𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚎𝚗 𝚍𝚊𝚗𝚌𝚎. fred weasley

𝚡𝚕𝚟𝚒𝚒. 𝚢𝚘𝚞, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎

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     "No," Cress snarls, shaking her head until her hair falls into her face. "No, I won't go back. I can't. It's not fair to them. I can't-- not when they have to stay in this horrible place. Augie, that's not-- I can't. I won't. I don't deserve it. They've been here-- And I haven't and--"

     She won't believe it, won't let herself wrap the idea around her head. Returning to Hogwarts when the rest of them have to be shunned to this floor called Undesirables? When they have to live everyday in the same, mundane rooms with no chance of leaving?

     For Cress to leave when they've been prisoners here. . . It wouldn't be fair. She won't do it.

     Augie holds a hand up. "Xavier, if you will."

     The Specialist exits hastily. Augie regards Cress for a moment, sighing once more.

     "Cress, I know that you might feel like they deserve it more than you, and I understand that, I do," she says. "But this is not something that is up to me. If I could have you all leave this disaster of a place, I wouldn't hesitate to pack up. As it is, I only got clearance to allow you to return to Hogwarts. That is all they would allow."

     "That's not fair!" Cress runs a hand through her hair, and everything feels rushed, like time is speeding but she's still the same, walking while everything around her flies. She inhales, eyes stinging. "They can't keep them prisoner anymore! They don't deserve that!"

     "I have not given up my fight, Cress," Augie defends, wand lighting up as she sends over her Patronus. The bear wraps itself around Cress like an old scarf, weightless but comforting on her shoulder. She sighs quietly, shakily. "I am working as hard as I can to get the rest of them out of here. It is just taking a lot longer than I anticipated."

     "I don't want to leave until they do," Cress argues, her voice a whisper. "It'll feel like. . . I don't know, like--"

     "Like you've abandoned them."

     "I know I wasn't the same, but I thought. . ."

     What did she think? That she had found kindred spirits in them? Pathetic, her voice sneers at her, and Cress shakes it away because it's not. There were people who understood her on some level, people she empathized with on the same level, and she was going to leave them when it was finally starting to feel like they had a connection.

     "You won't be abandoning them, Cress," Augie argues. "You'll be free to send them letters, keep them updated. And they'll send you some, I'm certain. I know Tottie liked writing to Axel."

     Cress huffs, a smile playing on her lips. "Yeah, she did. She loved painting him pictures. Axel says she reminds him of Peyton."

     "She'll be able to paint him all the pictures she wants," Augie continues, trying for hopeful. "And you'll be able to be around your peers again. It helped your magic, I can tell. It got stronger after Axel and Mallory visited. After Fred."