"Hope."

Hope pressed her face deeper against his chest. It was way too early to wake up, so why was he insisting on it?

"Hope, you've gotta wake up," Ryan whispered against her hair.

"No."

"It's Coven Day and you need to be there for it."

"Don't wanna. Alyssa Chang is being an extraordinary bitch lately and if I go, I'll have to interact with her," Hope groaned and pulled her pillow over her head.

"I thought extraordinary bitch was her normal."

"That's horrible." Hope slapped him lightly and laughed as she sat up.

"I was her professor for a few months. I got to know the girl."

"Very true. Though if she has that bacon candle burning again, so help me, I'm going to throw it at her head."

Hope started dressing, then looked back at Ryan, to find him lying across the bed, his arm behind his head.

"What?" she asked.

"Just enjoying the view," he said with a slow smirk spreading across his face.

Hope pulled on her clothes and then walked over to Ryan and kissed his cheek.

"Behave." Ryan caught her hand and linked his fingers with hers.

"You too. Starting with coming clean with Josie."

"You want me to tell Josie about what I was doing?" Ryan stared at her, terror written across his face.

"Please."

"It'd make it easier for you to be her friend again, wouldn't it, if I come clean?"

"It would, actually. I feel like I'm lying to her because I can't tell her the truth about you."

"Okay. So, what should I do? What do I say?"

"Just tell her that your father was trying to kill you and you were trying to find a way out. And make it clear how sorry you are that you did what you did and now that you're free of Malivore, you see just how horrible you were to her."

"I don't know what to say."

"Just be honest with her. Tell her how terrified you were of Malivore. Josie will be upset with you, but if she knows the horrible way you've been forced to live most of your life, she'll come to, if not forgive you, at least she'll understand you, eventually."

"If she curses me, I'm blaming you." Ryan stood up and ran his hands through his hair.

Standing on tiptoe, Hope pressed her lips to his softly, and said, "I love you."

Ryan hung his head and whispered, "I hurt one of your friends."

"Be honest and be sincere in your apology."

Ryan nodded once and took a deep breath, exhaling slowly.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Hope cupped his cheek.

"Please. Don't speak for me, but you being there will help me get through this."

"Okay. Get dressed and we'll get it done."

Ryan walked over to the dresser and pulled out some clothes.

"You're not going to let me put this off, are you?" he asked as he pulled on a pair of pants.

"No. The sooner you come clean, the better for all of us. You and I don't have to lie to Josie and Josie knows the truth about you and what you really wanted." Hope walked up to Ryan and ran her hand down his bare chest.

"I love you," Ryan wrapped his arms around her and breathed against her hair.

"Love you too."

Ryan sighed and pulled away from her. Catching a curl between his fingers, he hooked it behind her ear, then went to his closet to finish dressing.

After he was dressed, they headed out to try to find Josie.

"You know," Alyssa stepped in front of them, "I can't help but wonder, how does it feel to be sleeping with your little brother's ex-girlfriend?"

"You know something, Alyssa? Eat glass." Ryan smiled widely at her and then caught Hope's elbow to try to keep her from starting anything else.

"She's fond of linking spells," Hope warned.

"And she knows a time delay spell so we wouldn't know we were cursed until later," Ryan hissed.

"Thanks to Vardemus?"

"Yes."

"All the more reason to come clean, so we can try keep ahead of any damage that could come from what she can do with it."

Hope saw Josie headed towards Alaric's office.

"Josie!" Hope called. "We need to talk to you. I know you're probably busy, but it's really important. I promise."

"Fine. I've got a few minutes."

"Privately?" Ryan tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"Of course." Josie looked from Hope to Ryan, concerned now.

Glancing around, she led them to a small classroom, closing the door behind them.

"What's going on?"

"I um, I have a confession to make. And it'll be hard for you to hear, but you need to know."

"What's going on?" Josie's face twisted with concern.

"I did something, horrible, to you. Before Hope stepped in and saved me. I was so desperate and terrified, that I was willing to do anything and everything to try to get out of the situation I was in and it ended up putting you into a terrible situation."

"What did you do?"

"I um, I had a ring that allowed me to look like anyone I needed to look like." Ryan swallowed thickly and hung his head. "I was Vardemus. And your troubles with the hourglass, they're my fault."

"You knew?" Josie asked Hope, her accusations clear.

"Don't blame her, please. Hope was furious when she first found out what I was doing and then she made it so I didn't feel like I had to do what I was doing."

"Why did you do it?"

"Malivore. My father sent me back with a ticking time bomb in me that was killing me and I was so desperate to stay alive and try to free myself from him that I was willing to do anything, including teach a young, powerful witch to use magic that I didn't fully understand."

Josie turned away from them and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I was dying and I didn't have anyone to turn to. I'm sorry."

"Was he actually dying?" Josie asked Hope, her voice breaking.

"Yes, he was. That's why I made him a new body, to free him from Malivore and to keep him from feeling like he had to do stupid things to stay ahead of Malivore."

"I stopped doing anything against you the moment Hope put the pieces together of who I really was and she agreed to help free me from my father. No, that doesn't make things right, but I just wanted you to know that as soon as I had another option, I stopped using you."

"What were you going to do with the hourglass?"

"Um, probably trying to use it against Malivore." Ryan shrugged.

"I'm sorry, Josie," Hope said. "I understand if you don't want to be my friend anymore after this, but I'm hoping that we can find a way to heal, when you're ready."

"I too, am sorry, Miss Saltzman. It was cruel, what I did to you, and I had no right to allow my fear to make me feel like I had the right to do this to you."

"My dad knows?"

"Yes. He found out right before Hope made me a new body."

"Who else knows?"

"Dorian might know? I'm not sure though."

Josie sat down on the nearest chair heavily.

"I'm so sorry, Josie." Hope chewed on her inner cheek and she reached out towards Josie, but dropped her hands.

"It's gonna take time. I understand it, in a way, but I need to process it."

"Take all the time you need, but know that if you need anything, we'll be here, I promise." Hope's heart broke at the realization that her need to be honest with Josie could very well be the end of their friendship entirely.

"I'm not asking you to forgive me. I know I don't deserve it, not after the danger my actions have put you into. I just want you to know that I am sorry."

"What about the letter?"

"I was trying to make things right. I didn't know that the mora miserium would break down the way it is and I was trying to find a way to stop being Vardemus without hurting people more than I already had."

"Okay. I've got things to take care of." Josie headed towards the door, then stopped. "I'm not saying no to being friends again, Hope. I just need time."

"We'll stay out of your way as much as we can until you're ready to talk," Hope promised.

"Thanks." Josie opened the door and walked away.

"That was so much harder than I thought it'd be," Ryan admitted.

She looked up at him, her breath catching in her throat at the sadness on his face. In an effort to comfort him, Hope ran her fingers through his hair and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. Ryan looked down at her and a sad smile pulled at his lips.

"You've got to get to Coven Day," Ryan reminded her.

"Yeah."

"I'll be okay, Hope. You need to spend time with your friends."

Hope nodded, her face rubbing against his shirt as she moved.

"I'll at least try to have fun. But come on, maybe you could look in and see what it's like first.

When they entered the gymnasium, they found Wade in the middle of a presentation.

"And that's why I think I'm a fairy," Wade was saying.

"Being bad at magic doesn't make you anything special," Alyssa cut in to the titters of the people around her.

Wade visibly deflated, but before he got off the stage, he stared off to one side, his eyes wide with horror.

"Who are you?"

Ryan looked towards the direction that Wade was staring in and he hissed.

"What is it?" Hope asked.

"Whatever Wade is, he's not a witch, trust me. He's seeing something no one else should be able to." Ryan walked quickly towards Wade with Hope on his heels.

"You going to make fun of me too?" Wade asked. "Because I'm seeing something I shouldn't be seeing."

"No. I believe you. Remember, I'm not human either and I saw it too."

"What is it?"

"The way it looked, I'd say it's a qareen. An Arabian monster that feeds on insecurities and feeds off of negativity so it can manifest itself in our plane."

"So, Alyssa Chang would help it just fine," Hope commented.

"Any negativity, Hope. Not just hers."

"So, how do we beat it?"

"It will take more research, because I'm not sure. Though Wade, you will be coming with us. We need your help. You being able to see it gives us something to go on."

"Are you really a fairy?" Hope asked, studying Wade carefully as they walked down the hall.

"Yeah. You think I'm crazy though, don't you?"

"If Ryan thinks you're something other than the three main species at this school, I trust him. And you being able to see this thing speaks to you being different, so yeah, I believe you."

"Fairies gain their strength from other people's beliefs in them," Ryan said. "So the more people believe in you, the stronger you become."

"And since no one believes in me, I have no power."

They came around the corner and ran into Sebastian.

"Sebastian, we find ourselves in need of your help," Ryan said.

"What can I do to help?"

"When we say, talk Wade up, do whatever you have to do, but get people to believe in him," Hope instructed.

"There's a qareen running around and Wade can see it because he's a fairy and fairies gain their strength through other people's beliefs in them," Ryan explained. "I've got a few ideas about how to take it down, but we need to do some research first."

"A fairy?" Sebastian raised an eyebrow and looked Wade up and down.

"Yes." Wade lifted his chin, in an attempt to seem confident.

"Alright."

"But you might want to stay with us until then," Hope said. "Wade and Ryan can see this thing while the rest of us can't. So it'd be good to know when this monster is around."

"Right. What do we need to do?"

Hours later, they had a plan together and Sebastian went out to sew belief in the fairy into the minds and hearts of the students at the school.

"We believe in you, Wade." Hope hugged him.

"Thanks, Hope. Having the most powerful witch in this school think I can do this, it helps, a lot." Wade smiled.

"Come on. Time for you to take down your first monster. And since you can see it, lead the way."

When they came down the stairs, the students started chanting Wade's name.

"There!" Wade whispered.

"Time to shine, fairy boy." Hope squeezed his arm. "Holy crap, what is that thing?"

"That's the qareen," Wade said as he walked down the stairs, head held high.

Drawing on the power of the people around him, Wade unleashed a blast of power at the monster, revealing his wings as he did so.

"Holy crap!" Kaleb shouted. "Go, Wade!"

Now, the cheering turned real, and with that, Wade's power grew even more and soon, the qareen was done for. With that, the crowd surged towards Wade, clapping and cheering for him.

After enjoying the moment in the spotlight, Wade walked up to Ryan and Hope.

"Thank you, for believing me and believing in me."

"You deserve to know what you can do, what you're capable of," Ryan said with a slight smile playing around his lips

"Still, that first bit of belief, it felt good."

"Okay, you three," Lizzie joined them. "Hope, we need your help."

"We need all the witches' help," Josie added. She looked from Hope to Ryan, her expression wary.

"What's going on?"

"We think we've got a way to deal with the mora miserium," Josie explained.

"We're going to send it to a prison world, a new one, not the one where our crazy uncle Kai is."

"But you need help to create the Ascendant and to send it there," Hope realized.

"Yes," the twins said together.

"Let's do it."

"

The spell was over and done and Hope decided to try to talk to Lizzie. Though she knew that the blonde would support her sister,and wouldn't want to talk to her she just wanted to make sure they were okay.

"Lizzie!" Hope caught up to her. "Are you two okay?"

"The hourglass is gone, so yeah, I think we're-" Lizzie cut off and disappeared.

"What the hell?"

"What just happened?" Ryan asked, coming around the corner.

"Lizzie just disappeared!" Hope whispered. "Almost like- Oh, my god."

"Like she was sent to the prison world," Ryan hissed.

"Alyssa." Hope ran down the hall and burst into the other witch's room and rifled through her things, coming upon the item she was looking for. The Ascendant. She'd actually done it?

"I'm seriously regretting ever pretending to be Vardemus," Ryan remarked as he took in Hope holding the Ascendant. "Because I'm guessing she switched out the items and then the time delayed spell I taught them did the rest."

The door opened and Alyssa walked through the door. Enraged, Hope pounced.

Using magic, Hope pinned Alyssa to the wall and held up the Ascendant. "I think we need to talk."

"You're hot when you're angry," Ryan whispered against her hair.

"Not now, Ryan. Alyssa needs to be dealt with."

"Later then," Ryan chuckled.

"Of course." With one more smile at her lover, Hope turned the full focus of her fury to the girl she held against the wall.