Daphne can't shake the numbness that washes over her when she enters the common room, bright eyes narrowed. It's easy enough to find Tracey. The common room is mostly empty, except for a few younger students who have yet to discover the joys of having a social life.
"Wingardium Leviosa," Tracey says before glaring at the brick she's trying to levitate. "Why is this so hard?"
"What are you up to?" Daphne asks.
"I'm just sitting here like I'm supposed to," her girlfriend answers. "Growing more irritated by the second, though." Her dark eyes flicker to Daphne. "Did you want something?"
Daphne swallows dryly, slender fingers tugging anxiously at the sleeves of her mind green cardigan. Why is this so difficult? She's always known that Tracey isn't good for her. It doesn't matter that she's a pureblood, that she's literally everything Daphne has been taught to want. At the end of the day, Tracey is still a liar and cheater, and Daphne doesn't know how to walk away.
"Come on, Daph." Tracey's perfectly glossed lips twitch into a smirk, and she climbs to her feet, prodding her finger against Daphne's chest. "You're not still mad about the Ginny thing, are you? I said I was sorry."
But Tracey always says she's sorry, and she always looks at Daphne with those dark eyes and sweet smile. It isn't fair. She doesn't even have to say anything, and Daphne becomes putty in her hand. Suddenly, it doesn't matter that Tracey lies and cheats. All that matters is that she wants it to work out, even if it shouldn't. She wishes she could be a chameleon and blend in, disappear from sight.
Tracey wraps her arms around Daphne, pulling her into a warm embrace.
It isn't enough, not really. There is nothing she can do to make it better.
But Daphne can pretend. She knows that they are tragic, that they have been sinking from the beginning.
She just doesn't know how to love herself enough to leave.
Sewing 101: common room, glaring, only Trio characters
Insane House Challenge: "I Try" by Macy Gray
Auction: Slytherin common room
365: mint
Back to School: "What are you up to?"/ "I'm just sitting here like I'm supposed to be."
Feline, Persian: Write about a pureblood
Supernatural, siren: Write about someone manipulative
PiƱata: hard
Character Appreciation: Wingardium Leviosa
Book Club, Katherine: brick, looking for someone, numbness
Showtime, Down Once More: dungeon
Amber's Attic: "I held you the way a boat holds water. I always felt us sinking."- Rudy Francisco
Lyric Alley: Cheated and lied, broken so bad
Sophie's Shelf: DaphneTracey
Emy's Emporium, Ug the Unreliable: chameleon
Word Count: 335
