Aftermath ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter twenty-two

But Breathing by Defeater

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Trigger Warning: This chapter includes sensitive conduct - please see the comment for a full description of conduct. 

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Sebastian's Perceptive

The campfire was low when Ominis approached. Not a word urged between him and Amelia as he twisted open the glass bottle he had been carrying and pressed it to his lips. One hard swallow. Then he silently pointed the bottle in her direction. She took the glass in with a shakey hand and had it to her nose first.

"It's whiskey." Ominis reaffirmed, "For the nerves."

Amelia's blue eyes studied the bottle in her hands as she ran her nails against the glass with a light tap. She was dressed in high black riding boots, black pants, and a light grey sweater, her Ravenclaw scarf being the only bit of color on her. The hickey I left her neck just peering over the top of the scarf as she lifted her head for the first sip of whiskey. 

I still wasn't sure what they were doing out here. 

Clearly, Ominis and Amelia were dressed for a fight, but both just remained anxiously at the campfire, passing the bottle of whiskey between each other in silence. 

I remained under the disillusionment charm and found a dry spot to sit behind a tree close to the fire. If I sat too close to them, Ominis had silently made it clear that I should remain hidden and Amelia would likely sense me if I was too close. 

 We hadn't spoken since the night she sneaked into my room and there was a lot I wanted to say.

It felt like I was being torn apart between my desires. I'd spent the year so far attempting to be a good person and be happy, joining the quidditch team, spending time with Adelaide, and staying away from studying dark arts. Part of me believed that if I pretended things were okay, then the nightmares would stop and Anne would come back. 

But no matter how happy I pretended to be, I still felt like something was missing.

I shouldn't have kissed Amelia that night. 

She was the only person with whom I could be my real self around, there was no lying about Anne, no lying about dark arts, and she would always accept me for who I was. Even if it had been what I wanted for over a year, I didn't want to ruin our relationship again.

I still had the image of her bloody neck burnt into my eyelids. That nightmare had been different than any other one I had before. I couldn't bear the thought of hurting her again. The small scar on her brow when enough of a reminder of how poorly I treated her the year before. 

The snap of the campfire crackled low as they took turns passing the bottle back and forth a few times. Ominis' wand remained pulsing into the treeline towards me, he would be marking sure I still followed them. But I still didn't understand why he was being so indirect. If he had wanted me to follow, he only needed to tell me. 

"Why are we doing this, Amelia?" Ominis finally asked through the silence after what felt like an entirety.

"To find a cure for Anne, of course," Amelia answered quickly, no sense of emotion in her voice.  

Anne? They were out in the woods looking for a cure for my sister, without me? 

The silence between them was unsettling. Ominis handed the bottle back to Amelia again. Each sip of whiskey they took made me jealous. The woods were cold and the burn of the whiskey must be warm.