Care - Theo Nott

Chapter 8

I wake up to two people jumping onto my bed. I now have four arms around me and not a lot of time to think as I open my eyes. I see the two girls who are like my sisters. Hermione is on one side and Pansy is on the other. I let out a sigh of relief at them. As all the memories of earlier flood in, I hug my friends. They are not the likely pair, but they make my life so much better.

After a few minutes of quiet comfort, I'm not surprised they break the silence. Hermione starts, "Cedric found us after lessons and told us. We came as quick as we heard. I'm sorry".

Pansy cuts her off, "I hate that your sad, but good riddance. He was a bloody wanker and stopped treating you the way you deserved".

"Pansy!", Hermione responds. "We're supposed to be supporting her and helping her feel better. You could have a more gentle approach".

Pansy rolls her eyes and shrugs. "We both know you're the more gentle one and I tell it how it is. It's how it works. I'm not trying to hurt your feelings babe, but it's the truth. I don't like seeing you sad, I'd rather see him in pain. Since this is a lowkey situation, I won't do that... yet...", you can't help but laugh at her and Pansy continues. "I was hoping you'd see your worth and that you deserved better. I know this isn't what you wanted to happen, but we'll remind you that deserve more".

Hermione looks a little in shock, but she speaks, "She's right. I was going to say it in a more proper manner, but leave it to Pansy to say it with no filter." Pansy smacks at her arm and I hit them both with a pillow. All three of us giggle. Hermione starts again, "We love you and we're here for you if you want to cry or you want to go hex him and all of his idiotic friends".

Pansy high-fives her. "That's what I'm talking about. You make me so proud Granger." All three of us smile and Pansy hits us both. "I love you and we can cry all night tonight, but you are not missing dinner. You are going to look hot and walk down there. Show him that he made the biggest mistake of his life." I go to interrupt, but she cuts me off. "No arguments, you are getting up. We are going to make you look your naturally beautiful self." Pansy gets up and pulls the blanket off the bed causing Hermione to fall and I have no blanket.

"Bloody hell, I would have gotten up before you did that", Hermione says grumbling as she gets off the ground.

Pansy just smirks her way. "It was more fun like that. Hermione will go get some clean clothes for dinner and I'll charm your hair and glamor your red eyes. No man like that should know you were crying over him." Pansy does quick spellwork like always (she's my go-to anytime I need to get ready because she has this down) and Hermione hands me some new clothes. I feel like my confident self a little bit and it's more than enough for now. Especially when Hermione and Pansy stand on either side of me. "Let's make him regret the day he was born", Pansy says and Hermione giggles as we walk to the Great Hall.

With each step, I feel my Slytherin self coming back. I felt like I had to make myself less so Archer never felt threatened. I'm hot, I'm ambitious, I'm cunning and I should own all of that. As we walk into the Great Hall eyes turn to us. Even with my anxiety creeping in, I project my confidence. Fake it until I make it. When walking I see a group of Ravenclaws standing up and leaving. In the middle I see Archer, holding his nose. I turn to see Theo, Matteo, Draco, and Blaise standing there and Ginny Weasley with her wand raised. Upon further examination, I see his nose is definitely broken and Ginny definitely did cast her famous bat bogey hex.

As he walks by I hear, "You bitch!" from Archer.

Something in me snaps and I put a cold smile on my face. "You haven't seen anything yet", I say and wave to him sarcastically as I walk to my friends. I pull them into the corridor away from all the eyes watching. "What just happened?", I say. Pansy is grinning and Hermione even looks a little confused.

Draco speaks first. "He was trying to snog little Weasley. Pathetic", he spits in the direction Archer left.

Blaise looks to Ginny and me, "We know Ginny could handle herself, but we weren't going to sit back and let him cheat on you. The plan was to scare him and someone led with their fists", he says looking to Theo.

"Oi give him a break, we were all thinking about it", Matteo says defending Theo. Theo hasn't really looked up since I walked over. I can see his knuckles are a little red, but that's it. I look over to see that Professor Snape was supervising the Great Hall. He won't take away points from our house and he'll deny that he saw it. Thankfully, I don't want Theo in trouble.

Ginny speaks and she drags my attention from Theo, "I'm sorry Carrington. I'm seeing someone else but I knew he was your boyfriend and I don't like cheaters. He deserved the bat bogey hex".

Finally, I decide to speak up, "Yes he did and I'm sorry you were in that position. Archer broke up with me earlier, not saying any of that makes this better. Sorry you punched him for nothing Theo".

Theo looks at me like I'm mad and then says, "If I knew he broke up with you, I would have hit him harder. He never deserved you". He starts to walk away, but I stop him.

"Theo where do you think you're going", I say knowing where he was going.

He smiles and pretends to look innocent, "To the hospital wing". I put my hand on his arm and he stops automatically. He turns slowly like he's afraid of what I might do. His face falls and he asks, "You're upset I hit him aren't you?"

I shake my head no because I'm really not. "I want us to all eat dinner together. I really need you all right now", I say and Theo nods.

Instead of walking straight to our table, Theo stops. "Hey Care", he says and I can't help but stop and look at him. "He really never deserved you. You're not the kind of girl to let go", he says and pulls me into a hug that our friends are pretending not to watch but definitely are. I ignore them for this moment and breathe in the fact that Theo makes me feel like it'll be alright. I know he'll want to talk about it later, but right now I enjoy his company for a few seconds longer. When I pull away he smiles at me and I manage a partial smile back. "Let's go eat", he says and when we enter the Great Hall most of the students have moved on. I sit between Pansy and Theo and being with my friends is the best feeling. We spend the whole evening together. We all head back to the common room (except Hermione who went back to Gryffindor to talk to Ginny). We stay up talking and joking and we even fall asleep on the couches in the common room.