laconic • t.nott ✓

12 ➺ detention

「 DETENTION」

ONE NIGHT, JUST WEEKS BEFORE the Christmas holiday, Theo found an unlikely but pleasant company in his late-night, sleepless, near-the-fire expedition. He was lazily flipping through his Divination book, trying to make sense of the eccentric future telling processes when someone flicked him on the ear and flopped down beside him. He scowled but his expression soon morphed into a smile when he realised it was Daphne, whose face still bore the scar from her detention a few nights ago.

"Welcome to the sleepless club," he greeted cheerfully, raising an invisible goblet for a toast. "What's up?"

The smile faded from her face as she looked into the fire. "I can't sleep with her just two beds away from me," she said in a small voice and Theo knew immediately who she was talking about. "When I fall asleep, I see her in my nightmares, and I fear that she's going to press a pillow on my face until I choke and die."

A shiver ran down Theo's spine. He knew Daphne's fears were baseless, that Pansy wouldn't dare do such a thing. But when sitting in a large room dimly lit by a single fire casting a greenish glow on the walls, he couldn't dismiss her fears just like that. They felt real, as real as the fear of You-Know-Who walking into Hogwarts and killing all blood traitors in cold blood.

"I'm sorry, Daphne," he said quietly. "You could go sleep in your sister's dorms."

She smiled a little, although her face looked fearful. "Why? Don't you like my company?"

"That's not what I said -"

"I know, I know." She laughed. "I don't want to bother my sister. She'll be worried sick if I tell her things like this. I'd rather not scare her."

Theo watched her for a moment. He had no siblings, but he had noticed several remarkable aspects of having a little sibling from hanging out with Blaise. How overly protective he was of Corben and how angry he got when someone so much as raised their voice against Corben. It made him wish he had a younger brother or sister as well.

As Daphne shifted in her seat to be more comfortable, the firelight brought the scar on her face into stronger focus. It ran over her left cheek, from the corner of her eyebrow, down to her jaw. It was faded but still had a purplish tint.

"Are you still not going to tell me what they did to you in detention?" he asked.

Daphne smiled suddenly, taking him aback. "You don't need to know, Theo."

"Why not?" he pleaded. "I'm your friend, I deserve to know."

"It was nothing. Don't worry about me."

Theo couldn't make anything of the change in Daphne. Before the detention, she was terrified out of her wits, trembling like a leaf in the wind. She had made herself scarce and spoke very little. Astoria had tried to comfort her, but she refused to go on with her daily life.

When she returned from the detention, however, she was as good as new. Nothing of the scared, trembling Daphne remained. She was as confident as she used to be, made jokes with her friends, and ranted about Draco to Theo. It was like the scar that the Carrows had inflicted on her had somehow drowned all her fears.

He decided to let her know his thoughts.

When he finished, Daphne didn't speak for a moment but sat there pulling on the sleeves of her jumper. When Theo decided that she wasn't going to speak, she opened her mouth.

"If you saw what they did to Neville, you wouldn't worry about this stupid scar either."

"You were there when they tortured Neville?"