Chapter Nine: Sneak

Evelyn...

   On Sunday morning, I did not even bother to go out for breakfast. In the silence of our empty dorm room, my face was buried in the book I was attempting to concentrate on __ which was not going successfully.

   I could gladly stay in this very room for the rest of my life, only if it meant I would not be confronted with kissing my psychotic enemy so.

   At that point, I was supposed to hate Mattheo, but my hatred towards Dumbledore for putting me in this pathetic situation was so much, that I no more could think about anything else.

   I kept asking myself again and again: why did you accept the mission? Why did you accept the mission? Nor time had I reached an acceptable answer.

   What if it was nothing? What if it was pointless? What if it was a wrong plan? What if it would not help the least in the end, I thought, but not did I stop doing it. I kept doing every little of Dumbledore's orders like a puppet.

   Maybe me and Mattheo were not so different after all.

   Let me be honest, at least to myself, that I wanted revenge; for the mother I did not have, for the father that did not have the chance to see me grow up, and the father that made me miserable. My mother died giving birth to me, my father was in Azkaban when I supposedly needed him, and my guardian was locked up in his office. If I did not blame them for all of this __ Voldemort and his puppets __ I would allow me to blame myself instead.

   Knock knock, knock knock.

   "Alright, let me in, Princess."

   I was stunned for a moment; how had he entered the girls' dormitory?

   He was so pathetically annoying. After all, I had locked myself here all day just because I did not want to see his hideous face. Here he would sneak into the girls' dormitory, granting me the sparkling boon of annoyance.

   I put my book on the bed, climbing out of the bed, I reached towards the door and opened it despite my own desire.

   "Hello, Princess." Mattheo greeted me cheerfully, his mouth twisted into an awful smirk.

   "How did you pass the enchants?" I asked.

   "I have my own ways." His eyebrows went up haughtily, my eyelids drooped.

   "Can I come in?" he asked in a you-better-say-yes way. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill you." "I'm honored." I raised my eyebrows sarcastically.

   I stepped aside to let him enter; it was such a stupid thing for me to do, but, with repeating the words "He is not going to do anything" and "Even if he was going to do anything, I would be strong enough to protect myself" in my mind, I stupidly let him in. Nor did I have any other choices, anyway.

   I sat on the bed with my back leaned against the headboard, and he dropped himself onto the bed beneath my foot, facing the ceiling. "Beautiful room. But, I expected something more nerdy __ ish."

   I stared dead at the wall in front of me, my eyes lidded lazily. His eyes pierced me, then.

   "You weren't at the breakfast." He wasn't asking a question, but he was.

   "I was tired." Lie.

   "Tell me the truth." He looked at me with a serious expression, then elbowed himself up on the bed. "You were thinking about me." The first second a thunder started in my mind __ but then the smirk on his face gave a relief to my stormy thoughts.

   If he had actually used Legilimency on me, we would all be doomed.

   "Where is Pansy?" I asked as an attempt to avoid his awkward flirting, and it so did make his smirk disappear.

   "With Theo."

   I felt my insides twist, thinking about the kiss Theo might have told her.

   His mouth curved up to an amused smirk. "What is it?" What is what? I think the twist of my stomach had showed in my face.

   I frowned, thinking about what to say. "You wear long sleeves all the time. Is that an attempt to hide your Dark Mark?"

   I could plainly see the bitterness that splattered over his face, the tightening of his jaw and his cold eyes. But it had nothing to do with my concerns at the moment; about how affected he was by this subject? I did not care.

   He sat up on the bed, his eyes looking at everywhere but me when he finally spoke. "People hide the dark side of themselves, I hide my Dark Mark. And don't even pretend with me __ I know you don't give a shit about what I'm saying right now." Then his gaze shifted to me, presenting me a bitter smile. "My family didn't when they forced it on me like I was born to have it. So, don't worry, I don't expect anything from you."

   My brows furrowed, my lips pressed together. I was glad he didn't expect anything from me; but it was not supposed to be that way. He was supposed to trust me enough to tell me anything, to slip his father's plans. He was supposed to expect things from me; I was supposed to make him believe I cared.

   "You are right. I should not pretend __ I will tell you then," I said, then I looked him in the eyes, what I wasn't supposed to do. "I care."

   I shall admit; even I was convinced of my own lie.

   Mattheo's dark eyes lingered on me, an unrecognizable expression on his face. The corner of his mouth slightly lifted when he said, "Alright. You're scaring me, Princess. I was just getting used to your insouciant attitude, now you say you care about the bullshits I throw you?"

   My eyebrows twitched. "You said you didn't expect anything from me. Kindly, keep that up."

   "I see. It's your way of saying forget-what-I-just-said, huh? I'll admit__" His wince of agony caught both me and himself off guard. In the caprice, he grabbed the inner side of his left arm, right where the Dark Mark was hidden beneath his sleeve. "I have to go," he breathed. "My father probably misses his puppets again."

   I was speechless, though a lot was going on in my mind. My eyes followed him when he began to move off the bed, and when he then hesitated suddenly; he leaned in close to me __ I flinched immediately. But then, as if he was petting a dragon, cautiously he placed a soft kiss on my cheek, leaving me frozen in place. I was stunned, and he climbed out of the bed like it was nothing. Like he was not the cause of it.

   "See you, Princess." Halfway near the door he looked back at me again __ making me swallow __ his finger pointing in the air as he remembered something. "I'll admit __ I'm actually starting to like your annoying ass."

   Then he left the room.