Sebastian POV
Months had passed, and Sebastian was finding his feet again. It had been difficult, coming to terms with everything that had happened and trying to get back into his studies - he still wasn't one hundred percent back into it, but he thought it was the best it was ever going to be.
Ominis and Imelda had spent the summer at Imelda's house. Her mother was a muggle, and they had to lie about where Ominis was, as though not to bring his parents wrath upon them. As far as they knew, Ominis was on some sort of summer study camp, because he'd failed his divination and his transfiguration class. He did, but mostly because they were such visual subjects, and the Professor's of each gave him the credits anyway. How was he going to transfigure a feather into a vase if he didn't know what either object looked like?
Sebastian had stayed with Y/N at Hogwarts. She didn't usually stay with family, preferring for whatever reason to fend for herself. In addition to that, Sebastian had the option of staying with Sirona, but after everything that had happened the previous summer with Anne, for some reason he couldn't bring himself to go.
He had spent the first half of the summer in the dormitories, as he was the only one there, and that's where he stayed. He refused really, to go anywhere else.
Y/N eventually coaxed him out and he started to explore the castle again. The endless hallways, corridors, stairwells, courtyards.. he'd missed it.
Their seventh year had approached, their final year. Sebastian had mixed feelings about that, he didn't know what he was going to do with his life after school, and so when they got asked to pick their elective classes for the year - he was a bit stressed.
"I don't know what I had for breakfast this morning, let alone what I want to do with the rest of my life," Sebastian whined to Ominis on their walk to see Professor Rowley on the first day back.
"Ask Rowley when we get there," Ominis advised. "He might be able to give you some godfather-ly advice."
"He's going to tell me to study law at the Ministry," Sebastian rolled his eyes. "And you know that."
He eyed off Ominis' wand, which was tugging him all over the place.
"What's up with that?" Sebastian asked, and Ominis immediately knew what he was referring to.
"Look," he said. "I may not be lying when I say I'm nervous about it too. I'm also hoping for some godfather-ly advice."
"What, and your wand is stressed for you?" Sebastian chuckled. "It's a bit jumpy is it?"
"It might be."
"It is sentient," Sebastian confirmed. "I have been telling you that all these years."
"Yeah yeah," Ominis replied, shaking his head as his wand jerked him suddenly to the left, and he flicked it irritably in the air. "Stupid thing."
"Boys!" Rowley said when they saw the pair walking towards his office. "How lovely to see you! I expect your summer was good?"
"It was, sir," Ominis replied, thanking Sebastian when he held the door open for him. They sat on that ugly mustard couch in the corner as they always did.
"And yours, Sebastian?"
"It was okay."
"Very good," Rowley replied, not looking him in the eye. Sebastian was lying, and everyone knew it. But he convinced himself that his progress was good and that he was getting through it. "You've grown much taller," he told them. "Both of you. And Sebastian, my boy, you need to shave. Ominis looks like he's the only one that knows how to keep himself decent."
Ominis coughed and Sebastian tried to smile at that.
No one spoke.
"We came here for some advice," Sebastian cut through the silence that he started to drown in, and Rowley made an agreeable sound but did not speak so Sebastian went on. "We don't know what we want to do after school, so we don't know which elective classes to pick."
"What do Miss L/N and Miss Reyes want to do?" He asked, and then retracted his sentence, waving his hands in the air as though to wipe it out. "Actually, we'll stick to Miss L/N. It's obvious what Miss Reyes wants to do."
"Bark orders at everyone," Ominis replied sarcastically, and Sebastian smirked in quiet amusement.
"Does she know which Quidditch team she wants to be on?"
"Ballycastle Bats or Chudley Cannons," Ominis responded. "Don't know how easy they are to get onto. They're both winning teams."
"Y/N wants to be an auror, of course," Sebastian swallowed, thinking of how determined she was to become one. She'd be a good one too, she had defeated their enemies in their fifth year, and since then had been showing many brave, and sometimes stupid, qualities. "There's honestly not much I can do. With a criminal record," he said, eventually.
"Don't worry about that, dear boy" Rowley muttered. "Pick what you're interested in, and I will try and get us out of that scrape like I did the other one."
Something about the way Rowley said that twisted Sebastian the wrong way. "Did you ever think that maybe I should pay for my actions?" he asked, quietly. "That I should experience some consequences of what I did?"
Rowley immediately shook his head. "You didn't mean to do it-"
"Yeah, like I don't mean to bump into someone, or I don't mean to mix the whites with the greens in the fucking washing basket," he said, surprised at the swearing. "I didn't mean it? To kill him?"
Ominis rushed to place a hand on his shoulder, whispered quietly for him to stop. Sebastian let him, and sat back on the couch.
"Sebastian," Rowley sighed. "At some point we have to get you out of this rut. I understand how you're feeling-"
"Yeah right you do," Sebastian said, his tone was not unkind. "I'm just so fed up with myself. I don't think I deserve to do what I want."
"What do you want to do?" Rowley raised his eyebrows at the boy, standing across the other side of the room. "What do you want to do, Ominis?"
"Sebastian has a criminal record and I have no eyesight, so we're doing well so far," he griped, and that made Sebastian laugh, even in the tension of the moment.
"Merlin," Sebastian scoffed.
"You could be a dueller," Ominis piped up. "They have a department for that, and you're really good at it."
"They'd be afraid I'd pull out the killing curse," Sebastian laughed darkly, and Ominis sat back, pursed his lips and didn't reply.
"What would you like to do, Mr Gaunt?" Rowley pressed again, trying to turn the conversation in a different direction.
"I mean, if I could.." Ominis started, deep in thought. "I'd like to become a wand issuer, either of permits or perhaps like Ollivander. I can't live without my wand, I'd like to help people find theirs."
"Of course that's possible for you, boy," Rowley laughed, clapping his hands together once in excitement that they were finally getting somewhere. "So far your little circle has an Auror, a Wandmaker, a Quidditch player and-"
He looked over at Sebastian.
"Poppy would be a magizoologist," Rowley went on when Sebastian didn't answer. "Anne would've, by the sounds of her, liked to be something of the kind too."
Sebastian looked up at the mention of his sisters name. "Maybe I'd like to work in investigation," he finally said. "Investigation of magical maladies. Like they do at St Mungo's. Except I research them instead of actually treat them."
Rowley raised an eyebrow and lifted his cup to the air. "That's a terrific idea. See, it wasn't that hard to come up with something good!"
"You could save many Anne's," said Ominis.
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Y/N POV
"What did you pick?" you asked Imelda, the two of you sitting on your beds, poring over the election papers you had in front of you.
Imelda was stressed, her eyes were burning through her paper like lasers, and she was twirling a piece of her dark hair around her finger like her life depended on it. "In relation to Quidditch," she started slowly, "there's only advanced flight."
"You need two," you told her, and she lifted her eyes from the paper to glare at you.
"I understand the semantics," she told you, flipping the paper over. "I just don't know what else relates. What did you pick?"
"Advanced defence against the dark arts and advanced charms," you told her. "I have to get exceeds expectations in all five of my subjects though, apparently they only take the best of the best."
"You defeated Ranrok," Imelda sighed, flipping her paper again to read the options for the millionth time. "If you're not the best of the best I don't know what is." Finally she sighed. "I'll just do advanced astronomy. That's about the sky, right? Maybe I need to know what kind of stars I'm winning the game under." She crossed that off on her paper and folded it up like she never wanted to see it again.
"We need to find out what the boys picked," you told her, and she nodded in agreement.
Almost like magic, they appeared knocking on the door of the girls dormitory. "Who is it?" Imelda called out.
"Your worst nightmare," said a voice, and you rolled your eyes.
"Sebastian, come in," you said as he barged in with Ominis walking in quietly behind him.
"Sorry to barge in-" Ominis started but Sebastian was already halfway through their conversation in his head before he spat out his sentence, as usual.
"What did you pick?" He asked you, sitting on the bed beside you and kissing you behind the ear. You showed him your paper. "Auror in the making." You smiled and he rubbed your back approvingly. You didn't return the question, but he read your mind and answered it out loud. "I picked advanced potions and advanced herbology."
"Whatever for?" Imelda gasped. "You couldn't pot a mandrake if your life depended on it."
"I do it better than he does and I can't even see the blasted thing," Ominis interjected, but Sebastian was already ready to interrupt.
"You can in fact make healing remedies for magical illness using potions and plants," he responded, still had a hand on your back. Your mouth fell open.
"When did you decide to study health?" You asked him. "You never mentioned that."
"I came up with it this morning," he admitted.
"You'll regret it .. probably as soon as tomorrow!" Imelda retorted, and Ominis gave her a sharp glance, which she rolled her eyes at half heartedly and shut her mouth. Ominis rarely shut her up, it was usually Imelda who wore the pants - but it was oddly satisfying to see her respect someone like she did him.
"I'm doing it for Anne," Sebastian told her, frowning now. "And for your information, it's none of your business what I do with my life."
"I think it's brilliant," you told him, giving him a quick kiss on his jawline, which you commented on. "You need a shave."
"What did you pick, dove?" Imelda turned to Ominis, who had not yet joined the conversation. He looked almost nervous to say so, but he came out with it.
"Advanced charms and advanced history of magic," he replied, and he shrugged. "There's not much in the means of becoming a wandmaker, but I think part of charms is about wandlore."
He held out his own wand in front of him. "They're just that interesting," he told Imelda, casting the navigation function of his wand. It glowed red at the top and he almost fell over trying to rush to sit next to Imelda. He smiled sheepishly and whispered next to her ear. "It brought me to you."
Imelda tapped the wand and Ominis laughed, sitting back.
"You're something else," she teased. "Merlin's beard."
"You picked advanced flight did you, dear?" He asked Imelda who voiced a small 'mmhmm,' and Sebastian chuckled.
"Calling her 'dear' like you're eighty," he poked. "Didn't you just turn eighteen, like, last week, Ominis?"
"Leave him alone," you winked. "Not as bad as the whole dovey lovey thing now is it Imelda? Didn't she also turn eighteen a month ago?"
She rolled her eyes, stifling a laugh. "Whatever," she pretended like it wasn't amusing. "Us adults know how to act like adults, you tiny seventeen year olds. I'm leaving, I'm going to go hand this paper in, so I can graduate. You all have fun though."