im-clapped-af

[im-clapped-af]

Scanlan: Who’s the sixth barrel for?

I’m gonna go crawl back into my hole now - thanks bye.

I rewatch because I miss the small details like this and all I want to do his hold him. 😭

[im-clapped-af]

Black widow chapter 2

https://archiveofourown.org/works/48165961/chapters/121511806#workskin - if you would like to read my oneshots on AO3 here is the link!

Summary -  You begin a shift at your club when you're approached by a man who seeks your services. You didn't expect him to ask you for something much different.

CW - biting, fingering, riding lap, idk what else to say really

“You never told me your name.”

“Spider-Man 2099.”

You let out a laugh.

“That’s a mouthful.” You imagined what a mouthful of him would feel like.

Beams of light-coloured red shone on the stage as the dimly lit club embraced the late hours. A hushed tranquillity settled upon the scene. The familiar voices of Madonna, Fiona Apple, and Britney Spears played in the background creating a subtle melody that intertwined with the murmurs of conversation from the few regulars and singular bachelor party that had entered the club. The stage, typically vibrant with captivating performances, awaited its turn in silence.

Your fellow dancers dressed elegantly in lingerie, moved gracefully among the few guests, striking conversation with them in hopes of earning a few bucks or at least, a free drink. Their movements, once animated and provocative, now possess a delicate finesse, like a spider before striking its kill. They navigate the space with a gentle allure, captivating the few patrons who observe, their ogling eyes and feral want of sex oozing out of them.

The subdued lighting casts a gentle shadow, accentuating the beauty and allure of the venue. The club exudes an air of intimacy as if the night has woven a subtle bond between the performers and the audience.

Midnight Bliss, a renowned strip club situated a mere twenty-minute drive downtown from your humble abode, became your workplace six years ago, providing just enough earnings to sustain the exorbitant rent of your shabby apartment. Although it wasn’t the destination you had envisioned yourself, it served its purpose for the time being. Your exceptional skills on the pole and undeniable allure ensured a steady flow of income, allowing you to make ends meet.

“Now I want everyone to give a warm welcome to Velvet Vixen!”

You eyed your manager who gave you a wink from the sound booth near the far corner of the club and prepared yourself for the person you became when on stage. You heard Criminal by Fiona Apple started playing, her sultry voice providing a little comfort for when the men would start to tear your clothes off with their imagination only. Soon, you would appease their imagination and they would be greeted with the image they desperately wanted.

You sauntered across the stage, teasing the few men who sat nearby who guarded their money as if it was something that needed to be won. You knew what to do to gain it though. You slid up to the pole and graze a hand down it. You noticed a man tossing a one-dollar note on the stage and his stare on you grew more intense. You rubbed the pole a few more times and winked at the man, his face flushed a deep crimson red. He tossed another dollar onto the stage. Your eyes, smouldered with confidence, connected with the other enthralled spectators. Each subtle gesture and deliberate step accentuated your allure, commanding attention and inviting desire.

As the music swelled, you began to teasingly lift the black babydoll dress which was laced with red ribbon. You lifted it up enough to flash the black thong you wore underneath but lowered it quickly when you noticed no dollars had been thrown onto the stage. You eyed the man closest to you, sending him a seductive wink and he tossed another dollar on the stage. Finally, you obliged their wishes and pulled the dress off and threw it on the stage. A few men whooped, earning them a sly smirk from you.

You stood in the black bra and thong you had specially chosen to wear and grazed your hand against the pole again. It would be a few more minutes before you would shed them, and it gave you the opportunity to earn a few more dollars for the performance. You twirled around the pole slowly, allowing the men to glimpse at your enticing form, skilfully tantalising the audience. With every twist, arch, and fluid motion, you wove a mesmerising narrative and evoked the feeling of lust and desire in everyone watching. Your body was an art form in motion, it told a story of liberation, empowerment, and unapologetic self-expression. The room reverberated with electric energy, a shared experience of enchantment and delight.

You reached an arm around your back and gripped the bra clasp and felt it come undone and pulled it away, revealing your breasts. More notes littered the stage, and you were becoming quite happy with the amount you were racking up. You bent over to pick one up, making sure the guarded man had a full view of your ass in his face. He wore a suit that you knew had been tailored in the more affluent part of the city and his watch clearly highlighted the wealth he owned. You turned around and gave him a few slow blinks and leaned closer to his face. He flushed more, and you knew the effect you were having on him. You leaned closer to his face, your lips faintly brushing his ear.

“I’m going to need a little more, motivation, if you want to see the full thing.”

You leaned back, resting your weight on your thighs which were tucked underneath yourself. You watched him shuffle in his seat, uncertain over how much he should give you. You leaned back slightly, resting your palms against the cold stage and shook your hair slightly so it fell away from where it covered your breasts. He flushed more. If any more blood went to his face, you thought he would faint soon. You didn’t want to be dealing with that again.

You eyed him as he moved his hands to his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He pulled out a crisp note and tossed it onto the stage. The $50 sign excited you; it wasn’t a note you would receive often on quiet nights, so you decided now was the time to indulge their most desired wants.

You gave him your most thankful smiles and rose slowly. You leaned over so the man could take full pleasure in the sight you were going to grant him. Your thumbs slipped into the thong band and sensually pulled down your body. The men in the room cheered and gave out a few vulgar shouts which you chose to ignore. You manoeuvred your long legs out of the garment and held it high up in the air, like a trophy that one of the lucky men could win. You were left in only your black heels. Weirdly, you felt more naked wearing only them than when you were actually naked.

The music quietened as you heard your manager’s voice fill the club again.

“Now that was Velvet Vixen. Isn’t she a delight? If you want to see her again soon, I suggest you empty your pockets a little more and show her how much you enjoyed that tantalising performance she just gave you.”

You gave a teasing smile, acting shy as a few men threw a few more notes on the stage. Once it was clear their generosity had reached the max, you bent over and picked up your clothes and scooped up the notes from the stage and made your way back to your dressing room. You filtered through the notes and noticed one that had been folded up. You peeled it open and read it quickly. It was a fake one that told you should renounce her life to Christ. You crumpled it up and tossed it in the metal basket next to your makeup station.

Pricks, you thought.

You stood at your station, not caring that the other girls in the room saw you standing there naked. The feeling was mutual, there wasn’t room to feel bothered about nudity in this industry. After recounting the bills, you deposited them in a jar, aside from a twenty-dollar bill and placed it in your locker. You had only made $63 for the performance which wasn’t too bad for a quiet Tuesday night.

Your manager entered the room, not bothered by the fact he was supposed to only approach you when you were in the main room of the club dressed in your stripper attire. He approached you, clasping your hand and gazing into your eyes. You knew the look he gave you wasn’t lustful, the only thing he lusted after was money.

“Vixen that was a great performance, if you keep it up, I can pull a few strings and get you a few extra performances this weekend.” He had moved his hands, so they were holding your shoulders. “Now, there is a man in the private room, you know the one, and he’s requested you personally.”

You knew which room it was all the girls did. It was the only room in the club that didn’t have working CCTV. They had been promised it would be fixed soon but after a few months, you all knew that wasn’t going to happen. After your manager realised, he could gain a lot more money in that room compared to the other private ones, he hadn’t bothered calling an electrician to fix it.

“I need you to do what you always do; you are the favourite after all.” He smirked at you slyly, and you could feel the bile rise in your throat as to what he would put you and your girls under just to gain more money and a reputation for being one of the few strip clubs where men could gather a more, intimate, experience.

You felt him move his hands back down to your hand and twisted them, so your palms were facing upwards revealing the twenty-dollar bill. He plucked it out of your hand and pocketed it, before moving past you and slapping your ass as encouragement.

You rolled your eyes in annoyance and moved over to the screen where you had placed your next outfit. You clasped the low-cut lavender bra around your body which accentuated your curves. It was adorned with intricate lace details and plastic diamonds which you had added yourself to create more flare. You pulled on the lavender panties which you had added fake diamonds to as well, to cover your intimate areas. You added sheer sparkly stockings and pulled on the silver stilettoes that no doubt would make your feet ache for the next few days. The last item you added was a band of fake diamonds that had strings of clear jewels attached to it that you clasped around the band of your bra. The attire was of your own making, and you were eager to wear it in the club, enjoying how the strings of jewels swished around your body as you moved.

You rushed over to your station. The trick to the private rooms was to make them wait on their own for four minutes so they would buy more drinks. You were approaching the three-minute mark, so you had little time to change your makeup. Quickly, you applied a fresh layer of gloss to your lips and tucked your hair under a short purple wig. It was not the finest craftmanship of your face, but it would have to do.

You made your way down the dimly lit hallway. You passed a few rooms that had open doors where you spotted your friends dance over the men as they let their hands wander their forms. The private room was at the end of the hallway, the door closed, and you heard the music playing quietly inside. You took a deep breath before entering the room and closing it softly behind you.

Typically, the men who entered the club were ones you would never pay attention to. They weren’t that attractive and their desperation to see the naked forms of the dancers repulsed you even more. However, the man that sat in the booth was undeniably an attractive one. He sat with his legs spread wide and outstretched and his arms crossed behind him. Despite his relaxed appearance, you could tell this wasn’t his scene, it was most likely his first time entering a strip club. You paid attention to the way his eyes stared into yours, and not your body.

He removed his arms from behind his head and rested them on his toned thighs and he leaned forward slightly.

“Hello, Black Widow. I’ve been searching for you.” He spoke. His voice was calm and held no hint of any lust he may have.

You felt your heart thump strongly in your chest, and you were grateful for the music playing which could conceal it. No one knew of your alias. You had adopted the name twelve years ago at the age of fifteen when you had been bitten by a spider which had transformed your DNA. The name became fitting once you realised you possessed a power that aided you in your mission.

Not wanting him to sense your nerves, you gave a sly smile at him.

“I’m afraid I don’t know your name so I can’t greet you. Now, it's $10 for a dance, $20 for you to touch me while I dance.” You watched him as he raised an eyebrow. “$100 for me to indulge your every last whim.” His expression didn’t change which you didn’t like. You raised a leg and let your heeled foot land on the table, giving him a view to gaze over your form.

You stared at him, challenging him to look at your body instead of your face. He didn’t look away from you.

“I’m here because I need you –“

“Everyone is here because they need me.” You quickly interrupted. “That’s what this room is for. Now what are you going to pay so I can begin my service? There are plenty of men out there who would die to be in your position.”

He gave a low sigh.

“Let me rephrase. I know who you are, and you know that you can’t trick me into thinking I don’t know who you are.”

You removed your leg from the table giving him a sly giggle. You moved over towards the end of the booth and crawled onto it. He turned his head to face you, but his body stayed relaxed in the same position as before. You could feel yourself becoming more annoyed by his behaviour and you made it your aim to make him break.

“Black Widow is definitely an admirable woman, and I feel honoured for you to think of me as her. But I’m afraid you have the wrong woman.”

“How do you know she is a woman?” He quipped.

You leaned forward resting your weight on your forearms and raised your back end, welcoming him to gaze at it. His eyes stayed trained on your face.

“Because only a woman would do what she does. And I thank her for it.”

He leaned back against the booth again. “Ah yes, someone who goes out fighting crime and bringing justice to those who have been wronged. That could be anyone. But the thing that makes her unique, is what she does at night. She goes into the homes of men, rich men who think they own anything money can buy, especially women like you and the services you’re forced to give.”

You stayed silent as he continued.

“It doesn’t take a genius to deduce that someone from your industry would want to take matters into their own hands. We know the police ignore vulnerable communities; one you are part of.”

“Well, anyone could have guessed the first part. But she poisons them. You would need to have an expert understanding of chemistry to poison the men the way she does. I’ve read the newspapers; I know how they’re unable to track her down and they don’t know how she does it. I graduated high school and quickly found my way here, I didn’t have time nor could afford college, so I don’t have a degree in chemistry. So, explain to me how I could compete with her genius.”

He smirked at you. “Well, anyone could have guessed that.” He mimicked you, and the annoyance in you built. “The clue is in the name, Black Widow. She makes her way into their homes, and despite being afraid of this intrusion, they quickly become seduced by her. She does a dance, and they think they’re going to get more than they bargained for. And using the opportunity they are completely under her spell, she strikes. She bites them and injects venom into their veins which they quickly succumb to. Does that sound about right?”

“They’re pretty, aren’t they?” You flash your fangs at him. It was clear you couldn’t outsmart him and hearing the way he talked about you filled you with pride.

His gaze on you grew intense as he took in the sight of your fangs. “I’m partial to my own.” He offered a broad grin and flashed his own fangs. You rolled your eyes, earning a low chuckle from him. You rose from your position. You stood and slowly walked over to the other side of the booth, making sure your arse grazed his face. It never did because he leaned his face away to avoid contact.

He was being respectful, an act that wasn’t normal in the club. Since he had easily deducted who you were and how you committed your acts, you wanted to tease him more to see if his act would falter. Once you were situated at the other side of the booth, you sat down and stretched out your legs, so you were in the splits but made sure your clothed cunt was on full display to him. Normally, men would cum themselves right there, but this man had no reaction.

“It’s not polite to not tell a lady your name you know?”

“Well, you’re not a lady, are you?” You were taken aback by his response and gave a small laugh. However, you enjoyed it. You let your gaze wander over his form. He was wearing black trousers and a black form-fitting shirt, which hugged his toned muscles greatly. You eyed his arms and how the veins protruded down them. His dark brown hair was pulled away from his face messily, allowing you to stare at the chiselled jaw and high cheekbones. His eyes were red, giving him the look of a feral animal. You imagined that it would intimidate others just how animalistic he looked, but you couldn’t deny how attractive he was. Your eyes lingered down to his plumb lips, admiring them, and wondered how they would feel against your own. Which lips they could be against; you did not mind.

“Stop looking at me like that.” He ordered.

“I’m simply admiring my next possible target.”

He sighed and ran a hand over his face. “I promise you; I won’t touch you or ask you to do anything. Now, please, I need you to listen to me.”

You leaned back on your arms, placing emphasis on how wide your legs were and what was proudly on display to him. You could feel a small ache there after thinking about where his lips could be on you and what they could do.

“Maybe I don’t want to listen to you.”

“I’ve gathered that.”

Sensing that this position wasn’t going to make him break, you closed your legs and you noticed how his eyes quickly glanced down to where you had displayed yourself. It was working. You stood up and made your way over to him and lowered yourself down on his lap. He pulled his hands away from your body and placed them behind his head again and leaned back.

“Whatever you’re trying to do, I won’t play into it.”

“That’s a shame, this is the most fun I’ve ever had in this room.” His gaze softened after you said that, but you didn’t allow him to speak. “I know you know there is no working CCTV in this room. Why else would you ask to be in this room? You must be desperate for me for you to pay the fee, it’s pretty hefty.”

You let your hands trail over his mouth and pushed his top lip up. His fangs protruded and you ran a finger over them. You raised yourself so your face was level with his and you inched your mouth closer to his.

“Are these capable of doing what I can?” You asked.

He moved your hands gently away from his face and placed them down to your side but didn’t let go.

“Yes, though not as lethal as yours. Anything else you want to ask me?”

You smirked again. “Yes, is it $10, $20, or $100?” He groaned in response, and you lifted yourself up off him and moved back to where you had been in the booth previously.

“I don’t want anything like that. I just need you to listen to me.” He leaned towards you, but you stretched a leg out, placing your heeled foot against his chest. He didn’t move and challenged your gaze.

“I think I’ve listened quite intently so far. You haven’t listened to me. Now, what will you be paying? My manager won’t be happy if I come out empty-handed.” You watched him carefully as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a $10 bill. You expected him to toss it at you and you would comply with the demand, but instead, he held it out waiting for you to take it. You reached out and grabbed it and tucked it into your bra strap. You lowered your leg, and he leaned back against the wall again.

“I’m not going to be treated like charity. You’ve paid me, now, what do you want me to do?”

He sighed in annoyance, and you could see irritation flash in his eyes.

“I want you to listen to what I’m about to tell you.”

“You know what request I’m after so ask and then, only then, will I listen.”

You watched as he tried to find a solution in his mind before he finally gave in. He looked at you, an ordering look in his eyes and gazed down at your legs.

“Show me.”

You smiled in response and spread your legs out again before trailing your hand slowly down to where you remained clothed. You felt that dampness that had started pooling there from where your mind had gone places that you knew that the man would not want to hear. You hooked a finger against the cloth and pulled it away, letting the air of the club hit you.

You admired the way his gaze instantly went to what he wanted to see, what you wanted him to see. His jaw went slack, and you could hear him try to breathe quietly. It must have been a while since he last had sex because there was no other reason for his reaction. You trailed your free hand over yourself and felt the wetness that was pooling there. You ran a finger up your folds and grazed it over your clit once and you wanted to hiss at the pleasure that came from it. Quickly, you covered yourself again and the man came to his senses.

“Ok, I asked you to show me. Now you need to listen to what I tell you.”

You stood up as he began rambling about a society, he was a part of and how he needed you to join them. Your unique power would be extremely helpful to their cause and they needed all the spiders they could have. He talked about the thousands of dimensions and the spiders that had joined them, but the numbers weren’t enough. As much as the information he was providing was interesting, the way his gaze followed the way your body moved around the room was far more interesting. You moved back towards him and turned your body, so you was facing away from him and lowered yourself back on his lap. He didn’t stop talking, even when you raised an arm and wrapped it behind his neck.

You interrupted before he could continue. “So, what you’re telling me is that there are multiple people just like us, but you desperately need me?”

“I need as many people as I can to help maintain the canon event.”

“But you need me specifically?”

He groaned in annoyance. “Yes, I need you specifically. Your skill is essential for us maintaining that we keep villains in their own dimension. I can discuss this in greater detail at the HQ if you would just come with me.”

You craned your neck so you could look at his face. His eyes were tightly closed, and his breathing was quick. “You want me to come with you? You only need to ask.” You moved your hips on top of him slowly and revelled in this way his breathing hitched slightly. You could feel him harden under you. The dull ache in you grew stronger and you were enjoying how this session was going. You grazed your fingers against his face and his eyes shot open with a feral look. He placed his hands firmly against your waist holding your moving hips still.

“I’m not going to take advantage of you. I know you’re only doing this because you need the money.”

“I’m not doing this for the money. I’m doing this because I want to. I think you want to as well.”

His grip softened and you continued grinding your hips on top of him. He didn’t try stopping you now and his eyes closed again. He groaned lowly and bared his neck in your direction. You took the opportunity and placed your mouth on his neck and started kissing it. His breathing grew more erratic, and his bulge grew harder. You positioned yourself so it would dig into you and your movements grew faster. You nibbled his neck, careful to not let your fangs pierce the soft brown flesh. His hands glided up and down your torso, encouraging you to continue. You removed your mouth from his neck and leaned your head backwards, so it was resting flat against his shoulder. He looked over to you and you stared into each other’s eyes.

“You never told me your name.”

“Spider-Man 2099.”

You let out a laugh.

“That’s a mouthful.” You imagined what a mouthful of him would feel like. The ache inside of you intensified and you ground your hips on him harder. Both of your breathing grew heavier as you both let pleasure overtake you. His hand grazed up your back and you could feel him fumble with the clasp of your bra. He unleashed it and threw your bra to the floor and took a handful of your breast in his hands. He kneaded it and you let out a low moan. His mouth moved to your neck and he copied what you had done earlier. His plump lips littered your neck with kisses and he sucked harshly. He pulled away and saw a dark bruise start forming before he went back eagerly to continue what he was doing. You could feel the sharpness of his fangs graze your neck.

“Do it.”

He understood what you meant and obliged your ask. You felt a sharp pain as his fangs sink into your neck but it was quickly replaced by pleasure. He kneaded your breast more firmly but you held his hand and moved it down to your cunt, desperate to feel his fingers there. His fingers traced the band of your panties before moving them underneath the cloth. His fingers stirred circles over your clit and you couldn’t help the moan that escaped your lips. He continued to draw circles over it and a few groans escaped his lips as well as you rubbed yourself over his hard member.

“I only came here to ask you to join us –“His voice hitched higher as you placed a hand over his encouraging him to move it lower. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

“I don’t care just keep going.” You rasped against him. He plunged a finger into your aching hole and a loud gasp filled the room, from who, neither of you could remember. Quickly, he inserted another digit into you, and he felt your walls tighten against him. You squirmed against him. Your moans filled the room, and you were grateful for the music covering it so the guests outside couldn’t hear. A dark spot grew on his trousers, from his pre-cum and your own wetness.

“Another.” You asked him. He obliged and plunged a third finger into you and you moaned hard into his hard. You writhed on top of him as he pumped his fingers into you. You could feel your climax bubbling inside of you and he was clearly close as well with how his breathing became even more erratic. You climaxed over his fingers with a loud moan and your walls tightened over his fingers even more. You kept grinding on top of him and he heaved loudly as you saw cum seep through his trousers. You both sat there, taking in the waves of pleasure that rolled through your bodies. After a while, he removed his fingers from you and you stood up and cleaned yourself up. You noticed him stick his fingers in his mouth and suck them clean, hiding evidence of what he just did to you.

You nodded to his lap where his cum pooled on his trousers.

“Sorry about the mess.”

“Don’t worry about it.” He stood up and wiped it away with the back of his hand. It removed most of the mess but a stain would form soon and he would need to change them soon if he didn’t want anyone to know what had happened. They were both grateful for the dimness of the room.

“Will you consider what I’ve said?”

You gave him a nod and watched as he tried pulling out his wallet, but you raised a hand to stop him.

“I don’t want your money.” He didn’t argue and placed his wallet back into his pocket. You didn’t exchange any more words and she watched as he left the room. You tidied yourself up a bit more and readjusted your wig after clasping your bra back on. When you left the room you were greeted by your manager with an eager grin.

“You two were in there for a while. How much did you make?”

You slapped the ten-dollar bill into his hands and walked off before mentioning, “He only wanted to talk.”

A few hours later, you climbed through your open window from your fire escape. You went to your bathroom and peeled off the black mask and looked into the mirror at yourself. Your target had put up a fight, evident by the purple bruise forming on your cheek. Your mouth was bloody from where you had bit him and he quickly died from the venom that entered his bloodstream. You turned on the shower and peeled off your suit as the room filled with steam. You stood for a while, letting the hot water soothe your muscles before eventually getting out. You wrapped yourself in a towel and ventured to the kitchen in desperate need of sustenance. On the way there you noticed a piece of paper on the kitchen counter and opened it. In it lay $130.

Black Widow

Rent money. I’ll see you tomorrow for you to tell me what you have decided.

Miguel O’Hara

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Black widow

“That fucking kid ah – ay coño – he doesn’t ….”

“Miguel I really don’t want to hear about the kid while you’re fucking me.” You rasped against his neck while he was fucking you senselessly against the wall in the kitchen. Your arms were wrapped around his waist while his body held you firmly up against him as he thrust his length into you.

“Mierda.” He groaned loudly. “I thought the whole point of this, arrangement, was for us to vent about our frustrations.”

While he was correct about the original point of your arrangements being to express their annoyance about the ongoing problems at the spider society, it had quickly turned into a fuck session where you took comfort in, quite literally, each other. He had thrust harder into you when mentioning arrangement causing you to gasp loudly. However, despite his enthusiasm and unbreakable stamina during these sessions, his thrusts had grown sloppy the more he spoke about the actual problems in their lives, focusing his attention on the root cause of it instead of prioritising his attention on pleasuring you. You gripped his shoulders harder and dug your sharp nails into him, irritated that the orgasm you were quickly coming on to had dissolved quicker than the original plan of action that had been planned earlier that day.

“Yes, well if you fucked me as good as you complained then I would have come about ten minutes ago. Now, if you don’t make me cum soon then I guess these arrangements will have to end after this one.”

He growled in response, and you tightened your legs around his waist as he quickened his pace, slamming his cock into you. He adjusted you higher against the wall and moved your legs, so they were wrapped over his arms and his large hands cupped your arse allowing him to reach places inside you that no man had reached before. You stared into his eyes, those red feral eyes, and smirked.

“Ah, much better.”

You yelped in pleasure as you could feel the welcoming heat build in your core again. You were close and wanted to cum soon. Surprisingly, this would be your first orgasm of the night despite it normally being your third after how long he had been pumping into you.

He removed a hand from your arse and smacked it. You could feel heat pooling where a red mark in the shape of his handprint would be left. He raised it and pulled your hair, baring your neck to him. Instantly, he brought his mouth to bare flesh and started sucking your neck. You felt a sharp pinch of pain when he let his fangs sink into your neck, but it was overridden with pleasure as he sucked more. You squirmed in pleasure as he sucked more and sank your nails harder into his shoulders, leaving red marks. He brought his face away from your neck, much to your disappointment but the look on his face was enough to make you forget about it. He grinned, revealing his sharp fangs that dripped crimson red. His pace quickened, and you came to your release, gripping onto him harder and moaning out his name.

He hissed in response and his thrusts grew sloppy as he climaxed. His brows furrowed and he plunged his fangs back into your neck which caused you to groan in pleasure as he sucked more. Once the last of his seed coated the inside of you, he removed his length from your wet cunt much to the disappointment of both of you. The pair of you panted, revelling in waves of pleasure. Miguel placed you down but held you up by your waist as your shaky legs prevented you from standing fully. He pushed back a few strands of hair that had fallen over your face and motioned for you to bare your neck to him again. His fingers grazed the purple bruise that was starting to bloom on your neck, and he kissed it delicately.

“That’s going to be there for a while. Sorry, I don’t mean to do that.”

You didn’t care. You loved it. You loved the mark he left on you knowing that you were the only one who could get him to release himself to you like that.

“You know I like it. Don’t hold back.” He smirked at your response and pulled your waist closer to him. He kissed you deeply and you could feel him harden against you again. You inched your hand closer to his length, wanting to hold him fully in your hand and make him come undone again as you had so many times before. The sight of him groaning and whimpering your name as you made him cum was a sight you often thought of as you touched yourself. You pumped his dick a couple of times and he chuckled lowly. You stared up at him, watching his eyes flutter closed and pumped him harder.

“On the bed. Now.” He ordered.

You didn’t stop pumping him. “Can’t. It’s still broken from our last arrangement, remember?”

“Mierda. I forgot about that.”

You grinned broadly at him as he peered down at you. You lowered yourself slowly to the ground, the cold wood floors would be uncomfortable for your

knees but what you were going to do next would easily make up for it.

“I didn’t forget about it. You fucked me so hard that the slacks broke. Don’t you remember how I sounded? I certainly remember how you did.” His dick was in front of your mouth now, still dripping with his cum and your juices. You licked his head slowly and he hissed. “Ay coño, ay coño.” You mimicked how he spoke when he had been slamming himself into you from behind. Your hands gripped the headboard as your bedroom filled with a cacophony of moans and grunting sounds as you both were coming to your climax. The bed creaked from the force of his thrust and broke as soon as you two came.

“Ay coño, I’m going to cum ...” You teased him more while stroking his large member.

“Yes, I remember now.” Before you could respond he gripped onto your head and pushed your mouth all the way down his dick. Your mouth was full of him but there was still a little left that you couldn’t fit in. You wrapped your hand around the rest of his length and pumped him while he guided your head up and down him. He groaned loudly; the warmth of your mouth was almost as good as your cunt. He could feel you choking on him, causing him to go absolutely feral and move your head with more force. Your eyes filled with tears and saliva streamed out of your mouth.

He looked down at you and smirked. He loved seeing you like this. Your plump lips wrapped around his dick, choking on it as you tried to take it fully. His grip tightened, and he thrust his hips into your mouth, causing his dick to go fully in. He held you there for a few moments, allowing you to savour the taste of his pre-cum in your mouth. The saltiness of it travelling down your throat turned you on more and you could feel the pool of heat growing more intense. You moved your hands towards your clit and started rubbing circles against it. He chuckled lowly again and moved your head off his dick. Miguel held it firmly and make you stare into his eyes as he stared down into your tear-filled ones.

“You want me, don’t you?” You could only muster a nod as he lifted you up and wrapped your legs around him. You thought he was going to take you against the wall again, but he walked you over to your shabby sofa and removed your suits which had been thrown carelessly onto the floor, before laying you down.

He stood there watching you and pumped himself. Your legs opened instinctively, and you reached your hand down to your clit and started rubbing it again. He moved so he was towering over you and arranged your legs, so they were hanging over his shoulders. He guided his dick towards your entrance and gave you a quick look to make sure you were ready for him, all of him.

He plunged himself fully in you and you both groaned in response. No matter how many times you fucked it would always take some time before you could get used to how full you became with him. He felt you tighten against him, stirring him on as he started to slowly move in you. He pulled himself out so only his tip was left in before slamming himself back into you where he started fucking you wordless. Your moans filled the room and the sofa squeaked in response, no doubt it would be added to the list of items you two had broken in your apartment soon. He cupped a breast in your hand, his fingers rubbing your nipple causing your back to arch on the sofa while his mouth engulfed the neglected breast. You felt his fangs bite your nipple slightly and a wave of pleasure overtook you. His thrusts grew harder, more urgent to hear you moan louder.

“Miguel, fuck …”

“That’s what I’m doing aren’t I?” He smirked as he removed his mouth from your breast and switched his hand to the other.

Dickhead.

You wrapped your arms around his head pulling him closer to your breast as you felt his fangs sink harder into your breast. Another moan left your lips and you could feel that you were close. He removed a hand from you and held your leg firmer against your body allowing him to reach further inside you, hitting the same place he hit earlier.

You cried out loudly, the pleasure becoming too intense as you came all over his dick. His climax followed shortly after and you felt his hot cum fill you. He let his full body weight land on top of you. The pair of you heaved as you both allowed the pleasure to take over fully. After a while, he removed himself from your body and moved his dick back towards your mouth. You took him without order and licked every inch of his cum and yours off him as he panted. Once he was satisfied, he removed himself from you and sat beside you as you sat up. He would have sat on the coffee table but that was broken as well, due to you two fucking quite roughly.

“When do we need to be back at HQ?” You asked him.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head back. “About fifteen minutes ago.”

You sighed in annoyance and went to clean yourself up before putting your black suit back on. As much as you enjoyed how the suit hugged your curves, something Miguel enjoyed looking at as well, having to dress after the arrangement was an irritating process as it reminded you both of the problems that neither of you could escape.

“Look, Ser –“

“You don’t use my name, remember?” You snapped at him quickly. You gave him an ordering look; one he would not defy.

“Look, Widow.” He placed emphasis on your spider’s name. “We need to deal with Miles. This isn’t something we can brush over. It’s urgent.”

You were grateful for the mask that now covered your face, which concealed the eye roll you just gave.

“Yes, Miguel, I understand the importance of it.”

He gave a small nod. “Good.”

He fiddled with his watch quickly and opened a portal back to the HQ. You both entered it, knowing that whatever thing you had in your world, was not one to be shared in the other worlds. You enjoyed the relationship you had with him, but it was not one that could become something more. Could it?

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadows of the past Chapter 9

9. Birthday Boy

October 18th, 1890

Dear Anne,

Hogwarts is not the same without you. I know I’ve told you that multiple times, but it stays true every time. I hope you are feeling well. Whatever you need, please, let me know and I will head to Hogsmeade as soon as I receive your owl.

I feel as though I am becoming a true friend to Audrey. We spend most of our time together. You would love her. I plan to visit soon, just after our birthday. So, expect to see me at the end of the month. I’m going to invite Audrey to Feldcroft as well. I think you two will get along amazingly.

Before I sign off, I did not use your potions kit. I simply borrowed it.

Love,

Sebastian

Sebastian held the candle flame up to the wax and watched as it dripped onto the parchment. He sealed it with the wax seal of his family's crest that Anne had carved for him a few years prior. He stood up and placed the letter in the pocket of his robe. He contemplated taking the present he had bought Anne with him as well but decided against it. Growing up, she had always tried to peek into her presents, and Sebastian’s, every Christmas and birthday. He didn’t want her to open this present. It was his favourite one he had ever gotten her. She would just have to wait.

“Where are you heading?” Ominis asked him. He was lying on his bed, finger tracing along a sentence in a book he was reading.

“I’m going to the Owlery, I have a letter I need to send to Anne. After that I want to find Audrey, I think she’s been avoiding me after the Undercroft.”

Ominis sat up and tossed his book to the end of his bed.

“I’ll join you. I owe her an apology for how I reacted yesterday.”

The two walked along the path towards the Owlery, their scarves whipping in the wind. It had gotten a lot colder in the Autumn months, and it was approaching winter.

“Where do you think Audrey will be?” Ominis pondered.

“I believe she has Care of Magical Creatures next. I know she and Poppy walk to the lesson together.”

“You have noticed Audrey and Poppy walking to lessons together?” Shit! He didn’t need anyone else to know that he observed her a lot. First Audrey knew he was taking long looks at her, now he just revealed to Ominis that he saw Audrey and Poppy walking together to Care of Magical Creatures. Truthfully, it was just a simple pattern he had noticed in her day-to-day routine. Every time Audrey had Potions with him, she had Care of Magical Creatures next. The two girls would walk to it after Potions. The one time they didn’t have Potions before that lesson, Audrey would always wait near the Hufflepuff common room entrance, and they would walk together then. Today was that day. It was just a simple, innocent, observation.

“It’s just something I noticed; besides, Poppy asked me in the Great Hall at lunch if I had seen Audrey today. Did you not hear her?”

Ominis was going to remind him that his hearing was above average compared to everyone else but decided not to. He knew Poppy never spoke to Sebastian that day. He was aware of his best friend's blossoming crush on Audrey the day before. He wouldn’t have betrayed his trust for anyone unless he was infatuated with a girl.

They continued up the hill in silence, the only sound accompanying them was Sebastian’s heavy breathing.

“Sebastian, I truly believe you should get your breathing checked out. Tuberculosis is still strife now and I’d hate for you to be unaware if you have it.”

“Shut up. I’ve always been like this.”

“All I’m saying is –“

A scream broke the conversation between them. They both peered up to where the sound had come from. Sebastian saw her. Audrey. She was falling. Instantly, he pulled out his wand and cast it towards her falling body.

“Levioso!”

Sparks shot out from his wand towards her. Audrey felt her body slow down as if a giant hand had stopped her fall. She was mere inches from the floor when it stopped her in the air. Sebastian raced over to her.

“Audrey, are you ok? What happened? How did you fall?”

The spell let go of her when she let her feet touch the floor. She tried standing but felt her legs give away. Sebastian caught her, his hands holding her up by her armpits. Ominis had managed his way over to the pair.

“Audrey, are you ok?” He said it slower, allowing her time to respond. She breathed heavily, trying to recollect what had happened. It had happened so quickly.

“I ... I … It … the shadow it – pushed me …. I.” She stammered. She tried standing up straighter, but once again, her legs gave away. Sebastian held onto her more firmly now. He reached his arm around her waist and pulled her up straighter. She leaned her weight against him, feeling weak from the fear that was racing through her body.

Sebastian inched his face towards her, her lips brushed against the top of her head.

“Shh, everything is ok.” He said softly.

“We need to take her to Nurse Blainey,” Ominis ordered.

“No!” Audrey almost lurched at him as soon as he said that. “No. No Nurse Blainey.”

Ominis shook his head.

“Audrey, we need to take you there in case you’ve been hurt. You’re already in a state of shock; she can help you calm down.”

Audrey shook her head adamantly.

“Please, don’t take me there. I’ll be ok.” Raindrops had started falling around them. Sebastian looked down at her.

“Audrey –“

She looked up at him, tears brewing in her eyes.

“Please.” She didn’t say anything more. He understood, nodding at her. The rainfall had gotten heavier now. It trickled down their faces and the bottom of their robes were dampening from where it tickled the ground when they stood.

“Let’s head to the common room. We can deal with what happened there.” Sebastian confirmed. They started making their way towards the castle. Ominis led them hurriedly, with Sebastian and Audrey following behind. His arm was draped over her shoulder and his other arm rubbed her arm to comfort her. “When we get to the common room, we can talk about everything there. Try to remember what happened. It’ll help us for later.”

Audrey nodded softly. She didn’t want to know what he meant by his last sentence. What was he planning for later?  The three of them were becoming soaked now, the rain had gotten heavier with every step they took. Lightning cracked in the sky and thunder echoed loudly. Audrey counted the seconds between each clap of thunder. It was still some miles away. Her father had told her that every second between each sound of thunder represented how many miles it was away.

Ominis splashed ahead of them quickly. They reached the entrance of the building, and he held the door open for them as the pair followed. It wasn’t busy in the castle. The majority of students were in classes, so the halls were barren, aside from the occasional ghost wandering around. They walked in silence. Their footsteps echoed around them. It felt like years before they arrived at the Slytherin Common room. Ominis uttered the password, and they rushed inside. Sebastian guided Audrey to the chairs beside the fireplace.

“Here, warm yourself up with fire. Ominis, stay with her while I get a blanket.” Sebastian rushed off towards his and Ominis’s dorm while Ominis perched beside where Audrey sat. He could feel her shiver beside him.

“It’s ok, Sebastian will get you his blanket. It’s very warm. I remember falling into the Black Lake once and he gave me it to help me warm up.”

“It’s not the cold.”

Ominis offered her a sympathetic smile. They sat in silence listening to the crackle of the firewood. Sebastian hurried over to them, his blanket in his arms. He stood in front of her and wrapped her in it. It engulfed her and she laughed softly at how ridiculous she must look. They all looked a little ridiculous admittedly. Their hair was plastered to their faces. Sebastian’s face was tinged red and he was breathing quite heavily. Ominis look so dishevelled, something she had never seen before. Normally, he was dressed exquisitely, now he looked like a wet dog.

“Ok, so we need you to tell us everything that happened at the Owlery. How did you fall? Was it a person?”

“Sebastian!” Ominis warned him. He was getting ahead of himself. Asking too many questions before Audrey could calm herself properly.

“It's ok, it's fine.” She took a deep breath. “Something … p-pushed me.” Sebastian and Ominis listened to her carefully. The two boys already knew that once they knew who it was they would be tracking them down and having a friendly chat with the person.

“it was –“Tears started streaming down her face. “I – it was … I don’t know.” She started crying. Two months of intense learning, unfamiliarity, and stress weighed down on her, and it was finally taking its toll.  

Ominis reached over to her and wrapped her in a hug tentatively. He rubbed her back as she cried quietly, her face hidden in his shoulder. Sebastian knelt in front of her now and rubbed circles against her back. She didn’t care that two boys were touching her. To hell with what people would say about this. She needed this. She needed them.

“I think it’s best you calm down for a bit. Take a breather. I like to take a bath when I’m not feeling great. How does that sound?” Ominis offered his solution. There had been many times when he had taken himself away to submerge himself in the comforting warmth of a bath. Sebastian would accompany him, sitting on the stool that was placed in the corner. They didn’t care that they saw each other naked. The naked feeling of expressing their true emotions was far more intimidating than flashing each other their bare skin.

“I can’t,” Audrey responded meekly.

“Why not?”

Her face flushed a soft shade of pink.

“It’s … I don’t want to be alone.” Sebastian flushed a soft shade of pink now. He couldn’t believe what he was about to offer.

“How about … if Ominis and I sit with you while you bathe.” He saw Ominis’s face snap up scowling.

“We can sit on the floor and face the wall. I will close my eyes as well if you want me to. It’s just so you don’t feel alone.” Audrey nodded. “Ok, um, we can use the boys’ bathrooms. Ominis and I can’t enter the girl’s bathroom remember.” It was confusing as to why the girl’s dormitory and bathrooms were enchanted for the boys to not enter but the girls were able to enter their dorms and bathrooms. They were all aware of the girls that would sneak into the boy’s side of the common room and how they would slip out a while later.

The trio walked over to the boy’s bathroom. Fortunately, it was empty. Audrey shut the curtains as she filled the porcelain tub up. She didn’t have her luxurious soaps with her to soak in, but she didn’t care. All she craved was the warmth of the water to engulf her. She enjoyed the way her body floated in the water, it was almost as if the weight of all her problems left her body and all that was left was the shell that looked after her.

The boys stood awkwardly against the wall. The coolness of it failed to lower their body temperature which was rising over the situation they were in. I’m standing in a bathroom with a girl while she’s about to undress in front of me, I didn’t imagine Ominis would be here honestly, Sebastian thought to himself. He hated that that was what he was thinking of. He peered at Ominis whose eyes were sealed shut. Always the gentleman, he had told Audrey that he would close his eyes because, despite his blindness, he didn’t want to make Audrey uncomfortable if it looked as though he was staring at her.

Sebastian closed his eyes as well and tried flooding his mind with images. Professor Sharp in his pyjamas, specifically a woman’s nightgown, Uncle Solomon in that ugly green suit he had, grandma, grandpa, anything to not let his mind wander about where he was currently standing.

Audrey peered over the shoulder and saw that the two boys had their eyes closed. Very respectful of them, she thought. Quickly, she peeled off her robes and folded them over the stool. She unbuttoned her blouse and shimmied out of her skirt. She pulled off her tights, stays and undergarments and hid them under her robes. Why did Victorian women have to wear so many unnecessary layers?

She hopped into the bath.

“OK, you can sit on the floor now. Don’t worry about closing your eyes anymore, you won’t see me.”

The boys did as they were told, their backs leaned against the porcelain and their legs stretched out uncomfortably in front of them. The bathrooms were too small for them to extend their legs fully. When they arrived in the first year, the boys could extend their legs fully and still have some room. Now, they sat uncomfortably. It reminded them of how much they had changed since their arrival.

It was quiet for a while. The sound of the water, as Audrey adjusted herself in the tub, echoed around the walls.

“Never in my life did I think id be in the bathtub with two boys beside me.” She laughed to herself. “If my father heard of this, he would never let me return to Hogwarts.”

“Don’t worry about it. Plenty of girls sneak in here with the sixth- and seventh-year boys. Only a few of them have been caught. Although, it's best not to, rumours spread like wildfire here.” Sebastian joked. He removed his robes, overwhelmed with the heat from the steam, or was it from something else?

“Oh, I know.”

Ominis cleared his throat.

“So, if you’re Ok with talking about it now, what was it that pushed you.”

Silence filled the room again. Sebastian wished he could stand up and look at her face. To see her expression so he knows if he needed to save her from answering the question. He was desperate to know what had happened. But he wanted to prioritise Audrey’s feelings.

Audrey took a deep breath and dunked her head under the water. She didn’t come up for air straight away.

“Why did you ask her that?” Sebastian tapped Ominis’s shoulder aggressively. “She was laughing and happy.”

Ominis rolled his eyes. The pair didn’t have serious fights often, but they did bicker.

“We need to figure out what happened to her. It could be a serious threat to the school and not just herself.”

“I care about – “Before Sebastian could finish his sentence, Audrey’s head rose back up from under the water, and droplets dripped over the sides onto the two boys.

She took another deep breath.

“It was the shadow.”

“What? The shadow? What is the shadow?” Sebastian quizzed her.

“About a month ago I was attacked when I was taking a bath. It held me under the water and only stopped when a Prefect came into the bathroom. I haven’t seen it since then. Well, not until today. I was sending a letter to my father and … I saw a butterfly.” Audrey was embarrassed over how a small fragile insect had captured her attention so intensely. “I followed it to the highest point of the Owlery. I watched it fly off, that beautiful blue speck in the sky, and when I turned around it was there again. It pushed me off the side and that’s when you two saved me.”

The pair took in what they had heard. They had so many questions. What was this shadow spoke of and had it attacked anyone else in the castle? They would have heard if it had.

Ominis spoke first, “Does it look like someone? Or is it quite literally a shadow?”

“It’s not a shadow as if was cast by the sun. It is a black silhouette with no face or any depth to it. Somehow, it can hold onto me but I can’t hold onto it, my hands just slip through as though it’s some void. I don’t know, am I making any sense.”

“No, everything you’re saying does make sense.” Audrey appreciated Sebastian’s attempt at consoling her, but she knew she didn’t make sense. All of it was so surreal. “There might be something in the library about it. We can go tomorrow and look through all the books. We can try and get into the Restricted Section again, there must be something in there.”

“Sebastian.” Audrey leaned her head against the tub and closed her eyes. “I appreciate what you’re suggesting but I’ve had a look and I didn’t find anything.”

“But –“

“I don’t want to speak of it anymore.” Audrey snapped. Sebastian obeyed her request and sat silently. Ominis didn’t speak either. For what felt like the hundredth time that day, the trio sat in silence.

“It’s your birthday next week Sebastian. Ten and six. How are you celebrating?” Audrey attempted to change the mood into something more cheerful. Sebastian didn’t understand why she didn’t confide in the two of them. Why wouldn’t she confide in him?!

“Oh yes, Sebastian, aren’t you still insisting that a party be held in the Slytherin Common Room?”

Everyone knew Slytherins held the best parties at Hogwarts. You would be considered lucky if you were invited and were from another house. Normally, fifth-, sixth-, and seventh-year students would hold the parties. The younger years would either stay in their rooms or stand to the side in the common room. Sebastian had forgotten about his wish for one of Slytherin’s notorious parties to happen on his birthday. He didn’t want to think about it much, especially since Anne would not be here for this one.

“Well, I was planning on it but not – “

Audrey sat up straight and clapped her hands together. More water splashed over the sides onto the two boys, wetting them further.

“Amazing! I’ve heard about these Slytherin parties and have been so excited to experience one. That is, if I’m invited of course?”

“Of course, you’ll be invited!” Ominis answered her enthusiastically. The two of them started speaking excitedly over Sebastian’s arriving birthday. Normally, he loved his birthday. This year he was dreading it

~

October 27th, 1890

Sebastian’s birthday had crept around the corner and slapped him in the face the minute he woke up. His body was filled with dread. Every inch of him screamed guilt and sadness. It was a day to celebrate him and Anne. They were supposed to be eating cake and opening presents and spending time together. Instead, he was surrounded by friends, and she was stuck at Feldcroft in agony.

He kicked off his blanket and dressed slowly. Ominis wasn’t in their dorm, and his bed wasn’t made either. He knew where he was. He would be sat waiting in the common room, most likely with his gifts for him with his other Slytherin friends where they would all say happy birthday and chat about the party later that day. He looked in the mirror that was next to his bed. Small hairs stuck to the basin where some of them had started shaving and were too lazy to wash it. He rubbed his chin. Only a few hairs were growing above his lip and along his jaw, so he decided against shaving for today.

He made his way out of his dorm down to the common room. As expected, Ominis, Audrey and a couple of other Slytherins stood huddled around a table. Audrey peered over her shoulder and spotted him. Quickly she turned back to their friends and tapped all of them and they all turned around. She held out a cake, a Victoria sponge, that had sixteen candles teetering on top. A broad smile was plastered on her face. Had he not felt as solemn as he did, he would have found her quite beautiful at that moment.

“Happy birthday!” they all chimed. He walked over to them and scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Ah thank you guys.”

Audrey held the cake up to his face.

“Blow them out and make a wish.” He wished that Anne was here.

His friends clapped and cheered as he blew out the last candle. A couple clapped him on the shoulder wishing him happy birthday again before rushing out of the common room to their lessons. Imelda walked over and stood next to him as Audrey and Ominis fussed over the cake. They were arguing over whether jam should be the first layer or cream.

“A couple of seventh years managed to get fire whiskey and other alcohol for tonight. I’ve already warned the younger years to keep their mouths shut.”

“Good, alcohol is good.” Imelda left him then, not wanting to spend more time with him than she had to. They had a weird friendship/rivalry. Sebastian looked over to the table where alcohol was already being stacked for tonight. He walked over and picked one up. He read over the label. Fire whiskey. A couple of sips wouldn’t hurt.

Sebastian's solemn mood never wavered throughout the day. The only thing that changed was his sobriety. He had taken one of the bottles of fire whiskey and snuck it into his robes. Whenever his mind started drifting towards thoughts of Anne he would take a sip, and he had taken a lot of sips. His vision had started to blur by his third lesson of the day out of five. This didn’t stop him though.

In Defence Against the Dark Arts, Ominis noticed as he wobbled slightly more as he had been struck by Leander as he duelled him. It was unlike Sebastian to let someone hit him in a duel, let alone Leander. The pair despised him.

Audrey had pointed out a strong alcohol smell in potions, but Garreth had told her it was one of the ingredients they were using. Sebastian wasn’t grateful for what Garreth did, but he could have kissed him at that moment. That was the alcohol speaking he told himself. Sebastian rushed out of the classroom when it was over, not bothering to let Ominis know where he was heading. His bottle had run out and he needed another one before more thoughts of Anne in pain pained his mind.

“Sebastian!”

Shit!

“Ah, Natty. Something the matter?” He slurred slightly at his words.

She gave him her dazzling smile.

“I heard you're celebrating your birthday tonight in the Slytherin Common Room. Audrey told me it’s best to ask you for permission, but may I join?”

Sebastian gave her a big grin.

“Of course! Invite all of your friends, the more the merrier!” She gave him a quizzing look.

“Is everything Ok, Seb?”

“Of course, everything is fine, it's my birthday!” He spoke the last part a lot louder than he expected to.  Natty accepted his answer, wished him a happy birthday, and rushed off. He watched as she pulled aside another Gryffindor fifth year-student and spoke to him quickly before rushing off to another student. Sebastian carried on his journey to obtain more fire whiskey where he had been ambushed by some more students asking to come to his party. He told all of them yes.

A seven-minute journey had turned into twenty-six minutes with how many times he had been stopped by students. He reached for another bottle on the table, this time not reading the label and took a swig of it. It burned his throat and it tasted horrible. He took another swig and put the bottle into his robe pocket. His vision had become completely unfocused, and it felt like he was floating slightly. It didn’t feel like he was walking when he moved, which made sense as he suddenly found himself at Charms with no recollection as to how he got there.

He stared ahead of him to where Natty and Audrey were engaged in conversation. Well, he couldn’t see what they were doing, they looked like little blobs from where his vision had blurred.

Professor Ronen paced the length of the classroom as he spoke about charms. What charm Professor Ronen was speaking about, Sebastian had no clue. Ominis nudged him.

“Huh – what?” Sebastian gave him an annoyed look.

“Mister Sallow, can you answer the question please?” Ronen was standing at the foot of his desk peering over him.

Shit, why did he not pay attention.

“Um, sorry Professor. I wasn’t paying attention.”

Professor Ronen tutted and started his pace of the classroom again.

“I could already tell that Mister Sallow, please pay attention in the future. It was essential for your OWLS. Five points from Slytherin.”

A cast of groans filled the room from Slytherin students. Great, that will make this party tonight so much better, Sebastian thought.

“What’s wrong Sebastian? You’re not being yourself. I saw what you were like in Defence against the Dark Arts.” Ominis whispered harshly to him.

If he focused enough his vision cleared, it was blurring the most when he changed where he was looking at.

“Are you listening to me?” Ominis asked. Sebastian was not listening. He was staring at Audrey now. She wasn’t looking at him, instead, her attention was on Natty. Natty glanced over at the boy and tapped Audrey on the arm and pointed towards Sebastian. Audrey looked over to him and gave him a smile, that beautiful smile. Sebastian smiled back at her as well and winked. She gave him a thumbs up and started talking with Natty again. She had found the entire thing amusing and was giggling to herself while Audrey swatted at her arm, but she couldn’t hide her laugh as well.

“Unbelievable.” Ominis rolled his eyes. “You’ve been drinking haven’t you.”

“So what.”

“Sebastian, I understand that today is going to be difficult for you but a decision like this isn’t going to help you or Anne.”

Sebastian gripped Ominis’s wrist under the table.

“Don’t speak about her,” Sebastian growled. Ominis had witnessed Sebastian in a couple of fights and had heard him get aggressive, but he never was like this to Ominis. He knew he had tapped a nerve and regretted it.

“Ok, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Tonight will be fun, we can let loose a little.” Sebastian's grip on Ominis’s hand weakened and he let go eventually. Yes, tonight will be fun.

It was 8:00 pm when students started arriving. The older students had brought alcohol with them. The table that held them all had filled up so much that two other tables had to be pushed up against it to hold the collection of bottles.

Since Charms, Sebastian had consumed another bottle of fire whiskey. There were a lot more students in the common room than he realised. There were students from all years and houses here, even some he knew he did not invite. What the fuck? How the hell did Zenobia Noke get invited? Imelda strolled up to him, bottle in hand.

“I must say, Sebastian, this party is the best one yet. I have to say some student invites are a bit more questionable than others.” He followed where her gaze landed on Puffskein Dunkein. Ominis was so proud of that nickname he made. “Have you seen Audrey? Last I saw she was with Poppy and Natty, but I didn’t get to speak to them before Garreth came over and started kissing me.”

Sebastian almost choked as he took another swig of his drink. Garreth and Imelda, what a pair that was.

“When’s the wedding?”

Imelda scoffed.

“There will be no wedding. He was just there, and I have needs Sebastian. Women have needs just like boys like you do.” With that, she laughed and walked off. What did she mean by boys like him? She must have heard that damned poltergeist Peeves when he went through the corridors chanting about how he caught Sebastian right before he was going to touch himself.

Women have needs just like boys like you do. He let that ponder on his mind. Did Audrey have needs like he did? She must do. She is a woman, and as Imelda said, women have needs. What if she found her way to Garreth and he satisfied these needs she had? He couldn’t allow that boy to do anything to her. He needed to find her.

His drunken mind had taken Imelda’s simple statement and spurred it into a plan to protect her from Garreth’s wandering lips and tongue. He wobbled as he pushed past a group of seventh-years who were trying to bounce balls into goblets filled with wine. He made his way over to fifth-year girls, in the complete opposite direction of where Audrey was standing chatting with Poppy and Natty.

They clanked their goblets together, tipsy off the wine they were drinking.

“What was that about him winking at you in Charms?” Poppy asked Audrey. The three girls had become quite close in their infrequent time spent together.

“Oh my god, you should have seen it. He gave her the biggest smirk and winked. I know Sebastian is a flirt, but I’ve never got to witness it.” Poppy and Natty laughed as Audrey blushed. Sebastian was a flirt? Audrey didn’t take much notice when he had winked at her earlier. She assumed it was just their friendship and it wasn’t nothing more than that. She hadn’t heard any rumours that he was a flirt. Did that mean he spent a lot of time with other girls? She was disappointed but shook it off.

“He’s a flirt but will never get with any of the girls. I saw Cressida crying in the third year once because he didn’t return her affection.” Poppy added.

“He’s never courted any girls?” Audrey asked.

Natty and Poppy laughed again.

“You’re so formal Audrey. People don’t court here, well it’s not taken as seriously as muggles take it. Have you not seen older students sneaking into the rooms of others late at night?” Audrey took a long sip of her drink, trying to hide her blushing face. Yes, she had seen people sneaking around at night with red faces and puffy lips. Imelda has sworn her to secrecy when Audrey had heard her return quite late at night after hanging out with Garreth. She assumed it was just kissing that everyone was doing.

“Course I have, I was just wondering whether Sebastian has been with any girls is all.”

Poppy took a long swig of her drink and Natty poured herself another.

“Tell me, Audrey.” Audrey noticed as Natty’s drink sloshed over the sides which Natty hadn’t noticed. “If Sebastian asked you to sneak out with him, would you?”

“I would.” Poppy chided in quickly. The three erupted into laughter. Audrey downed the rest of her drink and contemplated her answer. She already had snuck out with Sebastian. Though, not in the same way the two girls might have encouraged her to. Sebastian was nice. Sebastian was handsome. He was funny, sarcastic, witty, charming, and talented. He was her closest friend at the castle.

“If you mean it in the way I know you are, then no. He’s my closest friend. I wouldn’t want to ruin that by trying to do anything scandalous with him. It’s risky.” The two girls booed her and pushed their drinks into Audrey’s hands.

“Drink up Audrey, and then maybe you’ll start admitting things to yourself.” Quickly, she gulped down the two drinks. The velvety heat of the alcohol burned her throat as it travelled down it. She laughed loudly, the effect of the numerous alcoholic drinks she had had that evening already taking its toll on her. She felt weightless as if every stressful event that had happened in the two months had vanished from her memory. Ominis had sauntered up to the three girls, goblet in hand.

“How are you three enjoying the evening?”

Poppy rushed over and hugged him. He froze at the sudden contact but quickly recovered, wrapping his arms around the small girl. Natty picked up the goblet that was falling out of Poppy’s hand and downed the rest of the drink.

“This party is great. But have you seen Sebastian?”

“Ominis shook his head. “No, I haven’t. It’s difficult to navigate myself around here with so many people.”

“Yeah, there’s so many people here, yay people!” Poppy cheered loudly. She was a lot more drunk than they had realised. Audrey peeled Poppy away from Ominis, and he sent her a grateful smile for being freed from the clutches of Poppy.

“You stay here with Poppy and Natty. I’m going to try and find him.” Before Audrey could protest, he had disappeared into the crowd of people. She turned on her heel to find Poppy and Natty slowly dancing together.

“Audrey come join us!” Natty called out. She did as was told Despite her need of finding Sebastian, she owed it to her girls to hang out with them. She crashed into their embrace, and they giggled as they twirled around each other in drunken bliss.

Ominis made his way through the crowd shouting out Sebastian’s name. It was useless considering how loud it was in here.

“Sebastian! Sebastian – ow that’s my foot you dick!”

“Sorry!” A sixth-year called out.

Ominis cried out Sebastian’s name until he felt something clap him hard on the shoulder. He turned around quickly.

“Ominis, my brother! How are you enjoying my party? Best one yet I’ve been told.” He was incredibly drunk. Ominis felt him wobble and he held a hand out to steady him.

“You want to dance with me? You only have to ask.” Sebastian reached out for Ominis’s hands and wrapped them behind his neck and situated his own hands around Ominis’s waist. Ominis laughed and rolled his eyes.

Sebastian scoffed. “You do realise that just because you can’t see doesn’t mean I can’t see you roll your eyes.”

“I do it because I know you can see me.” Ominis heard Sebastian’s lip squeak and he knew he was sending him an air kiss. “Audrey’s looking for you.”

“Where is she?” He asked him urgently. “I need to protect her from Garreth, he’s going to try and kiss her because she has needs!” Ominis had no clue as to what Sebastian was referring to.

“Garreth is not going to kiss her Sebastian. Wait where are you –“ Before Ominis could finish his question, Sebastian took off towards the staircase. He had seen a flash of ginger. That specific ginger shade of Weasley! He had to warn him to stay away from Audrey. Ominis tried to keep up with him, his wand guiding him through the crowd and up the stairs to where Sebastian was heaving out of breath.

“Sebastian!” Leander greeted the boy cheerfully.

“Leander!” Sebastian spat.

“I heard you were having a party and so here I am. Where was my invite?”

“I don’t know Leander, where was your invite? Enlighten me.” Sebastian crossed his arms across his chest. He had started tipping backwards but Ominis had placed a firm hand on his back balancing him.

“Come off it Sebastian. Put this stupid rivalry aside and just let me in.” Leander looked too confident in his effort to try and join the party. “Everyone knows the party doesn’t start til I’m here.”

Ominis laughed loudly. It took him by surprise, but he couldn’t hide his amusement over Leander suggesting that.

“You hear that Leander, that’s the laughter of everyone’s amusement over such a bullshit statement. Go home.” Sebastian turned on his heel, almost falling over Ominis from where he stood still holding him up.

“But –“

“Fuck off Leander!” Ominis and Sebastian both yelled at him. Defeated, Leander made his way back to the Slytherin common room entrance.

“You do realise that he’s going to rat us out to a staff member now,” Ominis told him.

“I don’t care. Everyone will hate him for ruining such a great party!” He spoke the last four words very loudly and held up his bottle of rum. Wait, when did he get that? The crowd at the bottom of the stairs cheered loudly and raised their goblets and bottles and took long swigs. They resumed their chatter. Sebastian’s mission was not over. He scanned the crowd for red.

Red dresses, red drinks, red faces – wait is that Natty smacking Poppy on the ass? Ginger!

There. He saw him. That flash of ginger near the far-right corner of the common room. Sebastian rushed down the stairs, tripping at the bottom. Ominis struggled after him.

“I’m going to kill him.”

Audrey whooped as Natty smacked Poppy on the ass for the fifth time to the music playing. Beethoven just got people in the party mood. She twirled around, her dress fluttering around her and lifting higher than anticipated. It flashed her thighs to the people around her but she didn’t care. She was enjoying herself and that’s all that mattered at that moment.

She took another swig of her drink and realised it was empty.

“I’m going to get another drink!” She called out to the two girls but it didn’t appear they had heard. She stumbled over to the wall where a bottle of alcohol had been placed. She didn’t know what type it was, but she didn’t mind as long as it kept her in the state she was in. She felt herself stand on something hard and heard a yelp.

“Shit, I'm so sorry!” She held her hands up apologetically as the victim turned to face her. It was Garreth. He was sweaty, his face red and lips puffy from where he had been kissing Imelda, who was pinned up against the wall. “Oh wow, sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt you.”

“It’s ok, I haven’t had a drink in an hour.” Imelda stood up and straightened her skirt and shirt which had become dishevelled from Garreth’s wandering hands. She rushed off quickly to find a drink. Sheepishly, Garreth rubbed the back of his neck.

“Sorry, we got a bit ahead of ourselves.”

“It’s ok, our dorm should be free so you two can go off into there. I won't interrupt again.”

Garreth choked as Audrey said that.  His face turned a deep shade of crimson.

“Garreth it’s ok, I know that you and Imelda sneak out all the time to do whatever scandalous thing you do. I won’t tell.” Audrey leaned against the wall to steady herself. Garreth chuckled.

“Ah has she told you then? Tell me, Audrey Thornhill, what scandalous things do we get up to?” She could smell the alcohol on his breath and she was sure he could smell it on hers as well.

“Well, you’re kissing obviously.”

He raised an eyebrow.

“Just kissing?”

She didn’t know how to respond to it. She knew there was something more that happened after kissing. She just couldn’t explain it. The act and details of it were still foreign to her.

“You don’t know, do you? Do you want to know?” He leaned closer to the eye. She wanted to tell him yes. She wanted to know what this act was.

“Weasley!”

Sebastian stormed over to him, face livid. Garreth stood straighter but didn’t shy away from how close he was stood to Audrey still.

“Sebastian! Amazing party!”

“Shut your mouth!” Before Garreth could respond, Sebastian’s fist collided with the boy's face. “Leave her and her needs alone. She doesn’t want or need you!” The boy kept colliding his fist against the other boy. Garreth retaliated and tried pushing away.

“What the fuck Sebastian! You’re drunk. Ominis help me!” Ominis rushed over and restrained Sebastian.

“Garreth, are you ok?” Audrey asked him. She took his face in her hands and checked over him. His nose was bleeding but other than that he appeared fine.

“Other than a bruised ego I should be fine. At least his duelling skills are better than his fist-fighting skills.”

Sebastian tried lurching forward again but was pulled back by Ominis.

“Thank you Garreth, let's rile him up even more,” Ominis said sarcastically and pulled Sebastian away from them all and tried heaving him up the stairs. Audrey followed as everyone around them continued with what they were doing before the fight.

“Let go of me Ominis!” Sebastian broke free from his friend and started rushing up the stairs towards the entrance of the common room. Audrey checked the time and saw it was 12:56 am. Fuck! It was too late for Sebastian to be wandering the halls. It was too late for any of them to be in the common room. They were all going to get in trouble if people didn’t start leaving soon.

Sebastian burst through the entrance and took off down the hall.

“Stay away from Garreth everyone!” He yelled down the corridor to no one. Audrey and Ominis chased after him, yelling out his name.

“He’s going to get us caught.” Ominis hissed at Audrey.

“I Know. Sebastian no!” She shouted out to him as had made his way to a garden. He decided to climb over the brick fencing rather than the normal entrance. He stumbled over to the fountain, muttering something about needs and how It was something he could do. He leaned against the fountain and heaved. Ominis and Audrey stood behind him unsure of what to do. They watched as he leaned forward slightly and retched, emptying the contents of his stomach into the water.

“For fuck’s sake,” Ominis muttered and rubbed his temples.

“Such colourful language Ominis. I don’t expect this from you.”

Ominis stretch out his hand towards Sebastian. “Well, I never expected this.” Sebastian retched again, and more contents of his stomach entered the fountain.

“Should we help him?” Audrey asked.

“No.” Ominis sat on the ground and leaned against the fountain, far away enough from him to avoid raining droplets of vomit but close enough to offer a comforting stroke on his leg. “He will cope.” Audrey sat down beside him.

“I never got to apologise properly for what happened at the Undercroft. I reacted poorly. I hope you can forgive me.”

Audrey gave him a sympathetic smile and held his hand.

“Don’t worry about it. The Undercroft is special to you. Admittedly, I would react the same way.” He smiled at her and they sat in silence while Sebastian heaved more.

“Why was he so riled up against Garreth? I heard him mention something about needs.” Ominis shrugged his shoulders.

“I have no clue. He’s been drinking all day did you know? I imagine Garreth said something to him and it’s been on his mind all day. We can ask him tomorrow. That is if he will be conscious tomorrow.” The pair glanced over to where Sebastian had slumped onto the ground. Audrey stood up and tried picking him up by his armpits.

“Come on, we need to get you back to the common room.” He didn’t fight back. He stood up with the assistance of the two and they walked slowly back to the common room. They had their arms under him and his face was slumped forward.

“Christ Sebastian at least help us,” Ominis begged his friend.

Suddenly, they heard the echo of footsteps down the corridor. They knew it was a staff member. Professor Sharp appeared around the corner and his gaze landed on the three instantly. He made his way over.

“Care to explain to me why you three are out so late in the corridor? And why is Mister Sallow looking like that?” Ominis and Audrey offered the professor a sheepish smile. Instantly at hearing his name, Sebastian stood up straight and shook himself from his friend's assistance. He raised a hand and looked Sharp in the eye.

“Professor Sharp, there Is something I must tell you.” He lurched forward and emptied his stomach all over the professor’s shoes. It felt like hours before he finally stood up straight again, wiping his mouth clean. “Oops.”

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadows of the past Chapter 8

The Undercroft

October 17th, 1890

It had been just over a month since Audrey’s and Sebastian's adventure in the Restricted Section. They hadn’t gone on any adventures since, well, Sebastian hadn’t. Audrey’s time at Hogwarts had been filled with tasks by Fig. She hadn’t been able to confide in anyone about what she had been doing. A heavy weight of responsibility weighed on her shoulders. Every day had held a new revelation, another secret about herself. As the days passed, she felt her old self slipping away more and more, and although she was uncovering more information about the ancient magic, Ranrok, and Rookwood, there was still so much to figure out. Every answer she gained created ten more questions. It was as if she was in purgatory, and the only way she could leave was when she learnt the entire truth.

It was a situation she had never been in. Well, obviously, it was a situation she hadn’t been in. But aside from the fact that the magical world and everything in it were still very foreign to her, the mental state she was in was something she had never experienced before.

Audrey had a pleasant upbringing, and she was not ignorant of the privileged life she had been given. Daily walks in London and trips around the UK reminded her of the squalor many people lived in. She felt guilty over the fortune she and her father had. She would never have to work. Eventually, she would marry a rich gentleman and start a family with him. Her class protected her from the difficulties women of a lower class faced. She knew of the work poorer women took part in, willingly and unwillingly. She had a shared understanding with these women that their sex posed a barrier to the workforce. She couldn’t imagine being forced to surrender her body; for it to be abused and belittled by the men who craved it. The struggles these people faced made her feel all the more guilty about how she was feeling.

Ominis tapped her shoulder, breaking her out of the spiral of guilt she was delving into.

“Are you coming? We're going to be late for herbology.”

They started towards the herbology classroom. It had become one of Audrey’s favourite lessons. The greenhouse reminded her of the vivarium she and her father had visited often when she was in London. Professor Garlick’s enthusiasm for the subject was infectious and was something she enjoyed witnessing a lot.

Ominis walked ahead of her slightly and was rambling on about Sebastian. He had accidentally spilled his potion all over Ominis’s robes which he was not happy about. Obviously, Audrey had been told by Sebastian straight away about this incident. Whenever she was not helping other students with their ridiculous tasks, seriously, she had to gather some girl’s gobstones that had been scattered all around the castle and the girl didn’t give her any compensation, or was not helping Fig with their secret tasks, she was always with Sebastian. He had taught her how to play go stones with the new set she had gained, courtesy of Zenobia, who was not happy about it. They spent the majority of their time together in the library studying together. Ominis hung out with them a lot as well, but Sebastian and Audrey were inseparable. Teachers had started commenting on the closeness of the pair, and a couple of students had commented on the rumour that Sebastian lied to get her out of detention. Her heart fluttered a little when she heard these rumours, although she didn’t understand why.

They made their way into the greenhouse where Sebastian was standing waiting at the desk. He stood facing them, hands clasped, and he tilted his head slightly and smiled as Audrey made her way down next to him.

“Well, if it isn’t the brightest hibiscus in this garden.” He teased her. Since Professor Garlick had referred to her as one of the new roses to enter the garden, Sebastian had started refereeing to her as a new flower or plant every time they met up in the lesson.

She rolled her eyes at him. Audrey began working away at the project, removing the soil from the pots, and repotting the plants into larger pots.

“I was thinking.” Uh oh, sometimes Sebastian and thinking were not the best combinations. Although one of the brightest students at Hogwarts, Sebastian and his mind could be a dangerous duo. Ominis had told her about many of his more, questionable, decision and actions. Some of them were a lot more comedic than others, but they were stories for another day. Sebastian continued, “There’s a place I want to show you. I haven’t spoken about it before, it’s a secret.” He looked over his shoulder to where Ominis sat at the table, working away at his project. He turned back towards Audrey.

“Meet me here tonight.” He slipped her a ripped piece of parchment with the location scribbled on it. She took it and pushed it up her sleeve and nodded at him. The two returned to their projects and worked in silence for some time.

Audrey had left their desk for a moment to talk to Poppy, and he took that moment to look at her. He hadn’t seen her properly in two days. It was something he had noticed quite quickly in their friendship. She would often go missing for a few days at a time. Well, missing was an exaggerated term. He wouldn’t be able to hang out with her properly for a day or two, which was weird for them as they had always gravitated towards each other in lessons and their free time.

He had noticed her sneaking out of the common room the night before. Where she was going, he didn’t know, but it was something he wanted to find out soon. His curiosity could never be dampened. He studied her as she spoke with Poppy. He noticed that whenever she laughed, she pulled a hand towards her face to cover her mouth as if she was shy of showing the joy that lit up her face. Her attention was completely on Poppy, her eyes never leaving the shorter girl's face. He admired that in her. The etiquette lessons that had been drilled into her clearly had a lasting impact. But, whenever she broke out of the lady-like act she had to maintain, the true nature of her character shone brightly. Her happiness and the way she expressed it was so beautiful. Her entire face shone, like the tip of a wand as it cast a spell. He loved watching her enthusiasm to learn more about the wizarding world.

“OK class that’s it for the day, thank you for being wonderful as ever my succulents.” Clearly, the nature pet names were not going to be ending soon.

~

It was gone 8pm when Audrey had left the common room. She was supposed to meet Sebastian there as he was in detention into the late evening for apparently standing too close the gate barring them from the Restricted section, or that’s what he had told her. She believed it was more the case that he was fiddling with the lock rather than just standing there.

She had changed out of her robes into something more comfortable. She wore a simple long skirt and a blouse that she had tucked into it. She made her way to the location, every once in a while, she looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was following her. Although, part of her was nervous that she would see the shadow that had attacked her again. She hadn’t seen it since the incident. There were a few times she thought she had and startled those around her as she jumped slightly. However, it was just the natural shadows cast by the candles littered throughout the castle.

She could see Sebastian now. He was still in his uniform, but his tie had been pulled loose and the top button on his shirt had been unbuttoned. He smiled at her as she made her way over to him quickly.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Imelda wouldn’t stop harassing me about practising flying with her. She wants me to try and join the Quidditch team next year if the season is back on.”

He folded his arms across his chest and smirked.

“Going to try out for Quidditch eh? Well ill have you know I was planning on trying out to be a beater this year, but I doubt Imelda would have let me join, she has it out for me I swear. Maybe if you get on the team, you can convince her to let me join.”

Audrey laughed, and as he had observed earlier, brought her hand to cover her mouth.

“Well, we will have to see about that won’t we.” She dropped her hand and clasped them together. “I never thanked you for what you did in the library.”

“Of course – as you saw I have my way out of detention.”

She gave him a suspicious look. “I’ve yet to see that.” He rolled his eyes at her. “Well, you took the fall for me. And that counts for something.”

“Did you find what you were looking for?” She had never told him what had happened after he left to follow Peeves. Fig had sworn her to secrecy.

“I did, but something was missing – “she stuttered slightly. She shouldn’t tell him, but she felt compelled to, after all, he did get her out of detention. “I’m not sure here is the best place to discuss it.”

He nodded and leaned in the direction towards the end of the hall. “Understood. We can talk more in a moment. In the Undercroft. Not even the professors know about this place.” He guided her behind a wall and indicated an antique-looking cupboard. Gold clocks and compasses adorned the front of it. He rhythmically tapped on the door, and it opened, revealing a stone spiral staircase.

He held out his arm. “Ladies first.”

The pair walked down the staircase, the glow from the tip of their wands illuminated the gloomy walls. She felt as though she had been walking down the steps for ages until they arrived at a large open space.

“How did you find this place?” she said amazed. Four pillars stood in the middle of the room. The only light that shone in the room was from the beeswax candles and four small skylights in the ceiling. The room was quite barren, everything that lived in the room was pushed up against the walls. Barrels and metal armour that looked as though it had taken a few beatings, and other dusty furniture that hadn’t been covered up had books piled on top of them. Although the books didn’t look as though they had been read for a long time, some were falling apart at the spines. Her father would have known how to fix them.

Sebastian strolled into the middle of the room and leaned against one of the pillars. Next to it stood a chalkboard with white scribbles that had since faded. “Ominis did, he named it the Undercroft. We used to play gobstones here all the time – with my sister Anne. She loved that infernal game. What I wouldn’t give to lose to her again”

Audrey wondered why Ominis wasn’t here since it was his place of discovery. She remembered how Sebastian seemed secretive in Herbology when he had told her to meet him there, and how he was cautious of how close Ominis was near them.

“I should tell you: I swore to Ominis I would safeguard this place. So, please keep this between us.” She thought it was weird for him to ask her to be secretive. After all, Ominis and Sebastian were the closest friends they both had she had observed. “He never confides in anyone – but he’s trusted me since the day we met. I wouldn’t want to jeopardise that. We used to sneak in here almost daily. We’ve never been caught.”

While he spoke, Audrey had made her way over to him after wandering around the room taking everything in. They made themselves comfortable on the floor and he told her how Ominis’s family came to learn of the place. He urged her again to not tell anyone and she assured him she wouldn’t betray his trust. He revealed more about Ominis, probably more than he should have without his friend’s permission. Despite Audrey, Sebastian and Ominis being each other’s favoured company during her little time there, Ominis had rarely spoken of his family.

“Anyway, the Undercroft has been a perfect place to sneak off to – away from prying eyes – and even practice otherwise forbidden spells.”

“Really? Like what?”

He smiled as he told her, “The blasting curse, Confringo. Professors say it's not an appropriate spell to teach students.”

“A proper magical education ought to include all magic.”

Ah, a girl after my own heart, he thought to himself.

“My thoughts exactly. A spell-like Confringo is only truly dangerous in untrained hands. Such spells should be properly taught, not banned. To be fair, I’m admittedly partial to more fiery forms of magic – but you should learn it. I can teach it to you safely here.”

They spent a bit of time together going over the wand movement before practising the incantation. She knew that when she flicked the wand it was important that it be positioned precisely where she wanted the spell to be cast. Otherwise, she could easily set fire to something that she didn’t want to.

Sebastian pointed out the braziers that hung from the ceiling.

“Try not to set the Undercroft on fire – it's best to keep it intact.” He warned.

She chuckled quietly to herself, “Don’t get cheeky.” She repeated the movements Sebastian had shown her earlier and yelled out, “Confringo!”. Heat flared in her hand and right red sparks shot out of her wand and hit against the stone wall. It ricocheted back to them, and the pair had to jump out of the way to avoid being hit.

Slightly embarrassed, Audrey picked herself up off the floor from where she had slung herself to and dusted off her clothes. “I’m sorry about that, I thought I was pointing at the brazier.”

Sebastian picked himself up as well and made his way over to her.

“It’s ok, we can’t all be amazing our first time. Just remember to aim it directly where you want the spell to hit. We’re stood quite far away from the brazier, so as the spell travels in the air it will travel lower to the ground the farther it goes. Try pointing your wand a little higher than the top of the brazier and it should hit it. It's simple physics.”

She raised her eyebrows at him, “Physics? I didn’t think science would apply to magic.” She raised her wand upwards again and pointed it directly towards the brazier. “Like this?”

“Here, I can show you where to hold it.” He moved closer to her now and raised his hand slightly but stopped himself, “May I?”.

She nodded at him. He positioned himself slightly behind her and held onto her forearm. Gently, he raised it a few inches higher. “Try it now.”

She flicked the wand and the sparks shot out of the tip of her wand again, this time successfully hitting the brazier, alighting it with fire. A low glow filled the room, and the pair felt a warmth between them. Although, this wasn’t from the fire nor the heat that travelled through Audrey’s wand.

“Amazing!” She turned around to face him, a proud smile plastered on her face. He looked down to where his arm was still holding onto her forearm and he quickly retracted, scratching the back of his head. Audrey couldn’t hide the blush that had crept into her cheeks. It was the most physical contact she had had with a boy. I shouldn’t have allowed him to get that close to me. It can get me in a lot of trouble. As much as she had enjoyed the feeling of him so close to her, it wasn’t something a girl like her could do. He knew that as well. At least it had happened in the Undercroft where no one could see them. Had it happened in a classroom where another student could walk in and see, it would be the talk of the school.

Sebastian had heard rumours of seventh-year students being embarrassed by other students for being caught intimate with others. Muggle-borns and half-bloods that still took part in muggle societal events would be humiliated by jealous students who had outed their romantic escapades to their families and friends. Sebastian didn’t want to be responsible for causing someone problems like that.

He tried changing the subject to something humorous.

“The first time Ominis and I practised, Confringo, we singed our eyebrows.” Audrey couldn’t contain her laughter. The thought of Sebastian and Ominis walking around school with missing eyebrows was a sight she would pay to see. Sebastian watched her laugh, this time she didn’t conceal that symbol of joy. He noticed the dimples on her cheeks, how they deepened the harder she laughed at the story. He wished he got to see her laugh like this more. “I swore we’d never live it down. I tried cutting a little off my own hair to try fashioning fake eyebrows out of it but it made me look even stupider.”

“Sebastian, that was exactly the type of spell I’ve been hoping to learn. The way my wand heated up in my hand, I felt this electricity shoot through my body as I cast it. It’s almost addictive.” He admired the way she spoke. It reminded him of himself a lot.  

“There’s more where that came from. Been practising similar spells here for ages. Although I didn’t tell Anne and Ominis about everyone. I haven’t been here in some time. It’s not the same without Anne.”

“I’m sorry about your sister. If there’s anything I can do –“He interrupted her before she could finish the sentence. Sebastian had been thinking over the past month. It was inappropriate to ask her to help him, and it was going to be selfish of him, but he needed Anne to be better. He’d do anything for her.

“Perhaps when I next head to Feldcroft, you could come along. Meet Anne, she could use some cheering up.”

“I’d be glad to.”

“She misses Hogwarts. She’s been stuck at home with our guardian – Uncle Solomon. Unfortunately, you have to meet him too. But he’ll like you, I doubt there’s many people that don’t like you.” Audrey blushed at the compliment and Sebastian realised quickly how that sounded. “Um, by the way, what was it you couldn’t discuss out in the hall earlier?”

She let out a sigh, “Ok, I can see traces of ancient magic.” What he thought she was going to tell him was not that.

“Ancient magic? I don’t know what I was expecting you to say, but it wasn’t that. What does that even mean?”

“Honestly, I’m not entirely certain. All I know is that I can see whispers of old magic that hardly anyone else can.”

He couldn’t wrap his head around it. “Whispers of magic? Like it speaks to you, and you can see it? Hasn’t this been recorded before? There are many rare abilities that witches and wizards possess but why is this so secretive?”

She was slightly irritated. She shared his intense curiosity but there were so many questions she had that she couldn’t deal with adding another load to her list. She closed her eyes and shook her head. “I don’t know, that’s what Fig and I are trying to find out. It's why you might not see me for a while at a time. I know that you’ve noticed.”

Sebastian was embarrassed by the last sentence. This meant that she had realised him staring at her whenever they hadn’t been together for a while.

“I’m sorry,” she started. “I’m really tired. It’s been a long day and I haven’t had a moment to rest between classes, flying lessons, extra assignments, and Fig asking –“Before she could continue he pressed his hand against her shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.

“It’s OK, you don’t need to explain to me.”

She gave him a small smile. “Thank you, Sebastian. This means a lot to me.” She made her way over to the door and he watched as she exited the Undercroft. He leaned against the pillar and rested his head against the smooth, cold stone. His fingers traced the curve in his hand where it had held against her wrist. He was aware of her smell that lingered where they had been standing. It was jasmine and honeysuckle with an odd hint of spice. It reminded him of a greenhouse. He stood against the pillar for a little while longer and thought of what had happened in the Undercroft. His memories of this place were fond, he, Anne, and Ominis had spent countless hours in there. Sometimes they stayed throughout the night and had to sleep on the cold floor as it was past curfew. They played Gobstones and talked about their lives. It was their sanctuary.

The creaking of the iron gate alerted him of a presence. It was Ominis, seething with rage.

“Ominis, what are you doing here?”

Ominis stormed over to him, a finger pointing at his face. “You rat! I specifically told you not to tell anybody about this place. This is our place, this is my place! And you told her!”

Sebastian didn’t appreciate the way he was referring to Audrey as someone not worthy of knowing. The three of them had spent most of the year hanging out with each other. He knew Ominis was fond of Audrey, there were few people he was fond of. So why was it such a big deal that she knew?

“Ominis relax, I trust her wholeheartedly. I know she wouldn’t tell a soul about this place.”

Ominis laughed, “Really? How would you like to know that as soon as I confronted her, she told me instantly that you showed her.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and was grateful that Ominis couldn’t see his reaction. “That’s probably because you’re her friend and she didn’t want to lie to you. I explained to her how this place was discovered by your family so it was bound to come up in conversation soon anyway and we would have shown her.”

Ominis shook his head. “You told her about my family without my expressed permission?”

“Look, Ominis, I know you don’t like your family’s history but she’s sympathetic. She’s not like other people, she won’t use your family against you – “

“Don’t speak about my family Sebastian!” He stood closer to the boy, attempting to intimidate him. “I will speak to Audrey about myself more when I am pleased to do so. I would never speak about Anne or your parents to her unless you were present. I ask very little of you and yet you betrayed my trust.”

Sebastian sighed and decided to be the bigger person, “Ok, I’m sorry. I should have asked for permission before showing her the Undercroft. But, please, don’t take this out on her.”

“Oh, I won’t. Admittedly, I let my anger take control and spoke to her quite harshly just now. You, on the other hand, can deal with it.” Sebastian knew where this was going. “To demonstrate your guilt and for me to forgive you, you can write my potions assignment for me.” Although frustrating that he now had to do even more work, he knew how much Ominis hated potions so this was a good solution to mend the trust Sebastian had broken.

“Ok, deal.”

~

The next day Audrey decided to keep her distance from the two boys. Ominis was angry at her, and Sebastian would be as well as soon as he found out she had ratted him out. She was irritated with both admittedly. She was annoyed at Sebastian for putting her in an awkward situation that she would have to lie to Ominis about, and she was irked by Ominis for not trusting her with this place. They were becoming good friends, so why would he not want her to know about the Undercroft?

Audrey made her way up the hill towards the Owlery. She was delivering a letter that would be going to her father. They had been sending letters weekly to each other now. Elijah kept her updated on the conservation work and new displays at his work. He worked at the Natural History Museum and handled the finances and funding of the building. He had taken her to the museum multiple times and she often walked around alone multiple times, admiring all the history of different countries and cultures within it. Despite her love for history and being grateful she could see so many pieces, she asked her father how necessary it was to take these artefacts from other countries. They had the right to display their own history in their own museums but instead, they had been stolen and displayed in a country that had colonised them.

Audrey adored history. She dreamed of travelling the world and learning about the different cultures and their practices. Most of all, she wanted to discover and teach herself about all the different species of butterflies. A career in lepidoptery was something she desired the most. Her father had encouraged her interest in insects. He had bought her countless pinned butterflies, moths, and dragonflies. She loved butterflies the most. She loved the way they shed their old body and emerged into this beautiful palette of colours. The delicateness of the wings could cause a storm with one flap. She admired how something so fragile could cause such destruction.

She fiddled with her butterfly broach. The Emerald jewels reminded her of the Aphrissa neleis, commonly known as the pink-spotted sulphur butterfly. It complimented her green Slytherin robes. She had arrived at the Owlery now and began to climb the many stairs. She didn’t pass anyone on her way up. Once at the top, she beckoned over an owl and it opened its claws acceptive the letter. She stroked her hand against the velvet soft feathers and watched as it flew out into the sky, soaring ahead ready for its long journey to London.

A small flash of blue caught her eye. A Phengaris arion, a large blue butterfly, stood proudly on a wooden beam. Quietly, she tip-toed over, careful to try and not startle it. She didn’t have this one in her collection. It was one of the rarest blue butterflies In the UK. She stared in amazement at its sweet little fuzzy body and its immense blue wings. The wings were outlined in black and it had a few dots on the top wings. It was beautiful. It flapped its wings and rose towards the roof. Desperate to try and cherish its beauty, she followed it up the ladder. She climbed up onto the roof and followed it. The Phengaris arion had perched itself on the stone wall; Audrey neared it, careful of the gap in the wall. It would be easy to fall through if someone leaned out far enough.

It flapped its wings in all its glory again and floated away into the sky. Audrey took the sight in as its blue wings faded into the sky. She was going to be late for her next lesson and she promised Poppy that she would help her with the Hippogriff care in Care of magical creatures.

She turned around and felt a heavy weight thrust into her chest. The black shadow stood there again, holding on to her robes. She tried screaming and it clenched a hand around her throat, silencing her. She pushed her hands against it but, as they had before, they disappeared into the shadow. It pushed her towards the edge. She was dangerously close to the edge, and it dangled her closer to the open space. It pushed her slightly, but she didn’t drop again. It was as if it was trying to taunt her. It pushed her again, and this time it let go.

All she felt was the wind racing past her as she fell from the tower.

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadow of the past Chapter 7

7. The Restricted Section

3rd September 1890

Sebastian lay in the bath, the water turned grey from the soot. Normally Ominis would have joined him. One of them would sit in the bath while the other sat on the floor. They would sit and talk until the water turned cold. But, he didn’t ask him to join, his mind was too caught up of what had happened that day.

He needed to find a cure for Anne. The summer holidays had prevented him from researching more. All he could do was make her as comfortable as she could be. It had pained him to watch her succumb to the torture that was the curse day after day. Every burst of pain she experienced it seemed to become worse, sometimes immobilising. When she was stuck in bed for 4 days straight, unable to walk, he never once left her side. His hand was sore from when she squeezed it, struggling with the pain. He didn’t complain, he never would. If he could, he would experience the cruciatus curse every day if it meant giving her some relief.

He cursed all goblins for what they had done to her. What they had done to him. They had taken away her light, her face was always laced with pain, no matter how hard he tried to make her laugh.  Her freckles had disappeared as her skin faded grey, her hair thinned, becoming lifeless on her head, just like her body had. The days when his uncle Solomon was away, buying ingredients for the house, Sebastian would sit on their beds he had pushed together, cradling her, as they both cried. His sister was his life, his other half. After their parents had died over some stupid experiment, they lost everything. Their house, all their belongings. In less than 24 hours, they lost everything, and them along with their few leftover possessions were on the way to Scotland to live with an uncle they had met only twice before. They were all they had left, a reminder of their parents and the memories they held.  

He splashed his face with water again and dragged his hands down his face tiredly. He leant his head back against the tub, closing his eyes. He thought of the past few days, the way Ominis lit up when he heard his name being called him Sebastian at King’s Cross station. The way they cheered when the mysterious girl was anointed to Slytherin. She was beautiful, and intriguing. Very few girls had caught his eye at Hogwarts, but she was different. It wasn’t just down to the fact that her beauty outshone everyone in the room, but there was a mystery to her. The way she spoke, clearly trying to stick to the muggle forms of etiquette, fractured when introduced to more of the magical world. She seemed shocked at how powerful she really was. Her eyes lit up when ever she cast a spell. Her brown eyes glowed as the light hit them. Her cheeks rosy as she blushed when praised. He remembered how her skin felt as his finger brushed her cheek, how his heart fluttered slightly as she pressed against him in the fireplace.

He was aware of where his hand rested on his thigh under the water. An urge burning low in his stomach. He hands trailed us his thigh slowly, questioning whether this was appropriate but quickly his mind flickered back to how she felt pressed against him. His hand rose higher.

And higher.

And higher.

A splash of water disturbed him from his fantasy. Peeves shot out of the water, laughing maniacally. Sebastian pulled his knees to his chest, covering the lower half of his body.

“Naughty, naughty Sebastian!”

Sebastian glared at him. Fucking hell Peeves! I’ll get him for that. “Shut up! Everyone will hear you!”

Peeves spun in the air, splashing water at Sebastian. “That’s the plan.” He roared with laughter, “Naughty Sebastian trying to touch himself, oh everyone will have a great laugh!”

Shit.

He stood up, quickly wrapping a towel around himself and tried to catch up with the poltergeist who was already floating away from the boys bathroom.

Meanwhile, Audrey soaked in the tub, trying to relax after what had happened. Her mind was a labyrinth, each time she took a turn, a new memory of what had happened the past few days blocked her.  The troll, Fig, the dragon, Osric, and her father raced through her mind. Her father, how she missed him. The way he smiled at her when she entered the room, their arms entwined as they walked through the gardens, soaking under the warm sun. She needed to write him a letter, he was most likely wondering how she was adjusting to her new school and curriculum.

She dunked her head under the water. The longer she stayed under, the more her mind eased, the sound of water dancing in her ears silencing the voice in her head. Her eyes opened, the water soapy water stinging them. She looked up at the ceiling, the marble warped as the water enveloped her body.

Unbeknownst to her, a shadow loomed in the bathroom. It seeped under the door, slithering its way over to the bathtub. The room darkened slightly, as it grew in shape, moulding into a body. It’s body rest next to the tub and peered over into the water. Before she could react, it reached its arms into the water, holding her by the neck and shoulder, preventing her from getting air. She thrashed under its hold. She tried kicking it, water sloshing out of the tub. Her legs couldn’t reach it, she was being pushed further under the water. Her eyes and lungs burnt, deprived of oxygen. Audrey reached her arms ups trying to scratch the arms of the shadow but they fell through it. The shadow removed a hand from her shoulder, instead pressing it against her arm. Black swirls wrapped around it, like a snake constricting its prey. It ran down her arms onto her body and around her neck. A black snake-like shadow raised its head from around her neck, readying to pounce. Her mouth opened slightly, choking on the water. She couldn’t control her body, it was almost as if the shadow was controlling her, making her no longer resist against it.

The door to the bathroom unlocked, a Slytherin prefect entered the room. The shadow vanished instantly. Audrey shot her head out from under the water instantly. Her lungs filled with oxygen as she heaved. The prefect wandered closer to the stall and waved her hand through the opening of the curtain.

“You need to be in your bedroom in five minutes, lights out soon.”

In a few minutes, Audrey stood in her nightgown in the bedroom. Her hair was still wet from the shower. She pulled the blanket back, desperate to fall asleep and escape to a dream for a little while. A letter was tucked under her pillow slightly. She picked it up and opened it. It was Fig, asking her to come to his office as soon as possible the next day. She tore it up, placing it in the log burner in the middle of the room. What did he need now?

~

4th September 1890

As Audrey made her way out of Fig’s office the following day, she spotted Sebastian sitting on a bench nearby. Was he waiting for her?

“Sebastian, its good to see you.”

“I was hoping to see you today. So what was all of that yesterday with Rookwood and Ranrok?” Audrey contemplated whether she should tell him the truth or not. It wasn’t like he was going to tell the professors.

“Seems he’s working with Ranrok. And Ranrok is after something I found at Gringotts.” “Ranrok? And when were you at Gringotts?” He thought she said she hadn’t left the castle.

“Professor Fig and I ended up there after the dragon attack. Its quite the tale – Fig had this Portkey – “A Portkey? To Gringotts? I’m not sure I follow.” Audrey wanted to roll her eyes at him interrupting. It was one of her biggest pet peeves. Sebastian couldn’t understand what she was saying. How did she end up at Gringotts after a dragon attack? Why didn’t she get the Hogwarts Express like the rest of the students. There must be more to it that she isn’t telling me, he thought.

“I barely follow myself – and I was there. Anyway, we ended up in an ancient vault where we found a map. That map leads to a restricted section.” The blue flickers of light on the map danced in her memory. She needed to get access there, and she knew Sebastian had a habit of wandering those shelves. “Professor Fig insisted that I not tell a should not tell a soul about any of this. I’ve probably said too much.” She wouldn’t have gone against what Fig told her, but Sebastian was not shy of asking her questions about what she was doing.

“Understood.” He didn’t attempt prying anymore. It was clear she wasn’t going to reveal anything else at the moment no matter how hard he tried getting an answer. Besides, he didn’t want her getting in trouble with Fig. “Your secret’s safe with me. Whatever it is.

Audrey breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Sebastian. You mentioned being ‘clever enough not ot get caught’ in the Restricted Section.”

Sebastian smiled, happy she remembered his slight gloat of being able to get into the locked off part of the library. “And I am. Meet me outside the library tonight. And tell no one.”

~

After curfew, Sebastian stood at the railing at the bottom of the staircase. He had gotten there a bit earlier than what he and Audrey had planned to. He wanted to scope out the place first as prefects stood watch making sure no one was out after curfew. She would be here any minute now. He turned to face the stairs and leaned back against the railing, his hands clasped in front of him as he waited. Then he saw her, she hurried down the stairs quietly, still dressed in her school uniform.

Once together, they knelt down and looked towards the prefects. “See there? That’s the door that we need to reach. And those annoying prefects would love nothing more than to rat on us to Scribner, so don’t let them see us – understood?”

“I can be sneaky. Let’s go.” Audrey started past him, but he grabbed her wrist pulling her back towards him. They made eye contact, and he quickly let go of her wrist realising he was still holding onto it.

“Hold on now. There’s a spell you should know – the Disillusionment charm. Good for getting places you’re not supposed to be. Cast it, and you’ll appear as little more than a trick of the light. Just as long as you keep your distance and stay quiet.”

She whispered in amazement. “You mean ill actually be able to turn invisible.” She couldn’t’ wait to use this at home. Midnight trips into the kitchen and sneaking one of the lush pastries the chef had prepared for the next day would be so much easier.

“Something like that. Its not as fool proof as a cloak, but those are expensive. And spells – spells are free.” She was slightly disappointed. The disillusionment charm may not be effective sneaking past those acquainted with the spell, but those in the muggle world would have no idea. Oh, the places she could sneak into now. He quickly taught her the spell, and watched her body fade invisible. He quickly followed and they made their way down the staircase. He noticed her stop when a prefect faced in her direction, quickly moving again once they had turned away.

The door to the library creaked open, and the two made their way inside. “Blast. The librarians still here. Quick. Behind the bookcase.”

Once behind the bookcase, they emerged from the charm, facing each other.

“You told me the librarian wouldn’t be here!” She whispered to him.

“I said ‘usually’, but it’ll still be alright. Do you see her desk behind me? The key is in the drawer of that desk. Now, here’s what we’re going to do. Ill create a distraction to draw her away. You focus on getting the key. Ill meet you outside the Restricted Section. I said id get you in, and I always keep my word.”

She nodded at him and tiptoed over to the bench. What is she doing, Sebastian thought to himself. She raised her leg on top the bench and started undoing the laces on her boots. She slipped them both off. He stood dumbfounded, her skirt had raised slightly, exposing her knee and a bit of her thigh. He saw where the socks ended, and skin started. She turned towards him, smiling at his shocked face. Realising what he was doing, he shook his head and gave her a puzzled look.

“Makes less noise on the floorboards, she won’t know I’m near here if they don’t creak.”

She disappeared from sight and he heard her breathing quietly as she made her way past him towards Scribner’s desk. He disappeared, sneaking his way over to some shelves. He pulled out his wand and pointed it towards a pile of books. It pained him a little to damage the books, his personal collection at Feldcroft was something he cherished. He cast a spell towards them, and they flew up into the air, pages littered the ground. Quickly, he made his way towards the staircase near the Restricted Section while Audrey used the distraction to collect the key. She made her way back to him. He warned her of a book which appeared far more useful than it actually was. They cast spells at armour, distracting the ghost that wandered nearby them. Eventually they made it to the gate.

They both came out from the charm. Sebastian placed the key into the lock, happy over the satisfying click as the gate unlocked. They wandered in and Audrey admired the books around her. They were older looking and much thicker than the books that filled the shelves the floor above.

“So, what are you looking for?”

He pondered telling her the truth, he owed her since she had risked getting in trouble from Fig after she had told him a bit about her weird arrival at the castle. “I’m looking for a cure to help my sister. So that she can return to Hogwarts. Because Merlin knows everyone else has given up.” Audrey reflected on the last part. She assumed Anne was dealing with a sickness that was curable or something she could recover from eventually. The way Sebastian phrased it, it seemed as those her situation was more dire.

“Why do you think you’ll find a cure in the Restricted Section? Does the Hogwarts matron have nothing that can help Anne?” She thought of her mother, dying in bed after giving birth to her. If she could, she would have done anything she could have done to save her.

“No. We’ve tried everyone from Nurse Blainey to St Mungo’s.” He sounded exacerbated. “But I can research on my own. No need to concern yourself with that right now. Let’s focus on what you’re after. Which is what, precisely?”

“Ill know it when I see it.” Sebastian sighed. “You’re being awfully cryptic.” She knew she was. Audrey wished she could have a proper conversation with him about what she was doing. It was difficult to have a conversation with him when he’d ask the perfect question she could not answer. It was like trying to speak in riddles. Enough that would satisfy his curiosity but not enough to betray what Fig had asked of her. They continued further into the Restricted Section and rounded around the corner.

Peeves jumped out from the wall and twirled in the air.

“Sebastian Sallow and his new little friend, out exploring where they shouldn’t be! Naughty naughty, you’ll get caught!” He soared over their heads in the direction of the desk.

“Peeves, don’t you –“ Sebastian glared at him as Peeves chanted that he was going to tell on the pair. “Blasted Peeves! I’ve got to stop him, or at least get to the librarian with a good excuse for all of this.” “Wait, I don’t want you getting into trouble for me.”

Sebastian smirked. “I have a way with the faculty when it comes to disciplinary matters. Besides, I like having friends who are in my debt. Now go. Good luck in your search.” He waved his wand and vanished in front of her. She heard his footsteps walk away from her as he called out for Peeves.

There wasn’t any time to waste, she had to go further into the Restricted Section and find what Fig asked her to.

~

Sebastian peered around the corner, checking whether Scribner was at the desk still. He needed to return the key quickly before she found him. He stalked his way over, but Peeves followed him, twirling around his body.

“Sneaking in the Restricted Section – again!”

Shit!

He looked at Scribner, her face full of disappointment. “Not even a day has gone by since your last attempt. Clearly detentions are insufficient.” Peeves circles his body more, agitating Sebastian. “I’m afraid I must take this to the headmaster.”

He reached his arm out to her. “But – “

“That being said, Peeves informs me that you didn’t come alone tonight. If someone has coerced you, I would have you tell me.” Her face softened slightly. As irritating as he was, constantly defying her orders to stop sneaking into the library. She had a soft spot for the boy, somewhat aware of what he was going through. “You’re a bright boy. Don’t waste this.”

Audrey saw him glance in her direction. He looked in her eyes briefly before facing his attention back towards Scribner. “There was no one else. I came alone.” Audrey sighed in relief. She would be more in his debt than she originally was. She would repay him later for his selflessness.

Scribner tutted. “Oh, Sebastian. What will your uncle say?” She turned away from him. Peeves floated mere inches from his face and blew a raspberry. Sebastian closed his eyes, recoiling. His shoulder slumped slightly, and Audrey watched as he followed them out of the library.

~

6th September 1890

Audrey hadn’t seen him the rest of that day or the next one. She assumed he had been in detention all day. She sat in the common room near the window and looked out into the water of the Black Lake. School had finished for the day and most students were in the Great Hall enjoying dinner. Natty and Poppy invited her to sit with them but she declined, her appetite had shrunk the past few days.

She held her knees to her chest and traced a finger on the glass. It was cool from the coldness of the lake, but she didn’t feel the chill. The fireplace nearby warming her greatly. Fishes and creatures, she still hadn’t learnt the names of swam by. Swarms of green and blues filtered in her vision, the light reflected the waves of water onto the floor where she sat. It was beautiful, far more enjoyable to sit by compared to the dirty water of the Thames.

“Didn’t I tell you mermaids are not interested in us.” She looked up to where Ominis stood smiling down at her. He held a goblet and a plate stacked with pastries. She didn’t want to admit it, but she was hoping a mermaid would swim by. The thought of seeing their mystical tails as they swam nearby filled her with excitement.

“No, just daydreaming. Although, if a mermaid did swim by, I would be very happy.”

He chuckled softly and sat down beside her. “This is for you by the way. I noticed you wasn’t in the Great Hall and thought you shouldn’t miss out on dinner.”

She thanked him and took a swig from the goblet. It was rich and sweet, filled with the juices of different types of berries.

“Mm, what magical ingredients do they put in this?” She asked him.

He smiled in response. “Strawberries, cherries and raspberries with a little bit milk to take away the tartness.” She didn’t hide her disappointment that this wasn’t another secret of the wizarding world.

They sat in silence for a little while, both pecking at the savoury pastries he had brought with him. The only sound was from the fire crackling and the water against the window. Audrey couldn’t deny her curiosity as to how he managed his way around the castle blind when she could hardly find her way around the place as it was.

“Go on, you can ask me.” She was taken by surprise that he had an idea of what she wanted to ask.

“I’m sorry, it’s just I can’t fathom as to how you make your way around the castle. How did you even know I wasn’t in the Great Hall and was in here?”

“Its ok, I’d wonder the same thing. My wand guides me. I can feel it lean slightly in the direction I want to be heading in. It’s almost as if its sentient. It just knows when and where I want to go.” That made a lot of sense. Anytime she had seen him, his wand was raised slightly whenever he was walking. Even when he was sat, it was placed directly next to him. “And as for knowing where you were, I overheard some students discussing where you were. You’re the talk of the school, everyone wants to speak to you it seems. I figured you were in the common room. Sebastian told me he was in detention all day but he hadn’t mentioned your name. I know you were both in the Restricted Section last night.”

That confirmed where Sebastian was then. It made sense he knew they were both there. They shared a bedroom so they must be close friends. Plus, she saw them together a lot, especially in lessons she had with them both.

Some more silence passed between them. “He speaks a lot about you, you know.” Audrey looked up at him. Ominis looked out into the lake. Light danced in his eyes. “Since you joined, he hasn’t shut up about you. I think he sees great potential in your abilities, which you do. Almost as good as the two of us.” He teased. No wonder the two boys were in Slytherin. Despite how nice they were to her; their egos were obvious.

She smiled a little. Before she could respond to him and ask more about what Sebastian had said about her, he appeared next to them grinning.

“The staff are still weak to my charm, I managed to get out of detention an hour early.” He plopped down next to Ominis taking the goblet from his hand and taking a large swig while picking up two of the pastries. He ate them quickly, Ominis looked at Audrey with his eyebrows raised slightly. She chuckled to herself quietly.

“We were just discussing about Audrey’s first week at Hogwarts.” Sebastian looked in her direction and smiled.

“So, how have you found it?”

She couldn’t answer it properly. So much had happened within the seven days. A man dying in front of her, jumping out of a carriage to avoid death, battling giant suits of armour and a troll, Ranrok, Rookwood, the shadow that tried murdering her. She hadn’t told anyone of the shadow, not even Fig.

“It’s been good. I’m excited to carry on with my lessons and explore more of the castle.” It wasn’t a lie, but wasn’t the entire truth.

Before they could continue their conversation, a red envelop flittered into view and floated in front of Sebastian’s face.

“Oh no.” It curled slightly resembling a mouth and a red ribbon stuck out resembling a tongue with the parchment crinkling into the shape of teeth.

“Sebastian Sallow! How many times must you be told to stop trying to get into the Restricted Section. I’m sick to death of getting owls from Hogwarts telling me of another attempt. You’re too much like your father boy! If I receive another owl this term, you won’t be coming home for Christmas!” The howler blew a raspberry at him and shredded itself up, the paper littering on the floor.

Sebastian smiled awkwardly at them. “Sorry about that.” He scratched behind his ear, slightly embarrassed. Ominis shook his head slightly.

“That’s a howler. Nasty piece of parchment that doesn’t care to embarrass you. I’ve received a couple from my family in the middle of dinner.”

She was grateful her father had no idea of them. The thought of being embarrassed like that in front of her peers made her feel awkward at just the thought.

“Speaking of parchment, I need to write my father a letter. Ill see you later.” She stood up leaving the two and headed towards her dorm. She sat at her desk, setting up the parchment and ink pot and quill. What could she tell him? He didn’t know much about the wizarding world. What could he know? Was she even allowed to tell him? She dipped the quill in the black ink and pressed it to the parchment.

 Dear father,

Much excitement at Hogwarts the past week. It Is a truly remarkable place. The castle is so magical and I’ve hardly scratched the surface on what to explore. I’ve been told I’m a model student already, quickly adapting to the extra spells I am being taught. I’m afraid there isn’t much I can say, I don’t want to risk this letter falling into the hands of the staff at home and them taking a peek inside. Please send them my regards. I miss you terribly. A part of me wishes we could go back to the days where we would walk in the sun and look at the butterflies and compare them.

I look forward to hearing back from you. All my love,

Your daughter, Audrey.

PS. Please don’t be alarmed by the owl that will wait at your office window. They deliver the post.

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadow of the past Chapter 6

6. Hogsmeade

3rd September 1890

Ominis straightened his tie and buttoned up his vest, attempting to pay attention to Sebastian as he rambled on about the Crossed Wands duel the day before.

“And then she just cast Levioso straight at him and sent him flying into the wall! She’s so quick with her wand, it’s hard to believe that she hasn’t much experience duelling.”

“Ah well, some people are just graced with amazing duelling abilities. It’s like an instinct almost.” Although Ominis was not one to take part in the duelling society, he was no stranger to trusting his instincts. The few time he had taken part, the students thought that his blindness would set them at an advantage. However, his ability to process and compute sound was a great benefit. The slightest echo of his oppositions foot touching the floor would alert him of their direction, which he would then shoot sparks at.

“I know, but you wouldn’t believe what I saw yesterday. Besting me in a duel is one thing but winning a duel where it is just you versus three third years is truly something.” Sebastian tied his shoelaces quickly, they were cutting it close to when breakfast in the Great Hall ended, and he was not one to miss out on a meal.

Ominis tapped his wand and raised It slightly, ready for it to guide him to the Great Hall. “Does this mean I will be competing for your attention now? You seem infatuated with Audrey already, this is only her third day here, don’t scare her away.” Sebastian rolled his eyes at Ominis’ teasing.

“Don’t get jealous now, you’ll always have a special place in my heart.”

“Hmm, rightfully so.”

~

A few hours later, the boys sat in the library studying during a free period. Ominis traced his finger over the book, reading the braille that formed on the page as he pressed his finger against a word. Sebastian had his head stuck in a book, reading more information on Shrivelfigs. He sat back in his chair, annoyed at the revelation that despite its healing properties, it couldn’t reverse the effects of curses.

“See something you don’t like?” Ominis asked him. Sebastian sighed and dragged his hand down his face.

“I just want to find something that can help Anne. It doesn’t even have to cure her straight away, I just want to find something that can ease her pain.”

Ominis looked up, offering a sympathetic smile, “Sebastian – I’m sure there will be something out there eventually.” He didn’t sound convinced by what he said.

Sebastian stood and closed the book. “I’m going to the Restricted Section again. I haven’t seen Scribner in a while. There should be something in there that can point me in the right direction.” He turned away, making his way to the closed off section.

“Sebastian, you know that isn’t a good idea, Scribner is becoming immune to your sweet talk now – “

“Well, when do you ever think an idea of mine is good anymore.” Sebastian huffed, ignoring Ominis’ sigh.

Once he made his way to the gate that prevented students from accessing the Restricted Section, he crouched slightly and peered over his shoulder, measuring the likelihood of him being caught. He pulled his wand out and cast AlohomoraI. The lock didn’t click open.

“What?” He whispered out loud to himself. He held onto the handle and tried pushing the gate open but was met with resistance. Fuck! He thought to himself, Scribner must have place an anti-Alohomora charm on the lock. It made sense; he had been caught on numerous occasions sneaking into the Restricted Section and they somehow decided to not make it any more difficult to gain access to it.

“Sebastian Sallow!”

Shit!

Sebastian stood straighter, turning to face Scribner. Her arms were folded over her chest, foot tapping on the oak floor. It sounded as though she was tapping for every instance she had caught him trying to sneak in.

“Third day back and already trying to sneak into the Restricted Section! When will you learn Sebastian.” She seemed genuinely disappointed. He looked down at the ground. He wasn’t ashamed, he never was. He felt guilty over being caught and not being able to gain more information to help Anne. “I guess this means detention after school tonight, how does detention tonight cleaning the candelabras sound to you?”

Not again! The last time he did that he was in the library past midnight. It would mean that he wouldn’t get a chance to speak to Audrey until tomorrow.

“Ah Mister Sallow.” Professor Weasley strolled up to the pair. “I’ve been looking for you. Is everything ok here Miss Scribner, I hope this isn’t what I think it is.” She looked at Sebastian, eyeing him.

Scribner sighed, “No Professor Weasley, I was just reminding Mister Sallow here that the Restricted Section is off bounds to students. We don’t want a repeat of last year now do we.” She smiled at him, to which he responded with a grin.

Weasley pulled him aside as Scribner wandered off, most likely to harass other students who wanted to quench their thirst for knowledge. Weasley informed him of her suggestion to Audrey that he join her in a trip to Hogsmeade.

Oh, how perfect. He would thank Audrey for what she had done for him. A way out of detention and a trip to Hogsmeade. She was proving herself quite useful for him.

~

Sebastian stood near the main entrance of the castle waiting for Audrey to arrive. He never seemed to know where she was. She was always running around the castle helping students and having additional lessons with the professors. Last he heard; she had secured an impressive gob stone collection that had belonged to Zenobia. The Ravenclaw deserved it, especially with how she laughed at him and Ominis after she beat them both at the game.

She saw him waiting, and quickly made her way over to him. He smiled broadly at her, that cheesy grin that make those brown eyes glow. “Sebastian, there you are!.”

“There you are.” She couldn’t help but hold on to the way he said ‘you’. “I’m told you’re in dire need of supplies and I’m to accompany you into Hogsmeade for them. Is this your first foray into the village?” He cringed to himself slightly. Why would he ask that? Of course, this would be her first visit to the village, Weasley told him it was.

“It is. I haven’t left the castle since I arrived.”

“Well, I shall endeavour to be the very best guides then. Hogsmeade’s c charming little place. Self-contained, too. We should be able to find you everything that you need. Shall we?” They started towards the doors. Audrey blushed a little. This was her first time she would be unchaperoned with a boy. It appears the wizarding was more progressive by allowing men and women to accompany each other without someone looming over their shoulder, checking that they were not getting too close to each other.

“I was glad Professor Weasley asked me to join you today.”

“As am I. Thank you, by the way.”

He responded more eagerly than he intended to. “Of course! You’re the only one who’s ever bested me in a duel. The way I see it. I’d be wise to keep an eye on you. Speaking of Weasley, she seems to have taken quite a shine to you.”

Audrey hadn’t noticed. “That’s nice to hear.”

“I’m still surprised that a professor would entrust me with anything, given my detention record.”

“Spend a lot of time in detention, do you?”. They were coming up to a bridge, she slowed down a little, admiring the scenery around her. Living in London, she was never really exposed to the beauty that was the countryside. Its rich greens and fresh clean air calmed her, London could not live up to the scenes around her.

“Just enough to keep me well-rounded.” Audrey laughed. “Speaking of detention, this trip to Hogsmeade might’ve saved me from one.”

“Glad I could be of service.” He told her of his great escape from Scribner, courtesy of her and Weasley. She asked about why they were on bad terms with each other. She could sense his irritation over not being allowed In the Restricted Section; it radiated off him like the spells from her wand did. He stopped, pointing over to a patch of grass and told her of lacewing flies and the benefits of them. Audrey wandered over, examining them as they flew around shrubbery. Yellow flowers, like daffodils, hummed and buzzed next to her. Sebastian admired her as he stood behind, watching her take in the magic of their world. It reminded him of himself in his first year. Despite being well-versed of the wizarding world due to his professor parents, there was a spark of excitement that Hogwarts brought that couldn’t be beaten.

“Merlin’s beard! From the Forbidden Forest! Look!” He pointed towards two white hippogriffs that flew through the sky. Audrey stared in amazement. “Quite a sight, isn’t it? You certainly don’t see that every day.”

“It’s beautiful!”

As they made their way further to Hogsmeade, Sebastian pointed out the Forbidden Forest. He warned her that it was out of bounds to all students. It felt more like a suggestion from him. He did say he had a habit of sneaking into restricted areas. They spoke of her adventures in the castle, something she had little to do, unless you counted getting lost on the way to lessons as exploring. It appears every staircase she took changed direction when she got to the top of it. He spoke of his experience of still not knowing where everything was after five years of studying there as well as knowing there was still places to explore.

“Oh? Any you’d like to share with the class?”

“perhaps one day, I cant go around telling you all my secrets now, can I? You still haven’t indulged me as to how you’re so good at duelling” He teased her. She didn’t respond, instead, focusing her attention of the thestrals pulling the carriage which they had moved out of the way for. “I’ve always thought thestrals pulling a carriage a bit grim. Though I suppose most people don’t see them at all.”

“But you can see them?”

“Unfortunately.” Neither of them liked the way the conversation had turned sombre, preferring the playful teasing that had started earlier. “But you’ve seen quite a bit yourself first-hand too – most notable that dragon attack. Hopefully the rest of your year isn’t as eventful.” They continued in silence. Audrey thought back to the moment the dragon snapped its jaw shut, crushing the man inside its mouth. The sound of the mans screams turning into silence had haunted her. They approached the groundskeeper, who warned them of something. She didn’t understand. He appeared drunk, something in his pumpkin juice Sebastian had mentioned.

“My sister Anne thinks he’s lovely.”

“Oh, is your sister in Slytherin too?” She hadn’t realised he had a sister. There wasn’t anyone in the common room that looked like him.

“She is – or rather, she was. She’s not well at the moment but she’ll be better soon and back at Hogwarts.” She heard the resilience in his voice, as if he was trying to convince himself that his sister would be returning soon. “Do you have any siblings?”

Audrey didn’t want to pry further, sensing his sister was a sensitive topic for him. “No, well, my parents had tried to have children before me, but they all died while she was pregnant or when they were born. My mother died when I was born, and my father never remarried, so it’s just me.”

“I’m sorry, I’ve lost my parents too.” Somehow, they had manged to turn the conversation sombre again. “Ah here we are, Hogsmeade. Honestly, if one could bottle the magic of this place.”

He turned to face her, asking what the best course of action was. They agreed to split up, focusing on gathering the items they needed.

Audrey wandered over into Ollivander’s shop. The windows and shelves were filled with boxes of all shapes and sizes. The room was dimly lit, illuminated by candles. A bell announced her entrance, and a thin, pale man appeared. Quickly, he made his way over to her and introduced himself, pulling different boxes out of the shelves with calculated precision. With each wand she was presented, a jolt of electricity shot up her arm and caused a scene. The man searched for another wand, taking his time and considering what would be suited best for her. He tapped the boxes, something she assumed was his process of figuring out which slender box to pull out next.

He reached up pulling a dark maroon box from the top of a shelf. In it, a dark brown spiral wand lay waiting for its owner. She picked it up and cast it. A light emitted from the tip, illuminating the room greater than the candles did.

“Ah elder wood, one that is more tricky to master. Phoenix feather, eleven and a half inches, nice and supple. A very powerful wand indeed.”

~

Audrey sat on a bench near an overbearing tree, utilising the shade to shield her from the sun. She held the wand in her hand, admiring it while twisting It around. She ran her fingers along the grooves of the spiral. What did Ollivander mean by powerful wand. How powerful was it? What did any of the properties he listed off mean? Phoenix feather? Elder wood? It was something she would ask Fig later, he could answer her questions.

Sebastian walked out of a shop, counting the left-over galleons in his hand from the purchase of a shrivelfig. He spotted her and grinned

“I have all my supplies. Did you get what you needed for your sister?”

“I did. So I suppose the world is our oyster now. Lets see what else we can get up to.” He looked in the direction of the Three Broomsticks. A couple butterbeers wouldn’t hurt anyone, plus, he could use the opportunity to learn more about her. Hopefully, try and find more out about her strange arrival and how she is such a talented dueller.

As if the world never wanted him to satisfy his curiosity, thunder erupted in the air. Although, this wasn’t in the air, it was too clear for it to be thunder and lightning. The ground shook, starling the pair and the villagers nearby. A shadow loomed nearby, and quickly a large troll appeared. It struck down at the ground while two villagers cast spells at it. It turned towards the two villagers and started towards them until it was knocked by a spell. It face Audrey, whose wand had cast the spell. Sebastian quickly brought his wand out, ready to attack. He cast at the troll. It was knocked forward slightly as an Auror cast Bombarda at it. It chased after villagers and auror, who was luring it away from the two students.

Before they could calm themselves, the ground shook again. A troll burst its way out of a building, causing it to crumble down on top of itself. It roared and raced towards the two. Audrey readied her wand. It felt as though the world slowed down, the troll mere moments away from striking her with its club. She lurched to the side, narrowly avoiding its swing. It roared at them again. Quickly, they cast a cacophony of spells at it. It stumbled from being hit by the spells but didn’t seem to slow down. It lunged towards Sebastian, who attempted to dodge but was hit by the club, sending him backwards into a pile of boxes, softening the blow. He recovered quickly, summoning a barrel with Accio and launched it towards the troll. Audrey followed in his lead, summoning barrels and bricks and shot them at the troll. It was visibly weakening. In a final effort of causing harm to them, it lunged towards Audrey.

Inside her, a fire burned. It travelled up her spine and through her veins. Her body hummed as she lifted her wand and pointed it towards her hand. A blue glow emerged from the tip, the brightness growing as she swirled it in her palm as if she was summoning a great power inside of her. She pointed it towards the troll. A bright blue flash shot at the troll, enveloping it in a purple haze. It shook violently, cracks of purple light emerged from its skin until it erupted in front of them. Smoke surrounded where it stood as purple sparkles fell to the floor.

She could barely register what had happened. The Auror ran over to the two of them, voicing her praise and confusion as to how they had taken down a troll on their own. Sebastian watched Audrey, she didn’t appear to be conscious of what was happening, as if what power she just emitted had put her into a state of shock.

“I’d appreciate if you could help repair the damage to the area, I want to check on the villagers.” In an instant, Audrey’s attention was back on the Auror. She couldn’t remember what had occurred between the eruption of the troll and what the Auror had said.

Sebastian pulled her aside. “Hey, are you ok? You seemed to lose focus while the Auror was speaking to us. I can repair the damage, you just take a breather.”

“No, I’m fine.” Before he could protest, she walked off towards a statue that had taken a beating from the troll. She didn’t want to acknowledge what he had saw. So much had happened in such a short time. A little bit of disassociation was normal. Wasn’t it?

~

After repairing the damage, the two made their way down to the Three Broomsticks. Sebastian told her she earned a butterbeer on him for the fight she had put up. They walked in silence, but stopped when they notice two individuals walking down the steps to the left of them. They stalked over to the side of the building, attempting to overhear the conversation. There, Ranrok and Rookwood argued over the “distraction” and “the child”. The two couldn’t believe what they were hearing. Ranrok looked in their direction, the pair quickly moved out of his view and rushed down the street. They didn’t know whether they had been seen or not. Sebastian felt bile form in his throat. He remembered Ranrok from the Daily Prophet. He noticed the two emerge from where they had been listening to their conversation.

“Quickly! Let’s get inside the Three Broomsticks.” Audrey followed his lead down the street as he guided them into the pub. They walked nervously over to the bar and sat on the chairs, attempting to not look suspicious over their rushed entrance.

A woman greeted them warmly, “Now, what can I – oh there’s a face I haven’t seen before.” Her voice was rich and deep, welcoming Audrey into the comfort and safety of the Three Broomsticks.

“It’s my first time here.”

The woman smiled in response. “Welcome, Butterbeers on me.”  She whipped out her wand and two tankards filled up with a foaming golden liquid. It floated over to the pair as she told them how she would look into how the other villagers and shop keepers were holding up after the attack.

“Glad to see you two are ok.”

“Thanks to this one. Single-handedly took down a troll!” He raised his tankard up towards her. Clinking his cup against hers before taking a swig of the drink. She followed, savouring the taste in her mouth. A rich aroma of butterscotch and warm spices filled her nostrils. The frothy foam tingled her sense. The sweet caramel warmed her throat as she drank more. She recalled on Professor Weasley mentioning how she expected her to enjoy quite of few of the golden drink on her visits to Hogsmeade. She was right, the richness comfort it had brought was addictive.

“Thank you for this.” Audrey made clear of her appreciation.

As Sirona began to speak, Rookwood pushed open the entrance doors and sauntered in. Sirona walked out from the bar; irritation spread on her face. He attempted to intimidate her, to which she gave him no pleasure in showing any reaction if it did.

He pointed towards Audrey, “I’m only here for this one anyway.”

In an instant, Sebastian stood up, hand placed where his wand was resting inside his pocket, ready to use it. The bartender defended her,, to which Rookwood ignore and made his way over to the girl. The patrons of the pub all stood up, wands raised alongside Sebastian and Sirona.

“Perhaps you didn’t hear me. I said my friend is busy.” Sirona warned Rookwood one last time.

Sensing that he would not achieve what he wanted, he backed off but not before taunting her.

“Can’t drink butterbeer forever.” He sniggered and turned away, exiting the pub. The patrons returned their wands to their pockets, some leaving them out on the table, cautious of anymore threat that could occur.

Sebastian turned to Audrey, face aghast. “Trolls. Ranrok, and Rookwood? What are you not telling me?” She felt guilty not telling him the truth straight away, but too much had happened that she couldn’t register what was going on.

“I promise to tell you everything, but perhaps best I do that later.”

He sighed, unsatisfied with her answer. He would hold her to that promise later. “I think it’s best we return to the castle now.” He looked at the clock on the wall nearby. “It’s already past eight, we should have been back at the castle half an hour ago. And curfew is at nine, there’s no way we can get back to the common room walking back. Plus, I don’t think its safe for us to walk after what’s happened.”

“So how do you suggest we get back?”

“Floo powder, Sirona keeps some behind the bar. For those who are a bit too squiffy to get home on their own.” He walked over to the bar and spoke to Sirona. She handed him a handful of powder. He made his way over to the unlit fireplace. Audrey hadn’t notice there were too in the pub. One lit and one was not, the unlit one clearly for those travelling the way they were about to.

“Here,” he held his arm out for her to hold onto. “Hold onto my arm and don’t let go.” They stood inside the fireplace, his free arm held out holding the powder in his arm. She blushed slightly at how close they were stood and how tightly she was holding onto his arm. If someone from muggle society saw her right now, the scandal that would erupt!

“Slytherin Common Room.” He enunciated each word clearly and dropped the powder to the floor. Green flames swirled around their bodies engulfing them, and they shot up through the floo network. An intense heat rose through her body. She could barely register what had happened before they were shot out from the fireplace into the Slytherin Common Room.

Sebastian laughed, “Sorry, I forgot to mention it can be quite bumpy. Don’t worry, as long as you pronounce where you want to go clearly, you’ll end up in the right place. One time when I was seven, my parents let my sister and I practice travelling together, we pronounced Diagon Alley as diagonally. We were shot out of the fireplace into an abandoned house. I had to comfort my sister who was crying from fear.”

“I have a feeling it was your sister comforting you.” Audrey teased. He smiled back at her, not confirming or denying what she said. He stood closer to her, raising his hand towards her face.

“I think it’s best we both have a bath. Floo powder can be a rather messy way of travel.” He trailed a finger down her cheek and showed the dirtied finger to her. They laughed. His face was dusted in soot, covering the freckles that littered his face. Audrey thanked Merlin for the soot that covered her face otherwise he would see the intense blush that formed on her cheeks as his hand made contact with her face.

“Yes, you look like a chimneysweeper.” She joked with him. “Thank you, Sebastian, for today.”

“Of course, I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Of course.”

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadow of the past  Chapter 5

First meeting

2nd September 1890

Audrey’s eyes opened, welcoming the sight she would be waking up to for the next three years. Her bedroom, which was shared with three other 5th year students, was enigmatic and alluring. The grand four-poster beds were upholstered in deep green velvet curtains trimmed with silver. It created an intimate atmosphere, where she could feel alone when they were pulled around the bed. The gentleness of water brushing over the cyclical window in the ceiling calmed her, easing her anxieties over falling asleep in the unfamiliar bedroom thousands of miles away from her home. Green floral wallpaper adorned the walls, with delicate leaves and vines intertwining with flowers that ranged from sage greens to dark forest greens.

Audrey stood up out of the bed, something she would find difficult leaving if she wasn’t so excited to begin the first of her lessons today. She walked over to her trunks that lay at the end of her bed and picked out her uniform and robes. She stood behind the oak screen divider, using the privacy to change into her uniform. She pulled her nightgown off and replaced it with her undergarments and stays. It was a slightly unfamiliar experience, dressing without the help of Lyssa. But the clothing she wore in London was more intricate required the assistance where the uniform did not. It was refreshing being able to dress by herself. Audrey pulled on the green accented robes, appreciating the comfort it provided.

As she entered the common room, she couldn’t help but admire it. It exuded an air of mystique and sophistication. Laden with dark wood furnishing and velvet draped armchairs, the room felt regal in every sense of the word. Intricate carvings adorned the walls, with the symbolic Slytherin snake emblem prominent in every corner. The ambience is subtle yet chilling, with a subdued lighting casting shadows across the room. The walls were embellished with oil paintings of famous Slytherin alumni, adding a sense of history to the room. Hues of the sage and dark forest greens littered the room. It almost felt as though they were in the Black lake themselves, which, as she though to herself, they were.

She hovered near the large windows that looked into the lake. Fishes of different sizes and other creatures she couldn’t name swam past the window, clearly uninterested in two first years that stood pointing.

“I – I think I heard one!”

A boy leaned against the wall next to them smirking, “Hmph, doubt mermaids find us that interesting.” He stood straight, smiling at the new student. He was a tall and dressed immaculately, giving off a sense of propriety. “Ah, based on all the chatter when you entered the common room, I’m guessing you’re the new fifth year. I’m Ominis. Ominis Gaunt.”

“Nice to meet you, Ominis.”

She noticed the milky white gaze over his eyes and how he didn’t look directly at her. He must be blind she assumed.

“Well, you certainly had a memorable arrival.”

“I’d much rather have arrived on time and without a dragon attack en route.” It would have been a much easier start for her had she not had such an interesting arrival. She could hear students whisper about her and her strange arrival even while speaking to Ominis.

“I’m sure. How horrible. I can only imagine. Well, its good to have you in Slytherin. Do let me know if I can be of any help as you navigate your first days here.” He offered a sympathetic smile which she appreciated. It was nice to be speaking to someone who wasn’t trying to pry any explanations about her arrival from her. Audrey remembered Fig’s message about keeping quiet about the truth of what happened. She wouldn’t tell her father of the event. He would freak and have her sent home on the first train before she could say Slytherin.

“Did you suspect you’d be in Slytherin?” She noticed his quick enthusiasm over his place in the house.

“Most certainly. My family on my father’s side are direct descendants of Salazar Slytherin – one of the four founders of Hogwarts.” Audrey recalled Fig’s explanation of the four houses of Hogwarts and the history behind them. Ominis frowned, “Not something I’m especially proud of, mind you. He was obsessed with blood-status. A pure-blood maniac. Unfortunately, most of his descendants do not fall far from that tree.”

Sensing his discomfort over his families ancestry and their ideologies, Audrey switched the conversation topic she was very interested in. “Did that student say he thought he heard a mermaid?”

He smiled again, it was a heart-warming sight. “Yes. But I’ve never heard of a mermaid showing up outside our common room window. It is fun to play along, though. Been known to keep some first years on the lookout for hours.” Her heart sunk slightly. The thought of seeing a mermaid was an exciting one, it was something that would make her seven-year-old heart soar.

“Thank you Ominis. It was very nice meeting you.”

“Pleasure was all mine. Don’t be a stranger.” As she walked away, she had a feeling that he definitely would be no stranger.

She walked around the common room, trying to ignore the comments made by other Slytherin students.

“Must be – different – staring Hogwarts in your fifth year.”

“I wonder where they’re from.”

“They’re lucky they didn’t end up as dragon food, like that poor man from the ministry.”

Audrey made her way to the fireplace where another young boy paced with a book in his hands. Before she could introduce herself he turned his gaze from the book towards her, seemingly irritated.

“Can I help you?” Quickly his attitude changed when he looked at her. “Ah. You’re the new fifth year. I’m Sebastian Sallow. Welcome to Slytherin.”

“Thank you.”

“Not everyone has a ministry escort to school.” Here we go again, she though to herself. She interrupted before he could add another comment.

“He was a friend of Professor Fig’s who merely joined us for the ride.”

He smiled, “Still – impressive.” The mood turned sombre, “Dreadful way to go, poor fellow. Glad you and Fig are all right.”

“Eleaz – Professor Fig and I were lucky to escape with our lives.” She cursed herself quietly for the slip up. She couldn’t allow people to think she had a closer relationship with him than other students did.

“Indeed. And how did you escape?”

Why do all these students make it so difficult to stick to what Fig had asked her to do. She knew it wasn’t their fault, she would be just as curious if she was in their shoes. However, she didn’t like the idea of lying to everyone she met, especially those she wanted to be friends with.

“It’s all a bit of a blur if I’m being honest.” There. That would work. Not entirely a lie considering she was still in disbelief over what had happened.

“Didn’t mean to press. You must get yourself settled. We can talk more later.” He was confident that they would speak later, he just needed to get her away from everyone else.

“What book were you reading?”

“A spell book I picked up. Has a few interesting things, but not exactly what I was looking for.  I’m sure you’ll find out soon enough, but not every speel you may need can be found in our assigned textbooks.” Audrey could tell he was hiding something, just like he could tell she wasn’t telling the truth as well.

“Are you saying some spells aren’t taught at Hogwarts? Which ones?”

Sebastian smiled greatly at her. “Seems I may have met a kindred spirit.” He gave a heart chuckle and his brown eyes twinkled in excitement, “that is a conversation for another time. It was good meeting you. Good luck today.”

Sebastian watched as she made herself around the room and introduced herself to Imelda. Poor girl, he thought, having to speak to her as she most likely gloats about her quidditch talents. Imelda was not his biggest fan, and neither was he to her. The only reason he had sat with her the night before at the Sorting Ceremony was so that she would be more likely to allow him onto the beater position on the Quidditch team. Now that quidditch was cancelled, he didn’t have to pretend to get along with her now.

“Is the new fifth year Slytherin in here? Professor Weasley’s waiting for you, just by the stairs.” Audrey made her way to the common room exit and Sebastian watched as she disappeared from view. Ominis had made his way over to him.

“We have Charms first, better make our way their now if we want to be on time.”

~

Sebastian and Ominis laid on the grass bored as Professor Ronen insisted on revising the summoning charm, Accio. It was a spell the two boys had mastered long ago, but it seemed as though the professor had decided to re-visit the spell to catch up students who were not as proficient in charms.

“How much longer of this lesson must we suffer through? I can’t imagine the tan I’m catching out here.” Ominis was not one for the outdoors. He’d rather sit inside the library or the common room. Sebastian ignored him, his eyes trained on something – well someone – far more intriguing.

Currently, Natty and Audrey were challenging each other at Summoners Court. Natty was in the lead with 140 points and Audrey had 100 points. He watched her as she cast the spell at the large blue boulder and summoned it towards her, letting go eventually. The students watched as it rolled forward and knocked into one of Natty’s boulders, knocking it off the stage and taking away 50 off her points. Fifty points were added to Audrey’s score.

The students cheered at the move. It was cheeky, but smart to try and remove someone’s points than attempt to just add more to their own score. Sebastian clapped, admiring the Audrey’s smarts. She smiled humbly to herself, not wanting to appear cocky. She couldn’t deny her pride over winning the game, especially considering it was with a spell she had learnt less than half an hour ago. The game was similar to Pall-mall, a game she played with her father often. Only this time, magic was added.

“Dear god, it is over? Hopefully defence against the dark arts will be much more interesting.”

~

Audrey ran through the halls, desperate to not be late to her second lesson of the day. She had the unfortunate experience of running into Peeves, who found great pleasure in tripping her up and throwing her books around the corridor. Fortunately, no one else had seen the display and her embarrassment didn’t have to be shared with anyone.

She ran up the stairs and stood heaving outside the doors. Why did there have to be so many stairs in this castle, she thought to herself. As she opened the door, sparks of colours burst between two students.

“Stupefy!”

Sebastian’s wand shot sparks out of the end towards a Gryffindor student, Leander Prewitt if Audrey could remember correctly. He retaliated, which Sebastian blocked himself from in a purple bubble. In an instant, Sebastian shot several spells back at the Gryffindor which was scarcely blocked. Leander responded with more spells and the purple bubble around Sebastian shot up again.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Audrey tried hiding her smile over the boys’ cocky response. “Bombarda!”

He struck a blue glow towards Leander. He deflected it upwards towards a giant skull of what Audrey could only assume to be a small dragon. It shook, teetering on the spine of the creature until it fell off towards Leander.

“Levioso!” A frail old woman cried out. Her casting of the spell couldn’t hide the high pitch scream of the boy, but Audrey couldn’t fault him for it as she would do the same if she risked being crushed by a giant skull.

The skull stopped mid-air, and floated slowly back to its original resting place as she complained of the students duelling and them risking blasting the only Hebridean Black skull. Professor Hecat seemed more interested in the skull than the lives of her students. Audrey stifled a laugh. She would probably feel the same way if someone were to damage her beloved piano and books.

Hecat walked to the middle of the class, recounting her tale of challenging dark wizards and witches and how the spell Levioso saved her more time than she could count.

“Levioso? A levitated charm?” Before Leander could compute what was happening he shot up into the air, a victim of Hecat’s quick wand work. Sebastian smirked smugly, Leander was another student he wasn’t fond of, and seeing him helpless in the air while being embarrassed over not understanding the usefulness of basic spells in duelling. He looked over to Audrey who stood nearby with a smile on herself. He appreciated she found the situation amusing herself. He crossed his arms; his smile broadening and focused his attention back on the Professor.

The students sat at their desk, mastering the spell on feathers. Audrey was the first to make her feather levitate. The other students took notice of the girls quick ability in spell casting. Did they all know she didn’t know she was a witch just over a week ago? Let alone cast a spell! Audrey wondered what the other students knew about her.

Hecat took to the middle of the room again, summoning a dummy and casting the tables and benches to the side. Ominis stumbled to the side as the table he leant on swiftly moved away.

Each of the students demonstrated Levioso against the dummy. Audrey took her turn, quickly casting the spell and then a basic cast. She smiled at the praise given by Hecat.

“Very good students, but the best way to practise is by duelling.” Sebastian sauntered up next to Audrey, wanting to be stood nearby her so they could talk but mostly because he wanted to show off his duelling skills. “We’ll start with you two. Duellists, take your marks.”

They looked at each other. He thought it was weird for Hecat to put the new student on the spot considering she most likely had no previous duelling experience. And putting her against him, the most talented dueller in Hogwarts. Were they trying to embarrass her on her first day?

“Time for a proper Hogwarts welcome.” He chuckled as they made their ways to the opposite sides of the room. Audrey was taken off guard by the floor rising, creating a stage. They listened to Hecat’s warning to only use Levioso, a basic cast, and Protego.

Audrey stood straighter, although her nerves were taking over she wasn’t going to allow them to let her lose this duel to Sebastian. He seemed too confident in his abilities.

“This is going to be easy.” He quickly casted a basic cast at her before Hecat could even finish saying begin. Instantly, Audrey’s nerves settled as though she had been in a thousand duels before. She cast protego, blocking Sebastian’s spell from hitting her and mirrored the basic cast taking him by surprise, knocking him to the floor.

“Good form.” He muttered to himself. Before he could stand, he rose into the air and streaks of red shot at him. He couldn’t register what was happening as he twisted in the air, the force of the spells controlling where his limbs went. Audrey pointed her wand at him and another streak of red flew at him knocking off the stage where he landed on a pile of pillows.

“I know.”

Sebastian couldn’t believe himself. He had only managed to cast one spell at her, and it didn’t even land! Audrey smiled broadly, not hiding her satisfaction over winning the duel. Professor Hecat nodded, smiling at the girl.

Audrey made her way off the stage as Sebastian stood and walked over to her. Not one to hold a grudge, actually that was a lie, he congratulated her on winning, “Not bad for a beginner. You give as good as you get.”

She watched as he walked past her, and her gaze lingered on him longer than she realised.

~

Sebastian waited behind as the other students made their way out of the class. He told Ominis he would catch him later in the common room. There was someone he desperately wanted to speak to first.

Audrey glanced over to him, the two quickly making eye-contact then looking away. She had noticed him looking at her a lot throughout the day. Little glances here and there when he thought she wasn’t looking.

“Nice work.” He called out to her and she eventually made her way over.

“I enjoyed that.”

“That duel was quite something. Everyone’ll be talking about it.” That was true. They wouldn’t talk about it in the way that it was spectacular to watch as they went back and forth casting spells at each other. They would talk about how the most talented dueller in the school was bested by a mysterious student. It will crush his ego a little, especially if Ominis reminds him of it every hour, which Sebastian was sure he would do.

Audrey agreed, “It was certainly good practice.”

“Practice? It felt more like I was duelling an expert. Didn’t expect a new student to be so deft with a wand. Then again, perhaps this wasn’t your first duel.”

Sensing she had ruined his confidence a little after the duel, Audrey added a little more fuel to the fire. “In fact, it was. Perhaps I have a knack for it.” It was a little lie, Fig and Audrey had small simple duels as practice, but that was to learn basic casts. Sebastian was no idiot and sensed there was more to this.

“Be coy if you like, but I know better.” He said this in a more teasing way than he originally planned, “magic requires intention and talent.” The words of Fig echoed in her mind who had said the exact same thing. “You know. You might be a perfect fit for a certain exclusive unsanctioned duelling organisation.”

“Exclusive and unsanctioned? Count me in.” There was the Slytherin spark that he was searching for. “Excellent. Knew I was right about you.”

Audrey had never been one to ignore her curiosities. However, as she got older, society became a lot less forgiving to her curiosity and interest in subjects that were not appropriate for young ladies, words said by many adults she came across including her father.

“If you want to get the most out of your time at Hogwarts, you’re going to need to break the rules now and then. Whether it’s joining a secret duelling club or sneaking into the Restricted Section of the library – you just have to be clever enough to not get caught.” He was no stranger to detention and rule breaking. Not all the professors and staff were weak to his sweet talk and charm.

“Thank you, Sebastian, I’ll keep that in mind.” She had already decided the duelling club was something she was going to look into later.

“Good. Pleasure chatting with you. I’m sure I’ll see you soon. Perhaps somewhere unsanctioned. We’ll see if your performance today was sheer luck – or actual skill.” She thought on his emphasis of unsanctioned longer than she would like to admit.

They exited the room, smiling at each other as they made their way in opposite directions. Audrey had agreed to meeting Fig and updating him on how her first day was going. A little while later as she left his office, she thought back to her conversation earlier with Sebastian. She was going to need a lot more than sheer luck to help Fig in their mission.

She made her way down the stairs, trying to not think about what she would looking into.

“Lets see what this duelling club is all about then Sebastian.”

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadows of the past  Chapter 4

The sorting ceremony

1st September 1890

“All I’m saying is, why do I have to travel all the way down to King’s Cross station to then travel back up to Scotland. Why can’t I just travel from Feldcroft?” Sebastian made his way through the carriage on the Hogwarts Express, Ominis following closely behind. His wand was raised acting as his sight.

“Well yes I suppose it would be a more convenient way of travel, but I do value the time we spend together chatting before we have to resume our school routine.” He cautiously hurried his steps trying to keep up with Sebastian. His friend was trying to find a spare private booth for them to sit in to catch up properly about their summer. “As irritating as you can be.”

Sebastian pretended to not hear the comment, instead focusing his attention to his surroundings.

“I’m just glad my Uncle let me use floo powder on my own this time, I didn’t want him to be the one seeing me off. Especially now that Anne cannot be left on her own longer than an hour.” He spoke the last sentence quietly to himself, cautious of not allowing people other than Ominis to know of his sisters’ worsening condition. “Ah – here we are, its too your left Ominis.”

Sebastian opened the door to the booth, holding it open to allow Ominis in first. They sat opposite one another. Sebastian kicked his feet up on the seats and leaned backwards, already getting comfortable for next few hours they would spend travelling to Hogwarts.

Ominis sighed, “Do you mind?”

Sebastian smirked to himself, “Not at all.” Ominis rolled his eyes and placed his wand next to him. The pair looked outside the window, Sebastian watching his surroundings while Ominis listened to the sound from the open window. It was obvious who were the first years, they were either crying hugging their parents’ goodbye or were too excited to begin their Hogwarts experience that they were rushing ahead of them, relying on their parents to handle their suitcases. The boys’ experience was the latter. Sebastian and his twin sister Anne had never been more excited in their lives. Having parents as professors instilled a love for learning in them early on. The death of their parents only made them more excited, they know had the opportunity to learn in the environment they taught it. They hoped it made them feel closer to them. Ominis, excited as he was, had been put off by his parents’ parting words.

“Remember who you’re representing son.”

The words were cold and threatening. Ominis had clearly never lived up to his families’ expectations. He did not care for the pure-blood status as much as they did. It was a driving force for them. A symbol of purity and power. From an early age he contemplated how he could tarnish it. He simply could not continue his bloodline, but having multiple brothers and sisters meant that no matter what, the Gaunt family name and bloodline would continue. He considered marrying and having children with a muggle, or a half-blood. His child would be a permanent representation of his betrayal to his families’ ideology. But this would be cruel. He knew what his family would do to the child.

The screeching of the train setting into motion brough the boys out of their memories. Sebastian smiled, grateful to finally be heading back to where he could continue his research.

“How was your summer?” Ominis laid his head back against the wall, eyes closed, he listened to the sounds outside.

Sebastian sighed, “Aside from my uncle becoming more controlling, it was pleasant. Anne and I spent a lot of time outside in the garden, the sun seems to really help her. Well …  as much as it can.” He thought back to the afternoons they sat at the pond near their cottage in Feldcroft. The sun shone brightly down on the both of them, Anne wearing a summer dress he had bought her. It was one he saw her admire often in Hogsmeade. Her face when she opened the decorated box containing the dress was something he treasured. It had been a long time since he had seen her so happy. It was almost as if the pain had gone completely, she looked as she had before she had been cursed.

Ominis interrupted him from the memory, “The sun is a good natural remedy I have heard.” He smiled. Although the sun could not cure Anne’s curse, it was a source of comfort. The warmth acted as a blanket to the cold she often felt. An effect of the curse that plagued her.

“I do hope this year is easier on all of us.”

~

“What’s that glow?” Audrey spoke aloud to Fig and Osric as they pondered over the cylindrical object.

Fig looked over at the girl questionable, “I don’t see a glow.”

“Nor do I.” The two look confused over this “glow” Audrey was seeing. Fig passed the object over to her, allowing Audrey to investigate what she was seeing. She held the object, examining it when a silver glow ran along the seal of where it was locked. It opened, revealing a golden ornate key inside.

“Merlin’s Beard! How did you – “Audrey went to pick the key up.

“Wait! We do not know what –“  he picked the case up out of her hand.

In the space of no less than two seconds, the carriage tore in two. Osric engulfed in the mouth of a dragon. The two passengers held onto the windows, broken glass cutting into their skin from where it hadn’t fallen out of the window.

“Hang on!” Fig yelled out. Audrey stared in shock at the dragon flying in front of them. It knocked it’s head upwards, throwing the carriage and snapped its sharp teeth into it. The pained screams of Osric were not something the two could ignore. The carriage crushed in its mouth as it closed it, the sound of Osric life was silenced.

Gripping on tightly, she turned her body to see if the driver was unharmed on not. He gripped onto the reigns tightly yelling at whatever being was pulling them. She believed it to just be magic that was pulling the carriage. She didn’t think about it too much into when Fig told her they would be entering another carriage in Diagon Alley. It pulled into the street from the air with no magical beings pulling it. This question was soon answered as she saw five grim looking creatures fade into view. They pulled the carriage messily, ramming into one another as the driver steered the reigns trying to avoid the dragon as it flew around them.

It roared greatly at them. Fire built up in its throat. Fig sensing what would happen ordered the pair to jump. The driver apparated in an instant. The pair jumped, the dragon breathed fire, scorching the remains of the carriage.

Audrey tried to look at Fig, the wind whipped at them both. It She didn’t know what to do. She couldn’t scream. She couldn’t control her body and where her limbs went.

“The key!” she could faintly her Fig yell, the wind from them falling muffling him. He reached out to her, “My hand!”

She reached out to him. Fig gripped onto her hand and stretch out his other towards the falling key.

“Accio!”

Instantly, she felt herself propelled forward. She didn’t know where they were going but the hard landing and the lack of dragon roaring assured her, they were out of harm’s way. For now.

~

The Great Hall buzzed with excitement. All the first years had finally been sorted into their houses and the feast commenced. Food magically appeared in front of everyone and they all dug in, hungry from their travels. Sebastian and Ominis sat next to Imelda. She wasn’t their normal company but they were both happy to be sat again with their fellow Slytherins. Sebastian was already on his second helping of dessert, he had an insatiable sweet tooth.

“I’m surprised that there wasn’t many first years sorted into Slytherin. Tell me, is it looking rather bare at the end of the table.” Imelda peered down to the end, confirming what Ominis had asked. Sebastian was too interested in his dessert to care.

“Hmm, who’s that?” Imelda pointed towards a girl standing in the doorway of the hall with Professor Fig. The headmaster looked annoyed over something. They couldn’t tell. It didn’t look like she called him pompous, even though he was.

“Who?” Sebastian looked up from his dessert. They watched as Black, and the student walked down the length of the hall. Professor Weasley walked over to her smiling and they watched as she placed the sorting hat on her. That was strange. A student that old was being sorted into a house.

“Is she a transfer? It’s weird for someone our age to be involved in the sorting ceremony now?” Imelda questioned out loud. Sebastian kept his eyes trained on the student. She appeared as though she was talking to the hat. It had a habit of asking questions out loud. Whether the student replied was up to them.

Ominis sighed, “Could someone please explain to me what you’re both seeing.” Imelda turned to him, explaining what they were witnessing. The sorting hat spoke more, his speech becoming more clear as the students in the hall quietened, intrigued by what was happening.

“That makes you, Slytherin!”

The Slytherins around them burst into cheers. Another one to add to the house, the three students clapped. There wasn’t many Slytherins in the fifth year, so it meant they had more opportunity to speak to the new student.

Headmaster Black took to the front, announcing that Quidditch was cancelled for the year after an injury. Sebastian heard Imelda stifle a yelp. Quidditch and anything broom-related was her life. He couldn’t hide his disappointment as well. He had planned to try out for the Beater position now that the 7th year who had occupied it previously had graduated. The student in the hall began to stand up and leave to their respective common rooms. Ominis and Imelda stood up as well. They nudged Sebastian on the shoulder, telling him to hurry up so they could get to their common room. They wanted to avoid falling behind the first years as the prefects would walk slowly so they could become familiar with the route. Sebastian stood, eyes still trained on the student at the front of the hall. Professor Weasley was speaking to her.

Who was she? She didn’t look related to anyone in the school he knew. She couldn’t be a pure blood either. All the pure bloods knew of one another, or they at least knew who was and wasn’t one so they didn’t become associated with them. Despite being a pure blood himself, Sebastian’s family did not adopt this attitude, something Ominis was grateful for when he visited them in Feldcroft.

Sebastian made a note to himself that once he saw her in the common room, he would try and question her about her strange arrival.

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadow of the past Chapter 3

A hidden world

Audrey and Elijah sat opposite each other in the living room. It was silent between the two of them, the only noise was the obnoxious ticking of the grandfather clock. Elijah tapped his foot nervously on the floor. It was obvious he was anxious, he fidgeted in his seat and glanced over to the clock. They had been waiting on their mysterious guest for half an hour now. Elijah explained him as someone that can provide better answers to Audrey than he could.

Audrey sat on her designated lavender armchair. It was her favourite. The velvety softness comforted her as she touched it, bringing her back to pleasant memories of curling up with a beautiful romance novel. How she wished she could become lost in those worlds again and escape from this mystery of a world she now lived in.

She stroked Isaac, who lay on top of her lap. Her ruined gown had been changed into a simple green dress which she often wore at home.

She sighed, “Father how much longer til – “

A warped sound filled the room and suddenly, an older man stood there. Elijah and Audrey yelped at the unexpected arrival, with Isaac rushes out of the room. How Audrey wished she could do the same.

“Ah, apologies for my way of arrival. I couldn’t get here any sooner by any other travel. “He laughed to himself. Elijah stood up and greeted the man, shaking his hand.

“Professor Fig! How good it is to see you again.”

“Please, Elijah. Eleazar is perfectly fine. There is no need for propriety at this moment.” Contrary to what Fig had just said, he turned around and leaned down and kissed the young girl’s hand. “Greetings, Lady Thornhill. I understand you have had a difficult day so far.” He offered her a soft smile, clearly sympathetic to the shock she had endured.

“I .. yes Sir, it has been quite a shock.” She was still in a state of shock from the earlier event but the man’s arrival

Elijah motioned for Fig to sit down on a spare chair. “Now, Audrey dear. Eleazar is going to explain everything to you.”

Fig looked over to her, still smiling.

“Ah yes. Lady Thornhill, I understand all of this will be a lot to take in. However, it is highly important for you to know.” Audrey stared at him intensely, listening to every word carefully. “You posses magical abilities, like myself.”

Audrey laughed out loud, taking herself by surprise. “You clearly have a wicked sense of humour Professor Fig but I thought I just heard you say I possess magical abilities. Father?” She looked over to Elijah for confirmation of what she had just heard. He sat there quietly, offering a sympathetic look.

“Like I said, I understand that this will be a lot to take in. Your mother also possessed magical abilities. That is why you’re a witch my lady.”

Audrey couldn’t believe what she was hearing. A witch? They didn’t exist. It was something people believed in centuries ago. She read about them in her novels but that was fiction not real life. She thought of her mother. Someone she rarely heard of. Her father rarely spoke of her, still heartbroken by the loss of her fifteen years prior.

“My mother? A witch?”

Elijah interrupted, “Yes your mother was a witch my dear. A very talented one I might say as well. That is how Eleazar and I came to know one another. Your mother and him went to school together.”

“Why am I only being told of this now?”

Fig sat up straighter, “When your mother died – “ Elijah glanced at the floor solemnly, “It was decided that the wizarding world would be explain to you when you demonstrated magical abilities. Typically, that is between the ages of five and seven. Elijah is a muggle, non-magic folk, so he could not teach you about our world. And as you never demonstrated magical abilities past those ages, it was assumed that you were a squib. That is wizard talk for a non-magic child born to at least one witch or wizard parent.”

“What happened earlier, that was magic?” Audrey questioned.

“Yes, that was magic. I will teach you to have better control over it though. We don’t want you blowing up every alleyway in London now don’t we. “ Fig chuckled to himself again but stopped quickly, sensing that no one else had found the joke funny.

“We witches and wizards go to school to learn about magic. We receive letters on our eleventh birthday, informing us of our place at the school, and we’re given a list of supplies to collect before we leave.”

“School? What is this school called?”

Fig smiled grandly. “Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry.”

~

1st September 1890

Lionel heaved the last trunk out of Audrey’s room and made his way to the carriage waiting for them outside. She stood there, quietly taking in the sparseness of the room. She had been informed that she was to go to Hogwarts on the 1st of September. The day had arrived, as much as she wished it hadn’t. She had never been so far away from home before.

Isaac rubbed himself against her skirts, sensing her sadness. She picked him up, kissing him on the head. Her father stood in the doorway of her room. He smiled at her.

“It won’t be long before you’re back for Christmas my dear.”

She turned to him, “I know … it’s just – “ she couldn’t finish her sentence. It had all happened so fast. One moment she was to take a walk with her father like they normally did, then a week later she was travelling to Scotland to study at a school for magic.

Elijah walked over to her, enveloping her in a hug. He stroked her hair comfortingly.

“Do you know why I named you Audrey?”

She looked up at him, “Yes, after my mother.”

He smiled down at her, “Correct. Audrey, one of the finest witches at Hogwarts as Eleazar had told me. I know you will do her proud.”

They exited her bedroom and walked down the stairs to the carriage where Fig waited patiently.

“Are you ready to begin your journey at Hogwarts!”

Audrey smiled back at him. It would be rude to diminish his eagerness by proclaiming how desperately she wished she could go back to when she didn’t know the truth about herself. He had spent a lot of effort teaching her the most basic spells, something she was grateful for.

She turned to look back at the manor, her home. Lyssa, Lionel, and the rest of the house staff stood waiting for them to leave. Some with tears in their eyes. All of them had been told she was to go to Scotland to learn lessons of how to be a Lady in todays society. This was far from the truth obviously.

“Yes, I am.”

As Elijah watched as the carriage pulled away, he pondered over whether agreeing with the Auror was a good thing. He couldn’t protect that baby anymore, especially now that she was fifteen years old and being thrust into a world neither of them understood. He took comfort in the fact that she believed the story that Fig and himself had told her. She would not be able to handle to truth of who her parents were. Oh, how he feared that she would discover the truth.

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadow of the past Chapter 2

A shadow emerges

August 23rd, 1890

Audrey pressed the piano keys with confidence and rigour. The harmonious sounds of Chopin filled the air in the living room. Elijah sat leaned back in his leather armchair admiring the musical talent of his daughter. She was lost in her own world, focusing on when to press the ivory keys.

Elijah was most prideful of his daughter in moments like these. He thanked God every night for blessing him with her. After his friend had evaporated into thin air fifteen years ago, he quickly began introducing his daughter to the staff around their manor. They were all confused at first due to the memory wipe spell, but they quickly showed their adoration for the babe. From that moment, Audrey had become the heart of the house, and everyone around her showed so much love.

The piano piece came to an end and Audrey breathed a sigh of relief that the performance gone smoothly. She looked over to her father and smiled at him.

“Spectacular my dear, your talents amaze me daily.”

“Thank you, father.” She blushed at the compliment. They had a very close, adoring relationship. She was grateful to have such an understanding relationship with her father. So many lady’s she was acquainted with were not as fortunate. Their fathers were already planning their coming out into society and the thought of further education was not something granted to them. Despite their obvious intellect.

“I was thinking we should take a walk in the park later this evening. The day is so beautiful and I know how much you love the scenery.” Audrey nodded in agreement, “Be dressed for 3:00pm, I will back from a meeting at that time.”

He stood up and straightened his shirt and blazer, “I will see you in a couple hours my dear.” He kissed her forehead and exited the living room.

~

Audrey sat at her vanity table and perfected the finishing touches to her hair and dress. The maid, Lyssa, had left her bedroom minutes prior after helping her into her stays and assisting her into the dress she was to wear for the evening walk with her father.

It was a beautiful piece of craftmanship. A lace collar hugged her neck and was secured even more with a dusty blue ribbon. A sheer light dusty blue lace sleeve gently hugged her skin, allowing her skin to breathe but still staying modest. Her skirts were ruffled and were adorned in flower embroidery. It was a dress suitable for a young girl that had not come out into society, she was grateful for it. She was not yet ready to face the world ladies of her class had to face.

Her dark hair was left with her loose curls down her back. She pondered over whether to tie another blue ribbon into her hair or around her waist. She looked over to where Lyssa had laid the ribbon. A fluffy grey cat sat on top of it, pawing at another strand of ribbon that had been left as well. Audrey walked over and stroked the top of the cats head. It nuzzled into her hand. Now with the cat distracted by the affection she went to pick up the strand of ribbon. Not satisfied with the transaction, the cat snatched it with it claws and tried to run off with it.

“Isaac don’t be selfish!” She chased after the cat down the stairs, picking up her skirts to try and not trip. Isaac leapt onto the windowsill and looked at Audrey as she told him, “Don’t you think about it.”

Isaac, believing himself to be the funniest cat alive, hopped out of the open window and strolled into the garden. With a sigh, Audrey opened the front door and followed him to the gate which he had now slipped out of.

“Isaac! Come back here now!” She called after him as he strolled down the street. Unimpressed by his little game, she followed after him into an alleyway. There he sat no longer fascinated by the blue ribbon and instead focusing his attention on cleaning his paws. She walked over and picked him up and gave him a little fuss, she could never stay annoyed at him for too long.

“Clearly the streets of London are too dirty for you Sir Isaac Thornhill. Cleaning your paws already, you spoilt thing!” she chuckled to herself and picked up the ribbon off the floor. As she turned around to walk back home, she bumped into a man.

“Well, aren’t you a pretty thing to be out alone in a city like this” The man slurred his words, clearly drunk. He didn’t seem to be someone who lived nearby. His clothes were ruggish, and there was a hole where his knee was, revealing a few small cuts. It appeared as though he was still drunk from the night before and had gotten into a fight.

“Excuse me Sir, I just need to get past.” She tried to walk past him, but he moved to the side preventing her from passing.

“Now now, where are you running off to? I’m just trying to talk to you, something wrong with me?”

He was definitely drunk. He wobbled slightly as he spoke, and spit flew out of his mouth as he questioned her.

“No Sir, nothing is wrong. I would just like to get home.” She replied quickly, avoiding eye contact, and attempting again to pass by. She had made one step forward when the man had grabbed her wrist.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to ignore a man when he’s trying to speak to you!” He smirked at her. It sent a shiver down her spine. He clearly was someone who wanted something more sinister.

“Get off me!” She tugged her arm back, to which he responded by dragging her wrist back even harder. He grabbed onto her shoulders and pushed her against the wall. Isaac jumped out of her arms and tried scratching the man but he didn’t seem phased.

“You little bitch! You ladies think you can live in your fancy house with no responsibilities and say no to gentleman like me who work so fucking hard for nothing back!”

“Get off me! Get off!” She screamed back, trying to scratch his face. She kicked him in the shin. He grunted but his hands remained firmly on her shoulders against the wall.

A heat built up in her core, she could feel it building the more she screamed at him.

“GET OFF!” In an instant, a bright light blinded them both and an loud explosion erupted from the air. Both of them was thrown to the floor as rubble from the wall rained down on them. Audrey shielded her head as Isaac skittered out of the alleyway. Once it seemed as though the commotion had stopped, she peered up and examined the scene around her.

The brick wall had crumbled around them. The man lay motionless beside her, blood pooled around his head. Quickly, she stood up and raced back to her home.

Audrey slammed the front door shut and heaved from running so quickly. Isaac sat on the stairs in front of her. She briskly walked over to him and picked him up, comforted to see he was unharmed. Her skirts were dusty from the rubble, her hair a mess from the struggle of the fight. She stood there crying quietly to herself, shaken from what had happened in a short amount of time.

The sound of the grandfather clock striking 3PM startled her. As her father promised, the front door opened, and he stepped into the house. He was pale. Clearly he had seen the scene to what Audrey had just fled. He looked at her, solemnly. Instantly, he knew what this meant.

“Audrey my dear, I believe there is something we must speak about.”

[im-clapped-af]

In the shadow of the past Chapter 1

13th December 1874

“Avada Kedavra!”

A luminescent green shot through the room at the dark wizard cradling his dead wife. His body went limp and slumped over her. It marked an end to the terror they had caused to the wizarding world.

The Auror sighed, exhausted by the fight. They had journeyed all over the world trying to capture the two dark wizards, travelling and failing to bring justice to those they had harmed. And now, after all these years, the fight had ended after declaring two words.

It was not a spell the young Auror was comfortable with. It was a death sentence to those it was aimed at, its power instant and fatal immediately. No matter how determined they had been to end these two lives, they said a silent prayer asking for forgiveness for what they had done.

They could already imagine the Daily Prophet reporting the victory. Breaking news: reign of terror comes to an end. The wizarding world would celebrate eagerly. People no longer living in fear; they could leave their homes and do as they pleased. The Auror smiled to themselves. Yes. What they did was a good thing. This wasn’t murder, it was justice.

A small cry distracted them from their thoughts.

The Auror peered around the room. It was difficult to see where the cry was coming from.

“Lumos.”

The bright light revealed the truth of the fight. The room was a mess. Dark oak was splintered across the floor from blasting curses hitting it. Shards of glasses was littered around the fireplace from another spell had landed against the mirror. Books on the dark arts that were piled up on every surface had been destroyed and ripped pages decorated the floor. The Auror glanced towards the two bodies. Blood was seeping into the carpet from where they had been cut by flying debris. They looked so much younger than the Auror had remembered. It was difficult to forget that they were only twenty-four years old. Posters and descriptions of them had made them out to have been as disgusting looking as their actions. It was rumoured that engagement in the dark arts did not act favourably on the appearance of those wizards. Clearly the rumours weren’t true. They were once a young witch and wizard, misguided by those around them who then ended up corrupted by what they deemed to be the most desirable magic.

The auror brought their attention back to the crying. It was coming from near the bookcase.  They hurried over to it, hoping that it was the cry from a woman that was reported to have been captured by the couple. Everyone knew that if you were captured by the two, there was no possibility your body would ever return or be found.

The auror held up their wand and pointed it at the bookshelf. After a few spoken words it slid to the side revealing an opening in the wall. They peered in, holding their wand up high still to illuminate the dark room. In the corner stood a dark oak bassinet. The auror walked over tentatively. Peering in, they saw a baby no older than 2 weeks it seemed.

“Fuck.”

Surprisingly, this was the scariest part of the night. A new-born was the last of what they expected to come across tonight. Instantly, they knew what it meant. They reached over to pick the young one up. Their eyes were puffy from crying and their face was splotchy red. They couldn’t believe they didn’t hear the crying sooner. The fight was not quiet, which explained how the new-borns cried were concealed.

The Auror looked at the new-born. Tufts of wispy black hair and dark eyes stared back at them. They rocked the new-born, trying to settle them while the Auror reflected on what this meant now. It was undeniable that this baby belonged to the couple. The child’s fate was sealed the moment they had been born. They would be scrutinised and ostracised by those who would never move on from what their parents had done. They would be blamed for someone else’s actions and treated as those they had committed them themselves. It was no way for anyone to live. In fear that the child would grow up to learn what their parents had done and become like them, the wizarding world would want the child to be killed.

The Auror cradled the child as if it was their own. Already they had not been dealt a fair life. It was another life their parents had caused harm. They thought about what they could do to protect it. The child calmed and glanced at the Auror. They locked eyes with each other and in that instant, they knew what they had to do.

~

The pair apparated in front of the ornate doors of a large manor. It had belonged to a muggle friend of the Aurors’ whose assistance was vital for the plan to work. They knocked on the door three times and quickly and older gentleman had appeared.

“Excuse me Sir, I need to speak with Lord Thornhill. It is an emergency.” The Auror informed the servant. He looked at them questionably, confused as to why this person with a baby was calling on them at such a late hour.

“Unfortunately, Lord Thornhill is not available at this hour. You may call again tomorrow at an earlier time. May I take a message?”

“Thank you, Lionel, but I can assist our guests,” a young man appeared behind him, “Please can you fetch us tea? I will handle the rest from here.” The servant held the door open and ushered the pair in. Quickly, he rushed off to fetch the tea that had been requested.

Sighing at finally alone, the young man gave a slight small and beckoned them over to sit in the living room.

“Now, why are you calling on me so late friend? And is that a baby with you?” The Lord questioned them. He sat back in the leather armchair. He dragged a hand across his face. Time had not been kind to him recently. His eyes were solemn, and he didn’t appear to have been taking care of his appearance.

“I’m sorry for calling on you so late Elijah, but this is an urgent matter.” Elijah sat forward in his chair puzzled. “This is the child of two of the most powerful dark wizards in my world. No one was aware they were expecting and if people found out, thy will never live a normal happy life.”

The Auror was clearly desperate. Elijah had never seen them become so emotional.

“I understand that with the loss of your wife and baby three weeks ago that what I’m going to ask you is an incredible favour,” Elijah knew instantly where this was going, “but I cannot allow this child to grow up in my world. They could be killed.” The Auror tried to speak again but Elijah raised a hand to quiet them.

“I understand what you are saying friend. If I do this, how will I raise them in my world? They will possess magic will they not? How am I to explain to society that I suddenly have a child when I …” He didn’t finish his sentence, emotions still raw from the recent losses.

“I can cast a memory spell. Everyone will only know of the passing of your wife but not your child. Their birth would not have been registered with the Ministry of Magic. As long as they do not discover magic and it is not uttered to them, they will never know of the world they was born into”

Elijah reached out his hands towards the child. The Auror, understanding what was being asked, passed the child over to him. Elijah held the child delicately, as if they were made of porcelain. His eyes grew watery as he looked at the child. The dark eyes stared back at him.

“My Lord, your tea.” Lionel appeared at the doorway holding a silver tray with two teacups and a teapot.

He smiled down at the child, “My daughter, Audrey Thornhill”

In an instant, the Auror held up their wand towards the servant knowing what they now needed to do.

“Obliviate!”

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In the shadow of the past

Hi so i’ve been writing a fanfic over on AO3 and thought about posting it here. It follows Sebastian and my original character, Audrey, throughout their fifth year and it will go on to explore their sixth, seventh, and years after Hogwarts. I’m planning on having multiple endings for the stories so people can kinda have a choose your own adventure kind of thing. Id really appreciate it if you gave it a read :)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/46039831/chapters/115893280

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Sebastian & Anne Sallow by Pasta As Avatar

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I’ve practically lost Anne. I cannot lose Sebastian too.

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This won’t make your blog look ugly. How could you not reblog this? REBLOGGING THIS COULD SAVE A LIFE!!!

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