BETWEEN REVENGE AND LOVE

57

"Two completely different things. No one's taking hour-long cold showers."

"Okay miss all-knowing, don't be a spoilsport."

"Go ahead," Daphne chants, struggling to her feet, holding out her hands to us, "insult me now, later you'll thank me."

She's right, as she always is.

"Look," Tracey whispers into my ear as we start to make our way back inside. Inconspicuously she points in the right direction.

"Fancy another round? We'll take them by surprise, cover them in snow until they wouldn't recognise themselves."

Them:  Adrian and Draco.

They're in the middle of the white bustle, standing next to each other in their black coats and scarves, almost identical, at least from a distance like this.

"I don't know Tracey," I mumble, eyeing Daphne who's walking a step ahead of us, "don't you think we've had enough?"

"Never."

She's right. It would be a lot of fun. It would be, if I were on an 'I'll cover you in snow until you no longer recognise yourself' basis, with Draco. But I'm not sure it would be, now that we aren't.

"One," she starts counting, grinning from ear to ear as she takes my hand in hers, "two... three!"

With that she bolts off, me in tow, racing towards the two boys. A few yards before we get there she lets go of my hand, throwing herself at Adrian without hesitation.

Laughing, they land on the ground. And I, I stand still without a word to say. In front of him.

His gaze is sharp. Glaring at me he bends down to scoop up a handful of snow from the ground. As he squeezes it together in his hands, I realise that this load is about to come shooting right at me.

But all I can do in the time I have left is turn around before it hits my back, exploding into the powder it once was again.

When I turn around he's closer to me, much closer than an instant ago.

"What are we," I ask, "playing or fighting?"

"A bit of both, I suppose."

Fair enough.

Already has he bent down again reaching for his icy ammunition. And there is no escape, his hand grips my arm firmly, ensuring I'll stay where I am. His expression is unchanged angry as he sprinkles the snow down on me, but I could swear the corners of his mouth twitch up lightly more than just once.

"Stop it!" I hiss, but can't help but laugh right after. Annoyingly, I can't stop it from bubbling out of me.

"Tell me," he asks, his voice not half as amused as I thought It'd be, "hows Nott?"

"What?"

"Nott, how is he doing? You must know, don't you?"

Uneasiness spreads through my stomach all the way up to my heart. Words catch in my throat that could have voiced my confusion. What the hell does he mean?

"Why would I?"

"Seriously?" Huffing, he lets go of my arm and takes a step back. "How fucked must a relationship be when you don't even know how the other person is doing?"

"What the hell? What relationship? Who told you that?"

"Don't lie to my face, I know everything. He told me himself, what are you going to tell me? Are you implying he lied?"

He didn't... Theo wouldn't lie about something like that, would he? For what reason?

No. He wouldn't, Theo would never.

"He came to me, Y/n, he told me you chose him. You can't hide that from me."

"You're lying."

"I'm not. You're angry that I know. Why?"

Dismissively, he stuffs his hands into his pockets, his gaze now downright hateful.

"I'm not with him," I argue, though it's not something I like to speak out loud.

Silence hangs between us thickly. For a moment I think he's either going to punch or kiss me now, his expression is difficult to interpret.

"When was this?" I ask, trying to clear things up in my head.

So, supposedly, Theo lied to Draco about being my boyfriend?

What?

"Ages ago, a month or so."

A month or so.

"But it doesn't matter now, does it? I think I got it by now, how you feel, or rather, how not. Not for me, anyway."

He laughs, a rather small little laugh, one that he doesn't seem to mean.

Before I get the chance to say something else a snowball hits me in the back of my head.

"Hey you bores!" Tracey yells over to us from some distance away. "The snow isn't gonna stay forever."

"Yeah, only for like the next three months," Draco mocks, huffing, and helps me get the snow out of my hair before it can melt.

While doing that, his fingers brush my face a little too often than they should - icy cold.

. . .