Chapter THIRTY ONE - Pain

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I met Sebastian and Ominis down near where I thought the entrance to the Slytherin common room might be. I only knew it was in this general area and hoped I would be close enough for them to spot me when they arrived. Thankfully, the two rounded the corner moments later - Sebastian swinging his hips and Ominis stiff, non-wand hand shoved into his robes.

"There you are." I sighed, glad I wouldn't need to wander the halls.

Sebastian and I locked eyes and our moment from last night slipped through the halls but dissipated with his words.

"There you are." He smiled and it was as if nothing had even happened between us. I was glad to see the energy back in his features but couldn't deny the thorns that poked at my heart.

"This way." Ominis kept walking without so much as a stutter in his step and Sebastian rolled his eyes, trailing behind with me at his side.

We reached an empty corridor corner and my eyes flicked around looking for any possible entrance. The stone floors melted into stone archways along every wall and it was impossible to see much more than winding details under each one. 

"This is the place?" Sebastian was inspecting the walls closer, squinting at each archway in the dim light.

Ominis walked up to the closest wall and felt his hand across three archways. His fingers nimbly tracing the cool stone and I noticed a slight shake in his movements. His wrist stopped under an archway near the very center and he tilted his head.

"This is it. There should be some braziers nearby... you'll need to light them aflame in quick succession." His voice low, hand tucked quickly back into his robe.

"That- I can handle." Sebastian laughed and stepped up to two tall braziers encased with huge stone snakes. "Confringo!"

"Confringo!" I cast my spell at another down a separate hallway and bit my tongue, hoping no one important had heard us.

The wall behind Ominis shifted, dust floating down to his feet as each brick stacked in on itself, opening into a dark corridor.

Sebastian was grinning wildly, stepping immediately in the direction of the entry-way. "We're in ladies and gentleman."

Ominis hadn't moved from his spot and seemed to be focusing on his breathing.

Sebastian stepped in first and quickly disappeared into the darkness, followed closely by Ominis and I. We could barely see our feet and I hooked my arm through Ominis' arm, carefully placing our toes onto each step. We could see a warm orange glow a few paces down and worked our way down quickly.

"Merlin. I can't see a thing!" Sebastian grumbled after the sound of a short scuffle and a few pebbles echoed as they bounced down ahead of us.

"How terrible." 

I gently squeezed Ominis' arm to show my appreciation for the quip and I could almost feel his hesitant grin through the darkness.

We reached the bottom and wound our way through the halls, tricks and trials of the Slytherin founder. Everything felt foggy and slow in my mind. Time twisted and hung itself on the silence around us. Noctua's notes and bones laughed wicked circles around our ears and Ominis stood frozen as Sebastian stepped close to me, eyes desperate as our fate danced gingerly over my fingers. The glowing letters of CRUCIO on the floor painted our chins and cheeks in a sickly warm light.

"Ok." I whispered, accepting what had to be done and swallowing my pounding heart.

Sebastians eyes were on my lips as I spoke.

"What?"

"I won't cast it on you. You need to cast it on me."

A flash of relief shimmered over his vision before quickly dissipating into something much deeper. A fear, a regret, a realization of the pain he would have to give me. Of the pain that he would have to truly mean in order for us to live.

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