off limits ✶ theo nott
english isn’t my first, Implied Intimacy, Slow Burn Romance, Brother’s Best Friend
── ✦ ──
There were three unspoken rules in the Zabini household:
Firstly: Don’t touch Mum’s wine glasses. Secondly : Don’t ask about the family business. And Thirdly Don’t flirt with Theodore Nott.
That third one…
Was Blaise’s personal commandment. One he gave you when you were fourteen and he caught you staring too long at Theo during a summer party. “Stay away from Nott,” he said sharply. “He’s trouble.”
You believed him. Until Theo started smiling at you like he wanted to be your trouble.
It started small.
He came over during the holidays to see Blaise and greeted you with a “Zabini” that sounded more like temptation than a surname.
At Hogwarts, he passed you in the corridors and whispered things like: “Nice earrings.” “You dropped this… unless it’s mine now.” “You always smell like strawberries. Is that on purpose?”
It was maddening.
The slow burn. The teasing. The fact that he never actually made a move… but made sure you knew he could.
One night, you found him outside the common room. Late. Alone.
You were wearing an oversized Slytherin jumper, hair messy, a book clutched to your chest. “Studying?” he asked, leaning against the wall like he had all the time in the world. You nodded.
“Cute,” he said with a lazy smile. “Didn’t have you pegged as the academic type.”
You raised an eyebrow. “And what type do you think I am?”
He tilted his head slightly. “The dangerous kind. The kind I shouldn’t like.” Your stomach flipped. Then he walked away like nothing had happened. You never talked about it.
Not when he sat next to you in the library a week later and read over your shoulder, chin in hand, watching your lips more than the book.
Not when he pulled you into an empty corridor after Charms just to say: “Tell Blaise to stop threatening me. I’m not scared of him.”
Not when you caught him watching you from across the Great Hall like he already imagined what you’d look like undressed.
No, you didn’t talk about it. Because Theodore Nott was your brother’s best friend. And this was reckless.
Then came the party. Slytherin dorms. Loud music. Way too much firewhisky. Blaise had vanished somewhere with Malfoy. And Theo found you alone. “You always hide at parties?” he asked, offering you his drink.
“I’m not hiding,” you replied. “I’m observing.”
He took a sip and handed you the glass. “Poetic.”
You smirked. “Always this persistent?”
He stepped closer. Too close.
“Want me to stop?”
You froze. He didn’t touch you. Didn’t force it.
Just left the question hanging in the air.
You looked at him really looked. Messy dark hair. Sharp jaw. Those unreadable eyes that always seemed to know more than they said.
And you whispered: “No, not really.”
The kiss was inevitable. It wasn’t sweet. It was stolen. Messy. Secret.
His hands held your face like he was trying not to break you. Yours gripped his shirt like you’d waited too long to finally let go.
After that, the world went quiet. Not because you stopped talking. Because you didn’t need words anymore.
It was in the way he looked at you in class. The way his fingers brushed yours for just a second too long. The way he walked behind you in the hallways, hand lightly ghosting the small of your back… just to see you shiver.
And you always did. The party raged on inside. Laughter. Alcohol. Loud music. Some students already asleep on the couches.
But Theo kept you away from it.
Your back was pressed against the stone wall in a dim corridor lit only by flickering torchlight. His body was close. Way too close. And on his face that expression of constant self-control… about to snap.
“You have no idea,” he murmured, voice low and fraying, “how hard it is not to touch you when you’re near me.”
You held your breath. Not because of what he said — but how he said it. Like he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Like he was fighting himself. Blaise. The whole damn world.
“Then don’t,” you whispered.
His eyes changed. Darkened. Turned hungry.
He didn’t move. You did.
Your fingers brushed the edge of his shirt, fabric soft under your hand just an excuse to close the distance.
And he gave in.The kiss was deeper this time. Slower. Rougher.
His hands slid around your waist like he was afraid you’d disappear. Your lips moved with his in soft gasps. Your fingers tangled in his hair.
And for a moment, you forgot everything. Your last name. The rules. Blaise. There was only Theo. And the way his breath hitched as he held you like this.
When he pulled away, his eyes stayed closed, forehead resting against yours. “We shouldn’t be doing this,” he whispered like a confession.
“You shouldn’t want to,” you answered.
You both smiled a little broken, a little addicted. Because you both knew this night wasn’t ending here. He took your hand. Not like you were fragile. But like you were dangerous and he liked it.
“Come with me,” he said.
You didn’t ask where. You didn’t care. When you’re falling, the landing doesn’t matter. And with him… you weren’t scared to crash.
The secret became a routine. Sneaking around between classes. Stolen glances disguised as nothing. His hand brushing yours under the Great Hall table. Silent meetings in the Room of Requirement.
Everything carefully hidden. Everything done to make sure Blaise Zabini never found out. And it worked.
Until that night.
It was late. His room became your shared haven again, a soft couch, green curtains like his house colors. Theo had you curled up in his arms.
Kissing. Laughing. Breathing.
“I forget sometimes this isn’t allowed,” you murmured against his chest. He was quiet for a second.
“Sometimes,” he said finally, “I wish Blaise wasn’t my best friend.”
You froze slightly. “And what if he finds out?”
“He won’t take it well.”
Minutes passed. Peaceful. Dangerous.Then a knock. Three sharp bangs on the door. Theo stiffened. You sat up, heart racing. “Don’t open it,” you whispered.
But the door… opened anyway.
The magic of the Room let him in.
Blaise.
Standing in the doorway. In his pajamas. Wand in hand. Face unreadable. Fury. Disbelief. Hurt.
No one spoke.
The silence was louder than any scream. His eyes went from you to Theo. Then back to you. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” was all he said.
Theo stood up slowly. Didn’t hide you. Didn’t run.
“Let me explain—”
“How long?” Blaise asked you directly. Your voice barely made it out.
“A few weeks.”
He laughed. No humor. Just bitterness. “A few weeks,” he repeated, looking at Theo. “And you didn’t say a word. After everything?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“Then what is it?” Blaise snapped. “A fling? A way to piss me off? Or do you just want to prove you can take everything — even my sister?”
“It’s not a game,” you said firmly. Theo looked at you like you just saved him. Blaise didn’t.
“Of course it’s not. Because you don’t fall for just anyone, do you?
Then Theo broke the silence. “I’m in love with her.”
Your breath caught. Not from shock. But because… he’d never said it out loud before.
Blaise blinked like he’d just been hit with a curse.
“I can’t listen to this,” he muttered. “Not from either of you.”
And he left.
The next day, you found him outside the library. He didn’t look surprised to see you. Just… tired.
“Do you love him?” he asked. Straight to the point.
“Yes,” you said.
“And he loves you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why hide it?”
“We were scared.”
“Of me?”
“Of losing you.”
That made him flinch. Because he didn’t expect that answer. Not from you. “You’re the most important person in my life,” you said.
“And you were mine,” he replied.
There was a long silence. Then he said: “If he breaks your heart… he won’t face me as a friend. He’ll face me as your brother. And he won’t recognize me when I’m done with him.”
You nodded. “I know.”
He walked away, hand on the door but paused.
And with his back to you, said quietly: “I always knew if someone could make Nott lose his mind… it’d be you.”
And then he was gone.
