A/N - Sorry If it feels a bit rushed, a bit busy at the moment and wanted to get this out for you guys.
Chapter 8 – First Day of Class [Pt.3]
Antares sat frozen in his seat as he tried to process what he had just heard. Either his mind was playing tricks on him or the new defence professor had just read out his name, and the name of his betrothed.
Taking a deep breath in order to calm himself, Antares turned in his seat and discreetly scanned the room for his wife-to-be. He didn't have to search for very long.
Seated at the very back of the room and surrounded by a group of her Ravenclaw housemates was the unmistakable beauty that was Helena Greengrass.
He didn't know how he could possibly miss the fact that his future wife was sitting not 4 metres away from him. He assumed that in his haste to sit down he hadn't taken the time to actually see who his fellow defence classmate where. His position at the front of the room making it extremely difficult to look behind him without drawing unwanted attention to himself.
Focusing his attention back on Helena, Antares noticed that she had changed dramatically since he had last seen her at the end of his fifth year.
Helena stood at around 5 feet and a half feet tall and had a slim, statuesque figure. She had a pretty oval-shaped face, small rounded chin and cute straight-edged nose. She had wavy dark brown hair that started off very dark and got slightly lighter as it reached to just below her shoulder blades. It was her warm brown eyes and a large mesmerising smile that really accentuated her natural beauty.
If there was one thing he was grateful for in this entire Marriage Contract situation, it was that his father had chosen someone that was no doubt one of the most beautiful females in the entire school.
As Antares was subtly looking towards Helena, he noticed that she looked about as nervous as he felt.
Which was a great deal more now that he had found out that his future wife was selected as his duelling partner. He had to internally laugh at the irony of his situation. Out of the thirty-something students that were in the sixth year defence class, he had to be partnered up with the one person he wasn't even supposed to be in the same vicinity as.
Even without the fact that the courting forbade them from interacting with one another, Antares knew that there was no way in hell that he was ever going to stand against her.
Turning back around so that he was once more facing the front of the class, Antares thought about what he was going to do in order to get out of the situation he was currently in.
Not wanting to draw attention to himself, Antares waited until everyone was getting up and partnering up with their duelling partner before standing up and walking towards the professor's desk.
"May I have a word professor?" Antares asked of his new defence professor.
Putting down the quill that he was writing with, Professor Graves looked up to see that one of his students was standing before him.
"Of course. What seems to be the problem Mr. –" replied the professor, purposefully cutting his sentence short since he didn't know who he was speaking to.
"Black. Antares Black" said Antares before continuing.
"I was wondering if I could be paired with someone else for the duelling competition"
"Do you have a valid reason as to why Miss Greengrass is an unworthy duelling partner Mr. Black ?" asked Professor Graves with a puzzled look on his face.
Antares didn't see why he should divulge the information that he and Helena were to be betrothed. Especially to someone he had literally just met. The fact that this person happened to be his professor had no bearing on the situation at all.
"Personal reasons mostly. We dated for a time and things didn't end very favourably" lied Antares expertly.
"Hardly a valid reason to not duel each other. In fact, it's probably more of a reason for the two of you to dual, get out that pre-relationship anger and what not." Professor Graves said jovially, clearly not taking his request as seriously as Antares had hoped.
"Now if that's your only reason for being up here, then I highly suggest that you make your way over to your assigned partner and begin your duel".
With that statement the middle-aged professor looked expectantly at Antares, obviously waiting for the teen to return to his seat.
Antares stood silently as his new professor denied his request to change his duelling partner. He guessed that his lie hadn't worked as he had originally intended, he would even go so far as to say it was perhaps the main reason his request hadn't been granted. Antares internally shrugged, the lie having been the best he could come up with in such short notice.
Knowing that duelling his betrothed was completely out of the question, Antares did the only sensible thing that he could think off.
He straightened his back, turned on his heel and walked towards the exit.
"Mr. Black where do you think you're going" demanded Professor Graves, suddenly getting to his feet.
The whole room suddenly became deathly quiet. Every student in the room stopping what they were doing in order to see what all the commotion was about.
Not knowing how to respond to his professor's question, Antares just flat-out ignored him.
"If you take one more step Mr. Black you will be spending your evening in detention" Professor Graves called to Antares retreating form, his face slowly turning a violent shade of red.
Antares stopped abruptly, his hand resting on the door handle as he heard the professor's ultimatum.
The professors threat of detention was hardly a threat at all. If he was given the choice to protect his honour and that of his future wife in exchange for a day – hell even a month – of detention, then he would choose detention every single time.
Knowing that he couldn't appear intimidated in front of his peers, his friends and especially his betrothed, Antares straightened his back, turned the door knob and exited the defence room without a backwards glance.
R&R Please Guys :) & Currently Looking for a Beta Reader, PM if your interested or if you have any questions.