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A/N: Sorry for the little /switcharoo /that happened. Thanks though to LittleBlackSwan who called my attention, or else... Anyway, to those new guys reading this story, hope you enjoy!

"What?" Meredith asked, annoyed.

Theo knew that look of hers. It spelled trouble. Gulping, he said shakily, "I-I need help."

"Look, Nott," she snapped. "Can't you see I'm busy?" she said with deliberate harshness.

Theo closed his eyes, took an unsteady breath. "They're going to kill me, all right? I need help!"

Meredith gathered her long black straight hair and manoeuvred a chopstick to hold them in place. "They can't kill you, Theo. They have no plans of raiding any of our bases as of yesterday. Just stay here, if you want. You'll be safe."

"I'm not talking about their side! I'm talking about ours!" he cried, his eyes troubled.

Oh boy. This was a big one. Meredith dropped her quill carefully, making a show of it, before feasting her eyes on Theo. "What do you mean?"

"I-I was seen with a muggle," he stumbled with his words. When Meredith only raised a perfectly arched brow, Theo elaborated. "I have a relationship with him."

"Goodness, Theo!" Meredith reacted. "You have a thing for men? Well, it's not unusual anymore, but I didn't peg you for the type," she murmured.

When she didn't say anything else, Theo placed his palms on her desk, leaning on it.

Meredith sighed. "Look, just get rid of it." She pushed Theo's hands.

Theo didn't know whether she referred to it as the muggle or the relationship. Either way, it didn't matter, because he couldn't. He just couldn't.

"Couldn't?" Meredith suddenly repeated. She looked him at the eyes. "Or wouldn't?"

Damn Meredith and her legilimens skill.

"I heard that," she remarked, amused.

Theo ran a frustrated hand through his hair. "I couldn't, wouldn't- what's the difference?" he said hastily. "I love /him." That /put a stop at whatever Meredith was doing. "I love him," Theo repeated with more emotion.

"What do you want me to do?" Meredith asked quietly.

Theo took the sit across her desk and sagged. "Come on, Mer. We know you're the one who deals with these things. You're his most loyal servant," he said with emphasis, and a scowl.

"And yet you come to me."

"We've been partners, Mer. I think I know you." He paused, hesitant. "It's just some of us aren't like you? You- you're different. Don't you get tired of- of everything/? I want out. I want to live. I don't want to kill anymore. J-just make it stop. /Please." The deep need in Theo's words moved her. What he said was true. She was different, she knew, but she thought she hid it well.

"You think you /know /me?" her voice calm.

"There's something about you. I sense it. I could feel it. Heck, I know it." He dropped his head. "I don't know what exactly, but I know there is... something. I should know, right? I'm the resident psychologist," he muttered sarcastically. "It's just that you're efficient. /Too /efficient. You're cold when you need to be. You can distance yourself. You're- you're too perfect You-"

"When I get the order, I want you to disappear. Get new identities. Don't use your wand at any cost. Only use wandless magic in zones thick with magic, so we nobody can trace you, all right? I'll report that I've disposed of you. Understood?" she concluded in a clipped tone.

Theo nodded and was relieved. "Thank you, Mer. I owe you big time." He stood up and gave her a gratified smile.

"Make sure I don't claim that. Or else you're dead."

Meredith sat back against her chair and massaged her temples when Theo's soft voice from the doorframe said, "You know, you remind me of someone from my year. In Hogwarts. She was perfect. Just like you." And then he was gone.

The cryptic remark left Meredith envious of whoever that person was, because as far as Meredith was concerned, she will never be perfect. And that someone already was.

Perfect. Meredith wasn't perfect. She was far from perfect. She knew, oh she knew because she felt a part of her life was missing. A phantom hole she knew that existed, but couldn't see or indentify. And as long as that /hole /was existent, she knew she could never be happy.

Happiness. Theo wanted to be happy. Killing people was never a problem for her. She never once hesitated killing anyone-whether in the heat of the battle or in cold blood. It was never a problem. It was as if to kill was a command encoded into her system, to be able to execute precise and efficient kills. Killing people was never the actual wall towards her happiness, because it really wasn't. It was an effect of her unhappiness.

It had hurt, really hurt, when Theo spoke of love because in her whole life she had never felt the feeling; it hit straight into the eye. She never felt love, not even once. Or if she did, it was buried under her memories, that even through deep probing, she'll get nowhere near it.

Suddenly she closed her eyes, slowly threw her head back, and clenched her jaw. "/Ahhh," /she moaned, as she felt the searing pain of the Dark Mark.

It was time to get back to work.

A/N: Tell me what you think! Read and Review! Thanks:)