Atelophobia

7_ common room fights

Theo

"Mind if we join you, mate?" Blaise hits me on the back and enters the common room with Draco beside him.

I would prefer that prick to not be here, but oh well. 

"Not at all," I say and take another puff of my cigarette.

"Any new Quidditch strategies, Malfoy? Other than taunting Potter, of course," I ask.

He scoffs.

"Of course I bloody do. And you know the taunting gets to Potter's head."

"Great, what is it then?" Blaise adds.

"Well, we play on their weakness. Weasle-bee can't block a goal to save his life, so that part should be easy," Malfoy replies.

"And as long as Crabbe and Goyle sick to their plays, they should be able to keep Ginny from our side of the field. You two and Pike just need to work on the cross method," he continues.

Malfoy says it like it'll be an easy win, but like I overheard Dalton saying, Gryffindor has great players.

They may not be the easiest to beat.

"Why don't we do the snake method instead? That way Crabbe and Goyle will have a better chance of hitting one of their chasers. And it'll be harder for them to intercept the quaffle downfield," I suggest.

"We don't need to adjust, Nott. Weasley won't be able to block the goal anyways. Plus, I'll be catching the snitch far before we have to worry about them scoring goals," he adds smugly.

Blaise casts a glance at me, thinking the same thing.

"You sure, Malfoy? I think Theo's strategy makes sense-" He adds.

"And who's team captain, Zabini? It'll work, trust me."

I roll my eyes to myself and inhale the cigarette smoke once more.

Well, if the great Draco Malfoy says it, then it must be true.

"Why do you always have to talk about Quidditch?" Pansy complains as she walks in the room.

"What?" Malfoy says defensively.

"You can't just talk about your perfect girlfriend?" She adds with a smirk and sits in his lap.

Merlin, I feel like gagging.

It's no secret that they're Hogwarts' most hated couple, though they think everyone loves them.

"Bloody Quidditch is all that you boys care about," another girl adds, entering the room.

Of course Pansy would bring my ex here.

We dated for some of fifth into sixth year, that is, until I found out how annoying and clingy she actually was.

"Hey, Theo," Daphne Greengrass adds with a smile, leaning against the arm of the couch in a way that she assumes to be flattering.

"Daphne," I scoff.

"What do you want?"

"Just coming to say hi, is there a problem with that?" She says.

"Oh, no. I don't have a problem with the person who started a rumor that I hooked up with half the school," I snap.

Blaise, Draco, and Pansy could tell where this was going and start their own conversation instead.

"It wouldn't have been that hard to make if people didn't already believe it," she crosses her arms.

I take another puff of my cigarette before standing abruptly.

"And you still think that's okay to do?!" I yell in her face.

"Calm down, Theo, you know I meant well," she puts her hands on my chest.

"Don't fucking touch me," I push her hands off of me.

"Hey, hey, that's enough," Blaise intervenes, holding me back.

I shove him off and lift my cigarette to my mouth.

"Theo... I did it because I love you. Can't you see that?" She takes the cigarette out of my hands and uses it herself.

"Bullshit Daphne, you never loved me. You just loved the attention."

"That's not true," she says sharply. "You know you'll never find anyone who loves you like I do."

God, her words made my blood boil to the point that I want to break everything in this common room.

"You little fucking liar," I seethe.

"Stop pretending you don't want me, Theo."

At this point I need to punch a wall.

"Why would anyone ever want a bitch like you?" I say under my breath and storm off before I completely lose it.

"Theo, mate-" Blaise calls after me.

"Leave me the fuck alone," I shout at him, slamming the door when I get to the dormitory.

I lay down on my bed with a sigh, not before chucking a pillow across the room.

She can't just leave me alone for once, can she?

No, she can't just deal with the breakup like a normal person and go our separate ways.

Instead all she does is manipulate and bring out the worst of me.

And the worst part is, I thought I loved her, too.

But that Daphne is a girl that doesn't exist.

I don't want to think about it anymore, though.

I look around for the closest thing to distract me, which happens to be the alchemy project paper on my desk.

I haven't touched it in several days, but I need something to busy my mind with. And at least this would be productive.

I skim over my outline again, deciding to start on the basic properties of each element.

I know Dalton and I agreed to work on it together, but I'm going to show it to her anyways. And if she doesn't like how I do it, then she can just fix it herself.

Dalton.

Merlin, I would even prefer her over Daphne.