Me and the Devil: Sebastian Sallow

Chapter TWENTY NINE - The Decision

The room was so quiet, you could almost hear all three of our heartbeats. 

Sebastian's words caught in his throat and he made an odd strangled noise.

I cursed under my breath, before stepping out towards the two and hanging my head low, ice still weighing down my blood. "Hello Ominis..."

"Do you two really think I'm so heedless as to not know you have been coming here for the past however many nights? Honestly."

"Ominis, I can explain-"

Ominis held a finger out to Sebastian before replacing it back onto his wrist.

"I wanted to be angry with you when I realized Sebastian." His brows furrowed and his nostrils flared faintly. "And I was. Truly- hurt... But, after having some time to think, to cool down and after meeting our dear Atley..." He sighed and let the words retire into the air.

"I know why you trusted her.

Although I am disappointed you felt that you couldn't tell me."

He turned his head to me and a chill slithered over my skin, the air in the room shifting suddenly. "I assume he had you swear not to tell a soul about this place." His voice was demanding, a side of Ominis I had only heard about. A side I think he suppressed quite often. It didn't suit the quiet boy I thought I knew- it felt too firm, too dangerous. It felt as if he was staring right into me, grasp firm against my throat. 

Ominis Gaunt was a menacing serpent indeed when he wanted to be.

"Yes. I swear Ominis. I would never-"

"I know." The venom dropped from his tongue and he took a deep breath. "Honestly, if anyone were to know, I'm glad it's you."

Sebastian chewed on his lip. "You're taking this awfully well..."

"Would you prefer I didn't?"

Sebastian smirked and shook his head. "Definitely not."

"Good. Now-" He seemed to shake the snake from his body. "what are we working on?"

All three of us crowded around the little wooden box that had been pulled back into the center of the room. Sebastian was reading aloud from one of his texts but his mind seemed to wander. 

I watched him battle with a thought. Watched him rub his thumb across his wrist and teeth clench between sentences. Finally, he gave in.

"Ominis. I- need to ask you something."

"Spit it out."

"The... scriptorium. I really do think there could be answers in there. There has to be. Something. For Anne." His collarbones pressed up and down quickly.

Ominis frowned at the ground. "I knew this conversation would return after today."

"None of us will be able to avoid Dark Magic forever. So the more we know about Salazar Slytherin and the Dark Arts, the better prepared we'll be."

"Dark Magic..." His voice raised and he had to pause before continuing, softer. "Dark magic, is better left untouched. Trust me. I only know about the Scriptorium from my favorite aunt - Noctua. She thinks like I do. Doesn't agree with the family on the use of Dark Magic... She hoped to convince my family that there was more to Salazar Slytherin than worshiping pure-blood status."

I swallowed my throat.

"She'd heard of this 'scriptorium' and thought its contents might shed some light on him." He paused and worried his lower lip. I'd never seen him do that before. "She wrote regularly to my father about her efforts to gain access... and then she simply vanished. No one else has tried to enter."

"Don't you want to find out what happened to her?" I could feel the heat from my palms as I spoke and I wiped them on my pants.

Ominis tilted his head up to me. "Aunt Noctua went down this path with good intentions... and she may very well have lost her life. I won't let the same fate befall my friends."

Friends.

Sebastian watched me intently.

"But... you don't know history would repeat itself Ominis-" I leaned forward and placed a hand over his left one. "This could honor her memory if we do it right. It could get you the answers your aunt sought about Slytherin, Sebastian answers for Anne and I-" I caught my words on the tip of a needle. "Your aunt pursued this alone... we could do it together." My last words came out as nothing more than a whisper.

Ominis tilted his head down to our hands and placed the cold fingers of his right over them both. The muscles in his jaw worked against themselves and I looked to Sebastian. His eyes were on our hands as well.

Moments ticked like hours.

"Okay."

Sebastian perked up and exhaled quickly. "What?"

"I said alright. I'll take you." Ominis kept his head down and I could almost feel his pulse as it pounded firmly under his skin.

"We go tomorrow. We go together."