Pulling Strings - Theodore Nott

34. Valentine's Day

Theodore's POV

Theodore sighed and looked towards the direction his friend had been moments ago, looking for help, for an out, and found nothing but air. Blaise had left him alone, no surprise there.

There was a faint chill coming from the end of the corridor, forcing him to stuff his hands into the pockets of his robe. It also worked to put more distance between himself and the girl in front of him.

She was looking up at him with expectation, her face framed by a curtain of straight hair and her nose red, most likely from the cold. Her blue eyes felt like they were boring holes into his skull and he wondered once again what had he done to end up in this situation.

"So?" She asked, after he had stayed silent for longer than what was normal. "What do you say? Do you want to go on a date tomorrow?"

Tomorrow, Theodore recalled, was Valentine's day.

Yeah, right.

He forced a scoff down and shifted the weight from one foot to the other. Now, how to best turn her down? Polite? Blunt?

"Look, I'm...flattered, really," He threw a smirk her way, although it didn't exactly cause the reaction he expected. She only frowned deeper. "But I don't do dates. Ever."

There, he hoped that got his point across clearly enough.

"But–"

Or perhaps not.

He sighed louder now, tired. "Look..."

"Mandy." The girl supplied, looking put off that he did not remember her name. He actually did, but it was part of the act to get her to back off and discourage her from trying to ask him in the future. Better people thinking he was an asshole, it saved him some trouble.

"Right. As I said, I don't do dates. However, if you're interested in some other type of encounter...I'm partial to consider it." He delivered the killing blow by raising his eyebrows, lips curling into something deliberately lewd. Certainly this would discourage her.

"Agh! I would never—You—How—?!" Her stuttering plus the way her eyebrows had knitted together into an angry frown was exactly what he was expecting. Bingo.

"No? Well then, Mindy—"

"It's Mandy! Ugh!" The shout made some people near them turn around and look at him curiously, he ignored them. The girl, Mandy, simply gave him a look filled with disdain and turned on her heels to stomp away. "Prick!"

It didn't even take a whole minute until he felt a presence behind him. A slow, appreciative whistle sounded from the spot. "You certainly know how to speak to the ladies," Blaise dropped a heavy hand on his shoulder, momentarily unbalancing him. "What happened? Wasn't a redhead?"

The slight smile that was grazing Theodore's lips instantly dropped and he shoved Blaise with more force than necessary, making him almost stumble. Whatever. He started to walk towards his next class, uncaring if his friend followed.

"Oi, it's only a little bit of teasing! Don't get your knickers in a twist," Blaise fell into a step next to him once again. "What really happened?"

Theodore side-eyed him, trying to see if he was pulling his leg still or was being genuine. Somehow, with Blaise, you never know. "Nothing, she asked me on a date for Valentine's day."

"Ouch."

"Exactly, I told her what I tell everyone, I don't do dates, never did, never will."

"I assume that didn't stop her?"