The Buddy System. *Updating In Process*

81. When the Truth First Cracked

"What?" I shot to my feet, fury flashing hot and sudden. "That is a lie. I never went back. I cried myself to sleep. Azaleah stayed with me. Ask her."

Draco and Blaise both stiffened.

Wren raised his hands instantly. "You're right. You didn't."

The room went very, very quiet.

"What?" Draco and Blaise said together.

Wren's face crumpled, guilt etched deep into every line. "I didn't know at the time. I believed it was you. I only found out later."

My heart was hammering now, each beat louder than the last. "Found out what?"

He looked at me then — really looked at me — and something in his eyes made cold creep down my spine.

"It wasn't you," he said hoarsely. "It was Teeny."

The name hit me like a slap.

"She used Polyjuice," he went on, voice barely above a whisper. "She took your form. She came back to the flat. And she... pretended to be you."

The world went white.

I couldn't breathe. Couldn't think. Couldn't hear anything except the roaring in my ears.

"She—" My voice broke. "She what?"

The words didn't make sense. They skidded off my mind, refusing to settle into anything real.

Teeny. My friend. My sister in everything but blood.

"She came back as you," Wren said, his own voice shaking now. "And I didn't know. I swear to you, Rae, I didn't know."

The dread that had been creeping through me bloomed into something vast and terrifying.

The room felt too small. Too tight.

My hands were numb.

Teeny.

He started talking again, too fast now, words tumbling over one another like he was afraid that if he stopped, he'd lose the nerve.

"I'm so sorry," Wren said urgently. "I should have told you. Immediately. The moment I realised what had happened, I should have told you."

My mouth opened, but nothing came out at first. My throat felt tight, like it had closed in on itself.

"But you didn't," I whispered finally.

The words felt strangely distant, like they didn't belong to me. I wasn't shouting. I wasn't shaking with rage. I wasn't doing any of the things I thought I should be doing.

And that frightened me more than anger ever could.

"I didn't," he admitted, his voice breaking. "And I hate myself for that."

I stared at the floor, my thoughts sluggish and tangled. Part of my mind was screaming that this mattered — that it was monstrous, unforgivable — and another part of me felt... detached. Numb.

I was with Draco now. I loved Draco. That chapter of my life was closed.

So why did this feel like something inside me was cracking open anyway?

He shook his head, running both hands through his hair. "She made me promise. She swore she was drunk, that it was a mistake, that she was ashamed. She cried. She begged. She said if you ever found out, it would destroy you."

My chest tightened.

"But then," he continued, his voice dropping, "a week later she let herself into my flat. In the middle of the night."