Work Text:
There was a small bookstore a few blocks away from campus that Daphne chose to take solace in wherever she needed a quiet place to study. It had also become the place she frequented when the reminders of her past decided to haunt her - which was why she found herself settling into her table at the back of the shop this morning. She could keep an eye on everyone in the shop without them noticing. People watching had become a personal favorite pastime that would take precedence over her studying.
As Daphne settled into her table at the back of the shop, she noticed a man watching her from the nonfiction aisle. She shook her head and opted for ignorance as she dropped into her chair. The low hum of people talking at the front of the store was the perfect distraction from her thoughts that kept drifting to her life before landing in the states. She put her pen to paper and started jotting down the key points her professor had told them would appear on their final exam. Even though her head was down, Daphne was acutely aware of everyone in the near vicinity - or so she thought.
"Do you do anything other than study?" the stranger asked, dropping into the seat across from her at the table and pushing the book down to get her to lay it on the table. A smile pulled at his lips when Daphne startled, unsure how to respond to the man joining her.
"Do I know you?" Daphne asked, pulling her book away from him. He looked familiar, but she couldn't place where she had seen him before. After a while, all of her classmates started to look the same over the years.
He chuckled, letting go of her book and resting his arms on the table as she shook his head. "Not formally at least, but you've seen me around - especially when you come in to study every day at the same table by yourself. Don't you have any friends to hang out with?"
Daphne glared at him as she studied his face. "I've got friends," she paused and chuckled to herself before continuing, "back in London."
Friends were the last of her concerns. If she had friends, then Daphne had people to care about, and caring about people was the reason for her nightmares. The nightmares that she'd give anything to be rid of, she moved to the states. Unfortunately, she hadn't been so lucky.
The day Daphne Greengrass's acceptance letter to Yale University arrived was supposed to be the happiest day of her life; however, it was also the day her life changed forever. The arrival of her letter was quickly followed by the beginnings of the most significant battle anyone at Hogwarts had ever seen. Filch had tried to move the Slytherins out of the castle before the battle started. She knew he was trying to protect them in his way and that Professor McGonagall had given the order, but she wanted to see what happened - she needed to know what happened. Even now, five years later, the image of Harry's lifeless body in Hagrid's arms was still just as vivid in her mind as if it were happening right in front of her.
That letter meant she was no longer going to be overshadowed by the legacy that followed her name - being an involuntary member of the Sacred 28 was finally behind her. She was no longer someone who supported a man who caused the death of many of her classmates and left scars on others that would never fade, physically and emotionally.
Daphne thought that the nightmares would stop by moving thousands of miles away from her family. Every time she closed her eyes, her mind was flooded with pictures of the bodies laid out in the Great Hall. Even though many had found ways to move on, Daphne knew that deep down, everyone was still struggling just as she was - they just had one another as support. Daphne kept to herself because it was easier.
"Hello?" he asked, waving a hand in front of her face.
"Shit," Daphne mumbled. "I'm sorry I zoned out for a moment."
"I noticed," he laughed, shaking his head. After a moment, he offered a hand to her. "My name is Jess; what's your name?"
She took his hand cautiously, giving it a gentle shake. "Daphne," she replied, offering a smile. "Do you go to Yale?"
Jess shook his head. "School isn't my thing, and I work here," he replied, motioning to the shop.
"Which is how you know I come in here to study," Daphne replied, nodding her head slowly. "Wait, if you work here, how have I not noticed you before?"
"Don't know," Jess replied, shrugging his shoulders. "You seem a bit more distracted today than you normally do."
Daphne's cheeks flushed as she realized the significance of today. She shook her head, pushing the images of the day she'd rather forget aside and allowing herself to focus all of her attention on the man sitting across from her. "How long have you worked here?"
"Changing the subject so you don't have to open up to someone you've just met, clever," Jess laughed, nodding his head as he leaned back in the chair. "I'll allow it for now, but we will come back to what popped into your mind when I called you distracted."
Daphne rolled her eyes with a shake of her head. "We don't have to talk about that. It's a part of my life I'd rather forget, so I'd like to learn a little bit about you," she said, offering a smile. "Or do you have to get back to work?"
"I can chat for a while," Jess said, reciprocating her smile. "Do you like coffee?"
She nodded her head quickly.
"I'll be right back."
Daphne watched as he disappeared through a door at the front of the shop. He was gone only a few moments before returning with two cups of coffee. After placing both cups down on the table, he returned to the set across from her.
"Here's the deal," Jess said, wrapping his hand around the cup of coffee and moving it in front of him. "I'll tell you anything you want to know about me, but you have to answer any questions I throw at you. Deal?"
Daphne met his eyes and thought about her answer carefully. There were obviously certain things she needed to keep secret, but answering a few of his questions couldn't hurt. This man knew nothing about her, so she could take a few creative liberties with her past to rewrite her story and burn down the past she had been running from all along.
"Deal," Daphne replied, nodding her head once. She lifted her cup of coffee to her lips, inhaling the intoxicating aroma and letting out a sigh before taking a sip. "This smells heavenly. Where is it from?"
"My uncle owns a diner in a small town in Connecticut," Jess said, siping his coffee. As he lowered the cup from his mouth, a smile pulled at the corner of his lips. "I answered one of your questions, so now it's my turn to ask you a question."
Daphne laughed, letting out a sigh as she nodded her head. "I suppose you're right; what's your question?"
"Don't you feel lonely living in your own little world?" he asked. Jess leaned back in his chair as he waited for an answer. He knew his question was rather profound for their first conversation, but he didn't care. He had been watching her for weeks every time she came into the store. She wouldn't acknowledge anyone around her, heading straight to the store's back corner table. She'd sit with her back to the wall to keep a watchful eye on everyone while keeping to herself.
"I'm not living in my own little world," Daphne huffed, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked him up and down. "How dare you jump to that kind of an assumption about me. We've never spoken before - you know nothing about me."
A smirk pulled at his lips as he leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. "You've been coming into this shop every day since you started attending Yale - and yet today is the first time we've spoken. And that's only because I sat down at your table and interrupted you. Do you want to try and tell me again that you aren't living in a world of your own?"
Daphne opened her mouth to respond but closed it again quickly. He had a good point, but he was wrong all the same. She chose to keep to herself - it was easier than creating connections with people she would ultimately never see again because somebody else was always in control of her life. All she wanted was to be in control of her own destiny and her own decisions, not answering to anyone else - and being here gave her that freedom.
"Don't you feel powerless living in other people's worlds?" she asked, raising a brow as she took another sip of her coffee. "We spend every moment of every day answering to someone else, whether it's our boss, our professors, our parents, our friends, or anyone else who holds any kind of power with us because of a connection we may have. At least if people stay a stranger, then we never have to feel as though they have all the power."
"I suppose you're right," Jess replied, nodding his head slowly. "But I'd rather not be lonely."
"I used to be like you," Daphne replied, chuckling softly to herself as she shook her head. "I used to care about everyone and wanted to ensure they were all okay. I did everything I was told and even did something I wasn't asked explicitly to do, but that was expected of me because of my family name."
A shiver ran down her spine as she thought about the bodies lying in the middle of the Great Hall on that fateful day five years ago after the fires finally burned out. She remembered standing in the ashes of the castle, surveying the devastation that people she had known her entire life had caused. Daphne didn't want that devastation to be a part of who she was anymore, so she left.
"I wanted a fresh start, so I left the life I knew behind and came here," Daphne said, shrugging her shoulders. "So to you, it looks like I'm living in a lonely world because I keep to myself, but to me, I'm rebuilding who I am, so I never have to go back to who I used to be."
Jess looked at her for a few moments before saying anything else. "I can understand that. Although it's quite unfortunate that your life had to pan out that way, I won't say I'm not sad that it brought you to New Haven."
"I'm glad it brought me here too," Daphne said, smiling softly at him. "What brought you to New Haven?"
"A series of events chasing after a girl I thought I was supposed to spend the rest of my life with. She eventually grew up and realized that she was better without me," Jess replied, shrugging his shoulders as he finished off the last of his coffee. He nodded at her coffee cup. "You ready for some more?"
Daphne looked down at the empty cup and then back up at him and nodded her head. "Yes, please. Then you can tell me more about this mystery girl."
"Only if you tell me more about those things you did because of your family name," Jess replied with a wink as he stood from his chair.
"Deal," Daphne laughed, shaking her head.
Jess returned quickly with fresh coffee and rejoined Daphne at the table. They spent the rest of the afternoon getting to know one another, and for the first time since she had moved to the states, Daphne felt at peace talking to another person about the chaos that was her past.