Emerald

That Bitch

It's been a few weeks and I've been working on myself, something I have neglected to do since Cedric passed. I think he'd be proud of me, he always put me first.

I'm laying on my bed writing in my journal, Narcissa suggested this will be a good way to put my feelings into words. It has really helped, I'm glad I have her to talk to.

"Thea!" Pansy shouts as she swings my door open.

"Yes?" I look up from writing.

"Dumbledore wants everyone in the great hall" she says.

"You couldn't text it to me?" I ask.

"Well we're late, so unless you wanted to be even later no" she laughs.

I get up and we make our way to the great hall, I spot the boys and the Greengrass sisters sitting at our usual table, we walk over and sit down. I'm sat next to Mattheo, he's been giving me healthy space recently which has really helped.

"What's going on?" I whisper to Draco.

He shrugs "I don't know Snape just said that Dumbledore has an announcement".

"I guess we weren't late then" I smirk at Pansy.

I feel a hand land on my shoulder "Next time Miss Maddox get here on time please" I hear Snape say.

As he walks away I roll my eyes, "Spoke too soon I guess" I chuckle.

The doors to the hall swing open and Dumbledore walks down to the podium at the top of the hall.

"Dramatic much" Mattheo whispers to me and I giggle slightly.

"Students, this year we are holding a ball" Dumbledore's voice echos across the hall, "This is in memory of Cedric Diggory".

My entire body tenses up and I reach for my necklace, Mattheo holds my other hand which helps a bit.

"Thank you to Lavender Brown" as soon as Dumbledore says that my stomach drops, I feel like I'm going to throw up, before I can even process anything I feel myself getting up and leaving the hall.

I lean against the wall in the corridor trying to control my breaths, Mattheo comes out and looks around for me. As soon as he spots me he rushes over, "Hey hey, slow breaths" he says holding my shoulders.

He brings my hand against his chest "Breathe with me, okay?"

As I can feel his breaths and try to match mine to his, as my breathing steadies Mattheo brings me into a hug "It's okay Dora".

He plants a kiss on the top of my head, "Thank you Matt".

I smile up at him and he smiles back, he takes my hand and we walk back to the common room. He sits down and I sit next to him, I take my shoes off and drape my legs across his lap.

He hands me my bag they I must've left in the hall, I take my book out and start reading. I starts playing a playful beat on my legs, he does this a lot when - I haven't quite worked out why he does it but I like it.

"I can't believe that bitch" Astoria says.

"I'm going to ring her neck in" Pansy says as she sits on the couch opposite.

Everyone else finds a seat and look at me, "What are we doing about it?" Draco asks me.

I put my book down and sigh, "Am I happy about a girl using Cedric's death to get attention? No".

Mattheo starts rubbing my legs, "But Cedric did love a ball" I giggle, "There's nothing we can do about it, I say we dress hot and take that attention away from her".

The idea of Lavender getting any attention from this made me blood boil the most, but I can steal it.

"I'm going for a walk" I smile at everyone as I get up, Mattheo gives me a look asking if I'm okay and I nod as I leave.

——————
— Mattheo Riddle —

As soon as she leaves, I spit out "There's no way in hell Lavender is getting away with this".

I look over at Pansy and can already see she's plotting

"Thea is right" Daphne says, "The only way to beat Lavender is to beat her at her own game".

"If one of us beat her up, we become the people that beat up the girl who was throwing a ball for a dead guy" Enzo says.

"Fine, but this will be the best night of Thea's life" I say, as I get up and leave.

I head to my room to grab my sketch book and pencils and then go up to the astronomy tower. I'm there for a while and notice it's starting to get dark.

"Matt?" I hear Thea say, I stand up and turn around.

"Mattheo Riddle will you go to the ball with me?" Thea asks looking up at me.

"Of course I will" I smile and bring her into a hug planting a kiss on her forehead.

I've been giving her space recently, letting her sort her head out. I can really see a change in her, she's happier. After Cedric I'm not sure she ever dealt with the grief, how do you? She was in 3rd head when her mum passed and then her boyfriend dies.

This girl deserves so much more than that, more than I can give her. Father is being more pushy with getting the mark as the days go on, Draco will probably be getting it soon as well. Thea is lucky her dad will protect her at all costs.

• • •
— Theodora Maddox —

It's a few days later and we all decided to meet up in Hogsmead, I'm making my way down with Theodore and Astoria. I spot Lavender crying with a group of people surrounding her, "Its just so hard, he was such a lovely guy" I hear her sob.

Astoria looks at me, I'm sure she can see the anger in my eyes.

"I was so broken after he left, I could never move on" Lavender carries on.

"Oh fuck no" I clench my fist and walk up to Lavender.

Astoria says "Theodore call Mattheo, Pansy and Draco now!!"

"You do not get to use his death" I shout at her, "You do not get to use him for attention".

She looks slightly scared of me, "Cedric was the best person I knew and I loved him for it and he loved me".

"We were friends" Lavender retorted.

The anger in me is continuing to build up, "Where were you at his funeral? Where were you when I was reading his favourite poetry while sobbing my eyes out?"

I feel a presence behind me, "He is not something you can use Lavender".

Draco's hand is holding my shoulder as he guides me away, we walk back up to my dorm and I collapse in his arms.

"How can she talk about him like that?" I cry, "It's like she's stealing my pain".

We slowly sink to the floor and Draco keeps holding me.

"I'm here, it's okay" He says as he rests his head on mine, "Let it out T".

After a while of me crying, I fall asleep in his arms. When I wake up, I'm tucked up in bed with comfy clothes on and my make up taken off. I glacé around the room and see Mattheo laying next to me sketching.

I snuggle into him and he places his sketch book and pencil down, "How are you feeling?"

"Mad" I look up at him, "Mad at myself".

He sighs, "I can't believe I let her get the best of me" I say.

"I know darling" he puts his arm round me.

If there's anything, Mattheo got me. He understood me and I really needed that right now.

"Do you still want to go to the ball? It's next week" Mattheo asks planting a kiss on my forehead.

"Yes, I need to" I sigh and turn around to go back to sleep, "For Cedric".