Unspeakables; Rule One

Chapter Sixteen: Who Should Take the Next Bite

The Great Hall clamored with the sounds of young witches and wizards starting a new day. Forks clanged on porcelain plates, book bags dropped off of benches, voices spoke between bites of food, and laughter was rung out from happy faces. Even with its size, there was something pleasant about the massive hall, as if the room knew you. There was something intimate about how the four long mahogany tables were warm with the morning light that bled through the large window panes.

It felt like joy. It felt like home.

Sebastian could feel the magic of it seep into his bones in a way that it would for a first year. Perhaps it was because Ominis had agreed to help him the night before, or maybe it was the aroma of delicious food. More than likely, it was the possibility that healing Anne didn't seem like such a far-off dream anymore.

They had somewhere to start with the Auclair girl. Ominis had brought up the Metamorphagus ability but stressed that it was highly improbable. A more precise theory would be that the magic she uses does something to her eyes, but Sebastian wanted to research and exhaust any possibilities there were. They both agreed to sneak into the Restricted Section this week, learn as much as they could, and see if she exhibited any of the signs listed in the text.

Ominis strode by his side as Sebastian peered around, looking for a glimpse of Celeste. She was seated towards the middle of the Slytherin table alone, back facing the wall with a Daily Prophet spread between her two hands, an empty plate of food pushed away, and an untouched treacle tart with jam in front of her. He could only think of the cherry pop between her lips the day before.

She seems to have a sweet tooth.

Her hair was left down again, pulled slightly out of her eyes with delicate twists. The strands looked lush and heavenly like she had bathed in different oils that caressed her locks. He had to drop the thought. It was inconvenient to remember her scent, the tobacco and cherry scotch layered under the distinct jasmine. It was also incredibly inconvenient to remember how soft her skin was.

He had made some poor choices in the last few years, but it seemed like every turn about the sun came with its own equally, if not significantly, dumb decisions. Pinning a witch, he had only just met that very day up against a wall to fix a skirt was more of the significant type. It had started as perfect chivalry.

Celeste had been injured, she had been drinking, and she was utterly oblivious to the dozens of wizards that ogled the exposed skin above her knee and the handful of witches that whispered of her indecency. Sebastian had supposed she had been too rattled by the troll attack to take notice of the torn fabric, and by the time they had wound up outside in the semi-decent privacy of the alleyway with the tear ripping higher, every speck of innocent chivalry died at the same time his rational thought did. It had been that she was beautiful and wound up so tight in secrets, a perfect challenge to Sebastian's competitive nature. And just when he had thought he could unravel her, that he had won, she proved him wrong. He wasn't a fan of being wrong.

Sebastian resolved not to invest more energy in the witch than needed to successfully receive her help for Anne. Their relationship would be purely friendly. No more mending skirts, no more reading into smiles, no more remembering the florals of her scent or the softness of her skin.

This was all about healing Anne, and he didn't have the time to second-guess anymore.

There was, unfortunately, a lot of second-guessing when it came to Celeste. He made a mental list of the things he knew about the girl.

1.) She's a French Pureblood witch from an affluent family with Ministry connections.
2.) She has no previous education but is relatively well-rounded in magic and is at Hogwarts per Ministry request.
3.) She can change her eye color at will, as well as she possesses some rare magic that has somehow put her and Professor Fig in deep waters with Ranrok and Rookwood.