Valentina's eyes widened as she noticed the boy approaching their table. "Shit," she hissed. "Fuck. What should I do? Should we make a run for it?"
"We're in class," her friend whisper-shouted with wide eyes. "We haven't even finished our potion yet."
Overridden by panic, Valentina began to stand and frantically gather her things. "Who cares?"
Lara huffed a laugh. "Let's get out of here."
The two girls were already reaching for their bags when Nathan Barnes approached them. He knocked his knuckles roughly against the table and glowered. "Tina. We need to talk."
Valentina stared at Lara with wide eyes before sighing loudly. She turned around with a grimace, staring at him with a bored expression. "Yes?"
"Are you ignoring me?" Barnes asked with a frown.
Valentina blinked, pretended to be confused. "What?"
"Tina!" Nathan huffed, looking offended. "You can't just stop speaking to your boyfriend out of the blue for a week. You have to tell me your problems so that I can help you. And I heard you kissed a stranger last night at that Gryffindor party. That's not okay, Tina. You didn't even tell me you were going. I could've gone with you!"
She frowned. Unable to resist herself, she asked, "Who are you?"
Dumbfounded, Nathan blinked down at her. "What are you talking about, Tina? I'm your—"
"Don't call me Tina," she interrupted sharply. "Please leave us alone now. I don't know why you're attacking me like this."
"Attacking?" he snapped angrily. "I'm not attacking you, I'm your fucking boyfriend and you know that—"
"Professor Slughorn," Lara called loudly, cutting him off. "Barnes is harassing Valentina again. Can you please have him removed?"
Slughorn looked up from his desk, shaking his head in disappointment at Nathan. "Mr Barnes, you must stop bothering these girls! They're just trying to get their work done. Are you finished?"
Nathan snarled at Valentina, "We dated for a week! You obviously remember—"
