Counting the Seconds (Seth/Damian)

Seth walked into the Clock Tower and just listened to the sounds of time passing.

The Clock he thought, it counts each moment down to the last ounce of breath whether we want it to or not. Time it counts each agonizing moment of the day. It can can never be taken back or done over. Each moment that I had to spend being bullied was a moment taken from my life not filled with joy or love.

He sighed and looked at the clock and its ever moving hands "Why me? Why did I have to be put through that hell? I can never have that time back. All those days were filled with torture. I could not even go out for fear of being ridiculed or having to fight. These kids were older then me yet they had no qualms about fighting a poor kid with no strength to fight with."

He fell to his knees and cried out "I hate you all" and began to cry. "All I wanted was friends and you could not try to know me and see I was a good kid. I spent my days trying to forgive everything that you did to me but it was all to much to bear."

I will kill you all, he thought to himself, but not before I torture you until you wished you were already dead

He just sat there crying hoping that he could do what he needed when the time came to fullfil his wishes.

Damian was spending some free time simply exploring the school in greater detail. There was so much to see, the boy doubted he'd ever see it all, but he was determined to find out as many of the old castle's secrets as he could discover.

His feet carried him into the clock tower. Theo had told him about it. It was...

Damian's idle thoughts came to a halt as his ears caught the quiet cries from nearby. He moved cautiously towards the sound, a bit suspicious. Some of his former friends (his mind gave the word an ugly slur) had used fake cries to lull him into a sense of false-security, once. Damian had ended up with several cracked ribs. The other three got black eyes, a broken nose, and a badly twisted ankle between them.

He was a bit to see his housemate, Seth. The other boy had a few classes with him, though Damian didn't recall how many. Taking another quiet step forward, Damian softly asked, "Hey. You alright?"

Seth was so engrossed in his thoughts he didn't hear until aomeone asked if he was alright. He turned to see it was one of his Hufflepuff classmates. What was his name again? Seth thought for a second, oh thats right Damian.

Seth turned away from the boy and wiped away his tears from his eyes and cheeks. He knew there was no way he could get rid of the bloodshot eyes but hopefully the other boy wouldn't notice and if he did well he would just have to make something up.

Turning back around and trying hard to keep his composure he sighed and said "I am fine don't worry" He hoped the boy wouldn't ask too much because he was not sure how long he could last without breaking down again.

Is there no place in this school where you can get complete and utter privacy? he thought.

A skeptical expression settled onto Damian's face. "If you say so," he responded. If the other boy didn't want to talk to him, Damian wasn't about to press. It wasn't like it was any of his business, anyway.

The dark-haired boy turned his gaze, instead, to their surroundings, taking in the inner-workings of the large clock. Moving to the window, he peered outside, watching some schoolmates move around below. A small smile curved his lips. They were all like him; all magical. All better than those cowardly muggles he'd once called friends.

"I guess I'll leave you to your thoughts," Damian said to the other boy after a moment. "Didn't mean to disturb you." He moved towards a doorway.

Seth watched as the boy turned to leave. He was torn between just letting him leave or confiding in him.

I can't just not let anyone know, he thought, plus this kid IS in my class and year so what harm can come from it?

He hesitated for a second before saying, "No please don't go. It's just me and my machoism trying to show through. You know how it is right? He hoped Damian would sympathize with him.

"I just don't like showing my feelings around anyone because it's a sign of weakness and I don't want people to think I am weak." Not like that mattered he thought to himself I tried my hardest to not show weakness to those bullies but they still hurt me.

Damian turned back towards Seth. "Nobody likes to cry in front of anyone else," he said, shrugging slightly. "Having feelings doesn't make you weak, though. Everyone has feelings, it's what you do with them than make you weak or strong." Or something like that... he added silently.

Seth stood there and stared at the boy for a minute trying to think of something he could say.

He finally stirred and responded. "I hid my feelings all the time but it never did anything for me. They still bullied me. I tried the best not to let anything get to me and it never helped at all"

Crap, he thought, I did not want to let that be known. Now he knows I was bullied all the time. Sometimes I need to learn more selfcontrol when I am talking.

Damian's lips pressed into a thin line, something dark flashing in his bright blue eyes. "Bullies are nothing but cowards who think they're better than someone else," he stated with certainty. "And how can it not get to you if they keep coming after you? Doesn't matter to them. Doesn't even matter if they used to be your friends." His tone had turned bitter and his eyes were twin chips of ice in his young face.

Seth sighed "Well now that you know I was bullied it doesn't matter. It doesn't help that even though i could use magic I didn't understand anything to use it properly so they thought I was a freak. I mean sure they thought I was weak anyways because they were older and I was smaller.

As Damian was talking he saw what he never thought he would see. His tone drove the nail into the proverbial coffin. He has been bullied before Seth though, I could tell that any day of the week.

Seth drew in a breath and let it out and said with solemnity "You have been there before as well. I can tell it in your eyes...your change in tone. What I just saw there was something I have delt with for years as well. The anger and hurt. Sometimes it just comes to the surface no matter what you do."

Seth turned the the clock and said "Time is a fragile thing. Once gone it can never be given back." Time is a friend and an enemy he thought to himself.

He turned back to Damian. "Time is what was taken from us I believe. We were hurt all those years but survived it to be stronger people. Unfortunately that same time hasn't healed any of those wounds. I can never forgive the muggles, in fact I want to make them pay for what they have done to me."

"I..." Seth though for a moment "...I have even thought about torturing and killing those who have done me harm." He hoped the boy would not think him a monster even though in his mind he was.

Damian nodded, and the switch from seething to calm was so drastic, it was like flipping a switch. He gave a one-shouldered shrug. "The past can't be changed," he said. "It doesn't do any good to forget it, and it's stupid to think about it all the time.

"So, you remember it. Then, someday, you go back and let all those stupid cowards know that you still remember. And you make them pay." A smirk formed on his face and his eyes gleamed with certainty and determination. Revenge was not a passing thought for Damian. It was inevitable. His tormentors would pay with their lives - his smirk became a grin - and thanks to the headmaster, they knew he would come for them someday and what sort of power he would be able to wield against them.

"Bullies deserve everything you give back to them," said Damian. "If they didn't, they wouldn't have bullied you in the first place."

"Yes you should never forget the past for to do that would mean forgetting the reason you survive," Seth said, "and doing that is like having a slap in the face. I will never forget it. It fuels my anger and my thrist for revenge against those unworthy and soulless muggles."

"Yes I say that what you do will always come back to haunt you and for them it will come back to haunt them...and torture them and even kill them," he smiled evily.

Kill them he thought..yes I will kill them but they won't be kucky enough to just die, no I will torture them until they are pleading for their lives.

Damian grinned happily, the subject of the conversation making the expression absolutely creepy in context.

"Magic is brilliant," he said simply. There was no need for him to add that it was the best weapon they had against those who had wronged them. Damian could sense that the other boy already knew.