Little Memories

“Where have you been all day, Charlie?” Theodore asked as Charlotte finally strode into the Common Room. She grinned broadly as she laid her eyes on him, slinging her book bag to the side and immediately sliding onto his lap.

“I’ve been tucked away in the library working on a potion’s paper,” she said softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. His hands immediately went to her hips as she rested her forehead against his. “It was dreadfully boring,” she added with an eye roll and one of those radiant smiles, “but it had to be done.” Theodore merely hummed and looked over her slowly, one of his hands slipping to the top of her stocking-covered thigh and just underneath the hem of her already short, grey uniform skirt.

“You’ve finished it then?” He asked softly, returning her smile. Charlotte nodded slightly, tucking her hair behind her ear. He gave her a look with those turquoise-colored eyes of his and she immediately knew what he was thinking. She let out a short laugh and tilted her head back. “What?” He asked though a chuckle. Charlotte looked back at him before cupping his face in her hands, still smiling widely.

“You want me to help you with your Divination paper,” she stated, cutting her eyes playfully at him as she rubbed the tip of her nose just barely against his. “More specifically,” she continued softly, staring into his eyes, “you want me to write the thing for you.”

“It’s sickening, isn’t it?” Daphne spat from beside Draco as the two of them sat side-by-side on an opposite couch, glowering at the overly affectionate couple. Draco merely hummed in response, his arms crossed over his chest and his face stoic. Daphne looked from Theodore and Charlotte before turning to Draco and resting her chin on his shoulder. “We should try to one-up them,” she whispered with a wicked smirk.

“How much persuading am I going to have to do this time?” They heard Theodore ask, causing Charlotte to laugh outright at him. Draco felt anger boiling up in him as his eyes darted bitterly between the two. They seemed too perfect, too grabby, and much too happy with each other and it turned his insides to fire. He then turned to Daphne and stared at her for a moment as she smiled sweetly up at him. She was pretty, he knew, but she was absolutely rubbish on the inside. He merely sighed and looked back at Charlotte and Theodore, resorting to merely glaring at them in retaliation.

“A lot more than I think you’re willing to want to do, so you best just write the paper,” Charlotte reply sweetly. Theodore’s hand slid further along the side of her thigh, a smoldering sort of emotion lingering in his eyes. “It’ll take a lot more effort and time to persuade me than to write your paper, Teddy,” she whispered, grinning wicked at him. Draco face wrinkled with disgust at that ridiculous nickname and by then he’d had enough. Turning to Daphne, just as she was about to say something else to him, he pressed his lips to hers in a sloppy, open-mouthed kiss; anything to keep his mind off of how ridiculous Charlotte was being. A surprised noise escaped the brunette and the couple across from them immediately turned to see what was going on.

Theodore’s eyes roamed Charlotte’s pixie-like profile. Her eyes were wide and watery. Her lips trembled a bit before she pulled them snugly between her teeth. Her jaw clenched and her nostrils flared. He glanced over to Draco and Daphne as they quickly closed the space in-between each other, their hands grasping at whatever they could. It was a rotten trick for Draco to play on Charlotte, since it was all too obvious to Theodore that he was just trying to rid his mind of the beautiful girl that now sat on his lap. Slowly, Charlotte turned her eyes away from them and she stared at Theodore helplessly. He did the only that he could do for her at the moment and he leaned forward, pressing his lips to hers softly, much more softly than any of their previous kisses had been. The girl kissed back eagerly, banishing the tender kiss by tangling her fingers roughly through his hair and parting his lips with her tongue.

It was as if she had forgotten that they were in the Common Room, a decidedly public place, and she straddled his hips, pressing herself fully against him. He let out a low groan in response and his hands flew to the small of her back, only further egging her on. The younger Slytherin’s in the room pulled faces at the two snogging couples, a few of the older ones did the same. Gregory Goyle, who was sitting off in a corner with Crabbe, was going to have none of it.

“Get a fucking room,” he grumbled, glancing between the two couples. Draco and Daphne immediately split apart, turning a glare to him. Theodore and Charlotte pulled away, but merely looked at each other. Their lips were slightly swollen and pink, their cheeks flushed. Charlotte gave an almost undetectable nod to Theodore before she moved away from him. She quickly stood and grabbed her book bag from the ground as Theodore stood and took her hand in his. Then, to the surprise of all those who were brave enough to watch, they began to walk toward the dormitories, Charlotte giggling slightly as she went. Draco continued to glare at Gregory, knowing that his suggestion must have driven the two to the boy’s dormitories and he’d be forced to sit there and wait it out. He knew exactly what they must be thinking and what they must be planning to do. Draco’s stomach gave an uneasy churn as he looked back at the dormitory corridor. He heard a door close and echo back down the hallway, along with the last quivering note of Charlotte’s giggle. He felt ill, utterly and absolutely ill.

The next morning was the next time anyone saw the youngest Goyle and Theodore Nott and they were all smiles. Charlotte had her hair down and curly as ever, covering up the majority of her neck and Theodore had a green and silver striped scarf wrapped around his neck; it was as if they were hiding something from the rest of the students. They made a point to sit as close together as possible without being in each other’s laps at breakfast. They smiled at each other constantly and exchanged kisses on the cheeks frequently. It seemed, to those who were cared enough to watch them, that they were perfectly content with each other.

The same, however, couldn’t have been said about Daphne and Draco. Somehow, in the middle of the night, Daphne’s hair had been changed to an outrageous shade of orange. Her once glorious, dark brown main of soft waves now was the color of a pumpkin and the texture of straw. She had hidden it beneath a thin scarf, but that didn’t stop small strands of it to fall from it’s containment every now and then and people to stare at it. Daphne, naturally, blamed Draco for this misfortune. Either it was because of his “daft, crazy ex-girlfriend”(Charlotte) or because of his “bumbling mountain trolls”(Crabbe and Goyle) who had done the number on her hair in the middle of the night. Honestly, there wasn’t any way that Crabbe or Goyle had done it, so Draco knew it must have been Charlotte, but he wouldn’t dare give Daphne the satisfaction of knowing she was right. Draco had enough sense to merely tune her out, only adding a nod or hum when the time called for it. Halfway through breakfast, Daphne had managed to pull him from the Great Hall and to Professor Slughorn, to see if he could brew her anything to fix her dreadful hairstyle.

“Fantastic job, my darling,” Charlotte cooed in an overly posh voice as she walked from the Great Hall with Theodore, preparing to take their time to get to their first class of the day.

“I’d say it was an equally fantastic on your behalf, pumpkin,” Theodore replied in an equally snooty voice. They both dissolved into laughter as they descended the long staircase to the Slytherin Dungeons.

“It’s a shame she partially hid it, though…the odd looks she got because of a bit of hair falling out of the scarf was worth it all,” she said wistfully, her arm looped securely through Theodore’s.

“You are a conniving one, dear Charlotte,” he said, looked over at her with a fond smile, “and I find that very attractive.” Charlotte merely raised a brow at Theodore, a grin tugging at her lips.

“I’m just thankful I have such an attractive man that’s willing to go along with my crazy schemes,” she replied, flipping her long curly hair over her shoulder to expose her long, pale neck. It was blemish-free. Theodore unraveled the scarf from around his neck and his neck was in the same condition as Charlotte’s.

“God, it’s far to warm in here today for this blasted thing,” he grumbled, draping the scarf over his shoulder. Charlotte shot him a playfully scolding look as they entered the Common Room.

“I know, but it’s got to go right back on again once we’re back in the public eye,” she said, pointing a finger at him. “We’ve got to make it appear like we’ve done something scandalous.”

“You should have just let me give you a hickey, so we wouldn’t have to pretend,” Theodore offered as they marched into the dormitory corridor. Charlotte hummed lightly before shaking her head and scrunching up her nose.

“Tempting but…no,” she said playfully, causing them both to laugh. Theodore stopped just outside of the seventh year boy’s dormitories and turned to her.

“All you’d need to do is say the word. I’m willing to do anything for you, Charlotte.” Charlotte stopped just outside the sixth year, girl’s dorms and glanced over her shoulder at him. She offered him a wide smile and remained quiet for some time, just watching him.

“Again…I really can’t thank you enough,” she said softly. “Most guys wouldn’t understand.” Theodore merely shrugged a bit, returning the smile.

“I’m not most guys,” he said before pulling open the door to the boy’s dormitories and disappearing inside. Charlotte stared at the door for a moment, her smiling falling slowly as she let out a heavy sigh.

“No, you surely aren’t,” she said softly, a million thoughts running through her mind as she turned and entered the girl’s dormitories to collect her books for the first few classes of the day.