Broken Ties Cont. (Dylan & Cait)

[Dylan Cooper]

"As you wish," he said quietly, clenching the ring within his palm and gathering his things quickly. He seemed to perhaps have done more harm than good, but at least he had begun to try and explain. Perhaps if he continued to show that he was remorseful, that he had not intended to do those things to her, D'rorah would see that he no longer meant her any harm. He would leave her to her happiness with Kerridon for now; she deserved something better than him, at any rate, something far better. Collecting his things within his arms, he proceeded out of the common room door and into the hallway, heading for somewhere he could very much be alone.

His first thought was the kitchens, but he wasn't in the mood even for being around house elves, despite how accomodating and pleasant they usually were. Instead, he headed in the opposite direction, heading up one flight of stairs and emerging onto one of the seventh floor corridors. Proceeding down it at an increasing pace, he was practically running by the time he reached the spot he was searching for. Turning in front of it three times, he quickly moved into the Elemental chambers and, knowing Wysteria was most probably within her room, very quietly entered the room of Earth. He did not wish to be disturbed by her, by anyone. He didn't deserve to be comforted or consoled in any way; he had brought this only on himself, and he should feel as much pain as he had forced D'rorah to endure. The very idea that he had hurt her tore at his heart and he was tempted to simply rip it out. Magic could be terribly convenient in the throes of great drama.

He tossed his books and papers aside as he crossed the threshold of the room, in which large trees and small shrubs grew, in which a small stream formed a calm pool at the base, in which he could lose himself. His half-completed and entirely forgotten Potions essay flitted lightly to the ground, arriving in the doorway and revealing it's presence to anyone who might be in the chamber beyond. But Dylan took no notice, could not possibly take notice of anything but the pain that throbbed within him. His breaths were coming in sharp gasps now as he collapsed beneath his favourite, towering willow tree, his knees falling to the soft grass beneath and his hands moving to cover his face as tears leaked from his eyes, unable to be stopped.

[Caitlin Collins]

The Elemental Room of Water was truly a calming place, Caity thought to herself as she made her way up to the correct floor to enter the Room of Requirement. She had been going there more often of late, using it to try and calm herself when she felt overwhelmed or confused or wishing to escape it all. A repeat of wanting to get away and transforming into shadow form would not be appreciated by anybody, least of all Sam and D'rorah. She had been warned beforehand about the dangers of melding into shadow form but had ignored them all and taken a very stupid risk. The pain from Mallan's death had been reawakened somewhat by the experience of bonding and she was working hard to overcome it as quickly as possible.

Reaching the corridor, Caitlin saw an unidentifiable figure enter through the door she had been planning to summon. He had gone through too quickly for her to work out any identity apart from that they were a 'he'. Of course, that did narrow it down quite a lot to five people, some of whom she had no desire to speak to just now. Following the figure through the door, she saw no sign of him in the main meeting room. Glancing around and about to give up on identifying them and head to her own room, Cait suddenly noticed a sheet of parchment floating in the doorway of the Elemental Room of Earth – so it had been Dylan.

Heading to the door, she picked up the page which revealed it as a potions essay – one she had yet to do, as it happened. Taking a cautious step into the room, she originally had the intention of returning it to him – since she presumed he had dropped it as he entered – but also asking him a few questions about his treatment of D'rorah recently. She couldn't understand what had changed his attitude to her so much, since apparently Dee didn't even know.

However, he was in sight when she first entered. Taking a few more steps into the room, the clearly recognise sound of crying came to her and a concerned expression appeared on her face. She began walking at a faster pace, more concerned about her friend now than what he might have done in the recent past. Soon enough she found him, underneath a willow tree and obviously very upset about something. She dropped to her knees beside him, still holding the potions essay in one hand as she wrapped her arms around him, trying to offer what comfort she could without knowing what was the matter. It was all too reminiscent of a previous occasion in the Room of Requirement. [yellow]"Dylan, what is it? What's happened?"[/yellow] she murmured quietly, hoping that it would not be another death or injury or other form of tragedy. She was fully prepared to not receive an answer just yet though if he didn't feel like talking; she just couldn't quash down the need to know enough to prevent herself asking.

[Dylan Cooper]

His mind couldn't stop running over everything that had happened recently, over what had just occurred in the common room. Her cold response, her disbelief, while completely expected, was a blow nonetheless. He planned to continue speaking to her, just a little bit at a time, to gradually ease her into the idea that he was no longer harmful. He would just have to wait until he found Kerridon, to find out what exactly had happened; if it turned out this really was all his fault, he would most likely... well, he wouldn't think about that until he had to. Otherwise, if there was some other cause, he would know that it hadn't been him, that maybe he had no control. That concept would surely strengthen his resolve to make things right, to tell D'rorah that it hadn't been him. Then maybe he would feel like he deserved her, that maybe he didn't deserve this misery he was currently cemented in.

And still he did not cease thinking. As his chest felt like shards of glass were piercing it, ripping into his heart and lungs as his breathing continued to be more than erratic, his hands hit the ground beneath and he fell to all fours. He simply couldn't breath as the tears continued to run down his cheeks, though now they were stopping about half way before gravity pulled them down to the mossy blanket of grass beneath. He felt arms wrap around him and jolted slightly, not having heard or seen anyone approach. With the sound he was making, however, and the fact that his eyes were completely averted from the entranceway, it was hardly surprising.

He pulled away quickly and, turning to see Caitlin kneeling beside him, moved once more into a kneeling position of his own. Relaxing immediately in her presence, he looked positively mournful for a moment before falling into her, his arms wrapping around her waist. Not fully prepared to respond to her question at this point in time, he felt it was all he could do to simply keep breathing.

After a few minutes he steadily began to calm down; his tears were finally choked back and his breathing slowed somewhat. Wiping his eyes on his sleeve and feeling more than slightly embarassed, he pulled back and turned to face something other than his friend. Clearing his throat lightly, he blinked quickly a few times, attempting to dry his eyes further, and then cast his eyes at the ground between them. "Sorry, I..." Clearing his throat once more, he attempted to continue. "I just saw Dee in the common room... sorry," he repeated lightly.

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin could hear Dylan's erratic breathing but was a little surprised when he pulled back, which in turn made her more worried about what was wrong. It had not occurred to her that he wouldn't have heard her coming, despite the noise he had been making that had apparently hidden her footsteps. She paused, unsure whether to reach out again or if he really didn't want her near... It was hard to tell what he wanted in his current state of upset, and she didn't want to make the wrong choice because of that. But mere moments later, he was kneeling down again, looking horribly distressed. She reached out a tentative hand towards his shoulder, ready to pull back if he showed any signs of moving away again.

Instead of moving away, however, he seemed to lose all will to sit up and collapsed against her. Feeling his arms move around her, Cait felt less tentative about rewrapping her own arms around him, not bothering to repeat the question and simply holding him in an effort at comfort, wanting to do more but not knowing what. It truly was all too familiar, though... She pushed her thoughts away from that line of thought, the memories still too raw from bonding with Sam to risk venturing near.

She turned her attention back to Dylan, hearing his breathing slow a little and lightening her hold so that when he pulled back there was nothing restricting him, but kept one arm around his shoulders anyway. The other hand fell back down to rest in her lap as she watched him, the concern and worry blatantly obvious in her eyes – especially when his own eyes lowered to the floor and away from her. Still she stayed silent, not wanting to push him and simply waiting for an explanation whenever it would come. Her shoulders were tensed a little from the strain of not knowing what was wrong and fear of what it might be.

When it did come, however, her expression changed from worry to confusion. Dee? What did she have to do with this? Had she somehow taken revenge on him for his previous actions against her? There were no visible marks on him, though... perhaps he had his own secrets that she had revealed, just as he had done with hers so cruelly a few weeks ago. Despite knowing so much that Dylan had done to D'rorah, she still couldn't just leave him here thinking it was all his own fault, leaving him to his misery. She had helped D'rorah after he had attacked her, and now she would do the same for Dylan. [yellow]"Dee?"[/yellow] she questioned. [yellow]"I... I don't understand. What did she do?"[/yellow] she asked quietly, a little tentatively again in case he didn't want to talk about it.

[Dylan Cooper]

Glad that at least he was not on his own, for who knows what might have come of such an event, he was also exceptionally glad that it was Caitlin to be here, and not one of the other Lightfighters. He liked them alright, mostly anyway, but he simply wasn't that close to any of them, perhaps barring Alessandro. But even he had been gone for months, and Dylan still didn't know what had happened to him. No, Caitlin was the person he needed most right now. "I... I don't know what I've done. She hasn't done anything, it's me. I hurt her... How could I hurt her?" he asked, his tone slightly confused as well as overwhelmingly remorseful and pained. His eyes looked to hers for the answers he assumed he would not find, but he needed to know something; he couldn't just sit in this pain while he waited for some discovery or lack thereof to emerge. He needed to know what had caused this, this completely uncharacteristic behaviour within him.

"How could I hurt her, Cait?" he questioned again, not believing she would answer him. "I don't know what came over me, I just... I don't know. She never did anything, and I betrayed her." His voice continued to sound unused, not aided by the fact that his throat was also raw from crying. Falling into silence, not knowing if he could even talk any more, or if he wanted to voice any more of the horrible things running through his mind, Dylan sagged miserably on his knees. His arms remained limp at his sides and his posture was curved to say the best. Searching, and finding nothing to do but talk, because he certainly didn't want any more tears to leak from his eyes, he finally sought out some new words. "She clearly doesn't want anything else to do with me, and I don't blame her... But what if it wasn't me? What if that potion... what if it was... I don't know, poisoned? I mean it was my fault, I know it was, but how could it be? You know me," he said desperately, looking directly at her. "You know me, you know I would never... could never. I'm not violent... I'm practically anti-violence. I just... have no idea what happened."

He would do anything to discover that he had not been to blame, anything but pretend. If it had indeed been his fault, well... He pushed that thought away for now, not wanting once again to linger on it, because it brought nothing good. But he needed to know, he just had to find Kerridon as soon as possible; once he'd calmed down obviously, which by the looks of it might take a while. Trying to keep his breathing deep but unavoidably leaning towards the shallow end, he cast his eyes away, no longer able to look at his friend, not after everything he had done.

[Caitlin Collins]

Caitlin continued to keep the arm around his shoulders as he spoke. He seemed even more confused than she was, except for a different reason; he was confused about his actions towards Dee. She was confused about him being concerned about Dee at all now – he seemed to have gone off her completely for whatever reason. Sensing that he wanted an answer, she spoke falteringly, unsure of how to respond since she hadn't understood the reasoning herself. [yellow]"You said something about... how she wasn't looking hard enough for you. That she was using you,"[/yellow] she said uncertainly, watching his face as he sat in silent and not quite sure how to react to this sudden change in temperament. A few weeks ago he had apparently hated her... now he was mourning what his hate had done.

She tightened her arm around him as she felt him sag a little more, knowing how little comfort it gave but wanting to let him know that she was here for as long as he needed or wanted her here. She hadn't actually been in the Room of Earth before and had it been different circumstances she might have been more curious. As it was, the room simply got the occasional sweeping gaze as she looked about, as if searching for something or someone to help Dylan.

She looked up sharply at the mention of a potion, having heard no mention of it before. [yellow]"A potion?"[/yellow] she questioned shortly. He seemed to think it might be the explanation for his actions – and such a magical explanation would certainly make more sense than his sudden alteration in disposition being just himself. [yellow]"Something magical could have changed what you thought of her... It really wasn't like you to... do what you did,"[/yellow] she spoke, coming off shortly again at a lack of wanting to bring up the specifics of his actions. She doubted that would help in the slightest.

Watching him, she saw him turn away and looked at him sadly, unsure what else she could do to help him or comfort him. While it was at least a relief that no one else had died, he thoughts were currently all on Dylan rather than the relief she might feel later at her fears being unfounded. She reached up and gently placed a hand on his face in an effort to make him look at her again, ready to pull away immediately if he resisted. [yellow]"Dylan... look at me,"[/yellow] she requested quietly, not wanting him to hide from her. She had hidden far too much over the past months and knew just what it could do if you kept it all inside. She was still doing so, in fact... But she ignored the hypocrisy of her request, simply hoping he would go with it.

[Dylan Cooper]

He continued to feel her arm around him and found a small comfort in it; that was better than nothing, and even through everything he was feeling right now he was able to appreciate that she was there. He was just a bit beyond expressing that gratitude right now, but he assumed she would understand that. As she replied to his comments, saying what reasons he had given for acting so towards D'rorah, his expression faltered once again. "I know what I said... But that's not what happened. I don't know why I thought it was, but she looked so hard... and she would never... she didn't use me. I just don't understand why I thought that," he admitted, still sounding confused.

As his body sagged slightly under the weight of his crimes, he felt her arm tighten, as if to secure him, and found further comfort in it. He supposed that he shouldn't be allowed to be comforted for the grief he was feeling; but if he was left to his own to mourn, he might very well not recover. He was particularly partial to downward spirals, and while he wished he was stronger than that, all he could do was realise that fact and try to deal with it as best as he could. As he began to dwell on that, he saw the effect that his mentioning of the potion had on her; no-one could fail to notice it, afterall. He almost clung to her words then, that magic had been to blame; it was all he wanted to hear, and yet only if it was the truth. He would not deceive himself into believing something just to make himself feel better.

"You... you think so? Kerridon was there, he said it had Shadow Magic in it," he said quietly, a small hope rising in his voice. He of course threw Kerridon's name into the mix, not recalling at the time that his and D'rorah's... intimacy, for lack of a better word, should be kept secret. As far as he knew, the older Ravenclaw boy was still supposed to be believed Dark Phoenix's lapdog; if word got out that him and Dee were an item, consequences might be severe for the lightfighters.

His eyes were cast back to the soft ground below but before he knew it, he felt her warm hands on his face, pulling it toward her. Her soft words caused him to finally look at her once more. "What am I going to do if this is all my fault? What could have possibly happened that I would do those things... If... If I really did do that to D'rorah, no magic whatsoever to influence it, then how can I be trusted around anyone? I can't stay here... not if that's the case," he said desperately, wanting more than anything for that not to be the case. He didn't mention where he might go, and didn't think he wanted to, even to think it to himself.

[Caitlin Collins]

Caity frowned a little when Dylan refuted what he had previously said, now unable to give an answer to his question as to why he had acted as he did. [yellow]"I don't know... It was after you came back from Mungo's that you seemed to change... Maybe the medicine you were on while there made you think differently,"[/yellow] she suggested, not knowing the potion he had mentioned had actually been from the hospital originally. She felt at a loss, not knowing how to answer his question but wanting to help reassure him. But she just couldn't do that if she didn't know what had caused the change. [yellow]"Was it something to do with Amy?"[/yellow] she asked tentatively, recalling Dylan's new girlfriend and unaware that they had now split up.

She blinked a little in confusion when he mentioned Kerridon. That was twice now he had been around when something between D'rorah and Dylan had been going on. When she had been taking Dee to the hospital wing, his gaze had not exactly been obvious to anyone else passing by but was certainly intense. Now he had somehow been involved again with this potion. The Ravenclaw always seemed to be able to pass under the radar, and she wondered exactly what his role was in all this... clearly it was more than as appeared. [yellow]"Why was Kerridon there?"[/yellow] A few moments later, she realised what he had actually said regarding Kerridon and her eyes widened further. [yellow]"Shadow magic? But... how did that get in it? Where did you get that potion from, why were you taking it?"[/yellow] she asked. Certainly a potion with shadow magic in was suspicious, and seemed likely to be the cause behind everything that had gone on.

As he turned back to look at her, she dropped the hand on his face back to her lap, a sad expression on her face as he spoke, increasing slightly when he mentioned leaving. [yellow]"No... don't leave again,"[/yellow] she pleaded softly. He was one of the few people at Hogwarts whom she trusted, and now knowing where he was before had been horrible... [yellow]"I don't think it was you. There's no reason why you would act like that and not remember why now. And you're not like that normally, and it was only directed at D'rorah, no one else. There must have been something else affecting you, especially if you were drinking a potion with shadow magic in."[/yellow] She did believe that it hadn't been his fault, mostly because she just couldn't understand why he would do such things – she never had been able to understand.

[Dylan Cooper]

"My medicine was the potion, that's just it, I had to keep taking it or else my headaches would come back," he explained quietly, his voice melancholy. As she mentioned Amy, he looked confused for a moment. "Amy? No... no. She's... we're not seeing each other anymore. I was using her to hurt Dee... only I've only just come to my senses about it. She deserved better, and there's no way I could be with anyone else," he admitted. He had, of course, literally been with someone else, but he considered the person he had been over the past few months an entirely different entity. "I love D'rorah. I know it doesn't seem like it, how I've acted... But that wasn't me. It just can't have been. I still feel how I felt about her before I got hit by that stupid Bludger," he said quietly, feeling slightly resentful towards said Bludger; it had been the reason he'd left, afterall, so it was fair enough that perhaps he might project some of his feelings towards the incident that had ripped him away from Dee and the school.

"That potion I was taking, had a refilling charm on it, so I was always drinking that same sample, but once that lot was taken from me, I went to get some more from the nurse. I'm still taking it, but since losing the old lot I've started feeling a lot calmer... a lot more... guilty," he said, knowing in his heart that there just had to be some other reason for his actions, and feeling this was the most likely situation. Perhaps he was just wanting it to be true so much that he forced the pieces to fit into the story... again, he wouldn't know until he spoke to Kerridon. So much seemed to hinge on one of the few people who certainly didn't want him to be redeemed... who didn't want him to have even a chance at getting forgiveness from D'rorah. He suspected that since they seemed to be an item, as much as the idea haunted him, that Kerridon could possibly withold the truth; he would not want Dylan to have the chance to get back together with the female Ravenclaw.

"That's the thing..." he said quietly, feeling that the more he talked, the better he felt. He by no means felt okay, but at least he wasn't still crying. "I got that potion from St Mungo's, and I came straight from there to here, with Kerridon. Someone at the hospital must have spiked it... but I can't imagine who," he said, assuming everything he said, because it sounded like the most likely explanation. "Of course... where's the proof that Kerridon really has switched sides?" he questioned darkly. Oh, he would love if the older boy was still aligned with Phoenix; only from a personal view, however. From a Lightfighters point of view, the more allies they had, the better, and he was slightly resentful toward that thought at this time.

He noticed the sadness in her expression as he contemplated leaving aloud. He knew all too well that she had already lost Mallan... even Gat had hurt her, and he had sided with Dark Phoenix. "I'm trying, Cait, but what could I do? D'rorah... she's... she's my everything, and the idea that I hurt her like that, is just beyond pain. Whether it was my fault or not, it was still me who hurt her, still her getting hurt... I can barely take that," he said, almost silently, tears welling annoyingly in his eyes once more. "If this turns out to actually be my fault, I can't. I just... can't." He meant to say 'can't deal with that', but couldn't quite get that all out, and he just hoped Caitlin would understand what he meant. He seemed only to be surviving for that small vein of hope within him, that small vein that could be helped or crushed by whatever Kerridon said to him.

[Caitlin Collins]

[yellow]"Oh..."[/yellow] Caitlin said shortly when she was informed that the potion was the medicine from the hospital, trying to think through all that she had been told. He certainly looked confused when she mentioned Amy, and she wondered just when he had broken that off... It sounded like it had been a while ago. She really wasn't all that concerned with school gossip and had never paid it much attention, even when she had first joined Hogwarts. It seemed like someone was always saying something nasty about someone else and it had really gotten on her nerves, so she had just shown disinterest when anything like that came up. And of course recently she'd been paying less attention to everything so she had missed even the little bits of news that went around, meaning she was quite out of the loop.

[yellow]"What... how did she react? Didn't she think it was strange you'd suddenly changed? She was with you most of the time you were taking that potion, right?"[/yellow] Cait questioned. Although it might be a sensitive subject, Amy did seem like the sort of person who would have noticed exactly when his change in behaviour started. She had been around him far more than anyone else this past month or so.

She listened quietly as Dylan went into more detail about the potion, thinking it more and more likely with every word that it must be the cause behind it. She was slightly relieved to know it hadn't been the boy she had come to know and like over the last couple of terms she had been at Hogwarts... she had never thought it was like him to do what he had been, but she had just figured she hadn't known him as well as she thought. Hopefully, it would turn out that the potion had been all the cause behind it, and this whole mess between D'rorah and Dylan would be sorted out. [yellow]"It does sound like it was the potion,"[/yellow] she agreed. [yellow]"But so long as you can show Dee that was what was wrong, then hopefully you guys should be able to go back to what it was like before... at least eventually, even if it's not straight away."[/yellow] Not knowing the complication of Kerridon, and also having never heard the full details of everything he had said to D'rorah in the common room, it seemed a lot simpler to Caitlin than it probably did to Dylan. She was aware that it might take time, but considering what they had had before, they should be able to work through it.

[yellow]"I'm sorry... I don't know,"[/yellow] she said hopelessly when he was speaking about who might have spiked the potion. She blinked a little at the dark expression on Dylan's face and his words about Kerridon, surprised at the sudden turn in his mood. [yellow]"Well... isn't it Dee who said he'd changed? She probably knows better than us."[/yellow]

The sadness remained on her face at seeing the sadness on his and the idea of him leaving. [yellow]"Keep trying..."[/yellow] she pleaded softly, [yellow]"if the potion was affecting you, and it sounds like it was, then it wasn't you... it was someone else to blame, using your body. Surely the best way to change that is to try and help her recover from it, show her that it wasn't you. And I don't believe it was your fault... a potion with shadow magic in, that when you stop taking it coincides with guilt arriving – it's too coincidental to be nothing."[/yellow] She tightened her arm around him again, trying to pull him closer to reassure him that it could still turn out okay, there was no need to give up hope yet.

[Dylan Cooper]

"She only knew me that way, Caitlin, she only knew me as acting that way. I barely even knew her name before this all started..." he said, feeling slightly more ashamed by the second and wanting to avoid that topic as much as possible; he did not need any more guilt on his conscience right now. As she began agreeing that, indeed, it did seem to fit that the potion may have caused all of this chaos, he felt slightly better. As long as it wasn't just him, it felt more like a reality; the more people who believed it, the less likely it was that this was actually his fault, and he felt that if that were the case he simply couldn't... well, he couldn't accept that. He just couldn't. That was not, at this point in time, a prospect that he was at all prepared to face.

When she continued that things would go back to how they were before... Dylan couldn't even comprehend where to start on the errors he already perceived in that statement. He did not fully believe for a moment that things would go back to exactly how they had been. Even if, by some rare chance, they did manage to get back together, he didn't expect that she would ever fully open up to him again. What he had said to her in the common room had been all of her most personal events, revealed to the Ravenclaw and student public. No matter if it had been by his influence or the will of Dark Phoenix herself, he had still had that knowledge within him, that knowledge of her past that when revealed, obviously had such traumatic effects.

Then of course was the fact that he had walked in on her and Kerridon kissing in the Room of Requirement. That was certainly not a sight he would forget, not for a long time to come, no matter what happened from now on. He glided past her response to his crass suggestion that Kerridon was not fully reformed - he privately suspected that he had only wanted to blame the older Ravenclaw boy for something, whether he actually had anything to be blamed for or not. Dylan was, afterall, still quite in love with D'rorah, and they were talking about the boy who had since gotten into her confidences and become intimate with her at who knows what level.

His face sombre but at least not weeping uncontrollably, his eyes sought hers as she pleaded for him to keep trying. He felt her comforting arm tighten slightly in comfort and responded quietly. "I'm trying, Cait, it's all I can do right now to keep trying. Giving up is only an option when I'm asked to..." he said, not realising that his words might have been somewhat cryptic to anyone that was not him. Whether he had D'rorah or not, he certainly did have a few good, even great friends within this castle, and hopefully if push came to shove they would be enough for him.

[Caitlin Collins]

[yellow]"I meant after you stopped taking the potion... if that was all she knew you as then surely she would have noticed the change,"[/yellow] Cait suggested lightly, shrugging a little as if to say that it didn't really matter. After all, Dylan knew Amy better than her... while he might have hardly known her name before, she hadn't even known the girl existed. Even when her existence had come to light, she only knew her name and that there was something going on between her and Dylan – that was it.

As Dylan went quiet, apparently thinking about what she had said, Caity also stayed silent, watching his face and feeling more regretful by the second about the sad expression that was resident there. Apparently he didn't agree that things might go back to normal... she guessed that was probably her apparent naivety coming through again, as she was so often told that she had. Although of course, she was missing a lot of the information about what had gone on between D'rorah and Dylan... and Kerridon as well, although she had no knowledge of that whatsoever. Had she known everything she might not have been quite so optimistic.

She was a little confused by his last statement, not entirely understanding what he was saying but not commenting on it out of confusion. Instead she just kept her arm around him, slightly at a loss of what to say. [yellow]"Keep trying... don't give up even if someone does ask you to, for whatever reason,"[/yellow] she told him.

[Dylan Cooper]

Shaking his head lightly, he responded quietly. "No.. I broke it off as soon as I came to my senses.. I'm not proud of what's happened, of what I've done." He spoke as if he wanted to make sure she knew that, even if she had already guessed as much. "But things can't stay like this... they just... can't," he ended somewhat lamely, not willing to entirely divulge his thoughts on why exactly they couldn't stay this way. He supposed she could assume correctly anyway, but was also sure that his throat would stick, rendering him incapable of physically revealing such thoughts.

Lost for words at this particular moment, he shook his head slightly once more. He soon found his voice, however, and placed his hands unsteadily on the ground either side of his body. "No... I... Thanks, Caitlin... if D'rorah wants me to leave her be after all I've done, potion or not, I'll abide her wishes. I just hope I have a chance. Whatever caused it, the fact still remained that to everyone, including himself and most probably the other of the two Ravenclaw prefects, his face was planted on the memories of such violence and anger. That was a particularly difficult concept to overcome, despite any knowledge to contradict his own purpose in those actions.

Pushing himself up from the ground, his hands still shaking slightly, he moved slowly and finally righted himself. "Thanks, Cait," he muttered quietly. "Look... I'll um... I'll see you around," he said vaguely, turning on the spot in search of the door. Moving towards it slowly, he rubbed one hand over his forehead and felt as if maybe he could do with a walk around the grounds.

[Caitlin Collins]

Finding herself once again at a loss to say anything that might help in the slightest, Caitlin stayed quiet still, listening to what Dylan said and finding herself even more miserable at his misery – not that she would allow that to come through on her face. She didn't want him to feel any worse than he already did, so her expression was strictly neutral, although it most likely appeared forced. She still hadn't really mastered the art of hiding what she was feeling.

She blinked in surprise as he suddenly rose to his feet and away from her, muttering thanks about something or other. She stared up at him in confusion as he started moving towards the door, even more unsure what to do. Did he want to be left alone? She had tried to help as best she could but he still appeared just as miserable as before. [yellow]"Okay..."[/yellow] she murmured quietly as he reached the door. [yellow]"If you wanna talk, I'll be about,"[/yellow] she added after a moment's pause, wanting to make sure he knew that she'd be there for him just like he had been for her several months ago.

After he left, she led down on the grass and closed her eyes, trying to sort through all that she had just been told. It was difficult to get her head round, and soon enough she was drifting off into an uneasy sleep, with dreams of arguments and potions.