The battlefield was chaos.Spells cracked like lightning, illuminating the war-torn landscape in eerie flashes of green, blue, and red.

You stood in the heart of it all, your wand gripped so tightly your knuckles had turned white. Your breath came in ragged gasps, but it wasn’t exhaustion—it was the weight of everything crashing down at once. And then, through the haze of battle, you saw him.

Theodore.

He moved like a shadow through the chaos, wand still in his hand but lowered. His sharp features were hardened, but his stormy eyes locked onto yours with something unreadable—something desperate.

"Don’t be afraid," he said, voice low but firm, barely audible over the war raging around you.

You swallowed hard, your throat dry, your body screaming at you to run, to fight, to do anything but stand still. But his presence rooted you in place, dragging up the emotions you had buried.

"I am not afraid to di—" The words caught in your throat. "I have been dy!ng a little bit each day since you came back into my life."

A flicker of something flashed across Theodore’s face—confusion and disbelief. His brows furrowed, lips parting slightly. "What are you talking about?" His voice had softened, barely a whisper now, as if he were afraid of the answer.

Your chest ached, the truth clawing its way to the surface. For so long, you had denied it, ignored the way your heart clenched every time you saw him standing among them—among the enemy. But love did not listen to reason, nor did it care for sides.

"I love you."

The words hung in the air, fragile but unyielding.

The battlefield still raged around you, but in that moment, there was only Theodore. Only the weight of your confession. Only the ghost of something that might have been, had the world been different.

For a heartbeat, you thought you saw his resolve crack.

For a heartbeat, you thought he might step toward you.

And then—

A curse whizzed past, forcing you apart.