GLORY // book one

- PART 5 -

THEO

~

~ Time Skip to October 28th of the School Term ~

I SOMEHOW JUST KNEW they would do something stupid when I walked into DADA that morning, my tie already loose around my neck. I could only handle the constricting material for so long. As predicted, the redheaded devils attacked me as soon as I walked in, standing on either side of me. Groaning, I sat at a desk, bracing myself for the worst when George sat at my table, Fred at the one next to us.

"What do you idiots want?" I growled, still tired from the long night before. I never went to sleep good the night before this dreadful day.

"Happy Birthday, love." George grinned widely.

I froze, keeping a white-knuckled grip on the table. "How the fuck—"

"We have our ways, Marx." Fred supplied, sharing his brother's smile, but enjoying me squirming a bit more than George.

I groaned. I despised celebrating my birthday, and had done everything in my power to keep anyone at school from knowing when it was. I wondered who squealed. "Potter?"

"Can't say." The Twins shared a glance. "Classified."

"I'm surprised he even knows when it is," I muttered, frowning further. "You idiots better not have told anyone—"

"Maybe a couple dozen—"

"Or hundred." The two joked, clearly finding my displeasure amusing.

My chest felt heavy as the words sunk in, class beginning before they could do anything more to what little sanity I had left. It felt hard to breath as the minutes ticked by, a million possibilities of what awaited me running through my head. I caught sight of Adrian a few rows ahead, who glanced back at me with a confused look. With what could only be worry. I didn't want that. I don't want that.

I averted my stare to the board, attempting to keep a grip on my composure while I still could. For some reason, this day always threw me off. Usually, I would've just told off the Twins and given Adrian the finger. Anything else— nearly anything else —wouldn't have caused such a reaction. And, above all— it made me feel weak.

I stood from my seat abruptly as soon as the bell signaled the end of class, interrupting Moody's speech, and walked from the room, ignoring the various sounds of protest and the fact that I left behind my bag. My leather jacket was already on when I stormed from the room, breaking into a run as soon as I pushed outside of the castle.

My feet slammed against the ground as I neared the Black Lake, only stopping when I felt my heartbeat in my throat and had a stitch in my side. I slumped to the ground by the lake, leaning against a tree. It was cold out, per usual this time of year, but I felt sweaty and hot.