𝐦𝐨𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐢 - 𝐝.𝐦.

𝐈𝐕. 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐞

Megumi Selwyn weeps silently into Akina's chest, her cries being muffled by the blue and black robes. Akina brings one of her hands up to stroke the top of Meg's head soothingly.

"What'll happen to her, Eena?" She chokes out, pulling her face out from Akina's chest and gazing up at her with red-rimmed doe eyes. Her face is blotched and puffy, enhancing her already chubby cheeks to look like she just got stung by a swarm of bees.

Sometimes Akina finds herself being taken aback by the resemblance that her and her younger sister share. Though their personalities could not be more contradicting, with their physical appearances, they could be considered twins had it not been for the two year age gap.

"She'll be okay," Akina coos, twirling one of Meg's inky black plaits between her fingers. "Umbridge can't just evict her, she doesn't have that power." Though her voice is confident, she finds her brain racking through all of the pompous decrees that had been nailed to the wall, considering if it was actually in her realm of power to dismiss a professor.

She presses her lips together and curls her open hand into a tightly clenched fist, her fingernails pressing crescents into the skin on her palm.

"Let's go down to the lake for a little while," She suggests without warning. "It'll get your mind off of this. I've barely seen you since Christmas, too. We should catch up."

"But..." Megumi trails off solemnly, her glassy charcoal eyes locked onto the openly weeping professor in the courtyard, who has since been accompanied by Professor McGonagall.

"Hey," Akina unclenches her fist and lightly grasps Meg's chin, forcing her to now face each other directly. "They'll be okay, alright? Everything will be fine, I promise."

She hopes her voice conveys some semblance of authenticity as she speaks, because even she can't be too sure if her promises will ring true.

The two sisters lock eyes with each other for a brief moment, studying the other intently before the younger one finally speaks. "Okay," She says with uncertainty, though still puts on her best smile as a last teardrop slips down her tanned skin.

Akina nods and ushers Megumi away from the crowded scene and out into the grassy clearing. There's no more snow, but the ground still crunches as they walk, the frozen grass blades snapping beneath their shoes. Out of impulse, Akina pulls her sister in closer at the sudden gust of biting cold.

Before too long of walking and partially numb toes, the pair reach the Black Lake that has since been frozen over from the last snowstorm. From beneath the thin layer of ice, they can observe the occasional flip of scaly tails or wisps of colored hair amidst the murky waters.

On their usual excursions to the lake, they would normally sit along the edge and dip their toes into the water, picking flowers and weaving poorly-made crowns for each other to wear. They would laugh at dumb jokes until their stomachs would ache, and would talk about anything under the sun until their throats would be rubbed raw.

Now, though, it's too cold to be without shoes, there aren't any flowers, and when they speak, clouds of grey air emit from between chattering teeth and chapped lips.

So instead, they sit cross-legged on the ground, not as close to the edge, and simply bask in each other's presence.

Meg looks too dejected to be telling jokes, so Akina says the first thing she can think of.

"How's Faith?"

The younger Selwyn's nose scrunches up in momentary confusion before a look of realization dawns on her, and a genuine, crooked grin spreads across her pretty face.