Unforgivable - Sebastian Sallow x Fem!Reader x Ominis Gaunt

𝔼𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥

𝕆𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕤

There was a roaring in my eardrums...a merciless pounding in my skull. My back ached as if I had slept on a bed of rock...and everything was so incredibly foggy.

I don't believe I'd had much to drink last night...in fact, I know I didn't. Garreth had been trying to push whatever repulsive concoction he'd brewed for the event onto me, and I'd declined. This was the most important day of my entire life, and I wasn't about to be so foolish as to be a stumbling drunkard during it.

My tolerance isn't the best to begin with...Y/N was much more the party-goer throughout our final years at Hogwarts than I was. I always had to remain sober enough to carry her stumbling body through the halls to her dormitory. Not that I minded it though...she would giggle and talk nonstop...the most relaxed she'd been since the events of our fifth year took place. Anything that brought her a blip of peace, I was more than content with.

Merlin...I'm to be marrying her today. The woman I've yearned for since the first time I heard her voice...elegant and determined, yet light and airy as the tinkling of bells. I wasn't the type of man to form an attraction so easily, but...gods, she's incredible.

So resilient...so selfless.

The day I met her in our common room, I had been perched up in my favorite spot...leaning up against the window that peered out to the bottom of the Black Lake. First years loved to sit and gawk through those windows...and I found entertainment by convincing them if they stared hard enough, they'd catch a sighting of a mermaid. I knew it wasn't true...merpeople didn't have the slightest interest in a bunch of bumbling idiots pressing their faces against a glass wall. But what can I say? Simplistic pleasures like that made my day.

She'd approached me first, and instantly we just fell into decent conversation. I didn't know the woman, apart from the whispers I'd heard of her dramatic entrance into the Sorting Ceremony...but within one conversation with her, I'd felt as if I'd known her for years. I'd told her of what I was doing, messing with the first years...and she even joined in. It became our own little hobby of sorts.

And then....then she met Sebastian. And her hobbies went from simple fun and teasing to delving into dangerous situations that could potentially get her killed...toeing the line of the dark arts, which was a line way too dangerous to be poked at.

Believe me...I would know.

But, there's no room to dwell on that today. His hold on her is as good as eradicated...she is mine. Her heart is mine...and mine hers. She's blossomed into such an elegant flower...a new woman now, with my guidance and direction. She's reigned in the impulses that he tried to poison her with...and she's now a woman who enjoys the simple, safer side of things. She's grown to become my partner in every way...not his...not anymore.

And today will solidify that. Today, I make her my wife. Today, we leave those dark memories behind once and for all, and look toward a better, brighter future. A future that she rightfully deserves. One that I deserve too.

I was beyond ready for it...holding her hands in mine as we declare our love for all of our loved ones to see. I'd only wished Anne were still here...able to witness such a joyous day.

I'd been so giddy all night to the point I could hardly fall asleep...and though I'd shared a single glass of whiskey with Garreth, Everett and Amit...I was still coherent by the time I'd retired to my bed.

So...the ringing in my ears and the intense headache...where in Merlin's name did that come from?

I felt as if I'd slept in too late, though I had no clue what time it was. But I couldn't have...Garreth and the others surely would have come to my room by now to help me prepare. Unless they continued drinking after I retired...and they too, were somewhere reeling from some strange hangover.