Prince of Ruin

Chapter Two: Theodore

"If I burn the house down, do you think I could get out of the party?" I asked, purposefully mussing my hair. It took a surprising amount of work to get that perfectly effortless-looking state.

"The party is outside, it would just become a bonfire," Draco replied, flipping a page in the book he held. I sighed, dropping my hands to my side. "It's not that bad, Theodore, it's one evening and then you can go back to being the brooding melodramatist you were meant to be."

"I can be a brooding melodramatist at the party," I argued, walking over and plopping down in the chair next to Draco's, picking up my drink.

'The party has already started, why are you even up here?"

"Why are you?" I shot back, though as soon as I said it, I regretted it. I knew why he wasn't out there. It was his first party since the trial since he very nearly found himself locked up for the rest of his life.

It had taken a lot to get him to agree to show up. I could understand why he wasn't ready to go downstairs and face a large crowd of people. At least Draco didn't try and explain himself, he simply went back to his book. I sighed and stood, feeling restless. I headed to the window and looked out at the partygoers. Nothing about this was actually for me. I didn't care for big parties full of people I didn't actually know or like.

Fireworks lit up the sky, I could hear the music, and I could see the people out dancing, but my attention was taken by a pair walking up to the party from the woods, a man and a woman-

"Selwyns," I growled.

"Excuse me?" Draco asked.

"The bloody Selwyns just walked up to the party." I stepped back, contemplating. My first urge was to go out and blast them both back to their home, my fingers twitched, ready to reach out for my wand and send them away-

"Interesting." Draco drawled, standing and coming to join me at the window, looking down. Now that they were with the crowd it was harder to pick them out but over by the buffet, there was the dark hair of Coco Selwyn. "Perhaps they will just get food and go home."

"Or they're here to cause trouble. That seems to be their usual modus operandi." I narrowed my eyes, watching as Coco walked away from the table, holding a plate.

"Leave it," Draco advised. "If they start trouble, then we will end it." He promised. I made a face but he was right, it did no good to be the ones to start the problem with the Selwyns.

Let the trash take itself out, I supposed.

"Did you invite the Selwyns?" The door to my suite opened and Brody walked in, yanking the door so it would swing shut behind him.

"What do you think?" I asked, exasperated, Brody paused, a slow grin spreading over his face.

"That Alistair and I are about to have some fun-" I held up a hand and shook my head.

"Broderick." The smile quickly turned to a scowl.

"They are uninvited guests." It was a good point, I looked back to Draco, who rolled his eyes.

"Who cares?" He walked past us and through the door to my bathroom.

"You know. He's been incredibly boring since his trial."

"Broderick," I repeated. Of the five of us, Brody and Alistair were the two who spoke their mind a little too openly. Brody was usually a little better than Alistair but today that seemed to be lacking.

He huffed and crossed the room to the table where Draco and I had just been sitting- picking up my half-empty glass and tossing the contents back.

Note to self- discuss with Draco and Blaise if we need to talk to him about his drinking problem. So far it wasn't that awful but it was only going to get worse with time.