Cursed (Hogwarts Legacy fanfiction - original in German)

Chapter 54 - Remember you are loved

Trigger warning!
The following chapter contains content relating to the following possible triggers:
(domestic) violence, depression, trauma
If any of these sensitive topics would not be good for you right now, please do not continue reading this chapter.

Sebastian didn't hesitate for a second.
He reached for Ominis' shoulder and pulled him towards him in a single, smooth motion. Ominis' heavy head landed on his chest as he half-lifted him onto his lap, wrapping his arms around him so tightly that he could simply let himself go without fearing he would fall off the bench. 

For a few seconds, the two simply remained wordless like that. Despite the thick Quidditch robe Sebastian wore, Ominis could hear his heart beating, and the warmth of his embrace finally gave him the security he had desperately longed for in the last few minutes, while Duncan and his cronies had beaten him and bombarded him with all sorts of spells. Sebastian's presence gave him the security to finally let go. And then it all burst out of him uncontrollably.

All the pain, all the humiliation, and all the despair. And his damned helplessness because he was so lost without a wand. All the comments and animosity he attracted just because his last name was Gaunt. It was a nightmare from which there seemed to be no escape. All these feelings had been building up subtly within him over the past few weeks. He had fought against them, tried not to pay them any further attention, and focused on knowing better who he was and that all this rejection he faced daily was actually unjustified.

But now it had become too much to ignore. Now all these feelings broke out of him all at once like from a dam collapsing under the weight of the water. In the next second, Ominis sank into a sea of tears and finally let go of all his self-control and pride because it was impossible for him to continue holding on. He lacked the strength for it. That strength had simply been completely depleted over the past few weeks. He cried and sobbed so uncontrollably that tears also welled up in Sebastian's eyes.

Ominis had been so strong and confident lately, despite that unspeakable prophecy and the pressure from his family, he had remained true to himself the whole time, and he had even managed to defeat a Dementor. Seeing him so broken again now hurt, even though it represented a massive show of trust for Sebastian that Ominis was now showing him this side of himself too instead of just continuing to claim that everything was fine. He held his best friend even tighter and rested his own head on the tousled blond mop in his arms.

"It will get better soon, Ominis. I promise. I'll stay with you until you tell me to go."
Sebastian had no idea if his words would provide any comfort at least a little, but he interpreted Ominis' hands, which were now clutching for support in his cloak, as a good sign.

It took quite a while longer for Ominis to calm down somewhat, as eventually his body seemed to lack more and more the energy for shaking shoulders and the fluid for new tears. In the meantime, Sebastian had cleared his hair of a few leaf remnants and crumbs of dirt. Ominis now lifted his aching head slightly and wiped his face with one hand. His cheek with the scraped wound burned from the salt of his tears.

"Thank you," he croaked, because his voice didn't give more after all the effort and his throat felt constricted. Sebastian helped him to sit up somewhat straight again, the sight of Ominis' eyes reddened from crying again igniting an indescribable anger in him. Whoever had caused that deserved a merciless beating, but he would have to deal with that later.

"Your training..." Ominis whispered in a pained tone, which immediately made Sebastian shake his head.
"Forget about the training, Ominis. Those damn assholes..."
"You shouldn't have threatened them with a Cruciatus Curse," Ominis interrupted hoarsely, rubbing his temples with his fingertips as if he could massage away the headache that was apparently already looming again.