I Will Not Challenge Authority
Delilah
Aunt Cissy,
I hope you are well. As you may have already heard, there was an altercation during Defense Against the Dark Arts today. I am going to my detention after I drop this letter off at the Owlery. I promise, I will make it up to you, I know talking back to a Professor is unacceptable. I will tell you the whole story over Christmas Holidays. Besides that, everything is ok over here. I will write again soon.
Love,
Delilah
-------
“Is your hand alright, Nott?” Harry asked, holding his wrist close to his chest.
I grimaced at the throbbing pain in my hand as I walked out of the DADA classroom.
“Yeah, I guess. Yours?”
“Eh, I’ll live. I’ll walk you to the dungeons.”
I nodded, focusing on the patterns of the stones on the floor.
“Do you have any plans for after Hogwarts? You know, career wise.” Harry asked, breaking through the awkward atmosphere.
“Erm, not really. I think Mattheo wants to go Pro in Quidditch so I’ll follow wherever he goes I guess.” I said, and Harry smiled.
“You really like him, eh?”
“Yeah. I do.”
We had reached the dungeons, so I thanked Harry and entered the common room.
Draco and Theo were snoring on the sofas, evidently failing to wait up for me like they always try to do. Mattheo is usually with them, but he is still upset with me I guess. I took the stairs two at a time and crept into my bedroom. Natalia must be with Enzo and Pansy was in Astronomy, so Daphne and I were the only ones in the room. She was curled up in her bed with a tattered copy of “The Great Gatsby”, her all time favorite.
“Hey Dee, how was it?” She asked, looking up from her book.
“Uhm, It was fine. I’m gonna shower.” I said, and hurried into the bathroom, locking the door behind me.
I finally forced myself to look at my wound, and tears started falling when I saw the “I will not challenge authority” carved into the flesh on the back of my hand.
“Merlin, what the hell.” I whispered to myself.
I turned on the water to cover any sound I might make as I attempted to clean my hand. I grabbed some salve and started to spread it around. A sort of guttural sound escaped my mouth as the deep cuts started to clean and heal itself as much as possible.
“Old bat.” I cursed under my breath. I heard a knock at the door and jumped.
“Delilah, Mattheo said he needs to talk to you.” I heard Daphne call from the other side of the wood.
I huffed. The last thing I needed was Mattheo yelling at me.
“Tell him something to make him go away.” I said.
“Erm, okay?”
Sighing, I undressed and stepped into the shower, letting the steam and hot water soothe me and my mind.
I have to find a way to hide my damn hand. Mattheo would go ballistic if he knew. But I knew he wouldn’t do anything. He’s too scared of screwing up and the word getting to his father.
I knew it was immature to push him away, but honestly I knew he was just here to fight. He doesn’t get over stuff so briskly. I just let the water wash my worries away.
When I finished my shower, I wrapped my hand and put my pajamas on. I crawled into my bed and drew the curtains.
The door to the dorm room opened, and I assumed it was Natalia returning.
“Hey, Lilah um-” I heard Theo start.
“Dammit what?” I groaned and ripped open my curtains, glaring at my brother.
“Bloody hell, what happened to your hand Dee?” He asked, his tone alarmed. He grabbed my wrist before I could hide it and I saw the horror in his gaze.
“Delilah. What happened?”
“Please just let me go to bed, I’ll tell you in the morning.” I said, trying to pull my arm away but Theo held tight.
“Delilah, I swear to merlin. What the hell happened to your arm?” He demanded.
“Some stupid quill I used in detention, ok? Are you happy now? Good.” I yanked my hand out of his grip.
“Delilah this is serious. You need to tell Severus.” He said, frowning.
“Just stop fussing, Theodore. I got it.” I snapped, closing my curtains again.
“Delilah. Cmon, at least show Mattheo. He might have something to help.” Theo pleaded.
“No.”
He sighed, and then I saw him open my curtains and slide in next to me. He hugged me and kissed my temple.
“I wouldn’t be your brother if I didn’t fuss, yeah?” He said, and I huffed.
“Goodnight, Theo.” I said, smiling.
“Night. I love you.” He said.
“Sap.” I said and a pillow hit my face. “Ow!”
-------
The next morning, my hand felt like it was going to fall off. I woke up and groaned at the pain. I would have to see Madame Pomfrey if it got any worse. I dragged myself out of bed and got dressed. I braided my hair and left for breakfast. I saw Draco and Blaise. in the common room lounging, and I gave them a smile.
“Good morning. Are you gonna have breakfast?”
“Mhm. We were waiting for Mattheo.” Draco said, smiling softly.
“I’m gonna sit with Luna today if that’s alright. She was also wondering if she could join us tonight at dinner.” Blaise mentioned and I nodded.
“Of course, Blaise. Tell her we would love her to sit with us. She’s always welcome.” I said, and Draco nodded.
“Ok, I will. Also, do you think you can give me your Charms homework? I haven’t been able to get to it yet and I'm scared i’ll fall even more behind.”
“Yes, of course. I’ll get it to you by lunch.”
“Ugh, thank you Dee, You’re a lifesaver.”
I nodded and slipped out of the dorms. I would have to talk to Mattheo sooner or later, it was inevitable. Breakfast. I would do it at breakfast.
I reached the great hall and saw Astoria sitting with Millicent and Pansy. I sat across from them and gave Astoria a big smile.
“Tori, how are you? I haven’t gotten the chance to truly speak with you yet.” I said, reaching across the table and squeezed her hand.
“I’m alright, thank you Delilah. Mum insisted on having a mostly friendless summer so I apologize for not responding to any letters you might have sent.” She said, and I brushed it off.
“No big thing Tori. Draco should be down with the boys in a bit.” I said and as if they were summoned, the group of Slytherin boys walked into the great hall. I spotted Mattheo, and I felt a pang of guilt. I shouldn’t have pushed him away so harshly last night.
He slid into the seat next to me and I pursed my lips, trying to find the right words to say.
“I’m sorry, Dee. I was out of line yesterday.” He said, beating me to it.
I gave him a look before resting my cheek on his shoulder.
“We both were, it’s alright. We’re alright.” I told him and he smiled sadly.
“It’s not though. I’m supposed to support you, not push you away and put you down.” He said, his tone apologetic.
“Darling listen,” I said, grabbing his chin and forcing him to look down at me. “We all make mistakes. You have been so stressed and I was careless. But we’re ok now, aren’t we? Don’t make it a bigger deal than it is.”
He nodded and kissed my temple before cutting into his breakfast. I did the same, and the table was mostly silent as we ate. Theo and Daphne had already scurried off somewhere to snog, but Natalia and Enzo just never came down. Who knows what they were doing.
My hand began to throb again and I winced slightly. Mattheo eyed me for a moment before returning to his food. A few minutes later, the pain became almost unbearable so I quickly excused myself and went to the bathroom. I got rid of the glamour charm and unwrapped my hand to see the wound red, hot, and oozing clear liquid.
“Damn it.” I muttered. It was infected. Now I had to tell Mattheo because I couldn’t go to the Hospital Wing unless I had absolutely no choice. I groaned, letting my forehead hit the wall while I thought.
Severus might have something for me, and I have potions second hour. I can manage until then. I cast a quick dressing charm and redid the glamour before returning to the table. I looked over at the Gryffindor table to see a bunch of Harry’s friends gathered around him, most likely gawking over the words carved into his hand. I sighed, and grabbed Mattheos hand to calm my nerves. He looked over and gave me a crooked smile.
“Everything alright?” He asked, and I nodded.
“Everything’s fine. Just tired. Detention ran late.”
“What did she have you and Potter doing anyways?” Draco asked, sitting next to Astoria.
“Oh, um. Just lines. It was stupid. Harry wrote ‘I must not tell lies’ or some rubbish and I wrote ‘I will not challenge authority’.” I said, only half lying.
Mattheo scoffed. “Lines? Really. That woman needs to get more creative with her punishments.” He said, and I gave a half hearted chuckle.
Oh no, she was creative alright.
“Anyways, Dray and I have her today, so we’ll see just how insufferable she really is.” He added.
“Oh she’s dreadful, truly,” Astoria said. “At least Crouch was creative with his 4th years. We are quite literally returning to first year curriculum.”
I huffed out a laugh. “Tori, she’s doing that with everyone.”
“Well it’s still absolute garbage. She cannot be serious about this no wand work thing either.”
“Oh well, I guess we’ll see.” I said shrugging.