𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰!
act two, chapter twenty-one
" 𝒊𝒕'𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒍𝒐𝒐𝒌 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒎𝒂𝒔"

𝐃𝐄𝐂𝐄𝐌𝐁𝐄𝐑 𝟏𝟗𝟗𝟕

          𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑶𝑫𝑶𝑹𝑬 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑻 𝑯𝑨𝑻𝑬𝑫 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑯𝑶𝑳𝑰𝑫𝑨𝒀𝑺. Which was sad because he loved the idea of Christmas. But he hadn't had a wholesome family Christmas since he was seven. And he hardly remembered it. After his mother's passing, his father didn't see much point in decorating a Christmas tree and celebrating a holiday all about family when a third of their family was missing. So the Christmas decorations started to grow dust in the loft, and Theodore Nott never had a happy December ever again.

         It was why he loved Hogwarts so much, he thought. Hogwarts was beautiful in the winter and Flitwick was a pro at decorating a Christmas tree. It wasn't until his first Christmas there when he was eleven that Theodore Nott realised how wonderful the holiday could be. He wished he could stay there over the break but his father always ordered him home. Theo didn't understand this since every time he came home, his father would hardly speak to him. Maybe it was a fatherly thing, always wanting his son close, especially after the passing of his wife. But Theodore thought about all of the fun he could have staying at Hogwarts over the winter break.

          By his fourth year, he realised that was never going to happen, so he let the dream go.

          December no longer meant anything to Theodore Nott.

         He wasn't a Scrooge-type, per se, more so unbothered and unenthusiastic. He learned not to care when the Christmas decorations went up and the snow started to fall. He learned not to listen when his friends started talking about the presents they had asked for and the big New Year's Eve celebrations they had planned. Because he wasn't going to get any of that and it was best not to care about any of it.

          Theodore knew, even before they spoke about it, that Wyatt Buckley was the kind of girl to love Christmas. He imagined she had her own Christmas tree on her bedside table and pyjamas just for the occasion. Her favourite drink was definitely a hot chocolate and she was the kind of girl to not be able to sleep on Christmas Eve.

          He predicted all of this long before Wyatt brought it up on their usual walk to rehearsals on a chilly Monday afternoon.

          "Got any nice plans for the break?" She asked.

          There was a skip in her step, he had noticed, from where he towered over her. Her shoulder came up to his torso but, even with the height difference, the joy of the season was clearly radiating off of her.

          Their friendship was back on track, both of them would agree. The kissing thing certainly sped things up but they had both since agreed that they would only practice kiss when Flitwick specifically requested it. Now that they had proved that they weren't too afraid to kiss, they would simply mark it, so as not to lose the quality. They were, after all, only acting.

          Theodore cleared his throat. How was he supposed to tell a clearly massive Christmas-lover that . . . he didn't like it? This was obviously her favourite time of year and he had nothing to say to her that would make her feel seen.

          "Oh, no," he mumbled, "we don't really do Christmas in my house."

          Wyatt was suddenly taken aback. She stopped walking all together. She wondered how this was possible. From the outside, the Nott mansion was glorious. She couldn't begin to imagine the glamorous celebrations that could be held there. But now he was telling her they didn't have any?

          The Buckley family may not have had a lot of money, but they were rich in laughter and love. Wyatt didn't realise how lucky she was to have that until Theodore Nott stood in front of her and told her his family didn't celebrate Christmas.

          She was overcome with an overwhelming sense of sympathy for the boy. How long had his family been like this? Did he have nice memories of Christmas as a child? Wyatt's fondest childhood memories were of Christmastime, and she would hate to think that Theodore didn't have anything similar.

          When he came to a stop in the hallway and turned to face her, he didn't seem bothered at all by what he had just told her. In her eyes, Theodore had just delivered tragic, devastating news, and he didn't seem to care one bit.

          That, to Wyatt, was the saddest part. It seemed that Theodore didn't even know what he was missing out on.

          The solution came to her instantly. And as much as she tried to talk herself out of it, tell herself she was crazy, Wyatt couldn't let the idea go.

          The next second, she was closing the gap between them and asking, "Do you want to maybe come over to mine for Christmas?"

          There was a conviction in her voice that Theo had never heard before. As if she thought it was her moral duty to make sure that Theo had a nice Christmas. That she could never forgive herself if she learned about the lack of festivity in the Nott household and not do anything about it.

          Theodore's lips parted. He thought for a moment that maybe he had imagined it. That it was too good to be true.

          "You're serious?" He asked with a slight crease between his brow.

          "Of course," Wyatt replied. "My parents wouldn't mind. They're always hosting people."

          Wyatt was an only child. She had always wondered what it would be like for there to be more than just her parents on Christmas Day. And if there was one boy that she could convince that Christmas was the most special time of year, then she didn't mind if that boy was Theodore Nott.

          Theo stared down at her, words failing him. It was like trying to do a jigsaw puzzle but without the reference picture. He couldn't figure her out.

          "That . . .," he exhaled, running a hand down the back of his head, "that would be amazing. Thank you, Wyatt."

          "No problem," she smiled.

          Even after she had said it, he didn't make any kind of move to resume heading to rehearsals. He was dumbfounded, even after the conversation had ended. He was awestruck that anyone would be that kind. Theo realised then that he and Wyatt Buckley were truly friends. 

          To Wyatt, it didn't appear to be a big deal. But little did she know that Wyatt had just gifted him the best possible thing she could: a reason to celebrate Christmas.

          𝑻𝑯𝑬𝑶𝑫𝑶𝑹𝑬 𝑵𝑶𝑻𝑻 𝑴𝑨𝒀 𝑵𝑶𝑻 𝑯𝑨𝑻𝑬 𝑪𝑯𝑹𝑰𝑺𝑻𝑴𝑨𝑺. Anymore, at least.

          It didn't pain him to look at the Christmas tree in the Slytherin common room. He enjoyed the taste of mince pies (was anyone going to tell him that they were not, in fact, made of mince meat?) and he was now partial to mulled wine. The snow wasn't just an obstacle to Quidditch, but it was now something pretty and delicate and he realised how lucky he was to be in a place where snow fell.

          As the school term drew to a close, Theodore didn't get that familiar feeling of dread he would usually get in the final week before winter break. When he realised that he wouldn't be back at Hogwarts for three whole weeks. When he realised that the only company he would get for that time would be his father's and that was akin to being alone.

          Because now he had something to look forward to. He was going to see Wyatt over the break and suddenly, for the first time in a decade, Theodore Nott was looking forward to Christmas Day.

          He didn't mind listening to his friends talk about their plans for the holidays. He sat peacefully on the leather sofa in the Slytherin common room, the excited chatter surrounding him, but his head was buried in Shakespeare's King Lear.

          Draco Malfoy was wondering what the fuck had happened to his best friend.

          "Hey, you wanna visit over Christmas?" Draco swatted Theo's leg with a pillow to get his attention.

          "Sure," Theo said, not lifting his eyes from the words as he turned the page. "Just send me an owl when you've decided on dates. I have plans with Wyatt over break."

          Again: Draco Malfoy would like to know what the fuck had happened to his best friend.

          "Buckley?" Draco scoffed, shuffling to the edge of the sofa, his elbows on his knees. "Why are you seeing her?"

          Theo sighed, dropping the play onto his lap. "Because we live close?" He said, hoping Draco would just get off his back. "And we're friends?"

           Draco's face scrunched in disgust. "So you'd rather spend Christmas with her than with me?"

          Theo was hoping no one else in the group would chime in and he snuck a glance around the sofas to check they were all distracted. The last thing he wanted was an interrogation from them all and an opportunity to talk badly about Wyatt.

          When he was sure his friends weren't eavesdropping, Theo's jaw clenched. Is this seriously how friends were supposed to act around one another? "Like I said," he said through an exhale, "we live close."

          Theodore was not about to indulge Draco in the intricacies of his friendship with Wyatt Buckley because Draco would never begin to understand. By suggesting the proximity made their plans convenient, Theo wanted to leave it at that.

          Because that's all it was. Wyatt was being nice to her neighbour. Nothing else.

          Theodore lifted King Lear a little higher, until Draco was reduced to his platinum blonde locks peeking over the top of the page.

          𝑴𝑼𝑪𝑯 𝑳𝑰𝑲𝑬 𝑫𝑹𝑨𝑪𝑶 𝑴𝑨𝑳𝑭𝑶𝒀 (but with considerably less rudeness), Wyatt's friends had their own concerns about her budding friendship with Theodore Nott. Rudy, mostly, was concerned about how one day Wyatt could hate his guts and curse him to the devil for invading her drama club, and the next happily be kissing him on stage. Not only that, but Theo wasn't the kind of person that younger Wyatt would ever consider associating herself with. He was far too obnoxious and hadn't read enough books in the past year for Rudy to ever think he was good enough for her best friend.

          Rudy decided to broach this topic with Wyatt in the middle of the night when the former couldn't sleep.

          Rudy had been hearing about how rehearsals were going all week. Wyatt's mood when talking about Hogwarts' production of Romeo & Juliet had improved considerably since the casting announcement. Wyatt even spoke about Theodore with a smile on her face, and that was shocking.

          Rudy wanted to wait to talk about it when Teddy wasn't there. She didn't think it was normal for them to talk about boys and romance and all that when their male friend was present.

          Rudy slipped out from under her duvet covers at around eleven pm, walked the short distance over to Wyatt's bed and slid under her sheets. Wyatt stirred and when she felt the warm lump now taking up half of her mattress, she opened her eyes.

          "What are you doing?" Wyatt asked. This wasn't the first time Rudy had done this. In fact, in the six years they had been rooming together, Rudy had done this many times. But that didn't mean Wyatt expected it.

          Rudy lifted the covers and tucked them behind their heads so that they were trapped in the stuffy shelter of Wyatt's duvet. She kept her voice to a whisper so as not to wake their other roommates. "I demand to know what is going on with you and Theo Nott."

          Wyatt's nose scrunched up instantly and Rudy knew that to be her tell.

          A tell that said what are you talking about?

          "And be honest. None of this it's nothing bullshit."

          Rudy had heard the phrase it's nothing far too many times. She hoped that now they were cramped on a tiny mattress, with their breaths mingling and their limbs intertwined, that Wyatt would feel cornered enough to tell the truth. 

          "I promise you, Ru, it genuinely is nothing."

          Wyatt neglected to tell her best friend that she had invited Theodore over on her favourite day of the year. A privilege that had not even been extended to Rudy and Teddy.

          Rudy's brows furrowed. "I don't believe you."

          "I don't know what you want from me then," Wyatt whisper-shouted.

          "It's okay, you know?" Rudy then said. "It's not like illegal or anything."

          Wyatt rolled her eyes. "Thank you for that insightful knowledge."

          "Plenty of actors end up dating their costars."

          "Amazing," Wyatt replied sarcastically.

          "If anything, it means your chemistry on stage will be great."

          "I'm going to go to sleep now," Wyatt deadpanned.

          "Okay," Rudy sing-songed. "But I don't want you to ever feel like you can't talk to me about this kind of thing."

          Wyatt poked Rudy on her nose. "Nothing to tell."

          Wyatt and Theodore were just friends. She was being nice. She had finally warmed up to him and was willing to be friends with him. It would be very unrealistic for her to already be harbouring romantic feelings for him. And she knew she wasn't. They weren't suited; everyone could see that.

          But as Rudy returned to her own bed and Wyatt rolled over in her own sheets, she couldn't help but think: Was she lying to her best friend? Worse, was she lying to herself?

          𝑫𝑬𝑺𝑷𝑰𝑻𝑬 𝑯𝑰𝑺 𝑯𝑶𝑷𝑬𝑺 𝑭𝑶𝑹 𝑨 𝑩𝑬𝑻𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑾𝑰𝑵𝑻𝑬𝑹 𝑩𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑲 𝑻𝑯𝑨𝑵 𝑼𝑺𝑼𝑨𝑳, Theodore was reminded just why he hated Christmas almost as quickly as he decided he might just be able to like it.

         It happened after the final rehearsal of the term. They had just wrapped up Act 4 and the end was in sight. When they returned to Hogwarts in the new year, the time leading up to the very first performance would fly by. Theodore was starting to get nervous about everything. He was beginning to think that he wouldn't be able to pull it off. He wondered whether his friends would come and watch him. He wondered if his dad would come. If his mother were still alive, he knew for certain she would come.

          But that was 1998-Theo's problem to worry about. For now, he was done with exams and had a cosy winter break to look forward to.

          Flitwick bought them all chocolates for the last day and sent them off with well-wishes for Christmas and the new year.

          As everyone began to pack away their things, Theodore approached Wyatt. He felt like they had finally established a friendship, one she was less willing to deny. So he felt comfortable going up to her and asking if she wanted to grab a bite to eat in Hogsmeade. He hadn't been to the little village since his newfound appreciation for Christmas had come about and he was excited to see Hogsmeade in the snow with some good company.

          Theodore wanted to talk to her about King Lear and ask her what she was reading. He wanted to listen to what Christmas was like in the Buckley household. He wanted to hear about her parents and what they were like and whether he should bring anything. He wanted to buy her a drink and let her geek out about Romeo & Juliet while tipsy.

          But when Theodore asked her what she thought about his idea, her face fell.

          And his heart sank.

          "That sounds lovely, Theo," she said, cautiously putting her bag on her shoulder like the idea of walking away made her feel awkward, "but a couple of us cast and crew are already heading to the Three Broomsticks for butterbeer."

          She winced. At least she had the decency to feel some guilt.

          Theodore was too late, he realised.

          As he looked to the group that Wyatt was pointing to, he felt every single pair of eyes turn to him. As if they were all wondering why on earth would he think that Wyatt would want to hang out with him? Casey gave Theodore a self-righteous look that the latter did not appreciate. Not long ago, Theodore would have punched Casey for his raised chin and smug look. But not now.

          Wyatt then added, "You're welcome to come, though."

         This final sentence was the worst part. A pity invite. Remembering Theodore Nott was a part of the company at the last minute.

          Theo realised in that moment that he would never fit in with the theatre kids. They would always think he was an outsider, someone hell-bent on ruining their good thing. And maybe it started like that, but Theo thought he had proved himself by now. That he had shown them that he enjoyed acting and enjoyed his castmates' company.

          But they clearly didn't see it like that. Snobby, popular, arrogant Theodore Nott. That was who he was. And because of that, no matter how much progress he and Wyatt made when it came to their friendship, she would always be just out of reach.

          The most brutal part of this interaction, however, was how, when Theodore turned down Wyatt's invite and she walked away, she walked right up to Casey Stevens. They fell into a synchronised step, side by side. Instantly picking up conversation and instantly laughing.

          That was the kind of boy Wyatt would want to be with, to spend time with. Someone who liked the same things as her, someone in the same house as her. Someone who she hadn't always seen as the stuck-up, cocky, Quidditch-oriented arsehole that Wyatt once saw Theodore as.

          He was jealous, of course he was. Because Theodore Nott was crushing on Wyatt Buckley.

          'Tis the season and all that!

          And yet, crushing on Wyatt was killing him inside. It was, for lack of a better word, crushing him. Her friends were sceptical of him, and his friends hated her because of who she was. It was a modern-day tragedy.

          It was like they really were Romeo and Juliet.

¨. ༢ ͎۪۫ ༊*·˚