Prompt: Conspiracy/Esme Taylor & Theo Chastain
Requested by: shakespeare

request one here




Esme was frustrated. She was talking to Paul Muller and, damnit, she was frustrated! She thought the world of the boy--he was one of the few people she honestly thought didn't have a single selfish thought or bone in his entire bloody body. Which was, actually, why she was frustrated. He was so unselfish that he couldn't even admit that he was in love with her roommate for fear of messing up her relationship with another girl. Damn it Paulie, she wanted to say, I love Dorcas to bits but you at least deserve a fighting chance!

But no. He 'couldn't put Theo through that.' Daft bloke. Her heart ached for him, sometimes. And now he was coming to her to try and get her to give Theo a special birthday present--he'd gotten her two, three if you counted the enormous dinosaur cake he'd been planning to bake for her. This one was a secret one. The one he couldn't admit to giving because then she'd know he liked her and then she'd have to ~choose, which he didn't want to do because he cared about her so much that he couldn't ever put her through that.

Sigh. Hogwarts was like a soap opera sometimes. She turned around, finishing her conversation with him and giving him a friendly wave goodbye, and upon turning the corner bumped smack dab into a very interested looking Theo Chastain.

Well, shoot. She couldn't very well give Theo the gift right now if she'd just seen Esme talking to Paulie about it. "Hey Theo," she said, brightly. Perhaps too brightly, given the way Theo's eyebrows lifted at the sound. "What's up? I was just walking back to the common room want to come with I forgot something in my room, well our room."

Theo was staring at her. She tried not to squirm. "Saw you talking to Pauliesaurus," Theo said casually. "What's up with him? I haven't talked to him in a while, it's like he's been avoiding me." He has! Esme wanted to shout. Because he's IN LOVE with you and he feels conflicted about it and he wants to tell you but he doesn't and he's going to be SO SAD when you end up living with Dorcas and GOODNESS I wish I could tell you! But she couldn't. Stupid vows of secrecy and all. "Yeah," She said, trying to act casual. "We were just catching up on some homework for Charms."

"Uh huh." She didn't sound convinced. "What kind of homework? Because, you know, we're all in the same class together, and I don't remember Flitwick assigning anything today."

A pause. Well that was awkward. Why was she so bad at coming up with excuses? "Did I say Charms? I meant. Muggle Studies. He was asking me for some help."

"Uh huh." This one sounded even less convinced than the last, and was accompanied by a small Theo laugh. "Oh Esme, you're no good at lying, you know that? It's kind of adorable." Oh, bollocks. Esme tried not to squirm again.

Her trying not to squirm obviously failed, because Theo eyed her with suspicion. "Is this some kind of conspiracy? Are you conspirator...ing with Paulita?" She looked extremely suspicious. Too suspicious. What did she think they'd been conspiring about, anyway? "You are, aren't you?" she asked, hands on her hips.

A sudden look of realization dawned on Theo's face. Esme's heart sank. Paul was going to kill her, absolutely kill her, if he thought she'd told. Except, actually, he wouldn't, he wouldn't even be angry at her, which made it even worse. She looked at Theo so nervously that she couldn't have been anything but guilty.

"Is this about my birthday?" Theo asked, a small smile curling her lips. Esme had to try hard to keep her shoulders from sagging from relief. Her birthday. It was, technically, but it wasn't really the secret. Instead, she offered a smile just guilty enough while not being too guilty.

"I knew it!" Theo cried, looking jubilant. "Well. In that case, I'll pretend I didn't see or hear anything." She winked with great exaggeration at Esme. "But tell Paulita I want a dinosaur cake." She then continued on her way, looking much happier.

Esme watched her go, heaving a small sigh. Young love. So complicated.