The fire crackled softly in the hearth, casting shadows across the green walls, but its warmth never reached Theo. It never had, not since you.

“Um, Theo?” A hesitant voice broke through his thoughts. He turned his sharp gaze upward to find a first-year girl standing in front of him, fidgeting with the hem of her robes.

“Yes?” His tone was curt, his face unreadable, but the girl pressed on.

“Well, I—I just thought… maybe you’d like to go to Hogsmeade next weekend. With me.” Her voice cracked with nerves, her cheeks blooming red. She looked barely old enough to be out of the dormitory, much less asking someone like Theo out.

Theo stared at her for a long moment, the weight of her words hanging in the air. The room felt stifling now, the walls pressing in on him. He didn’t flinch, but inside, something twisted.

“No,” he said flatly, his voice colder than he intended.

The girl blinked, taken aback. “Oh. Right. Sorry. I just thought—”

“You thought wrong,” Theo interrupted, standing abruptly. The chair creaked as it shifted under his weight. “Don’t waste your time.”

Her face fell, and she mumbled something before scurrying off toward the girls’ dormitory. Theo exhaled sharply, raking a hand through his hair. The very idea of replacing you—of even entertaining the thought—was unbearable. — The firewhiskey bottle tucked behind a pile of forgotten spellbooks was still there

He slipped through the halls until he reached the Astronomy Tower.

The first sip burned, but Theo welcomed the pain. He stared into the bottle, sitting on the edge of the window “You’d laugh if you saw me now, wouldn’t you?” he muttered, his voice hoarse. “Drinking alone. Being a bastard to first-years. Just... falling apart.”

He took a sip, breathing heavily. He had lost his mother, and now he had lost you.