Pulling Strings - Theodore Nott

37. I Will

She had barely opened the door before she was greeted by yelling.

"Ophelia Selwyn! Where the bloody hell were you?" Anna was standing in the middle of their room, hands on her hips and a frown in her face. Close by, in their own beds, pretending not to listen in, Pansy and Daphne. "Do you see the time? It's dark outside! I was about to—"

"Alright, calm down!" Ophelia interrupted her while closing the door, much to Anna's displeasure. They didn't need the whole house to listen. "I am fine, just...lost track of time." She hated to lie to Anna but she didn't think the news of learning her uncle escaped from Azkaban would help in easing her mind now. She knew she was most definitely not at ease.

"You lost—?" She stopped, her face getting more red, clearly angry. "Your mind! That's what you lost! How could you think it's okay to arrive at this hour when—!"

"Anna, breathe," Pansy was no longer happy with being a mere spectator, getting up from her bed and walking over to the two girls standing in the middle of the room. To her surprise, that worked to make Anna stop yelling. "Effy, she's got a point." Pansy's eyes were less severe than Anna's but she could still detect some worry in them. "But, I'm sure you know that."

She watched as Anna's face returned to a normal colour before she was enveloping her in a tight hug.

"I'm still mad at you," Anna sighed, the hot air moving a few strands of her own hair. "But I'm glad you're okay." She released her, took a step back and exchanged a look with Pansy. The girl, in return, smirked.

"So..." Pansy started, "Now that we've established that you need to be better at telling the time...want to tell us what kept you out until this late?" Her voice had a teasing tone, and by the looks of their faces, they were sharing some kind of internal joke. Even Daphne, who had not spoken yet nor left her bed, was smirking at her.

Great.

Could they have misread the situation any more?

She huffed, unable to hide her irritation. The worst part was, she hadn't even come up with a believable lie and considering the truth... it would be simply easier to let them believe what they wanted. After all, she was exhausted. Let people think that she was fucking Theodore, what did it matter now?

She certainly had more important things to worry about.

Like the fact that her future father-in-law had just escaped Azkaban and she was fairly certain that he had help. Some very, high-up, help.

Or the fact that her future husband was tasked with doing...something for said...help.

Ugh, she did not even want to think about it. It sent a horrible shiver all over her body.

She levelled Pansy with a look. "My date ran late."

There. No going back now.

It was Anna who showed her reaction first, whole face transformed into a shocked expression and her jaw fell. Pansy for her part was just looking smug, like she was expecting this whereas Daphne —who was the one Ophelia was more worried about— began...clapping?

The jarring sounds of slow clapping took everyone out of their own worlds. Ophelia sent a look her way, eyebrows down in a frown.

Daphne looked solemn while she gave two more slow claps before stopping. "Finally." She uttered, then she looked at Pansy. "You owe me ten galleons."

Both Anna and Ophelia's faces scrunched up in horror—but for two different reasons.

"You place a bet on—?"

"You slept with Theo!?"

Wow.

How had she drawn that conclusion so quickly? People were simply obsessed with it. It only took one very vague comment for them to come to that conclusion? Huh.