What if you decided not to turn him in? What if he has to stand trial anyway? And what if you get asked to be a witness?
Would you save him? Or wouldn't you?
For Sebastian Sallow, Eleanor - Ellie - has been through hell and back. She did it all for...
The song choice for this chapter is "making the bed" by Olivia Rodrigo.
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Ominis doesn't necessarily care if he's officially allowed to apparate or not, so he holds out his hand to me on Saturday morning and tells me I am to hold on tight.
I wasn't really expecting much, I thought maybe we'd walk down a very sloppy slope, but no. The second I took his arm, the world shifted under my feet, and I think I got a very good idea now what it feels like to have morning sickness.
We apparate in the middle of the English countryside. There isn't much here, so when I throw up into a bush, at least only Ominis notices.
'I did the same when I first apparated,' he says nonchalantly. 'One gets used to it after a while.'
'Yeah ... I have trouble believing that,' I reply, taking the bottle of water he offers me and trying to clean my mouth a little. 'How are you even able to do this? Isn't apparating a case of underage magic?'
'Not in the common sense of the word, no. It's a means of transportation. Just like floo powder. I don't have a license to do it, but as long as no one asks, I'm okay.'
'You and Sebastian are more alike than one might think,' I say and keep myself up on my feet. 'Where are we anyway?'
'Near Bath,' he replies. 'I figured the sea might do Anne some good.'
He walks down a path that leads to the dunes. The sea air is, actually, very relaxing, I have to admit. It is a windy day, but it's not necessarily cold, so I could see myself enjoying this day away from the castle.
We follow the trail for a while, both not speaking. I have rarely spoken to Ominis alone and I think both of us are not too sure of what to think of the other. I manipulated him, I know that, and I think considering the shit Sebastian did, he's aware of that, too. He trusted me to keep an eye out for him, probably not realising just how deep in all of this I was myself. And I am not too keen on speaking with him because he landed Sebastian in jail and then realised it might've been a dumb idea. Because it is such a surprise that leaving a literal student to a dementor wanting to suck his soul out might not be too fancy.
After a while, a cottage comes into view. It's vastly different from the house the Sallow's had in the little hamlet of Feldcroft. This cottage is big, has a direct way to the coast, and looks as if about twenty house elves are working to make it look its best every day.
'Wow, that is a nice place to live,' I say when we approach the cottage once we've climbed down the dunes.
'It belongs to my family,' Ominis says coldly. 'But with a nice little Confundus charm and a Fidelius charm, I made them forget about it – at least for now. I fear, since I am not a fully educated wizard, the charms may fade eventually, but as of now Anne is safe. I am the only one, apart from her, who can show this place to anyone.'
