A Legacy of Pain: Rising from the Ashes

Chapter 12: The Ties that Bind

Last Time: After parting with Lizzy; Poppy and Ominis spoke a bit outside of the Herbology classroom as the hufflepuff felt more and more guilty over the secrets they were keeping. Eventually moving to the Undercroft to speak more freely the two argued first about Nyxia and then about telling Lizzy their secret. Once Lizzy and Anne arrived; Poppy revealed that her and Ominis had discovered another of Isidora's hidden chambers and that it had contained another memory. When Anne spoke up Ominis reeled back in shock and revealed how his spell worked and that he now saw Anne differently with it. Pushing that aside after revealing what they knew about Anne's condition; Anne and Lizzy viewed the memory to discover that Isidora had left something at the Grey Estate. Coming back to reality the young witches and wizard spoke more as Poppy revealed that Emery had been showing up at the reserve as it was partially financially supported by the Greys.

***TRIGGER WARNINGS*** Trauma, Pureblood Racism, Unforgiveable Curses, Mild Torture, Shame, Coercion, Anguish

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After what had happened in the Undercroft Poppy and Elizabeth had opted to spend time together alone in the Room of Requirement until dinner. Despite the fact that she knew now why the hufflepuff and slytherin had kept information from her; it was difficult for the ravenclaw not to feel betrayed on some level. Putting aside that they had worked with Emery behind her back, a disturbing yet at least understandable fact given the reserves secrecy at the time; keeping information about Isidora from her had especially hurt. Her sweet little badger knew how much the ancient witch and all that she had left behind meant to Elizabeth; how deeply she resonated with the witch who had once shared her abilities. Yet she tried to move past it, to tell herself that they had only kept it from her in a misguided attempt to keep her safe and that she had kept her own secrets from Poppy in the past. As such the young couple had spent a rather pleasant, if not minimally awkward evening together before joining everyone for dinner and listening to Annie and Nyxia regale them with the exploits of their first day of classes.

The next day saw Elizabeth becoming increasingly anxious as the day progressed. Unlike the day prior the auburn haired witch had a full schedule without any free periods. And while this normally would have been something she was pleased about; the fact that both of her classes in the afternoon were Magical Theory with Professor Grey left the teen witch's mind racing with concern. It also didn't help that by the time charms came around in their second period that Annabeth was in her own Magical Theory class. While Elizabeth doubted that the vile woman would do anything to her precious sister during a class with all of the other first years; she couldn't shake her worries entirely.

So it was that she found herself sitting above the gate which led out of the front courtyard heading towards the Dark Forest thinking about all of the horrible things Callista might be doing to her little sundrop. She absentmindedly kicked her legs back and forth while under a disillusionment charm as images of Annie writhing in pain on the ground played through her mind. Below her the rest of the students in class moved about; either seeking the other student they had been assigned to or hiding from them depending on their role since today's lesson was a review of the disillusionment charm under the guise of a game of hide and seek. Typically Elizabeth loved Professor Ronen's more creative lessons such as this, yet she found it difficult to enjoy herself when her mind was so filled with thoughts of Callista.

Eventually she heard Andrew Larson yell in frustration. "Why did I have to be paired with Elizabeth!?" The grumbling he made as he continued to search in vain for her brought a slight smirk to her lips in spite of the roiling tempest that was her mind. Checking her pocket watch to see class was nearly over; she soon leapt off of the stone wall to approach Andrew while still under her charm. Once Professor Ronen blew his whistle to signify that the game was over, the auburn haired witch with streaks of purple in her hair dropped her charm directly in front of Andrew with a grin. Seeing her, the other ravenclaw jumped backwards before sighing. "Please tell me you haven't been that close the whole time? How have you even perfected that charm to this degree in a year? What are you half demiguise?" He asked with an annoyed shake of his head while grinning despite himself.