Power ▸ Ron Weasley [1]

XXXVII. UNREQUITED LOVE

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN:

UNREQUITED LOVE

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      Blaise Zabini stared across the couch at Theodore Nott. On the outside, Theo looked normal. He was digesting the information Draco was telling him with no emotion on his face. Even his eyes were vacant as Draco relayed the incident that had happened in Umbridge's office just hours before. While Draco thought Theo was listening to every word coming out of his mouth, Blaise Zabini knew better. Because Blaise Zabini knew Theodore Nott.

      Theodore Nott was freaking out.

      It wasn't even the fact that Nova was dating Ronald Weasley, which was just about the only thing Theo had reacted to before he'd gone frozen, but rather that she'd been sneaking around behind everyone's backs for months and going to secret meetings led by Harry Potter. Only, she hadn't been going behind everyone's back. Because Blaise, who was staring at his somewhat-boyfriend with wide eyes, had known exactly what Nova was doing. And Blaise was terrified that Theo was coming to that conclusion on his own.

      Malfoy was blathering on and on about Nova's involvement in the D.A., but Blaise could see right through Malfoy's tyrant. He was hurt. There was a small cut in his knuckles, as if he had punched something, and Blaise would be willing to bet that if he found Weasley, there would be some damage done to his face. This was a boy who had been in love with Nova since the day he realized what love was. He had been trying to get over her, and maybe was finally starting to accept that she was right and was too cold and callous to love anyone. And then to find out she was in a relationship with Ron Weasley? Blaise couldn't even imagine what was going through Malfoy's head.

      But that wasn't what mattered now.

      What mattered was that Malfoy was just nervously talking to distract the three boys from the fact that Nova had been gone for hours.

      If Nova had been gone before this information about her being involved with Potter and his band of idiots, they might have been reacting differently to her absence. Since that wasn't the case, Theo's eyes continued to glance back and forth between the door to the common room and Malfoy, taking in information without really understanding it. Malfoy was nervously sputtering random nonsense that Blaise was fairly certain wasn't true, but his fingers were tapping his knee anxiously as he eyed the door to the common room. Blaise was the only one of the three not staring at the door. His eyes were locked on Theo, willing him to not be scared. Nova was fine. She had to be.

      "Malfoy," Theo said after a few moments of listening to Malfoy's tale about how Ron Weasley probably slipped a long-lasting love potion into something Nova had eaten and that's why she was acting this way. "Stop talking. I don't care what Nova's done. She's still my sister." But Blaise knew the words weren't true. He'd abandoned Nova once before, and Blaise was torn between glaring at his boyfriend and begging on his hands and knees for Theo to do something instead of just sitting there like a statue. "You're sure you've got no clue where they went after they attacked you?"