Chapter 25: Storehouse of Secrets

"It is not an unwinnable case," Rocky said first thing when he made his way to Ravina. She had been keeping her professional poker face up pretty well during her argument and the cross-examinations, but he couldn't help but notice her nose twitching unconsciously the way it always did when she was agitated. "Your opening statement was fine."

"Not as good as Danny's."

"He has more experience than you."

Ravina shot her father an accusing glance, "You knew about all this, didn't you? Why didn't anyone say that he would be the plaintiff?"

"You didn't ask." The professor made a tired sweep of his fine-and-getting-finer hair. "When you were in fifth-year, Danny and his friend – Butch, I think his name was. Just like a Thunderbird, isn't it? - came to me and asked what they had to do to become lawyers at MACUSA. I gave them some pointers, and that's all there was to it. The other fellow actually became a lawyer if I remember correctly."

"But why would he even care?" she asked.

"Who knows?" Rocky said. "I'm not exactly his storehouse of secrets. He would probably rather confide in Laren Ro."

"I suppose..." Ravina gazed down at the Obscurial, who, if anything, had scooted further down into his chair. She couldn't imagine what this must be like for him, hearing the story hashed out again and again. So much for not letting anything happen to him. Fife minutes of their fifteen-minute recess was already used up. She had wanted to use this interregnum to prepare him. He was listed to go up next. Good glory, what a nightmare that would be. He was the prosecutor's Occamy egg shell if he would say what he wanted him to say.

"I will speak to the accused," Rocky said, reading her mind. "If you want to talk to Danny you should probably do it now. You only have eight minutes."

"Yeah, yeah ok." Taking one last look at the Obscurial, she headed off.

The break was called directly after Rafael Valadez's testimony on the witness chair. While everyone turned to their neighbor and discussed the evidence and trial so far, he made his way down and past Danny's table.

The latter watched him go by, sullen from the last few minutes, "Don't give me that look."

"I was not trying to look at you," he retorted.

"Oh, c'mon. I know you hate me for doing all this."

"I do not hate you," Rafael stopped his track, "I just do not like what you are doing."

Danny was most certainly getting the look now. It was something between condemnation and pity, two ingredients bad on their own and unpalatable together. He gazed morosely down at his hands.

"Talking about looking," his friend finally said, "Miss Hodges is looking like she is about to come over here. Her and the professor are talking and looking at you."

Danny groaned and rubbed his hands over his face, "For the love of... Listen, I know it's not really your thing, but could you do me a huge favor?"

While his friend went to intercept Ravina, Daniel Dawson sat and brooded. It wasn't that the trial wasn't going well. Actually, he couldn't have asked for a better debut. Too bad that wasn't his dream anymore. But it got harder to question people and get the rise, facts, and opinions that the jury needed to hear when he would just turn around from it and see that very Obscurial scrunched up in his chair. And he knew what was coming next. When he wouldn't have the excuse of looking away. Well, he had walked into that one, had even been cautioned, but for once in his life he had had to be determined.

The two of them had shared a light once the boy was asleep in his cell. If the smoke got too thick one of them would wave their wands and transfigure it back to air before it could wake him up. Rafael still preferred his cigars, but Danny had embraced the growing fashion of cigarettes among the city folk.

"They're still looking for a prosecutor for the trial," he had mentioned lazily.

"Mm."

"I was thinking of volunteering."

The other guard come out of his reverie, "Mm?"

"I mean, I did want to be a lawyer for a while. I studied it for a year or so before I switched. Not many people have that sort of experience, you know?"

"I heard that Professor Hodges has always been a representative at the trials."

"You think that he's going to go up against his daughter? Anyway, he wouldn't prosecute the Obscurial. He's too close. He's biased. He might not try his hardest."

"And maybe you would try too hard," Valadez countered. Danny swiveled his so he could look at the other, darker-skinned wizard, and realized he was already being looked back at. "What do you think they should do with him?" the other man asked.

"I don't know. Send him to MACUSA? Maybe they can give him some real security there."

"I hope that is not meant to be personal."

"It wasn't. I meant – I don't know, something more than two twenty-somethings with wands, minimal training, and a 8' by 10' room with bars."

"You think he needs that much security?"

"Well, yes! I mean, look at what he did to the school, to us, just because he was angry. He almost brought a chandelier down on our heads. And in here, look at what he made me –" he pulled up short.

Rafael slowly nodded, a curl of smoke coming out of his mouth as he exhaled. The light from the torch on the opposite wall cast a heiligenschein around his shadow on the wall, making it even more eerie. "I think I understand now, amigo. You never really hated him."

Danny groaned with his head against the stone wall. He didn't want to hear anymore.

"But you cannot just punish the boy for something you –"

"You know what?" Danny pushed himself up from against the wall. "I just need to do this, alright? You don't have to understand. It just needs to be me." He stocked off toward the stairs to tell Madam Blygull, leaving the figure alone with the sleeping Obscurial, smoke rising away from his shadowy form.

A/N: So, this last part was recently added. Originally, I had the scene where Ravina and Rafael were talking, but I thought it was better to show this particular part from Danny's perspective. I've been getting through these chapters pretty quickly which is why they are coming out so fast, but there will probably be a big gap coming up soon, unless I get this all up beforehand. Please review!