Of The Solstice

Everything Goes Wrong

~This chapter has~
~mature content~

After a few weeks of attending classes and hanging out with my friends, I had noticed Evan around in the halls. However, Regulus had been actively keeping him away from me. As the days went by, it was September 23rd, which was my 18th birthday, it was also a Friday so I didn't have any classes to attend.

I made my way down to the Great Hall to meet up with Sirius and the rest of my friends. As I sat down at the table, I put some eggs and pastries on my plate and began eating.

After about fifteen minutes I looked over at the clock, all of my friends would be in class by now. I decided to head to the Gryffindor common room to see if they were there. As I walked through the corridors, I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was off.

I looked around the common room and found it completely empty, except for a few seventh years who have a free period or no classes today.

"Have you seen Sirius?" I asked one of the seventh years, hoping they might have some information.

"No, I haven't," she replied dismissively.

With that I walked up to the boys dorm room. I entered without knocking and looked around, but it was surprisingly clean and empty. I let out a frustrated sigh and decided to leave his dorm. I decided to go to my own, In hopes of finding someone. When I arrived, the room was empty, with none of my roommates in sight.

"What the hell is going on?" I muttered to myself, feeling a bit uneasy I started pacing around the room.

"Whatever," I whispered to myself as I grabbed my books and headed to the library, following my usual Friday routine.

As I settled into a quiet corner of the library, I couldn't help but wonder if my friends had forgotten about my birthday. It wouldn't be the first time they played a prank on me, but this felt different. Maybe they were planning a surprise party for later, or maybe they just hadn't remembered yet. Either way, there was nothing I could do about it now except wait and see.

I opened my book on Magic Wards and started taking notes, trying to focus on the details of casting a warding spell.

As I read, I scribbled notes in my notebook and occasionally glanced up at the clock. The hours passed by quickly, and before I knew it, it was already late afternoon. I packed up my things and left the library, I decided to get some air and walked up to the astronomy tower.

As I made my way up the astronomy tower, I stopped near the storage room, I heard voices at the top of the tower, It was Evan, Barty, and Regulus.

From my position directly under them, I heard Regulus ask, "So you're taking the mark tonight?"

Barty replied confidently, "The Dark Lord wants me. Of course I am."

Evan sneered, "Now we just need to persuade Calista."

I stood frozen at the mention of my name. "Evan. Absolutely not," Regulus cut him off firmly.

"Why do you keep defending her, Regulus? I understand you two grew up together, but-" Evan began to argue.

"Evan! Enough about it!" Regulus interrupted him sharply, his tone leaving no room for argument.

I started to slowly back away towards the stairs, but my foot got snagged on a box causing me to fall. I let out a small gasp as I hit the ground, the noise causing the three above to stop talking. I could hear their footsteps running down the stairs towards me.