Run Away ✧ Hogwarts Legacy

chapter thirty-three

BIRDS OF A FEATHER by Billie Eilish

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It had only been a couple of days since Antheia Wytners had entered the vivarium. Life kept throwing her changes that she hadn't been prepared for and as always she was attempting to hide from them once again. If there was no way to fix something it had always been easier to pretend the problem didn't exist. It wasn't that she had been afraid of the confrontation, but rather the fact she couldn't set everything straight without picking sides. It was the decisions that she knew that she would face that she had been avoiding. 

Each time she went to the Room of Requirement she looked at the entrance and considered entering, but she wasn't feeling as confident alone. That morning was a bit different however and it was unavoidable.

Desmond Esper had been waiting for her when she arrived that afternoon. He had been waiting on the steps of the vivarium for her arrival. And for completely opposite reasons, he had been avoiding entering the room too. 

The smell of smoke was lingering softly in the air leading her to realize he had been smoking before she entered. Antheia hoped he would stop soon, but there was enough stress for the day to worry about it then. 

"Are you alright?" Desmond asked. 

Antheia didn't bother pretending there wasn't an issue that morning. It didn't need to discuss when it had written across both of their faces She was nervous about the situation. "Anxious," She clarified, "But I'll be alright. Let's get this over with."

Antheia placed her wand on the table nearby among everyone else's. Desmond nodded silently in agreement, collecting his stack of books with the black leather journal on top as they headed inside the forest-covered vivarium. 

The vivarium had been her proudest accomplishment during her fifth year, it was her place to hide away and find some peace. The last few days felt odd to revisit after trying to move on. Over the past two years, Antheia had tried desperately to not be the same girl that she was back then. Everything that happened during her fifth year had been confusing, emotional, and overwhelmingly complicated. There were many great moments during that period, but mostly, all she had been reminded of was her grief. All of the deaths and sacrifices that had results simply because she existed. She spent years attempting to distance herself and that afternoon it was all beginning to unravel. 

As they made their way down the path, she found herself walking slowly as she got closer to the door. There was a burst of laughter echoing from the cottage that had made her stop. It had taken her completely off-guard and caused her to freeze in her tracks.

"Anne's here already," Desmond whispered from behind her.

Antheia nodded and waited a moment. There was a relief in knowing that Anne Sallow would be there as a buffer as well. The more bodies the better if anything were to happen and they lose control of the situation.

In the short few weeks since defeating the dark witch Marceline, she had yet to take back over Sebastian's body, but with the relic remaining in one piece everyone was sure that an appearance would be reoccurring soon. That had been the whole point of the day, to find a way to figure out how to destroy the relic together and sort out all of the pieces. They were all hoping between the group and Sebastian, that they had all the pieces and simply had to put them together. 

The laughter on the other side of the door sounded sweet. It made Antheia wonder what the twins had been talking about before they entered. Perhaps they were reflecting on old memories from their childhood. Or maybe Anne had been filling in her brother over their two years apart.