Invisible String - Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Catacomb

He held my hand as he led us to the Floo Flame in the room. His gaze was dark, intense, determined. I glanced around the room, as if to double check that Poppy and Ominis were indeed vacated from the room. His touch, his grip, around my hand was tight, pinching in places due to the ferocity, but I didn't complain.

The fact of it was, I liked when Sebastian led the charge. He noticed the twitch of my hand when I felt that intense pressure of the magic calling out for more. He noticed that I was trying to keep it together, keep myself together, and he slipped his way through all the cracks, filling in the broken pieces with broken pieces of himself.

"Are you ready?" He said to me, fingers just inches from the Floo Flame, glowing green in the dim entryway.

"Ready," I breathed, the tendrils of magic pulsing through my body purring delightedly.

"Feldcroft Catacomb," he spoke clearly, his fingers touching the flame point. Instantly, we were sucked from the ground, his hand still tight on mine, before coming to the familiar crashing halt that landing at the new Floo point brought. I stumbled forward slightly, my feet unsteady beneath me.

Sebastian caught me, wrapping an arm around me, before leading me towards the entrance of the catacomb. Our feet crunched over dirt and gravel, the grass taller than last we were here. Much more wild and unkempt, the familiar tracking of our feet we'd carved into the ground lost to time.

Cold air whipped around us as we walked, but I found myself numb to it. Nothing mattered except that we were here, of all places.

New feelings mixed with old memories as we approached, the memory of him running away from me as he left the catacomb the last time we were here sprang forward. I had to shake myself. It was not that Sebastian here with me now; it was the one who stood outside this chamber and guided me while teaching me the killing curse.

Dark. Angry. Powerful.

He wouldn't run this time.

The catacomb entrance was covered by unfamiliar stone, having previously been left open due to our frequent visits. I reached my hand out towards it curiously, touching the smooth stone. Sebastian took in a deep breath behind me as I did so.

Fear?

"The entrance has been blocked," I whispered, nervous he would tell me we had to leave. I didn't want to; I wanted to- no, I needed to go inside. I needed to take more, the magic was screaming at me, squeezing itself around every inch of my body.

Leave him if he doesn't want to come, the familiar voice of my magic hissed, the tendrils of it snaking up and seeming to wrap around my brain. I could feel the warmth of it there, taking all thought with it.

The only thing left was it's voice, and it's need.

"Bombarda!" I shouted, raising my wand to the stone. It blew apart, Sebastian covering our heads as rubble fell all around us.

"Merlin, Abbi," his voice a million miles away despite his body being practically on top of mine. "The point is for you not to get hurt."

Ignoring him, I stepped into the catacombs dark and familiar tunnels, my heart leaping into my throat. Immediately I knew where I needed to go, which cavern to enter.

"They're here," I whisper to him, eyes scanning the dark halls. "I can feel them."

"After you," Sebastian said, his fingers brushing the small of my back. I looked at him and grinned before stepping deeper inside.

We walked quickly, my feet guided by whatever force this magic was a part of, Sebastian's fingers never far from my body.

Progressing down twisting steps, through arches of ancient bones I had conjured into place myself two years ago. Had we always been destined to fall into darkness together? Or had these dreams, these wisps I couldn't help but follow been a force we should fight harder to ignore? Any thought of it kept getting silenced by the slithering tendrils of magic as we approached the chamber room at the end of the tunnel.