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By fifth year, the Restricted Section was Sebastian’s old friend.
He knew each shelf’s contents intimately—the book that needed to be knocked three times on the spine before opened, or else it would shred itself and take several reparos to fix. The book covered in slimy, congealed blood that could only be read through careful application of levioso. The book that glittered so entrancingly, and then gave frostbite to any finger that touched it.
His love for books began at home—when his parents still lived. The study in the cellar was lined with floor to ceiling shelves, including a sliding ladder needed to reach books on the top shelf. Accio had the habit of pulling several books at once, and sometimes they’d strike Sebastian in the head if he wasn’t quick enough. Not that he was supposed to do magic at home, but he’d never been much of a rule follower.
Sebastian loved books in general, and had a special fondness for knowledge he wasn’t supposed to have. So he visited the Restricted Section as often as he could, and it was one night, a few days after he’d snuck into it with the new student, that he found he was not alone.
“Ominis?” he whispered, surprised. Ominis Gaunt sat at one of the small study desks inside the Restricted Section, a book open before him, his fingers running over the page.
Ominis startled, and then tilted his head in the direction of Sebastian’s voice.
“Sebastian?” he whispered back. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?” Though they snuck around all the time before, they’d never met in the library before.
Ominis tapped the book beneath his hand. “Reading.”
“Ha ha.”
Sebastian sat down opposite Ominis. It was hard to see his face in the darkness of the nighttime library. There were a few sconces lit back near the entrance, and moonlight shone through the nearest window. Otherwise they were nearly in darkness.
Not that it made a difference to Ominis, Sebastian supposed. Or did it? Sebastian had never pried about exactly what Ominis could or couldn’t see.
“What’s that book about?” Sebastian asked.
“Emancipation through patricide,” Ominis said, his lips curving in amusement. “I’m not going to follow through with it, but it’s very comforting reading.”
“Wow. And they put that in braille?”
“No. It’s a spell. I can translate any book. Sometimes—when I’m not sneaking into the library after curfew—I have a spell that reads it aloud for me. It can be a bit slow, though.”
“Yeah. And you use dictation quills in class, don’t you? I’ve always thought it was unfair. You get the notes directly from the professor’s mouth.”
“Unfair,” he repeated, sounding amused.
“I suppose I’m envious is a better way to put it.”
“I can poke your eyes out,” Ominis offered. “With a quill. Then you’ll have nothing to be jealous of.”
Sebastian laughed, and then quickly stopped when he heard the faraway sounds of footsteps.
“Moon,” they both whispered at once.
Ominis stood with his book, ran his hand along the nearest shelf, and then slid his book into the opening he found there.
“We have to get out of here,” Ominis said, and Sebastian, in full agreement, rose from the table.
They quickly Disillusioned themselves and slipped out of the Restricted Section, tiptoeing around shelves and past empty tables.
Abruptly, Ominis threw an arm across Sebastian’s chest, freezing him in place. Sebastian saw Moon standing in the entrance of the library, looking around the dark room suspiciously. Ominis used his other hand to press a finger to his lips, and Sebastian nodded before realising Ominis wouldn’t see the gesture. So, without thinking much about it, he took the hand on his chest and gave it a little squeeze.
Ominis’s inhale was sharp enough that Sebastian worried they’d be caught out, but Moon was far enough away that he didn’t hear it. The echo of his footsteps grew softer until it faded completely.
“That was close,” Sebastian said as they disentangled and continued walking. He was thankful that Ominis couldn’t see how warmly his cheeks were burning.
“Too bad the common room is so far from the library,” Ominis sighed. “Lots of opportunities to get caught between here and there.”
Sebastian nudged Ominis’s shoulder with his own. “Don’t give up. The night’s still young. We’ll make it.”
They had one more near run-in with Moon on the ground floor, but otherwise made it to the common room unscathed. Ominis fell onto a sofa by the fire in obvious relief, shaking his head.
“I don’t know how you do that so often,” Ominis said. “It’s far riskier than the Undercroft.”
“How do you know I do that so often?” Sebastian shot back.
“I pay attention,” Ominis said, and then his cheeks burned as brightly as Sebastian’s had in the library. “Not, er, to you specifically. Or not all the time. Or—”
“It’s okay,” Sebastian said. His stomach hurt with a combination of hope and nerves as he sat down carefully beside Ominis, and put his hand on top of his. Ominis’s hand curved into an instant fist, but he didn’t pull away. “I’ve been known to pay attention to you from time to time, too.”
“Have you?” Ominis whispered. His fingers relaxed beneath Sebastian’s, and he flipped his hand over. Sebastian’s stomach flipped helplessly as Ominis entwined their fingers. “What have you noticed?”
“How perfect your hair always looks,” Sebastian blurted. “No matter how I try, mine is so…fluffy.”
Ominis chuckled, and his fingers tightened a little against Sebastian’s.
“And,” Sebastian continued, “how nice you try to be, even when you’re really feeling miserable.”
“Nice? Not a word you hear about Slytherins very often.”
“Nice,” Sebastian said firmly. “You’re nice.”
“You are, too.”
There was a moment where they sat on the sofa in silence. It was a different kind of quiet than the tension that had accompanied them as they crept through the halls of Hogwarts. Now, there was comfort, and a certain amount of anticipation.
“May I kiss you?” Sebastian asked, when he thought he might explode if he didn’t get the words out.
“Yes…you may,” Ominis said, his voice even softer than it had been in the Restricted Section.
Sebastian put his free hand lightly on Ominis’s jaw and moved slowly, giving Ominis time to feel him coming. He carefully brushed his lips against Ominis’s, and Ominis surged forward, tugging their joined hands into his lap to close the distance between them.
The kiss was rough and sweet and eager and shy. Sebastian had never considered kissing Ominis before he did it, but as it happened he felt that he’d been stupid to never think about it before.
Sebastian leaned back first, his lower lip pleasantly damp from Ominis’s tongue running along it, and found Ominis’s cheeks to be very pink.
“Shall we do it again?” Sebastian asked, and Ominis laughed. He seemed so pleased that it could almost be described as a giggle.
“We must,” Ominis agreed, and this time he leaned forward and found Sebastian’s mouth on his own.