The Keeper's Snake // Sebastian Sallow

The Maybe Date

Two days after Halloween, Fiona was still on a high. She was pretty sure she had a date with Sebastian on Friday. She was excited to tell him how she felt. Constance assured her the feeling was mutual. After lunch in the Great Hall, Fiona went for a walk to Hogsmeade. She didn't want to buy anything in particular, but she had location in mind to visit. It was a Sunday, and Hogsmeade wasn't so busy. There were no large crowds to push through.

Fiona reached her destination, the Hogsmeade cemetery. The second of November was traditionally the day of all souls. Although Fiona didn't know any of the deceased in the cemetery, she still wanted to honor their lives and legacy. She made it a point to read every single headstone. She was amazed at how long some of the witches and wizards lived to. Living past 100 was unheard of in the muggle world. She was coming to the last two headstones in the graveyard. They looked slightly newer than all the other ones. Fiona gasped when she read them.

Edward Alexander Sallow

1846-1886

Loving father and husband

&

Catherine Hannah Sallow née Carroll

1846-1886

Loving mother and wife

Sebastian had never told her that his parents were buried in Hogsmeade. The graves looked relatively unattended to. Fiona thought it might be too difficult for him to visit their graves. She decided to use her ancient magic to honor his parents. She looked around to make sure no one was watching her. The cemetery was empty in fact.

Fiona focused on feelings of happiness and warmth. She imagined being engulfed in Sebastian's arms. She imagined the look of relief on Michael's face when he was honest with his family. She imagined Ominis's joy that they were getting closer to helping Anne. She channeled all of those feelings into her ancient magic. Blue light emitted from her wand, and suddenly the headstones were cleaned with fresh flowers surrounding them. Despite the cold air outside, the headstones exuded a particular warmth. Fiona saw her work and smiled. The Sallows death was a dark event, but her magic could help enshroud it in light. Happy with her time at the cemetery, Fiona returned to the castle. She went straight to the Undercroft to continue experimenting with the cursed mandrake.

She thought she was making progress with the mandrake. She was able to visualize the cursed threads for all the leaves now. She couldn't believe how intricate it was.

"Maybe this is why curse breaking is notoriously difficult." She mumbled to herself.

Growing tired of trying to know the whole curse in the mandrake, she decided now was as good as time as any to try extracting a bit of it. She started with one leaf. She knew the leaf like the back of her hand, so she began to pull at the threads. She received resistance, but it wasn't a force that she couldn't over come. She kept pulling and pulling and pulling. She started to see a red thread emerge from the leaf. She was doing it she thought. The curse was coming out.

Her joy quickly turned to disappointment and dread when she looked at the leaf. What was once alive albeit cursed started to look shriveled and dead. Fiona delicately stopped pulling, and the curse rethreaded itself within the leaf. The life returned to it.

"Fuck." She huffed. She would have to tell Sebastian and Ominis. She just didn't want to take away their hope.

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Since receiving the enchanted parchment from Sebastian, Ominis had barely left his dorm. He couldn't believe he had a method to communicate quickly with Anne. No more pesky owls. He sent her a first message on Friday afternoon just asking how she was doing. That correspondence evolved into inside jokes, sharing book recommendations, and making plans for Christmas break. For the first time since Anne was cursed, he felt hopeful for the future of their budding relationship. He longed for her lips against his again, for her scent, for the sound of her voice. Ominis was head over heels in love with Anne Sallow.