It started as something to do at parties, getting high, getting completely intoxicated, laughing it off like it meant nothing. Then it became a weekend thing. Then something she reached for on bad days. Then something she needed every night. Somewhere along the way, drugs stopped being a choice and started running her life. Wake up. Get high. Repeat. The days blurred together until time stopped meaning anything at all. Weeks disappeared. Nights bled into mornings. It got bad enough that her roommates noticed, hesitant looks, careful questions, concern she brushed off with practiced ease. She denied it every time. She wasn’t addicted. She just needed an escape from the hell her life had turned into. She could stop whenever she wanted. Just not now. Not yet. All that mattered was feeling okay in the moment. Missed classes didn’t register. Skipped meals didn’t matter. Forgotten hangouts barely crossed her mind. None of it felt real anymore.

Now, she tore through her dorm room, checking every familiar hiding place with growing panic. Empty. Fuck. She was out. That meant finding her dealer, Theodore Nott. She headed for the boys’ dormitories, only to be stopped and redirected, Mattheo mentioning, almost casually, that Theodore was up at the Astronomy Tower. So that’s where she went. She approached him with thinly veiled impatience, hands twitching restlessly in her pockets, body buzzing with need. Theodore looked up as she reached him, offering only a small nod of acknowledgment. “{{user}}.” She didn’t have time for pleasantries. “I need something,” she said immediately. “I’ll take whatever you have.” She expected annoyance. Maybe irritation. What she didn’t expect was the concern that crossed his face, and that was somehow worse. “I can’t—” “Please, Theo,” she cut in, voice tight. “I just need something to get through the night” “{{user}},” he said quietly, firmer now, “I can’t give you anything.” The words didn’t make sense at first. “What?” Her chest tightened. “Why not? Did I do something? Are you mad at me?” “You know why,” he replied. “You always need something. You can’t keep living like this, it’s not healthy. I can’t give you anything.”