Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Abiageal's parents had not been home for several days, so Theodore had stayed with her. Unfortunately, it was not for the right reasons. He was not there with her for the right reasons, he was not there because he wanted to keep her company but out of guilt ( and also a little bit of fear ).

He followed her whenever she moved around the house, if she went to the kitchen to get a bottle of water, he was behind her. She went to her room to get a book, he was there. If he could also follow her to the bathroom, he would, but Abiageal had drawn the line for that, as if she could make a terrible decision while going to pee...

She wanted to tell him to stop, she could not stand the way he was with her anymore, treating her like she was a porcelain doll. It had only been a few days, but honestly, she was already at her wit's end - and it had nothing to do with Voldemort - she wanted to yell at Theodore, tell him that she could take care of herself just fine and that she was not the fragile little flower he thought she was, but every time she was about to take her frustration and anger out on Theodore, that she had the right to tell him to stop and let her breathe a little, but every time she opened her mouth to speak, no sound came out, as if she had suddenly become mute. Her mouth opened and closed, as if she were a fish out of water trying to survive.

Abiageal slipped away discreetly and before Theodore could realize her disappearance, she climbed the last step of the stairs that led to the attic - it was her favorite place when she was younger ; it was, at the time, the only quiet place in the manor -, she sat on the old sofa that belonged to her late grandmother and that her parents had not had the heart to get rid of, the book that she had left the last time she had taken refuge in the attic was still next to the sofa so she resumed her reading.

Unfortunately, she did not stay alone for long. Theodore appeared far too quickly for Abiageal's liking. She asked him how he had managed to find her so quickly, he simply admitted that when they were children and they played hide and seek, this was the place where she hid. Every time. That was why she was not very good at it.

Theodore changed the subject radically.

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming here? I would have come with you!"

"Because I needed to be alone," she admitted.

"Abby-"

Abiageal did not let him finish his sentence, she closed her book and stood up before walking towards him, she got as close to him as she could without feeling like she was suffocating. She spoke in a soft, comforting voice.

"Voldemort is not going to summon me while we're lounging by the pool and ask me to sacrifice Muggle lives."

Abiageal saw in Theodore's gaze that this was not something she should have said out loud and in front of him. She reached out for him but before she could touch him, she retracted and rested on each side of her body.

"Look, Theo...I promise you that if I feel the Dark Mark hurting me, you'll be the first to know. It's a promise I make to you and you know I always keep my word."

Theodore nodded, but Abiageal could see that he was not entirely reassured. She did not know what else to say. Everything had been said and everything had been done. The subject had been broached from every angle, she did not know what else to say to ease his anxieties. In fact, it was not true, she knew what to tell him, the only thing that would help Theodore get better was the exact thing she could not tell him, it was a lie. Theodore wanted to hear that it was all a dream or a joke that Abiageal had tried to play on him ( and everyone knew she had a horrible sense of humor ), that she had used makeup to draw Voldemort's mark on her arm. But, again, that would be telling a lie and Abiageal never lied.

"I'm afraid for you, you know?"

"I know, Theodore."

"This is not right. This is not fair."

"I know."

There was a short silence between the two friends. It was not awkward, but it was not soothing, either. Abiageal felt that Theodore still had so much to say but was not ready to say it yet, so she respected his boundaries.

"How about we go make lunch?" she suggested.

"Yeah, let's do that."

They had walked next to each other, barely a millimeter prevented their two hands from touching.

It was the closest they had ever been, and from Abiageal's perspective, they were practically holding hands. The irony was not lost on her, hugging was not a problem for her ( even if it was a one-time thing ), but holding Theodore's hand to comfort him was apparently asking too much of her.

Theodore had taken it easy for the rest of the day, he had stopped following Abiageal like he was her second shadow and Abiageal felt like she could finally breathe.

Abiageal was lying in her bed, the wind outside was blowing hard enough to shake the walls. The weather outside had changed drastically in a matter of seconds just before they went up to bed, wind and heavy rain had replaced the high heat and azure blue sky. Abiageal could not sleep that night ( and it had nothing to do with the wind and rain ), every time she closed her eyes, she saw Voldemort and his frightening smile when he had pointed his wand at her arm to mark her like she was cattle. She still felt that sharp pain that made her grit her teeth all day long to keep from screaming in the middle of the conversation she was having with Theodore.

Abiageal knew that if she got out of bed and knocked on Theodore's bedroom door, he would drop everything to listen to her; but she did not. Instead, she turned to the other side, facing the wall. She also pulled her covers a little higher on her body, almost hugging herself.

She was tired of involving Theodore in her business, it was her problem and hers alone. Theodore had made it very clear a few months ago when they had become friends again that he wanted nothing to do with Voldemort and the Death Eaters and what had she done? She had involved him and burdened him with a burden that was not his.

She would pull as many sleepless nights as needed and the next day she would smile as if nothing had happened. Abiageal was willing to lie to protect him. To actually protect him this time.

But before that, she had to learn how to lie first. It was a task she would entrust to Daphne Grengrass, she was the best liar Abiageal knew, she had a lie ready to get her out of any sticky situation, it was truly impressive to see her do it.

Theodore had invited his friends to come to Abiageal's and Abiageal had written to Daphne asking her to come as soon as possible, that it was urgent, very urgent. So, the young blonde had appeared in the Raglan Living Room just a little after ten in the morning, dressed to the nines as usual.

The two young women went straight up to Abiageal's room. The brunette closed the door to her room and got to the heart of the matter, she had no time to waste.

"Can you teach me how to lie?" she asked without missing a beat.

"I guess that was the most subtle way you could ask me that question," Daphne laughed, clearly not offended by Abiageal's question.

"Sorry..."

Daphne laughed heartily before taking a seat on her friend's bed. She quickly became serious again, though.

"To be a good liar, you need to master only four points. You need good eye contact, a controlled smile, a well-rehearsed speech, and no hesitations. If you master them all, you will be able to lie to anyone, at any time."

Abiageal nodded. She had a slight problem, she could only get two points out of four. She could not maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds and when she spoke, she always stuttered because she panicked or because in the middle of her sentence, she forgot what she wanted to say.

She could fake a real smile, she had for as long as she could remember. And if she repeated something enough times before saying it out loud, she could repeat it word for word ( that was why she was good at learning her lessons by heart and then just spitting it out, she just had to stare at a point straight in front of her and that was it ).

"Who do you want to lie to?"

"Theodore."

"Oh?"

"I won't tell you, it's personal."

"Okay."

Daphne remained silent, thinking of a way to help her friend. It had taken her several minutes to find, meanwhile, Abiageal had not moved an inch, letting her friend concentrate.

"I know you don't like the headband I'm wearing today, I saw it on your face when I stepped foot into your house. So tell me you think it's pretty."

Abiageal nodded, they were starting with something simple. All Abiageal had to say was, "Your headband is really pretty." It was just five little words, nothing fancy.

Abiageal opened his mouth but no sound came out. It seemed that in the end they were five complicated words to say. Daphne shook her head from left to right, it would not be easy...

"Come on Abby, it's not that complicated. Tell me my headband is pretty."

"It's...well I mean...it's not the ugliest one you own?"

"We're going to have our work cut out for us!" Daphne announced before stuffing her mouth with buttered toast.

"Sorry..." Abiageal apologized, both for not being able to lie the first time and for being such a 'bad' student.

Daphne waved her hand to let her know that it was okay. She would succeed in making her a liar, no matter how long it took Daphne.

After several hours of trying to get Abiageal to say the four-word phrase, they decided to take a well-deserved break. They headed to the kitchen, where the boys were.

Daphne repeated that they were going to have a lot of work ahead of them and Theodore gave Abiageal a questioning look, the latter was going to answer but Daphne spoke before her.

"It's none of your business, Nott. Abby's entitled to her little secrets, too. She doesn't have to share everything with you, you know that, right?"

Daphne looked at Theodore defiantly, the young Italian boy rolled his eyes before mumbling something in his native language.

Normally this was the point where Abiageal would slip a "I'll tell you later" in his ear but this time she did not. If she wanted to learn to lie to avoid implicating Theodore, she could not tell him that she had asked Daphne to teach her to lie so she could hide her life as a Death Eater from him. It was not logical or rational.

The lessons had not been easy. It had taken Abiageal almost a week just to be able to tell Daphne that she liked the color of her nail polish ( it was a weird color, according to Abiageal, it was yellow that she had applied to her nails to match the color of the two t-shirts she had worn over the weekend ). And Daphne had not been convinced at all, but it was still progress, she had managed to say "I like your nail polish" and that's not insignificant.

"Look, I know we're here to teach you how to lie, but let me be honest with you for a second. You have to face the facts, you're not cut out for this, so be brave and tell Theodore the truth."

"I can't, Daphne..."

"Why?"

"Can you keep a secret?"

Abiageal was not sure if it was a good idea, her parents had told her, or rather ordered her, not to talk about it to anyone, the less people who knew about it the better. But Daphne was not just anyone, Abiageal trusted her and Daphne trusted Abiageal.

Daphne sat on Abiageal's bed before nodding and telling her that she would keep any secret she told her, no matter how big or small.

Abiageal rolled up the sleeve of her cardigan, the horrible black mark contrasting with Abiageal's oh-so-white skin. Daphne gasped when she laid eyes on it.

"Theo knows. But he feels guilty becauseI bear the Dark Mark so he doesn't have to. He wants me to keep him informed if Voldemort ever summons us or something, but I can't, Daphne. I can't protect him from Voldemort and the atrocities he forces, or rather, will force us to commit if he's there with me every time. I want to be able to tell him that the Mark doesn't hurt me. I want to be able to lie to him so he can stay safe. Please help me protect him. I just want him to be safe..."

Daphne nodded. How could she refuse? It was a good lie, it was for a good cause, it was not because she did not want to go to take a swim with Theodore and his gang of friends. She did not want to lie just for the fun of it, she had a real reason to do it.

"Let's get back to work, okay?"

Abiageal just nodded