Chapter 3
The next day at breakfast.
Theo- " Hey you got mail"
He hands her the letter,
she sees it's her father's name and goes rigid.
Her father is her worst trigger.
Tom notices her shift and peaks over,
He sees her father's name and wonders why that’s so bad.
He knows he shouldn't but he reads over her shoulder as she opens it.
Don't say a thing.
You are there because I let you go, do not get full of yourself.
I can bring you home anytime and I will.
Luscious Malfoy
She stands up and goes to leave
Theo- " Hey are you okay"
Meeri-" Yeah I’m good just need to write back now or I'll forget"
She leaves rushing away, almost running.
Tom wants to go after her and asks about the meaning of the letter
but gives her space,
knowing she does like questions in the heat of the moment.
The letter from her father throws her into a full blow panic,
She goes to her room, sits in the corner, puts in her earbuds, and tries to fight away the thoughts but is losing.
Her mind is betraying her and instead of being at school, she feels like she’s back in her “room” chained up, helpless, and afraid.
She misses classes and meals that day,
Not exactly on purpose but more cause she’s lost touch with reality.
Her body is on full alert expecting some danger to come.
She needs a release, a break,
so she goes to her blades and cuts deep.
It clears her mind and brings her back to reality.
The sight of blood running down her arm,
She finds it beautiful, the color is her favorite.
She can finally breathe, her chest no longer feels tight,
The sensation of cuffs on her limbs goes away,
The deep fear and dread fades until she feels nothing,
Nothing but the slice of the blade, and the wet feeling of blood on her skin.
Tom notes how she hasn't been seen since rushing away this morning,
He knows he likes space and silence but to miss all those classes
And now not showing up at their lesson he’s concerned. He’s only gotten glimpses
and pieces of who she is but all he’s learned from them is that there is much going on under her surface.
So now after dinner, he goes and knocks on her door, no answer.
He can open her door but does he cross that line?
Yes, yes he does. He does a spell and opens the door,
The lights are out, so he makes one and sees her lying in bed asleep.
He steps out and relocks her door.
Asleep is okay, asleep isn’t crying, or suffering so that’s okay.
He has many questions but to get the answers he wants he would have to talk with her
and that wouldn’t be something he’s good at so he’s at a stalemate.
All he can do is observe and offer shared silence but he has a feeling she needs more than that.
She wakes up exhausted, tired, and bloody, so she starts her day with a stringing shower.
She got an early start to the day so she's at breakfast before the others.
Tom is usually the first at the table but he sees she's already here. Well,
at least she's out of bed. Looks tired but her eyes aren't red so hasn't been crying.
Meeri- " Morning Tom"
Tom- " Morning Meeri, are you feeling alright"
Meeri- " Yeah I'm okay, sorry I missed our lesson"
Tom- "It's alright"
The other show up and eat,
they give her concerned looks but do not say anything.
The week goes by without any more incidents or crying, she has her lessons with Tom.
They have moved to more advanced spells, and she does very well,
tom makes sure to give her praise it makes her smile.
She seems to be more herself again, nervous but it's an improvement to the empty void state.
Today is DATDA class they are sparing and she gets called up, Tom waits expectantly to see his student.
The guys go to him too waiting to see if his teaching is any good.
The first opponent, she does great, skilled, refined, precise. The guys are impressed,
but Tom knows this is only a fraction of what she can do.
The second opponent goes much the same but then Draco's name gets called for her third match and the guys freeze a bit.
Theo- "Umm how bad is this gonna be”
Mattheo- " Should we stop this"
Tom- " Oh"
Mattheo- " What you didn’t teach her killing stuff did you
Tom- "Let"s just watch"
So they watch Draco attacks hard and fast and she takes it,
just using a basic shield and deflecting. She plays weak letting him give his best and when she’s pushed to the end of the walkway it’s her turn.
She fires hard blasting him to the other ends of the walkway in one shot.
She uses chains to restrain and seal his magic then stalks over
and she stands over him wand at his throat. The teacher ends the match and sends her to take a walk and cool off.
She storms out, Tom follows after her and finds her in the class breathing hard,
with a white knuckle grip on the railing. He goes and stands near her, they have a moment of silence but he needs to ask her something.
Tom- " Meeri that spell, it’s not taught here, I didn't "t teach you it, how did you learn that?"
Meeri- " You don't need to practice a spell you"ve seen a thousand times
This is another piece in the puzzle that is her and Tom wants to ask more,
cause others didn’t notice but those weren’t just chains they sealed away Draco’s magic.
This kind of magic is not taught to students it’s not in any of our texts, it’s dark. Even in a Death Eater house,
this is something she wouldn’t have seen much or even at all,
malfoys are secretive he wouldn’t show this to his daughter. So how is she so familiar with it, and without practice?
Tom- " Meeri"
Meeri- " You can ask Tom, but I can't answer, I can't, so can we just pretend there"s nothing to ask?"
Tom- " Okay"
So there is a dark hidden truth, something to know, something to ask about, but she can't say, or is it won't say.
Then he remembers the letter she got, the threat from her father saying not to say anything this much be involved in that.
Meeri- " Can you stay, just stand with me for a bit?"
Tom- " Yes"
So they stand there together, her breathing slows and returns to normal, and her grip on the railing relaxes.
She calms down and composes herself, grateful for Tom just standing there.
Most people wouldn’t count that as comfort but to her it’s perfect,
she doesn’t want questions, she doesn’t want hollow words, she just needs to not feel so damn alone.