"Garreth, we need to talk," I said after greeting each other. He nodded. Without a word, we walked side by side. It almost felt like he already had a premonition.
Felix, please function, I repeated like a mantra in my head as we walked out of the castle.We sat down by the well behind the greenhouses. In spring and summer this small garden was beautiful. Now in late autumn, most of the flowers had already faded, but at least it was a little quieter and more isolated here than on the rest of the site.
"Garreth, I... I did something and I don't know how to tell you. I'm so sorry." I started to cry. "I... I slept with Sebastian. I have feelings for him."
I saw that he started to cry too. "So that's it? I've been waiting for you all these years and you finally dumped me for Sallow?" I shook my head in panic, "No, I love you." "And that's why you let him fuck you at the first opportunity? Don't be ridiculous, Caelie."
Garreth walked to the wall and gazed into the distance. "I just wanted to be happy with you. Until the end of our days. Why? Why are you doing this? And why him?"
I stood beside him. "I don't know. It started a few years ago." "I know." "Is that why you poisoned him?". Almost imperceptibly, he nodded. "So he knew it was me." He said quietly. The tear-stained face still staring into the distance.
"Garreth, you never gave me a choice. How was I ever supposed to make a fair decision when you just threatened and intimidated every guy who was interested in me?"
"What else should I have done? He was interested in you and you in him. I would have lost you." He looked at me with his tear-streaked face. "I didn't want to lose you. You're the center of my world. You're the woman I wanted to grow old with... and still want to. I don't want to live without you, don't you understand?"
We were both silent for a few minutes. I didn't want to see Garreth suffer. But I just couldn't swallow the feelings I had for Sebastian.
"So will you accept my decision?". He looked at me and replied, "I guess I'll at least try.""I want you both. I love you, Garreth, but I can't ignore the feelings for Sebastian anymore."
"You're asking a lot of me, Caelie," he said softly, "How do you imagine that? How is that supposed to work? How am I supposed to take that? I can't watch my biggest competitor nailing my girlfriend." . He sounded really desperate.
"Honestly, I don't really know either. I didn't choose those feelings. I never had the choice to be interested in anyone else before. Everyone who was interested was afraid of you and your abilities... All I know is that I don't want to lose you. But neither Sebastian. I'm so confused and insecure. I know I'm asking something really hard of you, but please try to understand me. I beg you, Garreth. Let me make my own decision for once."
He nodded. "I'll try it.". He put a hand around me and pulled me by the waist. I rested my head on his shoulder. For a while we looked into the distance together until we both calmed down.
"But why did you rub it in Sebastian's face that we had sex?" I asked him. "I don't know either, honestly. You know me, I don't always think before I do something.", he said, laughing slightly ashamed.
"He seriously wanted to kill you." I said worried. "Yes, but Caelie, how was he supposed to do that?" he asked further with a smile on his face. "Sebastian has mastered the three unforgivable curses," I answered seriously.
"Oh. Well, that could have ended badly. I always thought he had a thing for dark magic." He said appreciatively as the laughter faded from his face. "But it's not like you're any less dangerous," I replied with a smile. "Right," he laughed and gave me a kiss on the top of my head.
"Would you be okay if I set up a meeting with him sometime when you're ready? I want to talk to both of you. Then we can work things out and stuff like that."
"Does Sallow know about your decision yet?" I nodded and said, "Yes, he was there when I made it."
"Oh Caelie, what's this going to be?" he asked without expecting an answer. He hugged me even tighter and kissed my head again.
Inwardly I wanted to thank Ominis on my knees for Felix Felicis. Without a doubt, Garreth would have reacted differently otherwise. I exhaled.
My Garreth, please stay by my side always, I thought to myself as I looked at him.
"I love you Garreth. I'm sorry for putting such a burden on you," I said. "Caelie, I love you too. You don't need to apologize. You're right. You can't help your feelings. It was my fault. And that's my way of taking the consequences of my actions."
He turned towards me and kissed me. It was a long and loving kiss. When our mouths parted, we locked into an embrace. We probably just stood there for five minutes and hugged each other tightly.
We stayed in the garden for a while and talked. Garreth asked what we did. I told him everything about Solomon, Anne and the goblin. I really didn't need to burden him with the rest.
"Was it nice?" asked he. "What do you mean?" "With him.". I nodded while looking at the lake. Garreth seemed quite relaxed again. Was it just his fear earlier that I was going to leave him? Despite the fact that he was always very open, I didn't always seem to understand him. He has been able to hide his dark side from me very well so far.
"C'mon, let's go get a drink. For the shock, so to speak," Garreth said as he put his hand back on my hip. "Where do you want to go? And what do you want to drink?" "Well, I've got something in the dorm. If you want, the three of us can have the conversation now. Then we'll have it over with."
Garreth's involvement surprised me. I suspected that it was still the effect of the Felix Felicis. We first walked to the Gryffindor common room together, where Garreth grabbed his bag and put a few bottles in it. Hand in hand we made our way to the Slytherin common room, where we waited for someone to finally come in or out, as we couldn't easily enter the room. When a boy from the second or third year wanted to go into the room, we asked him to tell Sebastian that there were two Gryffindors waiting for him. A few minutes passed before Sebastian came out the door. Ominis accompanied him.
Garreth and Sebastian looked at each other. You could tell that they didn't quite know how to deal with each other. After a few seconds of silence, Garreth picked up his bag and said, "Come on, let's go have a drink."
We walked towards the Quidditch pitch, where Garreth sat in the sun on a lawn. It wasn't particularly warm anymore, after all it was already the end of October, but the place was ideal. Far away from other students and curious looks. Garreth unpacked a bottle, took a sip and handed it to me. I drank and gave the bottle to Sebastian.
Ominis looked uncertain. "Why are we here?" he asked. "Caelie wanted to speak to Monsieur Sallow and me at the same time. I think you just stumbled in here by accident," Garreth replied. "Wonderful.", said Ominis slightly annoyed, took the bottle from Sebastian's hand and took a big sip, "What is that actually? Tastes good.". "Thanks, but to be honest I don't really remember. I just took some herbs and some half-fermented fruit from my parents' garden and threw them together. Apparently makes some pretty good booze," he laughed.
"Okay, I don't even know where to begin," I said, taking the bottle from Ominis and taking another generous sip, "I'm sorry you have to do this to yourself Ominis, if you want to go, you can that of course." He waved off. "It's alright, I love drama." He said smiling.
I cleared my throat and began to speak, "Garreth and I have been talking. He accepts that I don't want to choose between you.". Sebastian looked amazed. "But I think it makes sense and is fair for you to set certain rules that make it as easy as possible for you to deal with the current situation."
"Well, I'd be fine with not being poisoned.", said Sebastian. Garreth rolled his eyes and said dryly, "Then you probably shouldn't have drunk from the bottle.". We all looked horrified at Garreth. "Guys, that was an obvious joke," he said, rolling his eyes and taking another sip of his own. "The only thing I would really care about is not to see you having sex." Garreth said relaxed. "Ditto.", Sebastian spoke while he toasted the bottle in Garreth's direction.
"Excellent, you have one more thing in common besides your love for Caelie." Ominis said with a laugh.
"I just don't want you guys to fight," I said. I saw Garreth and Sebastian both nod.
Garreth grabbed the bottle, took a long gulp, and fell onto his back. "Sallow, I'm sorry for rubbing it all in your face," Garreth said while gazing up at the sky, "...and sorry about the poison thing." He let the sun shine on his face. His hair shone intensely copper-colored, his cheeks and nose were red from the alcohol and stood out clearly against the rest of his rather pale skin.Sebastian nodded, and said, "Thanks, Weasley. I'm sorry too. It was never my intention to snub you, but I can't help my feelings for Caelie either."
"Wait, what poison?" asked Ominis.
"I tried to poison him a few years ago. He only survived because Sharp found him in time," Garreth said quietly. Omini's mouth dropped open."Wow, all of you, without exception, have completely lost your mind," he said.
"Well, not everyone can be as callous as you Ominis," laughed Sebastian while nudging Ominis with his elbow. "Hey, I'm not emotionally cold," he said, "I've been in love with someone for so long, but I never would have thought of resorting to such means..."Sebastian looked at him with irritation.
"Wait, who are you in love with? You never told me that? Tell me!" Sebastian said. "Oh no, definitely not, Sebastian. I'll take that to my grave if it doesn't come up at some point.", Ominis replied with a smile.
Sebastian kept looking confused. "Hey, you're my best friend and you don't tell me stuff like that? I told you everything about my feelings back then! That's unfair!""Blame yourself, Sallow." Ominis laughed.
We all drank more of Garreth's liquor and chatted. We steered the topic to the classroom and exchanged views on a wide variety of neutral topics. Even Garreth and Sebastian seemed to be getting a little closer. I didn't know if it was the alcohol or the lack of competition, but I didn't actually care. I simply enjoyed it.
We sat together until it slowly started to get dark. "We should go back slowly, shouldn't we?" asked Ominis. Sebastian and I nodded. "Hey Caelie, would you mind walking with me first?" Garreth asked, grabbing my hand.
I agreed and Sebastian and Ominis walked towards the castle while Garreth led me to the Quidditch pitch. We were both a little unsteady on our feet because we had been drinking a lot.