening.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”