After the celebration of winning a championship, Fila had been forced to stay in bed for an extended period. The medic had almost thought about tying her down to the bed and locked the door to it.
But anyone who knew her would know, she would most likely escape somehow.
Now alone together with headmistress Dourado in her office.
Fila sat quietly with a cup of tea in her hands.
Getting an invite to the headmistress office usually didn't end with good news, but this time she hadn't done anything. Not that she knew of.
"Ophelia, how do you feel?" Dourado asked gently while taking a sip of her own tea.
The gentle sun of the morning shined though the tall windows, casting gentle and warm rays across the room.
Fila considered the question for a moment, flexing her still-bandaged leg under the table. The healers had been strict. no walking without assistance, no magic-heavy activities, and definitely no more dramatic giant summonings for at least a week.
"Tired," she admitted honestly. "Sore. Like I went ten rounds with a Hungarian Horntail and somehow won on points. But… good tired. Proud tired." She gave a small, wry smile. "I didn't think I'd actually pull it off. Especially not after the whole… prison detour."
Dourado nodded, setting her cup down with a soft clink. The morning light caught the silver threads in her dark hair, making her look both wise and approachable.
"You did more than pull it off," she said. "You showed remarkable control in the final moments. Many would have lashed out when pushed that hard. You chose mercy instead. That takes strength, the kind that doesn't always make the headlines."
Fila stared into her tea, watching the steam curl upward. The question from the reporter in the atrium still lingered in her mind.
"I almost didn't," she said quietly. "For a second there with Haru… I really thought about it. Ending it for good. But I couldn't. I didn't want to be that person."
Dourado's expression softened further. "And that choice is why I wanted to speak with you before you leave for Durmstrang. The world will try to define you by your bloodline, Ophelia. By the name. By the fear it carries. But you have already begun proving them wrong. Hold onto that. The path you choose now will matter more than any spell or victory."
She leaned forward slightly, eyes warm but serious.
"But there is another thing, something that I think you're already aware of." The hint she had been waiting for.
"Haru's weird behavior?" Fila asked.
Dourado nodded slowly, setting her teacup down with a quiet clink. The morning light caught the silver threads in her dark hair, giving her an almost ethereal look.
"Yes," she said. "We noticed it too. The bloodshot eyes, the unnatural endurance, the way his magic seemed… amplified beyond what should have been possible for a student his age. Our healers examined him after the duel. There were traces of a powerful potion."
Fila's grip tightened slightly around her teacup. "So they cheated."
"Not officially," Dourado replied with a sigh. "There is no proof that can be presented without causing an international incident. The Mahoutokoro delegation claims it was 'preparation' and 'traditional training methods.' But we both know better. They were desperate to stop you."
Fila stared into her tea for a long moment, watching the steam curl upward like tiny ghosts.
"I almost killed him," she said quietly. "For a second there… I really considered it. If I hadn't chosen the sleep spell…"
Dourado reached across the desk and gently placed a hand over Fila's.
"But you didn't," she said firmly. "You chose mercy. Even when you were exhausted, bleeding, and facing someone who had been turned into a weapon against you. That is the difference, Ophelia. That is what will define you, if you let it."
The headmistress leaned back, her expression softening again.
Fila really wanted to after this, but in the end what would it even achieve? Maybe some spot light for winning even against an opponent who cheated. Its just no worth the trouble, she had already won. And creating even more drama and noise didn't sound fun at all right now.
Fila managed a small, genuine smile. "Thank you. For everything."
Dourado chuckled warmly. "You are so very welcome Ophelia Grindelwald, and if you ever wish to visit again, for learning… or maybe something else." She said with a wink, which got Ophelia to blush and started thinking about Bea.
"I will think about it. I still have a lot to go through." Fila answered with a warm smile.
A huge bump had shocked the wizard world once again. The granddaughter of the renowned Gellert Grindelwald had won a dueling tournament at the age of thirteen.
Witches and wizards all over the world had already made this a top new story, some taking it with a hint of fear, while others took it as a good thing. They had seen her sparing instead of useless slaughter, and her speech or quote about herself in the newspapers helped shift a lot of their minds.
The newspapers didn't just report on the event of the tournament. They were filled with the new Hogwarts attending boy-who-lived, Fila had read about him plenty by now. She had meet him during her dream. Dumbledore had spoken about him, but she really wanted to meet him someday.
Her dream had made Harry feel so important, and the tugging sensation she felt when she saw him was just not something she could let go.
A boy who killed the last dark lord? That basically screams for trouble and Ophelia was all for it. But as Dumbledore himself told her, there will be a time.
And right now she couldn't linger on this too much, She had another school to visit. Durmstrang.
Castelobruxo had been wonderful, something she had dreamt of. A school in the jungle surrounded by green. Her home away from home. All things have an end sadly. And the empty feeling had started creeping in as more and more students started packing their things for the journey home.
"Fila have you seen my underwear?" June asked while looking under head bed.
If she could roll her eyes she would do so five time over. "They are under the nightstand, can you start cleaning up more after yourself June."
June crawled out from under the bed with a triumphant "Aha!" and snatched the missing pair. "You're the best. What would I do without you?"
"Probably lose more underwear," Fila muttered, folding one of her own shirts and stuffing it into her trunk. Her leg still ached a little when she moved too quickly, but the healers had finally cleared her for light activity. "And probably forget your wand in the bathroom again."
"Hey, that happened one time!"
Miles poked his head through the doorway, already carrying his own packed bag like it weighed nothing. "You two ready?"
The plan was to walk back to the flying balloon carriage, something Fila wasn't in a million years going to do.
"Yeah but I'm apparating so, haha on you, I will bring June." Fila said mockingly.
June gave a mocking laugh in return as Miles just groaned and walked back out the door.
But Fila had one very important stop to make before that.
She slipped away from June and Miles with a mumbled excuse about needing fresh air, ignoring the healers' warnings about overexertion. Her leg still ached with every step, but she didn't care. This was more important.
The Herbology greenhouses were quiet in the late afternoon light, the air thick with the scent of exotic flowers and damp soil. Golden sunlight filtered through the glass panes, making the leaves glow like emeralds. Fila pushed open the door to the main greenhouse and stepped inside.
Bea was there, alone, tending to a cluster of glowing moonblossoms. She looked up at the sound of the door, and her entire face lit up, then softened with worry when she saw Fila limping toward her.
"Fila… you're supposed to be resting," Bea started, but the words died as Fila closed the distance in three determined steps.
Fila grabbed the front of Bea's uniform with both hands and pulled her into a fierce, hungry kiss. There was nothing gentle about it. It was aggressive, desperate, full of everything she hadn't been able to say properly during the chaos of the celebration. Bea gasped against her mouth, then kissed her back just as hard, fingers tangling in Fila's hair and pulling her closer.
They stumbled backward until Bea's back hit one of the sturdy workbenches. A few pots rattled but neither of them cared. Fila poured weeks of fear, anger, relief, and love into the kiss, teeth grazing Bea's lower lip, hands sliding down to grip her waist possessively. Bea responded with equal fire, one hand fisting in Fila's shirt while the other cupped the back of her neck, holding her there like she never wanted to let go.
When they finally broke apart, both were breathing hard. Bea's lips were swollen, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.
"You're really leaving," Bea whispered, voice cracking. "After everything… you're going to that frozen hellhole."
Fila rested her forehead against Bea's, eyes closed. "I have to. But I don't want to leave you."
"Then don't go," Bea said fiercely, kissing her again, shorter this time, but no less intense. "Stay here. With me. We can figure everything out together."
Fila laughed softly, a broken sound. "You know I can't. Durmstrang… I need to see what I'm made of without everyone watching my every move like I'm about to turn dark. But I swear I'll write. Every week. And when I can, I'll come back."
Bea pulled her into another deep kiss, this one slower, more emotional. There were tears on both their cheeks now. When they separated, Bea pressed her face into Fila's neck, hugging her tightly.
"I'm so proud of you," she whispered against her skin. "My champion. My stubborn, reckless, beautiful idiot. Don't you dare forget me up there in the snow."
"Never," Fila promised, voice thick. She held Bea close, breathing in the familiar scent of herbs and jungle flowers that always clung to her. "You're stuck with me, amor. Complicated and all."
Bea looked at her, eyes glistering with tears. "Im going to miss you like crazy, and im so stupid. If I hadn't done that we could've been with each other for so much longer." At this point Bea was holding back tears, but they spilled over anyway. She started sobbing after every word, shoulders shaking as she pressed her face harder into Fila's neck.
Fila's heart twisted. She wrapped her arms tighter around Bea, One hand stroked gently through Bea's braided hair while the other rubbed slow circles on her back.
"Hey… hey, stop," Fila whispered, voice rough with emotion. "You're not stupid. Dont worry, I will take care of it. and then we will have plenty of time." Fila cupped the girls head, and made her look directly at her, "You did what you had to, and im going to do what I have to. But don't be sad okay?"
Fila hadn't talked to Bea directly about what she knew, about what Itsuki had told her. But Fila still felt anger towards what they did to her, used her like nothing.
She leaned in and kissed Bea again, slower this time, deep and lingering, tasting the salt of her tears. Bea melted into it, hands fisting in Fila's shirt like she was afraid to let go. The kiss turned hungry once more, almost desperate, full of everything they wouldn't have time to say properly. Teeth grazed lips. Fingers dug into waists and hair. For a few precious minutes, the greenhouse, the jungle, and the entire world outside disappeared.
When they finally broke apart, both were breathing hard. Bea's forehead stayed pressed to Fila's, their noses brushing.
A goodbye never feels easy with a person close to you. The hardest goodbye but easiest hello as they say. And that heavy and hard feeling in your chest when you don't want it, it's a special kind of pain.
And looking into a pair of tear full eyes that wont stop flooding over with tears, never helps. No matter how much you hug or kiss.
A mistake happens, the important part after a mistake is how you handle it and how the special other handles it. love the ones you need to love, don't let it fall away from you.
The carriage lifted of the ground gently and zoomed away from the jungle.
Her room was the same, and it felt good being alone for once in almost three months. with Christmas just around the corner now.
She leaned her head against the cool window, watching the endless green give way to rivers, then open sky, then the first hints of colder landscapes in the distance.
She missed Bea already. The way her eyes shone when she smiled. The way she tasted like herbs and sweetness. The way she had sobbed against her neck like the world was ending.
The heavy feeling of just leaving something that had been a standard for months now. Warm jungle, breakfast different from anything you ever eaten before, new faces. It just felt so empty all of the sudden.
And now she sat looking at a trophy that she didn't really care for. Sure it was nice and it meant a lot, but not to her. For Fila it was just a piece of nothing draped in gold with engravings.
The trophy looked like a tree, gold, with engravings of old native symbols on it. very fitting for something won in a literal jungle. It would most likely be placed in the big cabinet of trophies at school, and never touched again.
"Atleast they will had to see my name every time." she mumbled as she read her name at the bottom of it.
The trip back to Ilvermorny felt faster than the journey to Castelobruxo. Or at least it seemed that way. Maybe because she spent most of it dozing, thinking about strawberry roses, complicated goodbyes, and the cold waiting for her at Durmstrang.
When the carriage finally descended toward Ilvermorny, they were greeted by a sea of students.
The grounds were packed. Thunderbirds, Horned Serpents, Wampus, and Pukwudgies all cheering wildly as the champions stepped off. Banners with lightning bolts and golden trees waved in the cold wind. Someone had even conjured floating illusions of Bob the Tree Giant waving cheerfully above the crowd.
Fila stepped out last, still limping slightly, and the roar that met her was deafening.
"FILA! FILA! FILA!"
June and Miles flanked her immediately, grinning like maniacs. Fontaine stood a little further back, looking proud but exhausted. Even some of the professors were clapping.
Fila raised one hand in a tired wave, a small, genuine smile breaking through the exhaustion. The empty feeling from the journey eased a little in the warmth of home.
She had done it.
Ilvermorny's champion.
In the crowd she could clearly see her friends who hadn't been brought with them, Calla and Elliot who seemed to have grown even closer as a couple. And further back she saw Theo. He had this proud smile, and maybe a bit of longing.
Once Fila managed to free herself from the crowd she made her way to Theo.
"Welcome back Fila…" he was cut of as she pulled him into a deep hug.
Theo froze for half a second before his arms wrapped around her just as fiercely. He smelled like old books, faint potion ingredients, and home. For a long moment neither of them said anything. Fila buried her face in his shoulder, letting the noise of the cheering crowd fade into the background.
"You absolute menace," he murmured into her hair, voice low and warm. "Always stirring up something, aren't you?"
The words sent a small shiver down her spine. Not from cold but from the familiarity, the quiet affection underneath the teasing. She hugged him tighter for a second before pulling back just enough to look at him.
"Couldn't let you have all the glory with your quiet library adventures," she replied, a tired but real smile tugging at her lips. "Had to go and summon a giant tree monster in the middle of a tournament. You know how it is."
"Oh absolutely, just the normal. Getting thrown in jail, blasting someone's hand right of. Just a normal Monday for Ophelia Grindelwald." Theo responded, which gave the impression that she had done all this on purpose. With a hint of a lot of sarcasm.
Fila looked at her best friend, she saw his change. His hair was longer now, falling messily but intentionally across his forehead in a way that suited him. He stood a little straighter, shoulders broader under his Thunderbird robes. It wasn't the boy who used to hide behind stacks of textbooks anymore. He looked… good, Confident.
And for some reason she couldn't make her gaze look away from him.
The realization hit her like a quiet Depulso to the chest. This was Theo. Her Theo. The one who had stayed up late helping her study, who had worried himself sick when she was arrested, who had always been there without asking for anything in return. The one who had just hugged her like she was the most important person in his world.
Her cheeks warmed under the blindfold. She quickly looked down at her boots, pretending to adjust the strap on her trunk to hide the flush.
"You… look different," she said, voice a little rougher than she intended. "In a good way. The hair suits you."
Theo blinked, then gave her that familiar crooked smile, the one that always made her feel like she was in on some private joke with him.
"Yeah? Figured it was time for a change while you were off becoming a legend." He rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly looking a little self-conscious.
And for once, an awkward silence fell on them.
"Alright you two, lets go we are celebrating." Calla's voice cut in from behind them, that brought them back to reality.
For the rest of the night, the whole school celebrated the victory of their champions.
Cake, treats, and a lot of sodas were passed around like they were going out of style. Lanterns floated overhead in Thunderbird gold and silver, casting warm light over the grounds. Some of the older students had also brought their own… "juice," which they tried very hard to hide whenever a professor walked by. The laughter and cheers echoed across the lawns long into the night.
Theo was across from her, laughing at something Miles was saying. His longer hair fell into his eyes when he tilted his head, and every time he smiled that crooked, familiar smile, Fila felt that strange little flutter again. It was confusing. Unsettling. This was Theo, her best friend, the one who had seen her at her worst and stuck around anyway. But something had shifted while she was gone. Or maybe something had always been there and she was only noticing it now.
She looked away quickly when he glanced in her direction, pretending to be very interested in her cake.
Calla dropped down beside her, Elliot following close behind. "You okay?" Calla asked, bumping her shoulder gently.
Fila looked up at her, "Calla, I think I need someone to talk to. Its about…"
"I know, come." Calla started pulling her along.
Fila let herself be dragged along, limping slightly as Calla tugged her through the corridors toward the Thunderbird dorms. The celebration noise faded behind them, replaced by the quieter echo of their footsteps on the stone floors.
"What do you mean 'you know'?" Fila repeated, half laughing, half genuinely bewildered. "Have I been that obvious?"
Calla shot her a look over her shoulder, one eyebrow raised in that perfectly knowing way only best friends could manage. "Fila. You hugged Theo like he was the last Chocolate Frog on the planet, then spent the rest of the night staring at him every time you thought no one was looking. And when he smiled? You turned the color of a ripe Blushing Bloom. Even Elliot noticed, and he's usually too busy mooning over me to see anything else."
From behind them, Elliot's voice called out cheerfully, "Hey! I resent that!"
Calla grinned but didn't slow down. "You were practically sparkling, Ophelia Grindelwald. It's adorable. And terrifying. Mostly adorable."
They reached the dorm room and Calla pushed the door open, pulling Fila inside before shutting it behind them with a dramatic click. June was already there, sprawled across her bed surrounded by half-packed trunks.
Fila sank down onto the edge of her own bed, wincing as her leg protested. She rubbed her thigh absently. "It's not… I mean, Theo's just Theo. He's been my best friend since first year. He's…"
Calla flopped down beside her, cross-legged and expectant. "He's what? Tall now? Handsome? Or maybe you just realized that he actually is really hot."
Fila made a strangled noise and flopped backward onto her bed, staring at the ceiling like it might offer her some divine wisdom. "Calla. This is Theo. Theo who once spent three hours explaining the proper stirring direction for Pepperup Potion because I kept making it explode. Theo who sent me seventeen letters while I was in that ridiculous MACUSA cell, half of them asking if I needed him to smuggle me a book so I wouldn't go insane."
"And yet," Calla said, grinning like a cat who'd found the cream, "here we are. You're blushing harder than a Mandrake in sunlight."
June, who had been pretending to fold socks but was clearly eavesdropping, let out a delighted squeak. "Wait, Theo? Nooo way you like Theo, who would have thought…" she said mockingly.
"He's always been nice-looking," Fila muttered defensively, covering her face with a pillow. "I just… didn't notice. Or maybe I did and ignored it because he was safe. And now he's got the hair and the shoulders and the way he hugged me like I was something precious and… Merlin's beard, why is this happening right before I leave for the frozen tundra of Durmstrang?"
Elliot poked his head in from the doorway (apparently he'd followed them). "Should I be taking notes? This sounds like prime gossip material."
"Out," Calla and June said in unison, waving him away. Elliot retreated with a laugh and a mock salute.
Calla patted Fila's arm sympathetically. "Look, feelings don't come with neat little timetables. You've been through a lot, prison, a tournament where people literally tried to cheat you out of winning, saying goodbye to Bea. It's okay if your heart is doing cartwheels in multiple directions. You're allowed to be confused."
Fila looked up, "June did you tell her about Bea???"
June suddenly got a very urgent call from a ghost and quickly ran out of the room. Calla didn't look away from Fila, "Look, I heard about it. Do you REALLY like her, or is it just your loneliness talking?"
Fila stared at Calla for a long second, then let out a dramatic groan and pulled the pillow back over her face.
"Ugh. I hate that you asked that," she mumbled into the fabric. "Because the honest answer is… I don't know. Bea makes my stomach do flips and my brain turn into flower mush. She's warm and fierce and she chose me even after seeing the worst parts. But Theo…"
She peeked out from under the pillow, cheeks still flushed.
"He's always been there. Steady. He never made me feel like the name was a warning label. And now he's got that stupid hair and he hugged me like I mattered more than anything else in the world and suddenly I'm wondering if I've been blind this whole time. Literally and figuratively."
Calla tilted her head, looking thoughtful instead of teasing for once. "So it's not just loneliness. It's two different kinds of 'I really like this person' crashing into each other right before you sail off to the land of snow and dramatic cloaks."
"Pretty much," Fila admitted, sitting up and hugging the pillow to her chest. "Bea feels like fireworks. Theo feels like… coming home after a really long, terrible day and someone's left the light on for you. And I have no idea what to do with either of them while I'm about to go freeze my toes off at Durmstrang."
June, who had crept back into the room after her very obvious escape attempt, sat on the other side of her again. "You don't have to decide tonight. Or even this month. You're thirteen, Fila. Not every feeling has to turn into a giant dramatic declaration right away. Write to Bea like you promised. Be honest with her about how you feel. And with Theo… just be his friend. See what happens. The rest can wait until your heart stops doing cartwheels."
Fila leaned her head on June's shoulder. "When did you get so smart about this stuff?"
June yet again looked like she just wanted to blast away on a broom. And the two girls on the bed, looked at her with suspicious looks.