Secrets & Slytherins

Chapter 36: The Spark

Grace slowly opened her eyes, squinting slightly as shooting pain raced across her forehead. She grimaced at her pounding headache as she rubbed her eyes, attempting to sit up. She felt terribly weak. What the hell happened last night?

Grace finally regained her vision, only to see an exhausted-looking Noah sitting in the chair across from the couch she was on. He was staring at the wood in the fireplace. With only a few sparks left, the fire was about to go out. His gaze seemed lifeless, his eyes were slightly bloodshot, and the corners of his mouth were turned down.

Grace rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, trying to rid the pain in her head as she took in her surroundings. "Why am I in your common room?"

Noah finally turned to look at her. His stare was cold. Once he saw that she was alright, he brought his attention back to the fireplace, not saying a word.

"What's your problem?" Grace asked, pinching her eyebrows together.

He gave no response.

"What did I do?" Grace pushed, trying to remember the party. Her memory was spotty. "I must have been fucked up last night because I can't remember a thing."

Noah didn't even look over at her, mumbling, "It's not what you did. It's what you said."

Grace sat up straight, her heart rate picking up. "What did I say? Something bad?"

Noah clenched his jaw, standing up from the chair and starting to walk towards his dormitory, ignoring her questions.

"Are you kidding me?" Grace scoffed. "You're just going to walk away without telling me what I said? That's not fair, Noah!"

The Slytherin boy stopped walking, closing his eyes for a moment before facing her.

"You thought I put something in your fucking drink so that I could sleep with you, Grace," he spat. "I'm not a fucking rapist. I'm not Ryan. Stop comparing me to him all the time."

"I don't com-"

"You may not have said it out loud, but I know for a fact you think we're similar," Noah explained. "You won't admit it, but you think I'm capable of the same things he is. You don't trust me."

"That's not true," she defended, shaking her head and taking a step towards him. "It's not that I don't trust you, Noah. I'm-" Grace watched him roll his eyes. "I'm just being cautious."

"Whatever."

"You can't possibly blame me for that," she said with narrowed eyes. "After all the things I've been through I think I'm allowed to be wary of who I trust."

"See? You just fucking said it! You don't trust me!" he shouted, throwing up his hands.

"How can I trust someone that used a fucking dagger to carve into my arm?!" she yelled in return; a mistake in the heat of the moment.

Noah scoffed in frustration, running a hand through his messy morning-hair. "I don't know why we ever thought this would work. We're clearly not good together."

Grace bit her tongue, using every bit of strength she had to try not to cry. "We were never even really together."

"You're right," Noah said, defeated. "And that was probably for the best."

Grace's eyes stung with tears, but she refused to let them fall as he continued.

"We rushed into this...whatever this was. I can't be with someone that doesn't trust me," he explained. You're right. You can't trust me, Grace, he thought to himself. I'm lying to you.

"Fuck you, Noah," Grace cried, finally allowing the tears to leak from her eyes. They slowly traveled down her cheeks. "I told you everything. I confided in you about my darkest secrets. You were the only person that made me feel safe when I felt like I was going to lose my mind at any moment." She swiped her hand across her face to wipe the tears away and asked weakly, "How can you say I don't trust you?"

Noah tugged down on his sleeve, staring at his shoes. He didn't want to look at her while she was crying. "We don't have to talk about this anymore. You're upset. Let's just be done with it."

"Just like that?" Grace said with a glare. "This meant nothing to you?"

"This didn't exist."

"What about that day in the corridor, huh? It wasn't that long ago, Noah, but somehow you've forgotten what you said about the Amortentia potion."

"Things are different now," he voiced simply. "I just don't think we should be together, alright? We might have had something, but it's gone now." He heard her sniffle.

"Fine," Grace finished, her eyes red. She hated that Noah didn't even have the decency to look at her. "We could exist without each other if we had to." She passed by him, walking to the door to leave the common room. "And I guess we have to."

Noah tugged down hard on his sleeve with anger. He didn't dare turn around to watch her leave. He didn't need to. The sound of the door slamming shut was all he needed to know she was long gone. His eyes were watering, but he blinked a few times to push back his emotions.

He looked around the empty common room, heading over to sit back down in the chair in front of the fireplace. He slowly pulled his sleeve up, revealing the Dark Mark. He had stared at it all night while Grace was asleep. He did a lot of thinking last night. His mind was a terrible place, but he knew he had to do the right thing; the best thing for her. For Grace. His Grace.

He slashed his arm out of anger with his other hand, his nails clawing into the Dark Mark, as if that would rip it from his skin. He pulled down his sleeve with fury to cover up the mark, staring into the fireplace. There was no flame left to burn. Without a spark in sight, it was completely out.

"You're my person, Grace," Noah admitted to no one, maybe to himself. "Just not right now."