Title: Send Me All Your Vampires
Author: AudioAesthetic
Rating: T
Summary: TheoNxSusB. "She knew she'd take him home." Strange coupling one-shot. And no, it's not about vampires. Sorry.
A/N: Just a little one-shot that came to me while listening to the song "I Want You" by Third Eye Blind (which is, consequently, where the title came from). Please review if you read, I'm rather proud of it and want to know what others think. Thanks!
I said, "To live this way is not for the meek"
Like a jazz DJ, you talk me into sleep.
I said, "There'll be no regrets when the worms come"
And they so surely come.
You're makin' me want you.
Send me all your vampires.
His name was Theodore Nott, and Susan was dancing with him because she knew him. He didn't ask her to dance, he wasn't even dancing more than he was swaying a bit, but she gravitated to him because he was familiar and she was scared in big groups of wizards she didn't know. It's been five years and you're still scared...
He was tall, taller than her by two heads, and slim. He wore a black T-shirt that showed off his arms, and dark, Muggle jeans, and Susan never thought that Slytherins dressed like Muggles. The club is dark, except for the colored lights that flash over them to the beat of the music. They hypnotized her, and so did Theodore's eyes, which were grey and steely and stared at her.
He never smiled, not once, but looked like the sort of person who would take care of her, because after all, she was scared.
Susan was drunk, and she knew it, and part of her liked the feeling. It was like she was seeing everything from the ceiling, like she wasn't really the one who was scared, it was some auburn-haired Hufflepuff dancing with a ten-foot tall Slytherin who would never have looked at her at Hogwarts. But she was twenty-two now, and drunk for the first time in her life, and dancing with him because he's the only one there who looks strong enough to help her.
She knew she'd take him home.
He asked her her name as they danced, though his voice said he remembered it. She told him anyway, and asked him his. She smiled because he wouldn't.
"Where do you work now?" he asked. His voice was rich and seemed quiet, although she could hear it over the music.
"I wait tables at a Muggle restaurant," she answered. To his questioning look, she added, "I couldn't stand to be around magic, after Justin died."
He didn't ask who Justin was. Everyone had heard the rumors in seventh year, that Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchey were caught shagging in the Hufflepuff boy's dorm (even though it wasn't true), and everyone had seen her cry over his body at the battle, unable even to defend herself she was so wrecked with grief.
"What do you do?" she asked, and rather drunkenly added, "Why aren't you in Azkaban with the rest of the Slytherins?"
She didn't remember that he was on their side during that battle. That he had saved Parvati Patil's life. That he had fought just as hard as Susan, and harder, because he wasn't in mourning.
She remembered as soon as she asked and felt horrible. Theodore didn't take offense, and only told her he was a freelance writer for the Prophet and asked her why she was here, if she hated magic so much.
"I don't know," she said, and suddenly wanted to stop talking. She came closer, ground her hips against his, and tried not to breathe.
They were close now, and he was staring into her eyes, and if she had been sober she would have been uncomfortable by the intensity. He tried to read her, and she let him because she wasn't afraid of him. And she was afraid of everything.
He grabbed her waist and moved in long, slow, serpentine patterns, and not one part of their bodies wasn't touching. She stared up at him, and he stared down at her and Susan wished he would kiss her. His hand trailed up and down her side, and there was a rhythm to him that she can't quite grasp.
She stood on her toes and whispered into his ear, "Let's get out of here."
He debated it for a moment, mulling it over in his head, but she knew he'd follow her off the dance floor, because she thought he might be scared too.
On the sidewalk outside, she grabbed his hand and let him Side-Along Apparate to her apartment.
He was tall and hard to kiss but Susan managed. She lead him to her bedroom, only breaking the kiss to pull off his T-shirt. His hands were everywhere, and he pushed her back onto her bed. He tore off her tanktop and her skirt, and he was still in those Muggle jeans that confused her so.
The whole time, he kissed her in such a way that made her forget so much that she didn't even remember what she was forgetting.
They were naked together, and Susan felt bare, but she liked the feeling. They didn't speak, but panted and kissed and there was no need for pleasantries. For the first time since Justin, Susan felt awake. She'd been in a nightmare for so long...
When it was over, Susan didn't want it to be. She clutched at Theodore's body and held him close, her faced buried in the crook of his neck and his hair and he smelled metallic, like graphite or steel.
She was sorry this was just a one-night thing, when he finally spoke.
"I know you're scared, Susan," he said, "but would you like to go to dinner with me sometime?"
She looked at him and his eyes were closed. It was almost like he was talking to a dream instead of her. She felt like a dream sometimes.
"Of course," she replied, thinking that her prim Hufflepuff father would have a fit if he found out she was seeing a Slytherin.
After a moment, she asked on a whim, "Where did life go, Theodore?"
He eyed her for a moment and she felt safe under his watch. He didn't speak, and Susan thought maybe he didn't want to be corny, but she knew what he was thinking. He was thinking this was more than a one night thing, more than just a dinner to make up for it. Susan thought she could love him, in time.
"You're shivering," he informed her, sounding very professional. He slowly maneuvered her body so it was under the covers and crawled under with her. She knew, from that, that he would take care of her, if she needed it.
"Tell me about your writing, Theodore," she said, and he whispered to her until she was asleep.