Run Away ✧ Hogwarts Legacy

chapter seven

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Trigger Warning: This chapter includes sensitive conduct - please see the comment for a full description of conduct.

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Fifth Year

Sebastian Sallow's head was in a fog when he woke up. His body ached when he tried to move as his memories slowly came back to him. Every muscle felt sore as he tried to rub the sleep from his eyes and find something familiar in the dark room. The white sheet of the hospital wing bed and the large windows letting the moonlight in had confirmed where he had been, but he didn't remember getting there.

Then he turned his eyes to the edge of his bed and saw her. Golden blonde hair flowed softly against his pillow. Antheia had pulled her chair as close to the edge of his bed, her head sharing the corner of his pillow with him moments earlier.

Antheia had gotten him to the hospital wing at some point, but his memory was hazy still. He considered waking her to ask what had happened, but instead, he put his head back down against the shared pillow in an attempt to pretend to sleep longer.

It was earlier that night when they had gone to the Scriptorium. The memory of how poorly it went began to haunt his head.

"Since when do you know that spell?" Ominis had hissed at him once they reached the cursed door.

Sebastian must have argued for Ominis for an hour in that trapped room. Even Antheia had gone quiet for most of the conversation as the two friends argued about the dark arts. But it wasn't as if they had a choice, if no one used the spell, they would all still be there screaming at one another until they were dry bones left to collect dust.

If he had known that there was a trap to enter the Scriptorium, then he wouldn't have asked her to join them. Probably wouldn't have asked either of his friends to join him and try to lure someone else down in their place. 

Antheia hadn't spoken up much during the argument. The fact she was asleep next to him, blonde hair resting against his pillow seemed a bit surprising, he thought she was mad at him too. But then again she did use the curse against him.

"Teach me the curse," She had pleaded with a calm face, "I'll do it."

It shocked him for many reasons. He had taken her as a stereotypical Gryffindor. The kind of girl that would have avoided him if she had known the path he was beginning to walk down. He had been wrong about that, but he still didn't know where his assumption led him astray.

When Antheia used the Cruciatus Curse to open the door he was thankful. He didn't want to be in her shoes. The idea of hurting the girl that he had been developing a crush on was difficult.

And not to mention the pain.

Sebastian still ached in the hospital bed from the curse. After it had happened, he tried to play it off so that he was okay. As Ominis began to yell at him and, now Antheia, his head barely made out a word. He remembered wandering around the Scriptorium's main room and taking note of everything, finding the notebook tucked away in his bag, and then everything got dark.

His vision had been closing in on him and his leg felt like jelly. His stomach twisted in knots. That was the last thing that he remembered before waking up next to her golden hair.

"Thea?" Sebastian whispered next to her.

He didn't actually want to wake her, he had been trying to judge just how much he'd be able to do without waking her. But it had been too late. As soon as her name left his lips, dark brown eyes flickered open next to him and a soft smile parted her lips.