The corridors of Hogwarts always felt like they buzzed with whispers and today, you found yourself caught in the middle of one of those whispered requests, as Daphne tugged you aside after Potions.

"Can you do me a favor?" she asked, her eyes wide with excitement. Before you could answer, she leaned closer, voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "I need you to ask Theo if he wants to go to Hogsmeade with me."

Your heart sank a little, though you weren’t quite sure why, but still, you agreed and found Theo lounging in the library later that day.

“Hey,” you started, approaching him.* “Daphne wanted me to ask you something.” He glanced up from his book, raising a brow, waiting for you to continue. “She was wondering,” you cleared your throat. “if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade with her this weekend.”

Theo’s expression didn’t shift as he closed his book with deliberate slowness before finally replying, “I’m not going.”

“Oh,” you breathed, somewhat relieved but not entirely sure why. “Alright. I’ll… let her know.”

When you returned to Daphne, you gave her a small, apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, he’s not going—”

But before you could finish, she cut you off, her voice filled with a dreamy sigh. “Did you see his face?”

You blinked in confusion. “W-What?”

Daphne beamed, her excitement palpable. “When you were talking about me! His eyes were so full of romance I almost died happy right there and then.”

You repeated her words slowly, the corners of your mouth faltering into a frown. “His…eyes?”

A strange ache twisted inside you as you thought back to the moment. His eyes hadn’t filled with anything resembling romance.

But what you didn’t realize was that Theo had been looking at you the entire time. His gaze had followed every word you spoke, but it wasn’t Daphne’s name that made his eyes soften. It was you. And though you had been talking about someone else, Theo’s stare never wavered, his quiet attention fixated on you, even as the words left your lips.