eternally mine | pansy parkinson✔

e i g h t

Dessa stared off into space, her chin propped up on the palm of her hand. The group sat outside at the Black Lake together. Nina sat with her back resting on Dessa's with her legs across Isaac's stomach. Adeline glanced at them. It had been five days since her incident. Six days since she met with Pansy. Seven days since the note.

The sun shone over them, the rays warming their skin. The lake water was cold--Dessa made the mistake of sticking a hand into it when they had first arrived outside. The wind blew through Adeline's hair softly as she let her eyes fall onto the pages of the book in her hands. She wished to put her mind at ease from the constant noise. The dark haired, Slytherin girl occupied her confused mind after meeting with her. She held back from reacting and kept it all in, purely in fear of anyone's judgment.

The sky was blue above their heads and the soft breezes chilled their skin. In the distance, animals roamed the edge of the Forbidden Forest calmly. The scenery alone was enough to ease Adeline. She read silently, zoning out the three next to her.

The words on the pages jumped out at her. Her eyes scanned over every word with every intention to connect with the story. A pair of brown eyes flashed in her mind, staring deeply into her as the writing came to life.

Love is a strange force. One day, you're going through the motions of life. You're surviving just to survive. Then one day, you meet someone. Your world flips and shakes everything violently.

Suddenly you're not surviving for the sake of surviving, you're living to be with someone. Suddenly the world becomes a little clearer, and that one person is simply the only thing in your once empty mind.

Adeline took a shaky breath and tore her eyes from the page. Her mind was spinning. She couldn't get a grip on reality, everything was fuzzy and muffled. Her hand laid on the ground below her, her fingers running over the soft grass in a weak attempt to ground herself.

"Mate you can't just say that and run from me," a deep voice laughed. There was distance between Adeline and the new sound. She snapped herself out of the sort of trance and turned her head. A dark-skinned boy with dark hair leaned against a tree with a wide grin on his face.

"Of course I can," a second voice spoke. Adeline froze. "You aren't Malfoy so I can say what I want."

"No, but surely I can tell him what you said, Nott."

Nina looked up, a sort of annoyance in her eyes. Isaac pushed himself up, letting Nina's legs slide onto his lap in the process. She looked at him, her gaze lingering for a moment before she turned back to the boys.

Dessa ignored them, looking over at Adeline. She rolled her eyes and returned her gaze onto the surface of the black lake. Adeline tried to stop herself from looking back at the Slytherins, not wanting to make any contact with them.

Theodore was someone who Adeline didn't know what to feel. He'd never been rude to her, always sort of indifferent. But when he had asked her out in fourth year, something had felt off.

She couldn't identify if she had feelings or not, but if she did they were definitely suppressed and never thought of. But now wasn't the time for her to face him. Facing him meant she had to figure out where he stood in her mind. Obviously he hadn't gotten over it, though he hasn't made many advances yet.

But she knew she was thankful for that.

The sound of feet hitting the soft ground crept closer to the group. Nina huffed loudly and ran her hands though her hair.

"Hey, Hufflepuffs." Adeline's eyes dropped to her hands, avoiding eye contact with the people feet away from her.

"Hello, Slytherins," Dessa groaned. Her hands were locked around her knees and her eyes never left the water, but she sure as hell was paying attention.

"What do you want?" Isaac's voice mirrored Nina's expression as he spoke. Theodore cocked his head to the side and crossed his arms against his chest.

"We just wondered what you'd be up to," his eyes landed on the red haired girl and stayed there, his body loosening. "Most Hufflepuffs are boring and stay in the common room."

Adeline felt eyes on her and she refused to look up. If she didn't acknowledge him, maybe he'd not engage any conversation with her. Maybe he'd go away. The feeling never faded and she fought hard to ignore it.

"Howard," he smirked. Dessa looked Theodore up and down, her eyebrows furrowed and her nose scrunched. Adeline looked up slowly, meeting his eyes.

"Theodore," she said.

"You've been avoiding me, have you?" He uncrossed his arms and leaned against the tree that Adeline leaned on. "You don't want to talk to me just say it."

She hesitated, looking to Dessa with a quick look of panic.

"That's not it," she lied, making Dessa close her eyes and turn away, shaking her head. "I just haven't had time." Her body language could've easily given her away if either Slytherin had been paying any mind to it. Isaac watched, prepared to pull Adeline up and walk away. Everyone sat on edge.

"You'll have time later, yeah? Meet me in the library."

"Homework. Some other time," she blurted. Everything in her worked on excuses. Things she could blurt out quickly to turn him away. Theodore's tongue ran along the inside of his cheek and he shifted slightly, staring down at her.

"Okay."

She didn't want confrontation. She didn't want to hear him tell her how he felt, how he's felt for years. All the shit she knew he'd say to her in the protection of the night. She knew he'd be ashamed to speak of her in front of his family, or Malfoy, or anyone of power. She didn't want it.

"Some other time," he mumbled. "See you around." He turned away, pulling the second boy along. Adeline took a deep breath as they traveled further away from them. Her head fell back, resting on the tree and her eyes fluttered shut.

"I'd ask, but I don't want to know," Isaac said, pushing himself up off the ground. "We should go inside. Free period is almost over and we've all got separate classes." He pulled Nina up, her hands brushing against her skirt.

Dessa looked at Adeline with a sympathetic look in her eye before she stood. The girl tensed, mind racing from just that one look.

What does she know?

She rose to her feet and followed slowly after the others. She could barely think, everything felt hollow. Theodore's voice rang in her head as she walked, drowning out her own thoughts. Nothing could confuse her more than the sound of his voice with the familiar brown eyes flashing across her imagination.

They're Slytherins, ignore them.

She shook herself of the thoughts and focused on Dessa ahead of her. The girl's hair swayed as she walked, half of her hair braided, which had taken her an hour this morning.

Dessa rarely let anything mess with her.

Odessa Young was one of the strongest and most loyal person Adeline had ever met. She never let anyone talk shit about her friends, they were her family. Her eyes always glistened and a smirk laid, almost permanently, on her lips. Odessa never did anything halfway either. But, she clung to friendships like her life depended on them.

Validation and confirmation fueled her.

She always stuck with Adeline and, at this point, knew Adeline better than anyone. Never once has she doubted Dessa's loyalty.

That's what made Adeline's situation harder. The inner battle of who to let in completely and who to block out ate at her more and more. She clenched her fists, digging her nails into her palms as her feet rose and fell.

She worried what would happen if someone found out she'd agreed to meeting with Pansy Parkinson weekly, the fear and anxiety growing by the hour. Adeline took one more look at Dessa before hurrying up beside her, keeping silent.

Sometimes it's better to keep secrets. And now was one of those times.