Everything was blinding, searing pain as though Alayna were being roasted on a fire her skin peeling off while knives scratched at her insides. She had felt pain through her monthly cycle that felt like someone tearing apart her insides, but this was several times worse. Her vision went black as she fought hard not to pass out. She could not hear anything, in fact, she could barely tell her ears were ringing. She wasn't even sure she was breathing.
Then that hold the curse had over her stopped abruptly. Or at least the continuous hellish pain ceased. Alayna's vision began to come back to her, but there was still a lingering pain. The ringing of her ears registered and she knew she was panting. She'd fallen to her knees and was clutching her arms around herself. Sebastian had done it, he'd cast the curse on her. She raised her head to see if it had worked, but the first thing she saw was Ominis.
Kneeling next to her, Ominis looked panicked, scared, and worried. Alayna's eyes landed on his, being this close she had never quite realized how beautiful they were. There was a fogginess that covered his iris turning what should have been a bright blue into a pale shade. The dark pupil was replaced with white something. She didn't know what caused it, those white streaks like lightning that spread out into the iris. They were striking and welling up with tears she realized.
"I'm okay," Alayna managed to say, unsure if Ominis had even asked if she were. Feeling began to return to her fingers first, traveling up her arms and across her whole body. Ominis's arm was wrapped around her shoulders, helping to keep her upright. She fought the urge to simply lean against him, all of her strength gone, but he pulled her against him anyway in what she thought must have been relief.
The door. Right. Alayna turned her head enough to see that the door ahead of them had opened from the use of the spell. Sebastian had already walked inside, probably eager to get out of the hallway. Although she was a little disappointed that he didn't stay to make sure she was okay.
"Do you think you can stand?" Ominis asked, turning her attention back to him. She placed a hand on his arm sending a series of sharp tingles up through it. It felt like her whole body had been asleep.
"Just...give me a minute," Alayna responded. Her breathing at least was back to normal, it was just this sort of phantom pain lingering in her body that made her hesitate at the thought of trying to stand on her own two legs. In her mind, she saw them simply collapsing beneath her.
That phantom pain lingered for a while though, so after a few minutes Alayna mustered up the strength to try and stand anyway. Ominis remained beside her the whole time as if afraid she might vanish outside of his touch. Her legs were still weak and tingling, but she at least managed to stand and Ominis helped her out of the hallway and into the Scriptorium.
"I can't believe we made it!" Sebastian stood in awe within the chamber. A circular room filled with items that had once belonged to the Slytherin founder. Directly in front of them was a carved stone face of an old wizard with snakes curling out around it like tendrils of hair. Below it was what looked like an altar. Empty thankfully, but Alayna still got a chilling feeling from it. To the left and right of the face were stairs that led to a small upper level and presumably the exit. Sebastian began to head that way as it seemed the most promising. There was a workspace set up there with books and scrolls scattered about. It took only a few moments before he held up a book to the two of them down below.
"It's Salazar Slytherin's spellbook! There has to be something about curses in here."
"Then let's hurry and get out of here. I don't want to spend a moment longer in this place," Ominis replied. He sounded angry.
"Are you okay?" Alayna asked him.
"Me? Worry about yourself, Alayna. You are the one who took the Cruciatus curse," Ominis spoke a bit harshly before his expression immediately softened. "I'm sorry, I'm...not angry with you." She took that to mean he was angry with someone else. The only other person in question to be exact. He continued to offer his help in exiting the Scriptorium, but after walking a little Alayna felt confident she could stand on her own.
When they exited through a hidden door, they found themselves not too far from where they had originally entered. In fact, they were right next to the entrance of the Slytherin common room. Alayna sighed when she saw the door, glad their little adventure was over. She had not expected such a dark place to exist within Hogwarts' walls, but she was glad at least that Sebastian had found something potentially helpful.
"I should have never told you about that place to begin with! I told you Dark Magic is not something to be messed with. You have to promise me that you will have nothing to do with it ever again!" And so the arguing started. Alayna stood in place, not wanting to intrude and not wanting to take either side.
"I know, you were right that place was dangerous. We should have listened to you and I understand why you want nothing to do with Dark Magic now," Sebastian spoke placatingly, although he made no promises. Something that Alayna was keen to catch.
"Good, I want no further part in this. I want Anne to get better, Sebastian, but Dark Magic is not the way to do it." Ominis sounded almost as exhausted as Alayna felt.
"I'll let you know if I find anything in the spellbook," Sebastian said as he turned to look at her. He was the first to leave then, walking inside the common room and leaving Ominis and Alayna together.
"Will you sit and wait in the common room for me? I will be right back," Ominis asked of her.
"Um, alright I guess." Alayna saw no reason to refuse. She watched Ominis walk away, using his wand for guidance before entering the common room. The space was emptying out for the evening as students prepared to head to bed or pull late nighters studying in their rooms. She found an empty couch where she could watch out the lake windows as she waited for Ominis to return from whatever it was he was doing. Despite how tired she felt, no amount of effort helped her to doze off as she sat there. She was wide awake, staring at the fish swimming past the windows and the kelp swaying in the currents. Oddly mesmerizing and what could have also put her to sleep if she were in the mood.
Something soft was laid over her some time later as she sat with her eyes closed, head leaned back against the couch. All she had been doing was staring at the little sparks of light dancing behind her eyelids. When she opened them she saw Ominis standing in front of her holding a mug. He had placed a blanket over her.
"You're back," Alayna said causing Ominis to nearly jump out of his skin.
"Merlin, I thought you were asleep." He placed a hand over his heart. "I called your name and you didn't respond."
"You did?" Was she that out of it right now? She knew she hadn't been asleep, but she hadn't heard anyone trying to talk to her. "Sorry, I must not have heard..."
"It's alright...I understand," Ominis spoke quietly as he sat next to her on the couch. "Here, I'm not sure if you'll like it. It's turmeric tea. For the pain." He offered the mug he was holding. Alayna took it in hers, feeling the warmth of the tea radiate through her hands and throughout the rest of her body. It sent a chill running up her spine and she pulled the blanket a little tighter as she tucked her feet up on the couch.
"Thank you. I've never had turmeric before. My mother always made us peppermint tea when we were in pain," Alayna said. She took a sip of the drink. It was oddly sweet with a hint of spiciness to it. Overall, not bad. "Mm, it's good."
"I'm glad. I wasn't sure how much sugar to put in," Ominis smiled slightly. "How are you feeling?"
"I don't know..." Alayna did not really know how to answer that question. The pain was lessening, but the memory of what she had experienced was still there. She hadn't quite processed what had happened to her yet. Ominis's gaze drifted towards the ground before he spoke again.
"You should have let me take the curse."
"Ominis..." Alayna sighed.
"I've experienced it before, I- you shouldn't have had to go through that." Ominis gripped the fabric of his pants as he clenched his fists.
"I wasn't going to let you do that. I...didn't want you to have to go through that again." Alayna set the mug of tea on a sidetable and turned to face Ominis. She reached over and took his hand. "I cannot imagine everything you have faced at the hands of your own family members. I would never want to be like them."
"You could never be like them, Alayna," Ominis sighed. "I guess I am just so surprised that you would volunteer to take the curse like that."
"It seemed like the only way..." Alayna drew her hand back to pull the blanket up around her shoulders. "But can we not talk about this anymore right now?"
"Of course, my apologies you don't want to think about it. Is there...something you would like to talk about? Or would you like to go to bed?" Ominis asked. Alayna bit her lip as she thought about what she wanted. She had no idea what would help her feel better. "Maybe...you can tell me more about what happened with Johanna? Has she been bothering you a lot? Or maybe something a bit more positive?"
"I mean, I live with her so when isn't she being annoying?" Alayna laughed a little. "It's nothing I can't deal with, really. Hm, something positive...I feel like I've just been experiencing a lot of negative lately."
"Nothing positive at all?"
"Well, I guess Poppy did take me to see the Hufflepuff common room. That's something positive. It's really cozy and they have tons of plants."
"So I hear. I've been to the other common rooms before. Well, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw at least. I haven't visited Gryffindor."
"I would love to see Ravenclaw's. Maybe I should ask Amit to show me." Alayna smiled. "Natty would probably let me into Gryffindor's common room too."
"Or you can wait until Slytherin throws a party."
"A party?" She raised an eyebrow. She would not have thought doing something like that would be possible without the professors catching on.
"Yeah, all of the houses throw a few parties throughout the year. The younger students usually go to stay the night in another house's dorms. You can stay in your dorm, but I wouldn't advise it."
"And no one ever gets caught?"
"It's more like...an agreement the students and professors have. So long as everyone is responsible they allow the parties. If things get too crazy, they'll shut it down. Sometimes they'll cancel parties for the rest of the year if the houses are being too reckless."
"I see, so are fifth years allowed to join the parties?" Going to a party sounded like a bit of fun although she had no idea what one did at a party.
"Sure, but you have to be of age to drink. They enchant the drink table so you can only take punch. The unspiked kind."
"Ah, makes sense. Do you and Sebastian plan on going to any this year?"
"I probably won't. I'm not big on crowds..." Ominis shifted in his seat.
"Oh, right."
"You and Sebastian should go though. I'm sure you'll have fun." They carried on talking for a while. Mostly Alayna asking Ominis about his and Sebastian's early years at Hogwarts, the things she had missed out on in starting late. She had no idea how much time had passed until she found herself starting to drift off a little. Alayna had finished off the turmeric tea Ominis had made for her and was sitting with her feet up on the couch while Ominis leaned back on the opposite side.
"I may not be able to see you falling asleep, but I can hear it in your voice," Ominis eventually commented with a bit of a smirk. As tired as Alayna had become and as late as it was, she did not want to go to bed. Afraid of the nightmares that might await her there.
"I'll just sleep out here," Alayna grumbled, shifting to a more comfortable position with the blanket over her.
"As much as I would like to tell you yes, you'll get in trouble with the Prefects." Ominis's gaze turned towards the seventh year dorms at the back of the common room. Alayna took a deep breath. Maybe she could sneak out to the Room of Requirement and sleep there. Deek wouldn't tell anyone she was out after curfew...probably. Or he might tell Professor Weasley and then she would be in huge trouble.
"I had trouble sleeping...after that day. Is there any way I can help you feel...safe?" Ominis spoke in hushed tones. Alayna swallowed, what did she usually do when she couldn't fall asleep? Her mother had incense she would burn with calming scents. She'd already had some tea.
"I don't suppose you have anything that smells nice? I wish I had some of my mother's incense to burn."
"I do actually. Anne left some scented candles in the undercroft, but they're a bit strong for me. What scents do you like?"
"Really? That sounds perfect, actually. Hmm, lavender is always good or sandalwood. Something earthy I guess?" Not knowing what all Ominis had, she wanted to be as broad as possible. She liked a lot of scents really, but she found earthy ones to be the most calming.
"Wait right here, I'll see what I have." Ominis vanished for a few minutes to his dorm room and returned with a fairly sizable candle in his hand. "I believe this one is teakwood or something?"
"Let me see," Alayna took the candle from his hands. The label read mahogany teakwood, so he was right on the mark. "Thank you, this will help a lot I think."
"Feel free to keep it too. I'm not using them and I'm sure Anne would be happy to know someone is." Ominis remained standing, obviously hinting that it was time for her to get to bed.
"Okay, I guess I should get ready for bed then." Alayna stood up, realizing she had no idea where Ominis had gotten the blanket he'd given her. "Um, is this blanket yours?"
"Take it with you," Ominis said without clarifying any further if it was his or not.
"O-okay, well...goodnight, Ominis. Thanks for staying up with me for a bit."
"Of course...I wasn't going to just leave you alone." Ominis never quite looked directly at her, but she thought right now that he was purposefully avoiding looking her way. "Goodnight, Alayna. I hope you sleep well." He was quick to walk away leaving Alayna standing there alone. She blinked at the abruptness of his departure, but did not try to go after him. It was late and she was falling asleep. He was probably quite tired too.
Alayna returned to her dorm where she prepared for bed and lit the candle Ominis had given her. It smelled amazing and with its aid she had little trouble getting to sleep.
Her dreams, however, were not so peaceful. She dreamed of flames surrounding her, licking at her skin and slowly melting it off of her bones. Through the flames she saw a figure standing there, watching her. Familiar although she could not quite make out the face. No matter how much she tried to fight and break free of the flames, she was trapped. Burning like a witch at the stake.
Alayna sat upright, patting her arms to check that they were not really burning. There was a faint smell of smoke in the room which when investigated turned out to be her candle which had burned out. Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to sleep with a candle after all. That and she'd been reading about the witch trials lately for History of Magic. All of it must have combined in her head to inspire that dream.
Shaking it off, Alayna got ready to face the day. As usual, she still had classes to go to, homework to complete, and she had magical creatures to take care of. Life was busy and it didn't stop for nightmares. And it would be good to keep busy so her mind did not continue dwelling on the pain she had experienced or that Sebastian had not even apologized. Not that he really needed to, she had volunteered to take the curse, but well, he'd barely acted like he cared at all. Alayna thought about the look she'd seen on his face just before he'd cast the curse. He had said he'd never planned on using any of the curses he read about, but...there had been something there that had disturbed Alayna. Perhaps the thought that he was capable of using such magic. Of course, she could now too. She had asked him to teach her the curse, but only because she wanted to know about the spell going to be cast on her.
And maybe it was because she liked him that it almost felt heartbreaking that he would cast the curse on her. He'd had no choice, they had no choice. It had to be cast on someone, Alayna knew that. But there was a small part of her that was hurt. She wasn't sure how to approach him after their experience either, which resulted in her mostly avoiding him for the next few days. It wasn't like he tried to approach her either, so she assumed he also didn't know what to say or do. Alayna knew she had to face him eventually, but she was getting really good at avoiding her problems.
She sent another letter to her family, too, using her newly gained knowledge of the Hufflepuff common room. The letter also included her decision to stay at Hogwarts over Christmas break. She hoped they wouldn't be too disappointed. As much as she did miss them, Alayna wanted to make sure she was working as hard as she could to get caught up with her fellow students. Spending time at home would only distract her from that.