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Sebastian stood in awe at the ornately decorated door in front of him, with the unmistakable serpentine detailing one would expect from Salazar Slytherin’s imagination. Y/N was talking to Ominis, trying to figure out the way forward, their low conspiratorial whispers were getting on his nerves as he tried to block out the conversation and concentrate on the problem in front of him, to no avail. Ominis had heard a voice, and Sebastian could see his mind working, putting together the clues. Of course the door could only be opened by a true descendant of Salazar Slytherin himself.
“I can’t believe I’m doing this," Ominis muttered.
The high hiss that erupted from Ominis' mouth filled the room, sending a shiver down his spine. Sebastian had heard Ominis speaking Parseltongue only a handful of times before, many years ago. They had encountered snakes whilst exploring the countryside around Feldcroft and Ominis had been able to converse with them, inviting the creatures along on their adventures. Only in the years of his adolescence did Ominis decide to stop using his ability, associating it only with dark wizards—Sebastian thought this a shame, and it irked him that Ominis wasted his inherited gift.
"Ominis, you possess a rare ability indeed," Y/N said, eyeing him in astonishment. The look she gave Ominis lingered, her mouth parting slightly. Sebastian felt his stomach lurch uncomfortably, a feeling he recognised as jealousy, though of what, he wasn't sure. He had no time to dwell on it.
"Between the two of you, I'm starting to feel left out," Sebastian muttered before he could stop himself.
"Between the two of us?" Ominis asked.
"I…never mind," Sebastian muttered, watching the two enter the newly revealed room. He shook his head and followed, banishing the intrusive thoughts for further evaluation later.
-
It was a full week after the events in the Scriptorium when Sebastian was reminded of the conversation. The days following the adventure (for lack of a better word) had been tense and full of a frantic need to push forward. He had studied Slytherin's spellbook during his limited free time, taking the tome to bed with him to pour over its pages before his eyes could no longer stay open. His search for answers to Anne's plight had so far proved fruitless and his mood soured with each progressive day.
Y/N had been spending more and more time outside of the castle and Ominis refused to help Sebastian after the events in the Scriptorium. Sebastian wasn't entirely unsympathetic, he knew of Ominis' deep aversion to the dark arts—but this was for Anne. All in all, Sebastian felt incredibly alone, and the late nights were beginning to take their toll.
When he'd returned from a late night of reading in the library, he'd spotted his friends in the common room, sitting on a sofa and talking. She had that glint in her eye again, the one Sebastian thought she'd only had for him. His chest tightened as he approached and she noticed him as he came into earshot, quickly ceasing their conversation and giving Sebastian a nervous smile. Sebastian returned the smile, trying to hide his suspicion that he had walked in on something private.
"How are you, Sebastian?" she asked.
"Fine," he replied, far too quickly. "You?"
"Well, thank you. I'm sorry I haven't been around much. Do you want some help with your research?"
Sebastian's irritation waned as he looked into her eyes and considered the kind offer. He nodded and sat opposite her in a plush armchair, his eyes flicking to Ominis who was yet to greet him, yet Sebastian swore he had the trace of a small smile on his lips. Irritating. What had they been talking about?
"Thanks, not tonight though. Will you be here tomorrow or are you off on another adventure?" he asked, trying to appear nonchalant.
"I can be here," she said softly.
The answer made Sebastian's stomach flip over as he smiled and leaned back in the chair, casually resting an ankle on the opposite knee.
"Anyway, I'm turning in now. Good night," she said with a yawn and a small wave.
Ominis and Sebastian said their farewells and Sebastian watched her leave, before turning to Ominis.
"So…," Sebastian started.
Ominis sighed. "I still don't want to talk about your research, Sebastian."
"Actually, I wanted to know what you two were talking about when I arrived," Sebastian said, rather more coldly than he'd anticipated.
Ominis cocked his head to one side. "Nothing, just idle chit chat."
Sebastian knew when Ominis was lying, and this was definitely one of those times. Either they had been talking about something private—and what did they have to talk about privately?—or, they were talking about Sebastian. Either way, he didn't like it. He knew Ominis wouldn't betray her confidence, and he didn't want to fight so he decided to let it go, just this once.
-
The following evening, Y/N kept her promise and followed him to the library after dinner where they settled into a quiet corner and pulled out the old spellbook. Sebastian flicked to the page he had read to, summarising what he'd found. They huddled around the book and lapsed into silence as they both read, Sebastian's eyes blurring as he struggled to concentrate on the text. He ran his hand through his hair and rubbed his eyes, willing himself to carry on, for Anne's sake. His eyes would drift to the hand placed above the book, idly tapping the wooden table, wondering what would happen if dared reach out and take it.
"You should rest, I can carry on and let you know if I find something?" she whispered.
Sebastian chastised himself for wasting the opportunity to spend time with her and progress his research further, but he was so tired from the late nights and poor sleep. His mind raced as he tried to drop off, always working on the problem.
Sebastian shook his head. "I'm sorry, I've not been sleeping well."
"Hmm. Well, I can help you with that," she said, standing up and nodding her head towards the door.
His interest piqued, Sebastian packed up the book and followed her, out of the library and along the winding hallways until they reached the Potions classroom. Sebastian raised an eyebrow in question and she put a finger to her lips in answer. She pushed the door open, peeking into the room before pulling him inside. Sebastian's heart thumped wildly at the touch and he had half a mind to draw her into a kiss, until she pulled her hand away and motioned to Professor Sharp's office.
"What are you doing?" he whispered.
She was already withdrawing her and pointing it at the door lock.
"Alohomora," she muttered, as the lock sprung open.
She rushed into the room, walking straight to the potions store cupboard and scanning the shelves for something.
"Aha," she said, pulling a small purple bottle from the top shelf.
She placed it in Sebastian's hand and he looked up at her smiling face, trying to remember what the familiar little potion was.
"Dreamless Sleep. You sounded like you need it," she said, brushing past him towards the door.
Sebastian huffed amusedly, turning the little bottle over in his hand and following her out of the room.
"You inspired me the day you helped me sneak into the restricted section," she said as they walked back to the common room.
"Glad to be such a bad influence," Sebastian said with a smirk.
A moment of silence passed as they watched each other, they were walking so close, their hands almost grazing. Sebastian's gaze dropped to her parting lips, when he remembered the moment in the Scriptorium when she had looked at Ominis in the same way.
-
Sebastian slept soundly that night and returned to his research with renewed vigor the following day. It was a Saturday, and instead of indulging in his usual pursuits of jaunts around Hogsmeade and general mischief about the castle, he buried his head in the spellbook in the library once again. Scribner had taken to eyeing him suspiciously whenever he entered the room, likely confused by his newfound studiousness. Around mid-afternoon, he found the answer he was looking for—the spellbook mentioned a lost relic which had the power to reverse dark magic curses. His heart thumped wildly as he read, his mind getting carried away with the possibilities. He felt one step closer to a cure for his sister—all he needed now was to find it, but first he needed to tell Y/N.
Tearing out of the library, he headed to the common room and searched frantically for signs of her, instead finding Ominis with a book on his lap, deep in concentration. Sebastian wanted to avoid any further conversation about the spellbook and what he had discovered with his best friend. The thought made him sad, that he felt he couldn't share such a remarkable discovery, but Ominis wouldn't understand—he was so staunchly against all forms of dark magic, seeing it as inherently evil rather than a necessary tool that Sebastian believed. Sebastian turned to leave, but it was too late.
"Sebastian," Ominis said.
Sebastian had no idea how Ominis knew he was there, he suspected Ominis knew him by scent.
"Ominis," he replied. "I was looking for Y/N."
"You've just missed her, I believe she went to see Imelda about a broom trial."
"I see. Were you with her all morning?"
Ominis gave Sebastian an irritatingly sly smile as he closed the book on his lap.
"Only a little while."
Sebastian wondered why his friend was being so vague, and the jealous lurch in his stomach returned once more. He decided to leave before saying something he'd regret, bidding Ominis goodbye and heading to the Quidditch pitch, hoping that she wasn't at one of the other courses outside of the school. He was in luck, as he approached on foot he saw her whizzing through the air between the hoops, all grace and elegance. Sebastian marvelled at her skilled flying, wondering how she had managed such a feat in such a short amount of time. She was incredible, and Sebastian felt thoroughly substandard and undeserving of her attention. Little wonder she had found an interest in Ominis, the descendant of Salazar Slytherin, heir to the old house of Gaunt and resident Parselmouth—they were extraordinary together.
Sebastian sighed as he settled onto a bench to watch, Imelda glaring at her from below on the pitch. As she came to land, she caught sight of Sebastian and broke into a wide smile, which he couldn't help but return. He waited patiently as she spoke to Imelda, who seemed infuriated, then made her way over to him.
"Nice flying. Imelda didn't seem too happy," he said.
"I don't think she appreciated me beating her time on my first try," she said with a small shrug. "What brings you here?"
"You. I have some news, if you have the time."
She nodded, and Sebastian rose from the bench, falling into step with one another as they walked across the grass towards the castle. They agreed to talk in the Undercroft, away from prying eyes and ears.
"I found what I was looking for. A cure for Anne," Sebastian said as soon as the door closed behind them.
She looked at him, stunned. Sebastian was bubbling over with enthusiasm and energy as the knowledge he had learned poured out of him.
"Evidently Slytherin encouraged teaching dark magic at Hogwarts, neither the Imperius or killing curse was unforgivable in his time. He believed students should be prepared to use dark magic when necessary, not to fear it. That's why we had to use Crucio to gain access to the Scriptorium. He didn't want his knowledge shared with anyone who was afraid of the power of dark magic."
"We did what we had to do," she agreed.
"And I'm glad we did. In the spellbook I found reference to a relic, with the power to reverse dark magic curses. I plan to search for this relic but I don't think we should tell anyone, especially Ominis. He wouldn't understand," he said.
She seemed to consider this, a slight frown on her face. She shuffled her feet and sighed, clearly uncomfortable with the idea of being secretive.
"We need to tell him. He's the reason we found the book and he deserves to know."
The reason? Sebastian thought that was a bit of a stretch. He'd been the one to cast the curse to open the final door, Ominis had only refused. If it were up to Ominis, they'd still be trapped in the Scriptorium.
"You've seen how he frets about the dark arts. I'll tell him when I've found the relic," Sebastian said shortly.
She looked taken aback and a little hurt, and Sebastian regretted his tone—his jealous hurt was getting the best of him, he needed to regain his composure.
"I'll let you know when I have more news," he said reassuringly. "And don't worry about Ominis, keeping this to ourselves for now is for his own good."
She relaxed and nodded, her eyes finding his as she dipped her head, looking through her eyelashes at him. Merlin, that look. Sebastian thought himself a charmer, he had a way with women and was usually self assured and some might say, cocky. But somehow, he found himself completely tongue-tied, and his pulse seemed to quicken as the look lingered on in the silence, neither of them wanting to break it.
"I'll decide what's for my own good."
The voice echoed in the room, startling Sebastian as he looked around frantically for the source. Ominis stepped out of the shadows, looking livid. Sebastian had forgotten how well Ominis could stay quiet, he was a master of staying hidden—something he learned at a young age for staying out of sight of his family. He'd heard everything, naturally. After a tense exchange, Sebastian cast another glance at Y/N, who was nervously watching Ominis, he strode out of the room and disappeared into the throng of the castle.
-
Sebastian sat next to Y/N in the common room, idly chewing on an apple as he mulled over all the information he knew about the relic he sought.
"We might be further along if Ominis would agree to help," he muttered bitterly.
The rift between them had grown over the past few days since the encounter in the Undercroft. Sebastian missed his friend, but their anger at each other's differing opinions just led to more arguments.
"Ominis is just worried about you, Sebastian," she said.
"There's nothing to worry about."
"I know, but…"
"Why do you always side with him? No, don't tell me, I don't want to know," Sebastian said, immediately regretting the words as they left his mouth.
"You don't want to know? I just think he has a right to be worried, given his past," she said tersely.
"Has he told you everything, then? I didn't realise you'd become so close, though I wondered what you were whispering about that day in the common room."
Sebastian looked at her, her beautiful face now one of anger, her eyebrows knitted together in a deep frown.
"You're wrong."
And with that, she was gone. Sebastian grimaced and shook his head at his own stupidity. The stress of his strained relationship with Ominis and the urgency of Anne's situation was getting to him, and he had taken it out on her—she didn't deserve that. He ran across the room and out of the door, taking the steps three at a time and almost toppling a first year over as he tore past. Where would she have gone? His mind raced as he touched on the possibilities, and landed on the most likely scenario. He hurried all the way to the seventh floor, trying to ignore the painful stabbing in his side, when he saw her marching along the corridor in front of him.
Sebastian called her name and bent over against the wall, trying to catch his breath. She turned and looked at him, surprised, her expression softening as she walked toward him.
"I'm…sorry," Sebastian gasped.
"Clearly," she said with a smile.
"I didn't mean to sound so…jealous," he said, straightening up.
"Why would you be jealous?" she asked, her head tilted to one side.
"You and Ominis. You're both so…extraordinary."
"And here you are searching for a way to cure your sister after being told it was impossible, unearthing Salazar Slytherin's secret Scriptorium, researching the answer to a lost relic. Don't think you're not extraordinary, Sebastian."
Sebastian's throat was dry as he took in her words, the tenderness completely unexpected.
"I believe in you, Sebastian," she said, almost a whisper, holding out her hand to find his.
Her skin was warm and soft and she stroked the back of his hand with her thumb, sending shivers up his spine. Sebastian had been wrong, he realised as he studied her face. The way she looked at him, he'd been an idiot not to see it.
Sebastian pulled her towards him and drew her into a kiss, placing a hand delicately behind head. Her lips pressed into his, small and soft, the perfect fit. His anger and stress seemed to melt away as they stood holding each other in the quiet corridor, her hand had tentatively made its way to his head and her fingers ran through his hair. She pulled away, smiling at him with a twinkle in her eyes. He returned the smile, tracing her swollen bottom lip with his thumb.
"Beautiful," he whispered.