Up and Down

Mind and Body

Waking with a throbbing headache, Anna groans and rolls over. Beside her, Ominis lies with his unseeing eyes opened to the vaulted ceiling, his hand idly playing with her loose hair on the pillows.

"I'm going to go find Sebastian," she says softly, and Ominis nods.

"Probably for the best if you do it," he responds, resigned.

I'm feeling rather... left behind.

"No, Ominis," she quickly corrects herself, "we're going together."

His brow relaxes as he closes his eyes and rests his forehead against hers.

"Good."

After washing up, a few cleaning and pressing charms for their clothes and Anna's hair twisted and pinned haphazardly at the back of her head and out of the way, they leave the cosy sanctuary to search for Sebastian.

He isn't in the Slytherin Common Room, Great Hall or in any of the classes he is supposed to be at, however. Anna checks the Room of Requirement, first opening the door to her version of the place, then asking it for the one that might contain Sebastian.

The stone wall remains unchanged the second time around.

"Where could he have gone?" Ominis stands next to her, leaning on the wall in thought. Anna worries her lip, considering.

I was going to help solve this.

"I... can try something. It will alert him of our intent to find him but I think we're out of options at this point."

"Alright," Ominis nods, his head inclining a bit forward in curiosity, "and that would be?..."

Anna clears her throat and gets her wand out. She smiles and cups Ominis' face, running her thumb over his pale cheek and the constellation of beauty marks, feeling him lean into her touch.

There is no need for much more than an incantation after that.

"Expecto Patronum!"

A silver osprey flaps its large wings and dives straight through the floor of the Astronomy Tower, disappearing from view.

Her Patronus form came as a bit of a surprise for Anna. She didn't know what exactly to expect, but based on what she saw from Sebastian she expected something a bit more... serpentine.

Perhaps her Patronus form is more a reflection of herself rather than her happiest memory.

She closes her eyes, focusing on sensing the passage of her Patronus through the castle. Down, down, down, through the walls of the castle and past the bridge, it searches for a familiar presence.

The Central Hall, through the cool kiss of the water from the dancing fountain, and down below the staircase to...

"Restricted Section!" She slaps herself on the forehead, cursing inwardly, "of course! He's there, looking for... something. He said something about solving the murder..."

Or covering his tracks, her mind suggests unhelpfully.

She takes Ominis' hand and together they hastily make their way down the many stairs of the castle.

The arms race between Madam Scribner and Anna and Sebastian has produced some of the most elaborate locking charms in the entire school, but in the end, if there is a will, there is a way.

Instead of trying to get through the increasingly complicated locks, they've taken a more direct approach this year. With Impenetrable charm blocking the sound, they would blast a way in with Bombarda in the secret room behind the fireplace, dropping down into the Restricted Section in a shower of stone and splintered wooden flooring before repairing the damage and going about their merry way.