After the Willow Tree | Theo Nott

CHAPTER FOUR

(the dinner party)

Lorelei was stunning. Like radiant white sunshine, everyone at the party was drawn into her orbit the moment they arrived. She sat atop a hallway table in the new Malfoy family cottage, kicking her legs back and forth with a half-smile on her face that still shone a thousand times brighter than Pansy's brightest.

Seeing her shine like this so effortlessly after dying only earlier that summer, it was clear to Pansy why Draco had left her for Lorelei years ago, and it was probably why Theo hadn't taken his eyes off her since the moment he stepped into the room.

Like a stab to the stomach, Pansy hoped desperately to catch Theo's eyes, but even as the rest of their friends arrived, he never once looked away from Lorelei.

Completely ignoring the girl who so desperately wanted him to look at her again with that intense stare of his.

"It's been hard on him," Daphne murmured into Pansy's ear once she finally looked away, letting her face fall. "He saw it all."

Pansy excused herself to the bathroom, not even attempting to reassure Daphne that her assumptions were incorrect.

Daphne followed her to the bathroom, watching worriedly as Pansy's normally sarcastic smiles melted into something distant and empty. With the cold look in Pansy's normally bright eyes, she looked far more like their old roommate, Briar, than ever before.

"Girls." Millicent knocked gently on the bathroom door. "Briar is here." 

As if on cue, Pansy tore her gaze away from the disappointing image in the mirror and tried to light a spark within herself again. There was only enough space for one angsty Slytherin girl at this dinner party, and Briar firmly held the title for that.

"Pans, you don't have to go out immediately," Daphne said, catching her by the arm. "You're allowed to take a moment."

Pansy patted Daphne on the cheek and smiled, the ever-present sarcasm already curling her lip once more. "I'm fine. Let's go greet our grumpy girl."

Daphne trailed behind her worriedly but didn't push it. She may have understood Pansy decently well from being friends with Pansy for so many years, but it didn't mean she suddenly knew how to handle hard emotions either.

"Is this all of you?" Narcissa asked stiffly, just as soon as Pansy and Daphne stepped back into the room.

Pansy and Briar made brief eye contact with one another. Briar, Pansy's old Slytherin roommate and sort of friend, was standing beside her soulmate, Neville Longbottom. It was still strange for Pansy to see Briar open up around anyone, let alone a shy Gryffindor boy who liked plants more than people, but at the same time, it was inevitable. It was how the soulmate spell was supposed to work.

Even more jarring about Briar's otherwise hard appearance was the presence of a small, squirming baby in her arms. A tuft of blue hair peeked out from underneath the baby beanie one of them had dressed him in, and he clung to Briar's neck and black hair as if he knew he was safe to hide there.

Lorelei slowly lowered herself from the table and stepped towards the makeshift family. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears, and Briar's tense expression softened when she looked at Lorelei.

"Is this Teddy?" she asked softly, her voice hardly a whisper.

Briar nodded.