I paced back and forth outside the spiral staircase that led to the Headmaster's office. Heart pounding, I couldn't help but bite my nails as I waited for Sebastian and Ominis to emerge from their meeting with Professor Black. I had no idea what the outcome would be – either Sebastian could remain at Hogwarts, or he would be suspended and put on trial for killing his uncle. Ominis was there to change the story and throw his last name around in order to convince Black to let him stay, but I truly didn't even know how much information Black had. Did he know the whole story? Or the bits and pieces we were willing to feed him, twisted to help Sebastian get out of this as unscathed as possible?

I stopped my pacing when I heard footsteps coming down the stairwell – the noise implied that it wasn't just one person descending! That had to be good, right? If Sebastian was suspended, he would be alone in Black's office getting chewed out for sure, I think. Or maybe he's just coming down to say goodbye before he packs his bags, a little voice whispered in the back of my mind.

Thankfully, both Sebastian and Ominis descended the stairwell and joined me in the open space. Neither of them looked like speaking, so I had to be the one to break the silence. I crossed my arms over my chest, looking between the two of them. "Well?"

Ominis sighed. "He's not expelled, but he's to take his O. tomorrow and then he's suspended for the rest of the year. He'll return next year, but he won't be able to participate in any clubs, sports, or trips to Hogsmeade."

I felt my whole body sigh in relief, and I looked at Sebastian to confirm what Ominis was saying, but his expression was stony, and he remained silent.

"Well, thank Merlin you're not expelled!" I said, enveloping Sebastian in a quick hug. He uncharacteristically didn't reciprocate, and just stood still. He was obviously still unhappy with the punishment he was given. "I mean," I hastily added as I withdrew, "I know it's not ideal, but you have to admit things could have gone so much worse. Right, Sebastian?"

His eyes finally met mine, but there was no kindness or warmth in them. When I had first met Sebastian, his eyes held a sparkle of mischief. They lit up when he told me how we were breaking into the restricted section, and it made the whole scheme fun, somehow. Even in the darkest of places, Sebastian always had a quip to lighten the mood as we shouldered on. But now, they were cold and unfeeling. It made me nervous.

"Sebastian?" I asked again, unease growing in the pit of my stomach as he hesitated to answer.

Sebastian clenched his jaw and finally spoke. "Ominis, I appreciate you getting me out of serious trouble. This is the last time I expect it to happen. But I'm done here."

I couldn't help but shoot a (useless) confused glance at Ominis, who seemed weary, like he hasn't slept since this whole trouble with dark magic began.

"Of course you are," Ominis said, nodding his head in affirmation. "I don't see any viable reason for you to stay involved with the dark arts. The worst thing possible has happened-"

"No!" Sebastian shouted, then repeated quietly. "No, Ominis. I'm done with you two."

I took a step back as I felt my heart stop beating. "What do you mean? Sebastian, we're your friends, we wanted to make sure you didn't ruin your life-"

"Just stop, Lyra. Stop. I needed both your help in the Scriptorium, but I should have done the rest by myself. You and Ominis have been holding me back ever since we found the spell book. Hell, Ominis wouldn't even tell me about the Scriptorium, and we were best friends! Neither of you know what it's like, to have this gaping wound in your in chest that has festered ever since Anne was cursed. Neither of you have a strong bond with anyone like we do, but if you did, you would know why I'd do anything to help her."

I blinked, still in shock. "But would Anne truly want that?"

Sebastian made a sound of frustration and dismissed me with a wave of his hand, "Even now, you don't even try to see my side of things! I won't stop searching for a cure, no matter what it takes, and no matter what means I use to get it. You – both of you – would only try to stop me. So I'm getting rid of the problem ahead of time. Leave me alone."

He briskly pushed past me, headed towards… I don't know. Maybe just towards a place where we weren't. I couldn't help but watch him leave. My voice came out in a shaky whisper. "Does he truly mean it, Ominis?"

"I don't know," he responded, and I heard his voice waver. "Maybe he needs time…" he cleared his throat. "I need to go." He didn't wait for my response before turning in the opposite direction and walking away.

I numbly trailed back to the Ravenclaw common room after collecting myself, doing everything in my power not to cry until I was back in my bed. As I crawled under my covers, I let the tears escape, and my imagination ran away with what I had lost this year. When Professor Fig died, the grief was the worst thing I had ever experienced. My classmates may see me as the witch that defeated Ranrok, but Fig was there when I first struggled to cast a simple spell. He taught me with all the patience in the world, gently wiped away any tears of frustration I had shed, and helped me grow into a witch worthy of the Keepers. He made plans for me to stay with him in his estate over the summer so I wouldn't have to go back to my foster home again. I never knew my real father, but he was the closest thing I had to one. I had often imagined the grief as this raw, gaping wound – ironically, like Sebastian had described – and I knew there was nothing I could do about it.

Losing Sebastian like this… it was a whole different world of pain. I knew my grief for Fig was a wound – in time, with grieving, it may heal, but a scar on my soul will remain afterward. It's something I was forced to accept, because I couldn't undo it. Sebastian's exit from my life was like a void in my chest. It left me feeling hollow – like I was scrambling to try to fill in the gap, but I couldn't find the thing to satisfy it. It was the aspect of possibility that hurt more; it wasn't impossible for Sebastian to come back into my life, just unlikely. But it could happen, couldn't it? Should I even bother to try? Should I do something – anything – to make him change his mind?

As I felt the tears continue to fall down my face, I knew in my heart the answer was no. Unless I gave in and encouraged him to use the dark arts, he wouldn't be my friend again. That was the one thing I couldn't do. It was wrong. It would only hurt him and anyone else involved. I closed my eyes and hoped sleep would come to me eventually.

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"I can't believe he treated you like that! I knew Sebastian was cocky in class, but that's just cruel." Natty put her arm around me and pulled me into a hug. When Samantha Dale saw I was emotional wreck who refused to go to breakfast, she sent Natty an owl. Natty, in turn, didn't hesitate to get Poppy and sneak them both in to the Ravenclaw common room.

Natty was kind to me on my very first day of Charms class, and it was surprising how quickly we became close. Maybe it was something in our mutual personalities, but we trusted each other from the very beginning, and grew to become best friends. With everything we went through with Harlow, it was easy to tell her the whole story of what happened with Sebastian, including me having an innocent crush on him in the beginning of the year. Poppy and I also had our fair share of adventure, and I knew that her and Natty would get along well – Poppy's kindness, demeanor, and loyalty endeared her to Natty right away. Natty, in turn, was patient and encouraging with Poppy opening up – she knew Poppy didn't have that many friends, and she was determined to be one. This led to the three of us hanging out in the viaduct courtyard for fun, and forming a study group to help us complete our assignments. In my time of need, I had Natty hugging me while Poppy sat at the foot of my bed with a tissue box.

"Not to mention," Poppy chimed in, "it sounds like you did everything you possibly could. You spent so much of your time this year helping others, myself included, and now you need to put yourself first."
"Yes!" Natty agreed as she tried to brush my long, brown hair out of my tear-stained face. "Sebastian is definitely dealing with his own feelings of incompetence – with not finding a cure – and there's nothing you can do to fix it. He's going to figure it out, or end up alone. And I say, if he doesn't apologize and come around – you're way better off without him in your life."

I smiled amongst my sniffles. From a logical standpoint, I knew they were right, of course. How many times have I read a muggle book and thought the heroine was a dolt for wasting her tears on someone unworthy? Living the situation, I had to admit to myself, was a little bit different, and I knew it would take some time to get over the pain.

"What about Ominis?" Poppy asked unexpectedly. "Are you two still friends?"

I frowned. I guess I automatically thought we would still be, but I didn't give it serious thought until now. Upon further reflection, every time I was with Ominis, it was because we were in a group of three. I never got to know him the way I knew Sebastian.

"I don't know," I admitted. "But I'd like us to stay friends. He has a bit of a cold exterior, but he's a good person. He knew from the start we were wrong. Plus," I said, smiling appreciatively at both of them, "he doesn't know what it's like to have you two. His only friends were Anne and Sebastian, and now they're gone. If I were him, I would want someone by my side."

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News always travels fast around Hogwarts – I always thought it was because there were speaking portraits everywhere, but another student could have easily overheard the conversation we had yesterday. It had occurred to me last night that I never asked what story the boys told Professor Black, but whispers in the hallways told me what I needed to know.

Sebastian was searching the Feldcroft tomb for a cure for Anne, but it was a dead end, and soon a swarm of inferi were upon him. Ominis went to Solomon because he had an inkling of his plans, so Solomon ran to Sebastian's aid in the tomb. Sebastian naively attempted to cast some spells from Slytherin's book as a method of self-defense (he can't quite remember what they were, exactly), and one of them hit Solomon. It caused a pain in his chest but he insisted he was fine, as he had been dealing with bouts of heartburn every so often. They cleared out the inferi and thought that the situation was over. That night, Solomon fell asleep and didn't wake up. Anne, distraught, fled Feldcroft to live with distant relations in Edinburgh.

The Gaunt family are direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin, so of course they saw Slytherin's spellbook – even if it was little but an ashy remnant of its former self – as their personal property. Ominis told Professor Black that the book in question was in his family's library and no, they will not give it to him under any circumstances. While Sebastian shouldn't have cast the spell, it was an accident, and it is possible Solomon's previous heart condition contributed more to his death than the spell – he originally told Sebastian and Ominis he was fine. Given these facts, no one can be certain that Sebastian would be convicted in a trial. If it was to even go to trial, however, the Gaunt family would do everything in their power to defend him – he did find the book, after all. Really, a suspension was enough – it would go on his record, and preventing him from leaving the castle in the future would ensure nothing like this terrible tragedy would ever happen again.

Ominis was truly a genius for engineering the argument, and it worked.

Everyone also knew, however, about the argument that followed the decision. I suppose it was lucky I was used to students and their whispers – I had felt everyone's eyes on me since I first arrived at Hogwarts as a fifth year. Combined with the Hogsmeade troll, Rookwood, Harlow, and Ranrok, I felt like I could never catch a break in the outside world or the castle. It made my skin crawl for the first couple of months, but in time I discovered who my real friends were. This time, I found the worst part of the endeavor was the guilt. There were students who made it clear they thought Sebastian was right, and that I really was at fault for getting in his way.

"I still can't believe Sebastian's been suspended," a Griffyndor whispered to her friend, loud enough for me to hear, "It was just an accident, and he was doing it all for his sister. Lyra Bloor thinks it's fine to do whatever she wants, but doesn't hesitate to stop other people from trying to be heroes."

"I bet you she just wanted to do it herself and then get the credit for it," her friend agreed, "and she hasn't been punished once for all that she's done outside of school rules."

I had to leave the library early that day.

I'm not sure if they saw Ominis as a guilty party too, but he was still the one who saved Sebastian from getting expelled. Either way, while I tried to look for Ominis around the school myself, I was afraid to actually ask about him, lest the talking gets worse. I couldn't seem to catch him at dinner, he all but ran out of class when it was done, and he was never in any common areas when I walked the castle. I went to the Undercroft sporadically in case he was following some sort of schedule, and that's where I eventually found him.

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"Hello, Ominis," I said as I entered the dark, gloomy Undercroft. So much had changed in this past year, but this dusty safe haven remained the same – stacks of cauldrons against the wall, cobwebs littering the corners, and statues covered by canvas scattered about.

I heard the telltale thwack of a training dummy hit the ground – so there was something new in here after all – but not a word from the solemn wizard flinging spells at it. Ominis Gaunt was fixed in a dueling stance, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and a thin sheen of sweat was starting to form on his forehead.

"Ominis-" I tried again, but was quickly interrupted.

"Sebastian's not here," he said dismissively, his unseeing eyes never leaving the target.

"What? Of course- I'm not-" I sighed and gave up on using my words. "For Merlin's sake, Ominis," I said, and, pulling out my own wand, cast a spell.

"Expelliarmus!" I uttered, and Ominis' wand went flying out of his hand. "Accio!" As I felt his smooth wand enter my open hand, I saw him sigh and slump his shoulders.

"Okay, I'm listening. What is it?" he asked as he approached me, his face looking less angry but slightly more annoyed.

"I came to see how you're doing. You've been leaving class as soon as you possibly can, you barely show up to the Great Hall for meals, and I don't know how else to inquire about your wellbeing." His fingers briefly brushed mine as he took his wand back. "I figured this would be the only place I could talk to you. I've," I nervously scratched the back of my neck, "I've been coming here randomly all week."

Ominis fiddled with his wand. "I know," he said gently.

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You do? How?"

He used his wand to point to the chandelier above us. "You light these when you come in, and you don't extinguish the flame when you leave. I obviously don't need them lit to see," he said, tapping his forehead, next to his eye, "but you do. When I come in and it feels warmer than usual, I know you've been here."

I felt my face redden as a blush grew on my cheeks. Was I really that predictable and careless? He may not be able to see me, but can he somehow sense my embarrassment? "I'm sorry. I'll remember to extinguish the flame when I leave from now on," I shook my head, remembering the reason I came to the Undercroft in the first place. "But that's neither here nor there. Please, just talk to me. How are you?"

"How am I?" Ominis let out a humorless laugh. "I spent nearly all this past year watching my best friend go down the slippery slope of dark magic, barely managed to prevent him getting expelled or sent to Azkaban, and now he doesn't want to see me ever again!"

He sat down, leaning against a wall, and spat out, "so forgive me if I come across as moody or brooding, which I guess I am, but I. Am. Not. Okay." He put his head back and closed his eyes as I sat down next to him.

"You especially don't deserve this," I said quietly. "You've been his best friend since you got here, while Sebastian and I were only close for a year. If I'm feeling a terrible ache in my soul, I can't even imagine what pain you're in. Honestly…" I had to take a breath. "I feel like he just should've kicked me out of his life but kept you in it. From the very start you knew the inevitable dangers, and even when we didn't listen, you helped us when we needed it. We're lucky we had you; I don't think we would've survived if we didn't." He didn't respond, or ask me how I was doing, but I continued anyways. "I'm so sorry, Ominis," I say. "I have half the school calling me 'hero,' and even without the glares from the others, I still feel like I've failed you both. If it weren't for me, joining forces with Sebastian in the very beginning…" my voice cracked and a lump formed in my throat. Tears welled up in my eyes as the feeling of guilt washed over me yet again.

Ominis shook his head after a moment. "You didn't fail us. No matter what either of us did, Sebastian's decisions were his own. He's been so desperate to find a cure for his sister – he'd been sneaking in to the restricted section long before you arrived at Hogwarts. This may be horrible to say," he paused, thinking over his words, "but these past few days, after constantly replaying everything in my mind, I think he would have eventually gone down the path of dark magic, no matter what happened this year. Besides," he added, "you didn't know him the way I did. You didn't know his mannerisms and behavior the way I did, before Anne was cursed. I did, so maybe I could've done more – Merlin, I'm going back and forth here with this train of thought." He gave a shaky sigh. "For what it's worth, you also tried to stop him nearly as soon as we started. You saw sense."

We were quiet for a moment. I ventured to ask, "When was the last time he spoke to you?"

Ominis twirled his wand in his hand. "Same as you, as he exited the headmaster's office. He ignored me in the common areas, went somewhere secret to study for his O. , and left yesterday. He didn't tell me, of course, I just noticed that his bed was empty. Now that he's out of the castle, he's not responding to any of my owls. He really doesn't want anything to do with us anymore." He jumped back on to his feet, pacing angrily. "We keep him safe only for him to spit on our faces with how we were 'holding him back!' The nerve of him, honestly…"

I stood up and touched his shoulder in an attempt to stop his pacing. He froze at my touch, obviously unexpectedly. "Sorry," I said quickly, "I also don't want to make your mood worse. I came down here not only to see how you're doing but also…" he slowly turned around, his face open and curious.

"I want us to be friends, Ominis. I mean, I considered us friends before, of course," I said nervously, waving my hands in front of me because I couldn't help my expressiveness, "but I want to be friends like normal people who don't go on quests. I don't even know your favorite color – oh my god," I said covering my face with my hands, because I just asked a blind boy, "that was so stupid, I'm so sorry-"

I stopped when I heard him laughing. It was the first time I heard him utter a genuine, shoulder-shaking laugh.

It sounded beautiful.

"Okay, okay, yes, not a good example but you get my point." I tried again. "Maybe your favorite class?"

He faked wiping away a tear as his laugh subsided. "Trust me, that's not the worst mistake someone's made about my blindness. Leander once asked me how I could count without seeing my fingers." He straightened and responded to my question. "Muggle studies is my favorite class, actually. But to be fair I think it's just to spite my parents that I work so hard in that class." There was an awkward hesitation before he asked. "You?"

I smiled at him, even though he couldn't see it. I could tell he wasn't used to this type of conversation, but I'm happy to be having it with him. "Charms. Professor Ronan makes everything fun, even though I had so much to catch up on this year."

I suddenly realized the time. "We need to go to dinner – or at least I will, now – but-" my voice lowered, "do you think we can do this again tomorrow? Please?"

He took a deep breath, thinking for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, tomorrow. I'd like that." He turned his head in the general direction of the training dummy. "Enjoy dinner, I'm going to practice for just a couple more minutes."

"Alright. Goodnight, Ominis."

"Goodnight, Lyra."