"Good to see you in class Miss Weasley." Madam Hooch says as I get my broom out of the shed early Monday morning.
"Sorry Madam, I wasn't feeling very good the past few classes and I thought it would be best to keep both my feet on the ground."
Madam Hooch makes an 'mmhmm' sound and I go into the shed to get my broom.
"A Nimbus two thousand and one?" Theseus sneers.
I turn around and he is standing there with a Firebolt in his hand looking at me with dark eyes.
"I don't play quidditch, or else I would have a Thunderbolt eight. But I suppose a Firebolt is alright too." I say back to him in the same tone that he used with me.
Darcy walks into the shed next and looks at me, then looks at Theseus. "Uh, hey Cassie." He says awkwardly before taking down his broom from the wall.
Theseus snorts, "Oh so you do have friends. And I was starting to think that I was the only one you had."
I glare at Theseus, "How many times do I have to tell you that you and I aren't friends before it sinks into that thick skull of yours?"
Darcy, oblivious to everything and anything like usual, sticks his hand out towards Theseus, "I'm Darcy."
"Charmed," Theseus says in a very polite tone, something that he never uses when he talks to me. The two boys shake hands once and head out of the shed together.
Before I head out of the shed I tie my hair into a ponytail. I found a charm that enhanced hair growth when I first started experimenting with magic and thought I'd give it a go. I hate to say it, but I really love having long hair. The small tattoo that I now have behind my left ear is fresh and sore, tugging my hair into my ponytail didn't make it feel too great but I do my best to ignore it.
Thankfully it isn't raining quite yet but I can tell that it's going to soon. Madam Hooch has us all line up in one big row just outside the quidditch pitch, "I have made a simple race track for all of you to participate in. Splitting up into your houses, you will each do your best to fly through the twenty rings that are floating in the air behind me and be the first one to cross the finish line, then the winners from each house will go head to head in a race. Understand?"
Everyone grumbles a response. Normally on days like this, I would just throw the entire race for myself so I can sit out and write song lyrics or something like that. But today, I'm up against Theseus and there's no way in hell that I will be letting him of all people beat me in something like this.
"Let's have the Hufflepuffs up on the starting line! Everyone else, fall back." Madam Hooch says before she blows her whistle. The ten students wearing Hufflepuff quidditch robes step up to where Madam Hooch is standing. She counts down from three and blows her whistle again.
"Cassie huh?" Theseus whispers into my ear from behind me, "What a sweet little nickname you have for yourself. Really scary."
I can feel the other girls in my year staring at me, staring at how close Theseus is to me right now. I may hate the guy and want him to fly back to Greece, but I have to admit, he's the fittest boy in my year and I can tell that the other girls are jealous of where I am right now. I don't know why, but I take some pride in being able to make all these girls jealous but just standing here.
"Say, Cassie, was that your boyfriend?" Theseus whispers.
"Why do you care?" I whisper back to him.
"I don't. You two make a cute couple, both innocent little things."
I fight against all urges to turn around and rock this guys shit, "How did that hospital visit of yours go by the way? Madam Pomfrey manage to fix your nasty infection?" I say really loudly.
The girls that were staring, suddenly find something else to look at. Theseus scoffs loudly and takes a few steps away from me. I smile to myself, taking it as a small victory. Bailey Chang lands first, ending the Hufflepuff race.
The Ravenclaws are next, they mount their brooms, Madam Hooch blows her whistle, and they soar into the sky. I watch them but don't really pay too much attention to who is in the lead or anything. I can hear Theseus talking and laughing with a few other students. Almost like he's trying to make me jealous. Jealous of what though? I haven't the slightest idea.
"It's nice to see you in class Cass," Darcy says stepping beside me.
"Doesn't feel very nice being in class."
He looks at me, but I keep looking straight ahead, "What did I do to you that made you so mad at me?"
"I'm not mad at you. I'm just a different person than the one I know you fancy. And I'm not that person anymore. Once you figure that out then we can be friends again." Ash Nelson lands first. Madam Hooch calls for the Slytherins. Only then do I look at Darcy. When I looked at Darcy a few months ago I got butterflies, now I feel nothing, I see an old friend of mine that hasn't changed since we were children, "Till then, if you'll excuse me."
I walk over to Madam Hooch with the other members of my house. Theseus stands right beside me and mounts his broom, "You may have won the last battle Weasley, but I plan on winning the war."
"What war are you talking about?" I say to him
"Weasley! On your broom!" Madam Hooch shouts.
I mount my broom and glare at Theseus till Madam Hooch blows her whistle. Then I kick off the ground hard. I've never liked flying, but I'm good at it. I quickly take the lead, pulling my broom to the far left and flying through the first ring. But just as I thought I was in the lead, Theseus cuts me off and nearly throws me off course. He looks over his shoulder at me as he flies through the second ring.
That cocky bastard.
I lean forward on my broom and urge it to fly faster. Soon Theseus and I are neck in neck, flying through the third ring practically at the same time. It goes like this for the rest of the race. Our house far behind us, Theseus and I diving through each of the rings only seconds after one another. But it's Theseus who lands first. My feet hit the ground not five seconds after him, but that doesn't matter. The race is over. He wins.
Theseus doesn't say anything to me, he just looks at me, out of breath, chest heaving, and winks before going over to where Ash and Bailey are standing, waiting for the Gryffindors to fly so that the winners can fly together.
I go back to the big group of other students, none of them really paying attention to anything. I sit alone in the grass, my broom forgotten beside me. I hate the way that I act around Theseus, and I hate the way that he thinks he's better than me at everything. And what the hell was that, 'you may have won that battle, but I will win the war,' who even says that anymore?
The Gryffindors shoot up into the sky. I take off my elbow and knee pads and stack them beside my broom. I stretch my legs out in front of me and lean back on my hands. I look into the sky, dark clouds are slowly inching their way closer to the school.
Watching the clouds reminds me that there hasn't been a good lightning storm in a long while. A bit of me wishes that one is going to happen tonight, so I can sit on the front steps of the castle with my brother. A sinking feeling forms in the pit of my stomach, Freddie. I miss him more than I'd like to admit. I could really use some of his brotherly advice right now even though if I told him how Theseus has been talking to me he would beat the shit out of him, he gives good advice sometimes.
Then a different sinking feeling forms. If there is a lightning storm tonight, would he want me to be there with him? Or does he want to bring Evie? Would he even come if I asked him to, or would he brush me off, say that he's busy or something.
Todd Martin lands first for Gryffindor. I haven't spoken to him since he stood me up earlier this year. How immature and awkward I was back then, wishing that some boy would do me the honour of noticing me, buying me an apple cider, just thinking of it makes my stomach lurch. But I remember that day like it was yesterday. Ophelia running off to fight my battles for me because I was tired of having Fred do it all the time.
Theseus, Todd, Ash, and Bailey all walk to the starting line. Todd says something to Theseus and I watch his whole demeanour change. His back goes more rigid than before, his shoulders square.
Madam Hooch blows her whistle. I can't help but silently cheer for Theseus, how pathetic is that? I watch as Todd and Theseus instantly take the lead, they fly the same way that Theseus and I flew moments ago.
My mind drifts to Ophelia as I watch the race. I haven't spoken to her in a long time, not since Easter. Mind you that wasn't that long ago but it feels like years. She loves days like this, racing in flying class. She got everyone to cheer her name as she raced through the sky, faster than everyone else in the class and not just because of the broom she was riding. I could always video call her tonight instead of sitting on the steps with Fred. But I shut down that thought quickly. I wouldn't be able to talk to her without Mum, Dad, Theo, and Annie listening in. Even if I could, Ophelia and her big mouth would tell everyone. She's so bored and alone at home that anything would be big news to her. If I told her about Theseus? Game over.
Speaking of, Theseus lands on the ground right before Todd does. Then he does something that I don't think anyone was expecting. Theseus turns to Todd and instead of the customary handshake between the first two people to land, he punches Todd square in the nose.
Madam Hooch starts blowing her whistle wildly as she runs over to them, the other students who were sitting in the grass around me are up on their feet and rushing over cheering and screaming. I stand up too, but stay near the back. I watch as Madam Hooch pulls the two boys apart and takes thirty points from each house. Madam Hooch blows her whistle and tells everyone that class is over. The people around me start heading back to the changing tents.
Theseus makes eye contact with me and wipes blood from his lip. He shoots me a satisfied smile before heading towards the boys changing tent. I walk back to my stuff, picking up my knee and elbow pads and my broom and going into the broom shed.
He... he didn't punch Todd because of what happened between me and him did he? Course he didn't. He was in Greece when that happened. He's been here three days, he wouldn't have started a fight in the middle of first period just like that if there wasn't a big enough reason. I'm not that big of a reason...
Because we were supposed to have double flying this morning and it was cut short, I decide to head back to the Slytherin common room and finish up a few of my compositions before heading out to transfiguration.
I sit down at one of the desks farthest away from the entrance to the common room and get to work. But it doesn't take long for the rest of my house to come in from flying lessons.
Georgette, Sacha, and Cheryl are all walking around Theseus, fawning over him, asking if he'll be alright and if Todd did too much damage.
He looks at me and smiles wickedly, and I just roll my eyes and get back to work. The four of them sit at the couch right behind the desk that I'm working at, "So like, where are you from?" I can hear Cheryl ask him. I don't need to see her to know that she's twirling her hair around her fingers like a child.
"Greece. We had to leave for my father's work." He says in a deep voice.
The girls giggle, "Greece? That's so cool. Does it look like that movie Mama Mia?" Sacha asks.
"It must have sucked to move from a place like that to boring old England," Georgette adds.
I can't help but find my dormmates throwing themselves at Theseus amusing. None of them are from pureblood families and I know that means something to him. I half-listen to their conversation as I finish up my potions composition on the Shrinking solution that we have been studying in class.
The bell rings and I pack my composition and spare parchment into their proper canisters before getting up and heading towards the tunnel.
"We have transfiguration now." Georgette says to Theseus, "If you want, you can sit beside me. I don't think Sacha will mind finding a new spot to sit, would you Sacha?"
I roll my eyes so hard it hurts a little. I pull my phone and headphones out of my pocket and start playing my playlist so I don't have to listen to the stupidity anymore. Can't they see that he's a complete and utter asshole? It's so obvious.
"Welcome, welcome, hello students! Sit, sit." Professor Arabella says as we all enter her classroom.
I take my seat in the left row, third from the front. I've sat alone since Ophelia was pulled from Hogwarts and I have a sinking feeling that Theseus is going to be assigned the spot next to me.
"Ah! Mister Avery is it? I'm professor Arabella. How is Hogwarts so far?" Our professor says to Theseus as he approaches her desk.
"Everyone is so kind here." He says, glancing over to me. I pull a disgusted face and he smirks.
"Well... you can sit over there, By miss Weasley." Professor Arabella says, gesturing towards me.
"I was thinking that Sacha could move over to sit with Cassiopeia and Theseus could sit by me!" Georgette says from the back of the class.
Arabella clicks her tongue, "That's far too much moving, Mister Avery, to your seat please."
Theseus looks at me the entire time he walks over to my desk and sits down beside me, his shoulder bumping into mine. "You're welcome by the way." He whispers
"I'm sorry?"
Arabella starts writing things down on the chalkboard, I pull out my parchment and pen to write it all down in my notes.
"For punching that guy. He was saying some pretty nasty things about you all class."
I straighten my posture and focus on the board ahead of me. There's no way that Theseus actually did all that for me. I refuse to believe it.
"You aren't my guard dog." I whisper back to him as I dot my 'i', "I don't even like you."
"Has anyone ever told you that you're a bad liar?" He whispers really close to my ear.
I glare at him out of the corner of my eye. He starts writing down notes and things as well, smiling to himself. I focus back on what Arabella is saying, "The Felifors spell may feel like a completely useless thing to know, cause who really goes out of their way to turn a cat into a cauldron, but it's going to be on your exams none the less. This class is going to be demonstrations and note-taking and by next class, you should all be able to do the transformation. We can even turn it into a little competition."
"Um, professor?"
We all turn around and look at Gryffindor student Elvira Carr, who has her hand waving in the air wildly. Once she realizes that she has everyone's attention she puts her hand down, "I'm a vegan and practicing magic on animals is abusive and wrong. I'm not going to participate."
Everyone turns back around to look at Arabella, waiting for her response. "This is a spell that the Ministry of Magic has deemed a necessary spell to teach. It counts to your final grade."
We all turn back around to look at Elvira, "Are you saying that you will fail me because of my beliefs? Because that's discrimination and you can't do that to me."
We look back at Arabella, "If you want to take the Troll grade then that is completely up to you Miss Carr. No one will stop you."
We turn to Elvira. The entire class looks like we are watching a really slow quidditch match or something. "So you're punishing me with a Troll grade because I won't take part in your barbaric activities!" She screeches. "I'm going to the Headmaster!"
"Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Christopher Herrera from Ravenclaw calls as Elvira gets up from her desk and storms out of the room.
We all turn back around to face Arabella. She just continues on with her lesson. The room is full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. No matter how hard I try to focus on the lesson, the smell of Theseus's cologne is fogging my brain. The feeling of his arm brushing against mine every once in a while as he moves his parchment around.
I hate the fact that I can't seem to control my thoughts when I'm around him. I hate the fact that I am so weak when he is near me. The fact that I notice when girls are flirting with him, the fact that he flirts with me and every other girl in our year so shamelessly. He's the worst kind of person but I can't stop myself from 'accidentally' bumping my elbow into him as I take notes, or sneaking looks at him out of the corner of my eye.
I hate him.