Unreal

Chp 19 Side by Side

We reached the tall doors of the Great Hall, and I slowed my steps slightly, waiting for Theo to go first so I could sneak in behind and slip into invisibility like a sane person. He didn't.

Instead, he paused for half a second—just enough to match my pace—and then walked beside me.

Okay. Cool. Casual. Just walking shoulder to shoulder with a Slytherin boy who looks like he was carved out of tension and brooding thoughts.

Why wasn't he walking ahead of me? Or moving to the other side of the room? Why was he doing this beside me thing, as if we were some kind of duo? My brain short-circuited under the weight of attention I could feel as soon as we entered.

The Hall was full—students already halfway through lunch, chatter buzzing—and the second we stepped in, a weird little hush seemed to ripple through the air around us. Not the whole room, but pockets. Enough.

I heard it in the shift of spoons against plates. In the whispers that weren't there a second ago. I kept walking, pretending I didn't notice, but my ears were burning.

Theo didn't look fazed at all. Like, at all. He walked with the same effortless pace, hands in his pockets, eyes forward. It was probably illegal how unaffected he was. Meanwhile, I was five seconds away from collapsing into a goblet of pumpkin juice and hiding there forever.

Why is he walking beside me?

Why isn't he doing literally anything else?

I wanted to tilt sideways and politely roll under the Ravenclaw table.

My eyes scanned the hall automatically—mistake.

At the Gryffindor table, a few familiar faces locked onto me.

Harry didn't look surprised. Just... neutral. Calm. Of course.

Ron, on the other hand, looked like he was trying to figure out if I had personally insulted his family. Judging me like he was auditioning to be on the Wizengamot.

Hermione's eyes were sharp. Not angry, but intensely curious. Like she needed answers I hadn't even figured out how to ask yet.

And Ginny—Ginny looked like someone had just dropped a cauldron in front of her. She didn't even blink, just stared at me, stunned.

I tried not to react. Failed.

I glanced away, and that's when I saw them.

Fred and George.

They were talking to Angelina, all laughing about something, until Angelina suddenly said something—too quiet for me to hear, but sharp enough that both twins looked toward me at the same time.

My breath caught.

Fred looked for a second, then turned away casually, like nothing had happened.

But George—George looked just a little longer.

And then he turned away too.

No nod. No smirk. Just—gone.

I stared at my shoes and focused on getting to the Ravenclaw table like it was my final mission. Why did it feel like everyone was watching? Why did Theo have to walk like we were attached by an invisible string?

I slid into my seat and, thank Merlin, Theo kept walking.

No backward glance. No last-minute comments. Just smooth steps straight toward the Slytherin table without a single word.

Finally.
I let out a breath I didn't even realize I was holding. The second he was gone, I could breathe again.

The hum of conversation slowly filled the air once more, like someone had unpaused the whole room. Plates clinked, forks scraped, and people moved on with their lives—as if I wasn't the topic of a hundred whispered conversations thirty seconds ago.