Chapter 50: Happily Ever After

On the day of my graduation ceremony, I was incredibly excited. Ever since I stepped foot in the academy doors for the first time, I feared that I wouldn't live to see the day. I had come close a few times but we had won in the end. Today, I would stand in front of all of my peers and do what Manfred had taken from me the year before.

Even though I tried like hell, I wasn't able to make up my grades to stay top of the class. Riley had bested me and while I had gotten used to being the best, I was happy that my friend would be the one who stood before us all to give his farewell speech. It was for the best, anyway. Riley had attended the academy for six years and people looked up to him and respected him. I was respected too, but because I was endowed and now my father was the owner of the academy, any people wouldn't be thrilled with me overshadowing them.

Before we left the house, Zelda made sure that not a single hair on my head was out of place and my make-up was just as perfect. Under my gown I wore a tight, sleeveless navy blue dress that came just above my knees and nude heels. Dad was already at the academy. Although he wasn't the headmaster, he still needed to speak at the ceremony and help set up. This left my mom, my brothers, Zelda and I to drive on our own.

"So, how awkward do you think it is going to be for Dr. Bloor and Manfred to be there?" Charlie asked the second we pulled away from the house.

I glanced back at Zelda in the rearview mirror as her cheeks tinted pink. She was back on speaking terms with Manfred and Salem believed that they were seeing each other again, although she hadn't admitted anything to me yet. It took a lot for her to swallow her pride and forgive him but I didn't expect them to try a relationship again, especially when they were both different people than they had been before.

"I think Dr. Bloor is grateful not to have that burden on him anymore." I said thoughtfully. Although he was no longer the headmaster of the academy, he was still a doctor of education and I felt wrong referring to him as Mr. Bloor or just Harold, even if he was my boyfriend's father. "I don't know how Manfred will feel, however."

"I think he'll be okay. It's the other students that will have strong feelings on the matter." Billy frowned. "While we have forgiven him and know that he was under Mr. Ezekiel's influence, the other students may not have. Manfred was never known as kind to them either."

"It's just one day. They'll survive." Zelda cleared her throat and turned her attention to the view outside of her window.

We arrived at the academy roughly around the same time that everyone else did. Zelda did one more check to make sure I looked acceptable before I donned my cap and gown and had to be separated from my family. Each graduating student had to wait in their designated coatroom until everyone had arrived and was seated.

There were sixteen of us in the music coatroom, including Salem and Riley. They had arrived before I did and Riley had been scolding Salem about not using a proper tie clip for the occasion. "All of those years of etiquette lessons and you haven't learned shite." I heard Riley grumble.

"We're wearing gowns for fuck sake. Who cares if I'm not wearing a tie clip?" Salem waved him away just as they both noticed my arrival. "Fashionably late, I see." He winked at me and planted a quick kiss on my forehead.

As usual, Salem's hair was a mussed, yet fashionable mess and through his opened gown I could tell that his shirt was slightly wrinkled. "I actually made sure my clothes were ironed and my hair was brushed before I left the house. That must be why I beat you here." I teased, trying to straighten out his white dress shirt in vain.

"Et tu, Brute? I'm wearing this stupid gown. Who cares what's underneath?"

"Amy will care when she wants to take pictures of her daughter's big day only to see that her boyfriend couldn't be assed to make an effort." Riley shook his head. "It's like you went through your hamper, did a sniff test, and then you were done."

"Seriously is that how we're going to spend this time? Bitching about my shirt?" Salem gave a frustrated sigh. "It's not even that bad but if it really bothers you that much, do some of your witchy shit on it."

"I heal people, not cloth." I rolled my eyes, annoyed that he would make such a stupid suggestion. "It's fine, Salem. Really. I just wish you would take things like this a little bit more seriously. It looks bad on Dr. Saltweather and my father-"

"Don't." Salem held up his hand. "I don't need this fucking lecture for the millionth time in my life. My father was the headmaster of this place before yours and I'll be damned if you sit here and tell me the same shit my father told me for years."

"You wouldn't be told if you took things seriously." I knew that I shouldn't provoke Salem but I was annoyed by his recent lack of ambition and refusal to take things seriously. Instead of fighting back, Salem walked away from us began to speak with another group of music students. I let out a frustrated and annoyed groan before turning back to Riley.

Not long after Salem started giving me the cold shoulder, Senor Alvaro came to round us all up and place us in alphabetical order, save for Riley, who would be first due to being head of the class. As for the rest of us, it was in order of Almodovar, Bloor, Bone, Elliott, Greene, Grissom, Lloyd, Moore, Parsons, Reid, Spenser, Stone, Sutton, Williams and Yates. We walked in a straight line down the hallway. The drama students were first. They would fill the seats in the back. The middle row was art. Music students were at the back of the line but would fill the front row of seats.

As we walked down the side of the auditorium I kept my head held high and stared straight ahead, which happened to be between Salem's shoulder blades. He still carried himself confidently despite mine and Riley's nagging. When we made it to our designated seats, we still had to stand to sing the anthem and school hymn. My father had left it mostly unchanged from when Septimus Bloor had his head of music write it, other than the obvious "Bloor's Academy" parts.

We all sat and Dr. Saltweather welcomed everyone to the ceremony. Afterwards, my dad gave a small speech about we were the first class to graduate under the newly named Bone Academy. I glanced over at Salem throughout the speech but he didn't acknowledge me once. He stared idly at the crowd and occasionally over at my father. Riley's speech came next and although I knew he worked hard on it, I hardly paid attention. I wasn't excited about this day anymore, not after I had hurt Salem's feelings as badly as I did.

After an hour of everyone speaking altogether, they began to hand our certificates from the back row to the front. One by one, each student stood to their feet and shook Dr. Saltweather's hand, my father's hand, and each department head's hand before returning to their seats. When my name was called, I quietly stood to my feet and shook Dr. Saltweather's hand. When I went to shake my father's, he hugged me instead. I didn't mind, as his face was full of pride. I went down the line and shook the hands of Senor Alvaro, Mrs. Marlowe, and Mr. Sparks.

Once everyone had their diplomas and the farewell address was finished, we walked single file out of the auditorium where our families would be dismissed to find us in the courtyard. Riley had been whisked away for pictures with his family and I didn't know where Salem went off to. I met up with Asa by the ruins. His mother hated the public and refused to be seen around people so Mr. and Mrs. Onimous came in her place. Asa's mother worked with Mrs. Onimous in the kitchen and in return, gave them a place to stay after a generous donation from a certain benefactor allowed them to update and build an addition onto the older building.

"You don't look as happy as I thought you would." Asa noted as we waited for our families. He crossed his arms and his golden eyes surveyed the distance.

"I pissed Salem off before the ceremony and now he won't talk to me." I sighed.

"Does it have anything to do with your overwhelming desire to be right all the time and get the last word in?" When I didn't answer his question, he chuckled. "You two will get it right eventually. You're so different from each other so you're going to be stepping on each other's toes for a while, but you'll make it through. You're good for each other." He carefully patted me on the back and gave me a sincere smile.

It was nice seeing Asa live a happy and relatively normal life. He was still trying to figure himself out, but he seemed to make more progress every day. As we made small talk, I watched his expression darken and an involuntary growl resonated from the back of his throat. I only knew of one person who could still draw that primal anger from him. I turned my head to see Manfred walking towards us. "I'll speak with you later." Asa murmured before sulking off. While he was working on forgiving Manfred, it was hard to get over someone physically torturing you and being indirectly responsible for the mob of idiot townspeople that had your father killed. Asa made great progress every day, but this was a hurdle he struggled to jump.

"I apologize for scaring off your company, but have you seen Salem anywhere?" Manfred asked me as he approached.

"I upset him before the ceremony and now he's avoiding me." I shamefully admitted.

"Oh." He awkwardly shifted his weight to his other foot and looked around. "I'm sure it will sort itself out." While he was trying to be comforting, he was still Manfred Bloor and some things were still strange to him.

"I don't know. I guess I opened some old wounds and it really upset him. He doesn't get that angry at me often but I really struck a nerve with him. It was a petty argument and I should have let it go. Do you want to help me find him? My dad is still inside rubbing elbows with all of the people who haven't gotten to meet the new owner and god knows where my brothers have run off to."

"Yeah, sure." He agreed.

"I appreciate it. Do you know where Zelda is?" I asked.

It was an innocent question but it was enough to get Manfred embarrassed and annoyed. "How the hell should I know?"

"I'm actually kind of offended you two are putting on such an act as if I don't really know what is going on between you two. I am Zelda's best friend, after all. I should know what is going on in her life. Actually, I would like to think of you and I as friends by now too."

"Pff." Manfred rolled his eyes and scoffed at me, but I could see him fighting back a smirk. "Look, it's not really anything at the moment. We're trying to figure out if we can work through all of the old things that happened. Not everyone forgives as easily as you and Charlie do. Now come on, She is over by the doors and maybe she can help us find Salem too."

"I thought you didn't know where She was?" I raised an eyebrow at him and couldn't help but giggle at how flustered he was getting.

"You're a pain. Let's go." He thoughtlessly grabbed my wrist and led me towards the large academy doors. Just before we got there, someone intercepted us. It was Fiona Spenser, one of the more cheerful prefects I had gotten to know in my time in the academy.

"Infinity! Is everything okay?" She eyed Manfred warily and he quickly let me go, refusing to meet her watchful gaze.

"Ah." I glanced at Manfred and placed my hand on his arm to show Fiona that I wasn't afraid of him anymore. "I'm fine. We were just looking for Salem. Have you seen him anywhere?"

"I don't think he ever came outside. Maybe check the coatroom?"

"Thanks, we'll do that." I gave her my friendliest smile before dismissing myself. "I'm sure I'll see you later, Fiona."

"Of course. See you later, Infinity. Sir."

"Not sir." Manfred shook his head and corrected her. "Just Manfred. Have a good evening and congratulations."

We walked away from her and towards Zelda, who was leaning against the academy wall and watching everyone as they took pictures and shared happy faces. "What are you two up to?" She asked us.

"Looking for Salem. Fiona thinks he went back to the coatrooms. Do you…want to come with us?" Manfred rubbed the back of his neck and tried not to make eye contact with her too long. Not only was their body language giving them away, I could feel the tension myself. If Zelda didn't want to talk about it yet, I would give her the privacy she clearly wanted but I would admit that I was hurt that she wouldn't come to me about this.

"Actually, why don't you two keep looking for him out here? It shouldn't take me long to check the coatrooms and if I do find him, I'll come find you." I quickly excused myself and poked my head into the drama and art coatrooms first just to cover my bases. He wasn't there, so I looked in the music coatroom as well. When I glanced in, he was there. His back was turned to me and he was facing a mirror. I could see that he had changed into a different shirt and was adjusting his tie. His hair looked a bit neater and he ran a hand over his stubble. I leaned against the doorframe and watched him.

Even with a disheveled appearance I always thought Salem was handsome. Even though Manfred being away from dark magic made his appearance improve greatly and I found him handsome as well (they were twins after all), Salem carried himself in a completely different way that made him more attractive to me, even if he was a total mess sometimes. "Do I pass your inspection, Lady Bone?" He never turned to face me and his voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm sorry." I slowly approached him. I wanted to diffuse the situation, not instigate it more. "I shouldn't have said what I said. You were right. No one could see your shirt under the gown and you looked fine."

He let out a frustrated sigh and turned to me. "I should have paid more attention to what I was wearing before I left the Passing House. To be honest, I didn't even know it was wrinkled until Riley said something about it. Then he just kept going from there, bitching about the tie clip and my hair and whatever else. Then you arrived looking like…well, you. And I immediately felt guilty. I may have projected a bit."

"Where did you get the spare shirt?" I asked.

"Paton."

"You actually got Uncle Paton to come?" I was impressed. While Uncle Paton had wanted to attend the graduation ceremony, he had trouble with lights. Now that I looked around, I noticed that most of them had been turned off and the only light in the academy was the sunlight coming from the large latticed windows.

"I think he was planning on coming anyway, after all the fuss died down. I believe Lyell planned to have a dinner in the ballroom for the family. Candlelit, naturally." I watched him carefully roll up and button the sleeves of his shirt as he always did. He closed the distance between us and brushed a stray hair from my face. "I would kiss you if I didn't fear ruining Zelda's hard work. I don't understand why she insists on attending college when her talent is obviously here. Good make-up artists make good money."

"She likes doing it for fun but she really wants to become a mathematician." I shrugged. "You could probably kiss me anyway. Zelda says this stuff doesn't come off for anything." To show him, I ran a finger along my bottom lip and it didn't smudge. He smirked and carefully took my face into his hands. He kissed me in such a slow, intoxicating way that my legs nearly forgot to hold me up.

"We should get back to everyone else." He murmured.

I reluctantly agreed and we returned to the courtyard where families were celebrating and snapping pictures. Ever since he embraced his endowment, Charlie found interest in photography and actually had a good eye for it. I watched from afar as he took photos of not only the happy graduates, but photos of people living their lives in general that always took my breath away. Dad had asked Charlie if he wished to be switched to the art department, but he didn't want to be separated from Fidelio. He also seemed to enjoy his lessons with Senor Alvaro and made great progress in just the last few months alone.

"The outcome of this is way better than I would have ever expected." Salem put his arm around my shoulder and pointed in the direction of Dr. Bloor and my dad. They were talking and both had smiles on their faces. Never in my life would I have expected to see such a thing. "Dad and Pap have a relationship again. Manny is actually content with his life. I think he'll win Zelda back. I think he and Asa will eventually repair their relationship as well. Asa and Manny were friends from the beginning, before the wickedness took them over."

It wasn't long before we were pulled into a whirlwind of pictures and being fussed over. When that was finally over and everyone else cleared out, the last of us were whisked into the ballroom where a large table was prepared for a feast. I glanced around at the attendees. Riley and his family had stayed, the Onimous' and Asa's mother had come, Uncle Paton, Aunt Julia and Emma, my parents and brothers, Maisie, Cook, Dr. Saltweather, Zelda, Manfred, Dr. Bloor, Bartholomew, Meng and Naren were there as well. Everyone basically sat where they wanted. I ended up between Asa and Salem. I noticed that Zelda had chosen a seat next to Manfred with Charlie on the other side of her. Riley was seated next to Salem.

Asa seemed to be uncomfortable with Manfred sitting in such close proximity but loosened up after a bit. "It's a shame that a lot of our memories together ended up being so bad." Manfred spoke, referring to Asa, Zelda, Salem and I. "I do plan to make up for it, even if it takes the rest of my life."

"You don't have to make up anything to me." Salem waved a hand at him and rolled his eyes. "You saved my life before that ancient bastard kicked the bucket."

Asa stared down at his plate and tried to suppress a frown. "What you did ultimately costed my father his life. Merromals choose partners for life. The loss devastated my mother more than anything. She'll have to spend the rest of her days alone. I haven't seen her really smile since the day that he died."

"Everyone did things they weren't proud of." Zelda cut in. "Every single one of us followed Ezekiel's orders to the letter. Have you forgotten about Leandra Duncan? Salem nearly succeeded in making everyone forget Lyell's face. Dagbert almost killed Tancred. I hurt a lot of people. Infinity even almost fucked up. Just because you broke from Ezekiel's influence faster than Manfred did doesn't mean that you're any better than him."

Who was Leandra Duncan? I silently asked Salem.

Leandra Duncan was an endowed fifth year who disappeared two years before you and Charlie came to the academy. She could see things that happened in the past. She was caught snooping around in the West Wing and Ezekiel was paranoid that she would figure out things that he didn't want her to know. We used to do a thing called the Ruin Game where they would hide a medal in the old ruins at night and whoever found it would be given immunity from receiving detentions for a year and various other prizes. Asa killed Leandra at Ezekiel's behest. All that was recovered was her cape. During the final ruin game, Charlie was supposed to be the victim. He would have succeeded if not for Lysander's intervention. He quickly explained to me. He still thinks about it a lot. He still feels guilty.

Asa didn't have a retort to Zelda's comment and an awkward silence followed. "If you don't want to forgive me, then no one is forcing you to. I can tell you I'm sorry every day for the rest of my life but I will never expect you to forgive me unless you want to." Manfred finally broke the painfully agonizing silence.

"I'll work on it, yeah?" Asa shrugged. "I can't promise anything, but I'll try."

For the rest of the night we tried to avoid heavy conversation and for the most part, succeeded. After talking things out a bit, Manfred and Asa seemed a lot more relaxed with each other although I knew they still had a long way to go. I was confident that everything would turn out well for them.

After dinner, Salem and I decided that we would walk back to Diamond Corner separate from everyone else. We rarely had time to spend together with final tests, university admissions and graduation and I was excited to be able to talk with him about things that wouldn't shape our entire future or involve putting ourselves in danger. We walked under the starry sky hand in hand. When the summer ended, I would have to leave him behind as I headed to college. We had survived more stressful separations than this and I knew we would be okay.

I no longer regretted coming to England, discovering my powers and being placed in the situations I had been forced to deal with. Ailwyn's death was still regrettable. I missed him often and wished that there would have been some other way. No one had been able to track down Lillian since she had dropped me off and walked out of my life but I thought that was for the best. It was only a matter of time before news reached her that we had come into money and she would come crawling back into our lives like the leech that she was. Someday, her choices would catch up to her.

I had earned my happiness and wouldn't allow my thoughts to be soiled by thinking of those who had wronged me. I had made progress, had grown into someone I never thought I could be. And that was enough for me. For the first time in my life, I had a loving mother and a father that was devoted to spending all of his time with his family. I had two pain in the ass little brothers who I wouldn't trade for anything in the world. I had close friends who cared about me as much as I did them. Friends that were so fiercely loyal that they risked their lives to fight for something that they strongly believed in. While the last year and a half of my life had been full of danger and peril, the results were worth it.

Dr. Bloor and Manfred were working towards helping make reparations to lives that had been previously ruined. A lot of us had lost parents due to the greed and selfishness that propelled Ezekiel forward. No one would be able to bring back what had been taken away from Billy, Emma, Asa, Charlie or myself. No one would be able to fully fix all of the damage that would be done, but the process seemed to help both of them greatly.

"Hey, we were supposed to be taking this walk to clear your head and spend time together. Your thoughts are going a million miles an hour and it's making me dizzy." Salem wrapped a long arm around my shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I'll ever stop overthinking." I sighed. "I want this to be our happily ever after. Things turned out fantastic for most of us, but a lot of people are still suffering. If I think about it, I know that your father and brother are thinking about it too. I know that you're thinking about it. Some of us lost our parents, some lost their children. Some lost everything they ever owned."

"That's something that we all have to work through dealing with on our own. It has only been a few months. The pain won't just go away. It still eats at all of us. I still feel guilt for the things I have done. There isn't a single day that doesn't go by that Asa doesn't think about the lives he took. Zelda tries to push the thoughts away and cope by keeping herself busy. Manfred is on medication and is in therapy. And you, you try to fix everything but you can't." He glanced over at me and planted a quick kiss on my temple. "We all just have to keep going. And as long as we stay vigilant and work together, we can keep things from getting that bad ever again."

We came to a stop in front of Diamond Corner. I looked back at the large brick house, then back at Salem before finally resigning myself to smile despite the grim topic at hand. "We just have to keep going." I repeated. We shared a quick kiss before joining my parents and brothers in the house behind us.