It had been a brutal twenty-four hours for Cecilia.
The recollection of what happened that day, the blacked out hours of time that she had been trying to solve for the past two months, were whipping around her head with no intention of leaving her. She almost regretted ever trying to understand it all in the first place. Wasn't an attack in an alley by a stranger far more preferable to deal with than hours of torture at the hands of one of her closest friends? And even though she knew that Lucius was behind it all- terrible, frightening, demented Lucius Malfoy- it was still Draco's face. Still his hands that had hurt her
( ... )
When the door finally opened, Daphne physically relaxed, thankful that Cecilia was actually home. Sometimes she had her shift schedule confused and she wasn't exactly in the right mind when she had been packing. As she approached the building it had dawned on Daphne that she may have gotten the days mixed up in her haste.
"I left Terry," she said simply, lifting up her larger than usual bag as proof.
Despite their conversation that weekend in the hospital Daphne didn't think that things would get this far. After all, her and Terry had pulled through much worse (like hiding her from her Death Eater father during a war).
Even so, here she was now needing a place to stay.
She blinked, letting the door shut behind Daphne, hearing the click fall into place. She kept her eyes on her best friend, her brow furrowed as she chewed on her bottom lip.
"Merlin-" she said. "Looks like that bottle of wine I was just about to open is going to serve more a purpose now-"
She was thankful the fire was going, as she rubbed her arms with her hands, her wet hair clinging to her neck.
Daphne dropped her bag down and began shrugging off of her peacoat, already feeling her face warm from the outside chill. It was a good thing Cecilia's flat was a home away from home.
"Honestly, I think you promised each of us our own bottles," she reminded her, a wicked grin on her face.
She probably should have been more upset than she was. The feeling just wasn't there.
"A lot has happened. Lectures, fighting, kissing other men, waking up early to sneak out for work. It's all very exhausting."
She tugged her fingers through her hair, letting the wet strands hit at her back as she moved into the kitchen. She grabbed two bottles of wine from the counter and somehow managed to juggle two rather large wine glasses along with it- though she was tempted to screw those and just drink out of the bottle.
She'd have to see how this conversation continued.
"I'm sorry- say that again-" she said, brows furrowing. "Who's kissing other men? Please tell me it's you-"
When Cecilia reached her Daphne reached out and took the wine bottles from her arms, very impressed with the balancing act honestly.
"Oh, the kissing part?" she asked, a sheepish smile on her lips as she placed the bottles on the coffee table. Daphne tapped her wand to the tops of the bottles and they uncorked themselves.
"Yes, that would have been me. Last night. With a client."
"Snogging a client, Daphne?" she asked, before sinking down onto the couch, crossing her legs underneath her. "Merlin- you're really done, aren't you? How did Terry take it?"
She had to admit- this wasn't much of a shock- the breaking up part. She had known as much from their last chat that things were up in the air- and when Daphne put her mind to something.
"I know, it's shameful, isn't it?" she sighed, dropping down to the couch next to Cecilia, her own wine in hand. It was clear that she had decided to skip the glass all together. There really wasn't a point in it.
She was dressed down in her jeans and a blouse which, of course, wouldn't have been casual to anybody but Daphne. She just didn't have it in her to put on a skirt that morning.
At the mention of Terry, Daphne's face twisted up. Maybe that pang was guilt.
"I haven't actually told Terry yet. But I left a note-"
Cecilia leaned back into the cushions, curling herself up in the corner as she rested her head on her arm. This was a whole new side of Daphne- jeans, snogging, drinking straight from the bottle.
This was certainly serious.
"Well, if that's what you can do right now, it's enough," she said, nodding. "The most important thing to do is focus right on you-"
Then, she couldn't help but smile.
"And focus on telling me about this bloke you snogged-"
Daphne felt like she was fifteen again, running around snogging boys for the fun of it and curling up with Cecilia to tell her all about it. It didn't matter at the time who she hurt in the process, just what they could do for her in return.
After everything that she had been through in the last decade it felt refreshing to feel so carefree.
She wasn't going to let a silly thing like a breakup bring her down.
"Terry must have seen this coming. I wouldn't worry about him," she said, waving it off.
"But last night, well, I took this man on a walk through of a new venue. We had some champagne, a nice dinner, a little dancing-"
"It wasn't a date," she insisted, though her face blushed as she said it.
Daphne took a long swig of wine from the bottle, not caring at all about manners now that she was with Cecilia. After all, that all went out the window when you were with your best friend.
"I was simply setting the mood for his party and well, we got carried away. Very carried away."
"It seems so-" she said, teasingly, eyeing her best friend with a narrow glance. "Now, do get on to the snogging- I'm dying here-"
It was a wonder what a little gossip could do to one's mood- Cecilia already felt so much better, finding it so much easier to focus on this than what happened the day before.
She couldn't remember the last time Daphne had something like this to even say to her- especially considering her first moments with Terry had been kept secret. She watched her best friend, a smile tugging at her lips as she listened.
"Incredible? Twirling? This sounds very, very interesting, Daphne- Who is he?"
Before Terry every interaction Daphne had with the male population had been purely for the fun of it, flirting to amuse herself, see how far she could go with it, or even to get her way. It had been easy bribing the older Ravenclaw and Slytherin boys into doing her assignments, especially when she batted her eyes and threw in a few galleons for it.
Then there had been Terry. Daphne had completely changed that year, realizing that she was more than just a pretty face. It had been difficult keeping it from her friends, Cecilia especially.
But now she didn't have to hide anything from her and she was loving every minute of it.
"He was a year or two older than us, I think. We never had any classes," she went on, tucking her legs underneath her. "Do you remember Cormac McLaggen?"
The recollection of what happened that day, the blacked out hours of time that she had been trying to solve for the past two months, were whipping around her head with no intention of leaving her. She almost regretted ever trying to understand it all in the first place. Wasn't an attack in an alley by a stranger far more preferable to deal with than hours of torture at the hands of one of her closest friends? And even though she knew that Lucius was behind it all- terrible, frightening, demented Lucius Malfoy- it was still Draco's face. Still his hands that had hurt her ( ... )
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"I left Terry," she said simply, lifting up her larger than usual bag as proof.
Despite their conversation that weekend in the hospital Daphne didn't think that things would get this far. After all, her and Terry had pulled through much worse (like hiding her from her Death Eater father during a war).
Even so, here she was now needing a place to stay.
Reply
She blinked, letting the door shut behind Daphne, hearing the click fall into place. She kept her eyes on her best friend, her brow furrowed as she chewed on her bottom lip.
"Merlin-" she said. "Looks like that bottle of wine I was just about to open is going to serve more a purpose now-"
She was thankful the fire was going, as she rubbed her arms with her hands, her wet hair clinging to her neck.
"What happened?"
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"Honestly, I think you promised each of us our own bottles," she reminded her, a wicked grin on her face.
She probably should have been more upset than she was. The feeling just wasn't there.
"A lot has happened. Lectures, fighting, kissing other men, waking up early to sneak out for work. It's all very exhausting."
Reply
She tugged her fingers through her hair, letting the wet strands hit at her back as she moved into the kitchen. She grabbed two bottles of wine from the counter and somehow managed to juggle two rather large wine glasses along with it- though she was tempted to screw those and just drink out of the bottle.
She'd have to see how this conversation continued.
"I'm sorry- say that again-" she said, brows furrowing. "Who's kissing other men? Please tell me it's you-"
Reply
"Oh, the kissing part?" she asked, a sheepish smile on her lips as she placed the bottles on the coffee table. Daphne tapped her wand to the tops of the bottles and they uncorked themselves.
"Yes, that would have been me. Last night. With a client."
Reply
"Snogging a client, Daphne?" she asked, before sinking down onto the couch, crossing her legs underneath her. "Merlin- you're really done, aren't you? How did Terry take it?"
She had to admit- this wasn't much of a shock- the breaking up part. She had known as much from their last chat that things were up in the air- and when Daphne put her mind to something.
Well.
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She was dressed down in her jeans and a blouse which, of course, wouldn't have been casual to anybody but Daphne. She just didn't have it in her to put on a skirt that morning.
At the mention of Terry, Daphne's face twisted up. Maybe that pang was guilt.
"I haven't actually told Terry yet. But I left a note-"
Reply
Cecilia leaned back into the cushions, curling herself up in the corner as she rested her head on her arm. This was a whole new side of Daphne- jeans, snogging, drinking straight from the bottle.
This was certainly serious.
"Well, if that's what you can do right now, it's enough," she said, nodding. "The most important thing to do is focus right on you-"
Then, she couldn't help but smile.
"And focus on telling me about this bloke you snogged-"
Reply
After everything that she had been through in the last decade it felt refreshing to feel so carefree.
She wasn't going to let a silly thing like a breakup bring her down.
"Terry must have seen this coming. I wouldn't worry about him," she said, waving it off.
"But last night, well, I took this man on a walk through of a new venue. We had some champagne, a nice dinner, a little dancing-"
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Cecilia's eyes widened as the pitch of her voice raised just a tinge, properly shocked at how romantic it all sounded.
"What did you two have a date or something?" she asked, laughing. "I mean, that sounds like a date."
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Daphne took a long swig of wine from the bottle, not caring at all about manners now that she was with Cecilia. After all, that all went out the window when you were with your best friend.
"I was simply setting the mood for his party and well, we got carried away. Very carried away."
Reply
It was a wonder what a little gossip could do to one's mood- Cecilia already felt so much better, finding it so much easier to focus on this than what happened the day before.
Reply
Actually, thinking back to the kiss her heart began to race, a feeling something that she hadn't felt in a very long time.
"One moment he was twirling me and then the next- Merlin, it was incredible really."
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She couldn't remember the last time Daphne had something like this to even say to her- especially considering her first moments with Terry had been kept secret. She watched her best friend, a smile tugging at her lips as she listened.
"Incredible? Twirling? This sounds very, very interesting, Daphne- Who is he?"
Reply
Then there had been Terry. Daphne had completely changed that year, realizing that she was more than just a pretty face. It had been difficult keeping it from her friends, Cecilia especially.
But now she didn't have to hide anything from her and she was loving every minute of it.
"He was a year or two older than us, I think. We never had any classes," she went on, tucking her legs underneath her. "Do you remember Cormac McLaggen?"
Reply
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