REGULUS HAD BEEN ECSTATIC. Ever since she told him that she wanted to destroy Horcruxes with him, he hadn't seemed to stop smiling.

Though, as each day passed and his smile widened, Celestia quietened. She got away with it for a couple days by saying she was on her period; and it worked because she was surrounded by men, and none of them wanted to deal with a moody teenage girl in the middle of a war.

Christmas was approaching, and it was approaching fast. Her nightmares had returned in full-force, and by some turn of luck, she'd been able to keep it from Theo. It became a nightly routine for her to cast the Muffilato Charm on her room before she went to bed. Though, she has no doubt that Theo had begun to get suspicious.

It is through sheer will that Celestia wakes up with a scream in her throat and tears running down her face, and still manages to appear normal in time for her training sessions with Theo. Regulus had begun to watch them most mornings, which always threw her off her game.

For the past week, they had been discussing what exactly their game plan was going to be. Did they destroy all the Horcruxes at the same time? Or destroy them as they found them? The decision was split half-and-half.

Salazar Slytherin's locket had disappeared since she'd had her breakdown, though she knew Theo had it kept somewhere safe. Now, every time their eyes connected, she was reminded of her tearful confession and his proposition to run away.

With her nights filled with the torments of her past, and her days tracing against the idea of fleeing with him, she wanted to do nothing more than play damsel in distress and let him steal her away. In fact, she feared if he asked again, she wouldn't be able to deny him.

It was on Christmas morning that she awoke sobbing, hands placed at the base of her throat, gasps being ripped from her mouth. As soon as she was able to calm herself down, she curled herself around a pillow. She was so fucking tired, and she couldn't seem to even escape in sleep.

Before Theo woke up, she had a long shower. She stayed under the spray till her skin went red and the puffiness around her eyes disappeared. And when she opened the bathroom door, dressed formally for lunch, she smiled at Theo like it was any other day.

She wore a beige turtleneck paired with a pleated black skirt that fell to her mid-thigh, where she wore a pair of black tights. It had his breath catching in his throat. His eyes trailed over her body, lingering for a second too long on her curves. When he reached her face, he could tell she was exhausted, and yet she was still gorgeous.

"Ready for your first Christmas with your uncle?" he asked.

She sighed; the noise ripe with more than just pre-Christmas nerves. "Yeah. Are you ready to watch me, Draco, and Regulus fumble around in a horrible family reunion?"

He smiled and approached her, grasping her face and pressing a kiss to her head. "Stay here. I have something to give you, but I should shower first."

"You got me a present?" she wondered, spinning around when he continued into the bathroom.

"Of course I did," he grinned.

Then, he promptly shut the door in her face. She stared at the closed door in a daze, hearing the shower turn on and the shuffling of clothes. Realising that he stood naked with only a thin wall separating them, she spun away with a blush on her cheeks.

They had visited a quaint, entirely Muggle-inhabited town a couple days earlier to gather what they could for their impromptu Christmas lunch. No doubt there would be no turkey, no Yorkshire puddings, no roast potatoes; it would be their first proper meal they'd had in months and made by a ton of pureblood wizards.

Most likely, Theo had bought her a present while they'd been there, much like she had for Draco. Now, the gift she had gotten him felt a little foolish. She had gone for sentimental rather than something valuable.

Knowing his obsession with Pride and Prejudice, she'd annotated a copy specifically with him in mind. Notes within the margins; sometimes about the contents of the novel, sometimes about something she may say to him if she were reading aloud, sometimes thoughts completely unrelated to the book.

Fifteen minutes later, Theo entered her bedroom with damp hair. He watched her apply mascara to her lashes, watching as they magically became longer. That was witchcraft.

"Come sit. I want to give you my gift before we're surrounded by everyone," he said, sitting on the bed and tapping the spot next to him.

She raised a finger, telling him to wait a moment as she put on a coat of lip gloss. Her nerves jumbled around inside her, and she took her time applying her make-up in fear of his reaction to her gift.

Eventually, she cleaned away all her cosmetics and sat down beside him. She fiddled with her hands, and then sat on them when her fidgeting got too much.

"Open this," he ordered, holding out a jewellery box about the size of her palm.

Her hands shook slightly as she took the box from his hand. She opened it and sucked in a startled breath. Inside the box was a dainty gold chain necklace, a small pendant being its main feature. The pendant being the letter T.

"I know it's silly, a bit presumptuous really, but ever since I took away the locket, you kept reaching for it and it wasn't there. And we were in that town, and I thought, hey, why don't I replace it? and I tried to find one with the letter C, but they didn't have one. So, I thought, why not get one with my initial? You don't have to wear it if you don't want—" he began to ramble.

"I love it," she interrupted. "Can you help me put it on?"

Unlike back in fifth year, when a very similar scene occurred, there were no brush of his fingers against her nape; no lingering touches as he clasped it behind her neck. And yet, it still felt as visceral as if hands were trailing along her bare skin, despite her turtleneck separating them.

When he finished clasping the necklace, she turned back to face him. She pressed the cold T pendant between her fingers, obsessed with the smooth feel of the gold.

Then, she lifted up the chain and tucked it beneath her shirt. Theo tracked the movement, gulping heavily when he realised the pendant would rest at the top of her chest. For a moment, she thought he may be annoyed that she'd hidden his necklace. His eyes darkened then, almost as if he was excited by the fact he was the only one that knew his initial was there.

Before she could deliberate further on the ideas in his eyes, she stood up and moved towards her nightstand. Pulling open the drawer, she moved aside the raven dagger he'd given her a year ago and pulled out her gift.

Standing in front of him, she offered him the Pride and Prejudice book. He took it from her hands carefully, flipping open the cover and flicking through the pages. She placed her hands over her flushed cheeks, embarrassed.

"My present is the silly one. I mean, you got me a pretty piece of jewellery, and I gave you a book you could get anywhere. I hate you so much. Why did you have to get me something nice?" she whined.

His eyes traced over the first page with her handwriting on it. The expression on his face silenced her. She couldn't tell if he liked it or not, though. She saw him absorb her words.

'To my dearest Theodore,
We shall travel the skies, discover the stars, and conquer the dark.

Merry Christmas. Thank you for being my gravity, my tide, my navigation. There may be an entire universe out there, but I think you might just be mine.

yours,
Celestia x'

"Celestia," he said reverently, and at first, she thought he was calling her name, but then he continued, "meaning heavenly, and of the sky."

"The meaning of my name?" she asked, confused.

He placed a hand on her hip, forcing her to place her entire attention on him, and only him. "You said I am your universe. But you are my God, my darling saint, my sweet divinity, my saving grace, my everlasting cosmos, my fair villain. Do I need more adjectives? Because I could go on all day. I could even forgo all adjectives if you'd like. My best friend, my teammate, my partner, my equal."

"Would you like for me to tell you exactly what you mean to me? I could come up with a plethora of metaphors, similes, hyperboles, and symbolism. Though, I fear we'd never make it out of the room," she said.

He hummed. "There are many better things we could do with that time."

She hit him upside the head, laughing, despite the way his words sent heat pooling in all the places he had never touched her.

"Since when did you become such a flirt?" she joked.

"Theo! Celestia! Where the bloody hell are you? We need to start cooking if we want to eat at all!" Draco shouted.

They jumped away from each other like they had been caught in a compromising position. Draco had yelled from across the tent — there was no way for him to have seen them.

"We're coming!" shouted back Celestia. She lowered her voice to a near whisper as if her cousin might have super hearing. "We should, uh, probably go."

The awkward tension continued to linger. Rubbing the back of his neck, Theo avoided her eyes for only a moment before he nodded.

"Yeah, we should," he said.

He rose from his spot on her bed, standing incredibly close to her. Her chest brushed against his, the tip of their shoes barely an inch apart. She wanted to say something, but she knew all that would come out would be a stuttering, spluttering mess.

Whatever spell that had wrapped around them broke, and time seemed to begin in fast-forward. They stumbled away from each other, some excuse spewing from their lips.

"They're probably waiting—"

"I told Regulus I'd help with—"

They both stopped talking abruptly, and pink stained each of their cheeks. Celestia hardly ever saw him blush, and there was something so exhilarating the sight that she vowed to see it again.

"You go ahead. I still need to put my shoes on," she rushed out.

He roughly cleared his throat. "Okay. I'll see you out there in a minute."

The instant that Theo was out of the room, she flopped onto her bed and dug her face into her hands. Then, when his smell wrapped around her, she cursed and began pacing the room.

"Oh my God, what the hell was that?" she muttered to herself. "I hate him" No, I don't. "Yes, I do. Fuck, now I'm talking to myself. This man is going to drive me mad."

Before she could drive herself even more crazy while talking to herself, she pulled out a comfortable pair of leather boots. Tying them up, she hesitated on leaving her room.

In a last-minute decision, she put on a thigh holster and slid in her raven dagger. She doubted there would be any need for it, but she couldn't help the sense of security that transpired as she secured it. Two items pressed to her body that Theo had specifically picked with her in mind. Merlin, the thought was nearly more thrilling than idea of his hands on her skin.

Not trusting herself to be alone in a room with those thoughts, she rushed out of her bedroom. She was thankful to find only Regulus dutifully waiting for her. If Theo was there, she worried he'd be able to discern every thought that had just crossed her mind.

"Merry Christmas, Celestia," greeted Regulus.

"Merry Christmas, Regulus," she replied. "Are you ready to burn your tent down while trying to cook lunch?"

He laughed. "More than ready."

☆

Fortunately, they did not start any fires, though they did burn nearly half of their food. The lunch itself went by without a hitch, though it felt more like a family meal than a Christmas lunch. Well, a meal any ordinary family would have — it was safe to say all four of them had never been apart of an ordinary family.

And through all this Celestia couldn't help but think of the fact that exactly a year ago, she had been held hostage and tortured so bad that she hadn't even known Christmas had passed. Or that all the Christmases before, it had always only been the five of them: Draco, Blaise, Pansy, Theo, and her.

Christmas in the past had always consisted of a gourmet luncheon, and absolute pure fucking joy. No matter what was happening at school that year, it would all go out the window on Christmas day. Opening presents by their over-the-top tree, snowball fights, an extravagant lunch, a Christmas movie; this is how it had always been since they became friends in first year.

These traditions hadn't happened in two years. This year, she had no idea what Pansy and Blaise were doing. Hell, she didn't even know where they were. Did they stay at Hogwarts? Or are they staying at one of their houses? There was no way they were going back to the Malfoy Manor. It tore her in two not knowing what was happening with them.

It was in the middle of a game of Pictionary, long after their lunch, that she got too overwhelmed with all the thoughts swarming her mind. She thought she had it handled, but then a question had hurtled into her at top speed.

What if they were dead?

Something had lodged in her throat mid-drawing, and she'd abandoned the game. She rose from her spot on the floor suddenly, offering them an apology before moving towards the door of Regulus's tent.

His door was tied open, letting the cold winter mix with the roaring heat of the fire. Snow was yet to come, another reason for it not feeling like Christmas.

She knew, most likely, that they were fine. Perhaps it was stupid, but she felt like she would know if they were dead. But still, the very thought of them hurt at all made her sick to her stomach. She had no way of knowing what their welfare was, and she had no clue when she'd be able to know.

Rubbing her hands up and down her arms, she heard the sound of footfalls approaching. She turned her head to the side, expecting to see Theo. Except, it was not the man she had not long ago realised she loved, but the uncle who until recently, she believed dead. At least there was some hope for people coming back to life.

"I don't know if it's my place to ask yet . . . but are you alright?" Regulus asked, coming to stop beside her and staring out into the woods with her. "I didn't want to say anything in case it crossed some line. It's just I noticed that you have been quieter than usual, and I respect your friends and all, but I noticed they seemed to be walking on eggshells around you all day too."

"Christmas was . . . not good last year. It left a bit of a dent in everyone, but mostly me, I guess," she disclosed.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod in understanding. "Christmas has never been the same since Sirius left. Or since I died. It doesn't carry the same spark it used to."

"You've spent your Christmases alone since you faked your death?" she wondered, thankful to have something else to focus on for the moment.

"Yeah. I know it's kind of childish, but I was really excited for today. In fact, I wanted to give you this. . ." he said.

He pulled out something she hadn't noticed before. He held out a small photo album that was slightly bigger than an average paperback book. She furrowed her brows and took the gift from his hand.

Flipping open the album, the first page instantly clued her in on what exactly the book would contain. In a picture on a continual loop was a woman that had Celestia's breath getting caught in her throat.

"For years, I was thinking about what I would get you for our first Christmas together, if I ever got the chance. I had a ton of ideas, but then you told me that you knew nothing about your mother. So, I thought you'd like to have all the photos I have of her," he explained.

She began flicking through the book, taking in the contents of each photograph. Each picture had names and years written under them, and she was surprised on how many people her mother had been friends with.

It was obvious which woman was her mother. Merlin, they looked near identical. Regulus had said they looked similar, but she hadn't been prepared for how much. Her dark hair, styled in that classic seventies style; lips curled in the same wicked grin; the same eye shapes, narrowed in the very same way that promised trouble.

One photograph that caught her notice was one that seemed to be taken off-guard. The red walls in the background told her that they were all in the Gryffindor common room. Four girls — two Black women, a red-head, and a blonde — all sat on a maroon sofa and laying across their laps was her mother.

Her mother had her head bowed back as she laughed, and all the other girl's attention was dragged off just to the side of the camera. Though, a girl sat of the floor in front of them, her entire scrutiny on placed on the book in her hands. Six names were written under the looping picture.

Dorcas Meadowes, Mary MacDonald, Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, Adaline Hale, Pandora Pallas.

"What's happening here?" she asked quietly.

She glanced up from the photo to see Regulus smiling fondly down at it. "I wasn't there. Most of these girls were impartial to me, but the greater Gryffindor population wasn't. From what Addy told me, James found and brought a dog into the common room." His smile turned a little sad. "Mary's the only one in that room that's still alive."

"Let me guess. Sirius was the dog?" she wondered, tracing the curve of Mary's face and wondering what it must be like to be the only one to survive out of all her friends.

"Yeah, he was. Adaline told me that he was a unregistered Animagus when she discovered it in their seventh year. Swore me to secrecy." He let out a large sigh that had her bracing for what he planned to say next. "I already toed the line earlier, so I'm just going to go ahead and erase it. How come you only refer to your father as Sirius?"

"I knew you'd ask eventually," she sighed.

Her gaze returned to the forest that surrounded their two tents, trying to think of the best way to explain it to him. She knew that Regulus and Sirius's relationship hadn't been the best, but they had still loved each other, even if it had been a bit unconventional.

"I don't refer to him as my father because he never acted like one. To me, at least. He continuously picked Harry Potter over me, so I put myself first and left. We never talked again until the night he died. Which was when he basically told me that I was his biggest disappointment," began Celestia.

Through the fog, she could tell the sun had begun to set. She swallowed. "Just over half a year later, I was kidnapped and tortured by Remus Lupin and Alastor Moody. I was missing for ten days. One of those days was Christmas."

Regulus cursed.

Pulling up the sleeves of her shirt, she showed him the scars circling her wrists. The sight, on this very specific day, made her feel sick to her stomach.

"I have matching ones around my ankles, too."

She pulled her sleeves back up after a moment, drawing them until they covered half of her palms. She suddenly felt so exposed, completely laid bare before him.

The fear of being rejected suddenly crawled up her throat, and the realisation that she cared what he thought hit her hard. In the past couple weeks, she knew that she'd been opening herself up to some sort of relationship with him, but she hadn't realised just how much.

She kept her gaze on the foggy forest, the leafless trees, the spots of red and orange from the previous autumn. She couldn't bear to face him just yet, not ready to see whatever reaction would be on her uncle's face.

"Can I give you a hug?" he finally asked, his voice breaking slightly in the middle.

She nodded, and before she realised what she'd done, Regulus was pulling her into a hug. Burying her head into his chest, she wrapped her arms around his waist.

Regulus's arms wrapped around her, cradling her to him. She didn't cry, though she felt pretty damn close to it. She had received hugs in the past, but none had ever been like this.

Everything about his embrace radiated comfort. It was full of whispered promises that all would be okay; and that even if it weren't, he'd still be there to fight them off by her side.

"I'm so sorry, Celestia. That I wasn't there for you, and that he ever treated you that way. I regret nothing more than the fact that I did not raise you after Sirius was sent to Azkaban. To be damned with the consequences, I should have been there to take care of you," he said softly. "Sirius could be an idiot at times, but over you . . . I never thought he could be so foolish. You deserve so much better than what he gave you."

Tears stung her eyes, and she pushed her head into his chest further. One of his hands moved to hold the back of her head, and something about that single touch seemed to scream fatherly. A single tear rolled down her cheek before she could stop it, and her heart leaped into her throat.

She had intended for the hug to last no longer than a couple seconds, and yet she couldn't bring herself to pull away. Regulus held her tight, more than happy to keep her close.

"Okay, as happy as I am to finally hug you, I can't tell if your silence is a good thing or a bad thing," he said after a couple minutes.

"Good," she muttered.

He tightened his hold on her, and she felt him press a kiss to the top of her head. She expected him to let her go, but then he continued speaking, almost as if he couldn't say the words while looking at her.

"I know you're hesitant, and I now know why, but I'm asking you to give me a chance. No matter what happened in the past, I want to be here for you here on out," he told her. "Fuck whatever my brother made you believe; I would never pick anyone over you. I would never judge you for anything. I want you to know that from the beginning."

He pulled back and grasped the sides of her head. "Now, go to bed."

She laughed, the sound a little watery. "Regulus, it's like six o'clock."

"I've never done this before, okay? Do I need to set a curfew or is that exonerated because we're in the middle of a war?" he joked.

"How about we start with eating lunch together or something?" she retorted.

"I'd like that," he smiled.

She pulled away from him completely but smiled up at him. The day had started horribly, plagued with memories from last year, and though she still wasn't feeling the best, she certainly felt lighter.

"I am feeling a little tired, I must admit . . . you wouldn't mind if I went back to my tent? I'll probably just read for the rest of the day," she said.

"Go ahead. I'll see you tomorrow," replied Regulus.

With a final farewell, she returned to her tent. Instead of going to her room like she first had intended, she decided to curl up on the couch by the fireplace.

Sometime later, Draco came in. He ruffled her hair as he passed, a silent show of support. She knew that he struggled to find the proper words on what to say to her, and in today's regard, she was thankful for it.

When Theo entered the tent, she kept her gaze on the blazing fire. She didn't give him any attention, and he moved to stand in front of her so that she was forced to look up at him.

"Do you want to talk?" he asked.

"No," she answered.

As simple as that, he left. She couldn't help but feel disheartened as she watched his retreating back. Just because she had told him she didn't want to talk, didn't mean that she wouldn't have minded his company.

He returned close to five minutes later, dressed more comfortably. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the item he now held in his hand. He flopped down onto the opposite end of the sofa and held out the item in his hand.

"Firewhisky? Seriously?" she remarked.

She didn't take it, so he popped the cork himself and took a swig. "Yes. We're going to get drunk."

For a second, she contemplated not taking the bottle. Before she could think better of it, she stole the Firewhisky from his hand and swallowed down a hefty amount.

"Calm down, soldier, we just started," chided Theo, taking the bottle back.

"You wanted me to drink, so I'm drinking," she returned.

She took the Firewhisky back after he had a sip of his own. Shifting on the sofa, she made her body face him, curling her legs up in front of her, and held the bottle possessively to her chest as she looked at him.

"Why are we drinking exactly?" she wondered.

"You know why," he said.

Unimpressed, she grunted. It seemed he was still skirting around the issue. He raised his eyebrows at the reaction.

"Are we going to talk about the fact that precisely a year ago, I was being held hostage and tortured until my throat was red and raw from screaming? Or are you happy pretending that it never happened?" inquired Celestia.

He reached over, grabbing the bottle. He gulped down a mouthful of the Firewhisky. His hand was wrapped around its neck, the veins prominent as he gripped it tightly.

"Happy? Hell no. If this was anything else, I'd be pushing you to talk to me. But this is different, and you know it. I was going to wait a couple days until I talked to you. You clearly didn't want to talk to about it today, so I wasn't going to make you."

He took another sip of the whiskey before offering it back to her. Her lips wrapped around the mouth of the bottle, and his eyes tracked the movement.

"I have nightmares too, you know," he admitted. "Not as bad as yours. But I can still see you chained up, blood running down your wrists, tears stained on your cheeks, paler and skinner than I'd ever seen, hair matted, sobbing, heaving like you couldn't get enough breath in your lungs. Fuck, Celestia. Sometimes, in the nightmares, I wouldn't make it in time. I wake up and all I want to do is make sure no one ever places a hand on you again."

"Why didn't you tell me about them?"

"You have nightmares which have you waking up screaming. Mine have me become an overbearing caveman. They hardly compare, darling," he said.

She frowned, watching him take another swig directly from the bottle. "Still, you should have told me. I care about you."

"I know," he said. He tilted his head to the side, observing her. "You're retreating. Want to change topics?"

"To what?"

"Anything else," he offered.

So, that's what they did. They fell into a casual conversation, passing the Firewhisky bottle between each other. Gradually, they got tipsier and tipsier. The subjects of their discussion switched easily, putting them completely at ease.

It got to the point where they began to ask mindless questions back and forth. They knew nearly everything about each other, yet they found joy in asking silly questions that technically had no real life meaning.

"What is something you've always wanted to do but been afraid to?" he asked, holding out the bottle.

You. She took a large gulp of the Firewhisky before she blurted that out and decided to spew out something just as worse. "Drunk sex." His eyes widened. "I am not suggesting we have sex right now. It's just something I've wanted to do forever, but I've just never been with a man I trust enough to do it with."

"I don't know what I expected you to say, but it was not that," he said with a cough.

"Let's move on. What can't you live without?" she shot back, anxious to move on.

He took to bottle from her outstretched hand, deliberating on how he was going to answer. Taking a swig of his drink, she watched as he swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing.

"You," claimed Theo.

She faintly spluttered. The declaration was identical to her thoughts from before, but clearly his tongue was looser than hers. Thankfully, he didn't notice her shock, so she tried to play it off in case he hadn't meant such an admission.

"Me? The right answer should probably be something like breathing, Theo. Maybe I should take the Firewhisky away from you before you get more pissed," she joked.

He'd already been handing her the bottle, and she snatched it in case he tried to retract it. She chugged the drink and watched as he observed her.

"I mean it," he said. "I need you more than I need to breathe."

She chugged more.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

Her lips were wet when she pulled the bottle away, and his eyes trained on them for a moment. "No," she answered.

"Do you want to switch subjects?"

She nodded rapidly. "Yes, please." He continued to watch her, and she exclaimed, "Stop staring at me! It's distracting."

"I'm not staring at you to distract you."

"You're going to give me fucking alcohol poisoning," she cried.

Fingers slid over hers, grasping the Firewhisky and letting his touch linger. Electricity strung the air between them, as if there were an invisible wire tying them together. It had the hair on the back of her neck standing up, and goosebumps rising along her skin.

He let go, taking the bottle with him, and she yearned to know if he had been just as affected as her.

Something glittered in his eyes, and she should have fled the room the moment she saw it. Except her eyes were now just as glazed as his.

Tilting the neck of the bottle towards her, he smirked. "How many boys have broken up with you because of me?"

She threw her head back with a groan. "We are not doing this right now."

"We're doing this. You would never have this conversation with me while sober," he said.

"Bloody hell. Fine. Well, you already know about Asen Todorova from Durmstrang. There was also Oscar, Dean, and Niles," she listed. "Oh, and Leo."

"You know about Leo?" he gawped.

"I know about Leo," she confirmed.

His eyes narrowed. "How?"

Swallowing a large mouthful of the Firewhisky, she deliberated on if she was going to reply. Every question he'd asked so far, she had answered without hesitation.

"By Muggle law, I would like to make use of the right to silence," she said.

"What did you do?" he demanded.

"Hypothetically, let's say, after Leo and I broke up, maybe a week after the fact, we might have maybe shagged one last time at a party because we considered being friends with benefits and he told me how the real reason we broke up was because you threatened him so I told him that he was a wuss and he called me a slag so then I stole his favourite sweater and ran," she rushed out.

Her words took a second to process, and when they did, his entire demeanour changed. It was his turn to take a large gulp of the Firewhisky. His knuckles were white as he gripped the bottle, and his jaw was clenched so tightly she wondered if his teeth were going to crack.

"Please tell me you're joking," he grunted.

"No. Pass me the bottle."

He didn't.

"You're telling me that when he bragged to me that he'd pulled you the night before and that, and I quote, You have my permission to fuck her now, Theo, as long as you enjoy sloppy seconds, you had actually slept with him?" he accused.

Sitting forward on her knees, she pried his hands off the bottle. She took a swig of the Firewhisky, and he watched her, still angry, as she kneeled before him anxiously.

"Yes, and I didn't tell you because I didn't think it mattered. He deserved to get punched whether I slept with him or not," she said.

"He deserved more than just a punch," mumbled Theo.

"I won't argue with that," she said. "What exactly was the threat you gave him?"

"I think I'll let that stay between me and him," he said.

"No fair," she pouted. "Tell me."

His eyes were drawn to her jutted out lip, and he took a sip of Firewhisky without letting his stare stray. After he drank, he lifted the bottle and pressed it to her lips.

"Drink. And ask another question, baby, because I'm not answering that one," he murmured.

Her lips wrapped around the mouth of the bottle, and she took possession of the Firewhisky so that she could actually drink from it. He continued to watch her, and she settled back against the opposite arm rest to put some space between them.

"Fine. How many girls have broken up with you because of me?" she asked.

"Only Quinn and Paige," answered Theo.

Laughing, she offered him back the bottle, knowing he was going to need it. "Oh, Theo, my sweet, innocent boy. It was not just Quinn and Paige."

"What are you saying?" he wondered.

"Keira broke up with you because you read a book with me. Stephanie broke up with you because you hugged me. Mei broke up with you because you went to Hogsmeade with me instead of her. Don't get me started on Esther," she said.

"Esther? I say this in the most respectful way possible, but she was just a shag," he replied, still digesting her previous words.

"Trust me. I know. She gave me all the explicit details," she said.

He winced. "Tell me she didn't."

"She did. She approached me and told me to stay away from her man, that you'd never want me, and then proceeded to tell me in precise detail just how much you wanted her," she confirmed.

"Can we please stop talking about me having sex with other women?" he pleaded.

"Sure. Want to hear about that final time I had sex with Leo? He was a absolute wanker, but that man knew how to use his—"

"I'd shut that pretty mouth of yours before I put it to use, darling," he interrupted.

She chugged the rest of the bottle in her hand. "Is there more Firewhisky? I think we need more Firewhisky. Let's move on from the sex talk phase of our drunkenness please."

"Yeah, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy have an entire alcohol cabinet that has been waiting for someone to raid it for years," confirmed Theo.

She sprung up from the sofa before he had even finished his sentence. Stumbling, she made her way into the kitchen. He followed after her, only slightly more stable on his feet. The alcohol was really beginning to take effect.

Pausing in the middle of the kitchen, she realised that she had no clue which cabinet the drinks were in. One of the cupboard doors were left ajar, but it was the only one she couldn't reach. Which was saying something considering she was five foot seven.

Nonetheless, she reached up and tried to open the cabinet. When she failed to grab a bottle of alcohol — which she would blame on said alcohol in the morning — she huffed.

Theo pressed against her back and reached over her body to grab a bottle for them. Her breath caught in her throat, and he paused, arm still outstretched above her.

"You okay, Celestia?" he asked, his tone the sound of sincerity.

"I'm fine," she squeaked.

He hovered for a moment longer, and she squeezed her eyes shut, dying to memorise the way his body seemed to perfectly fit against hers. He pulled away.

He moved to lean against the opposite counter in the small kitchen, which was less than a foot away, and it did nothing to quench the tension that was growing between them. He outstretched the bottle of vodka he'd picked.

"Ready to get so fucking pissed that you forget we're in a war?" asked Theo.

"Please," said Celestia.

And that they did.

AUTHORS NOTE

hi hi! sorry that this chapter took a while to come out. ive had exams all week and it's currently 4am and i just finished writing and editing this to the best of my abilities! i beg for your forgiveness, my dear readers. (can you tell im exhausted?)

hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!!! sweet chapter fifty coming next ;)

thank you all so so so much for your support. i currently only have 598k reads, but i suspect by the time i wake up, ill have reached 600k (if i havent this is super embarrassing) SO THANK YOU FOR 600k READS THATS LITERALLY INSANE !!! even tho im not really at all apart of the hp fandom anymore, this fanfic has such a special place in my heart, and so do all of you who read it.

i read every comment (or i try to at least, especially on the later chapters. my first like 20 chapters scare me) and i just want you to know i love and appreciate you all so much even if i can't respond to each and every comment. seriously, thank you all so much. all my love <3

yours,
beth.