Chapter 52: I Dare You!

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"I dare you, I dare you to finish that sentence." he said tartly.

"Sheesh! Your sense of humour seems to have vanished."

"Yep. I was so in a mood to laugh and giggle when I found my friend preparing to jump to her death." Henry replied sarcastically.

"I wasn't jumping to my death. I was just trying to…summon you, I guess. And it worked!" She groaned, not looking him in the eyes.

"Don't lie to me, Daphne. I saw your eyes. They were brimming with conviction. You were prepared to die. You are prepared to die." Henry spat and grabbed her face, "Look me in the eyes and tell me you weren't trying to kill yourself."

Daphne was just silent as anxious emerald eyes stared into guilty blue ones. Henry sighed and hugged her tightly.

"It's about Astoria, isn't it? Please tell me what the problem is and I promise you I will fix it. Just don't die please." Henry's voice croaked at the end. Daphne gently ran her fingers through his hair.

"Henry, I am so sorry for worrying you. Please forget it. You are too young to deal with my mess." Daphne whispered gently. A contemptuous laugh escaped him.

"You are too late to protect my innocence or childhood naivety, Daphne. I may be too young, but the things I have done would make adults claw their eyes out and rip off their ears just so they couldn't see or hear me."

"Oh, Henry, why do you hate yourself so much?" Daphne cradled his head kindly, "Just let it go. This anger, this loathing. It will eat you from inside."

Henry stiffened in her arms but then relaxed, hiding his face in her neck.

"I had a twin sister." Henry began after a minute of silence. "She was the most wonderful girl in the whole world. The cutest and the loveliest. She could make me smile when I was sad. She annoyed me when I was happy. She knew my thoughts even before I worded it. We were always together. We did everything together. We were soul mates. She was the one I loved the most. The one I thought would be with me forever no matter what. And then I made a grave mistake. A mistake which would haunt me for eternity. A mistake which took her life. I hate that mistake. I hate that I indirectly killed my sister. I hate myself for it and I don't think I will ever let this hate go. Because if I do, it will be unfair to Iris. She is dead because of me. So, I need to suffer too, right? I can't be happy. I shouldn't be happy. I won't be happy."

Daphne's eyes were brimming with tears as she held him tightly in her arms. Now, she knew why she had such an instant connection with him, why she felt so protective of him. He was just like her. Miserable and full of guilt.

"Henry, I am sure it wasn't your fault."

"It was! I wasn't strong enough. I was weak. I was too arrogant. I killed her by my incompetence." Henry shook his head. Daphne felt so sad that she couldn't change his mind, that she couldn't take away his pain. At last she just decided to hold him tight.

"I am sure you have heard that I have a little sister." Daphne started reluctantly, still not sure if she should burden her young friend with her sorrow. "But what you haven't heard is the incident that happened this summer. That the Dark Lord himself visited our house to request my father to join his side. While my father holds purebloods above the people of mixed heritage, he doesn't believe in violence. So, he politely refused to support the insurgent movement. Just like he did more than a decade ago when the Dark Lord gained power. You-know-who simply left the manor without another word. But unlike last time, this time he seemed a bit desperate."

Daphne's gaze was on his face as she held him at shoulder's length but her mind was in the past.

"We shouldn't have been surprised when Death Eaters attacked us that night, but we were. I think we were used to feeling invincible since our family is very old and prestigious. My father hadn't ever thought that the Dark Lord would blatantly attack us since he preaches about blood purity.

"That attack was just an amusing play for the Dark Lord. He just scared and intimidated us. We weren't hurt even a little bit. When this time he offered alliance to my father, he jumped at it. It was finally over. We were all safe. Or so we thought.

"Just as we sighed in relief, he pointed his wand at Astoria and killed her off with a blood boiling curse. I screamed, I sobbed, I begged him to stop. My parents too were on their knees, screaming for mercy. But the Dark Lord simply ignored us and hurt Astoria until her skin and organs were burnt from inside by her own blood. 'Now you know what happens to those who defy me. Remember this for the next time you think to deny me.' That's what he said before apparating away, leaving my sister's charred body behind."

"I… I… I still hear her screams all the time. My mind is never silent, Astoria's agonised shrieks haunt me. All the time. I was a coward. I was frozen like a statue when instead I should have thrown myself between the dark lord and Tori. I can't forgive myself for not saving her. I just can't.

"Sometimes the voices get too much– and I think, wouldn't it be nice not having them? Wouldn't it be better not existing? Because finally I could have peace and silence."

Henry didn't know what to say to make her feel better. So, he just wrapped his arms around her and cradled her head on his chest as her body shook with heart-wrenching sobs.

When she finally calmed down, she looked sheepish for crying so much.

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