KEEP IT, LOSE IT (HOGWARTS LEGACY FANFICTION)

Chapter Seven: Morals.

Mary, her expression softening as she looked at them, nodded slightly. But as her gaze shifted back to the fallen dark wizards, her brow furrowed once more. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, ornate object—a Portkey.

"Ominis, take this," she said firmly, holding the Portkey out to him. "It'll take you both directly to the Undercroft. You need to get Sebastian to safety."

Ominis stared at the Portkey, realization dawning on him. "Mary... no," he said, shaking his head. "You're not coming with us, are you? You're planning to..."

"I'm finishing this," Mary interrupted, her voice cold and unyielding. "I won't let them come after us again."

Ominis's grip on Sebastian tightened as he stepped closer to Mary, his voice rising with desperation. "You can't do this, Mary! Killing them won't solve anything! Please, let's just go back together. We can figure this out another way."

Mary's eyes flashed with determination. "I've already made my decision, Ominis. They need to be stopped for good."

Sebastian, struggling to stay upright, tried to intervene. "Mary. . . "

But Mary wouldn't be swayed. She took a step forward, her expression resolute. "You don't understand the danger they pose. If I let them live, they'll keep coming after us. After everyone we care about."

Ominis's heart pounded in his chest. He couldn't let her do this. "Mary, I won't let you throw your life away like this. You're better than this!"

Mary's face hardened, her patience wearing thin. "I'm not asking for your permission."

Before Ominis could react, Mary thrust the Portkey into his hand and activated it with a sharp flick of her wand. The magical pull was immediate and strong, and before he could protest, Ominis felt the familiar sensation of being yanked through space.

"No, Mary!" Ominis shouted, reaching out toward her as he and Sebastian were whisked away.

In the blink of an eye, Ominis and Sebastian landed with a thud in the Undercroft. Ominis stumbled, his heart racing as the realization hit him like a blow. "She's going to... she's going to kill them all..."

As Ominis and Sebastian arrived at the Undercroft, the tension between them was palpable. Ominis's face was tight with frustration, while Sebastian's eyes burned with a mix of determination and annoyance.

"This is wrong, Sebastian!" Ominis snapped, his voice trembling with anger. "We need to go back and help her. You know what she's planning to do!"

Sebastian shot him a sharp glare. "And what? Get ourselves in her way too? Ominis, she sent us away for a reason. She doesn't want you to see..."

"See what? The part of her that you've been encouraging?" Ominis interrupted, his tone biting. "You've been pushing her into this, Sebastian. This... violence. It's like you want her to become something she's not!"

Sebastian's jaw tightened as he leaned against the wall of the Undercroft, the tension between him and Ominis palpable. "You and I both know Mary's not like anyone else. She's not going to sit by and do nothing while the world falls apart around her. She needs to take action, and I support that."

Ominis, seated with his arms crossed, glared back at Sebastian. "Supporting her doesn't mean encouraging her to lose herself in the process. She's been through enough, and she shouldn't have to carry the weight of everything alone. Pushing her further down this path won't help her, Sebastian."

The two boys stared each other down, their conflicting morals clashing like swords in a duel. Sebastian's voice grew sharper, frustration lacing his words. 

"I'm not pushing her anywhere she doesn't want to go. I'm the one who stands by her, who lets her do what needs to be done. Maybe you're the one who can't handle who she really is."

Ominis's face flushed with anger. "Don't you dare make this about me not understanding her. You think she needs to be hardened, that she has to become something...darker. But that's not who she is! Or at least, it shouldn't be."

Sebastian took a step closer, his eyes narrowing. "You think I'm wrong? Maybe she does trust me more than you because I don't try to stop her. Maybe she knows you're too afraid to accept the truth."

Ominis stood, his hands clenched into fists, trembling with both hurt and fury. "And you're just jealous because you want her to confide in you more than she does in me. But you're the one leading her down this dangerous path, Sebastian. She's not supposed to be like this!"

"Jealous?" Sebastian scoffed, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Maybe you're the one who's jealous, Ominis. Jealous that she turns to me when it really matters, that she trusts me to be there for her when you're too scared to face reality."

Ominis's voice wavered as he tried to keep his emotions in check. "You think I don't notice how you look at her? Like she's yours to protect, like she belongs to you. But if she does trust you more, maybe it's because you encourage the path shes taking!"

Sebastian's gaze hardened, his heart pounding in his chest. "And what if that's the case? What if she does trust me more than she trusts you? Maybe it's because she knows I won't hold her back, that I won't let my feelings cloud my judgment."

Ominis turned away, his breath coming in short, angry bursts as he tried to gather his thoughts. "You think she needs you, Sebastian? You think she'll choose you over everything else? You're just leading her down a path that will destroy her, and one day, she'll see that."

Sebastian's voice dropped to a cold, dangerous whisper. "And maybe she'll see that you were the one who couldn't stand by her side when it mattered most."

The words hung in the air, heavy with jealousy and unspoken truths. Both boys stood there, their emotions raw and exposed, each unwilling to back down, each struggling with the fear that they might lose her—to each other, to the darkness, or to the path she seemed determined to walk.

But beneath their anger, both knew that their arguments weren't just about Mary's choices. They were about the roles they played in her life, the connection they each wanted to claim as their own. And the painful realization that, in their own ways, they were both scared of losing her.

The tension hung heavy in the air as the two boys stood there, neither willing to admit how deeply they both cared for Mary in their own way, or how that care had driven a wedge between them. The only thing they could agree on, in that moment, was that whatever Mary was doing, they had to trust that she would come back to them.

Even if it meant that she would come back changed.