XXXVI - The End.

Hi everyone.

Than you so much for reading my book. I really appreciate it. As you can probably tell, I am wrting to announce the close of this book. I am entering a new phase of my life and I can't keep up with this.

I wanted to initially delete the book, but I will update the last incomplete chapter and just leave this here.

Do NOT copy any characters I have made up within my book - Grega Geydon, Hether Weson, and Veja. I am legally allowed to file a lawsuit should I come across an instance of plagiarism of character theft.

That said, please enjoy this last chaper.

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It smelt like nothing she liked. It reminded her of nothing she liked either. It was a bleak and putrid aroma, and it made her wonder what people saw in roses. They smelt like bad wine, and had thorns that greatly obscured their beauty. For her, it was how quickly they wilted that irked her. Like they had no will to live and become something other than a flower thrust in a lover's face.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Hether lifted her face from the plant it had been buried in and turned to Draco. He was lain on the grass, with only his head on the blanket and his eyes moving back and forth between the pages of a book. He had vehemently refused to allow any part of his body except his hair touch the blanket, for he despised the fabric and preferred to sprawl out on the grass. Hether thought it strange.

When she didn't reply, he placed a finger between the pages he was on, and shut the book, then looked up at her. She thought his eyes glistened like glass under the sunlight.

"I'm not thinking." Hether said and cupped the rose's head in her hand. The flower began to wilt, and the wilt spread, until the entire bush had withered and died. Draco clicked his tongue at her unexpected action. "People usually ask what others are thinking when they want to say something."

Draco rolled his eyes to the whites. "I got a letter today."

Hether dropped to the blanket and tucked her legs beneath her. A blade of grass had somehow found its way to Draco's hair and was sticking up like a defiant vigilante. She reached out and plucked it out of the white and discarded it unto the ground.

"What did it say?" she lowered her head till it was above his, blocking out the sun from his eyes. His lips were directly in her line of sight, and she found it weird how they were so pink when the rest of his body was pale like cream. "You don't happen to use lip-gloss, do you?"

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but they looked like badly drawn caterpillars, as she saw them upside down. "Sometimes," Draco mumbled. "But that's not the point. My parents are inviting you to spend the break weekend at our house."

Hether blinked. "Tomorrow?"

"My mother really wants to meet you. It's just the weekend." Draco took her hand in his and rubbed his thumb on it in bid to persuade her.

Hether pursed her lips and shifted her gaze from his face to the castle.

"Hether… I know it's very last minute and all, but please."

She looked back down at him. She wanted to say no; it was far too risky. She didn't care a great deal for his parents, but she didn't want to disappoint them and then him. If she went, and things went well, she would end up becoming like family, and that path would lead to her eventually facing Marvolo; an event that she wanted to completely avoid.

Then again, whether things went well or not, she could obliviate them all.

"Okay." She huffed.

He jerked up slightly, and his eyes glimmered for just the smallest second. "Thank you! I'll write my mother instantly and let her know!"

He rose to leave but Hether held unto his hand, pulling him back. Draco raised an eyebrow in question.

"You forgot to say 'thank you'." Hether shrugged.

"I just did." He said slowly.

Hether rolled her eyes and pulled him back unto the blanket. "There are other ways to say thank you."

"Oh…" He smirked and knelt unto the teal fabric, so that his legs were on either side of her body. He bent his head towards her and placed his lips on her cheek, barely brushing it. "Thank you." His smirk widened and he moved away.

"I don't think I like you anymore." She sulked playfully and rose from the blanket. At a flick of her wrist, the blanket and everything on it vanished. "No, I'm returning you to the factory.

"Don't be ridiculous," he stood up and followed after her. "I'm limited edition."

"Is that so? Well, I'm limited edition too, pretty much."

"You miss this and it's gone, darling!" Draco gestured towards himself.

Hether laughed, but then suddenly she stopped, and gave a sudden yelp. Draco looked up. She had both hands pressed against either side of her head, and her eyes were clamped shut in pain. A pang of fear ran through his heart, seeing her like that, and he ran up to her, and pulled her in an embrace.

"Are you okay?" He whispered frantically as she gritted her teeth in pain. Not pain, no, annoyance.

"Get out of my head." Came the hoarse reply.

"What?" he bent his head to look at her face. She was tossing her head from side to side, as if trying to shake off whatever was bugging her, and kept on repeating the words. "Hether?"

Her eyes flashed open, and they were glowing an angry shade of amber.

Hether was pissed, needless to say. Someone was trying to pierce her mind, and no matter how hard she tried to shake them off, they were unrelenting, so she let them in. What, she snapped.

I need to talk to you, the intruder replied. It was Veja's voice.

Get out of my head, Hether repeated.

Please, Veja pressed. It's important.

Her eyes finally stopped glowing, and Draco saw them focus on him. "What was that?" his voice was frantic, like a mother hen fussing over her chick. "Who was in your head? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Hether shook her head and slipped her hand into his. "It was Veja. She wants to talk. I'll see you during supper."

"Why didn't she just come and meet you?"

Hether shrugged. "Even the air has ears." She focused on the voice, and found herself in the Astrology Tower. Ironic, she thought. It had been sealed off since that day, and no one would think of even going there anymore. She climbed up the stairs and scanned the room for Veja.

Veja was leaning against one of the walls between the railings, probably so no one could see her, and her arms were folded tightly across her chest. Hether noticed that she had pulled her hair away from her face, and had piled it behind her head in a neat bun. Good for you, she thought, and narrowed her eyes, walking up to her.

"The next time you try to get into my head will be the last time you will ever try to do anything." She warned. "Now, what is so pressing that you can't say it?"

"I'm sorry I did that. It was my only choice – "

"You could have sent an owl." Hether scowled.

Veja pulled a face and took a deep breath. "My father's alive." She blurted out and watched Hether's face for a reaction.

Hether blinked. "Okay?"

"Cho told me a few days ago." Veja bounced on her feet to release her anxiety. "'showed me a book that hasn't yet been written, and there he was, in pictures."

"And you're planning on looking for him?"

"No. There was a picture of you and him there. You knew him." She sounded hurt. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"It could have been someone else. These kind of things happen-"

"Your name was there. You go by something else, in the future." Veja went on. "Why didn't you tell me you knew?"

"This is ridiculous, Veja." Hether paced the room. "Even if I was there- in the future, by the way; what makes you think I know where he is right now?"

"You know everything. And you're going to tell me where he is." Veja withdrew her wand.

Hether blinked in disbelief and chuckled. "Or what? You're going to kill everyone I love? Don't be stupid. There's no one I love left alive who won't crumble you to ashes in a blink. You're not my assignment."

Veja exhaled and shut her eyes. "I'm going to look for him."

"Okay, you do you." Hether shrugged and turned to go.

"Do you think he'll love me, after everything I've done?"

Hether looked at her. She seemed small, even though it was seconds ago that she had just threatened her, and looked very uncertain and slightly lost. Hether sighed. In this moment, Veja reminded her of herself, when sometimes, at her darkest moments, she doubted her Father could ever love her. So she told her the words He'd told her.

"You're his flesh and blood. How can he not?"

Those were the kindest words Veja had ever heard the distant girl say, and a spark of hope – small, strange and dull, but nevertheless still a spark – lit up deep within her mind. She looked up to say thank you, but there was no one in the tower but herself. So, she sat there for a bit, until her fingers began to get numb, and left.