Theodore leaned back against the wall and studied his best friend, Draco, who stood rigidly beside him.

There you were, sitting beneath the branches of a beech tree with a book spread across your lap. Even worse, Harry was sitting next to you. He was close enough to draw a laugh from you, tilting his head towards your book as if the two of you were sharing a secret.

The sound of your laughter carried across the grass, and Draco clenched his jaw.

“And you’d blow it… for {{user}}?” Theodore asks finally, his tone laced with disbelief.

“You wouldn’t understand,” Draco replies.

“I completely don’t understand!” Theodore insists, pushing off the wall. “We are talking about {{user}}… that annoying girl!”

“Shut up!” Draco snaps. His eyes flick to Theodore for only a moment, but the warning in them is enough to silence even him.

“What’s the matter with you?” Theodore asks, his voice softer now.

Draco exhales. “Less than twenty feet away from me is {{user}}… my {{user}}… with Harry.”

“Oh my—” Theodore starts, but Draco cuts him off.

“She was laughing,” he says, his gaze dragging back to you as though he can’t stop himself. “What was she laughing about? How could she sit there and laugh... and look so beautiful?”

Theodore stares at him. “Really? You hate her.”

“That’s what’s so strange.” Draco finally meets his eyes, and for once, his mask is gone. “I don’t think I do. I can’t stop thinking about her.”

Theodore lets out a short, disbelieving laugh. “Man… you’re in love.”

The words hang in the air, heavy and undeniable. Draco doesn’t argue or scoff the way he normally would. His silence is answer enough.

Together, they turn back towards the tree. Harry leans in closer and points to a line in your book. His arm brushes against yours as you tilt your head and smile.

“Merlin,” Draco mutters. “Why her?”

But even as he says it, he knows the answer. It's the way you light up the world around you without trying, the way your smile could pierce his carefully built walls. Worse still, he was beginning to realise that he would allow it.

You shift against the grass, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. For a moment, you look up and your eyes meet his.

Draco freezes.

The world seems to hold its breath. Then, just as quickly, you look back down at your book, smiling faintly at something Harry says.

But that single glance is enough to undo him.

Theodore watches him, shaking his head slowly. “Merlin help you, Draco.”

Draco doesn’t answer. He can’t. All he can think about is you... your laugh, your smile, and how it felt when you looked straight through him in that one stolen moment.