Sebastian POV
Sebastian, Y/N and Imelda had spent the afternoon and early evening roaming the castle trying to find Ominis. It had been hours since they'd last seen him.
"Where did he go when we left this morning?" Imelda asked, her tone worrisome.
"Well I had a hold of him, because he wanted to follow you," Sebastian recalled, looking left and right when they got to the end of another corridor. "Eventually I let him go and he said he was leaving. He was angry."
"Of course he was," Imelda sighed. "I feel terrible. You don't think he's gone to the manor do you? To find him?"
"Surely not," Y/N replied, and Sebastian made a big deal of shaking his head aggressively. "He's terrified of them."
Something sunk in Imelda's posture. Perhaps in relief?
"He is," Sebastian agreed. "But maybe he had a sudden surge of confidence. Who knows?"
"They're abusers," Imelda hissed. "He wouldn't go back there. Surely."
They had just walked to the North Exit of Hogwarts and begun to look around the courtyard. The sun had almost set, and soon they'd need to go back to the dormitories to obey the curfew.
"We're running out of time," Y/N said. "We should get Rowley to keep looking."
"Don't ask him yet," Imelda said, her tone pleading. "Oh where is he? I'm worried."
"I'm sure he's fine," Sebastian tried to say, hoping that Marvolo hadn't come and bloody well found him at the castle. With him on the loose now, nothing was far fetched.
Like magic, when they'd turned to leave to find Rowley - they heard a small cough from behind them at the entrance to the castle.
There he was.
And he was in a terrible state.
His nose was bleeding so badly that it had covered his tunic and pants, his hands and arms covered in it. He already had a black eye forming, and there was a purple bruise on his cheekbone. He'd shed his jacket to catch up to them and it was lying on the ground not too far away. His skin was so pale Sebastian thought he could almost see through it. A trail of blood followed him towards them.
"Ominis!" Imelda cried, quickening her pace to get to him. "Oh my- what happened to you?"
Ominis didn't reply, just vaguely stared ahead while the blood dripped down his face. "It hasn't stopped," he said, finally, then coughed and blood spattered on the ground. "Sorry," he apologised, wiping his already soaked sleeve on his face. "It's going down my throat." He dropped his wand, and it's light dimmed. Sebastian bent to scoop it up.
When he had realised finally what was going on and clicked out of his fight or flight mode, Sebastian ripped the bottom half of the loose shirt he was wearing and forced Ominis to press it to his face. "Let's go to the hospital wing. What happened, mate? Merlin's -"
"I found Marvolo," Ominis managed. Of course he had. Imelda gasped. Sebastian had one arm around him and Imelda was on the other side as they supported him to begin the stumble to the hospital wing. He was getting increasingly pale. Y/N tried to hold the tshirt to his face as they walked but it didn't work very well.
"You went after him?" Imelda hissed. "What's wrong with you?"
"He was-" Ominis faltered for a minute, his grip loosening on Sebastian's side.
"Hold on, Ominis," Sebastian ordered him, adjusting his grip.
"He was trying to come after you," Ominis told her. "So I had to find him."
Sebastian grimaced. They'd underestimated the boy and assumed because of his hatred for his family and his fear of them, he wouldn't go. But he did.
"What did he do to you?" Imelda asked.
"It wasn't him," Ominis said. "When I got to the manor I heard them talking about the next attacks they were planning. It wasn't just the one. They're out for muggles."
"Why all of a sudden?" Y/N asked.
"I don't know," Ominis admitted. "But when I tried to interject I didn't know how many of them were in the room. I tried to just talk to them but they knew I had been eavesdropping so," he weakly gestured to his face and then his chest. "They all had a go."
"They all..?" Imelda started, and then lifted up Ominis' shirt while they were walking and found a long slash down his chest, of a whip. Bruises were scattered around his ribs and chest and there were more marks on his back.
"Holy-" Imelda was almost crying now, tears welling up in her eyes. Sebastian tried to bite down bile that was rising up his throat.
"They thought they'd use Muggle means to hurt me," he told her. "No spells this time. So it was bearable."
"You're barely hanging on!" Imelda almost shrieked it. "That's not bearable!"
"Better than an unforgiveable-" he whispered, his voice sounding more faraway by the second, and they finally arrived at the hospital wing where Blainey jumped into action at the sight of Ominis.
"Sit him down," she ordered them, and Imelda and Sebastian lowered him onto a bed where he swayed for a second before sitting up properly. "What happened to you, boy? Your family at it again?"
The nurse hadn't had to deal with this kind of thing in a long time. She knew of Ominis and his family well, during their first years at Hogwarts Sebastian was bringing Ominis up here a lot after visits with his family.
Ominis was becoming increasingly confused, and didn't answer Blainey's question. He'd started trying to push Sebastian off him.
"Stop it," Sebastian told him, and the boy stopped pushing
"Just hold him there," Blainey said to Sebastian and Imelda, who didn't loosen their grip on his shoulders. She used her wand to stop the bleeding from Ominis' nose, and some colour returned to his face. Sebastian made note to come back and talk to Blainey about how she healed people, so that he could use it for his future career. "His nystagmus is worse."
"It has been," Imelda agreed. "It gets worse when he's anxious, or maybe when he loses half the blood in his body. We need to do something to stop Marvolo. That fucking git-"
"Don't be daft," Ominis said suddenly, raising his face to look towards Imelda's voice. "He'd kill you."
Sebastian flinched.
"Sebastian?" Ominis asked, tilting his head to the side. He'd become much more aware of his surroundings now, and all the colour had returned to him. Imelda lifted his shirt again and the wounds on his chest and back had closed over, just long slits now in his skin. The bruises had faded to a light yellow.
"I'm just here," Sebastian told him, shaking the memories of what he did out of his head after Ominis' comment.
"You're not going to do anything stupid, either," Ominis told him.
"No."
"Good. I shouldn't have gone there," he shook his head, lowering it towards the ground. "I don't know what came over me."
"It was very stupid," Imelda agreed. "But you're okay now. Thanks to Blainey."
"Thank you," Ominis nodded. "Come to my rescue again."
"Just like the old days," Blainey muttered. "You're not to see them again."
"I've said that before," Ominis sighed. He had enough strength in him to push himself up the bed now. Imelda sat down next to him.
"I'm sorry I acted how I did," she told him. "I shouldn't have hidden from you. You're nothing like your family, after all."
"It's fine," he told her, sincerely. He patted her hand gingerly. "Even if I'm not like them, they are who raised me. I'm not offended that you rethought things. Have you heard from your mother?"
"Not yet," she replied, pursing her lips together. "I'm glad you're okay, though." She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
"I'm alright," he pulled her towards him in a small side hug and Imelda let out the breath she was holding as he rubbed comforting circles into her back.
Sebastian looked over at Y/N, who happened to also be looking in his direction. He winked at her and she smiled.
"You'll have to stay here for a night so that I can monitor the after effects of the blood loss," Blainey told them.
Sebastian nodded and clapped Ominis lightly on the back. "You're alright?"
"Yes," the boy nodded up at him. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow."
Y/N gave him a small pat on the head before she turned to leave with Sebastian. They left Imelda there with him and headed towards the common room together.