STAY WITH ME | Draco x OC x Theo

08

It was a lazy Sunday, one that Clementine had fully intended on spending all by herself. That was how she found herself at the Black Lake mid-afternoon, reading a book in her favorite spot under a large tree.

The water lapped at the bank near her feet and the breeze made her hair fall into golden ringlets around her face. The sound of laughter carried from where a few students sat on the sand and enjoyed the warm sun.

As hard as she tried, the book failed to capture her attention.

Wuthering Heights, a novel by one of the Brontë witches, and the main character Catherine's paralyzing choice between two lovers felt too similar to Clementine's own struggles for her to find joy in reading it.

"Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same..."

Clementine looked up to see Neville Longbottom reading her book over her shoulder. He smiled jovially as if he hadn't just spent the last day evading her and hiding out with Pansy Parkinson.

Clementine scowled at his looming presence, "You scared me. Shouldn't you be spending the day with Luna or something? What are you doing lurking out here by the lake?"

"Luna spends Sundays working on the Quibbler. It's still a family run business." Neville explained, "As for myself, I'm on the way to the quidditch pitch, and I saw you from the path."

"The pitch? What would you want to go to a place like that for?" Clementine shoved her nose further into her book and sighed. There was no use even pretending like she was reading, but she was going to try it anyway.

"It's game day." Neville said as if it were obvious. He squinted in the light as he looked off into the distance, trying to catch a glimpse of anyone flying around the field. "You should come."

Clementine looked at him skeptically, "I really don't care about students playing quidditch, you know. I barely cared when we were students here ourselves."

"The student match was yesterday, actually. Gryffindor won, as to be expected." He clarified, "Today's match is the adult scrimmage, which you might have a slightly more invested interest in."

"Oh." Clementine understood, snapping her book shut. She got to her feet and brushed the dirt off of her skirt. "Yeah, I won't be going to that."

"Come on!" Neville nearly begged. He followed closely as she started to walk towards the trails. He leaned on the sign that pointed in each direction, one towards Hogwarts, another towards the Quidditch Pitch, and the third to Hogsmeade. "Theo will be there."

"What makes you think he wants to see me?" Clementine bemoaned, crossing her arms across her chest. "He's absolutely furious with me right now for good reason. I wouldn't want to see me either if I were him."

"Alright, fine." Neville's eyes darted back and forth as he thought up more reasons Clementine's presence would be of utmost importance. "Malfoy will be there, too."

"And what make you think that I want to see him?" Clementine was appalled by the suggestion. "That's even worse honestly."

"Well it's getting a bit hard to keep up, Clem!" Neville quipped, but it didn't land. His face reddened as he struggled to recover from his poorly delivered joke, "Sorry. I— Ginny's going to be there. She's not playing because of some injury something? I'm not quite sure, but I know she's excited to see you if that's any consolation."

Clementine paused, deliberating between going to the game, or going home. Draco and Theo were both going to be there, which in her experience was never a good thing. She often wondered how they were even best friends, because they spent most of their lives fighting.