Cursed

Chapter 2

The pitter patter of the rain against the common room's window set a somber ambiance. Professor Weasley's advice to focus on positive outcomes was not ignored but no longer felt relevant. The visions and dreams of Juniper's decisions remained persisted. Most days, she lived in a haze, a mixture between exhaustion and depression filling her mind, and this day was one of those.

She laid motionless in bed, waiting for the sun to shine through the drapes before getting up. Her head was whirling with thoughts but feeling empty at the same time. Could these nightmares really just be unresolved trauma resurfacing due to the fact that she was back at Hogwarts?

It was still too early to get ready for class, but she couldn't stay in bed any longer. She wandered the corridors for what seemed like hours. The rumbling of thunder echoed through the castle, and the chill in the air made her skin tighten. She loved it. It was a different kind of peaceful, an almost chaotic peace that distracted her from her thoughts.

She could feel her heartbeat in her ears, like when one does in the eerie silence when the moon is still out. She focused on the sound of her bare feet hitting the cold floor. Why didn't I put my slippers on? It is why I have them, she thought.

The more se focused on her own footsteps, the more aware she became aware of a second. Heavier, longer strides, who chose the correct option by wearing shoes.

She paused, listening, and so did the stranger, but not before reaching almost arm's length from her. She let out a semi-shaky breath and turned, already dreading the potential master to the second set of footsteps.

Sebastian Sallow.

She was correct in her guess. Her and Sebastian were not on the best of terms since what had happened at Feldcroft on her last visit.

"Sebastian." She greeted politely.

"June." He replied.

She eyed him over. He, too, like Gareth, was gracing the wonders of puberty. His voice deepend, he was undeniably taller, and his facial structure was sharper.

"Your hair has grown," she pointed out. "Has Gareth become a fashion inspiration?"

Sebastian scoffed. "If I ever take fashion advice from him, I'll book myself into a mental hospital."

Juniper chuckled at his slight dislike for the redhead's taste in appearance. Gareth always made sure he looked groomed and neat, surprisingly, while Sebastian was more of a devil-may-care when it came to his appearance and did not think twice of it.

"This is the longest conversation we've had in a long time." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"It is indeed." Juniper replied. She had deducted by his statement where the direction of the conversation was headed.

"What are we?"

"What?" She was taken back by his straightforwardness.

"What are we?" He repeated.

"We're friends, are we not?"

"Friends don't actively avoid each other for nearly two years."

"That-"

"You never answered any of my letters. I understood the remaining of our fifth year, I understood the summer after, I even understood the entirety of our sixth year, but still?"

"Sebastian, please -" she had hoped for a more lighthearted conversation, but Sebastian was not holding any punches.

"I know why, but if you had planned to ignore my existence, wouldn't it have been easier to turn me into the Ministry and never see me again?"

Juniper took a step back, shocked by his question. She could never. She knew that he had to pay the price for casting the Killing Curse on his uncle, but she could not bear the idea of him getting sent away. She practically pleaded to Ominis not to do it either. But he was partially right, why preserve his life if she was going to act the same way whether he had been taken to the Ministry or not?

"I'm... I'm sorry, Sebastian." She said plainly. There was no point in fighting him.

He stepped closer, his heart pounded in his chest like a war drum. This was the closest he had been to her in a long time, and the last thing he wanted was to do was push her away. But he was determined, and he wanted answers.

"So answer me," he started. "What are we?"

She took in a deep breath. "We are friends, Seb. We just have a very complicated friendship with the whole search for a cure issue. But we're just friends."

He was unsatisfied. Just-friends don't take the fall when breaking school rules, just-friends don't follow you into dangerous caves looking to break unbreakable curses, just-friends don't blindly support you both physical and verbally when you've gone mad, just-friends don't hold murder a secret. Just-friends don't kiss in the dark.

"Ominis is a friend. He wanted to stop me from the very beginning. He gave me ultimatums if I didn't let things go. I know you're the reason he didn't turn me in." He took a long step closer to her.

Juniper wanted to take another step back, but the wall behind her did not let her. "I care deeply for you, Sebastian. Truly." She confessed. "For you and Anne. I didn't want everything that happened to repeat itself."

"Meaning what?" He pressured, placing both arms against the wall on each side of her.

"Meaning, it's easier to avoid the repitition of history if certain variables change."

"So that's it? You don't want me to fall into that path again, so you completely eliminate my existence from your life?"

"That's right." She said pointedly. "Besides, it sort of dawned on me that you casted crucio on me, and given that in the end it did not render the results we were looking for, you caused me agonizing pain without reason. That's not the kind of thing friends would do."

Sebastian stood there perplexed. "I... see how you may have gotten to that conclusion, and the argument that it was for the greater good doesn't apply..."

"Exactly."

"So, you've distanced yourself because of that?"

"You ask that in such a casual tone that it's confirming my reasoning."

"Err..."

A sly smile grew across Juniper's lips. She took a step closer to him, leaving mere centimeters between them. He couldn't take his eyes off hers.

"What? Kneazle caught your tongue?" She said defiantly.

His heart thumped so loudly he could barely breathe. He had managed to control himself enough so as not to turn into a steaming blush, but not by much. He became increasingly aware of just how close her chest was to his and how he just needed to stop holding onto the wall for his arms to be wrapped around her body, which he had noticed had become more curvaceous, and her nightgown didn't leave much to the imagination.

"Let's make a deal." He managed to say in almost a whispered tone.

She backed off, leaning against the wall. "I'm listening."

"I vow to never cause you agonizing pain ever again, and you get the choice to do it once. However you choose and whenever you would like is completely up to you."

She smiled a toothy grin. "Deal."

"We should return to the dormitories before we are caught in this compromising situation." He said, removing his arms from the wall.

"I agree, we wouldn't want to harm your reputation as a respectful gentleman now, would we?"

Sebastian laughed and shook his head in slight disbelief. He truly believed he had the upper hand in the situation, but once again, she had bested him.

"I know you are hiding something, and I will find out what it is."

She turned to him, giving him a look over and smirking. "I'd like to see you try."