pretend

hunger

Olivia longs for the peace she experienced in Mattheos presence the night before.She lays awake in her bed,listening to the rain. She lifted her head and saw Astoria sleeping, looking past her she saw the digital clock that sits on Astoria's nightstand.The time read 04:35.Olivia decided to go and visit Theodore.She pulled her slippers over her feet and steps onto the polished hardwood floors.She stands still for a second,allowing time for her vision to come back.

As she holds her candle,walking out the door she tried to be as quiet as possible. She walks through the empty hallways,dreading finding anyone or being caught. When she hears giggles and feet scuffing the floors. She turns the corner to see Mattheo with a 6th year.His hands hold the girls waist as he did so hours before.Olivia's heart stops, and her breathing slows. She stands still for a second ,holding eye contact with Mattheo then comes to her senses, "Um,sorry! Carry on!" She says awkwardly as she walks past them,Mattheos eyes follow her. "What a creep" Olivia hears the girl say from behind her. "Ignore her" Mattheo tells the girl,before continues to kiss her.

Olivia's delusions now seem stupid to her, how could she ever spend a second of her time rethinking Mattheo Riddles actions. She turns another corner and is greeted by the heavy wooden doors that lead to the hospital wing.Olivia takes a deep breath in and walks through to doors,walking straight to Theo's bed. Despite the time,Theo is also awake and is happy to see his sister. "Hello Theo" Olivia whispers,worried others will wake. "Hi" Theo says groggily. "Have you been eating?" Theo asks her as he rubs his eyes.Olivia's heart drops once more,not wanting to lie but not wanting to be heavily monitored. "Yes,of course." She tells the boy.

"Saturday tomorrow" Theo says,hinting Olivia to tell him her weekend plans, "Well done" She adds ,gaining a laugh from Theo. "You and Lorenzo doing your weekly sweet shop then?"Theo asks, the name stings Olivia.Stings because she still does not know the reason for his sudden betrayal. "No,I'm going to stay at hogwarts and catch up on work. I'm not stopping you though." Olivia clears her throat. "You can always come with us" Theo tells her,noticing her mood change. "'Us'?" , "Yeah, me ,Draco and Mattheo" He lists the names,however the last name seems to have been the one that mattered the most to her.

"I'll see" She tells him "Now go back to sleep,Ill collect you in the morning" Olivia says to Theo ,who nods and lays back down. "Night Olive" He says and Olivia gives him a smile and walks back to her dorm.

Olivia wakes up,her outfit laid beside her folded up along with neatly placed jewellery.She gets dressed and does her makeup and hair.As she reaches for her perfume,she's met with an empty spot on the desk. "Where is it?" She stands in front of a sleeping Astoria,who jumps awake. "Uhhh where's what?" Astoria answers , "My perfume,the vanilla one.it was right here." Olivia says back. "Ughhh I don't know Olive!Just use mine it's in the bathroom." Olivia sighs and walks into the bathroom to see a half empty bottle of floral perfume. She sprays it on her wrists,then neck then on her scarf.

"Thank you" She says to Astoria,who still lays asleep waves her arm. She walks into the hospital wing and collects Theo to go to Hogsmeade with the others.She notices that Mattheo hasn't looked at her once, but brushes it off and begins to wrap her scarf around her neck. Mattheo catches a scent of it.He knows it's not her usual one,so he scrunches his nose, "What is that absolute stench?Whos cheap perfume are you wearing Via?" Mattheo says pinching his nose,the rest of the boys laugh at his dramatics.

"I had to borrow Astorias,my usual scent has gone missing."Olivia tells the boy as she puts her hands in her pockets, to keep them warm. Mattheo chuckles awkwardly and doesn't reply to her.Olivia,suddenly feels too cold to carry on walking,but Draco turns to see her stood still closing her eyes trying to breathe into her scarf. "Olive?Why are you just stood there?come on!" He walks back to hold the girls shoulder and continues walking with the group. She steadied her breathing, following the beat of her steps until they reached the three broomsticks,where they then huddled by the bar.

Theo orders a steak sandwich, having craved it ever since he woke up. Mattheo asks for the same. Draco orders a cheesecake and Tom is happy with just a coffee. The bartender shifts his body language and faces Olivia,waiting for her order. She begins looking around , not wanting them to know what she orders. "Can I just have a hot chocolate please?" She utters. "Be ready in a bit,take your seats" The group goes and sits in a small booth in the corner. Having Mattheo adjacent to Olivia,Draco opposite Theo and Tom beside Theo. With Mattheo and Olivia packed on the inside ,they barely have anywhere to look but eachother.

Olivia struggles to get her feelings out verbally,in any situation she lets her gaze do the talking. Mattheo is fluent in her language and understands exactly what she's feeling. He inhaled sharply and looked down the small table at Theo "How was your slumber" He asks,grinning at the boy. "Yeah you still look a bit tired mate , a familiar voice says while approaching their table, landing in the empty seat. Blaise has arrived back and decided to visit the group in the usual place.

The group laughs at Blaises timing,while they welcome him back. "Who's been taking my notes then?" Blaise asks,following everyone's nods that point to Olivia. Blaise smiles warmly , "Merlin you ,Olivia Nott, are a saint." He tells the girl as he points at her an removes his scarf. "I'll give them to you back at Hogwarts,they're in my bag" She tells the boy as Theo is called for the stuff they ordered, "I'm not going alone. He conveniently takes Draco,Tom and Blaise with him,Blaise going to order his own things and Draco along for the journey.

"Who's the girl then ,Riddle?" Olivia asks,intrigued. "Her name is Hannah abbott" Mattheo tells her,looking at his hands. "And we're not dating or anything." He adds ,drawing his gaze from his hands to Olivia's eyes, that watch him intently. "Why should I care if you are involved with Abbott?All I asked was her name." Olivia says, challenging him. "Because,Via, I saw the way you stood there,watching her hands tangled in my hair,watching my hands on her body. I saw the way you were hesitant to leave." Mattheo bites back,silencing the girl.

Olivia feels embarrassed that he took notice of it all, and decided to bite her tongue. Mattheo sighs and the boys reappear,drinks and food in hand. Olivia sips on the beverage,staying quiet and excluded until everyone decides they are ready to go back to hogwarts. After Draco and Blaise exited their seats,Olivia could finally leave too. She stumbles but catches herself, pausing to wait for the blur to go away.

As the group trudges along in the snow, Olivia grows weaker.The blur growing stronger and her feet becoming numb,she can't think. Mattheo turns to check on Olivia to see if she is still following them and notices her stumbling weakly and runs back in time to catch her. Mattheo holds her,surrounding her with warmth as he rushes back to the school. His heart races,as do his thoughts. He wonders if he had taken it too far with what he said to her.Olivia lays weakly in his arms,though it's not by choice, he takes the moment to admire her perfect pink cheeks,her peaceful face as she holds her head onto his chest.

Mattheos arms weak, head aching from the fuss from everyone else, he places Olivia down on a bed in the hospital wing. He runs to a small seperate room within the wing, shouting for Pomfrey. "Pomfrey! There's a girl that's fainted! Via fainted!" His shouts growing desperate when a woman rushes out to be guided to Olivia by a frantic Mattheo.