Work Text:
Exploring Salazar Slytherin Scriptorium was not in any fifth-year study plan, but here they were, standing right in front of the huge metal entrance, wands ready.
“Are you sure about this? No second thoughts?” Ominis asked his two classmates, his voice quivering slightly.
“Second and third thoughts, actually, but I still believe we should keep going” Francis answered to his right.
“That's the spirit!” Sebastian exclaimed placing a supporting hand on Ominis's shoulder.
Ominis blushed. Sebastian’s touch had always been comforting. He felt steady and firm like he could bear the entirety of Ominis’s pain, shame, and heartache without breaking. Ironically enough, the first thing that attracted Ominis towards Sebastian was that his cheerful, joyful spirit was so strong that he thought Sebastian was untouched by the horrors of this world. So innocent, kind, and alive that his laugh became a balm for his troubled spirit. Imagine his surprise after he learned that his parents had died when he was young. His feelings for him grew stronger, like a moth to a flame. How could someone be so caring when life hadn't returned the favor? Maybe if he existed around him enough, he would start to feel again too. So bit by bit, he let Sebastian in, and he brought Anne and Francis with him. People that now had a permanent residency in his heart.
“Lumos” Francis evoked, the spell brightening the doorway “We better hurry, the paper on Ways of Prolonging the Effects on Thunderbrew Potion will not write itself”.
“I wish it did” Ominis mumbled.
The trio went down the stairs that were at the other side of the door that appeared after Francis figured out that they had to light three candlelights at the same time. Ominis knew that the entrance’s puzzle had to do with the number three, but that's it. They spent 20 min on that alone.
“Careful, Ominis, there’s debris everywhere” Sebastian warned.
Sebastian did not need to warn him. Ominis’s sentient wand allowed him to make sense of the landscape. He was able to detect shapes and lighting, nothing too detailed but enough to know that there were stairs, debris, and a door at the end of the passageway. To that, he could add that Sebastian and Francis were looking around as he could distinguish their shape and see the light Lumos created, moving around. He still liked that Sebastian worried about him. No one but his Aunt Noctua had cared enough to do that before him.
They walked towards the end of the passageway, Sebastian tried to pull the door open. Nothing happened. “Alohamora!”, he chanted. Still nothing.
“There’s no lock” Francis mocked crossing his arms.
“No harm in trying. I don’t see you coming up with any brilliant ideas”
“Let’s spread out, maybe something in the debris will help us,” Ominiss said to break the useless bickering.
Since Sebastian introduced them during their First Year's Potions class, the trio has always been together, the Slytherin Boys, Professor Weasley calls them. Sebastian and Francis used to play Quidditch and Ominis liked to cheer them on every game. Afterward, they like to sneak through the One-Eyed Witch passage to steal some sweets from Huneydukes' at Hogsmeade to celebrate or sulk if they've lost. They also visited the detention room quite often. Anne tried to stop them from getting into trouble multiple times without success. She had always been the smartest.
Anne. They all missed her easy laugh. How she patched them up after they took down entire Poacher camps, multiple times. How she went with them to tease the new First Years, or how red she got when Francis gifted her a small chocolate box for her birthday once. None of them believed that the pain of her absence would ever go away, not until she was better anyway.
“There’s a note here” Francis called, frowning while deciphering the worn-down words on the paper “Oh, Ominis” he breathed out.
“What is it?” Ominis asked approaching Francis, Sebastian close behind.
“It’s Noctua’s. She says that she came here to prove there’s more about Salazar Slytherin than Dark Magic and that the last thing she did was tell her brother where she was, hoping he would meet her here to unravel this together. She also mentions that the Scriptorium is filled with puzzles and challenges” Francis summarized, carefully folding the paper and handing it to Ominis.
Ominis sighed closing his eyes “My poor Aunt. She always believed we were something more than just a bunch of cruel, inhuman, bas.- ”
“Stop” Sebastian interrupted, grabbing Ominis by the elbow, startling him. “Do not speak ill about yourself. You are not them”.
“The only Gaunt thing in you is that beautiful silver hair, and pale face, Ominis” Francis added playfully.
Ominis smiled at his friend, the tension had broken, but Sebastian’s eyes never left Ominis. His cheerful demeanor, gone.
“Tell me Ominis, tell me that you understand” Sebastian pleaded, pulling at his robes.
Ominis's smile dropped “I understand, Sebastian” he answered, gently putting his hand on top of his.
Sebastian's frown broke with a beautiful grin “Good, let’s keep going then” Ominis almost whined at the sudden loss of contact.
“Repairo,” Sebastian said making the pieces of debris in the floor float and join together in the wall “The debris looked less than a wall and more like a painting, if that makes any sense. I thought I should give it a shot, and it worked”
“Ah,” Ominis cringed, grabbing his head and stumbling a few steps back.
“Ominis!” Francis yelped, reaching to pull his friend's arm to stop him from crashing into the wall.
“What’s wrong?” Sebastian asked rushing towards the pair, extending his hand to grab Ominis's.
“Snakes!” Ominis exclaimed, tugging Sebastian closer towards himself through their joint hands “I can hear them. I haven’t done that in years. They're saying speak to me”
“Parseltongue” Francis explained to Sebastian who was looking at Ominis like he was going insane, “all descendants of Salazar Slytherin can usually speak it. I think you need to do that for the door to open. Clearly, he didn’t want anyone who wasn’t a pure-blood to enter his chamber” he added with clear disgust in his voice.
“Ironic, when I left home I swear I’d leave the Dark Arts behind, and here I am. Stand back, I'll do it” Ominis said, straightening himself and letting go of Sebastian’s hand. “It’s alright, it just startled me. I wish to see how you would both react to sudden voices in your head” he added sensing the hesitation of his friends.
Sebastian and Francis shared a look. They were not happy with how much they were exposing Ominis to Dark Magic and his past, but he did want to find out what happened to his aunt, and the three of them agreed to pursue anything related to finding a cure for Anne, so things like this were bound to keep happing if they continued down this path one way or another. So they stayed silent.
After a few seconds of Ominis whispering strangely to the door, the mechanism started to unlock and the next room came into view.
“It worked” Ominis whispered “Let’s move”
The three of them entered the room with Lumos illuminating their path. A maze of multiple corridors, massive metal doors with strange symbols, and snake ornaments filled their vision. Just as the situation started to become overwhelming, a startling shriek, got them out of the stupor. They all turned around to see the entrance door shut down completely.
“And there goes the door…” Sebastian gulped.
“Yeah, thanks for clarifying that we're trapped, genius” Francis snarled back “Let’s just figure this out”
“You don’t have to tell me twice” Sebastian answered walking around.
They split into different rooms to try to make sense of the puzzles they were being presented. Francis believed the answer had to do with the snake statues spread around. He was examining the one in the room further from the entrance when something compelled him to touch it. That seemed to activate it somehow. It slowly started to move in circles, emanating a light blueish glow. Francis got closer, there were runes carved in some type of moving rings. He was so enchanted by it that he did not listen to the obvious ticking sound that came with the movement. When the sound stopped, the snake attacked.
“Ah!” Francis shirked falling backwards while grabbing his bloodied nose.
“That did not sound good,” Ominis said from the other room.
“The bloody thing bit me!” Francis yelled back.
“What? Who?” Sebastian said coming into the room “Merlin! Are you alright?” He shouted running towards Francis after seeing the state he was in.
“Yeah yeah, just a scratch,” Francis said using the hand Sebastian offered him to stand up “I think I got it though. The doors have the same symbols as the snake statues. We just need to align them and voilá”
“Voilá?” Sebastian questioned raising an eyebrow.
“Muggle expression, just do it” Francis explained exasperated.
He was the only muggle-born out of the four of them. At first, knowing the Gaunt’s reputation, he was a little hesitant to befriend one of them, but after hearing Ominis story and seeing the easiness with which Sebastian and Anne laughed around him, he couldn’t do anything but surrender to the silver-haired boy’s charm. Ominis has never been anything but kind. He even defended him after some assholes tried to corner him at the Three Broomsticks calling him a “mudblood”. Sirona allowed that fight and even dealt some blows herself before banning the idiots forever.
Sebastian followed his lead and the first door opened, they didn’t know how many they had to unlock before they reached the next chamber, but at least having the answer and something to do eased their hearts and minds a little. While Sebastian was working on their fourth door, Ominis approached Francis with a white handkerchief.
“Here, there’s still blood on your face” Ominis offered “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“How do you know there’s still blood on my face?” Francis joked taking the cloth and wiping his face.
“I can smell it” Ominis replied, pointing at his nose “Heightened senses and whatnot. You didn’t answer my question”
Francis never expressed his feelings. Sebastian didn’t either but that boy was an easy read. He wore his heart on his sleeve, his facial expressions always perfectly aligned with his mood. Ominis, on the other hand, was more reserved but after he came to trust them, his feelings were more obvious. He was the most sensitive out of all of them. He got frightened easily and was more prone to crying. Not to say he was weak by all means. Francis and Sebastian were sure he was the strongest one too.
But Francis, Francis was a mystery. He was kind, attentive, really protective, a very skilled fighter with an unreasonable tolerance to pain, and scars littered his body. Sometimes, he was so deflective and stoic that they wondered if he was even real. Nevertheless, Francis had saved them countless times, not only literally but also emotionally. He was always there to help and support them so, after a while, they stopped asking. They didn’t care who he was, they just loved their friend.
“I’m alright, Ominis. Thank you” Francis replied softly. A voice he reserved for Ominis only.
“Aha!” Sebastian cheered, the door was opening, and on the other side, another corridor awaited them. “That was the last one!” They were free again.
The trio, once again, lighted their wands and went inside. Not even allowing them to enjoy the sweet taste of freedom for 2 seconds, the metal door closed behind them.
“And we’re trapped again.” Francis pointed out this time.
“Yeah, I did not think Salazar Slytherin would be done with us yet” Ominis mumbled.
They walked towards the end of the corridor scanning the walls for any clues. Francis paused at the end, looking down, he saw the word “Crucio” carved into the floor. Ignoring the increasing pounding of his heart, he turned left, and right there, in the corner, a skeleton was scattered around a crumbled piece of paper. Francis crouched and fearing the worst, he picked up the note. A scream filled his ears. Startled, he looked around, Sebastian was looking at the carved word on the floor, and Ominis was lingering behind, apparently, they did not hear it. He got back to reading the note.
After, Francis sighed, closing his eyes. He did not want to be the one to tell Ominis about this, but he wanted even less for Sebastian to do it, so he took a couple of seconds to ready himself and stood up “Ominis, Sebastian, I found Noctua’s last note”
They both turned to look at him, the air felt tense. Sebastian walked back to stand behind Ominis, placing a supporting hand on his shoulder again.
“She mentions being locked in by an Unforgivable Curse. Looking at the floor, and the images at the door, I would guess she was stuck because she had no one to cast Crucio on. Doing it is the last test” Francis figured.
“This is where she died” Ominis whispered, a tear sliding down his cheek. “Are those her.–“ his voice broke.
“Yes.” Francis finished for him.
“Oh god, she really believed in Salazar Slytherin for nothing. She shouldn’t have come here alone. Maybe if I was stronger, if she would’ve asked me.–“ Ominis choked, pressing the back of his hand to his mouth to stifle the noises.
Francis looked away, looking around for something to help Ominis, anything. He hated to see his friends, especially Ominis, in pain.
“You were a child, Ominis. This is not your fault” Sebastian comforted the other Slytherin embracing him tightly against his chest, trying to hide him away from all of this.
“I know, I just miss her so much” Ominis cried into Sebastian’s chest.
“Here, Ominis, I found her wand” Francis offered kindly. Sebastian looked at him and nodded in gratitude.
“Thank you, Francis” Ominis replied, letting go of Sebastian to take the wand. He sniffled and clutched the piece of wood against his chest. “I guess, I can grieve later” He added, wiping away his tears and putting the wand away “First we have to get out, I don’t want to be trapped here any longer”
“We need to cast Crucio” Sebastian deadpanned trying to leave any emotion out of it, maybe that will make it easier.
“Yes, I knew when we agreed to save Anne by any means necessary that eventually the time might come for me to use Dark Magic. It pains me deeply, but it would pain me more knowing that I could’ve done something to save someone I loved and I didn’t. Sacrifices must be made for those you love, so let’s have it. Which one of you wants to learn the Cruciatus Cruse so you can cast it on me?”
“What?” Sebastian hissed.
“No” Francis snarled, angry just at the idea of doing something so horrible “We will do no such thing, Ominis”
“Francis is right. We won’t. Don’t you remember? For it to work you need to mean it.” Sebastian huffed, exasperated. “Neither of us wants to do that, ever”
“And you want to hurt each other?” Ominis spat back
“Yes!” Francis yelled so quickly even Sebastian looked baffled “I mean, no.” Francis sighed running his hand through his hair “Of course we don’t want to hurt anyone, Ominis. But we dragged you down here, we are always dragging you places, aren’t we? Dangerous places. We are your friends, what type of people would make their friend suffer under the very same spell that traumatized him many years ago so badly they still have nightmares? I can’t let you go through that again, Ominis. Ever” Francis begged.
“We can’t let you, Ominis” Sebastian added looking back at him “Please, don’t make us do it. I would never forgive myself”
“And how do you think I'd feel seeing you hurt each other?” Ominis cried “You don’t know what you’re talking about. The pain.-“ he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand “The pain is far worse than you can possibly imagine and the aftershocks are no joke” Ominis pleaded “I know how it feels, I can deal better with it”
“No. Sebastian will cast it on me” Francis claimed, calmly
“I will?” Sebastian looked at him, shocked. He was about to volunteer himself.
“Yes, you will. I know pain. I’ve known pain my whole life.” Francis added calmly, with a finality that seemed unquestionable.
Ominis turned back towards the general direction of Francis's voice “Not this pain”
“Maybe not, but it’s alright Ominis, you’ll be here to take care of me, won’t you?” Francis teased, voice light.
“Don’t joke right now, please” Ominis pleaded, devastated at the prospect of what was about to happen.
“I’m not joking, Ominis, I expect an unlimited amount of chocolate chip scones and bacon in our dorm every morning until I feel better” Francis warned pointing his finger at them.
“Francis” Sebastian called, serious “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Sebastian. You have my consent.” Francis replied standing a little taller, head held high.
“Ok then, let’s do it” Sebastian clapped his hands “I shan’t forget this”
“Wait, you know how to cast Crucio?” Ominis asked incredulously
“I’ve never done it, but I know the basics. You never know when Dark Magic might come in handy” Sebastian replied innocently.
“Why am I not surprised?” Francis mumbled rolling his eyes “You need to teach me later”
Ominis pressed his lips together. He didn’t like that his friends were talking about Unforgivable Curses as if they were learning how to cast Levioso, but they did agree to pursue all paths for a cure, and that usually led them to very dangerous places. If it came to Francis or Sebastian and an enemy, he wouldn’t hesitate to use them, so them knowing the curses wasn't to bad of an idea.
Ominis didn’t know how far he was willing to follow his friends yet, but for now, pushing back, questioning their every move, and alienating them in the process, was not on his plans. At least, this way he could be with them to protect them.
“I’m still willing to take it the curse, Francis. You can say no” Ominis offered one last time.
“I know, Ominis. Thank you” Francis smiled, turned towards Sebastian, and did a few stretches like that was going to help anything “C’mon Sallow, show me what you got. Mean it” Francis taunted.
Sebastian didn’t reply. He was grateful. Francis taking the agonizing curse and making everyone feel better about it, was a very Francis thing to do. Sebastian would find a way to repay him somehow, and he would ask later what he meant when he said he had known pain his whole life. That little remark did not go past them.
“Ready?” Sebastian asked and Francis nodded once. Ominis stayed back, anxiously biting his nails, pacing back and forth.
Sebastian lifted his wand and closed his eyes, trying to focus on something horrible and not his dear friend standing in front of him. He thought of his sister, on the goblins that cursed her, on how they needed to do this because life was unfair, about his parents, about pain, and death.
“Crucio!” Sebastian screamed, opening his eyes, red consuming his vision as the curse shot out of his wand.
Francis had closed his eyes too. He was thinking about Anne and Ominis laughing about a prank they pulled on the First Years in the morning. Sebastian, juggling 4 butterbeers, approaching them already laughing about nothing. Francis had never felt like that before like he belonged. He didn’t want that moment to end.
Then pain. Pain exploded everywhere. He was sure all of his bones broke at the same time, while he combusted from inside. A scream escaped his throat and he fell to his knees, the contact with the floor sending fresh waves of pain all around his body. He screamed again, holding himself up with one hand, the other bracing around himself, trying to stop his insides from coming out. He was sure his organs were no longer inside of him.
“Francis!” Ominis yelled over his screams, crouching next to him. Sebastian had dropped his wand, too shocked to move.
“Francis listen to my voice, you can do it. Breathe!” Ominis was screaming too. Rubbing his back and hand in small circles.
Francis heard him the second time, the piecing pain was slowly fading away, replacing it with a dull ache all over. He could now feel Ominis’s hands on his body and an overwhelming amount of tears sliding down his cheeks.
“Ominis?” Francis choked out, voice raw from screaming.
“I’m here. You are alright. Breathe in and out. Focus on my hands and my voice” Ominis replied gently.
“I’m sorry” Francis sobbed, looking at him.
“Why are you sorry, love?” Ominis questioned, stunned.
“I’m sorry they did this to you”
Ominis was shocked. No one had ever said that to him. Of course, he knew his friends were sorry, but they never quite understood what he went through and now Francis did. He did not wish for his friends to ever feel the pain he once felt, but Francis’s words made him feel seen in a way he'd never felt before.
A single tear escaped his eye “I’m sorry too” Ominis whispered. He cupped Francis’s face “I didn’t wish for this to happen”
Francis was about to answer but a moan came out instead. A wave of fresh pain erupting from his insides. His arm gave out and he plummeted towards the floor.
Sebastian caught him before he could reach the ground “Easy” he grunted manhandling him to rest against the wall “Here, drink this” he said unscrewing a Wiggenweld Potion and lifting it towards his lips.
Francis drank it and immediately felt better. He smiled and took Sebastian's hand in his. “I’m alright, Sebastian. You did the right thing” Francis croaked
“I should be comforting you” Sebastian hissed, annoyed at the show of kindness he did not feel like he deserved.
“You’re shaking” Ominis pointed out, gently. Sebastian hid his hands in his robe. “Look, the door is open. You freed us” he added.
Both Sebastian and Francis looked towards the open door “Thank Merlin” Sebastian muttered, “We need to leave, now. I had my fair share of ominous corridors for a while”
“I’ll hold you to that, Sebastian” Ominis threatened. Francis chuckled weakly.
“Can you stand?” Sebastian asked assessing the situation and running multiple scenarios in his head at the same time. If he couldn’t, getting them to the dorm without any teachers noticing was going to be harder.
“Yes,” Francis answered, stubbornly standing up by himself to prove it.
“Whoah Whoah, not that fast” Sebastian chastised reaching to grab his wobbling friend by the shoulders to steady him.
“Don’t push yourself, Francis. It’ll last longer if you don’t take it easy” Ominis reprimanded. “Lean on me, I’ll take you to a chair so you can rest while Sebastian looks for that bloody spell book” Ominis brought a hand around Francis's waist and passed his arm around his shoulders to support him better.
For someone shorter and slimmer than both Francis and Sebastian, Ominis was awfully sturdy. Francis guessed that their love for him and obsession with keeping him away from harm, made them forget how much of a powerful wizard he was. He was a pure-blooded Gaunt after all.
“I’ll make it quick” Sebastian promised while running ahead into Salazar Slytherin Scriptorium.
Ominis supported Francis until they reached a ridiculous posh-looking chair. Francis dropped with a flop and a small groan. He licked his lips, throwing his head back to rest on the chair, his hand clutching his stomach, he felt sick. “How long does the pain last?” He asked fearing a horrible answer.
“It depends,” Ominis replied crouching in front of him, rubbing his knees in circles. “If the witch or wizard really meant it, how experienced they are at casting the spell, the overall health of the one who receives it, and of course, the aftercare”
“Did you hear that, Sebastian?” Francis yelled “What were you channeling when you cast it? Please tell me you were thinking about the time you failed Transfiguration and Professor Weasley held you in detention for weeks”
“Uh” Sebastian’s head popped from the balcony above “I was thinking about the goblins that cursed my sister” He confessed
“Dr. Gaunt, I believe that the diagnosis is that I’m fucked” Francis chuckled.
Ominis frowned “He’s still inexperienced, you are a healthy student, and I’ll take care of you. I believe that in 2 days you’ll be back on your feet, in a week at full health”
“That's optimistic” Francis whispered before sobering down “Thank you, Ominis”
“I’ll always be here, for the both of you” Ominis replied seriously, lightly squeezing Francis's kneecaps.
“Found it!” Sebastian yelled from the top floor “And there’s a door here leading back to the dungeons. Wait there, I’m coming to help lift Francis’s sorry ass”
“Be nice Sebastian!” Ominis snapped back. He didn’t like how close he was to adding “You caused this”. This was no one's fault, and it was more on him if anything. He was the one who was supposed to take the curse.
“Hey,” Francis grabbed Ominis’s hand “You alright?”
Ominis came back to reality. Making Francis worry was not going to help him get better, so Ominis chose to hide his feelings away, hoping that with time, he would feel lighter and lighter until the guilt was no longer crushing him. He hoped the same for Sebastian.
“Yeah” Ominis replied smiling “C’mon, up you go”
Ominis lifted Francis from the chair, gabbing him before he could topple over “Remember to breathe, if you are going to be sick, let us know” He instructed.
“I’m here, ready?” Sebastian said, sliding Francis’s other arm through his shoulders to support him better.
Between the both of them, they managed to drag Francis out of the Scriptorium and to their dorm without anyone noticing it. They helped him get into his night robes, and tucked him in, giving him another dose of Wiggenweld Potion to aid him with the aches during the night.
“Thank you” Francis whispered, eyes closing without his consent.
“Shh, just sleep. We’ll be here when you wake up with scones and bacon” Ominis shushed while gently running his fingers through Francis’s hair.
Ominis didn’t know if this whole ordeal was worth it, but he hoped that each sacrifice led them closer to a cure for Anne and away from pain. At least, he did know that whatever came next, they would deal with it together.