~Wren~

I stayed there talking to Albus far longer than I should have, but it was still so hard to finally say goodbye and leave. Sure, there was a zero percent chance that Ciara had just gone to sleep and not wondered where I was, and I wasn't sure what I was supposed to tell her about where I'd been considering Albus had sworn me to complete and utter secrecy. Even though none of us would have told. Even though Poppy was going to be devastated.

Sure enough, despite the fact that it was two in the morning when I finally got back to the dorm, Ciara was wide awake, waiting for me. Unfortunately, the rest of my roommates were, as well. I hesitated in the doorway as all four of them stopped their conversation to stare at me. For a moment, no one spoke, until Ciara shook her head and snapped, "Where the hell have you been? Do you know how worried we've been?"

I took a breath, trying not to let it show that my heart was suddenly beating super quickly. I couldn't ruin everything for Albus this quickly. "I, um... I was finishing up an astronomy project. With Reya Parkinson...? We didn't realize how late it had gotten..."

"It's five hours past curfew," Rose pointed out. "You lost track of time for five hours?"

"No..." Thank goodness none of them were actually in astronomy. At least I could make up whatever I want, and no one except Ciara was likely to actually ask Reya about it. "Professor Sinastra gave us permission to be out after curfew until midnight, just like class. It's just that neither of us had a watch..."

Lacy was eyeing me suspiciously as I walked over to my bed and started taking my cloak off. It finally grew awkward enough that I turned to frown at her. "Yes?"

Her expression quickly grew more neutral. "It's just not very like you to be out so late, is it?"

It had been once upon a time, but I definitely couldn't tell her that. Instead, I took my time folding my cloak up to hide the fact that I was casting around for something to say. My eye landed on a copy of the Quibbler on the floor by Iris's bed, and my mind flashed back to that interview with Gideon and Vinnie. Their article had been in the paper yesterday. Maybe that was it. I slowly sat down, turning my gaze to the floor, then shrugged wearily. "I don't know. I... I feel like I've just been a little off since these broadcasts started..."

Instantly, Lacy's suspicion dropped from her expression; she even grew a little pale. "Oh, right," she stammered out. "That... yeah..."

"That makes sense," Iris cut in, smiling sadly at me. "Probably hard to hear Astra talking about you like that. Even if—" Rose shot a glare at her, and she cut herself off. "Well, I mean, it's just hard, I guess."

"Yeah." I hugged myself tightly. "It's weird."

Ciara was watching me skeptically, but wiped it off her face quickly when I looked up at her. Instead of saying anything, she just looked away.

"Um, anyway," I said, "I appreciate you guys worrying about me. I wish you hadn't stayed up so late..."

"It's fine," Rose said, before clearly stifling a yawn. "I'm not even tired."

"You were falling asleep ten minutes ago." Iris giggled. "Seemed tired to me."

"I'm sure we're all tired," Lacy said, tone far less playful. She looked over at me. "I guess I can go to bed now that we know you haven't died."

The other girls murmured assent, getting into their beds as I hopped up to go brush my teeth. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ciara getting up right as the door swung closed, so I wasn't surprised when she followed me upstairs. I'd barely had time to wet my toothbrush before she was standing behind me, eyebrow raised.

"That was absolute bull, Wren. Do you think I'm an idiot?"

I met her eye in the mirror. Doubling down on that lie was clearly only going to make her more upset, so I needed to figure something else out quickly. "I... no, I don't. It worked on the others, though. That's what I wanted."

"Where the hell have you been?"

I really hadn't expected anyone to notice I was gone. Why hadn't I come up with a better excuse? "I... I can't tell you."

"Excuse me?" She walked over so she was standing right beside me, and I had to turn to look at her. "You can't be serious right now."

"I'm sorry, Ciara, I prom—"

"Was it DA business? The Ministry? You've never had a problem telling me things you weren't supposed to before." She faltered, the angry expression gone suddenly. "You're not angry with me about something, are you?"

"Of course not. I'd talk to you about anything like that."

"But not whatever this is?"

I looked down. I'd promised Albus, but I couldn't think of anything I could say to satisfy Ciara other than the truth. It sounded so ridiculous that she might not even believe me, honestly, except that it was too far beyond my wildest imagination for me to have made it up. What was I supposed to do? Drive a wedge into our friendship? Albus could get over it.

After closing my eyes tightly, I shook my head. "You can't tell anyone. Even Poppy. Especially Poppy. It sounds mad, anyway, but he said I wasn't allowed to talk to anyone except Nico..."

"Who?" Ciara put her hand on my arm. "What are you talking about?"

"He's going to kill me..." I closed my eyes tightly, as if that would make it okay. "I went to see Albus."

When I opened my eyes, Ciara was staring at me in shock. Her mouth opened and closed, then she shook her head. "What do you mean you went to see Albus? Russey let you do that?"

"No, it's not like that. He's... he's in Hogsmeade, actually."

"What?"

"With Gideon and Vinnie. He was rescued."

"He was... but... how...?" Ciara trailed off, staring at me as if I might've lost my mind just a little bit. "Are you serious?"

"You can't tell Poppy, I promised I wouldn't, just Nico—"

She made a face. "Why is he okay with telling Nico, exactly?"

"Nico's snakes would make really good messengers." I shook my head. "Seriously, though, promise me you won't tell Poppy."

"Why doesn't he want to tell her?"

I faltered. I definitely couldn't tell her he was a werewolf. I'd considered not even telling Nico, since it seemed unlikely that we'd be able to figure out the wolfsbane potion on our own. But that was Albus's to tell anyone else, not mine. That was too far. "There's just... some things happened to him, at the detention center? Things he's not ready to talk to her about, he said."

That didn't seem to clear anything up for Ciara, but she seemed too overwhelmed to really think any of it through. After staring at me for what felt like a long time but probably wasn't, she nodded. "I... okay, right. I won't tell her. I suppose you already argued about it?"

"A lot."

"Wonderful." Ciara took a deep breath. "How angry is he going to be if he finds out you told me about this?"

"Furious." I winced. "Please don't let Nico know."

"You think I'm just having friendly chats with Nico?"

"I guess not." I shot her a tired smile. "Thank you. Really."

"Don't mention it." Ciara patted my shoulder before walking back towards the door. "Just know you've got to explain all of this to me tomorrow."

~~~~

Nico was even more shocked than Ciara, somehow. I realized then that he'd never actually let us see the files from the detention centers, so he probably had a far better idea of their security than we did. At least he agreed to the snake messenger plan. His snakes would need to know the route, apparently, but he said he'd take care of it, so there was nothing to worry about.

Somehow, we all managed to keep Poppy from suspecting anything. Of course, it helped that the topic of Albus rarely came up anyway. I still spent the whole morning feeling compelled to blurt it out, but each time I remembered how angry Albus would be and managed to hold off.

It wasn't like I didn't have other things to worry about, anyway. For the first time ever, Professor Sinastra had assigned us an essay to prepare us for our N.E.W.T.s, and unfortunately the only person I really would have wanted to work with in astronomy now was also the one person I couldn't be seen with in public. In the end I did ask Reya if she wanted to work on it together, which added some credit to my story from Saturday (not that any of my dormmates had been doubting me).

We'd been studying star charts in the library for nearly two hours when Reya suddenly glanced at her watch and cursed under her breath. "Oh Merlin, Wren, I'm so sorry, I totally forgot that I'd told Brigitte I'd... um, I'd help her study." She shot me a significant look, which left me trying to guess what kind of Friends shenanigans Brigitte had roped her into. Maybe she'd started teaching people how to make her bugs? She'd even been talking about "tapping the Floo network" at our last meeting, which I guess meant the same thing but only recording a conversation. Jackson Eaton had told us later that she was getting all these ideas from no-maj spy movies, but as long as it all worked, I didn't really care.

"Want to work some more tomorrow?" Reya suggested after I didn't respond. "I'm about halfway through, but I think I might've gotten some charts mixed up..."

"I can do that." I smiled widely enough to hide the hint of anxiety I always felt when someone even vaguely mentioned the Friends in public, as innocuous as the mention was. "Good luck with her."

"Thanks!" Reya laughed as she started to walk away. "I'll probably need it!"

I glanced down at my nearly complete essay as she disappeared around a bookshelf. It wouldn't take that long to finish it, but if we were going to work again tomorrow (and probably get an update on Brigitte's progress), it seemed like I might as well stop now. As I rolled the charts up so I could put them back, I let my mind wander back to where it'd been going every free moment for the past few days: Albus.

Today, I found myself more anxious for him than normal. Tonight was the full moon, and though he'd seemed confident in his plan, I couldn't imagine how horrible and terrifying it was going to be for him. There was nothing I could do to make it easier, better, and that made it all the worse. It would've been a long shot, but we might've been able to brew a wolfsbane potion if only he'd let me tell Poppy...

"Ah, Ms. Predatel."

I dropped all the star charts I'd been holding at the sound of my name. Instead of trying to pick them up, I took as deep a breath as I could without looking like it, then slowly turned around to face Mr. Petrov.

"Did I startle you?" His frown almost looked bored, as if he really couldn't care less.

Startling me and scaring me were two very different things, at least. I frowned right back at him. "Do you do that a lot? Sneak up behind students like that?"

"Not at all." He chuckled. "I see the resemblance to your mother, now. She was just as... how do you say it?—fiery when I first met her."

For a moment I just blinked at him. I hadn't expected him to be so blunt about working for Stillens. But of course he would know that I'd found out at the manor, and this close to curfew there was hardly anyone here. Still, I didn't know how to respond. Was that meant to be a compliment or an insult? Maybe it was better to ignore it. "Did you need something?"

"Simply a conversation." Petrov chuckled. "You do such a good job of giving me no opportunities, so I must take the chance that I get."

That was hardly my fault, though I was regretting giving him an opportunity now. Ciara and Poppy hardly let me out of their sight in the library, likely for this very reason. I wasn't afraid of him, since Kimmel would likely take my word over his if he tried to hurt me, but not knowing what he wanted right now was a reason to be wary, and to try to end this conversation as soon as possible.

"I have been wondering something. Do you know that Russey is working with your uncle himself?"

I froze up. It was just a coincidence, surely, but that was the exact same question Rinduli had asked me back in January. That was a least a little odd, right? That that was the first thing he'd say when he had me cornered? "Why are you asking me that?"

Petrov raised an eyebrow as if the question had surprised him. He didn't hesitate, though. "I am curious. Your motivations are confusing to me. I was told you are not still with Stillens, yes?"

"I want nothing to do with him." If Stillens had accepted Russey's little story about trying to win over James, why hadn't everyone else? "Why does it matter to you, exactly?"

"It does not. Except that you are a variable at this school that I don't understand. I don't like that."

"Perhaps you should get used to it."

I tried to brush past him, but Petrov grabbed my arm tightly. "There are other concerned parties," he said in a harsh whisper. "I am not acting alone. What is your goal?"

"What does that mean?" I tried to wrench my arm out of his grip unsuccessfully. "Other concerned parties? Are you talking about my parents? They asked you to spy on me?"

"I do not represent your parents." Petrov studied me for a moment. "You truly hate them, do you not?"

"I don't—"

"I can see it in your eyes. Your expression shifts when I mention them, or Stillens. No matter how complicated it is, you hate them all."

He finally loosened his grip enough to let me pull away, but it was clear he wasn't going to let me leave until he was done. I huffed in frustration. "That's not really news to anyone, is it?"

"I wasn't sure. It doesn't help to explain your alliance with Russey. You are blackmailing him, no?"

How did he know that? I faltered in spite of myself, which he definitely noticed even if I pulled myself back together quickly. "What would I have to blackmail the prime minister with?"

"I wouldn't know that. Something you discovered while in your uncle's service, I would think. Some hint of disloyalty. That isn't the important part." Despite his height, he leaned forward over his cane enough to frown right into my eyes. "What are you trying to get out of this?"

I rolled my eyes. "Protection from my family."

"Ah, but that's not true, is it?" Petrov straightened back up, shaking his head slowly. "If you only wanted protection, you would have gone to your little DA. You are taking far too many risks for someone who just wants protection."

I'd never thought about it that way. Good thing James had made sure we were prepared for that kind of question. "I don't want anything to do with the DA. They left me for dead."

"And would have welcomed you with open arms if you'd gone back. As I understand, the only people who are beyond Stillens' reach are behind their curtain of fidelius charms. Even you are still under one, yes? So no one can truly know what your treason was?"

"You don't get to tell me how to feel about the DA," I snapped, while wracking my brain to find any example that proved him wrong. "I want to live my life without worrying about any of it."

That made him laugh, which wasn't the reaction I'd been hoping for at all. "Please, don't tell me I overestimated your ability to think, Ms. Predatel. I thought you were intelligent."

"Excuse me?"

"Anyone with a brain knows there is no 'living your life' now, not here. You know that." He gestured toward my eyes. "Besides, do not forget what I saw. Your hatred is too deep to let you simply melt into the background. You want them to be defeated, don't you? And I find it hard to believe that you'd give that up for something as flimsy as this precarious life you're living right now."

What on earth was happening? I slowly shook my head, though I had nothing to say. "What are you saying, exactly?"

"I see who you spend your time with." Petrov shrugged. "I see everyone. And I notice when people who had previously not spared a glance for each other are suddenly very close. My job is to watch students in my library, Ms. Predatel. Did you think I would not notice?"

"Notice what?" I asked, voice too quiet, though I couldn't do anything about that.

"You are organizing something." He held a hand up before I could even open my mouth. "I know you are the one behind it. You have inherited your uncle's gift for drawing people in. You and your Malfoy friend are suddenly very popular with the overlooked of Hogwarts, are you not?"

I rolled my eyes like I really was just annoyed and not terrified right now. "I don't see why it would matter to you if we're making new friends. I guess it slipped your notice that most of my old friends won't talk to me, right? Because I gave up on the DA."

"I never said you were in the DA. It's clear that you are not." He chuckled again, like this was all amusing. "I would guess that this did not start at Hogwarts, but at the Ministry of Magic. With a certain James Potter, yes?"

Had he really spent the past four months watching me this closely? I hadn't even realized. But I couldn't give in now, obviously. One word to Russey, and James and I would both end up in a detention center, and from there right back to my uncle's waiting arms. I forced a laugh. "What do you want me to say? Do you realize how insane you sound right now?"

"We both know this is not insanity."

"You think two teenagers are plotting to take down Caymus Stillens? Creating some kind of underground resistance? It sounds ridiculous."

"Exactly why you would consider it." Petrov suddenly took a few steps closer, a very serious look on his face. "I am not representing Russey, either, you understand."

"And?" I took a step back and ended up bumping into the bookshelf behind me. "Who are your concerned parties, exactly?"

His expression didn't flicker. "There are many throughout Europe who are interested in this Stillens. Interested in whether he will succeed. Or not."

I stared at him. It nearly sounded like... "What do you mean, or not?"

"What do you think I mean?"

Well, he'd asked, so maybe he wouldn't get mad if I accused him of treason. "It almost sounds like you're spying on Stillens' entire operation. I don't think he'd take very kindly to that."

"I don't think he would, either. Nor would he take kindly to your little rebellion, would he?" Petrov raised an eyebrow.

Surely he wouldn't be going this far just to get me to admit that, right? He'd crossed a line. "You know even the suggestion of other loyalties is enough to get you killed, right? If I showed Stillens this memory, it'd be damning for you."

Petrov shrugged. "I am evening the field for you, Ms. Predatel. Since you seem to thrive on it, you can now blackmail me into silence about this group of yours."

Slowly, I shook my head. "It's not even. Who are you working for? Are they against Stillens, or just waiting to see how this plays out before they pick a side?"

"They have picked a side. It is a matter of learning how to play their hand."

"Against Stillens."

He leaned forward on his cane again, this time to give me an almost conspiratorial smile. "At last, we are understanding one another."

All I could do was stare at him. If Stillens knew even an inkling of what Petrov had just observed about the Friends, he wouldn't have bothered with this kind of set up to get information from me. This was more than enough to convince Russey to arrest us so he could torture the information out of us himself. He already knew that would work, too. So Stillens couldn't have put him up to this.

But how had he figured all of this out? He seemed so confident about a few very big assumptions. We'd only had the Friends at Hogwarts for two weeks at the most; he couldn't have gotten all of this from the few interactions he'd seen in the library. I shook my head. "I still don't see where you're getting these ideas."

Petrov looked amused. "I have it on very good authority that this has been James Potter's plan all along. A first-hand account."

It was a struggle to keep surprise off my face, but it was necessarily a good surprise. "Who said that?"

"I can't discuss my sources," he said. "However, if I were to, I believe this would be a person you are fairly well acquainted with. Might have lost a girlfriend to the DA..."

Etienne Dubois? I literally hadn't even thought about him in months, let alone what he'd been doing while his girlfriend was off in DA hiding. If I could trust what Petrov was saying, which I wasn't entirely sure about, he'd joined whatever shadow group these "concerned parties" were. It was a little too late to deny that I had any connection to a "rebellion," of course. Petrov was convinced of it, even if I hadn't given him any evidence, and his word would be enough to convince Russey. But this whole conversation was completely treasonous, and I couldn't imagine it was worth it just for Petrov to get me to admit something he was clearly so certain about already.

I finally shook my head. "What do you want, exactly? You seem like you're already well aware of what's going on."

"Confirmation is important, to know that there are others fighting back beyond the DA. They are splintering too quickly to do much good in the future." Petrov shrugged. "I think, though, you could help me beyond that."

I narrowed my eyes. This would be the catch. "How?"

"Russey is a very closed-off man. There is little to discover about him from the outside, but as I understand it, you and James Potter are part of his inner circle."

"I mean, maybe James is..."

"Regardless. He is uniquely positioned to gain information about Russey's moves, his motivations and plans and weaknesses. That would be very valuable for any interested party, don't you think?"

I mean, of course it would be. If all he wanted was information, that wouldn't be very hard at all. And honestly, the more we got to him, the more of a traitor he would seem to Stillens if he did turn around and betray us. "I can't speak for James," I said after a moment. "Perhaps... if you're telling the truth, you might be able to discuss it with both of us?"

"Somewhere secure," he said, nodding. "Your little soirees at the Hogshead are not as discreet as you think they are."

Most people aren't studying my every move, I thought, but chose not say. Instead, I just smiled innocently. "Perhaps you could bring that source of yours along. As proof. A gesture of good faith."

He raised his eyebrows, seeming surprised. "Perhaps." He tapped his cane against the floor before stepping to the side. "I have kept you long enough. I'm sure we'll be in touch."

As I hurried out of the library, my mind was whirling. Try as I might, I couldn't think of a scenario where Stillens was behind this. He needed control too much to allow anything like this, where he had no control at all. So the other alternative was that he was telling the truth, and if that was right, it changed so much.

If that was true, why did all these traitors keep being drawn to me?

~~~~

It had been one of those days when Poppy had unfortunately been forced to sit by Nico is defense against the dark arts. I think they'd somehow convinced Rinduli to get rid of some of the desks in the room, supposedly to give us more space to practice spells. Whatever it was, Poppy rushed over to Ciara and I as soon as class was over. "Hey! Do you know what sounds like a good idea before lunch? A walk!"

Ciara made a face. "It's barely above freezing outside."

"We can walk inside. It'll be fun!"

I stared at her a moment. Though no one else around us seemed to be taking any notice of her (it wasn't unusual for her to be more enthusiastic about things than Ciara and I were, anyway), it was a weird suggestion. And there was Nico, taking his time to pack up his bag. Something must have happened he wanted to talk to us about. Had he been to see Astra lately? I really couldn't remember.

Ciara seemed to have made same connection, because just then she sighed rather dramatically. "Fine, as long as it doesn't take too long..."

"Of course not!" Poppy looped her arms through both of ours and started tugging us towards the door before we could ask any more questions.

We'd gone up four flights of stairs and down another two before Poppy finally slowed down. This wing of the castle was almost entirely unused—even the suits of armor were covered by sheets. Since noon on a Tuesday wasn't the most popular time for couples to sneak off, we'd be unlikely to be overheard here.

"What is it?" Ciara demanded, shooting a look over her shoulder. "Something to do with him?"

"Nico?" Poppy pursed her lips. "Yes. It seems kind of serious, too."

As if on cue, Nico appeared around the corner, coming from the opposite direction. Ciara huffed in frustration but didn't say anything nasty as Poppy led all three of us into a very dusty, unused classroom.

"Bloody hell, Poppy," Nico said, waving a cloud of dust away. "Couldn't find somewhere cleaner?"

"You're the one that suggested the fourth floor," Poppy said lightly, plopping down onto one of the covered desks. "Was there some particularly clean room you had in mind?"

Nico sighed. "I guess not. Anywhere closer would have the risk of being seen."

Meanwhile, I glanced nervously at the door, despite the multiple locking and muffling spells on it. In a quiet voice I asked, "Is something wrong?"

Poppy and Nico both turned to me, expressions on their faces as if they were almost reluctant to tell me. "Um... yes." For a moment, Poppy seemed to be figuring out the right words, then grimaced. "Nico?"

He sat down before answering. "Well... Adalyn Lostry is being initiated next week."

It felt like the floor fell out from under me. "Initiated?" I repeated faintly, though I knew exactly what he meant.

"I guess all Cantha's tlking finally paid off." Nico rolled his eyes. "I told Haverna last night, of course, but she's 'talking to Professor Longbottom,' which means she has no idea what to do about it."

"'What to do about it'?" Ciara made a face. "Why would they need to do anything?"

"Adalyn hates him," Poppy said gently. "If she gets told to keep an eye on all the other Hogwarts spies, she's sure to keep an extra close eye on Nico."

"Which could cause some problems, as you'd imagine." Nico scowled. "I know we're careful, but if she gets any kind of suspicion at all, it's only a matter of time."

Ciara's brow was furrowed as if she were deep in thought, but she shook herself out of it just then. "I'm sure Brigitte has something tangible on her. I could probably get her to turn her in, or at least let Wren and I do it."

"But if she got arrested it'd just lead her directly to Stillens," Poppy argued. "Counter-productive, right?"

"Maybe the DA could intervene, if the story got leaked?" Nico frowned. "I'm sure they've got ways to spirit people away."

"I'm not sure the DA's really into kidnapping, Nico." Ciara shook her head. "Maybe we need to just figure out how to keep her from paying any attention to you. I'm sure we could find a way to keep her distracted without really letting her know about the Friends."

I blinked. The conversation had jumped past the "Adalyn is joining a terrorist organization" part so quickly that I almost felt whiplash. "I'm sorry, maybe I'm misunderstanding, but is Nico's cover really the biggest problem here?"

Now all three of them turned to stare at me as if I'd said something insane. Poppy was the one who slowly shook her head. In a very gentle voice you might use on a child who'd said they wanted to go swimming in their winter coat, she said, "Wren, she's going to be a real danger to Nico. To all of us, really. We have to plan for that."

"No, I know that." I shook my head, trying not to get frustrated that they weren't understanding, despite the fact that it seemed completely obvious to me. "Isn't the more pressing concern for Adalyn, though? She's joining Stillens. We can't let her do that."

Nico closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "If we could stop it, we obviously would. I think it's a little too late for any issues about her to be brought up to Stillens, though."

"Either way, she'd still be a threat," Ciara pointed out. "If Nico ruined her chances to get in with Stillens, that'd make her determined to bring him down. And like Poppy said, that would end up hurting all of us."

"That's not what I'm saying!" I closed my eyes and buried my face in my hands for a moment. After a deep breath, I looked back up at them. "Obviously it's a problem that she could hurt Nico. I'm not stupid. But I wouldn't wish Stillens on anyone, not even her. I don't want her to have to get involved in all of this and get hurt. We might be the only people who could help her."

Though Poppy was finally nodding in understanding, Nico and Ciara both looked even more confused. "Why should we care?" Nico asked after a moment. "She's going to do what she wants. Not our problem unless she starts paying too much attention to me."

"She's a lost cause," Ciara agreed. "Absolutely mad. You know that, right?"

"I don't know that she is," I said quietly. "Why shouldn't you care?"

"We're not her friends." Ciara shrugged. "I've hated her and Nico since fourth year, for good reason."

Nico didn't acknowledge the insult. "Seriously, Wren. She knows everyone hates her, and she likes the attention. What makes you think that kind of person would ever choose not to work with Stillens?"

I stared at him, open-mouthed. Was he being serious right now? Both of them? How could they just give up on someone without even trying? Time to get a little more confrontational, then. "I didn't know someone had to be your friend for you to not want them to have their entire life ruined by a choice they don't understand."

"Merlin, Wren, don't get that worked up about it."

I stood up to glare at him. "Don't you regret it?"

He blinked. "The hell do you mean? Of course I do."

"Are you sure? Because I'd think you'd be the very last person who'd be okay with letting someone else get in over their head just like you did. Not when you can do something about it!"

He opened his mouth, but closed it again, eyes downcast. Maybe that had been a bit too much, but I wasn't wrong. Now for Ciara. "It's objectively wrong for us to know this is happening and choose to just let it happen. Do you understand that? It's wrong to sit here and not do everything we can to stop her. To help her."

Now Ciara wasn't meeting my eyes either. I hoped that meant they were actually taking in what I was saying, realizing I was right, not just reeling from the outburst. Realizing it wasn't fair to let her ruin her life at sixteen years old. Realizing that maybe we could really do something about it.

"Listen, Adalyn hasn't always been like this, has she?" Ciara met my eyes for a moment before shaking her head. "That means she can change. She just doesn't have a reason to, because there's absolutely no one who cares about her here except for Madam Cantha. Can you really blame her for believing it's better with Stillens?" When neither of them answered, I pressed on. "She doesn't get that it's all an illusion, that she won't find anyone who cares about her there, either. That it'll be far worse. The root problem wasn't her, okay? It's this school that lets people like her and Nico and me fall through the cracks. I don't really know if she's too far gone to help, but we have to at least try."

I fell silent, scared I was going to start rambling and lose my point. I couldn't tell what either of them were thinking. Ciara was watching the far wall thoughtfully, brow furrowed as if she were solving an equation. Nico, on the other hand, had closed his eyes and was groaning. "You're serious, aren't you?"

So I hadn't won him over. I stifled a sigh. "Don't you wish someone had done this for you?"

He glanced up at me, and to my surprise his eyes seemed a little glassy. It actually felt like I was about to tear up, honestly, just thinking about all of this. "I do," I whispered. "I wish someone had noticed I wasn't okay. Made sure I knew I was really, actually cared for here. That I didn't have to listen to my mother's threats." I took a shaky breath. "Everything would have been different."

Nico rubbed his face as if trying to wipe away his thoughts. "Merlin, Wren..." He looked back up at me, and I saw my own feelings mirrored in his eyes. "Why did you have to infect me with your stupid morals?"

I let out a surprised laugh that was very nearly crying. "You'll help?"

"I guess so." He rolled his eyes. "That brat better appreciate it..."

I glanced back at Ciara. She'd watched that with an conflicted expression. Now, pursed her lips. "It's not going to work. Do you think I would've abandoned my only friend to that monster if there'd been a chance she might not be as horrible as him?"

Nico's face flushed, but he didn't say anything. I shook my head, electing to ignore all of that. "Ciara, you've been wrong before."

"Name one time."

I blinked, using all the willpower in me to restrain myself from gesturing to Nico. It wasn't going to help. "You were wrong about me, weren't you?"

"That doesn't count—"

I cut her off. "You could be, now, too. You don't know. I can promise you, no matter how horrible she is, she doesn't deserve what's about to happen to her. It can't hurt to try, can it?"

She took a moment to answer, conflict still playing out across her face. Finally, she sighed. "Fine. But we'd better have a really good back up plan for when this blows up in our faces."

"We will." I glanced between the two of them before catching Poppy's eye behind them. She shot me a smile that seemed to be a mix of pride and sadness. At least I hadn't needed to win her over. I just hoped whatever we could come up with would be enough. 

~~~~

Question of the Day: Do you think wizards really know how to read?

Answer: I mean most of them probably read at a fifth grade reading level or less, which is absolutely appalling. It finally makes sense that Harry and Ron would put up such a fuss about literal one-page essays: they barely learned how to write a five-paragraph response if they were lucky. No wonder the wizarding world's had three insane wizards dictators come into power in the last eighty years. 

Vote and comment!

~Elli

Word count: 6142