❝ MERLIN'S GHOST! ❞
❝ I MEAN, YOU'RE NOT WRONG. ❞
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Albany Bronwen was no Chosen One by any means, but being haunted by the ghosts of the greatest sorcerer of all time and a former king had to count for something, right?
❃ in which a lone...
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ALBANY LEFT HOGSMEADE THAT AFTERNOON in a sort of state of shock. There was a lot to take in; that much was obvious. She wasn't sure what to make of any of it, and at this point would have preferred if she woke up to find that it had all been an extremely long, dramatic and made-up dream. But despite the numerous times she had pinched herself that evening, she wasn't waking up - and there was a deep pit in her stomach that seemed to tell her that it was all too real.
She wanted to scoff every time the word soulmate made its way to the front of her mind; but decided not to, as she would have been scoffing constantly. Her conversation with Merlin and Arthur was playing on loop, and no amount of butterbeer had drowned it out. She had sat in silence in the corner of the inn until Madam Rosmerta had ushered her outside, muttering something about closing hours for students - Albany hadn't been listening.
The two ghosts had, at some point in her daze, taken the hint that she needed space to process everything, though whether she was glad to be free of their presence, she wasn't sure. The walk back to Hogwarts felt lonely in the cold, the vast majority of students already long gone from the village.
She shuffled into the Great Hall in time for dinner, though didn't feel hungry in the slightest. Her head was still reeling as she slipped into her seat beside Faith, body working on autopilot.
The dark-haired girl was in bright spirits as she chatted amiably with Zoe and Viola across the table, and it took her a moment to notice Albany's withdrawn personality. When she did, however, her pale blues were immediately filled with concern.
"Al?" she said, gently poking her friend with a long finger. "You look like you've seen a ghost, what's up?"
Albany tried not to grimace at the irony of the remark. It was difficult to return the conversation with her mind so occupied. Soulmate, war, power, it said, playing on repeat and increasing in volume when she tried to ignore it.
"Nothing, I'm fine," Albany said eventually, and managed to shoot her friend a weak smile. It must have looked unconvincing, because Faith's worry only increased, eyebrows furrowing. "Just tired," she added. "Long day."
Faith stared at her hard for what felt like an age, and then finally relaxed, sensing Albany's reluctance to talk. "If you're sure," she said, gentle worry on her tone, and returned a soft smile. "You missed the drama earlier."
"Mm?" Albany hummed, the effort of sounding interested quite exhausting.
"Yeah, Draco got turned into a ferret," Phylis chimed in excitedly from the other side of Faith. Her grey eyes twinkled with glee at the thought of it. "Funniest thing I've ever seen!"
The words sounded like a distant echo to Albany, who managed a quiet, "Oh?" when she noticed that her roommate had stopped talking.
"It was brilliant!" Zoe added eagerly, leaning forward to look down the Slytherin table where Malfoy was surely seated among his fellow fourth years. "Mad-Eye did it to him, was bouncing him all over the place...."
