Capítulo 22: 22 Talk
Holly eyed him closely, she didn't know whether him answering her question with another question was him admitting everything, so she decided to make it clear. "What do you mean?"
"I have given you an answer, wouldn't it be courtious to answer my question now." was all Lucas replied as he relaxed slightly in his chair. He had decided to open up a little bit, because whatever he had felt that day when he had tried to look into Holly's head was a mystery to him, an uncertainty. Something he didn't know anything about. There certainly were a few more things he had no idea about, but none were this close. Close enough to affect him in his early school years.
Lucas stared into her piercing green eyes patiently waiting for an answer. He could see the effort she put into her Occlumensy on her face, she was practically a stone wall as she was thinking about the best way of doing this.
While those two were intently gazing at each other, Hermoine had had finally enough. She practically screamed "ARGHH, what is going on?"
Both turned to her and Holly seeing a way to force Lucas to answer all her question as well as dodge all his questions said "Hermoine have you ever heard of Legilimency or Occlumency."
Hermione furrowed her brow, trying to recall if she had ever read about that in any of her books. After coming up blank she awkwardly shook her head, embarrassed that she did not know anything about it.
Holly briefly glanced at Lucas before explaining with a friendly smile. "Legilimency is the magical art of reading minds and emotions, while Occlumency is the counterpart, used to shield one's thoughts and emotions from intrusion. These are the basic principles behind them, of course there are some more finer details, but they are unimportant at the moment. Legilimency and Occlumency are advanced magical arts that deal with the mind, so they're not typically covered in the Hogwarts curriculum. At least not anymore. But as a member of one of the oldest magical families I have learned Occlumensy since I was little, as have all the other noble children."
The Potter twin took a short break for Hermoine to take in all the information, before continuing. "You see, ever since I have known you there was one person who you acted differently around. At first I thought it was because of your history together, but that was not it. Then I thought you had a crush on him, also not it. So, coupled with his phenomenal grades and knowledge that shouldn't be possible for a muggleborn I came to the conclusion that he has to be either a descendent of an ancient, perhaps thought to be extinct, house or knows Legilimency."
As she had finished her thought process she turned back to Lucas, studying his indifferent expression. "Hermoine, a Legilimens is a master in manipulation and I have reason to doubt that Lucas was not entirely honest or magnanimous towards you."
Hermoine anxious, yet hopeful looked at Lucas "Is that true."
He sighed, his charm faltering for a moment and he said only a single world "Yes."
Hermione's voice trembled with a mix of anger and hurt. She had considered Lucas a friend, someone she could trust, but now she questioned everything. Tears started to well up. "Since when?"
"Since the day I met you."
Holly was appalled by that revelation, disgusted by him.
Hermione's heart sank as the weight of Lucas' confession settled in. The tears that had threatened to spill now streamed down her cheeks, betraying her pain and disbelief. She struggled to find her voice, her emotions tangled in a web of hurt and confusion.
"Why?" She managed to choke out the word, her voice barely audible.
"Because we were similar. You were the first wizard I had met and I wanted to be friends with you, but I didn't know how to go about it, so I did what I always have done, use Legilimency. It was just in the beginning to get talking and I stopped afterwards, only using it when you were having a bad day."
Holly's anger intensified upon hearing Lucas' justification for his actions. "That's not an excuse," she interjected, her voice sharp and unforgiving. "Using Legilimency to manipulate someone's emotions is not justifiable, no matter what. It is wrong."
Lucas remained surprisingly stoic despite the intensity of Holly's anger. "Maybe you're right," he replied coolly. "But I did what I thought was necessary at the time. It wasn't just about becoming friends with Hermione, but also about understanding her better, knowing how a wizards mind works. I never meant to hurt her intentionally."
Hermione looked at him, her heart still heavy with hurt and betrayal. "So, you invaded my mind without my consent to manipulate our interactions?" she asked, her voice trembling with a mix of anger and sadness, unvilling to believe that was the whole reason.
"I didn't see it as invasion or manipulation," Lucas retorted. "It was more like trying to build a connection, to find a common ground between us."
Holly scoffed, her anger evident in her tone. "That's not how friendship works, Lucas. Trust and honesty are the foundations of any true friendship. You can't build something genuine on deception and manipulation."
Lucas glanced away, a flicker of emotion crossing his face, but he quickly masked it with indifference. "No you can," he said dismissively. "I see it more as a forced start to a friendship, like jump starting a car, once it runs again you don't need to do anything else. I never changed how she felt towards me apart from the first few pushes, everything after that were her genuine feelings. As were mine."
Hermione looked at Lucas with a mixture of disbelief and frustration. "You can't possibly believe that," she said, her voice tinged with disappointment. "True friendships are built on trust, openness, and mutual respect. They don't involve manipulating someone's emotions to create a connection."
Lucas remained unmoved by her words "It's not like I did it with malicious intent," he insisted. "I just wanted to understand you better and find a way to be friends."
Holly shook her head, her anger simmering beneath the surface. "Intentions don't excuse the means," she said firmly. "Come Hermoine, we are leaving."
As they were about to walk away they heard Lucas' voice. "I can get rid of everything I did, if you want?"
Hermione and Holly paused, both surprised by Lucas' offer. Hermione turned to face him, her expression guarded but curious. "What do you mean?" she asked cautiously.
Lucas took a deep breath, steeling himself to come clean. "I can use Legilimency on you again, but this time, I'll remove any influence or manipulation I might have caused. You will remember everything how it truly happened."
Hermione exchanged a glance with Holly, uncertainty clouding her features. "Is that even possible?" she wondered aloud.
Lucas nodded earnestly. "Legilimency can be used to alter memories and emotions," he explained. "I can undo what I did, so you can live freely knowing that everything will be purely your free will."
Holly's anger wavered as she saw the sincerity in Lucas' eyes. "Why would you do this?" she asked, still wary but curious about his motivations.
Lucas took a moment to compose his response, looking directly into Hermoine's eyes. "I didn't want our friendship to end like this and if this might open the possibility of us becoming friends again, I will gladly do it."
Holly and Hermione exchanged glances, considering Lucas' words carefully. "I still don't trust you," Holly said, her guard still up, "but if Hermoine wants it than I am not holding her back."
The girl in question took a deep breath, weighing her feelings. She looked at Lucas and saw what she thought to be genuine remorse in his eyes. Part of her wanted to believe that he could change and that their friendship could be salvaged, but another part still felt hurt and betrayed.
After a moment of contemplation, Hermione nodded slowly. "I'm willing to give it a chance," she said, her voice soft but determined. "But you have to understand, rebuilding trust will take time."
"I know," he replied. "If you come back we can start right away."
Hermione glanced at Holly once more, seeking her friend's approval, and Holly nodded in agreement. "Alright," she said, cautiously optimistic. "But remember, one false move, and it's over."
With that, they once again sat in the secluded corner of the library,
"It won't take long, but it would be better if you were unconscious or sleeping." Lucas said to the bushy haired Gryffindor.
One Somnus cast from Holly later, Hermoine was peacefully sleeping in her arms.
"Don't think I haven't noticed that you still haven't answered my question. I have to say even I couldn't have dodged a question more perfectly than you have." Lucas complimented. "But I think this is enough for today, I will ask for your answer another time."
Holly just stared at him menacingly.
"I will start now, it shouldn't take longer than half an hour." the Hufflepuff said as he dived into Hermoine's mind, slowly and methodically undoing every single thing he had done to her.
22 minutes later he stood up and said: "She should automatically wake up in a few minutes. Be careful, she will be a bit strange and disoriented when she does."
As he walked away he dove into his own mind. He was standing at the beginning of his library, but instead of walking deeper he turned around, now facing a solid brick wall. He, seemingly in a random order, pressed different bricks that eventually opened a passage into a dark room only lit up by a bluish transparent hexagon standing in the middle. Behind it were white almost translucent strings floating, appearing and disappearing all the time, like quantum fluctuations.
He walked over there and came to a halt in front of the hexagon, inside sat the spitting image of Lucas, the same robes, the same face and the same hair. The same everything.
"You said one month, but it has already been half a year. When are we stopping?" frustration evident in his voice.
"When we are safe"
"We both know that's never going to happen if you don't do anything"
"So what "
"So what? You are destroying us!"
"No, if I hadn't done this we would have been broken."
"This is no solution"
"But it works"
"For now"
"…"
"But not forever"
"Another week. Give me another week and I should have sorted it out."
"Fine, but one week is the limit. It's getting worse lately"
----
Back in the library Hermoine woke up.
As she slowly opened her eyes, she felt a bit disoriented and bewildered. Her mind was filled with a mix of memories, both true and altered, but she could clearly discern which were which and the altered ones were quickly fading into oblivion. She looked up to see Holly waiting expectantly.
"How do you feel?" Holly asked, concern evident in her voice.
Hermione blinked a few times, trying to gather her thoughts. "I feel... different," she replied, struggling to put her feelings into words. She went over her memories and as she was doing that she began to tear up.
All the bullying, all the pain, the loneliness, the depression that had been suppressed by Lucas came crashing down and she broke down in a crying, sobbing and screaming mess.
Holly quickly moved closer to Hermione, wrapping her arms around her friend in a comforting embrace. "It's okay, let it out," she whispered gently. "I'm here for you, I will always be here for you."
Looking at her best friend she didn't know what to think, on one hand she was vehemently against trusting, let alone be friends with, a manipulative Legilimens, but on the other hand Lucas seemed to not have done anything malicious, as far as she could tell.
But just to be sure she wanted to speak with the headmaster, because she couldn't be absolutely certain.
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