The Dark Promise// Theodore Nott

Ch 17

"Love didn't grow very well in a place where there was only fear."

It was highlighted. The only highlighted quote on that page. Olivia stared at it for what seemed like a very long time. She desperately wanted to cry, but she didn't let herself. Tears wouldn't do anything. Tears wouldn't help her right now. Light shined through the window to her room. She had stayed up nearly all night reading The Stand. The story was complex with many characters having their own backstory while surviving the end of the world. They all ended up coming together, trying to defeat the ultimate evil. The walking man.

Olivia knew Theo saw the comparison between this book and their lives, he had written it down himself. When the walking man was being described, he wrote down a simple 'you-know-who' beside the paragraph. He was the man who wanted to rule it all. Start a new world, ruling over the sinners and degenerates.

She didn't have to be on school grounds until later that evening. Classes didn't start until tomorrow morning, so she should get as much sleep as she could during the day. She searched for her bookmark, knowing it was in a pocket in her bookbag. She was about to place it near the middle of the book before glancing at the folded corners of the book. Theo dog-eared his pages, never using a bookmark. Most avid readers would call that a sin in itself.

Finally, she began to cry. All her frustration of the night before came pouring out of her. She felt sorry for herself. The boy she loved seemed to disappear, only leaving traces of himself in this book. An evil narcissist had an obsessive crush on her, and she couldn't do anything about it. Her life as she knew it was coming to an end, she could feel it. Tonight she would be walking into a ticking time bomb and her partner in crime might not be there to help her diffuse it.

Never in her life had she cried herself to sleep, but there was always a first time for everything. She awoke around five, the sun already starting to set. Olivia gathered her trunks together, feeling abit better after letting her emotions out. Now she was done with her pity-party it was time to make yet another plan. She would be extremely vigilant when walking through those doors tonight. Her eyes and ears would be fully open. She would watch Malfoy like a hawk and if she saw Theo, she wouldn't waste time. She needed an explanation.

Her arms were full as she opened the door, stepping on something in the process. A single red rose sat underneath her foot. Its petals fell off and it looked wilted. She sat her trunks to the side, bending over to pick it up. Before she could touch it, the flower sprouted new petals, coming back to life. It looked as if it was just picked. Malfoy left this for her. Who else knew she was here? Her face turned sour as she grabbed the flower, pulling out every petal on the stem. The flower grew new petals once again, looking lush and full.

This was a message. No matter how many times she rejected him, he would come back. Now she understood the frustration Theo felt when he kicked Malfoy down the stairs. In that moment, she felt murderous herself. However, Malfoy was a key of some sort. The key to unlocking the answers of what really happened to Theo. If she wasn't so brash last night she could have followed him, figured out at least a little something. She felt stupid. This is what happened when she didn't think things through.

She apparated outside of school grounds, her arms full and her heart heavy. The school looked normal but didn't feel normal. She walked slowly down the path, taking her sweet time. Once she got inside, she headed straight for her common room to drop off her things before dinner. The Hogwarts express had just arrived, lining up with her own timing. All the girls in her dorm were chatting away, taking about what they received for Christmas and what did they on break. All but Hermione Granger. Hermione's bed was just as she left it and all her things were gone. The girl wasn't lying when she said she wasn't coming back. Hermione was smarter than she was. She should have done the same thing.