why can't we make this darkness feel like home? ((open))

Darcy was sitting against a wall in the dungeons with his knees standing under his chin. He had mainly occupied his time by attempting to play with a small spider he had found crawling on the floor. To the Hufflepuff, these misunderstood arachnids were the closest he would ever get to actually having friends. He felt as though it was a good thing that the insect had no concept of being unaccepting despite nearly biting his finger out of fright. Hearing the sound of footsteps, Darcy looked around squinting his eyes wondering who happened to be disrupting such a peaceful environment.

Ian had to get away from the busy parts of the castle for a while. Everywhere he went, he was faced with Death Eaters and their supporters, their sneering comments and dark hexes following him as he hurried down into the dungeons. This used to be a place he avoided because of the many Slytherins that stayed down there, but ever since the battle of Hogwarts, they had invaded the whole castle, leaving the dark dungeons relatively empty. As he moved around a corner, Ian almost tripped over a younger student that was sitting on the ground. "Oh, hey. Sorry about that." he mumbled, his hand instinctually flying to his wand in case he had run into another Death Eater. They were even in Hufflepuff nowadays.

Getting up from his spot, Darcy crossed his arms and sighed. "Who are you?! What do you want?" he asked slightly nervous as his arms began to shake. Who dare interrupt his quietness? All he happened to be doing was enjoying some alone time with a spider friend. Things at the school weren't exactly the same as it used to be, but he found it to be better than the home he was born into. "It was peaceful until you disrupted everything!" Darcy screamed not wanting to taint the other with his presence. Walking around, he began to look down.

Ian took a step backwards, surprised at the other's hostility. What on earth was the guy's problem? Raising his hands in a placating manner, Ian shook his head at him. "Calm down, Merlin! Calm down." he said, his voice easily overruling the younger boy's higher voice. "Why do you get so worked up about nothing, kid?" he asked, confused at the other Hufflepuff who had even started screaming at him. "Do you always overreact like that?" Ian shook his head again and crossed his arms in front of his chest, shaking his head again at the boy. "I was just passing my, you know?"

After that brief outlet of hostility, Darcy took a deep breath and looked at the other with suspicion. "No! I won't calm down! What do you want?" he yelled back trying to be louder than the other only for his voice to softly crack. "Why are you getting worked up over how a hormonal teen like me is responding?" the Hufflepuff responded to the other as a rebuttal just wishing that he could go back to being alone. "You startled my only friend... A lovely cardinal spider. One would consider them to be harmful, but this little guy's a sweetheart. Very misunderstood," he added as he began to kneel down on the floor to allow the arachnid to crawl onto the palm of his hand. "Does it matter? You'd know if you were in my shoes, but I wouldn't wish it on anybody, not even my worst enemy." Using his index finger, he began to gently stroke the spider giving it a small smile. "Passing by? No one ever passes by here nowadays; it's like my sanctuary."

"First of all, I want you to calm down. As I said, I was just trying to find some peace down here in the dungeons because there are so few people down here." Ian said slowly, makes a face when the other boy mentioned a spider being his friend. "Sorry, I guess. I didn't want to scare him, but won't your overreacting scare him even more?" he gave back, shaking his head slightly. "Why are you so angry anyway? It's not like I did something to you." Ian didn't quite get the comment about what it would be like "in his shoes". "What do you mean, what is it like to be in your shoes?" he asked the other boy.

"Of course there's so few people down here, why do you think I desired peace and loneliness? It was absolutely valid to react the way I did," Darcy commented shaking his head slowly. "Considering how he didn't bite my finger, he obviously isn't scared. For a bit, he nearly bit me, but that's because I found his hidey-hole." He shrugged and responded, "Teen angst... Dark times full of shitty people. Many reasons why I'm angry." Looking at the other, he began to give a threatening glare. "Why do you want to know?"

Ian sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Well, then you should understand why I came down here as well. I need some peace, too." he replied to the other boy. He still did not get what all the drama was about, but some people just were like that, he guessed. "I was just wondering why you're so tense and ready to blow up. It's not exactly a normal way to react when someone accidently trips over you, is it?" he said slightly terse. It wasn't always that people started screaming at him like that. "So, how did you and your ... spider ... become friends?" Ian tried to change the subject. Maybe the other boy would calm down when talking about his pet.

Rolling his eyes, Darcy shrugged and commented, "You're outgoing, not a whisper in the wind. Shouldn't you be hanging with your friends rather than be in the void?" He always let his frustrations out on others, especially when he happened to be in a bad mood thanks to his insecurities. "I guess. It would if you were constantly treated like shit by those who used to love you..." The Hufflepuff sighed and looked down at the arachnid. "I found his hidey hole and got him to come towards me by reaching my palm out," he explained softly

"Everyone needs some quiet once in a while and everyone needs some social interactions once in a while. The only thing that differs is how much of each you need." Ian said slowly, realising that the other boy must be pretty unused to spending time with people. The other's words made him pause and look a bit closer at him. "I'm sorry to hear that. Are you talking about friends or family?" he asked softly, his face becoming a bit gentler as he realized that the other Hufflepuff must be under quite some strain. "It must be nice having a pet. I never had any."

"Really?" he asked in confusion; interaction became a foreign concept to him a few years ago just believing that all he needed was himself just wasting away to nothing. "Those who said they'd love you unconditionally while in utero only to be treated as a mistake after their kid is just being who they are. Ever since i was 12, I was scum of the Earth to them! They call me mean names and call me a disgrace. I cry so hard, but they won't even bother knowing how I feel. I just don't want to taint everyone else, so I just try to befriend misunderstood creatures like me. I'm a misfit," Darcy replied crying a bit and began to feel vulnerable. "You never had any despite obviously having a better family..?"

Ian listened to the other boy, his face growing sad. It was horrible how many parents treated their children like crap when they should actually love them unconditionally and once more he felt blessed for the parents he had and made up his mind to write them more often. Taking a step closer to the other boy, Ian gently placed a hand on his shoulder. "Hey ... you're not a misfit. Okay?" he started softly. "Your parents obviously abuse you and that's wrong of them. They are the bad people, not you. You don't deserve that and they have no right to treat you like that." he tried to keep his voice low and soothing, so he would not startle the other boy again. "We live on a farm, so we have many animals of course, but I never had a pet just for myself." he explained to Darcy.

He scrunched his nose and began to cry some more as he lifted the spider up onto his shoulder. "But I am a misfit! It's true. People like you don't deserve having me taint them. I'm just not normal! Don't you understand?" Darcy responded as he crossed his arms shaking his head. "They claim to treat me the way they do for my own good! They even tried to get me to conversion theapy. They got angry when it didn't work. I don't wanna go to a place like that anymore!" the Hufflepuff pleaded sniffling. "So you're always around animals back at home?" he asked.

Ian's green eyes widened slightly in sympathy and he actually felt with the younger boy who had been put down all his life. Of course he would not believe him to deserve friends and that was the worst part as only friends could teach you how valuable actually were. "Conversion therapy? What for?" he asked confused. Was the other boy a muggleborn and his parents were afraid of magic or what was he talking about?

Darcy looked down and sighed just wishing he was never born to save everyone from the fact that he happened to be alive. Was he going to tell the other why his parents felt as though he needed such therapy? He had seen the other before being in the same house, but this was the first time, as far as he could recall, that they interacted. "Because of my, uh, homosexuality," the Hufflepuff admitted running his hand through his hair hoping that the other wouldn't react the way his parents did.

Ian was waiting calmly for the other boy to pull himself together enough to tell him why his parents were so horrid to him, but the reason almost made him laugh incredulously. "What? ... That's it?" he asked, confusion written plainly over his face. "You're gay and they can't accept that?" Ian didn't understand how that even could be a problem and his snort made it quite clear. "Well then your parents are just plain stupid. What does it even matter if you like boys or girls. Love is love, so what?" he shook his head and marched over to the younger boy. "Hey, listen. There are many wizards and witches that are attracted to the same gender and it's not a problem at all. If your parents have a problem with it, it's their problem, not yours, but I know for sure, that there are a few same sex couples here at Hogwarts, so don't worry about it. And especially don't let it stop you from making friends."

Darcy covered his eyes and began to cry harder. Maybe telling the other wasn't such a good idea after all. "...That's not making me feel better at all. Maybe you wouldn't find it so ridiculous if you walked in my shoes yourself, silly old boy! There are people who frown about interracial couples. Would you react the same damn way?" he commented glaring at Ian. "People like my parents exist, and they're more common than you think! There are others treated like me. Do you not get that? Or are you just living under a rock totally oblivious about how those who aren't straight are treated?" the Hufflepuff asked in a pissed tone not wanting to deal with ignorance.

Ian was torn between pulling the other boy into a hug and shaking him to make him calm down a bit. "Hey ... please stop crying okay? I think you are seeing things a little harshly. Look ... " he quickly continued before the other boy could try to chime in, "... I know there are people that don't like same sex couples, but there is hate for everything and everyone in this world. There are people here at this castle that hate me as well because I'm not like them, does that mean I can't be confident about myself?" he said, trying to find the right words for this kind of conversation.

"I know for a fact that there are several gay people and couples in Hogwarts and, I can only speak for the people that I know, but none of them cares one bit about that. Don't let your fear of rejection stop you from making friends. People that don't care if you like boys or not. And they will stand up for you if some idiots try to bully you." Ian knew that if any of his friends would turn out to be gay, he would be right there to back them up, no matter what. He still could not really see why that should even be a problem, but he knew that some people found offense in everything.

"Don't touch me! I didn't give you permission!" he yelled pushing the other away harshly. "No, I'm telling you about what reality is! Don't you understand? Of course you don't! You're normal, you're straight. I'm not!" Darcy was seriously getting pissed off at the other. "They're lucky! Their lives aren't shitty. Not everyone's life is positive and accepting. It isn't rainbows and unicorns." Shaking his head, he muttered, "Yeah, right."

Ian sighed and rubbed his neck. "I don't know how I can make you see that most people here are completely accepting of the fact that you want to be with guys rather than girls, but it's the truth." he said calmly, though he too was slowly getting annoyed with the younger boy. As if he was the only one who had problems. They were at war, damnit! They had to fight for their lives here and this boy was worried that people might bully him for being gay? "What happened to you, that you are so negative about this? Just your parents, messing you up or something more?" Ian asked, his voice getting slightly sharper, as he tried to keep patient with the other boy.

He closed his eyes and sighed loudly. "Once again, you'd know if you were seeing things from my point of view rather than be a bloody idiot!" Darcy screamed. "School is one thing, and I don't like know anybody here, so your point is void," he added rubbing his forehead. "Does it matter what happened to me? It's fucking illegal if that's what you wanna know! Can't you mind your own business?" the Hufflepuff wondered as he crossed his arms shaking his head.

"Seeing as you keep shouting at me, I at least would like to know why you are acting this way." Ian gave back, crossing his arms in front of his chest while he observed the distraught boy in front of him. "You do spend most of your life here at school, don't you? So why don't you try to make some friends here to make it easier for you?" he asked, not understanding how anyone could just give up and judge everyone by the standard of some assholes. "Get to know people, nice people, it's not like everyone here is out to get you."

"There isn't a reason why I'm acting this way," he muttered rolling his eyes. "Like, can't you just mind your own business? I'm just an angry ass trying to live a honest life! The only friend I need is this precious spider that'd scare people." Darcy began to pick up the spider from his shoulder and began to stroke its back. "But how..? I lost all friendship skills. Pushing everyone away is what I do best. Don't you comprehend that? You may never know in this world. I've learned the hard way that those who claim to love you will practically abandon you. I don't befriend anyone so that wouldn't happen. It's quite simple."

"Those are the words of a coward." Ian said, frowning back at the other student. He could understand that being hurt like that would make one more suspicious, but to not even try any longer to make friend was just stupid. "I'm just trying to understand you and you will never make friends if you keep being so defensive. I'm not here to hurt you, so stop screaming at me, it's really not necessary.” He snapped, finally losing a bit of his patience. Then again, the other boy really was being quite difficult.

“Look, why don't you just come with me and I introduce you to my friends, huh? They are all friendly and you will get to meet someone who's not a spider. Maybe that will help you loosen up a bit. They're all chill and I give you my word that as long as you don’t betray them, they will not betray you either. We value loyalty and friendship more than anything." he offered, knowing that his friends would easily accept the younger boy.

Softly stomping one foot, he yelled at the other, "A coward? You just don't understand because of having a better life. If you went through what I went through, you wouldn't want to befriend anybody either!" Darcy widened his eyes and commented in a soft tone, "Well, you're doing a pretty horrible job at trying to understand me..." The Hufflepuff couldn't help but be honest about that since it should hopefully get the other to realize how much of a bad job he's doing.

"I hope you're not lying. My parents lied enough to me..."