Innocence

Chapter Twenty

"Why are you so badly affected by what happened?" Sophia asked, turning to Daniel.

Daniel blinked, but it was David who responded.

"His Father is a No-Maj and ever since he tried out for the quidditch team, people in his house have been directing disrespect about his blood status towards him."

"They're being discriminatory to you?" Sophia asked Daniel, but again, it was David who responded.

"Yes. Because they are jealous of him. Sophia, do you realise how bad this is? It's more than just a note, or murmurs, or even people blatantly being nasty and saying things to insult others. Someone made a dummy of a No-Maj and hanged it, saying that that was their rightful place. That's so messed up."

"I know." Sophia said.

"Whoever did this is trying to inspire violence against a group of people who are different from them." Daniel spoke up for the first time. He had finally found his voice, although it was wavering. "A group of people, no less, that they believe to be lesser than them."

"I understand." Sophia said. "And we can tell my Father all of this once he gets here."

Daniel blanched. "Your Father? You mean that terrifying man who held that assembly?"

Sophia winced. "Yes."

"What a brilliant idea."

- - - - -

Percival was cooking dinner when he saw Mark appear at the window. The bird seemed distressed, and when the man began to let him in, the owl only waited until the gap was just big enough for him to squeeze in before he flung himself into the room, flapping his wings.

"Mark you're really gonna have to stay still if you want me to be able to get what you're holding." Percival said pointedly.

That seemed to calm the bird down, who took to sitting on Percival's outstretched arm. Percival calmly took the ragged piece of parchment, and his heart plummeted.

Father,

You're needed.

Sophia.

Percival pocketed the note and ran to the stairs, causing Mark to screech in horror as he suddenly lost his perch. Catching himself before he fell to the floor, the bird flew back out of the window in indignation.

When Percival reached the bottom of the stairs, he called up to Credence, panic in his voice. Credence soon appeared at the top of the stairs.

"What's the matter, Percy?" Credence asked.

"I'm needed at the school. I've gotten a note from Sophia. It sounds urgent, so I'm going to take the Floo network."

Credence only nodded once firmly before scurrying down the stairs and grabbing the pot of Floo powder on their mantelpiece, throwing a handful into the flames, turning them from flickering orange to roaring green. Percival took his own handful and stepped into the fireplace.

"Ilvermorny!" He yelled, throwing his handful down.

Credence watched as his husband's body was consumed by the flames, whisking him away and leaving the younger man to a quiet home and a half cooked meal.

- - - - -

Sophia turned to David and Daniel. "I'm gonna have to hang around for when my Father turns up, so why don't you two head down to the Hall and catch the rest of the feast."

Daniel shook his head kindly but firmly. "I'm afraid I'm in no state to go back down there and face that scene again, let alone be in the same room as the person who did it. I've thoroughly lost my appetite for tonight. If you two don't mind, I'm going to head back to my dormitory." And with that he nodded at David once in parting before turning on his heel and walking away.

After watching his cousin go, David turned back to Sophia. "I'm not going down to the feast and I'm not going back to our dormitory." He said sternly. "I'm staying here with you to wait for your Father."

Sophia's heart fluttered in her chest. "Really?" She asked weakly.

"Of course." David paused for a second, seeming almost hesitant. "Sophia, before all of this kicked off tonight, I had wanted to talk to you."

"I know I understand if you want an apology-"

"An apology?" David asked perplexed.

"Well, yes... I assume you want me to apologise for being so rude towards Daniel and pushing you away?"

"No!" David almost yelled, before calming down a bit. "No! No, I was going to apologise to you!"

"To me?"

"To you! I feared that you had not understood me that night in the common room. I feared that I had offended you."

Sophia stood in shock, not daring to say a word. David continued.

"When I said that I had already chosen, I meant that I had already chosen you."

No response.

David took a deep breath and explained. "Not 'chosen you' in the sense that I was willing to give up Daniel, but 'chosen you' as in I had already cemented you as a hopefully permanent friend. That is... If you wanted me."

"I do." Sophia felt so happy she could cry.

"But there was also a literal meaning to what I had said." David continued. "I was trying to tell you that back on the first day, I chose Wampus house over Horned Serpent so that I could be with you."

There was a long silence as Sophia stood there, absolutely stunned.

"But... But why?" Sophia asked. "Why would you chose me over your cousin?"

"You had been nice to me that morning. Nice to me even though I had been rude to you and nicer to me than your brother. You had been nicer to me than anyone else that I had seen so far that day. You understood me and sympathised with my position. You didn't make me feel bad or selfish once you understood that I am the way that I am. Not a lot of people have ever been like that. And when I was chosen by all four houses and everyone reacted the way that they did, I knew that I was going to hate the sort of attention such a thing would cause. I realised that I couldn't just do what I had been planning the whole time, which was just to stick with Daniel and keep my head down. I knew that I needed you, and I feared that if I had chosen any other house, it would have alienated me from you, and I would've lost what little chance I had of being your friend."

Sophia couldn't believe what she had just heard. She doubted she had ever witnessed David speak so much at once, and she had definitely never seen him speak of emotions so openly before. She wanted to fling her arms around him and tell him that everything would be alright.

But she knew David. She knew he wouldn't like such a gesture, even if he would've allowed her to do it. So instead, she took his hand in hers and squeezed his fingers for a few seconds.

"Thank you for telling me that, David. It means the world to me. But I am still sorry. Because I was rude to your cousin for no good reason. It was I who created this divide between us."

"So... Do you think you could ever be friends with Daniel?"

"Not yet. But... Maybe one day."

- - - - - - - - - -

I love David so much. I've loved him since I wrote TDD. And I really enjoyed writing the beginning of his friendship with Sophia.

Anyway, vote, comment, follow me if you want to. It would mean the world to me :)