Cutting Corners | T N ✔︎

FOUR ⁂ NOTT

The moment we disappear from the hall and into a bedroom, Gryphon shuts the door behind me. Her back is pressed to the wood and she slides down to the floor, tucking her face into her hands and groaning loudly.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck." She whispers to herself, dragging her hands down. "You really have no idea how bad this is, do you?"

Is it really that bad being my soulmate?

I try to ignore the pang of hurt in my chest.

"Not a clue." I answer honestly, digging into my pocket to pull out a cigarette.

I move towards the window and push it open, sitting in the cushioned structure in front of it. I bring the cigarette up to my lips and light the end of it, drawing in a long breath of warm smoke.

"That's truly a filthy habit, Theodore Nott." She says teasingly, leaning her head against the door.

"I know." I answer honestly. "I'm trying to quit, but then I get stressed and it never stays gone very long."

I don't look over to see her face. I know that the amount of cigarettes I smoke isn't okay. It's an addiction I wish I didn't have. I've tried so hard to get rid of it, but nothing stops me from grabbing another pack.

She appears in the space across from me, tucking her legs up to her chin. Her hair blows in the gentle breeze, the faux blonde dancing behind her.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" She asks, her eyes stuck on the trees beyond the property line.

"Winston said your father is sending you off on dates every other day and wanted an heir within a year after we graduate?" I repeat, taking another drag of the cigarette before flicking it out her window.

Neither of us look at one another, finding comfort in our way of avoiding each other's gazes. Maybe it's the comfort in one another's company.

"He's been doing this for months." She whispers.

I could've sworn I heard a tremor in her tone.

"He wanted my brother to give him a grandson so that he could carry on the family name. The problem is, his wife has a hard time conceiving and they won't get a surrogate." She explains softly. "Mostly because my father doesn't want anything less than half-blood and, since we can't check blood status, he doesn't want to risk it."

I grimace at her statement. Her father sounds way too much like Lucius Malfoy for my liking.

"So he wants me to marry and keep our family name so that I could bear a grandson and continue the Bloodvest legacy." She continues, leaning her head against the wall. "Apparently he's discussed these terms with several of the suitors that he's set me up with so far. Most of them are older than he is."

She sneers at the last sentence, her eyes glittering with anger.

Her father is setting her up with men triple her age. The thought makes me physically nauseous. I picture their wrinkly hands and faces stuck on her like glue.

And then an idea pops into my head. "Winston said we needed to find a way to keep our secret away from the public, right? And to keep your father from questioning us?"

She nods slowly, looking at me suspiciously. "Yes, why?"

"Well, what if we did the exact opposite?" I return, crossing my arms over my chest and sinking further into the window-seat. "What if we threw ourselves into the eyes of the public without telling your father. He reads the Daily Prophet, I saw it on the living room table when we first got here. He'll have no choice but to question you about the two of us because he might worry that you being with someone like me would tarnish his reputation."