Morning After the Night Before // Vivian&Theo

[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Vivian had returned to the castle early in the morning, before the other students were up, and had slipped into the Slytherin common room without being seen by any teachers.

Theo was asleep on the sofa. Vivian smiled slightly, wondering how late he had managed to stay up before he had fallen asleep. She had decided to go with the 'stayed the night in the Hogs Head' story, partially because it was true and felt less like she was lying to him, and partially because she knew her room-mates would have noticed her absence. She didn't know how much gossip that would cause, and Theo might well hear some of it.

Vivian had sat herself down on the sofa, and Theo had woken abruptly.
"Morning sleepy head," she said, ruffling his messy hair, grinning. He had opened his mouth to speak, but then students started coming down from their dorms, heading off to breakfast. "Later," she said, cutting him off and standing, going up to the dormitories to change. Her room-mates looked at her strangely as they passed her on the stairs, and although she ignored them Vivian knew she was right in thinking they would gossip. And so Vivian had changed, and gone to breakfast, and her lessons, tired but happy. She and Theo both had a free period now, and although it was one he sometimes spent with Daphne, Vivian was sure that today he was certain to come and find her.

So Vivian made herself very findable, sitting in the almost empty Slytherin common room, in the best chairs by the fire. She wasn't happy about lying to Theo, but she knew it was for the best.

[THEODORE JACOB NOTT]

Theo had stayed up rather late the night before. So late, in fact, that he had no idea exactly when he fell asleep. He'd been lost in a dream full of unanswered questions, of situations that could have gone awry. It was a sleep full of worries. And the next morning he shot up in the couch and felt someone rubbing his hair. His mind was full of fog and he stared at the figure in front of him before he realized who it was. He opened his mouth to ask Vivian the thousands of questions that had plagued his sleep, but she said later and went upstairs. Theo looked around the common room slightly befuddled before staring down at himself. He was in his pajamas. He was in the Common Room. What in Merlin's name? Oh... Right. He fell asleep waiting for Vivian to get back. He sighed, frustrated that Vivian had gotten away so quickly, before heading up the steps to the boys dorm and getting changed quickly before heading off to his classes.

They went by at a painstakingly slow rate, probably because he was anxious to find Vivian and find out what happened. She must have been out all night. Was that a good thing? Was that a bad thing? Did Rabastan erase her memory and then leave her there overnight without any traces of them ever meeting? Or did they just stay up arguing and talking too late that she decided it was better to stay than to venture back? Would she remember everything?

Countless questioned played over and over and over again in his head as he sat through his lessons. He couldn't even really enjoy Slughorn boosting his ego all throughout Potions because he was so distracted. Usually during the free following his class he would spend it with Daphne, but he told her that he had something else he had to do. He left her outside of potions with a quick kiss and a hug before he was off to find Vivian to ask her everything that had been on his mind. He wasn't exactly sure what class she'd been in before the free began, so the second he found her he grinned, strolling up beside her. He was the slightest bit apprehensive. He didn't know if she'd remember the meeting, so he figured sticking with an easy question would help him determine what had happened.

"So what were you up to last night?" he asked with a smirk, the question coming out more suggestive than necessary. Although, not really because Theo'd never miss chance to make a suggestive comment, though this one was in slightly bad taste. She had gone to the Hogs Head to meet his father afterall.

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[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Vivian smiled at Theo as he approached, but the smile turned into a look of shock as he asked her what she had been up to last night, his tone suggestive. Could he possibly know? But a split second later she realised that he was joking, and wiped the shocked look off her face as quickly as though it had never been there. She realised that Theo wouldn't know if her memory had been erased or not, and so he couldn't ask her outright.

"I was meeting your father in the Hogs Head, where he gave me a thorough-" she was about to say 'examination', but quickly changed her choice of words, "investigation, before deciding he could trust me and not erasing my memory." She raised an eyebrow. "You?"

So far so good. No lies yet, and she was sure she was acting normally. The moment she thought that she pushed the thought from her head. Vivian wouldn't bother trying to act any which way, because with Theo that simply wouldn't work. She relaxed, running a hand through her hair.

There were no people sitting close enough to hear their conversation, which Vivian had made sure of before she had replied, so the two of them could speak in privacy, uninterrupted.

"Incidentally," she said, "I'll thank you not to barter with my memories again. Although Ra- your dad, told me your end of the deal." Vivian smiled at Theo, slightly indulgently. "Thank you," she continued, her voice noticeably softer. "That was sweet. Would never have worked, but still..."

She was sure Theo would have a lot of other questions for her, but she wasn't worried. He would never guess what had really happened, never dream that she would have slept with his dad. So there wasn't really any need to worry about Theo finding it out. Even if the truth was staring him in the face, he probably still wouldn't believe it.

"How did you manage to shake off Greengrass?" Vivian asked, quickly settling back into her stride. "I would have expected to see her clinging to your leg..."

[THEODORE JACOB NOTT]

Vivian looked kind of shocked when he approached, which had Theo raised a brow, but she was laughing soon enough so he just figured he'd startled her or something. Theo looked around to make sure there was no one around when Vivian began speaking, and her news had him grinning. So Rabastan had decided he could trust Vivian. Fantastic!

"That's excellent" Theo said, practically unable to keep the excitement from his voice. He'd been worried sick that Rabastan would decide Vivian was untrustworthy and would have erased her memory. Vivian could tend to be... a bit abrasive and... surly at times. For Theo, he could have seen the meeting going very south very fast with the way that Vivian sometimes handled herself, and the fact that it hadn't gone sound was music to Theo's ears. She asked him what he'd been up to and he shrugged.

"Oh, you know, just staying up all night waiting for you to get back," he said narrowing his eyes slightly, as if he were annoyed she kept him waiting. "Why were you out so late anyway?" What could the pair of them have possibly talked about that took that long? She said that Rabastan had given her a thorough inspection and Theo expected nothing less. Rabastan was an intelligent man. Theo knew he would not have allowed her to leave unless he was fully sure he could trust her, not only with this secret, but with his freedom. In the end that's what it all really came down to, wasn't it?

Vivian asked him not to barter with her memories again and Theo smiled sheepishly at her. He'd opened his mouth to explain, but it seemed Rabastan had explained his bargain of the deal with her already. She thanked him, and said it would have never worked. He shrugged. A part of him had known that. There was too much there, too much history, too much pain for Rabastan to be able to erase it all, but he couldn't have let Rabastan take a chunk of her memories without at least trying to help her somehow.

"Well he could have at least tried..." Theo said, shrugging again, "But I'm glad that he didn't have to. I'm glad he can trust you." It was much easier to have Rabastan just trust her rather than having to take that chunk of memory. It made it so much easier to just talk to Vivian about this stuff, to just talk to her about everything with his father. It was nice to be able to tell someone without fear of any kind of backlash. And then Vivian had asked how he managed to get rid of Daphne and he narrowed his eyes at her.

"I told her I had something to take care of. I'm not her pet," Theo sighed out, rolling his eyes. Why couldn't the two of them just let things go and move on? Women....

"So tell me how it went! What did he ask you? What made him finally decide he could trust you?" Theo said, steering the conversation back in the direction he wanted it to go. They could talk about Daphne any other day if Vivian wanted, but for right now what happened with her and Rabastan was much more important to Theo. He was so relieved that his father could trust Vivian, but he still wanted to know what happened.

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[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Theo asked where she had been, and Vivian replied in a perfectly normal tone;

"It got really late, the castle doors would have been locked, so I got a room at the Hogs Head and spent the night there." Theo knew that Vivian didn't care about breaking rules, and so it shouldn't be too extraordinary to hear that she had spent the night outside of the castle. And clearly she hadn't been caught, so it was all fine. There was no way for him to know that she hadn't been alone, that she had spent the night with his dad, Rabastan Lestrange. That the two of them had devoured each other in that room, spent the night in each others arms, and that Vivian had already replayed the nights events in her mind throughout all of her lessons that day.

Vivian shot Theo a smirk as he said it was good Rabastan could trust her. He had no idea.
"Did you really think me untrustworthy, Theo?" She said, sweetly, teasing him (although not in the way she usually did; now that seemed highly inappropriate). Surely Theo knew he could trust her with his life. She'd kill for the scruffy, tired looking boy sitting before her. At first she had been slightly hurt that Theo hadn't simply told Rabastan that he could trust her, but after meeting Rabastan she understood completely. He wasn't a man to leave his son's safety to chance. He had to make sure.

Theo looked grumpy as Vivian mentioned Daphne, rolling his eyes at her and saying firmly that he wasn't her pet.
"Awh, I know you're not, The," she said, in a mocking voice, using Daphne's 'pet' name for him. As she spoke she reached over and grabbed Theo's chin, smushing up his face and grinning. She was in a good mood.

She released him, and Theo started to bombard her with questions. When had Rabastan decided he could trust her? Well, that was simple enough.
"He asked me about my parents," she said, shrugging. "And I told him. After that, he didn't think I'd be loyal to them. And I told him I'd do anything for you," she looked Theo straight in the eye. "I told him I'd kill for you." she looked at Theo as seriously as she had at Rabastan, leaving no room for doubt that what she said was true. She would show Theo exactly what had made his father trust her so implicitly. Well, for the most part, anyway...

[THEODORE JACOB NOTT]

Theo nodded at Vivian's explanation of why she didn't come home. It made perfect sense.

"Could've snuck in through a window or something, I'm sure," he said with a smirk. Obviously nobody knew where she had gone, so it truly wasn't an issue that she'd been out in the first place, but that didn't mean Theo wasn't allowed to give her trouble for it. Vivian questioned whether he thought she was untrustworthy and his mouth fell open. He knew she was only teasing him, but he'd never think she was untrustworthy.

"Not me, him. He's the one who thought he couldn't trust you," Theo defended his decisions even though he knew it wasn't necessary. Vivian knew that if it had been up to Theo it would have just been fine to begin with, but Rabastan wasn't the kind of person to bargain his freedom with anyone he thought he couldn't trust.

And then Vivian began mocking Daphne and Theo smirked, but pushed her lightly on the shoulder. "You don't have to like her, but do you have to mock her so openly? She is my girlfriend, Viv,"
Theo laughed, shaking his head slightly.

Vivian mentioned that she told Rabastan about her parents, and that she would kill for him. That bit took Theo the slightest bit by surprise, as his eyes widened slightly.

"And what did he say when you told him that??"
Theo asked slightly flabbergasted. He wasn't really sure what to say himself, so he couldn't imagine how his father might have reacted. At least it had won Rabastan over, right?

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[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Theo laughed as Vivian mocked Daphne, so she knew he didn't really mind.
"Of course I do," she replied, settling herself back on the sofa, turned to face Theo with her legs curled up. "There's no fun in mocking her inwardly." It was weird to hear Theo calling anyone a 'girlfriend', and Vivian wondered if he would tell her about Rabastan. She didn't bring it up, though, because she didn't want to put ideas in his head; Vivian didn't think that telling Daphne was a very good idea. The girl had attacked her in a jealous fit because she found out that she and Theo had kissed, and that had been before the two of them were even together. What would she do if they had a fight? What if Theo kissed someone else? What if they broke up on less then amicable terms? All of those things could happen, and wouldn't exactly be crimes, but Vivian didn't think Daphne would be reasoned with. And now Vivian didn't only want to protect Theo, but she wanted to protect Rabastan, too. She didn't trust Daphne Greengrass. Maybe she would talk to Theo about it some time, but she wouldn't bring it up right now. She was too busy navigating the potential minefield that was this conversation about what she had done with his dad.

"He said he believed me," Vivian said, letting her thoughts leave Daphne Greengrass and go back to the conversation she had had with Rabastan the night before. She wondered if Theo would understand what that meant, if he would understand that Rabastan believed and understood when she spoke of death. Theo could see Thestrals... maybe he understood the idea of the dead, but did he understand death? Did he understand killing?

"After that he said okay," Vivian continued, her eyes on Theo, contemplating him in a way she rarely did any more. "He said he'd trust me. But that if I betrayed you, or hurt you in any way, he'd kill me."

Vivian watched Theo very carefully for his reaction. What would he think of his father killing her? Vivian, of course, knew that it was very unlikely now that Rabastan would kill her (although she still remembered, and would hold him to, his promise to let her choose how she died, if he did). But Theo must think that he'd kill her and not even blink. Maybe he'd even think her life at risk, worry about what would constitute as her hurting or betraying him.

"He wants to kill Theodore Nott," Vivian said, veering off topic a bit, but too interested in the subject matter not to. "He wants him to pay, and I agreed. I'd like to see it," She said it casually, almost forgetting that Theo wasn't quite as accustomed to blood lust. Rabastan's words from the night before echoed through her memory; 'such a vicious little girl...'
"What do you think of that, Theodore Lestrange?" she said, smiling. Theo had a real family now. They should both be happy about that... and Vivian should hope that her actions wouldn't take that away from him. No, not hope; be certain. She would not let that happen. She'd give up Rabastan long before she drove a wedge between him and Theo.

[THEODORE JACOB NOTT]

Vivian said it was no fun mocking Daphne inwardly and Theo smirked, shaking his head again. As much as he adored Daphne, he knew that their mockery of one another was just a part of what made them… them. Now that he thought about it, if the pair of them had actually gotten along it might have been a bit dangerous. Then they could plot all kinds of things behind Theo’s back and well… let’s be honest, who would want that? Not Theo. Not Theo one bit.

”Oh yeah, naturally. Merlin I can’t wait for you to get a boyfriend so I can do the same thing to you. Because trust me, I will,” Theo said with a mischievous smirk before situating himself a bit more comfortable on the couch he was sitting on. It had been so long since he just sat in the common room he almost forgot how damn comfy that furniture was.

Vivian said that Rabastan said he could trust Vivian, but that if she betrayed his trust… he would kill her?! Theo’s face contorted. He was shocked and surprised.

”What?!” he practically barked as he sat up the slightest bit more. ”He said he would kill you?” His mouth hung open as he stared at her. And she was okay with this? He was probably just trying to get his point across… That had to be it. He wouldn’t actually kill Vivian. Theo would never let him. Ever. He’d rather go before her. Besides… Vivian would never hurt him. Not out of vengeance or spite or ever on purpose. If Vivian were to ever hurt Theo, he knew it would purely be by accident. Or, at least that’s what he told himself.

”Not like it matters. I know you won’t tell anyone,” he said shrugging, finally allowing himself to fall back against the couch and relax. Her next bit of news didn’t really shock him. Rabastan wanted to kill Theodore. That wasn’t a surprise in the slightest. Vivian said she agreed and Theo smirked. ”Well I think that’s something we can all agree on.” Her next words took him by surprise. She wanted to… watch? Theo’s face scrunched into disgust at the idea. He had seen someone die. Someone he loved. He personally had no desire to relive seeing that again, even if it was seeing the person who murdered that person he loved live. The idea of seeing someone die made him queasy and uncomfortable and sad.

”Why would you want to see that?” Theo furrowed his brows toward her, confused. She asked him what he thought, and the usage of his real last name had him grinning. He was a Lestrange. Should he want to see the murder of Theodore not, too? Should he have a desire to witness that, for vengeance? He wanted Theodore to suffer, to pay for what he had done, but would he be able to watch someone die again? He’d seen people die in battle, but he was too busy fighting for his own life to realize what was going on around him. Did he want to see Theodore Nott die? A part of him did, but the idea of death didn’t make him feel comfortable.

”I’m glad that Rabastan… Dad, wants to kill him. I think he deserves that and more, but… I don’t know if I’d be able to watch something like that again. Maybe I’m a coward,” Theo said, scrunching his face at the idea of him being a coward. But, wasn’t he one? Isn’t that exactly what he was?

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[VIVIAN HOPE BLACKWELL]

Theo said that he couldn't wait for her to get a boyfriend, and Vivian let out a slight laugh.
"Don't hold your breath," she said. She didn't know what exactly it was between her and Rabastan- she didn't even know when or how she'd next see him, or hear from him- but she definitely would not call him a 'boyfriend'. Not by any stretch of the imagination. 'Boyfriend' conjured up images of being mushy and romantic, of holding hands in public and pet names, things Vivian wanted no part of. But if all she had to worry about when it came to Theo's reaction to her relationship with Rabastan were 'witty' comments, she could handle it easily.

Theo practically shouted as Vivian told her about Rabastan's contingency plan, and people looked over. Vivian sat up swiftly, and put a hand over Theo's mouth, ignoring the look on his face.
"Yes," she said, calmly and quietly, "he said he'd kill me, and he meant it." She knew he had meant it. A part of her was glad that he had. "And I said he could, if it came to it. But it wont, Theo, everything's going to be fine, so don't worry..." She felt fairly confident that Rabastan wouldn't kill her. And besides, she'd never betray Theo. No matter what he did in the future, Vivian would remember what he had done for her in the past. Being cold and logical had its up sides.

She sat back on the sofa, hoping Theo remembered to keep his voice down. He asked why she'd want to see Nott die, and Vivian bit her lip. She saw the disgust on his face, and knew this was one of those times where she'd said just a little too much.
"You know me, Theo," she said, shrugging, "I'm twisted like that." She didn't want to tell him that she wanted to see his dad killing... that seemed too personal, too revealing. "I've seen someone die before."

When Vivian had been a child she had seen her step father kill a man. She had been hiding from him in a closet, and he had come into the room with a business associate, not knowing she was there. Through a crack in the door Vivian had seen her step dad question him on some dealings gone south, get a confession and promise that everything would be fine, before performing the Avada Kedavra curse. The body had been disposed of, and no one ever came by asking questions. Theo didn't know that- he had never asked- but he knew that she could see Thestrals.

"You're not a coward, Theo," Vivian said, after listening to him in silence. "You know you're not. Its not bravery that makes me want to see him pay." Vivian wanted to see her own parents pay, too, but it wasn't because she was courageous. Vivian may be their victim, but that didn't make her a good person, either; she wasn't the hero. She just wanted to see them hurt. Theo had seen someone he loved die, and Vivian had never experienced that. Vivian had never loved, not that she knew of, and she wasn't even sure if she was capable of it. If she loved anyone it was Theo, but she had nothing to compare it to.

Suddenly Vivian was struck with the realisation that her actions could lead to her loosing him. She had sworn not to ruin Theo's relationship with his father, but what about his relationship with her? She leaned forward and put her arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly. It was unexpected, she knew, especially from her, and Theo would never know the real reason, but she did it anyway.
"He'll pay," she said, as she hugged him, "and one day my parents will pay, they'll all be gone and we'll both be free of them." In her mind she thought all the things she couldn't say; please forgive me, please don't hate me, please don't leave.