Where Do You Think You're Going? [closed]

[mclaggenator]

Ever since he had introduced Daphne to his family (at least properly this time, strange and unpredicted announcements of soulmatery aside), he had been feeling an odd sort of feeling in the pit of his stomach. It might have come at the worst possible time, though, as much in his life was apt to do. Her family name was plastered all over the front

Comments

[daphne_x]

There was hardly any time to even lock the door, Daphne rushing into the flat as quickly as her heels would carry her and heading straight to the bedroom. She had a bag out on her bed and was just throwing whatever she could inside of it, all the things she knew that she couldn't live with out - her family jewelry, enough clothes to get her through the next few weeks, and the picture she had of her and Cormac from Valentines Day (the bistro had sent a photographer around before they'd made their quick exit and the owner had it waiting the next time they'd gone). It wasn't nearly enough, not anything close to what she was used to, but she had gone longer with less when the war had come and the safe house she had set up was well stocked.

The call of her name made her freeze, he stomach twisting up and sinking at the sound of Cormac's familiar, if not a little worried, voice.

In all of the confusion and worry she had forgotten all about their date, not even knowing what time she'd gotten back from Azkaban. She had hoped to avoid all of this, send him a note that promised she'd get in touch when she could, when she was sure that it was safe. Though, there wasn't any time limit on that. It could be days, or weeks, or months. As long as her father was out there she wasn't going to be safe.

"Cormac-" she started, meeting him at the door of her bedroom, lips pressed tightly together.

[mclaggenator]

The always meticulous flat held a different kind of feeling in it now, Cecilia's arrest casting a rather dark and dour tension. His footsteps were the only thing he could hear at first as he crossed past the foyer and down the hallway, heading in the direction of the room he had come to know so well in the last week. They spent more time at his place, both of them liable to lose their clothing at any moment and not wanting to spring that on Cecilia.

But it had been just her here for the last week and he understood she needed to be here and so he chose to be here with her.

It was the least he could do considering all that she was going through.

When she appeared in the doorway, he stopped. This wasn't the woman he was expecting to see. She had been stressed, yes, but this- he could see her whole body stiffen.

"Hey-" he said, taking a slow step toward her. "Love, you alright?"

[daphne_x]

Daphne wasn't sure exactly what she should say to him then, never imagining that she was going to have to say her goodbyes this early on in the relationship. Or ever, honestly.

But there wasn't anyway that she could drag him into this. She cared about him too much to put him in this sort of danger.

"Cormac, I'm leaving for a while," she started, taking a step back so he could see the luggage on her bed.

"I'm in danger and- I'm going into hiding."

[mclaggenator]

It was just a few sentences but it was a hell of a lot for Cormac to take in. He didn't move. But his eyes wandered as he watched her move from out of his line of vision, the suitcase on her bed punching him in the gut. His brow furrowed as he raked his fingers through his hair.

"What?"

He moved forward, closing the space between them but still lingering in the doorway, as if nervous to move closer.

"What do you mean danger?" he asked, his face turning back toward her. "What's happening, Daph?"

[daphne_x]

There was an electricity between them, even now as Daphne's heart beat furiously inside her chest. She couldn't move away from him, no matter how little time she had or what she promised herself when she had first heard his voice.

"They're coming for me. My father, the Death Eaters-" she explained, the panic clear in her voice as she looked up at him.

"It's not safe here. Not right now, anyway. I have to go-"

[mclaggenator]

That crack was especially unlike her. In a matter of a day it was like the Daphne he knew had somehow shifted into someone completely different. It was foreign and confusing and it scared him. He blinked, his teeth chewing harshly on his bottom lip.

"No-" he said, shaking his head.

The word slipped from his tongue quickly.

"Merlin, Daph, come on- explain to me what's happening. We can figure this out-"

[daphne_x]

Her heart ached, breaking a little bit at his desperate tone.

"Cormac, there's no time-" she told him, the tears springing to her eyes as she pulled herself away from him.

Her hands were shaking but she had to get the packing over and done with, had to get out of here as quickly as possible. So much time had already been wasted, days had gone by and she hadn't even realized that she was in trouble.

"I'm a blood traitor, Cormac. They're coming after me-"

[mclaggenator]

"Who?"

The word sounded desperate. But he didn't care. He couldn't. They had talked about this, maybe, a little but she said that everything was fine. Hadn't she? Or did he? Was he trying to push it into the positive? As if maybe she wasn't truly running for her life?

"Daphne, please, just tell me what's gotten you so scared-" he asked. "Did something happen today?"

[daphne_x]

The thoughts were spinning inside her head so quickly that it was hard to piece them all together, not quite sure what she had told him and what she had left out.

She was panicked, right there on the edge with shaking hands and weak knees. Any moment she was going to fall right off, her past finally catching up to her after all these years, just when she thought she was moving past it.

"I went to see Cecilia in- in Azkaban today," she started, throwing the clothes that were on the bed into her luggage now. She's sort through them later.

"There's been talk about me. Among the Death Eaters It's not safe-"

[mclaggenator]

He moved toward her bed, his hand tangling in a sweater she had tossed there, feeling more desperate than he thought he ever had before. He couldn't understand how this was happening or how it was happening so quickly. Just that morning they were fine, the two of them tangled up in the sheets and groaning about having to leave for work.

He raked his fingers through his hair roughly before taking a hold of Daphne's wrist, the tug gentle.

"You can't just leave-" he said, throat growing dry. "We can do something. We can fix this-"

He didn't know how but he'd find a way.

[daphne_x]

His touch made her heart flutter, the way that it always did and Daphne bit down deeply into her lower lip to keep herself from completely falling apart right there in his arms.

She blinked up at him, as if snapping out of whatever fog and panic she'd been in, as a single stray tear ran down her flushed cheek.

"I have to go-" she said, much calmer down but that didn't mean it stung any less.

"I'll try to get in touch in a few weeks. Maybe it'll calm down by then. I don't know-"

[mclaggenator]

"No-"

He said it again, this time his voice cracking slightly. He had just found her. He had just managed to find someone who could make him feel comfortable, someone who was so much like him it was a wonder the two of them hadn't been together this whole time.

He braced his hands around her shoulders. feeling the shakiness radiating from her skin.

"You're not doing this alone," he told her. "Whatever it is you think you should do, we're doing it together."

[daphne_x]

There was a warmth to him that grounded her, kept her from completely losing her mind and she was able to breath a little bit easier. Though, that hardly stopped her heart from crumbling. It was an ache she'd never felt before in her whole life.

"I can't do that to you. I'm sorry, I just can't-" she told him, trying to sound firm and confident on the matter.

Walking away from him now was going to be the most difficult thing she ever did.

"This is serious. They want me dead-"

[mclaggenator]

"No way," he said, shaking his head, his hand reaching up to brush her hair behind her ear. "You don't get to just run off like this, Daphne, not when-"

Not when he finally had her.

"Serious or not, you're not running away by yourself. I'm coming with you. I'm not about to just let you walk out of my life."

[daphne_x]

"I'm not- I don't want-"

Daphne couldn't string together a proper sentence, the words all mangled up together as they spilled from her lips.

She needed him to know how much she loved him in case-

Well, in case she didn't get the chance to tell him again.

"You can't come with me, Cormac. I'm not going to rip you from your life and drag you into this. I'm sorry but I can't."

[mclaggenator]

"This isn't your decision to make," he told her, his own stubbornness coming out now as he looked down at her, trying not to let that lip quiver deter him, even if all he wanted to do was hold her tightly.

"I don't see the point of it if you're not in my life," he said, all but pleading now, the sight of her suitcase and her clothing and that tense look on her face making this all far too frightening to think about. "I'm coming with you."