For a moment, held by his gaze and his smile, Dorcas felt a little safer.
But the safety of his kindness couldn't retain her when he asked why she had to die. Dorcas shifted uncomfortably on the couch, pulling into herself a bit. She set her water glass down on the coffee table, then gripped at her elbows with her hands, looking away from John, once again lost in her vision out the window.
"I knew something," she finally said after a long silence, and her voice wavered dangerously. "A secret I wasn't supposed to know."
Up until the moment that came out of her mouth, no one had known about her secret except for Regulus. And Voldemort, of course. Even the Death Eaters that had captured her, taken her from the streets in the middle of the night, had been kept in the dark about why she had such value. Once she'd been restrained, the only person Dorcas ever saw was Voldemort, and one occasional Death Eater that would come to make sure she had not died when left alone.