Oh Hex No

Erik felt like he was floating underwater. He was sure he was dead, but if he was, it wasn’t fair that he was still in so much pain. He groggily came to a couple times but was back out within a couple seconds.

Finally, he was able to open his eyes long enough to look around and see he was in a hospital room with sunlight flooding through the window. He grimaced and squinted. Someone was in the room, but his vision was still blurred.

“Ngh, can we close the blinds?” he mumbled.

There was a soft gasp and the figure scurried to the window to close the blinds. With the sunlight out of his face, his vision adjusted in time to see Serena at his side. There was a bruise at her temple and she looked frazzled, but otherwise she was alright. She worriedly put her hand on Erik’s face and studied him to see if he was truly awake this time.

“Thanks,” Erik said. “It was bright.”

“How do you feel?” Serena asked softly. “They patched up your wounds, but you lost a lot of blood. And the nurses say the scars will probably never go away.”

“Does it look rugged?”

Serena cracked a smile and leaned in to kiss him.

“Very rugged,” she reassured him. “You’ve been out for three days. Your mother arrived this morning. I’ll go get her.”

“No,” Erik said. “I mean, not yet. Just sit here with me for a second. What happened? Did you get hurt?”

“Just a little traumatized, but nothing serious,” she said. “Fighting the creature was useless, so I set Markus on fire instead. He’s in critical condition, but alive. Not that he’ll last too long when they take him to prison.”

“So they finally believe you?”

“They believe us,” she corrected. “I heard you had a bit of a spat with Jorgenson. I had a little bit of a conversation with the headmistress. She resigned the next day. The city chose a replacement for her already, and it seems he’s already starting to rework things at Mondhaven to avoid a scandal.”

“All that happened while I was unconscious?” Erik said. “I missed all the fun. And I wanted to be the one to tell you I yelled at Jorgenson.”

“Don’t worry, you can tell me the more scandalous parts,” she said. “You know… you talked while you were drugged up.”

“I did?” Erik frowned. “What did I say?”

“You said you loved me,” she said gently. “I know it’s not fair to hold that over you. You weren’t in the right state of mind.”

“I wasn’t,” Erik agreed. “Especially if I thought this was a good place to say it.”

“To be fair, you thought you were dying,” she said with a light laugh. “Does that mean you would have said it elsewhere?”

“Well, yeah,” Erik admitted. “I mean, I was going to wait a little. I didn’t want to scare you off. Maybe I’d say it somewhere less sterile. But I do love you.”

Serena’s eyes were damp but she was smiling as she leaned in to kiss him again. Eventually she had to go tell his mother and her family she was awake, and Ginny came barreling in so fast that he nearly broke the door off its hinges. He was stunned when Antoinette hugged him, too.

He was reluctant to tell his mother the truth about everything, but it was hard to avoid with everything that had happened. While it was a lot for Ginny to process, she seemed too relieved that he was alive to be too concerned with everything else. Mr. Dupont wasn’t too happy, grumbling about school board members and how they thought they could do whatever they wanted.

Erik was in the hospital for another week before the nurses let him leave. He was still walking with a limp and spent most of his time in bed, but at least he could function. Bea was so excited to see him that she tried to jump on him, but Serena caught the girl out of midair so she wouldn’t hurt Erik more.

“He just needs a little rest right now, Bea,” Serena told her. “And he needs some quiet time to study. Graduation exams are coming up, you know.”

“Am I still taking that?” Erik asked. “I’m not banned?”

“If they try to ban you, they’ll feel my grandfather’s wrath,” she said. “Get that look off your face. You’re ready.”

Erik still wasn’t sure, but a few weeks later, he was sitting in the exam room in front of blank faced professors, demonstrating what he knew. As he left the room they didn’t say or show anything, leaving him in fear of how it had gone.

He was ready to hear he had failed, but a month later the results of the exam were sent to him and Serena. She held the envelopes in one hand and a bottle of champagne in the other, excitedly sitting down next to Erik on the couch in her dorm. She handed him his envelope, eyes glittering.

“Everything we’ve worked for,” she said. “Here we go.”

“I feel like I’m going to puke,” Erik wheezed.

Serena opened her envelope first, then squealed with excitement.

“I passed!” she said. “Ninety-seven points out of a hundred!”

“Why are you acting surprised?”

“Shut up,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Your turn.”

Erik hesitantly opened the envelope, ready to see a red fail stamp across it. He let out a soft sigh when he read it.

“I passed,” he said. “Same score. Ninety-seven.”

Serena cheered excitedly and popped the cork off the champagne, sending Montague and Arthur into a panic across the floor.

“I told you!” she squealed. “You’re incredible!”

“No, you are,” he said, grinning as he pulled her into a kiss. “I wouldn’t be here without you.”

“Any idea what you want to do next?” she asked. “With your fully legalized wand?”

“You know what’s sort of insane?” Erik said. “I think I want to get my credentials to teach.”

“Well, I think that’s a great idea,” Serena said. “But first, champagne.”

“Good plan.”