𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐮𝐦 | 𝐜.𝐝 𝐟𝐟

𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙛𝙚𝙨𝙨.

As I concentrated on what was coming, what had just passed became insignificant. Now that I was removed from Jasper's and Cedric's influence, I began to make up for not being terrified before. I gave up quickly on choosing an outfit — throwing on an old jersey shirt and jeans —knowing I would be in my raincoat all night anyway.

The phone rang and I sprinted downstairs to get it. There was only one voice I wanted to hear; anything else would be a disappointment. But I knew that if he wanted to talk to me, he'd probably just materialize in my room.

"Hello?" I asked, breathless.

"Zayra? It's me," Jessica said.

"Oh, hey, Jess." I scrambled for a moment to come back down to reality. It felt like months rather than days since I'd spoken to Jess. "How was the dance?"

"It was so much fun!" Jessica gushed. Needing no more invitation than that, she launched into a minute-by-minute account of the previous night. I mmm'd and ahh'd at the right places, but it wasn't easy to concentrate. Jessica, Mike, the dance, the school — they all seemed familiarly irrelevant at the moment. My eyes kept flashing to the window, trying to judge the degree of light behind the heavy clouds.

"Did you hear what I said, Zayra?" Jess asked, irritated.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"I said, Mike kissed me! Can you believe it?"

"That's wonderful, Jess," I said.

"So what did you do yesterday?" Jessica challenged, still sounding bothered by my lack of attention. Or maybe she was upset because I hadn't asked for details.

"Nothing, really. I just hung around outside to enjoy the sun."

I heard the boys chatter near the driveway.

"Did you ever hear anything more from Edward Cullen?"

The front door slammed and I could hear Malfoy banging around under the stairs, putting his things away.

"Um." I hesitated, not sure what my story was anymore.

"Hey there, kiddo!" Nott called as he walked into the kitchen. I waved at him.

Jess heard his voice. "Oh, your dad's there. Never mind — we'll talk tomorrow. See you in Trig."

"See ya, Jess." I hung up the phone.

"Hey, Theo," I said. He was scrubbing his hands in the sink. "What's the report?"

"Good news, we found a place. Bad news, it's far. But good news again, nothing a little apparition couldn't fix."

"Nice. By the way, Billy dropped off some of Harry Clearwater's fish fry this afternoon." I worked to sound enthusiastic.

"He did?" Zabini's eyes lit up. "That's my favorite."

They all cleaned up while I got dinner ready. It didn't take long till we were sitting at the table, eating in silence. Zabini was enjoying his food. I was wondering desperately how to fulfil my assignment, struggling to think of a way to broach the subject.

"What did you do with yourself today?" Parkinson asked, snapping me out of my reverie. On purpose, of course. You're not getting a new car anymore, I glared at her across the table.

As if I was getting one in the first place, she fought.

"Well, this afternoon I just hung out around the house..." Only the very recent part of this afternoon, actually. I tried to keep my voice upbeat, but my stomach was hollow. The boys raised their eyebrows, suspicious already.