”But if you loved me, why did you leave?”

The vice that he had promised you to abandon filled his lungs again with the intense and bitter taste of tobacco. It was Theodore's only hope of drying out his throat, turning it into an arid, uninhabitable desert.

May 11, 1997. Mother's Day.

Almost all of the Hogwarts students had been preparing letters and buying silly gifts in Hogsmeade that they will send by owl to their dear mommies. The pain of just being able to visit a grave that day hit him in the back of the head again, reviving all those memories that he had thought he buried years ago under the damp earth of the Manor Nott.

The cold railings of the Astronomy Tower balcony chilled his bare forearms, raising the hairs on his skin at the touch. A sweet melody of an Italian lullaby echoed in his mind as he took another drag of the cigarette, filling his chest with smoke.

Theodore had never been able to look in the mirror on days like that, not since that day—the day she died. Seeing his mother's gray eyes, like two pale storms embedded in his face, made him want to break the glass of his reflection with his fists until he bleeds.

Your steps became audible little by little as you climbed the stairs of the Tower. He was already able to recognize your walk—light and full of life. “I'm not going to apologize for this cigarette today, gorgeous.”