Against the dark Hearts

Chapter 45

"Since the beginning of August?" I asked. Poppy nodded slowly. "And why are they only here now?" I added. It didn't make sense. Wouldn't they have contacted the school first? Were they possibly here before without us noticing? No, then they wouldn't have told Professor Weasley that they hadn't seen Evangeline for months, would they? Did they search for her first and then inform the school because they couldn't find her? Evangeline's parents were dragon researchers, they knew how to handle danger, so it wasn't surprising that they might have tried to handle it on their own first.

"I think they've been in contact with the teachers for a while but maybe they just tried on their own," Poppy said. "At least that's what I would do." I nodded slowly in agreement. Yes, that could be possible.

"Do you think they would talk to us?" I asked with concern in my voice. I wanted to know what was going on. I just had to know. "Even if they did, they probably don't know more than we do now," Imelda replied.

It was true, they didn't know more than we did. I couldn't reach Evangeline's parents, but Professor Weasley had always been very trustworthy with me. She told me that she had been in contact with Evangeline's parents since the end of August, as they needed help after weeks of searching without making any progress. Evangeline didn't even leave them a note. Evangeline wasn't the type to not say where she was going. We were at a loss.

Not a day went by that I didn't obsessively think about where she could be.

Ominis was getting worse every day. He missed her, and by now he was convinced that she didn't really want to leave him. One afternoon, Sebastian and I found him in the undercroft sitting on a sofa, downing a whole bottle of Firewhiskey by himself. He had deteriorated. He didn't even bother to tidy up his hair anymore. He was snappy and more sarcastic than usual, even cynical. It was unbearable. His heart was broken, and if he might have coped with it well in the beginning, his condition was now even more worrying.

"I can't watch this anymore," snapped Sebastian, snatching the bottle from his best friend's hand. Ominis stood up agitatedly and tried to reach for Sebastian. The freckled Slytherin skillfully dodged and grabbed Ominis by the shoulders, pushing him back onto the sofa. Ominis struggled and tried to hit him, but Sebastian was stronger and held his arms around the angry Slytherin heir.

Ominis tried to push him away, but he had no chance. Eventually, he gave up, and the dam broke. Tears streamed from his glassy eyes down his porcelain-like cheeks, where a bit of beard growth could be seen. I rushed to the two men and wrapped my arms around Ominis from behind, trapping him in an embrace from which he could hardly escape. He cried silently, but I could feel his pain in the tension emanating from him. He clenched his hands into fists and held onto Sebastian, his face resting on his best friend's shoulder.

He cried and cried and cried.

When Sebastian cautiously released him, I followed suit and sat down next to Ominis, who took hold of my hand, as if seeking support. Sebastian wiped the tears from Ominis' cheeks with his thumbs and knelt down in front of us on the floor. He held Ominis' other hand firmly. We sat there silently for a while, holding Ominis' hands. Sebastian rested his head in the middle, where there were no legs on the sofa.

Ominis let out a sigh. "I just couldn't help it, I miss her, and I'm afraid I'll never hear her voice again, even if she doesn't talk to me. I just want to hear her voice," Ominis whispered, as if someone other than us could hear his confession.

"She will reappear, we will find her somehow," said Sebastian, and I looked at him in surprise. He didn't like Evangeline, he had made that abundantly clear, but now, when it came to his best friend's love, he was willing to set aside his antipathy to console him.

"Do you think she... do you think..." Ominis seemed to struggle to articulate the next words, and I could imagine why.

Because if he was asking himself the same question as I was, it was impossible to say it out loud. Speaking it aloud would bring it into the realm of possibilities, it would make the whole situation real and charged with fear. We couldn't utter it, thinking it was surreal enough.

We couldn't pretend she was at Ilvermorny, enjoying her final year there, because we now knew better. We knew that even her family was searching for her.

"She's okay," I said quickly, squeezing Ominis' hand tightly. "She's okay, Ominis," I whispered.

We have to believe it.

Sebastian looked at me, his gaze said it all. I didn't even believe myself, and he knew that. I wanted to believe she was safe and doing well, but deep down, I knew it wasn't true.

"She's not okay," Ominis said, "She's gone, and no one knows where, she left no message," his voice was colder than ever. He was going to say it, and I lowered my head because I knew the words would hit me like a green beam.

"We need to start facing the fact that Evangeline may not be alive anymore," I flinched nonetheless and clenched the hand that wasn't holding Ominis into a fist.

Ominis started crying again, but this time, it wasn't just for Evangeline. Everything crashed down on him like a summer storm.

He had lost so much. He had lost so incredibly much. First Anne, then his home, and now his great love.

It all collapsed on me too, and even Sebastian, who had held himself together well until then, couldn't hold back anymore. In the end, we all cried. We lay together on a mattress in the undercroft, which was actually there to catch us after dueling exercises.

Heartbreak was our anthem.

We had all lost so much, and even though we tried to be strong, we couldn't. We were young, no longer children, but not yet adults.

"I don't know if I would still be here without you," Sebastian said after we had been silent next to each other for a long time, staring at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" I whispered as I continued counting the stones on the ceiling. Sebastian audibly exhaled, and I tore my gaze away from the ceiling to look at him.

"I'm a murderer," he whispered, gripping my hand tightly.

"We're all criminals, Sebastian," Ominis replied without hesitation. It was true. We had all done some questionable things, and we were only sixteen years old at that time.

"But you didn't kill your uncle," Sebastian said.

"No, but I used the Cruciatus before I could even speak a full sentence, just so I wouldn't be tortured with it anymore."

"You had to do it."

"It doesn't matter," Ominis replied. He sat up and hugged his knees, resting his head on them. "You're not a bad person. I thought that for a while, but Solomon destroyed every attempt to help Anne as if he wanted her to remain sick. You did the right thing," Ominis stated firmly.

I looked at him, surprised and somewhat worried. I hadn't expected to hear something like that from him.

Sebastian didn't say anything; he just stared at him, horrified. We both hadn't expected Ominis to hold that opinion.

I often remembered those words. You did the right thing. We did the right thing. It was the only way not to sink into nothingness. Not to succumb to madness.

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I still got writers block, thats why i dont update as frequent as i have. 

Sorry about that ♥