Vacuity (Sebastian Sallow) | on pause.

Ch 27 | The Safekeeping

I scoffed loudly.

"How generous of you." I said under my tongue.

I didn't know where I was walking. Hell, I didn't even know where I was, all I knew was that it was a hidden hamlet called, Bainburgh.

The village seemed slightly abandoned, the houses run-down, but despite its neglected appearance, holiday decor plastered over the houses that were alive. Colorful blinking lights stood over, giving them life, and the white snow from earlier covered a thin layer, making it bright.

Behind me, I could hear faint whimpers come out from Sebastian. The post-unforgivable pained him in every way possible.

I felt a sense of pity, hearing him struggle and hold tight over his injuries. I couldn't imagine what fourteen times like this would've done to him.

Despite the discomfort and tension between us, I let my guard down a moment and turned with a sigh, helping Sebastian.

There were no words of exchange between us. There didn't have to be words. We both knew that sometimes the silence was better for now.

"Here," I cleared my throat, feeling the weight of Sebastian's arm go around my shoulder as he struggled a little to balance himself out.

Flinching, the weight of Sebastian over me made me get a sense of twinge on my body from the injuries. The adrenaline must've died down and I also felt worn out.

As we entered the hamlet more clearly, it seemed quiet. It was obvious since it was dawn hours, so there wasn't much to predict from it, but near the middle, as walked, a single woman operated a stand.

"Go." Sebastian pointed to the left beside me, directing the walk and I noticed he was pointing toward her.

"What?"

"Go. To her." Sebastian forced out.

As we went further, the woman seemed to hum in her mouth. She was short with a fresh haircut, the red hair matching the Christmas lights on her tent. There had been a sewing machine and a few clothes that showed it was a clothing stand.

"Hmm," She sang.

It seemed like she was humming Christmas songs to herself.

"Oh, jolly!" She finally took notice of us.

Her voice was loud for whatever time at night it was at this point. It echoed through the hamlet and I became afraid that one mention of my name would have the Ministry by us already.

I gained hope that Sebastian knew what he was doing, and surprisingly he did. The turn of events for the day became more interesting.

"Agnes," Sebastian whispered out, not matching her tone of voice. "It's me."

Agnes, as her name was, stared over more through the darkness and her eyes widened, "Oh! Handsome Sallow. Oh, my child. It's been long. What has happened?"

Sebastian cleared his throat, "A lot. Erm, Agnes this is, uh, m-my friend...Emilia." He introduced.

Emilia.

I had so many questions. So many.

I looked over at Sebastian confusedly, but shook my head knowing that a lot was happening already, and went along.

"Emily—Emilia, this is Agnes Coffey. I helped rescue her niffler, Roccoco, a few weeks back and she offered shelter." Sebastian explained.

I wondered why Sebastian Sallow would want shelter. He had Hogwarts and if it were true about working with the Ministry, he would have shelter there, so what could've been the reason for him to stay somewhere that was nearly abandoned already?