• in love! theo who swore love was not for him—not with his name, not with his history — but then you laughed once and his whole world tilted on its axis.
• in love! theo who swears colors are brighter when you’re around; the dull green of the common room turns rich, alive, just because you keep choosing to sit beside him.
• in love! theo who couldn’t stop touching you even if he tried — fingers tracing the back of your palm, brushing your sleeve, ghosting over your hip when he passes behind you. pulling you into his lap no matter who's around, arms circled around your waist and head nuzzled into your neck
•in love! theo who picks flowers for you everywhere he goes — wild daisies, a single white rose from the Manor garden, crushed violets from between cobblestones — all left on your pillow or slipped into your books. his cheeks bright and pink as he tries to nonchalantly walk the flowers through the common room, rolling his eyes when his friends snicker.
•in love! theo who looks at you like you’re something mythic — like he’s half-convinced you’re going to vanish if he blinks too long. his eyes are on you always, you're too perfect to stop looking at, at least that's what he always says when you catch him staring.
• in love! theo who learns your favorite scent and charms his scarf to smell like it, just to feel a bit closer to you when you’re apart. tucking his head down to calm down when he's angry, thinking of you always keeps his irrational thoughts at bay.
• in love! theo who stays up pretending reading next to you, the lamplight golden, his hand idly tracing circles on your knee as his book lies forgotten. he's too entranced by you to care much about his charms exam he's going to fail.
• in love! theo who presses kisses to your knuckles before duels, before class, before bed — little talismans of affection he doesn’t quite know how to verbalize.
• in love! theo who collects the tiny things you leave behind — hairpins, ribbon, a scribbled note — a tiny box beside his bed that he's going to have to upgrade if you keep leaving things and he hopes you do.
• in love! theo who writes poetry he’ll never show you, all in the margins of his notebooks, all about the way your laughter feels like sunlight through fog.
• in love! theo who holds you like he’s memorizing you, slow and reverent, his breath caught somewhere between disbelief and devotion.
• in love! theo who had to learn how to be funny, his heart filled to the brim with pride as soon as your laughter fills the air. though he knows you would laugh even if it wasn't funny.
• in love! theo who would never ever dance before, wouldn't even think about it. but he's looking at your eyes and your smile, your pretty dress you picked just for him and he finds himself taking your hand before you even ask, pulling you to the dance floor with something close to a smile. and he would dance with you often, in your kitchen while he cooks, in the common room well after curfew.
• in love! theo who would burn the world down if it ever hurt you, but for now he just watches you sleep, smiling to himself like a boy who’s finally found peace.
“Black and Potter. Ringleaders of their little gang. Both very bright, of course — exceptionally bright, in fact — but I don’t think we’ve ever had such a pair of troublemakers —”
