theodore nott

| viii. ASSHOLE

As soon as everyone took their seats, Dumbledore started his speech, explaining what the second task contained. The four of them had an hour to get back what belongs to them. He didn't specify what exactly and with the cannon firing the participants jumped into the water, Harry following them a few seconds later. Victoria clutched the railings as she looked at the lake, searching for her friend. She just hoped the Gillyweed would work and after a minute of silence, she could see Harry's head underneath the surface. The girl sighed and relief, relaxing her muscles and just waiting for the four to finish the task.

The first to get up to the surface is Fleur Delacour, who wasn't able to finish her task, the next one is Cedric, holding Cho Chang, followed by Krum and Hermione. Everyone erupted in cheers, clapping as they saw the winners. Victoria quickly rushed to Hermione, passing her a towel and sitting next to her on the dock.

"You okay, Mione?" She asked, rubbing her back comfortingly.

The Granger girl nodded, taking deep breaths. "I'm okay," She replied, sending her a soft smile, glancing at Krum. "But Ron is still there!"

Her eyes widened as she looked over at the lake, realization hitting her. Ron and Harry are still there? She took a deep breath, trying to comfort Hermione, but Victor walked up to them and started talking to the girl. Hermione blushed as he spoke to her and Victoria took the hint, stepping away from them and going back to her seat. She sighed, searching for her friend. "Where the fuck did they go?" She thought in her mind.

"I bet Potter is dead by now,"

The girl furrowed her eyebrows and turned around to see Draco Malfoy with his gang, Nott and Riddle. "Bet whatever you want, but he's not dead," Victoria rolled her eyes. "He's gonna jump out of the lake in a few seconds, you'll see."

"It's a shame that this Mudblood didn't drown," Mattheo smirked, folding his arms, clearly wanting to get a reaction out of her.

Victoria took a deep breath, clenching her hands in fists as she took a step forward, before throwing a punch at Mattheo's nose, causing him to stumble back and groan. The other boys gasped and took a step backwards, Nott helping his friend up.

"What the fuck did you just do?" Riddle growled, holding his bleeding nose.

The girl folded her arms and pulled out her wand. "I taught you a lesson," She stated simply. "If you speak about Hermione like that once again, It won't be just a broken nose."

"Are you threatening him, bitch?" Malfoy sneered, frowning at her.

"Yes, yes I am."

Before the boys could reply, Harry jumped out of the lake, landing on the platform, before stumbling and falling down. She quickly rushed to her friend, crouching down next to him.

"We thought you were dead for a second!" Ron shouted, looking at Harry, who was shaking from all the coldness.

And the task ended with Cedric in the first place, Harry in the second and Victor with the third, while Fleur took the last place.

Victoria just couldn't sleep, a bad feeling in her chest as she thought about the third task. With an angry huff she got up from her bed, grabbed her wand with her and left her dormitory quietly. She walked through the empty corridors, slowly making her way to the Astronomy Tower. She just hoped Snape wouldn't catch her, because if he did... She'd be in detention for the rest of the next year.

As soon as she reached the stairs, leading to the Astronomy Tower, she looked around and took a deep breath. It was quiet and peaceful. She slowly climbed the stairs and walked up to the railings, leaning against them and just taking in her surroundings. Hogwarts was a beautiful place, but kind of fucked up as she said. It held so many secrets that nobody would be able to uncover all, ever, but without those secrets it wouldn't be that interesting.

Footsteps echoed behind her and her heart almost stopped beating, her eyes widening, thinking it's Snape, but when she turned around she could see the same boy who has been tormenting her for the past few months.

"Shouldn't you be in bed, Davis?" He slowly walked up to her, taking a seat next to her.

She turned her head to look at him. "I could ask you the same thing, Nott."

Theodore nodded slowly, humming. "Fair enough..." He muttered, looking at the scenery in front of him. After a minute of silence, he cleared his throat and glanced at her. "Uh... why did you punch Mattheo at the lake?" He asked out of sudden, catching her off guard with this question.

" 'Cause he called Hermione a Mudblood?" She said as in a matter of fact. "Plus... he's an asshole."

The boy snickered, putting his wand in the pocket of his black coat. "Did you get sorted out into the right house?" He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly amused. "Because to me... you sound like a true Slytherin."

She rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm just being honest, Nott," She stated, a small grin tugging at the corners of her mouth.  "Most Slytherins are assholes."

"Me too?" He asked, looking over at her.

Victoria thought for a moment, before answering. She carefully chose her words, not wanting to come off as rude or anything. "... Yes if I'm being honest," She spoke to him. "But I think it's too early to come to conclusions like this."

Theodore furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes flickering between Victoria and his hands. "Why?" He asked quietly.

She hummed, licking her dry lips. "I don't know you." She shrugged.

"Well..." He started, playing with the rings on his fingers. "Maybe it's time to get to know each other."

After a minute of silence, she sighed and took a step backwards from the railings. "There's no point in that, since we'll go back to hating each other the next morning." She smiled, starting to walk away.

Theodore frowned, hearing her response, but he quickly hid it by his usual cocky expression. "You're right, Davis," He nodded, watching her walk down the stairs. "I hope you will fall down these stairs." The boy smirked playfully, watching her from afar.

Victoria shook her head, a small smirk tugging on her lips. "I hope your pillow is warm on both sides." And with that she walked back to her dormitory with a small smile on her face.