Chapter 54

                                    

                                          
The corridors are quiet as we walk towards the classroom where Sebastian usually teaches, but it's Sunday, and there are no classes today. The chances of Sebastian being there aren't very high. If he's even at Hogwarts and not somewhere else. I usually spend weekends with Evangeline and Ominis or in Hogsmeade. There's no reason why Sebastian shouldn't use his free time as such. I live at Hogwarts, but that doesn't have to be true for every teacher here.
"Do you think he'll be happy to see me?" Ominis asks. I have no answer. Sebastian hasn't even told him he's here, let alone that he's still alive. Maybe Ominis doesn't matter to him anymore, although I hope that's not the case. Maybe Sebastian just thinks he wouldn't want to see him anyway because he wanted to turn him in back then. "I hope so, after all, you used to be best friends," I say.
"I thought he was dead, Beth, I can't believe he didn't even reach out," he asks again, but this time with a touch of sadness, yet just as I'm about to say something, I see the tall, brunette man coming out of his classroom. "I guess you can ask him yourself," I whisper and squeeze Ominis' hand reassuringly. His expression is questioning. "He just came out of the Defense Against the Dark Arts room."
Sebastian looks in our direction, and I can read his face like a damn book. Expressionless wiped away by surprise, followed by something that could be a mix of fear and regret. Then complete guilt, and finally, he looks directly into my eyes, and they gleam with pure and unwavering anger. I wonder why he's looking at me like that. As if Ominis wouldn't have found out eventually. Why is he looking at me like that when I brought his best friend to him? What makes him angry about it?
"He doesn't look happy," I say quietly to Ominis, and he furrows his brow, probably thinking something similar to what I am. "I'd like to talk to him alone if that's okay with you," Ominis replies. I squeeze his hand once again and then slowly move away. I walk backward, looking at Sebastian, who is staring angrily after me. His eyes pierce right through me. If this doesn't have consequences, then I don't know what will.
I quickly go to my room and lock the door behind me when I'm inside. I sit on my bed against the wall and pull my knees up. I feel like I did when I was sixteen on the Astronomy Tower. Numb, fearful, and confused. I stretch out my legs and pull up my skirt. The scars on my thighs haven't healed well. They are thick and white, an unevenness on my pale skin. They tell the story of a desperate student. I run my finger over one that is slightly crooked and longer than the others. It healed the worst after dirt and rocks got into it when I fell as Sebastian caught me. He cleaned and bandaged it, but it remains a reminder of that night.
I wait for a few minutes, this conversation shouldn't be over so soon. Sebastian has a lot to explain, and he owes it to Ominis to be honest. He owes him an explanation. But who doesn't he owe one to?
I get up from the bed and pace around the room. I have plenty of space to walk here. Three doors lead out of my bedroom. One leads to my own bathroom. The other leads to a study room where I also paint and keep my books. The third one leads outside. Now I walk back and forth in my bedroom. Inside, there's a large bed, a small nightstand next to it, and on the other side, a wardrobe and a mirror. In the middle of the room, there's a large carpet with a leaf pattern on it, and between the two doors to the bathroom and study room, there's a large fireplace. 
On the mantelpiece, I have photographs of my friends in small frames. There's one of Sebastian and me when we were young. It shows me with long, flowing hair and a long, lilac-colored ball gown, and Sebastian wearing just his shirt and pants, without his formal robes. I know I wasn't wearing any shoes when that picture was taken. It was after we had sneaked into the Room of Requirement during the summer ball.
I stare at the picture for a few minutes. He's back. Completely unharmed and almost perfect, and he simply said hello as if nothing had happened. Dammit, damn, damn traitor. I suffered for seven years, even though he was doing fine. What happened after Grimward and their people disappeared? Did they take him with them or leave him somewhere in the forest to fend for himself, or was he there for years? Did they torture him until they broke him?