Loki waited for Hermione outside the Transfiguration classroom while all the other students excitedly walked in, sparing him an excited glance.
'Where is she?'
'I was talking to her after Charms and then she vanished after we took a turn.'
'Did something happen to her?'
Loki nervously tapped his feet on the ground while the rest of the class patiently waited and settled into the benches as Professor McGonagall transfigured a stage for Loki and Hermione.
"I'm sorry Professor McGonagall it's getting a little late, Hermione should be arriving soon.", Loki said walking up to her.
"Don't worry Mr. Loki, I'm sure Miss Granger will be here soon.", McGonagall said with a smile.
"I understand."
And just like she'd spoken, Hermione arrived in the next few minutes sporting a happy smile on her face.
"What happened? Where were you!? I was worried!" Loki said with a frown on his face but Hermione simply smiled, "Sorry, I got caught up in the washroom. Let's do this, I have a feeling we're going to perform extremely well."
"How're you so confident all of a sudden? You were a nervous wreck last night." Loki spoke wondering if he was remembering wrong.
'Maybe she's the type of person who gets more confident the closer they are to the deadline?'
'She doesn't seem that way though.'
"I told you, didn't I? A little birdy told me we'd do great."
"...are you alright? You know that birds don't talk don't you?" Loki spoke sending a worried gaze Hermione's way but she just deadpanned and shook her head.
"I'm sure we'll be alright. Now let's do it!"
"Fine."
Taking a break from speaking to each other, Loki and Hermione looked towards Professor McGonagall to get her permission and when they saw her nod, they moved to the small stage she'd set up for them to perform the play.
"Hey, erm, it's been a wild ride for us to decide and practice the show we're going to be showing you today, so we hope it's going to be as enjoyable for you as it has been to construct for us." Loki started.
"And so, I hope you enjoy with us, 'The Auror Who Dreamed to Dance.'"
The lights in the room dimmed until the room became shrouded in darkness, courtesy of Professor McGonagall.
With a soft flicker and the artificial sound of a halogen light turning off and on, Loki added a spotlight using the spell he'd discovered in his first year, but he'd modified it a little to set up the light to hover in the air since he needed his wand for other things.
The stage was currently empty but soon walking into the spotlight came to view two well-dressed people, a wizard and a witch. While to most people the recognition stopped there, some eagle-eyed students realised that the characters were wearing Auror uniforms.
The scene around them was transformed into a subway and the dim flickering lights Loki added to the scene set up a grim mood.
Students marvelled at the detail that Hermione and Loki had created in front of them and even McGonagall had a soft smile.
"What do you think? You don't need to do this." The girl pleaded, her tone sombre, like a last bargain.
"What do you mean?" The man snapped back, "It doesn't matter what I think Louisa! Someone has to do it!! I have to do it!"
"Someone will Jacob! But it doesn't have to be you!!" The girl pleaded but it was clear to anyone who looked at Jacob's expression, he wouldn't budge.
"*sigh* I knew it'd be like this. I thought I could talk you out of it but I can't." the girl finally gave up.
"It's not your mistake Louisa. It's the fault of the times we live in." Jacob calmly wiped the tears off Louisa's face.
"When I was a girl.." Louisa mumbled causing Jacob along with the audience to lean in a little closer to understand what she was saying. "When I was a little girl, I used to dream of being a dancer.", she said.
Everyone in the audience including Jacob was puzzled by her sudden revelation. "A dancer?" Jacob asked for everyone.
"Yes. I used to feel free whenever I danced and so I wanted to be a dancer, to be free from all the things around me, to become free."
"I see." Jacob nodded wondering where this was going.
"Promise me!" Louisa suddenly said with vigour as she looked right into Jacob's pale eyes. "Promise me, you will take me to a dance when you return."
Jacob looked into her eyes, smiled and spoke in a soft tone, "I promise." He nodded and intertwined his fingers with Louisa's.
Searching his eyes for any hints of fear or lies Louisa maintained eye contact with Jacob for a while before her face broke into a smile and she said, "Good."
"Go and help the others evacuate, I will be right behind you.", Jacob promised and pushed Louisa away from him.
Louisa looked at Jacob for a little longer and then turned away and ran into the darkness, exiting the stage.
The spotlight on the stage turned off, and everything went dark for a second before a dim light blue glow spread all throughout the stage, lighting up a single vague figure floating around it.
A man cloaked in black robes that were fluttering in the wind looked around holding a wand.
"Is that you-know-who?" a student faintly whispered but it rang through everyone's minds due to the silence.
Audible *gasps* rang through the classroom and even McGonagall tightened the grip on her wand wondering what the two of her best students were doing.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA~" A mentally deranged laughter spread through the silence of the audience sending a chill up their spines. "I've become the greatest Dark Lord!! No one can stop me now!!"
The figure floated about what appeared to be ruins of a battlefield with several other people strewn about unconscious or dead on the floor.
But before the man could revel in his victory for longer a bold and familiar voice rang throughout the battlefield.
"Stop right there Sulivan! I've come to reap your life!!"
The floating man stopped mid-air as he looked around until he spotted the man speaking to him.
"Ah…it's you…Jacob…yes, I've missed you very dearly, brother."
________________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N : Expect an extra chapter later today. Thank you for reading!
Join my Patreon (p@treon.com/hooin_kyoma_au) to read 20 chapters ahead for just $3.