With Stars in Their Eyes

Theodore Nott was a year below myself, but I considered him to be one of the more tolerable Slytherin students. His reserved nature and clever sense of humor was what first drew me to him. Early in my Hogwarts years, we became close friends, well, as close as two people with trust issues could get.

The common room was all but empty. Slytherin had a Quidditch match, but Theo and I were not rabid fans. Instead, we sat by the fire and enjoyed the quiet company. I was reading a book my brother sent me a week back while Theo was glancing over the Daily Prophet.

After the only others in the room, a pair of second years, got up and exited through the portrait, Theo lowered the paper and his steel grey eyes met my own. "So Sophia," He murmured, a hint of sarcasm in his voice, "I hear you've been fraternizing with one of the Weasley boys."

Ice shot up my veins, freezing my heart and stopping my pulse. As the blood drained from my face, I hid my horrified expression between the thick pages of my book. Honestly, I tried not to think about Fred Weasley. Our awkward encounter happened over two weeks ago, and while there had been three more efforts to talk to me, I'd managed to slip away each time. I had nothing I wanted to say about the ginger boy.

When I finally mustered up the courage to meet Theo's eyes again, he was smirking. "Who said that?" I replied calmly.

Theo said, "Why, Adelaide Montgomery, of course. A few days ago, I overheard her telling some people how you were cozied up in a corner with one of the twins."

"That's not true!" I blurted out, my indifferent facade rapidly unraveling.

"No one believed her," Theo comforted me. He set the paper aside and shrugged, "Besides me."

Theo was far more intuitive than most others I knew, so lying to him was out of the question. Besides, if there was anyone I could trust in Slytherin, I would have to say it'd be Theodore Nott.

"I was just talking to him," I finally confessed. "He stopped me, and I didn't have any other choice but to — "

"Sophie," Theo interrupted with a soft voice, "You don't have to explain yourself to me." When I opened my mouth to protest, he just shook his head. "I only brought this up to give you a friendly warning… I don't care if you're hanging around blood traitors and Mudbloods. Not my type, but then again, not many are." He sighed. "Anyway, you should be careful. I might not mind, but others will."

Theo got up, tucking his paper underneath his arm. He gave me a smile, both friendly and menacing, and then headed to his dorm.

I was left alone to ponder over his words. The way he said them, it was almost as if he thought I was trying to pursue some sort of relationship with the Weasley, but I wasn't! I wasn't… For his safety and my own, Fred Weasley and I should never speak again.


Herbology was the one place where I couldn't escape Fred. We sat on separate sides of the room, but I could feel his eyes glance my way. I only hoped no one from my house noticed.

"Fred Weasley and Sophia Travers, please start pruning the Venomous Tentacula. The sixth years just aren't ready to handle them yet, and they need trimming." Professor Sprout sighed before listing off more partners.

When I heard my name matched with the one person I just couldn't afford to be with, I almost demanded a new partner. However, Fred hurried over and was sitting by me before Sprout was even finished talking. He gave me a smile, and I stared coolly back at him. With a whole class of Slytherins watching, I couldn't afford to be kind or even civil to him.

"We should start," I told him bluntly, getting straight to the point.

Fred frowned, his brows burrowing in confusion. The look of disappointment on his face caused my heart to throb. I felt like I betrayed him, and I hadn't the faintest idea why. Our eyes met, his brown ones warming my icy pools of blue, and I suddenly knew what he was thinking.

We were sharing a laugh. It felt so good to laugh even if it was at the expense of my own house. The sound was enchanting, sweet music to my deprived ears. He smiled, and my heart did a little flip. When I looked at Fred, I saw honesty. I saw laughter, kindness, and warmth. Even more frightening, I saw hope.

"Travers!"

I snapped out of my daydream and saw Fred staring at me. "What?"

"I said let's go."

Fred and I walked over to where the Venomous Tentacula were planted. Red and green clusters of students were spread all throughout the greenhouses as each pair worked on their own project. Fred and I got to work, silently snipping the ends of the feisty plants. As we worked, I noticed a bitter look on Fred's face.

"I'm sorry." I mumbled softly.

Fred's hands stopped as he turned to look at me with wide eyes. "What was that?" He asked, a smirk creeping onto his lips.

I glared at him, hissing irritably, "I'm sorry!"

"For what?"

Before replying, I glanced around to see if anyone was looking at us. No one was. Everyone was caught up battling their own man-eating plant. "You know why we can't talk. Why we can't be friends." I said plainly. "It's not up to me. It's just the way things are."

"Who said I wanted to be your friend, Travers?" Fred scoffed before returning to his work.

Blood pooled in my cheeks as a strange feeling of hurt begin to build in my chest. "I just thought because you — "

Fred shrugged, "I was curious, that's all. I thought you were different, but I was obviously mistaken."

"I am different." I whispered back, unable to keep the words from my mouth.

Without warning, Fred seized my hand and pulled me close. "Prove it," He murmured into my ear, sending shivers up my spine. When he released me, Fred smirked. His eyes were bright with amusement as he cheekily said, "I'd check your pockets, Travers, I thought I saw a few flobberworms hop in there."

Fred walked off, catching up with his twin before disappearing from my view. I idly stood there, unable to shake the strange feeling stirring inside of me like pixies were buzzing around in my stomach. As I recalled his words, I reached into my pocket and felt a crumpled up piece of parchment. When I unfolded it, I saw a short message:

You say you're different, I say you're lying.
Tonight. Astonomy Tower. 11 o'clock.
Prove me wrong.
- FW