★
╔═══════════════╗
xv. Terrible Timing
╚═══════════════╝
★

"FIRST OF ALL, just because I'm confused about the Harry thing, doesn't mean everyone should just assume that I fancy him." Thea sits down on the sofa with a loud sigh.

Dean raises his eyebrows, looking up at her from the floor. "Last time I checked, me, Daisy and Hermione...all of three people, didn't count for everyone."

Thea shoots him a glare.

"Second of all, I still can't stop feeling guilty about the Jude situation...don't look at me like that, I know your stance on it, but you said you understand!" Thea exclaims to Dean during their free period, who's sprawled across the sofa of the otherwise empty common room, since it's almost lunchtime on a Tuesday. "Third of all, my mum is on the warpath, so just a heads up, I'm not sure you'll see me alive again after summer. I just don't know what to do –!"

"What you could do," Dean interrupts, looking up at his friend sincerely. "Is forget about everything except the fact that you have important exams coming up soon –"

"But –"

"Thea. I know that you don't want to take these exams because of everything else that's currently going on. You're not the only one. But there's nothing you can do, you have to take them, so you might as well use the time you're wasting on the things you can't control and actually put in some revision, so you can at least pass!" Dean exclaims.

Thea rolls her eyes, but she realises that she does need to at least pass her exams to get a good job after Hogwarts. Before she can stop it, the image of her mother's disappointed face at her report card of all Ts for 'Troll' flashes across her mind.

"Why are you so right all the time?" Thea huffs, grabbing her bag and pulling out a year's worth of Potions notes and starting to underline and circle important parts.

Dean grins at her. "So you admit defeat?"

"Oh, bugger off!" she launches a pillow at his head, which only makes him start to laugh.

A comfortable silence settles over them, and just as Thea is reading her notes about how to brew Veritaserum, Dean starts to talk. "You know, Dumbledore's gone."

Thea rolls her eyes. "Yes, Dean, I don't live under a rock."

"I was just telling you!"

"I know. But anyway, I don't know why he would leave at a time like this, I mean, he has terrible timing."

"Dumbledore knows what he's doing," Dean retorts.

"That doesn't mean he's right," Thea says back, pulling a face of disdain. "I don't understand how he could leave Harry on his own –"

"Harry this, Harry that – you talk a lot about him for someone who 'doesn't like him'," Dean interrupts her, his eyes shining mischievously.

"Seamus this, Seamus that –"

"Shut up!" Dean half-yells, glaring at her.

"That's what I thought," she hums, standing up. "I'm going for a walk, Potions is boring."

"So are you!" Dean calls after her as she leaves through the portrait, rather proud of herself.

Thea's happy it's April now. She doesn't need her hat, scarf and gloves anymore when she has a morning walk, because the sun comes up a little earlier and stops her from freezing to death. The air is still a little colder than just fresh, so it calms her, which is why she loves the morning. She likes seeing the daffodils, tulips and daises that bloom and dance next to the Black Lake too, which dazzles in the light. This feeling of peace is what wraps around her as she walks through the corridor, but it's interrupted a little too soon by a huge bang. For a moment, Thea's startled, and her heart begins to race.

As she turns the corner, she exclaims, "What the actual hell!"

Blinding, bright flashes of scarlet, gold and purple fill her vision. When she spots a distressed, thunderously furious Umbridge and Filch in the corner, a grin spreads over her face, and she knows exactly who's behind this.

Definitely the Weasley twins.

Thea ends up in the middle of a sea of students, and her heart soars with relief when she sees a familiar head of dark, messy hair.

"Hey!" she shouts to Harry over the racket.

"Oh, hi Thea," he says back.

"What's going on?"

Harry grabs her hand, taking her aback so much that the words she was about to say freeze in her mouth and she follows after him blindly. They end up behind a tapestry, where the culprits she'd expected are hiding.

"You geniuses!" she hisses to Fred and George through a chuckle.

"Impressive," Harry says, laughing as well. "Very impressive."

They wink. "What can we say?" one of them says.

Thea has absolutely no idea which is which.

"I hope she tries to vanish them; it makes them multiply ten times," the other barely struggles out past laughter.

"Great idea!" Thea pulls her wand out of her robes and goes to stick it out of the tapestry, but Harry puts a hand over hers to stop her.

"You're in more trouble than me, Fred and George put together, idiot," he tells her.

She smiles. "I know. I have my first detention with the toad tonight, so wish me luck."

He frowns, and Thea's smile drops a little.

"I'll come and meet you once it's over," he tells her.

"You don't have to do that, Harry, it's fine."

"I know I don't. I want to," he tells her firmly.

"OK," she sighs, knowing she won't change his mind. "Thank you."

Her heart rages with flames, and those pesky butterflies return, only this time, it's like there's butterflies, fireworks and she's on a rollercoaster, all at the same time.

"The prince rescues the princess –" one of the twins starts, before the other joins in and they chorus together, "from the evil toad monster, and they live happily ever after –"

"Zip it," Thea snaps, whilst Harry seems startled, like he'd forgotten the twins were there.

"Again, great fireworks!" he says, his voice a little higher in pitch than usual.

Fred and George turn away from the chaos ensuing outside to wink at them. "Thought we'd give the new headmistress a party to celebrate her promotion. I think she's enjoying it!"

"Come on Thea, let's go," Harry mutters, grabbing her hand again and running from behind the tapestry so they won't get caught.

The slight skip has returned to Thea's step, a smile etched onto her face. She knows good will only come in waves for a while, before it's eclipsed completely. She decides all she can do is make the most of it; she tightens her grip on Harry's hand and they run to Charms so they're not late, laughter escaping her lips before she can stop it.

★

That night, Thea brushes her hair and ties it in a French braid before she makes her way down to detention with Umbridge. Daisy and Polly walk halfway with her, and it calms her nerves a little.

As proud as she is of herself for standing up to Umbridge, Thea can't help the trembles in her knees as she walks through the castle, or stop the shaking in her hands. When she reaches the right corridor, she straightens up her tie and smooths back her hair again, trying to fake the cool confidence she had the night the DA was caught. She pauses for a moment, her heart in her throat, before raising a fist and knocking.

A voice, barely audible, floats through. "Come in."

Thea pushes the door open softly and enters, keeping her eyes on the floor.

"Ah, good evening Miss Cindercroft." Umbridge spits her name like it's poison. "Nice to see that you respect me enough to show up on time."

"Of course, Professor," Thea looks up, staring the woman right in the eye.

"You'll be writing some lines for me tonight. With my special quill."

Thea doesn't miss the smile on her face morphing into a satisfied smirk as she takes the quill carefully, before taking a seat.

"What would you like me to write, Professor?" Thea asks through gritted teeth, her heart rate not slowing down in the slightest. She thinks of Harry and how he said he'd wait, and she feels herself relax ever so slightly. Just think about that, and it'll fly by.

Just think about Harry.

"I would like you to write, 'I must not disappoint'. I am quite sure your mother would agree with that, don't you? You really have put her in quite a predicament." Umbridge gives her that sadistic smile again, because she knows Thea won't do anything but squirm in anger if she knows what's good for her. "Haven't you, dear?" Umbridge gives that little giggle that makes Thea's vision be consumed by a thick, red mist of rage, but she doesn't move so much as a muscle.

She thinks of Harry again. She thinks of him trying to protect her from this happening, and when she had hugged him.

"You may begin."

Thea starts to write.

I must not disappoint.

I must not disappoint.

Absentmindedly, Thea scratches an itch that tickles the back of her hand before she continues writing.

I must not disappoint.

The itch returns on the back of her hand, but it's stronger this time, and for a moment, she pauses. She stares at the scarlet of her own blood that she's writing with, and notices the red blots appearing on the skin of her hand, over the remains of I must not spread lies. As her frown deepens, and she looks again at her writing, her stomach flips and she wants to throw up.

But she bites back the pain, like she did the last few times she wrote with this type of quill. She inhales deeply, the stuffiness of the room doing nothing to stop the fog collecting around her brain. She tries to steel herself, tries to wipe any evidence of discomfort from her face.

Umbridge's eyes are burning into her, but she just thinks simply for a moment about the situation. Pain. Although it hurts and the smell of her own blood wafts around her, turning her stomach upside down, it's almost ironic that Umbridge thinks this will affect her; she can handle it! She's so used to physical pain, something she experiences every day.

She's got this shit in the bag.

She continues to write, not stopping once for anything, not to check the time, not to acknowledge the teacher sat at the desk opposite her, and not to shake the cramp from her hand, and the minutes turn into hours before she realises.

Soon, Umbridge is talking again, and Thea's ears start to beg for silence.

"You may leave now Miss Cindercroft. I'll see you again tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Professor."

Thea stands up, the chair making an awful scratching noise against the concrete floor. She dashes out of the door and takes around five steps before Harry appears in front of her, filling her with relief.

"Harry? You're here," she whispers, relief replacing the sickness that had been plaguing her.

He smiles lightly. "I told you I would be," he says, taking her left hand and examining it. He frowns. "I'm sorry about this."

The skin is red and angry, with beads of blood collecting on the surface. She looks at him, and offers him a weak smile that he returns.

"It's OK."

Before long, they mutter the password to the Fat Lady and scramble into the empty common room. The comfort she feels as she steps into its safety calms her completely, so she takes a seat in one of the sofas by the fire. Harry follows her and sits down next to her.

"Aren't you going straight to bed?" he asks.

"I just want to stay here for a bit longer," she says. She feels nerves prickle the back of her neck. "With you."

"OK." he smiles.

There's a nice silence that they both scarcely get, which wraps around them like an embrace. Thea notices that Harry's face gains a lost look, and she can almost hear the cogs turning in his head as he thinks about something. It seems to be bothering him.

"Harry, what are you thinking about?"

He starts, looking at her.

He glances at her, but pauses and averts his gaze before speaking. "Thea – do you think I'm a bad person?"

Thea's brain stops working for a moment. She frowns, then raises her eyebrows, trying to search for words to say to him. Sadness fills every particle of her body, and all she wants to do is hug him tightly. She's about to speak, when he stands up, about to walk away and go to his dorm.

"Where are you going? I didn't answer your question," she says softly, taking his hand and pulling him back.

"Well, I took your silence as a yes, so..."

"Harry! You made me completely speechless with such a... silly question!"

His gaze won't meet hers. She feels her chest ignite, but it doesn't stop her from stepping a little closer to him and putting her other hand, the one that isn't holding his, on his shoulder.

"You're a really brilliant person, Harry – don't let any of this make you think otherwise."

Thea can't help but notice the light blush on his cheeks, and she feels her heart start to beat at a thousand miles an hour, when she realises just how close they are. There's another silence, which is filled with electricity. Good electricity. Thea wants to close the small gap between them and kiss him, she thinks, but instead, she looks down.

"Harry, there's something I need to tell you."

"What?" he says, barely audible.

Her hand falls from his shoulder, and it immediately turns cold.

"Well – I'm cursed." She lets out a lungful of air, and looks him in the eyes.

Her fingers find the end of her hair. Harry waits for her to continue, and she watches as the frown between his eyebrows grows. His cheeks are still a little pink, and Thea feels her own face start to burn up.

"When I was little – I don't know who, but someone cursed me – they used what's called the Hell Heart curse."

Her eyes fill with tears. She doesn't want to cry, but she realises this is the first time she's spoken about it. Even though her mother knows, neither of them speak a word about it. Her mother simply brews her calming potions, smiles apologetically, and that's all. It's an elephant in the room, and Thea's tired of that.

"The aim of it," she pauses, closing her eyes, as tears roll down her face. "...is to stop me from loving people. So when I do, when I care about anyone, I feel pain every time I'm around them. Like there's a fire in my heart. And it will only stop when I die."

Harry doesn't say a word.

"I know you won't, but please don't tell anyone, not even Hermione or Ron."

Harry just nods. For a moment, neither of them move, or say a word, but then, to her surprise, he takes a step forwards and slowly wraps his arms around her. Thea's face is buried in his shoulder, and she's extremely embarrassed that she's wiping tears on her crush's jumper, but he doesn't seem to mind. She hears him inhale, a little shakily, and there's a moment of quiet, where all Thea can hear is the crackling of the flames in the hearth.

Then, he says, "Does it burn now?"

She closes her eyes, and the fire dancing in her chest is so fierce, that she's surprised he can't feel it.

She breathes in deeply.

"Yes. It does."