Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Quiet Mornings

"Ominis if they are back-"

"Three wands against my family are better than one. Besides, I highly doubt they'd be back this quickly."

"But-"

"It's alright, Abbi," Sebastian coaxed, stroking my hair and turning me so I was looking at him. "You need to rest, and you did enough of a number on them they won't be reforming there any time soon."

"I have a stock of invisibility potions," Anne offered, consolingly. "We can take them with us."

Poppy pushed away from the table, still blushing furiously and reached for her traveling cloak. Ominis, feeling her move beside him sighed with sagging shoulders and stood up. Anne was digging through her potions cabinet in a rather aggressive manner, her long brown hair swishing down her back as she moved. I look at Sebastian, confused.

He smiled and whispered, "Tell you when they leave."

~

Ten minutes later, we were watching the retreating forms of our friends up the hills of Feldcroft, heading into the woods towards Isadora's old estate. My arms were crossed, my foot tapping anxiously as Sebastian stood next to an old elm tree in front of the cottage, his eyes locked onto his sisters back.

"Seb," I called again, trying to catch his attention.

He turned to look at me, his face blank and expressionless, his eyes darker than they'd been since I'd woken up.

"I don't like it," I said, stepping toward him.

"We should get you inside," he said as he walked towards me, his hands shoved in his pockets. "They'll be fine, but you need rest."

"I don't need rest," I glowered as he reached me, my hands reaching out for his. "I need to-"

"You need rest," he said, snatching my wrists in his hands, and pulling me inside after him. "You don't even have a wand."

"I still don't like it."

"You don't have to."

I glared at him as he bolted the door behind us with a flick of his wand and moved to direct me to the bed. I sat, watching as he bustled around the home, gathering more blankets, his eyes flicking from me, to the broken halves of my wand on the table, to the door and back again.

"What is up with Anne?" I asked after five minutes of Sebastian's pacing, while I wrapped one of the blankets around myself to appease him. It was his; smelling cinnamon and parchment. I snuggled deeper into it, wishing it was his arms.

Sebastian snorted, his lips pulling up into his trademark smirk. "She's not too pleased with Ominis at the moment."

"But why?"

"She's a tad jealous of our dear Miss Sweeting," Sebastian quipped. "Have you really not guessed?"

"I just- I didn't think that she particularly cared," I laughed, and was delighted to see Sebastian relax at the sound. "Did Poppy break something up?"

"No, no. Ominis and Anne, well. He used to like her, but she never did seem to care. I suppose now he's unavailable and uninterested though..."

He trailed off thoughtfully. I cleared my throat and caught his eye, patting the spot next to me hopefully.

He crossed to the bed, and knelt in front of me. He took my hands in his, "Abbi, I'm sorry that I didn't come with you. I didn't keep you safe."

"It's not your job to keep me safe, Sebastian."

He shook his head. "It is. You mean more to me than anything, and I promise you, I won't let anything else happen to you."

I stared into his eyes for a while, taking in the words he said.

Sebastian Sallow was the type to lay his life on the line for those that he loved. He would do whatever it took, consequences be damned. He'd drowned in the Dark Arts to save his sister, and followed me back into the depths. He bore no thought for his own self-preservation when those that he loved were in danger; a trait I shared with him.

I knew the type of devotion he had to the people he loved, and both my heart and my magic twisted delightedly as the promise of him doing anything he could to keep me safe.

"If the Gaunt's are the reason we went back down this path, then what?" I whispered, not looking away from his darkened eyes.

He pulled a small book from his pocket, the copy of Slytherin's spell book he'd made for me and pressed it into my hands. I pulled open the soft leather and rifled through a a couple pages, my heart twisting as the page I settled on showed a drawing of the relic we'd found fifth year.

"They'll regret that decision. If we study this, if we find out what Slytherin knew about ancient magic, we can beat them at their own game."

My lips twisted into a smile as I leaned in towards him, "We'd better start reading then."