Lelouch was following Ophelia in annoyance as she visited the stalls, an expression of wonder on her face. Miss Alice, for some irritating reason, decided to bring the kids of the orphanage to the amusement park that opened recently in the neighborhood. Lelouch would rather stay at home.

He was holding her hand as she ate sweet cotton. Miss Alice was holding her other hand. The other caretakers were bringing the accompanying the other children around the park. It was just the three of them here right now.

His memories went back to his time in Britannia. Such a contrast. When he was this age back then he was walking through the fields of corpses with Suzaku and Nunnally, the sky gray with smoke, and the sound of bombers and rushing knightmares everywhere around him. How many times did he think he was going to die back then? how many times did he think about ending it all? About loading the gun and end both his and Nunnally's lives? To her, he was always the strong older brother that could endure it all and stand tall like an invincible colossus. He chuckled to himself. He was nothing but a miserable wretch.

"Julius, look!" Nunnally pulled his hand towards one of the stalls. Her lilac eyes shining with mirth. It had been so long since he saw them like this. the last time she opened her eyes, it was only to show anger, and at the end, horrified despair.

He blinked.

Ophelia pointed at a plushie in the stall, her grey eyes shining with mirth. It was a fat gray owl. She was so childish, was she really at the same age as him? He smiled in exasperation and patted her.

It was a shooting stall. One of those every circus has, with a pile of items on a shelf and a pressure shotgun that launched corks at high speed. It was extremely hard to shoot accurately and pretty much made for the player to miss.

Alice glanced at him expectantly. Lelouch scowled. Nunnally was looking at him with upturned eyes. He never could say no to her.

Lelouch blinked.

"Come on Julius!" Alice said, animatedly. her grin was contagious "Are you going to disappoint your sister?"

"Pleasee," Ophelia whined.

Alice started cheering and clapping for him. "Julius! Julius! Julius!" Some passer-bys smiled at the scene. She found it funny to see him blush, didn't she? irritating woman.

"Brother! Brother!"

Alice paid for three rounds. Lelouch took and inspected the weapon. No, it wasn't a weapon, just a toy...he had to remember that.

Miss Alice winked at him "Come on, Julius"

He took aim and shoot. It missed the toy Ophelia wanted and went far above it.

"Ahhh" Miss Alice commented.

Lelouch took another cork, fixed it on the end of the muzzle, and aimed again. This time, it hit a candy box but missed the target.

He sighed. Just one more try and he would be free of this nuisance. Lelouch readied the toy again, closed his right eye and carefully aimed at the plushie again.

"This time, I am sure he will hit, Ophelia!" Alice encouraged. Ophelia watched expectantly.

He pressed the trigger. The bullet flew from the weapon with a bang and a flash. The recoil weapon threw Lelouch flying to the ground, the strong smell of gunpowder invaded his nose.

He blinked.

In front of him, Ophelia was stretched on the ground, her beige dress painted with red and a strong scent of rust hovering on the air. His eyes widened in shock, the ends of his mouth turned downwards with a scowl of horror and despair.

He brought his red hands in front of him and focused on the blood flowing from them to the ground, and forming the puddle he was sitting on.

"Congratulations, Lelouch. This time you hit it."

Lelouch raised his head in horror to look at the person in front of him. Charles zi Britannia stared proudly at his son. The giant stained glasses of Pendragon's main palace loomed above them.

"Father..." he whispered.

"Once again, you killed another sibling. We are not that different, Lelouch." He approached Lelouch with loud steps. Lelouch backed away from him in horror. His father looked down at him, his frame was as large as the world. His protruding chest exuded pride and arrogance Lelouch never could match. Charles zi Britannia twisted smiled at him "I am proud of you, My son."

"Noooo!" Lelouch shouted, jumping out from his bed. His sweat was glistening at his face. He gasped and tried to control his breath. It was a dream, just a dream, but it felt so real. Lelouch looked at his hands, they looked clean but he knew they were still stained with the blood of his family.

His breath started to calm down. He looked around him to ascertain where he was. There were multiple beds around him. He could smell herbs and other strange scents he couldn't identify.

Beside him, there were multiple beds. On one of them, a pudgy boy slept, his arms were immobilized in multiple rolls of cloth. There were lit torches on the walls. Torches?

Hogwarts...This wasn't Britannia, he was in Hogwarts. Lelouch sighed in relief. There was no war, no rebellion, no Zero or Charles here. He calmed down and laid back on the bed. Hogwarts, unh? Nunnally would love it here.

What happened? He parsed his memories. he was in the restroom with Malfoy and his goons. There was a troll. Crabble was hit by the troll, who shattered his arms, Malfoy took the chance to escape. Millicent was immobile on the ground. He was about to be hit when he saw Kallen by the door after she shouted his name.

He blinked in surprise.

At that moment, he heard a commotion by the door.

...

Daphne had just left the charm's class. Millicent and Tracey followed after her. It was a free period now and they were going to visit Julius.

She had written her father about the recent happening on Hogwarts and to say he was pissed would be a euphemism. A troll at Hogwarts...He already said he would bring this fact to the next Wizengamot meeting. One of the heirs to a Most Ancient and Noble house almost died...it was unacceptable.

It was only Luck that preserved Julius's life, and even so, he had cracked six ribs, one of them had pierced through a lung. When he finally arrived at the infirmary, he was already about to die.

She sighed and hastened her steps, beside her, Karin Weasley seemed to be going the same way. She clicked her tongue. Talks about her defeating a bloody troll were already spreading among the students. She did not use any complicated spells, only creative use of transmutation and sharp wits. She turned the water that was falling from the broken faucets into ice, taking the mobility from the already slow troll and slowly pierced him in various places from many meters away with a spear. The loss of blood slowed it down. She took a chance and jumped at its neck, finally killing it.

Daphne glanced at the girl walking beside her. Something seemed different about her. She had a lightly frown in her face that was uncommon in Weasleys. her gaze was sharp as a predator. If Daphne were honest, she would say she was scared of the girl.

She clicked her tongue "Why are you following us, Weasley. Your friends are all probably in the common room."

She glanced at Daphne and ignored her, turning her gaze back to the hallway in front of her. Daphne scowled. This girl wasn't like this normally. She was supposed to be easily irritable and simple to provoke.

During the last days, Karin was visiting Julius every time she could. Daphne couldn't understand why. Did she have some kind of bond with him? Impossible. Daphne was certain they had never met before, Julius lived in the muggle world, for Merlin's sake. Weasleys weren't supposed to care about Blacks.

This entire thing puzzled Daphne. She knew there was something there and she would get at the bottom of it.

She decided to use a technique she learned from her mother: Ask questions that would provoke a reaction, gauge the reactions, and based on the answer, ask new questions until she had the entire situation understood on her head.

"So, are you worried about your boyfriend." She asked cheekily.

The girl blinked. She looked at something in the distance absentmindedly. A light blush appeared on her cheeks.

What the hell?

...

When they arrived at the infirmary they saw Poppy beside Julius, talking to him about something and helping him up from his bed. He was wearing a white hospital gown and his head was wrapped in bandages. Daphne heard Karin sigh in relief.

Daphne approached him with a smile on her face. "Good to see a troll isn't enough to put you down, Black" commented.

Julius smiled wryly. "What are you talking about, I've been down for three days, wasn't I?" He sighed and looked back at her. "Good to see you too, Daphne. What are you..."

His voice faded away and he made a complicated expression as he looked at something behind Daphne. She frowned turned to look behind her. Karin was there, still by the door, with a relieved smile on her face, but she wasn't looking at him.

She noticed his attention and snapped out of her reverie. She frowned and made to leave the room.

"Wait!" Julius shouted, rising in hurry from his bed. Karin already had her back to him.

The two of them stood there in that position. Now, Daphne was completely confused. There was something there, something very complicated.

Still, this wasn't the time to press them yet. She still had to follow the conduct of a Noble house and give their space. She smirked, "Come, Millicent, Tracey."

Tracey smirked as well as she noticed there was something between them. No matter, Daphne would make sure that she would stay silent until they understood what was their relationship.

She turned her back at them and left the room. Poppy had already left. They would be alone there.

Whatever there was between them, was a big secret. She was sure of it, and she would fount it out.

...

Lelouch looked at her back in wonder on his voice. "Kallen?"

She shook when she heard that name. Her hands clenched as if she was holding something back. Lelouch was certain about it, that was Kallen. He understood now why she was behaving so weirdly around him. The pieces fit together perfectly.

"Kallen?" he asked again.

She turned and looked at him. Kallen was clenching her teeth and small tears were gathering in her eyes. There was anger, a lot of anger there.

Just as Lelouch smiled, a strong right punch connected with his face. He flew back on the bed, holding his bleeding nose. She jumped on him, holding the collar of his gown and forcing him back on the bed.

"What the fuck was that?" she growled. "What the fuck was that Requiem bullshit you did? do you have any idea how I felt? Do you have any idea how it is to look at yourself in the mirror every day and know you're a traitor and a failure?"

She was rambling. Lelouch laughed loudly, blood was still falling from his nose.

"Don't laugh, you bastard!" Kallen shook him. "This isn't funny! Stop laughing."

Lelouch only laughed more. He was happy. This was probably the first time he felt truly happy in this world. To think his wild red knight would follow him to death... He should have expected it, she was always only two steps behind him.

Kallen was still shaking him, rambling about something he just wasn't paying attention to. He should have noticed from the start it was her. She looked like her, younger, yes, with a childish face, yes, but still Kallen.

He wasn't alone anymore.

Kallen finally stopped shaking him and pressed her face on his neck, sniffling on his clothes while trembling. "Bastard..." she whispered, letting her tears fall freely. "Fucking bastard." Lelouch held her and patted her back. They stood like until her tears dried.