Resided in You - Mattheo Riddle

5: ''Look at me, trembling.''

9th September 1986 

Thea awoke earlier than she expected too. The old watch her father gave her reads 5:51am, yet breakfast doesn't start until 7:30, and classes until 9. After a long period of debating what to do now, she suddenly recalled she has no fucking clue what she's supposed to be doing today. 

After a last minute panic, Thea threw herself upright, dragging the duvet covers off her and drawing back the curtains, careful not to wake the others. After a quick glance around the dimly-lit dorm room, she noticed the curtains drawn tightly shut around Pansys bed, along with the heavy breathing from inside. Daphnes bed, however, the curtains were drawn back, and Daphne was no where in sight. 

Without giving it much thought, Thea grabbed her robes from the trunk on the floor, and retreated across the room to the bathroom, clicking the door shut behind her. 

Thea put her clothes down on the basin, taking an extra second to look at herself in the mirror. It was spectacularly shiny, not a spot of dirt tainted it, except from the small crack curling in the top right corner. Her dark brown hair was noticeably untidy, and the purplish shade of her under eyes slightly more prominent than she remembered. Luckily, she'd learnt a thing or two about appearance spells, and it wasn't long before she was fully dressed, her hair somewhat neat, and her face brightened. 

The common room was just as deserted as she had expected, at quarter past 6 in the morning, as she walked down the grand staircase, Thea took note of how much more chilling it felt when it was empty. Taking the surroundings in fully for a second time, she almost missed the girl sat, legs crossed, by the fireplace, despite it remaining unlit. 

"You're up early." Daphne says softly from her armchair, not looking up from the empty grate. 

"Couldn't sleep." Thea's foot reaches the floor from the last step. "You?"

"Yeah." She murmurs. 

Thea takes notice of her sleek white hair, fully brushed and smoothed down her back, along with the thick black headband embedded neatly in her hair. She too was fully dressed, her robes curled around her, falling over the satin like a waterfall. 

"I like your shoes." Thea slumps into the sofa opposite Daphne, retracting her hands back into her sleeves for some extra warmth. She glanced down at Daphne's thick-heeled mary jane's buckled nicely on her feet, and thought of how put together she is, how perfect.

Daphne smiles slightly, glancing down at her shoes as if she'd forgotten what she'd put on that morning. "Thanks. Pansy will like yours." She gestures her head at Thea's bashed and bruised boots. "Doc Martens right? She's got her own pair, treats them like her children for merlin's sake." She rolls her eyes, turning back to the unlit-fire. "Have you got your lessons sorted yet."

"I've only just woken up. When would i have had the chance to do that?" Thea furrows her brows, wondering if Daphne's deliberately being stupid. She's evidently a bright girl, Thea is aware of such, and can't help but wonder if she's still half asleep. 

"I know, i was just reminding you that you need to get that sorted." Daphne turns to face Thea, a grin flickering away in the corners of her mouth. "You've only got..." She glances at the clock hanging above the fireplace. "2 and a half hours. And that's if you weren't having breakfast." 

Thea stands up from her sofa fairly quickly, shaking her head to get the bangs from her eyes. "Come with me then. I have no fucking clue what i'm doing." 

Daphne lets her grin consume her face, picking up her robe to join Thea. 

Once they both retreated from the portrait, Daphne led her down another corridor to the left, to the moving staircases once again.