Harry sat next to Thalia in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Thalia was reading one of the books from the bookstore under the table, something she's been doing for a while. She read her books during class so she could finish them quicker.
"I have the same book," Harry noted. Thalia shot him a small smile, only tugging her lips upwards just a bit. She was so close to finishing the book and now she knew it was completely useless because that obviously wasn't the book Harry bought her.
Out of frustration from reading so much, Thalia slammed the book shut and stuffed it into her bag.
Harry frowned. Recently, Thalia hadn't been meeting up with him and they were spending less and less time together. He didn't know why but he was starting to think that Thalia was mad at him or something.
"Are you alright, love?" he asked worriedly. If he had done something wrong, he wanted to apologize as quickly as possible before it became something big.
"Fine," Thalia huffed. She covered her face with her hands and sighed heavily. The brunette barely got any sleep because she was up all night reading books. Thalia was so tired but Harry was bound to talk to her about the book sometime and she really needed to finish all of them.
"Have I done something wrong?"
Thalia removed her hands from her face and rolled her eyes before turning to Harry with the same small smile. She shouldn't be acting so rude towards him but she was just so tired. "No, you haven't," Thalia huffed.
She leaned back in her seat and faced forward with gritted teeth. Thalia was hungry. She'd skipped breakfast for a week now because her friends would ask why she was reading. They all knew that Thalia hated reading and they could always tell when she was lying.
"Okay then," Harry said. He didn't like that Thalia was avoiding him and he still didn't know what he did wrong. The bespectacled boy frowned and tried to change the subject. "Do you want to meet later? In the library maybe?"
"I can't, sorry," Thalia responded. "I've got, um, homework."
Harry knew damn well that Thalia didn't have that much homework since they had half of the same classes, but he didn't pry. "Well, we could meet until you're done with your homework," Harry offered. "We could meet after dinner."
"For how long?" Thalia asked. She still wanted to spend time with Harry but she really wanted to get the stupid reading out of the way so she would know what to say if he brought it up.
"An hour," Harry suggested. He saw Thalia's face contort as her perfect eyebrows furrowed and he quickly added, "or half an hour, if you'd like."
Thalia didn't have enough time to meet him for a half-hour. She covered her sadness and frustration with the same small smile. None of her pearly teeth were showing and it was barely a smile. It was the kind of smile that Harry saw all the time from her, the smile that said 'I am different from you and you will never understand, but I'll let you think that you will'.
"I'm sorry, I'm busy," Thalia sighed.
"What're you doing?" Harry asked. Thalia nervously picked at her thumb nail while searching her mind for a proper response.
"I'm studying," the brunette bluffed, "for the Herbology exam on Tuesday."
"We could study together then," Harry offered hopefully. The last time he was with Thalia was on Tuesday and they were together for a full thirty seconds before Thalia said she had to leave. And today was Friday.
"In my dorm," he added. Thalia bit her lip hesitantly and looked at the chalkboard in the front of the room instead of Harry's soft doe eyes. Harry wanted to spend time with Thalia, even if it meant that they would only be studying.
"I'm sorry, I've already arranged to study with Draco," the Slytherin said. "Maybe next time though."
"Yeah, next time," Harry mumbled bitterly.
-----
Harry wasn't the only one being ignored by Thalia. Draco, Theo, and Blaise were laying around in their dorm without the presence of Thalia. "Where is Lia?" Draco asked mindlessly.
"Said she was doing homework," Blaise answered.
"Where has Lia been?" Draco asked. "When we think about it, she's been ignoring us for days now. Even on weekends, when we don't even have anything to do. And I know damn well Thalia doesn't care that much about homework."
"Probably out and about with some boy," Theo scowled. He pictured Harry and Thalia together and his nose scrunched up in disgust. "Stupid stupid Gryffindor." He meant to mutter that last part to himself but Draco managed to hear Theo's words.
Draco's head shot up and his silvery eyes narrowed at Theo, who was laying in his own bed. "What'd you say, Theo?"
"What? I didn't say anything," Theo huffed, sitting upright as well. Soon, all three boys were sitting in their beds and staring at each other across the room skeptically.
"You said stupid stupid Gryffindor," Draco remembered. "You know where Lia is, don't you?"
"No, I just- I just assumed," Theo lied. He did think that Thalia and Harry were together now. That was the only possible reason for why Thalia wasn't with them right now.
"You assumed that Lia would be off with a Gryffindor? Why not a Slytherin? Or even a Ravenclaw?" Draco questioned, hopping off his bed. He walked towards Theo's bed and whipped his wand out. The tip of his wand dug into Theo's neck. "Who's with my Lia?"
"Don't do that, Draco," Blaise scolded. "Theo's our best friend."
"Exactly. So he'll know what I'll do if he doesn't tell me what I want to know," Draco said sternly. He turned back to Theo and dug his wand deeper into Theo's skin. "Which Gryffindork's corrupted our innocent Lia?"
"Come on, Theo. Just tell him," Blaise urged. He didn't want to see either of his friends quarreling and if Theo knew something, he should spill now.
Theo fancied Thalia but he wouldn't protect her and stupid Harry Potter from Draco's wrath anymore. "Fuck," the dark blonde muttered. "It's Harry fucking Potter. Harry Potter's been snogging Lia."
-----
Draco stormed the halls looking for Harry and Blaise and Theo trailed after him. They'd all discarded their black robes and ties so they were only in their white shirts and grey slacks. Their black dress shoes were replaced with sneakers because they didn't want to crease their nice shoes.
"Potter!" Draco's cold voice rang out, echoing through the halls. Harry and Ron both turned around to expect another spat with Draco. The Slytherins met the Gryffindors half-way and Draco pulled out his wand. "Expelliarmus."
Ron's wand and Harry's wand both flew out of their pockets and into Draco's hands. "Give those back, Malfoy," Harry demanded. He knew Thalia was lying about studying with Draco because Draco should've been with her instead of being out here.
Draco maliciously grinned and dropped the wands on the stone floor along with his. They hit the ground with a clatter and rolled to the very edge of the hallway. Theo and Blaise both pulled their wands out as well and tossed them to the side carelessly.
"Can't do that, Scarhead," Draco snarled. He rolled up his white shirt so it was above his elbows and then he interlaced his hands, stretching them out. "Sorry, I just need to stretch a bit," Draco laughed. "It's been a while since we did things the muggle way."
"What?" Ron gaped. Theo only unbuttoned the cuffs of his sleeves and scrunched them up.
Blaise folded his arms over his chest, not wanting to get into the fight unless Draco and Theo would lose horribly. But based on the past fights with other students, Blaise doubted that they would lose. (a/n: this story is based off of book Draco and book Theo, not those pathetic movie versions)
"The muggle way," Draco repeated. "That's how you blood traitors, half-bloods and mudbloods do it, right? How you settle your differences?" Of course, Draco already knew the answer but he just liked having a little conversation before he would beat the shit out of Harry.
"I know we hate each other but we don't have to do this," Harry tried to negotiate.
"We don't have to," Theo echoed, "but we'd like to."
"You, Scarhead, needs to be taught a lesson," Draco sneered. "You think you're entitled to everything because you're the Chosen One. And I'll be damned if I let you take Thalia from us."
Harry's face paled significantly. "She told you about us?" he asked, his heart breaking once again. He didn't want to believe that Thalia would ever tell Draco, especially when she could probably assume what would happen.
Draco clenched his jaw when he realized that Theo was right. The platinum blonde lunged forward and his fist collided with Harry's jaw. Harry stumbled back in surprise and Theo grinned crazily as he punched Ron in the stomach.
Harry didn't want to fight but Draco was giving him no choice. Harry's mouth dripped with crimson red blood and he wiped his lip with his finger before curling up his own fist and knocking Draco hard in the nose.