Part 1: He Deserved It // Sebastian Sallow x MC

Coming Home

The song choice for this chapter is 'favorite crime' by Olivia Rodrigo.

I'm grounded, likely for life. I expected as much when I got the letter that I was to be a witness in Sebastian's trial, and my mother was the one to deliver it to me. As Minister for Magic, she heard about it first, knowing of the boy who was to stand trial for killing his uncle. When I returned home for the summer, the letter was already waiting for me on the living room table where my parents sat, looking at me like they didn't know who I was anymore.

'I ... I can explain,' I lie because I can't. How am I to explain this? How could I possibly make them understand why I did it, why I was there when it happened, what I had done, what I had participated in, and why it ever went so far?

'Can you, Elara?' my father asked, raising his eyebrows at me. He's pale, paler than I've ever seen him before. My brother isn't at the table with us, likely because this is too grim for him to listen to. 'This seems so twisted; not even your fantasy can be great enough to possibly have an explanation for this that doesn't warrant the question of whether you should be suspended from school.'

'Suspended?' I ask, my eyes wide. 'No, no, please no. I've only been in Hogwarts for one year. It's not enough.'

'It seems like it was enough,' Mum says quietly. 'If I only dare to believe half of the things the Aurors believe you've been involved in, you've had more adventures in one year than most people have in a lifetime.'

'I ... I didn't ...' What can I possibly say? That I didn't mean it? That I didn't know that I overstepped a thousand boundaries? None of it is true. And I should've known, from the first moment Sebastian and I snuck into the restricted section, that this boy would be the death of me.

'You'll be grounded; that's obvious, I presume,' my father says, avoiding looking me in the eyes. 'No owls. No flying. You may take walks, of course, through the forest. But that's all. And I swear to you, Elara – one breach, and we'll know. And I will talk to Headmaster Black myself to get you expelled, am I clear?'

I swallow hard. 'Yes. Yes, you're clear.'

Mum looks down at the letter and then back up to me. My trunk is still standing in the entrance hall. I haven't yet reached my room, but I'd love to run up the stairs and hide away. 'You're lucky I could pull some strings,' Mum says. 'I hated doing it, but I did. I can't save the boy, but I can save you. You'll be treated as nothing more than a witness as you didn't cast the final curse. They'll look at your wand, however. They'll want to know what you did. So, this is the moment, Elara. If there is anything else we need to know, anything else I must protect you from, you must tell me. No more secrets, you hear me?'

I nod. This is more than I could've asked for. 'No. There is nothing else.' Apart from my heart being broken in two.

It is true, however. Even though Sebastian offered, I never learned the Unforgivables. Maybe I could cast them from what he showed me, but I haven't tried – and right now, I'm lucky I didn't. Otherwise, protecting me from Azkaban would be a lot more complicated.

'Well, then. I hope you're telling the truth. For once.' Mum stands up, takes the letter, and hands it to me. 'The trial is in the middle of August. It gives you some time to prepare. If you contact Mr Sallow in any possible way – I mean it – there is little to nothing I can do to protect you anymore. They're under the impression he coerced you, that you didn't know what you got yourself into. And Elara, you'd be wise to let them believe that.'

I take the letter from her hand. It's only a piece of paper, but it is heavy. 'Thank you,' I mumble, unsure of what else to say. Then I turn around and leave the room, tears stinging in my eyes. I am unable to breathe, and when I close the door to my bedroom, I finally give in to the urge to cry.