Out of the Shadows // Sebastian Sallow

Chapter Two

I could feel the breath knocked out of me. "Are you still there? You're not breathing." Ominis said with trepidation in his voice, his glowing, red tipped wand raising toward my face.

I took a shaky inhalation. "What does it say, Ominis?"

He slowly took my elbow and led me to a bench where we sat side by side. He exhaled very deliberately and spoke slowly.

"He says he has gone to find Anne. That he wants to make amends for what he's done. And that he is sorry."

"Is that all?" I said, incredulously, that after everything we'd all been through together, a brief note with his intentions was all he left.

"Basically. H... he... doesn't want to burden anyone with his own issues and says he feels a strong pull toward his twin and needs to find her."

"Oh." I blew out air again. I guess it was understandable. Sebastian and Anne had been through so much. In fact, we all had. "Did he say he would write? Or... he would be back? Anything?"

"No."

"Oh." I had nothing more to say. We just sat there next to each other in companionable silence for several minutes. Two unlikely friends. The only real reason we had connected over this school year had just completely abandoned us, off on his own mission of self-discovery.

"Well, I best head back to the common room. Our last night as fifth years." He smiled reservedly as his glassy blue eyes looked slightly in my direction.

"Yes. One for the books I'd say." I smiled gently at him and nudged his elbow with mine.

"May I walk you back?" He offered his arm to me which I took and we quietly walked back to the Slytherin Common Room. It was strange to think that at one point I was so intimidated by Ominis Gaunt and now we had oddly become friends.

As we entered the common room, it was deserted. Ominis stopped at the stairs to the girls' dormitory and placed his hand over mine that was on his elbow. His hand reassuringly warm and soft.

"Sleep well. I'll see you for breakfast if you like? I think Imelda wanted us all to sit together as our last meal before departing." I smiled at the thought of Imelda being sentimental.

"Of course." He sighed. "I'm not looking forward to returning to Gaunt Manor so anything to put that off a little longer, I'm in." I smiled at him.

"Goodnight, Ominis."

"Goodnight, Rachel."

I turned and went straight to my room, closing the door gently as I could see the humped forms of my roommates already drifted off to their last slumber in this castle.

I slowly changed into my night clothes and crawled into my warm bed. I lay there staring at the dark ceiling trying to calm my racing thoughts and roaring feelings.

I couldn't even wrap my mind around what had happened in the forest. And now there was no one around that could understand or help me decipher what may have happened. He was gone. And somehow that was at the forefront of my thoughts. Ominis didn't seem as hurt or abandoned as I did. Or, at least, he was better at hiding it.

Not even a goodbye. I guess I had really built this friendship in my own mind. I did everything I could to help Sebastian. From the moment I saw him pacing by the fire, engrossed in a book, just like I would be, he captivated me. I had done everything I could to help him. To try to find a cure for his twin sister. To help him battle his inner demons. I even covered for him when he rashly killed his uncle. I thought.... I guess I thought we were close. At least close enough to deserve a goodbye. At the very least.