Maple Chai Latte | Theodore Nott
!!! These are excerpts from multiple chapters of my story So It Goes...| Theodore Nott on Wattpad and Ao3 !!!
Words- ~1900
Info- Ciara Huntsman, Draco Malfoy's cousin, transfers to Hogwarts in her eight year. After an unfortunate situationship with Adrian Pucey, Ciara feels she has no choice but to fake date Mattheo Riddle as revenge. Unbeknownst to her, his best friend, Theodore Nott, has a crush on her this whole time.
Summary- Ciara shares her interest for the Maple Chai Latte to Theo during their tutoring sessions
!fluff !jealousy
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He grins and steps aside to open the door for her. The tiny bell above it jingles softly as they enter the café together. Warmth wraps around them instantly alongside the scent of espresso, cinnamon, and vanilla syrup. Ciara drifts toward the register, scanning the menu overhead while Adrian stands close enough behind her that she can feel his warmth through her jacket. Her eye falls on a brand new Iced Maple Chai.
“I’ll have a black coffee with two sugars–” he places a hand around her waist, “and I’m ordering for you.”
“Oh, Adrian, you shouldn’t” She giggles softly, cheeks blushing. He just lightly pushes his thumb and pointer finger closer, squeezing her waist and shakes his head. “Thank you, I’ll have–”
“--She’ll have the iced coffee latte.”
-⋆｡°✩-
Ciara rushes through the dungeon corridors toward the library, one hand gripping the strap of her bag while the other keeps her books pressed against her chest. Her boots echo sharply against the stone floors as she hurries down the final staircase. Theodore had just gotten there, setting his things down, sleeves pushed up slightly as he pulls out his chair.
“Hi.” She smiles, trying to keep it casual to hide the guilt of being late. Theodore already barely tolerates this arrangement, and somehow she’s managed to show up flustered every single time they meet.
“Hey,” he replies, looking up and scanning her outfit, which is far too put together for an 8pm study session.
She drops into the chair across from him. “Thank you again for getting me out of detention.”
“Yeah.” His voice stays flat and casual while he opens another textbook. “I’ve got a Muggle Studies paper due tonight anyway. You can try the potions review in the back yourself and I’ll step in if you get stuck.”
She nods and heads over to the shelves, pulling out a dusty old potions textbook and dropping it onto the table. A cloud of dust lifts into the air. Theodore glances at it briefly and chuckles, then bends back over his own work. The room settles into silence, the sounds of quills scratching paper and soft breathing is the only thing they hear for a while.
Eventually, Ciara stands up moving towards the water fountain to refill her bottle on the opposite side of the room. When she sits back down, Theodore is no longer so focused on his paper.
“Eight p.m.,” he says flatly, leaning back slightly in his chair with his arms crossed. “Late for a Sunday study.”
She looks up, a little surprised he’s the one starting the conversation. “Yeah,” she chuckles. “I was busy at Hogsmeade earlier.”
He hums.
“Have you ever been to Madam Puddifoot’s?”
Theodore’s quill pauses for a fraction of a second. “Yes,” he says simply.
“That’s where I always go with the girls.” She smiles while unscrewing her water bottle. “We should do tutoring there next time.”
“Maybe.” He says, his face twitches into the faintest smile.
“I saw this iced maple chai on the menu, it sounded so good.” He nods once, already writing again. “I was there today, actually,” she adds anyway, filling the silence. “It was a—” she hesitates for half a second. Talking about Adrian to one of Mattheo’s best friends feels objectively stupid after everything she’s heard, but he looks up. “a date.” she finishes, pressing her lips together.
There’s a pause. A very long pause. Then, Theodore looks back down and continues writing. “…With?” he asks slowly.
“Adrian,” she says, a little more carefully now, watching him. Theo doesn’t react like she expects him to. She thought he’d start shouting, regurgitating Mattheo’s lies, but he stays the same. Keeping his neutral flat expression and posture.
“Mm.”
“And it went really well,” she admits after a moment, smiling despite herself while writing another answer onto the review sheet. “Honestly, I’m kind of sad it took us this long.”
“Mm.”
They fall back into silence. Ciara focuses harder on her parchment now, trying to ignore the strange heaviness settling into the room. Theodore’s quill scratches steadily against paper while torchlight flickers softly across the sharp angles of his face.
Finally he speaks again. “Does Draco know?”
Ciara glances up again, a little surprised. “No, just don’t tell him yet. Or anyone. I want to be the one to say it.” She gives a small, awkward smile. “It’s just… complicated with all of you.”
He lets out a short breath that almost sounds like a laugh, but there’s nothing amused about it.
“I really don’t know what Mattheo could’ve said to get you all to stop being friends with Adrian,” she continues, still writing, testing the waters. “He’s so kind—”
Theodore taps the corner of her parchment lightly. “You skipped a step.”
“What?”
“Question nine,” he points. “You’re missing the middle part.”
“Oh.” She blinks, refocusing. “Right.” She carefully rewrites the answer.
A few minutes pass in silence. “I mean it, though,” she tries again, a little lighter. “Today was—”
“This part’s off too,” Theodore interrupts, leaning slightly over the table and pointing at a different line.
She stops. “…You didn’t even let me finish.”
“You can finish after you fix it,” he says, already sitting back again.
Ciara exhales, a little frustrated. “Fine.” She rewrites the line. When she’s done she hesitates on whether to continue talking about her date. Deciding not to push it and risk him telling any of the boys, she keeps the rest of her thoughts to herself for now.
Another minute passes before Theodore suddenly leans closer again, close enough that she catches the faint scent of smoke still lingering on his clothes. “I don’t get this part,” he mutters, looking down at her parchment.
Ciara laughs quietly. “Okay, then fix it.”
Without asking, Theodore reaches over and takes the quill directly from her hand. His fingers brush hers briefly. He rewrites the sentence in quick, neat strokes far cleaner than her own rushed handwriting before sliding the parchment back toward her.
“There.”
Ciara looks down at the corrected line. Then back up at him. “Thanks.”
-⋆｡°✩-
The next two weeks go by, a miserable truth is revealed about Adrian leaving Ciara heartbroken and alone. Stepping up to the plate, Mattheo Riddle, with a suggestion to fake date him. She carefully accepts the idea.
Theodore
Theodore
i’m not tutoring you today
Ciara
can we reschedule to a later time
Theodore
no im busy
go ask Mattheo to do it for you
Ciara
k.
(seen by Theodore)
Ciara stares at the screen. “Dang it. Theo canceled tutoring.” she groans.
“Aww your side-chick doesn’t want to play teacher anymore?” Pansy says with a fake pout.
“He’s not my ‘side-chick’. I genuinely need the help.” She rolls her eyes. “And he said he’s busy.”
"Busy doing what?"
"No idea."
Pansy looks skeptical. "Theo doesn't do anything but smoke and fly."
"I know." she groans, an uncomfortable feeling settles in her stomach.
The rest of History of Magic somehow feels even longer. By the time the bell finally rings, Ciara already knows she's in trouble. Potions proofs are due next week. She barely understands them now and Theo was the only reason she had gotten through the last assignment.
-⋆｡°✩-
Students file down the stone steps into the potions classroom. Slughorn stands at the front organizing ingredients while humming happily to himself.
Ciara reaches her usual station, Mattheo in hand. They drop into their seats beside one another. Theo takes the third seat. Neither of them say anything. Theo doesn't even look at her. He pulls out a textbook and immediately starts reading. His eyes are bloodshot and his robes smell like weed.
Ciara frowns, unsure why she feels so betrayed.
Mattheo notices and leans over to look at her face, "So." he says.
Ciara looks over. "So?"
"My girlfriend looks troubled."
Theo rolls his eyes and lays his chin onto the palm of his hand. Ciara fights a smile. "My tutor abandoned me."
"What a bitch." Mattheo chuckles.
She nods. "The worst kind."
"Should I owl the Ministry?"
Theo begrudgingly lifts his head from his palm and gives Ciara an irritated look. She smiles at him. "Thank you."
Mattheo completely misses the interaction between the two, leaning onto the back two legs of his chair. "I do what I can."
Slughorn claps loudly. "Class!" The room settles. "I have exciting news. We are continuing potion proofs." The collective groan nearly shakes the dungeon walls. Slughorn beams. "Wonderful, aren't they?"
No they are not. Ciara immediately thinks this. Slughorn continues enthusiastically. "Anyone can follow instructions and brew a potion. A true Potion Master understands why each ingredient transforms the mixture. Your task is proving those transformations mathematically and logically."
Ciara's stomach drops. Across the table Theo is already taking notes. Mattheo looks mildly annoyed. She feels doomed. By the time class begins working through examples, her parchment is almost entirely blank. The symbols might as well be Ancient Runes.
Mattheo leans over. "You look concerned."
"I have no idea what's happening."
"Neither do I."
She blinks. "You don't?"
"No."
"You got Outstanding last year."
"I copied Theo." he admits. Theo slowly looks up. Mattheo shrugs. "What? I did."
He immediately looks back down. The rest of class passes with Slughorn drawing increasingly complicated proof structures across the board. Every explanation somehow creates two new questions. By the end of the lesson, Ciara has reached a conclusion. She absolutely cannot figure this out alone.
The corridor outside Potions fills quickly as students rush to leave to their dorms. Mattheo gets distracted almost immediately when Enzo starts yelling about Quidditch statistics from somewhere down the hall. Ciara watches him disappear around the corner. She turns, picking her bag from the floor. Theo’s still there, slowly packing his own. "Theo." She says. He doesn’t respond. "Theodore."
He sighs slowly. "What?"
"I really need help with proofs."
"You’ll be fine"
"I won't."
"You probably will."
"Theo."
He slings his bag over one shoulder. "I'm busy."
"Please."
"No."
"You told Slughorn you’d help."
"No."
"Please."
Theo stares at her. Then at the ceiling, then at the floor, like he's searching for any possible way out. Finally he exhales, "Fine."
Ciara's smile widens immediately. "Really?"
“I’ll push my plans for after dinner. You’ll be on time tonight.”
"Yes. Thank you so much."
"If you're still hopeless after that, I'm leaving." Theo starts walking. "Don't make me change my mind."
-⋆｡°✩-
Evening arrives and Ciara reaches the library nearly ten minutes early. She’s not risking being late and losing it tonight. Theo is already there, books spread across the table as always. Next to him is a purple paper coffee cup which has a sweet scent that wafts around the room.
“Your drink smells so good. What is it?” She asks, dropping her things next to him.
“Uh… Maple Chai from Puddifoots.”
“Oh, is it good? I wanted to try it.”
He lifts his head from his books, “go ahead.”
“Can I?”
“It’s getting cold.” he sighs, pushing the cup closer to her with his pointer finger.
“It’s iced.” She smiles, lifting the cup to her lips. The taste is amazing. “Thank you.”
“It’s... yeah... it's yours.” He hesitates.
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Read the full story here:
https://www.wattpad.com/story/409963719-so-it-goes-theodore-nott
