Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Theodore woke up very early the next morning. He looked at the analog clock, he groaned when he saw that it was barely 7:30 A.M.. It was inhuman to wake up at such an hour during a vacation period. Theodore turned on his other side and tried to go back to sleep.

At 7:40 A.M., Theodore decided to get out of bed, he had to face reality, he would not fall back asleep. He opened the shutters and the three windows to let the sunlight and the fresh morning air into the large room.

Like every morning for almost two weeks, Theodore half-opened the door to Abiageal's room to make sure she was sleeping peacefully ( he knew how complicated the nights were for her, Abiageal had always had trouble sleeping, but lately it was worse and rightly so ). He was surprised, when he stuck his head inside Abiageal's room, to see that the room was empty. Confused, he turned on the light to confirm that she was no longer there. Empty. The room was still empty despite the light being on. He turned off the light, closed the door and went down the stairs. She might already be in the kitchen or the living room. Empty. No one. He searched the whole house but there was no sign of Abiageal.

So this was what she had felt when he had abandoned her a few years ago? He had disappeared like her, without warning, without leaving a note. But, Abiageal had had an advantage over him, she knew anyway, she knew where he was since they were at Hogwarts and despite everything they saw each other every day. He did not know where she was, if she was okay or if she was in danger.

Theodore sat down on the couch, he decided not to panic for now. She could have just gone out to buy breakfast. It was unlikely, Abiageal would never leave her room without making her bed, tidying her room and opening the shutters and windows that were all over the wall. Abiageal had a very specific ritual in the morning and there was no way she was going to break that routine. Abiageal did not react very well when her routine was disrupted.

There was only one logical solution left. And, honestly, he was afraid to say it out loud. He did not want to believe she had dared to do something like that to him. He did not want to believe she had dared to lie to him. He did not want to believe she had dared to betray him. She had promised and she had broken her word. How could she? Theodore felt anger rise inside him.

He went back to his room to put on some clean clothes before Apparating back home to drop his bag off at his place before Apparating again, this time he Apparated directly in front of the Malfoy estate, he knocked like a madman on the magnificent door painted in lacquered black. Narcissa opened the door less than five minutes later.

"Good morning, Mrs Malfoy, sorry to disturb you so early in the morning...can I speak to Draco?"

Narcissa stepped to the side, opening the door wide, inviting Theodore in. He headed straight for Draco's room, he did not bother knocking, they shared a dorm at Hogwarts, Theodore had seen more than he wanted to. He closed the door behind him.

"Where is she?" the Italian asked without wasting time.

"Who?"

"Abby. She's not at home."

Draco finally deigned to look at his friend, confusion clear as day on his face. He did not understand what Theodore was getting at.

"I don't know. She was fine when I left her, what, an hour or two ago tops?" Draco just shrugged. "I walked her back to her house, she was going home so I left."

Theodore turned so pale that Draco felt as if all the blood in Theodore's body had been drained from his body. Even a corpse was not as pale as Theodore was at that very moment.

"Fuck!" Abiageal's best friend almost shouted.

"She didn't come back, did she?"

"No."

"Go visit Daphne, they're friends, they seem to have become very good friends, maybe you'll find her at her place."

Theodore just nodded. He could not help but think that something must have happened to Abiageal if she had decided to go to Daphne's instead of going home instead of going back home to him.

"Look, there's no point in tying your wand in knots, I'm sure you're worrying for nothing. I'm sure she's at Daphne's for a girly day out and girly stuff after the events of yesterday. She'll reappear tonight, all sweet-mouthed, feigning innocence."

Theodore doubted it very much, Draco did not know Abiageal like he knew her. Abiageal did not think like the others, she did not react like the others. If she had not come home, it was not to spend a 'girls' day', she did not like girls' days, she found them useless and a waste of time, the topics of conversation during this kind of day were so trivial and they bored her even more than Professor Binns' classes. Abiageal hated talking fashion. What she liked was to stay quiet with a good book and be with Theodore.

Theodore did not believe Draco's theory at all, but he did not add anything, he nodded a second time before leaving at full speed. He was still going to check at the Greengrass, Abiageal was full of surprises lately; he would not be surprised if she was really at Daphne's. Unlikely but not impossible.

He looked at the time on his watch. It was still way too early to go to the Greengrass' so he went home. He Apparated straight to his room before lying down on his bed; he folded his hands under his head and looked at the ceiling. Anxiety was eating away at him from the inside, he felt that something was wrong, he could not explain it, but he knew it, he felt it in his gut. Abiageal was in imminent danger and there was nothing he could do to help her. He did not know where to find her, he could not protect her.

Theodore could not bear the thought. He could not bear to do nothing for her. That was exactly why he did not want to leave her alone, Abiageal had no concept of danger, she could walk right into a trap without realizing it was one. She was not naive or stupid, she was just incapable of recognizing a dangerous situation. In a way, Abiageal could be a danger to herself.

Theodore had always taken care of Abiageal, even when they were not friends anymore. When they were little kids, Theodore would pester his father to take him to the Raglans or to invite the Raglans to come to the big, big, big Nott house. They would spend their days playing together, doing different activities. When he was four or five years old, Theodore had once heard Mrs. Raglan say that Abiageal never smiled or even laughed, he found it strange since every time they were together, Abiageal had the biggest smile on her face; much later, Theodore had understood that she only smiled when he was around, they did not have to do an activity she liked to smile, Theodore could tell the crappiest joke known to man and Abiageal would laugh like it was a joke worthy of winning an award.

Later, when they were a little older to go play at the playground that was either near the Notts' house or the one near the Raglans, they would play all day long, swings, seesaws, slides, monkey bars, spring riders, Merry-Go-Round, spinners, and so many more, no piece of equipment escaped them. When they had started to show signs that they were wizards, their respective parents had decided that they could no longer go to the playground ( this had been the worst thing that had happened to eight year old Theodre and Abiageal ). They were always together, never one without the other, Theodore was Abiageal's shadow and Abieageal was Theodore's shadow.

Theodore had been the first to receive his letter for Hogwarts ( Abiageal had received hers three days later ), he had climbed into the chimney, he had shouted Abiageal's address just before landing at her house, in her living room. He had run throughout the house, shouting his friend's name to let her know "that the letter had arrived", they had opened it together and three days later, when it was Abiageal's turn to have her letter she had also waited to be in his company before opening it. The weeks that followed, Hogwarts had been their only topic of conversation, they had insisted on going to King's Cross together and they had stayed together all the way to Hogsmeade. They had been over the moon when they had been sorted into the same house. They were really going to spend all their time together, from now on.

Throughout the first year, their friendship had grown even stronger. It was hard to explain, in reality, at times Theodore and Abiageal had thought their bond was supernatural, they were convinced that such a bond could not be natural. Then, the second year had arrived, two months later it was as if they were complete strangers. They no longer spoke to each other, they no longer studied together, they no longer sat next to each other during classes, they no longer revised together, it was as if the twelve years of friendship they had had had never existed. Until the beginning of the fifth year, it had been as if only a small second had passed between these two periods.

But, during the time they were no longer friends, Theodore had never stopped caring for Abiageal or protecting her or having her back. Abiageal remained the most important person in his life, the one who had helped him overcome his mother's death, she had been there, by his side, comforting him while he cried all the tears in his body, staying by his side when he had entered the "anger" phase and had unleashed himself on her gratuitously and unjustly; she had taken all the mean and hurtful words he had to throw at her, she had said nothing when once, when he was seized with an immense rage ( it was his mother's birthday ) he had violently pushed her, he had blamed himself, but Abiageal had gotten up, she had dusted herself off and she had told him that he could start again if it made him feel better, he had not dared because his anger had passed.

Taking care of her and looking after her had never been a burden to Theodore, he loved it. If he overheard Abiageal talking to Pansy, telling her she was out of quill or ink or something, the next hour Abiageal would find it outside her dorm door. If he caught someone bullying Abiageal or making fun of her for any reason, Abiageal learned that the brute in question was in the infirmary with a broken nose and a black eye ( or maybe even a broken jaw, depending on what he had said or done ) and Theodore would make sure he never bothered him again or he would face more tragic treatment. And if the bully touched Abiageal...let's just say Theodore was glad to have Snape on his side in such circumstances.

Theodore felt deep down that Abiageal was not currently comparing the quality of his clothes to Daphne's or debating what color nail polish went best with the outfit she was wearing that day. Abiageal was in danger. He knew it, just as he knew his name was Theodore Nott and that he was seventeen. But how could he prove it? How could he find her? How could he protect her? How could he save her?

He did not know where she was or even where to start.

If only he knew that Abiageal was closer than he thought...