Violet's eyes fluttered open and she found herself laying in the bed of her bedroom with no recollection of how she got there. Her shoes off, her dress still on and a massive head ache from all the crying she's been doing.

She sat up in her bed, rubbing her temples as her she scanned her bedroom with blurry vision. There's no one else but her, like the usual but her being in here has to mean that Thomas brought her up and came inside.

He's never been inside.

A tired groan escaped her swollen lips as she stepped onto the cold wooden floor of her bedroom. Her bare feet felt tired as they began to sweep across the room, all the way to the two gold doors in the middle of the room. She gripped the handles with little to no force, pulling the heavy doors open only to see it's night out.

The lanterns on the walls are turned on and the house smells of candles, like the ones lighted almost every night by Thomas. It's no mystery to her as to why, Violet's known all along.

She inhales the familiar scent as she walks down the corridor, making her way to the kitchen for a cup of tea. Her fingers trail along the staircases banister as she goes down into the hall where a woman's handbag is beside the bottom of the staircase.

Her chest tightens but she continues walking past it, trying not to care about the obvious cheating her husband is doing upstairs. It's just obvious karma from her past relationship with Draco.

"Madam you're awake." The feminine voice startles her and she turns with her hand pressed against her chest. "Forgive me, it wasn't my intention to startle you. Would you like for me to get you something?"

"Thank you, Karla, but there's no need." Violet continues walking, now side by side with the house keeper. "I am capable of making myself a cup of tea. I used to do it myself when I lived in my flat. Surely they came out proper tasty cups."

"That was long ago, Ms." Karla insists as they enter the large kitchen. "You are the woman of this house, relax. This is what I am here for."

Violet takes a seat on a high chair at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "You're too kind." she smiles and reaches for a Daily Prophet from the stack. Her eyes catch the front page where her and Thomas were caught holding hands at the cemetery. "The context to this photograph compared to the headline is absolute rubbish."

"Don't pay attention to the writers of the Daily Prophet madam." Karla speaks as she pours water into the kettle on the stove top. "As long as you know the truth, nothing else should matter."

"I suppose you're right." Violet turns to the kitchen door, catching the woman run down the stairs in a hurry from Thomas' bedroom. Her eyes fall to her own lap and she sighs in disappointment. "Karla? Did Thomas take me to my bedroom earlier this evening?"

Karla stood silent for a couple more seconds as she poured water from the whistling kettle into a fancy tea cup. She dropped a tea bag into the cup and turned to place it before Violet, still not answering her question.

"Karla? I do believe I asked you a question."

It isn't custom for Violet to raise her voice or show anger towards the staff of the house but she has little to no patience today. After all she has just buried her father.

"No madam." Karla kept her head down and her arms held in front of her. "Mr. Nott refused to step foot into your chambers, it was I who took you in. He instructed me to madam."

Violet held the tea cup up to her lips as she sighed into it, letting the steam cloud her vision. She kept her eyes on the Daily Prophet beside her as she began parting her lips for the hot liquid to run down her throat. Her stomach warmed up instantly and she set the cup back down onto the tiny dish, biting onto her lower lip.

"Thank you, Karla." she finally spoke. "You may step out now."

She paid no attention to the head bow Karla gave her before stepping out because her mind was fogged with the memories of today. The way she asked Thomas to take her home and how caring and kind he was towards her in the car and even in the cemetery. It isn't often she get's to see that side of him, let alone have the side be for her.

Her hand picks up the paper once again, angling it for her to see the moving photograph again. It breaks her heart to see how uncaring and inconsiderate the people of the wizarding world are. Her father died and she gets labeled as the uncaring daughter who stepped away from his casket with her husband.

"incendio."

The spell muttered under her breath sets the paper on fire as she drops it flat onto the marble counter top. She takes a deep breath and watches it turn to ashes before her eyes, creating a pile of it beside her cup of tea.

Her attention is moved away from the sound of running steps coming from the hall and she turns only to see Thomas. He runs down the stairs as he throws a shirt over his head and slides it down his broad body. But it's not long before he catches her staring and his eyes widen.

It may be because she saw him shirtless or because she was there while his lover ran out the door.

"Don't worry -" she speaks as he walks into the kitchen and she trails her finger around the rim of her tea cup. "- she didn't see me."

"I apologize, I imagined you'd still be asleep in your bedroom." he too pours himself water from the kettle on the stove before rummaging through cabinets for tea bags. "For fucks sake, where the hell are the tea bags? I feel like I don't know my own kitchen."

"You sure know how to sneak someone out though."

Her remark causes Thomas to turn with a scolding look on his face before he slams the bottom drawer shut with anger. She rolls her eyes behind his back and takes another sip of her tea, enjoying to watch as he struggles to find what he wants.

"Top right cabinet." she speaks lowly, causing a halt in his actions before he reaches to open the cabinet and all the tea bags are there. "Karla mentioned you not wanting to take me to my bedroom earlier."

"Did she?" he questions angrily with his back facing her as he uses a spoon to stir the milk he's poured into his tea. "I reckon she told you how I had a meeting to get to yeah?"

He turns around and places his dish on the island, across from Violet's. His hand runs through the sweaty curls on his forehead, adjusting them back so Violet can see him better.

"No, she did not actually." Violet raises an eyebrow. "But it does not matter who took me up, you could have just woken me. You know I despise being taken care of."

There's no solid reason in Thomas' head for Violet's hate of being cared for by others. But in hers it all trails back to Draco and how he'd go out of his way to get her needs and make sure she was taken care of everywhere she was.

Every little thing remains her of him so she's turned it all into feelings of hate and regret. She's fueled this anger in her over the past year and every month he didn't come back it just grew bigger until the thought of his name disgusted her. There was no telling what Violet would feel if he were to ever come back but she stopped counting the days months ago.

"Are you going out tonight?" Thomas changes the subject, not wanting to create an altercation he can't get himself out of.

Violet's eyes shrink into lines as a crease forms between her eyebrows and her lips purse over her tea cup. She takes a long sip before aggressively setting her cup back down on her dish.

"Don't ask me that." she replies with disgust in her tone. "You never have before so don't start. It's appalling." Violet steps off her high chair and tucks her hair behind her ear. "You know what? I think we've had enough of this conversation; I'll see you at work tomorrow."

"Yeah." Thomas scoffs under his breath as he watches Violet walk off into the hall. He turns to the pile of ashes next to her tea and furrows his eyebrows.

His hand hovers over the pile as he begins to whisper words, causing the spell used to reverse. The pile of ash turns back into the Daily Prophet and clear as day, the photograph of him and Violet. He takes his bottom lip in between his teeth anxiously and he just stares blankly at it, not knowing how to react.

She burned it which means the feelings she was giving him from the cemetery and the car are completely gone. So, it's a good thing he lied about taking her to her bedroom and it's a good thing Karla listened when he told her not to say a word. He couldn't have Violet knowing he cared enough to take her into her bedroom and tuck her into bed. It's best things stay the way they are.

-

Violet made her way up the grand stair case with her blood boiling up from how irritated Thomas had made her. It's a miracle they had such a long conversation when the usual days only hello's are spoken between the pair.

Her tongue trailed in circles inside her cheek as she slammed her bedroom door shut. She just wants a quiet night with no interruptions but to her surprise, there's someone on her bed.

A frustrated sigh escapes her lips and her eyes practically roll to the back of her head. It doesn't take words for him to annoy her either, she thought he would have left her alone after she married Thomas but she was wrong.

"I told you I have nothing to say to you Theodore." she crosses her arms over her chest, shaking her head at the man in front of her view. "You need to stop showing up in my bedroom and my home unannounced."

Theo's hands fell on his lap and he lifted his head, showing a face full of cuts and bruises. The sudden reveal made her heart drop and her instant reaction was to rush to him. Her fingers gripped his chin and she moved his head to examine how deep the cuts were on his cheek bones and the slice on his bottom lip.

"Who did this to you?" her tone changes softly. "Tell me."

Violet lifts her left hand in the air beside her and a pack of cotton pads appears with a bottle of rubbing alcohol to clean the cuts. She waits for his response but he does nothing, just stares into her eyes with tears in his.

She drops her hands and sighs with a frown on her face. "I'm going to clean you up but I need you to know that in now way does this change anything between us." her voice is soothing to him but her words pierce his heart. "I can't forgive you and you can't just come into my bedroom hurt to look for sympathy."

"Is that what you think I'm here for?" he questions, finally speaking. "Sympathy?"

"Then why are you here Theodore?" Violet raises her voice, tossing the cotton pads and alcohol on the bed next to him. "Because it sure as hell isn't that we are on such good terms for you to be here. A year ago, you made your decision and I haven't stopped hating you for it. So, I don't understand why you continue to come here?"

For a moment, Theo stood defeated, silent for the longest because he didn't know how to reply. And it's because he doesn't even know the reason, he comes here almost every night for the past year. If it's to see the girl he hasn't stopped loving since the day they met or to remind himself of every shitty thing he did to lose her so that he can do better?

Violet stood at his feet, her head straight to avoid looking down at the man she's so angry at. She can't seem to look at him most of the time he shows up because she's reminded that he chose this life for her and he traded her for a job. A job he never ended up receiving to say the least.

"I should go." Theo breaks the silence as he pushes himself off the mattress with his hands pressed into the soft sheets. "Don't worry, this is the last time I'll show up here."

It didn't hit her until now that maybe the reason he always kept coming back was because she never gave him a reason not to. Maybe she's been wanting him to come back? But that doesn't mean she won't continue to stand her ground.

"G-good." her voice quivers, tears forming in her eyes as she watches him turn his back on her. "That's how it should have been since the start."

Violets breathing began to shake as angry tears ran down her cheeks but he wasn't leaving. He just stood there, his back facing her and his shoulders moving with his rough breathing.

"Violet-"

"You traded me!" Violet's voice broke as she interrupted him, finally letting her emotions seep through and not holding back. "I loved you and you traded me! You didn't stick up for me and you chose a job over me, the person who was with you through everything! I chose you over everything!"

Theo turns around, seeing the broken-down woman in front of him. The woman who used to be his and he fucked it up.

Violet breathes in roughly and clenches her jaw, blinking repeatedly to get the tears out of her eyes. She raises her chin and eyes him down with rosy cheeks. "You disgust me!" she shouts angrily. "And now I'm giving you a reason to never come back."