Over the next couple of months, I spent my time observing classes and I even helped Rowena with the younger children sometimes. I felt at home here with my new friends. After my daughter passed away, my life lost purpose, but I was beginning to find myself again here. I saw so much potential and hope in the eyes of those children.
After I found out about Rowena, she decided to open up to Salazar, Helga, and Godric about her baby. The three of them were very supportive of her, and we all began preparing for another addition to our household in a few months. As Rowena's child grew inside her, I began to take over more of her responsibilities so that she could rest more.
Salazar volunteered to help me improve my magic, as I had repressed it in myself for so many years. He was always very patient with me, even if he did laugh at me for making foolish mistakes sometimes. I did not get to hear him laugh often, but when he did, his eyes lit up and he let out a sound that made me feel a refreshing sense of safety and familiarity. Helga told me she has not heard him laugh in a long time, and I caught myself thinking about that more than once.
On this day, Salazar and I were wrapping up our last lesson of the day. While I pretended to be a muggle, I still found ways to sneak potions into my everyday life and I became very proficient in the skill. Because of this, I assisted Salazar with a potions class in return for all of the help he had given me. As I observed the students cleaning up their potions, I noticed one of the muggle-born students looked very nervous.
"Are you alright?" I asked him. He looked up at me and swallowed, forcing a smile onto his face.
"Y-yes, Ms. Lydonbell." He nodded a little too vigorously.
"If you have something you want to talk about, you can tell me, okay?" I assured him, not buying his act.
"Of course. Thank you." He smiled wider, showing his teeth this time, but as soon as he walked past me, he did not wait until I could not see him before he wiped his smile from his face. He soon took off toward his home, and I shook my head with a sigh.
"Is everything okay?" Salazar came up beside me and motioned to the hurried boy.
"He seemed anxious about something, but I did not have the chance to discover it before he ran away." I crossed my arms, frustrated.
"He is fairly new to this world. He may just be overwhelmed." Salazar reasoned. He then gently touched my arm and motioned toward the house.
I was slightly taken aback by his bold gesture, but I tried to push my surprise aside as I walked back with him. Despite my efforts to suppress my emotions, a hidden smile slowly infiltrated my expression and I bit down on my lip to try to keep my feelings in check. Yes, I would admit, I had developed a small crush on Salazar, but I refused to get my hopes up. I knew he was a soft spoken man who rarely showed his true emotions, and I did not want to risk getting attached to him. And I was already breaking my own rules.
~
The next day I could not help but notice the nervous muggle-born was absent. That fact made unsettled me and I had a sinking feeling in my stomach that I could not shake. Maybe his family had an outing today, I told myself. I focused on controlling my breathing and I tried to distract my thoughts with different tasks.
"Salazar," Some sort of instinct inside of me could no longer take this. "Do you remember your nervous potions student yesterday?"
"Oh yes, what about him?" Salazar asked, flipping through his journal as he spoke.
"He is not here today. I am worried about him." Maybe I felt this way because I was suffering from past trauma, but I knew my reasons were justified. "Remember when we talked about the dangers of allowing muggle-borns to attend?"
Salazar looked up at me, but before he could reply, a blood curdling scream ripped through the air. I jumped and Salazar drew his wand immediately. Smoke began to filter into the stable and I could smell something burning. The singular scream turned into multiple, and soon, I could feel the heat of the fire on my face as the entire stable began to catch fire.
I heard shouting of men from outside the stable, and I knew all too well what was happening. I had no time to think: I could just see my daughter. Her screams were multiplied, and the image of her turned into the tens of children I had grown close to over the past couple of months. Stumbling around, trying to find an exit, Salazar grabbed my hand and led me toward the doorway.
One moment, fire engulfed the walls around me. The ceiling of stable started to fall. The screams of the children were all that I could hear. I could not breathe without inhaling the fumes from the potions ingredients that were now lost. I knew what loomed outside the stable walls, and I was terrified. I clung to Salazar for my life as he wrapped his arm around me and kept moving through the flames.
The next moment, I blinked and I was no longer in the stable. I was in the middle of a forest, still clinging to the man beside me. I breathed in and started to cough madly as the smoke from the fire was still caught in my lungs. As I regained my breath, Rowena appeared beside me, shortly followed by Godric and Helga.
I ran my hands through my hair, pulling at the ends anxiously. We got out because we had apparition, but what about the children?
"Did they get out?" I asked frantically, searching the faces of my colleagues. They did not have to answer my question, for their expressions said everything for them. "We have to go back! They will not survive!"
I stood up quickly, panicked. I began to hyperventilate, convinced that I had failed my daughter for a second time. I was given a second chance to improve lives and that chance was ripped away.
"Lyra," Salazar placed his hands on both of my arms, forcing me to face him, "we cannot go back there. It is too dangerous."
"Helga and I made sure to get all of the children out." Godric said calmly, but that was not good enough for me.
"They will still die! How do you all think the stable caught on fire?" I cried out, removing myself from Salazar's hold. No one answered me.
These were dangerous times.