A/N: This is my take of Daphnee and Theo, take it or leave it. Set during 7th year.

Disclaimer: As hard as I wish… I'm still not J. K. Rowling, and therefore I do not own Harry Potter.

You don't even realize it's 2am until She whispers She should probably head up to bed

She doesn't want people to get the wrong idea,

you almost scoff because you both know everybody's already thinking it

but instead you moan and snuggle deeper into Her lap.

She affectionately threads Her fingers through your hair and sternly murmurs "Theo.."

but you don't want the night to end

because during the day, life has a tendency to fall apart..

The next day is even more awful (except for Her, of course)

at breakfast you notice a 1st year Hufflepuff with scratches across her face that weren't there yesterday

they run straight through her left eye and your breath catches for a minute

"halfblood", Daphne whispers, Her eyes following the same path as yours,

its funny how each day your Slytherin pride dissolves a bit more,

you take Her hand under the table and force your eyes back at your meal,

but suddenly you're not very hungry at all.

And the two of you wander through your half empty "classes" in your usual daze

passing notes back and forth whenever you can.

you wish your mother was still alive so you could leave this terrible place

but you wish even more that She would go home and be safe(r)

because all of this "I can't leave you here alone" crap is starting to get old.

what you really need to do is run away together

but you could Never put Her in danger like that.

She's missing at dinner.

you wait five minutes impatiently and even resort to asking pansy if she'd seen Her,

she hadn't though, and all of a sudden you're sprinting to the dungeons.

and shitfuckdammit the common room is empty and What has She done now?

your mind races with images of "teachers" with sinister smiles and unforgivable curses

you race down the steps to your dorm to get your wand (and you'd use it, for Her, you really would)

you feel like crying with relief when you find Her curled up under your blankets.

But that's when you notice the teardrops sliding down Her cheeks.

it's only because you're Her best friend that you bite back your questions and crawl into bed

She rolls around to face you and your arms instinctively find their place around Her waist

You're trying your best to resist the impulse to kiss every tear off Her face when She buries Her head into your shoulder.

You don't really know what to say so you just hold Her tighter,

wishing you could somehow make everything alright.