Every Shade of Green (Ominis Gaunt)

Mint Chaise

Mint Chaise envelopes their bonding, innocent and warm.

~

Like being chewed up, torn apart, set on fire, peeled and turned inside out, Crucio lives up to its name.

Emmaline screams when the curse slams against her chest. The look in Sebastian's eye as he says the word, flicks his wand, is devastating. It frightens Emma in a way she hadn't expected.

He truly wants to hurt her.

She collapses, unable to stand and bare the pain, letting out a blood curdling scream as she falls to the ground. The Dark energy surrounding her is red and black, every bit as scary as prophesied.

"Stop!"

All the slashes of goblin blades, stuns from poachers, bites from spiders, clubs from trolls and hexes from Dark wizards could not compare.

Time stretches during her suffering. When the worst of it suddenly halts, after blinding, mentally scarring pain, she feels anything but.

Ominis' embrace is warm, soft, comforting. Emma leans into it out of instinct, searching for anything as far away from the torture which had consumed her as possible.

Quivering fingers find purchase in his school shirt, where she grips the collar, pulling the tender warmth as close to her as possible. Ominis lets it happen, as if knowing exactly what she needed.

Of course he does, you idiot, she scolds herself.

Sebastian stares down at the two- Emma, gasping for breath, sitting with her knees up to her face, cowering into the chest of his best friend; Ominis, surrounding her with his arm, his chin atop her head.

He glares over the top of her dark hair. Sebastian knows it is meant for him.

"Are you alright?" He asks awkwardly.

Emma doesn't look at him, but Ominis, with tear-filled eyes. She presses on his arms, giving him the sign to help her stand.

"Are you all right?" He repeats Sebastian's question in a softer tone.

"That pain was excruciating," she blurts out, holding her chest. Though the intense suffering is gone, a terrifying anxiety settles in its wake, shaking her nerves. An ache continues to reverberate through her bones. "I'll survive," she tries to play it off, "Let's keep moving."

Though she gives Ominis space, she does not separate from him.

Emma quickly drinks her Wiggenweld potion, hoping it takes the edge off the remaining symptoms.

"We made it," Sebastian remarks with wonder as he enters the now opened door, "We found Salazar Sltherin's Scriptorium." He disappears into the room.

Emma moves to follow, watching Ominis closely.

Noctua's bones catch her eye.

"One moment," she whispers, leading Ominis to the other side of the door to where his aunt lay. "I'm glad professor Weasley gave us that lesson last week," she adds quietly.

Emma draws her wand from her cloak.

"I don't know how Wizards say goodbye," she admits, her voice soft. "But, do you have anything to say?"

Ominis' face is overcome with sadness. Emma turns away, only holding his hand.

"You were my inspiration growing up," he begins tentatively, "Thanks to you I believed I could be better than I was, better than them. I knew I had a choice because you had already made it. You gave me strength. If not for you I know I wouldn't be the person I am. I'd be like them."