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AS EXPECTED, THEY ALL SERVED DETENTION for the stunt they'd pulled on the Quidditch Pitch. Not one of them regretted it, though. The freedom and flying had done Albany a world of good for her mental state, clearing her head of a good amount of the stress she'd been holding onto. The rumours and insults had yet to let up, but she felt better equipped to handle them, knowing her real friends were going nowhere.
Getting back into the swing of daily classes and homework routines took longer than expected. The holidays had dragged on for ages, and her professors were keen to dive right back into the work, making the transition a bumpy one. Regardless, she was doing her best to kick off the new term on the right foot; as much as she didn't appreciate Snape's career advice, he hadn't been lying when he noted her grades were slipping. Besides, she had come to realise that much of what she was being taught could be applied in the tournament, so she did her best to stay focused in class.
Once she was back in a routine as comfortable as she could expect it to be, she started dedicating her free time to researching other things. Namely, the egg and new spells for the tournament, her brother's watch, Faith, and on the down low, her soulmate.
She'd told Merlin and Arthur that she wanted to put off the soulmate searching until the tournament was over and done with; but a small part of her was intrigued. They'd told her before that it was likely she would grow closer to them within the next year, if possible; and she had made far more new friends than she'd ever expected to. Might it be Alicia? Or Lee or Carly? Or George?
"George is not my soulmate," she had insisted on numerous occasions, but recently, she wouldn't have really complained if he was.
She hadn't yet explained the whole soulmate thing to her friends yet; while she'd divulged most of her secrets to them, this one felt deeply personal. And slightly embarrassing. Of everything Merlin and Arthur had told her, the weirdest to grasp was the idea of having a soulmate, and perhaps that was why she found herself in the library after class one day, searching for more information on the topic.
Finding books that gave her what she needed was no easy task. She didn't know exactly what books she was looking for, but scanned the indexes of titles that sounded promising. So far, the best luck she'd had was a short chapter in Myth or Magic that discussed the international legends of "soul connections". It explored the idea that each person on the planet has one other that they are completely and utterly compatible with. Albany found the phrase they used to describe it oddly striking and curiously familiar.
...like two sides of the same coin.
"Albany."
Albany slammed the book shut as a hand caught the back of her robes. She recognised the voice that hissed her name instantly, and whipped around, adrenaline quick to kick in as she was faced with the pale, stony face of Faith Moran.
"We need to talk," the girl insisted darkly, continuing to tug at her robes. She didn't fully meet her gaze.
"Yeah, we do," Albany agreed, tearing her robes out of her former friend's grasp.
"Not here."
Albany clenched her teeth. "Planning on killing me again?"
Faith tensed, and her lips parted as if to argue before she shut her jaw firmly. She nodded her head in the direction of the hallway, and took a few steps towards the door, lingering to see if Albany would follow.
Albany stood her ground, guard up and wary. "Why should I go with you?"
Faith kicked at the carpeted floor, gaze low. She was quiet for a long moment, due to contemplation or reluctance, Albany wasn't sure. "Because you know more about the magic we're using than I do," she muttered eventually, scuffing her shoes. "We have answers for each other."
She made a fair point, as much as Albany hated to admit it - and all the research in the world wouldn't tell her everything she needed to know about Faith. Only Faith herself could do that, and now she had come to her willingly. She was either stupidly walking into a trap, or stupidly walking away from her only opportunity to properly confront the girl. Merlin and Arthur had said they were "looking into it", but surely whatever they were doing in the background would be far less informative than discussing everything face to face.
Faith narrowed her eyes, glancing sideways to her. Her glare was frosty. "Are you coming, or what?"
Albany bit her cheek and flexed her fingers. "Okay."
Instinctively, she tightened the strap on Evander's watch, and kept her other hand on her wand in the pocket of her robes. Perhaps she was walking into a trap, but she'd be damned if she came unprepared.
Faith led her to Myrtle's bathroom on the second floor. Fortunately, it wasn't far from the library, so she didn't have to endure the tense silence that thickened as they walked for long.
Faith cast a silencing charm on the bathroom once they were inside, and locked the door. Albany felt her skin prickle with discomfort at these actions, though didn't object. She didn't exactly want anyone walking in or overhearing either, and convinced herself that was their purpose. The bathroom had been fully restored since her last visit; it was impossible to tell any destruction had taken place if she hadn't witnessed it firsthand.
"Where's Myrtle?" Albany asked, glancing around the room warily. The bathroom ghost didn't care much for keeping secrets; if they were silencing the room and locking the door, they might as well wrap up all the loose ends.
"Dealt with," Faith responded vaguely. She must have felt Albany's glare on her back, as she turned around with an eyeroll. "She'll be fine, calm down. I just can't let anyone else overhear this."
"Overhear what?" Albany asked, stepping forward with squared shoulders. "What did you bring me here to tell me-"
"No, I didn't bring you here to tell you anything," Faith snapped. "I brought you here to get answers. If you give them to me, then I'll talk."
Albany bit her cheek hard. "Fine," she spat after a moment's contemplation. "What do want to know?"
Faith regarded her with a critical glare. "You were in the paper," she began, stepping slowly forward. "With George Weasley. What happened in that photograph? What did you do to him?"
Albany was strongly reconsidering her agreement to this interrogation. Her whole body had tensed, and she stepped back only to hit a sink.
"If I don't get answers, neither do you," Faith reminded her, voice harsh.
"Give me a second, fuck," Albany retorted, bile rising in her throat. She swallowed. "Old magic. I was using old magic to undo the spell you cast on him."
Faith didn't flinch at the accusation, though the intensity of her gaze shifted, deep thought consuming the icy blues. "What's old magic?" she asked, staring at the sink behind Albany without really seeing it.
"Magic used in... in Merlin's time," Albany said, and tasted blood in her mouth. She glared at the girl. She would answer her questions, but let it be known that she wasn't happy in doing so. "It's different to modern magic. You don't always need instruments or incantations."
"Your eyes turned gold," Faith said, and finally brought her eyes to focus on Albany again.
"Yeah, that's how you can tell if someone's using it-"
"Your watch turned gold." Her gaze flicked downwards to where it sat on Albany's wrist. "Why?"
"I don't know about the watch," Albany shot back, holding her arm defensively close to her body. "I really don't. I'm still figuring that bit out." She glared at Faith, eyes narrowing. "Why do you want to know about old magic, anyway? You've used it. On George."
Faith scuffed her shoe on the floor. "I didn't know what it was. Not until now. I just knew that my eyes turned gold. I saw it in the mirrors." She gestured vaguely to the mirrors that were now back on the walls, not a scratch on them.
"How didn't you know?" Albany asked, suspicious. "You've been using it all this time and didn't know until now?!"
"She never explained what it was!" Faith retorted, voice rising in volume. Her irises warmed in colour, just for a split second, and one of the clear mirrors Albany had just noted cracked. Faith shut down immediately, stepping backwards and grabbing at her head.
"Who's she?" Albany asked, struggling to keep her own voice steady and calm. Faith was like a ticking time bomb; bound to explode, but Albany couldn't see how long was left until she did.
"No, me first," Faith argued, raising her head. "I'm not done asking questions. How do you use old magic? Or, no, why can we use it? Why doesn't everyone?"
"Not everyone can," Albany replied carefully. "I'm descended from Merlin, I told you that."
"You were telling the truth," Faith realised, eyes widening.
"It's not my fault you didn't fucking believe me," Albany snapped. She took a sharp inhale. Keep your cool. She had no idea what would set Faith off. "Old magic hasn't passed on to everyone. You have to be the direct descendent of a pretty decent sorcerer."
"Or sorceress," Faith whispered. She straightened again, and stepped forward, eyes narrowed with determination. "When you told me about Merlin... you said you heard his voice in your head. Like in Charms class."
"Yeah," Albany stammered, not entirely following.
Faith stepped closer again, and Albany was trapped against the sink. Faith looked desperate. "How did you get rid of the voice?"
Albany leaned back, heart pounding. "I - I didn't," she admitted, her only reassurance being that she'd technically already explained all of this to Faith. She just hadn't believed her the first time. "I starting actually seeing him after that. Like a ghost."
Faith stepped back, shoulders sagging. "Can you make him go away?"
"Sometimes if I yell at him he will," Albany remarked drily. She felt a pang of sympathy watching Faith's face fall, and came up with a more serious answer. "But I don't think I can rid of him. It's his choice when he leaves."
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."