A/N:
First of all, thank you Bagel for beta reading 💖 your help and support are invaluable 🫶 go check out accio-bagel 's tumblr (stunning fanarts and hilarious memes included)
So... No longfics; we escalate quickly and die like men.
The only other thing I'll say - SORRYSORRYSORYYYY I AM SORRY
Chapter 3 ended up being too long (for me), so I divided it into two parts.
Pt1. word count: 2280
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"...And now," Officer Foster says with sharp clarity, holding the girl's forearm and staring down into her eyes. "Swear that you'll tell no one, ever, about what happened in the Department of Mysteries."
They'd been over this before, yet Alyn still makes a feeble attempt to jerk her arm free, causing the officer to tighten his hold.
"Miss Salters, let's keep things simple now," says the witch holding her wand over their arms, shooting her a scathing glance.
Alyn says nothing. She knows as soon as she agrees, there's bound to be one more condition and she won't be able to see her family any time soon. Probably never again. Father and even her siblings don't trouble her as much, but Mother...
Officer Foster arches his brows insistently.
The witch next to them disappears, turning into a white vapour that quickly dissolves in the air. Foster grips Alyn's arm even tighter, yet she feels no fear. Instead, she feels a newfound strength within, something that can defend her. She knows for sure this magic will help; it will take the best care of her no matter what.
"No," she responds, her gaze steady against Officer Foster's eyes, which used to be green once, but now look pitch-black.
He looks at her silently, trying to hide his confusion; the light around their arms shudders and starts to flicker. Alyn tries to break free once more, but he is stronger—for now. She freezes, feeling a tremor spread through her body from the sheer force of her anger...
"Miss Salters!"
"Let go!"
"Salters, wake up!"
The grip on her arm loosened, and Alyn finally pulled it away. But it wasn't Officer Foster before her. In the dimly lit room, illuminated by the moonlight and a faint Lumos charm, she saw the Head of her House, Professor Hecat, sitting at the edge of her bed worriedly. The professor's hand hovered in the air before slowly dropping.
Alyn's gaze darted around, longing for an explanation, and she noticed the other girls in the room were also awake. Constance, who was closest, sat puzzled in bed with her mouth open, shielding her eyes from the Lumos light.
"Wh-what..." Alyn hurriedly blinked to clear away the sleep, gripping her head to push away the voice of someone who couldn't possibly be here. "Professor?.."
Her heart still pounded wildly from the dream, and the abrupt awakening intensified that feeling. She couldn't say this was a nightmare, though. On the contrary—she had felt so near to defy the Unbreakable Vow at any cost. But that sense of triumph had remained in the dream. Reality quickly removed the feeling, only to replace it with confusion bordering on fear.
"Awake now?" Hecat rose from the bed, wrapping her scarf tighter around her neck. "Come on."
Professor left the room hurriedly, and Alyn barely managed to change her pyjama trousers to uniform ones, fleetingly hoping she hadn't put them on backwards before she heard, "Hurry up, Salters!"
YOU ARE READING
Hogwarts Legacy: Shades of Silver Lining
FanfictionThis work is marked as part of a series BUT I cover and explain all important points from already posted stories so you don't have to read them before this one. The new term was supposed to be much better for Alyn: Sebastian is no longer in danger...
