"You know you're going to have to face him eventually."
Cress was surveying herself in the mirror, carefully tying off her long side braid, when Natalie had said this.
Cress sighed. She had spent her early morning in ignorant bliss, not allowing herself to think about the past day's occurrences.
"I know. It's just hard. I don't even know what I'm supposed to say. 'Hey, so yesterday I saw you with another girl, what was that about?'" Cress shook her head. "You know what I should've done? I should've confronted him, right there, front of everyone, like they do in the movies. That way I wouldn't have to talk to him ever again, and he'd have the short end of the stick."
"Cress, you have the upper hand here. He cheated on you because of his own bloody decisions. He obviously didn't want to lose you, or else he would've broken up with you. But of course he didn't, because he's a coward! He's the one who's losing the best girl he's ever going to get in his worthless little life."
Cress wiped a single tear away from her cheeks and nodded.
"You're right, you're right. I- I know it's stupid, but for a while I thought he was the one, the love of my life. I had all these dreams where we would graduate and get married and have twins and grow old together. Isn't that funny now?"
"Oh, trust me, someday you're going to find someone who's head-over-heels over you and will actually treat you right to have that future with," Natalie said, patting her back.
Cress smiled at her words and knew them to be true, but even so, her nerves would not calm at the prospect of confrontation. Nice to know that Sean still made her stomach flutter after all this time.
The pair of friends made their way down to Common Room, which was already filling up with early-rising students looking for a moment of peace before the bustle of the school day kicked in.
As they walked, Natalie began filling Cress in on all the hot gossip that had transpired over the summer as they walked. Cress wondered if she was trying to distract her from Sean, and she mentally thanked her for it. It was quite relieving to be focusing on someone else's drama rather than on her own
Natalie informed her on how Laurie had drunkenly gotten her ex-boyfriend's name tatood on her wrist, and that Logan had been rejected by Katherine, which according to her, was his own fault due to her being two years older than him and being twice as fit as he'll ever be.
Cress's step faltered slightly when Natalie mentioned that Thorne had in fact been the laptop bandit from last night.
"What happened to him? Did he get expelled?" Cress asked.
She hadn't spoken to Thorne since The Second Year Incident that she'd repressed into the dark corners of her mind, and everything she'd heard about him since then hadn't been particularly pleasant. Even so, a small part of her still wanted to believe the best in him, or at least in what he could become.
Natalie shook her head. "I haven't heard, but I don't think he was. I mean, he's done much worse stuff before and been fine. Remember when he released all the owls from the owlery back when he was in fourth year?"
Cress let out a laugh. "That has terrible! It took them weeks to find them all and even then, some people claimed that their owls were just transfigured crows."
"Well, I know for a fact my Elton came back safely because I had painted his talons a nice burgundy the day before."
"Yes, and if I recall correctly, that's where the scar on your left arm came from," Cress teased as she pushed her playfully.
Natalie yawned. "Professor Ladar is such a pushover. I mean, were fifteen detentions really necessary for a couple of plates?"
Cress shrugged. "I'm just praying that she'll forget about them. No way she's actually making me serve thirty hours worth of detention. Surely, she has much bigger things to fuss about."
They were nearing the kitchen entrance and outlined in the flickering torches, Cress could make out three silhouettes of drastically different heights.
As they approached, the figures revealed themselves to be a house elf with a particularly crooked nose, Professor Ladar, and then the boy himself, Carswell Thorne.
Cress's heart fumbled as she took note of Thorne, who was shuffling his feet and examining a painting depicting the delicate figure of a lady having tea. He seemed different since the last time she'd seen him, somehow.
The changes were subtle, but they intrigued her nonetheless. He stood taller, almost a solid foot over her meager 5'0.
A white button-down hung snugly against his torso and arms. He also seemed to have developed a jawline over the summer, but Cress's gaze became fixed on his unchanging blue eyes that were just a few shades brighter than hers as they roved over the oil painting and, eventually, landed on her.
Cress gasped and took Natalie's arm, leading them to Professor Ladar.
"Wha- are you okay?" said Natalie, noticing Cress's flushed face.
Cress had opened her mouth to respond when Professor Ladar noticed them and said, "Ah, the smashing duo has finally decided to arrived. Here I was thinking I was going to die of old age waiting."
"We've only been waiting five minutes, Professor," Thorne commented, now standing in front of them with a smile that was way too cheery for a 6 A.M. detention
Ladar pretended to not hear his words as she continued. "This is Borey," she said, pointing down towards the house elf. "She has agreed to monitor you while serving your detentions, so you will be following her orders. Now, make no mistake, she outranks you in this scenario, so I expect your three to treat her with the upmost respect."
Cress nodded shakily, telling herself that her nerves were due only to Ladar's commanding presence.
"Okay, now that you're all here, I must get going, so hand over your wands."
Cress's heart stopped. "What? You can't do that!"
Her wand, crafted from holly wood with a unicorn hair core, had become a part of her being since it had first chosen her four years ago, back when the whole concept of magic seemed so new and bright. She clung onto it like a crutch; the pressure of it against her side comforted her in stressful situations like this.
"Excuse me? Young lady, this is to teach you manners and hard work, and you'll never learn either if you just use your wand at every obstacle you face! You'll get it back when you're done," said Ladar sternly.
Cress shrunk down at her words and promptly handed over her wand. Natalie followed suit, but when Thorne gave his over, Ladar handed it right back.
"Don't you think I know the difference between a wand and a oak tree branch? Hand me your actual wand."
Thorne gave the professor a sheepish grin and winked at Cress (or maybe it was meant for Natalie; she couldn't tell in the dim light). "It was worth a shot."
Cress flushed and looked at her feet.
Ladar passed the wands to Borey before leaning down and whispering, "Good luck." She quickly patted the displeased elf's head before turning and walking away.
Borey sighed and took a step forward. "Borey didn't catch your names. Tell me your name and one fun fact about yourself," Borey said in a trembling, rehearsed voice, as if she was repeating words she'd heard from another. She swiftly turned on her heel and walked into the hectic kitchen.
The trio exchanged a look of confusion before trailing in behind her.
Thorne was the first to speak. "I'm Carswell Thorne, but most people just call me Thorne. Can I just say the only fun thing about me in this moment is being in the presence by three beautiful girls?" Thorne grinned charmingly at Cress and Natalie, and was met with the sound of Natalie gagging.
"Ah, so you're the one who caused all that commotion last night. Not the smartest tool, Borey assumes. Couldn't you have chosen a better hiding spot for a Muggle device than under you bed?," Borey said.
Thorne shrugged. "What can I say? Some things are just meant to be found." Thorne gave Borey a confident smile, though Cress sensed a hint of bashfulness in his demeanor.
"My name's Natalie, and a fun fact about me is that I shouldn't be here," Natalie said.
Borey sighed. "That's what they all say."
The group had reached a table filled with an assortment of uncooked breakfast foods. Borey turned to face them and pointed to Cress. "You. You haven't said your name or fun fact."
"I- I'm Cress Darnel, and I- um..." Cress tried to think. "I really enjoy Muggle culture," Cress stammered out, unnerved by having three pairs of eyes on her.
"Interesting. Does that mean you can cook without your wand?" asked Borey.
"A little, from what I remember," said Cress.
Natalie opened her mouth before Thorne interrupted suddenly. "I can too!" He stepped forward in front of Natalie, shooting her a wink. Natalie glared.
"Great! You two can start on the eggs and bacon while Natalie here can help Borey with the plates, though Borey doesn't know if she can trust her with those after last night," Borey said, laughing at her own joke.
When she was met with silence and apprehensive look, she cleared her throat and straightened. She picked up a large, leather-bound book from behind her.
"Every single recipe we make is in there, so if you need help, just look it up." Borey handed over the book to Cress, who staggered under the weight of it.
"Aces, you're tiny." Thorne gently took the book from her hands and set it down on the table.
Cress cleared her throat and avoided his gaze. "Thank you."
As Natalie and Borey began walked away, Cress cast Natalie a distressed look, which was responded with a grimace and an unsure thumbs-up.
Cress sighed and turned back to look at Thorne. He was sitting on the countertop and had a bag of pumpkin seeds on his lap that he was eating out of.
He smiled when he noticed her. "Hey! Cress, right? Pretty name for a pretty girl."
Cress raised her eyebrows. "I'm not sure whether to trust the judgement of someone who goes by Thorne"
"What? It's a cool name." He popped a few seeds into his mouth and gestured around the kitchen. "So, do you actually know how to do this?"
"Cook, you mean? Yeah, don't you?" she asked
"Not really," Thorne admitted.
"Then why did you say you could?"
"Because I like spending time with attractive girls?"
She hated the blush that creeped onto her cheeks as she tripped over her words. "I- you- what do you..."
She looked around for something to distract herself and found a pair of pans on the table behind Thorne. She leaned around him to pick them up, and when she straightened, her arm brushed ever so slightly against his.
Cress quickly pulled away and averted his gaze, placing the pans on the stove and making sure to set it to the right temperature.
When she glanced back to him, he wore a knowing smirk, as if he had expected her to become flustered.
Maybe on a better day, Cress would've found him charming and been swooning at his feet. But she wasn't that naive twelve anymore and frankly, her past twenty-four hours hadn't been the greatest, so she felt slightly justified in ignoring his flirting.
She raised an egg in Thorne's face. "I'm not going to do all this myself. Watch."
Thorne leaned in and said, "I'm all yours." He winked.
Cress took a deep breath and willed her hands to remember the movement of cracking an egg before she did it.
The egg fell gracefully into an almost-perfect circle. which caused Cress to beam proudly down at it.
"See? It's easy. Now all you do is put some salt and pepper in and flip it." Cress finished the egg and slid it carefully onto a platter.
Thorne let out a low whistle. "Where did you learn that?"
Cress tilted her head, considering her answer. If she were to be completely honest, she would tell him that cooking had been one of her chores at the orphanage where she had grown up. She would never tell him that, of course, so she opted for a simpler answer.
"Um, I was raised a Muggle," she said finally.
Thorne hummed in response and picked up an egg.
Cress observed him quietly as he attempted to replicate what she had done. His eyebrows furrowed with concentration and his lips quirked slightly to the left as he held the egg gently in his hand. He examined it for a moment before slamming it into the edge of the counter.
Cress squealed and jumped back as bits of eggs shell and yeast went flying. They looked at each other in bewilderment for a second before Cress doubled over laughing. "Oh my goodness!" Cress choked out in between giggles.
"Stars." Thorne ran towards the sink and began washing is hands. "I think that one was defective."
"What? No, you're just supposed to tap it. Lightly," exclaimed Cress after her laughter had died down.
Thorne sighed and tried again, this time tapping it tenderly against the counter and successfully getting it into the pan. He grinned down at it.
Cress gave him a small smile before turning back to the table. There didn't seem to be any bacon on it, so she opened up the fridge closest to her, which, to her surprise, was half-filled with packaged strips of bacon.
She took a couple out and said,"That's odd. I thought everything was served fresh."
"This school is centuries old. Nothing is fresh here." Thorne paused. "Well, except me."
"What does that even mean?" Cress asked, blinking.
"Whatever you want it to, shortcake."
Cress gulped. "Don't call me that."
Thorne looked over at her. "Why? Are you insecure about your height? I think it's the most adorable thing about you."
Cress flushed and hesitated for a moment. "I- I- my boyfriend used to call me that. Well, ex-boyfriend now, I think."
"You think?" Thorne had stopped frying the eggs and was now facing Cress completely, his questioning blue eyes boring down on her.
"I'm breaking up with him today. He was cheating on me. I don't know for how long and when it started, but I caught him yesterday," said Cress, keeping her eyes on the bacon.
"Oh! I'm sorry. If you'd like, I'll beat him up for you. He doesn't deserve someone like you."
Thorne began sliding his arm around Cress before she knocked it off her shoulders. "Didn't you cheat on Kate Fallow a few months ago? You have no right to judge," Cress spit out.
Thorne sighed and retracted his arm. "That was a misunderstanding. I didn't do anything until after we broke up, but I don't think she believed me."
"I'm not sure if I believe you, either," Cress huffed.
Thorne's rolled towards the ceiling. "Think what you want of me, but I'm not a cheater. I stay at my girl's side until the end."
When Cress dared to look at him, she saw nothing but sincerity etched onto his features. Even so, she doubted that any guy would willing proclaim himself a cheater, much less in front of what he considered an "pretty girl".
"Okay. Whatever," said Cress.
Thorne's eyes brightened. "You believe me?"
"I don't know or care what you do with your love life. It's none of my business." Cress moved the bacon around in the pan aggressively.
Thorne was quiet for a moment before saying, "Does that mean you'll tell me what's the deal with your friend?"
Cress furrowed her brows. "Her deal? What do you mean?"
"You know… is she available?"
Cress scoffed. "Did you seriously ask me that? I might not care what you do, but do not bring my best friend into your messy habits. Not like she'd go for someone like you, anyways."
Thorne held a hand to his chest, feigning hurt. "First of all, I treat all my girls with nothing but chivalry. Second of all, how could she resist all of this." Thorne struck a ridiculously coquettish pose and wiggled his eyebrows.
Cress had to admit it wasn't a bad view, but burst out laughing at his cockiness. "Trust me; she wouldn't."
"And how would you know that?"
Cress gave him an amused smile. "Natalie's a lesbian, you idiot."
He faltered for a mere second before he spoke. "Well, I can work with that."
"No, you can't. Why don't you use your charm on someone who might actually be interested?" said Cress defensively.
Thorne looked at her for a moment and, for the first time, his lips formed into a genuine smile. "Alright," he finally agreed.
They fell into a a comfortable silence after that, the sound of oil sizzling and the bustle of the house elves keeping their ears busy.
However, it wasn't long afterwards that it was interrupted by a shrill bell ringing out that sent everyone around them hustling towards wooden tables at the center of the room.
Cress looked around in confusion until she spotted Borey running up to them. "What's going on?" Cress questioned.
"That's the five minute bell! Let Borey see what you've done," Borey said hurriedly.
Cress quickly picked up the platter that held the large pile of bacon she had fried in the past hour. Borey plopped a piece into her mouth and closed her eyes. She nodded.
"Good enough; go put it on the Ravenclaw table to the left of the marmalade. You can go now; your detention is over. Here's your wand." Borey pulled the wand from
under her cloth garment, and Cress tried not to wonder where it may have been.
Cress breathed out a sigh of relief when she felt the soft wood of her wand in her hands again. She quickly stuck it into her waistband and was walking away before a voice called her back.
"Hey Cress," Thorne called out. "Good luck breaking up with your boyfriend!"
She turned back at him with a smile and relished in the happy, jittery feeling in her chest.
When Cress walked out of the kitchen, she immediately spotted Natalie leaning up against the opposite wall, her blue tie popping out in the mass of yellow Hufflepuffs that had already began making their way to the Great Hall.
"So, how was the dreamy Prince of Charm and Theft," Natalie teased, fanning herself.
"Shut up! He wasn't as bad as I thought he would be. He seemed be very interested in you, though. I shut him down immediately, don't worry," Cress said proudly.
"Oh, I should've been there when you told him. I can already see the look on his face!" Natalie squealed. One of her greatest joys in life came from watching guys trip over themselves after realizing, and denying, that she was not interested in them as a whole one bit.
"I mean, actually he was kind of o-"
Cress's words were cut off by a pair of hands covering her eyes and an all-too familiar voice whispering, "Guess who?"