You walked beside Aiden, your hand brushing against his, but he didn’t take it. His green eyes scanned the halls with quiet calculation, while yours took in every corner, absorbing the new world you had chosen for love.

You hadn’t needed to follow him here. No one asked you to switch schools. But when Aiden got expelled from his last one — something about a duel gone too far — you didn’t hesitate.

Aiden had never been good at hiding his feelings — he was furious. Not at you. But at being brought here, at being forced to share the same halls as the half-brother who didn’t even know he existed.

Barty.

The name had always sounded like something out of a book to you, distant and cold. But to Aiden, it was everything he wasn’t. The legitimate son. The one their father chose.

The doors to the Serpentine common room swung open.

Mattheo looked up and a grin tugged at his mouth. “Well, this just got interesting.”

Tom stood beside him. His eyes settled on Aiden first, then slid to you. He observed, judged, and stored it away in that calculating mind of his.

Lorenzo's gaze trailed over you. “New students,” he said.

Regulus sat half-shadowed on the windowsill. “You’re not from here,” he murmured.

Draco tilted his head, his arms folded and his eyes fixed on you.

Theodore barely looked up. But when he did glance at you, it was with a smirk that suggested he had already imagined your entire backstory.

And then — him.

Barty.

His features stiffened the moment he looked up. His eyes — your eyes widened in surprise.

It was like watching someone see their reflection in a broken mirror.

Aiden stopped. For the first time, he looked uncertain.

Barty didn’t speak, either. He stared. At the face so much like his own. At the familiar angle of the jaw, the mouth, the eyes.

Aiden broke the silence. “You don’t know me. But you should.”

Something in Barty’s expression cracked. “Who the hell are you?”

“I’m the reason your father drank in silence for years,” Aiden said, his eyes locked on his half-brother. “The mistake he tried to forget.”

The room went silent.

Barty stepped forward. “You’re lying.”

“You wish I was,” Aiden spat. “But I’m your brother. Half-brother. My mother didn’t get a fancy wedding. Just a few stolen months and a ruined life.”

You stepped forward then, instinctively, slipping your hand into Aiden’s. The pain in his voice told you he’d carried this moment in his chest for years.

And you — gorgeous, poised, glowing with confidence — let your gaze travel slowly across the room.

You smiled.

And with perfect, deliberate ease…

…you winked.

The silence snapped.

Mattheo leaned forward in his chair. “She’s trouble,” he muttered under his breath.

Tom didn’t smile, but his gaze flickered downward for the briefest second, as though recalculating every assumption he'd made the moment you stepped into the room.

Draco tilted his head, smirking as if to say challenge accepted. “Well,” he drawled, “this year just became infinitely more interesting.”

Lorenzo exchanged a glance with Regulus — one of those rare, silent acknowledgments only boys like them could share. “They’re going to change everything.”

Regulus simply murmured, “They already have.”

Theodore shifted, not looking at you, but the smile tugging at his mouth spoke volumes. He was already writing your name into whatever story played out behind those quiet eyes.

Barty hadn’t moved.

His stare was fixed on Aiden. But even he felt it. The power shift. The new balance being forged, not with a duel, not with magic…

…but with your presence.

Aiden, who had watched in silence, glanced sideways at you now. Not with suspicion or worry — but with the smallest trace of a smile. He had known you were beautiful. He had known you were fierce. But now, even he looked a little stunned by the way the room turned for you.

You weren’t just following Aiden anymore.

You were standing beside him.

And the kingdom had just noticed its queen.