Without further adieu, I present to you...

D A Y 5

Narrator's POV

"I attended Durmstrang Institute up until my fifth year," Miles told her quietly. The room was fairly tense and everything was still. Lola cast 'Muffliato' before Miles explained himself. She was far from shocked. Far from hurt. Lola was lied to. "I was expelled for hurting a student."

Lola couldn't believe what she was hearing, so instead of maintaining eye-contact, she kept looking around the room as he spoke. She looked at her own hands, picked at her nails, looked down at the ground, and just about anything but Miles.

"Why did you lie to me?" Lola asked him, avoiding eye contact. Miles could hear the pain in her voice. Her teeth met the bottom of her lip as she anticipated an answer.

"It's all a part of—Lola, listen to me when I say this, alright? I—I never wanted to do this in the first place—"

Lola got up from her bed as Miles' eyes followed her every move. She crossed her arms and paced around the room. "Do what! Miles, you're really creeping me out—"

"I don't know how to tell you—"

Lola finally looked at him. "You need to tell me now! Do you not understand that I'm—I'm very—I'm bewildered. This—Miles, who are you?"

"I'm Miles, Lola. I've always been Miles—"

"No!" she shouted, "The Miles I know is a fucking muggle! The Miles I know goes to public school! You own a fucking wand and you know a bloody charm! You hurt a student and you attended Durmstrang Institute!"

"I know, Lola. I—Can you let me explain?"

"I don't think I want to hear anything from you at all. They're all just bloody lies—"

"Damn it, Lola!" Miles slammed her bedside table with his balled fist, which startled Lola. "Let me — fuck — let me explain."

Lola contemplated. She would either let this guy go for good or listen to what he has to say. Lola, in fact, has a million questions. For example, why would he cast a pregnancy detection spell? Or why would he lie about being a normal muggle? She decided that it'd be best to listen because there's a chance he may be able to answer most of her questions.

So she sat across him. An armchair in the corner of her room as he sat on her bed.

"I'm...listening."

Miles' throat tightened. His palms immediately sweated as he rubbed his hands on his jeans. His heart rate paced up. The mic was his. His audience was waiting.

"I—don't even know where to start, Lola," Miles sighed. He ran his fingers through his hair out of frustration. "I— fuck! I'm sorry, Lola. For everything. For fucking everything—"

"You can apologize later. And even then I wouldn't accept it. Start explaining. Your time? It's limited," she spoke sternly. She didn't have any energy to cry. Lola was too confused. Too frustrated. Too mad. Too hurt. To everything.

"I'm not a muggle," Miles spokes, "And... I was told—No, I was forced. Coerced—coerced into this plan to— plan to practically destroy your life—"

"Why? Why my life?"

"It's not necessarily yours, but it's really the life around you. Like—Like your brother."

"Prince? Zeno?"

"Zeno,"

"Why?"

"Lola, I'm getting to that—"

"Who coerced you into fucking with our lives?"

"My step-sister—"

"For what! Why!"

"Lola! I need you to stop cutting me off!"

"No, you don't get to tell me what to do! I have every right to show frustration! I have every right to be frustrated!"

"I know, Lola. I just need you to listen to me. Please. There's a lot to unpack—"

"Oh, I bet there is!"

"Lola!" he shouted. "Please just — would you just — shut the fuck up?"

Lola was appalled. She was taken aback. Her lips pursed as she kept shut. She didn't exactly know what Miles was capable of, so she kept quiet. Lola hardly knew this Miles. She thought she did, but turns out there's way more to Miles Wright.

"My step-sister came into my life when I was 14 years old. My father married her mother so quickly. We had money. Lots of it, if you will. And that's all they ever want. Money. Money-driven gold diggers. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, either," he continued, "She attended Hogwarts. At the time, I was expelled from Durmstrang. I had no intention of going back to school—"

"Durmstrang doesn't accept muggle-borns. Aren't you a muggle-born?"

"No," he responded, "House of Rosier. My step-sister is a muggle-born. We had to change our last name after my expulsion from Durmstrang."

"Miles Rosier," Lola blurted numbly.

"Yeah."

Silence lingered. If Miles were to pour everything out at once, it would be overwhelming. He decided it'd be best to let things settle before fully letting everything go.

"Your brother impregnated my sister—"

"Shut up," she cut him off immediately. Lola got up from her chair and backed up until her back was pressed against her back. "I can't stand any more bloody lies, Miles."

"I'm telling you the truth, Lola. It was all a part of her plan—to get pregnant. She was in it for the money. She overheard that you Berkshires had money. And, like mother like daughter, she went in for the kill."

Lola couldn't wrap her head around it. Her brother? How did she not know about him getting someone pregnant?

"She was only 15 when she was admitted into Hogwarts—"

"Who's your sister?"

"Lola, you know her—"

"Who is it?"

"Eleanor Farrell."

Eleanor Farrell. The girl who she knew was obsessed with her brother. The girl who bullied her out of nowhere. The girl that Zeno ever put her hands on when he shoved her to the ground. In Lola's head, it was because Eleanor was bullying her. But in reality, there was clearly way more beneath reasoning.

Lola's eyes pooled. Her lips quivered and her face scrunched out of frustration. "You're—you're lying to me. That—that can't be true—"

"Lola, your brother forced her to get rid of it. Eleanor went crazy when she found out about your brother and the wealth in his name. She did everything—and I mean everything— to get pregnant. And when she did, Xenophilius forced her to get rid of it. Just when you thought she could get any crazier, she tried everything to get back into the family."

Lola slid down against the wall slowly as she placed her hand over her mouth to stop the cries from escaping her mouth. Lola's heart was beating as fast as ever. All the secrets that spilled were too much for her.

Miles immediately got up from the bed and raced towards her. They were both on the floor. Miles tried to pull her into a hug, but she screamed.

"Get away from me! You bloody liar! Don't—don't touch me!"

Miles backed up instantly. His eyes widened as he fell flat on his bottom. About 2 feet away from her. He watched her cry all while trying to find the right time to continue talking.

"Eleanor, she— she went on and pursued a relationship with your friend, Zenith. For a while, really. He was only a fourth-year when they first—did it. She and Zenith were on and off for quite a while, up until he started seeing your... cousin, I believe. Scarlett. Eleanor knew she hit a dead end. I mean, she fed Zenith with lies about her. A lot. She's—she's crazy, Lola. It hurts to even speak about her like this—"

"Stop talking, Miles," Lola said quietly. She closed her eyes as her breathing became rigid. "Give me—a moment. Please."

Miles obeyed immediately. For a moment, Miles thought that, as they speak, he was doing the right thing. In reality, he was never actually doing the right thing. The moment he agreed to his step-sister's plan, he was never actually doing the right thing.

"Why... do we have to go?" Lola spoke up. She fluttered her eyes open and met with Miles. Guilt laid across his visage, and she knew it.

"Because you're not pregnant, Lola."

"What?"

"Eleanor knew she hit a dead end with Zenith. Her next idea was with me. And with you. So, she made me—she coerced me—into getting you pregnant. And I—at the time, I would do anything for her. She's a damn good manipulator, that's for sure," Miles grit through his teeth as he fought the tears. He had no right to cry. He had no right to be upset. He is part of the reason this all has to be done. "But, Lola I fell in love with you. I couldn't bring myself up to do that to you. For years, she's always found a way with words. To feed me with lies. She's fucking spoiled."

Lola only cried harder, but she was listening. Miles had her attention at all times.

"You don't do that to the people you love," she muffled through her hands. Miles gave an expression where he couldn't understand what she said, so she repeated herself. Lola let her hand down. "You don't... do that to the people...you love," she stammered.

"I know, and for that, I am deeply sorry. Lola, I really am."

"Why do we have to go?"

"Because you're not pregnant," he repeated, "she told me that if you weren't pregnant by Christmas, she'd have you—" Miles balled his hand into a fist, his fingernails digging crescents into his palm. "—killed."

Lola's throat tightened. Killed. "She wouldn't—she wouldn't?"

"Lola, she's capable of anything and everything. She would."

"Where is she?"

"She's in Russia with some friends, but she'll be back in a couple of days."

Lola's teeth met the bottom of her lip as she contemplated the whole idea. Lola didn't want to die. She also didn't want to leave her family who could be in danger, too. Plus, her mother is pregnant. She wouldn't want her family to get hurt.

But Lola didn't want to die. She's never been selfish before. Today might be her first.

"I want to leave my family a note," she said flatly. Lola quickly wiped the tears from her face.

"What?"

"I'll g—I'll go with you," Lola stammered. She got up from the ground with her palms pressing against the hardwood floors. From getting up abruptly, her hand grabbed her chair to gain balance. "I want to leave my family a note."

Miles got up as well and huffed. "You're coming with me?"

Lola looked at him. Her eyes were puffy, yet her ice-blue eyes could still be seen in the dark. "I don't want to die, Miles."

Miles gulped. "I don't want you to die, either."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Lola snapped. "You've lied to me this far. You've—How can I even trust you?"

"Because I love you, Lola. I wouldn't be here telling us to run away from all of this if I didn't care for you—"

"For all I bloody know, you could be taking me to your fucking whore of a sister to kill me! For all I know, this could be a part of your plan!"

"Lola, please trust me on this. I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want you dead. I—I'm going against her for you—"

"And that is exactly what you should be doing anyway! You shouldn't have followed everything she tells you, Miles. But, you already did. And now we're fucking here." Lola stomped towards her desk. She pulled out a notebook and a pen. Her mind raced. "Why did she want me pregnant, Miles?"

"It was a form of revenge. She thought that if you were to get pregnant, we'd have money. She also thought that if you were to get pregnant, you wouldn't get rid of it, which meant that Zeno would be taking care of that baby, too."

"I would've gotten rid of it," she whispered, "I would've aborted it the moment I knew I was pregnant."

Lola opened to a fresh page and had her blue pen in hand. Her pen came intact with the sheet, but nothing spewed out. Her mind went blank, but she was feeling a million emotions. "What do I even say? Where are you taking me, Miles?"

"I don't know yet. Just—somewhere far from here."

"When will I be back?"

"I...don't know."

Silence.

And so Lola sped-wrote. She kept it short and brief, yet informative enough.

After signing the note, she placed it in the middle of her desk with a throbbing heart and clammy hands. Lola was hesitant about the whole thing, but she didn't want to die.

"I — need to pack a few things before we go," Lola stammered quietly. She maneuvered around the room at a slow pace while Miles kept his vision on her, watching her every move. He, too, was nervous. He, too, was also hesitant about the whole thing. But he knew that it was the right thing to do. For her, at least. "Miles?"

Miles nodded his head. "Hmm?"

Lola stopped her tracks and locked eyes with the man she hardly knew. "Please don't kill me."

His expression was packed with horror. "I—I would never, Lola. I would never do that to you, no. I couldn't—"

"But you did everything else to me. You let her do everything else!"

"Lola, I—I would do anything to go back in time and do everything differently."

Lola ignored him as she stuffed all the clothes she could in her little backpack. Tears streamed down her face as she passed family photos that were propped up on her dressers and cabinets. Lola refused to look at them, otherwise, she'd risk her life and stay right where she belongs.

Home.

Lola swung the backpack over her back and clutched onto the straps with all her might.

"I'm ready," she said shakily.

Miles bit the bottom of his lip and reached his hand out.

Lola grabbed it.

And so they apparated.

***

D I S C U S S I O N