Amelia slipped inside as soon as the portrait opened, a loud call leaving her mouth soon after: "Asteria Margaret Edwards, get your arse ready for th—"

She halted, in shock. Ria was sitting in front of her desk, dressed in dark denim pants and a lilac satin top, scribbling something onto a piece of paper. Though that wasn't the shocking part, really.

She was dressed.

She looked up at her, as if she had expected the reaction. "It's Marlene, 'Melia, not Margaret."

But Amelia knew that, obviously. "Why are you all ready like that?" She asked, shifting her balance from one foot onto another. "You've even put makeup on, hell, you even have your heels on!"

She had come a bit early (not early) with the mindset and the readiness that she had to drag Ria out of bed and take her to the party. "I thought you were sleeping!"

"I was sleeping." Ria shook her head with a sigh, closing her bottle of ink and keeping all her work aside. "I ask you again. What part of 'I'm coming to the party' did you not understand? You look lovely, by the way."

Amelia's face immediately broke out into a smile. "Thank you!" She was in lighter denim pants and a black satin top. In fact, she had asked Ria to match with her right after they were done with their classes of the day.

She then looked around the room, pursing her lips. "It really does feel empty without her, doesn't it?"

Ria had a ghost of a smile on her face, feeling like the girl had literally read her mind. "Yeah."

"I miss her too much." said Amelia, walking up and sitting on the armchair that Sophie would usually be curled up on. "I wrote to her. Told her how mad I was that she left without meeting."

She looked up curiously. "Yeah? What did she say?"

She shrugged. "It hasn't been that long yet. I figure it'll take some while.. her reply."

Ria nodded, hand caressing over her own wrist that now felt too empty without Cedric's bracelet or Harry's ring.

She had taken off the chain with his ring for the night. And Cedric's bracelet she had taken off a long time ago.. fearing that she might accidentally break it while experimenting with her Obscurus.

Though she felt empty without them, just like she did without the onyx pendant that Carrow had stolen.

"Anyway.. what were you writing?" She asked, and by the way she was snuggled up with a cushion, Ria figured they had some time before they left.

She looked back at the parchment before shrugging. "We brewed the Draught of Living Death today. The recipe in Advanced Potion Making didn't work.. so I'm writing down what worked better."

A small chuckle left Amelia's lips. "Merlin, Ria, you really write those down?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. I've been doing that since forever. And with everything really. I don't like to forget important things."

The senior nodded, seeming impressed. "'Melia." She tipped her head slightly. "Is something bothering you?"

Amelia shook her head. "No..? Why do you ask?"

"It's just.." Ria hesitated for a moment. "I know you don't have your best friends around this year, and that is perfectly reasonable for feeling that everything's changed. But you seem.. quieter."

She stared at the cushion in her arms for a moment. "I got a letter from Mum."

Curiosity got the best of Ria; she couldn't hide the anticipation on her face. "What did she say?"

"Nothing in particular, really.." she chewed on her inner cheek. "Told me how things were going on alright. That no one missed having me around, since I was a brat, really. And that Pansy's talking about taking the Mark."

Ria raised an amused eyebrow. "What does she think it's like? Taking the Inquisitorial Squad batch?"

"Most probably." Amelia chuckled, but it looked like she was anything but amused.

After a beat of silence, Ria asked: "You don't miss them, do you?"

She scoffed, shaking her head. "God, no!"

And Ria nodded, deciding that maybe a change of subject was needed. "Hey.. I know I asked you to teach me Arithmancy, since I couldn't take it. But.. let it be. I have the book, I'll do it on my own."

Amelia tilted her head in question. "Are you sure? I can help you. There's no problem whatsoever."

But she only shook her head. "You will help, but only if I can't get something by myself." I don't want to depend on others. "You have Prefect duties already."

The girl shrugged again. "Okay, then. Tell me whenever you need me."

She was about to nod, but then looked up at her. "What if I need your help right now?"

"Right now? With what?"

"I really can't decide what accessories I should wear." She looked at her, helpless.

And Amelia chuckled, getting up from the armchair and pushing her inside her room. "Let's go!"

Close enough, but not too much. Ria had decided. Keep them around, but don't shut them out.

We are going to have to fight together, at the end.

The thought that if.. just maybe.. if Ria hadn't ignored Sophie's letters, if she'd said something, if she'd let her know she felt more isolated than ever, she might've stayed.. haunted her as much as some of her nightmares did.

Amelia was the closest she had to Sophie now. Like a sister she knew would have her back.

And like everyone else, she didn't want to lose her.. neither through her Obscurus, her curse.. nor the way she had ignored Sophie.

The Ravenclaw common room had a buzz going on outside the bronze door and its eagle knocker. Though the most shocking thing was the door was wide open, letting other students in for the welcome party.

"That's an unusual scene." Ria said to Amelia and Daphne.

"I heard one of the seniors challenged Flitwick to a riddle." The blonde answered with a quiet chuckle. "The condition was that he'd let them throw a welcome party for sixth and seventh-years if he couldn't answer it."

"Wow." Amelia shook her head with amazement. "Could you imagine Snape being that friendly with us?"

"Nope."

"Not at all."

"Daphne.." said Ria impatiently. "Do you happen to know where Blaise and Theodore are?"

She spared a look at the open door. "They went inside. The three of us came together." She looked up at her girlfriend. "I waited outside because I wanted to go with you."

It might have been the first time Ria had seen Amelia with blood rushing to her cheeks. "Aww.. did you?" She smugly put an arm around her shoulder, smiling with adoration.

"Gosh.. you two lovebirds enjoy your night." She said with a playful roll of her eyes as she began to walk inside. "I'll see you later."

She had been there before, but the common room looked even better at night, with its royal blue colour and bronze hues, windows that gave a gorgeous view of the scenery, the marvellous painting of the night sky on the ceiling, and the rather large bookshelf behind the statue of Rowena Ravenclaw in the centre.

God, the common room would always make her wish she was in this house. Rowena Ravenclaw was a fucking genius, really, and it was justified when she designed this room.

After a moment of admiring, she took a look around the crowd of students.. and some of the ghosts that always lurked around. 

It wasn't a rowdy party, really. The 'welcome' part made sense; there were snacks, butterbeers, music, games and other things.. things she thought were mandatory to convince Flitwick about the party in the first place. But she doubted there weren't a room or two where some of them were getting drunk or high.

"Hello, Ria!" A bright voice took her attention, and she saw Luna approaching her, Ginny's hand in hers and Dean trailing behind the two.

"Hey, Ria!"

"Fancy seeing you here.." She looked at the fifth-years with a curious smile. "I thought this was for N.E.W.T.s only."

"Well.. I'm here with my date." Ginny looked back at Dean, who only exchanged a friendly nod with Ria. "And Luna.. Neville invited her who's now.." She looked around to find him "..probably too busy talking to Hannah Abbott about plants."

"But surprised to see you, really. I thought you weren't going to come." The redhead's face was flushed, and Ria thought maybe she'd had some alcohol. "Good thing you did though. Come on! Let's—"

"No— you go ahead." She didn't even hear what she had to say. "I'm waiting for Blaise and Theo. I'll try to join later though."

Ginny only nodded, with an understanding smile. 

Maybe if it was the previous year, she would've pushed her a little to join, but she knew Ria needed some peace this year. Hell, everyone knew that. "See you then."

"See you."

She let her eyes trail after the three as they walked back to where they had come from, before looking around. She was sure she was still receiving looks from others, since almost all the seniors were here, or would be in a while. But she cared less. She wanted to blend in tonight.

Or at least.. she wanted to appear like she was trying to.

She strolled around the room, taking in the views outside the window, greeting a few people from the D.A. that still kept a decent opinion about her, passing by a few Slytherins of her age too, who either smiled politely or refused to look her in the eye after she had threatened them in the changing room outside the Quidditch field.

"You." A looming voice called upon her, and she had to stop herself from smiling in victory.

She turned around, and found a ghostly figure staring at her under the blue light of the room. "Yes?"

Her eyes widened as she stared closely at her face. "You look like her."

Ria tilted her head in question. "Like who?" She asked, knowing that it wasn't her appearance, but maybe the aura the blood of Azrael carried. 

"Lagarde?" The ghost backed away at her rhetorical question. 

"No, I don't. I've been told I look like my father, really." She added. "Are you sure you're not just.. haunted?"

"No!" She seemed furious, but then composed herself. "No. Azraels cannot have ghosts. They do not linger behind."

"I don't mean literally.." Ria prodded on. "I meant. maybe whatever Lagarde did to you.. haunted you for the rest of your life.. or your afterlife."

She'd seen her before.. in newspapers.. in the latest edition of the History of Magic. Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement through the end of the 60's all the way to 1980, until she became the Minister of Magic. The revolutionary witch reigned only for one year, which had died 'too young' and 'too early'. Milicent Bagnold.

"You were the one who told the Wizarding community in England to rejoice the end of Voldemort—" It was the first time Ria had seen a ghost shuddering "— and the next day they found you on your armchair in your room, dead."

The ghost of Bagnold faced the other way, looking at the crowds that seemed to pay no mind to their conversation happening in the corner. "You are cocky.. and arrogant, just like she was."

"Wrong. I'm cocky and arrogant only when I need to be. Just like her."

"And you will end up dead, just like her." Bagnold's ghost bared her teeth at Ria.

"I know." She gave her half a smile. "Now.. let's talk a little, shall we."

"Talk about her?" She scoffed. "Never."

"Come on. You're dead already. What are you trying to hold a grudge for?"

The ghost sped towards her, as if trying to scare her. And Ria took a step back, but kept an amused smile on her face. "She was an abomination. She was evil." Bagnold snared, her ghostly eyes alight with some kind of fury.

The smile disappeared from Ria's lips. "She could've been a saviour.. if you all would have let her." She spat.

As much as she hated Lagarde for the many things she had done, she still believed that the Wizarding World had made her that way.

"She killed you, didn't she?" She asked with a cocky tilt of her head. "She killed you when you thought you could just breathe a little.. when the world was celebrating and you were at ease."

"Yes. Yes, she did." She snarled. "She killed me that night.. when her dear old friend died." Her tone was mocking.

"So you're angry that she killed you." She concluded falsely. It was something else, surely.

Bagnold tipped her head only slightly, and Ria realised that it wasn't anger she had.. it was embarrassment she was trying to mask through it.

And after a long while, she let her Seer instinct lead her blindly.

"You regret not listening to her." The words slipped off her tongue more surely than any had before.

It were times like these she fell in awe with her instinct, because if there was a term similar to 'air disappearing from someone's lungs' for a ghost, it would have been suitable for Bagnold's pale figure.

"She could've been a saviour, if you all would have let her." Ria repeated, gulping. "And I say that even though I hate her for ruining my life."

The world made her do it. The world made her into what she became at the end. Yes. That didn't mean Ria was going to forgive her for whatever she did.

Bagnold seemed to let go of her indignation. "I held the trial that put her in Azkaban, in 1969." She finally answered. "But she was rightfully convicted. There was evidence against her, and she had broken the International Stature of Secrecy."

"That trial was also the reason I received such support when I ran for the position of Minister."

Ria slowly took a breath of reassurance, asking again: "Why did she kill you?"

"She was not the only one I declared guilty." said Bagnold. "Howard Graves, your grandfather, her husband: he was declared guilty too, for conspiring with her."

"He killed himself for her, right after the trial, didn't he?" asked Ria, recalling Lagarde's story from the article that had almost been published that summer. "Right in front of the Wizengamot. He said he was going to offer his soul, so hers could be spared."

Bagnold nodded. "No one knows if it worked."

But Ria knew that already. She had thought about those words over and over again. But why? 

Why didn't it work? 

"And after that.. Lagarde cursed the Wizarding World."

Bagnold seemed to still.. like someone would when being reminded of a horrible memory, with a shiver creeping down their spine.

"What do you want to know, young Azrael?"

Maybe for the first time, Ria didn't pay mind to someone calling her an Azrael.

"You were there." She said. "I want to know if the Seer's Curse is real."

I want to know because no one alive seems to know it.. or they do, but refuse to tell.

"I want to know if it's real.. or is it some comforting lie the Wizarding World has made to convince itself that Voldemort isn't that strong.. that there was a tremendously powered witch with ancient blood behind him— who's now dead— that made him linger into this world still. Is it true, or do they lie to themselves to assure themselves that Voldemort wouldn't last now that she isn't here anymore?"

Her temple throbbed with a sudden pain, and she hissed.

'You feel too comfortable underestimating the Dark Lord like that.'

Ria ignored Carrow, her focus back on the ghost. She wanted to know. She needed to know if it was true.. if she was truly meant to break the curse her grandmother had left behind, like many assumed.

Bagnold stayed silent for a moment. But then she closed her eyes, eyebrows pinched together in the middle, like the memory of it all pained her.

She remembered like it all happened yesterday.. Graves snatching an Auror's wand, pressing it to his own forehead, his body hitting the floor, and the wail that had left Lagarde right after.

She had looked lifeless for a moment before her face had contorted with the fury of hell.

"I have given up! I have given up now, on every single one of you! I will rather die than fight for the ones that did this to me!"

And then the ghost recalled all her words— one after another as they were— before looking back at the girl. 

Ria's head was blank, except for those words echoing around now. It was real.

"Do what you want with that."

She had floated away already. Ria didn't know how long she had been standing there until a hand fell on her shoulder. She flinched, but then found the boy with tousled, messy hair and round rimmed glasses staring back at her with concern.

"Are you okay? You don't look alright." His voice sounded raspy, maybe because of the cold butterbeer he'd had.

The previous information almost slipped out of her brain, thoughts became mush as she stared at him in the dim blue light from the ceiling. He was wearing a simple grey sweatshirt, she assumed, but it hugged him so nicely she could see that he had gotten a bit broader.

Sirius was probably making sure he was fed well. Good.

Good— Good for him.

"Yeah.. you don't." The voice that followed made the mush in her mind freeze solid.

Celine Haynes peeked from behind him, and was instantly sure that her face felt warm from fury and nothing else.

'Uh, oh.. Looks like they're here together.'

Carrow's voice was as taunting as the grin on Hayne's face.

"Can you meet me outside the room? In five?" She looked back at Harry, urgency prominent in her eyes.

And oh, how could he ever say no to her?

"Sure.. yeah." He breathed out before he even realised, probably because he was too busy admiring how pretty she looked.

"Good. I'll be back in a while." She threw a glare towards Celine before setting off around the room to find Amelia.

She wasn't that hard to find, really, with long black hair and a blonde to accompany her. They had been sitting on one of the armchairs, Daphne on her lap while she laughed into her shoulder at something she had just said.

"I'm really sorry to interrupt, but can I steal you for a quick second, 'Melia?" She said to the two of them.

Daphne immediately threw her hands around her, pouting. "No!"

"Okay, she's drunk." Ria muttered under her breath and sat on one of the armchairs beside them. Another one was occupied with someone sleeping with their leather jacket over the head and torso. "Celine Haynes.. She's still at Hogwarts."

It took a while for Amelia to register her words, but she looked up at her with confusing expressions. "Yeah.. of course she is."

Ria gave out an exasperated sigh. "Doesn't she like.. change schools every year? What happened this time?"

The girl in front blinked indifferently. "Didn't you say it was rude to assume things about people we don't know much about?"

"Didn't you say you found her shady?"

She sighed. "Look, Ria.. from what I found out about Haynes last year.. Her mother is some sort of Foreign Affairs Minister in the Wizarding World. She has to move around a lot. And Haynes and her father go with her. That's probably why she has changed schools almost every year. She stayed this year, maybe because of what has been happening here. Maybe her mother had to stay too."

Ria wasn't convinced. "But what about the things the girls from Ilvermorny said?" She asked. "Didn't they say she was expelled?"

"They could be rumours for all we know, Ria." Amelia sounded tired now, or maybe it was the loud music and the party. "Students do that.. They spread rumours, a lot. It happened to you too."

She didn't know what to say now. She didn't know how she felt either. So the only thing that came to her was nodding. "Okay.. I'll.. I'll see you later." 

But then another thought came to her.. and she turned right back towards her again. "Well.. what about Haynes and Bonheur? Are they still together?"

Amelia looked a bit alarmed. "I.. I don't think so. They dated for like.. a month or two, last year. That's all"

She nodded, then. "Okay.. Do you happen to have a jacket, by the way? It's a bit chilly." She only received a frown and a shake of her head. "Nevermind, then. I'll be outside for a while. See you."

And Amelia only watched with an unassuming look in her eyes as she walked away. She patted the shoulder of the sleeping boy, and he took the jacket off.

"What?" Blaise barked, the frustration from before still on his face.

Amelia still didn't know what had made him that way, but she ignored the itch to ask. "You heard her, didn't you?"

"Yeah."

"She was asking about Haynes and Bonheur." She said.

"Didn't they break up.. like ages ago?" He retaliated, and Amelia only nodded.

"Yeah.. it must've been bad, seeing as they aren't even friends anymore." She scoffed. "She's hanging out with the Gryffindor trio for the while."

"Just like she did in fourth year?"

"Just like she did in fou—"

Daphne woke up with a giggle, leaning her head against Amelia's. "I remember fourth year!" She grinned. "I also remembered going to the Yule Ball with Theodore to get you jealous. And it worked!" She hid herself into the crook of her girlfriend's neck again and sighed out. "Good times."

Blaise had covered himself with his jacket again, but only a moment later Amelia snatched it off him. His frustration only seemed to grow. "What the hell is wrong with—"

"I know what's happening!" Her light grey eyes appeared scary being all wide open like that.

Blaise gave her a look. "What?"

"Celine's hanging out with Harry's group." She repeated. "She has always been interested in him.. since like— the first year."

"And..?"

"Ria feels jealous!" She whispered harshly, then gasped. "What if she wants to use Bonheur to make Harry jealous now?"

The dark-haired boy sighed with tiredness. "Did you forget Ria was the one to initiate the breakup between them?"

"Oh, please!" Amelia scoffed, waving her hand dismissively in the air before resting it back on Daphne's waist. "They're in love. Clearly. Both of them."

The girl on her lap giggled again. "Clearly in love."

"See? Even Daph agrees, and she's drunk."

Blaise closed her eyes, pinching at his forehead. "No, I'm not saying I don't agree.. but even if she wants to.. let her." He said. "I don't think she'll want us interfering."

Amelia moved a bit closer. "Blaise." She said. "She'll be trying to make him jealous, using Louis Bonheur."

"Yes, using Louis Bonheur—" Realisation seemed to dawn upon him "— who's seems like a downright dickhead."

"Exactly." She hissed. "I mean— trying to make Harry jealous, good plan— maybe it could even bring them back together, but Bonheur? Definitely not!"

"I have a better idea." She proposed with a timid smile.

And Blaise caught up almost immediately. "Oh, hell no!"

She nodded eagerly while he shook his head. "Oh, hell yes!"

"'Melia, she'll kill us both before we even get to the suggestion."

"We don't have to suggest it to her." Her smile was trying to be concealed now. And it told him that she was proud of her plan already. "We'll just make it happen ourselves."

Blaise seemed hesitant still. "I think.. Listen, Amelia—"

"Zabini, come on!" She urged on. "Don't you want to help her?"

He exhaled harshly. "Of course, I do."

"Then, please, try to at least listen to me." She pleaded.

And as Blaise agreed to, he didn't know if he was going to regret it or not, he didn't know if it would work or not. But he was glad that he was going to be distracted for a while from the problem that had just dawned on his head.

Harry had been waiting for her patiently, just like she had asked him too. He couldn't help himself. His resolution of being as equally petty as her seemed to slip away like sand from someone's palm as soon as he saw her.

He really needed to work on his resistance—

"Oh, you're here already—"

There it goes down the drain again.

"Yeah, you told me to meet you.." he trailed off. Now that they weren't under the blue lights, he could see the lilac colour she was wearing. It looked good on her.

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you someth—"

"Ria!" Both of them turned around to see Blaise walk towards them. "What are you doing outside?"

She glanced at Harry before looking back at him with a shrug. "Nothing. Just casual talk."

He nodded, and then began to remove his leather jacket. "By the way, Amelia told me you felt cold—" He said as he put it around her shoulder, and Harry felt kind of bad that he had ditched his jacket way back in his dorm room.

"Oh, thanks. Are you going back?" She asked.

"Yeah. Kind of done with the party." He answered, and then took her in a quick hug. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

Both of them waited for a while as he walked away, and then Ria spoke again. "Do you think we could find Dumbledore in his office, right now?"

He blinked a few times before nodding. "Yeah, sure."

Soon they were at the griffin entrance of his office. Harry muttered the password "Acid pops", and the stairway opened for them.

"I fell asleep after coming back from classes today." Ria proceeded to tell him as they climbed up the stairs.

And Harry had to stop his active attempts to ignore Zabini's expensive perfume lingering in the air. "You.. fell asleep?" He knew how hard it was to accomplish that task.

"Yes." She nodded. "I was feeling tired, so I planned to sleep it off so I could also avoid coming to this party, but then.. I saw something."

"A vision?" He asked, then knocked at the door.

Her face spelt hesitation. "I don't— I don't know if you could call it a vision, really.."

The door opened, and they saw Dumbledore's surprise stricken face. "There's something important we need to discuss."

The Headmaster opened the door wide, and the two of them stepped inside. "I saw something in my dream— not a vision, though.. I don't know what it was." Ria could hardly wait until they settled. "I saw the ghost of an old lady."

Harry felt too intrigued now. "Well.. who was she?"

"I checked into the old copy of History of Magic I had.. because I felt like I'd seen her before." She continued, exchanging glances between the two of them. "And she was there. Milicent Bagnold. She was the Minister of Magic for one year, right before she was murdered on the Halloween of 1981."

"Voldemort?" asked Harry, but she shook her head.

"He was already dead by then." Ria told him. "I had heard of the ghost of a Minister lurking around in the Ravenclaw Common Room. So I assumed—"

"— that it had to be her. Genius." Dumbledore gave her a small nodded. "Who murdered her then?"

"I didn't know until I got here." She admitted. "And her reaction after seeing me.. it just confirmed the theory I had in mind."

"Ah.. Madam Lagarde." Dumbledore's tone was of disappointment.

"Why.. Why do you think you saw her?" Harry asked.

"She wasn't just there in my dream." said Ria. "She was saying something.. over and over again, in the tone of a prophecy."

She saw a wave of emotions flow over Harry's face, so she continued. "She wasn't just the Minister. She was the Head of Aurors when Lagarde was brought in for trial. In fact, Bagnold held the trial herself." She answered, then looked at Dumbledore. "I'm surprised you didn't know about this."

"The trial of 1969.." He recalled. "It was a private trial, with only a handful journalists and a Wizengamot consisting of the Heads of all departments present. I was not allowed to attend since I was close to Katherine.. they assumed that I would be biased."

"It is also rumoured to be the trial where Lagarde cursed the Wizarding World."

Ria exhaled slowly with a nod, recalling word-by-word of what Bagnold had stated.

"It will come.. the dawn that I leave here, for you, a part of me that you helped make.. And I shall show you no mercy, for you have shown me none."

"For it shall bring darkness the moment you set out into light.. For it shall keep bringing it back until its hunger is satiated.."

"It shall be a Curse, from me to you, for not even my own forsaken fate has made me suffer for so long, so heartlessly. So now, suffer under the storm you have called upon yourselves."

There was a beat of silence, then Harry spoke up. "So, it is real. The Seer's Curse."

"But.. there is one problem." Ria started out again. "No part of the Curse specifies that it's about Voldemort."

"Something Lagarde made, because the world treated her unfairly.. It might be Voldemort, or it might be something else entirely."

She then turned to Dumbledore. "How do we find that out?" She questioned.

He wondered, his good hand stroking his long beard only once. "I fear we might have to wait it out."

There isn't time. She wanted to say, she knew he was right. There was hardly any way to know, unless it came to her in a vision.

A wave of realisation it was that made her look up at Dumbledore. Wait it out.. He means wait for a sign.. a vision. 

"Right." She said, nodding. "There is one thing that's clear, though."

The two waited for her to speak. "That unpublished article.. maybe it was true."

She breathed out. "Maybe I am meant to break the Seer's Curse."

Asteria walked back to her dorm room. The silence after her suggestion had felt heavy on her chest, so she had excused herself, making sure the discussion had ended first before she left.

The words she'd spoken before, she'd spoken with a clear mind. She'd spoken them keeping in mind what Firenze had once told her.

She dug in the pocket of her pants, pulling out her thin journal to skim through its pages.

'I hope you fulfil your destiny, and free the numerous, suffering souls that seek their liberation through you.'

She had noted it down just as he had said to her, so she wouldn't forget.

Maybe that was what Firenze meant. Maybe it is my destiny..

Though the thoughts failed to occupy her anymore once the door to her dorm opened.

"Theo?"

He had been sitting on the couch, staring up at the ceiling, but looked ahead at her once she called.

"Oh, hey.." he said, rubbing his eyes that Ria noticed appeared red. "I tried to find you at the party, but didn't see you. So I thought you had left.. but you weren't here."

"I.. I went to meet Dumbledore with Harry." She walked inside, worry written all over her face. "Theo, is something wrong? Did something happen?"

He sniffled, shrugging. "I don't know." He muttered. "Can I.. Can I stay here for the night?"

Ria wanted to ask what happened, but he didn't let her speak. "I'll take this couch outside. You can close the door to your room. I just.. I don't wanna go back to the Slytherin dorms tonight—"

"Theo, did anyone say anything to you?" She asked again, brows scrunching together at the possibility.

He shook his head, but she didn't know if he'd been answering her question. "I just don't wanna.. please."

Her heart ached at the desperation in his voice. She wanted to ask why he didn't want to talk to her.

But she didn't.

She knew the feeling too well. The feeling of wanting no one to hear the chaos inside one's mind.

So she didn't push him any farther, only nodded. "Of course. You can stay."

Theodore thanked her, and she walked inside her room to find a spare blanket and a pillow or two.

"You're sleeping in these clothes?" She asked as she handed him the things she'd brought.

He shrugged again, looking down at his jeans and t-shirt. "I don't mind, really. They are comfortable."

"Okay." She pursed her lips. "Are you going to sleep right away?"

He thought for a moment before nodding. "Alright, then. Good night. Tell me if you need anything."

"Sure. Good night."

"And Theo?"

"Hmm?" He faced her again, and she noticed just how tired he looked. Both of them did, like reflections of each other.

"You'll make it out alright, won't you? From whatever that's troubling you?"

She couldn't remember a time she hadn't felt worried for him, since this summer. She wished he could just talk about it to someone.. didn't matter if it wasn't her.. just someone who'd care enough.

His lips tried to turn into a smile. "I'll try to. I promise."

And with her nails digging into the sleeves of Blaise's leather jacket, she strolled towards her room and shut the door close.

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