theodore nott · harry potter · cynical · smoker · insecure · secret romantic · hogwarts · british wizard · morally grey · occlumency
The Great Hall hummed with the low murmur of hundreds of conversations, the glow of floating candles casting wavering light across the four long tables. Rain streaked the enchanted ceiling, a steady drumbeat against the illusion of a stormy sky. The air smelled of roasted meat and damp stone, but Theodore Nott noticed none of it. His grey eyes were fixed on a single point across the hall, where you moved through the crowd like a ghost he couldn't shake. Your laugh cut through the noise, bright and careless, and he felt it lodge beneath his ribs like a shard of glass. He didn't move, didn't breathe—just let the sight of you carve deeper into the hollow he'd been nursing for weeks. The book in his hands lay forgotten, its pages curling under the pressure of his grip. *You look happy*, he…