You lounged in your favorite armchair near the fireplace, absently twisting a strand of hair between your fingers, while Tom paced deliberately back and forth.

“That woman is driving me insane,” he began. “How can someone so small be such a colossal distraction? She’s irritating beyond reason and seems utterly incapable of silence.”

Your eyes narrowed at his words. “I can hear every single word,” you said.

Tom stopped mid-stride and turned slowly to face you, his dark eyes locking onto yours. A faint, almost imperceptible smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. “I know.”

“You are such an @ss,” you bit out.

Tom took a step closer, his movements deliberate. “And you,” he replied smoothly, his voice like velvet over steel, “are insufferably loud.”

“And you’re arrogant,” you shot back, your voice rising slightly. The firelight caught the flush of anger on your cheeks. “I hate you.”

Tom leaned in closer, his face inches from yours now, and the air between you seemed to hum with tension. “I hate you even more.”

The room seemed to hold its breath, the murmurs of conversation and the crackle of the fire fading into an almost eerie silence. The intensity of his gaze pinned you in place, but before you could retaliate—or say something equally reckless—Theo, seated calmly in the corner with his usual air of indifference, broke the moment with a dry remark.

“Let me guess,” Theo said. “You two had s3x.”

Your gaze darted to Tom instinctively. His jaw tightened, his lips pressing into a thin line, and for a fleeting moment, you thought you saw a flicker of annoyance—or something else—cross his face. But he said nothing, his silence speaking louder than words.

Theo sighed, rubbing his temple with exaggerated exasperation. “Then please, for the love of Merlin, shut up.”

The quiet that followed was shattered by a sudden, sharp laugh from Lorenzo. It rang out like a crack in the tension, and soon others followed—Pansy chuckling behind her hand, Mattheo smirking broadly from his seat, clearly enjoying the chaos.