Against the dark Hearts

Chapter 42

Platform nine and three-quarters was still empty when we stepped through the wall, and the Hogwarts Express wasn't there yet either. We were the first ones here, if you didn't count the staff.

We had just woken up very early and didn't want to sit around waiting anxiously. The room at the Leaky Cauldron was cozy, but today we were going to Hogwarts and none of us wanted to stay there any longer than necessary.

We had dressed in our robes and something underneath, then taken a carriage to Kings Cross. We had just enough money to pay for everything, but not enough for anything from the candy trolley.

Ominis and I were sitting together on a bench on the covered platform. Sebastian was looking around the platform, he had never been here before. He had always been curious, a quality I appreciated. I was too tired to go with him, so I stayed with Ominis.

Ominis seemed to still be tired and had his head resting on my shoulder, his eyes closed. I had done the same, so we were sitting quietly next to each other, trying to rest a little.

None of us had slept well last night. I had nightmares and Ominis and Sebastian had noticed because they stayed up talking late into the night. They had woken me up, and then the three of us talked. We were nervous.

Ominis was afraid of talking to Evangeline again, as it hadn't been long since she ended things between them. I knew how he felt, spending time with someone you have feelings for can be uncomfortable if it seems one-sided.

I had known Ominis longer and better than Evangeline, but I shared a room with Evangeline. I didn't want to take sides, but maybe I didn't have to. Maybe they would be okay.

"Are you nervous?" Ominis asked, he must have noticed that I was tense.

"Yes, I don't know how to look our friends in the eye after lying to them in the letters," I admitted.

"And for me it was easier because I can't see your eyes anyway?" His voice had a hint of disappointment.

"No, you don't have to see me to know what's going on with me, but I knew that every single one of you would try to help us, and I've already dragged Sebastian into this," I audibly exhaled.

Ominis gently stroked my leg to calm me down.

"Because you're our friend, Beth, we love you, you don't have to carry this whole thing alone."

He might be right, but it didn't change the fact that I still felt guilty and it felt like the guilt was eating away at me, gnawing at me like the nightmares. Every day and every night, I spent in my thoughts, wondering if they were tired of helping me. I wondered if they were tired of taking punches, dark spells, and scars for me. I had the old magic that partly protected me, but they didn't have that.

"We'll see how it is when we arrive at Hogwarts."

During the train ride, we spent our time hiding so no one would question why Sebastian and Ominis were also with me, and even afterwards we had to be careful not to be seen together.

We split up in Hogsmeade and then met again in front of the entrance as everyone arrived by carriage. All in all, it wasn't an easy task, but we somehow managed.

Everyone greeted each other happily, only Evangeline seemed to be missing.

This did not change in the following weeks either. Evangeline did not show up. It was as if she had been a ghost. She also didn't write. No letter, not even a scrap of her whereabouts, and even when I asked Professor Weasley where she was, she didn't seem to have an answer.

Her bed in the Ravenclaw common room remained empty.

The good thing was that Ominis had no reason to feel uncomfortable, but I was worried. What had happened? Where had she gone?

"Maybe she has decided to finish her studies in Ilvermorny after all," Imelda said one afternoon as we were eating.

"Do you think she would do that and not even get in touch?" I asked uncertainly. I knew Evangeline the best, and that never seemed to be her style.

"No, that's not her style," Ominis said, poking at his food. He had suggested looking for her, but we didn't know where to start. We couldn't just travel to America.

"Maybe she's not as nice as you all thought she was," Sebastian said, and I looked at him annoyed. "You say that because you don't like her," I said, stuffing some potatoes into my mouth. Sebastian never liked Evangeline, and that was due to his jealousy. It almost seemed as if he even wished she would stay away forever.

"Yes, because I have good people skills," he replied, and Imelda laughed. "You? You have the worst people skills of all of us," she said, earning a venomous look. That wasn't entirely true. Sebastian was suspicious and hard to open up to, and that was not due to particularly good or bad people skills.

"I knew from the beginning that Beth was special," the freckled Slytherin replied arrogantly, as he then put his arm around me. I did not react. That was the best thing I could do, because I actually wanted to be alone and not have anyone near me. I just felt terrible.

"And then you took advantage of it," Imelda said with a cynical laugh on her face, sparking a discussion that everyone else also joined in on. I felt the anger rising in me again and wanted to bury it.

Too much had happened, and I just couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop now," I snapped and stood up angrily from the table to leave. It had been going on like this the whole time. I walked to the big door of the great hall and pushed it open. I could barely stand to listen to this conversation any longer.

Evangeline had disappeared without a trace, and I couldn't shake the feeling that there was much more to it.