Resonance

002

"Hey, Kat!" Ren calls from behind the coffee bar, capturing Katarina's attention. Earlier, she was busy terrorizing Ron, and I would have helped him, but it was too entertaining for me to interfere.

To my left, Hermione sat, and Mattheo stood up to leave, which confused me.

The soft and cozy ambiance of the cafe enveloped us. The soft hum of conversations and the occasional clinking of cups contributed to the lively yet relaxed mood.

"I'm going to close now; you can all go upstairs," Ren tells Katarina.

"Alright, we'll see you there," Katarina replies quickly, diverting her attention to the two who were leaving, stealing the question off my head. "You two are leaving?" she asks Hermione and Mattheo.

"Yeah, we have a test to study for," Hermione answers, giving us an apologetic smile.

"We'll see you guys tomorrow," Mattheo says, then adds, "Please don't annoy me when you get back to our dorm, Draco," warning me to which I answer with an eye roll.

Ron stands up excitedly, pulling Katarina with him, and I follow suit, leaving my half-drunk drink at the bar. I apologize to Ren quickly, which she just accepts quietly, picking up the cup and taking it to the sink behind her.

Heading towards the green door in the back, I follow my friends' steps up the stairs towards Ren's small home.

The soft light spills out, creating a welcoming glow. We are welcomed with the soft light of her room, walking through it quickly, respecting that she is not here for me to snoop around.

I quickly went out to the library loft, walking to the edge of the balcony, my eyes wandering down at the coffee shop.

Ren is cleaning up the place, and behind me sit Katarina and Ron on one of the brightly colored bean bags, treating the place like their own. While I tiptoe around, feeling out of place, I find it awkward to meet new people, let alone beautiful women like her.

I steal a glance down at her quickly before heading towards one of the bean bags at the far-right corner near the bookshelves, giving no mind to the two shenanigans fighting over another of Ron's romance books.

Looking at her shelves, noticing she has the same book that I've picked earlier, which made me even more intrigued by her. Who is Ren?

"Find anything interesting?" A soft, angelic tone rings through my ears like a siren.

"Hmm," I look at Ren, who now stands next to me, her apron no longer on her, her face so close to me I can finally see her features better. Her light brown eyes skim my face.

"You've got a lot of books, Ren. it's an impressive collection," I say, trying to stay calm, but my heart disagrees with my brain and wants to jump out of my chest. Why am I this nervous? It's not like it's the first woman I've ever talked to. This doesn't reflect me.

"Yeah, it's something," she says, looking back at her books.

"Here, this is my last read; you might like it. I saw you looking at this section for a while, and I noticed your book by the coffee table earlier. I think you might like this one," she suggests, her tone genuine.

The way she shyly admitted that she noticed my book made my heart beat faster. What is she doing to me?

I see Ron walking towards us from the corner of my eyes. As he reaches, he has this mischievous grin, spelling no good. He sneaks a hand around Ren, earning him an eye roll from her.

"So are we going to let Draco know what we discussed the other day, or are we going to forget what we came here for?" he says.

"Come on, babe, tell him what you told us," he says with a smirk that fuels my anger, wanting nothing but to erase that disgusting expression off his face.

Ren removes his hand from her shoulders.

"Give it up, Ron. I'm not your babe," she scowls at him, walking towards the small coffee table at the middle of the floor, pulling one of the bean bags and having a seat before putting papers she had in hand and picking up a marker, drawing a symbol that I know too well, as I have it tattooed on my hand, permanently reminding me of all the pain I've been through.

But what I did not expect is her picking up a bright orange marker and drawing another symbol right on top of it, a symbol I'm too familiar with.

Before she completes it, her eyes go white, and she starts scribbling the same number over and over again.

I look at Katarina, but she seems calm. Ron picks her hand and mutters a spell I never heard before. "Remember your safe word, Ren," he says softly, and she wakes up as if nothing happened.

"Care to explain what I just witnessed, Kat?" I ask the rational one in our group and leave the area, heading downstairs with Katarina following suit.

"We have been trying to capture your attention for weeks, Dray. There is something wrong with Ren; she forgets who we are every weekend, and we have to reintroduce ourselves to her." She takes a seat in front of me.

"She is in too deep with this new dark magic that no one knows about. She claims she likes to shift realities, skipping from one to another, trying to find an escape with her dreams." Katarina rubs her face in frustration, looking at me her face it reads a lot of panic, and sad emotions.

"But every time she does it, something kicks her out with force; her eyes turn white, and she mutters the same numbers 42iiii. She managed to remember this symbol not long ago, and I know you are in too deep with the same subject which is why we wanted yo here, to help her." She explains further worry written all over her face.

"If this is what I think it is, she's in too deep with dark arts and realms. She found something that our new schools head office tried for years to keep away from the mundane. This is too dangerous; she has to stop," I say in warning.

"That's the thing, Draco. We cannot stop her no matter what we do. She always ends up back to them. They somehow return to this place; it's like there is this unbreakable spell that upholds everything, including her," she says, fear overtaking her voice, and I know now that whatever this is, there is no way out now.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Katarina mimics.

"So what now, Draco? What do you think we should do?" She looks up at the loft and back at me.

"I'll invite her to our school, make sure she doesn't freak out," I say calmly, trying to wrap my head around everything.

"Okay, I'll leave you to it," she says before calling Ron and guiding him outside.

I walk back upstairs to where she sits, looking at the diagram without moving. "I can't stop leaving this place. I like it better there," she says softly, now looking at me.

"What's it like?" I take a deep breath, walking towards her. "The other worlds, is it similar?" I stand by her.

"That's the thing, I don't remember," she shakes her head and releases a shaky breath.

"You might think I'm crazy," she says, looking away. Reserved.

"Tell me. I'm intrigued by all this, you know, as you saw my book," I try to make her feel safe, hoping she'll open up.

"There isn't much to explain. I do it every weekend according to Katarina and wake up with half of my memory wiped, and a feeling of content and happiness engulfs me as soon as I wake up," she says, reminiscing on the feeling.

"You want that feeling to last instead of..." I trail off. Katarina and Ron always mention how sad their Muggle friend is; I noticed that from her aura once we entered, and now I know why she wants to escape.

"Okay," I nod in understanding of the situation, slowly sitting down in front of her. "I'm sure Ron told you all about our school. Would you like to come with us there today and seek for answers?" I suggest, knowing that there is a chance she wouldn't go with a stranger who claims there is a wizarding school of sorts.

She looks at me with wide eyes, unsure of what to read as her face is filled with different emotions. She bites her lips, a sign that she is thinking about it.

"Okay," she nods. "I want to know what's wrong with me."

"Or what's wrong with the magic. I'm sure it's nothing to do with you," I say.

———
1481 words.
So, What will they do to help serenity?