So, Freedom? [closed]
It had been approximately forty-five days, six hours and twelve minutes since Cecilia had been taken into custody. Not that she was counting. No. It felt like a lifetime even when she knew that it was nothing compared to those who had been in here since the last War, or hell, even the first one. She couldn't help but think about Gabriel and the
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This was her worst nightmare, a room full of strangers, witches and wizards with a mentality different form her own, raised differently in nearly every way, and they were going to judge her for what came next. And she knew that no matter how she felt right now she had to make her argument as compelling as possible, make them understand see the struggle of a woman who was given every privilege in life and how difficult it could be to rebel against the world that raised you, nurtured you, provided for you. She had to make them see that Cecilia was different, not only for her best friend but for the baby and for herself. It was selfish but Daphne needed Cecilia, maybe now more than ever.
"Cecilia Jacobs is the best person I know. She saved my life when we were younger-" she started, her voice even and cool as she held the gaze of the council. They weren't going to intimidate her or make her feel small just because she was admitting her own weaknesses to showcase Cecilia's strengths.
"When I was sixteen my father approached me about taking The Mark-" Daphne paused, watching the crowd shift. Her father had very recently been named as an escaped Death Eater, though it wasn't that much of a surprise.
Now here was the part that she had only ever told to a small number of people, actually just one. Cormac McLaggen.
And now she was about to dive into the messy details of her past with the entire Wizarding World.
"I didn't know where to turn. I saw no other way out than to comply with my father and take The Mark, become a Death Eater like so many of my family and my peers. But then Dumbledore approached me-"
Somebody spoke up then, cracked the silence surrounding Daphne.
"And how did Dumbledore know to reach out to you, Miss Greengrass?"
"Cecilia Jacobs. She had already found refuge from the world we were expected to live in, the world we felt pressure from our parents and our other peers, the friends we'd known since birth, to join. We were never asked if this was the life we wanted. This was the life we were created for. But Cecilia was brave enough to break free on her own and she saw me stumble, she saw me suffer, and she found a way to take me with her."
Daphne blinked, realizing that there were tears in her eyes and her throat was dry. Though, her heartbeat had slowed down by now, eerily so.
She was so out of her element that her body wasn't quite sure how to react. But she had to keep pushing through.
"It's already been put on the record what Cecilia did after she had found herself on the right side but nobody but me knows how difficult it was for her to actually get there. Well, Dumbledore knew, of course, but he's not here to speak on her behalf so I'm going to. It may have taken her some time and that wasn't because she didn't want it or that she doubted her place in the way. It was because if we didn't do everything by the book, live up to every expectation, and keep up that front, then we would have been killed. Make absolutely no mistake in that. We may be the children of Death Eaters but that did not grant us leniency. It put us in the heart of their abuse and their hate. We are not privileged by the life we were born into. We are burdened by it."
Daphne started to pull herself to her feet, smooth out her tailored charcoal gray dress as she did so.
"Make no mistake, Cecilia Jacobs is a hero. Not only because she helped win this war, a fact that has been completely overlooked, but because she gave other Pureblood children, such as myself, the hope that we can live another way."
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He was evading Daphne for the moment.
He'd heard so much about her past when they were in hiding. He'd learned so much about her. But even still, there were secrets he didn't know. Now, as her testimony betrayed her hidden past, he was a bit shell-shocked, a bit shaken by all that Daphne (and Cecilia) had been through in their lives.
But when he caught that look in her eye, the impossible to ignore wreck of nerves she was trying so hard to hide, he couldn't help but sink down on the bench beside her, arm curving around her shoulders.
"You did good-" he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Really good, Daph-"
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She felt physically exhausted now and the wait was just wearing her down. She leaned against Cormac, used him as a literal support. Though, she was endlessly grateful he was there for support in every sense of the word.
"Do you think it was enough?" she asked, her voice dry and raspy as she looked up at him.
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It didn't matter if it was or it wasn't. As of this precise moment, Cormac was more concerned with how this was going to make Daphne feel, how this was going to affect her. It was just such a huge step-
"I think they'd be fools to keep her locked up after everything-" he told her, though he kept his voice soft.
Though, he was having a hard time not thinking they were foolish period. It never surprised him to see how much the government could fail them all time and time again.
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It a relief to hear so many testimonies, so many people who adored Cecilia as much as she did. Though. she knew that nobody could offer the information she had. Daphne only hoped that they'd value it as much as she did.
"Thank you for coming with me."
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He couldn't think of anywhere else he could be. He'd realized a long time ago that Daphne was his life now. And he needed it that way.
"Everything is going to be fine," he told her. "It can't go any other way-"
He figured the more he said it, the more it was likely to come true, right?
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She needed him. They had become partners and it was comforting and thrilling in many ways.
But right now it was just comforting, in the way that made her way to curl up in bed in one of his shirts and fall asleep to the rhythm of his breathing. Which, was exactly what she planned on doing when this was all over.
"Yes, it'll be fine. It had to be fine-"
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He took in the sight of everyone around them. People he hardly knew, or even liked half of the time. But they were all here for the same reason and in that, he felt a little solace.
"Hey-" he said, turning to face her more fully. "You were incredible up there-"
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"I've only ever told you the story before-" she admitting, though she had a feeling that he knew that already. She wasn't exactly forthcoming with her past.
"I know I sounded weak-"
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"Don't say that-" he said, voice quiet. "That's the last word I would ever use to describe you, Daph-"
It would never enter his vocabulary.
"The strength you showed up there- hell, Daph, no one else here could have done that-"
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But it wasn't. It was Cecilia and Cormac, the two people she trusted most on this Earth.
"I couldn't have done it with out you here," she told him, lacing their fingers together. "You're everything to me Cormac. You've never doubted me."
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But he knew they had to stay. They had to stay and wait and cross their fingers and hope to Merlin that this was all going to come out alright.
"Daph- you um- you think maybe after this is all over- after Cecilia is settled-" talking in the positive would help, right? He cleared his throat. "Maybe you ought to come and stay with me- um, permanently."
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All she could think about was Cormac and what his suggestion actually implied.
Her heart fluttered.
"You want me to move in?" she asked, as if there was any doubt in the way he phrased it himself.
It was a big step, though it wasn't as if they hadn't been doing that unofficially since they had made things official between the two of them.
And it wasn't any more serious than some of their more recent activities.
"Yes. Okay-" Daphne told him, the smallest hint of a smile pulling at her lips. "Yes. I want to move in with you."
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He felt shocked for a brief moment, as if her answer completely shook him (even if he had been playing out the conversation in his head for days now, playing all scenarios). But he couldn't help but smile brightly, no matter the circumstances, knowing that she wanted to be with him in the same way he wanted to be with her.
"Good-" he said, laughing softly. "Great. Yeah- we should- you know, do that immediately."
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"I'll pack as soon as Cecilia's released," she promised him, feeling somehow more confident now that her best friend would be free by the end of the day.
"I don't want to be away from you anymore. Not after everything-"
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And while he might say that word a lot with her, whenever she said 'I love you' or anything of the sort, he never didn't mean it. It was just that somethings, it was impossible for him to find the right words to convey just how he felt about Daphne.
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