"Can I talk to you?" He said, and felt mildly foolish about that afterwards, because it was quite obvious that the two were very alone, and the idea of talking wasn't so completely farfetched that it wouldn't even happen.

Daphne looked somewhat surprised that Theodore had spoken, but nodded apprehensively, not sure what this 'talking' would actually amount to. He didn't waste any time smiling warmly, instead he took a moment to decide whether he should risk talking about such sensitive material in the common room, or if he should pull her briskly into an empty classroom. Luckily, the decision was surprisingly made for him when Daphne grabbed the sleeve of his uniform and led him into the nearest classroom, which was quite obviously completely empty. She stepped in first and turned on her heel to face him as he shut the door carefully behind him. She had crossed her arms dramatically over her chest, expectantly, but also nervously, as though she expected him to do something unthinkably evil to her.

This thought, however, nearly made Theodore change his mind about telling her, if she didn't even trust him enough to be in the same room with him, what made him think for a second she would be able to accept the fact that he was a servant of the Dark Lord; but he cast all these thoughts aside, and decided to deal with the consequences at a later date.

"What is it Theodore?" She asked, speaking for the first time the entire morning. She could read his eyes quite clearly and could tell he was quite obviously worried about something, or possibly just anxious. Not even Theodore knew which of the two emotions was coursing through him, but either one was making him rather uncomfortable in his own skin at the moment.

"I was talking to Draco last night…" Theodore began, and paused as his Dark Mark gave his a small subtle reminder of the short leash he was tethered on. Daphne's eyes changed from curiously considerate to a darker expression of suspicion. Theodore shook his head minutely, trying to dispel her feelings of mistrust, but her expression didn't soften. "He told me about this meeting tonight, with other people like… me." He tried to express exactly what was happening, but did a miserable job of it, Theodore just didn't have a way with words at all.

"Like you?" She asked quietly, yet curiously and mildly confused as to what Theodore was getting at with this conversation.

"Yes…" Theodore said, inching his arm up his opposite sleeve, preparing to unleash the sight of the Dark Mark to Daphne, hoping that this would somehow accomplish whatever it was he had in mind. "People who are cursed… marked." He clarified, however vaguely.

"Marked?" She continued to ask, Theodore knew she understood what he was talking about, but still stared unbelieving at Theodore as though he was crazy and that when he lifted his sleeve it would be nothing but bare skin and blue veins.

"Yes Daphne, marked." He paused, "The Dark Mark."

Daphne took a moment to let this statement sink in; Theodore could tell that the wheels in her head were turning quite rapidly, trying to decide what to make of him. Theodore had a sickening feeling she would back up against the wall in fear for her life, but she didn't. Instead, she advanced on him, replacing Theodore's hand on his sleeve, and lifted in up gently.

She revealed it slowly, her eyes widening. Once Theodore's sleeve was entirely out of the way, and the entire mark was staring Daphne straight in the face, she ran her thumbs over the old wound.

"When…?" She asked, her eyes darting momentarily away from the mark to meet Theodore's eyes.

"The day before I met you," Theodore replied, looking over the top of her head at her fingers as she ran them over the image of the snake.

"You were so… young," Daphne pointed out sympathetically, still touching the mark as though her fingers could somehow wipe it off his skin.

"I know." Theodore replied, quite obviously. He wondered why Daphne wasn't as shocked as he thought she would be, but then he realized that his father's mention in the Daily Prophet as an infamous Death Eater probably gave it away completely. No wonder some students had suddenly decided he was a great subject to stare at during class or mealtimes. Everyone was curious to know whether or not Theodore's father had bestowed the mark upon him. Well the answer was definitely yes, but only a trusted number of people were ever going to know that for sure.

"And the meeting tonight…" She asked, her voice trailing off at the end, as though she wasn't exactly sure what to ask about it. She quite obviously didn't want to pry too deep into Theodore's life, but she was very curious about what exactly came with the curse of the mark.

"I think everyone who's been… Marked is going to be there." Theodore informed her, this was basically all the information he had. He took a moment to pause before he said 'Marked', because up until now, he had never officially assigned a word to the circumstances he had been forced under, but Marked seemed to sum it all up nicely, without sounding like he was willingly giving himself up to the Dark Lord. Submission was the last thing on Theodore's mind when it came to the Dark Lord, and that's why he was planning on attending this meeting tonight, so that he could do everything in his power to avoid submission to Voldemort.

"Do you think it's safe?" She asked her eyes wide in such a way that they nearly resembled Luna Lovegood's.

"I trust Draco about this." Theodore responded honestly. He truthfully believed that Draco wouldn't screw him on this one, although the consequences if Draco was planning on ratting them all out would be devastating, at least in Theodore's case.

Daphne snorted, expressing her opinion of Theodore's sudden lack of caution, or common sense for that matter. He narrowed his eyes at her, feeling the need to express his dislike for her mistrust in Theodore's intuition.

"The Words trust and Draco Malfoy should not be used in the same sentence." Daphne said, finally voicing her opinion after a series of silent expressions in an attempt do get the exact same point across.

"I think I know Draco better than you, and well enough to decide whether he is trustworthy or not." Theodore said, with a hint of attitude. He was actually slightly angry at her for voicing the exact thing that he had been hiding in the back of his mind for a while. What if he couldn't trust Draco? But the benefits outweighed the risk by a long shot, and to Theodore, it was worth it to test Draco's credibility.

Daphne didn't take kindly to this sentiment and raised her eyebrows threateningly at Theodore. "Well then, don't blame me when you're being cursed by your own father tonight!" She said, quite obviously upset.

Theodore's eyes flashed dangerously at Daphne, and she knew she had hit a nerve, because there was a hint of danger in the look on his face. Theodore has an extremely sensitive spot when it came to his father, especially when his past wrongdoings were brought up. Daphne knew this would upset him, and had only said it to prove a point, but realized once it had left her lips that it was definitely the wrong thing to say to Theodore Nott.

"No one is going to find out." Theodore said finally with gritted teeth. He could see the fear flickering through her eyes; she looked surprised at his tone of voice, and the colour his cheeks were turning. "I knew I shouldn't have told you." He lied. He didn't think that she would react this way at all, in all honestly, Theodore thought she was being more stuck up and stubborn than Draco was most of the time, and he hated her at that moment for being a hypocrite.

Taken aback for a moment, Daphne simply chose not to reply to Theodore, and left the room in a cloud of anger, which was apparent, even to Theodore, who was trapped inside his own blinding rage. Daphne closed the door overly loud behind her, and he didn't even turn around to make sure she was gone before slumping into a chair, and leaning his head against the wall. That conversation was more stressful then it was worth, but he was too emotionally drained to care about the consequences of his actions at that moment. He was so mad, and he had no where to vent his anger. In rage, he whipped out his wand and blasted a chair across the room into a million splinters.

There was a satisfied silence for a moment, then to Theodore's surprise, a quiet knock on the door.