Harry's feet hit solid ground again, his knees buckling at the impact. The golden wizard's head that Dumbledore had handed to him as a Portkey fell down with a clunk.

He had arrived back in Dumbledore's office. The portraits of the headmasters and headmistresses were snoozing in their frames, heads lolling back in armchairs or against the edge of their pictures.

Harry looked through the window, at the approaching dawn. Yet his throat was dry, hands clammy with sweat, eyes unfocused and blurry as Isabella's silhouette falling back and disappearing invaded his mind.

The silence and the stillness, broken only by the occasional grunt or snuffle of a sleeping portrait, was unbearable to him. If his surroundings could have reflected the feelings inside him, the pictures would have been screaming and crying.

He walked around the quiet office, breathing quickly, trying not to think. But he had to think.. There was no escape..

It's my fault. It's all my fault. If I hadn't been stupid enough to fall for Voldemort's trick, if I hadn't been so convinced that my dream was real, if I hadn't been thick enough to not fall for his games—

Maybe she would've been alive..

It was unbearable, he couldn't not think about it, he could not stand it. His own voice was screaming inside his head. My fault. My fault. My fault. My fault—

The empty fireplace burst into emerald-green flame, making Harry flinch as he stared at the man spinning inside the grate. And as Dumbledore's tall form unfolded itself from the fire, the wizards and witches on the surrounding walls jerked awake. Many of them gave cries of welcome.

"Thank you," said Dumbledore softly. And with a sigh, he walked towards his chair, but chose not to sit down just yet. "Well, Harry, you will be pleased to hear that none of your fellow friends are going to suffer lasting damage from the night's events."

Harry tried to say "Good," but no sound came out. All of it was just a reminder of the amount of damage he had caused by his actions, and although Dumbledore was for once looking at him directly, and though his expression was kind rather than accusatory, Harry could not bear to meet his eyes.

"Madam Pomfrey is patching everybody up now," said Dumbledore. "The rest of them are at St. Mungo's. Tonks might need a bit more time for full recovery. But Asteria is doing quite well." He felt his stomach churn at her mention.

How would she be feeling right now? Helpless? Damaged? Regretful? Angry?

A pang of guilt shot through him. My fault.

"I know how you are feeling, Harry," said Dumbledore very quietly.

"No, you don't," said Harry, his voice suddenly loud and strong. He knew nothing about his feelings.

"There is no shame in what you are feeling, Harry," said Dumbledore's voice. "On the contrary.. the fact that you can feel pain like this is your greatest strength."

Harry felt his wrath take control again, filling him with the desire to hurt Dumbledore for his maddening calmness and his empty words.

"My greatest strength, is it?" said Harry, his voice shaking as he stared out at the Quidditch stadium, no longer seeing it. "You haven't got a clue.. You don't know."

"What don't I know?" asked Dumbledore calmly.

It was too much. Harry turned around, shaking with rage. "I don't want to talk about how I feel, all right?"

"Harry, suffering like this proves you are still a man! This pain is part of being human—"

"SHUT UP— JUST— SHUT UP!" Harry roared, and he seized one of the delicate silver instruments from the spindle-legged table beside him and flung it across the room. It shattered into a hundred tiny pieces against the wall.

Several of the pictures let out yells of anger and fright. "I DON'T CARE!" Harry yelled at them, snatching up a lunascope and throwing it into the fireplace. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH, I'VE SEEN ENOUGH, I WANT OUT, I WANT IT TO END, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE—"

He had tried so hard.. so hard to keep it inside. He ignored it, he shut it out, he redirected his attention away from the anger, the confusion, the betrayal, everything that he felt. And God, it was so hard at first but Ria..

She had made it so easy for him. She made sure he stayed away from all the crap he wanted to do nothing with.. even if it wasn't intentionally, but she did it anyway.

But it still came back. It all came back and now..

Now, I'm the reason Isabella..

All she ever did was try to protect me.. care for me.. be the parent I never had.. and yet..

It's my fault. My fault. My fault—

He seized the table on which the silver instrument had stood and threw that too. It broke apart on the floor and the legs rolled in different directions.

"You do care," said Dumbledore. He had not flinched or made a single move to stop Harry demolishing his office. His expression was calm, almost detached.

My fault. My fault. MY FAULT—

"You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it."

"I— DON'T!" Harry screamed, so loudly that he felt his throat might tear, and for a second he wanted to rush at Dumbledore and break him too; shatter that calm old face, shake him, hurt him, make him feel some tiny part of the horror, anger and guilt inside himself.

"Oh yes, you do," said Dumbledore, still more calmly. "You feel as though you've lost your mother again."

Harry groaned with helplessness. He ran towards the door, wanting to escape the room and whatever that he was feeling. He seized the doorknob, but the door would not open.

"Let me out." He ushered, wrenching at the knob again.

"No," said Dumbledore simply.

"Let me out," Harry said again.

"Harry, it was not your fault."

There was a beat of silence, where Harry tried to gulp the lump of regret down his throat, but it stayed there, bothering him.

"Don't."

"Don't?"

"Don't lie to me." He wrenched at the knob again. "Stop trying to make me feel better when I.. I—"

When I know it's my fault.

"It is my fault that Isabella died," said Dumbledore clearly. "Or I should say almost entirely my fault— I will not be so arrogant as to claim responsibility for the whole."

Harry looked back at him, a bit baffled, but his hand still had a right grip on the doorknob.

Dumbledore sat down on his chair with a heavy sigh. "I thought I had been protecting you, by keeping my distance.. That was where my judgement failed."

"If I had been open with you, Harry, as I should have been, you would have known a long time ago that Voldemort might try and lure you to the Department of Mysteries, and you would never have been tricked into going there tonight."

Harry sat down, his back to the door of the office, eyes trained and fixated on the ground. His heart was still racing.

How was he going to face his guilt?

How was he going to face her?

"And the Order would not have had to come after you. That blame lies with me, and with me alone." said Dumbledore.

"But I know.." he continued. "No matter how many times I tell you this, there will always be a part inside of you that will take the blame. That is why, for the time being.." Harry looked up at him. "I would like to tell you what Voldemort was after."

Back at St. Mungo's, the private ward of the Order had been occupied by a cloud of defeat. Healer Goldstein had gone back to work. Moody and Kingsley had left Tonks in the three's care, since they had to return to the Ministry, now that Voldemort's return had been proven to be true. Tonks was better now, fully conscious.

Remus had returned after a while, his shoulders and head hung low, eyes sunken and red as he stood silently in the corner of the room. Minerva's tears hadn't stopped.. and nor had the feeling of guilt that chewed at Sirius's insides.

He stood there silently in a corner. His mind ran him through thousands of scenarios.. through ways he could have prevented everything.. and saved her.

What was the point now anyway? The worst thing had already happened. They hadn't really lost the war yet but their shoulders felt heavy with defeat already.

But there was another worry clawing at all of their hearts; Asteria hadn't woken up yet.

It had almost been an hour, and she hadn't moved a muscle, fluttered an eyelid, even.

Dumbledore's Phoenix was still here, perched up beside her head, staring down at her resting face. And all the crowd in the room had one question floating in their head: Why wouldn't he just heal her?

Another quiet sniffle left Minerva, and she lifted her hand to wipe some tears before resting it down again. The girl in front of her was Ria.. though her mind managed to flash Isabella's face again and again.. unconscious, sunken, pale..

Dead.

But she wouldn't ever get to see her again.. not even in a lifeless form. The stone arch at the Ministry had made sure of it.

Another curse had been fulfilled. Another innocent Azrael had been taken by Death. Yet the people in the room knew It would not stop at that.

It would not stop until It had erased all of them.

A squeak for Fawkes made the four adults look at him, and then at the doorway. Dumbledore and Harry had been standing there.

Sirius felt most of his anxiety melt away after seeing Harry alright and in front of him. He lurched forward and took his godson into a tight hug.

"You're okay. You're okay. Good." He muttered to himself before letting go right before cupping his face and examining for any sign of injury.

"Albus.." McGonagall voiced. "Isabella.."

"I am indeed very sorry, Minerva." He sighed, as they both walked inside. "I know she meant a great deal to you. But we could not—"

"Don't." She stopped him. She did not want to hear how there was nothing that could be done to stop it.

In fact, innocents like her should not have their lives ended that way in the first place. Death was blatantly unfair, and Minerva would never stop cursing it.

Did he ever even try?

Remus's brown eyes could have been burning holes in the wall they had been fixated on.

Or did he never get past the idea of only using her as a pawn in his plans?

'Oh, she would die anyway. The least I could do is let her die for a good cause for the sake of her own conscience.' Is that what he thought?

The harshness in his words was unfamiliar to his own self. He couldn't tell if someone was putting those in his mind or was it just him.

He looked at the old wizard.. the one they called the greatest. Is that what you thought?

I've been a part of this.. part of this entire operation of yours just so I wouldn't have to watch my loved ones die anymore and..

Hot anger flashed through his body and he could only grip at his own forearms to keep himself in place.

Did you ever try?

Dumbledore turned to look at him, as if seeing right through his glower. "Maybe I could have done something to help save her." He sighed, casting his eyes down for only a moment. "I do feel regretful that I could not reach there in time."

Do you really?

Dumbledore's eyes lingered on him for a while before he moved them towards the bed where Asteria rested. They particularly watched Harry standing at the foot of it, looking more hesitant than ever.

He wanted nothing more than to go to her, hold her till she woke up.. be there for her when she'd register everything that had happened. Cry with her but—

The guilt was stronger. It rose from the ground like roots, wrapped around his ankles and held him there, unable to move.

My fault.

Dumbledore then finally looked at her, and then back at the people in the room. "There is something you should be informed about."

Sirius seemed to snap out of his sulky state. He looked at him with almost pleading eyes. "But—"

"It is necessary." He insisted, and when the man opened his mouth again he simply said: "She would want them to know, Sirius. Make sure Healer Goldstein is there too."

And he gulped anxiously. He could not argue with that.

"What.. what is it?" asked Minerva, silently bracing her heart for another news.

With another sigh, Dumbledore looked up at Sirius, Nymphadora and then Harry. They knew best. They had seen it since the beginning.

"If you would, I can attempt to heal Asteria while you explain everything that happened before and after Isabella's death."

"I wanna—"

They all looked at Harry, but he had stopped in the middle of his sentence, his eyes slightly glossy.

She would hate me, wouldn't she?

I shouldn't.. I don't know how she feels. I shouldn't.

But I want to. I want to stay.

"You want to?" asked Dumbledore.

And Harry shook his head, gulping. "Nothing." He took a step away from her bed and towards the door. "Nothing, sir."

They all began to leave. Dumbledore gave Tonks an apologetic nod for interrupting her rest, which she returned.

And as the ward became silent again, he looked at the girl. "I do not know why you felt the need to pretend, Asteria."

A moment later, unwillingly, she opened her eyes. There were tears where the crinkles of her smile should be, as she looked at him.

She had hoped that if she laid there, unmoving, maybe something would happen by God's grace and she would finally die without having another thing to worry about.

But Dumbledore.. Of course, he knew.

That old wanker.. never lets me do anything in peace

"I am quite confident that Fawkes would not go that long without healing you." He answered the doubt in her mind.

Ria looked back up at the ceiling again, showing almost no change in expression. "Right.."

A quiet moment passed by, and then Dumbledore spoke up again. "Asteria, I am sorry—"

"Are you now?" She blinked, feeling empty inside.

"I know, the loss you feel is immeasurable." He continued. "That it would be very difficult for you to recover from it."

"Hmm.." she nodded, eyes moving down to fiddle with her hands, glancing once towards the mark on her forearm. Her mother's beautiful face flashed in front of her eyes.

Her heart sank, seeming heavy with every beat. Her lungs felt like they would collapse if she breathed too freely.

Why..?

"I truly wish I could have done more." Her attention was on him again, as he sat on Tonks's bed now, right opposite to Ria's. "I could not save Katherine.. that guilt stayed with me, and now.. Isabella suffered the same fate."

Her eyes were tired, bloodshot.. somehow dry but also threatening to pool with tears again. She wished she could just go to sleep for now.

But she couldn't.

"You should've done more." She said to him, "You could have. I know it."

Why her?

"Why didn't you, Professor?" Surprisingly, there was no anger behind her question, only curiosity.

He stood from the bed and strolled towards the window. "I apologise, but I have no idea.." he answered genuinely. "I have no idea why I did nothing to free Isabella from Azrael's Curse."

"What is it, honestly?" She scoffed lowly. "What is the Curse? Eternal suffering? Bad luck? Loss of powers? Early death? What— What is it?" She asked, her tone coming off as desperate even though she didn't want to.

"It is inevitable that you have questions, but—"

"Was there a— a sign? Something that could've told us that— that she was about to—" The lump in her throat was growing. "There must've been something, right? I.. I—"

"The mark on her neck—" Her eyes darted back to hers and then looked up at him again. "It was— It was lighter than mine— Did that mean something? Or— Or—"

"Asteria, please—"

"I tried, okay?" Her chest was aching with every shaky breath, "I tried to get to Carrow— I really did! And I was so— so certain that I could— I could feel it, and then—"

"Asteria, do you remember what happened when you chased Carrow?"

Whatever that had been on her mind had suddenly disappeared. She was staring hard at the mark on her forearm again.

What.. happened?

"I was just.. just chasing.."

Right?

Her throat felt as dry as sand. "I was just chasing.. when.. when Fawkes stopped me.. Carrow disappeared.."

Dumbledore let out a long sigh. And it told her that she hadn't just chased Carrow.

"Why.. Why did you..?"

"Your magic slipped out. You lost control."

She was feeling dizzy again.

"It was an Obscurus."

Several minutes had passed by since Ria had gotten that information, she didn't know how many. All she did was hug her knees close to her chest while she stared down at the white hospital bed sheet.

Was that why I never succeeded in using my Enchantress magic? Because I didn't have it at all?

Was that why her veins turned black and not golden? Like her mother?

"How.. I.." her voice was a little scratchy and low. "I've never.. never felt like.."

"It does not until it actually shows." He answered.

Obscurial. Obscurial. Obscurial. Not an Enchantress. Not anything else. An Obscurial. The word was terrorising her head.

Her eyes were burning now; they were dry since she hadn't blinked them once, trying to remember what else she had done while her supposed slip of control.

Had she been the reason for Tonks's injury too?

Her right hand was gripping hard on her left wrist, as she tried to recall all the times she had almost lost control of herself. So.. so many times.

So many times she had endangered others' lives. She had been so careless.

Hopeless destruction. Hopeless destruction. Hopeless destruction. Hopeless destruction. The chant was back again, clawing at her insides.

"I apologise." Dumbledore spoke again. "I wish I had known earlier."

"Is that what.. what Azrael.." she couldn't form her question completely, but he understood.

"No." He answered. "No, it is not the power that was passed down to you by Azrael."

"Then what—" she couldn't breathe, she couldn't cry, she didn't want to cry, she didn't want to lose control again. "She did this to me, didn't she? Lagarde?" Her heart was racing.

"Yes, yes. She did." Dumbledore could not defend her in this matter.

Why.. why.. why? Why? Why? Why? Why is it always her? Did she not ruin my life enough—

"But surely, you must remember something." He interrupted her thoughts. "Something through all the haze while you transformed?"

Something..? A glowing orb occupied her mind for a flash of a second.

"You do, don't you?"

She looked up at him, and the words came easy to her.

"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.. born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies.."

Dumbledore nodded in confirmation, and she continued. "..and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not.. and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.. the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.."

"It has nothing.. nothing to do with me." Her hands fell down on her lap, and she yet again stared aimlessly at them. "Then why.."

"Why did you hear it?" He completed her question for her, and she nodded in response. "Because, you are a Seer."

A Seer.. like her. She gritted her teeth, eyebrows scrunching up with the wrath that she couldn't scream out.

It was her.. It had always been her. That damn Seer. The root of all her problems. The harbinger of all her misfortune. The worst thing that could have happened to the entire world. The worst thing that could've happened to her. She was Voldemort's partner. She was the reason she was born and suffering. She was the reason her mother had died.

Not suffering. Not early death. Not loss of power. It's her. Ria's mind ranted on. She is my curse.

But what else could she do, rather than focus on every-damn-thing else in order to stop the fuel of anger from combining with the blazing Obscurus inside her. It made her want to drag her nails across her skin and rip it off her body. She gave this to me too.

She inhaled sharply, deeply, getting rid of the feeling within a snap. Block out. Block it out. Let it feel like it doesn't exist. Let it feel like it doesn't bother you. It's an Obscurus, it's nothing without its host. It's nothing without you—

"Asteria."

She looked at Dumbledore. He had been looking down at her hands. And when she followed his gaze, her eyebrows scrunched with hopelessness as she saw the tips of her fingers darkening. Her heart began hammering again. I have control.. She rubbed her hands together, suddenly feeling cold. I have control. I have control. I have control. I have control—

Tears could not stop streaming down her face. She rocked her body back and forth, her feet rubbing against each other, trying to calm the building restlessness. It wouldn't stop. Why wouldn't it stop?!

Make it stop. All of it. She prayed.

"Goldstein." Dumbledore called out, and within a moment, the Healer peeked her head inside.

An expression of panic struck her face as she took one look at Ria falling apart. She rushed inside, looking through the tray of basic potions and medicines that she had kept beside Tonks's bed earlier. "Here."

Ria immediately snatched the bottle of potion from her hand. The familiar fumes that came out when she pulled off the stopper had already calmed her rushing mind a little bit. She took a huge sip, almost choking on it as she did but managed to push it down her throat.

She stared blankly at it for a moment, feeling the rush of panic slow down as tears trickled the corner of her eyes. The darkness on her fingertips was vanishing slowly. It wasn't as strong as the batch she always made, but it worked. She pushed the bottle to her mouth once again and closed her eyes, letting the tears fall free.

Panic flashed across Esther's eyes once more, but before she could rush to take the potion from Asteria, she heard Dumbledore say: "Let her be."

"But that much—"

"I know." He gave her a small nod before looking back at the girl who had almost emptied the bottle now. "But this might not be the time to interrupt her peace. It is rare that she gets any.."

Esther's hand dropped helplessly at her side, and she nodded back. She had been outside some moments ago. She had heard Black talk about what had happened back at the Ministry. Harry Potter had hardly spoken during the entire explanation, but she could see the dread on his face as he relived those moments again.

She had seen the dread on his face when he had seen the unconscious girl.

"Is she why you called me here?" She asked him silently, still looking at the girl who stared aimlessly at the empty bottle in her hand. And even though she was as still as a statue, even though her body was cowering down in defeat, Esther could not tell what was going on inside her head.

"I called you here because we need as many wizards as we can get.. that too from every area of expertise." He answered. "We need everything we can get."

Esther nodded slowly. She had asked Newt about Dumbledore some days after he had approached her with the proposal to join the Order, to fight alongside them. Afterall, she only knew the man through the mountain of praises she had heard from others.

"With Dumbledore, it feels like you know so much about him and nothing at all at the same time." He had said.

"That's not what I came here for, Newt.." She had said truthfully. "I need help.. to make a decision. You have fought alongside him before, haven't you? What should I do?"

He had shrugged helplessly. "That depends entirely on you. I cannot say anything."

Esther had clicked her tongue at that response. "But one thing I can tell you.. He will do anything he needs to, to make sure his side will win."

If there was one thing that Esther Goldstein could absolutely not stand.. it was seeing others suffer. That had been one strong reason along with other ones for why she had chosen to become a Healer. And when she heard that the Wizarding war was on the verge of an outbreak, with literal children at the centre of it, she just could not stop herself.

But she wasn't only a Healer studying medicine and remedies..

"You knew about her?" She had been peeking into Newt Scamander's study about Obscuruses and Obscurials. She had always been curious about them. "Is that why you asked me to join you?"

"No." Dumbledore answered, and she could not tell if he was being honest. "I did not know that. But I thought it could be a possibility."

The two of them then looked back at the girl in question. "And I think she had been considering that possibility for a while too, now."

Esther blinked, casting her gaze down at the floor. "You do know I have no cure.. Right? No one does." She answered, her tone of pity.

"I do not expect one." He responded. "I just expect a little help. It is fine if I do not get it, but Asteria.. she needs it."

Esther chewed on the inside of her cheek. Why not ask Newt, then? He knows more about them than I do. She could ask him, but she didn't. Not in such a situation, not in front of Asteria.

"Alright." She nodded with an inhale. "I'll do whatever I can."

Dumbledore gave her a small smile. "Thank you."

"They all want to come in, by the way." She let him know. "They have questions. They're worried. They want to be by her side, to make sure she's fine. Should I tell them she's up?"

He then looked at Ria. "Should she, Asteria?"

She had turned in her place; her back to the wall now as she faced them directly. All the black that shouldn't be on her skin had disappeared. Her eyes weren't on the bottle anymore; it was forgotten at her side. She was looking at them, eyes open, unblinking even though she would be sleeping like a corpse any other day.

"No." Her voice was rusty and low. "Don't tell them."

Esther gulped. The look on her face was of anything but peace. And how was she awake after downing an entire bottle of the Draught? "Fine. I'll tell them Dumbledore is still trying spells to wake you up. And that he wishes that no one else interrupts him."

She received a single nod from Ria before leaving the room. And once she did, her mind drowned her into worry thinking about what in the ever-loving hell was going on in that girl's mind.

Ria had never found her thoughts to be as collected as they were in that moment. She didn't really know what it was.. the Draught of Peace? The horrifying incidents that were going to annihilate her sleep, her nights and her dreams forever? Maybe a mixture of them both?

But God, was she glad for the clarity..

"You know I don't particularly like you.. right?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. I have known for a while." He said simply.

"And I probably never will." She admitted.

"I can accept that."

"And I don't particularly like to.. to ask for help." She hesitated. "To.. To drag people into my mess."

And although Dumbledore knew where she was going with this, he acted lost. "What do you mean to say, Asteria?"

Ria pursed her lips into a frown, moist eyes now looking at him with the most genuine of looks. "I need your help."

There was ruination on her mind.

"I.. I want to kill Carrow." She said, her hands balling into fists as she clutched her clothes into them.

"Asteria—"

"Help me. Make sure I do it."

Dumbledore sighed. "Are you really willing to taint your hands forever?"

Ria eyes were wide, staring at him like the most ridiculous string of words to ever exist had left his mouth.

"Why is that even a question?" She asked. "Carrow killed my mother."

Obviously, there was no going back from that. Now it wouldn't matter if Carrow begged at her feet for forgiveness, or changed their entire self to become the kindest person in the world, or even brought back her mother from the dead somehow. If she had Carrow in front of her at any moment from now on, she would gladly stab their heart with a smile on her face.

"Asteria.." Dumbledore started with a dark tone, having read the direction of her thoughts.

"I'll do anything." She offered desperately. "Anything you want. Go along with any plan you have. Please, just.. just make sure I do it. I'll never ask you for anything else."

And when she saw hesitation on his face, her tone changed entirely. "You are one of the reasons she's dead, you know that, right?" She stated with a look of disbelief. "You didn't even try.. the greatest sorcerer in the world.. just left her, unfairly, to the hands of Death, even though she didn't deserve it."

"Even though she sacrificed so much because you told her to.. Because she thought doing it would redeem her of the sins she never fucking committed in the first place. And you.. you kept on using her." Ria looked at him accusingly. "Yet you act like you aren't guilty. How are you so goddamn unbothered all the time?"

Dumbledore slightly shook his head out of tiredness. "I know what you are trying to do.."

"And you're still not agreeing with me?" She would've been screaming her head out of frustration if it weren't for the potion. "Come on, you owe Mum that much."

"I cannot do that."

And the tone of his voice made Ria's attempts of persuasion stop. Hesitation.

"Okay. Fine."

He'll do it. I know he will.

But then, he watched her expression change. She had gone back from the revengeful witch, to the helpless child she was just some moments ago. It looked like her heart had literally dropped to her stomach again.

She caught the way he was analysing her and cleared her throat. "Uhm.. well, if you.. if you aren't helping me, can you atleast pass on a message, please?"

"Message?" He raised an eyebrow. "What kind?"

There was a small, sad, helpless smile on her face now as she looked down at her hands. "The kind I think you'd be able to deliver better than I would?"

Harry could not stop pacing restlessly outside the private ward. It felt like it had been hours already since the Healer had gone inside and come out again, telling them that Dumbledore would need some more time.

What was taking him so long? And why? What had happened to her?

He couldn't slow the pace of his heart, or the train of his varying thoughts. He was worried. They were all worried.

When Sirius had informed them, their reactions had been as bad as he had expected. He had expected unbearable silence, and that is exactly what he had gotten. He didn't blame them though.

When the door opened again, he was the first one to make a move to walk inside, but Dumbledore had already closed the door and held him by his shoulders. He walked with him to a side, letting the others walk in.

"Professor— how's she? Is she alright? Is she up—"

"She is fine now, Harry." He hadn't realised how tense his shoulders had been until he had heard those words. It felt like a weight had been lifted off them.

"Thank you—" He tried to walk inside, but the old wizard stopped him again. "Professor, please, can you—"

"No, I cannot."

Harry blinked up at him blankly. What?

Dumbledore sighed, almost pitiful. "Asteria has a message for you." He said.

He had anxiety bubbling inside him now. Why couldn't she just talk to me, then?

"And I pass it on to you without adding or removing anything.. just exactly what I interpreted when I heard her request."

But I want to see her. I want to see her. I want to hold her. I want to apologise. I want to tell her I'll do whatever it takes to avenge Ray. I want to—

"She wishes that the two of you stop seeing each other." He stated.

There was a moment of silence. "What are you talking about..?" Harry let out a hoax chuckle. But Dumbledore's expression did not change.

He gulped. "She.. She must've said it in the spur of the moment.. She doesn't mean it.." Does she?

That was a heavy moment of realisation for him. "No.. no she couldn't—" He shook his head. "Okay, thank you for the message. Now let me see her and talk to her myself—"

"You do not understand, Harry." He interjected. "She.. well.." Although, he had been selected for the job, he could not figure out how he should tell him.

But it seemed that Harry had read through his uncertainty already. "No way.. she— she means completely?" His voice was timid, of disbelief and denial.

And the look on Dumbledore's face told him he was right.

She hates me. She hates me. I knew it. She hates me for what happened to Isabella. It's because of me.

"And she wants you to know that she does not blame you." Dumbledore continued. "All she seeks is your well-being."

"With Isabella's death, and the revelation of her true form, all she wants is that everyone she cares for stays away and stays safe, even though that might not be the right option." He said. "In her own words; she's tired, but she doesn't want to drag anyone into her cursed life anymore. If she could, she would spend the rest of it in isolation. And not because she blames or hates anyone else, but because she knows what the consequences of the proximity might be."

There were tears of frustration prickling at Harry's eyes already. Lies. Lies. Lies. He knew she was furious at him. He'd rather have her accuse him openly than give false assurances. Rather have her scream at him than someone else comfort him for her.

"No— no. I should see her— Let me see her!" He was screaming by now, making heads turn their way.

This time he escaped from Dumbledore's grip and walked towards the private ward.

He would get on his knees and apologise for the rest of his life if it came to it, but he didn't want to leave her. He didn't want her to be alone. He didn't want himself to be without her.

He needed to tell her how much she meant to him— how much he wanted to help her— how much of himself he was willing to give away to break her curse, no matter what— how much he loved her—

He opened the door, and all of the rush came to a halt when he saw the empty bed.

His shoulders slumped and his eyes moved around the room, roaming over from Sirius to Remus, to McGonagall, to Tonks. All of them had pitiful looks on their faces. She wasn't there.

All there was.. was a single fiery orange feather that floated down and fell onto the bed she had been on. And his hand slipped form the doorknob and rell helplessly at his side.

There wasn't any cloud this time.. the star had disappeared on her own, faded into the dark sky to remove herself from his path.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

[word count: 5900]

a/n: I'M REALLY SORRY Y'ALL I DIDN'T MEAN TO DISAPPEAR LIKE THAT 😭
LIKE- i don't even know how many days it's been since I've updated

But to be very honest with you.. my college started getting hectic and I ran out of chapters to post. Also I went on a trip with my church youth group and now my body hurts like crazy with all the travelling but hey- glad, I'm back in one piece

Alsooo hehehe *nervous chuckles* I might be taking a break from Wattpad till New year's?? (scratch that might I am taking a break actually)

I wanted to take the break earlier but I didn't want to leave ootp in the middle so I finished it. I have my semester finals approaching so I really can't focus on studying, writing AND posting at the same time. So.. I'm sorry even though I know y'all are sweethearts and understand me.

Anywayyy, thanks for supporting me and my story like always! A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in advanced, and see y'all later!!