Rey and Helena stood atop Ravenclaw Tower, lingering from the bright, sunny morning all the way until the moon rose high in the night sky.
No one came to disturb them, and neither of them showed any intention of leaving.
They watched Hogwarts transform from day to night, feeling the wind against their faces and listening to the distant noise of the castle.
They didn't know what to say or do. They just stood there, barely moving, without exchanging a single word.
It was the vibe of a couple fresh off a breakup—the kind where the fight is over, and both sides are already feeling a twinge of regret, stuck in a cooling-off period where neither is willing to break the heavy silence.
The wind howled at the top of the tower; the higher you went, the stronger it blew.
Rey's hands felt cold, mostly numb from pressing against the stone railing for so long. He had been standing there all day. If he weren't part-dragon—if he were just an ordinary wizard—he probably would have hypothermia by now.
"Helena, I might actually have a way to fix your problem."
Rey interlaced his fingers, stretching his stiff joints. After remaining silent for so long, he finally spoke.
This wasn't just comforting talk; Rey was stating a fact. Ever since he traveled back a thousand years and returned to find Helena as a ghost, the thought of resurrecting her had been on his mind. It had never left him.
Helena wasn't a naive child. A thousand years ago, in her pursuit of eternal youth, she had stolen her mother's diadem and scoured every magical tome she could find.
It was safe to say her magical knowledge was incredibly vast. She probably knew more about magic than Dumbledore.
Yet, despite all that, Helena had never found a record of true eternal youth, nor had she ever seen a spell to resurrect a ghostly soul.
"I'm not a child, Rey."
Helena looked back at him. There was no complaint in her voice; she said it with a smile.
She trusted her own judgment. She believed that she and Rey now belonged to two different worlds.
There is always a barrier between people from different worlds, a thin membrane that stops them from truly embracing each other.
Earlier, her emotions had gotten the better of her, making her overly sentimental.
Waiting a thousand years just to see him again was already a massive stroke of fate; expecting more was just greed. So, when Rey spoke, Helena—who had been regretting the silence herself—responded with a smile.
Sometimes, a simple smile is all it takes to break the tension.
They looked at each other and shared an awkward smile. For a moment, these two adults—whose actual ages far exceeded their physical appearances—felt like two kids who had just thrown a tantrum.
"I'm serious. I really might have a way."
After the smile eased the tension, Rey spoke again, his tone serious.
He had thought about this for a long time. He reasoned that if the Wraiths in the Valley of Spirits could manifest physical forms, then surely a ghost like Helena shouldn't have too much trouble doing the same. There had to be a connection, or at least a method he could borrow.
The only issue was that Reypel, the entity in his mental world, was still dormant. He couldn't get more useful information right now. That uncertainty was why he added the word "might."
"Okay. Let's not talk about that. Let's talk about something else."
Death is irreversible; that's the law of nature. Helena nodded, clearly not wanting to continue with that topic.
---
"Hi!"
"Uh, you two have been standing up here all day, so I brought you something."
Just as their conversation stalled and was about to lapse back into silence, Agnes's voice rang out from behind them.
She smiled sheepishly as she walked over.
"You should have come sooner, Agnes."
Helena turned with a graceful smile, but Agnes looked a bit awkward. "Sorry, I really didn't want to disturb you two, but... you've just been up here for so long."
"No, you're not interrupting anything. I actually have some things to attend to, so I'll get going."
Helena laughed softly, then transformed into a translucent breeze and drifted off the tower.
Rey didn't stop her. After standing there all day, if Helena didn't believe him, there wasn't much else to say. Even his own plan was just a hypothesis right now.
"Did I come at a really bad time?"
Agnes walked up to Rey, clutching a large, unopened Easter egg, looking a bit guilty.
"No, perfect timing. I'm actually starving."
Rey smiled. Even if Helena hadn't left, what could he do? She had a mental block about their situation, and she needed to work through it herself.
"What's going on with you and Helena?" Agnes asked with concern. As Rey's close friend, she had been watching the two of them standing in silence from outside the tower for a long time.
"Nothing much. Just realized there's a massive chasm standing between us, that's all."
Rey replied casually. He didn't really want to dwell on it; it was a heavy topic.
Agnes could tell, so she didn't press. Instead, she cracked open the Easter egg, took out a few small treats for herself, and shoved the rest of the massive egg into Rey's arms.
Looking at the giant egg, Rey pulled out a large candy from the broken shell.
It was wrapped in gold foil that sparkled with tiny dots, looking just like a starry night sky. It was exquisite and eye-catching.
He peeled off the wrapper to reveal a delicate gummy candy.
It was a translucent brown with a hint of red glowing from within. Whoever made this had clearly used a bit of magic.
The candy was soft and smooth in his mouth. The texture and the burst of sweetness were incredibly satisfying.
---
Rey savored the candy slowly, then asked with admiration, "Who made this?"
Agnes's eyes lit up, and she smiled proudly. "My baby sister, Astoria. I taught her how to make it. I didn't think she'd finally get it right, but she sent me this egg just to show off."
"Really? She did a great job."
"Oh, if you like it, I can make other food too. I'll treat you sometime."
"Sounds good. Definitely," Rey replied, pretending to be pleasantly surprised.
"By the way, we have a month off after Easter. How are you planning to spend it?" Agnes popped another candy into her mouth and asked about Rey's plans.
British students had plenty of holidays. The Easter break was four weeks long, which Rey knew.
"What about you? What are your plans?" Rey countered.
"I..." Agnes's expression dimmed slightly. "I guess I'll go home."
Big pure-blood wizarding families always came with their own unspoken dramas. Agnes didn't seem too enthusiastic about home.
"Yeah, I have to go home. Then I'll teach Astoria how to cook some other things." Agnes seemed to talk herself into it and made up her mind.
"Is that so?" Rey asked.
"Of course. What are you going to do?" Having settled her own itinerary, she asked Rey again.
"Haa..." Rey took a deep breath. "Me? I have to go shamelessly pester someone. I need to find a way to fix my magic, whatever it takes."