In The Shadow of Our Choices

Chapter 5 - Festival Festivities

The next morning Elizabeth was awoken by a loud crack from outside the house. She vaulted out of bed, wand at the ready. Sebastian, who was already awake, looked at her from across the room with a raised eyebrow. It took her a minute to get her bearings - someone must have apparated out in the town. Elizabeth took a steadying breath and stowed her wand. Her stomach writhed unpleasantly from the sudden movement, clearly upset by the alcohol last night.

"Sorry," she said, "I'm a bit jumpy these days."

"I don't blame you," Sebastian said.

Elizabeth retreated behind the curtains and changed into one of her few casual robes - this one being a rich dark blue.

Sebastian sat at the table, pouring over a book and scribbling notes on a piece of parchment that trailed all the way to the floor. Ominis, on the other hand, was still sprawled in his bed, breathing evenly as he slept. Elizabeth tried to keep her footsteps light as she crossed to the kitchen and began rummaging around for breakfast. She wasn't particularly hungry, but she hoped some food would settle her stomach. Elizabeth moved the pots and pans gingerly as she looked.

"Don't worry about him," Sebastian said offhandedly. "He's a pretty sound sleeper."

All the same, Elizabeth tried to be quiet. When she was done, she placed a cup of tea and a plate of eggs and toast in front of Sebastian, and settled into the chair next to him with her own food. He stared at the food for a minute.

"Did Ominis tell you to feed me?" he asked.

"Yep."

"I can feed myself, you know."

"Did you eat already then?"

"Er, no."

"Then eat."

Looking sheepish, Sebastian pulled the food closer and tucked in.

"You know," he said, "I was thinking about what you said last night - a curse gone wrong. It's a good idea, and I thought of a few books we could try. Do you mind writing to Madam Scribner and asking to borrow them?"

"Why can't you do it?" Elizabeth asked.

"Well, you know how she feels about me," Sebastian grinned. "And you could just tell her Weasley told you to study over the holidays or something."

Elizabeth sighed and sipped her tea.

"Fine," she said at last, "I'll ask for you."

Sebastian's face lit up with a smile.

"Thank you! You're the best!"

Elizabeth returned the smile. She didn't mind helping Sebastian, honestly, but she couldn't shake the wary feeling that it could all go wrong again. And Ominis had mentioned at the beginning of the holidays that he'd forbidden Sebastian from roping them in, just for the summer. Elizabeth felt the all-too familiar guilt of not respecting Ominis' wishes. She picked at her eggs. Suddenly, they didn't seem like such a good idea.

"Listen," she said, "I had another thought too - I know you've been searching the library for ages, but what about other libraries?"

"Other libraries? What, like a muggle library? Oh right - did you get a chance to look at any muggle books?"

Elizabeth shrugged.

"Yeah, but there was nothing promising - most of what I found didn't sound like it would work. Stuff like trapping the curse in a jar using a plant with thorns, or burning garlic salt in dark blue candles. We could try them, I don't think they'd hurt, but..."