In Her Darkest Hour ✞ Theseus Scamander

xvi

A month had passed since Archibald Carrow was revealed to be the mole to Orla and the boys. In that time, the snow had set and melted and the spring air had filled their lungs and the greenery had begun to grow again. The weather was slightly warmer and their work was well underway.

On this particular cool February morning, Theo had been forced to go out on patrol with Orsino and Charlie, Robbie was in a meeting with his uncle, Andrew, Theseus, Vaughan and Newt, which left Astrix and Orla alone at Robbie's desk chatting away about some random shit, their work finished hours ago.

"So Professor, I feel like now it is just me and you," Astrix said, spitting the cherry pit out of his mouth and into the bin beneath Robbie's desk. "Now is the perfect opportunity for you to tell me exactly what happened between you and the older Scamander, you know your best friend's brother?"

Orla snapped her head as she looked back at him, her eyebrows furrowed and a disgusted look began to form on her face. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"One, I'm no fool, Professor Kervoy," Astrix stated, picking up another cherry. "Two, I see the way he looks at you, we all do. Theseus looks at you the same way Andrew does, with longing and love, whilst your brother and Newt look at you with brotherly love. Three, the awkward tension followed by outstanding chemistry you both possess when around each other speaks volumes higher than your relationship with Andrew." Astrix places the cherry into his mouth, "so, what's the deal with you and Scamander, Professor?"

Orla sighed, a clear indicator that she actually knew what he meant. "We used to date," Orla admitted, "like boyfriend and girlfriend date, he was my first boyfriend."

"I mean it was pretty obvious you were together once upon a time, but your first boyfriend?" Astrix asked, "Is that why there's something much deeper there to it all?"

Orla nodded her head. "He's eight years older than me," Orla stated, "he's my best friend's older brother and my own brother's best friend. Of course, I fancied him when I was a kid, but when Newt got expelled from Hogwarts, he was hardly a topic of conversation. You know, Newt has always looked up to him."

"Go on, how'd you start dating?" Astrix asked.

"Well, it was all so sudden," Orla explained. "One minute I was at home on Easter break and telling him about how much I was shitting myself for my NEWTs and then he told me to relax and breathe, not to stress all of this and everything he said to me worked. He was like a wave of calming cool water that you need on a hot summer's day, and then I began to develop feelings for him, and obviously, he did too, because after I graduated in June he asked me out on a date, and soon after a couple of dates he asked me to be his girlfriend." Orla quickly took a sip from her water before she carried on talking, "when I got my NEWT results back he had to take them away from me until I calmed down, and when I opened them and got an O in everything, then in my results was a letter of recommendation from Professor Gowdie that he had sent to Professor Kitumba at the Uagadou School for Magic. And then came Professor Kitumba's letter asking me to join him as his apprentice."

"And you went," Astrix stated. "So, there's still so much tension after a three-month relationship?"

Orla shook her head, "Theseus convinced me to go, said we could work the long-distance for a year and we did. Then Professor Kitumba asked me to stay on as a teacher, there was one other Alchemy teacher there and he had retired at the same time I was meant to finish my apprenticeship, so that is how I became Professor Kervoy. But, through it all we still managed to stay together, Theseus would come out and visit me regularly and in total, we dated for five years. Then in 1920, he started acting weird, Newt had mentioned Leta around him once and I couldn't stand her in school, and he knew that, but he started acting suspiciously. Then shortly after he left, about a week or so later, I had a letter from him saying that the long-distance was too much now and he broke up with me."

"Did he cheat on you with Leta?" Astrix asked.

Orla shook her head, "that's an answer I have only known since September. He broke my heart in two, leading me to believe he had left me for someone I had never gotten on with. But, he didn't start dating Leta until six months after we broke up, they had just become good friends."

"I think you made the right choice," Astrix admitted, "choosing your career over him, at least that is what I see that you did. I think it's hard when you're in a fresh relationship and then you jump straight into long distance. But, I also think Andrew is the right guy for you, Professor."

"Thank you, Astrix," Orla smiled.

A loud thud filled their eardrums, and their heads snapped in the direction where it came from. Sounds of loud, running footsteps echoed throughout the room and three, very sweaty, members of her team were charging towards her. Everything happened in slow motion, though they were far away, Orla could see the raw emotion on their faces and her feet fell from Robbie's desk and onto the floor.

Charlie and Orsino are hunched over, saying things that neither one of them could hear as they pant and attempt to regain their breath. Theo, on the other hand, was able to regain his breath quicker. He pointed back at the door with his one hand, whilst the other firmly rested on Orsino's shoulder, squeezing lightly because they both knew they would have to start running again.

"We need to leave," Theo said. "We just saw Carrow in Knockturn Alley with his cousin Victoria."

Orla and Astrix jumped out of their seats, the five of them ran through their lobby and towards the door. Orla sticks her hand out in front of her, pulling it back towards her chest and Orsino lets out a shocked laugh as the door swings open by her wordless and wandless magic.