HIDDEN REFLECTIONS

ﾐ THIRTY! ๑

CHAPTER THIRTY

Staring up at the ceiling, I let the incoming calls and text messages blur into the background. I know it's mainly Mattheo and Pansy trying to reach me, and perhaps Enzo as well. The rest are likely from the group chat or Instagram, but none of it matters right now.

I skipped all my classes today. There seemed no point in going. If what I suspect is true, sitting in potions class with Mattheo isn't going to help me in the near future.

I glance at my wardrobe, contemplating whether I should pack a bag and just leave. There's nothing here for me anyway. Not really. Not unless my brother is here.

I rise from the bed quickly, like a spring uncoiling after too much tension.

I don't think they were lying to me yesterday. I don't think they were making fun of me. I believe the map was real, and I believe my brother is, in fact, here. That's the only thread keeping me tethered to this place.

Grabbing my phone, I scroll through my contacts. I frown deeply, so deeply it feels like my skin could crack. I do have Hermione's number saved.

I text her, asking her to meet up and to bring the map. Classes are over for the day, so she should be able to.

She texts back within minutes, agreeing to meet.

"Hi Leah," she says, sitting on a bench outside.

I stretch uncomfortably at the public spot she has chosen but sit down next to her.

"Hey," I mumble.

"I think I figured it out," she tells me after a moment of silence.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Everything," Hermione says to me. "But I don't think we have time to go through it all."

Rain starts to splatter down, and she rises from the bench. It hasn't even been a minute, and she's ready to leave.

"Your brother, he has to be an animagus," she tells me. "I should have known earlier, when we were looking at the map."

The world goes quiet as I stare ahead. The usual buzzing and whirling in my head are replaced by a deep, serene silence. My body relaxes under the rain, which has started to pelt down from the sky. I close my eyes and lean back, exhaling.

Of course he is.

I reopen my eyes and laugh, the sound mingling with the rain. My eyes sting, and I'm not sure if it's from betrayal or relief, the emotions swirling together until they overwhelm me to the point of tears. I'm not even certain I'm crying; the water from the sky is too quick in wiping everything away.

Hermione isn't next to me anymore. I'm positive she left five minutes ago, or however long it has been.

People scurry across the yard, shielding themselves from the rain, their shrieks and laughter echoing in the air. The rain falls like a curtain, blurring the world around me, but in this moment of solitude, a strange clarity washes over me. The truth about my brother, the path ahead, it all seems a bit more bearable under the cleansing rain.

"Leah?" a voice whispers like a gentle breeze. "Baby, what are you doing out here? You'll catch pneumonia," it continues, a note of worry threading through the words.

Warm, comforting hands alight on my shoulders, and I let my eyes drift upward to his face. His hair, drenched by the rain, clings to his forehead, but he seems oblivious. His eyes, clear and unclouded, are a sight I am not yet accustomed to—like seeing the sun break through a perpetual storm. I blink away the rain from my lashes, catching glimpses of bruises marring his skin through my blurred vision.