LIONHEART ❃ george weasley

045 | a confession of faith

Faith stumbled back farther, and a hand rose to wipe viciously at her eyes. Albany bit her cheek, realising the girl was tearing up. She kept a hand on her wand, still wary. Don't let your guard down.

"Your turn, Faith. Why did you cast a spell on George? How didn't you know it was old magic?"

Faith screwed up her face, the expression pained. She couldn't quite meet Albany's eyes, and her voice was hoarse and wobbly. "I didn't mean to put him under a spell," she spat, as if the accusation disgusted her. "She made me do it."

"Who's she?!" Albany repeated, heart pounding.

"I started hearing a voice a while ago," Faith explained, shying away from her former friend. "I ignored it at first. Thought I was hearing things. It sounded like my own thoughts, just... angry. Always angry. When something happened that would make me upset, it would curse at whoever made me upset." She ran her hands through her hair, and steadied her breathing. "It cursed at you a lot. Said horrible things. I started to believe them."

Albany faltered. "Do you?" she whispered.

"Shut up, I'm not finished," Faith said. "So then they announced the Yule Ball. I was going to ask Graham, that day. But he wasn't even listening to me; he was too busy drooling over you." She spat the word like venom, physically flinching at the taste of it on her tongue. "I was so angry. And the voice was so loud. It said I needed to get revenge, and for the first time, I listened to it. I knew you liked one of the Weasley twins, but Fred had a date, so I thought I would ask George. I was going to make you so jealous, it would be perfect - and then he said no."

Albany flinched, George's pained words echoing in her head. "I told her no." He had endured so much, all because Faith wanted to make her jealous. Her vision was turning red, and she had to focus hard to keep her cool. She needed to hear the rest of the story.

"That was the tipping point," Faith admitted quietly. "I was so angry I didn't even know what to do. I couldn't have one win." She grit her teeth, and took a breath. "Then the voice was there again, just said she would handle things. And everything felt calm. It was so easy to let her deal with things for once. Like I was just watching everything happen from the backseat."

Albany's eyed widened. "You didn't cast the spell," she realised, and felt her pulse speed up.

Faith nodded. "Since then, she's taken over several times. I got scared. I couldn't stop her anymore. I needed to hide somewhere, needed somewhere to fight her off."

"The bathroom," Albany breathed.

Faith shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "It didn't work," she whispered, and rubbed at her eyes again. "Then you came charging in."

"And you tried to kill me," Albany finished, a fierce attempt to remind herself why Faith didn't need her sympathy.

"She tried to kill you!" Faith shrieked, rage flaring and tears spilling. "For fuck's sake, Al, I told you to leave!"

"Who's she?!" Albany retorted, impatience overriding her calm. "If she wants me dead, I think I have a right to know!"

"After that, Madam Pomfrey gave me something in the Hospital Wing," Faith continued, voice and fists shaking. "It helped keep her at bay for a while. But the voice came back before the ball. It won't be long before she takes over again, Al, you have to help me, please."

The words pulled at Albany's heartstrings, and she winced, threatening to crumble and sympathise with the girl. Her friend since first year; they had been each other's everything, once upon a time. Faith didn't deserve this, no matter what she'd done, right? She was in pain, and asking for help.

But the voice hadn't influenced everything, surely. Faith hadn't believed her when Albany needed her most. She had been jealous and bitter when Albany talked to new people. She had still taken George to the ball, rather than acknowledge her wrongs and try to help him. Her newly disclosed struggles didn't invalidate every other time she'd been a bad person.

"No," Albany decided, though lingering guilt and regret tortured her from the back of her mind. Was she making the right choice? Was she being the bitch this time? "I won't. But I'm sure Moody will help you, if you're really that desperate."

Faith couldn't hide the despair in her expression, and she stumbled backwards, mouth agape. Her eyes were flickering gold as she fought off the old magic threatening to manifest, and Albany gripped her wand tighter. This was definitely a bad time to push, but she needed to know. Just one last thing.

"Who is she, Faith?"

Faith's tears hit the tiles, splashing in the growing puddles. The taps behind her had turned on, the sinks overflowing. She gripped at her head with tense hands, shaking it vigorously. Her face was screwed up, eyes shut tight, muttering desperately under her breath.

Albany's heart was racing. She drew her wand, adrenaline pumping. Just one last thing. "Who is she?!"

Faith screamed, but the pained sound was cut off so suddenly Albany flinched. The girl's arms dropped limp, and her head rose slowly. Her eyes opened, glowing so brightly golden Albany could barely stand to look at her.

"I never did properly introduce myself, Merlinson, did I?" The voice came from Faith's mouth, though it sounded so horribly unlike her.

Albany pointed her wand resolutely at the girl, ignoring the tremble her whole body gave. "Who are you?"

Faith's lips cut into a sickening smile.

"An old friend of Merlin's... though I suppose you're looking for a name, aren't you?"

Albany stared at her, heart drumming in her ears. What had she done to Faith? What was she going to do to her?

"You, dear, can call me Morgana."