Moments In Between

This Bothers Me

The trio regrouped after completing their search of the scriptorium outside of the Slytherin common room.

When they were finally released from the depths of the scriptorium, the young Slytherins gathered around by the entrance of their common room. Sebastian was the first one to break the silence. "Look...Ominis...about your aunt..."

"Sebastian...please." Ominis shook his head. "I meant what I said before but right now we swear to never engage with the Dark Arts ever again! I need you to promise me that!"

Sebastian gave his friend a slow nod but averted his eyes to the floor. "Understood. And I am truly sorry for your loss of your aunt."

"Even though we nearly missed death, I am grateful to finally have some closure."

Andromeda slowly removed herself from their conversation and walked over to the set of stairs close by to sit down. She did not have the strength to deal with their current dilemma. Even though she was told that they were close friends, all she has seen is them arguing and bickering with one another. She studied Sebastian and noticed that he was not looking at Ominis at all when he promised to stop meddling with the Dark Arts. Her gut was telling her that he was lying and that did not put her at ease. He has gotten this far, why would he stop now?

Sebastian had pulled out the spell book to flip through the pages. "Well...I got some late-night reading to do. I'll see you both in the morning." He then opened the door and disappeared into the common room.

Andromeda was certain that Ominis was going to turn in for the night but he surprised her when he turned around and started to walk right over to her. She noticed that he still appeared worried with his brow furrowed and a slight frown on his face. Once he was close, he knelt in front of her and asked, "How are you holding up?"

She gave him a small shrug with her eyes half closed and resting her head on the palm of her hand. "It feels like someone sucked all the energy out of me...but I'll be okay."

Ominis stood up to sit down and brushed his shoulder right up against her. "It does take some time to recover, but I reckon you will feel better by tomorrow once you get some rest."

Normally, Andromeda would hit him with a sarcastic response but she stayed quiet. Her brain was still mauling over the fact that Sebastian lied to both of them about the Cruciatus curse. And that did not sit well with her at all.

Ominis could sense a change in her demeanor. "Do you have something on your mind? I'm here if you want to talk about it..."

Andromeda let out a deep exhale and rubbed her eyes. "Sebastian lied to us. He knew what your family did to you with the Cruciatus and yet, he still wanted you to cast it. Why on earth would he do that if he knew how to cast the curse himself?! Doesn't it bother you one bit?!"

"Andromeda..."

"No! Ominis, you need to listen to me." Her blood was boiling at this point. She found it odd that she was more upset about this than Ominis, but she knew this is not how friends are supposed to treat each other. "Sebastian should have been honest with us. You were so distraught and I honestly do not understand that he thought it was okay to have you cast the curse. I knew you were reliving those memories from your childhood and Sebastian was completely oblivious to it all. All of this could have been avoided if he just told us the truth."

Andromeda's throat grew tight while tears started to build behind her eyes. She leaned forward with her hands covering her face. Why was she getting so worked up about this? Her stomach was doing flips that not only made her feel uneasy but she had no idea if it was due to the lasting effect of the curse or sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with Ominis.

She was simply too exhausted to tell.

Suddenly, Andromeda felt the same pair of arms that were holding her in the scriptorium wrap around her waist. Ominis pulled her close to him and she leaned in by hiding her face in his chest. She did not realize how cold she was until now as she engulfed herself in his warmth. His hand was rubbing up and down her back, hoping to calm her down.

After a few minutes, Ominis whispered into her ear. "Thank you."

Andromeda turned her face to the side and mumbled, "For what? For ruining your uniform with my tears?"

Ominis let out a soft chuckle and her heart immediately fluttered. He pulled back but still held her at arm's length. "No. I wanted to thank you for looking out for me. You made sure that I was okay and somehow were able to reassure me that you would figure a way out of that damn scriptorium. And you kept your word. That means a lot to me."

Andromeda rubbed the tears away from her eyes. She was feeling better but her stomach was still doing flips. "Ominis...It's what friends do, or what they are supposed to do. We should have each other's back and I am confident that if the roles were reversed, you would do the same thing." She straightened out her hair. "I just worry Sebastian is going too deep with this search for a cure."

"I know." Ominis sighed and withdrew his hands from her arms. "He just does not know when to stop at times. He seems keen that you can help but please let me know if he continues on this dark path. I fear that it will lead to danger and.." He paused to collect his thoughts. "I do not want anything to happen to you...I mean the both of you."

"I'll let you know if anything changes." Andromeda then realized that she still had his aunt's journal entries in her pocket. She reached down to grab them. "Before I forget, I collected the entries from your aunt's journal." She placed them in his hands. "Here...you should have them."

"Thank you." Ominis shoved them in the pocket of his jacket. "At least I will have something to remind me of my aunt." He got up to stand. "Are you feeling any better?"

Before she could say a word, her stomach answered with a loud growl. She looked down in embarrassment but heard Ominis laughing in amusement. "I presume that you may be hungry. Come on, I know where we can get food at this time of night."

Andromeda got to her feet and stood right next to him. "Where exactly are we going?"

Ominis managed to grab onto her hand and started to lead her out of the corridor. "I know how to get into the kitchens without disturbing the house elves. When Sebastian and I were first years, we would sneak in all the time during the night. If we are lucky, there should be some left-over desserts."

"Oh. So if we get caught, all you have to do is elicit your privilege of your father's relationship with the headmaster. Am I correct?" 

"Precisely."