With O.W.L.s month approaching, and the fifth years were now drowning themselves in their studies. Theo and his friends often found themselves in the library or at the Great Hall studying their notes, teaching each other at the fields they were not so good at, and even practicing the spells that they believed would be asked to perform for the practical exam. But like in any other batch of fifth years, the drama, chaos, and even constant visits to the hospital wing was expected with them. There have been countless students who Theo saw have been sent to the hospital wing during classes because they couldn't take the pressure, he even saw one student being dragged away as he insanely laughed while reciting star names.

"I guess not everyone is happy with Astronomy," Albus said when that happened.

Though the four best friends would study together all the time for the past couple of months, there were times when they would study in their respective common rooms as it was after dinner. The Slytherin common room was filled with seventh years and fifth years studying for their N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s, respectively, that the other students would have a hard time navigating through the numbers of bodies, books, papers, food, and even lost pairs of glasses laying on the floor. Some even complained how they already took the common room for themselves leaving the others with nowhere to sit. And Theo and his friends were guilty in that aspect as they hogged the whole couch for themselves. Well... hogged-ish.

Albus and Scorpius settled on sitting on the floor with their books sprawled around them, and as well as maps and rune-charts that they needed to memorize, while Theo got the couch all to himself as he already done all the possible ways of sitting on it: cross-legged, laying down, on the armrest, on the back-rest, laying on his tummy, and currently, upside-down, and beside him were his books.

"Shouldn't you be studying?"

Theo, Albus, and Scorpius turned away from their books and saw Imogen Roth standing before them with her dark hair tied to a bun on her head, showing earphones pugged in her ears, and was holding her own textbooks since the exams were also approaching for those not taking the O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s.

"We are – isn't it obvious?" Theo stated as he returned him attention to his book.

Since his amusing conversation with Roth, Theo found talking to her very interesting. He enjoyed her dark sense of humor and her sarcasm, and as well as her knowledge on Greek mythology. There were times when he would find her at the library with her friends studying but when he could get her alone while looking for a book, they would spend the remaining hours of the free period just talking about whatever they could think of. And what he very much found interesting in Roth was that she could play more than one instrument – counting the guitar – and actually wanted to play music or improve the music of the Magical World since – as she said – "it is tasteless, and it is the shit of the shit of Mozart's shit."

He got the memo when she said shit the first time. The bottom line was. Witches and wizards may have convenience of magic, but they do lack the skill and talent to make art in general. Maybe that's why most of their books were non-fiction books and he couldn't find the type of fiction that Muggles read in libraries... that is if you could Lockhart's work, which were now collecting dust at the shelves.

"Then why are you sitting like that? I could imagine your head just –" she made a gesture of exploding "—with all the blood up there."

"Helps with the studying, gives me a different perspective – besides, I'm going to change position after this chapter," Theo replied. "Shouldn't you be studying, Roth?"

"I was, but then my dormmates would rather talk about this month's issue of Witch Weekly and giggling out loud, so I went to the large study-session happening in the common room."

"Well, there's still room here," Scorpius patted on the couch.

Roth jumped over Albus and landed her feet on the couch, startling the three boys, and with an easy move, she sat upside down beside Theo.

"Huh, you were right, this does help with perspective," Roth smiled.

Theo chuckled. "What are you listening to now?"

Roth reached for her other earphone and then placed it on Theo's ear. Theo could hear jazz music being played.

"I have a whole playlist for when I study, I find it effective listening to music while trying to memorize stars and the dates for History of Magic," Roth said.

"I have to agree it does relax the brain."

Theo removed the earphone to return to her but she gave it back.

"Well, you did say you enjoyed it," Roth said.

Theo smirked, "Thanks."

Albus and Scorpius glanced at each other after witnessing the two, and discreetly moved away from them as they felt like they were being the third-wheel. But unknowing to them, Theo noticed, and with a simple discreet wave of a hand, he got two of their books to hit them on the head.

"OW!" Scorpius and Albus exclaimed.

"Have enough studying that you decided to hit yourselves, boys?" Roth snickered.

Theo pursed his lips to hide his smile and made sure to avoid his friends' glares by continuing his reading. And just before Albus and Scorpius could say anything, another student suddenly had a breakdown and was seen vomiting into their bag. Theo, Roth, Albus, and Scorpius watched as that student was taken away by their friends, along with the bag full of vomit.

"I guess what I heard about O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s isn't an exaggeration," Roth said as she and Theo changed sitting positions and were now sitting up-right.

"Yeah, it's not," Scorpius said.

"Good luck on fifth year, Roth," Albus patted her on the knee.

"And that's why we always carry one of these with us," Theo got out a barf-bag and handed it to her.

Roth laughed at the sight of the barf-bag and then had his head wear it. Theo took off the barf-bag and then reached into his pocket and handed them all wand licorice to eat while studying.

~*~

June finally came and it was O.W.L.s, all of the fifth years were given their schedules. Since most of his classes were the same with Albus, Scorpius, and Rose, they would all be together during the practical and theoretical exams – well, Rose had other few exams since she had one or two more extra classes. But the bottom line was, this was going to be two grueling weeks for them – even for the most Outstanding students.

A week before their exam, Theo and as well as his siblings received parcels from their mother and father. Their parents and godfather sent them biscuits and confidence-boosting letters where their Uncle Roman drew a moving doodle of him making a one-man-wave wearing a large hat with all their names and a foamy-finger that had the number "1". Theo very much appreciates his mother's letter since she told him that she was safe.

... focus on your O.W.L.s, there is nothing to worry about. You'll do great.

Love, Mum.

Monday came and everyone had Theory of Charms, Theo skimmed through his book as he already memorized all the theories and looked like a bored kid just flipping the pages of the book, Rose was double checking her notes with the ones on her book, her red hair our of control as she didn't have the time to fix it, and then there were Scorpius and Albus who were testing each other of the theories – checking if they memorized it. When they were called for the test, the students were walking into the Hall with shaking knees. They were told to sit in alphabetical order, so Theo found himself sitting closer to Scorpius and Albus since the first letters of their last names were closer to each other. After their test sheets were given, and the instructor turned over the enormous hourglass (which actually did not help with the whole anxiety of O.W.L.s), Theo started answering his test and found it easy since he's been using almost all of these spells in a regular basis in school.

After Theory of Charms, they had lunch and then were gathered to a small chamber beside the Great Hall where they were to wait until their names were called for the practical part. One of the reasons why Theo much prefers to volunteer in classes was to stop himself from worrying, he tried to remind himself something that his great-grandfather told him that Newt Scamander himself said, "worrying means you suffer twice," so he tried not to worry. But when it was his turn for the practical test, he managed to perfect the spells that he was asked to do.

Their exams went on the following days: Tuesday – Transfiguration; Wednesday – Herbology; Thursday – Defense Against the Dark Arts, where Theo found himself in a very odd request asked by his instructor during the practical exam after he performed all that was asked of him.

"Mister Nott, I heard that you are practicing wandless magic – yes, the Dragonologist and Magizoologist school at Scotland has been submitting your progress to the Ministry as proof of your outside-school lessons, and I would like to see its progress myself – and for added points for your practical exam as well," said the instructor.

"Alright, what do you want me to do?" Theo asked as he hid away his wand.

"Anything you might want to show."

Theo thought for a moment. What spell would be enough to prove of his abilities now. Looking around, he saw his other peers doing either well or not so much in their practical exam and saw one of them setting their instructor on fire. He smiled as an idea came to mind.

Holding out his hand, Theo conjured a flame and had it danced around his hand and slowly went back to his palm and then formed a silhouette of a girl dancing. He smiled when he watched his flame dancing around on his palm. It was the demonstration his father showed him of wandless magic back when he was a kid, and since then he always wanted to try it out.

His instructor clapped his hands in amazement and then wrote down on his sheet.

"Excellent work, Mister Nott, brilliant!"

Friday came and Theo and his friends had Ancient Runes, and after the exam even he felt his brain throbbing on how hard the test was that he was literally holding on to Scorpius while dragging his feet.

"Merlin, no, no, no!" Rose panicked. "I mistranslated something!"

"Rose, please! Let it go!" Theo groaned.

"After the last exam, I am going to Hogsmeade and getting a large butterbeer," Albus said.

"Same," Scorpius and Theo agreed.

"Merlin's beard, it's that hard?"

Turning, Theo, Scorpius, and Albus saw Imogen Roth and her friends walking out of class after their final exam. Roth was snickering as she watched them walk like a zombie after their O.W.L.s for Ancient Runes.

"I must say, this is a historic day, because it is the first time I saw Theo smart-arse Nott actually looking like a zombie after a test," Roth laughed.

"I'm human, Roth, I could still feel pain," Theo stated.

"Good to know, one more week left?"

"One more week."

"Well, then, I hope you survive the last week, or else you'd miss Hogsmeade weekend after," Roth grinned. "And I was planning on giving you a congratulatory drink for going through hell."

Theo raised a brow. "Is that an invitation to go to Hogsmeade, Roth?"

Roth shrugged and then grinned, "maybe, depends if you'll still be alive after the whole hell-week... or maybe you got other plans?"

Theo slightly blushed. "No, I don't – I'll be counting on that butterbeer then."

"Then make sure you're still breathing with a soul after the last test," Roth started to walk away with her giggling friends. "Au revoir, Theo!"

"Au revoir," Theo said back but he doubted that Roth heard.

"Did Roth just ask you out?" Scorpius stifled a laugh.

"I'm more amazed that she actually flirted with Theo," Albus said.

"Well, looks like you have something to look forward to after O.W.L.s, Theo," Rose patted him on the shoulder.

While his friends teased him, Theo was still trying to grasp the idea that Imogen Roth just asked him out.

The second week of O.W.L.s came and the first was Potions – where Theo almost got the crushed fishbones and snake fangs switched up, luckily, he caught it before he even poured the ingredients. Care for Magical Creatures was a piece of cake, he managed to feed the Unicorn the right food, and managed to handle the skewt perfectly, and cleaned fire-crab sustaining serious burns flawlessly – what do they expect, his father owned the large reserve at Scotland and he grew up with handling magical creatures. And the whole time, he could see Hagrid peering out of his hut watching them with anticipation. Wednesday was Astronomy – another walk in a park, and all thanks to his mother who was an Astronomy teacher, like his siblings, they finished the test earlier and snoozed off with the remaining hour, and during its practical test, Theo finished his star-map easily and just waited for the others to finish. And finally, it was the last test for their O.W.L.s – well, for them since they were not taking Arithmancy like Rose – and it was one of the easiest subjects for Theo. History of Magic. Unlike the others, Theo very much enjoys studying history and could tell the whole story of the rise and fall of civilizations even with his eyes closed. The exam was hard but nothing he couldn't handle, and by the end of it, he managed to write down the last word just before their papers were taken by their instructor.

After their History of Magic, Theo and his friends walked out yawning and stretching.

"THANK MERLIN THAT WAS THE LAST ONE! AND TO HELL WHAT I GET ON HISTORY OF MAGIC!" Albus yawned out loud.

"I have to say, that was a bit of a challenge – especially the essay parts," Theo said.

"A bit?!" Rose exclaimed. "Look at this! Those essays ruined by quill!" she showed them her now broken quill.

"You can borrow mine for tomorrow, Rose," Scorpius took his own out and handed it to Rose.

Rose blushed in red when Scorpius handed her his quill. It was expensive looking and very elegant. She was about to give it back and tell him that she would just repair her quill but Scorpius insisted that she used it.

"Good luck with Arithmancy tomorrow, Rose," Theo said as he walked backwards, since he wasn't watching on where he was going, he accidentally bumped into their Herbology teacher. "Professor Longbottom!"

"Hello Mister Nott, Mister Potter, Mister Mafloy, Miss Granger-Weasley," Neville greeted them. "Finally finished with O.W.L.s?"

"Yes! And we can't wait to get some butterbeer this weekend," Theo grinned.

"Please, you just can't wait for you date," Scorpius teased him.

"That's nice," Neville said, smiling. "Well, enjoy your day – and I'm glad that it went well."

"Thank you, Professor! See you later!"

After their teacher left, Theo and his friends went straight to the Black Lake and dipped their feet in the water and relax. Scorpius took out some of the food he had in his bag and gave it to everyone, while Theo took off his shoes and socks and then pulled up his pants and went deeper into the lake to greet Larry the giant squid, who happily sprung his two of his tentacles out of the water to greet him.

"You know the rules, no grabbing – and no inking as well," Theo told him.

Larry let out a few bubbles as a sign of agreement.

"Good."

~*~

Eventually, the weekend came and the whole fifth year were congratulated by the Head Mistress for completing their O.W.L.s and were told that their results will be sent via owl by July, and were given a reward of Hogsmeade Weekend this weekend, which they were all happy and showed how much they needed the weekend off. And with that news, Theo and Roth were looking forward to their little "date" that they were actually thinking on what to wear then. And Theo usually didn't really think much about his clothes. Of course, his siblings found out about his date with Roth that they snuck into his dorm and started raiding his trunk without his consent to help him look for clothes that would be fitting for his first date. They even tried looking for Roth but Theo managed to kick them into his dorm before his brothers even think about calling out her name in the common room. Literally.

"I swear, it's like they're the ones going on a date," Theo said from where he sat on his bed with his friends. Rose was there as well, looking through Theo's books.

"How about this, this looks good!" Romulus pulled out a black button-up shirt.

"No! That's not Roth's style!" Sofia said. "She's more of a punk-rock or those rock and roll kind of girls! That's too formal!"

"Leave him alone, you two, and just let Theo be himself!" Viktor called out from where he laid on Albus' bed with James.

"Yes, because Theo's such a fashion icon," Romulus rolled his eyes. "If we don't help him, Viktor, our brother just might go on his first date wearing Mrs. Weasley's Christmas jumper!"

"For your information, I still have a sense of fashion," Theo snatched his Christmas jumper from Romulus. "And I quite like Mrs. Weasley's jumpers, they're very warm."

"Oh, oh! What about this – with this!" Sofia pulled out Theo's black button-shirt and paired it with his emerald long-sleeved vest. "Very Theo, and suitable for his date... and I do believe it goes with her black-colors vibe."

"Not bad, sis, do you have some dark trousers as well – and some sneakers, little brother?" Romulus dove into his trunk.

"Sirius, get out of my trunk," Theo frustratingly ran his hand down his face as he saw all of his things now a mess. "And, Sofe, as much as I love your help, I really don't want to look like a stiff gentleman who clearly would be overdressed for a glass of butterbeer at The Three Broomsticks, so, please."

"Fine," Sofia sat down on the bed beside Viktor. "Then what are you going to wear then?"

With a wave of a hand, Theo managed to get all of his things back into his trunk, his clothes folded and pressed perfectly and arranged well, and along with his other possessions, his things kicked Romulus out as well, and then closed shut, leaving only the long-sleeved shirt with the Arctic Monkeys logo, a pair of dark trousers, and his black shoes outside, and as well as his jacket.

"You can't be serious," Sofia pouted. "Theo, it's a first date!"

"And I think it's fitting for one – besides, The Three Broomsticks isn't a restaurant or a bistro! It's just pub! And I think this is very fitting for tomorrow."

"Fitting because Roth also listens to that band," Albus laughed.

Sofia, Viktor, and Romulus grinned at the new information, and Theo grabbed one of his shoes and threw it at Albus. It hit his friend at the face.

"Hey, Theo, mind if I borrow this?" Rose raised the book she's been reading since she got there.

"That's not mine, that's Scorp's, I borrowed it," Theo told her.

"Sure thing, Rose," Scorpius answered, grinning as he did.

Rose blushed deep red and then muttered a thank you.

The following day, Theo wore his chosen clothes for his day at Hogsmeade and waited for Roth at the common room, his friends stayed with him just in case Roth decided to bail on him or took her time in changing her clothes, but to their surprise – just before they could even sit on the couch – Roth came down from her dorm wearing a pair of boots, dark trousers, a white shirt and a dark blazer, her curly hair was tied to a low bun. Just looking at her made Theo realized how underdressed he was and was starting to regret not taking Sofia's advice.

"I'm overdressed, aren't I?" Roth winced.

"No – no – actually, I'm just underdressed, you look great," Theo said.

His friends snickered from where they stood.

"Sorry, I thought that you might dress up for day so I thought... maybe I was a bit quick to judge," Roth said.

"No – actually – it's my fault as well, I thought that you would much prefer..." Theo gestured to his clothes. "Do you want me to change or..."

"No! No! You look great – Arctic Monkeys, who would have thought you would be a fan of them," Roth grinned.

"Why, what did you think would be my type of rock band?" Theo smiled.

"I peg you to be more of... The Beatles?"

Theo laughed. "The Beatles?!"

"Well," Roth then offered her arm to him. "The more we learn, I guess."

Theo happily took her arm. "The more we learn."

"And as much as I enjoy Malfoy and Potter's company, I do hope they won't be tailing us the whole day."

"Don't worry, we'll be having our own table and our own butterbeers, Roth," Albus said.

"Please, do take care of our dear Theo, he's our precious," Scorpius pinched his cheek.

Theo swatted his hand away and rubbed his cheek. "Seriously?"

"Don't worry, I'll return him in one piece," Roth started dragging Theo away.

And as they left, Theo heard his friends call out:

"BE BACK BY CURFEW!"

"AND USE PROTECTION!"

Theo's eyes widened at them and he made sure to raise his middle finger at them just before he and Roth were out of their sight.

~*~

Theo and Roth spent their day at Hogsmeade walking around the small village, they stopped by Huneydukes to get some sweets for the remaining days of their stay at Hogwarts – which won't be that long – went to the bookstore by Roth's insistence since she knew that Theo loved to read, and then went to The Three Broomsticks, but Roth did joke about heading to Madam Puddifoot's but Theo made a gesture of vomiting which made her laugh. They settled at an empty table – not that far from where Albus, Scorpius, and Rose were sitting. Theo went to get their drinks and food and then returned to their table. They talked mostly about what happened during their exams and then talked about their interests. When he mentioned about riding motorcycles, Roth grinned and told him that she also liked riding motorcycles and liked fixing them as well; they talked about music – since they share many interests with that – and he was surprised when she said that she knew how to play the base, the drums, the guitar, the piano, and also the trumpet. He on the other hand only knew the guitar and the harp.

"Very classy," Roth said when he mentioned the harp.

"My parents both played the harp – well, my father knew the harp and the violin," Theo said. "I only learned how to play the guitar from my grandfather."

"Hold on, isn't your grandfather, Sirius Black? So, Sirius Black knows how to play the guitar?"

"He does – I was surprised myself – but then, when it came to the more complicated parts, it was Teddy Lupin who taught me."

"Wow... well, I learned from my Dad – he used to play in a band when he was our age, tried to get a career in music but then started working with computers."

"Why didn't he pursue music?"

"Well, the life of a musician is hard and can't really support a family," Roth shrugged.

"Oh, well, I hope he's doing well."

"He is, he enjoys his joy, and he would play gigs at the pub every weekend – what about your parents, I heard so much about them but I never really got the idea how they are."

"My parents," Theo let out a breath. "Well, my Mum's an Astronomer and teaches Astronomy at Sinora and my Dad is a Dragonologist and Magizoologist at his reserve at Scotland."

"That's an interesting life – is it true that you guys got a pet chimera? That cat-sheep-lizard?"

Theo stifled a laugh, "Yes, and it's a lion-goat- dragon – and his name is Alcander."

"Goat? Well, there goes my other point in Care for Magical Creaters," Roth threw her hands in the air and laughed. "You know, I have never seen a magical-zoo – is there such thing?"

"We really can't say about the zoo-park type, but the reserve could be seen as that, but usually, the ones who goes there are the ones who studies magical beasts or our family."

"Oh, you guys don't let visitors in?"

"We do, but no one really is that interested to learn creatures for fun or get a tour around the valley," Theo shrugged.

"I wouldn't mind the walking, the climbing mountains," Roth smiled.

"Really?"

"Would you believe me if I told you that I was a girl scout before I attended Hogwarts?"

Theo laughed.

"I was! I even got all the badges – but for the more advanced ones since I started attending a magical school in Scotland."

"Well, maybe I could arrange some things and maybe we could give you a tour."

"It's a deal then – I think your siblings are spying on us," Roth nodded at a certain direction.

Theo turned and saw his brothers and sister, with James and Fred sitting at the corner trying to act like they were not watching them – Romulus and James acted like the ants were a very interesting subject, Sofia hiding her face in her book, Fred continuously drinking his empty glass of butterbeer, and Viktor... well, he was the only one who waved at their way and sighed apologetically since he wasn't able to stop them.

"They're harmless," Theo said. "But, since they're here and would be pestering me the entire time, want to walk around Hogsmeade?"

"Sure," Roth said.

After paying for their food and drinks, Theo and Roth left the pub and went on their walk. They decided to walk around the town or even head to the Shrieking Shack, since Roth liked haunted places. Though, Theo knew exactly what was haunting that place he didn't tell her since it was his Great-Uncle Remus' secret.

"Ever gone to a haunted house?" Roth asked.

"Haunted hotel – my family once went to Rome and stayed at Castella della Castellaluccia – we saw Emperor Nero, an Alchemist getting hit by lightning, and a couple of other ghosts... one even watched Romulus while he bathed, and he didn't care."

Roth laughed. "You're a very interesting guy, you know."

"Is that a good thing?"

Roth took a step forward, she was a foot shorter than him, so she had to look up. "Yes, since I like interesting people... and I easily get bored."

"Then I guess I just have to keep things interesting, then," Theo smirked.

"You're doing well enough, Nott," Roth got on her toes.

"Glad to hear."

"You know, usually, I don't kiss people on first dates, but my curiosity on how it would feel kissing you is killing me," Roth chuckled as she had her arms on his shoulders.

"I'm sure you could make an exception," Theo leaned down to meet her but just before he could even get near, he heard something. He heard it in the trees... the path they took to get there.

"Is something wrong?" Roth asked.

Remove him. Remove him. Remove him –

"Theo?!" Roth looked concerned, when she saw him take out his wand.

An explosion in the trees happened. They both backed up to the fence and saw the dark entity exploding above the trees. Roth also took out her wand but her hand was shaking. Theo hid her behind him.

REMOVE HIM AND PROFESSOR COULD LOVE ME!

Theo's eyes widened when he heard the thoughts, and just by hearing it, he knew that this was the Obscurial. Before the Obscurus could attack them, Theo tackled Roth away and the landed on the ground. He looked back and saw that the fences were destroyed and the Obscurus was waiting to attack again. He knew that it was after him. He could hear her thoughts. Theo managed to create a magical bubble and encased him and Roth inside before the Obscurus could attack them. The dark entity surrounded them, in a storm-like circle, attacking him with its power, using stones, branches, and even the wires of the fences to try and penetrate the shield. But he could only manage to keep the bubble up. He needed to get Roth out of there before she could get hurt. Turning to the shack, he a large space of land where it could not find anything to destroy... and it was away from the village and Roth.

"She can't keep attacking forever," Theo spoke. "When I get this down, run as fast as you could, understand?"

"What about you?!" Roth asked.

"It's after me – I'll try to get it away from the village – call for help!"

"THEO –"

The Obscurus retreated and tried to get a better force of attack. Theo removed the bubble and then pushed Roth away.

"RUN!" He called out before casting a large fire spell to fend off the Obscurus and then running to the direction of the Shrieking Shack. He ran towards the Shrieking Shack, knowing that it would be a passage back to Hogwarts – an underground passage that the Obscurus can't get to him. He needed to get there before it could get him. He sent spells at it – mostly elemental since simple ones won't work. But just before he could get close to the shack, Theo found himself surrounded and was in the eye of the storm of the Obscurus. He once again created a magical bubble but for how long could it protect him?

The Obscurus sent its attacks and Theo fell to the ground at the force, he watched in horror as the dark sand-like entity thrashed around him, trying to break the bubble –

Why don't you love me?

He could hear a voice. He could see memories. Fragments of memories all for him to see. His Legilimense was out of control, and he could see all of the Obscurial's memories. He saw her as a child being hit by a woman whose face he's seen somewhere. He saw her in a shack hiding. He saw her watching his family from afar while they had dinner, her eyes trailing his mother as she had him in an embrace. He saw her climbing the walls of Sinora – stealing uniforms – stalking his mother – their sessions – his mother reading to her – the Headmistress – his mother pulling her to an embrace. All was there for him to see and he could only take so much.

Theo fell on the ground, trying to control his Legilimense as it was not too much for him. His bubble was getting weaker as the magic was slowly fading and the Obscurus's attacks were now scratching and cutting him. He covered his head and hid his face as he tried to focus on creating the bubble again, but the more he tried, the more he saw into the girl's memories.

Delphini... from now on, your name will be Delphini Riddle, do you understand? He heard someone in her memories. But it turned to another memory, a much more recent one since he saw his mother.

"Why do you always smile like this when with him?" she asked.

"Because he's my son... he makes me happy," Carina replied.

"Do I make you happy?"

His mother smiled.

"I enjoy our sessions together, I'm happy that you're learning so much."

"Do you love him?"

"Yes, I do."

"Do you love me?"

His mother hesitated.

"I care for you, Delphi..."

"But that's not love – why don't you love me?!"

His mother wrapped her in her arms.

Theo wanted to reach out to her and pull her away from the danger. He wanted to call out to her but he can't because he was trapped there with the Obscurus about to kill him. Maybe, if he tried, he could send her a message.

MUM! He thought, hoping that he could send her the message of his distress. Then he remembered, go to Alcander's Island, even just for a little while and think. He needed to get out of that situation. He needed to escape... maybe he could, just for a little while. He closed his eyes and thought about Alcander's Island. He needed to relax and think. There is always something that could help him. His bubble was now gone, the Obscurus braced itself to attack again.

Theo felt his wand turn hot in his hands. Getting up, he pointed his wand at the Obscurus and cast a spell.

"HELIO INCENDIO!"

A large flame came from his wand and circled around him, protecting him from the Obscurus. The hot flames slightly burned him but it didn't matter since it was keeping the Obscurus away. He saw it trying to attack but his flames kept it at bay. He felt his skin turn raw with the heat, it was too much. He needed to get out of the tornado of flames before he gets burned himself.

NO! He heard the Obscurial cry out. NO, NO, NO! I'M SORRY! I'M SORRY!

The Obscurial's thoughts suddenly disappeared and he no longer felt the force of the Obscurus. He removed the spell and he fell on the ground. the grass and earth around him were burned. He gasped for the cool air. Pain surged through his body due to the burns. He was dizzy.

"THEO!"

"NOTT!"

He turned and saw a blurred image of someone coming towards him. He could make out McGonagall's voice and as well as Professor Ennis and Longbottom, and along with them were his siblings and friends, and Roth. But he could barely keep his eyes open. Looking up at the sky, the last thing he saw was the sight of a large red bird flying towards him.