Sebastian apparated us back to the outskirts of Hogwarts, this time with no splinching, much to my delight. Though I did pat myself down as we arrived to make sure I had all of my extremities still attached.
He walked quickly and in silence, not paying me anymore attention. When we got to the castle, it was well and truly after curfew. Sebastian dug the cloak out of his bag and tossed it over himself, continuing to walk onwards, leaving me behind.
He said we had things to talk about, was he expecting me to follow him?
"Sebastian!" I whispered loudly, but he didn't listen.
I had no choice but to cast disillusionment on myself and follow him through the castle. To my surprise, he didn't go to the Undercroft, and instead went straight to the common room.
He removed the cloak and tossed it back into his bag as he kept walking towards the back of the common room, stopping at the expansive windows that looked out into the lake. He raked his hands through his hair and threw the bag onto the floor and began to pace, though he didn't look at me once.
I stood a fair distance away for a few minutes, waiting and waiting and waiting to know when to speak.
"Sebast—"
"Why didn't you tell me about your mother?" He interrupted me before I could even finish saying his name.
"What? When was I supposed to? You haven't given me a moment to do so all year!"
"What about last year? We were pretty fucking close then, Olive. You were practically my best friend and you never told me your mother was a squib!"
"I don't owe you anything, Sebastian! How much I choose to divulge to people is just that... my choice. I'm not proud of it. I'm fucking ashamed. The way she carries on about me being magic, she makes me feel like I'm not worthy. Like holding this power is disgusting, it's awful, it's something to be embarrassed about. I don't want her stupid, ridiculous ideals forced onto anyone else. That's my problem to hold. Why would anyone want to hear about it anyway? I'm just another tragic story."
"Well, that makes two of us," Sebastian huffed, "You know everything about me. I thought we were close. I told you everything, I trusted you with my secrets, I broke rules for you, I killed for you. Everything was for you, and you can't even tell me why you never wrote back to me all summer?"
I tried to bite back, but his words cut me deep. Everything was for me? What did that mean?
I stood before him, my chest rising and falling quickly as I struggled to take in any air. His eyes were staring at me and I caught his chest moving just as quickly as mine was. He made the first movement, taking slow steps towards me. I took a deep breath in and felt my lungs hold it as his tall stature stood over me. He grabbed both of my upper arms with his large hands and squeezed them gently.
"Everything I ever did. It was for you." He told me again with a breathy exhale, his lips slightly parted.
He stared into my eyes. I wasn't sure whether to feel intimidated or not, but my body betrayed me, sending all my blood to my cheeks, no doubt they became rosy and he had to have noticed. I'm certain he did because I felt his feet inch slightly closer to me, his face moving down as his eyes moved back and forth between mine.
"I... I—" I tried to speak, but my lips wouldn't let the words come out as I struggled against my legs that were suddenly turning weak. I didn't know what to say.
"Sebastian!"
He quickly dropped the grasp on my shoulders and stepped back, spinning around to see Ominis standing near the fireplace, his expression changing instantly.
Thank fuck Ominis was blind.
"I could hear you yelling! Where have you been?" Ominis said, walking closer to us.
"You." Sebastian said, his tone low and deep.
"What? What do you mean me?" Ominis stopped in his tracks, looking incredibly confused and defensive.
"You love my sister!" Sebastian was marching closer to Ominis.
"Wh—what?" Ominis stuttered, his posture changing.
"You. Love. Anne." Sebastian was standing over him now, his teeth bared and seething. "She told Olive how special you were to her."
"S—Sebastian, I do love her, we all love her, but—"
"Oh, no no no. Don't make this a platonic thing. This is more than that. You love her. You're in love with her!"
Sebastian grabbed a hold of Ominis' nightwear and bunched the collar of the material in his fists tightly, pulling Ominis close so they were standing chest to chest.
"Let me go, Sebastian! I will explain everything!" Ominis said, a tinge of fear in his voice.
I stood silent. I didn't know what I should be doing. If I intervened, I'd no doubt feel Sebastian's wrath too. I was also completely stunned from the moment we had almost just shared if it was going where I thought it was going to and my brain was a complete mess. I couldn't comprehend a damn thing right now.
"Sebastian, after everything that happened in Feldcroft, Anne needed a friend. She confided in me because she couldn't talk to anyone else, no one else knew what had happened... so..."
"Wait, you were visiting her?! You knew where she was the whole time?!" Sebastian exclaimed, realising what Ominis was saying.
"Yes... Sebastian, I'm sorry. She made me promise not to tell you!"
"Oh, how kind of you both! Does everyone on this god forsaken earth think I'm some fucking idiot who can't be told anything? First, Olive and now you two? What else have you done with her? Have you kissed her?"
"Sebastian... please." Ominis begged.
"Have. You. Kissed. Her?"
"Yes." Ominis dipped his head at the admission.
"And more?"
"I won't get into anymore of this with you!"
"Oh, great! So you have? My ex-best friend and my sister, how fucking lovely! Well, give her my best, won't you?" Sebastian's face was bright red and I could have sworn I had seen smoke billowing from his ears. He was furious.
He shoved Ominis in the chest and quickly left the common room completely, not even bothering to go to the dormitory.
I desperately wanted to go after Sebastian, it was pretty clear hearing from both Anne and Ominis today, he was hurt and felt betrayed. But it was obvious he'd overheard me talking with Anne so why didn't he react the same way to her?
I decided I would let Sebastian go for now and comfort Ominis. He looked to be on the brink of tears and collapsed onto the lounge in front of the fire.
"Ominis?" I asked gently, testing to see if he even wanted me there.
"Oh, Olive. I'm sorry you had to hear that, it's been quite difficult to keep from him. I've felt like I've been put in a bad spot by Anne. I care for them both deeply despite everything, but Anne made me promise not to tell him and I truly thought he'd never find out. Things have died down between Anne and I since she's taken a turn for the worst..."
"I understand, Ominis. You don't need to explain yourself to me."
"Thank you, Olive. I hope you don't think of me any differently."
"Of course not."
"I was going to tell him one day... I never wanted him to find out like this... I hope he's alright."
We sat in silence for a moment, clearly both thinking about Sebastian. I didn't know what to think of him anymore. He was a completely different person than the friend I'd had last year, but I was also a different Olive. He was right when he said we were practically best friends and it hurt me to know he didn't believe that anymore.
"You should go find him." Ominis finally spoke.
"Huh? Me? He likes me about as much as he likes you right now."
Ominis chuckled, "I doubt that very much. But I would appreciate it if you could go and find him, make sure he's alright and try and convince him to come back to the dormitory. He can't afford another detention for being out after hours."
"Of course, Ominis. I'll go look for him." I reassured Ominis with a gentle touch of his hand.
He muttered a soft thank you and returned to his dormitory.
While I did tell Ominis I would go and look for him, I lingered for a moment longer, trying to compose myself.
What a fucked up day.
I hated Sebastian, then I felt sorry for him, then he almost kissed me... I think. To be honest, I didn't know what to think at all.
I was incredibly lucky that Sebastian was very predictable with his movements. My first place to check for him was the Undercroft and as soon as the squeaky gate lifted, I heard the barrage of spells he was throwing with all his might at every breakable object in sight. He hadn't heard me enter amongst the flurry of red spells he was flinging about.
"Reparo." I muttered at a barrel nearby him. He ducked quickly as a stray piece of splintered wood flew past him and he quickly turned towards me.
"Fuck, Olive. You scared the shit out of me!" He said, startled and his hand flying to his chest.
"I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were alright." I assured him.
"Yeah. I am. Or... I will be. Today has just been an utter mess."
I chuckled, feeling the same way, "Tell me about it."
We both looked down at the floor, smiling. He lifted his gaze first, his eyes meeting mine as I lifted my own head.
"Can we sit down?" He asked, his hand pointing softly to a pile of pillows on the floor he'd clearly set up in preparation to spend the night on the cold ground of the Undercroft.
"Sure."
I followed him and took a cushion, sitting on it with my legs crossed.
"I'm sorry about earlier. I shouldn't have reacted that way about your mother. You're right, you can share what you like and you don't owe me anything."
"Thank you, Sebastian. That means a lot..."
I debated whether to open up to Sebastian more. I had never really spoken about my past and it did feel good when I told Anne about my mother.
"She used to be really nice, actually. She was my best friend." I said softly.
I felt Sebastian pivot slightly towards me, as if he was showing me I had his undivided attention. It did make me feel more comfortable
"When my father died, she completely changed. He was a miner, he was killed alongside many others in a collapse. I was 13 when it happened. She stopped cooking, she stopped cleaning, she lost all of her friends... and I didn't have any other family to fall back on. I don't even know who my maternal grandparents are... if I have any cousins or aunties or uncles, I have no idea. Then when my letter for Hogwarts came... she was distraught. She threw whatever was in arms reach at me. Cushions, plates, you name it. If she could pick it up, she was throwing it at me."
I paused for a moment to take a deep breath and looked up at Sebastian. His deep brown eyes continued to follow mine, it was as if he knew I had more to say. So I let it all out, it was too late to turn back now.
"She told me there and then I wouldn't be going, it was a prank someone was playing. When Professor Fig came to our door, she lost it. He explained to me that there was magic in my family passed down from my mothers side and that she unfortunately didn't receive any magical powers. He almost had to rip me away from her to get me here. Then the dragon attack happened on the way here and... well, you know the rest. My first summer back, she ignored me completely. Banned all magic, including the letters I got from my friends. She shooed away every owl and tossed every letter in the fire. I wasn't even allowed parchment to write to anyone myself. So I'm sorry I didn't write. I knew they were coming in... but there was nothing I could do. I'm sorry, Sebastian. I know you needed a friend over the summer and I did too. I'm just really sorry."
"It's alright, Olive. I understand. And I'm the one who's sorry. I never gave you the chance to talk to me, I just assumed the worst like everyone else. I never meant to cast you aside, I thought you were mad at me after everything that happened last year."
"Sebastian, I couldn't be mad at you for that and I would never use it against you. Ever. I was the one who convinced the others to keep you around, if you recall?"
"Hah. I do. Thank you. I'll make it up to you one day for that, I promise." He smiled softly at me.
We both dipped our heads and smiled, happy with the progress we'd made here tonight.
"We should probably go back to the common room." I suggested.
"Nah. I'm staying here. It would be well and truly past 2 o'clock now. You should stay. I don't want you walking the castle alone this late at night."
Leave, Olive! It's a trap!
"Alright, I hope you have blankets because it is fucking freezing in here." I said.
"What? You think I settle for cobblestone floors? Here."
He pulled out a stash of blankets from behind a desk and pulled out one large one. I laid down on the cushions he'd set and pulled over one half of the blanket, my eyes succumbing to the need for sleep already. I couldn't open my heavy eyelids, but I felt a weight delicately lay on me and I was hit with the familiar lemony scent I'd discovered earlier today. He's draped his robe on me.
I snuggled in to the warmth from his robe fresh from his body and felt him climb under the blanket beside me, his leg brushing against mine as he got comfortable. The flicker of the candles around us extinguished slowly as we both drifted off into a bloody well deserved sleep.