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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"Ominis!" April calls out to me, some long paces behind, but my legs don't stop. "Ominis, wait!" she calls again as I determinedly descend the stone steps that lead to the footbridge across the stream, East of the cottage. Slowing my pace, slightly, allows her to catch up to me though I'm not much in the mood for company.
"What?" I ask, more curtly than I intend to, but I don't apologize for it. The unfortunate reality is that she has endured far worse from me and I know she knows my heart enough for me not to make apologies or excuses.
"Nothing," she says, unpretentiously. "What you said inside was pretty damn clear and I didn't want to stay, either. It's been a fuckin' night and please don't get after me for language right now. Just wondered if you want someone to share the quiet."
"Oh," I say, my feet noting the change in texture and pitch from the flat, earthen pathway to the stone of the arched bridge. I pause to lean on the stone rail and enjoy the way the air feels on my neck as it billows down the canyons of the hilly, mountainous land around us. All of my skin feels so hot from the fact that even my self-consciousness feels self-conscious.
April leans back against the bridge, as I hear her breathing facing my direction. Her clothes swish as she folds her arms in front of her.
"You okay?" she asks. She's still tense. Still tightly wound.
"What other choice do I have?" I ask, eventually adding, "though I fear I came on too strong." April bursts into a laugh, the sound of which bounces around the rocky walls and cliffs around us.
"Oh how I love you, sweet Ominis," she says as she turns herself to tuck into my side, lifting my arm up and around her shoulders before wrapping hers around my torso. "What you call 'coming on too strong' is what I call 'long overdue.' You look like you've shaved a couple years of stress from your face." She brings a hand to my cheek, running her fingers along my temple. "How do you feel?"
"Terrified," I say – my genuine gut reaction. Though after some consideration, I have to add, "but I admit I do feel relief. Something has tipped within me, April."
"That's good!" she says with an intrigued tone of voice, dropping her hand. "Tell me more," she urges in her never-ending quest to encourage me to open up.
"It's difficult to articulate..."
"Always is," she says with a friendly squeeze of her arm around me. It's a layered comment, no doubt, as both she and I have always struggled to articulate our feelings. I
"I'm glad to be spending more time with you, lately, April," I confess. It's a slight diversion from the subject at hand, but only just. And it's the truth. "Some days I wish we were still inseparable. They were hard times but...simpler."
"I know what you mean," she says kindly. "I miss it, too. Miss you, my first best friend."
"Well, I think Sebastian technically holds that title. Took me a while to warm up to you, after all."
