Obsession {~Gradence~}

When I met you {2}

After lunch, Credence washed the mountain of dirty dishes and tried hard not to whimper when the water made contact with his not yet healed wounds in his palm. They were from last night when he came home with two more leaflets in his hand and therefore has been punished.

When he finished with the dishes, he started to head upstairs, even though it wasn't that late but he thought he may read a book. But right when he was about to go into his room, he heard his mother call his name.

"Credence?" called her from behind him. Credence turned around slowly and slightly frightened, thinking that he's done something wrong again, his heart was racing.

"Yes, Ma?" he asked looking at her.

"Can you please go outside and look for a place for tomorrow's meeting?'' he calmed down a bit and put a small smile on his face.

"Of course."

After a few good minutes of looking, Credence hasn't found any place for tomorrow's meeting. It was already dark outside, the moon was out and it was surrounded by millions of shining stars. Credence couldn't help but look up and admire them. He finds peace when looking at the sky, no matter what time it is. It's so fascinating that it can have so many beautiful colors and the clouds are never the same.

As he wasn't looking where he was heading to, he bumped into something. He took a step back and noticed it was actually someone. A very grumpy looking man.

"Watch it, boy," he growled.

"I'm sorry, sir.'' said Credence looking at his feet in embarrassment.

"Wait, I know you. You are that freak with the leaflets. I saw you today in front of the bank." Credence felt his face burn. He walked away from him, still hearing him mumbling. He found himself in a darkened alleyway.

Why is everyone saying this about him? He didn't do anything bad, he's just trying to warn people about the bad things that are happening.

He wanted to punch someone. His heart was racing and he was getting angrier and angrier. Without even thinking, his fist was rapidly heading for the wall in front of him. With his eyes closed, he expected to feel pain, but it seemed that he hit something that didn't feel like a hard wall. He slowly opened his eyes and saw a hand. A hand that prevented him from hitting the wall and hurting himself. He looked up and saw a man sitting next to him and when Credence tried to back away from him, he couldn't. The stranger pulled him back by the hand that he was still holding in his.

"Don't be afraid. I'm not going to hurt you." When Credence took a better look at the man in front of him, he looked somehow familiar. Credence was trembling with fear now and wondered what was going to happen to him.

"Wh-who are you?" asked Credence in something louder than a whisper.

"My name is Percival Graves." finally, the man let go of Credence's hand and when he took a step back, the man's face became more clear to him and realized where he knows him from.

"You...I- I saw you today. In front of the bank." said Credence.

"Yes, that was me.." but the man was cut short by Credence.

"You think I'm a freak too, don't you?'' asked Credence, looking at his feet.

He felt two hands on the sides of his face, two warm and gentle palms cupping his face. He looked up, scared and Graves was shaking his head slightly.

"Of course I don't think you're a freak." his voice was so deep and yet so sweet.

"Then why were you staring at me like that?"

"You're special. I knew it from the moment I saw you, Credence. Don't let those fool people hurt you." Credence froze. He never mentioned what his name was. How did Graves know? And like Graves could read his mind, he added "Uhm, you know Tina Goldstein, right? I asked her today about you."

Credence nodded. "She saw my mother beat me and...she did something awful. She's a witch." said Credence terrified.

"No, Credence, she did something good. She helped you." Graves glanced down at Credence's palm and frowned. He moved his hands from his face to his hand. At first, Credence hesitated, but then he let Graves examine it.

He was resting his hand in his left palm. " It hurts, doesn't it?" Credence just nodded.

Graves slid his right thumb along his wounded palm. As he was doing so, he watched Credence and his mouth opened in amazement and fear at the same time. He looked up at Graves but he couldn't see anything evil or bad. His mother told him that witches and wizards are evil and will kill people just for amusement. But Graves' eyes were soft and mild.

"Witchcraft is not always dangerous. There are a few bad witches and wizards but the rest of us...we protect people, from those bad people. And the Non-Wizarding World is exactly the same. Some of them are bad. And I get that your mother wants to protect her own from those bad wizards, but she just doesn't understand that we're not all the same." Credence stared at him and wasn't afraid anymore.

"I have to leave now," said Graves. "But meet me here, tomorrow in the evening." Credence nodded.

"Mr. Graves?" asked Credence.

"Yes."

"Thank you."

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So that's chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed it and tell me what you think about it.

[EDITED]