𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝒯𝓌𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓎-𝒯𝓌𝑜

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"Are you still reading that letter?"

"It's not my fault that my mum practically sends a self-help book with every letter. She has to outline every reading she can... Oh, wait, I found the part about Tracey's necklace."

Valeria read over the words silently to herself first as the rest of the group led the way back up to the castle from their Herbology lesson. Everyone was quiet as they burrowed into their coats... the approaching winter not at all shy about leaving its mark in the form of red noses and aching hands. It was a bitter Monday, students ready to leave their last classes for the day and head off to their common rooms for needed warmth and rest.

Valeria entertained her friends all day with one of her mother's letters. The muggle woman a tad bit overzealous, a letter a loose term used to describe the pile of papers that came once a month, boxes of trinkets always added on. The poor owls always tasked with delivery were never compensated enough for their troubles.

This time it had included a neat little chain with one single golden topaz pendant, an early birthday present for Tracey. The girl hadn't stopped smiling upon realization it was for her... coming from a family who had never had much in terms of money, even one single gem made her day.

"Okay, okay, okay. So topaz is your birthstone," Tracey looked attentively to Valeria as she fiddled with her new necklace, "Golden topaz specifically is for friendship. It will attract helpful people into your life. It is a powerful stone for manifestation through will... blah blah blah, chakras. Strengthening the will... and pink hues within is a sign of heart-based intentions. The good fortune that comes your way will be loving and positive." Valeria finished off with an elongated sorta awe.

Sally-Ann wasted no time in nudging Tracey, a big smirk on her face, "Manifesting anything in particular over there, Tracey?"

Tracey nudged back, ignoring Sally-Ann's wiggling eyebrows. Dropping her necklace, she just smiled, "You know I don't believe in any of that stuff." Despite that, she did smile back down at her necklace, "The thought behind it is nice, though."

Theodore rolled his eyes, the cold air making him bitter, "Starts with one nice rock, and then someday you will be joining Collins in looking at Saturn. Madness."

Iris nudged Theodore, shaking her head with a little laugh as Valeria snapped her head back with a glare, "And yet, I, the mad star girl, have chatted up far more girls than you ever will."

Laughs broke out all around, Sally-Ann and Valeria shooting teases back and forth. Theodore so quickly the subject in a series of jokes about his lack of attention from girls, jokes that all the girls found hilarious while he was just left to roll his eyes. Completely unbothered.

If there was anything admirable about the boy... it was that he didn't have an ego that relied on others.

But still, when Jane spoke up to step in for the boy, she was deemed his favorite friend, "Okay, okay, everyone, give him a break. Especially you, Tracey."

Valeria and Sally-Ann snorted as Tracy immediately silenced her laughing, face flaming at the horrific irony in her teasing Theodore for getting no attention from girls.

Iris fought back her laugh as she looked to Theodore, doing her best to come off as more serious as she defended him, "Oh, let us be completely honest for once. We all know Theo would be a Casanova if he really wanted."

It was the second time she had said it... and as he looked down to watch her further defend it to the others... okay, maybe his ego did have some reliance on others. And it would be such a lie to call Jane his favorite.

"Really, you should hear some of the things he has said to me, Sally."

Until she said that.

Because for just that, he had every pair of eyes on him. Everyone turned on him in an instant as Iris just proudly smiled to herself at the mischief of it all. Knowing damn well what Sally was about to do. Knowing damn well that he was about to have all of these girls holding him hostage until he spilled his hopelessly cheesy slip-ups.

And honestly, he would have rather Sally-Ann could have opened her mouth; he would have so rather the teasing than what had cut into their group.

"Been looking for you all day, Your Majesty," Dante shoved Theodore aside, "You are quite the master at hiding."

Theodore stumbled a bit as he rebalanced himself. Muttering a curse under his breath, both Iris and Dante were the only ones to catch it. Dante with his usual smirk, and Iris... just a forced bit of a smile... her hands tied.

Theodore irritably moved to Iris' empty side, head empty as he stared ahead, everything silent in the new tension that always arrived when Dante had that troubling look in his eyes. The girls walking in their own pairs ahead recognized that same tension, sharing looks... and Iris just took up her everyday task of trying to ignore Dante existed.

Something he made so difficult as he opened his mouth, waving the letter in his hand, "My father sent a letter today—"

"Daddy knows you exist." Iris always had to take the free shot. Everyone winced at the coolness in her... spotting the way Dante's clenched his jaw.

"Daddy is still alive." And sometimes, he hit lower. Theodore shot his eyes to Iris... watching as she tensed.

Looks were shared between the girls up ahead, speeding up in pace to get away from the tension. No one really liked to get involved in Iris and Dante... their bickering and poking, and everything was beyond their interference. And stuff like that... stuff where one threw the first punch... where the other hit lower... it was uncomfortable.

Dante didn't bounce back immediately, cold as he kept going... his father was a tense subject every time, "As I was saying, my father sent me a letter. Keeping me up to date as usual, but I thought you would find this bit interesting," he fixed himself up a bit as he opened the letter, "It is about your cousin, your aunt's son, Vincent... the one everyone thinks is going to be crowned king in... a little under two years."

He kept dragging out his words, growing smugger as he glanced between Iris and the letter, taking this sort of pride in throwing this information in her face... as if he knew more. As if he was informing her of these things about her own family... her own life.... And maybe, in a way, he was.

Iris wouldn't react... just looking forward, counting the many steps left to the castle. Theodore, though, couldn't quite stop himself from looking to Dante, hanging onto every word.

"Well, apparently, he turned down an invitation to the little celebration for Peverell's birthday this weekend. Not even in power yet and already burning bridges with the one person who would stand on his side." Dante was right back to his smirking self again as he caught Iris' head tilt, "More to the story than just a birthday, though. Ryker has to find Vincent such a headache. Your cousin shows no interest in taking the crown. Seems content to ignore it to the very last day...."

There was a pause, a small falter in Iris as she bit at her cheek. She would pretend otherwise... but she was listening.

And Dante just kept talking, "Suppose it won't matter what the opinion of him is though, the rightful heir will shock the world... coming back from the dead... showing that she had abandoned them all."

And just like that, Dante's true intentions in this conversation slapped Iris across the face. This comment hadn't brought a jolt of anger... but something much more complex. And as Dante just kept rambling... reminding her... throwing in her face these things...

Theodore started growing colder.

"You will have to perform an astonishing act in social and political standing to drag back up the Blackwell name; I mean, the popularity is at such a low and...."

Theodore must have really stopped hearing words as he looked at Iris first. It was so unfair. She was already unfair to herself. Already refused to give herself the grace someone who is only a kid deserves. She already thought the worst of what she was doing. And rightfully, in anyone's opinion but her own, she wanted to put herself first. A fact she already knew was selfish.... The last thing she needed was another voice joining hers.

Another voice echoing what she told herself... bringing out that emptiness... that sadness... that deep, irrational hatred reserved only for herself. An emptiness growing on her features that he had seen far more than he ever wanted to. A mind no doubt beginning to once more overflow with harsh words that he couldn't begin to understand but hated all the same.

Theodore hated what he was seeing happen to her as Dante just kept cutting deeper and deeper.

"Do you even ever shift anymore? Or have you really just fully abandoned our people to live your selfish little life..."

Theodore's eyes shifted to Dante, a chill in them just about never seen in the boy. And maybe it was an accumulation of a lot of irritation on his end. The build-up of all that frustration of this boy pushing Theodore around and constantly acting as a looming shadow and never being at a loss for something to say. The build-up of the aggravation of how he pushed around his dearest friend and looked at Sally-Ann like some flirty toy and ignored all the rest.

It was an accumulation of things... just two days prior, Theodore had almost found joy in getting back at him. In just aggravating this annoyance of a person. But... the most significant factor in what was about to happen... in just how cold Theodore Nott had grown... that was simply because of that look on Iris' face.

"Never understood muzzles until I met you."

Dante's black eyes met Theodore's brown, popping an eyebrow at the coolness in them... smirking as he finally caught on to the anger in the air. So easily Dante was redirected, coming to a stop as his head fell into a tilt... something a lot more enduring when it was Iris, "Someone is finding their bark... you will always be a sorry excuse compared to Iris' first guard dog, though."

Iris had gone on a few steps before snapping out of her own head to realize Theodore had stopped. Turning around with narrowed eyes, just in time to catch Theodore's response, "Imagine you know just what that is like."

Iris darted her eyes straight to Theodore... her eyes glazing over as she tried to understand just where this was so quickly going.

And Dante... well, his smirk dropped. Theodore was surprising like that, at knowing what got at people. Always fear the quiet ones... for they are the observers.

Theodore remained calm as more words left him, as he picked further at Dante, "Your father compare you both often? You and Ryker? Is that why your father favors your sister? She isn't such a disappointment compared to her peers?"

Dante's jaw clenched, his normally put-together attitude slipping just for a moment, his edge slipping with it, "So much to say for an outsider."

On the other hand, Theodore kept his head despite the anger still burning away at him, "An outsider in better favor with your queen than you ever will be.... Imagine your father's disappointment at that."

Dante tried to fake a laugh, darting his eyes to Iris to see her still lost in a daze as she stared at the boy standing three feet before him. Irritated, he looked at Theodore, "I'll sit you beside him at our wedding; tell me if he's disappointed then."

Theodore's turn to pop an eyebrow, "The wedding he will have planned?" He capitalized on the pause from Dante, continuing, "You are nothing but a pawn to him, are you not? Unable to make any big moves in the political game on your own, just sitting and waiting for him to hand over everything. No father is ever proud of that."

As Theodore left his last words in the air... there was nothing else. A quiet standoff between an irritated and silent Dante and an angry but relaxed Theodore. The tension was thick; the girls had noticed and doubled back to watch beside Iris, everyone uneasy... the grounds were empty, with every other soul already inside.

And it could have ended there... Theodore just had to say one more thing. And with a dry laugh, he said, "All bark, no bite. Right?"

And it was extremely lucky or unlucky that that seemed to have struck a bone.

Dante almost looked mad, a fake smile on his lips, teeth bared... eyes cold. He closed the distance between him and Theodore, getting in his face, "Want to see my bite? We can duel right now."

Someone called out to Theodore, Tracey, or Jane more likely... he would have known Iris' voice. And if it was Iris, he probably would have listened.

But instead, he looked down into Dante's void-like eyes silently. Seriously considering it... and maybe he should have noticed how his anger just kept flaring, how his own pride flared. Perhaps he could have caught the way he was losing his rationale.

Iris shouted at Dante as Theodore started rolling up his sleeves, her eyes no longer dazed as she glared at the boy who was no doubt egging on Theodore with his own emotions. But it would mean nothing... cause, as Jane was whispering furiously to her friends... a duel is not something anyone has a right to get involved in.

Dante already had his wand out, waiting just in front of Theodore for the boy to pull out his wand. He was so smug; he knew how it would end. He was older, no doubt more practiced as a result... he was once a candidate for the Triwizard Tournament, after all.

And it was the smugness that kept Theodore thinking just a bit longer, really considering the boy. Dante was short, maybe as tall as Iris. He was lean, not much bigger than Theodore. He would be fast, no doubt... and lean should not be mistaken for weak. Theodore had seen what these people were capable of firsthand... memories of Iris standing over a withering man she had just beaten to near death.... They were angry people, people who could hurt, people who, if pushed far enough, had no limits.

Theodore had no right fighting Dante. He wouldn't win. And if he pulled out his wand, he wouldn't even get to prove a point. He'd be beat in an instant.

Sighs of relief came from someone as they realized Theodore was making no move to grab his wand. Dante looked almost irritated again before pulling back his smug smile, "Okay, coward—"

Iris' eyes went wide as she took a step forward—

Theodore sent a fist flying right into Dante's nose. It was a painful blow... whether more for Dante's nose or for Theodore's hand was up for debate though. But... he had done something. At the very least, he had shocked everyone, especially Dante.

Dante pulled back as he stared wide-eyed, hand over his nose for a moment before pulling it away to see blood.

It was slow... painfully slow, the anger that overcame Dante's features. Irritation slowly grew to an unbridled rage as Theodore could do nothing but clutch at his wrist, staring down this slow transformation before—

Dante sent a blow to his chest first, hitting in the exact spot to leave Theodore doubled over and breathless. The girls all shouted, Sally-Ann making a move to step in, but Iris grabbed her harshly, hissing, "Theo threw the first punch."

Rules. Just like Jane told them they couldn't get in the middle of a duel... Iris and Dante had rules as well. Cultural rules preventing Theodore's only savior from stepping in. No matter how absolutely pissed Iris seemed as she watched Dante grab Theodore's hair, holding his head up just to throw one—two blows straight to the face, Iris flinched with each one.

Dante shoved Theodore's head, leaving the boy hunched over but still standing. Theodore started that fight, and Dante simply proved the point he could finish it...

And so there it was... Dante standing tall over a struggling Theodore... the blood pouring from his nose already coming to a slow stop. The girls on the sidelines were completely still, all sorts of emotions washing through them as the bitter breeze was long forgotten to their friend hunched over. The blood dripping from his own face, the heaving of his breaths.

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Tears spiked at two sets of eyes... Tracey and Sally-Ann. One an overwhelming sadness and one just an intense frustration. And then Jane and Valeria, who watched with dry eyes but mimicked their friends all the same... because somewhere along the way, they had all grown to care about a boy who was once nothing more than Tracey Davis' silly crush.

And then there was Iris, it was hard to understand her... what she was feeling... that had always been true.... Though as she looked at Theodore, staring holes into his head... watching this boy struggle because he stepped in for her.... She almost looked guilty.

And as Theodore found whatever he could to lift his head and look the one place he only ever seemed to want to look... he was having none of it. He didn't throw that first punch for her to just feel bad all the same... no, Theodore had a point to make.

So looking up to meet those deadly eyes, a bruise forming over his own and blood escaping his nose... Theodore found everything in him to straighten up and stand tall. Ignoring the ache in his chest and finding his own breaths again. Looking back at Iris one more time to watch that guilt wash away to be replaced with a warning look... he smiled.

Looking down at Dante and the fresh blood on his face... he scoffed, "Expected more."

And that... that is what sent Dante over the edge. And Theodore tensed, eyes falling closed in preparation. And a smack rang through the air of a heavy hit striking home. And then it was just quiet...

Because that hit had not come to Theodore.

Theodore opened his eyes to see Iris standing before him, holding Dante's fist. The two in a stare down that Theodore could not see, but he knew that chill in her voice, "You've more than got back at him."

And the seconds dragged for an eternity. Everyone tense, silent... watching the anger move over Dante like a storm. Every limb of his body looking ready to jump into action... almost looking ready to—

"I dare you." Theodore looked back to the back of Iris' head, a tilt to it. Shivers running through his body as she pushed Dante to act on what he wanted... watching the jolt go through Dante as he seemed very ready to take everything out on Iris. And she egged it, wanted it. Wanted an excuse of her own to get back at him... he just needed to throw the first hit.

But he wouldn't.

He pulled his fist from Iris' hold, spinning around to stomp off towards the forest. His figure shifted into a blur of grey just as he hit the treeline.

Theodore didn't even have time to process that he had just been saved before Iris' glare rounded on him, grabbing his bicep as she hissed at him, "You are an idiot."

And as his adrenaline started fading... Theodore really had to agree.

~~~~~~

Iris seemed to have no sympathy for Theodore as she shoved him into her dorm, the door slamming shut as she dragged him to her bed. Pushing him to sit before shoving his head to lean forward. Then she took off to the bathroom, muttering to herself about a first aid kit.

Theodore had very briefly glared towards the bathroom... his aversion to the hospital wing may have been something he should have tried getting over. Facing that fear better than Iris' already less-than-gentle approach to healthcare, no doubt.

But there he was... in Iris' dorm... on her bed. His stupid little teenage heart found that way more interesting than he would ever admit... though his brain fared no better, for his curiosity had spiked.

Theodore lifted his head, blaming what was to him no doubt a concussion as he found himself peeking into this small bit of Iris he had yet to see. It felt strange that this was his first glimpse into something as important to someone as their room... but at the same time, a year ago, he would have scoffed at his whole relationship with this girl. Strange how... suddenly someone can come to mean something to you.

So suddenly, someone can become something that sends you on the path of being a creep. Being in their room for the first time and feeling that discomfort in the back of your mind that says you shouldn't... but your eyes wander anyways.

He scanned the room in whole first. Valeria's bed is easy to spot with the various rocks on her bedside table, the open textbook left on her bed, beads, and paper stars hanging off the top of her poster bed. Sally-Ann's had a Quidditch poster on the wall, a picture with a boy that largely resembled her on the bedside, t-shirts with odd names and prints thrown all about near her bed. And Tracey had various posters of faces Theodore could not recognize, a large quilt made up of squares he could not understand, a book peeking out from under her pillow.

He was hit with a quick realization that he knew so little about all these girls who had made up so much of his company as of late. And he would admit a bit of eagerness when he darted his eyes to study Iris' area... ready to find new bits and pieces of her.

And then his hair was grabbed, and his head jerked forward again, Iris' tone firm as she shoved toilet paper in his face, "Keep your head tilted forward. I'm not saving you if you start choking on your own blood."

Theodore tried to grumble, but that felt a bit strange in his chest, so he just used his non aching hand to comply and hold the tissue to his nose. Raising an eyebrow as Iris kneeled down in front of him, her face so serious as she looked up at him... his stupid heart—

That was immediately put in place as a bright light shined in his eyes. Iris' wand pointing from the outer corner with a lumos spell. Feeling a bit blinded, Theodore blinked in a panic for his vision back as Iris muttered to herself while snuffing out the light... happy to see something about his eyes dilating back.

He didn't get it and wouldn't get to ask before his vision returned and his heart retook control. His pupils blew right back out as Iris' face moved closer, her eyes on his nose as she brought a hand to—

Theodore hissed, a glare right back to his face as he leaned away from her prodding at his nose. Iris rolled her eyes as she followed, getting a close look before humming, "Doesn't look broken, just bruised... if the bleeding stops in a few minutes, then it is fine."

And then his heart stopped as she looked right into his eyes... eye... the one that burned a bit. Her hand reached back from his face as she frowned at his eye, "That black eye is going to be pretty nasty, swelling already. Ice for the first day is best, and then I don't know what you would use for warm compression after. If you see Pomfrey in the halls or at meals, she might be able to do something."

Iris backed up a bit, much to his heart's disapproval. Moving her eyes from his face, she looked at his chest, "He hit you in the solar plexus. Completely unfair on his part. It winds you like nothing else. Lots of nerves there too, but the pain will go away...." She dropped her hand down to the spot, pressing just briefly into and around it.

Theodore wouldn't be so casual at that. Jaw tight as he forced his eyes away from her. His heart dangerously close to giving things away as his ears tinted red. Finally, taking a chance to focus on Iris' section of the room... and was almost disappointed... but not surprised to find it lacking... empty of any blatantly obvious signs. But even small things are worth studying... a box of tapes just by his feet, a single picture of her and Remus Lupin from the summer on her bedside, her drawings tapped to the wall.

Absently he pulled the bundle of tissue from his nose, tapping it a few times to confirm the bleeding was stopping as he looked at those drawings further.

His first time really seeing them, except for the one-off glimpses of doodles in classes. They didn't say much he didn't already know, drawings of different beasts and of forests and rivers, funny rough sketches of professors and students, and doodles of half-done hands and eyes. They didn't tell him much... but he was almost pleasantly surprised to find that they were all rather good.

Maybe he had assumed that this was just some average skill to pass the time. But... no... so much detail could be found on drawings done on the thinnest of lined paper. He wanted to look more, maybe even ask—

But then Iris poked his hand, sending a horrible pain straight up his arm. He shot his head down just in time to hear Iris mumble, "You are going to hate me," before a pain somehow more intense shot through him. A pain so quick he couldn't even scream but so consuming that he jerked, head-butting Iris as he bent forward.

But the shot of pain would begin to fade just as quickly as it came, his hand feeling a bit better as the initial dramatics faded. And as the remnants of that pain disappeared, he held his eyes closed tight, forehead resting against the top of Iris' head... he found himself focusing on the smell... something... almost like vanilla, but...

"It's my shampoo. Coconut. They always tell you to pick a scent and use it for everything. Coconut isn't as overwhelming to the nose...."

Cringing as he tried to stretch out his hand, Theodore chose to hang onto this tiny little moment just a bit longer. Both from a lack of desire to learn what had just happened... and also because... maybe... "I've never picked up on it before."

Iris hummed, remaining still as she let Theodore work through the pain she had added onto by relocating his bone, "I never wear perfume... well, put some on for my first date with Cedric, but it can be a bit much rather quickly. Have to remind the girls constantly that they shouldn't be spraying themselves ten times."

There was a pause. A pause where Theodore said nothing else... just held against her head while his finger lessened in its throbbing with every breath. A pause that left Iris still; she didn't quite know just how long pain could really linger... so she could only occupy herself.

The way her wrist was still a bit stiff after catching that final hit. The way her emotions were still brewing in the back of her mind. The way her fingers hovered just over Theodore's hand... her eyes on his ring. It probably had left a cut on Dante... not that you'd ever know... And not that was where her head really was.

No, her head was thinking of all the times Theodore had even been the one to initiate touch... with anyone. She could only think of maybe once before... maybe more lost to a distant mind.... But she could think of a leading hand that helped and cared for her. Stabilized and guided her.

He wasn't a touchy person. Didn't need the comfort of a shoulder to lean on. Didn't need to feel someone's touch just because. She was always the one breaking into his personal space... but he always let her.... She almost wondered if he would let anyone else.... And she wondered if he would ever hide in another's hair as his heart slowly stabilized after a shock such as that. Wondered if it was the coconut or—

Theodore lifted up his head, killing Iris' train of thought.

"What did you do to my pinky?"

Iris smiled a bit to herself at the bit of disgust as he inspected his swelling hand. Grabbing some gauze and a roll of bandage, she explained, "You punched his face, which is a big no-no, lots of bone to mess up your own hand. A boxer's fracture is the common term. I just moved your bone back in place."

Theodore didn't find himself saying anything as he watched Iris place the gauze as padding and begin wrapping up his hand... her touch the most gentle it had been as she kept rambling, "I'm not entirely certain how long it takes these to heal, and I really suggest having Pomfrey or anyone else check it out. I've had a few fractures, and even for me, they can take a day or two to stop feeling stiff... I can't even imagine what the healing process is like for you."

Watching her tear the tape as she finished her quick wrapping job... his pinky now stuck to its neighboring finger. Theodore seemed to think of something as he looked at her hand still hovering over his, "How is your wrist?"

Iris met his eyes with a raised brow, pausing as she couldn't stop a bit of a laugh, "You can't see yourself, but it is a bit funny for you to be looking like that and worry about my wrist."

Theodore didn't get the humor; always so quick to be serious. He poked at her wrist with his good hand, watching the way her fingers twitched, "He threw hard punches."

Iris' eyes shot down to her hand... hesitating... as Theodore continued to hover his fingers over it, "It will be fine in an hour or so. Just need to let it rest, I guess."

Again... silence. Iris and Theodore left to the quiet of the dungeons. The two of them lost to something growing in the chill of the air. Theodore's hand hovering just over hers... nothing on his mind as he just sat there.... Leaving Iris to just once more occupy herself.

Her mind wandered back to where it had just broken from. Briefly wondering if he ever was this observant towards others.... No, he was always observant... that was silly. But she did wonder if he would ever comfort anyone else with a lingering touch. Hover his fingers just over their injury... over their hand.

She looked up at him for a moment. His bruised eye, the blood under his nose, his hair falling into his face... an absolute mess because of her... but not a bit of regret. Looking back at his hand... staring at that hand... she so suddenly kinda, sorta wished he would have just grabbed hers—

Iris blinked away her intrusive thought, pulling away as she stood up. Her own thought a sorta slap to the face level of shock. A shock she was quick to ignore, disappearing to the bathroom to wash her hands as her heart tried to calm itself after the sudden jerk her brain had just sent through her body.

Luckily, Theodore thought nothing of her sudden jerk away, becoming slowly aware of a level of awkwardness of being in her room... a new environment. One where he felt trapped to the edge of the bed he had been placed on, not sure if he was allowed to break from the box. But at the same time, Theodore also became increasingly aware that he was finally being allowed the alone time he always jumped at any opportunity for... and as he stared at his wrapped hand... he had a question.

"Dream of being a muggle healer?"

It wasn't the real question, was more of a snarky bit of a comment on her priority of skills... I mean, can relocate and bone but can't shrink someone's teeth? In a world with magic? She may as well have just handed in her wand.

Iris rolled her eyes with a smile as she walked back out of the bathroom, pulling at her tie, "I used to be a lot more fun. Ran around the forest to come home with a new bruise or broken bone every other day. Human methods could help speed up the already quick process so I would never look abused in public."

There was a slight pause that had Theodore glancing up from his hand—

The regret immediate as his head snapped to the side, a red trailing up his neck as the image of a shirtless Iris forever ingrained itself in his mind.

Iris just laughed as she tossed aside her shirt from the school day, glancing at Theodore before digging through the trunk at the foot of her bed, "A bra is the same as the bikini top I wore at the lake."

He wasted no time in snapping back, "And I don't remember staring then either."

"Touché," Iris raised an eyebrow as she found something in her trunk; throwing it to Theodore, "Remind me to take that to dinner so I can give it back."

Grumbling, Theodore looked down... something he really shouldn't have done. Fucking Cedric Diggory's coat was not something he needed to see. The memory of it wrapped around Iris, Cedric insisting she kept it on the walk back to the castle... it irritated him then to the point of contemplating telling Cedric why she didn't need it... and it still irritated him in that moment.

So much so he looked for anything to occupy his mind... brought straight to the notebook sitting idle on Iris' bedside table... he didn't have to vocalize his ask before Iris just gave him the go-ahead... a needed reminder that she could hear stray thoughts.

There was still a small pause from Theodore... a moment where he still felt confined to the small space he had been placed in... even reaching just to the bedside table, a boundary to cross. But he would eventually get the courage, snatching the notebook before setting it to his side to start flipping through... only for a second, thinking of how personal this could be.

Something that quickly died as he realized it really wasn't all that. Only dated back a few weeks, as this was a newer notebook. Most pages were filled with nothing more than absent-minded notes about assignments and doodles for when she wasn't listening. A smaller portion of the pages were dedicated to nothing more than drawings of the grounds and classes and random objects that had crossed her mind at the time... some weren't as easy... but with some time, he could make out a few to be her take on different settings from books she had listened to him read. Still... as anticlimactic as it was, he was still fascinated by this skill of hers.

He was lost to turning the pages as Iris carried on, a smile lingering on her lips as she glanced at Theodore from time to time... his internal critiques of her art were heard loud and clear.

Finally digging out a fresh sweater for the rest of the day, Iris threw it on before vanishing quickly to the bathroom again. Returning with a brush, she toed off her shoes and climbed onto her bed. The notebook separating her and Theodore by only a small margin.

Crossing her legs as she joined in watching the pages turn, letting her hair down from its prison called a ponytail and started abusing it with her brush.

It was one of those now so-rare quiet moments for them. The two just sharing a space... though it was so much more personal. Iris going about an after-class routine, Theodore snooping through something of hers... locked away alone in a room only few could enter. It was so much more personal... and, certainly, something that wouldn't be immediately comfortable the first time. Theodore still awkward on the edge of her bed. Iris quiet as she just observed his peek into her life...

Maybe someday it would be more comfortable... this personal space shifted into not just hers but something they could share from time to time. No longer hidden in the corner of a library or the depths of a forest but... there instead. Maybe... but a few things would have to long change.

Theodore flipped to the first drawing of a person he had yet to find... a portrait... of... he went rigid as he realized just who it was.... Something he would first excuse to shock.

And most curiously... Iris had briefly cringed as Theodore Nott laid eyes on the picture she had drawn of him after that morning in the common room those few weeks ago. Something she would definitely excuse to artist critique, "Not the best at drawing people."

Theodore would most definitely disagree, though. His stupid little teenage heart was definitely clouding his judgment... but still... seeing himself on that page, through her eyes... clearly on her mind.... He thought it was a fantastic thing to look at.

Iris, however, was quick to attempt to rip it apart, pointing to the one thing that had been a long struggle that morning, "The eyes are the worst. I can't for the life of me figure out why they look so wrong, but I think that is just because I struggle to understand your eyes at all. The eyes make or break a whole piece..."

Theodore was hearing none of it... finding himself looking up at Iris and being hit by an intensity of... awe... as his eyes found her. It was a lot... looking at her then. His mind blank as if a part of some cheesy story, and he was seeing her for the first time, struck by what he saw.

He'd want to blame the way her hair was down, wild, and free... long as it framed around her in a way that just had to be its best look. He'd want to blame the sound of her voice, unfair in the way it captivated minds as she rambled on. He'd want to blame the way she was wearing that sweater he had lent her and never asked for back all those months ago.

He'd want to blame that all. But no.... He saw her hair down like that and just wished it would never go back up. He heard the strange melody of her voice and wished she would just keep talking forever. He thought of the fact that she had simply taken ownership of what was his.

So quickly... but no... it had been changing for a while but his perspective was changing and as he stared at her... that girl that started all this with a smile... he so wanted to—

Theodore shifted his thoughts before they could do anything rash, his voice softer than it should have been as he tried to be normal, "Struggle to understand my eyes?"

Iris' eyes darted up... her strange eyes met his so normal ones. And two hearts would flutter as she did. Theodore's gaze so soft it would stop any heart... and well, Iris was just Iris...

Iris nodded before she remembered to speak, a bit at a loss as she studied those eyes for what felt like the billionth time as of late... something in them that just did something.... Her voice was soft as she narrowed her own, leaning forward a bit to get a closer look, "There is just something there that I haven't been able to name.... It's aggravating."

Theodore couldn't trust himself with anything. Not to think, not to speak... hell, not even to move. He was realizing somewhere where this was heading. And to think, to speak, to move... any of it would just complicate everything.

And strangely... Iris couldn't seem to get anything else out either... so focused on her study of his eyes, desperate for an answer as to what it was about them. An answer that would make sense of where her mind had fallen so wildly moments ago.

So suddenly, these two had been locked into a moment. Both of them dealing with something they couldn't bring to share with the other. Both of them so lost to themselves that they missed the obvious answers that lay in the other. A stare down so... intense.

Iris just beginning to tilt her head, and Theodore's fingers twitching—

The door flew open.

Iris' head shot over, jaw tight as she straightened herself back up, not having a moment longer before Sally-Ann and Valeria were in her face. Each of them hurrying Iris up as they started talking a mile a minute about Cedric Diggory being in a frenzy. Something of the first task and dragons and how he had been looking for her all day. And so quickly, the three of them were out the door.

Iris only able to look back as a thought occurred to her so quickly before she was needed elsewhere. Unable to sit in it long.

Theodore left on the bed... frozen in place... a shock running through him as he finally seemed to be hit with something. Something he would sit in for the rest of the night.

Something had changed that day for the both of them.... For Iris, it was something instantaneous... something that maybe had been building in the back of her mind for a while. Something that had snapped into place just as she realized it was there. For Theodore, it was something of a slower admission to himself... something he was too stubborn to admit. Something that he had been seeing signs of for weeks but never put words to.

And for both it was the start of something new. Something that could be terrifying but so easy if they could just allow it...