Closed Walls Built Between Us

[Daria Bright-Root]

Daria's grades in the previous year hadn't been what she hoped, but she was finding it hard to focus on brushing up on most of her subjects. The only ones she was really looking forward to this year were Herbology and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Over the holidays she had been doing more and more reading about the latter subject, straying away from the school textbooks into a few lesser-known tomes she had managed to get her hands on. It was a much more complicated field than school made it seem, and the more she learned the more she wanted to know.

So, as much as she knew she should be brushing up on Runes or Charms, Daria had spent the last few hours reading one of the upper level Defense books, trying to put the information into context with things she had learned over the holidays. It had absorbed a lot of her focus, and she realised far too late that she was starving. Closing her books, she packed up her things and left the library, thinking of what she wanted for dinner. She was so occupied that she didn't think to look where she was going, a small squeak of surprise escaping as she walked straight into someone, failing to step aside in time before hitting them. She opened her mouth to apologise, before realising with horror who it was. In a castle this large it was usually easy enough to avoid two or three people, especially if only one of them was in your house, but of course she would manage to literally run into Penny. Daria knew it was silly to just pretend she hadn't seen her but she couldn't think of anything else, looking away pointedly as she started to walk past her.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penny was glad to be back at school, but also felt like time had just flown by. The break had seemed so short, though it had been a fun one. Between hanging out with Marnie and everything around the date with Emmanuel, things had been busy in a good way. She was also now old enough to stay home alone, so her dad no longer had to take her and Holden to their older half-brothers to watch them. For Penny, that was a relief. Though she knew Holden still spent quite a bit of time with Eric.

Leaving the Hufflepuff common room with her bag full of books, Penelope wondered if she had time to meet up with Emmanuel at breakfast. Though she wasn't sure if he would want to hang out. Their date over the holiday had been great, but Penelope didn't want to push it and seem too clingy. Penelope rounded the corner with her bag slung over her shoulder and walked straight into someone. She saw it was Daria, and opened her mouth to apologize and greet the girl, but then saw how the Ravenclaw looked at her and then away like she hadn't seen her. Penny's heart sank. She had known Daria liked Emmanuel, but she hadn't been sure if she had heard about him asking her out. Now she knew her answer, but... surely she wasn't mad at Penny? Penelope cleared her throat. "Daria?"

 

[Daria Bright-Root]

Despite everything, Daria had hoped with all her heart that she would be able to just sneak away from Penny unnoticed. Unfortunately, luck was nowhere near her side, and she winced at the sound of her own name, feeling her shoulders uncontrollably clench in a way she knew Penny must have seen. She couldn't break though - couldn't bear to look back at her former friend, to see the betrayal written all over her face. She just kept walking, head down, hiding behind her hair as much as she could.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Any doubt that Daria had seen her vanished as the girl continued to ignore her. Penelope felt a sense of dread. She wasn't someone who enjoyed confrontation, and she couldn't stand the idea of people being angry at her. She walked faster to catch up with the Ravenclaw, reaching to grab her shoulder. "Hey, Daria..."

 

[Daria Bright-Root]

Daria did her best to get away but Penny was too quick, and she flinched harder at the feeling of a hand on her shoulder. She supposed she should have known she couldn't just avoid this forever, but her heart squeezed and ached with the unfairness of it all. "I'm not talking to you." She said softly, face still hidden behind her hair, still desperately hoping that Penny would just let it be left there and they could go their separate ways.

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penny winced when Daria said she wasn't talking to her. She hated this feeling like she had done something wrong. She bit her lip and moved her hand away. "I- I see. Why? Are you upset with me?" She asked, trying to look at Daria even as she hid her face.

 

[Daria Bright-Root]

Daria tried with all her might to keep herself together, but her resolve dissolved almost immediately. "You were supposed to be my friends!" She choked, tears bubbling up as she turned to face Penny at last. "My only friends, you and Marnie, and... and Emmanuel - you're my only friends, and you and Marnie knew I liked him!" She snapped, voice gaining power as she spoke, anger vibrating through her bones. "You knew, and you all went on a big group date, behind my back! Did you even think about me at all?! And now I'm just supposed to be your friend, like nothing's wrong?"

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penny felt her face drain of blood as Daria spoke, clearly extremely upset. She was both relieved and horrified that it was about the group hangout from the previous school year. That meant Daria didn't know about the actual date yet. "That- it wasn't a date, not really." She said, eyes wide. "You knew I also liked him... and Marnie came up with the idea of us all hanging out together, we didn't say it was a date or anything." She said quickly. Though she was fully aware she went on an actual date with him only a few weeks later. But maybe Daria didn't know that.

 

[Daria Bright-Root]

Daria didn't know what she had expected, but it definitely wasn't Penny outright lying to her. "I'm not stupid!" She snapped. "If it was really a "friend hangout", why wasn't I invited?" She said pointedly, meeting Penny's eye. "And why was it at Madam Puddifoot's?!" It was hard to contain her frustration, hands burning with the urge to do something, though she didn't know what. "I know what a date looks like. And apparently you don't even care about me enough to tell me the truth."

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope was taken aback by Daria's tone as she snapped at her. She had never seen her friend like that before. She took a small step back. "It wasn't a date... but Marnie was hoping it might become one. She was just trying to help me." Penelope said weakly, not sure if she should keep bringing up Marnie. She didn't want Daria to be mad at her too, but it seemed a bit too late for that regardless. Penny found herself getting a little annoyed too. It wasn't like they had done anything wrong. "But even if it was a date, Daria... was I just supposed to not like him because you did? Or wait until you asked him out?" She asked. "It's not my fault we both like him, okay?"

 

[Daria Bright-Root]

A small, desparate part of Daria had hoped that Penny was exaggerating or lying about it being Marnie's idea, but that was starting to seem more and more likely, which was just... "So she decided you deserved him more. Great." She spat, tears, finally managing to make their way out of her eyes and down her cheeks. "But you didn't even say anything!" She said helplessly, wiping her eyes quickly on her sleeve. "You knew I liked him, so you and Marnie went behind my back so you could go out with him! You didn't even tell me, and now you've lied about it, so you know that was wrong! You all went behind my back, and now I don't have anyone!"

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penelope felt her cheeks flush. "I- I don't know if she even knew you liked him." She muttered. "And she's my best friend so- I mean, I think she just wanted to help me." She said, taking another step back from Daria's emotional display. Penny looked down when Daria accused her of not telling her about it. She hadn't really thought about Daria much, besides maybe being kind of glad Emmanuel had asked her out instead of the Ravenclaw. "I didn't lie." She insisted. "All I did was go to a place with a boy I like. If you had gone out with him I would have been sad, but I wouldn't have yelled at you about it. It's not- not necessary."

 

[Daria Bright-Root]

Even though she knew it, somehow Penny calling Marnie her best friend was just another dagger. Daria had always known really, deep down, that she wasn't Marnie's best friend, even though Marnie was definitely hers, but with every second this conversation went on it was becoming clearer and clearer that she was the unwanted outsider on all levels. Nobody she thought liked her had actually wanted her around. For all she knew, Marnie, Penny, and Emmanuel had all been laughing about her silly little crush behind her back. Stupid... "I would have at least told you, so you didn't have to find out by seeing us through a window." She snapped. "I saw everyone I thought cared about me, all cosied up and happy, on a date, behind my back. Stop trying to pretend that's not horrible!"

 

[Penelope Marshall]

Penny winced as Daria kept on snapping at her. She really didn't think this amount of vitriol was necessary, even if she hadn't told her everything. Daria was a friend, but ever since she found out she also liked Emmanuel, a part of Penelope had definitely started seeing her as a rival too. But even without that, Penny and Daria weren't that close. She didn't owe her her personal feelings. "I'm sorry that happened." She said, attempting to stay calm. "But I don't have to tell you everything. Some things are personal." She frowned, then decided to just go all in. She would figure it out eventually anyway, and what Penny wanted most was to leave this conversation now. "Actually, because you want to know so badly. Emmanuel asked me out over break. And we went on a date. An actual date, with just the two of us. Sorry if it upsets you, but it's not my fault he asked me." She said in a rush.

 

[Daria Bright-Root]

Somehow Penny pretending to be calm made everything worse. As if this was no big deal, as if she was the one being unreasonable or mean. And then she dropped the bomb, and what was left of Daria's heart broke. "Right." She choked out, fresh tears spilling from her eyes. "Right, so you knew you were lying." Her chest felt heavy with heartbreak, and her hands twitched with the sudden profound need to hex Penny. She took a step back before her impulse could take over, gripping her books close to her chest so she couldn't do anything. "You're a horrible person, Penelope." She choked. "And- and I hope when you're w-with him, or with Marnie, you can't stop thinking about how you got all this by being a bad friend." It was too much, too hard to find the right words to really end on. All Daria could do was turn and storm away, hair hanging down to hide her face until she found somewhere she could cry alone.