Return of Sebastian Sallow | 10 Yr After Hogwarts

Chapter 78: Let Yourself Heal

His candor is refreshing and I can't help but smile at the truth of his intuition, considering he doesn't even know about the conversation April and I had, tonight. "It's true," I say to the thestral, patting it on the nose as I stand to work on April's shoulder. I move behind her as she works, navigating her raised arms to wrap around her waist. I rest my lips and nose on the bend of her neck, feeling into her energy to assess how close to the surface her mind is. When I sense a glimmer of presence, I whisper, "I have to take out the arrow, my darling," and she nods, wordlessly, in acceptance.

"Your body can heal, my friend," Thiago coos to the beast. "As can your mind, if you let it."

I slice open the seam of April's shirt at the shoulder, pulling back the fabric to expose the wound, and slip aside the strap of her lacy, emerald lingerie that seems, now, like a cruel joke. I haphazardly pour the alcohol onto either side of the wound, bracing April's body against mine in anticipation of the surge of pain. "I've got you, love," I whisper into her ear as she tenses, maintaining her focus on the thestral as much as possible as I use my other hand to bend the moonlight towards us, magnifying it to surround us all as much as possible. I hear Ominis inhale deeply as Thiago continues, saying to the thestral, "please let yourself heal, my friend." He strokes gently along the thestral's jaw and I notice Ominis begin to run his hands along the thestral's bony contours, massaging at the base of its wing with intuitive fingers, and the glow that exits April's hands begins to flow more freely across the Thestral's skin.

Hovering my hands over the arrow in the soft lower part of April's shoulder, I send the wave of golden moonlight that has become my attentive companion into the wood to release the tiny splinters from April's flesh, dissolving the fibers rather than have to yank the arrow out of place. Even without the force of pulling it, the wound begins to surge with blood as it opens again and April gasps at the sensation. Her focus on the beast wavers, and I see her hands move frantically to regain her connection with him. It's enough for me to immediately adopt her priority and focus my energy to support her endeavor.

Closing my eyes, I press my hands on top of April's against the thestral's form. She relaxes against my chest as I wrap my body around hers, enveloping us in the warm, golden glow of healing light. I hear the thestral's lungs fill with a surge of air and feel it dip its head towards Thiago who's voice, I only just realized, has gone quiet.

"What's happening?" I hear Ominis whisper, and Thiago's response is only, "magic."

I open my eyes to see a rather spectacular, unexpected scene. The blue light that had been surging from April into the majestic thestral before us has expanded into a whirling symphony of golden and blue light that surges within and without the beast in long, interlacing streaks like hundreds of tiny orbits of energy that hurl themselves around the animal and all four of us who have contact with it. Extra bright concentrations of living, surging energy alight in April's shoulder and at the thestral's tail as the wounds are made whole, again, with the light.

It stands with a sudden gust of energy and Thiago, Ominis, April and I all step back in surprise and respect. Moving around to her side, I inspect April's shoulder which does appear to be healed through completely. She smiles at me, taking my hand when, curiously, the beast turns towards her and I could swear it bows its head. It makes a similar gesture towards Thiago, who asks, "would you like to come with us, little man? We can care for you." But as the thestral turns in a slow, purposeful circle, Thiago says, "ah, yes. Business elsewhere."

The thestral takes a few running steps and leaps into the air, spreading its wings and making a call of delight before it takes off into the night sky – the sound is almost like an eerie laughter when compared to its terrible cries from earlier.

When April moves herself towards me, finally sliding her arms around me and tucking her head into my chest, I allow my heart to regain its composure as my body welcomes her, and my arms close around her. Her eyes lift to mine and she whispers, "are you okay, though?" and I know she doesn't mean physically.

I give her empathy the respect of truly considering her question. A fear still surges through me at the sight of seeing an arrow go through her precious wing. And her animagus talents, generally, are still bewildering to me. And the desperation at the sight of her being so roughly manhandled still holds a significant portion of my small intestine hostage, at knifepoint. But when I consider taking care of the man who threatened her, the only guilt I feel is that I am entirely at peace about it. I'd do it again. I only wish I had been able to take care of the goblin, too, so his death wouldn't take an inevitable hold in April's conscience.

I worked out a loophole in my twisted, fuck-all mind years ago, though I haven't actually used it until tonight. 'Evanesco' is a vanishing spell, not a killing spell, so I'm able to uphold my oath not to destroy sentient life. And despite the fact that no one quite knows where a living being goes when they're vanished, the general consensus is that they're not dead. Even by the laws of muggle science, energy cannot be destroyed. So, that vile pond scum is somewhere. He just isn't here. As such, my logical mind is as satisfied as the darkness that rages within me at the thought of the abuse April was made to suffer.

Committing to explain it to her later, I kiss April on the forehead with all the devotion of my heart and whisper, "I'm alright. Truly. Loopholes, darling. I'll explain later. How about you?"

She nods, saying, "yeah–" But she is cut short as Thiago and Ominis make their way towards us and I become aware of another presence I hadn't noticed before, and am entirely unsure as to how long she has been nearby.

"I brought this for the pain," Anne says kindly, lifting a cup of tea in April's direction. The sound of her voice surprises me so much that I lose my footing ever so slightly on the uneven ground, stumbling backwards into Ominis, who's hands steady me and give my arm a reassuring squeeze.

"I've never seen magic like that," my sister says to me. They're the first words she's spoken to me in almost ten years. She is taller and still quite thin, though not nearly as skeletal as I recall she had gotten during our fifth year at school. Her face is different. Worn. Wise. But her eyes sparkle with the same light I'd always known in the exact same color as my own. Her hair is pulled back from her face into a French braid, similar to the one I fashioned for April back on the landing platform. I can't take my eyes from her, but I feel April drop my hand to reach for the mug.

"Anne," I feel my voice say without my mind's consent.

"Hello, Sebastian," she says with a strained but sincere smile.

Determined not to let my cowardly paralysis force my hand again as it did when I unexpectedly reunited with April and Ominis, I allow my legs to walk towards Anne and don't stop the way my arms wrap around her as automatically as my voice said her name. And I say it once more in sheer disbelief, "Anne...." as years of worry, regret, shame, and anticipation constrict in my throat and pour from my eyes.

She returns the gesture, albeit a little stiffly, but I don't force her to endure it for long. Stepping away, I paw at my eyes to clear the tears, as April steps forward and rests her hand on my lower back. "I apologize for the commotion," she says cordially to Anne, whose mouth is pursed in a small smile while April explains to the whole of the group, "we were flying back to the castle and overheard an incident. It was some kind of poaching group. But they were... it was awful. If it wasn't for Sebastian, I would have..." as April's voice trails off, I feel a shiver run through her body.

"It is good you came here!" Thiago jumps in with guileless warmth. His eyes move from April to me as he continues with a glint in his eye, "perhaps even serendipitous."

"I only wanted to get us somewhere safe," I mumble, running my hand over my messy hair. "I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry if we interrupted..."

"Oh, nothing of the sort," Ominis says. "Thiago and I were about to make our way back to the castle as you arrived."

"This is true!" Thiago exclaims, clearly preparing himself to further diffuse the situation with his natural geniality but before he can, Anne clears her throat timidly and offers, "there's more tea back at the house?"