"Oh my, you were right," I said as I felt the shock of cold water surround my calves. "not that I doubted you, of course, but it's another thing to see it – and, ugh, feel it – for myself."

Ominis and I were back in the Undercroft, and this was my first time seeing it flooded, just as the boys had said. I lit the chandeliers above us to observe the damage. The water was slightly murky, but that was probably because the ground was dusty and dirty to begin with. Some crates and candles were floating around, but the heavier items, such as the cauldrons and suits of armor, stayed fixed in the mire.

"Do you see any cause?"

I cringed. "I hate to say this, but I think I'm going to have to walk around in this mess to get a better look."

"Good luck. I'll be right here," Ominis found his way to some of the heavier crates stacked up against the wall and climbed up on them, trying to keep himself out of the water.

"Lumos," I uttered, using the light from the end of my wand to get a better look at the mess in front of me. Thankfully there didn't seem to be anything alive swimming in this contained flood, but that was the only conclusion I was able to make as I investigated. I remembered something I read in a muggle adventure story, so I placed a piece of parchment from my pocket on top of the water, to see if there was a current that would lead anywhere. Nothing.

I scanned the walls and ceilings to check for any pipes that I hadn't noticed before, and, just like Ominis had said, there was nothing obvious to account for this disaster. My eyes landed on the triptych and then the pensieve, and I groaned at a sudden disturbing possibility.

"What?"

"For a split second, I wondered if this water somehow came from Isidora's pensieve, even if the bowl itself is empty. Then I realized if I really wanted to test this theory, I'd have to stick my face in this water."

He made a gagging sound. "You can't be serious?!"

"Do you have a better idea?!"

He sighed in acquiescence. "I suppose not. I've never been so happy to be blind before. Just… make it quick."

"I'm certainly not going to drag this out on my own accord. Ugh, here goes – oh it's cold!" I said, sinking to my knees in the freezing water. I quickly dunked my head in and opened my eyes.

Only to immediately jump into a standing position, coughing. "Not from the pensieve! Not from the pensieve! And my eyes are burning!"

"Oh for Merlin's sake," I heard a telltale slosh as Ominis got in the water and walked over to me. I felt a soft fabric caress my face and realized Ominis was wiping my eyes with his handkerchief. I took it from him, fingers brushing his, and finished what he started. When I tried passing it back to him, he waved it away. "Just keep it, I have others."

"Thanks. Ugh, we're no closer to figuring things out, and now I'm just wet and cold."

"Hold on, wait right there, I…" Ominis waved his wand around, looking for something. He summoned a piece of canvas that was covering a statue of an ogre, then transfigured it into a blanket. He draped it around my shoulders and rubbed it over my arms as I shivered. "Better?"

"Yes, thank you again."

"Tried to see if the water was from the pensieve?"

We both whipped our heads to see Sebastian standing in the Undercroft entrance, hands in his pockets.

I whimpered. "Yes, unfortunately."

"Yeah," Sebastian rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, "it's not. Found that out the hard way too. Discover anything else?"

We both shook our heads.

I noticed Sebastian's eyes shift slightly, and when I followed them, I realized he was looking at how Ominis hadn't let go of me. I didn't mind his warm touch, but Sebastian's gaze made me feel self-conscious, and as if Ominis could sense it, he quickly removed his hands.

Sebastian cleared his throat and started again. "I'm actually happy both of you are here. I wanted to apologize to you both. Last year, after everything happened, I said some terrible things. I was just… so full of anger, and it all stemmed from my own shortcomings. I couldn't find a cure for Anne, and I lashed out at you two. You didn't deserve it, and I'm sorry. Do you think we can ever be friends again?"

I didn't know what to say – he looked at me with such hope and desperation in his eyes, as if he was terrified I would say no. When Ominis didn't speak first, I broke the silence. "Sebastian… I don't think you fully understand how badly you hurt us. Merlin knows I was an absolute wreck," I said honestly, "and after all we went through, to be thrown aside…" I sighed, but continued. "I don't want to yell-"

"I certainly do," Ominis muttered.

"BUT," I said, giving Ominis a reassuring pat on the back, "I am saying that it will take a little bit of time to go back to how things were."

Sebastian nodded like he understood. "That's fair; I didn't expect you to welcome me with open arms. Ominis?"

I felt Ominis stiffen next to me, like he didn't want to talk. He opened his mouth, thought better of it, closed it, then rubbed his forehead. "Lyra, I'm so sorry, but do you think I can talk to Sebastian in private?"

"Of course," I assured him. "I need to get into some dry clothes anyway." I walked towards the exit, and Sebastian stepped aside to let me pass. I gave him a small smile, then I was on my way.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"You don't want her to hear?"

"Just, listen. Just listen, please. We have been best friends since our first year at Hogwarts, and you threw me aside without a care. And right after I saved your ass from getting expelled or sent to Azkaban!" I shook my head. "You knew my family's history with dark magic and the impact it's had on my life! Do you honestly think I was holding you back?! I spend so much of last year trying to save you, Sebastian! Dark magic has taken so much away from me, and I didn't want to lose you too! But after all I did, it wasn't enough. You chose that path of ruin over all the years of our friendship. You spoke about how I'd never know what it's like to have a strong bond with someone – but I thought that's what we had! You walked away and all I could think about was how I would be, once more, completely and utterly alone."

I took a breath. "I was going to sulk and be miserable for the rest of the year if it wasn't for Lyra, who – by the way – at one point felt so guilty about your decisions she started apologizing to me. Not to mention, so many students in this school had daggers in their eyes for her because they blamed her for your suspension! I could go on, which is why I didn't need her here – I know she'd stop me from saying these things in the first place."

I head Sebastian try to interject, but I cut him off. "I'm not done. There is one detail that has been bothering me ever since you started speaking to us again. You've apologized for hurting our feelings and walking away, but not once have you said anything about dark magic. You haven't apologized for all that you did last year before we met with the headmaster. Lyra says she needs time to be your friend again, and that's fine. But if we're to be friends again, you have to promise me, Sebastian – you have to promise me that you will never go down that path again."

I heard Sebastian take a deep breath before he spoke. "I'm always going to want Anne to get better, but I promise I will no longer turn to the dark arts for cures."

I gave an internal sigh of relief. "Good. Thank you. I need some time, too, but that's what I needed most."

"I understand. I'm… I'm actually thinking of becoming a healer when we graduate. Not just because of Anne," he said, "but because I did genuinely enjoy reading about possible ways to cure diseases. But who knows? Maybe as I work and research, I can find something. But that's far away in the future."

I nodded. "That sounds smart, as long as you know your limits and don't get carried away."

"I won't," he responded resolutely. "I promise."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

I walked as quickly as I could back to Ravenclaw tower so I could shed my ruined uniform. After bathing and changing, I put on a dry ensemble and made my way to charms class. There was still a little time before class started, but considering most of my friends were taking it with me, I figured I would find someone to chat with beforehand. I was right – Natty and Poppy were lounging nearby and waved me over when I came into view.

"We haven't spoken you since that fight two days ago in Hecat's class!" Poppy exclaimed as I sat down. "It was intense! How are you?"

I tried to process a response, and I realized how much had happened in the meantime. There was no way I was sharing the moment Ominis and I had in the Room of Requirement, and I knew not to mention the Undercroft, as that secret wasn't mine to reveal.

"I'm… alright," I responded, "I felt a little drained afterwards, but I got all the anger at Sebastian out of my system. I think he understood what that duel was really about."

"Most of us in the room understood what that duel was really about," Natty chimed in, "just not Professor Hecat. I still hate that he tried to cast at you when the fight was basically over. I can't believe she didn't take away house points for that, life lesson or not."

"Speaking of that, can you please settle an argument for us?" Poppy asked, giving Natty a look on the side. "I thought it was Professor Hecat that blocked flipendo. Natty said it was… another student."

They couldn't tell? Looking back on it, Ominis and I were sitting in the front row of the class, very close to the dueling court and where Professor Hecat was monitoring us. Other students weren't exactly expecting it to happen, so they may not have noticed that it was Ominis who cast protego. Ominis didn't even want to tell me he did that, I remembered with a pang, so he probably didn't want others to know either.

"I mean," I started, trying to avoid being caught in a lie, "my back was turned. I heard Sebastian say 'flipendo,' and I fully prepared myself to be flung across the room. I didn't see anything."

"That's a shame," said Natty with a conniving look in her eyes as she scanned the area. "But Ominis was up at the front, so maybe he knows. We can ask him before class starts."

She figured everything out. I groaned and put my face in my hands. "Damn it, Natty. I distinctly remember you telling me last year that you didn't mean to make me upset about him," I said accusingly through my fingers.

"Lyra," Natty pulled my hands away, "it really was Ominis? Why didn't you say so!? I had a suspicion and thought I could get him to admit it to you. It was kind, and I thought it might mean something on his part…"

I blushed. Okay, so maybe I had jumped to conclusions here. "Sebastian told me," I said honestly, "and when I asked Ominis about it later, he may as well have admitted it through gritted teeth! I don't think he would have told me if I didn't confront him."

"Wait," Poppy interjected, "You talked to Sebastian? How did that go?"

Grateful for the change in subject, I launched into the story of our conversations, omitting the location, of course. They both had skeptical looks on their faces by the end of my retelling.

"It sounds like you handled it calmly," Natty said. "I admit I tease, but in all seriousness, we're going to be here for you no matter what happens. I'm just worried you might get hurt again. Do you think you'll be able to trust him"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. But I want to try – with small things. Like maybe just studying together or something."

"I wonder what – oh. There he is," Poppy was looking over my shoulder. "Ominis, come sit with us!"

Ominis, like me, had changed into dry clothes after leaving the Undercroft, and it seemed he had a lot on his mind.

"Well, I had an interesting conversation," he said as he sat down.

Grateful I had already filled in Poppy and Natty, I asked, curious, "Did you yell?"

"Yes," he said bluntly, "I did."

"Well good for you!" said Natty fervently, "especially after you two were inseparable for years. He deserved a good tongue-lashing from you."

"So… do you think you'll be able to be friends again?" I asked cautiously. I'm not sure if he would want to respond in front of the girls, but he did.

"I told him we could only be friends if he promised he would never go back to dark magic again," he said. "He did. But it will still take time."

"That's understandable," Poppy chimed in, "and I hope it works out. But don't think you can replace us with Sebastian, okay?"

Ominis turned a little pink as he stammered. "I didn't- I mean, I wasn't-"

Natty cut in casually. "She's right, Ominis. We like you. It's fun having you with us, even just for little chats."

Ominis blinked, unsure how to respond to this piece of kindness. "Thank you. No, of course, he won't replace you. I could never go back to just having Sebastian as my only friend."

"I sure hope not," I said, a little offended.

"I didn't mean-" he turned even more pink and stammered again, "I'm clearly not good at thing like this. I'll keep it simple. I'm glad to have you three as my friends. I'm going to walk into class, however prematurely, before I make a bigger fool of myself." He got up, then turned around. "But Natty, gobstones this weekend? We could all go to Hogsmeade before the Goblet of Fire makes its selection."

The three of us smiled at him. "You've got it!" she said, and I felt my heart lighten as I saw the three of them hold on to whatever tentative bond that had begun to grow.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The four of us ended up meeting on Friday, however.

"I can't believe you successfully bred a pair of thestrals!" Poppy said, skipping beside me in delight as we walked towards the Room of Requirement.

"To be completely fair, this isn't the first time I've done so," I replied, "but this is the first time since I've introduced you all to the vivariums."

Poppy and I weren't alone – Natty and Ominis walked behind us, also interested in meeting the baby thestral. This was actually the first time the four of us would be in the Room of Requirement together.

Deek was there as we entered, and excitedly greeted us. "Hello there! Deek is happy to see so many people enjoying the room! Lyra knows good friends."

We all exchanged pleasantries before Deek disappeared with a snap – I didn't know what his other house-elf duties were, but I hoped they weren't too difficult.

Poppy clapped her hands. "So, to the swamp, then?"

"Maybe not an appealing environment, but sure," said Natty, "let's go. What else is in the swamp, again?"

"I have purple spotted toads and mooncalves there too."

"No nifflers?" Natty asked nervously.

"No nifflers," I confirmed, "so you and Ominis can rest assured your prefect badges won't disappear. But right now your cloaks need to – we have to wade through some water to get in."

"Wait!" cried Ominis, "we can't just walk through swamp water!"

"Sure we can!" said Poppy cheerfully, cloak already discarded. She started rolling up her trousers.

"Alright, I suppose the appropriate term is we shouldn't wade through swamp water. Let me just…" he closed his eyes and seemed to concentrate.

With a pop, four pairs of waders appeared. "Ominis, you're a genius!" Natty praised as she reached for a pair and started putting them on.

My jaw dropped when I realized what happened. "Are you joking?" I asked aloud. For lack of a face to address, I turned my head towards the ceiling, "I've been wading through that water all last year! I could have used boots?!"

Ominis chuckled. "Apparently, you didn't ask."

After we had all shed our outer cloaks and put on our protective footwear, I led them to the swamp vivarium. "Just a warning, Poppy and Natty, it's a nighttime in there, so I would use lumos. Ominis, I don't think you'll mind the lighting," I said lightly, and he smiled, "and you do have boots with traction, but if you're nervous about falling-" Ominis took my hand before I could finish my sentence. "I will take any and every precaution to prevent me from falling face-first in swamp water and mud, thank you."

Natty turned around and raised an eyebrow at me. "What if I was afraid of falling in?" she teased.

Poppy, somewhat oblivious in her excitement, replied, "Don't worry, Natty, I've got you!" She grabbed Natty's hand and all but dragged her inside the vivarium.

I sighed as they disappeared. "This may have been a mistake."

"She certainly is excited," Ominis quipped, "but as long as she doesn't make Natty or myself collect warts, I think it'll be fine. Lead the way."

We carefully entered the vivarium and sloshed through the swamp water. I could already hear Poppy's laughter and excited shrieks as she took in the sight of the thestral offspring. As I got closer, I saw she was on her knees, gently brushing the baby. "The beast reserve I worked at over the summer has one full-grown thestral," she told me, entranced, "but I've never got to experience this."

A little ways off, Natty was hand-feeding a mooncalf with a big grin on her face. It chittered happily, and Ominis turned towards the sound. "Are there any toads between myself and what I'm assuming is a mooncalf?"

"Your path is clear, go ahead."

I watched him make his way over to Natty and the mooncalf, and I took a couple of minutes to look around. I fed the beasts, brushed the other ones that hadn't gotten attention from my friends, and pulled out some toys for them. I couldn't help but smile to myself when I heard Natty and Ominis laughing together about something they were discussing. I hope she liked his laugh as much as I did.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

That weekend, the four of us sat in the Three Broomsticks while Natty and Ominis had their gobstones showdown. "Who are we supposed to root for?" Poppy whispered over her mug.

"Sirona," I responded, "as she's fine with us playing in here even though it could get messy."

Poppy muttered in agreement as we cheered with our drinks, but neither of us took our eyes off the game. After an intense twenty minutes, Ominis emerged victorious, but the two of them amiably shook hands. "I hate to admit defeat," Natty said, "but that was a good game."

"You were a formidable opponent," Ominis said in kind. "Now what was that about the loser buying the winner butterbeer?"

Natty rolled her eyes but smiled as she got up to the bar, returning shortly with two mugs of butterbeer. She gave one to Ominis and they clinked glasses. "Oh, before I forget," Poppy chirped, "can we stop by Honeydukes when we're done here? I need to pick up some chocolate."

"Sounds delicious! Have a craving?" I asked.

"Actually, it's not for me," Poppy said, beaming, "you'll never believe it!"

Ominis frowned, "I'm not the beasts master that you are, Poppy, but I'm pretty sure you shouldn't feed it to animals."

She laughed. "No! Of course not. Just yesterday, Dunkin approached me after I was done with beasts class. He looked so shy, but he came over and asked me to help him get over his puffskein fear. Poor thing, he was so nervous, but of course I agreed!"

Natty nodded, "If anyone could help him, it would be you, that's for sure. So, the chocolate is for him?"

"It usually helps me if I get anxious," Poppy explained, "so it might give him a confidence boost too. We'll have to see."

As we all walked over to Honeydukes, we passed Ernie Lark and his now five-piece concerto. "Hello there, my esteemed patron of the arts!" He said, recognizing me and waving me over. Ernie really did have a true talent, and I was glad to put any extra galleons I had on hand in his top hat. After telling the others I'll meet them at Honeydukes, I decided to say hi. I walked over to him, and he smiled and paused his conducting. "Any special requests, my dear?"

My face flushed at that slight term of endearment, but I figured I wouldn't squander the opportunity. "A little bit form Hiawatha?"

"Ah, Coleridge!" Ernie said, clasping his hand to his chest, "A woman after my own heart! Of course."

I laughed as his instruments began to play an excerpt, and I couldn't help but sway a little bit. I wasn't familiar with many wizarding bands and their music, so I still favored muggle compositions. I reached into my pocket to throw something into Ernie's hat.

"Let me," I jumped and turned to see Ominis toss some galleons in. I didn't realize he had walked over with me. "I enjoy this one too."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'm surprised your parents let you listen to muggle music. Thank you, Ernie," I added, waving goodbye as the two of us headed to Honeydukes.

"Believe it or not, Coleridge is a wizard. He just happens to hide his secret among the muggles very well. He has magical-themed pieces too."

"I'll have to save up to get a record then," I said cheerfully. "Thanks for telling me, Ominis. Now, are you going to buy anything from Honeydukes? I have to admit, after talking about chocolate, I'm craving some myself."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

All eyes were on the Goblet as it spewed out a singular piece of paper. I could see students at the front of the tables lean forward in attempt to read it, but Professor Black snatched it before anyone could see a name. "And the Hogwarts champion going to Uganda to compete in the Triwizard Tournament is," he looked at the paper for a dramatic pause, "Imelda Reyes!"

A deafening round of applause and cheers resounded from the Slytherin table, and I clapped wholeheartedly for Imelda. She had a rough exterior and could be blunt at times, but we still got to know each other through the races we did last year. She dedicated so much time to flying because she was passionate about it and wanted to become the best – she would give everything she had in this competition.

Imelda was grinning ear to ear as she came up to the podium and shook Black's hand. "The Goblet of Fire will be sent to America, and after Ilvermorny's champion has been decided, we will depart for Uagadou."