Duplicitous | T.N.

XLVI • Various departures

"Fine!" The witch snapped back. "But please. Please. Don't take it out on me."

They remained nose to nose, her head held high in confidence, his held low in a cold threat. They both sneered, eager to discover who would be the first to break. The light pulsating of each others heartbeat was all to be felt or heard, and all to be seen was the maze of emotions in each others fuming eyes.

The Nott boy huffed deeply, she could hear the rasp of his throat, her eyes lowered slowly downwards, towards the producer of the sound. Both of their gazes softened. But before she could give in, he walked away.

•    •    •

With a tight chest, Theodore stomped back towards Umbridges office. His fists clenched into a tight hold, the veins of his wrist pushing against his burning flesh as fury eloped him. He didn't know what he was doing, his legs moved on instinct, storming in the direction of what felt like second nature. Chaos.

He had been pushing himself, it took a massive effort to do what he had, to act like he had been, and he did with no complaints for her. Every kind act took its ugly toll. There was always that thought, the urge to retaliate, to get angry. He snapped, and turned to do what he did best.

Every attempt at consoling her, complimenting her, smiling at her brought a warmth of fulfilment in his chest the fluff comforted his insides and pacified his soul. But, there was another side of him, a darker, cowardly part of him. One of which withered in the presence of Aurora, it flinched at her laugh and scowled at her endearment. The side that murmured cruel messages in his ear like the devil does to the weak.

The voice awakened the day he smudged ink down her nose "What are you doing?" It spat.

When he comforted the girl outside the three broomsticks, the voice followed him also. "Why bother putting up with this?"

Every moment an urge to make her laugh hit him it would whisper it's haunted message. "Have you forgotten what her type do? How they treat people like you?" His insides would shrivel when it spoke. "They called you a snake... a monster... Prove. Them. Right."

He ignored the negative, dismissed the thoughts, but as she begged him to calm down, pressed him to treat her right, what occurred to him was a thought, in a moment that terrified him... is that he would do it. He would do any of it, all of it. For her.

The dark voices, in that moment, became dark choices and so the cold jury of his consciousness decided to squirm away from the light and towards his vile professor. Theodore Nott was about to make a mistake, one he would spend the rest of his life making up for.

Whilst with her a moment before the snake had pickpocketed a small round object from the sleeve of her uniform. Conflicted emotions slapped him profusely as he stared down at the small coin.

He was going to betray Aurora Flores once again.

• • •

Theodore knew he was terrible. He had accepted it long ago. But as he stood in Umbridges office awaiting the arrival of Marietta Edgecombe a cold sweat breaking out and dripping down his neck, he hated himself.

"You needed me?" The fragile voice of Marietta sung. She wasn't even singing, her voice merely sounded like the melody of the rising sun. A small part of him loathed her faultless nature, there was only one perfection that enticed him one that was certainly flawed.