Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Cruciatus Curse

I watched her face intently as she studied the petals. Their light shimmer was enhanced due to the candles surrounding us, and I loved seeing the way her eyes lit up as she twirled the stem, a soft cascade of glittering stars dancing along the deep blue petals. Her lips curved up into a delicate smile as she touched one of the petals as though it were made of glass.

"For your ever-growing garden," I said, reaching out to tuck back that strand of blonde hair that always fell into her face.

"Two in one day. I must have done something good," she whispered, almost to herself. She really had no idea; she could never do anything wrong. If she took my heart and smashed it into the ground, I would bring her flowers all the same. I moved my hand away from her hair, and cleared my throat, heat rising up the nape of my neck.

"The other reason I asked you to meet me here, is this." I motioned to the books, refusing to lift my gaze from them. She had stepped closer to me, her shoulder touching mine. I clenched and unclenched my jaw, the smell of honeysuckle flooding my brain. She didn't know what she was doing to me, probably didn't even notice that she was touching me. She was simply looking at the books.

Keep talking, Sebastian. Talk. To. Her.

"I pulled the lot of these from the Restricted Section. Each one has references to shared dreams."

"You mean- our dreams?"

Her voice was a mixture of fear and excitement. Her gaze never left the books, and I had to surpress a laugh as that damn piece of hair fell into her face again, blocking my view of her freckled skin.

I turned her to me, picking up one book and placing its soft leather in her palm before once again tucking the stand of hair behind her ear. Her green eyes were dashing along my face, no doubt counting my freckles as I had seen her do a thousand times before. My finger tips trailed over that damned scar on the side of her neck and I pushed away the memory of how she'd gotten it.

She closed her eyes softly, and biting her lip slightly, shivered at my touch. I smirked, pleased by the effect I'd been gifted. I could just lean down right now, so easy with her eyes closed and place my lips on hers.

It was so easy, and yet, I pulled away from her, picking up a book myself before speaking.

"It's somewhere to start, right?"

~

There was a low murmur of noise rippling through the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom on Monday morning, evidence of the nerves every seventh year was feeling. My knee was bouncing up and down rapidly, my fingers twirling my wand around and around as I stared at the rolled up essay on my desk, still lost in my thoughts.

Abbi and I had spent most of the weekend tucked into the Undercroft, reading countless books on shared dreams and Legilimency. Though I had learned it is possible to alter someone's memory, none of the books stated how. Not only that, there was no clear answer on if it was possible to alter two memories at the same time.

And so, the mystery of our shared dreams remained a just that; a mystery.

Today, the essays on the Imperius Curse were due, and I was not in the mood to hear the lecture we were in store for. We'd turn in our scrolls, a mash of information gathered on the curse, and move on to the next. I wasn't ready to see Abbi break again at the mention of a curse. Professor Hecat's class may have been the reason Abbi was finally speaking to me again, but watching her grapple with the things we'd done was going to break my heart in two.

She'd only gone down that path at my instruction, and while the darkness suited her, I found myself wondering what path she'd have taken had I not exposed her to any of it. Perhaps, if I hadn't involved her, if I hadn't been so desperate in my search for a cure for Anne, I wouldn't have lost a year with her.