Out of the Shadows // Sebastian Sallow

House of Gaunt

(Between Chapters Two and Three)

Ominis' Perspective

The echolocation of my enchanted wand beat through my body, thrumming like my rapid heartbeat as I walked through the viaduct and joined my classmates queuing up to head to the Hogwarts Express.

I took a deep breath trying to calm my senses and soothe the flush that had no doubt washed over my face. Luckily, not many paid mind to the blind Gaunt strutting about the bridge as they were all too busy chatting about their summer plans and hugging each other, laughing and talking. Our crowd of departing students all began to move together slowly, heading toward the thestral carriages and on to the train station outside Hogsmeade.

Sometimes, the sheer volume of chatter would overwhelm my senses as they were so heightened due to my blindness. Hence my penchant for finding quiet, secluded places, like the Undercroft, to attain the solace that my overly sensitive senses desired.

But there was always one whose chatter I never minded. One whose soft rose petal smell didn't offend my vulnerable nasal passages. One whose melodically sweet voice didn't upset my heightened hearing. One whose touch set my skin alight in a fulfilling way and didn't cause me to jerk away.

Rachel. Her body so recently pressed into mine as her soft, gentle voice thanked me for understanding her, her arms wrapped tightly about my middle, clutching my jacket on my back. The smell of lavender soap in her hair filled my nostrils as my cheek rested on her head that was pressed tightly to my chest. Her warm, curvy body pressed up against mine...

And, just like that, my recently calmed heartrate picked back up again, that now familiar flush beginning to creep back up my neck to my fill my cheeks. I could feel them burning again. I huffed out air in frustration.

I needed to get myself together. I knew that harboring these feelings for Rachel all year was going to catch up to me. Eventually. I also knew, without being told, that she didn't return the sentiment. And it would do me no good to wallow in the unrequited waters that ran deep within me.

But... Sebastian was gone. I had had no word. Besides his departing note. Which he cowardly left for me on my pillow. I knew something was amiss when I entered the dorm room and my enchanted wand showed me his made bed and missing trunk. The small, folded parchment left on my pillow still held the scent of cologne as he always kept his parchments next to his toiletry bag in his trunk.

My nose wrinkled at the memory. He always wore too much of some kind of beachside smelling atrocity that made my stomach turn. That's something I wouldn't miss.

But I would miss my best friend. Despite what he had put all of us through this past year. He was still my best friend. And, honestly, I wasn't sure how to continue without him. He had been the only stability I had had over the last five years.

When I had petitioned my family to send me to Hogwarts and they had reluctantly agreed (Gaunts typically didn't attend school and if they did, it was NOT Hogwarts), I was ever so lucky to have connected with Sebastian and his sister, Anne. I remembered the day I met him...

Five Years and Nine Months Prior

We were lined up in the Great Hall together, all of us shaking slightly with nerves. I let my wand hang at my side, not wanting to draw attention to its glow and bring more eyes upon me than necessary. Instead, I used my senses to alert me to my surroundings. The din of voices was almost deafening. The entire hall was filled with students, all attention turned toward the first years and their inevitable sorting.

Professor Weasley had informed us that we would line up, be called, walk forward, sit on the stool and a strange old hat would be placed on our head that would sort us into one of four houses. I already knew that IF a Gaunt attended Hogwarts, it would be Slytherin or nothing. But I was still nervous. I could feel my own heart trying to beat out of my chest. And I could hear my classmates' hearts beating rapidly too.