#doublenotted

HE REALLY HAD DONE HIS BEST TO BRAVE IT. As someone with ample practice in faking good health, Astoria knows a pretender when she sees one. And he'd done a valiant job of it. Playing it straight and stoic when he'd come to pick her up for classes, holding back sniffles in the car, and wiping sweat from his brow when he thought she wasn't looking. All for nothing when it caught up to him all at once.

the air smelled of stale fire whiskey and day old musk. so much so, that draco nearly turned on his heel, bid theo's dear house elf farewell, and apparated away with the intention of sending a message inquiring his best friend's well being. he doesn't, because he was trying to be a good person now. though, that didn't stop draco from commenting on how shitty theo looked.

"my excuse is you can't see properly. how many of me are you seeing right now?" draco responds, summoning a glass of water with a swift flick of his wand. he shoves it in theo's face to take. theo's state would be alarming if they didn't spend their youth getting drunk and puking their guts out until they'd learned how to brew hangover potions. it's the time of day that has draco narrowing his eyes at him. who drank this much on a sunday morning? "no, thanks. i had tea with mother this morning. i nearly extended the invite to you, but it looks like you were preoccupied anyway." and draco wasn't up to dealing with his best friend flirting with his mother so early in the morning.

With a sharp inhale, she dipped her quill into the ink and wrote, each letter precise and poised.

Third floor, east tower. Abandoned classroom. Four o’clock.

The quill paused briefly as she considered the implications. To be tied to someone she hadn’t chosen—someone she hadn’t approved—was revolting. Enraging, even. Everything else in her life had been dictated, and now this? She clenched her jaw, setting the quill down with controlled force.

At least there was enough time to change into something more appropriate. She wouldn’t let anyone catch her off guard—not even in weather as horrid as this. The sky was an ugly, mottled blue, the kind of day that seemed as bitter as her mood.

Pansy’s shoes clicked against the stone floor as she made her way to the east tower, each step deliberate. She strained to hear for any signs of life—unlikely in this deserted wing during the day. At night, however, it was another story entirely.

When she reached the classroom, she slipped inside, her gaze sweeping the room. Empty. Good. She began to pace, her nerves prickling beneath her composed exterior. She refused to sit. Waiting was unbearable.

The sound of footsteps echoed behind her. She froze. Her fingers tightened around her wand as she turned, her voice sharp and edged with disbelief.

“You?”

a surprise starter ( 1 / 1 )

If Eris was being honest she had thought the boy was her date, from behind they at least looked similar. Not that she was upset with Cormac's sudden disappearance and at least she knew her toes would be safe with Theo.

"You could be dancing with someone worse, my pedigree is as good as yours is." One of the Sacred Twenty Eight, and the Blacks had a habit of ensuring their line stayed the purest of pure but despite the fact their families made sure they each knew things such as dancing, Eris was still surprised when she had been able to follow his lead effortlessly. "Is that a complement, Theodore?" Red had been Eris' preferred choice of colour so when it came time for her dorm mates and herself to order their dresses it was natural Eris would have a claim on the color, and her normally wild curls had been straightened per her dates request.

                   ANY EVENING THAT INCLUDES a visit from uncle theo is sure to be a pleasant one, but tonight is special. tonight is scorpius’ last night at home, his last night before HOGWARTS. dinner wraps up uneventfully, though there’s an excited buzz as plates are cleared && high-backed chairs are pushed back, scraping across marble floors. malfoy manor seems so much larger than it has any real right to be, and it will soon feel even more so, once the youngest is no longer residing there regularly. 

but tonight, no one is worried about any of that. there’s a bet on between the adults, wondering which house scorpius will be placed in tomorrow, as he rattles off facts about hogwarts && wizarding history — much of which the three of them lived through themselves — with glee. slytherin, without a doubt, draco insists. he’s a malfoy, after all. but there’s something decidedly ravenclaw in the thirst for knowledge the boy displays.