「 FEAST OF DEMENTORS 」

ON THE MORNING OF THE Hogsmeade weekend, Theo overturned his trunk and let all of its contents fall onto his bed. Kicking aside a stray sneakoscope, he rummaged through the pile of clothes, feeling his frustration grow by the second. He was clad now in nothing but a pair of jeans and a shirt. He needed something warm for the weather outside, but none of his clothes seemed good for the occasion. So far in his seventh year of Hogwarts, he hasn't paid much attention to his clothes but now that he was going to Hogsmeade, he didn't want to wear anything at random.

"What the fuck have you done, Theo?"

It was Blaise. He looked over and saw him as he entered the dormitory. He wore a long, dark green travelling cloak, black boots, and a pair of gloves. It was a simple attire but it looked stunning on him. Of course, thought Theo grudgingly, Blaise looked good in anything. He, on the other hand, needed to decide on his clothes at least a month earlier to hope to look even a little bit decent.

"You're still not dressed."

"I know," he said through gritted teeth. "I can't find anything to wear."

Blaise arched an eyebrow. "Really? All these clothes and you don't know what to wear?"

He groaned and flopped down on the bed, above the clothes that were strewn around. Blaise looked through the pile for a moment before extracting a decently clean looking jumper from its midst. "Here," he said and tossed it at Theo. "Wear this. And you can borrow one of my cloaks."

As Theo miserably put the jumper on, Blaise went over to his own trunk and pulled a cloak similar to the one he was wearing, except it was a deep red colour. He admired it silently when Blaise handed it over to him, examining the tiny stitched patterns along its edges. It was light, elegant, and clearly very expensive. Everything Blaise owned was glamorous, and when Theo swung the cloak around himself and tied it around his neck, he automatically felt much better about his appearance.

Blaise reached toward him and pulled the hood over his head. "Perfect," he said with a satisfied smile. "It suits you."

Theo looked away and clumsily pulled out his socks from the pile. "Why don't you wait in the common room while I get ready?"

Blaise agreed and left.

He pulled on his socks and began to brush his hair with his fingers. A large mirror stood at one end of the room and Theo went over, examining himself through the glass. His hair was a mess on his head - he didn't remember the last time he had brushed it with a hairbrush. He had lately just been relying on his fingers to bring it to shape. As he grabbed a brush and began to attack his hair, he saw Draco enter the room, looking miserable.

"You're not going?" he asked as the latter dived into his bed and disappeared under the sheets. He peered out when he heard the question and groaned.

"No."

"Really?" Theo set aside the hairbrush and went to Draco's bed. "I thought you'd take the opportunity to go out with Astoria."

"That's what I was planning to do," said Draco in a small voice. "I asked her if she wanted to go with me, but apparently her sister has already 'booked' her to go with her. What are the odds that Daphne did that just so I could not take Astoria with me?"

Theo made a mental note to talk to Daphne later. But for now, he just patted Draco on the shoulder and went to the common room where Blaise sat waiting for him.

At the Entrance Hall, several students stood huddled together, all waiting to go to Hogsmeade. The Carrows were at the front, shouting obscenities at the students as though talking to a group of criminals who have tried to escape their prison. They instructed the students to behave themselves and not to stray too far from Hogsmeade if they didn't wish a painful death to fall upon them. They reminded that the dementors would be all around Hogsmeade and any wrongdoer would be fed to them without hesitation.

It would have sounded like a joke - a very sick joke perhaps - to a stranger but the words filled Theo with dread.

Blaise must have understood what he was feeling for he gripped his arm and said soothingly, "They won't do anything. Snape wouldn't let a student be fed to a dementor."

He managed a nod and some twenty minutes later, when the Carrows were finally convinced that the students wouldn't try to burn Hogsmeade to the ground, they were finally allowed to leave the Hogwarts grounds and walk into the path leading to the village.

"Where do you want to go first?" asked Blaise as they followed the tightly knit group moving slowly amidst the whistling wind rushing past them.

"Honeydukes," answered Theo promptly. He missed eating the sweets. "Although, you don't have to buy everything for me, you know? I'm not mad at you anymore."

Blaise smiled. "That's alright. I want to do it."

They reached the village of Hogsmeade soon and Theo had to pause for a moment to take in the scenery. It was different from what he remembered. On the one hand, the weather was terribly nasty, and the snow blowing around in the air made it difficult to see just inches ahead. Only a handful of people had decided to come, which meant it was emptier than usual. At other times, it would fill up with students wanting to take a much-needed break from their studies. But perhaps fear of the strong weather and the dementors overcame the need to escape the castle.

On the other hand, the place was riddled with dementors. Everywhere. They were far enough above them to not have their depressing effects on the visitors but not enough to not cast fear in them. Although it was impossible to see what was underneath their hoods, Theo could imagine the hungry looks on their faces - if they did indeed have a face - as they watched the people moving under them. He had never been close enough to the dementors but had read about how they sucked the happiness out of you and made you feel cold all over. Somehow he had the feeling that the intense cold he felt deep in his guts wasn't due to the snow.

It was far too sharp and sinister to be natural.

With immense relief, they finally entered Honeydukes and were instantly hit with comforting warmth and the smell of sweets and chocolates. With a satisfied sigh, Theo began walking along the shelves and looking at the vast collection of candy, Blaise following close behind him. He grabbed a bag from the counter and began to fill it up and ten minutes later, they were outside again, Blaise having paid for everything. The bag hung around Theo's arm, and they nibbled on the sweets as they made their way toward Gladrags Wizardwear.

"Why are we going in there?" asked Theo.

"I need some new gloves," answered Blaise. "These have holes in them. My hands are going numb." He held up his hands and Theo saw the tiny holes in different places on the back of his gloves. "You can buy some stuff too if you want."

Gladrags Wizardwear was a little less crowded, for students usually didn't come to Hogsmeade to shop for clothes. Unlike Madam Malkin's, it was bright and colourful, with hundreds of robes and socks and cloaks hanging on the walls and twinkling in the light. The shop prided in selling the most eccentric attire possible, ranging from brightly coloured robes to robes that were magicked to change colour reflecting the user's mood. All sorts of strange and quirky gloves and socks were available. It seemed odd to see Blaise shopping in a place like this.

"Do you think Dumbledore used to buy his robes from here?" asked Theo, examining a plum coloured robe on a mannequin.

"I wouldn't be surprised," answered Blaise from the gloves section, where he was looking for the most normal looking gloves possible.

Theo walked into the place holding the socks. The sight hurt his eyes - the shelves had far too many socks with far too much colour. Some of the socks seemed to have moving images, while some socks squirmed around as if wanting to escape. As he watched, amused, the wild eccentricities of the socks, he was struck by a sudden idea.

He glanced surreptitiously around at Blaise. He was busy looking for normal gloves, and given the reputation of the shop, it wouldn't be easy. Theo decided to take this opportunity to buy something for him.

He looked over at the socks, examining each of them carefully. Some of them had easily detectable features, while others had small cards next to them explaining their specialities. Theo spotted a deep obsidian sock on one of the shelves. It looked quite normal, with no design on it - just a plain black - and it was extremely still. He went over to read the description on its card.

Glow-in-the-dark sock, it said.

Smiling mischievously, he took it out of its shelf and brought it to the counter. Quickly paying the money, he stuffed the socks into his pockets and stood there trying to look innocent as Blaise finally came over with a pair of gloves in his hands.

"These were the most normal ones I could find," he said in a resigned tone as he held them up for Theo to see.

The gloves were a deep indigo colour with little snowflakes drifting around. It almost looked like a section of the sky during a snowy night was cut off and imbued into the gloves.

"Well, it's just for a few days. I'll buy new ones from Diagon Alley once I go home for Christmas."

He took off his old gloves and tossed them into the dustbin before pulling the new ones on. He paid for them and stared at his hands for a moment with a look of great repulsion.

"Hey, they're actually pretty," Theo commented.

Blaise made a face and dragged him out of the shop.

As soon as they stepped outside, they realised something was wrong.

There was silence all around. Not the usual kind of silence, but a silence that was unnatural and ominous, a silence that pressed on your eardrums and drowned your heart in fear. Blaise grabbed Theo's arm, looking down at him questioningly.

"Do you feel that?"

"Feel what?" asked Theo, and he realised how small his voice sounded.

"It's cold. Colder than before."

Theo could, indeed, feel it. The coldness pressed into his body, numbing his senses. It filled his head with a terrible sense of despair. Nothing seemed to matter to him anymore. Blaise stood beside him but he seemed so, so far away and when he wrapped his arm around his shoulders, Theo felt oddly detached from him, like he wasn't really there, like he was an apparition. He wanted to sink into the ground and disappear forever.

"What is happening?" asked Blaise in a hoarse whisper.

His voice shook Theo up, and he gained his senses long enough to recognise the effect of the dementors. "The dementors. They're here." He managed to say the words before he was plunged into despair once again.

What was happening? Why was he feeling so terribly lonely all of a sudden? Blaise's arm curled protectively around his shoulders but he pushed him away. He didn't want Blaise to be near him. Blaise, the boy he was in love with, the boy who would never understand what he felt, who would never perhaps return his feelings. Theo would never have him as his own, and it was fruitless to want him. He wanted to run away, get as far away from Blaise as possible. Far away from his father, who had never failed to remind him what a terrible disappointment he was.

He heard a thud and realised Blaise had fallen to the ground. He looked at him, sitting on his knees, taking deep, heavy breaths, eyes empty as he stared into the open. It was the sight of Blaise so weak and vulnerable that, once again, brought him back to his senses. Theo dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around him.

If the dementors were there to suck out their souls, he would rather spend his last moments of sanity with Blaise.

And just like that, the cold and the silence dissipated.

Well, not entirely. The cold still gripped his bones but it was the normal kind of cold, and Theo felt his mind clear. But he didn't let go of Blaise and closed his eyes when Blaise hugged him back. Several minutes passed and he only let go when Blaise said, "Look."

He moved back and looked toward the heart of Hogsmeade. The snow was clear enough to let him see far ahead. Several dementors glided toward something - circling, converging - and they were dangerously close to the ground. They must have passed the two of them on their way there, and hadn't seen them or had chosen to ignore them. Theo's throat burned as bile rose to his throat. His stomach clenched.

Blaise tugged at his arms. "Come on. We have to get back to the castle."

He stood up and stared at the dementors. "What are they doing?"

Blaise began to drag him away from them. "I don't know. Found a victim, most likely. We can't help, we don't know the Patronus charm. The shopkeepers will help. They'll do something. There's nothing we can do."

Theo understood Blaise felt as bad about leaving as he did but he was right. There was nothing they could do to ward off the dementors, and would only become victims themselves if they went toward them. He wondered who it was the dementors had targeted and was instantly nauseated.

The farther they got from Hogsmeade, the less cold it became. The silence has lifted and he could hear the whistle of the wind, the patter of their footsteps as they ran toward their school. They picked up their pace when the large gates came in sight and stopped only when they had reached the Entrance Hall.

"We have to tell a teacher," said Theo, panting.

But the castle was large, and it could take several minutes before they could even spot one and by then it could be too late for the victim. Theo looked around, trying to decide which way to go, but not wanting to move. He just wanted to collapse and lie still. Thankfully, Professor McGonagall appeared just then. She hurried over, clearly sensing that something was wrong.

They explained the situation and she was out of the castle even before they could finish their account.

Theo dropped to the ground and leaned against the wall. Blaise followed.

They were safe now, far away from the dementors. But those few moments of reliving the worst corners of his mind had shaken him to the core and he was unable to support himself. His knees felt weak, his body trembled uncontrollably. He wondered what Blaise had relived, what had made him fall to his knees.

But now he only felt glad that Blaise was with him, that they were both safe. He moved closer to Blaise and dropped his head on his shoulder, letting his eyes fall shut. People began to arrive slowly, as shaken as them, but they remained there, unmoving and quiet, silently supporting each other.