hollowchild | IC Inbox

Right...[...come on, Draco. It's Sophie. If there's anyone that could serve as someone to get you to cope with all of your messy feelings leftover from the nightmares, it's her.

As it stands though he's trying to scoot back instead.]

...I should go. I'm behind in work.

No you don't.

[her hands on him aren't forceful, but they are firm, catching his left shoulder and his right forearm]

You can't scare me off, Draco. Not with your pain or your fear or how much you hate yourself and the things you've done and didn't do.

[He's trying to pull away anyhow, if only because he's already talked himself into the fact that this was a mistake. This was such a huge mistake.]

Never mind. Just never mind. I know I can't but just never mind.

[her fingers tighten a bit, but she's still not trying to restrain him]

No, I really can't do that.

Sophie please? [Look, he's asking nicely and everything while more or less trying to yank his arm back.]

[he can have his arm, because she's going to slip very gracefully past him to block the door, leaning against it. she looks just a little sad, but doesn't say anything, just shakes her head a little. the idea of cornering him bothers her, but it feels like a deeply bad idea to let draco run away]

[He's immediately on his feet...well, not entirely immediately since he's sore, but fast enough to get his point across. He's trying not to read too much into her look, trying not to think too much about her posture. He doesn't make a move to cross the room yet though.]

...what do you think you're doing?

[there's nothing threatening in her posture beyond the fact that she's blocking the only way out of the room. if anything, she really, really doesn't want this to become a physical thing.]

Riding your fear.

...I have absolutely no idea what that's supposed to mean. But I'm serious, Sophie. Move. [His resolve's crumbling just a little bit the longer he's stuck there and unable to go dive into some other distraction.]

I know.

I'm not moving.

...then I'll have to move you myself. [In which he'll become another human rocket, shooting up into the air with every intention to try and fly his way over her head and out the door.

Good plan, Draco. Really.]

[sophie, as promised, doesn't move. but draco still finds the way blocked by a sudden thick cover of shadow. it completely obscures the doorway and a good bit of the wall, and if he hits it it's a lot like hitting a tensed thigh muscle made of gathered darkness.

sophie just watches and waits.]

[It's just shadow, right? How hard can that be to fight through? He's going to do what any teenage boy would do in this situation. He's going to try beating the crap out of it, clawing and fighting against it to try and leave.]

[it's not hard, it's impossible. the shadows are an extension of sophie's will, they're exactly has difficult to penetrate as she wants them to be. he can struggle for as long as he likes, but it's not going to do a damn thing to the wall of shadow, and it's not going to particularly hurt him, either. where he hits, it gives under his hands like a gel, absorbing the blow without getting him any closer to the door, and there's nothing to sink his nails into in order to try and rip it away.

she's sorry about what she's doing, sorry about his panic and his anger, but she's not letting him at that door]

[As time passes his movements become more frantic, hits becoming harder, faster and claws trying to dig in deeper. He can't help but let out a noise of despair as he finds the shadows aren't giving way despite his best efforts.

But he's not stopping. He can't stop because if he stops everything's going to catch up, and if everything catchs up, that's it. That's the end of Draco Malfoy.

If she's listening enough she can possibly pick up on some muttering under his breath, something that sounds a lot like he's begging her to relent and let him out of the arena. But he has a strong feeling that's not a possibility, so he's focusing more of his attention on trying to rip through the shadowed wall.]

[it kind of makes her want to cry, that desperate pleading. the weaker parts of her want to relent, because she's hurting him. but she's not the real cause of all this. it doesn't stop her from doing her penance, though, standing right beside where he's trying to tear through the utterly impenetrable wall of dark]

You know I won't, Draco. You know I can't.

Why the fuck not? [More snarled than anything despite the fact he's not looking at her, still fruitlessly attacking and fighting something that isn't moving. Maybe...maybe if he just works a little harder he can get through.]

I think you actually know that, too. I'm sorry, you have no idea how sorry I am. But this is poisoning you, and there's a reason you called me and not someone else.

I already said never mind! I changed my mind. [Why he thought he could have a rational conversation about this, he's not sure.]

[she shakes her head again. she's watching him struggle, and there's pain written obvious across her face, but the shadow holds without even a hint of faltering]

I'm sorry. I'll still be there on the other side of your fear, Draco. So will you. The world will still be there, you'll still be in it.

[He's having a really hard time grasping what she's saying and he just claws at the shadow wall one more time before it happens. Without much warning, without really any sort of second thought, his powers give out due to the sheer overuse of them combined with physical exertion. His body hits the floor landing close to Sophie's feet, but he's not bothering to move.

But only for a few minutes. He's picking himself back up and more or less dragging himself across the floor to try and pry under the shadows around the door.

Why he thinks this will work is anybody's guess, but he's desperate to get out and that's really the important part here. He's sorely regretting bringing Sophie here, regretting even toying with the idea of telling her things.

The shadows continue to stand strong though, and despite this he's still clawing at them feebly.]

...damnit Sophie.

I know. I'm sorry.

[she sinks down to her knees and laces her fingers through his, pulling them back from the shadows. holding up this wall hasn't even made her visibly tired]

[Really, he should have realized that training prior to fighting with Sophie was going to put a strain on him. As it stands though he's still trying to fight against her hand, still trying to get to the shadows to pry a big enough hole.

It's pointless though.]

I can't stay here. I'm getting tired of standing by and letting terrible things happen that I could have stopped.

[her hold isn't hurting him, but she's keeping him from straining his hands trying to tear at something that isn't going to be torn]

The thing you're standing by and letting happen right now is inside you, Draco. Running won't stop it. You can't undo what happened in the past by running from it.

[He's still trying for the sake of trying, practically hearing Lucius' voice in his ear telling him to fight on and be stronger. You're a wizard, Draco. You should be stronger than this...girl.

Should be, but not likely.]

...how was I to know that's what she would do to her? What was I supposed to do when spells started flying and she started...just...mutilating her? I should have done something. I should have figured out a plan sooner and now because of me she gets to have a perfectly nice constant reminder of the day I stood by and watched her start to die a slow and painful death.