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Tweak says, "No mattr wher u go, ther u r."

Zacharias Smith (puffheir) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-09-28 11:37:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 09, !incomplete, gregory goyle, theodore nott, zacharias smith

Who: Zacharias Smith, Gregory Goyle, Theodore Nott.
When: September 28th. Suppertime.
Where: Goyle's caretaker cottage.
What: Dinner.
Rating: PG13 for rude words and Theo crazies?
Status: Incomplete/Closed.

Zacharias made the walk up towards the school from Hogsmeade, which he had Flooed to a short while earlier. The air was crisp, with that feeling of fall, heavy on the air, and it was a fairly nice walk up, what with the leaves on the trees changing colours to shades of red and orange of gold.

He walked along at a brisk pace, holding a white box that held the dessert he had promised to bring. Soon enough he reached the grounds of the school, that sprawled out in a seemingly endless manner. Zacharias walked not towards the castle, but down the sloping hill towards the caretaker's cottage, where Goyle and Theodore were living.

Zacharias walked with long strides that ate up the ground rather quickly, and soon enough he was there. He shifted the box to the crook of one arm and lifted the other hand, balling it so he could knock quickly, smartly, on the door, and then stepped back to wait.

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a_reticent_git
2010-10-03 10:12 pm UTC (link)

Greg hated this, he utterly hated these lapses, when Theo would be sent off into some sort of mental terror. All he could do is offer his support, continuing his gentle pats and rubs as his brows knit together. He spoke, deciding that he needed to work some things out, even with Theo here, listening. It was so difficult to walk around the land mines that seemed to detonate and suck Theo back into some sort of madness.

He looked to Zacharias, clearly bothered but spoke in a tone that masked his concern, so that Theo who was not looking at his face, would not catch the just of the conversation.

"I've been thinking, reading really. Memories are pretty powerful things. If I could look at some, I might be able to help a bit. There's loads of pensives about, you know, for doing such things. And according to one book," and Greg's face screwed up in a look of confusion, "I think it was called, Great Healing Miracles, or something like that. It talked about pulling them right out. Set them on a shelf, so that they aren't gone, just not there to fuck with the mind. Whatcha think? You ever heard of such a thing, Zacharias?" he asked, not addressing Theo but slightly curious as to if Theo might answer.

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puffheir
2010-10-03 10:16 pm UTC (link)

Zacharias tilted his head to the side as he pondered this concept. He too knew of pensives and their possibilities, although he had never used one. Never had need to. But could they work with Theodore? Quite possibly.

"That's actually a good idea," he murmured thoughtfully. "Remove those memories that cause the most strife, and put them aside. Where they won't bother him anymore. There's no need for those memories to be there." When all they were doing was harm, no good. Why keep them?

"You should try that. There's bound to be a pensive in the school," he guessed. There were all sorts of things in that place.

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booksmart_devil
2010-10-04 07:15 am UTC (link)

Theo couldn't drag his head up off Greg's shoulder and he murmured, a little to himself, maybe to the others, "Why am I so tired? Why so tired?" but the moment of clarity, of knowing there was something up with him came and went; it was, though, a quiet sort of sign that he was getting better. He hadn't realised that he was sick before now, despite cruel messages in his journal from disinterested readers, but the fluttering insistence that something was wrong came and went with more frequency now, and it was a step forward as much as it distressed him to start being aware of it.

He struggled to properly follow the conversation, but he managed to keep up with the jist and what he got distressed him. "Don't move it around, please." he begged at Zach's mention of a device to do just that in the school. "Please, please leave the furniture where it is, please, I'm s-sorry." he stammered, the fear of having something taken from him (something more taken from him) a throwback even to the days before he'd killed his father. He squirmed in Greg's lap, sliding himself off and wriggling to the floor where he sat at Greg's feet, forehead pressed to Greg's knee because he was too tired to even lift it at that point, tugging at Greg's trouser cuff. "I'll do better, please, I'm sorry, I'll do better just please, please." he begged softly over and over until it was just pleading.

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a_reticent_git
2010-10-04 02:07 pm UTC (link)

Greg's hand came down onto Theo's head and he stroked the hair, following the curl of Theo's head and down his neck, fingers smoothing in an absent way as he thought about what to do. Greg spoke then shshing Theo as Theo seemed to panic,"You've done nothing wrong love, nothing. Don't fret," he saidN glancing at Zacharias with a small shrug, "He doesn't mush seem to fancy that idea I can tell. But still, maybe if Professor Snape could try. I don't much trust myself, fumbling about in there," he said, patting Theo's head again.

He gave a small sigh and leaned back, letting his gaze drift as the mental exhaustion rolled over him. Keeping Theo on a path to sanity was daunting.

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puffheir
2010-10-04 09:02 pm UTC (link)

"Theodore, no one's going to hurt you," Zacharias said when he saw the boy getting worked up again, turning frantic. He was like a sad little puppy and the urge was there to cuddle him.

"There's no harm in talking to Snape about it. Just talking," he said. He studied Greg's face then, the fatigue there. It was easy to focus on Theodore in all this, and his needs, but he wondered what toll this was all taking on the other man.

"Theodore. You need to let him help you."

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booksmart_devil
2010-10-04 11:08 pm UTC (link)

Theo flinched when Greg's hand came down on his head, expecting the next feeling to be pain but surprised when it wasn't - it was Greg, wasn't it, it was just Greg and Greg was petting him down from his panic in a way that no one else had ever been able to do.

He slumped against Greg's leg and rested his chin on Greg's shoulder, eyes closed like this hurt him. He picked up on the sigh though, picked up on it and stored it away to be looked at and wondered over later, even as thoughts of stones sinking into the lake tumbled through his head.

It made him twitch uncomfortably as Zach used his full name, but it was nothing compared to hearing 'Snape' (although the name had been used before) - something about what Zach said triggered something in him and Theo clutched tight to Greg's leg, face pressed hard into his lap. "He knows." he said, a strained sound like a sob in his voice. "He knows, he knows, he knows where the keys are, but he never lets me go, he never lets me go."

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a_reticent_git
2010-10-04 11:33 pm UTC (link)

"Got that right, about the keys and all," Greg said partially under his breath, and then he looked at Zacharias as he continued to pet Theo like a well-loved dog. He did not try to lift him up as Theo had this habit of finding his way to the floor. Instead he offered an explanation of a sort, "Sometimes I wonder how he can keep things stored in his mind in such a way as it all comes out, sort of reality tangled with fiction. I didn't think he even knew," Greg said as he made as oddly approving face at Theo, "Snape is in charge and I got in a bit of trouble for using one, a key that is. Wanted Theo to try out the Prefect's bathroom. It was well worth it, but I'm not gonna try it again, I'll tell you," and Greg moved his hand to Theo's neck and shoulders, rubbing them with affection.

"I'll speak with him, Zacharias. It can't hurt to speak with him about it. And Theo you needn't worry about Professor Snape. He's already said that all I have to do is ask him when you want to go and he said we could visit the Astronomy Tower. And the Library as well. Please don't worry, honey," he said again in an effort to reassure the other man.

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puffheir
2010-10-05 09:55 pm UTC (link)

"The Prefect's Bathroom." Zacharias's mouth twitched in amusement. "Brave of you." He wasn't sure if Staff would be allowed in there - he knew that students hadn't been allowed, save for the Prefects. Back in the day. Things could have been different now. With Snape at the reins.

Although he rather thought things would be less pleasant with Snape than with Dumbledore, who had been a bit like a teddy bear.

"Good. Something does need... to happen." Because theodore couldn't go ln like this, not indefinitely. Not forever, locked in his fantasy world and unable to move on.

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booksmart_devil
2010-10-05 10:47 pm UTC (link)

Theo quietened down again although he didn't really seem present anymore. He shivered and held onto Greg's leg like he was being tugged away in a flash flood and this was the only anchor he had. His mind was dancing around Death Eater meetings that he'd snuck peeks at in his father's house, dark robes, dark nights, dark activities and intentions, pain at his father's hands and, and, and...

His thoughts were a cacophony of nothing right, everything miserable and those things that had scarred him so deeply they stayed with him even in the midst of madness. He keened in fear quietly in the back of his throat until Greg's hands moved to his neck and shoulders and kneaded into them, breaking him out of that psychological prison and making him sigh and juddering torn sound, relaxing back against Greg's legs then. He tuned back into the conversation when Greg spoke to him and he moved to chew at his fingers again. "Keep him away from me." he said, and it might have been threatening if not for the fear under it. He caught Zach's words and shook his head. "Happen? No. Nothing needs to happen, no, nothing will happen if he stays away, if we keep away, if we keep silent and still, seen not heard, not heard."

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