Shadow of a Curse - Fifth Year

                                    

                                          
Ominis POV
"What is it?" Ominis demanded after he was met with moments of silence. He longed for Y/N's hand so he had some kind of direction. 
"It's a word carved into the stone," says Sebastian nonchalantly. "It says crucio." 
"That's why Noctua never left here," Y/N breathed. "She didn't have anyone to cast the curse on." Ominis felt his heart break even further at the thought of it. 
"No," he snapped. "You'll have to find us another way out. That's unfathomable."
He heard sebastian sigh. "We have to do it together," he said and he heard Y/N agree. 
"No," Ominis shouted. "You can't do that. You can't cast that, Sebastian. Y/N, you'll never forget it. You'll never forget that pain, or the casting of that spell. I promise. It ruins you forever." 
Neither of them said anything. 
"I'm not playing around," Ominis pleaded. "Please, sebastian." 
"Ominis," sebastian said, "there's no other way out of here. We'll end up like Noctua." 
Ominis didn't have anything to say to that. "God, I wish I was deaf," he shook his head. "I don't think I can take it. You won't be able to take it." 
"Cast it on me," Y/N said, confidently. Ominis heard her place down her wand on the cobblestone. 
"Please don't," Ominis said again, and Sebastian ignored him. 
"I'm sorry Ominis. Y/N? Are you ready?" 
Y/N didn't say anything, but she must've signalled that it was okay, because the next thing that came out of Sebastian's mouth was the cruciatis curse. 
Ominis couldn't cry out, he couldn't say anything. The screams filled his ears and he collapsed to the floor, sitting there with his feet out and his arms over his ears, hands on his head. 
"Stop," he begged. "I'm serious, this is not - this isn't okay." It brought make so many memories, so much trauma that Ominis didn't think he'd ever be the same again. 
"Are you alright?" Sebastian asked her as she panted when it was over. 
"That pain," she gasped. "I would've given you anything to have it stop." 
"ominis?" Sebastian asked, concerned for him now. 
"Like you care," ominis spat. "You stupid fucking idiot." 
Sebastian walked over to him and placed his hand on Ominis'. He threw it off, tears sliding down his cheeks. 
"Get off me," he shouted, his voice breaking. "Don't - don't touch me." 
"Alright," Sebastian agreed. "But we need to keep going. Y/N, can you grab his hand. Are you okay?" 
"Yes," Y/N said, picking herself up as she'd fallen over. Her voice was raspy and she'd thrown up at the side of the room. Sebastian was trying to ignore it. She wobbled over to Ominis and slipped her hand in his. He squeezed onto it and helped her stand. 
"I'll never forgive you for this, Sebastian. There's a reason these curses are unforgivable," Ominis hissed at him. He stopped when he heard something in the walls. "Stop." 
"Sebastian," Ominis continued. "I said stop." 
Sebastian obliged and stopped in his tracks. "I can hear the voice of a snake," ominis said, cocking his head to listen. "It says 'watch out.'"
A sudden crash, and Ominis lost all sense of what happened. Y/N let go of his hand. 
Sebastian POV 
"Watch out!" Sebastian shouted, but the boy didn't move quick enough. The basilisk was fuming, rearing it's head and roaring in resistance of their attempted spells. Y/N tried to get close to Ominis to yank him out of the way. He had no idea what he was doing. No sense of where he was or any kind of balance. Y/N shouted at him. "Don't look up, Ominis, please!" 
Ominis obeyed, and he didn't look up, but the basilisk moved it's ugly face so that it was next to the boys, and he had no chance but to look at it. He didn't say anything, didn't utter a noise but fell to the ground, and lay there limp as a rag doll. Sebastian's insides twisted. 
"Oh fuck," Sebastian shouted. Did people die when they looked at the basilisk? Was Ominis dead? He shoved that thought out of his head as far as he could. He recalled a lesson, a lesson where they said if you look the beast in the eye, you were dead. Sebastian had to hope that he'd seen it's eyes through the water on the ground, or the barrier of ancient magic to their left that acted as a mirror. But then, of course - Ominis couldn't see anything. "Y/N, let's go! We'll come back for him. We need to leave!" 
"Absolutely not!" Y/N looked terrified, but she was determined to bring Ominis with them. "What is wrong with you, Sebastian? We can't leave him here!" She was still suffering the after effects of the curse, Sebastian could tell. She was shaky and pale, but Sebastian guessed he would be too, at the sight before them. This was a terrible predicament for them to be in - and it was all his fault. Sebastian hoped briefly that one day it would be a story for the grandkids, story about a huge snake and how one could control it how they liked. As long as none of them died along the way. 
The basilisk reared it's head and roared in annoyance of the spells tickling him. They couldn't get it to back off, to leave them alone long enough to get to Ominis. Somehow, after a few moments, Sebastian kept it at bay long enough for Y/N to scream, "he's alive! He's just been petrified!" Sebastian felt himself sag in relief, but it was brief before they heard a crash. 
Suddenly, they heard a voice come from the door in which they entered. Professor Fig, Y/N's mentor rushed in. He casted a quick spell at the Basilisk - Sebastian couldn't tell what it was, but he made mental note to research it later - and the great beast roared before it slithered quickly away into the sewer, injured. 
Sebastian ran over to Ominis. His eyes were closed and his body had hardened into the one position. One of his hands were out like he tried to hold it in front of his face. The other one was in his robes like he'd gone to reach for his wand. Sebastian kneeled over his best friends body, ignoring the urge to throw up. What had he done? This was his brother. May as well have been - and he'd gone and almost killed him. 
"What are you three doing!?" Professor Fig reprimanded. "Why are you here?" He placed a hand on the side of Ominis' neck. "This boy has been petrified. He could have died I hope you know!" 
"Why didn't he?" Y/N said shakily. She wiped her mouth with her hand, and blood come off onto it. She wiped it on her skirt and fought tears from her eyes. "I thought all people who looked a basilisk in the eye died." She grabbed his hand and stifled a sob when she realised it was hard. And cold. Lifeless. 
"Yes, they usually do, but you have to be able to look at the basilisk, too," Professor Fig scolded, and it all made sense. "You're lucky this boy is blind. You two would've died straight away." 
Something ticked off in Sebastian's brain. He'd gone too far. His friend was badly hurt. 
"How do you," Sebastian started, shaking his head. "How do you reverse the petrified?" 
"I'll have to go to Professor Garlick for a mandrake. But I'll tell you what. I cannot turn you in for this," he looked at Y/N with a horrified look on his face. "I need you to finish - what we started. How am I supposed to turn you in? Why would you do such a thing? I don't even want to know why - but you will never ever even think about doing it again. Do you understand me, Mr Sallow? Y/N? Never. I am absolutely horrified at you two. What you've done is abhorrent. This boy will suffer now. And when he wakes up, you better hope he forgives you." 
Sebastian felt the anxiety swarm into his chest from his stomach. He couldn't say anything back. He'd done something unforgivable. Forced his friend down here, forced him to go on without sympathy when he found out the only family member he had loved had died in here, and then put him under the nose of a basilisk when he had warned them about voices of snakes in the walls. 
Sebastian would be surprised if Ominis ever wanted anything to do with him again when he recovered from this.