🥀 Roses and Novels | Hogwarts Legacy Fanfic | Sebastian, Ominis and Evander

🥀 - Chapter 30 -🌹

(Sebastian's Perspective)

I waited alone in my cabin deep in the woods, anticipation building with every passing minute. Anne and I had agreed last week she would visit my temporary home today. Just a short reunion, an hour or two, but one I'd been craving for far too long.

We both missed each other, and now that we finally had a chance, I needed this to go well. I had written back after receiving her letter, setting the plan in motion.

Letter:

Dear Anne,
You can drop by my new house in the woods. It's small, but cozy enough for tea and a cookie.
Look for the little brown cottage to the left of the large fortress behind Hogwarts.
Please come alone—I just want to talk to you, no one else. Next Friday, after your classes.
I'll be waiting.

Love,
Your dear brother,
Sebastian

I made sure everything was in order. The floors had been mended with a quick Reparo, the leaky shower cleared with Aguamenti. The bed was neatly made, and I had a tin of cookies and a pot of tea ready to heat in the kitchen.

Still, I couldn't sit still. I paced near the window, glancing out again and again. Anxiety twisted in my chest.

Would she be angry?

She had every right to be angry...
But I should be angry, too. She sent me to that wretched place.

I sat on the couch, only to stand again immediately and return to the window. Then I heard them, footsteps. Light, familiar.

Through the trees came a hooded figure, small and graceful. She looked up, saw me watching, and smiled.

I opened the door. There she stood, my little sister.

She pulled her hood back. Long brown hair spilled over her shoulders, her freckles stood out against her healthy, sun-kissed skin, and her brown eyes were calm, warm. No sign of the pain she once lived with.

She studied me from head to toe, and then she grinned and launched herself into my arms.

"Sebastian!" she cried, her voice bright with joy.

"Anne," I breathed, hugging her tightly. "You're really here."

I hung her coat and set the teapot on the stove. She wandered through the cottage, quietly observing. Then she stopped at my nightstand, her gaze catching on something.

*Damn. The chains.*

She didn't say anything at first, just sat on the couch as I joined her with two cups of tea.

But of course, she couldn't resist.

"What are those kinky chains over there?" she teased with a mischievous grin.

I shot her my best side-eye. "Those? Oh, those are for the wild ladies, obviously."

We both burst out laughing.

Then came silence, the comfortable kind.

"How are you really doing, Seb?" she asked softly, her expression serious now.

I met her eyes. "Honestly? I'm okay. I've had a rough stretch, but things are better now. I'm sleeping again. Eating normally. For now, that's enough."

"I'd expect nothing less," she chuckled, sipping her tea. "If there's anything you love, it's sleep... and food."

I laughed with her, then paused, studying her closely.

"You look... good, Anne. You look healthy. Do you feel good, too?"