Morfinus yanked his arm away. "Don't be insane."

Cyndee bent to pick up his wand, and she shook it in his face. "You hid this in your sleeve and Confounded everyone you talked to. You killed Tristan because he was uncontrollable and more attention-seeking than you, and then you tried to ruin my mind to save yourself."

To their surprise, it was Jack who laughed first. "That's not remotely true. He's always had that in there in case someone jumps him. It's because of the Death Eater attack that he does that."

Cyndee stared him down. "The Death Eater doesn't exist."

"Cousin," Morfinus grinned, "who's talking right now? Sage? Louis? Whoever you are, you've got it wrong."

"HEY!" Drew snarled. "That's Cyndee, and don't act like you understand more than her!"

"I'm the one that grew up with her," he retorted. "She's not herself. She needs to be at St. Mungo's, where there'd be able to help!"

"SHUT UP!" Cyndee screamed. "That place doesn't understand!"

"Yeah," Blaise agreed. "They go about it the wrong way, and she's better off out here with us."

Morfinus's face reddened. "So you've been fooled as well. Cyndee, how dare you blacken Tristan's memory by saying I killed him. It was a DEATH EATER. I've dealt with you long enough. Lying about how he died won't bring him to life!"

Jack looked anxiously at the door. "Morfy, can we go?"

"No, you can't. Back me up, please."

The five students turned to see what he'd say. Jack stepped between them and swallowed. "A Death Eater's pretty different from Morfy. Didn't you have a description of her? It's nothing like him."

"Exactly," Morfinus scoffed. "She changed the story."

Drew wanted to drown him.

Cyndee glowered. "A blonde middle-aged woman with a Dark Mark. Coincidentally the exact opposite of you in every respect. I never changed my story. You did that yourself."

Morfinus rolled his eyes. "Are you all serious right now? You've all got your wands out and are going to attack me?"

Blaise glared at him, looking every bit poised for a fight. "You're not leaving this room until we have a confession."

Morfinus held out a hand to Jack. "Wand."

Jack passed it over, not looking happy about it. Drew gawked at him. "Are you crazy?"

He frowned. "Don't call me that."

Morfinus had taken the wand, and Drew waited for him to show some sort of discomfort, like the dull burn from when she'd done the same. It didn't happen. "But that's..."

"Acacia?" he finished, grinning. "True, but it lets good friends use it as well."

Drew laughed off his confidence. "Four against one and a wand that isn't yours. Even if you're two years older, do you really think you stand a chance?"

"Normally, no." Morfinus yanked Jack towards him, and a brick wall suddenly materialized around them.

Drew gaped. "What magic is this?!"

Wilby realized first. "He's taking advantage of the Room of Requirement's powers!" He shoved the wall, and cracks appeared. Drew shooed him away and blasted it apart.

There was nothing behind the rubble but a newly-placed trap door.

Blaise flicked his wand to open it, and cockroaches poured out. He slammed it shut. "Gross!"

"Block the entrance!" Drew ordered, and Blaise complied, melding the doors together.

"I could kill that boy," Cyndee raged.

Wilby scanned the room, eyes taking in every detail. "I doubt he's good enough to make the Room get him far. Especially if he can't concentrate."

A ray of light flew from the ceiling and hit Wilby in the chest, and he went down cold. Drew swore and threw a Shield Charm over them, deflecting another Stun from a new balcony above.

Drew tried to quickly Revive him, but it was taking too much time, so she left him in a closet while Cyndee climbed a ladder to the balcony.

By the time Drew caught up, Cyndee was yanking open a white door to an empty hallway.

"He's good," Drew said grudgingly.

The other girl frowned. "Bending something to his will is his specialty. Compared to people, a room is easy." She turned to Drew. "He might not be inside anymore."

"What's his plan? Even if he manages to run from Hogwarts, we're all aware of what he did."

Cyndee's eyes widened. "He's going to ambush us." She dashed to the balcony and leapt off, shouting the Cushioning Charm as she did.

Drew followed, and they made it to the entrance, but Blaise wasn't there anymore. Drew used Homenum Revelio to check for anyone around. Wilby was still in the closet, but she couldn't sense anyone else.

She walked up to a wall and, shutting her eyes, rapped it sharply. "Give me a door to Morfinus Labrinth!" she commanded, mustering up every scrap of her determination.

Nothing was there when she opened her eyes, and she scowled. "Bet he set it so that we can't do that."

Cyndee scanned the room. "Let's find Blaise and leave, but don't split up. We'll go get some teachers."

First they returned to the closet to retrieve Wilby. Drew opened it, and Morfinus leapt out and pushed her aside, pointing his wand at Cyndee.

Purely by instinct, Drew punched him in the face as he whirled to her.

Her triumph was cut short when he shoved her, sending her crashing against the empty wardrobe. "BITCH!" he yelled. "What was that for!?"

The insult spurred her, but he grabbed her arm before she could move — and grabbed it really hard. "Ow!" she shouted. "That was for trying to attack my friend!"

"I was trying to disarm her!"

Drew tried to look around him to find Cyndee, but he was standing menacingly close, blocking her vision. And before she knew it, she was immobilized too.

He took her wand and pocketed it, then crossed his arms and looked at her coldly. "Will you calm down now and listen to me?"

"Okay okay," she said, disguising the shake in her voice with annoyance. "Where are my friends?"

"Wow. So it's only when you're in trouble that you ask that?"

That was unexpected. "No!" she protested. "What kind of suggestion is that!?"

"I'm sure they're fine. I would never hurt them."

"But you'd murder your cousin. Yeah, I see where you draw the line."

Morfinus stared at her like she was insane. "That was an accident! We left the kid alone for two minutes and a Death Eater took the chance to murder him. It wasn't crazy — the Crosswoods had been targeted for months!" He'd uncrossed his arms so he could tear his hands through his hair. "I was ten years old!" he shouted. "My guilt is bad enough without Cyndee saying it was me so she can have someone to blame!"

Drew glared at him, trying to ignore the fact that he was near tears. "Cyndee wouldn't make that up."

He groaned in exasperation. "Fine, so she's delusional! Repressed her memories, altered them — whatever those Muggles say. Hey, maybe one of her personalities is the bloody murderer! Besides her fickle word, what proof do you have, Drew? You're not a particularly good friend if you go on supporting her denial."

She set her jaw. "Cyndee's not in denial."

"Right, you are. How well do you know her anyway?"

And suddenly she realized what was going on. "You're manipulative."

"What?" He raised his eyebrows, his expression hurt with a hint of disbelief. "Drew, back up before you rip into me like you do with everyone else. I literally treat Jack the best. I bring him cake, compliment him, let him stay at my dorm when you Slytherins bully him, and I let him live in my home every single holiday because he doesn't want to stay with his foster parents. Did you know he's an orphan?"

Drew frowned, "That doesn't sound like something he wants to be shared."

"So you'd spread that information?"

She shook her head. "That's not the point. No matter how 'nice' you are to him, you make him take the fall when you get caught."

"Because it's always his idea! He lied to me about Malfoy, Drew! I'm not the bad guy here. He was going on about how he had proof Malfoy was the Heir and we had to do something before someone died."

"No way he did. Jack wasn't that proactive in second year."

"You don't understand. He acts miserable to get pity. He's turned the Slytherins in his year against me, but at least they're smart enough to see he's not the greatest either. Why do you think he wanted to lead the S.A.? He isn't Head Boy, so he needed some other way to control and boss people around."

"So where is he now?"

"I don't know. The idiot ran off as soon as we split from you. If you had to be around him for more than a few hours, you'll understand what I mean. He flips between emotions like it's Quodpot."

"And I'm supposed to believe that Jack was the bad one all along?"

"I find it harder to believe that you're the good one. But I guess you defending Cyndee is nice."

She relaxed slightly and nodded. "It is."

Jack popped out of a door, "Morfy, I can't find them."

"That's fine," Morfinus said, waving him over. "Drew is here, and she seems to be the leader anyway."

Drew coughed. "Hello, Jack? I'm immobilized, and Cyndee has disappeared."

He frowned. "You're the one that attacked him. Why wouldn't he freeze you?"

"Exactly," Morfinus said. "See, Jack's smart. And Cyndee ran off. Maybe she has her own plan. And Jack, Drew here's curious. You lied about Malfoy, didn't you?"

Jack turned ashen. "Why are you bringing that up all of a sudden?"

"Why don't you answer?"

"Yeah. I did lie. Okay?"

Drew gasped. "Two fourth years against a daft second year is hardly a fair fight."

Morfinus scowled. "Why are you defending him?"

"I'm criticizing what you did. You beat him up for a fake reason. And back then, I don't know, he wasn't that bad yet. He was dumb and you went way too far. A fourth year should have known better."

Morfinus rolled his eyes. "Oh, and you're the best judge of right or wrong? You wanted to Confound a proctor and bribe me into putting your name in the Goblet of Fire. You nearly beat Crabbe to death with a Quidditch bat."

"I wasn't going to Confound anyone!"

"Keep telling yourself that."

"And Crabbe could've killed me when he slashed my broom!"

"And Malfoy might've been killing Muggle-borns. Why is that so different? Do you not consider yourself one of them anymore?"

She shook her head. "Of course I do —" Then she stopped, realizing that she needed to get back on track, not waste time defending herself.

Someone was banging on the floor, and a panel appeared. Cyndee pushed it open and climbed out, breathing hard. "Nice try, Morfy. Too bad Obliviate and Confundo only work on one personality at a time."

"You trapped Cyndee?!" Drew demanded.

Morfinus was about to speak, but Cyndee said: "You lied."

"What are you on about now?" Morfinus snarled.

"I heard you talking to Drew," she said, marching over. "You said Jack stays at your house every holiday. That's mostly true; your family never vacations. But in my third year, he spent Christmas here. I remember that."

"No, you don't. Cyndee, I'm telling you this for your own good: you are crazy."

Cyndee paled. "Stop saying that."

Drew tried to recall her third year. She did stay for Christmas, but couldn't quite remember if Jack had been here...

"Jack," Morfinus said. "In our fourth year, it's true that you stayed at my house over the holidays, right? Surely you didn't forget that."

They waited for a reply, and Jack hesitated. "Er, when she was in her third year, it was our fifth year."

His eyes flashed. "Point out all my faults, why don't you? You know what I mean, Liang. And tell the truth."

Jack looked torn. "I feel like...I think I was at Hogwarts —"

"Bullshit," he spat. "Are you implying I'm such a bad friend that I'd leave you here alone? Why would you say that of me?"

Cyndee stared hard at Jack. She mouthed, You're not crazy.

"You were mad at me," Jack remembered, and his voice got louder, stronger. "You said that becoming a prefect changed me — made me ignore you and criticize you. You left me here and called it a bloody 'punishment' —"

"See, I had a reason!" he exclaimed. "Suddenly everything I did was wrong to you."

"You said Serena found me creepy —"

"That's what she told me —"

"— that Cedric hated me and Xavier thought I was an idiot —"

"Am I not allowed to —?"

Cyndee slapped Morfinus across the face. "LET HIM SPEAK."

Morfinus backed off. "Jeez, lady. Violent, much? I only want to defend myself —"

She shut him up with a glare, and he looked at Drew, like, Can you believe this?

Drew couldn't, really.

Jack continued, "My point is that those were all what you told me. You realized I was standing up to you and started making up ridiculous lies. And when your reputation crumbled, you brought mine down with it."

Morfinus was clenching his fists. He looked afraid. "You're the one who stayed. Clearly, I'm not as terrible as you say."

"I felt like I had no choice! Every day with you was madness. Half the time I thought I was hallucinating. You told me I was turning into Cyndee, and you called her a delusional wreck with amnesia. You said you wanted to talk to Malfoy. That lie led to years of blackmail. I let you in, and suddenly you wouldn't leave. Everything you ever gave me was debt in disguise. I don't even like cake!"

"All this complaining about cake?" he laughed. "If you didn't like cake, you should've said so."

"THIS ISN'T ABOUT CAKE."

"You sound hysterical. I'm not yelling at you —"

"Stop it," Drew said. She literally had no clue what Jack was on about, but she sensed that Morfinus was still doing too much of the talking, even though Jack had probably said more.

Maybe it was her witch's senses. Or plain old human intuition. There was no way to explain it to herself — Morfinus was just giving her a really bad feeling.

Morfinus looked at her, "Stay out of this. You have no idea what's going on."

Cyndee glared at him. "You are the worst."

"Strong words," he rolled his eyes.

Cyndee's eyes got distant for a brief moment and she stumbled slightly. It meant she was having a headache. But her voice stayed strong. "I hate that I may never remember exactly what you did. You stole my memory, my sanity, and my trust in myself. I could've come to terms with my split personality so much faster if you hadn't made me feel crazy — and then made me act crazy just to match up."

Cyndee's face changed, and then it was a different one speaking. "Y-you threatened to kill yourself if I told anyone what really happened. You layered me with so many — th-threats and lies and guilt that I tricked myself and my friends without realizing. I hid my anger for fear of it backfiring."

Morfinus scoffed. "This is coming from nowhere. You're just talking talking talking. There's no proof, and I'm sure as hell that Drew never saw anything wrong." And then he looked right at Drew. "You've got to admit these two are paranoid and making up evidence. They need help. Surely if this is true you would've at least suspected, right? Or had a big revelation by now?"

"No," she said, and she hated the hesitation in her voice. "I stand by Cyndee."

"Then you have the worst kind of faith." He pulled out Jack's wand, and his expression screwed up with pain. The wand clattered the floor, and a smoking gash shined on his palm. He cursed, and his expression morphed to pure dread.

Jack picked it up. "Looks like you don't own me anymore."

He waved it, and Morfinus became bound with ropes, and his mouth slammed shut so tightly it must've hurt.

Cyndee still had Morfinus's wand. She tapped it with her own. "Prior incantato."

Thick gray smoke burst out in the ghostly shape of Jack's head. It said faintly: "No, well technically yes, but...you're not supposed to..."

Cyndee folded her arms. "Morfinus cast the Confundus Charm on Jack and that proctor."

Morfinus couldn't do much, but he spent what little freedom on rolling his eyes.

Cyndee had pulled a bright memory out of her head, and she gasped when it came free. Drew knew why — it had never worked before. She flung it on the ground, and it exploded into a glowing scene of her backyard. The memory was blurry and had pieces missing, but it unmistakably showed a very young Morfinus swinging a shovel at an even younger boy. Morfinus was flipping between a blonde woman and himself, but it showed him the most clearly.

Jack added his own memories. Morfinus striking Malfoy, but sometimes his face changing to Jack's. There was another one where Morfinus choked Jack in an unfamiliar house. That one was especially blurry, with Morfinus barely discernable.

Morfinus was trying to speak, and Jack released his mouth, "Have something to say?"

"I told you!" Morfinus shrieked. "Those are hallucinations and memories you change in your own head!"

"You can't modify a memory that drastically out of sheer will," Drew said, remembering Wilby talking about it before. "You'd need serious trauma or frequent outside manipulation. And even yours wasn't enough to change everything."

He struggled toward her. "You're an idiot, you know that? They're lying to you the same way Eliza did."

"I've seen the evidence," Drew said stonily.

"I was nothing but nice to you," Morfinus snapped. "You've never seen me be manipulative, so clearly I'm innocent. Do you really think I'm capable of killing my own cousin?"

Drew nodded. "Why, yes."

"You can easily fake those," Morfinus insisted. "Take it from an actual wizard — anything's possible with magic. You'll destroy an innocent boy's life for no reason!" He spun to Jack, "Mate, you're my best friend. It's true that once in a while I lose it and get a little mad. I admit that. It's just that you push —"

Cyndee interrupted him. "There's no excuse for choking your friend, none for gaslighting people, and none for hitting an eight-year-old in the face with a shovel."

Morfinus had sensed he was hopelessly losing, and it was like he'd slashed the string holding him back. "SCREW YOU!" he screamed at Jack. "You're a useless idiot whose name people can't even get right. I guess abandoning people really does run in your blood."

"And you," he said to Cyndee, "you're psychotic. Your parents should've listened to me about locking you up."

Cyndee knocked him out before he could reach Drew. She pocketed her wand and sighed, relaxing completely. "Well. Case closed."

A door appeared and Blaise came stumbling out, Wilby behind him.

"Whoa," Blaise said, stopping short. "What happened?"

please comment I hesitated to post this so many times —

Thanks for sticking around ♥