Atelophobia

13_ halloween

Theo

"I can't deal with her anymore," I say to Blaise over the loud music.

"She's so god damn stubborn; it's not like I did anything-"

His laugh interrupts me.

"What, Blaise."

"Nothing," he says quickly.

"Zabini," I push.

"It's just that we're in the middle of a Halloween party and you won't shut up about Dalton."

"And what does that mean?" I say defensively.

"Come on, mate, you're always talking about her, even more so lately," he nudges me.

"No I don't! Maybe about how much she gets on my nerves."

My mind flashes back to our duel, what it was like to not fight with her, how intelligent she is—

"If she only gets on your nerves, then why don't you go talk to another girl here?" He suggests.

I scoff, knowing I would never actually do that.

"And play into Daphne's rumor about me hooking up with everyone?" I state.

"If it's already a rumor it can't really hurt," he says.

But when he sees me glare at him he changes his answer.

"I mean, don't not do something just because of Daphne."

I brush off his comment—none of the girls here really appeal to me anyways.

I honestly didn't even want to be here in the first place, but Blaise practically dragged me here.

"Come on, Theo, at least try to enjoy yourself," he nudges me.

I take another sip of my drink, which does nothing to help.

My gaze wanders across the room, letting the flashing lights distract me from my thoughts, when I see her here.

I almost choke on the firewhiskey when I see Dalton walk into the common room with Olive Wright, and not only that—she looks... god damn, she looks good.

I don't think I've ever seen her not in uniforms, but Merlin, I wouldn't mind seeing her dressed like this more often.

"Mate, you're staring," Blaise laughs.

"Fuck off, Zabini," I sneer, "I'm just surprised to see her here."

"Mhm," he says with a smirk.

"I didn't know she was friends with Wright," I state.

She was another Slytherin girl a year younger, but I didn't know much else about her.

I continue watching as they make their way across the room talking and laughing; it's almost... strange, seeing Dalton without that annoyed look she always gives me.

Blaise snaps me out of my thoughts once again, "Well, go talk to her then."

"Are you out of your fucking mind? Yeah, that's a good idea, Zabini, because we get along great."

"Sorry, sorry. I was just kidding."

"Yeah, you better be," I scoff.

"I'll be back," I say, not even answering Zabini yelling back at me.

I need another drink, anything to distract me from fucking Dalton.

I go and grab the last bottle of firewhiskey, taking a swig before setting it down on the counter.

I've lost sight of Dalton—at least I thought I did.
Because the next second I turn and she's right in front of me.

I freeze—she looks even prettier up close in her fairy costume.

No, no, that's just the alcohol getting to me.

"Nott..." she says flatly, and all of a sudden I'm reminded why I don't fuck with her in the first place.

"What do you want?"

"Nothing, you're just standing in front of the cooler."

"Oh, sorry—" I step out of the way.

Part of me was almost excited for the thrill of arguing with her, but once again—just like to everyone else—I don't mean that much after all.

She grabs a water and goes on her way, but as she goes to leave her arm hits over the bottle of firewhiskey I had just set down, which spills all over my pants.

"Damn it, Dalton, will you watch where you're going?!" I yell over the music.

I was more on edge than usual—or maybe that was just the whiskey. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean—" she starts, "Here," she does a spell to make the spilled liquid disappear, but my pants were still soaked.

"The fuck am I supposed to do about this?!" I motion to my pants, "It looks like I pissed myself."

She tries to cover a laugh, which only makes me glare at her more.

"Not funny, Dalton," I scowl.

"Just a little bit," she smiles.

I can't help but smirk at her remark, rolling my tongue inside my mouth to try to stop.

I'm about to say that she'll regret that, but someone else has budged their way into our conversation.

"Hey, Theo!" Daphne smiles, dancing extremely close to me.

I move her away immediately, but when I look up I no longer see Dalton there.

As much as we don't get along, I don't want her thinking I just ignored her mid-conversion once another girl came up—especially Daphne.

"Come dance with me," she grabs onto my hands.

"No, Daphne, not now..."

"Okay, maybe can do something else then?"

She glances down at my wet pants, "I can take them off for you—"

"Fuck off, Daphne," I shove her away.

I go back to looking for Dalton, but she seems to be having fun with Olive; I don't want to bother them.

So instead I stand back in the corner of the room, where I previously was with Blaise. He isn't here either, probably off dancing with a girl.

I stand there and let the flashing lights and alcohol consume me—these nights never end well.

They always end with that same empty feeling.