Soft. Warm. His heavy sighs making your heart race and your pulse weak.

“You’ve read that page three times already...” his voice murmurs with a groan. “I haven’t.” “You have.”

Rather than arguing, you flip a page in the textbook beside you and continue to scribble down notes for an upcoming quiz you have on celestial bodies for Astronomy later in the week. Then you pause; swiping your tongue across your bottom lip before smirking slightly at the fact he’s right. Merlin, he’s always right.

“...alright - maybe twice.”

His laugh, warm and cozy like pancakes drowned in syrup that you've been craving since breakfast, vibrates against your shoulder and creeps up your neck, heating your skin. He’s curled into your side shamelessly. Needily. One arm draped around your waist; his face tucked into the crook of your neck as though that’s simply where he belongs.

With every word he speaks, his hair brushes against your jaw making it very hard to focus.

Very.

“Can you move?” you ask softly. “Nope.” “Theodore, I have a test to prepare for.” “How tragic.”

His grip tightens around you and he kicks a leg over your own to shuffle an inch closer. You sigh dramatically yet secretly love the attention. You’ve been dating for months and whenever date night plans get ruined, he always gets like this.

Needy. Affectionate. Entirely unwilling to function unless he's touching you somehow. At first, it was cute. Now… just adorable.

“You are actively ruining my future, you know that?” “I think my presence enriches it actually”, he adds.

“It doesn't.” “It does.” “Theodore.” “Mhmm?”

You fight the smile threatening to pull at your lips although it’s a battle you don’t win. He notices immediately.

“You're smiling.” “No, Theo - I'm not.” “You are.” “Nope.” “You absolutely are.”

There’s another pause from you as you take a deep breath to sigh, but then low and behold – his nose nudges softly against your neck. You immediately lose your place in your notes. Fuck. Your eyes scan the same sentence three times. Then four. Merlin’s beard… five times.

You fail to absorb a single bloody word. This idiot lying beside you knows exactly what he's doing.

“You did that on purpose, Nott.” “Did what babe?”

His voice is muffled against your skin as he speaks and you feel a spark rush down your spine as without noticing, your body begins to curl itself into him.

“That!” “What is that, exactly?”

You glare at the page you’re trying to read… then at him.

“Theodore.”

His shoulders shake with quiet laughter as he tightens his grip on your more so. Instead of responding, he just stays silent and buries his face further into the crook of your neck.

“Silence is not an answer.”

Neither happens to be the way that his fingers begin tracing absent minded patterns against your sides. His touch is nothing scandalous. Nothing inappropriate. It’s just lazy circles through the fabric of your jumper as he spells out your nickname with a warm touch.

It’s comfortable. Familiar. The sort of touch that somehow distracts you more than anything else ever could and ugh, it feels perfect. Outside over the castle, thunder rumbles somewhere in the distance as mother nature boils with emotion at the world.

Inside your dorm, Theodore lets out another content sigh and settles even closer than he had been before. For the love of Merlin.

You are never passing Astronomy at this rate.

“You should be doing something productive too”, you mutter hoping to buy yourself a few moments to actually study.

“I am.” “You're practically lying on me.” “Exactly.”

You huff. He’s won. Theodore grins. He knows. You can hear his victory without it even being announced.

A minute passes. Then another. The another. Then – yeah you guessed it: another. Your quill begins to slow. The it stops scratching words out entirely. The parchment in your lap remains blank for far longer than it should.

Theodore notices and perks up as he begins to press kisses against your skin that pepper up the side of your neck.

“Giving up already babycakes?”

How you hate that nickname.

“No.” “Mmm.” “No.” “Mhmmm.”

You place the quill down, half tossing it on the bed and feel the way his grin widens against your skin. Then you huff in absolute defeat.

“I actually hate you some days.” “You are a terrible liar, babe.”

Unfortunately… yeah; you are. You let your head fall back against the pillows with a groan and the second you do, Theodore moves. Like this has been the permission he’s been waiting for all evening. His arm slinks further across your waist as he knocks anything you’re still holding out of the way and shifts to make himself comfortable on top of you.

You whimper unexpectedly. The pleased noise he makes is downright embarrassing and you’re so freaking glad you’re both in your dorm room alone. He gets comfortable between your legs and brushes his lips across your own. You want to be frustrated, annoyed; maybe hex him, but the feeling of him against you like this....

You whimper. He smirks.

“There we go.”

He settles down for another cuddle and clings onto you like you’re heaven sent on earth.

“Theodore, you're ridiculous.” “…and you love me.”

You roll your eyes so hard they may as well almost get stuck in the back of your head permanently. Either way, out of habit, your hand finds his hair to stroke through the soft locks anyway. His reaction is immediate. Theodore’s eyes flutter shut. Then his entire body visibly relaxes. He melts into you and you embrace him completely.

The sight is so unfairly adorable that it nearly makes you laugh. Nearly.

“Oh, you’re the most pathetic wizard there is...”

“Don't care”, he murmurs softly; heart beating against your chest.

“You’ve practically melted.”

Your hand stops stroking his hair for a second and he shifts to chase the feeling.

“Mhmm.. keep doing that.”

Your fingers thread through his hair again. Slowly. Carefully. As if the move is some sacred little ritual that you’ve got reserved only for him and yeah… truth be told, it actually is. Theodore lets out a satisfied hum that settles somewhere beneath your ribs and you smile at the mess you’re making of him. Gone in the wind is the sharp tongued Slytherin who can talk circles around professors and scare half the school with a single look that is lowkey terrifying.

In his place… just your boyfriend.

Who is comfortable. Who is sleepy. Who is annoyed that date night got cancelled, however seems completely content all because he’s melted into your arms and you’re playing with his hair.

Puppy dog style pathetic.

“Merlin Theodore”, you whisper. “You really just wanted cuddles huh?”

One of his eyes cracks open as he grins mischievously. “I've been trying to hint at it forhours.”

You laugh softly. It’s sweet. To Theodore – the noise sounds like both a lullaby and a daydream. Outside; the rain gets harsher and begins to hammer against the windows. You really couldn’t care though. Your homework now sits abandoned. Your textbook drops off the side of the bed without a care. The Astronomy quiz you were trying to prepare for suddenly feels like a problem for tomorrow.

Because right now… Theodore is warm. Warmer than the fire. Warmer than the syrup you’ve been craving and before long you even register it, his breathing begins to slow against your neck. Soft. Warm. Sleek.

You glance down with a subtle shift.

He is fast asleep. Looking like an angel. Looking like sin. Of course he bloody is. The slytherin parasite got exactly what he wanted. You shake your head with a giggle before rolling your eyes and pressing a gentle kiss into his hair. Then you stroke your fingers through it once last time.