A/N: Here I go again.. Fuck.. Well, welcome, those who really give enough of a damn to try this plotline out once again. This time, since my attempts at Year One have been unsuccessful, I made a change or a hundred and am now starting the plot at the first climax of the Seven total Years, otherwise known as the Goblet of Fire route. This story actually begins before the Year Three/Four summer and tells the actual final events of Year Three, which will eventually save my writing hopefully. I am not abandoning the Year One story, but as of right now this gem has been running through my head along with the other new stories you may see from me in the coming days so you're gonna get the start of the juicy story bits instead of working through the slow burn of my plotline originally for Years 1-3. Eventually, and I do mean eventually, I will be finishing this whole saga but until then enjoy.. Hopefully..
Prologue
The Puritan Crusade Begins
Nurse's Office, Ilvermorny; June 15th, 2017..
Fourteen year old Saryna Halliwell sat at the bedside of one Nick Negron, her best friend, as he remained unconscious since the incident in the Hill House Cemetery three days earlier. Nick had almost sacrificed himself, some unknown third power connecting him to Saryna and therefore nullifying the resurrected Auron Sayle's latest attempt to kill her. Her lip trembled as she thought back to the night in question..
Three Days Earlier, Hill House Cemetery..
Saryna was frozen, both shock and fear emanating off the girl in waves as the resurrected Auron Sayle smirked at her menacingly, his eyes an eerie reflection of her own purple orbs. "Don't they teach you how to defend yourselves at that school? That one put up the weakest fight I've seen in years." He said, jerking his head towards the lifeless corpse of Hina Tsukino.
"You didn't have to kill her! Why me? Why my fucking family?!" Saryna shouted, her voice falling on what would seem to be deaf ears as Sayle's Puritans stood idly by as he tortured the teenagers.
Auron chukled, a terrifying sound that made Saryna's heart drop into her stomach as he flashed his teeth in glee at the girl's tears. "Ah, little princess.. You still don't know the truth? That sister of yours never once thought you would need to know the Halliwell's darkest secret?"
Saryna's eyes widened to a size that would be comical in any other situation. "What truth? What the fuck are you on about, asshole?!" She cursed loudly, her new vocabulary resulting from a certain Ilvermorny staff member's actions towards her.
Sayle sighed, suddenly losing some of the bravado he had been displaying. "Oh dear. Why, you, of course, Saryna Halliwell. Or, should I call you by your true name?" Saryna looked reasonably shocked already, but as Sayle's own cosmic purple irises met hers, she could see he wasn't lying. "You are not just a Halliwell by blood, young one. That Light bastard who called you his daughter, Ryan, knew the truth and still called you his daughter, even though you weren't." Sayle chuckled as he saw Saryna's expression change from just fearful to a mixture of that, shock and disbelief.
"Wh-what are you saying? Who are you to my family?!" The Puritans smirked at the girl earning herself an even quicker death by yelling at their lord as much as she had in the last few minutes.
Sayle turned to the side, pacing back and forth a few steps as he spoke. "That would actually be a very, very long story. In short order, however, the most basic explanation is in fact quite simple." He stopped, looking directly at Saryna. Glancing to the side, she saw Nick being held back by two other Puritans, both with their wands also drawn on Nick, pointed at his throat. Sayle also saw her look and chuckled again. "And who exactly did you bring with you to dinner?" He cackled louder. "It doesn't matter, since only I may decide on whom your life is bound."
Saryna struggled to keep eye contact with the Puritan leader as tears began welling in her eyes, Sayle's words still confusing her. "What the fuck is that supposed to even mean?!"
Nick, saving his strength enough to be able to listen to everything without giving away his level of remaining strength, lIfted his head slightly, the conversation being easy to figure out the meaning behind Sayle's words. At least, to Nick it was simple, Saryna was too afraid of seeing her parents' killer alive to truly think about his words.
"The truth, however, young Halliwell, is that I, not Ryan, am your father." Sayle said with a dark chuckle. "Unfortunately, you cannot be allowed to live while I am revived."
Saryna's world went silent as the next few events happened too quickly for her to follow fully. First, there was Sayle flourishing his wand and saying the two words no witch or wizard ever wanted to hear. "Avada Kedavra!"
With unforeseen speed, Nick was fueled by adrenaline as he braced his legs to jump up, using the shift in momentum to both stun and flip his guards onto the ground. Pulling his wand out and immobilizing every other Puritan around with a spell superpowered by his uniquely powerful wand was his next action. Then, he summoned as much magic as he could to try to prevent anything from happening to Saryna. At that time, he began running to Saryna, stopping two steps in front of her.
"Protego Maxima!" A blue barrier shaped like a large shield formed from Nick's wand as Sayle frowned, watching his Unforgivable be deflected by rhe teenager's shield charm.
"You're picking the wrong fight, boy." He stated and took a dueling stance. "You're not even fit to clean my shoes with the level of your magical power."
"I don't give a damn. My parents taught me to always protect those you care for, and even as a bitch these last two years, Saryna is still one of those precious people. The most important one to me, personally. You and your Puritans, even your supposed relation to Saryna, cannot and will never change that!" Nick said, beginning to struggle as his Protego was assaulted again and again by more Avada curses.
"No matter your words, boy, my power eclipses yours by a mile." Sayle put more power into his Unforgivables as Nick felt his shield begin to crack, the fourteen year old boy pushing more of his own power into the shield.
Sayle sneered and put even more power into his curses as Nick turned to Saryna, the girl still frozen in shock. "Saryna! Don't think about it, just get up! This isn't the tough Saryna I've known since first year! Not the girl I fell in love with! We need you to focus so we can get ourselves and Hina's body back to school! Now get up and fight!" He shouted at her, barely managing to push the Avada curses at this point.
"'Not the girl I fell in love with!'" Those words rang and echoed in Saryna's mind as something snapped, a floodgate of feelings and memories washing over the girl as Headmaster Fontaine's memory spell broke it's hold on the girl. She looked at Nick, holding her head in pain from the rush of memories, but managed to smile at him anyway, for the first time he could remember in over two years.
"You're right, Nick. I can't let Sayle and the damn Puritans get me down, even with Hina dead. She would want me to keep fighting." She sighed, getting up from her knees.
"Are you kids done with the heartfelt bullshit? Because that shield is about to blow in your faces." Sayle said before Saryna's eyes glowed a bright purple as an aura of purple magical energy engulfed her body and spread to Nick, mixing with his own magical energy as Nick gave the Protego spell a great push, sending the enhanced barrier flying towards Sayle, who only managed to get out of it's path.
"Feelings are power, Sayle." Nick said simply as he got ready to launch another spell. "And love is the most powerful one of all! Expelliarmus Maxima!" The Puritan ringleader gasped as his wand not only flew from his hand, but straight to Saryna's. "Petrificus Totalus Maxima!" Then Sayle fell to the ground, frozen in place.
His magic now fully drained even with the boost from Saryna, Nick panted as he got to his knees, Saryna now supporting him. "Nick.." She said, fearfully.
"I'll be alright. You know the spell." He told her as he put his wand into her hand. "Get the three of us out of here, before he's able to get back up." And with those words, Nick fell unconscious.
Saryna took a breath and nodded. "Accio Hina!" Hina's lifeless corpse rested itself next to Nick as Saryna took both of her friends' hands and used the spell Nick mentioned, her restored memories as reference for the spell itself. "Portus Maxima Ilvermorny!" She said in a hushed tone, so Sayle couldn't hear her as the three teens all swirled into a spell-based portkey back to school.
Ilvermorny School, Great Hall..
Agilbert Fontaine noticed the absence of the three students the last few hours, but no one was more surprised as he was as Saryna Halliwell appeared in front of the teacher's table, holding onto a dead Hina Tsukino and equally unconscious Nick Negron. The girl was crying, her tears staining the stone ground of the great hall. "Ms. Halliwell?!" He asked.
"Sayle is back.." She said quietly, raising her voice to repeat it for the whole school. "Auron Sayle has been resurrected! If it wasn't for Nick, him and I would be dead too." She said, holding Hina's lifeless body close.
Fontaine stood up. "Professor Gothi, bring all of them to the Hospital Wing, immediately." Nodding, Professor Gothi got up and spelled both Nick and Hina to the nurse, holding Saryna standing up to apparate themselves to the room in question.
~End Flashback~
And that's how it's been since then. Three days of Nick not waking up and none of our friends visiting him because they're scared I'll curse them. She thought, Saryna getting up from the chair next to Nick's bed and walking over to the window on the other side. She couldn't stop herself from also recalling the last two years and her horrible behavior due to the headmaster's own brand of meddling.
You're fucking horrible.. A disgrace.. Can you even call yourself his friend after the last two years? Memory charm or not, you still made every decision. Came the voice that had plagued her psyche since her, Nick and their lifeless friend had appeared back in the Great Hall three days earlier.
Saryna shut her eyes tightly, grabbing the sides of her head. Shut up! Nick is still my first friend! None of the friends I even have now would have known me if it wasn't for Nick's sweet, accommodating personality. Fuck you for even trying to shake this off. Even after those two years of bullying, Nick still almost died. FOR ME!
That doesn't matter. Nick would have jumped into that spell for anyone, even that prick Jack Looper. The only difference is he stayed alive after that Kedavra where anyone else wouldn't have been able to walk away from it. And all those friends you speak of are scared of you. You've done some immeasurable damage to them while your true personality and memories were sealed.
Don't fucking remind me. Stupid Headmaster Fontaine and.. She stopped herself as she heard the curtain dividing Nick's bed from others pulled back, revealing a sixteen year old Laura Jones, who gave Saryna a half-smile as she looked at Nick. "Why is he still unconscious?" She asked.
Saryna looked back out the window, not wanting Laura to see how emotionally beat she really was as tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "He used too much magical power. His core was drained so badly his own leeched off of mine the first few hours he was here." She sighed shakily. "But if he didn't protect me, we'd be dead like Hina."
"Saryna.. It wasn't your fault. Auron Sayle is a blight upon this earth. And Nick put himself into a coma to protect you. That prophecy notwithstanding, you're always his first priority. Hell if I know why anymore." Laura said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest.
Saryna flinched, but her temper flared as well. "You think I don't know that, Laura?!" She said, turning to the other girl and letting her see the tears falling from Saryna's eyes. "I remember everything! I know what I've done these last two years and I'm fucking pissed. Nick is my only handle on my sanity right now, and I don't know what else to do!"
Laura was taken aback by the younger girls' outburst, but followed her words. "Saryna. What happened to you? What do you mean 'these last two years'?"
"The Headmaster. He altered my mind, made me forget my friends as friends and treat you all like dirt. And I can't for the life of me figure out why. Nick snapped the spell off me in that damn graveyard, but what good is that if I've fucked everyone over for two years? Huh?!"
"Ryna, calm down. You want answers? Then ask the Headmaster. But make sure Nick is with you. He needs those answers as much as you do, and I think you know that."
Saryna nodded as Nick's confession came back to her again. "You're right, but he still won't wake up. Madam Splint said his reserves are back to normal, she can't figure out why he hasn't regained consciousness yet." Saryna couldn't hold her tears back anymore. "Why did it have to be me? Why couldn't Auron fucking Sayle impregnate some other witch so I could be free of this apparent curse?!" She began to rant as Laura looked at her, shocked at her words.
"Wait, Saryna.. Did you just say Auron Sayle, cultist and darkest American wizard in history, is your father?" Saryna now looked shocked, not realizing she had just admitted to something she didn't want to tell just anyone. She nodded though, in honesty. "Merlin, Ryna, I'm sorry. No one deserves a truth like that. But he's not family to you, right?" Saryna shook her head in the affirmative. "Then don't let him get to you. Even with him back, Nick won't let the Puritans get near you."
Saryna ran her hands through her hair, the long dark red locks bundled up in frustration. "I know that! Nick protecting me isn't the point, Laura. I can't stay at Ilvermorny during the school months anymore. Sayle will be trying to get to me more and worse than ever before. My luck and survival these last four years have all been because of Nick, even when I didn't remember how important to me Nick really was!" It was then Laura noticed Saryna fidgeting with her left ring finger.
"What are you playing with on your finger, Saryna? What are you even talking about?" Somewhere in the sixth year's mind, Saryna's sudden manic attitude- despite the last two years and the memory-altering charm Professor Fontaine used to separate the Halliwell child from her protector- made her suspicious in just why Saryna was so high-strung about the situation already. She's just worried for Nick. It's been three days and he still won't wake up. They're both lucky that crap three days ago didn't have to postpone everyone going home. "Saryna, you're not making total sense, you know. And even if he's back, Ilvermorny is warded from Dark forces, and blood-magicked to deny any self-proclaimed Puritan from entering. Of course, right now we all still have to deal with that shit brick, Jack Looper."
Saryna sighed again, the action becoming a reflex these last couple days. "I know. I know.. Laura, no one other than Nick, myself and our families know about it, and with what happened in second year, I've been able to hide the truth all the easier."
"Alright," Laura nodded. "But what truth, Saryna? What is there to you and Nick Negron that isn't widely known at Ilvermorny? Hell, you both were praised in second year as the best couple until you turned into a right proper bitch, memory charm or not."
"You're right, Laura, that's true. Ever since our first day, Nick and I have been practically attached at the hip. Even with the slander and bullshit people like Jack Looper spread again and again." Saryna turned away from Laura again, playing with her finger again.
Laura shook her head, the depression Saryna was exuding was just too unlike her. Taking the few steps forward, Laura grabbed Saryna's wrist, the older girls' eyes widening in shock at the sight of the ring on Saryna's finger, an intricate band modeled to resemble a few strands of intertwined wicker fibers, four sapphires encircling a large diamond. It's meaning painfully obvious to her, Laura looked at Saryna in pure shock. "Ryna? Are you and.. Nick..?"
Saryna cursed and bit her lip. "Yeah. Betrothed. It became official during the holiday break in second year, his mom gave me her own old wedding ring to finalize it. Then Fontaine fucked my head up and between then and the other night, when Nick and I came back from that graveyard, I never wore the ring. I feel bad enough about it all as it is. Now, please, can I just be alone with him? You're the eighth person to disturb us today and I'm trying to help him regain his magical core faster and actually wake up."
"What about when he wakes up? Are you just going to stand there and be a lovesick bitch again after the last two years? Nick has been ridiculed by half the school for sticking up for you during your two-year rage. He isn't just going to sit there, say it's all okay and then kiss you stupid. He's just as hurt as you most likely feel and the last time I spoke with him, he was royally pissed and it had something to do with you. Just be careful. With Sayle back, the last thing we need is you two fighting instead of showing the unity you both did in first and second year." With that, Laura left the hospital wing.
Madam Splint then approached, a sad smile on her face. "Saryna, dear, please go back to your dorm. As soon as he wakes up, I promise you I will send a patronus. You staying here is not good for your own well-being. Not after the experience you had the other night."
Sighing, Saryna nodded wearily. "Alright, Madam Splint. Thanks for tolerating me being here so lo.."
"None of that, dearie. I know all about the betrothal between you two, have known since it became official. Nick's mother is a dear friend of me and my family. I will tell him you were here, but don't go about blatantly showing the headmaster you and Nick managed to break his brainwashing of you." Saryna looked at the school nurse, eyes wide in shock. "I hear everything that goes on in my infirmary, Saryna. And believe me, as hard to swallow as it may be to hear, that isn't the worst I have heard Fontaine doing to preserve a sense of unity in this school when times are hard outside these walls.
"I have already owled Nick's mother, and she has agreed to take you and your sister in at their house starting this summer."
"How did Nessa take that suggestion?" Saryna asked, referring to her older sister.
"Oh, she's ecstatic about it! The way I figure it, Nick's mother and your sister are going to have that house twice the size inside by the time you kids go home tomorrow. Now go! Sleep the day away, you need it." Nodding once more, Saryna finally left the hospital wing, making her way towards the stairs down to the Horned Serpent dorms.
Entering the Horned Serpent common room, Saryna felt eyes on her as she glanced around, spotting both friends and enemies of hers alike staring her down like she was a prized pig on the dinner table. She tried to go up to her bed only to be stopped by Jasmine Torres, one of the only thoroughly neutral friends of hers and Nick's since Fontaine altered her mind. "Where the hell have you been, Saryna?! You've been missing from sight ever since you came back that night." She asked, crossing her arms.
Saryna tugged Jasmine to the side and kept walking up to the beds, motioning for her to follow without making it obvious. Huffing, Jasmine pretended to look at her cell phone a moment before following the other girl.
Inside the room Saryna claimed as her own, said girl was laying on her bed with one arm draped dramatically across her face. "Were you with Nick?" Jasmine asked quietly.
"Yeah.." Came the equally quiet reply. "He won't wake up. Madam Splint sent me back to get rest."
"Is everything okay, Ryna? You sound, I don't know, worried about him." Jasmine said.
Saryna sat up then, fire in her eyes as she flourished the ring in front of her best friend. "Of course I'm fucking worried about my betrothed, Jas! What kind of question is that?!" She seethed lowly, not wanting any of the other Horned Serpent students hearing their conversation.
Jasmine's eyes widened, not having seen the ring for almost two years. "You put it back on?! Wait. Ryna, are you really you?"
"Of course it's me, bitch," Saryna rolled her eyes. "I'm just.. Back. To normal, I think. I mean, I love Nick, right? He broke Fontaine's hold on my mind and.. Fuck, what do I do, Jasmine? I've been a total bitch to all our friends the last two years and for what? Some stupid attempt to alter a prophecy? Bullshit. I don't know what the headmaster was thinking, but trying to keep peace by isolating me from our friends was not the right plan."
"Of course not. But, you mean to tell me that the only reason you've been a total bitch the last two years is because the headmaster altered your mind?" Saryna nodded, biting her nail nervously. "What the actual, serious fuck?! That shit gets people banished to the Triangle."
"No, we can't just go to someone about this. Madam Splint warned me that Fontaine could do worse than what he did to me. No, for now we wait for Nick to wake up and see what he says."
Jasmine sighed. "Alright, I trust you, Ryna. What about your ring? I know you're not just going to take it back off in front of Professor Fontaine."
"Glamour charm. Only those closest to me or I trust can see it. I'd really like to get some rest now, though. You mind, Jas?"
Jasmine smiled, nodding her head. "That's fine. You sleep. You seriously look like shit. If you're not up by then, I'll wake you up for the End of Year Feast." She laughed as Saryna flipped her off, letting herself drift off into sleep.
Unfortunately, visions of Sayle, her father, haunted her dreams until she threw herself up in bed, sheets flying off the side of her bed and Saryna's skin filmed over with sweat. She noticed a blue glow and saw a patronus in the shape of a platypus. "He's awake. He's asking for you." Came Madam Splint's voice as Saryna nodded and changed clothes before making her way back to the hospital wing.
Upon entering the infirmary, she giggled hearing Nick's voice. "I'm fine, Madam Splint. I can go see her myself, you know. The Children of Purity present in Horned Serpent don't scare me. I fought Sayle off, other students won't even be a challenge."
"Nick, shut up. We fought my father off, together." Saryna said, crossing her arms at the end of the hospital bed.
Nick looked at her and smiled. "I was right. You're really back to normal."
Saryna nodded. "Yeah, thanks to you, love. I'm sorry, I can't say it enough."
"You don't have to. It wasn't your fault. Fontaine has to apologize to us. I swore to protect you whether or not that damn prophecy was about us, and he went and tried to alter the story. It would have made everything worse once Sayle came back and you kept the altered attitude. Chances are you would choose to join him instead. I had to figure out a way to bring you back, but it took me so long. Ever since third year ended, last summer with me trying everything I could to get you back while at home."
"You were kinda cute, in a pathetic sort of way." Saryna laughed with Nick joining in. "Seriously, though, Nick.."
"I know. Fontaine has to be spoken to about this fiasco, and I'm not letting him get away with his meddling quietly."
"We won't. But we're running out of time before we go back home. The buses run us all home tomorrow."
"Wait, I've slept through the free days of school? Damn it! Fine, I guess we go to Fontaine now then." Saryna nodded, the two making their way towards where the entrance to the headmaster's office was located.
Before either of them could speak the password to the gargoyle statue that stood at the door, it moved all on its own, allowing them entry to the office. They came out into Fontaine's office, a large semicircular space adorned with various magical objects, most of which Nick nor Saryna even knew of their functions. Agilbert Fontaine sat behind the desk, quite evidently surprised at the two entering together holding hands.
"Mr. Negron. Ms. Halliwell. What a pleasant surprise." He greeted them, smiling. "I hope you're both feeling better after the events the other night."
"Yeah, right. You're just trying to see how easily you can continue trying to change the course of what's prophesied." Fontaine looked at Nick incredulously. "Stop trying to look innocent, professor. We know all about what you did to Saryna at the end of second year. That's not a reason to even bring up right now, however. She's back to normal, that's all that matters."
"Then what is the reason you're both here, if not to confront me? Neither of you are behind in your schoolwork, despite the three day absence."
"We need to talk about how this school is going to handle rising tensions in the upcoming years. With Auron Sayle back from the dead, the Puritans are going to begin pushing their ideals to the maximum, and this school is already divided enough. We don't need that pompous Jack Looper making me put him in his place because he wants to openly threaten Saryna again like he did in first year."
Professor Fontaine nodded. "Yes, I can see your issue with such things. Unfortunately, all I can do is address everyone at school to be careful and to not go looking for trouble with the No-maj population, as I would any other year. I must apologize to you both, however. You both may not be in here to discuss it, but my actions towards the two of you are heinous and cruel, and it is only right I explain myself."
Nick and Saryna sighed. One track mind, this one. Nick himself thought. "Fine, so why do it? Separate the supposed prophesied heroes?"
"It became harder to imagine you both truly happy, after you embraced the possibility in your first year Nick, if you chose to be with one another romantically. I as well as several of the other professors noticed you both evolve into the blooming young couple you were in your second year. Prophecies foretell of tragedy, even when the outcome is positive. I especially did not want either of you to lose one another.
"Contrary to the means I may use occasionally, I am not a cruel man. My wife, Merlin rest her soul, would be berating me to no end about my decisions to alter Saryna's memories. It did not help my decision once it became obvious to me and the staff that you, miss Halliwell, were Auron Sayle's daughter last year. But by then I feared for your mental stability from the sudden influx of memories that would come so soon after the initial change, I am surprised to see it is obviously broken." He smiled, motioning to Nick and Saryna's clasped hands.
"Love is a powerful force all it's own, headmaster. We may never truly trust you again after knowing what you did, no matter how much you cater to us and our future schoolings to help deal with the Puritans." Fontaine's eyes widened at the suggestion, it was borderline blackmail. "I know we can't learn purely offensive magic in school, knowing that the Children of Purity would be using anything learnt against those here who oppose the Puritans. Frankly, professor, that means those kids might be learning Dark curses and hexes back at home this summer while others will be left defenseless."
Fontaine nodded his agreement. Nick usually kept a cool, clear head when it came to the safety of his peers, let alone loved ones. "How do you propose we flip those odds in our favor then, young Nick?"
Nick smiled the same smirk his father used to give Fontaine back in his days of schooling. "That's the brilliant part. Me and my friends already have a method to get around under the radar, and I've been training whomever finds the time to meet with the rest of us. We don't call ourselves anything, I mean we're not building an army. All I do is help other young witches and wizards be better prepared on the off chance something like Sayle being resurrected actually occurs. Kids can be targeted first, seen as a liability if they won't conform to an opposing faction in a takeover. With me training them offensively, at least they'll have a chance if Sayle manages to sneak in here like Voldemort did at Hogwarts."
"Fair point, my boy. Very well, do what you must to prepare your fellow students but do not let it slip that you are openly opposing the Puritans. Not to mention, there is something I must inform you about. The safety of home is 1788 Ocean Key Avenue, Meteor Heights."
Nick squinted at the headmaster. "Why are you reciting my address.. Oh! I get it. This is like what they did in the UK to hide from Voldemort, right? Wards on your house to make only those trusted with the address are permitted."
Fontaine nodded sagely. "Very good, Nick. Always the studious one. That is exactly right, and I have agreed with your mother to have her send me a list of those trusted to be updated every week. If you two insist on leading the fight against Sayle, I would keep the Negron residence with a shorter list of outside people. Safety must be our top priority in the coming months, even years." With nods, the two teenagers decided to bid farewell to the headmaster to make their way to the Year-end feast.
Dining/Great Hall..
Separating from each other just outside the Great Hall, Nick and Saryna adopted hateful glares pointed at each other as they made their ways toward their respective House tables. Nick sat down beside his Thunderbird housemates Colin Ifill and Tyler Baskles with an exaggerated "Man, it's good to be out of the medical wing."
"From what Laura told us, you only just woke up." Tyler smirked at him.
"That's a fact, but still. So who won the last Quidditch match?"
"That would be us, even without you," Colin said. "Don't worry, though. Nothing game-changing has been going on otherwise."
"Not true." Tyler quipped. "Saryna's been missing from everyone's sight since you came back from wherever you got taken the other night till just now when you both wound up showing at the same time. You manage to run into Bitchzilla outside the Dining Hall, then?"
Nick's eye twitched in annoyance. His friends knew he hated the nickname, especially now that Saryna wasn't in that mindset anymore. "Don't call her that. You didn't see how she broke down in that graveyard when Sayle revealed he was her father. Saryna acts like she's the toughest around, and any of us can attest that she is tough, but that night.. He broke her without lifting a finger. I wouldn't have forgiven myself if that Avada had hit her."
"Sayle tried to kill his own daughter? That's just flat out wrong."
"Indeed. Apparently, he knows about the prophecy and was going to kill us both out of the fear that we were the chosen ones. Hina's death will be avenged, that I can promise."
There was an intensity in Nick's eyes that neither Colin or Tyler had ever seen before as they changed the subject to something less morbid.
The Next Morning..
Nick walked outside the castle of Ilvermorny with his trunk rolling behind him, on his way to the buses that would take the students down to the nearby Wizarding town of Spellton Heights. Once there, the teenagers and preteens alike would be apparated back to their respective hometowns for the summer break. He had woken up late, due most likely to his extended stay at the Nurse's Office, and had been one of the last to leave the Thunderbird dorms. He had been on the lookout for Saryna, but his fiancee probably wanted their illusion of hostility intact until they got home.
Home.. Our home. He thought, thinking back to Fontaine's words about their now shared living arrangements. Cracking a smile, he climbed into a still-empty bus, surprised no one else was with him yet.
Meanwhile at an upper window of the school overlooking her beloved's trek to the buses, Saryna chewed her lip nervously as she looked down at herself. She had gotten dressed in the infamous Asia-style shirt and long skirt combo Nick always loved to see her in under her school robes. Shaking her head, she climbed the stairs three at a time, her trunk levitated just behind her as she hurried out to the remaining few buses.
She reached the bus she had seen Nick get on, hoping no one else had climbed aboard in the short time in between. Entering, she sighed in relief as she saw Nick aitring in the back, his head down but glowing. His phone.. She thought, bringing her own cell out of her robe pocket and seeing the text he was probably staring at, waiting for a reply.
I miss you. Where are you? Read the simple text from Nick, bringing a smile to Saryna's face.
She quietly stepped up to his seat and sat down as silently as she could manage. "I'm right here, love." She whispered in his ear as Nick startled.
"Ryna, jeez! Give me a heart attack, why don't you." She giggled in response. "I was wondering whether or not you had gone down to Spellton already."
"I waited for you to come down first, actually. I didn't know if we'd get any time alone until Merlin knows when your mom and Nessa will leave us be."
Nick chuckled. "Ah. Is that all, or are you also afraid what your new friends will think once they see your attitude adjustment?"
"Of course I'm afraid of that! Half of those asshats are Children, so seeing us together would cause panic ahead of schedule. Next term, everyone on their side will know I'm back at your side, but by then we'll know how to deal with them."
"I already do. We'll ignore them like we always have. Even Jack Looper can't mess up my good mood."
"Really? And what's got you in such a good mood?" Saryna asked slyly, smiling.
"I'll give you a hint. She's about your height and is the most beautiful woman at this school." Nick replied with a smirk as he leaned over and pressed his lips to hers, their first kiss in almost two years.
Saryna moaned in surprise as she snaked her arms around his neck. They stayed that way until a third voice entered the bus. "Of course you two sequestered yourselves alone. Where's my kiss?" Said Laura as she leaned over the back of the seat in front of Nick and Saryna's own.
The couple broke apart in surprise, both blushing as Saryna leveled a glare at their friend. "He's all mine! Stop trying to steal him!"
Laura giggled with a glance at Nick. "Of course, your highness. Wouldn't want to get between two hormone-fueled teenagers from screwing each other in the buses. Not like it hasn't happened before."
"Stop, Laura. Why are you always like this around the two of us?" Nick knew why, and feared Saryna would figure it out if Laura kept blabbering on about it.
"Because messing with the two of you is fun and adorable when it comes to seeing your reactions."
Nick rolled his eyes. "Sure. So what are you doing over the summer?"
"Well, I had been planning to repeat last summer," Saryna thankfully didn't notice the blush on Nick's face as he froze in his seat. "But it seems those plans have fallen through."
"You can always come around my place." Nick said. "We can hang as long as you're not only teasing us the whole time."
Laura pouted with a half-smile. "Aw, and here I thought you liked the teasing."
"Enough flirting, Laura. Jeez, I confide our betrothal to you and you still do it. Sure you're not just, I don't know, jealous?"
Laura feigned being hurt as she gasped. "Of course I'm not jealous. Well, maybe not as much as in your first and second years." Nick kept his gaze on Laura, hoping and praying to any higher power she didn't escalate the situation. "And I'm not the only one. Even poor Hina had a jealousy towards you both, bless her soul." Probably best you don't know about last summer. Bummer Nick had to save you from yourself this year. Laura thought with her mind elsewhere.
The bus finally started moving as the three stayed in relative silence, Nick's hand clasping Saryna's the whole ride.
Once the bus had dropped the three off at Spellton, Laura bid goodbye to the couple before making her way to the portkey that would bring her back home to her hometown of Meteor Heights, a town ridiculously close to Nick and Saryna's home of Crystal Springs, the next over in fact. Nick and Saryna then found they were the only students left at Ilvermorny as they used the indicated portkey to reach the abandoned building that served as Meteor Heights' anchor point. Nessa Halliwell, Saryna's older (half) sister greeted them as they regained their bearings once in the condemned school. Exchanging greetings, they all made their way back to Nick's- no, their- house.