Re: Theo & Calypso
Theo knew what it was to surrender your opinions, decisions, autonomy, everything that made you a person to the hands of your parents because appearances mattered that much to them. He knew he wasn't the only Pureblood or Slytherin to have been trained like a small dog to bark on command, and he still had uncertainties over really how different his father's treatment of him had been compared to everyone else. He'd told himself that everyone else was going through the same thing for a period while he was at school, although he'd learned otherwise before he could tell anyone what was happening to him; it was important to keep the punishments for his 'unruliness' a secret too.
He knew through conversations with Blaise that his mother wasn't exactly a figure of nurture and compassion in his life, and that was almost entirely through the things Blaise hadn't said than the things he had. It had been a constant source of worry for Theo whenever the holidays come up, whenever he was able to force himself into coherent thought away from his own terror of going home. Blaise had come through it as one of the people Theo loved best, and Callie wasn't far behind him; Theo was proud of them but the idea that they'd had to struggle and suffer at all made his heart ache.
He was already trying to tell Callie that she didn't need to thank him for the truth, stopping because Calypso was only attending because of her mother. "We can leave now if you want." he said, serious. "You don't need to live under her thumb Callie. If it's easier for you we could just go in, walk round once and leave right away." He was worried about the last thing she said especially, and guilty because he hadn't noticed. "How do you mean?" he asked gently, even more reluctant to enter than he had been before.