Ten years after I began at Hogwarts, Sebastian Sallow is back. And he's Professor Sallow now. He disappeared after the fall of Ranrok and Rookwood, after I lost Professor Fig, and after Ominis and I couldn't keep him from losing himself. But I never...
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I feel at home sitting next to Ominis, cross-legged in the center of the bridgeway, basking in the bright light and misty sounds of our repository, with our hands intertwined and resting on my leg. Just like we used to do once we'd more-or-less 'finished' it so many years ago. Back when we would come here to hurt together. Grieve together.
There's a particular spot where, if he sat on the left and I sat on the right, each of us could hear some of our most tender echoes. For him, the voice of his aunt singing, playing the piano, teaching him to listen and play. For me, the voice of my father as we save a baby bird.
It hurts so good.
It is surreal but familiar. Like reaching a bookend, identical to the first, but at the opposite end of a long shelf full of unexpected stories and colorful bindings. I'm glad I didn't come inside the other day and waited to walk around the space again with Ominis.
I wouldn't say it was difficult to see it again. I've spent enough time here and visited my parents' graves frequently enough to know the first few times are the hardest and it eventually just becomes a routine you integrate into your life to fertilize your soul. I think the same was true for Ominis, today, despite having not seen it in so long.
"Cheerful way to begin the morning," he jokes sarcastically after a while and it makes me chuckle. He lets out a massive sigh. "Who'd have thought we'd be here now, hmm? Feels like yesterday when..." he trails off and I squeeze his hand as he continues, "how is everything so different yet so the same?"
I sigh, too. "I know what you mean."
"Are you going to be alright?" he asks kindly.
"Yeah," I say honestly. "It's time to move forward. How about you? How do you feel?"
He nods. "It's time. But I'm truly glad we built it, April. I think I needed it. To heal." I see a bittersweet tear roll from his eye and I wipe it away with my fingers, kissing his cheek where it had fallen. I squeeze his hand as I say, "me too. Thank you for being here with me."
"No need to be overly sentimental, now," Ominis says with an uncomfortable laugh.
"Should we take a final spin around before we break it down?" I suggest and he smiles, hugely, as his throat catches and sends another tear to his eye. He nods and chokes out, "why yes, I think we should."
We stand together and, hand-in-hand, begin to sprint down the bridgeway as we have done many dozens of times before. In unison we shout, "THREE! TWO! ONE!" and we both leap upwards to assume our animagus forms.
I stretch my wings and can immediately sense the pings that Ominis emits in his bat form that allow me to anticipate his movements. Together, we dip to the right of the statue of the Figs and I stretch my eagle wings as we fly through one of my memory mirrors that displays a peaceful memory of Ominis, Sebastian and I reading in the library, making snarky comments and laughing uncontrollably in ways you can only do with friends who know you well.
