Chapter Text
MC
The biting cold of deep winter nipped at my fingertips as Highwing and I soared through the sky. Sebastian is having me travel far for this, so it better be here. He seemed quite certain in his owl.
“The relic is the key to saving Anne — I know it.
Meet me outside of Feldcroft as soon as you can.
Sebastian,”
I’m on my way to help him once again. Sebastian’s love for his sister knows no bounds. If I had any siblings, I wouldn’t doubt that I would do the same for them, but I am concerned. Every time I see him in the common room, he is nose-deep in a book— one that is likely from the restricted section, or Salazar Slytherin’s Spell book we found in the Scriptorium. I cannot say much though, as I have taken one too many trips to the restricted section in search of books regarding my ancient magic.
Sometimes I question the reason that I help Sebastian, whether it be because he is one of the only people at this school who have been willing to offer me friendship or I can see just how much Anne means to him. I don’t know Anne all that well, but she seems sweet despite only meeting her for a few moments before we were thrown out by Solomon, Sebastian’s uncle.
Peering down, I recognized the small village below: Feldcroft. The catacomb he told me to meet him at should be near— just outside his hamlet in Feldcroft, I believe. I signaled Highwing to sweep closer to the ground so I could see the catacomb Sebastian spoke of. I could see a shadowy, dark entrance to what looked like a cave, nestled into a hill. A tall male figure stood outside of it. That should be him.
Highwing and I swooped down from the sky, landing just outside of the catacomb. Climbing off of Highwing, I saw Sebastian standing there, looking gobsmacked.
“Is that a hippogriff?” He asked, awe and wonder in his voice.
“Yes, when was the last time you went to beasts' class, Seb?” I joked, beginning to secure Highwing to a nearby tree.
“Very funny,” Sebastian remarked, rolling his eyes. “Is it yours?”
Finally finishing my knot, I wiped off my hands on my black trousers and looked up at him. “I guess you could say that I take care of her,” I paused, thinking of what to say next. “I saved her from some nasty poachers a few weeks ago. Me and Natty did, I should say.”
A look of shock crossed his face. “I didn’t know that Natty would get up to such dangerous escapades as being involved in taking down poachers.”
“What and you totally expected it from me?”
A pondering look played on his face. “Let us just say that I would believe it if someone told me you were, but Natty? I find it harder to believe.” A mischievous smirk spread across his face.
I crossed my arms, giving him a glare. “Well, I am totally offended. What would make you think such things about me?”
“If I am honest, a woman who has a leader of a goblin rebellion after her, is willing to have crucio casted upon her, and wields ancient magic is a force to be reckoned with. I would not put much past you.” He answered, and it almost felt like he was complimenting me.
Disregarding his questionable compliment I say, “So, you’re saying I’m a brute. Is that why you asked me to come here to help you? Choose your next words carefully, Mr. Sallow.”
Putting his hands up in mock surrender he says, “I am not saying you’re a brute,” he chuckled. “You really do not know when someone is complimenting you, do you?”
“Possibly not,” I said, smiling back at him. “But I would like to know exactly why I traveled so far to stand outside of this catacomb in the cold. I don’t think the relic will be out here.”
“Well, I thought that we might go inside. I believe one of Slytherin’s students stumbled upon the relic during an assignment to study sarcophagi in this catacomb. From what I read in a report by the student, they weren’t permitted to take it with them. So, I must assume it’s still here. As I mentioned earlier, this relic grants its holder the power to reverse Dark Magic curses. If it’s in this catacomb, I have to find it. For Anne. I need to see her.” Sebastian said, his face with unmistakable traces of grief.
Underneath his eyes, they were slowly turning purple, and he was pale in a way that was not caused by the lack of sunlight in the winter months. This made me question if he were already grieving Anne— the first stage of mourning is denial, and he was well into it. Although I hoped for a cure for Anne, and was willing to help him, I was not sure that there was much else we could do for her.
I gave him what I hoped to be a reassuring smile. “Let’s go on then. Perhaps we can visit her when we’re finished.”
With that, Sebastian slung an arm around my shoulders and led me into the dark, shadowy entrance of the catacomb. This looks promising.
—
Now, I wished for the frigid outside more than ever. Sweat poured down my face and back as I dodged yet another attack from the venomous scurrior before me. The number of giant spiders in this catacomb was enough to due me for a lifetime. Nonetheless, I continued to cast against it. Just like every size of spider, it never seemed to want to die despite how many times I tried to kill it.
With a final cast of confringo, the beast was finished. I placed my hands on my knees, my breaths coming shallow and fast due to the exertion from battling. Looking over at Sebastian, I could see him backed up against an ancient wall, also breathing hard.
“For a moment, I felt like it was never going to end. They just kept appearing out of nowhere,” I said, still breathing hard. “Are you alright?”
“I faired just fine,” Sebastian said with a sarcastic smirk. “I can’t say the same thing for you, though.” He gestured toward my arm.
I looked down to confirm, and it was bleeding. One of the creatures must have clawed me and I didn’t notice from the large amounts of adrenaline coursing through me. But now that I saw it, I could feel the pulsing throb make its way to my arm. The cut on my forearm was approximately six inches long and a quarter of an inch deep. I would need to steal some stitches from nurse Blainey for this.
Looking up from my arm, I gave him a reassuring smile. “I’ve had worse. I’ll be alright.”
“Alright then, let us see what’s in here.” Sebastian said, pushing himself off of the wall, and walking to the dead end of the tunnel.
“Dead end. Lovely. All that for nothing.” He said, throwing his hands up in frustration.
Holding onto my pulsating arm, I walked over to where he was standing. “Hold on, don’t give up just yet. Let’s look around, Mr. Impatient.” I said, hoping my joke would lighten the mood.
Looking over at Sebastian, his face remained solemn. Returning my attention to the room, I searched for anything that might hold or pertain to a relic. Looking at the table, I saw many things, one most notably, two rolled up pieces of parchment. I picked up the first and unrolled it to reveal a picture of a pyramid shaped engagement with skeleton or inferius on each of the sides. Putting that down on the table, I picked up the second piece of parchment, presumably from the student themselves.
“The relic contains abundant potential. Its possibilities could benefit not only wizardkind, but the world. But the Dark sacrifice involved to realize its intent may be too great. Until we know more, please, do not remove this relic.”
Should I even tell Sebastian that it is sitting on the table before me? If this object involves a dark sacrifice, there is no doubt in my mind that he will do it for Anne, but if I lie and say that it is nowhere to be found, and he finds out that I’m lying, it will not be good. I should just tell him.
“Seb, look what I found.” I said with false shock and excitement in my voice.
He walked over to where I was standing and peered down at the artifact on the table.
“Could it be?” He said, more to himself, than to me.
The look of hope and gratitude on his face made my heart warmer as he looked back up at me. I couldn’t help but feel the least bit hopeful for him, even if it was in vain.
“The drawing and the relic match, so does the note. This must be it— where the student left the relic.” I said, giving him what I hoped to be a hopeful smile.
Sebastian rose fully, now towering over me, no doubt. His face was pure amazement. All the sudden, he leaned down and pulled me in for a hug. That was unusual. My sudden stiffness in his arms was obvious as he held me. I was unused to any kind of affection, much less from a man. Slowly but surely, I wrapped my arms around him. The feeling was foreign, but pleasant all the same.
“I can’t believe it. We’ve really found it!” He said, squeezing me tighter, almost picking me up off of the ground.
“Put me down, you big oaf.” I joked, and he put me down.
“My apologies, I’m just… excited.” He said, staring at me with a sheepish grin.
I gave him a half smile— he was not going to like what I’m going to say next. “We have to think about this carefully, Seb. The note says that there is a dark sacrifice that has to be made in order to realize the relic’s potential. We don’t know what that means yet, so maybe we should do some more research and come back.”
Looking away from his precious relic, his eyes turned from hopeful to hateful in a matter of seconds. “We came here for the relic; I am not leaving here without it. Not risking someone else taking it for themselves.”
“It has likely been here for hundreds of years, Seb. It will be fine if we leave it for another month or two.” I said gently, placing my hand on his arm.
He brushed it off with a swipe of his hand. “I don’t have a month or two. You can either be with me or against me on this.” He said, a hateful look on his face.
Not wanting to anger him any further I say, “Alright, I’m willing to ignore what the journal entry says. We’ll take the relic.”
His face softened once again, hopeful. “I’m glad you made the right decision. I wouldn’t want you to be against me. Sometimes I feel like you’re the only one helping me. Everyone else discourages me and stands in my way, but you,” his eyes softened. “You have helped me. Given me hope. Even in my darkest times.”
That pulled on one of my heart strings. “I’m glad to help you anytime, Seb.”
“Thank you, you don’t know what this means to me,” he said, picking the relic up from the table. “Let’s get to Feldcroft. I must keep this a secret, especially from my uncle.”
“Understood. Let us be on our way then.” I said, still clutching my injured arm.
Walking back toward the exit of the catacomb, I see another tall figure pacing back and forth. They were too tall to be a surprise infurius that had escaped us. I walked farther, trying to discern details of the person in the dark cave.
“Is that Ominis?” Sebastian asked from behind me.
Judging from the dark blonde slicked back hair and the tall yet thin stature of the man, it was. Sebastian’s spoiled pureblood best friend. He and I had already gotten into it several times this year. I didn’t expect this encounter to be any different.
“Ominis! The sounds we kept hearing— it was you.” Sebastian determined.
Trying to not provoke Ominis any further, I said nothing.
Ominis, still pacing, says, “You gave me no choice, I had to follow you,” he said, frustrated yet gentle. “Sebastian, please, leave the relic alone. We can find another way to help Anne.”
The same angry look passed over Sebastian’s features. “I will not, Ominis. I’m taking it. This is the key to saving her.”
“No, you’re not. If you’re not putting it back, then I will.” Ominis said, his tone becoming more rigid.
Sebastian casted a pleading look my way. I didn’t want to argue with Ominis, but somehow, I could usually get him to leave us be with little convincing on my part. I didn’t say anything, and Sebastian’s frustrated glare turned back to Ominis.
“There’s nothing that you can do to take it away from me, Ominis. You know that I will not back down from a fight.” Sebastian said.
“You might not Sebastian, but that does not mean that I cannot hold my own. You, of all people should know that. Or do you think just because I’m a blind man that you can best me?” Ominis asked, eyes narrowing in on Sebastian.
Without another word, Sebastian slipped his wand into his hand. Seeing this I quickly casted expelliarmus wordlessly, and accio, taking his wand from him before anything could get out of hand. Sebastian looked at me with betrayal in his eyes. I mouthed to Sebastian, “trust me.”
“Stop this nonsense, you two,” I said with an air of authority, handing Sebastian his wand back. “Ominis, can I speak to you for a moment?”
Ominis crossed his arms, painting his face with the same sour expression he wore every time he heard me speak. “And you. What exactly do you want to speak to me about? Do you want to tell me more lies?” He asked, his tone much angrier than before.
“I didn’t lie to you, Ominis,” I said, waving Sebastian off. “How much did you hear?”
“All of it. I heard you encourage him to take the relic— exactly what we agreed against doing. You said you were going to stop him from doing any more of this! I made the mistake of believing you before, and I will not do it again!” Ominis fumed, still pacing back and forth, almost like he couldn’t shake his nerves.
“Sebastian is his own person, Ominis. I am merely helping him. Would you rather him come all the way out here alone?” I asked, knowing my question would strike a chord within him.
Ominis pondered on the question for a moment, before he was about to speak, he took in a deep breath of air. He paused his pacing for a moment. “What is that? I didn’t smell that before. Is it… metallic? Like…” his eyes opened wider at the realization. “Blood.” He said, no questioning in his tone. “Did Sebastian get himself hurt?”
He apparently did not hear everything. “I can assure you that he escaped unscathed.”
Ominis pondered on that for a moment, eyes widening more at another realization. His tone was quieter than before when he asked, “Where did it get you?”
“It doesn’t matter. It is just a scratch. Answer my question.” I demanded, trying to cover my still pulsating arm— it felt as if it had grown its own heartbeat.
Ominis’ eyebrows furrowed. “No, that is not just a mere scratch, I can tell. A scratch would not stink up the entire bloody room,” Ominis began fumbling in the pockets of his house robes, looking for something. Pulling out a vile of green liquid he says, “Drink this.”
“I am fine—“
“Take the damn bottle, you foolish girl.” He cut me off, stepping closer in my general direction.
Snatching the wiggenweld potion from his hands, his face softened just a bit. “To answer your question, no I would not want Sebastian to come here by himself, but you could have been the only one that could convince him not to seek this out. Instead, you only encourage it!”
Ominis was about to fray my last nerve. “Have you ever thought about helping him yourself? Some friend you are, letting his twin sister, your friend too I might add, rot away in that cottage.” The words flew from my mouth before I could stop them.
Ominis’ voice dropped to a low tenor, quieter but still harsh. “Mark my words, you will pay for this.”
“I’m not scared of you, Gaunt.” I barked.
“You should be.” With that, he turned around and pulled out his wand, letting it lead him back through the catacomb.
What an insufferable twat. At first, I wanted to not judge Ominis for being a pureblood. I went in to speaking with him for the first time with an open mind, not really having met many purebloods before, nonetheless ones from the sacred twenty-eight. The only other that I had met beforehand was Leander Prewitt who was not the best representative for the group— he showed me exactly what everyone else talked about purebloods being stuck-up spoiled bitches.
Since, I have met many lovely purebloods, but Leander and Ominis were not on that list for me. I could not understand why Professor Black prioritized and preferred them over all the other students. Maybe he would pay more attention to me if I was one of the sacred twenty-eight. But then again, I would not get away with as much as I do that way, so I was somewhat thankful for it.
“Did you convince him?” Sebastian asked, snapping me away from my thoughts.
“No,” I said, trying to gather my thoughts back together. “I only made him angrier; I think. He threatened me.”
Sebastian’s eyebrows furrowed at that. “Ominis?” I nodded my head. “Well, I was not expecting that. Ominis is not one for making threats, but when he does, he makes good on them. Are you sure it was a threat?”
“He said, ‘Mark my words, you will pay for this,’” I said with a half-hearted smile. “You can deduce as to what he means by that.”
“He really did threaten you,” he said, a look of wonder on his face. “Don’t worry, I’m sure it won’t be anything extravagant like getting you expelled. The worst he’s done to me is got me banned from a store in Hogsmeade, but that’s besides my point.”
“Well, his father is friends with the headmaster. He’s not afraid to exploit that connection if he needs to, you know.” I said, imitating him a bit.
It made me feel a tad bit guilty for poking fun at him behind his back, but he did really threaten me. I should be able to, just a little bit.
“Ominis can be a little dramatic, but he means well,” Sebastian said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Ready to get out of this catacomb?”
“More than ever. It smells like rot and dead spider carcasses in here.” I said, a bitter look on my face as I sampled the air in short breaths.
Exiting the catacomb, Highwing was still attached to the tree, even though I knew that I tied the knot loose enough to where if she needed to, she could get away. I pet her neck, my greeting coming back from the catacomb, she purred in response. After a moment, her head dropped to my arm, sniffing it. She nudged me with her head.
“I’m alright,” I said, lifting the sleeve of my jacket to reveal the wound I bandaged whilst leaving the catacomb. I let her examine it with her odd eyes. She nudged me with her head, telling me that we needed go back to the castle. “It is fine, I will fix it later.”
Not knowing what any English words meant, she persisted. I would not be taking the wiggenweld potion Ominis had given me— he could have poisoned it for all I know. I looked over to Sebastian, he was waiting for me to get Highwing.
“Hey, Seb, do you care if I head back to the castle?” I asked, the pain in my arm becoming sharper.
All of my bandages were soaked through, and my wound refused to stop bleeding. Not to mention that I also felt quite faint.
“I thought you were going to Feldcroft with me?”
Not wanting him to know that my arm was bothering me more than I would like to admit I say, “I was going to, but I realized that I haven’t really ate much all day. I need to get back before dinner is done.” It was a lousy excuse, but I could not shake the pain in my arm— my wand arm at that.
“Oh…” Sebastian’s face fell a bit. “I understand. See you back at the castle.” He gave me a false half-smile and wondered down the snow-covered path, on his way to his uncle’s home.
“See you.” I called out to him, beginning to mount Highwing.
I had to get to the castle and fast. I didn’t know for sure, but I believe that the venomous scourrier’s claws have venom in them. And if they do, I am in a great deal of trouble.