Chapter Text
Emeri isn’t a fighter.
No one could ever confuse her for one.
She barely makes it through the Gringotts vault with her life, she loses her first duel in Defense Against the Dark Arts with stunning mistakes most first years wouldn’t make, and the only reason she wins her round of Crossed Wands is because Sebastian was on her team.
Emeri isn’t a fighter, but somehow that seems to be the only thing she does now. Bandits and poachers and goblins and dark mongrels and inferi. She has to fight pensive guardians, giant spiders, trolls, and whatever those creatures are called that skulk around the edges of rivers and lakes.
She wants to run away, and never more than right now.
Sebastian is desperate for a cure for his sister Anne. Emeri understands that to an extent, at least- she’s never had any siblings to care for before- but he’s going too far. There’s a difference between spells the professors don’t teach to students- like Confringo- and the Unforgivable Curses.
But as they stand here in the midst of the trial Salazar Slytherin had created to protect his scriptorium, as they look at the horrifying mural of tortured faces covering the wall and Sebastian doesn’t even flinch, Emeri is nearly overwhelmed with the desire to run away.
But she can’t; she and Ominis are stuck here until they reach the end.
“We have to cast the Cruciatus Curse to move forward. That’s why your aunt died here; she couldn’t cast it on anyone because she was alone.”
The moment the name of that specific curse is spoken, Ominis freezes up, his features paling in the light of Emeri’s Lumos. She probably looks no better. How could Sebastian want to cast that? On one of them, on his friends?
You have to mean it.
Her heart is beating so hard in her chest it physically hurts. Everything gets hazy as Sebastian begins to justify his soon-to-be use of an Unforgivable. He looks back and forth between her and Ominis, muttering that he could teach it to her and she could cast it on him, but they all know that’s not possible.
Firstly, she doesn’t want to learn any kind of Dark Magic, much less an Unforgivable. Secondly, because she can barely manage to cast Confringo at giant spiders- vile creatures she can’t stand- and mean it, there’s no way she can mean it when casting Crucio- a curse that was explicitly designed to cause unimaginable suffering- at one of her friends.
Ominis still hasn’t moved or said a single word, so Emeri squares her shoulders. She scrambles to find every shred of bravery she can muster in her Hufflepuff body before turning to Sebastian.
“I won’t learn it. You’ll- you’ll have to cast it on me.”
It doesn’t even feel like she’s speaking the words; it all sounds so distant beyond the sound of the blood rushing through her veins, almost deafeningly loud.
“I won’t forget this, Emeri.” Without a moment of hesitation, he lifts his wand. She’s already shaking, it’s a wonder she’s still on her feet, but it doesn’t last long. As the curse slams into her, she hits the floor, her scream echoing through the dark chamber.
Ominis draws in a sharp breath as he hears the nearly inhuman cries of a girl too soft and too bright to be somewhere like this. A girl too gentle and too kind to ever have to suffer under any curse, much less this one.
“Emeri!” He stumbles forward, his heart breaking as she continues to scream and cry, as Sebastian continues to hold the spell in hopes of making it to the scriptorium. “No, no, no, no…! Oh, Em, I’m so sorry!” Ominis falls to his knees beside her, pulling her seizing body into his arms, uncaring as she claws and hits him, as she grabs his hand and squeezes with a strength he didn’t think she possessed.
“Hold on; we’ve almost got it! Just a little longer!” If Ominis’ arms hadn’t been filled with a girl suffering the worst kind of pain, Ominis would have happily punched his oldest friend, though he hardly recognizes him these days. Ominis misses Anne too, but this isn’t the way to help her!
Emeri’s sobbing and screaming turns into begging for an end, the most heartbreaking whimpers punctuating every broken plea. And just like that, Ominis is back in his family’s house, standing over a pair of muggles who beg for their lives as he curses them again and again and again. And when his tears began to fall, his older brothers laughed, and his father cast the curse on him instead, shouting that he would give his pathetic son something to cry about.
“Enough, Sebastian!” Ominis screams, fumbling to try and find where he’d dropped his wand, but a moment later, everything falls silent apart from Emeri’s frantic breaths and the soft swishing sound as the magical door opens. Emeri chokes and coughs as she tries to breathe; her whole body continues to shake even without the curse. She watches through bleary eyes as Sebastian walks into the scriptorium without a single backward glance at either her or Ominis.
“S… Seb… Sebas-” She tries to force herself to speak, but sharp slivers of pain still cut through her with every heavy beat of her heart.
“Shh, Em, I’ve got you. Just keep breathing; the aftershocks will pass soon. There you go, just like that, you’re doing so well.” Ominis gently rocks her back and forth, trying to steady his breathing as she clings to him, presses her face into the side of his neck, and lets out a relieved sob. He feels sick to his stomach when he can make out soft ‘thank you’s’ whispered against his skin.
He doesn’t deserve them. He should have taken the curse before she did. He should have stepped in and stopped Sebastian. He shouldn’t have given in to his old friends begging for answers about this hellish scriptorium’s location.
“You guys, I think we’ve found Salazar’s spell book!”
We.
Funny, Ominis is pretty sure Emeri’s done most of the work thus far. Lighting the fires, figuring out the snake puzzles after a few bites, and taking this curse. Hell, even Ominis had participated with parseltongue! What has Sebastian done but relentlessly push them forward?
“Are you guys coming-”
“Shut up, Sebastian!” Ominis snaps, his face twisting up in rage. This curse isn’t just something someone can walk off. The aftershocks alone linger for several minutes, and her body will feel achy and out of sorts for the next week or two.
“F-follow-”
“No, you won’t, not until the last of it has passed. Sebastian can keep himself occupied until you’re ready.” Ominis really can’t remember the last time he was this angry. He’d long since given up caring what his family thought about him; he’s all but washed his hands in regards to them. He supposes maybe when Anne was cursed? He felt mad, but more scared than anything. They didn’t- still don’t really- know what would happen to her.
He knows Emeri won’t die from this, that physically she’ll recover, but mentally there is no guarantee. Pain like this can change a person, especially when it’s cast on them by someone they trust. Someone who’s never supposed to harm them.
Ominis is mad at Sebastian for continuing to search out the Dark Arts despite his many warnings, mad at him for dragging both of them into this, mad at him for casting such a curse, mad at him for being able to mean it.
…how could he mean it?
It takes what feels like forever to return to herself, Emeri slowly realizing where exactly she is as the oppressive silence of this horrid place smothers them. She fights against the arms around her for just a moment, picturing her tormentor there, holding her down for another round of curses. Thankfully it’s not Sebastian she’s huddled against and crying on; it’s Ominis.
It’s Ominis quietly murmuring to her when she shivers or flinches.
It’s Ominis gently running his fingers through her hair.
It’s Ominis whose heart is beating steadily beneath her ear.
It’s Ominis that eventually helps her stand, wraps an arm around her shoulders, and leads her out of the nightmarish scriptorium, his brows furrowed as he lets his wand lead the way.
He slowly but surely heads towards the Hufflepuff common room, but with each step they take, the surer that Emeri is that she doesn’t want to go there. She loves her house, but their nosy, well-meaning worrying is the last thing she wants to deal with right now. Instead, Emeri takes Ominis’ hand and leads him silently through the corridors to the Room of Requirements.
“Where are we?”
“Safe.”
The large space Emeri’s been working on filling with Deek’s help is just as she’d left it yesterday. There’s a row of planters up against the far wall, several potion tables near them. Her desk and loom are tucked into another corner, and her personal little library sits in the last alcove.
She should probably tend to all the creatures she’d rescued, but she can’t find the will tonight. Deek had helped her set up auto feeders last week, so at least they won’t starve. She’ll deal with them in the morning.
Emeri leads a stunned Ominis down a flight of stairs to a slightly smaller- though still quite large- space that she hasn’t finished decorating and filling yet. Off to the side, though, she’s made herself a cozy little room. There’s a bed, a couch, and several overstuffed chairs. A plethora of pillows and warm blankets cover every available surface, and she can’t help but feel relieved as they step past all the protection charms she’s placed around this small haven.
Chances are that all those things she constantly fights won’t be able to get into Hogwarts, much less the Room of Requirement, but Emeri isn’t going to take any risks.
“This is incredible, Emeri. I didn’t know such a place existed.”
“Professor Weasley showed it to me; she and Deek thought it would help me in my studies as I played catch up with the rest of the fifth years. I’ll show you the vivariums later, the thestrals just had a foal. I promise you that Mordecai is the cutest little death horse you’ll ever meet.”
“I’m sorry, did you say thestrals? You keep thestrals here?”
“Among other things. I’ve been rescuing all sorts of creatures from poachers lately.”
“Why are you around poachers?”
“Not by choice, really. They always just seem to find me. The Forbidden Forest is crawling with them.”
“Emeri, what in Merlin’s name are you doing in the Forbidden Forest?!”
“I… I’ll explain it to you, but I- right now I just want to sleep.”
“Of course. I- I’m just worried about you, is all.”
“I’m worried too,” Emeri whispers, turning away from Ominis to hide the tears he couldn’t even see. “I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.”
“…get some rest, Emeri. I’ll see you in the morning-” He turns to leave, wand raised and flickering red, but Emeri’s hand on his arm stops him.
“P-please don’t leave. I can’t- I need- I don’t want to be alone.”
“Oh.” Ominis didn’t even think about that, but it makes sense. When he’d suffered the curse, he wanted to be alone because those around him were the ones to hurt him, to begin with. He would find no comfort from others in his childhood home. But Emeri found comfort in him; it would make sense she wouldn’t want him to leave.
And… yes, he imagines he’d feel better staying near her as well. He’d already been making plans to wake up early and search out this room to ensure that Emeri was alive and well come morning.
“I see. Of course, I don’t mind staying. I’ll just…” Ominis trails off, wishing he was better at transfigurations. The last thing he wants to do is spend the night in his now dusty, grimy, tear-stained school uniform, but he’s not skilled enough to change them into something better.
“There’s a wardrobe over there on the left that’s got all kinds of clothes you can look through if you want to change. And I- I can make another bed or m-move the couch around or make a barrier or something-”
“No, that’s alright. You get ready; I’ll find something suitable in the wardrobe and be right back.”
Several minutes later, they both stand there in warm nightclothes. Emeri climbs onto the large bed, getting comfortable under the covers, and after a moment of hesitation, Ominis joins her. As if sensing that they are about to go to bed, the light in the room dims down until barely any familiar warm glow is left.
They remain entirely silent, not daring to move a single muscle. They wonder if they can fall asleep tonight, though for different reasons. Emeri doesn’t know if she’ll be able to drift off, knowing without a doubt that she’ll have any number of nightmares, as has become typical. The Cruciatus Curse is sure to be added to the growing list of things haunting her dreams.
Ominis isn’t sure he’ll be able to relax in the same bed as someone else, much less Emeri. Growing up around Sebastian and Anne, they had sometimes shared beds when he’d come by for the summer, but nothing like that had happened in several years.
“Ominis?”
“Yes?”
“You can say no, okay?”
“…alright?”
“I have- usually I have nightmares, and after today, I- would it be alright if I- if I h-held your hand?”
Ominis can’t name the warm, fluttering emotion currently assaulting his chest, but he doesn’t think it’s terrible. Instead of answering out loud, he shifts closer to Emeri to search for her hand under the covers and carefully wraps his fingers around hers. There’s a pang in his chest at the shuddering sighs that Emeri lets out.
“…thank you…” Her whisper is so quiet he almost doesn’t hear it. As he closes his eyes, he gently squeezes her hand, softly smiling as she squeezes him back. They’ll deal with her extracurricular activities and the sources of her nightmares in the morning. For now, they both deserve a quiet night of rest, and that’s just what they do.