COLIN REMAINED IN THE HOSPITAL wing for a fortnight until Madam Pomfrey deemed him well enough to leave and resume his regular schedule.

He had a fractured skull, brain damage and slight memory loss, and remained in coma for a week.

Theo hadn't meant for things to go that far. He never wanted Ophelia to see his dark side, and as a result, he had been avoiding her.

He apologized many times, and Ophelia had chastised him a little, but she forgave him in the end after seeing the regret in his eyes.

Theo didn't deserve to be forgiven. He always thought she was too pure for him.

At the moment, he was keeping her at an arm's length, wallowing in regret and self pity.

They had detention together. Even then, Theo avoided her gaze, and that was the moment Ophelia knew that he needed space.

She had tried to talk to him, ask him if everything was alright, but he had brushed it off and refused to look her in the eye.

"You're too good for me, baby," he had murmured, before kissing her nose. After that, he kept his distance from her, and Ophelia understood that he would approach her again, once he felt better.

Harry also had detention. Snape had given him detention for the rest of the year, much to Ophelia's satisfaction.

Draco was almost fully healed. His scars had almost completely faded, and he was no longer unconscious, but he still looked rather pale.

Ophelia was avoiding Draco, feeling an insane amount of guilt for being responsible for his current situation.

There was so much going on in her mind, Ophelia was mentally exhausted, but she knew that if she allowed herself to dwell on her thoughts, she would fail to study for her OWLs, which were approaching closer and closer by the day.

Instead, she focused all that anger in practicing for the upcoming Quidditch match against Ravenclaw. It was this match that would determine whether Gryffindor would keep the Quidditch cup or not.

Katie Bell was back from St. Mungo's, which meant she would resume her position as a chaser on the team, alongside Ophelia and Ginny.

Because Harry had detention on the day of the Quidditch match, Ginny would replace him as seeker, whilst Demelza Robbins, the reserve chaser would be stepping in to play. 

Ron Weasley was also back on the team, and even though Ophelia did not like him, she would rather have him than McLaggen.

According to Ophelia, playing Ravenclaw was much, much easier than playing Hufflepuff. For once, there was no Cormac McLaggen annoying the rest of the team members and bossing them around.

It took less than an hour for Gryffindor to beat Ravenclaw. Ophelia scored four of the seven goals before Ginny caught the snitch, leaving Ravenclaw with just thirty points. 

And Ophelia emerged victorious, holding the Quidditch cup up whilst her teammates cheered, and the stands clapped, but all Ophelia could think about was how much she wished Theo would run to her from the stands, lift her, spin her around in the center of the Quidditch pitch and kiss her.

But when her eyes looked in the direction of the Slytherin stands, she didn't see Theo.

At least Colin was there to cheer her on after the match. On her way to the locker rooms, Colin pulled her aside and congratulated her personally, yet Ophelia's mind couldn't help but travel back to the time when Theo congratulated her in the exact same spot after the match against Hufflepuff.

He moved in to kiss her, but Ophelia pretended to sneeze, ruining the moment, her cheeks flushing pink in embarrassment, hoping Colin wouldn't realize what she had just done.

"I.. I have to go change," she squeaked, avoiding his gaze, staring at the floor, trying to dodge him so she could go back to the locker rooms.

"Ophie," Colin gently called her, his fingers snagging hers and pulling her closer. "Come to the Gryffindor party in the common room, okay?"

Without even thinking about what she was agreeing to, the blonde nodded before entering the changing room, the burn across her cheeks spreading, along with a swarm of butterflies in her lower abdomen.

What had she just done?

A month ago, she would do anything to have Colin's kiss, but now, all of a sudden, she dodged it?

What the hell just happened? I love him, I know I do...

She was sure she loved Colin, but why did she avoid his kiss?

The adrenaline in her lower belly faded as she came to the conclusion that she did not kiss Colin because she felt guilty cheating on Theo.

Stop it, Lia! Stop it! Focus.

She took a deep breath and changed into a comfortable Quidditch jersey with her name on it and a pair of shorts before doing her hair into a high ponytail and heading to the Gryffindor party.

The party was already in full swing when she got to the common room, with Ginny talking animatedly about how she marvelously caught the snitch to anyone who would listen, and Ronald Weasley avoiding Lavender Brown by pretending to listen to her.

Hermione had just joined Ron, and Ophelia instantly noticed the light in his eyes as she approached him.

Granger and Weasley? Well, who would have thought...

When people noticed Ophelia enter, she too, had her fair share of attention, with a few of the first years asking her for her autograph, and the second years asking her to teach them so they could be on the team next year.

Parvati was even being nice to her, telling her she played well, and Demelza asked Ophelia for Quidditch tips.

Lavender approached Ophelia too, asking if she could pet Cleo, who curled up on the armchair right in front of the fire, reserving the spot for Ophelia.

Colin had spotted Ophelia and was bringing her a drink, and for a moment, Ophelia felt like she truly belonged here, in Gryffindor.

However, all the attention left her the moment Harry Potter entered and kissed Ginny Weasley, in front of everyone.

Everyone was talking about Harry and Ginny for the rest of the party, and Ophelia's lovely mood was ruined.

At least there was firewhiskey. Ophelia thanked whatever student who had the idea to serve firewhiskey at the party.

She didn't know how many glasses she had before she passed out, but it was well past four or five.

She woke up in Colin's bed, right after sunrise, just when the streams of golden light were trickling through the gaps in the closed drapes, with a splitting headache. 

These Gryffindor parties tended to get a little wild.

She could barely remember what happened after her third glass of firewhiskey. All she could recall was dancing with Mariana to Material Girl and Jailhouse Rock. 

How had she gotten here? Instantly, she looked down at her clothes, thankful to see that she was still in her Quidditch jersey and shorts from last night's party.

Sitting up abruptly, the blonde clapped a palm to her forehead as a searing pain split across her head, causing her to groan. Just then, she heard the bathroom door unlock and Colin walk out, shirtless and wearing nothing but his school trousers.

Instantly, the blonde's cheeks pinked slightly, but this time, there were no strange butterflies in her stomach compared to the last time she saw him.

And she couldn't help but compare his physique to that of Theodore. Colin was built, and lanky, but there was no denying that Theo was the more muscular of the two, being taller, broad shouldered and straight-postured.

Colin had the hangover potion already prepared for her on his bedside, along with a glass of water to get rid of the bitter taste. Ophelia's fingers reached for the potion that resided within the vial, which she uncorked before downing the purple fluid in one go.

Making a bitter face, she removed the pungent taste of the potion before gently pressing her fingers to her temples, as her headache faded away, replaced by a cool, calming sensation that warmed her insides with comfort and nothing else.

Colin joined her, sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at her with concern in his eyes. 

"Feel better?" he asked gingerly.

"Loads," she replied, her voice punctuated with the croak that paid her a visit every, single morning. "Thanks."

"Where'd you sleep?" she couldn't help but ask, sliding her position until her legs were dangling off the side of the bed.

Colin pointed to another bed beside his. "Jeremy's in the hospital wing."

"Oh."

Once she was back to her normal self, the blonde gently raked her hands through her wavy hair, trying to untangle it after last night's wild antics, attempting to make herself look a little bit presentable. Then, she lifted her hands up and began to gather all her hair into a neat ponytail.

This was a big mistake.

Having gone through a wild night, full of dancing, drinking and partying, there was no doubt that such a thing as makeup, especially after sleeping was bound to come off at some point during such activities.

And once Ophelia's hair was all out of the way, her neck was on full display. So were the hickeys that were a painted contrast of purple and red against her pale, usually pristine, untouched skin.

The concealer had faded.

Instantly, the calm, relaxed atmosphere that resided in the room turned to dust, replaced by a tense, uncomfortable silence the moment Ophelia realized her concealer had faded, and Colin had noticed the love bites that littered her neck like constellations.

Colin's eyes were fixated on her neck, his fists clenched and his jaw tight as he gulped, much like a goldfish out of water, gasping for breath at the sight of the marks on her neck that he knew very well he did not make.

"Did he give you those?" Colin's voice bore no disdain or anger as he gestured to the colorful display of Theo's desire for her on her neck.

"Hmm?" she shook her head, a crinkle forming between her brows as she frowned. 

"Those marks, Ophelia..." Colin's voice was cold, lacking any emotion when he spoke. "Do they belong to Nott?"

Ophelia's heart sunk as her eyes flashed upwards abruptly to meet his and it felt like her ribs were being squeezed together to refuse her lungs from functioning, because she couldn't breathe.

It was pointless to hide them; he had already seen them. Instead, she remained silent, unsure of what to say that could possibly rectify the situation.

The lack of a verbal response from her only made things worse; it was the exact answer Colin had expected— he had taken her silence for a yes, and he was looking at her with narrowed eyes and an expression that clearly indicated betrayal— for he could not believe Ophelia, his best friend, the girl he was in love with would do this to him.

"You're cheating on me?" Colin's tone was accusatory, his usually cheerful voice broken with disbelief and anger that simmered just below the surface. 

Ophelia shook her head slightly. "I was cheating on Theo," she confessed, verbally acknowledging her infidelity, regretfully. 

All of this was a mistake, she had unnecessarily created more animosity between Gryffindor and Slytherin. 

Because Ophelia was a Slytherin by birth, but a Gryffindor at heart, and she had embraced both parts of herself. The Gryffindor could not exist without the Slytherin, and the Slytherin could not exist without the Gryffindor.

However, Ophelia's confession only angered Colin further. "That's not the point! The point is that you've been seeing both of us at the same time!"

This was what elicited Ophelia's silence.

Colin went on. "Does Nott know you've been cheating on him? Does he?"

Once again, Ophelia's silence only went to confirm that Theo, did not, in fact, know she had been cheating on him.

"I can't believe you," Colin's voice was laced with disgust, unable to believe that his Ophelia, his best friend would really stoop down to this low level. "I thought you loved me!"

"I did— do," the blonde quickly corrected her mistake, her eyes welling up at Colin's hurtful words that bore nothing but the truth. "But I love Theo too," she continued in a small voice. 

Colin's gaze softened at her words, as if able to understand what was going on in her mind.

"I'm sorry to say this, but I can't be a part of this anymore..." Colin said awkwardly, clearing his throat and tearing his gaze away from hers to look at the floor.

Ophelia couldn't believe her ears. "What?" her breath hitched, and she pressed her lips together tightly, like she had more to say, but she held herself back.

"Cheating is wrong, and I refuse to be a part of it," Colin confirmed. "Only come back to me once you've made your choice."

By now, he was fully dressed, and he gave her one single single glance over her shoulder, and Ophelia's eyes met his one more time.

Honey brown met steely gray. The stare was longing, yet indifferent.

It was the fleeting second before a delicate porcelain ornament hit the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces.

Everything between them died.

Not once, not twice, but a million, little times.

Ophelia wanted to scream, she wanted to shout, but instead, she said nothing and watched him leave.

She let it die.

{ hey guys! so first off, i would like to apologize for the late update— been struggling with how to write this chapter to capture everything that happened... i hope you guys like it.
i would also like to say that i have more than 1k reads in the last chapter, but less than 100 votes :((
suffice it to say, i will not be updating the next chapter until we reach at least 150 votes...
anyway, i hope you enjoyed this chapter, comment, vote and follow, socials are in my bio.
lots of love,
xoxo, jas. }

{ OCT 29. 2024 }