Shadow of the Heir

I Don't Care if We Fall from Grace. I'll Follow You Down.

Sebastian looked conflicted when the conversation died down. His gaze just jumped between the two of them, like he didn't know who he was supposed to comfort. Anne sighed from where she had moved to stand beside Ella, rubbed Ella's arm and mumbled a goodnight. Ella returned the sentiment, but it seemed lost to Anne as she hugged her brother. They lingered, arms around each other. Ella assumed it was the trauma of the day because there was... a lot.

A great deal.

Probably more intensely triggering for the twins than for herself. Anne released Sebastian after a moment and disappeared down the hall after she smiled and patted his head. It didn't seem like anything out of the ordinary. Just a goodnight. Anne had stepped out of the equation, removed herself from consideration with a little wave. He furrowed his brow as they stood there, silently. Like that required a lot of thought and processing.

"Tired?" He asked after a moment but he kept his eyes on the hallway where Anne had disappeared. Like that might have been the last time he'd see his sister.

"Not very." Ella rubbed her eyes. A complete lie, she was exhausted. But, what if she died the next day? She didn't want to waste all those hours sleeping. "Go outside with me." She waited for the snark about her demands. For the 'say please', or 'ask nicely' she used to always receive.

It didn't come. Just his hand out to her, palm up.

She took it.

⋅⋆⋄✧⋄⋆⋅

The moon was high in the sky. Ella didn't know what time it was, but it felt later than it looked. She expected the moon to already be ending its travel across its vast canvas, ready to dip below the horizon again. She just watched it, silently. Words seemed to escape her. It felt like the later it into the night it got, the heavier gravity was and the more burdensome the problems were.

"Are you upset?" Sebastian's voice was light, quiet. Just a whisper beside her on the bench in Anne's garden. He had her hand in his still, rolled his thumb over it like he was reassuring himself she had all of her knuckles still.

It took Ella a moment to test her emotions on her tongue. "I'm..." She sighed, "I'm sad."

"Anne was just saying that because she wanted you to feel better; it's not an obligation, Els."

"I'm sad it won't happen." Ella continued, ignoring him because that was completely the opposite of the problem. Anne knew what she needed to hear, because it was what Anne needed to hear herself. "I'm sad that I'll never meet your parents and that conversation will never be real."

He didn't say anything for a long moment, just exhaled a long breath like he'd held it in fear of her response. Ella just blinked up at the stars. He already knew she'd married him, she already told him. Hours ago.

It must have not sunk in.

The wee hours of the night seemed to come with its own Veritaserum, since words just kept cascading from her mouth. "I'm sad it was Weasley and not you. I'm sad I've missed years of time I could have had with you. I'm sad I might die tomorrow and it would have been in vain. I'm sad everything's so broken."

"You're not going to die tomorrow. Why are you so stuck on that?" Sebastian mumbled, like that was the only thing he heard.

She snorted. "He has the magic of fifteen people, and all of mine. I'm fairly outmatched."

"And you have me. Plus Sweeting, and perhaps a dragon if we can get close enough."

Ella laughed under her breath, and turned her head away from the sky and to him. "Everything just feels heavy, is all it is."