After Andrew had left Harry back at the private office to gather his breath, Harry eventually left to attend his classes at the commoner classrooms.
Most of the students were surprised to see him there.
After all, seeing that he was doing quite well for himself—moving from a common sector to a new midline dormitory, him rising from an ordinary student to a Vice President closer to the Mayfair Prince, and having Andrew finally acknowledge his existence along with their child—everyone had assumed that his classes would proceed to the elite sector as well.
Harry paid everyone no mind.
He sat at his desk in the back, focus locked entirely on scrambling up the assignment he was assigned later than everyone else, determined to finish it up before submitting it the very same day.
His fingers moved quickly across his papers, his jaw tight.
The day seemed to have flowed quite smoothly for him, but the only problem was just that he missed Lolleta dearly.
Having her closer to the campus now made his chest ache and making him itch to just go and visit her at any chance that he would get.
‘No, let’s be patient, Harry,’ he assured himself as he looked down at his wristwatch, a little panicked.
‘We only have an hour left until break time, then you can go have lunch with Lolly.’
But suddenly an hour was starting to feel like a decade.
Just then as he was focused on scribbling his assignment, a loud, giddy girl stormed inside the class, speaking aloud as she looked around.
Finally, her eyes met Harry’s, and she waved at him, smiling widely.
“Baby, there you are!”
Everyone in the room gasped, first looking at Alice Valentine and then snapping their heads back to Harry.
Perhaps in their minds, they were certain that Harry was back together with Andrew Mayfair, not Alice.
After all the morning spectacle from Andrew Mayfair convinced them otherwise.
“Isn’t she the ex from three years ago?” The whispers instantly surged from the corners of the class, hiss-whispered over open notebooks.
“Yes, it’s her… she was cheated on with Sir Andrew Mayfair and Harry got pregnant and left her. But they seem like they’re at it again.”
“Wait, but McGuire just got back with Sir Andrew too. Will he be okay?”
“Perhaps Sir Andrew is only co-parenting for the sake of the child, they are not back together, who knows?… But I never expected Alice Valentine to crawl back to him though, especially after what he did to her.”
Harry let out a loud sigh, his shoulders slumping as he packed his stuff into his bag.
He had already grown incredibly irritable from all the unending, toxic rumors about him and Andrew.
He just wanted to get out of the room immediately and catch a breather.
“Let me help you pack up,” Alice said, stepping up to his desk.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” Harry muttered.
Alice giggled as she helped Harry pack up his stationery.
Once everything was shoved away, they both stepped out of the room, heading outside to take a walk through the courtyard.
******
“So it’s true!” Alice chirped as they walked along the stone path, her eyes analyzing Harry’s new, pristine uniform.
“You are the Vice Prez now. Damn, you must be truly annoyed by the attention this gets you.”
“You know me very well,” Harry said, adjusting his collar.
“I never wanted this.”
“Of course I know that much, that man must have coerced you to agree in some way.”
“He used his own daughter as leverage to coerce me,” Harry admitted, a bitter edge to his voice.
“And you know how crazy he is, so I had no choice but to accept it all.”
“He is still a scumbag,” Alice said, shaking her head.
“He will never change.”
Harry scoffed, completely agreeing with her.
After all, he had experienced firsthand that very morning exactly how crazy Andrew could always be.
“Anyway, Alice, what are your plans for the evening?” Harry asked, wanting to shift the subject away from the vile King of St Jude’s.
Harry smiled, a dark, defiant thought crossing his mind.
He pulled her closer for a sudden, firm kiss, purposefully making a public statement right there in the open courtyard to stir up even more rumors and confuse the watching students.
“You know I will be available for you any time that you want me to,” Alice murmured against his lips.
“Then come see my new dormitory this evening,” Harry said, smirking down at her.
“But since I have a roommate now, you won’t be able to sleep over.”
“It’s cool. Just as long as I spend time with you.”
She pulled him down for another kiss, and Harry groaned, deepening it, his hands falling naturally around her waist to hold her tight.
But just then—
“An evening visit is a no-no. Who fucking gave you the permission to bring girls over?”
Lucas’s cold voice behind them startled Alice.
She jumped slightly, and Harry sighed for a moment before slowly turning around to look at him.
“Can’t I just get a moment for myself without bumping into you or the Mayfairs around here?” Harry snapped, his hands dropping from Alice’s waist.
“I truly can’t stand you guys.”
“So?” Lucas asked flatly with a slight shrug.
“So what? Didn’t you hear what I just said, Lucas?”
“I did…” Lucas said, a disgusted smirk stretching across his face as he scowled at Harry.
“But who cares about what you think?”
Harry sighed, clenching his fists to hold himself back from swinging at him.
“What do you want, Lucas? Just say your piece and then leave us alone, man.”
Lucas just blinked.
“Mhm, well, I happened to overhear your conversation while I was silently passing by,” Lucas said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“And it just caught my attention because what do you mean by bringing her over to my dormitory without my permission?”
“I never knew I needed your permission to bring a guest over to where I stay,” Harry countered, stepping in front of Alice.
“Well, now you do, and my answer will remain as no,” Lucas delivered coldly.
“No outer guests allowed, not even if she’s your girlfriend. Even Malfoy obliged by these rules, and I expect you to do the same as well.”
“Then too bad I am not that fucking Malfoy,” Harry hissed, his silver eyes flashing with rage.
“That stray dog is dead, and I will do as I please because I also live there.”
The veins on Lucas’s neck popped instantly, his jaw clenching in deep displeasure at how Harry had regarded Malfoy.
“Don’t talk about Malfoy like that,” Lucas hissed, taking a step forward.
“To begin with, that is my room, and you never signed any document that acknowledged you as my roommate. Andrew only temporarily placed you there for the sake of your safety, nothing else but that. So don’t overstep the boundaries. Not even Andrew can help you to convince me otherwise. So know your place.”
Lucas suddenly gathered his composure and he remained entirely calm and cold as he folded his arms, looking directly down his nose at Harry.
Harry glared right back at him, the tension between them building into a silent, underlying battle that Alice couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
“Uhm, Harry,” Alice spoke up softly, her hand gently touching his arm to pull him back.
“I think it’s best we postpone the plans for another time. We can just meet like this for now until we come up with an alternative plan?”
She caressed Harry’s face gently, leaning up to give him a soft, parting peck on the cheek.
“Alice, sorry about this,” Harry muttered, his eyes still locked on Lucas.
“It’s okay, baby, I understand that not everyone is favorable towards you around here,” Alice said, before turning an annoyed glare toward Lucas.
“And besides… he is just one of his lackeys.”
Lucas didn’t even blink.
Alice scoffed loudly, turning back to Harry.
“Call me before going to bed. We’ll talk then.”
“Yes, just wait for my call,” Harry said, giving her one last kiss.
Alice finally parted from him, walking away down the stone path, giving Lucas a final, hateful glance that he didn’t even pay attention to.
Lucas’s eyes were solely glaring at Harry.
“What was that, Lucas?” Harry demanded the moment Alice was out of earshot.
“What the fuck is your problem?”
“My problem is the fact that I have to endure living with a jerk like yourself under the same roof,” Lucas said, his voice dripping with venom.
“At first, I thought you and I would get along because of Malfoy, because of the connection we shared through him. But now I truly believe that it is impossible. You are no longer the Harry we adored with your brother. You do as you please, and you treat everyone else like they are beneath you.”
“Adore me my ass,” Harry spat, stepping into Lucas’s space.
“You two were fucking fake bastards from the very beginning. Especially you.”
“And what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Lucas’s voice dropped into a dangerous tone, getting bolder.
“I don’t have time for your nonsense right now, Lucas,” Harry said, turning his back.
“I deal with it enough when we are at the dormitory, so don’t try to ruin my ordinary school days as well. Just because Andrew’s poison is rubbing off on you doesn’t mean that you should rub it on me as well.”
“That tone…” Lucas hissed, swiftly catching Harry by the shoulder and pulling him back.
“That’s the tone that makes everyone unable to stand you you fucking McGuire bastard”
“Do you think I care about what other motherfuckers think?” Harry countered, his glare remaining completely unfazed as he ripped his shoulder away from Lucas’s grip.
Lucas’s eyes suddenly dropped down to Harry’s exposed neck, noticing the deep, dark finger marks beginning to form on his skin.
A cruel smirk stretched across his face.
“No wonder you get your body battered up by everyone you come across,” Lucas mocked in pure disgust.
He reached out with both hands, mockingly adjusting Harry’s collar to hide the marks.
“It is proof enough that no one can stand you. I see another one managed to strangle you while we weren’t looking huh?”
Harry scoffed, violently slapping Lucas’s hands away from his chest.
“Just like I said, I don’t fucking—”
“Mind yourself, Harry,” Lucas interrupted, his voice turning dead and serious.
“If you continue going on like this, you might find yourself lying down in a ditch somewhere, where no one else can find you….And in this school, anything is possible.”
Lucas gave him one final, cold warning look before turning to walk away toward the main hall.
“Lucas, I thought you were a nice guy…” Harry called out after him, his voice echoing against the courtyard walls.
“But seeing you now… once again, I am convinced that you were truly a fake. A snake wearing human skin, yet pointing at others as snakes.”
Lucas stopped, turning his head just enough to flash a dark, pitying smile over his shoulder.
“Well, if I am a snake, then that makes you the fool, Harry,” Lucas delivered smoothly.
“A fool that struts around as if the ball is in his court, while you don’t even know what is truly going on around you.”
Lucas fully turned on his heel, his voice trailing back as he disappeared into the crowd.
“You are no better, Harry McGuire. I’m the snake and you are the fool.”
Harry just stood there, watching him leave, his insides twisting in absolute, burning disdain.
He clutched his chest, the phantom weight of Andrew’s grip and Lucas’s words suffocating him all over again.
“If Andrew wants to kill me…” Harry muttered to himself, his silver eyes dark with a wild, dangerous focus.
“…then I definitely don’t want to die before killing that guy.”
“Fucking Lucas.”