Seeker of my Heart

10. Beast

I stopped abruptly as I entered the Gryffindor Quidditch locker rooms. I was running a little behind for practice as Professor Weasley insisted I help him clean up a small mess I may or may not have caused. We were slotted to have a practice in the afternoon because Vyanya really wanted to win the Quidditch cup this year and she secretly hated us all. But I loved flying and my only opportunities came when we played so I loved her for it.

Until I saw who waited by the lockers, joking casually with his friends. Yoongi hadn't spoken a word to me since the incident in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Not a peep. Even in classes where it was required that we talk, he refused to acknowledge my presence.

It made me hate him so deeply that I began to hate myself because I still loved him.

Maybe I was just destined to want things I could never have: My mother back from the dead. A father who loved and supported me. The world to accept me for what I was instead of telling me all the ways I would never be good enough. Love from a prickly boy the rest of the school feared.

I growled as I stomped over to my locker, which of course had to be located right next to Jimin's because fuck my luck. Jimin gave me a strange look, his eyes softening with sympathy before he moved to give me more space. I looked over my shoulder to thank him only to realize that while Jeongguk was smiling hello to me, Yoongi still pretended like I didn't exist.

This was worse than before. Maybe because I had decided that I would never be nothing to him again and now he treated me as less than nothing. Maybe because I'd started to think of our constant battling as strange flirtation. Maybe because even if he hated me, at least I existed in his world.

I frowned at those ideas as I grabbed my Quidditch robes from my locker and quickly replaced my school robes. I smiled an evil little thing to myself. Yoongi would never find me complacent or demure again. That Cassandra died when I realized I didn't care if he liked me back. I shook my head, I cared very much if he liked me back, but I couldn't make him. Nothing I did, said or didn't do would make him like me. So I was done pretending to be something around him I was not.

I grabbed my rickety, old broom from my locker and slammed the door shut before stomping over to Vyanya. She was busy putting her robes on and greeted me with a bright smile that was almost happy enough to wipe away my sour mood.

Almost.

"What is he doing here?" I asked, making my voice loud enough to carry over the entire room and drown out all other conversation.

"Yoongi?" Vyanya asked curiously, as if there was another intruder in our midst.

"Yes, the Slytherin little midget shit Seeker." I seethed. I could feel his cold hatred landing on me from across the room. I sneaked a look at him and glowered as our eyes met.

"He came to watch Jimin and Jeongguk." She shrugged nonchalantly. Either she was too in her brain to notice my mood or she was purposely ignoring it.

"Tell him to wait in the stands like every other outsider." I snapped.

I was too angry to care if my harsh words against their friend would make Jimin and Jeongguk grow to hate me. I was too angry at my best friend for ignoring my feelings and laughing at me. I was too angry at myself for allowing Yoongi's continued dismissal of my life to make me feel so low. I was just too angry at this point to care about the consequences of anything I did.

"You don't need to act like such a child, Shaw." Yoongi drawled from across the room, his tone dripping with superiority. "I only came to cheer my friends on. I wasn't even aware you were on the team."

I scowled as I felt as my ears, neck and cheeks burn in embarrassment as I turned toward him. I knew he was lying. We'd both been on our house teams since third year. "Bullshit." I snapped before I could stop myself. My utterance would only prove that I was way more aware of him than he was of me.