Duplicitous | T.N.

XIV • Pure Dread

Most students pray for the swift arrival of Friday afternoon. The beginning of the weekend. The end of the school week. In Auroras' case it was the date of her first study session with Theodore Nott in the library, via an afternoon of most definite chaos... or just simple bickering.

To her, he was an enigma. She had spent all of her life dealing with your average assholes and rude individuals, yet none of them baffled her like he had managed to. He was beautifully arrogant, pessimistic, egotistical and dick-ish, it infuriated her. He of all people was gifted with not only riches good looks but one awful attitude. She supposed he needed a balance, no one can be perfect.

Her last period was coming to an end and as the majority of the students kept their eyes on the clock and waited for it to inevitably reach the end of the day, Aurora dreaded for it to do so. From across the classroom, by the looks of it, Theo did too.

They were doing theory work for Care of magical creatures, boring yes, but better than an hour or two of Theodore Nott study time. She glanced up at the clock one more time but was hit with a wave of dread as she realised they had about twenty seconds of class left.

Besides her, students throughout the room looked up at the clock too. 19.

Fingers began to anxiously tap against the tables. 18.

People grew fidgety. 17.

Some began to grab their stationary. 16.

Girls began whispering to others about the current the time. 15.

Smiles began to spread on her peers faces. 14.

At the same time as her, Theodore, from the other side of the premises, released a quiet groan. 13.

Boys began to ever so slightly rise from their seats. 12.

Their professor, who had failed to notice the time, continued on with their lecture. 11.

Everyone else was aware of the time. 10.

Rorys' pupils watched and waited in anticipation. 9.

The lecture at the front of the class continued. 8.

Was it like this at the end of everyday? She had apparently never bothered to observe that much. 7.

Feet drumming on the floor. 6.

Insides of cheeks bitten. 5.

No one was paying attention anymore. 4.

Eyes squinted at the round time teller. 3.

Fingers crossed under tables. 2.

One more second... 1.

In that final second students shot up from their desks and collected their finals things. Their professor sighed at their eager behaviour and dismissed the class. Rory remained seated and enticed to take her time. So was Theodore.

Begrudgingly she grabbed her quills and notes and shrugged them into her bag, the boy across her mirrored her movements, he on the other hand didn't fail to sneer at her whilst doing so.

For the first time in so long, Aurora was tempted to leer right back at him. Perhaps if it was apart of her moral code she would put him in his place. Right on his arse. She probably could do it if she wanted to. But no, Rory Flores wasn't like that. She was kind and compassionate and would never consider harming another soul so that is what she would do.