Between The Shadows | Ominis Gaunt x Sebastian Sallow x Reader

Chapter 26: Heart To Heart (I.)

Reader POV

Sharp agreed not to contact Ominis' family surprisingly quickly and it was even him who suggested it wasn't necessary to inform the headmaster about the incident. He was probably wary of Black seizing the opportunity to establish a correspondence with the Gaunts.

I've never met anyone from Ominis' family and he never talked about them or his childhood. He would sometimes make jokes about being reborn the day he left them behind, so he never actually was a child. There were lots of questions on my mind but I respected his choice and never pressed him for answers.

We stayed with Ominis the entire afternoon, and we would have definitely stayed overnight if the nurse allowed it. However, even Ominis himself said it wasn't necessary. He appeared to be much better, and in the evening, he claimed he was alright and wanted to leave the hospital wing, but Blainy insisted on keeping an eye on him overnight in case his condition worsened again. She didn't of course know what had happened, but she speculated that Ominis may have consumed a potion he wasn't supposed to. It wasn't entirely unwarranted for her to suspect that, considering both of us had spent a few nights in the hospital wing last year for exactly that reason.

We, on the other hand, were aware of what had happened, but the big question still remained: why did it happen?

"Told you, it was because of us," Sebastian remarked as we walked out of the hospital wing. "He didn't have his shields up while he was with us this morning, and that was even before... you know. He was even able to intrude on your dreams, I saw it," he said, shaking his head in disappointment. "We should have been more careful, we should have..."

"Oh, enough with the blame game, Sebastian!" I interrupted, pushing him forward with frustration, causing him to stumble slightly. "I feel bad too, if you're right, but dwelling on it won't help anyone."

"But I can't just stand around and twiddle my thumbs!" he exclaimed. I knew exactly why he felt that way, of course. This situation must have brought back memories of dealing with Anne.

"He's alright now, you heard him," I said, trying to sound more composed. I reached out and grabbed his hand. "We will meet him first thing in the morning." I added and he nodded silently.

"Let's have some dinner," I suggested, realising only then that we hadn't eaten anything all day.

Fortunately, there was still a spread of delicious food on the Slytherin table in the Great Hall. It was a relief to see that everything that had happened hadn't dampened Sebastian's appetite. After filling our plates, we sat down and enjoyed the meal. Surprisingly, we both felt considerably better afterward. It's amazing how much of a difference a good meal can make in lifting one's spirits.

During the meal I shared all the information I had learned about Unicorn blood from Hecat with him. He was visibly shocked when he heard about the possibility of destroying the soul of those who drink it.

"So you're telling me that they knew about this all along, but nobody bothered to write it down in any book?" he scoffed, his voice tinged with disgust. "Can you imagine what a disaster it would have been if I had tried to use that on Anne?"

"To be fair, Sebastian," I whispered, ensuring no one else could overhear us, "all the books had a big fat warning, and it's against the law to use Unicorn blood like that. For most people, that's enough not to do it" I reminded him, and he grimaced in response.

"Most people are idiots." he muttered under his breath.

"In this case, they would actually be right and we would be total idiots," I replied with a shrug.