Needless to say, Stefan was a complete mess as he tried to figure out what the actual fuck was going on. He couldn’t believe what was before his eyes and he was already blaming himself for being so careless, so stupid, that for years he had believed her lies, let her convince him that her life at home was pleasant like she always said, rather than this hell she had been go through for god knew how long. He should have known. He should have known that Dolly would hide anything which could possibly make her seem weak, it didn’t matter that it was him, she didn’t have a reason to tell him because he never trusted him enough to help her – he had after all, failed her once with Allison. But despite all the guilt he felt he couldn’t help the anger coursing through him. “Really?” The word echoed through the silence of the early morning, his eyes blazing, anger clear in his tone, not directed towards her but at her father, as well as himself. “Perfectly capable? Have you looked at yourself?”
His eyes went back to her bruises and Stefan could barely manage to even look at it all without saying something, chewing on his lip in an attempt to stay as calm as he could manage, or atleast seem that way but he knew he wasn’t fooling her. He leaned forwards and slowly lifted her hand up and took off her top beginning to examine what further damage there was, wincing as he saw the extent of it. “I am not pitying, Dolena. For Salazar’s sake, just let me fucking fix you, okay?” Healing charms had never been her strong point but it was Stefan’s and while he couldn’t do everything needed with just his wand magic, it would be a good start. He began to mutter incantations under his breath, trying hard to focus on his magic rather than the situation. She wasn’t another problem he had to solve, he didn’t see people he loved as problems and yet for some reason Dolly seemed to believe that that is all he would see her as if he had known. “This changes a lot of things.” Stefan responded. “You’re never going back.” He didn’t know how he was going to make that happen but he knew he wouldn’t let Hiram Greengrass anywhere near his Dolly.
Silence ensued for a while and he didn’t say anything more, not even looking up at her as he healed her bruises. “We’ll have to get you some potions from the hospital wing.” he finally spoke before looking up at her, his head tilting to one side and a sigh leaving his lips. “You could have told me.” he murmured, his free hand going up to her cheek, brushing her skin with his thumb “I could have, I don’t know.. we could have done something.”
The words cut her deeper than any spell or knife her father could slice her open with. At least she hated him. Stefan, though, he was the person she loved most in the world. And he was finally getting a glimpse into her life, her real life outside of Hogwarts. She’d worked so hard for years to protect him from the knowledge, and all of that was destroyed by one mistake. His eyes were ablaze and they too cut her. “Really.” Dolena answered firmly before spitting her words out with venom. “I’m fine.” Though she wasn’t fine and the tears that pooled in her eyes said so. Her leg bounced nervously as she averted her gaze, searching for the words to debilitate him so they’d be back on the same level. But the only ones she could find, she couldn’t bring herself to say.
The girl let him take her top off, and for the first time in her life, she felt truly naked, despite the fact that she had clothing still on. It was like Stefan was seeing her as she really was since Allison and her mother had died. He could see almost everything. At least she could still keep the worst of it from him. At his words, her lips tightened into a thin line. “Fine.” She snapped viciously, though, she doubted he realized until then how hard his words had hit her. Just let me fucking fix you. Like she was a broken toy just waiting to be discarded. And finally the first tear fell, rolling down her left cheek. The witch blinked furiously, but didn’t move her hand to wipe it away. Nor the second that fell, or any other. “It changes nothing.” She insisted, because she couldn’t handle not being in control of herself. Of her life. At his words, she let out a sharp laugh and shook her head. “Don’t be stupid, Stefan, I’m going back. Do you think if I had a choice, I’d fucking go? There’s nothing you can do that I haven’t already tried. And I don’t fancy a bloody cruciatus because you can’t handle the reality of my life.”
The silence wasn’t comfortable, like when she laid on his bed late at night while he studied. It felt like the heavy silence during her mother’s funeral, the thickness growing in her throat. Then she felt her shoulders shake, before she realized that she was sobbing like she’d only done a few times in her life. “I didn’t want you to feel guilty. Or have to think about it, because there was nothing we could do. You were the one good thing I had left, I couldn’t lose you too!” And that’s what would have happened, if he’d found out. What was happening. He was blaming himself. But if he, or they, tried something and the rescue mission didn’t work, she was certain her father would have kept her from Stefan, whether that meant sending her to another school, or keeping her home. Either way, she couldn’t risk it.
