Echoes of Emotion (Sebastian Sallow x OC)

Chapter 1 - Olive Branch

To say my first year at Hogwarts was eventful was an understatement.
From trolls to unforgivable curses, I think I covered enough to last me a lifetime.
However, I will say that I am grateful for the experience. I got to see dragons, ride a Hippogriff, and meet new people... new friends.

I had sent many owls over the summer back and forth with some of them, Poppy and Natty, speaking about our adventures last year and what is to come this next year.
They both seemed quite excited to continue in their efforts to make the world a better place, breaking rules and seeing new things, and I will admit I was too, until I remembered where that had gotten another. Sebastian.
I still had flashbacks to that day in the catacomb, the words leaving Sebastian's lips, Solomon's limp body, and not being able to do a thing to stop it.

I didn't have a strong aversion to unforgivable curses, my family weren't exactly saints when it came to the matter, but I could relate more to Ominis in that sense. I never agreed with their use, but when Sebastian offered to teach me, I saw it as an option in order to protect myself from what was to come, given the circumstances at the time.

I had not received a single owl from Sebastian over the summer, and I hadn't seen him since that day in the undercroft, when he told me what Anne had said...
I had wanted to send an owl on multiple occasions, but every time I sat down to write, my mind went blank. What would I even say? Did he even want to talk to me after what happened? Did he blame me? Everything that happened was after I came to Hogwarts, and I have to admit, the thought of pushing him over the edge had plagued my mind.

I sighed as I looked over at my desk, the thought of writing seemed scarier than anything that happened last year. Yet, with September 1st fast approaching, the thought seemed more frequent. I wanted to know what had happened, how he was faring, if he was coming back.
I got up, defeated. I decided that if anything, a letter might just save an awkward first encounter on the first day back. Or even just save me roaming around the halls trying to find someone that isn;t even there.

As I sat at my desk, I stared at the paper, tapping my fingers against the mahogany wood as I wracked my brain for the words to say.
Finally, I decided to try and just condense it to something nice and small, just an olive branch, that way, I would know if I was overstepping.
Afterall, it was only Sebastian.

Sebastian,
It has been a while since we spoke, I hope your summer has been productive. My summer has been quite a bore, given how my grandparents seem quite insistent that I stay out of trouble after the events of last year.
However, I am excited to start my second year and see you and Ominis. There is much I wish to tell you, but I will wait to see you for that.
I hope you are doing well.
Emerald

I sat back for a second, rereading the letter over and over to make sure I hadn't spoken out of term. It felt like walking on eggshells, like any wrong word would trigger him to never speak to me again, or send him spiralling all over again. I shook my head to remove those thoughts. He was not fragile. After last year, he seemed to insist that he would never touch the dark arts again, as he knew that would squander any chance of Anne forgiving him.

I tied the letter to the leg of my grandparents' owl before sending it on its way, staring out the window until it was completely out of sight. No going back now.
I laid on my bed again, my eyes feeling heavy after such a mental toll. Sending letters back and forth with Natty and Poppy had been so easy it was never more than a thought as to what I wanted to say, but the situation with Sebastian just seemed like such a mess, it was hard to know how to be a good friend. I didn't want to hurt him.
The thoughts continued to swirl in my mind, and before I knew it, they had lulled me to sleep.
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I woke up with a gasp, feeling as though the air had been sucked out of my lungs. I sat up and reached for my chest, trying to control my breathing.
As it finally steadied, I noticed my surroundings, which only made my breathing speed up once again. I was in Feldcroft.
But something was different, it seemed misty, almost like the memories from a pensive.
I looked around, trying to understand my surroundings, or even see if anyone was around.
To my surprise, I saw someone oddly familiar, their back turned to me as they stared at a house, Sebastian's house.

I got up slowly, making sure not to startle whoever this was, before approaching quietly.
"There's no need to be cautious" they spoke, causing me to pause briefly as I recognised the voice too.
"Nothing can harm you here. Nothing can harm us again" they continued, before pointing at the house.
I slowly began moving forward again, trying to get a look at their face, but it seemed to be blocked by the mist.
Instead, I made my way over to the house, slowly opening the door. I gasped slightly as I saw the scene before me. There, sat at the table, were Anne, Sebastian, and Solomon.
They didn't seem to notice me coming in, but they were all sitting in silence, none of their faces visible to me.
I reached out a hand to Sebastian, tapping his shoulder in hopes of his attention, but when he turned, he seemed to look straight past me, outside the open door, like he was looking at the person outside.

"She's been cured" he said softly, before turning back around
"they both have"
I looked back at Anne and Solomon, my eyes widening as I saw that they were now staring at me. Yet, something was wrong. Their eyes... they looked... empty.

That's when it hit me. I knew where I'd heard the voice. I whipped my body round, searching for my wand, but I couldn't find it, and was instead met face-to-face with the person responsible. Isidora.
"I helped them" she whispered, her eyes staring straight into my soul.
"We helped them" she looked down at my hands, which caused my to do so too, and what I saw made me gasp.
In one hand a stone, one that looked identical to that of Professor Fitzgerald's trial. The resurrection stone. And in the other, I held a jar, just like the ones Isidora used, and it was filled with dark magic... Anne's pain.