Acceptance: Hogwarts Legacy Continued

Chapter 70: Sebastian- stable

Sebastian awoke with a start, gasping for air and feeling frozen. He shivered as he looked around, squinting at the sunlight coming through the windows. He was... in his home, in Feldcroft. He remembered he came here and now-

"Diana!!" he saw Ominis run over towards him and drop to the ground. What was he doing here? His head ached as he tried to sit up, but he noticed almost immediately that something was different. It was the heaviness- the darkness, it was gone. Well maybe not totally gone, but the unbearable weight of it was gone. Even in the utter confusion of this moment he felt so much lighter he almost laughed.

He looked over at his friend, moving his hands over a mass of red... hair...

"D-diana? W-what is going on??"

"She's barely breathing!" The boy called out, voice choking. Something snapped in Sebsatian's mind and he moved over to them. Diana was indeed there, she looked like she was asleep, except her skin was a horrible gray color.

"What happened to her??"

"I don't know! I left her to check the house, but then all of the sudden I saw a blinding light and heard you both screaming. I don't know how it happened but it was so powerful I had to shield my face to withstand it. By the time I could make it to her the screaming had stopped and I heard her fall to the ground!"

"You saw- she- what??" Nothing was making sense, he felt like he had woken up in a different reality.

"Gah it doesn't matter- we need to do something! Is there a potion or anything we can use here??" The blind boy was shaking now, he was holding her hand and feeling her pulse at her wrist.

"Y-yes!" Sebastian jumped up, surprised by how easy it was, and ran over to the cupboard they kept healing supplies in. He rummaged through empty bottles but eventually found a few different healing potions, and brought them all over. They tried them all; wiggenweld, murlap essence, and even a blood replenishing potion.

"Nothing is working" Ominis' voice cracked again, and Sebastian felt a new sense of dread waft over him. He had put together by now that Diana ended up like this helping him somehow. No matter what though, he wasn't going to let her succumb to anything here.

"How did you guys get here??"

"We flew" he choked out "But there's no way we can get her back when she's like this."

His mind raced- there had to be some way to get her back to the castle. There was no way he was going to just sit here and let her deteriorate. He stood up and looked around, trying to think of something- anything they could do. Then it hit him-

"The Undercroft!" He yelled out.

"The- how is that going to help us?"

"There's a secret passage back to the undercroft not far from here. We discovered it when we were searching for a cure for Anne." He raced back over to them and bent over to pick her up, but the Ominis pushed him out of the way. The blind boy picked her up, carrying her across his arms.

"I'll carry her. You lead the way."

Sebastian did lead the way to the ruins, making sure the path was clear enough for Ominis to follow. He watched as he held her; he carried her like she weighed nothing, a determined look hung stoic on his face. Eventually they made their way to and through the ruins and entered the secret door. The moment they stepped back in the castle they both went running towards the hospital wing. Bursting through the doors, they allowed Nurse Blaney no questions as they laid Diana on the bed, insisting she needed help now.

It wasn't long until they were shooed away, the nurse closing the curtains around the bed to check the girl thoroughly. Neither of them left- they both stood silent, listening to the caregiver work across the curtains. She left and returned a few times, bringing back different bottles with her. Sebastian's mind was racing, but all he could allow himself to dwell on was if Diana was going to be okay.

After what felt like ages the nurse came back out and told them that their friend was stable. He gave a sigh of relief, but it caught in his throat as he felt Ominis drop to the floor next to him. The boy had completely passed out, and it sent him into another wave of panic. He quickly helped the nurse lay him on another bed and she looked him over as well. With much less deliberation she assessed it was a collapse of exhaustion, and all that his friend needed was to sleep.

Sebastian took a seat on the bed next to him, afraid that he would be the next to fall. The nurse did her due diligence and looked him over, but determined that he was fine, if not just overwhelmed. She had him stay though as she went to go get Professor Weasley, and he flopped down onto the pillow. He hoped that maybe he would fall asleep as well- he didn't know if he'd be able to explain to the teacher what the hell had happened.