Shadow of a Grave ✧ Sebastian Sallow

chapter seven ✧ a father and his daughter

When the fake couple finally arrived back to the safety of their own home, the sun had just been setting in the sky. It had been a more emotionally draining and physically exhausting day than either had been prepared for. Despite that, both young parents had been eager to return to their respected children.

Sebastian's adrenaline had still been high when he entered the home. It hadn't taken long to find her daughter and the mess that she had begun to make.

Ominis had stayed behind with the children but had fallen asleep on the couch. His own son, just like his father, fell asleep against his chest. The two looked incredibly alike. Except for the fact that Bella had clearly gotten into the makeup and decided to make her uncle her next canvas. Red lipstick had been drawn sloppily onto the cheeks and nose of the sleeping Ominis. Long scarlet whiskers and a blushing dot on the tip of his nose.

"What in Merlin's name are you doing?" Sebastian teased as he grabbed Bella and lifted her into the air.

The little girl only giggled at being caught, literally and figuratively red-handed. Sebastian couldn't even pretend to be upset at her for drawing all over the sleeping friend. In fact, he had done something similar to Ominis after a night of drinking when they were students. Although his daughter's cat-like design had been far more appropriate than his own.

"Ominis, dear," Poppy sighed, "You make an adorable kitten, but you really shouldn't let Bella do that to you while you sleep."

"I gave her permission this time," Ominis laughed sheepishly as he finally sat up from the couch, "Can you hand me a towel?"

"Here, let me dampen that for you," Sebastian quickly offered as he excitedly pulled the wand out, "Aguamenti"

He only intended to dampen the towel with a splash of water, he was sure that had been the intention. But the water burst from the wand as if it had been a garden hose turned all the way up. Soaking the towel and everything else in the process. Ominis jumped at the sudden inconvenience and Poppy burst into laughter. Even the two kids giggled wildly.

"Sorry, guess I'm still getting used to having a wand again," Sebastian deflected.

Casting spells and charms had been something that he was always good at. He tutored other students on how to master their intentions when using magic. There were countless books of spells that he had mastered and some that he had even tried to create himself.

Despite not having a wand for five years, he hadn't stopped practicing or researching magic. That had been the only thing that kept him sane.

Maybe he was just a bit rusty and needed to practice. It had only been a day and using very basic spells had already made him feel odd.

"Well, it would seem you had some luck on finding the wand," Ominis sighed wiping his face clean, "Anything else of importance?"

Of course, there had been a lot of details that Ominis needed to be filled in about, but that had been a better job for Poppy. Sebastian had been too excited to talk to his daughter more.

Bella had comfortably wrapped her arms around his neck already as he carried her around the living room. He searched the fireplace for his copy of the framed photograph before heading outside. She had seen the photograph before, she had already known who he was, and he was sure that it would help her understand.

When they entered the sunny vivarium, Sebastian finally placed the little girl at the edge of the porch and sat down in the grass in front of her. Making sure he was just low enough to be eye-to-eye with her.

"Oh, I hope you don't mind, I may have seen this little guy earlier and thought he looked a bit lonely," He joked as he pulled the stuffed rabbit from his jacket.