Hogwarts Legacy: The Price of Power

Farewell

Over the next few days, Sebastian stuck to Gran's side like glue, insisting he help her with the washing, with cooking, even with her shopping, leaving the cottage with her with hardly a backwards glance at Dracaena or Ominis.

Whilst Ominis seemed rather content with this turn of events, speaking cordially with Sebastian over meals and in the evenings (whenever Sebastian tore his attention away from Gran), Dracaena found herself irritated beyond measure at the helplessness she felt. Though Sebastian would offer her tiny smiles and try to make jokes, leaning into her at night when she crept into his bed, longing to comfort him, it just wasn't the same. It was as though some chasm had opened between them that she couldn't cross, widening as each time Sebastian's limited energy ran out, he turned away from her, again and again.

He had begun to nightmare again, stirring restlessly in his sleep, mumbling Anne's name. Dracaena found this unjustly difficult, because no matter how much she shook his shoulders or tried to hold him close and soothe him with soft words, Sebastian refused to wake, and pushed her away in his sleep, his arms a fortress, his twisting spine a rigid defence that kept her away from him. She gave up after he accidentally caught her in the cheek with his elbow and snuggled up with Ominis in his bed instead, wishing there was more she could do, wishing that Sebastian would just shout at her and blame her and get it over and done with.

But he didn't. In the mornings, it seemed he had no memory of his nightmares, and if he did, he certainly had no desire to talk about them, dressing quickly and hurrying downstairs without speaking, leaving her and Ominis to rise and follow, finding him standing with Gran at the sink, or sharing a cup of tea, or showing off some small spell or another, acknowledging them only when Gran greeted them.

Dracaena found herself pulling away, glowering as Sebastian followed Gran almost everywhere she went like a lost puppy, becoming short and irritable with everyone around her.

After a few days of this, Ominis pulled her aside, a disconcerting glare on his brow.

"Dracaena, this simply cannot continue," he told her, the pair of them perched on the window seat in the kitchen as Sebastian helped Gran slice up vegetables for dinner, determined to show her he could do it the muggle way. "Sebastian's found a measure of comfort in this dark time, can you not be happy for him?"

"I am," she protested. "I'm happy Gran's helping him, how could you say that?"

"I'm blind, not stupid," Ominis remarked. "You've been in a foul mood for days! You're jealous that Nana's helping him, and not you. You haven't even given him Anne's letter."

"I..." Dracaena hesitated, stung by the truth of his words. "I'm just waiting for the right time."

"The longer you leave it, the worse it'll be," Ominis cautioned. "You can't force this process, Dracaena."

"I'm not trying to force it," she said, and leaned into him. "I just feel fucking useless. Gran's got through to him, why can't I?"

"Because he already knows you're there," he said, his tone softening. "Like you always have been for him. He's got no parents, no one to care for him the way he needs. You can't mother him, dove, and he needs a mother."

"I could if I wanted to," she muttered, and Ominis shuddered.

"Don't mix what we all have with family," he said. "My family made that mistake, remember? Keep the two separate, if you please."

"I didn't mean it like that," she grumbled. "I can care for him. I've been looking after you."

"And you've done so splendidly," Ominis gave her a little squeeze. "Dove, I don't know what I would have done without your support, but Sebastian and I are very different people. He never got over his parents dying, not really. Let him indulge for a while, it's making him happy."