At this point, she was moving on autopilot. If she didn’t know just how to get to Trey’s apartment without thinking about it by now, she didn’t know what she would have done. Merlin knew she couldn’t apparate right now. She supposed she had used the Floo to get to the Leaky Cauldron, but she scarcely could even recollect anything that had happened to lead her to where she was right now. Which was heading down Knockturn Alley toward Trey’s apartment, without a second glance at any of her surroundings. She didn’t know if she just looked like someone that was better not to be messed with, but either no one approached her, or she didn’t notice, and soon she found herself all but running up the stairs of the apartment building. Cecilia could scarcely believe anything that had happened since she had arrived home… not much time had even passed, but it felt like time had nearly stopped since she had gotten home.

As always, there hadn’t been anyone bloody waiting for her at the train station, which was unsurprising. She had headed home, and had also, very unsurprising came across no one. None of this had been odd for her, so she had just gone up to her room to change and unpack. Everything was entirely normal, until it hadn’t been. Until the moment that Klaus came and knocked on her door. At first, she had thought that he’d been kidding—he had a poor sense of humor, and surely that had to be all that was happening. But she realized that was a ridiculous assumption to make. Even Klaus wouldn’t make a joke like this. Her mother was dead. She had died last week, and he had decided not to tell her. Nearly an entire week that her mother had been dead and she hadn’t known about it. Surely, that was something that she should have been able to tell, somehow.

Cecilia knew that she would have to do a lot of damn thinking, but she couldn’t get her mind to hang onto a single thought for more than a few moments. All she could think about was getting out of her house as quickly as possible, and she really didn’t care that Klaus had tried to stop her. the last thing she had wanted to do was stick around, and she’d headed to Trey’s without a second thought. She had no idea if he was even home—she had no idea if his parents were. It had only been a few hours, if that, since the Hogwarts Express had arrived back in London. How did everything go to hell so quickly? Cecilia pulled open the door without knocking, stepping inside and leaning against the door to close it. She didn’t see Trey, but she didn’t even attempt to move away from the door; instead, she just slid down it until she reached the floor, not entirely sure what to even do.

Outfit

@trey

Things hadn’t seemed to change very much since Trey had returned home. Granted that was aggravating given what was happening. He had assumed those around him would be outraged about what had happened at Hogwarts. Well, things had changed a bit. No one had seen Miles Brant in several days, though he hadn’t given it much thought. Who cared where the bloke was? Maybe he had found something they hadn’t and was taking care of business; at least he hoped that was the case. This was no time for the prick to be taking a break. Then again it seemed like everyone was taking a bloody break. His best friend had even dropped out of school to work for the cause full time. It was odd seeing as they both were needed in the school to get shit sorted. He supposed he couldn’t be too put off. As long as the bloke was still doing his part he wouldn’t bitch, though it had felt like they had been growing apart for several months. Shit didn’t always go as planned and there was no point in really thinking about it.

It seemed like he was constantly lost in thought as to what the hell he was supposed to do now. He supposed he should at least try to enjoy the winter holiday, but it was difficult. He was just relieved that Cecilia hadn’t stayed in the castle without him there. As much as he disliked her family he knew she was pretty bloody safe with them around. They did have an auror watching over them after all. He just preferred that he could be with her most of the time. He knew at some point they needed to speak about everything going on around them. She needed to pick a side and soon. He couldn’t protect her properly if she was set on staying neutral. He could try, but he also wasn’t going to give up on the cause. As much as he cared about her this was bigger than both of them.

Trey’s parents hadn’t been home in months, as they often stayed with a friend a few streets down. Their health was still poor and Trey wasn’t able to keep a proper eye on them while he was at school. He was happy that there were at least a few trustworthy people left. He had asked Greg to do the same for him, though he felt it had been an odd request. Trey could be a heartless prick most of the time, but when it came to certain people it wasn’t the case at all. He moved into the kitchen to grab a bottle of firewhiskey, planning on just relaxing for a bit before deciding his schedule for this holiday. He did have things he needed to do. He dropped down on the couch and cracked open his drink, taking a large swig from the bottle when he heard someone at his door. His eyes flashed up towards it to see Cecilia walk in. He immediately got to his feet as she slid down the closed door. He felt himself start to panic slightly though he kept it very well hidden. ”What the fuck is going on?! Are you okay?!” He asked as he made his way over to the door and stooped down in front of her, waiting for her answer.

It felt like absolutely everything was just moving in a blur. She could scarcely remember leaving her house, let alone making it all the way to Knockturn Alley with little to no trouble. Cecilia knew that Klaus hadn’t wanted her to leave, and if she hadn’t moved so quickly, she was sure he would have gone to any length to keep her from doing just that. But she couldn’t imagine staying there—even now, she couldn’t imagine going back, but she knew that she would have to at some point. He supposed that Klaus was her guardian now, or bloody something, so there wasn’t like she had much of a choice in the matter. Of course, she was of age, but she had been for months and it had never exactly stopped them from telling her what to bloody do all the time anyhow. No, she knew that she would have to go back home eventually, but she had no bloody idea what that would even mean. What was she supposed to do now? She just felt entirely at a loss, as she hadn’t been able to compose a clear damn thought since she had heard the news. Hell, she had left the house without a second thought. It was only when she’d been walking down the frigid streets of Knockturn Alley did she realize how bloody cold it was, and the fact that she hadn’t brought a jacket with her. However, the cold didn’t bother her much, she had very nearly enjoyed it, really. It was the last thing that she wanted to think about or worry about right now, as her mind had really only been on what she was doing in the current moment. It felt like all she could focus on… like she had to focus on walking or she wouldn’t remain standing.

Cecilia didn’t know what she would do when she got to Trey’s. She didn’t even know if he was bloody home, first and foremost, or if he was busy doing something. In many ways, it did feel a bit odd to just burst into his apartment without warning, as that had never been something that she’d done before. He’d always been expecting her, but she hadn’t been thinking about where she was going… not until she got there. Knocking might have been a good idea because of that, really, since he might not be home, or someone else might be there. But she had never knocked before, and the habit had her pulling open the door without really thinking too much about it. She didn’t even know if Trey was home, and she didn’t bother looking around when she pulled open the door. Standing just suddenly felt like too much, and it was all that she could do to even use the door as balance to stop herself from just falling over outright. She didn’t even realize that Trey was there, or moving toward her, until he spoke.

Her eyes moved to his, trying to bring herself to speak but she really just didn’t even know what to say. Her hands were shaking as she moved a hand through her hair as the other moved to cover her face. She knew that she had to tell him, but that meant saying it loud, and she wasn’t entirely sure that she could do that just yet. But she had to try at least, as she couldn’t just burst into his apartment and not tell him what was going on. “She’s dead,” she said, her voice only coming out a mere whisper.

Trey was normally not one for holidays, and he supposed he still wasn’t. He liked being out of the bloody castle where he could actually get shit done. That wasn’t to say that he still wasn’t working on things while at Hogwarts, but it was much more difficult to do so. If it wasn’t for Cecilia, Trey would more than likely have dropped out by now. He could be of a great deal more use if he wasn’t in that bloody castle pretending that he cared about his education in some sense. Now that Brant had gone missing there was nothing he could really do for the time being. While part of him had been optimistic that Brant was on to something, there was another part that was starting to doubt him. Not much had been happening lately and he had grown tired of waiting. What had happened at the school shouldn’t have bloody happened at all if the prick knew what he was doing.

Then again, there was nothing really he could do right at that moment anyway. He had barely been home yet, and was still unwinding he supposed. Well, taking care of business was one way to relax. It hadn’t been anything serious. Some people just needed reminders as to whom they were dealing with. He was a younger bloke which gave others this false sense of security that he wasn’t a big threat. Granted, sometimes he liked using that to his advantage. If he went into a different area where no one really knew him well he knew he could easily pull that off. He could play the part and enjoyed it, really. Sometimes it was almost depressing to realize just how bloody stupid and unobservant some people were. It didn’t really matter all that much. People like that wouldn’t last long soon, or at least he hoped shit would get started soon.

Trey hadn’t been expecting anyone that evening, though it wasn’t too uncommon for someone to drop by unannounced. Granted, it could be someone he liked, or merely a business transaction. He had been a bit on guard when he had first heard the door open, but now he wasn’t sure what the hell to do. Watching his girlfriend slump down to the floor without even acknowledging him was unnerving. He had never seen her like that. For a moment he panicked internally. His eyes moved over her carefully as if looking for some kind of injury. When he had finally stooped down beside her he could see that there was nothing physically wrong with her, or at least that’s what he had seen so far. He leaned forward to put his hands on her arms as she just sat there, ready to shake her to bring her back to reality when she spoke. He froze for a brief second. She’s dead?, he thought to himself in confusion. ”Who’s dead?” He asked cautiously, hoping beyond all hope that it wasn’t who he was assuming it was that had died.

Cecilia didn’t know how Klaus could have kept this from her for even a day, let alone several. How had he even kept it out of the news? What damn lengths had he gone to in order to keep this under wraps? She had no clue how long that could possibly last. It felt like it certainly couldn’t be long. The Prophet always found out everything about everyone, or so it seemed, and it would only be a matter of time until the whole bloody wizarding world knew what had happened. Hell, it might have been in today’s paper for all she knew. Maybe she found out that her mother was dead the same day that the entire damn population of the United Kingdom found out about it as well. She didn’t know how Klaus could possibly deem that as okay, but at the same time, she supposed that she did. Cecilia knew what Klaus thought of her, and just how little importance she held with her stepfather. Now, with her mother gone, she supposed she was really nothing more of an annoyance to him, but there was very little that she could do about that. Of course, she couldn’t help but be slightly worried that he would find this a good time to ship her off, regardless of her relationship with Trey.

He might find that easier than having to deal with her any longer, and it was bloody ridiculous that that was what she was worried about. Her mother had just been killed, and she was worried about her stepfather taking this opportunity to ship her out of the country. But it was a serious concern. She didn’t know how much of a say her mother had had in keeping her here, and for all she knew, he wouldn’t find it necessary anymore. Cecilia supposed she would just have to keep quiet for now and not give him any reason to be pissed off at her. Perhaps, if she did that, he wouldn’t just up and send her off for no reason. She knew that she’d have no way of stopping him if he did, but she really didn’t bloody want to give him a reason to at all. It felt absurd to her that this was a true worry that she was having at the moment. At the same time, she knew that she more than likely would be in the clear. Her mother probably cared about her just as much as Klaus did, and she wouldn’t have held him back from shipping her off if that was what he wanted to do. She wouldn’t have stopped him, and so Cecilia was just going to hope that meant that he didn’t find it necessary to just immediately get rid of her yet. She didn’t know for a fact, but she was just going to do everything that she could to make sure that he didn’t find a reason to ship her off. The last thing she could deal with right now was finding out that her mother had been murdered, and then being sent off and forced to marry some bloke twice her age within the same damn week. All she wanted to do was be around Trey, as he was the only person that might be able to make her feel remotely sane at this point.

Cecilia knew that she had to answer Trey—she could just burst in like this and collapse to the damn ground without explanation. But standing had just felt too damn difficult at the moment, and she still could barely recall how she’d even gotten here. She did note that she had forgotten a coat… but she supposed it was lucky that she’d even put on shoes, really. All she had wanted to do was get out of the house as quickly as possible. When she felt his hands move to her arms, she finally looked up at him, as his touch calmed her slightly… even though she still felt like she’d break into a million pieces if she moved. How could this possibly be happening? It didn’t matter to her that her mother thought of her more as pretty doll to parade around to their friends… she was still her mother. When Trey asked her who was dead, she took a shaky breath, knowing that she would have to say it out loud, and she hadn’t really. “My mother…” she stated, before pausing, knowing that she needed to say more. “…was murdered.” Cecilia said finally, knowing that he would ask otherwise, and she just wanted to get the words out as soon as possible. She pulled her gaze away from his, bringing her hand up to swipe angrily at the ridiculous tears that had started to fall. Her mother practically bloody hated her, she reminded herself, as she tried to convince herself to bloody snap out of it.

Trey hadn’t heard any news as of late that was or any use to him, really. It obviously wasn’t in the papers that Brant had gone missing. He was trying to keep everything under ground, so to speak. He failed miserable, and far more people knew about him than what was probably safe. He wouldn’t be shocked if the bloke showed up dead. He really had high hopes for the cause, and was trying not to jump to conclusions though that was very difficult at the time. He had barely been home so he hadn’t had time to really go through any of his thoughts and sort them. He had just wanted to sit down with a drink and have a breather. Life was fast paced, and now that he was away from the castle he would be able to get more shit done. He hadn’t made nay plans for those few days after leaving the castle, outside of his normal routines when he was home. His routines weren’t exactly pleasant, though he did get some jjoy out of them as it often involved taking care of business in a fashion he enjoyed.

This was another reason why he had been so confused when Cecilia had come through his door. It was strange that she would stop by unannounced. She never did that. Hell, he preferred not to have her around that area if he could help it. He had even started debating on finding his own place outside of the Alley after graduating, though he knew that probably wouldn’t happen. His life and his business belonged in that dingy town amongst the crooks and society’s scum. That was all he would be, really. But that was beside the point as he was still concerned over the fact that his girlfriend was in such a state that she had walked the streets of Knockturn Alley, at night, on her bloody own. It almost seemed as if she had been in a trance when she entered. Part of him had been concerned that she may have been drugged or lost her mind or some shit. But that didn’t seem to be the case at all.

He would be lying if he said he hadn’t been scared when she had walked in and then slumped to the floor. Trey had tried his best to remain cool, and felt like he was doing a decent enough job of it. He just wanted to know what the hell was going on, and what he would have to do to fix that shit. Trey could feel that she was cold, but didn’t want to stand to get her anything to cover her up with just yet. Instead he waited for her to speak, as he had been confused on who she had been talking about. He froze for a moment when she finally spoke, his stomach feeling queasy and his head beginning to pound. He could already feel himself getting angry though he was still able to hold back by some bloody miracle. Trey pulled her into his arms, holding her tight to give her comfort and give her some form of warmth. He couldn’t move from the floor just yet as his mind was reeling with all sorts of questions. ”Why…” It was a vague question as he wasn’t sure what else to say without getting extremely irritable.

Cecilia knew that not a lot fazed Trey… he had seen and done a lot of shit in his life that she was sure she wouldn’t be able to even begin to contemplate if she tried—though she occasionally thought it was for the best that she didn’t bloody know everything. Sometimes, she didn’t really want to; but at the very least, she knew that there was probably a fair bit that Trey didn’t even want her to know. But, even though not a lot worried him or bloody whatever, Cecilia knew that she needed to explain herself. She couldn’t just appear at his apartment like this for no reason whatever, acting the way she was and not grant him an explanation. Even he probably had to bloody worry at times, and she knew that, trying to look at it from an outside perspective, she knew that her actions were worrisome. If he did something like this, which obviously seemed bloody unlikely, Cecilia knew that she would be incredibly concerned about what the hell was going on. Unluckily for him, he was better suited to handle things like this than she was, and she couldn’t think of a place to go other than here. She didn’t really even have anywhere else to go. She had just known that she couldn’t stand to be home for a moment longer.

Klaus was going to be mad that she left, Cecilia obviously knew that much—he had tried to stop her from leaving altogether, but she had been determined and too damn fast for him to stop. Cecilia knew that she couldn’t avoid being home forever, and that she would have to go back there eventually… she just didn’t know when she was going to. She wanted to wait until her family was asleep, though, because the last thing she wanted was to go home and have to deal with them all over again. She didn’t want to hear about their expectations, or what happened now. Really, she didn’t want to hear them bloody talk at all. She hadn’t even stayed at the house long enough to hear a full explanation… though she wasn’t sure that she even could have stomached it at the time. Her stepfather had come into her room, told her that Oriana had been murdered, and she hadn’t stayed around to here much else. She hadn’t even grabbed a coat, and vaguely she realized that it was lucky she’d even been wearing shoes… as ridiculous as that sounded. She hadn’t exactly had her wits about her to the point that she would have been thinking about such things at the time.

She was shivering, but she barely even realized it. A part of her noticed that she was cold, but it seemed an entirely unimportant concept at the time. It had taken all of her to even get the words out to tell Trey what was happening, and she still felt like she wasn’t explaining it with nearly enough clarity. But she didn’t know that much. It was difficult for her to wrap her head around it, but she also truly hadn’t gotten that many details from Klaus before fleeing the damn house. She gripped onto Trey’s shirt when he pulled her to him, though she still couldn’t bring herself to speak. Having his arms around her ceased her shivers though, and his warmth was a stark contrast to how cold she felt. Finally, though, she knew that she had to answer his question… it wasn’t as though she knew that much more either. “I don’t know,” she answered, quietly, “She came down here for something.” Cecilia added, as that was all she truly knew. She’d been killed coming into Knockturn Alley, though Klaus hadn’t explained any further than that.

Trey had seen enough in his life to not really be bothered by much of anything. He had watched people be tortured to death. Hell, he had killed enough people himself. It was just what happened. It wasn’t a big deal. He could remember the first time he had killed. It hadn’t been anything special. It happened the summer before his first year at Hogwarts. It was the first time he had ever ‘blacked-out’. There were times that he got so angry that he couldn’t remember some things. That had been one of those times. It had taken one bloke saying something vulgar about his mum and he lost it. His mind went blank, and didn’t come back around until he was looking down at the bloody, limp body crumpled in front of him. He was sure some people had seen, but the beauty of the alley was that no one really cared. No one had ever said a word to him, and he went about his day as he normally would have. He could admit that he had been a bit shaken that first time he had killed. There was something about knowing you took another human beings life that should be extremely upsetting, but that had not lasted long. That was just a part of life now.

While it was completely normal for things like that to happen in that area, he didn’t like the thought that his girlfriend was suffering because of it. People like her didn’t hang around the alley, and that was for a good bloody reason. Even with him there she wasn’t entirely safe. The longer he stayed with her, the more he knew that eventually things were going to come to a head. Now that her mother had been killed he was even more concerned. Obviously, he didn’t know what the circumstances were, but he could only imagine that it had something to do with the threats that were on them before. He had known that they were receiving death threats, and that the family had an auror looking over them. It was hard not to know that as the auror supposed to protect them worked in the school. Part of him wanted to be ridiculous and get angry at the blood traitor that was supposed to be protecting his girlfriend and her family. Then again, her family members were just shitty people that didn’t deserve any kind of protection. They treated her like shit, but he had kept himself cordial when he was around them. It could be amusing at times, but at other’s he found himself aggravated. Granted, he did really well at hiding that aggravation.

Trey wasn’t entirely sure what to do. He wasn’t a very emotional bloke, and he really had no real experience in comforting anyone. It was odd, but still felt somewhat natural as he stooped down beside her. He could feel that he was getting aggravated, but tried to keep himself level until he knew exactly what had happened. He kissed the top of her head as he held her close, relieved that her body had stopped shaking so much. He was ready to say something more when she finally spoke. His body went rigid for a moment. She had come down to the alley? What the fuck would possess that brain dead woman to come down there? ”What the hell was she doing down here?” He asked, aggravation already coloring his tone though he didn’t release her just yet. He needed to mentally get himself prepared for this conversation. If he let go of her he would leave and try to figure shit out on his own.

When Klaus had told her what had happened, the only thought in her mind had been getting the hell out of the house. She hadn’t really thought too much about leaving and about how she was getting there… she just knew that she needed to bloody go. She supposed if she had actually thought about it, she would have gotten a jacket or did something that people normally bloody did when they were going out in the damn winter, but nothing had come to mind—no coherent thought of anything other than just leaving and getting away from her stepfather and his house. She couldn’t be there anymore. She didn’t even know how she was meant to go back and act like everything was absolutely fine. She knew that was how Klaus would want her to be. He’d want her to put on a respectable face and not embarrass the family and she didn’t know how the hell she was supposed to do that when she couldn’t even think straight. She didn’t even know what to say… how to explain to Trey what was going on. She knew that she had to but vocalizing it… it was hard. Impossible. She didn’t even know what to do.

She should have stuck around longer to hear more from Klaus, but she couldn’t have. And she couldn’t truly imagine that it would have made her feel better to hear more details about what had happened to her mother. Cecilia didn’t think he would have told her that much more anyways. It wasn’t proper to have those kinds of discussions with women, or bloody something like that. But she didn’t really even want to know. It didn’t matter how much more Klaus would have actually told her—she just couldn’t even think about it. It would make it realer than it already was, and she wasn’t sure if she could handle that. She was barely handling as it was. Cecilia tried to focus on Trey, and on the fact that being near him always made her feel better. She tried to focus on her breathing, focus on her body’s movements… she realized that she was cold, but his presence was relieving that slightly. Cecilia knew that she needed to calm down—that she shouldn’t have just showed up here like this, but she had nowhere else to go. “I don’t know,” she said in response, her voice barely louder than a whisper. But she knew she needed to give him more information than that. “I left before Klaus could tell me more… if he even would have.” Cecilia added, after a moment’s pause. She just couldn’t even think about going back there and facing it, even though she knew she’d have to eventually.

Trey was only protective around a select few people. Well two, to be exact. His mum and Cecilia. He hadn’t expected to get so attached or invested in this all, but he had. There was nothing he wouldn’t do for either one of them. Obviously, Greg was another person he would do anything for, but he wasn’t protective of him. The bloke could take care of himself, after all. But Trey had a hard time trying to stay calm when it came to his mum and Cecilia. He had been worried the moment Cecilia had come thought the door. He did get visitors through all times of the day, but he was typically expecting it. This was something that had surprised him entirely. It wasn’t like her to just drop by. The fact that she had walked through the Alley at this time of night concerned him, though he was sure no one had followed her. They would be stupid to do so.

The only thing he knew was that she was here now, and that something was very wrong. His immediate reaction had been to comfort her, and that was strange all on its own. His next reaction had been to chastise her for coming through that part of town, in the dark, on her own. But with how out of sorts she was he pushed that from his mind. All he could think to do was hold her close. He had never seen her vry or even get the slightest bit upset. It made him angry just knowing something so awful had happened that it put her in such a state. His mind had been going everywhere and anywhere as he held her and tried to warm her. The apartment was drafty, and he knew it would be hell for her to try to warm up. But there were bigger issues that needed to be taken care of first.

Trey was getting impatient as he waited for her to answer his question. Granted, it wasn’t so much to do with her, as it was getting the information he needed to take care of shit. Her mother had been killed, and it the bloody alley of all places. He wasn’t even sure why she would be down there. Maybe she was still fucking Greg? He supposed that would surprise him, but he doubt Greg would put her in a situation to get her killed. After she answered he made a low growl as he tried to puzzle things out. In one smooth motion he slipped his arms under her to pick her up, moving carefully over to the old worn couch. He set her on it and went back into the bedroom to grab a hole ridden blanket that would certainly be better than nothing. ”I thought you had an auror keeping watch.” He said in an irritated voice as he handed her the blanket and moved towards the refrigerator. He knew that she had at some point, but couldn’t remember why it is they didn’t have one anymore.