No matter how many times they had argued in their relationship, it never failed to take Helen by surprise. Although she disagreed with him half the time, it was easier to gloss over those moments and cling to the ones where she did agree. It wasn’t easy, what he was doing. She had never meant to imply that any of it was. Helen stood still for a moment, her mouth pursed shut, as she contemplated how best to placate Gawain. Because he was right, after all, about the fact that she needed to be prepared and aware. She couldn’t do so very well if she was preoccupied with an argument of theirs.

“I’ll need to practice a bit this weekend,” she said coolly, wiping a few small tears from the corners of her eyes. “And if you could revisit the charms on Philip’s windows soon, I’d be grateful. Just to be sure.”

“You pretending so says as much.”

Of course it is different, Helen, they are hundreds of miles from Azkaban. 

“As I’ve been doing for years, you mean?”

“You can’t tell me this is no different than what you’ve been working against. It is. It’s different. It’s new.”

I never said that. 

“Should I be worried?”

Of course not. You should be aware of your surroundings, and make sure your Patronus is an effective one. 

“Oh.”

“Fine.”

Try to gather a tornado and tell me how it goes.

“Gawain—”

Give me a moment. Please. 

“What have they said about the dementors?”

You know I cannot tell you that.

“Gawain.”

Fucking hell. Do not sit so still. 

“I have no idea.”

I will do everything within my power to find something. If you remember anything else, let one of us know, whether it feels an insignificant detail or not. It will come back to me. 

“We weren’t. He was – he was already – by then.”

That is what I needed. I believe it is correct to assume I already know the ridiculous answer to this question but for the sake of it, can you give me a reason a person would wish you hurt you this way? Past the obvious. 

“I didn’t remember, for the first few days,” she started, slowly – tentatively. “He kept mentioning him, asking what I remembered. But if I tried, I’d always get to a point and then I could never remember what happened next.” Dawn cleared her throat, trying to get rid of the lump that had formed whilst she had been speaking. “But then he – he made me remember.”

Do you remember whether or not you were together when you were taken? 

Benjy took the wand, staring at it as though it were a foreign object rather than his most used tool for more than half of his life. Dawn was safe. Dawn was there, behind that door. His eyes began to pool, the sudden onslaught burning his eyes, his body beginning to tremble. He didn’t fight as the man lead him wherever he wanted him to go. She was alive. She was safe. “Where?” he asked, finally looking around, wondering how they’d gotten there so fast, his mind too wrapped up in the fact that Dawn was alive. She was safe. He would have the chance to talk to her again. To see her again. 

She was alive.

Take my arm. I will not be taking you into custody but you will follow me to my office the moment we apparate, is that understood? 

Not offering him a response, Dawn stayed exactly where she was, eyes fixated on her hands, as the auror left her room. After a while, she reached out for the water on her bedside table, taking a slow sip with trembling hands. This was getting all too much to process. Some people thought she’d been responsible for this, for Robert dying and everything that happened to her? There was no way she’d wish what she’d been through on anyone, even the foulest people in the world.

But trying to remember was proving difficult, her memories coming up in chunks. All the days had blended into one whilst she was in there, never knowing how long the man had left her between visits. He’d toyed with her mind, just as much as he had with her body. Had made her forget what had happened to Robert and then ripped the memory from her in the most painful way possible. He’d made her believe that it had been her fault, and in some ways - it had. If she hadn’t gone to Robert’s in the first place, or if she had kept her wand on her instead of letting it float in her bag. She could have done something to help him.

The feeling of water dropping onto her hands shook Dawn from this trail of thought. Wiping at her eyes, she looking towards the door. “I’m ready to talk again,” she called, her voice scratchy as she attempted to speak loud enough for him to hear.

“I –” Dawn frowned, brows furrowed. Her head was beginning to ache again. “I didn’t, at first. But then – then they,” her eyes dropped to her lap, where her fingers were nervously tied together. 

“I think I need a break.”

I will be just outside.