...

She was nervous. Very nervous, if she was honest with herself. She watched as Rodrick idly tapped the wall before them in all the right places with a wand, watched as it started shifting to show them the secret entrance to Diagon Alley, her family's house-elf subtlety using magic to check for any danger.

Rodrick didn't react to the invisible house elf's magic- Which she was certain he'd felt wash over the area, given she had. She'd already told him about the elf 'protecting' her, though she knew her father well enough to know it was essentially there to make sure nothing untoward happened.

Still, that was hardly her biggest issue right now- Rather the fact that Rodrick seemed to be in a bad mood, rightfully given their last interaction, their correspondence to set up a meeting nearby to this particular interest via the same house-elf not included.

At least she figured that was what all the silence was about given beside his greeting her, he hadn't said much else.

As they both walked through, her gaze taking in the sight she'd practically grown up in with indifference, something the orphan beside her also did, she paid no attention to the boy's wandless casting of a silencing charm, having gotten quite used to its telltale signs.

Which was rather amusing on its own- The fact a silencing charm had a tell-tale sign, to begin with.

Still, the amusement was shortlived as they continued on in silence, which begged the question of why he'd even used it in the first place if he was still going to stay silent-

Maybe he was waiting for an apology? The thought struck her rather quickly as she held in the urge to facepalm. Of course, he was waiting for an apology!

"...Astoria's really sorry by the way," She remarked warily, earning his attention. "For what she said." She elaborated, watching as a frown of all things appeared on the boy's face..? Stuttering the slightest bit, she quickly realized why. "So am I actually!" She blurted out. "...For putting you on the spot in the first place!"

When the frown disappeared, Rodrick let out a sigh with it, and she mentally let out one as well-

"Why is everyone insisting on apologizing?" The boy scoffed out, shaking his head. "As if words change anything..." He seemed to mutter under his own breath.

Naturally, she started quickly frowning as well, a morose feeling filling her up as she turned her gaze to the ground, letting the boy take the lead in their direction. She had intended to take him to an ice cream cart she was sure he'd find very much enjoyable, though given his mood she had some doubts about it now.

"If it means anything," She settled on continuing if only to stop the silence from returning. "My mom really told her off for her stupid behavior?" She lied- She'd been the one to do that actually, not even giving her parents the chance in the first place.

Needless to say, her parents had only gotten more upset at both of them for it.

The boy in response, while raising an eyebrow at her, simply frowned once again.

"...I am not Malfoy you know, a sheltered pureblood child getting told off for being a sheltered pureblood child doesn't make me feel better."

She couldn't help the snort that came out.

"Is that your way of calling my sister ignorant?"

"Politely." The boy snarked easily as the semblance of a smile filtered onto his face.

She lightly slapped his shoulder.

"I might be allowed, but I won't stand for other people insulting my sister!" She remarked with mock-seriousness.

"Fair enough, I suppose I ought to blame the older sibling she got her mannerisms from instead."

She twitched at that.

"Are you calling me ignorant now?"

"You said it, not me." He deadpanned towards her.

She rolled her eyes at him.

...

"So... You weren't really mad about what Astoria said, were you?" She questioned as they settled down onto a pair of magical swings. Her swing activated on it's own the moment they sat down. Following their conversation, Rodrick had elected to lead them away from the main shopping district, into the outskirts of Diagon Alley- The good outskirts at that, without all the weirdo strangers and criminals.

In that, he'd essentially walked around aimlessly until they stumbled on an empty magical park, one that was rumored to have been made by a muggle-born which was probably why there was no one else there.

If it was muggle-born, building it in a predominantly pureblood section was bound to not attract any attention. Hell, half the reason no one paid any attention to them there was either because she stood out like a sore thumb as a pureblood or because they were kids.

Either that or Rodrick put them under an invisibility charm and she just hadn't noticed.

Could be either, she really didn't have a clue.

...Maybe she was ignorant.

"Not really," The boy shrugged. "I mean she's your sibling and you once asked me, an orphan, to get you a birthday present."

She blinked at that one, a frown appearing on her face.

"No, I didn't."

"You implied it."

"No... I didn't." She repeated firmly.

"I thought you implied it."

Well, it was a little more accurate she supposed-

"You're calling me ignorant again aren't you?"

"It was implied."

She rolled her eyes at him as the swing started swinging a little higher than before, noticing her mental needs. It really was a rather clever piece of magic- It was only then she noticed the fact that Rodrick's swing hadn't budged at all. As the wing slowed down, she idly switched her seating as she put one leg over the swing's seat treating it like a saddle, and turned fully towards the boy, earning his attention.

"...Did something happen at the orphanage?" She questioned carefully. "'Cos if you're not mad at Astoria then..." She waited for a beat. "What's wrong?"

The boy seemed to mull the question over for a minute before he opened his mouth and immediately closed it. "It's not important, just the kids there been stupid and confusing."

She blinked at that.

"...We're friends right?" She settled on questioning, earning a bemused look from the other.

"Yeah?" It was telling that it sounded more like a question than an answer, though she didn't point that out.

"So, tell me then." She remarked instead. "If you can't talk to your friends, who can you talk to?" She deadpanned.

The boy let out a shrug.

"I'd say parents, but I seem to be lacking in those."

"Rodrick." She immediately started in response, her mouth open to say more before she let out a sigh and closed it instead. "Fine, keep your secrets!" She remarked, a somewhat forced attempt at good cheer using his own joke if only to lighten the mood.

The amusement that swept through his face meant it was a good idea at least.

"They apologized," The boy to her surprise actually said. "For being pricks, goblins, and Malfoys to me for the past... Well, all of it I guess."

It took a lot of willpower not to laugh at the last description.

"...And that's bad?" She questioned instead.

"It's confusing." The boy shrugged. "It's even worse because they genuinely think I have such a low opinion of myself that I'd immediately accept it." An... Eery tone entered his words at the last moment.

Daphne opened her mouth to respond- Only for Rodrick to continue speaking, his gaze no longer on her.

"Apologised for treating me like the bane of their existence for eight years straight-"

...They started when he was four? What the hell? Who looks at a four-year-old and-

"Apologised for blaming me for all of their stupid decisions. Apologized for blaming me for the caretaker's obvious ignorance... Or indifference." The boy shrugged. "Apologised for treating me like I wasn't born and raised in the same hell-hole as them. Apologized for stealing, burning, ripping, and throwing away any belonging I had."

She barely even noticed the heavy frown on her own face as she got up from her swing, quickly taking a seat on the same one as the other boy, Rodrick not paying any attention as he shifted to give her the room.

...What the actual hell was wrong with those kids?

"Apologised for blaming me for someone else's actions." The boy remarked, a passive expression on his face. "Apologised for tormenting me without reason."

Daphne could only stare, unabashed shock on her own face as she listened.

It took a great deal to make Malfoy look like a respectable, model, human being.

"And they expected a cupcake and a postcard to make me forget all of it."

She barely even noticed her hand on his shoulder.

Rodrick let out a scoff.

"...And I am no doubt the bad guy in all of this, for not giving them a chance." A single beat passed. "For trying to run away from everything." Rodrick's voice grew in volume. "For trying to enjoy my peace and silence from it all."

"For trying to convince myself I am not the bad guy."

She was wrong.

"For trying to convince myself that I am not responsible for someone else's actions."

She was so very wrong about it all.

Rodrick's life wasn't just bad.

"I never did anything to 'em... Never planned to..." The boy snapped out.

...It was horrible.

And utterly unfair.

And a small part of her whispered that he seemed to blame himself for it.

"But they won't ever see past my-" Whatever he'd been about to say died down as a passive face took over.

The question that came to her mind and out of her mouth was as surprising to Rodrick, as it was to herself. Because really, in that moment the only thing that came to mind was-

"Rodrick, are you still talking about the orphans?

A whirlwind of emotions seemed to go through his face. Surprise, anger and even hints of- Pity? And yet as fast as they came they all disappeared-

"Stop it..."

She blinked, her hand instinctively moving away from his shoulder.

"I said stop it." Rodrick gripped the two ropes that held his swing together as he repeated himself, worry rapidly forming in her being in the process.

"Rodrick? I am not-" She blinked once, watching as he grit teeth-

"STOP IT!" The boy screamed out, startling her in the process, her gaze swiveling around for a moment before it settled back onto a suddenly very dejected boy. Her mind going a thousand miles a minute as so many different possibilities ran through it-

"...Occulumency." The word broke her out of sudden frenzied worrying as she fixated her gaze back on the boy with confusion. "It's an art that helps you control your emotions." The boy continued tonelessly. "Which also protects your mind from Legillemency."

The confusion continued unabated as she could only wordlessly listen.

"You're supposed to learn It later in life, once you've gotten a good enough grasp of emotions and how to deal with them."

...Oh?

Oh.

Had he learned it too soon-

"One of my parents magically forced a far too advanced form of it on me when I was a baby."

Horror filled her at the words as her eyes widened.

Who on earth would do such a- Yet her thought died down as Rodrick raised his gaze towards her at that moment.

"There is something deeply wrong with me Daphne, and I can't do a damn thing about it," He finished, a veritable load of tension disappearing in the process.

No. she wanted to say.

Not true. She wanted to claim.

"I accidentally killed the Defence Professor you know?"

She shook her head.

"The second one... He was a freaking dark wizard possessed by the same murdery spirit that got Quirrel- Tried to kill Granger and her friends... Was laughing about it even." The boy remarked with a slump as he turned his gaze towards the ground.

She reached a hand out again, this time to his face, but stopped short just as it reached him.

"Wasn't meant to kill him." The boy whispered. "He was supposed to have a shield charm... Had to. Only a stupid wizard wouldn't in a duel... Even if it was against three first years, Harry Potter killed a Dark Lord when he was a baby so..." The boy hunched his shoulders. "But he didn't have one... And my spell killed him."

"It's not your fau-"

"But the worst part is, I couldn't feel anything about it." The boy remarked, a deranged snort coming out as he raised his gaze towards her. "My Occulumency, within seconds, literally made me blame him for his stupidity." The boy deadpanned.

"How fucked up is that?" He remarked, the swear word not even registering in her head as she slowly put her hands around his shoulders in a hug.

"...All of it," She answered honestly. "I had no idea it was that bad..." She could practically feel her arms shake.

She was so unbelievably wrong.

"...It's so unfair." It took her a moment to register the fact the words had come from her. "Why is it so unfair?" She removed her arms and stared at him. Stared at the look on his face.

The resignation that for some reason screamed at her that he had an answer.

An answer he believed in.

An answer that justified it all.

She shook her head again.

"I... I don't care." She stated seriously. "Whatever it is you're thinking-" She grabbed him by the shirt. "It doesn't- It's not- You can't justify it!"

Rodrick stared back at her passively.

"I am G-" He mulled over his next words for a moment before he shook his head and her hands off his shirt. "... Pretty sure it does,"

And at that moment she chose to say the dumbest possible thing she could've.

"I like you." She blurted out, earning a tilt of the boy's head. "So!" She continued with a hint of confidence as she narrowed her eyes at him. "If there's something deeply wrong with you-" She used his own words, to her subdued amusement. "Then doesn't me liking you mean there's something deeply wrong with me!?" She crossed her arms.

"...Nah, it just makes you an idiot." The boy deadpanned towards her.

Well, at least he didn't call her ignorant again.

To her surprise, those words somehow cut through all of the tension as she found a smile on both of their faces.

"So yeah," the boy settled on saying as he let out the longest sigh yet. "Wasn't in a particularly forgiving mood- And I am pretty sure one of them's burning my pillow or something stupid right now for it."

The reality of the situation quickly came back as her gaze narrowed once again, her hand on his shoulder.

"You need to get you away from that place." A single beat passed. "It's so unhealthy for you."

"Ya think?" The boy deadpanned, before rolling his eyes. "Anywho, what's up with you? Just realized I've been rambling about myself like Draco."

The sudden change in everything ought to have been alarming, if not for the fact it was somewhat endearing.

Maybe there really was something wrong with her?

Ignoring that thought, she made a mental note to make sure the house-elf kept everything it might've heard secret.

If only because her parents might ignore everything else that was said and focus on the fact one of her friends had killed an evil professor.

Or the fact she admitted to liking him-

"So are you just going to ignore the part where I said I like-"

"Daphne, we're twelve years old." Rodrick immediately remarked. "I am pretty sure it doesn't matter right now."

"...Is that you saying it, or your Occulemency?"

Rodrick didn't answer that question.

...

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