evermore || sebastian sallow

chapter 83 - the lakes

chapter 83 - the lakes

Y/n's Perspective

1897 - September (23 years old)

Early traces of autumn sent chills down my spine the closer I got to the dilapidated shack I'd created after the Great War at Hogwarts about four years ago.

I paused when the shack materialized before me, the leaves crunching under my boots. I played with the hem of my black fitted jacket, then made sure my wand was secured on my thigh against my black pants. I had just come from a local Auror job with Sebastian, so I was still in my battle gear.

A few months after our wedding, we accepted the jobs they offered us after graduation. In a way, we didn't pause our traveling around the world just because we started working considering our jobs even required us to travel sometimes.

However, these days, we accepted more local jobs near our home by the lakes. But when needed, we would take one across the oceans. Rarely were we ever separated during these dangerous tasks. It was the one exception we asked for when we accepted the invitation.

Except for this. A task of my own, which was requested by the head Auror of our department because they needed me to check on Marvolo Gaunt. I'd captured him after all.

Sebastian insisted he come with me for this, but he trusted me enough that I could handle it all just fine after I'd argued against it countlessly while we fought some dark wizards inside a tomb earlier.

I'd mastered my ancient magic in more ways than even I could've ever imagined, so I was already so safe. I was an asset to the British Auror Office.

Never stopped Sebastian from becoming a worrisome husband though.

I've been breathing in clean air for a few years now, and yet, as I stared at the small building that caged a once-dangerous man inside, it felt like I could smell the smoke again.

All that agony. All that screaming. All the tears we'd shed.

I took one shuddering breath and closed my eyes for a moment, then squared my shoulders and buried it all down in the recesses of my mind.

Not today. I wouldn't let Marvolo see how much I'm still haunted deep inside.

I palmed the doorknob and let myself inside the humid shack, my nose twitching at the horrid musky scent surrounding the place after years of it being unkempt. I swivelled my head to the right and found a shadow cast by the firelight, the figure sitting on a lone chair inside the room.

Without taking out my wand, I took confident steps to the room. Marvolo did not bother to stand up from his tattered chair, and I almost grimaced at the sight of the man who used to be almighty, ever the clean dark attire and sharp features.

Now, though his features were sharper from years of forced starvation, his hair was longer and greasy. His face was unshaven, and his shirt and pants were as tattered as the small couch he sat on.

But that menacing smirk of his never faded, which he directed back at me again as if no time could ever fade it from existence.

I crossed my arms and ankles, leaning against the wall in front of him as I said, "Hello, Marvolo."

"Y/n," he drawled, "have you come to kill me at last?"

"No, you don't deserve something as rewarding as that," I scoffed.