You watch him from across the courtyard, Theo Knott — effortless, magnetic, completely untouchable. He laughs with his friends, leaning into the sunlight like he owns it, and your chest tightens without warning.
You used to be the one he noticed first. The one he laughed with, teased, leaned on. But now, it feels like he’s slipped into someone else entirely — someone larger than life, someone “cool” in a way that makes you feel small.
You tell yourself it’s fine. You like who he’s becoming. You should be happy for him. But every glance, every laugh that doesn’t reach your eyes, reminds you of the space growing between you.
“Hey,” he says suddenly, walking over. His grin is easy, effortless, as though nothing has changed between you.
“Hey,” you reply, voice steady even though your heart is racing.
He sits beside you, nudging your shoulder gently. “You okay?”
You nod, smile, and say nothing. How can you explain that you’re fine except that he seems farther away than ever? That his charm, his confidence, the way everyone gravitates toward him, makes you ache in a way you can’t put into words?
He talks about school, music, plans — and you laugh at the right times, nod when you should. You’re there physically, but your mind keeps replaying the memories of when it was just the two of you, when you weren’t standing in his shadow.
And as he leaves, tossing a casual wave over his shoulder, you feel it — that quiet pang of longing. That ache that comes from watching someone you care about move forward without you, becoming someone you barely recognize but can’t help still loving.
You tell yourself again: he’s “cool” now, and maybe you’re not meant to be part of that world. But deep down, you know you’ll always want to be near him, no matter how far he drifts.
Because some connections don’t vanish, even when everything else changes.
[ Fanart included in header was created by @upthehillart ]
Chapter 2/7
Book: Goblet of Fire
"Come on Y/N," Theo pleads. "Think about it," Blaise stops in the middle of the hall. "Slytherin wins the quidditch cup — against Gryffindor of course and the Goblet of Fire! And who better to take us to victory than our very own quidditch Captain?"
"Oh, bugger off you two," Pansy sweeps in and pulls Y/N away. "Have you heard from him?" Shaking her head solemnly, she thinks back to how she hadn't heard from the voice in her head over the summer. She supposes it's a good thing — it means she hasn't had many erratic emotional outbursts.
But she can't help feeling a little disappointed as she spots new couples, each separated by a different school now joined together. Everyone, young and old, was excited for the chance to mingle with more people their age, especially those who have a voice.
"Watch this," Draco nudges her side, pulling her thoughts back to the goblet. "Are they..." "No way..." Grabbe and Goyle laugh. "They're bloody idiots, the lot of them." Draco shakes his head. "Do you think it'll work?" Theo whispers to Y/N.
"Of course not," Draco scoffs but Pansy shoots Y/N a grin when he leans forward with Theo and watches carefully.
The show quickly reaches its climatic finish when the twins are thrown on their bums and grey hair growing rapidly all over their faces.
Fred catches Y/N's gaze and the mirth in his eyes has her laughing along with the rest of the hall and forgetting about the voice in her head.
Over the next few days, Y/N has concluded that she would indeed put her name in the goblet. "I just don't understand what changed your mind!" Pansy huffs. Her defense against the dark arts book pressed firmly against her chest. "You were so against the whole thing just a week ago and now you are all ready...." Her friends' words blend in with the others as they take their seat.
"Hey, Y/N," Blaise says around a mouthful of food, "anyone asked you to the ball yet?" Pansy rolls her eyes. "No," Y/N shakes her head. "Lies" Pansy shouts and rolls her eyes which earns her a look from Snape at the professor's table. "Drumstrang and Beauxbatons have proceeded to send all of their best men and women to our Captain and she has had the nerve to turn each one down!"
"If you're the champion you're going to have to have a date, want to go with me?" Blaise bravely asks but Y/N's attention is drawn to the Gryffindor table where a certain red-head is pretending to dance and talking to a blushing Gryffindor.
Ducking her head, she feels her stomach tighten into knots. "Really, love? That guys a git. Don't let him get you down." The voice is deeper than it was last year, but her racing heart signals that it's the same person. "Now turn down your friend nice and easy before you break his heart." The soft chuckle vibrates all the way to her fingertips, filling her with warmth.
Looking away from Fred Weasley, she turns to Blaise. "As much as I love you Zambini, it's a no."
"Triwizard Champion, never thought that would be something you would go for," Draco starts when they are alone. The dungeons are flooded with the warmth and light of the fire. "It's not, I mean," setting down the text book Y/N sighs. She has been thinking this over for sometime but the words are hard to form.
"There has been a lot of pressure at home... I just thought if I bought something worth celebrating home then..." Draco nods in understanding. His hand reaches between them and intertwines with hers; a silent promise of solidarity.
Y/N had every intention of not attending the ball. When everyone else was busy collecting their suits and gowns, she was in the library but Pansy could not seem to accept it.
“Come one, Y/N, ” Pansy whines. Ignoring her friend she pulled up the sheets on her bed and pulls them into a firm shape. “It’s not my fault that you said yes to Blaise. Besides, Pans I could use this time to study up on useful defense magic. Professor Moody is wonderful but we need spells that most of us can actually use! God I wish Lupin was here,” she grumbles and kicks her trunk closer to her bed.
“I told Blaise to go with that fifth year,” before Y/N can voice her rebuttal Pansy continues, “and Theo is going with a Hufflepuff.” Pansy chuckles as her friends eyebrows disappear into her hairline. “So as my best friend, you are hereby required to go with me. Or else I suffer the fate of standing next to Ronald Weasley and my dress does not go with that dreadful outfit!”
“Ron has a date,” Y/N sighs. “Not once she sees his robes. Please! I swear I will help you sneak into the restricted section next week. Just go to the dance with me?”
Grabbing her bag, Y/N walks to the dorm room door. “What’s the color of your dress?”
Pansy squeals. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”
“Damn,” Blaise whistles as Theo spins Y/N around before giving the same attention to Pansy. Pansy’s dress is a long white gown with pink shimmer. Y/N’s suit is all white with a sleeveless top underneath her blazer. “By far the hottest couple tonight,” Theo agrees.
“Aw, thank you,” Pansy smirks, her white dress shimmering on the floor.
“Love the power suit, Y/N,” Draco hugs his friends from behind. “I feel like I could rule the world.” Y/N’s eyes shine mischievously. Her chest constricts in the white corset top as she laughs.
“Care for a dance?” Y/N offers her hand to Pansy, who takes it quickly. They pause for a moment, allowing Pansy to situate her dress.
The Weird Sisters begin their next song and Y/N leads Pansy through the song like an expert. “Looks like your parents forced you into ballroom dancing lessons, too.” Pansy jokes. “One of the only lessons I actually enjoyed,” Y/N smiles as Pansy twirls around before landing in her arms once more.
After three songs have passed, Pansy begins to shift on her feet. “I don’t know how you are still standing.” Pansy groans and gestures to Y/N’s white shoes. “Mind if I take over?” Emil, the Drumstrang man who had bravely asked for her to be his date a month prior, shoots his shot once more.
“Oh, yes, please! I have to take the horrible things off! Pansy scurries away. And the man holds out his hand. “May I have this dance?”
She graciously accepts and lets him lead her around the dance floor. His steps are placed with care and the hand on her back prompts her to which direction they will go next. “You're quite good at this,” she remarks.
“As are you,” he kindly smiles. “I will admit, I was more than a tad disappointed when you informed me that you would not be attending the ball. My friends told me,” his eyes flicker over to Krum and Hermione, “that you had someone else in mind.”
She quirks an eyebrow. “I’m many things but a liar is not one of them. If I wished to not go to the ball with you, I would have told you that.
“In truth,” looking over at her table she watches as Pansy struggles with her shoe and Theo moves to help. “I was practically forced to come here.” Y/N smiles fondly in Pansy’s direction. “You’re a good friend,” he smiles softly.
“Ready to show them what we can do?” Y/N missed the way his eyes float over to a certain redhead, whose gaze has been stuck to her all night.
“What?” she questions but then pauses as the Weird Sisters pick up the beat.
“You think you can keep up?” He jokes before pulling her body to his. Their pace picks up, and he spins her around. Soon enough there's a crowd around them cheering them on. Krum pulls Hermione into the circle and they begin a similar dance. Soon more Drumstrang girls and boys are spinning their partner around.
Over in the corner Fred stands from the table, his fist balled together. “Hey,” his date reaches for him but he mumbles an excuse for using the loo and escapes the ball room.
Placing his hands on the sink, he lets his head hang. Images of Y/N in that bloody outfit flood his mind, but they are tainted when the buff man enters her space. Emil who had overheard his conversation with George about his intent to ask her to the ball. The Drumstrang then quickly asked her, much to Fred’s dismay.
The voice in his head spoke out in comfort, but he quickly squashed his hurt by asking Angelina’s best friend to the ball.
By the time he had learned of the rejection, it was too late. The only comfort he had was knowing that she wasn’t going to the ball.
But then she showed up. In the bloody suit, looking like a Queen. Fred had melted on the spot when he realized that she had put her own discomfort aside to help make a night memorable for her friend.
He did good, or so he thought, keeping his eyes off of her. He forced himself to watch his feet so that he wouldn’t trample his date. But when the Drumstrang approached her, Fred felt his temperature rise, especially when his hand dared to slip under the white blazer and rest on her bare back.
“Freddie?” His stomach twists at the voice. Before she can continue comforting him the bathroom door opens and in comes his date.
“Hey,” she looks down at her hands. “I’m just checking on you.”
Fred places a hand on her hip and pulls her body to his. “Fred, are you sure?” She questions. Both of them have discussed that they have a soulmate but decided since they do not know them that they could play this game for a little while.
Fred’s heart pings with hurt when he thinks of Y/N not being his voice. He has already betrayed his soulmate by longing for the Slytherin so why not squash that crush with a new one? And with that, Fred presses his lips to hers.
Y/N and Emil dance until the band played their last song. Her shoes and purse are forgotten somewhere at their table, which they never found themselves at. Y/N says a quick prayer that Pansy or one of her friends thought to grab the items.
“It was fun, no?” Emil leans on the wall as they make the walk back to their dormitories.
She can't help but smile at the young man. He was the same age as her but he looked more man than boy, and from the looks he earned tonight she knows that she isn't the only one with that thought. “I really enjoyed tonight.” she stops near the bathrooms as she is headed down and he up. “It was nice to have a partner who can dance.” Her eyes crinkle as she smiles.
True to her word earlier, she is not lying. Tonight has been a surprising welcome distraction from the impending battle.
“May I kiss you?” He asks. His tall frame leaning over hers. His question breaks her out of her happy daze. “I have a soulmate,” she blurts out.
Emil shrugs, “I don't mind.”
Her stomach turns uncomfortably. “I'm sorry, Emil. I really enjoyed tonight, but I can’t. I can’t do that to him.”
Emil cocks his head. “Why act as if it's cheating? If kissing me is cheating, surely thinking impure thoughts about a certain someone is as well.”
Y/N’s jaw falls down. “Excuse me?”
Sighing, Emil shakes his head and treks up the stairs.
“Freddie!” A feminine voice comes from the bathroom. Pressing her back to the wall, Y/N ducks around the corner just as Fred Weasley emerges from the bathroom, his hands roaming all over his date.
Once again Y/N feels her stomach flip.
The rest of the year passed in an excited blur. "I can't believe that you didn't get chosen, but both the Prince of Hufflepuff and the Prince of Gryffindor got chosen." Draco huffs. "Going to go whine to your daddy?" George's voice looms behind the Slytherin duo.
Turning around, Y/N watches as the twins laugh loudly. Her heart begins to race at the musical sound, and she mentally scolds herself. Fred Weasley has always held her attention. Despite him being in Gryffindor and all the warnings that come along with his last name, especially in the pure blood families, yet he seems to have captured her heart.
Fred smiles at Y/N and she swears she is going to melt into a puddle despite it being dead winter. Biting her lower lip and tugging at her sleeves, she pulls her coat closer to her body and fights to erase the redhead from her mind. A man who she can't have. The wizarding world has tried constantly to form new bonds but soul bonds will not be ignored; for that reason neither Y/N nor Fred has ever dared to speak to each other. Instead, they choose to exchange small smiles and knowing glances.
George elbows his unusually silent twin as Malfoy musters up a snarky response before they find their seat with their fellow Gryfindors.
"CEDRIC! POTTER!" All of Hogwarts chants as the champions enter the maze. "You think he'll die?" Draco whispers. They sit the closest to the field, huddled together. Looking over at the young boy who she has watched grow into a young man, Y/N wraps an arm around his waist and hugs him close. "He survived our biggest foe, I think he can make it through a maze." She reassures the normally stern Slytherin.
All mistakes are mine ♡︎
I am trying to get back to writing. I would appreciate any feedback. Please just don’t be mean.
I do not own Harry Potter. This is Fanfiction.
Likes are appreciated, Reblogs are loved, Comments are cherished!
Slytherin common room, after tampering with Hermione’s memory again, Hogwarts
He told himself he did it to keep her safe.
He tore off his jumper and pulled at the collar of his shirt. He should have gone to the room of requirement instead of the common room. He wanted to throw things. He wanted to smash every table and chair and serpent adorned surface in here, but if he did that he would wake up the whole house. In the space of a heartbeat, he realized that he didn’t care. He grabbed the edge of the nearest table and flipped it over. The papers and books fell to the floor. Bottles rolled under tables and shattered where they fell. A vile of ink hit the nearest wall, spewing black liquid across a nearby chess set.
“Oi, what the bloody hell do you think you’re doing?” said a voice from the other end of the room. Theo Knott was sitting at a table in the far corner, studying by the eerie green light cast by the lake. Malfoy spun around. He grabbed a small vile of something from another table and chucked it towards Theo, who didn’t flinch when it exploded at his feet.
“Rough night, Malfoy?” Theo asked. Malfoy advanced on him, pulling a book from one of the chairs and throwing it at Theo who ducked then sat back up. “Guess so,” he said putting his hands behind his head, as if he were watching a slow moving quidditch match. “Secret death eater project not going the way you wanted it to go?”
Malfoy tripped over a rug a few feet in front of Theo, then looked up at him. Theo laughed. Malfoy grabbed another vile of something from an end table next to him and hurled it at Theo again. It smashed on the glass above his head. Furious at his poor aim, Malfoy searched around for something else to throw and found nothing. He looked up at the purple liquid now trickling down the window behind Theo. He watched as he willed the liquid to draw back up into the glass. The vial reformed itself and flew back to him in a blink. Malfoy caught it in his rigid outstretched hand. Theo stopped laughing. Malfoy threw it again. This time, Theo had to jump out of the way to avoid it.
“Ok, mate,” yelled Theo with his hands over his head. “Give it a rest. I’m sorry ok?”
Malfoy had wandlessly summoned the shattered vial back into his hand again and threw it once more at Theo, who had to duck behind a couch to avoid it. Behind him he heard movement from the boys dorms.
“I didn’t mean to have a go at whatever it is you’re working on, ok?” said Theo desperately. “It’s just, you won’t let us help you! My mum is a death eater too! I know the trouble you’re going to be in.”
This apparently was the wrong thing to say because Malfoy had torn his wand from his pocket and was now pointing it at a thoroughly bewildered Theo. The shattered vile flew back to Malfoy, he caught it in his other hand.
“My mother has never taken the mark,” said Draco through gritted teeth. “You’ve never met him, been alone with him Theo. Don’t talk about what you don’t understand!”
“Ok, ok..” said Theo, his hands still over his head. Behind him, Malfoy saw the door to the girls dormitory fly open and a hand full of Slytherin girls flood out to see what the noise was about. Pansy was pushing her way through the girls from the back of the group.
“Draco!” she shouted running towards him. “What is it? Are you ok?” She reached up and tried pulling down his wand, still trained on Theo. Behind him, he could hear the Slytherin boys moving around also.
“Theo, you prat!” said the voice of Blaise Zabinni. “What did you do this time?” Blaise had walked up to stand next to Malfoy. He pushed Pansy aside and took the wand out of Malfoy’s now shaking hand.
“I didn’t do a damn thing,” said Theo. “He came raging through the dormitory door like a fucking Hippogriff.”
“Yea, and you’re telling me you didn’t provoke him at all?” said Blaise with a nod to Malfoy who's knees had buckled. Malfoy slumped to the floor with his head in his hands.
“There’s nothing to see here,” said Blaise to the staring students. “Go back to bed. GO,” he shouted when nobody moved, and they scattered back down to their rooms, Blaise shooting hexes at anyone who wasn’t moving fast enough. When everyone had gone but Theo, Pansy, and Crabbe, he shoved Malfoy’s wand back into his hand.
“Bloody hell Malfoy,” Theo said under his breath.
“His hand,” said Pansy, dropping to her knees in front of him. The vial that he had caught for a third time had shattered in his left hand. Pansy pulled his bleeding palm into her lap and began pulling out the shards of glass. Malfoy remained silent, swaying slightly, his head bowed to the ground. He heard Theo whispering to Blaise about the last time they had seen him eat anything.
“Let’s get him to bed,” said Blaise. He looked up at Crabbe who hadn’t moved. “Come on, we can’t leave him down here.”
“I’m sick of cleaning him up,” said Crabbe. “So his punishment is going as the Dark Lord intended. Why should we help him?” Pansy drew in a sharp breath and looked up at Crabbe. “He was meant to die doing this,” said Crabbe continuing. Goyle and I are done. We don’t answer to him anymore,” and he walked away from them and down into the dormitory. Blaise looked around at Theo.
“Yea, I’ll help you,” Theo said to Blaise, and together they hoisted Malfoy to his feet. “Did you see what he was doing with that vile?” asked Theo as they left a worried looking Pansy on the floor behind them.
“Yea,” said Blaise. “I don’t know if he’s losing control or getting more powerful the more angry he gets.”
“Well it was fucking cool,” said Theo. “Scary as shit, but fucking cool.”
Blaise smirked.
“Draco,” Blaise said addressing his comatose friend. “What the hell is going on with you? Wandless magic and shit? We’re impressed friend, but you need to pull yourself together. You fall apart like this in front of the Dark Lord and he’ll kill you for sure.” Malfoy didn’t say anything, but leaned a little heavier into Blaise.
“Good ol’ Voldy,” said Theo under his breath. “You gaining weight, Malfoy?” he said sarcastically. “You’re getting harder and harder to carry, mate.”
“Enough, Knott.” said Blaise. “He’s had enough for one day. Let’s just get him to bed.”
Malfoy lay awake for hours still after his friends had pulled closed their four poster curtains. In the morning, he woke up to nightmares of Hermione screaming and his father laughing in his crying face.
