Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

Action and Consequence

Dracaena huddled in the carriage, her forehead resting against the cold window as it sped back towards Hogwarts. Her mind was storming, frantic with worry. She'd left him. She'd left Ominis to face his family, alone. Every instinct in her screamed to lurch to the driver and demand they turn around, but she knew Ominis wouldn't have it. She'd made things a thousand times worse, and she would only make it more unbearable if she forced her way back into the manor, to demand he return with her. She had to trust that he knew what he was doing.

She couldn't help but fret. They'd been so awful, more awful than she'd thought possible. How he had become the sweet, kind person that he was when he was raised by such gargoyles was a mystery she felt she couldn't solve.

She'd kissed him.

She wrung her hands, twisting Sebastian's scarf between her fingers, alternately running her hand over the bracelet Ominis had given her, tracing the raised dots that spelled her name.

She'd kissed him.

But he hadn't kissed her back.

They'd stood still, her lips pressed against the softness of his, leaning into him, pulling him closer, and he'd frozen, every muscle in his body tensing up, until she'd pulled back, searching his face. His expression was blank, and he'd taken a step back.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he'd said, his voice distant, before he'd turned and strode away, his head down, leaving her alone and cold in the middle of Little Hangleton. She'd watched him until he'd rounded the corner, the cruel stone of the village shops shielding him from her view.

Had she made a mistake? She'd thought... hoped, perhaps, that there was something more than a friendship kindling between them. Their soft conversations, the way he would brush her hand when they walked together, saving his embraces for when they were alone. How natural it seemed at the time, to curl up beside him, his arm around her shoulders, his lips brushing the side of her head. The way he'd get so flustered when she teased him. Perhaps she'd been wrong, mistaking the gentle caresses of his fingers through her hair as something more than they actually were. Perhaps he had just been acting kindly to her, knowing she was affectionate, returning her gestures, but his intentions were nothing more than platonic.

Her throat constricted, her eyes hot and dry. None of that mattered. What mattered was that he was alone, facing his family, after she had insulted them and destroyed the prized bust of Slytherin, assaulting their favourite son, all to protect the one they scorned. She groaned, half leaning forward to call to the driver, but she resisted. She'd only make it worse.

But she'd kissed him.

She crossed her fingers, praying to the god she didn't really believe in that his family wouldn't hurt him, that his silver tongue would spare him their wrath, and that he would be able to join her tomorrow.

But would he want to, after what she did? Would things now be terribly awkward, having crossed a line she shouldn't have crossed?

She ran her hands through her hair, and a pulse of magic thrummed out from her chest, turning the reddish seats of the carriage bright blue. She didn't even have it in her to try and pull the magic back. She'd used it in Gaunt Manor, after all, throwing Marvolo back up the steps as he tried to torture Ominis. She shuddered, crossing all of her fingers that he wouldn't do so again. She couldn't bear the thought of him in pain. It was a pain she knew well, a thousand knives shredding her flesh, boiling oil scalding her skin, her very bones blazing with hellfire that seemed unending, even though she'd only suffered a few seconds of it. The rawness of her throat afterwards, torn ragged by screams she couldn't remember uttering.

The sky had darkened by the time the carriage landed in the grounds of Hogwarts, and Dracaena stumbled down, handing the driver a Galleon without looking. She staggered towards the castle, her pace increasing until she was running flat out, hurtling through the corridors and down the stairs, skidding into the common room. It was almost empty, most of the students already left for Christmas. She paused, trying to catch her breath, her hand rising to her throat.