SHADOWS OF SORROW [S.S]

16 - In the Shadow of Recognition

Sirona sighed as the last witch left the Three Broomsticks, only leaving Sebastian behind at the counter, drowning his sorrow in butterbeer. Various pints of butterbeer. "It's getting late. You'll get into trouble if you don't return to Hogwarts." The witch wiped a few tables with the cloth that always hung somewhere around her waist, a small hiccup audible, muffled through the fabric of his robe as he laid down his head in the crook of his arms on the counter. He's been here since classes finished, possibly even left before some of them wrapped up for the day to drown himself in alcohol. He's been constantly switching between Fire Whiskey and Sirona's brewery, the effects on his head spinning only increasing with each sip. The memory of Amaya's voice repeating in his head over and over again, like a broken record. Leave. Leave. Leave. Leave... He'd give everything to be able to reverse time, take back his words from last night about how she didn't know what loss was. She knew way better than he did and he was aware of that now, but even his apologies didn't right anything. Why was he so stupid, always seeking a fight with everyone he cared for? Maybe they were right when they said he was changing. Something about him wasn't right, the question what exactly that was remained though. "Seriously Sebastian. I have to wrap up everything now and I can't wipe down the counter with your head on it." A flick of her wand made his head levitate, forcing it up to sit straight on his shoulders again, flushed face and drowsy eyes as if he cried but he was just drunk, overstepping his limit by a mile.

"I don't want to go back. She hates me Sirona." His whine made him drop his head back on the wooden counter as soon as the witch wiped it down, making her cross her arms in front of her chest. "Who hates you? Weasley? Doesn't surprise me." The wizard shook his head, eyes closed in hopes the spinning might stop at that. "Amaya." – "Not surprised by that either." Sebastian seemed like he was a bout to throw a tantrum like a little child, rubbing his face to get rid of the burning feeling in his eyes. "What do you mean you're not surprised by that either?" Sirona pulled out a chair from underneath the countertop, sitting down, knowing this would take more time than she hoped for it to. "Because she was here about an hour before you dashed in to drown your misery in alcohol. I saw it on her face, she was devastated Sebastian. Whatever you did, you most definitely fucked up." The guilt that was ripping his insides apart like a raging werewolf only increased with her words, his eyes closing in an attempt to console the burning pain within. "What can I do Sirona? I'm just as devastated... I never meant for things to go this way. I never meant to hurt her the way I did." His voice lowered with every word until it was a mere whisper, realizing he cared about her. Much more than he admitted to care. "I don't know what happened between the two of you and why she is so mad and disappointed but I'm sure time is a pretty important piece in this puzzle. Give her space, the time to think and the opportunity to get a new view on everything so she can consider if things were actually that terrible or if she is just overreacting." – "Oh, she most definitely isn't overreacting. I'm a fucking asshole."

Sirona looked at Sebastian as if she saw him for the first time, not used to the wizard admitting to his own flaws. She only knew him as a person who was full of themselves but rather decent once you got to know them. "You seem to regret whatever you did. That's a good start. Give her some space, the way I know her she will avoid you anyway, and once the sky cleared a little, try approaching the topic with that same regret and a proper apology." Sebastian nodded as the words settled into his mind, feeling like she calmed down the storm within him a little. "Thank you Sirona." – "No need to thank me, just leave now. It's late." The witch got up from her chair, pushing it back to its place under the counter as Sebastian tumbled from his own seat, the wooden walls and floor dancing around him. He definitely downed one too many shots of Fire Whiskey while he was here. "Good night.", was the last thing the witch heard as Sallow made his way out of the Three Broomsticks, feeling the cold air of the night with some delay as the door closed behind him, the soft sound of the lock clicking behind him. The lanterns that illuminated Lower High-Street had a weird swirl to them as Sebastian made his way down the street to the wooden bridge leading over Rivers Edge. He could be glad if he even made it to Hogwarts in one piece. Of course he could apparate into there but it would make his stomach turn and clench until all the liquids he consumed just gushed out of him again the way they came. He felt the slight urge to do it and appear in Amaya's room in hopes she forgave him if she saw how miserable he was.