Chapter 340 Useful
In a closed boarding school, students don't have much fun. This year there is not even Quidditch, so they have endless energy. When a piece of gossip comes out, it will spread to the whole school in less than half a day.
What's more, this time it was big news related to the Dark Lord's daughter. It was like an explosion, as if the whole school knew about it in an instant. When Della came to her senses, she had become a third-rate figure in the plot of two men competing for one woman.
"Abandoning the old love for the new one?" Maggie read the letter sent by Aurora Birau from the school, raised her eyebrows, and said dissatisfiedly, "Why is the new love Theodore Nott?"
"You should only question why a new lover would appear," Della replied coldly, sitting next to her. Now she has returned to her usual calm demeanor, "I haven't mentioned Theodore to Draco."
In fact, her breakup statement was pretty dull, consisting of just repeating "I don't think we're right for each other" and "I'm sorry" no matter how Draco questioned her.
Her heart was too guarded, and even when her tears and roars reached their limit, Della did not open her heart at all.
"And you, in public at the ball, um, how do you say that word, tamed... no, recruited, yes, you recruited him, right?" Maggie said meaningfully, "He seems to understand you better than Draco. Oh, I can't say. Maybe you also want people around you to understand you better?"
Oh, cunning and wicked Maggie, enjoying the sweetness brought by the girl's final choice, began to subtly weaken his influence on Della's decision.
Della glanced at him and understood what he was thinking. She also realized that another intention of his words was to downplay Draco's importance in this decision. Maggie was probably quite unhappy that Draco was put on the same scale as him, even though Draco was already the loser.
"Yeah, have you reflected on the fact that you haven't done enough?" Della coldly said to Maggie, "Call Theodore over and ask him."
"Now? Call your new lover over to confirm the rumors?" Maggie blinked.
"Perhaps the first step for you to do better is to find a way to make Theodore appear in front of me quietly at night." Della didn't want to continue this topic and threw the question away directly.
"That's an irresistible offer," Maggie shrugged. "I'll have him at your feet at 9:30 tonight."
"Damn, what a disgusting thing to say," Della frowned, and glanced at Maggie with disdain, "Next time you've been flirting, calm down and come in front of me again."
"How did you know that?" Maggie asked curiously.
"Look in the mirror and check your neck," Della said simply.
Maggie immediately held the mirror in the air and saw a darkened mark above the collarbone. "How do you know this is..." He tentatively asked the question that would determine whether Draco would live or die.
"You also had it on your neck the morning you met Professor Abate." Della knew what Maggie was thinking. She glanced at him with an even more disgusted expression on her face. "And you smelled like roses, the same rose smell that Professor Abate often had, as if he had been smoked."
"Women are born detectives." Maggie shook her head and couldn't help but sigh.
In the evening, on time, Theodore appeared in Della's room with bruises on his face. Because the fight with Draco later developed into a prop battle, his left hand was also wrapped in bandages, and it took Madam Pomfrey some time to clean up the broken glass inside.
Della prepared tea. As the tea was steaming, she raised her hand to signal Theodore to sit down opposite her. She skipped the small talk and went straight to the point. "I think your scars are a good start for this conversation, Theodore."
Theodore touched the bruise on the corner of his lip with his right hand. The usually aloof boy hissed. This was the first time he joked in an exaggerated manner, which really hurt his face. "It hurts quite a bit, which allows me to give a better answer."
"Do you know that your expression just now was like Harry... um... more like Ron Weasley?" Della smiled and looked carefully at Theodore who had expressed his love to her.
"Really? That's a disaster." Theodore's eyebrows twitched, and his expression returned to normal as he spoke, "Then I'd better concentrate on the answer I should give."
"I'm listening." Della nodded.
"I got carried away," Theodore answered lightly, "I was so happy to see my rival break up that before I knew it, I was already showing off my once dishonorable love in front of him."
After saying that, Theodore opened his eyes again, "Oh, I have to add that my showing off was not done in private. My classmates have eyes, ears and mouths, so I couldn't control it later."
The hot steam from the teapot's spout gradually thinned. Della's pupils followed the white steam that was still trying to rise. She was neither angry about the rumors nor as sharp as when she chatted with Maggie in the morning. "Is this the answer you choose to give?"
"You are calmer than I expected, Riddle." Theodore looked at Della's face intently and smiled faintly.
"You keep giving answers, but you haven't confirmed the question with me." Della didn't look at Theodore, her eyes still following the increasingly thin white mist. "But your answer is correct, because I just want to ask 'how did things become like this', not 'why did things become like this'."
Della was not an emotional idiot, she certainly knew that Theodore volunteered to be that person for her.
Love...why do I love her...
This was the only thing Della couldn't understand. She couldn't understand why Draco loved her, and she couldn't understand why Theodore loved her.
"So, I answered your question, Riddle," Theodore blinked slowly, and the emotions that had been carefully restrained finally broke through a small hole and leaked out from his mouth in a suppressed voice, "Then why did you ask a question after hearing the answer?"
Is there any other expectation?
Are you looking forward to his love?
Hearing this, Della's eyes left the almost disappeared heat, and she looked at Theodore, "I just thought that you would take the opportunity to ask for more."
More, just more. Theodore noticed that Della did not qualify this "more". It was vague and full of imagination. Praise, benefits and emotions were all possible.
Theodore's heart began to beat violently, and the heat spreading from his heart caused his eyes to blur for a very short time. In that harmless blur, he saw that he was holding Della's hand and praying for love, but in reality, he just smiled indifferently.
"You're not wrong about me, Riddle. I want more," Theodore said, the trance that slowly spread across his face concealing his actual enthusiasm, "but I still have the rationality to wait for the right opportunity. I'm looking forward to the opportunity for us to have this kind of chat again in the future, and I'm even more looking forward to the opportunity to say what I want 'more'."
"......" Della just looked at Theodore, without avoiding his gaze or responding to his words.
The conversation did not last long. When Theodore came out, Maggie, who was waiting for him outside the door, had not yet gotten tired of the little magic she had been trying to create over the past two days. Under the snowflakes created by his magic that did not melt and might even be worth seeing if they touched people directly, another kind of icy white mist surrounded Theodore when he went out.
The door behind him closed with a click, and Theodore found that the seemingly ethereal white mist made him unable to move at all. He could only look at Maggie with his eyes squinting, "Sir?"
"How much do you want to be with Della?" Maggie asked, "and how much do you want Della to be with you?"
There was obviously some trap in the two questions that were repeated in most of the sentence. Theodore was still calm and did not choose to answer either of them. "If I don't come up, someone else will. Sir, believe me, I will be the one who is least worried."
After a brief silence, the "zila" sound often made by hot oil was heard, and the coldness receded as the white steam became stronger and stronger. The mottled snow on the ground disappeared, and the restraints on Theodore also disappeared.
"Oh, you're a smart man." Maggie glanced at him coldly, then turned and left in the white mist, "I hope you can always be so smart, and you can also--"
Maggie turned her head, a little red light flashed in her eyes, and she showed a grim smile that didn't match her gentle and handsome face. "Always so useful."
Maggie knew that he couldn't touch Draco now. With such a big restriction, he probably couldn't prevent the impulsive and childish boy from offending Della. At this moment, Theodore, who had ulterior motives, could really fill his needs.
But there is still a long time to go, and Della will continue to grow up. His girl will eventually grow up to the point where she can laugh off everything.
At that time, no one will be of any use.