Shadow of a Grave ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter thirty-one ✧ epilogue

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Ten Years Later

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Amelia Sallow had adjusted back to a life without magic easier than expected. More of her life had technically been spent without magic between the years of her childhood and her adult life without it. There had only been a small portion when she was a young woman where she had been cursed with ancient magic. In truth, there were many ways her life had never changed with or without magic.

More than anything else she was grateful to no longer carry the burden of ancient magic. It had brought a sense of peace to her life that she hadn't known was possible.

The only time Amelia ever missed having magic had been when there was something she couldn't find. Frustration grew as she dug into the kitchen's junk drawer looking for matches that evening.

"Do you want any help?" Ominis asked from his spot at the kitchen table. It had taken years to know better than to help without asking first for permission. He was polite enough to watch her struggle for the past five minutes or so before even attempting to offer his support, all too aware she would decline the offer anyway.

"No," Amelia said stubbornly, "I know they are in here. I saw them just the other day."

The list of spells that would have saved her the time of digging through the drawer still ran in her head. A whole decade had passed since she was able to cast any magic, but her lips still muttered the spells when she thought of them. It was almost like it was a prayer that it would work one of those times if it was simply the right spell.

"You seem more tense than normal," His best friend pointed out, "Anything that you want to talk about?"

"It's nothing." She said flatly.

Irrational and stupid, but it wasn't a lie, the issue was that it was nothing. Nothing had been the reason that she was so tense over looking for a simple pack of matches.

"It isn't just nothing," Ominis corrected, "You are their mother, you are allowed to be worried about your children. Especially concerning everything that you had gone through."

"I'm not concerned about Annabel," Amelia clarified, "She's doing fine at Hogwarts and Sebastian has been able to keep a close eye on her when he's working. Everything seems normal. If she had inherited any of my ancient magic then we likely would have seen signs of it by now."

It had been a conversation that happened often in the Sallow household. While Amelia was glad to not have magic anymore, she was paranoid about giving the curse to one of her children. It was one thing for them to inherit ancient magic, but she was more afraid of passing on the burdens that she had carried for years.

Ominis lingered, "You're worried about Theodore?"

Amelia sighed abandoning her search for the matches. Her voice was a low whisper hoping her son wouldn't hear. It had been a rough start to the day already and she was worried that she's hurt his feelings more. "He's already ten," Amelia said quietly, "Merlin, even your youngest has their magic already. I know that it upsets Teddy too, but I'm worried about him. At this rate, he might have to wait until his fifth year like I had to."

All four of the Sweeting children had their magic before Theodore Sallow. Rosalie and Sebastian Sweeting were both off at Hogwarts along with her own daughter. Lily Anne Sweeting was the same age as her son and had already been practicing magic for two years. When her acceptance letter to join the rest of the children at the castle came, Amelia could see the worry in her son's eyes. Even the seven-year-old Pansy Sweeting could cast simple spells.