Chapter Text
"Sebastian, have you lost your mind!?" Ominis spat as soon as the gates raised before him, storming through them immediately with confident strides, moving through the room with familiarity. "What were you thinking, telling the new fifth year about this place!?"
Sebastian jumped to his feet, almost knocking over a tall pile of books on the table by the bench he had been seated on. "T-they told you!?"
"So you did tell them about the Undercroft!" Ominis gritted his teeth.
"I- Well, I, wait, so they didn't tell you that?" Sebastian stammered, scrambling to cover up his mistake.
"No, they told some boldfaced lie about stumbling upon this room, ridiculous!" Ominis threw his hands up in frustration. Sebastian smiled, pleased to hear that his new friend had tried to lie for him anyway.
Ominis jabbed a finger in Sebastian's general direction. "You can wipe that smile from your face. I know you're smiling."
Sebastian's grin stretched wider, reaching forward to adjust Ominis' index finger to properly point at his face, stifling a snicker at the indignation on Ominis' face.
Yanking his hand back, Ominis huffed irritably. "And that is beside the point, what in Merlin's name do you think you're doing, speaking of this place to someone who's been here for less than a month!?"
"Exactly." Sebastian countered, folding his arms defensively. "They've been here for less than a month, you know they're muggleborn, catching up to the rest of us is going to be incredibly difficult and I'm sure they'll need somewhere the pureblood nuts won't bother them."
At Ominis' unconvinced expression, Sebastian huffed and tipped his head back irritably. "I would have thought you'd approve of me helping a muggleborn in Slytherin!"
"I do approve of you helping a new struggling student, but this is supposed to be our sanctuary! You didn't even bother to ask how I felt before you did it!" Ominis voice shook with some of the hurt he was trying to conceal.
"Look, I-" Sebastian began, a sharp retort on his tongue, right until he noticed that Ominis was blinking rapidly in an attempt to prevent moisture from gathering in his eyes.
Sebastian sighed instead and sat back down heavily, the fight momentarily drained out of him.
Ominis shifted agitatedly, waiting for a few moments of silence before opening his mouth to speak, only to be interrupted by Sebastian's quiet admission.
"Because they remind me of Anne."
Ominis froze, he hadn't expected anything like what Sebastian had just said. The tightness around his eyes softened gradually, as Sebastian continued. "I miss her. I miss this place. I miss us hanging out together here. They just reminded me so much of Anne, the way she was before…"
Sebastian took a deep breath, clasping his hands together in front of him. Ominis quietly approached his bowed head as Sebastian swallowed the lump in his throat.
"Oh Sebastian…" Ominis sighed, what else could he say? He missed her too.
"I just- I wanted to have that feeling again. Playing Gobstones together, teaching Anne Confringo after we'd practiced till we were sure we wouldn't accidentally hurt her or let her hurt herself. The time the three of us spent together here were- are some of my best memories." The words came out thick with grief, Sebastian swallowed, pushing past the crushing loneliness of being apart from his twin for too long.
All because of the goblins. Sebastian lifted his head, a fire blazing in his eyes, letting his anger wash away the pain.
"It's those bloody goblins, it wasn’t enough to curse Anne, and now the little buggers are after the new fifth year too!" Sebastian gestured uselessly before Ominis' unseeing gaze.
Sebastian slumped back down, clasping his hands together again.
"They were so brave, fighting that troll, it was like watching Anne beat the piss out of those seventh year pure-brained bullies." Sebastian's tone grew wistful for a moment, before he lifted his head to face Ominis.
"I'm sorry I told them without consulting you, but they need somewhere they can train to get stronger. I'd do it again. I'm not going to let the goblins take someone else, not if I can help it." Sebastian's voice darkened dangerously and Ominis suppressed a shiver.
The hatred in Sebastian's words was so visceral, that Ominis felt something in himself recoil, from the person he cared about most in the world.
Anne wasn't the only one who changed after the curse. Ominis swallowed the words, grieving once more for the brief happiness they'd had together. With one spell, the goblins had taken away the only two people he loved. Was it too much to ask? Just two people, in the whole bloody world that he wanted to protect, and the goblins just had to curse Anne.
Sebastian wasn't the only one angry, Ominis was too, but it was so tiring being angry. Ominis had spent so long angry. Angry at his ill fortune, at whatever cruel deities had decided to put a blind child in the House of Gaunt. Angry at his parents, at his siblings, his heritage. He was so tired of anger and hate.
Ominis sighed in resignation, there was no point bemoaning what could not be undone, he'd learnt that growing up under his family's…tender loving care.
"Well, I suppose there's no changing the past. You've already told them, there's nothing I can do about it now." Ominis grumbled, sitting down on the bench beside Sebastian. He heard Sebastian release a shaky breath, his friend's body relaxing beside him.
"So, what else did you do with them, besides get another detention?" Ominis shook his head as he bumped shoulders with Sebastian.
Sebastian grinned. "Well, first we went to Hogsmead and then a troll appeared! It crashed through…"