Hell Heart ❤️‍🔥 Harry Potter [1]

xxix ⟶ Dead Boy Walking

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xxviii. Dead Boy Walking
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THE COLD FLOOR under her keeps her out of her head, like a stark reminder of reality and a distraction all in one, so she often finds herself sat on it, whether she's reading, doing homework or just listening to her record player.

She was told on the last day of term that she had to stay at the Burrow with everyone else for Christmas due to Order reasons, and while she's glad, she's completely miserable here. She's surrounded by good people, which makes the guilt in her stomach even more stagnant than it was before. As a result, she's in her room most of the time, except during meals or every now and then when Ron or Ginny drags her from the room and forces her to join their Quidditch games in the snow with Harry and the twins.

Harry hasn't spoken to her since they overheard Snape and Draco. She knows it's due to him trying to fully process what was said, whilst also trying to convince Hermione, Ron and everyone else that Jude is the Lestrange that Snape mentioned, and jumping to the conclusion that Thea is a horrible, good-for-nothing liar who quite frankly deserves what's coming to her, because she's –

A loud knock on her door startles her out of the depths of her mind.

"Who is it?" she calls from her seat on the floor.

"Harry."

Her shoulders tense a little. She's so nervous that her stomach knots itself over and over, and her throat closes up.

"Come in."

The door clicks softly before it shuts again. Harry moves so that he's standing before her.

She looks down.

"Why are you sat on the floor?"

Thea stops biting her nail and looks up at him to see he's got two mugs of tea in his hand. She stands up, takes the steaming drink and notices he's grown quite a lot; the top of her head comes just above his shoulder, so that it would tuck perfectly into his neck if she were to hug him.

"Because it's comfortable?" she trails off, a smile breaking out on her face that she can't stop. She's missed him...

"No it's not," he chuckles softly for a moment, before his eyes fill with something she can't recognise. "Thea..."

"I know what you're going to say, Harry."

"What do you honestly think about Draco?"

"Harry –"

"Thea, I'm serious – you heard him and Snape. You know him well. You know what the Death Eaters are like. Please, I'm just begging you to be honest with me."

She feels her head ache, in a way that tells her that she's about to cry. There's a lump in her throat and her eyes fill with stinging tears as she looks at Harry.

"Harry, I care about him. He saved my life this summer, I can't just abandon him."

His face goes blank, as though he's even more confused than he was before he spoke to her. The weight in her stomach returns.

"But Thea, if he's a Death Eater..."

"I'm...I'm sorry, Harry."

Thea feels her throat tighten, and her eyes start to sting.

"I can't leave this alone, Thea. I'm scared you're going to get hurt again, and...it infuriates me that you still want anything to do with them after what they did to you! Draco and Jude still lied to you, all year!"