STAY WITH ME | Draco x OC x Theo

15

"Where is she?" Lila Yates ran into the room wailing with tears streaming down her face. She was all blotchy and red from the news that her sister Opal was missing. "What happened to her?"

Clementine watched as McGonagall stood, wrapping her arms around the girl as she continued to sob. The headmistress waited for Lila to calm down, her cries turning into sniffles. "I'm sorry, Lila. I'm afraid we don't have much information at this time."

"She was out by the lake, wasn't she?" Lila's voice cracked. She looked around the room at the faces of professors who all stared back at her blankly. Her eyes welled up with fresh tears when she looked at Clementine, "I told her not to go. It's too close to the Forbidden Forest. She's the only family I've got left since... since..."

Lila began to cry again even harder than before. Theo pulled out a the nearest empty chair so she wouldn't fall to the floor as she collapsed into the seat. He glanced over at Clementine, his own eyes looked wet like he might cry as well. She could see the guilt in his eyes as the reminder of the war hit him hard. It made him uneasy seeing the casualties that had been left behind.

Clementine looked back at Theo sympathetically, wishing that he could read her mind that he was not responsible for what the Death Eaters did. He was just as much a casualty of war as anyone else. He was a victim too, forced to take the mark, unwillingly. He was a child who had no choice, just like—

Her eyes flickered upwards towards Draco. He was standing incredibly still, almost like a statue. He wasn't going to let any emotion escape him today; although, Clementine knew it was eating him from the inside out.

He felt the same way as Theo, he was just better at hiding it.

The sounds of Lila's sobs was beginning to be too much for Clementine to endure. She felt helpless, and it was crushing her. Lila was one of her favorite students, and the sadness was she was exuding was overwhelming. She had to excuse herself from the meeting to get away from the crushing wave of grief that made her feel like she was drowning.

Hiding herself in a dark stairwell, Clementine pulled out the Marauder's Map. She scanned it over and over, searching for Opal's name. She wasn't there, obviously.

It was like Opal Yates had vanished without a trace.

Clementine squeezed her eyes shut trying to picture the girl in her head. Opal looked like a miniature version of her sister, Lila. They had the same deep complexion, the same sparkling brown eyes, and brown hair to match.

She felt someone sit down beside her. His strong cologne, tobacco and vanilla, gave him away almost immediately.

"What's this?" Theo asked as he tugged at the map.

"Nothing." Clementine furiously shoved it back into her pockets. She looked up at him through her lashes and smiled faintly, "Hi."

"Hi." He repeated back to her, not willing to reciprocate the smile. He didn't seem the least bit interested in why Clementine was being so secretive as he peered down at her with concern, "You alright?"

"I should be asking you the same." Clementine let her hand graze his cheek as she stared into his blue eyes that looked like whirlpools of emotion. "I could see you in there. You know what happened to Lila's parents isn't your fault, right?"

Theo looked away, furrowing his brow as he stared at the wall. After a long beat of silence he began to speak, "It was my father."

"What?" Clementine shook her head in confusion. Theo hardly mentioned his parents even before the war. They weren't exactly his favorite people.

"Her mother was Delilah Yates. He knew Lila's mother was rescuing and hiding muggle born witches and wizards during the war. Him and his Death Eater friends killed her for it." The words poured out of his mouth like the most vile poison.