The Basilisk Kiss

Chapter 22

Ominis

Keeping a singular leaf in your mouth for an extended period of time was a lot harder than most would think. The biggest concern was swallowing it while sleeping. Alpine created some mesh mouth guard that we could put towards the back of your mouths while we slept. It allowed for plenty of airflow. It took a while to get used to as I personally didn't like to have things near the back of my throat. She was more used to that. When I teased her about it she socked me in the shoulder. She could be very violent for a hufflepuff. It was cute though for some reason even though she could pack a punch.

We traveled back to her home and spent majority of our time there. Alpines plants all had an atomic watering system at her room in Hogwarts so there wasn't a need to check up on it. And feel agreed to look after the beasts while we were away. Day after day we woke up just before sunrise and went out to enjoy the morning and meditate. We'd tend to the garden on her property then checked on all the beasts. We ended up being able to fly on the back of Naveri sometimes which was an absolutey thrilling experience. However each day it felt as if Alpine and I grew farther apart. We spoke less, kissed less, cuddled less, and overall became oddly distant.

It was something I hardly even noticed though. We spent day after day reading, training, practicing, growing, and exercising. Eating pretty much the same liquid meal 3 times a day through a tube. Oftentimes I'd hold the leaf against the side of my cheek while drinking and eating to make sure it wouldn't find its way to the back and be swallowed. Alpine would do the same. We would occasionally receive letters from Sebastian giving us insight on what their whereabouts were. Apparently the man's name was Murdock. He hasn't made any major moves since we met. Only doing his odd experiments. Alpine's father was still being held captive by him. But he mentioned that although he was beaten, no one would kill him for the sake of staying underground with the law. Killing an auror was a very serious crime.

Alpine became colder in general. I think the unresolved and ignored traumas of what's happened to her lately is starting to really take a toll on her. No matter the convincing I do she says she can't afford to go talk to someone about what she's experienced. She says she doesn't have the time and can't risk anything being found out by anyone. We hadn't even told Sebastian about us attempting to become animagus. She has disconnected us from the world as much as possible. And that's started to come back to our own relationship. It felt as though she was trying to separate herself from even me, but I don't think she meant to. I wished so badly to see what was going on inside her head. I could only hope and pray that this would only be temporary.

I'd often just find her sitting either in a chair or on the floor, staring blankly at whatever her eyes landed on. As time goes on it gets worse and worse and I don't know how to help her. She doesn't want to accept help and says nothing is wrong with her or us. I can't believe that but at this point all I can give her is time.

Alpine

Minutes blended into hours, hours into days, and days into weeks. I felt this cold cover come over me that I couldn't control or explain. I felt like I was losing feeling everywhere less so in the physical sense but in the emotional sense. I felt no desire to be affectionate with Ominis. I found it harder and harder to speak to him, or anyone. I couldn't put my finger on anything. I knew something was wrong but for some reason there was a major block in figuring out what it could be. Before I knew it, in the last few days of our transfiguration process I couldn't smile. I couldn't feel anything but I could at the same time. Like I was caged inside myself and the cage progressively got smaller.

What's happened? I could hardly even ask myself that question anymore. All that was pulling me behind the cage was this urge to get back to Sebastian and resolve this issue. Why was that? What was with this sensation again? Questioning that almost hurt. There came a point where I just stopped asking questions and trying to figure out what was going on. Before I knew it it was the last day before the full moon. Ominis had to remind me that we needed to do the other things we needed.