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

🥀 - chapter 56 -🌹

(Evander perspective)

The tears didn't stop. I could feel Helena's pain, her fear, her helplessness through our bond. It was constant. Overwhelming.

To my right, her friends stood chained to the wall, their expressions filled with worry. Ominis was crying too, flinching at every scream echoing from above. But Sebastian and that blonde woman, Adelaide, just laughed and smirked at each other like they were somewhere else entirely. Oblivious. Detached. Enchanted.

This had to stop.

This was her family, her father. And all he wanted was power. Not love. Not reconciliation. Power. Our ancient magic was his obsession. He needed it to become an unstoppable force, to wipe out all those without magic. Muggles, he called them, with a sneer.

He had already stolen part of Isidora's magic. Now he wanted mine... or Helena's... to complete it.

Her screams faded after a few hours. She was exhausted. Broken. Ominis looked at me with glassy, terrified eyes.
"Is he done?" he asked softly.
I nodded. "He's finished with Legilimency for now. But he's not done. Next is the potion."

"The truth serum?" Ominis guessed.
"Yes," I said. "He used it on me too. Clear as water. Tasteless. You can't lie once it's in you. I tried... I really did."

Garreth coughed and managed a strained chuckle. "That'd be Veritaserum. I know that one. Smells like nothing. Tastes like nothing. And it's near-impossible to brew. Kind of wanted to try one day, though." He grinned weakly.

I turned back to Ominis. "Once it kicks in, he lets her go. Makes her think she's escaping, so her mind can wander freely, unguarded. Then he catches her again and performs one final Legilimens attack before returning her to the dungeon. It's cruel, calculated... and it works."

Ominis ran a hand over his face. "I hope she can endure it..."

A loud crash echoed through the dungeon. Helena's scream followed, sharper, angrier than before.

"She's fighting him!" I said. "She found a wand, she's trying to kill him."

Anne looked at me, confused. "How do you know that? Are you some kind of Seer?"

I smiled at her. "No... It's our bond. Our soulmate connection. Alaric explained it to me days ago. When we're close, I can feel her, her emotions, her pain, even her thoughts. It's like our magic is reaching out to each other."

I paused.

"Think of it like broken glass. Two shards from the same whole. You want to fix it? You make it one piece again. That's Helena and me. We're two halves of something ancient, something physical. It's not just love, it's addiction. The magic controls the emotion. It's... dangerous."

I looked at Ominis again and offered a silent apology. He nodded, solemnly.

"When we kissed," I said, "when we spent the night together in the orchard... our magic reacted. Sparks. Real lightning from our fingers. It was beautiful. But the power is limitless, uncontrollable. That's why we chose to walk away, for everyone's safety."

Before anyone could respond, we heard footsteps, slow, heavy, deliberate.

Alaric entered the dungeon, cradling Helena's limp, bloodied body in his arms.

"HELENA! NO!" Ominis shouted.

"You monster!" Anne screamed, sobbing. "You're not a father. You're a disgrace."

Garreth spat in Alaric's face as he passed. "Rot in hell."

Alaric dropped Helena in the sand and sat on the bench like nothing had happened, casually wiping Garreth's spit from his cheek.

"She does look more like her mother," he muttered, pulling out an apple and taking a bite. He turned to me. "Remember Ronald? The black-haired man with the mustache?"