The corridor had emptied hours ago. Dinner had come and gone. The torches burned low and steady.

He kept staring at the door. The door that hadn't opened in six hours.

Merlin, just breathe. She's fine. They said she was stable. They said—

But his throat was tight, and his chest felt like someone had filled it with glass, and every time he blinked he saw them crumpled on the floor of the Defence classroom.

A door further down the corridor swung open. Mattheo and Lorenzo were walking back from the Great Hall, a bundle of chocolate and pumpkin pasties stuffed into Lorenzo's arms.

Draco and Mattheo exchanged a look over Theodore's head.

I don't care what they think. I'm not leaving. I'm not—

He pressed his palms flat against his knees to stop their shaking. It didn't work.

Somewhere deep in the castle, a clock chimed the hour. Nine o'clock.

Theodore's chest heaved. He blinked rapidly and dragged his sleeve across his face before anyone could see.