Shadow of Research - Fifth Year

                                    

                                          
Ominis POV 
Ominis woke up earlier than usual. It had been a week since the two boys had gone and seen Anne, and it had been a week since - 
It pained him almost to think about her. He hadn't realised how much he missed her. Every time he thought about her touch, how she felt against him, comforting him - he found himself inwardly yearning for her. It was only when she came and found him in the common room, ushering him quietly and quickly behind another wall so they
could speak in private. 
"Hey!" Ominis defended himself. "What are you doing?" 
He felt a hand on his arm and electricity went up and into his heart. 
"Imelda?" He whispered, knowing he was correct. 
"Yes, dove," she replied. "I've come to apologise." 
"No," ominis was shaking his head, holding his hands out to her. She hadn't taken them yet and they were left hanging in the air. It was embarrassing. He was groping at nothing. "I need to apologise. Where are you?" 
"I'm just here," she finally took his hands. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have argued with you about Sebastian. I know you're pretty much brothers. It just irritates me that he's able to use you as he does." 
"I don't see it like that," Ominis admitted. "Although his interactions with people are rash and his decisions impulsive, he's only trying to do his best to save his sister. I can talk some sense into him soon enough. I'm sorry you have to stand by and watch." 
"I'll be blind to it for now," Imelda sighed. 
"Easier said than done," Ominis chuckled lightly, pointing to his ears. "Be blind to it and you'll figure out you can hear it instead. Imelda, it's hard to get away from. But I love you. I want you to stay with me." 
"I will," she assured him, tracing his knuckles with her thumbs. Ominis could hear her breathing, soft and deep. Relaxed. He tried to match his breaths to hers. 
"You're truly brilliant," Ominis breathed, taking her in. She smelt like she'd just had a shower, fresh and with a hint of lavender and chamomile, as always. He touched her hair. Damp, but beautifully silky. 
She giggled. "You've always a way with words, Mr Gaunt." 
"Miss Reyes," he fake bowed and almost tripped on the bottom of his robes. "Ahem. Care to join me?" 
"Where?" 
Ominis shrugged. "Literally anywhere." 
Imelda became the bearer of bad news. "Probably to history of magic." 
"Oh, Merlin," Ominis sighed frustratingly and shook his head. "I just got out of bed. I don't need to fall asleep again." 
"We'll find a way to make it interesting," said a very familiar voice. 
"Will you, Sebastian," Ominis rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here?" 
"This is my common room too, sport." Sebastian was exaggerating his footsteps and they were echoing in Ominis' ears in this small space. He patted Ominis on the shoulder. 
"Last time I was in Professor Binns class, I got removed by Professor Weasley for falling off my chair! I was asleep!" Sebastian cried. He took Ominis' arm sarcastically and pulled him towards the way he was going. 
"Sebastian," Ominis grumbled. "What's gotten into you this morning?" 
"I'm in a good mood," Sebastian told him, ruffling his hair. Ominis narrowed his eyes, tripping over himself and could hear Imelda giggling in the background. 
"Well stop it," Ominis mumbled, stifling a small smile. It was pretty rare lately, that they should assume their usual roles. Sebastian - the annoying, frustrating, boyish friend and ominis - the grumbly but secretly very happy friend. "It's annoying." 
"You're annoying." 
"Whatever. Imelda?" He asked cocking his head to listen. 
"She's behind youuu, you lost lover," Sebastian drawled. "Calm down, Gaunt." 
"Ok now you're really annoying me," Ominis growled, pulling his arm from Sebastian's grasp and calling out for Imelda again, who grabbed his hand. 
"Thank Merlin," Ominis sighed. "You've gone crazy, Sebastian." 
Sebastian snickered, and holding in his laughs, they made their way to History of Magic. 
Sebastian POV 
Sebastian had been staring at the relic in the undercroft for hours. Y/N had been earlier and they'd had small talk but nothing more. It seemed Sebastian was too far into everything to be able to keep his relationship with her steady. She seemed to be fed up with it, and rightly so. Sebastian was giving her so many mixed signals that he was annoyed with himself for her. 
Anyway, it wasn't for him to worry about right now. He needed to find out how to use this relic. It was adorned with metallic statues of Inferi. But what did they have to do with anything. To fight Inferi, you had to hit them with incendio before you hit them with anything else. 
Cautiously, Sebastian placed the relic on the ground. He stepped back and readyed his wand. "Incendio!" A burst of bright orange flames came hot from the end of his wand and hit the relic, engulfing it in licks of heat. Nothing happened. 
"Incendio!" 
Nothing. He consulted the book again, the one from the scriptorium. The picture of the relic had the Inferi around the edges floating above the bones on the bottom of it. He placed the relic further away on the ground and stepped back again. 
"Levioso! Incendio!" 
That was it! The relic had started to glow a dark yellow, pulsing in the dark of the undercroft. Sebastian felt a sense of relief, fear and power as he watched the relic float down to the ground. 
He had done it. All by himself. He knew there was a reason he needed to find this. He suddenly felt excited, despite the fear deep down. He might finally have a cure for Anne. 
Y/N POV 
You had been avoiding Sebastian since you saw him at breakfast last week. You had been frustrated with him recently. He was focusing so heavily on curing Anne with his stupid methods that you had given up. And even though you tried to forget it, every time before you closed your eyes at night - you remembered. 
He had to have meant that spell to curse it onto me. 
It was a while ago now, that it had happened. But the events that had led up to using two out of three of the unforgivable had set your teeth on edge. First, crucio on you - with hardly any remorse. Then the whole basilisk scenario, which you were sure still kept Ominis up at night - amongst other things. 
You did truly believe these things - but you also had a deep love for Sebastian. It complicated everything tou thought about him and somehow you found a way to justify almost everything he did. 
He was a boy - that needed to save his sister.
HELLO 
THE NEXT CHAPTER IS GONNA BE REAL HEAVY - I KNOW MY WRITING SUCKS BUT I PUT A LOT OF WORK INTO THE NEXT CHAPTER I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! ❤️❤️