Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Thirty-One: In the Shadow of Protection

Sebastian's POV

I sat on the sofa, twirling the feather Aurora had gifted me between my fingers, lost in thought. Abbi had lead us all down to the main sitting area shortly after Aurora had shed her feather, and was now pacing up and down the length of the room, finger tucked against her chin as she did so, brows furrowed in concentration.

I was right there with her, my mind whirring at a thousand miles an hour, though surely our thoughts differed. While she was focused on what we were to do with the poacher pack hunting her and her Phoenix, I couldn't help but think about this feather. This red and gold, soft, and warm feather. Was Abbi right? Did Aurora really see something in me that I didn't?

If she did; then what was it?

What good, special thing, could Aurora possibly see in me?

The boy who murdered his own uncle and two years later couldn't find it in himself to truly regret it.

The boy who still shoved his nose into any book on the Dark Arts he could find.

The boy who let Abbi Cruciate him, and despite the immense pain, enjoyed it on some level because she had been the one to do it.

I wasn't good. I wasn't worthy of her feather. I wasn't even worthy of Abbi having those thoughts about me. Still though, I couldn't help the thing that stirred inside me, delighted and glowing that despite my lack of remorse, despite my study of dark magic, she called me special.

"I don't see why we have to do much of anything," Ominis spoke softly, his brows pulled down with his frown. "No one but us can get in here."

It was his voice that jerked me from my thoughts, bringing me back to the real conversation happening in the room. Poppy was sat next to Ominis, her face stony as she took in his words.

"Ominis, they heard them in Hogsmead! It's not just Aurora they want; it's Abbi!"

I moved my gaze to Abbi, watching her closer. Her blonde hair was pulled back from her face, the delicate freckles I loved danced across the bridge of her nose, which was scrunched up as if she smelled something unpleasant. Her eyes were glassy, showcasing that she hadn't heard Ominis's words.

"Right," he said calmly. "I'm only saying we shouldn't need to worry about Aurora's safety as much as Abbi's."

"What do we know about them?" I asked the room at large, hoping there was something more that I hadn't been told about the group.

"My Gran has been looking into them," Poppy supplied, helpfully. "She thinks they are a poacher ring from Paris, and this is their symbol."

She reached into her bag, pulling out a small leather bound notebook to me. Taking it gingerly, I began to rifle through the collected pages, my eyes darting across the pages.

I spotted the symbol she was talking about at once, scrawled in corners of parchment, some drawn hastily, others with much more care.

An L and a B, overlapping each other enclosed in a tight circle. I felt my brows furrow in confusion.

"How long have you had these pages?" I asked, my voice steady, despite my panic rising. Instantly, I knew two wizarding families with those initials, two families who had no qualms of doing whatever it took to add to their immense wealth and power.

"It's what led Abbi and I to the Hogs Head right after term started," Poppy said, eyes glancing over to her friend. I looked too.

Still pacing.

Not listening.

"Have you stopped to consider that this symbol could be referencing two wizarding families?"