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Chapter Text

It’s been two weeks since the end of her first year at Hogwarts and looking back on it, she couldn’t believe how much had happened. She remembered Sebastian telling her on her first day on the way to Hogsmeade that he had hoped the rest of her year would be uneventful. Ella scoffed at the idea of that now, but from the correspondence she’s had with Sebastian. He assured her that the year they had experienced was far from the norm. After everything that happened in the Catacomb and with her battles with Ranrok and Rookwood, she still couldn’t quite believe she made it through. From learning spells for the first time to wielding magic that no one had seen in centuries. It was quite a harrowing and unbelievable adventure.

Luckily, she still had Sebastian and he still had her. After the events of the Catacomb, she and Ominis had to decide whether to turn Sebastian in. She had known what decision she would make. It would have been utterly hypocritical of her to condemn him to Azkaban when she herself had taken the lives of many, all in the name of saving the wizarding world or the beasts that inhabited it. To turn him in, she would have to turn herself in as well. Ominis didn’t know this. He had no idea of what she had experienced or dealt with.

Sebastian did though.

After convincing him and Anne to not turn Sebastian in, for it would only lead to further hurting everyone involved, nothing was ever the same. Ominis avoided him, but not before letting Sebastian know that he would take care of Anne and that Anne did not wish to speak with him anytime soon. This both comforted and destroyed Sebastian in equal measure. And as far as Ella knew, that was the last correspondence he had with Ominis other than the pleasantries in the hall or dorm throughout the remainder of the year.

 Every day since the school year ended, she would wake to a very persistent brown owl tapping its beak to the store window with a letter from Sebastian…that was until today. This morning she did not wake to the sound of an owl at her door. They talked daily about anything and everything. About how Sebastian missed Anne but promised her that he was doing okay. That he also could not bear to be at Solomon’s residence over the summer, with his grave just outside the home. So, Sebastian went back to his parent’s home in Aranshire. As difficult as it was, it was better than having to face what he did to Solomon each day. This made it all the more troubling to not have received a letter from him. She hoped that perhaps he had just gotten busy with sorting the home after it spent so many years uninhabited.

With Sebastian in Aranshire, this also meant that he was not too far from her. She was currently staying in Hogsmeade in the backroom of her shop as there was no one to take her in. That and she just refused to go with anyone…she was supposed to stay with Fig.

After the events that took place in the Catacomb, Ella found herself taking part in the final battle for the repository. Everything had happened so fast. She didn’t have to time process all what had happened in the catacomb before being thrusted into another fight. Sebastian had felt utterly helpless. He had missed all of it trying to cope with what he did, and he couldn’t find her in time to help her.

She tried to reassure him that it wasn’t his battle to fight, that she had still succeeded in the end and had won. He had still felt guilty as she had always been there for him, but he wasn’t there when she needed help the most. That she had to face Ranrok and Rookwood each…alone. He didn’t leave her side for weeks afterwards. Sat with her during Fig’s memorial, letting her squeeze his hand tightly as Black was giving his speech. If it wasn’t for Professor Weasley stepping in, she might have broken Sebastian’s hand trying to keep herself calm.

They did everything together. He was always there waiting at the bottom of the steps to the girl’s dormitory for breakfast before walking her to their first class and splitting up afterwards. Only for him to meet her outside of her second class, that she didn’t share with him to walk together to the Great Hall for dinner. They had spent hours studying together in the library for their OWL’s and after one afternoon of him nearly deciding to duel Leander into silence, she showed him the Room of Requirement. From then on, Sebastian did not want to be anywhere else.

 ‘Why deal with anyone else’s presence in the library when literally have a library of our own?’

She thought perhaps it had more to do with him avoiding Ominis equally as he was avoiding Sebastian than it did having to suffer Leander’s incessant tapping of his quill. It didn’t help that very afternoon that as soon as Sebastian had gotten up to retrieve a book from a shelf, Leander had simply sat himself in Sebastian’s chair next to her to offer another go at Summoner’s Court. Ella had barely opened her mouth, when a book had forcefully slammed on the table connected to an arm of an annoyed Sebastian.

 ‘Bugger off Prewett, you’re in my spot’.

Leander scrambled out of the seat and looked at Sebastian who was glaring at him from across the desk.

“Oh, well I thought it was vacant and she wouldn’t mind taking a break to play good ole fashion game of-“

Sebastian cut him off with a scoff.

“It wasn’t vacant, and you know that. As you can see, we are in the middle of studying for the OWL’s. So, she doesn’t have time to play your little game….shoo.” Sebastian waved Leander off, however Leander did not seem to take the hint and Sebastian was well on his way to being past the point of annoyed.

“Well, I thought perhaps she would appreciate some variety. She hardly has anytime to visit her other friends, what with you constantly following her around.”

Ella couldn’t believe his gall. But before she could say anything, Sebastian had beat her to it again. He had stalked around the desk to get in front of Leander.

“Who are YOU to presume what she would appreciate? I’m not keeping her from anyone and if we are around each other, it’s because we’re friends and we like to be around each other.”

“Gentlemen! You are going to get us kicked out of the library. Leander, thank you for the invite, but I will have to decline. As Sebastian said, we are currently occupied.”

Ella had grabbed Sebastian to stop him from continuing forward to Leander. She could see Madam Scribner by her desk with her scrupulous eyes locked on them, as well as the eyes of curious students waiting for fresh gossip. Sebastian did not need to get into any further trouble and Ella was already uncomfortable with the amount of attention she was receiving after being deemed the ‘Hero of Hogwarts’.

“I see that you are busy Eleanor and I apologize for the disruption. Let me know when you would be available for Summoner’s Court or… if you would like to try a different partner for studying.”

Leander had walked off before she could answer him, not that the answer would have been much in his favor. The smirk Sebastian had when she had replied to Leander had quickly faded with Leander’s parting words. He scoffed as he sat down in his chair next to her.

“Slimy git. Who does he think he is? He sat down the moment I left and pretended he didn’t already know I was sitting here.”

“Why are you letting him get to you?” she sighed as she knew he wouldn’t answer her. Ella still had a hard time grasping the apparent animosity between the two houses as she herself was friends with a few Gryffindor’s.

“Well, I think we scared him off for the time being at least.” She replied.

“That we did because we ARE ‘currently occupied’… He’s still a slimy git though. I wish there was a spot we could study in peace without interruptions and… irritating lions.”

Ella rolled her eyes and looked around, there were still eyes on them. She thought for a moment, biting her lip at the idea she had. Sebastian narrowed his eyes at her as he caught her expression.

 “I know that look. What is going on in that pretty little head of yours?... hmm” He leaned towards her, bumping his shoulder with hers.

“Well… what if there was a spot we could study in peace without interruptions?”

And with that, she took him all the way to the seventh floor of the Astronomy Tower in front of the Barabas the Barmy Tapestry. Sebastian quickly lost his skepticism as a door appeared in front of Ella. If she could bottle the look of wonder he had, she would and she knew in that moment she was making the right choice in showing him the Room of Requirement. Both had been through so much, and they both needed a place of peace and quiet. With Sebastian barring himself from the Undercroft in the event he would run into Ominis, he was suddenly without a place to get away.

For the rest of the semester, they spent time in the Room and Sebastian became utterly transfixed with the vivariums. Especially the vivarium that housed her Pheonix. With Deek’s permission and understanding, he had no issue with letting Sebastian use the Room without Professor Weasley explicit permission. Not after hearing the whispers around the castle of the death of Sebastian’s uncle.

The beasts in the vivariums grew to adore Sebastian as he helped her groom and feed them. When the year came to an end, Deek assured both her and Sebastian the inhabitants of the vivariums would be well taken care of over the summer months and would be there waiting for them when school started in the fall.

Ella continued to muse about her freckled companion as she busied herself in her shop in the late afternoon. She walked behind the counter with an item she had procured from her various treasure hunts of the Cairns Dungeons around the Highlands. For this item, she was having a difficult time deciding where to place it in the shop to be sold. She climbed up the rickety old step ladder that came with the shop, to place it on a higher shelf when she heard the bell to the door chime, signaling a customer.

“I will be right with you in just a moment…just as soon as I place this...”

She stretched as far as she could and came to the unfortunate realization, she was not someone who would be considered tall or even average height. So, her petite stature did not allow for much room to reach the highest shelf even though she was on the highest step. She did not hear the footsteps behind her as she huffed trying to reach out further. This unfortunately led to the ladder to start wobbling beneath her feet. Eyes widening, she tried to grasp onto anything she could but came up empty as her hand met the wall. Ella closed her eyes bracing herself for the fall as she started to careen backwards.  

She never reached the ground though as arms caught her by the waist and she was suddenly held in their arms. With her eyes closed, she could smell clover and leather with a hint of smoke. A smell she was familiar with. Ella opened her eyes to find warm brown ones looking back at her with their usual mischievous gleam.

“Sebastian! What are you doing here?”

Leaning forward to wrap her arms around his neck to give him a hug, she could feel him squeeze her tight to him.

“I was getting quite bored and had a sudden thought. Why wait for a letter, when I can just pop in a visit to my favorite girl to see how she was fairing without me. Lo and behold, here she is quite literally falling into my arms because she missed me so much. I knew I should have come by sooner.”

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the huff of laughter that escaped her.

“Very funny. You can put me down now.”

Sebastian pursed his lips and squinted his eyes in thought as he continued to keep holding her hostage.

“Hmm, I don’t think I will. All year round I had to watch as you ran from one end to the castle to the next without even stopping to say hello and now, I finally have you in one place? Why waste a perfectly good opportunity.”

“If I promise to not run away from you, will you let me down?”

She grinned as she was in no real rush to leave his arms as Sebastian pretended to think about it for a moment longer. Ella could have sworn she felt him squeeze her again ever so lightly.

“Ever? Hmm. I suppose that will do.”

For now, he thought.

He grinned as he set her down gently. Sebastian moved around the corner to take a closer look at her shop. She tried to make her hands useful and was starting to feel the need to fiddle with something as he perused the items she had in stock. One item in particular grabbed his attention in the front window. He picked up one of the phoenix feathers from the jar. Sebastian twirled the stem of the feather in his hand as he turned around to face her smiling.

“This brings back memories, doesn’t it? How do you think he is fairing without us? I miss our feathered friend.”

“I’m sure he is doing just fine with Deek… So, what do you think of the shop?”

Ella bit her lip, waiting for his response. She had hoped he liked it. It was his first time in her store and her first time showing the shop to one of her friends. She valued the opinions of her friends highly… Sebastian’s more than most. He looked down and paused as if he knew how much the wait for his response was making her anxious.

“I think… that you’ve come a long way from the witch I met last year who didn’t have much experience with the magical world. It’s amazing and completely you.”

He looked at her fondly with a small smile on his face, which grew as he noticed her face start to redden from his praise. He forced himself to look away. After putting the feather back in the jar, he moved around the counter to stand back in front of her.

They stood there for moment facing each other until she broke the silence.

“I couldn’t have done it without you.”

Sebastian snorted.

“I’m serious, you taught me majority of the spells last year and they saved my life on numerous occasions.”

He paused for a moment, and she had a feeling where was mind headed to.

“…Yes, I… spells that I probably should not have taught you.” he said softly.

He swallowed, remorse filling his eyes for a moment before giving away to a steely resolve. It was something he thought about on a regular basis and in the end, he only came to one conclusion.

“Though, I… cannot say that I much regret it. I can’t. There were so many that were after you last year. Many who would not have fought fairly and would have taken advantage of the fact that you were new to his world. Though… that was difficult to tell with you at times. You made everything look easy and took to it so quickly. Even I’d would forget that fact sometimes.”

Sebastian marveled at how well she took to it. He remembered her telling him that Fig believed it had to do with her ancient magic allowing her to quickly pick up on new spells, though he mostly believed it was just her. His brilliant girl.

“You would have been able to figure it out without me, that I have no doubt of.”

“Even so, you were the one who I relied on the most… still do.”

Sebastian couldn’t look away from her. He often admired her when she wasn’t looking and to have her staring back at him as he openly did so, started making him feel a bit warm. When the dust had settled and she had defeated Ranrok, he was terrified if he looked away that she would somehow disappear in front of him. He would often look her way when she had her head in the book that she always carried or in the classroom when her attention was on the professor. Sebastain could see a lot when she wasn’t trying to control her reactions.

They stood there for a moment longer just staring at each other, Ella could feel her heart beating out of her chest. She couldn’t help but look from his eyes to his mouth. They were friends, she tried to tell herself. She couldn't allow her feelings to muddle that. There was a lot that had happened, and they were both still not in the best frame of mind. Still trying to heal from the events of last year. He needed someone to lean on. She would only feel like she would be taking advantage of his circumstances.

For the rest of the year, with him by her side she felt … protected … in a way that didn’t make sense to her. She tried to think of it logically. He taught her magic beyond her wildest dreams, actively tried to help her solve the mystery of her ancient magic and in general he was … her first friend. However, that didn’t negate the hardships they had shared. The scriptorium came to mind. At the time, they were all filled with too much adrenaline and elation of not having to spend a moment longer in that corridor to really process what had happened and … what they had to do to escape it.  

Ella couldn’t find it in herself to be able to hurt him, to really hurt him enough to cast the cruciatus curse on him, so she had told him to cast it on her. After it happened, Sebastian made a vow to her that he would never let it happen again ... then everything spiraled from there. They had learned curses they probably shouldn’t have. However, she could admit to herself that she was … tempted by it. She also could admit that perhaps they went too far even if the curses saved her life from time to time. Even so, Ella vowed to herself she would try to protect him, even if it was from himself.

Ella would not lose him. That was a truth she could live by.

She tried her best to steel her resolve and to look away, but she wanted a moment longer of being able to freely admire him even if for once he was staring right back at her. Ella took a deep breath and started to take a step back to give an acceptable distance when Sebastian’s hand moved from his side and drifted towards her face. His hand took the strand of hair that had fallen out of her braid when she fell and pushed it behind her ear. She could feel his hand brush against her cheek and lay against her ear. He didn’t immediately retract his hand and she couldn’t look away from the warmth of his eyes.

He started to lean closer to her.

“I’ve been thinking…” he started.

“Oh…that could be dangerous.”

“Ha, ha. She’s funny today I see.” He said with a sly smirk.

Her lips tilted upwards, used to this back-and-forth banter with him. However, Sebastian still had not let go of her face and Ella was watching his eyes as they moved from hers, down to her lips and then back upwards. Similar to how she looked at him. This was a look from him she wasn’t used to and a look she couldn’t quite identify. She’s catalogued most of his expressions and could usually tell when he’s up to something. This look, however, was sending her nerves on fire and she could feel her face starting to warm under his touch as she could the feel the fluttering in her stomach begin to grow.

She swallowed and inhaled sharply.

The look on his face changed at her reaction, which Ella had hoped had gone unnoticed. She was equally relieved as she was disappointed that she recognized that look.

“I have been wondering though… Have you been getting many trolls or vampires for customers?”

“I…what?”

With his other hand, Sebastain pointed to the signs on the wall behind her. She glanced to her right to see what he was talking about. Scoffing, she pushed him away from her and went back to try and place the problematic item that did not want to be showcased. Ella was surprised at his blatant flirting. Sebastian was a charismatic person. Though she sometimes did wonder if meant it.

She thought Sebastian was suspiciously silent as she climbed up the step ladder once more. She was waiting to hear his snickering behind her. With her back to him, her eyebrows furrowed as stretched her arm to reach the shelf.

“No, I cannot say I get many trolls or vampires as customers. As seeing only one of those species exist and the other does not. However, as you know. Hogsmeade has had the occasional troll to visit it.”

She smiled as she remembered her first foray to Hogsmeade, with Sebastian no less. It was certainly a memorable adventure. Their first one. From the quite laugh behind her, she had the sneaking suspicion that he was remembering the same thing.

“That is certainly true … though, who told you vampires don’t exist?”

Sebastian loved surprising her with all sorts of magical knowledge. He liked to think it was just to help her get caught up with their peers, but truthfully, he just adored seeing the look of awe pointed in his direction. In his eyes she was truly a force to be reckoned with and he didn’t think he had much to bring to the table. In the Scriptorium, she was amazed at Ominis’ ability to speak with snakes. He just wanted to be seen as useful, to be seen … as something more in her eyes.

Telling her vampires existed at this moment was not ideal, he realized. Shocked, Ella quickly turned around to face him. Which led to her foot catching the step causing her to lose her balance and once more she was starting to fall backwards. Sebastian’s eyes widened as he quickly moved closer to her to place his hands on her waist to steady her in time. This time she didn’t fall.

“Twice now that you fell into my arms. Please do be careful. One more time falling for me and that will be the charm… so they say.” He said with his patented smirk.

“Ha, ha. He’s funny today I see.”

She turned back around to attempt one final time at placing the item as she heard him softly laughing behind her. Sebastian this time did not release her, and she could feel both of his hands either of side of her waist. For a moment she just stood there before she began stretching her arm towards the high shelf again. Ella stopped breathing as she reached further when she felt his hands squeeze her waist as he stood directly behind her.

Sebastian cleared his throat.

“Why don’t you just use magic to place it on the shelf?”

Ella paused. It was a valid question.

“Oh I…didn’t even think to do that. I suppose my upbringing still peaks its head out from time to time. Though, there is something to be said about using oneself to manually do the labor. Almost…a sense of self-satisfaction.” she declared.

“Really? You’re saying this? The one who- correct me if I am wrong. Which we both know that I am not- the one who all year would use magic for the simplest things just because she could and had never been able to, are telling me that you find self-satisfaction from doing manual labor?”

She could only picture the incredulous look on his face as she just managed to finally place the item on the shelf. He let go of her as she made her descent down the step ladder and turned around to face him. With one eyebrow screwed upward, he stared down at her as he awaited her response.

Sighing, she replied “After everything that had happened this last year, I just…wanted a little sense of…normalcy. Is that too much to ask for?”

His eyes softened.

“Darling, we are not normal, but if you need to the sense of normalcy that you had before everything happened this past year…I understand.” He paused.

“On one condition.”

“And that is?”

“…You let me place the items on the top shelf.”

A laugh bubbled out of Ella. It was the beginning of a heartfelt moment that ended quintessentially in a Sebastian-like way. He was smiling down at her with a fond look. They never had to say much to each other to understand what the other was thinking. It was a bond she had with no other and it was that reason why she didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize it.

“Deal, if you just so happened to be around, otherwise no bets. I do have a shop to run and all.”

Sebastian clapped his hands together and with a large smile, he made another offer she couldn’t turn down.

“Very well and on that note. What say you and I commemorate this with a butter beer? I for one, would like nothing more than forget how I almost witnessed you get taken out by a step ladder and gravity.”

“And that is your way of asking me to The Three Broomsticks?”

Sebastian scratched the back of his head and shrugged his shoulders. Ella rolled her eyes.

“Okay, but first I will need to clear it with my assistant.”

“You have an assistant? Why is this the first time I’m hearing this? You’ve never once brought it up in your letters.” Surprised, he tilted his head waiting for her explanation.

“Well, you see she…kind of came with the shop and I don’t know much about the politics surrounding it and-“

“You have a house elf? Another one? First Deek and now….” Sebastian stopped when he realized that he didn’t have a name.

“Her name is Penny, and she is not really my house elf. As I stated, she is more of an assistant. Though, she knows more about shop keeping than I do.”

Ella tilted her head upwards. She was content with the arrangement she made with the house elf. After hearing Deek’s story of his previous master, she worried Penny would go to someone equally as horrible if she were to free the house elf. So, she made a sort of deal with her. Since Ella couldn’t spend much time at the shop while she was in school, Penny would run the shop during the year while she would replenish the supplies from ransacking the dungeons that were throughout the Highlands. Penny would have a place to live and to eat, she could even say they had become friends. Ella also thought Penny to be a rather shrewd business partner.

She really didn’t take no for an answer.

With a sudden pop, the house elf in question made her appearance.

“Hello Penny, I was just talking about you. This is Sebastian.”

“Penny says hello to mistress and to mistress’ friend. Penny has not had the privilege of meeting one of mistress’ friends yet and Penny has heard much of Mr. Sallow. Mistress brings up Mr. Sallow in many conversations.”

“Penny!”

Ella cringed. She hated being even remotely cross with the house elf since she had seen signs of the abuse the previous owner put Penny through. She adored the house elf, but a secret keeper, Penny was not. Ella was surprised when she hadn’t seen the house elf attempt to hold her breath. The shopkeeper took this as a sign that she was fostering a good workplace for the house elf. However, Penny’s slip up did not go unnoticed by Sebastian who turned to her with smug grin.

“Mr. Sallow is brought up in many conversations, is he now?”

“All terrible things really. The bane of my existence, truly.” was her sardonic reply.

“And here I was going to pay for the first round of butter beer.”

“Oh! Penny thinks that is brilliant idea, mistress should go with her friend to The Three Broomsticks. Penny can take care of the shop while mistress is out.”

“Well then, there you have it. All squared away, leaving us to enjoy a good ole fashion drink together. I sure have missed going to the pub.”

Sebastian placed his arm out before her as she gathered her coin purse. She rolled her eyes.

“It’s been two weeks since we were last there together and we spent so much time there last term, Sirona is surely close to getting tired of our faces.”

“Our faces? Have you looked in a mirror, one would be so lucky for us to show our faces around their establishment. Rather handsome, I’d say. And are we not the famous troll vanquishers of Hogsmeade?”

“More like infamous.” She muttered as she took his arm. He guided her outside to the cobbled sidewalk to make their way to the Broomsticks as the sun was beginning to dip below the horizon to make way for nightfall.

“Let’s just hope this time doesn’t lead to an almost all-out pub brawl.” He smiled at her as he brought his hand to grasp the hand she had currently on his other arm, and he squeezed it gently. The fluttering was back in her stomach.

“That happened one time.”

Chapter Text

Entering through the double doors of the tavern, Sebastian guided her to the bar to be greeted by Sirona.

“Well look who just walked through my doors…It’s been a long while since I’d seen the two of you here together.” Sirona said with a sly smile.

Ella dipped her head to hide her grin. She and Sebastian had become regulars on the weekends when they weren’t studying for the OWL’s. Often spending time near the fireplace at the end of the tavern with a butter beer in hand.

“Your spot’s available just over there and I will be right over with some drinks and the special of the day.” Sirona pointed to the table off to the corner near the fireplace.

Sebastian had still not let go of her hand and continued to traverse to the back with Ella in tow. He gently released her hand and deposited her in her usual chair in the corner that was tucked against the wall and sat next to her keeping the main doors in his line of sight. As they waited for their drinks and food, Sebastian inquired how the shop was doing and about the customers she gets.

“It’s still a relatively new shop, so I still don’t get that many customers throughout the day. Oh, but just yesterday I had this mother and daughter come in looking for a gift for her husband. She said her husband worked at Gringotts as a curse breaker and she wanted to know if I had any special clothing items that could help with protection. So, I sold her this pair of gloves that could offer added protection against dark wizards. Her daughter, on the other hand, would not stop playing with the feathers in the window. I was afraid she was going to end up breaking them. You know if any of the feathers start to-”

Ella continued her story as she glanced over at Sebastian who was staring at her with a fond smile. He was listening diligently to her story as Sirona came to the table to deposit the butterbeers in front of them. She hadn’t even noticed the drink in front of her as she was animatedly going over her interaction with the mother and daughter.

Sebastian could see the reflection of the fire in her eyes as she discussed the various customers that stopped by over the last two weeks since the year ended and occasionally took a sip from his butter beer.

He hadn’t seen her get so invested in telling a story since she brought up several of her adventures that she had over the year when they spent time in her vivariums. Though, he had a sneaking suspicion that she hadn’t told him about every adventure she had. It had become a goal of his to learn about most of them, if not all of them. While he could never regret spending the time that he did looking for a cure for Anne, he did wish sometimes that he would have tagged along with Ella whenever she left the castle, if just to have a respite from the hopelessness he sometimes felt when trying to find the solution to the curse.

After the catacomb and nearly getting sent to Azkaban, he realized he had to be smarter. He also realized that he had to stop relying on Ominis to get him out of every mess he’d get himself and Ella into. It wasn’t like he ignored the fact that she was with him for nearly every lead he had. But he realized at some point, if they were to get caught, it wouldn’t just be him that would have to face the consequences. It would be her as well. He should have realized that when Solomon threatened to go to the Headmaster on both of them if he had inkling they were using dark magic.

Sebastian didn’t really know what he was thinking last year. He got so caught up in the idea of finding a cure for Anne, that he just assumed Ella would be willing to go to the same lengths as he would for it. And each time she was right there with him.

Never mind the fact that she was dealing with her own crisis and had actual enemies gunning for her to do who knows what to her. And even so, she still found time to help him and each time he took advantage of the fact she would come as soon as she received an owl from him.

He took her for granted.

It wasn’t until he felt the dungeons shaking and she was nowhere to be found that he realized just how easily he could lose her. He knew for a fact that those Keepers weren’t telling her everything. Making her go through trials, only to give her a slither of the information she needed to put the pieces together on her own rather than to just simply tell her. Her life was literally on the line, and they couldn’t find it in themselves to tell her what she may need to know until it was already too late, and their precious Repository was in jeopardy.

After hearing it was goblins that had attacked the school and finally getting word of her whereabouts, he ran as fast as he could to the infirmary. Sebastian was afraid of what he would find when he got there.

He was terrified he would find her clutching her stomach and learning she was cursed just like his sister was. It played on a loop in his mind until he could finally get to her. Part of him thought it would have been his luck.

To lose her as he lost everyone else.

He was elated to find that wasn’t the case. When he found her, she was just sleeping after consuming a calming draught. She only had a few bumps and bruises to show for the fight.

However, once he heard that Fig didn’t make it. A cold sweat came over him realizing just how close he had come to losing her. Watching over her, he had vowed to himself he would never let anything else happen to her and he would stand in the way of anything were it to come for her. After losing his sister and Ominis’ trust, he couldn’t lose the one person who had believed in him wholly and completely.

Ella was the one he had shown the darkest parts of himself to, and she had not run away screaming afterwards. He hadn’t lied to her that day when he showed her the Undercroft and told her he hadn’t shown Ominis and Anne every spell he’d learned of. Yet, he felt that he could show her and that he could trust her.

It was why he felt that he could show her the unforgivable spells. Though…he sometimes couldn’t tell if she was open to learning about it because she shared the same curiosity that he had for dark arts or if she just didn’t realize how dark the spells were and just wanted to learn as much as she could about magic.

He thought the latter was the reason why she was so open to learning those spells and he would sometimes feel guilty that he was probably taking advantage of the fact that she was new to magic. But Sebastian also knew a part of him just wanted her to know those spells for when she would be faced with going up against those who sought to hurt her. He knew they wouldn’t fight fair.

So, he thought, why should she?

Admittedly, that was a small part of him that believed he did it for her protection.

A large part of him that he wouldn’t admit to out loud, liked to think she was lured to the darkness just as much as he was. This was something he would never tell her and after what they both went through. He was content with having her never touch the dark arts again.

If it came down to using it to protect her and the ones he cared about though? He would use it again and he had no problem with being the villain if it saved them.

Sebastian shook the thoughts away as he took another sip of his drink and a bite of the shepherd’s pie that Sirona placed in front of them as Ella continued sharing her story. He focused his attention on the witch beside him who was mentioning a particular humorous story about a customer complaining of cursed socks causing them to uncontrollably dance.

“-and he said he would never go back Mr. Hill and that it was utterly embarrassing that he couldn’t stop dancing in the common room.”

“Okay, now I’m a little worried Mr. Hill might come for you for poaching his customers.”

“It’s not my fault my shop has the best of both worlds and Mr. Hill would stop losing customers if he stopped selling them clothes that only halfway do what they are supposed to. At least my items are crafted with the appropriate protections! What protection with having dancing socks do against a dark wizard?”

He laughed fully knowing she wasn’t at all wrong about the way Mr. Hill went about making a quick galleon.

“It’s not like he’d be much of an opponent if he were to say anything negative about it. I also believe he happens to be amused at having the competition.”

Sebastian smiled, realizing she was probably right. While almost unbearably proud, Mr. Hill probably still doesn’t see her shop as much of a competitor against his.

“Too right love. Either way, let me know if he does have anything to say about it.” She loved his protective nature, he showed that often enough to her that she was becoming rather use it. It still, however, caused her to feel the fluttering in her stomach again which was only amplified when he’d call her ‘love’.

“Oh? And just what will you do about it?” She leaned closer to him with narrowed eyes and her lips tilted upwards. It made him pause. The green of her eyes sparkling from the fire light behind him almost made them appear to glow. He always though her eyes were pretty, especially paired with her pale blond hair.

“Well, I’d…I’d have something to say about it, I’m sure. I will not allow anyone to say anything to disparage your shop.” Or you, he thought.

He stumbled on his words, not having a clue where he was taking this or having expected her to call him out on it.

Sebastian took another sip of his drink which was almost gone. He looked back over to her to find her tilting her head at him, probably trying to decipher what was going on in his mind. The same way that he was always doing with her. Ella placed her hand on his.

“Seb, are you okay? You look worlds away.”

The look of concern on her face couldn’t prevent his face from flushing at her shortened use of his name. Even though she’s called him that numerous times, he still quite liked hearing it come from her lips.

“I was quite surprised this morning when I didn’t have a owl at my shop door with a letter from you.”

He waved her off. “Like I said earlier, I decided rather short notice to visit you instead of a letter correspondence.”

“Sebastian, I know that’s not all there is to it. We were planning to meet up this weekend.”

Sebastian sighed. He knew she wouldn’t let it go. It was, at times irritating that she could tell when he was trying to deflect. He thought flustering her and inviting her for dinner would dissuade her from looking closer.

“Yesterday I finished going through the house and cleaning it. I was…startled at how it made it look like no time had passed…I was just waiting for Anne to pop up to force me to braid her hair as mum and dad were researching in the cellar…”

He paused.

“…Only no one was there. Not my parents and not my sister…I couldn’t stand being there alone a moment longer.”

Ella swallowed and took a deep breath that Sebastian had matched. She watched as his head was bent staring down to his plate. Neither felt like they had much of an appetite anymore.

Sebastian cleared his throat.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring the mood down...either way, I knew what would make me feel better and I just knew I had to see you. You always have an interesting story to tell.”

She smiled sadly and took that as her cue to change the subject.

“Did I ever tell you about the time I spent disguised as Professor Black?”

Sebastian choked on his butterbeer that Sirona refilled for them.

“What?! When was this and why I have not heard of it?”

Ella laughed as she continued to tell him what she and Fig had done to complete the third trial. The trial itself had been daunting and one she didn’t like to ponder too often on.

Sebastian was floored to hear the shenanigans she had gotten up to.

“I swear, Garreth was so close to relieving himself, thinking he was being that closely watched by the headmaster.” Laughing so hard, she was clutching her stomach remembering it.

“Serves him right! He constantly took advantage of you. I would have paid to have seen him piss himself.”

“Sebastian! He’s not that bad.” She admonished.

He scoffed. “He tried to get you to steal for him right after he introduced himself to you. And did he ever let you try the so-called ‘Fizzing Whizz-beer’? No. Weasley was just trying to get you to do his bidding because you were new, and he thought you could get away with it. It also didn’t hurt that you’re gorgeous as well.”

She rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything to disprove his statements of Garreth’s actions. All while feeling her face get warm at his compliment. Ella chose not to say anything.

“I still would have loved to have been there. Why didn’t you tell me? You had time to mess with Ominis.”

“Oh please, I knew from the very start I had to avoid you. I saw you when I was making my way out of the DADA tower. If I had gone up to you, the whole thing would have fallen apart. You would have seen through it immediately and I wouldn't have been able to keep a straight face around you.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows tilted upwards at her last statement.

“Oh really? And why is that?”

“Well, we…tell each other everything and…and it really does not matter anyhow. I only had an hour with the Polyjuice potion, and I had a job to do.”

And with that she took a bite of her food, hoping that would be the end of it. As she swallowed, she felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Remembering that she wasn’t being quite truthful at saying they tell each other everything. There was a rather large piece of information she was withholding from him. Several large pieces of information, if she was being truthful with herself. But there was one shred of information that only had to do with him.

She placed her fork down and took a deep breath to look over at him. Sebastian was finishing his meal and he seemed happy to be there with her. It had been a while since she uncovered the secret, and it was getting harder and harder to keep it to herself. Ultimately, he deserved to know.

“Sebastian. When you’re finished, would you mind walking me back to the shop? There’s something that I need to tell you.”

He glanced at her with a nervous smile.

“Of course, darling. I was planning to anyways for my charge and you know you can tell me anything.”

She smiled softly.

On the way back from the Broomsticks, Sebastian had grabbed her hand and wrapped it around his arm just like he had before. It was officially nighttime, and all the lanterns were lit casting a warm glow to reflect on the cobblestone path.

They had been silent the entire walk back, both were feeling anxious but for very different reasons. Ella was beyond nervous at telling him the information she had gathered about Solomon and Anne’s curse. Whereas Sebastian was thinking perhaps whatever she had to tell him may lead to a shift in their relationship dynamic. His nervousness was attributed to the excitement he felt at the prospect.

Over the last year he would find any reason to send an owl to her once she agreed to help him search for a cure for Anne and even before that he was intrigued by her. From hearing of her daring encounter with a dragon to seeing her walk into the Great Hall after the headmaster to be sorted into his house. There was something about her that made him pause. Of course, he dismissed it as he had other more pressing tasks at hand. Which was why he was so caught off guard when she came up to him in the common room the first day.

He was ready to dismiss whoever came up to him, only then to look up to the very person everyone was talking about. The fire casting a warm glow making her appear ethereal. He shook his head and continued to introduce himself to her. When he saw she was interested in the spells that weren’t taught at Hogwarts, he knew there was something more to her. Sebastian found himself correct in this notion when she beat him in their duel that very day and with a borrowed wand no less.  

His interest in her was solidified when she came to him needing assistance in sneaking into the restricted section. Not only was she a kindred spirit, but also a woman after his own heart whether she realized it or not.

However, while he was interested in furthering their acquaintance, he couldn’t allow himself to deviate from his goal of curing his sister. So…he had to put those feelings in a box for the time being.

Focus on Anne.

And he did, which only led him down a path he only had himself to blame for taking. What was worse was that he grabbed Ella by the hand to join him on that path and the further he went down it with her, the harder it was for him to get them to step off it. He was so sure it was going to lead to a cure.

And Ella was the only one who believed in him.

Everyone else knew better.

He’s already admitted to himself it got out of hand. Though he can’t say he entirely regrets what happened with Solomon. Solomon wouldn’t be dead if some part of him didn’t want him gone. The killing curse wouldn’t have worked otherwise.

The ironic part of it all, now that Solomon was dead, he’s finally stopped looking into a cure in the Dark Arts. For the moment, that is. He hasn’t given up his search for a cure, not by a long shot. He may revisit the idea of Anne’s cure in the Dark Arts in the future if he doesn’t find it elsewhere first.

For now, he’s focusing on the witch who stole his attention at the start of last year. And just maybe he will allow himself to open that box he stuffed his feelings in a little more now after everything has settled. Sebastian couldn’t quite stuff those feelings in the box completely anyhow as much as he tried.

Once inside, he watched Ella dismiss Penny and tell her she was closing the shop for the day.  And with a pop, Penny made herself scarce. Ella looked back at him with a nervous smile, which Sebastian couldn’t help but reciprocate.

“So, what was it that you wanted to tell me now that we are truly alone?” He tapped his knuckles on the counter after Ella walked behind it.

Ella didn’t know how he would respond to what she wanted to tell him. From her previous interactions with him any time she had to tell him something he disagreed with, he didn’t always handle it well.

Case in point, Lodgok. Sebastian did not deal with it positively when she told him she was working with a goblin. She knew he may be bothered by the fact, but she didn’t expect he would let it get in the way of finding answers or for him call her ignorant. Ella was far from ignorant, but she realized she may have been naive to just how large of a grudge Sebastian could hold. She understood his reasoning, she did. But she couldn’t find it in herself to generalize an entire species.

She took a deep breath and looked down at the counter. Ella knew how deep the hurt lie for Sebastian when it came to Solomon and Anne.

“I should have told you this sooner, I know that. At first it was just an inkling, a hunch. Then…it started piling up. The further I remembered the interactions, the more it started to click into place…something wasn’t right. I had to be completely sure before I brought this to you though.”

His eyebrows furrowed. He was becoming increasingly worried as she continued to ramble. So far this was not going where he thought it was going to go. He walked around the counter and took her arms in his hands to have her face him.

“Ella, you’re spiraling. Whatever it is, it’s going to be okay. You can tell me.”

With one hand, he lifted her chin so he could take a closer look at her expression while his other was rubbing circles on her arm. Sebastian watched as she tried to collect herself.

“It has to do with Solomon.” she said quietly.

Sebastian straightened.

“You can tell me.”

“Solomon was…he was…” she took a breath. “He was keeping Anne sick, sicker, then she actually was…”

He blinked several times and even felt his heart start stop for a moment. Confused by what she was saying, Sebastian let go of her.

“W-what are you talking about?”

“I didn’t realize it at first, and I think he was counting on the fact that I was young and new to magic. When you first brought me to Feldcroft to meet Anne. After you left the cottage, I spoke with her. She was apologizing for the outburst that happened and had made a throw away comment at how Solomon usually provides her with a potion to help ease the pain that he crafts himself.”

 “There wasn’t a potion she was taking for the pain.”

Ella bent down to grab a box that was under the counter and began grabbing a piece of paper.

“I didn’t think much of it at the time and thought you knew. One day I visited Anne and Solomon was at the table brewing a potion. Anne was tired and she retired to take a nap. Before she did so, she said he was brewing her potion. As I was leaving, I saw the potion blow back up in his face.”

Sebastian shook his head as tried to make sense of it. He realized what she was trying to say without saying it and he said it aloud.

“Healing potions, even ones for pain, never have an explosive reaction. The ingredients themselves aren’t volatile enough to cause that reaction.”

Ella nodded her head.

“It wasn’t until one day in potions class after the catacomb, when Sharp was going over the various healing potions that I found out that little tidbit. I even asked Garreth if he knew of any potions that could blow back in one’s face that could be used for easing pain, and he didn’t know of any…But he did know of quite a few…poisons that could.”

“That doesn’t make any sense Ella.”

“I know it didn’t and I needed proof. So I went back to the cottage and looked through the brewing table to see if I could find the ingredients list. Solomon didn’t leave it out in the open, but I… eventually found it.”

She grabbed the piece of paper that was in the box and handed it to Sebastian. His eyes widened as he surveyed the piece of paper in his hands.

It was his uncle’s handwriting.

“I knew I couldn’t go to Sharp with it since he would be suspicious of me having that, so I went directly to Pippin…who confirmed it…it wasn’t a potion for healing purposes.”

“That doesn't mean this was the potion he was giving to Anne.”

He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. Ella tried to humor him.

“That could be the case…but then why did he have it to begin with? Pippin said the person who ingests the potion would be subjected to excruciating stomach pain and become physically drained…that sounds familiar doesn’t it?”

Sebastian started pacing. Nothing made sense.

“You, yourself said that at the beginning of her curse, she wasn’t doing that bad and didn’t even have to leave Hogwarts.”

That was true. Anne was fatigued in the beginning, which she continued to be but there was no pain like that at first. It wasn’t until after Yuletide that she had to leave. They had just come back to school when the pain started.

After they visited Feldcroft.

“This was just a theory still though. But then I started to think over all my interactions with Solomon and remembered the first time meeting him. You were barely through the door before he started on you. The shrivelfig…it can’t cure a curse.”

He paused, it felt like ice coursing through his veins. Sebastain knew that.

It was never to cure Anne’s curse. It was only to help with the pain. He had spent weeks growing it and immediately after showing Anne his hard work, Solomon disintegrated it.

“There was no need for him to shout at you for giving it to her and destroying it in front of you.”

Sebastian continued that train of thought. He was replaying that moment back in his head and started pacing in front of her.

“Solomon was an Auror. He would have had the basic knowledge to what ingredients were used for healing and easing pain…He would have known I didn’t bring it to cure her curse…unless-”

“It was a distraction.”

Ella paused, letting that sink in.

“He blamed you for Anne’s outburst of pain. You left immediately afterwards. Anne even confirmed that the outbursts happen at random. It wasn’t anything you did that caused it.”

He froze at the realization.

“But Solomon was quick place the blame on me.”

“And anytime you visited…he would disagree with you, start a fight. I thought it was odd at first. But Anne and Ominis both told me this was how your relationship with him was always like…but it was worse after she was cursed, wasn’t it?”

Sebastian nodded absently. He couldn’t seem to get his eyes to focus.

“My working theory was that he didn’t want you looking too closely in case you started to realize something wasn’t right.”

Sebastian felt nauseous. It couldn’t be right. It couldn’t possibly be right…But then why did it fit?

Solomon loved Anne. He didn’t like Sebastian. That was a universal truth he knew. But Solomon did try to take care of them in his own way. At least that was what he always tried to tell himself.

“Why would he have done this? What would have been his motive?”

“I don’t know…”

“How could you not tell me this sooner?”

He shook his head and looked at her in disbelief. Without waiting for her reply, he left her standing in her shop. She watched as he stormed out. Through the large store window, she saw him use the floo.

Ella didn’t stop him.

This was the part she was dreading. She knew it was coming however it didn’t stop her from tearing up. But she couldn’t keep it from him any longer. It felt like she was withholding information that he should know. She knew there might be a possibility that it wouldn’t help Sebastian any, but she also knew there was a chance that it could help with his search for his sister’s cure.

Even if it was the smallest chance, she thought it was her right to tell him. So, she swallowed her nerves and told him something that he deserved to know…even if it hurt to hear…even if he blamed her for not telling him.

She just hoped she made the right decision and didn’t wait too long to tell him. Ella also hoped she didn’t lose Sebastian from keeping this from him for so long.

Chapter Text

_

Four days.

It had been four days since Sebastian left her standing in her store alone and five since she had woken to a letter from him. He left that night and there had not been correspondence from him since. She woke up this morning again without hearing an owl at her door.

Ella couldn’t say she was surprised.

She was tempted to write to him, but she didn’t know what she would say. What could she say to him after dropping that information on him?

There wasn’t anything. She was just left waiting for him to come to her. He needed time to process it. She also thought he was probably looking at if and how this could affect the curse. Ella could just picture him with his head deep in a leather-bound tome surrounded by more to research. She hoped he was remembering to eat and sleep.

Which only led her to wonder how Anne was doing…wherever she was.

She sighed.

There was nothing she could do about it for the moment. Ella decided to instead focus on her shop, so she started to look through the items at the front of her store. The shop was doing well and having a house elf that anyone, even a troll could have a hard time saying no to, certainly helped. Looking through her inventory, she realized the shop was doing much better than she thought after only being around for six months.

Penny certainly was a shrewd business-women… err business-elf she supposed.

This also meant that Ella may need to make another trip throughout the Highlands to look for various treasures soon… If she is able to leave Hogsmeade that is.

She looked through the blinds of the large store front window out into the streets. The early morning sun meant there were not many passersby just yet.

And no Auror currently watching her shop...

It had been a week since that development started. She knew it was coming. The deal she made with the Professors before she left at the end of the term had her expecting it. Still, it made her skin itch.

They couldn’t allow her to go off completely on her own, could they? A relatively new witch with power no one had seen for centuries? Unfathomable.

She was starting to understand why Fig wanted to keep the ancient magic a secret.

Sometimes she wished it had stayed a secret. She understands though as it wouldn’t have been possible forever to do so, and she would not likely have survived the battle without the professors coming in at the last moment.

She supposed it could not be helped.

Ella busied herself around the shop, making sure it was ready to open for the day. There wasn’t much for her to do as she had been up for hours. She had woken early that morning in a panic from her nightmare long before the sun rose.

…She dreamt of Fig again.

It had been months since she had dreamt of the battle under Hogwarts. She surmised it might have had to do a little with not having heard from Sebastian in nearly a week. It was the longest they had gone without speaking. Since the battle, they talked with each other every day even after they left Hogwarts for the summer. Suddenly she felt adrift.

She just had to be patient.

Ella was bent behind her counter going through some more of her inventory when she heard the bell chime. She quickly stood up ready to help her customer when she saw who had walked through the door. She pursed her lips at recognizing the young man.

The newcomer didn’t see her behind the counter when he came in and went straight for the items at the corner of the store, leaving his back to face her.

“Hello…again. Is there anything you are looking for in particular today?”

She had hoped her smile was at least somewhat convincing.

He was a Hogwarts student, that she was sure of since she vaguely remembered seeing him in the common room, but she couldn't remember if he was in her year or not. Ella also couldn’t quite remember his name either…even though this would be the fourth time of him coming to her shop within a week. She had never even spoken with him before so she couldn’t fathom why he seemed to be so persistent in pestering her.

Each time he came in it was to invite her to the Three Broomsticks or to Steeply & Son’s for tea. She said no every time and yet, he would continue to try to sway her into saying yes. He also never bought anything, which was the most frustrating part of it all.

He quickly turned around at her greeting.

“Oh! Hello Eleanor. How have you been today? And might I add you are looking fit.” He said with a smirk that he probably thought came off as attractive.

There was only one person she knew who could pull off that smirk.

She would have been flattered at his compliment, had it not been for the fact that he was looking below her face when he said it. It was also the way he said her name that made her feel uneasy. Ella felt her face heat up at his lecherous stare. Thankfully, his eyes moved upwards. It didn’t erase the feeling of unease she felt in her stomach at the idea of her currently being alone with him.

“Um, well thank you…”

“Theodore…Theodore Flint.” He cleared his throat and stood with his hands behind his back as he usually did when he addressed her.

“Mr. Flint, how can I help you today?”

“Oh no need to be so formal Eleanor, you can call me Theo.” He tilted his head.

“And you can call me Miss Locksley, Mr. Flint.” She dropped her grin as she was not going to continue entertaining his notion of being familiar with her as he continued to dismiss the hints that she kept sending his way. She was not interested in furthering their acquaintance.

“Oh, please don’t be like that Eleanor.”

Theodore Flint took a step closer to her, which caused Ella to take a step back. His body language changed. He straightened his posture and she suddenly felt cold from his piercing stare. Icy gray eyes with black hair that looked like he spent too much time on it that morning, leaving it overly greased. His hair was a complete contrast to his pale skin.

His eyes were not at all like Sebastian’s honeyed eyes that could fill her with warmth on an extremely cold Scottish day. Flint’s grin melted away causing her veins to fill with ice as he took another step closer to her.

He hadn’t blinked once and continued to match her step every time she took a step backwards…she felt her back hit the counter. Ella nervously looked away as he took one final step in front of her.

“I’ve come all this way to invite you one more time for tea this morning or for butterbeer this evening. Surely, your house elf can take care of your cute little…shop. It would be in your best interest to not decline my gracious invitation.” He placed one hand out for her to take as his other went to touch a strand of her hair. She looked down at the outstretched hand but made no move to take it. Ella couldn’t help but draw similarities to how Sebastian stood this close to her before and touched her hair. It was a complete contrast to the way it made her feel even if the move was similar.

“I think it’s time you leave. You come in each day, and you never buy an item. I have also told you my answer each time you have asked. The answer is still no.”

She reached her arm out to push him away when he grabbed it.

“I think you should really reconsider my offer.” He bent his head closer to Ella. She attempted to pull her arm away as she turned her cheek. His grip only tightened.

As much as she felt uncomfortable with the situation, she was becoming increasingly irritated at his actions and her anger was starting to take over any reservations she had about being civil.

“Let go of me.” She attempted to pull her hand away again, this time with more force. She was about to step on his foot when she saw a hand grab his shoulder and yank him backwards. She hadn’t even heard the bell on the door chime.

“I believe the lady said no, Flint.”

Ella knew that voice. She looked over the shoulder of the unwelcome visitor to see Sebastian with a furious look on his face. The hand that wasn’t attached to Flint’s shoulder was clenching at his side.

“If it isn’t Sallow.” He sneered as he forcefully pulled himself away from Sebastian’s firm grip and to her relief, Flint was finally out of her immediate space.

Sebastian’s eyes narrowed. Ella saw his wand hand twitch as he moved around Theodore Flint to stand directly in front of her, placing a barrier between them.

“Flint. What do you think you’re doing?”

“Oh, I was just visiting the Hero of Hogwarts in her quaint little shop. Wanted to know if she would do me the honor of allowing me to take her… for butterbeer of course.”

His attitude changed. Gone with the menacing glare, he smirked as he rolled on the balls of his feet.

“She doesn’t want to grab a drink with you Flint.”

“I believe that is for the lady to decide.” He tilted his head towards her.

“I believe she already has.” Sebastian replied.

“…Several times.” Ella murmured.

Sebastian’s eyebrows lifted at that and looked over to her questioningly. She looked down, not knowing why she was feeling nervous again. He must have seen what he needed to and turned his attention back to Theodore Flint. She watched as she felt him stiffen in front of her, Ella knew he was probably glowering down at the man in front of him. Sebastian towered over him by several inches. Flint was also not as broad as Sebastian was either.

“It’s time you leave.”

It had to have been the way he said it, but Ella watched as Theodore Flint’s expression once again changed. He stiffened almost immediately and cleared his throat. He did not look her in the eye either as he addressed her one final time.

“Let me know if you change your mind, Eleanor.“

With that, he once again put his hands behind his back and walked out the door whistling as he did so. She let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

A few moments later, Sebastian turned around after staring out of the shop window to ensure Theodore Flint had actually left.

“What in Merlin’s name was that?” he asked.

Ella snorted. “Now you know what I’ve been dealing with.”

“And why is the first time I am hearing about this or…or seeing it? Why didn’t you tell me this was happening?” he asked incredulously.  

“…I didn’t want to worry you over it and I could handle it.”

“Really? Then what was that I walked in on? He had you…pinned. Why didn't you hex him? I have seen you take down a troll while skipping through the forbidden forest like it’s a stroll in the park.”

Sebastian crossed his arms, his ire now turned towards her. She couldn’t answer him, well truthfully at the moment anyways. Unless she wanted him to become even more irate once he found out that she didn’t exactly… have her wand. Another unfortunate caveat to be able to leave school for the summer. She just knew what he would say once he found out about the stipulations the professors put on her. Given his less then positive views he had of the pressure Fig put on her over last year, she knew he would have nothing positive to say about it at all.

For the most part, Ella was unconcerned at the start of fifth year. All she knew was that she had a magic no one had seen in centuries and people had already died because of it and would continue to die if she didn’t learn all she could before someone else did. Namely the goblins and dark wizards that were killing those involved. She couldn’t allow more innocents to become caught in the crossfire. She had seen firsthand the outcome to those who stepped in unaware of the situation. Anne was an innocent whose only crime was trying to help put out a fire and she was left with a debilitating fatal curse.

Ella knew Sebastian brought her to meet Anne for her to empathize with her and to see what he was up against to cure her. While she would have helped him regardless, it had also solidified the fact that she had to act and stop those that were after the ancient magic. It was a journey that for the most part she needed to make on her own and in the end, she proved to herself she could handle what was put in front of her.

It was how she also knew she could make it the summer without her wand. If she played it smart and kept her head down in the meantime, she could make it the next school year. Even if it did make things harder and she missed magic dearly. Ella thought in way that it was her penance for failing to save Fig.

“Like I told you a few days ago, not everything has to be solved with a flick of a wand. And if I went around hexing customers, word would get around and it would be bad for my shop.”

“I don’t care if it’s bad for your shop, I care if it gets in the way of keeping you safe. If someone threatens you, you need to have a wand on them. End of discussion.”

He uncrossed his arms and was pointing his finger at her. She pushed it away.

“Don’t point your finger at me Sebastian and I don’t want to talk about it any longer. I’m just glad that he’s gone. Can we please move on.”

At her pleading eyes, he let out a deep breath. He would revisit the issue with the wand at a later time but at the moment he wanted to discuss the slimy bastard who slinked out of her shop just a few moments ago.

“Why was Theodore Flint here? I didn’t even know you knew him.”

“I don’t. Never even spoke to him before, not until he started coming around here a few days ago and then Theo wouldn’t stop asking me out for butterbeer.” she shrugged.

“Oh, Theo is it now?” he scoffed.

Ella rolled her eyes.

“You need to stay away from him, he’s only here because you’re the ‘Hero of Hogwarts’.”

She let out an indignant breath.

“Oh really? You think that’s the only reason anyone would show attention to me is because I saved Hogwarts? There is more to me than that!”

“I know that. But Flint? He’s a pureblood through and through, and about as a fanatic as Salazar Slytherin was himself. He’s after you for something and whatever it could be, it isn’t because you’re a beautiful, amazing witch. I don’t trust it and I don’t trust him.”

“You think I’m beautiful?” she said as she let out a smile.

“Unbelievable. That’s what you took out my warning?

“It doesn’t hurt to hear.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes as he let out a breath. She had the uncanny ability of causing the wind to go out his sails. It still didn’t alleviate his concerns though, which Ella could tell by looking into at his expression as his gaze pointed downwards at his feet. She stepped closer to him and put her hand on his arm.

“Sebastian…Seb, I know that you’re worried, but I can take care of myself. I have done so as far as I can remember, and one entitled pureblood is not going to take me down. Though, I do appreciate you coming to my rescue.” Ella looked up at his face with a fond smile.

He let out another breath and took her into his arms to embrace her, placing his head into the crook of her shoulder to breath her in. His heart was beating faster from holding her that close to him. He couldn’t keep himself from embracing her after hearing her once again call him Seb.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner… I’m sorry I disappeared on you. I truly hadn’t meant for it to be that long.”

She wrapped her arms around his waist and squeezed him to her to return the embrace.

“I know, I thought you might have needed some time to process it. I’m not mad at you and you’re here now.”

“I should have come by sooner. After I thought about it, I realized how I left things here with you... I need you to understand, I am in no way upset with you.”

He pulled out of her embrace to place both of his hands on her arms, and he bent his knees to be on the same eye level as her. Ella had not seen him with this expression in a long time, but she knew he felt rattled by the situation. She too felt rattled by it.

Ella spoke first. “I am sorry though. I should have told you sooner, but I was worried at-“

Sebastian nodded his head.

“At how I would take it. I realized that. Looking back, I know I didn’t give you much confidence to trust me with information I wouldn’t like… I am trying to change that though. And like I said, I’m not mad at you. So, I don’t want to hear another apology. Do you understand?”

He slid his hands up her arms to cup her face. She never realized how large his hands were as they nearly stretched the entire length of her face. Ella was getting distracted as he started to rub her cheek his thumb. Sebastian made one more swipe against her cheek that she could have sworn brushed the side of her lips. She saw his eyes drift to her mouth. His next words were almost a whisper.

“Tell me you understand?”

“I understand Seb.”

Sebastian let a soft smile and took a step forward to press his lips to her forehead for a brief moment. He then stepped away but was still standing close, looking her in the eyes.

“That’s my girl.”

Her face felt impossibly warm, and it wasn’t from the warmth of his hands, though that may have contributed to it. She was surprised at Sebastian’s closeness, but she couldn’t move her eyes from staring directly into his. They stared at each other for a moment longer before the butterflies in her stomach became too much. Terribly flustered, she quickly stepped back out of his hold to turn around and grab an item from the counter to distract herself with as she heard Sebastian clear his throat behind her.

“So… uh, there’s some information I discovered after you told me your theories and showed me that ingredients list… I started thinking about it and remembered about my father’s journals. I hoped it might shed some light on Solomon somehow.”

Suddenly feeling nervous, Sebastian could feel his stomach doing somersaults. He berated himself for getting that close to her, but he couldn’t help himself. He had missed her over the last few days and felt guilty for allowing time to get the better of him. Reading his father’s journals was both enlightening and disturbing in equal measures. Sebastian had learned a lot about his father’s studies even though he was staunchly determined to solely look into Solomon further.

“Oh? And what did you find out?” Ella turned back around to face him as her curiosity won over.

“Do you remember when I told you about Solomon being an ex-Auror?”

“And how it possibly had to do with using the Dark Arts? Yes, I remember. Did you find out more about it?”

“Well…yes and no.”

Ella watched as he started to pace in front of her.

“You see, he was dishonorably discharged before my parents died and apparently Solomon and my father were in a large disagreement over it. I tried to think about that time and if I could remember any interactions they had, but they must have kept it away from Anne and I.”

He paused for a moment.

“My father…I found that he thought like I did, or I think like he did. I never even realized. He also thought spells were only as dangerous based on the wielder’s intent. An expertly cast Diffindo can lead someone to be decapitated or bleed out slowly. It can be used to torture just as the Cruciatus can…must be why Solomon was always calling me my ‘father’s son’.”

Ella watched his brow crinkle at the thought.

“From where I stand, that was never a bad thing. It’s saved us numerous times.”

“I killed his brother with an unforgivable love.”

She wasn’t going to allow him to continue with this train of thought any longer.

“Solomon was not going to stop. He never even thought it through, he didn’t know what that relic would do or what would happen if he stopped it, and he destroyed it anyway… Rather than try to diffuse the situation, he took it into his own hands and nearly got us all killed.”

She thought about the events of that night often and it continued to eat at her when she thought about how it all played out. How it could have been handled better by all parties involved. But mostly, how it could have been handled better by Solomon, who for some reason could not fathom why Sebastian was so set on trying to keep his ailing twin from succumbing to her death.

She shook her head as she continued.

“Anyone with half a brain would question why the inferi in the room were docile and he knew the relic was somehow involved. He had to have seen them start trying to tear us apart the moment the relic was destroyed. I know that he did. But that didn’t stop him from fighting against us when he should have been fighting the monsters trying to kill us.”

She paused for a moment.

“…The spells he used.... Seb I have seen Ashwinders, and poachers use those spells. HE used those spells against two students without a second thought… I don’t know how it would have ended if you hadn’t used the killing curse on him, but I don’t think it would have ended with everyone unscathed if he had gotten his way.”

He watched as a tear fell from her eye just speaking about it. Sebastian thought about the actions that took place that night, he mostly blamed himself for what happened.

He didn’t at first.

At first, he blamed Solomon for destroying what he thought was his chance at curing Anne… To Sebastian, when Solomon destroyed the relic, it was as if he watched Solomon kill Anne in front of him. At the time, he refused to blame himself. When Anne and Ominis had thought about turning him in, he couldn’t understand it.

Why couldn’t they understand that Solomon essentially killed Anne?

Why couldn’t they understand his need to save his sister?

Why were they okay with leaving him to live a life without the only family he had left?

He still ended up almost losing everything. His sister and his best friend wanted nothing to do with him now. And because of his actions that night, he nearly lost Ella as well. Solomon had come close to killing her and that was after she nearly talked him down. Solomon didn’t it see it that way and unfairly blamed her for when her only crime was standing by his side.

Always standing by his side.

They may have been put in danger due to his impulsiveness that night, but it was Solomon’s impulsiveness that also played a factor in it.

He can see the truth to Ella’s words. He wouldn’t have used the relic without thoroughly researching it first, but Solomon took it out of his hands the moment he decided to leave Feldcroft with Anne in tow. Sebastian was frantic at the possibility of never seeing Anne again or having the chance to cure her since Solomon wasn’t going to cure her.

That was the realization he had made a few days ago.

“I think your right love… I have thought about the events that night ad nauseum. You know I think it’s in the Sallow’s genetics to be predisposition to high emotions or letting our anger get the better of us… the moment we see red, we just see red, and we let it cloud everything.”

Sebastian sighed.

“I think that night, both Solomon and I saw red. I truly don’t think either of us could have been stopped until one of us was dead. The funny thing is, is that he always called me my father’s son for having studied the dark arts and yet he was the one who did the unforgivable to Anne. I read over my father’s journals and came across something that was interesting...”

“What?” Ella asked.

“My father and Solomon were fighting over how Solomon was capturing Dark Wizards, that what he was doing was… unethical to put it lightly.”

“How so?”

“He was working under the table with the Ashwinders. He would turn his head when they got their product and in return, the boss would offer a few of his followers to Solomon to put away in Azkaban and even walk away with some coin for turning a blinds eye. They would stage it to look like Solomon fought against a group of them, ‘killing’ the lot of them and then taking who was left alive. Only he wasn’t killing any of them. The boss would just order a few of his Ashwinders to that spot for Solomon to round them up without them aware of what they were walking into…”

“What? Solomon was a dirty Auror?”

Sebastian scoffed. “Yeah. He lined his pockets and was able to make himself look good to boot.”

“How did your father find this out?”

“Solomon came by one day and they were discussing my father’s research into the occults where then Solomon had shut my father down, stating anyone who uses the dark arts is a dark wizard. That he had seen what darkest wizards were capable of and he wouldn’t see my father following that path. He told him how Dark wizards would sell out their own if benefited them, whether it was poaching, thievery or killing.”

Sebastian was silent for a moment.

“He told him that there would always be dark wizards if the dark arts existed to lure them in. Mentioned how the only way to put dark wizards away was from the inside. Solomon explained how he was putting them away. My father told him what he was doing wasn’t right, that he was doing it for his benefit and was behaving no better than them by being so duplicitous.”

Ella scoffed “It sounds like he also was complicit in their use of the dark arts if he was letting the ones who he was working with continue on while he put just the minions away. That’s one way to shift the narrative and it makes it a massive hypocrite.”

Sebastian gave a wry smile at her comment.

“Oh, just wait. It gets worse. The boss I mentioned? My father didn’t fully name him, only used his initials. Which were V.R.”

Ella gasped as she made the connection. She didn’t know how she hadn’t put the pieces together immediately when he mentioned that Solomon was working with the ‘boss’ of the Ashwinders. It’s obvious now.

“Victor Rookwood. Of course, he was head of the Ashwinders…Solomon was working with Victor Rookwood? But…that could mean-“

“That Solomon knew all along it wasn’t the goblins that cursed Anne, but it was his business partner. Solomon was adamant that the curse couldn’t be broken even though not everything was done to try and break it. That has to be why…he knew it couldn’t be broken because he knew who placed it on her in the first place.”

Ella’s eyes widened.

“Now it’s only a theory and I can’t confirm it, but it makes sense, doesn’t it? Solomon had to have gotten in too deep in the mess he made and was found out or he’d seen something he shouldn’t have, and Rookwood tried to punish him by cursing one of the kids in his care.”

The theory made an awful lot of sense, but Ella still thought something else was missing. However, there was blatant graphorn in the room at this hypothesis that she had to point out.

“We’ll never know…Solomon’s dead and whatever did happen will never be uncovered.”

Sebastian bristled. He knew she was right as much as the thought pained him, there wasn’t much that could be done to solve that mystery or the mystery of why Solomon was poisoning Anne. This though could help in discovering a cure for Anne now that he had more to go off of and knew that Anne’s pain was partly due to Solomon having a hand in adding to it. Knowing the cause of part of her pain and that it was out of the equation now led to Sebastian wanting to inquire if anything was different with Anne.

“Well one thing at least came out of Solomon being…well dead, he’s not poisoning Anne any longer. I have to know if she’s still experiencing that pain. I reached out to Ominis about it and so far, he hasn’t replied as of yet.”

“You told Ominis of the theory?”

“We have to know. Any hope of possibly curing lies in knowing what her true symptoms are. And Ominis is the only one who knows where she is. He would be the one to ask Anne how she’s doing…I couldn’t tell him why I was I asking, I didn’t tell him about Solomon. I’m not sure if he would even believe me. Not yet anyways”

Ella watched as a pensive expression washed over his face. She unfortunately couldn’t say one way or the other if Ominis would believe him. So much happened and he wasn’t as forthcoming to believe them when they told him how hard Solomon fighting against them. He thought like Anne and that the situation could have been handled differently, that Solomon did not need to die.

They weren’t there though.

“I wish I knew the right words to comfort you, but I myself am not sure how Ominis would take it.”

He nodded in agreement.

“And now we wait.”

“And now we wait.”

A silence overcame them both for a few moments. They each came to the same realization, nothing else could be done for the moment and the only thing to do was to keep moving. An idea had formed in Sebastian’s mind as a way of passing the time, even if it was a somewhat petty idea.

“Do you want to go the dinner tonight and get a butter beer?”

He tilted his head with a sad smile. His offer wasn’t to celebrate but he didn’t want to be alone.

“Why not now? It is almost lunch time.”

“I have some errands to do around Hogsmeade. I could pick you up when you close the shop, and we could get a bite to eat. What say you?”

Ella squinted her eyes, she felt there was more to this, and she had an idea of what it was about.

“Is this because Theodore Flint asked me to dinner?”

“What? tsk. Of course not. I have absolutely no worry about that. I know you would rather go with this handsome gentleman any day.” he said with a smirk as he pointed to himself.

Ella sighed. She hated that he knew he was right in that statement. Besides they had gone to dinner at the Broomsticks countless of times now. At least she didn’t feel the heavy weight of the information she had about Solomon weighing her down any longer. This time she could fully enjoy herself eating a meal and drinking a butterbeer with one of her favorite friends.

He was truly her favorite which was why she caved to his offer with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh, I suppose that would do.”

She pointed her finger at him with her final words.

“The Shop closes at eight o’clock. Don’t be late.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

His smirk grew into a genuine smile, and he quickly bent down to kiss her cheek. With that, he winked and left the store leaving Ella stunned in her spot. That was the second time he kissed her. In one day. She felt her face grow warm again as she bit her lip trying to hold in the smile.

She was looking forward to tonight.