Echoes of Emotion (Sebastian Sallow x OC)

Chapter 37 - Realisation

I didn't see Skye after the Ravenclaw trial, with her disappearing not soon after so her father didn't get suspicious, but Ominis seemed to tell her what had happened after, since she sent me an owl to see if I was okay, apologising again for what had happened.
It seemed she and Sebastian hadn't spoken since their argument either, and I could almost guarantee it was because Sebastian couldn't stand the idea of her bringing up Anne again.
However, it seemed no one had told her what happened in the map chamber.

It had been awkward leaving after I absorbed the magic, with Poppy giving me a Wiggenweld potion and us all heading back to the dorms.
I had been so consumed by my anger I couldn't even form a sentence.
All I could think about was Isadora.

Thankfully, after taking a few days to cool off, and taking it out on poachers and spiders in the forbidden forest, I could finally face them again.
Although I dreaded what that meant.
Just the thought of Isadora made me see red, so if I told them about what happened, I could see myself flying off the rails again.
And I didn't want them to see that.

I sat alone in the common room, weighing my options as I stared blankly at the windows.
I knew avoiding them wasn't the answer, I had done that already and it never ended well.
But if they saw what this was starting to do to me...
I just didn't know if they would see me the same again.

"Fancy seeing you here." I turned at the familiar voice, a small smile making its way onto my face as I saw Sebastian standing behind me.
"Hi" I managed, not sure what else to say.
I'd gone from wanting to kiss him in the transfiguration courtyard to basically ignoring him in the undercroft.
These emotions were beginning to give me whiplash.

Sebastian took my greeting as a sign to sit down next to me, his eyes looking ahead, his brows pulling together in confusion.
"As interesting as the water is, I don't think it warrants you staring at it this long." he commented before turning to me with a smirk "you're not trying to spot a mermaid, are you?"
I rolled my eyes at the suggestion, trying to hide a smile.
"You never know. With the rumours floating around about the Hogwarts saviour, their interest might be piqued."
He laughed at the response, looking ahead again.

He went silent after that, causing me to peek over at him, wondering what he was doing.
I was surprised to see him staring out the window too, his smile slowly fading as he thought about something.

I thought back to the Ravenclaw trial, and how mad he got at Skye over me.
She was one of the last pieces of Anne he had left. It couldn't have been nice having her leave without so much as a goodbye.

"I was wondering something." I started, trying to somewhat ease the gloomy feeling settling upon us both.
He turned towards me, seeming eager for the distraction as he awaited my question.
"How did Skye know how to cast a Patronus charm?"
He looked at the ground as he pondered the question, as though he were debating what he could and couldn't say.

"Her dad taught her." he answered, which caused me to raise a brow in question.
Sebastian glanced at me, and upon seeing my expression, began to elaborate.
"Her dad works in a dangerous field for the ministry, which causes him to run into some dark wizards from time to time. Once, they ended up finding out about Skye and her mum. They were firm believers in pureblood status, and in the end her mum was killed."
My eyes widened in shock, I don't know what I expected him to say, but it wasn't that.
"Poor Skye..." I whispered, thinking back to the way Skye seemed so positive I would have never guessed.
But then again, Sebastian was the same way.

"Her dad ended up teaching her a lot of spells as soon as she was able to use magic, ranging from offence to defence. The professors here didn't really approve, so her ended up removing her from the school, saying his methods were better for her protection..." he trailed off at the end, looking around to see if anyone was nearby before dropping his voice to a low whisper.
"She was the one that introduced me to the dark arts."
There was a sense of guilt in his voice, us both knowing what that meant.
It was more than just him not wanting Skye to find out about Anne, it was about what Skye had brought into his life.
Although Sebastian pursued it, if Skye found out what he had done, she would probably blame herself.