Vita Magicis (HP SI-WC) (Patreon)

Chapter 45: Entwined Fates

Under the cover of moonlight and protected by my defenses, we moved like shadows toward a hidden cave near Hogsmeade where Greyback and his pack of murderers and lunatics had retreated.

Since all of us could fly we took to the sky making it in minutes before we dropped toward the ground. Waiting at the cave mouth was a figure wrapped in a dark cloak. As we neared, she threw back her hood; long black hair tumbled free.

“Master, it brings joy to my heart to see you again,” Bella said, reverent and beyond happy as she regarded me with a smile.

Asako had told us beforehand that she’d brought Bellatrix along and left her in charge to make sure our prey didn’t get away.

I nodded, then turned serious. “It’s good to see you as well, Bella. Has there been any developments?”

“No, my lord,” she answered, eyes dropping to the ground. “Those mutts are still cowering inside. The Aurors are currently patrolling Hogsmeade; they dare not leave.”

“Good.” I cracked my neck and smirked coldly. “Then let’s not keep them waiting.”

We moved as one. Illya skipped along behind me, giggling. “Hihihi, time to hunt some rabid doggies~”

“I want to try some new runes I’ve learned lately and see what they do.” Rin said next with a big grin on her face and eyes glowing red.

Sakura’s expression darkened; her hair paled slightly with Kama’s power showing, and her voice was quiet and flat. “All of Senpai’s enemies deserve death.”

Bella gave a broken little laugh and skipped after us. “Huhuhu Time to play” And finally Asako followed at our rear as she silently pulled out a curved blade.

That night, a new rumor would spread through Hogsmeade and Hogwarts of a hunted mine, becoming just as famous as the Shrieking Shack due to all the wails coming from inside.

=====

A Few Days Later

With the common populace still being worried about the presence of Werewolves in Hogsmeade, our Heads of House followed by an announcement from the headmaster himself, had told us that our next trip to Hogsmeade would be cancelled.

Students booed, of course, but the school carried on like usual quickly getting over it.

It was now breakfast again on a Friday morning when a pouty Illya entered the Great Hall and instead of heading to the Slytherin table, made her way towards me and somehow settled herself into my lap grabbing my arms and wrapping them around her before snuggling into my chest to the shock of our other classmates.

As for those close to me, they were already used to Illya’s antics and other than a few grumbles or eye rolls, they dismissed her and went back to eating.

“What is it now, Illya?” I asked, rubbing her back with one hand and her head with the other. She melted under the touch and purred like a spoiled cat.

“Onii-chan, I hate my house. Almost everyone there is super annoying, especially that dumb ferret. I can’t stand him anymore.” She whined with a pout before she leaned close and whispered, earnest. “So, can you get rid of him for me, pretty please?”

Blinking at her request, I pulled back a bit and looked her straight in the eyes to see that she was being completely serious. “Malfoy? Why am I not surprised?”

Illya let out a cute huff. “No matter how much I punish him he keeps coming back for more. At this point, I think he’s a masochist or something.”

‘Of course, he is.’ I thought with a deadpan before letting out a sigh.

“He’s just a stupid, spoiled kid,” I said lightly in dismissal causing her pout to increase. A moment later though I lowered my voice and narrowed eyes as I leaned down to her ear. “But if he keeps being a little shit next year, I’ll take care of him. For now, try not to murder him for the remainder of the year alright?”

“Boo.” Illya whined as she snuggled into my neck. “Fine. But only because you asked, Onii-chan.”

I let out a long breath of relief at managing to mollify Illya’s sadistic tendencies, at least for the moment. I cast a quick, discreet look toward Rin, who was scribbling in a notebook, and to Sakura, who kept smiling politely to those around her while her fingers clenched beneath the table.

‘Now I just have to make sure those two are as easy to please. At this rate if I don’t do something, they’ll end up destroying part of the school or going on a murdering spree.’

=====

Sakura POV

Almost three full months into this school and Sakura could confidently say that Hogwarts was just as magical as her beloved Senpai had told them. Them being her sister and that brat Illyasviel of course.

Staircases that moved on their own, moving and talking portraits, ghosts, moving armor stationed in almost every hall, floating candles and many, many more things just screamed to her about the magic of this castle.

The classes were also interesting, and Sakura found herself actually paying attention in some of them like Defense and Potions, even with the slimy waste of space that taught it. Her favorite subject though had been Herbology and Astronomy, wanting to see the differences of the cosmos and different species of plants between this world and her own.

The boat ride to Hogwarts over the Black Lake was one of the experiences she would cherish forever going forward. To her it signified a new beginning after the horrors she had experienced in the past and more important than that was that she would be spending it together with the person she most treasured and adored in all of existence.

She still remembered the first time she had stepped into this world that her Senpai called the Harry Potter verse, named after a boy she would meet later that was heavily tied by Fate to the future of this world. Sakura hadn’t known it at the time, but just stepping into this world had lifted a huge weight off her shoulders, no longer being tied down to her old world.

In the time that Sakura had lived with Senpai before school started, she had found out after some prompting, what her possible future could be like if he had never intervened in her life. While some of them had been okay, most of them ended in tragedy for her, and this life with her Senpai was already thousands of times better than the good endings she had seen.

To Sakura, life without Aether-Senpai was just impossible anymore and she never wanted to be separated from him. She’d rather die a thousand times over or experience the tender care of Zouken than ever live in a world without her Senpai.

Senpai was her Savior, her Hero, her everything. The one person out of everyone to not only save her from the hell she was in, but even kind enough to craft a new body for her so she wouldn’t have to feel disgusted with herself every time she looked in the mirror.

A body that she took meticulously good care of, always grooming her hair and eating a proper diet so it would grow just right. When Aether-Senpai had complimented her one morning it had only reassured her that she was doing the right thing. Her body, heart and soul belonged to him, and that he liked her body was a huge relief that brought her immense happiness.

He certainly seemed to greatly appreciate it when they made love, so she was sure he wasn’t lying to her in order to not hurt her feelings.

Unfortunately, it had caused certain circumstances that had been grating on her nerves lately, and she had to use all of her self-control not to snap when school began.

Horny teenagers.

They would just not leave her alone no matter how many times Sakura rejected them. It was already bad enough that Sakura hadn’t been able to join the same House as her Senpai, but she also had to deal with the advances of most of her housemates and those of the other Houses too.

At first, wanting to seem polite and especially not wanting her Senpai to think of her as a mean person, she had rejected everyone who asked her out politely. Of course that hadn’t worked, and it only created more admirers to her irritation. So she settled for being more firm, but that had failed too, so Sakura had just thrown in the towel and harshly rejected any boy that even attempted to approach her.

Didn’t they understand that she was already taken and she would never even think of betraying her beloved? Sometimes Sakura wanted to give into her dark thoughts and just use the powers of Kama gifted to her by her lover. If they wanted her love so badly, maybe she would give it to them, so much so that it caused their minds to break and go insane.

But no, Sakura would never give her love to anyone besides her Senpai. He and he alone was the subject of her love, and anybody else would get incinerated by her flames.

The only thing stopping her from erasing all the fools that approached her was the thought that her Senpai might see her in a bad light if she did, or that she might inconvenience him. And that was the last thing Sakura wanted to do.

If this kept up, Sakura would have to think of a better way of dealing with the annoyances.

At this point Sakura was willing to use mind control so they would leave her alone.

At least the Christmas holidays were approaching, and Sakura would get a small reprieve since they would be going back home for them.

=====

Rin’s POV

Ever since she’d made the risky, desperate decision to pray for a miracle to save her sister, and had been answered by an unknown entity that only called itself The Company, Rin had been living the time of her life.

At first she’d expected that after signing a contract to something so otherworldly, she’d be forced to pay a heavy price to save Sakura from the Matou family and especially Zouken. Rin didn’t care; she was prepared to do anything to get Sakura away from that torment.

Instead of meeting someone who would take advantage of the contract though, the complete opposite happened.

She still remembered the first time the most handsome boy she’d ever seen knocked on her door, greeting her with a teasing, warm smile. Of course, Rin had been super rude to him then, something Aether liked to bring up from time to time to tease her about, much to her embarrassment.

After proving himself and kicking her ass with her own magic, which she still called cheating and reminded him of regularly, he accepted her request and, within a day, rescued Sakura after getting rid of her tormentor.

Rin had been full of conflicting feelings then; that one thing led to another, and she’d ended up sleeping with her sister’s savior. To her shame and utter embarrassment, it had even been a threesome with Sakura.

That scoundrel was just super persuasive, handsome, and completely impossible to resist. Rin had never expected, not in a million years, to fall in love with the idiot, but there she was: in another world, attending a magical boarding school with him, learning magic together.

It didn’t help that Sakura had fallen just as hard and Rin didn’t want to come between them. Not that she blamed her sister, Sakura had suffered so much, and Aether had rescued and comforted her when she needed it most, giving her the positive attention that she silently craved.

He’d even gifted Rin the powers of a goddess, handing them out like candy without asking for anything in return, then doing the same for Sakura and that white-haired brat.

In fact, everything he did blew Rin’s understanding of magic out of the water, and while it annoyed her that he always teased her about it, it also thrilled her. Aether proved the study of magic was as endless as the stars as there would always be other worlds to explore.

Rin privately admitted meeting Aether had been the best thing that ever happened to her. She was no longer the loner who spent her free time studying magic in her father’s workshop. Now she had friends who shared her hobby, and she didn’t feel lonely anymore, even if she’d never admit to being friends with that Einzbern brat who never missed a chance to mock her.

Anything Rin wanted to do was within reach now; she only had to ask, and that stupid handsome idiot would give it to her after a bit of teasing. She had even come to like his teasing, it embarrassed her, yes, but it proved he cared since he was never mean about it and just did it to get a rise out of her. To which he always did to her shame.

All in all, Rin was living her best life, and she wouldn’t trade it for the world.

Now if only the jerk would let her get a few samples of his blood for her experiments.

=====

Illya’s POV

Life had never been better for Illyasviel von Einzbern.

From living in a cold, lonely castle with the knowledge that her life was on a countdown, to suddenly attending a magical school alongside the love of her life, her world had transformed into something out of the very fairy tales her mother once read to her.

Those stories where the princess always lived happily ever after with the hero who saved her.

Just thinking about how much her own life now resembled one of those stories made butterflies flutter in Illya’s stomach, and her cheeks flush red.

She hadn’t told her Onii-chan yet, but Illya had fallen in love with him at first sight. Who could blame her? He had bravely stormed the Einzbern castle, defeated her vile grandfather, and then declared he was there to save her, whisking her away to his castle, which just so happened to be in another world.

And now she was even a Magical Girl, complete with all the powers and sparkles that came with it. Her goals in life were simple: defeat any and all threats to her new happiness with extreme prejudice, marry her Onii-chan, and someday have a family with him.

There was, however, one tiny problem with this flawless plan.

Her Onii-chan was just too handsome. Too cool. So cool that he drew other girls to him like moths to flame or, in Illya’s words, like rats to cheese.

Especially that gorilla Tohsaka.

Illya could tolerate the others, even Sakura (though the girl could be creepy when she got that look in her eyes). But at least Sakura only went full yandere when it involved Onii-chan, which Illya could respect.

Still, being a cute, beautiful girl like Illya came with its own troubles.

Annoying boys, and even one or two girls, kept trying to suck up to her, asking her out as if she weren’t already hopelessly, completely devoted to her beloved. Didn’t they know that a Magical Girl only gave her heart to one person, ever? Were they actually asking for a death wish by trying to separate her from her true love?

That idiot ferret in particular had been testing her patience lately. Thankfully, Onii-chan had already promised to deal with him if he kept it up next year. Small mercies.

Still, that didn’t mean Illya couldn’t come up with creative punishments in the meantime. Maybe a nice impotency curse would do the trick. Let the little pest finally realize he never had a chance with her to begin with.

But those fun plans could wait until after the holidays. For now, she only wanted to focus on one thing: finding as many ways as possible to spend time with her Onii-chan.

Yes. Truly, Illya was the heroine of her own story now. And she wouldn’t trade it for anything.