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"IT'S HER."

Albany wasn't sure what to do next. She kept her wand pointed firmly at Faith, though didn't dare creep any closer. The hair on the back of her neck had risen, heart pounding fast in her ribcage as she took in the sight of the bathroom before her eyes darted back to Faith.

"You should leave," Faith suggested nonchalantly from where she lay on the floor, gaze fixed on the ceiling. "I'll hurt you."

Albany swallowed her nerves, watching the girl's chest rise and fall with pronounced breaths.

"I can't do that," she whispered, exchanging a glance with Fred. He nodded in assurance. "You hurt George."

Faith sat up, then, and Albany took a step back. The girl's expression was blank but drained, face far paler than usual and eyes dark. She didn't meet Albany's gaze until she'd caught her breath from the movement, wiping at a cut over her lip. The blood smeared. When she returned her hand to the pool of water she sat in, the water turned faintly red.

"What happened, Faith?" Albany asked, voice quiet but steady. She didn't dare lower her wand. "Did you do all this?"

Faith's sharp blue eyes snapped to her former friend's face. They were as piercing as ever, though the hot resentment in their depths was shocking. She rolled her head to the side, sating a crick in her neck before fully acknowleding Albany and Fred. The muscles in her face twitched, torn between expressing her emotions and remaining blissfully blank.

"Leave," she repeated, chin wobbling. "Please."

Albany clenched her jaw, her own anger slowly resurfacing to take the place of her fear. "Not until you explain what's going on," she demanded, and glanced briefly to Fred, whose face was stony.

Faith let out a weak chuckle so heartless it was chilling. "God, I hate you," she whispered, shaking her head with a sickening smile. Her face contorted in a split second, unbridled rage screwing up her features and raising her voice tenfold. "I hate you!"

Albany faltered, taking another step back as Faith slowly rose to her feet. Her wand arm was trembling lightly from being extended for so long; Fred stepped subtly closer to her and raised his own.

"You don't get it, do you?" Faith said, shaking her head as she stared at the girl. Her voice lowered to a snarl, lip curling in disgust. "You left me, and now I have nothing. Nobody wants to talk to me — not my friends, not Graham — but everybody loves you!"

"You did this to yourself," Albany argued firmly, grateful for Fred at her side. "You talk about people behind their backs—"

"And I deserve this?!" Faith shouted, growing hysterical. She reached up to pull at her hair, eyes wide and bloodshot. "What did you ever do? You're not as perfect as everyone thinks!" She took a sharp inhale, shaking her head, and her voice was quieter again. "But you think you are, don't you? Thinking you see your own ghosts, thinking you're special—"

"This isn't about us, Faith," Albany interrupted, eyebrows furrowing. "I'm not here to—"

"I'M NOT MAD LIKE YOU!" Faith screamed, hands shaky as she clutched at her head, stumbling over to the few shards of mirror left on the wall. She examined her shattered reflection with a pained groan, and her hands slid down her face, smearing the beads of blood from her shallow wounds. "I'm not mad, I'm not mad—"

"She's mad," Myrtle sang from the windowsill, watching pleasantly.

"You're not mad," Fred assured her gently, shooting Albany a wary glance as he approached the girl. He lowered his wand. "But we need to know what you did to George—"

"You don't think I'm mad?" Faith asked, whipping around to face him with wide, manic eyes. "You don't? You promise?"

Fred nodded cautiously. "Promise."

Faith let out a short, humourless laugh, shoulders heaving. "I'm not mad."

"What did you do to George, Faith?" Albany asked, voice firm and wand hand unrelenting. "Can you lift the spell?"

"I don't want to talk to you!" Faith shrieked, glaring daggers at her. She turned back to the broken mirror, mumbling under her breath in a distressed manner.

Albany's face fell, and she lowered her wand, though remained on guard. She glanced desperately to Fred, who nodded seriously.

"Faith?" he addressed the girl softly, and continued despite the lack of response. "Did you cast a spell on George Weasley?"

"The spell," Faith whispered, a finger tracing the blood over her lip. "The spell, the spell, the spell...."

"Was it old magic?" Fred inquired, expression pleading. "Can you reverse it?"

Faith turned to him, eyes watery. "I don't know," she whispered. "I don't know what it was. I don't know how to fix it."

Fred took a step closer sympathetically, and she recoiled.

"I'll hurt you," she said, moving backwards. "Don't come closer. I'll hurt you."

"You won't," Fred said softly, and took another small step towards her. "You don't want to."

"I don't want to," Faith said, and Albany narrowed her eyes. The phrasing sounded off.

"What was the spell, Faith?" Albany asked, voice tense. "How do we lift it?"

"You," Faith spat, pointing a finger at the girl as her icy gaze shot her down, "stop talking. Be quiet."

Albany sighed, stepping back. Fred glanced to her sympathetically, before returning his focus to Faith.

"Do you know what spell it was?" he asked kindly. "A name, anything?"

Faith shook her head violently, growing agitated again as her hands turned to fists in her matted hair. "No," she moaned, doubling over. "No, no...."

"Please!" Albany piped up again, growing desperate. "We need to help George!"

Faith snapped straight upwards in an instant. "I SAID QUIET, MERLINSON!"

Albany stepped back and drew her wand again, eyes widening in fear as Faith's eyes flashed golden. There was a horrible groaning and rumbling sound from directly above her, and Albany glanced up in horror at the cracks rapidly forming in the ceiling, a thorn of terror piercing her chest.

"Arresto Momentum!"

The heavy debris barely left the ceiling before coming to a halt, and Albany gaped at it in shock before Fred grabbed her sleeve and yanked her out of the way.

Carly stood in the doorway to the bathroom, face screwed up in concentration as she suspended the debris in mid-air with her wand. She let it fall to the floor once Albany was safe, breathing laboured from the effort. A cloud of dust rose from the large chunks of stone, accompanied by a splash of dirty water.

"Carly!" Fred and Albany both exclaimed, surprised but relieved to see their friend.

The curly-haired girl rushed over to them, looking horribly concerned. "You are both okay?" she asked seriously, checking the pair for any injuries.

"I think so," Albany sighed, heart still pounding. Faith tried to kill me.

"Can't say the same for her," Fred murmured, nodding his head towards the girl in question.

Faith lay collapsed on the drenched floor, eyes closed and body stilled with the exception of the subtle rising and falling of her chest. Albany grimaced as she examined the girl from a distance; most of the scratches on her face seemed fresh, though older scabs were here and there, and the state of her hair, which Faith usually kept perfectly clean and tidy, suggested she'd been lying in filthy water much longer than a few hours.

"This is the usual for her, don't worry," Myrtle sighed, finally floating down from her windowsill above. "Goes mad, breaks something, hits the floor. I didn't think she'd destroy the whole bathroom," she added pitifully, gazing up at the new hole in the ceiling.

"How long has she been in here?" Albany asked, concerned.

Myrtle shrugged. "Couple days, maybe? It's a little hard to keep track of time when you're dead." She sounded a little bitter about the last part.

Carly's eyebrows knitted together as she gazed upon the girl on the floor. "We should take her to your nurse," she suggested. "You are lucky I found you all before anyone else."

Albany nodded, inclined to agree — with both statements. Faith needed medical attention, but they were extremely fortunate no other students or faculty had walked in on the scene. She glanced at Fred, who was gazing sullenly where Faith lay. "You good there, Ferdinand?"

He met her eyes slowly, and didn't laugh at the joke. "How are we supposed to help George now?" he asked quietly. "She doesn't even know what spell she cast on him."

Albany felt her face fall, having forgotten that they still had no information after the attempt on her life. She needed to talk to Merlin and Arthur as soon as possible. "We're gonna fix this," she assured the boy, and nudged him with her elbow gently, smiling. "I'll get — er, that book from the library. Straight away, actually. I'll go get it now, um, if you two can carry Faith to the Hospital Wing?"

Fred glanced to Carly, who nodded her agreement. He nodded to Albany. "We've got her."

"Alright," Albany said with a nod. "I'll catch up with you as soon as I can."

Of course, she didn't make it to the library. She hadn't intended on making it that far; she merely needed to distance herself from the others and from the bustle of the school to talk to her ghosts. Once she'd found an appropriate classroom to use and closed the door behind her, she didn't even need to call them. When she turned around, they were there, expressions serious.

"How much of that did you see?" Albany asked them, nearly sighing in relief at the sight of the pair.

"Pretty much all of it," Arthur informed her with a nod. "We were watching."

Albany winced suddenly. "Did I handle it alright?" she asked, biting her cheek. "You don't think she was hiding things, do you? I couldn't have gotten any more information out of her?"

Merlin shook his head, and she swore for the briefest moment guilt flashed across his face before he cleared it up. "No, she wasn't hiding things. You handled it well, given everything."

"Given everything?" Albany echoed, raising an eyebrow. "As in, she kind of tried to murder me?"

Merlin winced, and Arthur pressed his lips into a firm line. Albany frowned.

"I don't think she's entirely herself," she murmured, shaking her head. "So maybe she's not the person I thought she was, but she's still just a teenager. Trying to kill someone seems a bit out of her depth. I've never seen her like that."

Merlin exchanged a glance with his blond companion that Albany couldn't quite read. "Yes... we'll be looking into that," he said.

"But about George," Albany continued, ensuring she stayed on track. "He's the priority here. And I know you want to figure out all this old magic stuff," she added hastily, before the ghosts could interrupt, "but if you want my help, we're helping George first."

Merlin gave a short sigh, though nodded. "I was actually going to suggest something along the same lines," he said, to Albany's surprise. "I don't want to put you in danger trying to keep an eye on Faith. And if she's using old magic against you... well, you're going to need to learn how to use it too."

Albany gaped at him, eyes widening considerably. "I'll be able to?" she asked, feeling a little dizzy at the concept.

Arthur gave a light chuckle. "Obviously," he said, smirking. "You're descended from this idiot."

The reminder brought her to grin, but only briefly. Her face fell at another thought. "What does that make Faith? If she's using old magic?"

Merlin frowned, glancing to Arthur. "We're... not sure. As I said, we'll look into it."

Albany bit her cheek. After all she'd been through with the girl, despite their recent arguments, it was difficult to ignore her worry for her. She'd never seen Faith look so distraught, or maddened, even, as she had in the bathroom. Something had happened to her.... Something was happening in general. Something big. Old magic was appearing again, and the fact that it coincided with the forthcoming war Merlin and Arthur had warned her about was disconcerting, to say the least.

She frowned. A few months ago, she hadn't wanted to believe it all; destiny, soulmates, old magic... a war. But things were coming together whether she liked it or not, and she couldn't stand to the side forever. She wasn't sure how exactly Merlin and Arthur planned on awakening her "powerful magic", but for the sake of everyone involved, she needed to believe it was there.

And I could help George, she thought. I need to help George. I don't know who else can.

"When do we start?" she asked, glancing up at the two ghosts. "Teaching me old magic. When do we start?"

Merlin raised his eyebrows at her, a little surprised by the enthusiasm. "Whenever you're ready," he replied.

Albany swallowed her nerves and nodded firmly.

"I'm ready now."

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❃ a/n:

yes the chapter title is a be more chill reference hehehe

i was reading some of the early chapters of this book and omg it was actually endearing like we've come so far not just story-wise but like the characters and their relationships? albany playing the name-guessing game with fred and george? carly's first appearance as the cute and awkward nerd? ohmygod my heart ♡♡♡

also i may or may not have started planning a companion book for this book ;) no guarantees yet but we'll see!

and thank you for 2k votes!! we're fast approaching 30k reads as well sjdkskkd your support as always means the actual world ♡♡♡

- A x