Run Away ✧ Hogwarts Legacy

chapter twenty-five

The Kids Aren't Alright by Fall Out Boy

(Play after the page break)

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Once the group had gotten the unicorn horn that was needed for the potion it took another week to brew. December had fully settled in the castle and everything grew cold. Snow covered all of the courtyards. The stone staircases were iced over. Snow covered the courtyards like a white blanket. Every classroom carried a cold breeze that made students pray for the winter break to begin so they could curl up in front of fires.

The only thing colder than the weather had been Desmond Esper's shoulder. Or at least that was how Antheia felt.

Everyone met in the Undercroft after classes to see if the potion was finished. Antheia had finished Beast Class and thought that she would find Desmond waiting for her afterward so they could walk together, but by the time she reached the castle entrance with her friend Poppy, she realized that he hadn't waited for her. In fact, he didn't come to see her after any of her classes that week.

There had been an uneasy tension between the couple in the past weeks and it seems to only be getting worse. When Desmond did finally enter the Undercroft, it was with Ominis instead and she felt a bit unwelcomed.

"Took you two long enough," Garreth mocked when they finally joined. "We've been waiting for you both!" Antheia was glad that someone else had said it for her.

She had already spent the past hour playing third-wheel to Anne Sallow and Garreth Wealsey, there was only so much of the couple she could take from them. They were complete opposites: Slytherin and Gryffindor, introvert and extravert, black cat and golden retriever. It was like having whiplash listening to them go back and forth.

Although in reality, she was just jealous. Their relationship reminded her of spending time with Sebastian. She wondered if that was how they had been if they had actually been together. 

"I'm sorry for the delay," Ominis spoke on their behalf, "Is the potion finished?"

"It is now!" 

"And you are positive this isn't going to kill Anne?" Desmond asked skeptically. Once again, she was thankful someone else brought up the topic in her place.

Sebastian Sallow had made it very clear that the vial he had given her could kill his sister. He hadn't had the chance to explain what he had meant by that statement or what they were supposed to do with the information, but the original 'cure' was just another trap.

Reserve brewing a potion was not a simple task. It took careful attention and a lot of patience to perfect, skills that Garreth generally tended to lack.

"Nothing in this potion could kill Anne," Garreth declared, "I'm not sure why you all doubt me so much. You don't possibly believe I'd gamble with my girlfriend's life over a silly little potion?"

"Never!" Antheia added in support. It was a lie. She wouldn't risk her own safety on testing out one of Garreth's potions, let alone anyone else. 

But she did believe the potion would cure Anne Sallow's curse, not because of Garreth's skills, but because she believed that Sebastian had given her a key to doing so. He had given it to them for a reason.

"Because she has my thoughts and memories. It knows Anne just as well as I do and this could kill her. It's a cure to the curse, but there is an extra ingredient." Antheia had thought long and hard about that warning. He had told her to listen carefully and she did.