Pulling Strings - Theodore Nott

31. Amortentia

As usual, he had been avoiding her.

Yes, he knew how it looked. Blaise had already been nagging him about it yesterday. Saying all kind of things like "avoiding problems doesn't accomplish anything", "talking things out is the best policy" and "why don't you two shag already?".

It goes without saying that his response to the last suggestion was not met with a smile but a rather strong jab to the stomach. Which was answered with another from his friend and resulted in Malfoy of all people trying to separate them. Malfoy won himself a punch in the nose for his troubles.

Whatever. It had all been pointless. He had managed to avoid her for all of a day when she intercepted him in the first class they shared the next day. At first, he had thought it was only wishful thinking when he saw her walking towards him in the dark potions classroom. Then he wanted to punch himself for thinking that. But after all, she was indeed walking towards him and he suddenly felt a need to hide behind the big cauldron on his table.

What the fuck was wrong with him?

He had no reason whatsoever to be behaving like this. Hell, he didn't even understand why he was behaving like this. Last time he saw her, they kissed...big deal. They had kissed before. More than once. So...in reality there was nothing special about this time.

He definitely had not been thinking about it for an embarrassingly long time and he certainly had not taken out his anger at Blaise for interrupting them with that sucker punch to the stomach.

It was fine. He was fine.

Was he attracted to her? ...sure. Did that mean that he had...feelings other than hate towards her? Absolutely not!

He did not care about her that way, he just thought she was kind of pretty, and that was saying too much. It did not matter to him that she had felt betrayed by his antics the other day. So, he had played with her a little? So what?! She had played him once before too, to get him in trouble no less, and he had not resorted to acting like a kicked puppy as a result.

She had no right to act like that. No right to...to make him feel shitty for doing something that was completely fair game between them. That's how it worked! She acted bad towards him and he acted worse towards her in return and that was it! Now she wanted to change the dynamic? No! He was not going to allow it. He did not care about her feelings like that and that was final!

"Theodore," Her soft voice spoke next to him, dragging him out of his complicated thoughts. He had the intention to ignore her for long enough, so that she would tire and give up. Then again, he had not considered the option that she would dare place her hand on top of his to get his attention.

And his resolve, after all, wasn't that strong.

He turned in an instant to watch the way her small hand rested on top of his, unsure of what to do. Should he shake her off? Act nonchalant? Sneer at her to signal to back the fuck up? What?!

Thankfully for him, she lifted it up as soon as she noticed his attention was on her. "Can I sit here?" He watched her as if a third eye had magically sprouted from her forehead —something that was very possible considering that some of the students who were taking this class were not very proficient with their wands.

He observed the empty sit next to him, then back at her. "Blaise sits here." He said matter-of-factly, and turned back on his seat, considering the conversation done. If she thought the short exchange was unusual...tough luck. He was allowed to change the rules too.

"Mhm, so, who's that?" He did not want to indulge her but he had to know. Looking up once more, he followed the direction that her hand was pointing and noticed Blaise sitting right next to Draco. It became clear why when the boy turned on his spot, clearly feeling eyes on his back, and after taking a moment to consider the situation, winked at him and turned right back. Fucking traitor.