Where Snakes and Lions Roam |Sebastian Sallow|

XXX

The air was bitterly cold. The wind was whistling through the trees. Emilia looked up through the bare branches of the winter trees. The moon was covered by the cloudy sky. It was dim in the forrest. More than dim. She was having trouble making out the path as she walked. She knew she was close, so she couldn't use spells to aid her.

She squinted as she made her way farther up the twisting hillside. Her breaths were heavy in her lungs. She could feel the anxiety bubbling up in her chest and her pulse was pounding in her ears. She pulled her robes tight around her body to keep the heat in, but she couldn't help the shivers every time the wind blew a gust her way.

She had been walking the forrest for hours, on a lead she heard in Hogsmeade the other day. Some of the Rookwood men were supposed to be camping out on this hill. She needed answers. And what better way to get them than directly from the source?

She saw the glow of a fire in the distance and muffled laughter. She cast Disillusionment on herself as she approached the campsite. There were tents and crates lining the edges. What looked like a Smithy's station set up with a loud drumming of hammer on anvil. She could smell the foul stench of a troll some where near by.

I hope it's caged.

​​​​​​​She crouched behind a stack of wooden boxes at the group of Ashwinders. She strained her eyes to count the heads bobbing around the fire.

Two by the tents.

One checking crates.

Three in front of the fire.

She kept an ear out for any sign that troll was near by. Nothing that she could tell beside that putrid smell.

The man that was checking the crates made his way toward the boxes she was hiding behind. If she was lucky he might be able to cast the Body-Bind Curse at him before he knew what was happening.

She stepped back further into the shadows of the night. He came around the corner, checking the seals of the boxes in front of him. She slowly made her way up behind him, careful not to make a sound.

"Petrificus Totalus!" She whispered.

His body froze. She backed away quickly as he started to fall. Far enough into the dark so that anyone checking wouldn't see her coming.

"What happened to Swanson?!" A woman yelled as she ran toward the man, Swanson as she called him, to check on the man.

The other three in the camp started checking the perimeter for unwanted guests. Emilia quickly emerged from her hiding place, uncloaking herself in the process.

"Glacius! Diffindo!"

The woman's body shattered. She looked on in horror. She had never thought about the real life effects of her spell combinations. Professor Hecat had told them the spells that work best together, in the case of self-defense, but the realization of what she had done made things all too real.

"I killed her," She breathed out. Her stomach felt like it was going to climb out of her throat. Suddenly her head felt someone was squeezing it. The pressure was immense.

The other three men in the camp rounded on her quickly. What had she gotten herself into?

"Isn't this the student that we were told to look out for?" One of them said, wand pointed at Emilia.

"Yeah, I think you're right. The boss will be very happy," Another growled as he smirked at her.

Oh, no.

​​​​​​​"Come here, pretty girl. We won't hurt you."

They began to walk toward her. She tried to back up, but she soon found herself stumble on a tree root. She toppled over and found herself rolling down the hill. She tried to brace herself, keep her head from being struck as she rolled. She hit the ground hard, her mind going black.

_____________________

"Sebastian, stop pacing. You're giving me a head ache," Ominis said from his spot on the couch.

Sebastian was pacing in the common room. Emilia had been missing from classes all day and Natty hadn't seen her in the dorms. Professor Wesley didn't know anything either. Sebastian's brain was jumping from one idea to the next.

Did she get lost in the forrest? Did she get hurt? Was she alone? Was she safe?

His mind kept going over all of the worst possible outcomes.

"I'm going to find her," He said at last.

"What? You have no idea where she could be. You don't even have an idea of where to start," Ominis was standing. He was worried for Sebastian as well as Emilia.

Sebastian had a knack for getting into more trouble then he could handle, and he wasn't about to have both of them missing. Sebastian knew that.

Sebastian sighed, "I'm not going to sit here and do nothing. Ominis, you don't understand. I don't know what I would do if something happened to her."

"Sebastian, I care about her too, and I'm worried. But having two missing friends is not the answer."

"You don't understand. Ominis, I love her."

The words echoed of the stone walls. The common room was large, but the sounds of his confession made the walls feel like they were closing in. He had never said those words out loud. He was scared that if he let the universe know he loved her, something would happen. Something always happened to the ones he loved. Anne might be better now, but she will never fully heal from her trauma. His parents were dead. And Ominis, he was a brother to Sebastian. He loved the man as his own blood, but he could never take away the pain of his family and the burden of the Gaunt name.

"Sebastian?"

He looked at his friend. While he was blind, his eyes still showed his worry.

"Be careful."

Sebastian laid his hand on Ominis' shoulder and gave it a good squeeze, "I'll be back before you can say Quidditch."

___________________

Emilia woke up. She was cold, and she was bound hand and foot. She struggled to sit up, pushing off the ground with her arms.

She looked around. She was in a larger camp. She could see rows of tents. Weapons and equipment scattered on tables and leaned against wooden walls. The sounds din of a busy camp filled her ears. Where was she?

Suddenly, a figure came into view near the fire she had been laying next to. Her vision was blurred by a raging head ache. She couldn't make much out among the dance of the fire's light.

"Good, you're awake. I've been looking for you, Emilia," The voice said.

That voice. It sounded familiar. She couldn't put the voice to a face, but she knew it.

"You cost us and our cause greatly. We were set. We had people on the inside. You cost me greatly. I lost my position within the organization. I've had to work my way back to where I am now. All because you had a little crush on our new recruit."

What was she talking about?

"He was going to be the face of the organization. And a pretty one at that. Sebastian was ours. He was mine."

Her vision began to clear, she could see the woman in front of her more clearly. And then it clicked.

"Jessica Taylor."

She laughed, "So nice of you to remember me. I've got business with you. You ruined me and now I'm going to ruin you. Starting with your little Slytherin."

"You don't touch a hair on his head," Emilia sneered.

She was going to get out of those restraints and she was going to put Jessica in her place.

"You couldn't even stay on your feet, what makes you think you can threaten me? You are nothing but a pathetic girl, in love with a man who will never love you back. And you think you will become an Auror," Jessica smirked at the girl and pushed her chin up with her wand.

Emilia jerked her face away and spit at Jessica's feet, "I will get free. And I will stop you and your goons. Mark my words."

Jessica glared at her, "I'd love to see you try."

The last think Emilia remembered was the back of a fist swinging toward her face.