Touched

Shadow of Exemption - Sixth Year

Sebastian POV

Mrs Petrie had arrived earlier than ever that morning, rising Sebastian from the sleep he'd finally received and sat him down with the same old clipboard.

"How are you today, Mr Sallow?" She asked him. She twisted the vial around in her fingertips and it made Sebastian's hair raise. He'd only had a few drops, but they'd changed the way he thought. They made him want to talk about everything, and tell the truth to this lady prying him for personal information.

"I'm as expected," he told her, honestly. She nodded, already scribbling on her clipboard.

"How are the dreams going?"

"As expected," he repeated, fighting against the Veritaserum for some control. It seemed to run in his blood and invade his brain, filter his thoughts and sort through his secrets.

"What plagues your dreams the most?"

"Anne," he whispered, finding it easier now to mention her. He'd allowed himself to think about her lately, what with nothing else to do in this place. He felt horrified with himself, terrified that he didn't know how she was or who she was with.

"How do you feel?"

"You just asked that."

"No. Tell me how you feel about what you did." Mrs Petrie ordered.

Sebastian tried to pull himself together. "I feel like I've ruined my life."

"Do you deserve to be here?"

"Yes."

Mrs Petrie scribbled on her clipboard again, engrossed in whatever she was writing for a good couple of minutes. Sebastian hadn't realised he was sweating. He wiped his forehead with his arm, dispersing the sheen.

"Let's try and go over some positive things," she said this time, and Sebastian found himself raising an eyebrow. He hadn't thought of anything positive in a while. "I need to know more about you and your history. What were your parents like?"

Sebastian scoffed. "That's not very positive," he shot back.

"Why not? You're telling me what you like about them."

"Liked," Sebastian corrected her, irritably. "They're dead. I told you that already."

"I know," Mrs Petrie replied. "What did you like about them, then?"

"There's a lot I don't remember about them," he found himself saying, which he hadn't even properly admitted to himself yet - let alone to this lady. "You tend to forget over time, what they look like. What their voices sound like. How they acted with you." Sebastian willed himself to stop talking. He gritted his teeth closed and set his jaw as if keeping his mouth closed would fight the potion.

"What did you love most about your mother?"

"She was gentle," he told her, pausing to think about her. "I haven't had the same kind of interaction with another person since she died. She never raised her voice. Ever. Anne and I were mischievous, as twins, of course we were, but she never minded. My uncle was more like my father. Rash, angry. He had a lot of built up stress that he used to keep inside, and it made him miserable. Anne and I and our mischief only made him angrier. But he was our father. And we loved him. They loved us, and they loved Ominis, too. Heard of what happened to him in his family home and without any hesitation they took him under their wing and he blossomed under it. They were the perfect parents," Sebastian had to catch his breath when he finished talking. Pleading, he said, "please don't ask me another question."

"It's good to tell the truth, Sebastian," the therapist said. "In a lot of ways it helps you realise things, helps you come to terms with them. Can you tell me about your friend Ominis?"