The Bars Between Us

Part 1

Six years.

It had been six years since the terrible events of fifth year, and six years since Sebastian had stood trial for the murder of Solomon Sallow. Six years since he was sentenced to life in Azkaban.

Six years since Dracaena and Ominis had scrambled to find out who had condemned him, and vowed to make it right.

No sooner had they left Hogwarts, not able to fully appreciate the finality of riding the little boats across the Black Lake towards Hogsmeade station, leaving behind the place in which they had matured into adults, leaving behind the wonders and horrors in equal parts, that they both signed up for jobs at the Ministry for Magic, working in Magical Law Enforcement, searching for some kind of loophole, some kind of law, some kind of anything that would get their best friend released from hell.

After four agonising years, they managed it. Together, pouring over paperwork by candlelight until the small hours for months, they built a solid defence, their unwavering logic and staunch reasoning standing up to the needlepoint scrutiny of the powers that be. Of course, they knew it was a long shot all the same. The Ministry simply didn't care about extenuating circumstances, considering those incarcerated to be less than human, doomed to serve their time no matter what new evidence came to light.

Ominis had to throw his weight around a bit. Subtle, hissed threats, muttered warnings and an overuse of his famous glare and family name eventually frightened enough people to get those with the ability to make changes to listen. Then Dracaena came in, her fame and her charm the honey to Ominis' salt, making promises she never intended to keep, assuring those too nervous to make the jump to support them, doing favours that left an unsavoury taste in the back of her throat.

All of it proved worth it in the end. Sebastian's release papers were handed over, and Dracaena packed a small bag.

"I'll be a week," she said to Ominis. "They want him to stay in a sort of halfway house for a while, to make sure he's not going to go mental and start hexing everyone in sight. Personally, I'm just glad he's going to get some time to start readjusting to life outside." She tilted her head. "Won't you come with me?"

"Best not," Ominis said, for the fiftieth time, his patience unending. "I don't want to overwhelm him, and you've always known how to calm him down when he gets too... well."

She chuckled lightly. "That's assuming he's not a complete wreck. I hope it's not affected him too badly."

Ominis went very quiet a moment.

"Dove... he's going to be very different to what we remember," he said, resting a hand on her shoulder as she folded her clothes. "He won't be the Sebastian we knew."

"I know," she raised her hand to his, smiling as he looped his other arm around her belly and held her tight. She tilted her head back to rest against his shoulder as he brushed a kiss over her cheek. "I hope he's forgiven us for not doing more sooner."

"He'll have forgiven you," Ominis said. "He always had a soft spot for you. I rather expect, even after all this time, that he's still in love with you."

Dracaena kept her silence. She and Ominis had naturally fallen together towards the end of their sixth year of Hogwarts, their shared experiences and pain leading them to comfort one another, she taking Sebastian and Anne's place as Ominis' refuge from his family, moving in together once they'd left the school. In a small way, she was surprised it had taken him as long as it had to propose, presenting her with an elegant ring of emerald and diamond set in white gold six months ago. She'd accepted gladly, though a tiny part of her mourned what that meant for Sebastian.