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holdmymallowsweet · 7 months ago

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Captured Memories

Words: 3,117, also on AO3

My contribution to the Sebinis Prompt Fest 2024

The prompt was: Sebastian is a photographer, and Ominis is his favorite subject, by the amazing, wonderful, lovely @pr0serpinas ❤️

I absolutely love the prompt, and I thought a lot about what to do with it, since there were so many possibilities... in the end, it turned into something sweet and christmassy (with some smut).

Warnings: Smut (Frottage)

(non-magic modern AU, but not too modern because photography was more romantic when people still had to develop film and put their pictures in photo albums)

Sometimes Sebastian wondered when it had started.

Maybe with him slowly forgetting what his parents looked like. When he’d found it more difficult to recall their faces, then realised his mind had started to replace their features with those of his teachers, the postman, the nice lady from the bakery across the street.

It was all his Uncle’s fault.

Sebastian wished they would have had more pictures taken before they died, but how could they have known their children would have to grow up without them? Not that it would have made any difference, Uncle Solomon probably would have lost those too, just like he’d lost the only good ones they had of them when they moved, the summer right before he met Ominis.

He’d never forgiven him for it.

So when Anne and Solomon (who he suspected had only agreed to spend the money to put an end to Sebastian’s sulking) had gifted him his first cheap second hand camera for his eleventh birthday, he’d fallen in love with it. Took it everywhere, made sure it was never out of reach, until years later he’d managed to save up and replace it with a better model.

Anne had once joked that she was surprised he didn’t take it to bed with him.

Sebastian couldn’t help it.

It was his way of greedily holding on to small, precious moments, before time could erode them in his mind and take them away from him again.

And he’d make sure to capture memories of everything. Anne, of course. Their house, school, stray cats. Even Uncle Solomon, once, when he’d been too engrossed in his gardening to notice.

Then Ominis came along, and he’d discovered that there was nothing and no one he’d rather take pictures of.

And no one he was more scared to forget.

So he’d make sure he remembered.

He remembered when Ominis turned twelve, and they’d given him his first proper birthday party. With messy, self baked cake and sloppily wrapped presents and a loud, off-key rendition of the happy birthday song, instead of the stiff, formal dinners full of quietly judging old relatives Ominis was used to.

Sebastian knew then that he’d cherish the look of unbridled joy on Ominis’ face forever, and he did. It was still one of his favourite pictures, one of those he pulled out and looked at when his house felt too cold and lonely.

He remembered when ominis grew his first awkward patch of facial hair on his chin, and how he tried to get at least one decent picture of it before Ominis would learn to shave it off.

He remembered staring at that picture for hours.

He’d placed it in a box, along with the others, because putting them in an album felt weird. One after the other, until eventually there was no more space.

He remembered sitting on the floor, holding that box.

He remembered that being the moment he’d realised he’d never thought of Ominis as only a friend.

It had been horrifying.

For hours, he’d been torn between running to the phone to confess and spill it all, and just throwing the box into the fireplace, as if getting rid of the evidence would erase his feelings as well.

In the end he’d quietly pulled out a second box and decided it was pointless to agonise about it anymore. Enjoy and treasure what he could get, because what he’d truly always wanted would likely forever be out of reach.

At least what he could get wasn’t half bad. Ominis smiling, happily nibbling on one of the cinnamon flavoured biscuits Sebastian had bought him at one of the stalls at the christmas market. Holding onto his arm because it had been difficult for him to navigate the crowd with his cane, and much tighter than strictly necessary, probably because of the cold.

Sebastian shamelessly enjoyed it. There weren’t many days left until Christmas, but perhaps he’d find a few more excuses to take Ominis out until then.

He seriously considered taking a detour on their way back to his house, maybe to underneath a mistletoe somewhere, for an entirely friendly, platonic peck on the cheek.

Shame he wasn’t that bold.

“Could you hurry up? I’m freezing.” Ominis rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm them up, cane stashed under his arm, waiting for Sebastian to finish fumbling with the keys.

“Almost got it,” Sebastian answered, but even once he had the key ready, he shamelessly took another few moments to just stop and stare. Not too long, because frostbite would be a terrible christmas gift, just long enough to feel a small, stinging ache in his heart.

Ominis’ breath came out in clouds, disappearing into the cold winter air. The little impatient crease between his eyebrows deepened.

Sebastian had left his camera at home, at Ominis’ request, but now he wished he hadn’t.

Once inside, he went straight for it as soon as he’d kicked off his boots. He always liked to make sure it was within reach whenever Ominis came over, which was almost every day, now that they’d graduated.

He came back just in time to watch Ominis take off his winter jacket, hanging it next to Sebastian’s. He’d even bothered to collect Sebastians’ boots and put them neatly next to his own. There was something so familiar and domestic about the scene, it warmed him from the inside out.

Ominis nose and cheeks were slightly red from the cold, his own were probably too. But Sebastian suspected he didn’t look nearly as ravishing. His hands moved almost by themself.

Ominis jumped at the clicking noise.

"I told you to warn me before you do that."

"Your face goes weird when I tell you. They never turn out any good."

"Do they turn out good when you startle me with the noise?"

Sebastian looked ruefully at the camera. They probably wouldn't, but he wouldn't find out until he'd developed them the next morning. Or maybe he'd stay up late, he usually couldn’t sleep for a while whenever Ominis left and he was alone with his thoughts again.

"Tea?" he asked, while Ominis settled himself on the seat in the bay window.

Ominis made a noise that probably meant “yes”- he’d be less grumpy and more talkative once he’d thawed out.

Smiling to himself, Sebastian was halfway through the door to the kitchen when Ominis found his voice after all.

“My mother wants me to stay at home for Christmas.”

“And will you?”

“Are you out of your mind? They’re barely tolerable any other time of the year.”

There was no need for further questions. They both knew where Ominis would be spending Christmas instead.

Things were good between them. Everything was fine. They could keep going like this. But Sebastian’s smile still dissipated as he filled the kettle and waited for the water to boil.

Ominis stayed at his house more than his own, but it wasn’t much of an escape. Regardless of what Ominis said, they both knew he’d have to show his face at the Gaunt Christmas dinner, at least briefly. And lately, the word “marriage” had come up during family dinners.

How many more Christmases would there be, until he was no longer Ominis sanctuary when he needed a break from his horrid relatives, until Ominis finally had the courage to leave them for good and make a life of his own, somewhere far away from him?

Until the only pictures he'd get to see of Ominis weren't the ones he took, but on Christmas cards taken of some happy family, involving the man he loved and a wife he didn't know, sent from some remote place in the world.

Probably with horrible lighting and from an unflattering angle.

The whistling of the kettle mercifully put an end to his thoughts. He poured the water in two cups and added the teabags.

When he came back to the sitting room, he found Ominis still perched on the window seat, legs tucked in and munching on his leftover biscuits again, illuminated by the afternoon sun streaming through the window.

He took a detour to the sitting room table where he’d left his camera and switched it for his own teacup, just in case.

“There you go. Careful, it’s hot.” Sebastian made sure to guide Ominis’ fingers to the handle, even as he burned his own fingertips a bit.

“It’s good,” Ominis said after taking a careful sip. Sebastian knew it wasn’t, not compared to what Ominis was used to- freelance photography didn’t pay that well. But he knew Ominis meant it.

They sat in silence for a while, Ominis sipping his tea, Sebastian mostly just staring, again, occasionally stealing a biscuit or two- he dimly remembered his own teacup sitting out of reach, but he didn’t care enough to get up.

He sometimes wondered if Ominis could feel his eyes on him, somehow. If he did, he never said anything. Sebastian knew he should feel at least a little bad for taking advantage of him like that, but that proved difficult when he could get lost in counting the pores on his skin instead, or the little lines next to his eyes that became more pronounced when he smiled.

He was in love with the way Ominis’ nose was ever so slightly crooked towards the left. He’d never figure out why, because if he wanted to, he’d have to ask- and he’d never say anything to Ominis that would make him believe he was less than perfect. The most perfect thing in the world. The only thing that was, and would ever be.

Ominis turned his head, and the way the light caught on his cheekbones made Sebastian’s stomach flip.

Without thinking, his hands came up again.

He couldn’t help it.

Ominis jumped again, almost spilled his cup, frowned in annoyance in spite of Sebastian’s quickly muttered apology.

“I honestly don’t know what there is to take pictures of in your own house. Has it changed in the five minutes you’ve been in the kitchen?”

“There’s you.”

“Again? I haven’t changed in the last five minutes either.”

Sebastian didn’t know what came over him. He should have laughed it off, changed the subject. Maybe it was the Christmas spirit that came over him. Maybe it was because the second box was starting to run out of space.

“I don’t want to forget,” he said softly.

Ominis frowned. “Forget what?”

“You.” Sebastian’s heart threatened to beat out of his chest. If he kept going, he’d eventually reach a point of no return, there would be no taking it back once he spilled it all.

“I don’t know how damaged your brain would have to be, we’re never apart for more than a few hours. We haven’t been since we were children.”

“Sure, but It won’t be like that forever, will it?” Sebastian asked. He didn’t know why, when he was so scared of the answer.

“Who says it won’t?” Ominis turned fully towards him now, the look on his face almost defiant. “I’m not going anywhere. If anything changes, it will be because of you.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Sebastian, please. I thought that’d be obvious.”

He’d never seen that expression on Ominis’ face, it wasn’t in any of the pictures he ever took, but he knew it would be forever burned in his mind regardless.

Time slowed down to a crawl, and Sebastian didn’t know what to say, until the sound of his heartbeat in the oppressive silence forced the first stupid question he could think of out of his mouth.

“For how long?”

Ominis shrugged, turned towards the window. Sebastian suspected that the flush on his cheeks was no longer from the cold.

“For as long as I can remember, really. Maybe since the day we met.”

Was this real? What if it wasn’t, what if this was a huge, stupid misunderstanding, what if there was something in the damn biscuits and they were both hallucinating-

“Do you mean it?”

“Yes.”

Sebastian inched closer, curling his fingertips in the hem of Ominis’ sweater. Close enough to count his absurdly long eyelashes. Close enough not to miss the sudden shadow of nervousness and insecurity.

“I’m going to kiss you. This is your last chance to tell me this is a joke.”

“Just do it, you-”

Sebastian wouldn’t find out what he was.

Ominis’ lips were so soft it felt criminal, slightly chapped from the cold where they parted, and he tasted overwhelmingly like cinnamon biscuits.

It was all Sebastian ever wanted, and yet somehow still not enough. Before he knew what he was doing, he’d climbed on top of him, pressing Ominis up against the cold window. One of his knees ended up in between his thighs, and their lips kept moving against each other until they had to break apart because Sebastian stupidly forgot how to breathe through his nose.

“Sebastian-”

“Sorry, I’m sorry, I know this is too sudden-”

“No, the tea.”

Oh.

Ominis held his cup at an awkward angle, trying not to spill anything and not in a position to put it down anywhere, still caged in between Sebastian’s body and the window.

Sebastian took it and set it down on the floor in one swift motion, spilling half of it on the window seat cushion, but Ominis didn’t need to know.

“You’ll step on it later.”

“I honestly couldn’t care less.”

He didn’t even realise that his hand was still clutching Ominis’ sweater, until Ominis took it, guided it to his cheek, from where it wandered on its own. To the back of Ominis’ neck, then weaving through the strands of his hair, messing it up like he’d always wanted to.

There was nothing but the sound of their ragged breaths in the silence that followed. Both of them knew there was a conversation begging to be had, about what this meant, what would change, what were they now?

But their lips only moved to devour each other again.

And again.

Until Ominis took off his sweater. “Because it’s too hot,” he said, but the second it left his body, the last remnants of Sebastian’s sanity went with it.

His skin was as soft as it looked, pale and flecked with little beauty marks he could trace, straight down to-

It was ridiculous how quickly he’d gotten painfully hard, but Ominis clearly didn’t mind one bit, pulled him closer, let him feel how much he enjoyed it too.

Their kisses were getting sloppier by the second, with more tongue and teeth, mainly Ominis’, while Sebastian traced along the waistband of Ominis’ trousers. Slowly, hesitantly.

“I want you,” Ominis sighed, after a final bite on Sebastian’s lower lip.

Sebastian didn’t dare to ask how, exactly, or move, and it was Ominis who eventually broke the awkward silence.

“Do you have any, you know.” He seemed to struggle with the word. “...uhm, lube?”

Sebastian briefly choked on his own spit. “Lube? Why would I, I wasn’t expecting anything like this in my wildest dreams.”

It was too much all of a sudden, he hadn’t even thought about how far he wanted to take this, at least not as much as Ominis apparently had.

Ominis. Who’d bitten his lips raw, told him he’d never leave him, held onto him as they’d walked to his house- memories upon memories he could pull out of his mind like beads on a string, going further back in time, all little signs he’d missed because he’d been too self- absorbed, too busy feeling sorry for himself, dreading the loss of something he thought he’d never have, when all he ever wanted had been there, waiting for him-

Sebastian tried to awkwardly get up, just to clear his head for a second, but Ominis held onto him so tight he was sure he’d be left with finger shaped bruises as a memento.

“Don’t- just stay, keep going. I won’t last long anyway. Please.”

Of course he’d stay. He’d give him anything in the world, if he asked.

He kissed the little moles next to Ominis eyes, the ones he’d stared at thousands of times through the lens, never having dared to dream that he’d one day be allowed this close, to touch him, worship him like he deserved.

“If you’d rather wait-”

“No.” Sebastian finally made up his mind. “I’ve waited long enough.”

He pressed his hips into Ominis again, bit his own lip now, as he groaned from the pleasure.

Ominis’ hand was suddenly gone, reappeared a second later, squished between them, and before Sebastian could comprehend what he was trying to do, he felt his trouser button open.

All he could do was stare empty headed at Ominis face. Brows furrowed in concentration, eyes half shut as if in a trance, he’d never before looked this beautiful.

The first contact of skin almost finished him.

Sebastian pressed them together, chasing that feeling again and again, and then the world dissolved into nothing but Ominis bruising grip on his hips, their bodies moving together, sticky precum and his breath fogging up the window pane.

“Sebastian, I’m close-”

“Not yet.” Sebastian fumbled around for the camera, got sloppy in his movements and it made Ominis whine deliciously.

“Wait for me, just a moment.” He almost dropped it.

“Can’t-”

Seeing Ominis come undone because of him was the most beautiful moment in his life. Head tilted back, face screwed up in pure pleasure, back arched and releasing the filthiest moan.

He wanted this moment, their first time, just this once.

Then he followed him over the edge.

They laid tangled together, their combined release on Ominis stomach seeping into Sebastian’s shirt. He shot a guilty glance to his camera, knew he shouldn’t have done it, but it was just for him- no one else would ever know, or see.

“Will you get some?” Ominis asked sleepily.

“Hmm?”

“Lube. For next time.”

Next time. “I’ll make it your Christmas gift.”

Ominis gave him a slap on the arm.

“...that’s needlessly violent,” Sebastian complained, making sure to put an extra amount of pout in his voice.

“It’s nothing compared to what you’ll get if this-” Ominis flicked at the camera, “-ever sees the light of day.”

“Ah. You noticed?” Sebastian asked sheepishly.

“I wasn’t born yesterday.”

Sebastian snorted. “Fair enough. Probably didn’t turn out good anyway.” That earned him another slap, but he just laughed and buried his face in the crook of Ominis neck.

He’d just have to burn these moments into his memory, without the aid of his camera.

It was about time he learned to live in the present, anyway.

a/n: Thanks for reading! And Pina, I don’t know if this is at all what you had in mind, but I hope you liked it, because you’re the best and I love you ❤️ (also this is my first attempt at writing smut and I’m dying on the inside, I hope it was alright)

#sebinispromptfest2024 #sebinis #ominis gaunt #sebastian sallow #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #mallow tries to write

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slytherinlives · 7 months ago

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My contribution to the sebinis prompt fest as a gift to @abidolly <3

This was my second time participating in a fest but the first time in a 'secret prompt' one. Anyway, I hope you like it!! (and anyone else who wants to give it a read)

#hogwarts legacy #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #sebinis #writing #fanfiction #sebinispromptfest2024

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slinket · 7 months ago

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Whispers in Hogsmeade

Sebinis Prompt Fest 2024

I used two of the prompts suggested by @Nigelly

A date in Hogsmeade or Diagon Alley/Knockturn Alley

Taking care of a pet together (can be Canon Universe or Modern AU)

No warnings on this work.

Sebastian had finally convinced Ominis to come with him for a visit to Hogsmeade. Ominis had been reluctant, finding himself confused by his changing feelings towards Sebastian. They were friends. They have been friends for years, and yes, while it’s fairly common for love to blossom from friendship, it didn’t happen too often between two wizards, at least in the public eye.

They walked together, Sebastian guiding Ominis from his elbow when needed, idly chatting. When they arrived, Sebastian first led Ominis towards honeydukes where they spent a bit of time sampling some candies until Sebastian convinced Ominis to buy a couple of pouches for them to share later. Next, they headed towards the Three Broomsticks. As they walked Ominis noticed how their hands would swing back and forth next to each other, but their fingers would loosely touch, sending shivers down Ominis’ back. Ominis could have sworn he felt Sebastian's fingers try to catch his own, but he ignored the feeling, thinking Sebastian couldn't possibly be interested in that. Sebastian had plenty of opportunities to hold Ominis' hand or to share with him any feelings that went beyond friendship. Why would something suddenly be different?

Once they reach the Three Broomsticks, Sebastian asked Ominis to wait outside

“Why?” Ominis asked. "Because I asked you," Sebastian responded.

Ominis rolled his eyes before leaning his back against the building, crossing his legs and arms. He heard the sound of Sebastian opening the door and heading inside. He waited quietly, letting his thoughts run wild about how he and Sebastian could have a future together. Whether it be friends or not, they could share a home after school. They could work together, could do plenty of things together and it didn't have to be romantic, even though Ominis may want it to be. So he supposed that as long as he had Sebastian in this life, he could live happily enough. . Ominis was startled out of his daydream as the doors from the Three Broomsticks slammed open and Sebastian walked out in a cheerful mood.

“All right, Ominis, got what we need. We're going to head over to the moor over there. I've got a bit of a surprise for you.” Sebastian grabbed Ominis by the hand and started pulling him along. The initial pull was a bit rough and Ominis stumbled to get his feet under him as he followed.. He was surprised by how soft Sebastian's hand held him. It was a guiding touch, but it felt somehow more, maybe a bit possessive. Ominis felt his breath catch as Sebastian's fingers suddenly linked with his all while pulling him along to a little spot outside of Hogsmeade.

“Where are we going Sebastian?” Ominis asked, curious to know where his friend was taking him. “Just a little ways more now. Not too far out of Hogsmeade. I just wanted to show you something. It's a surprise actually.” Ominis scowled a bit. Not actually mad but confused and his mind was running away with ideas that he knew he shouldn't be thinking about. After another minute, Sebastian announced that they had arrived at the special location. He listened as Sebastian dropped something onto the ground and was making a lot of noise as though he was setting something up.

“Sebastian, what are you doing?” “ I'm setting up a picnic, Ominis. I thought it would be something different we could do, spend some time together.” “That’s the surprise? A Picnic? That’s kind of you.” “ Actually, no. Well, it's part of the surprise but it's not all of it. Just…just sit down here.”

Sebastian pulled Ominis over a few steps and Ominis could feel the texture below his shoes change slightly. Sebastian pushed down on his shoulders while telling him to sit down. Ominis slowly lowered himself to the ground, his hand finding the delicate touch of a blanket below him. He sat sitting with his legs crossed, his fingers tapping aimlessly on his bent knees. Sebastian continued to work the sounds of clinking glasses and plates being settled whirled throughout Ominis' ears. Knowing now about the picnic Ominis could place the different sounds he was hearing until the last sound. He assumedIt was a bowl, as Sebastian was pouring something into it, tiny plonks as something hit the ceramic of the bowl.

“What's that for? What is it?” Ominis asked “Oh this is for the second part of your surprise.” Sebastian responded. “How many parts are there for this surprise?” Ominis almost felt like he could see the smile form on Sebastian's face.

He heard Sebastian sit down next to him muddling about pulling something from the basket and handing it to Ominis

“Three parts. Here’s a pasty from the Three Broomsticks, figured we could share our lunch together while we wait the remainder of you're surprised to show up.”

“To show up? We're waiting for someone else to join us? When I agreed to come here, I thought it was only going to be the two of us. I don't particularly like being around many people or any people for that matter, except for you of course.”

" I know Ominis, I know. Don't worry your pretty little head over it. We're waiting for something to show up but it won't make you uncomfortable.”

‘Pretty little head’ is what repeated in Ominis' mind and he became a bit dazed accepting Sebastian's response without any more questions. Why ask when his friend referred to him as pretty? They ate in silence for a bit until Sebastian suddenly graspedOminis’ hand again.

“They're coming. They're coming. Get ready!” Ominis bit his lip a bit nervous as to what was coming. While Sebastian may be fully aware of what was approaching, Ominis could only imagine.

“Sebastian, I hope you know what you're doing. I don't….I'm not quite comfortable.”

“Come here buddy! Come here.” Ominis then heard Sebastian tsk his tongue several times. Sebastian lifted his hand and reached it forward and Ominis' fingertips touched something soft. He heard a quiet meow and smiled as his fingers then pushed into the fur of a small cat eating out of the bowl Sebastian had filled earlier.

“You brought me a cat?” asked Ominis.

“Well, yes, I know you love them. They're all over the castle but this one seems to follow you around quite a bit. When I realized that I kind of brought her out here so she could meet us. I knew she would show up with all the food and you here.”

“This one follows me around.”

“Yeah it's quite adorable to see. I set up a bunch of food all over the place.”

The cat shook himself a bit. Ominis raised his hand and allowed the kitty to go back to eating.

“What do you mean the food is all over the place?”

“Oh,” answered Sebastian. “Well, I wanted to make sure he came. So, yeah I mean, I poured the bowl here of food but there's also some a couple metres away…and then a few more beyond those and a couple beyond those. Actually, we're quite surrounded by cat food at this time.”

“Sebastian, you put us surrounded by cat food. Do you think only cats are going to show up?”

“Why? What else would come? It's cat food. Sure, maybe a couple more cats but…” Ominis playfully shoved Sebastian on the shoulder.

“It's still food! Any animal cloud show up, magical or muggle.”

“Well then I didn't just get you a cat. I got you an animal sanctuary…. Yes that sounds about right. but you only be able to take the one back.”

“Take him back?” Ominis asked, “I'm to keep him.”

“Of course. I asked professor Weasley if that would be okay. There's cats all over the castle, so what's difference if we put a little band on this one that says it's yours?

“I… I don't know. I suppose that would be alright. That's very kind of you.”

“Well I’ve got to be kind. It would be silly if I did something very stupid for our first date … .Which is the third part of the surprise.” Ominis’ head whipped to the side. His eyes glaring at where Sebastian would be seated.

“This….this is a date?” Ominis swallowed thickly.

“Yes, I suppose I didn't quite ask it fairly but I was worried you would say no. So I just thought we'd come out and I’d pretend it was a regular day, but just do something a little different and special and that maybe…maybe you would think that I was special and..and consider that the friendship between us is the best thing but it could be more, if you wanted it to be more.” The pace of Sebastian's words increased as he continued, until he was no longer taking breaks between his words.

With that, Sebastian slowly moved his hand across the blanket, allowing it to cover Ominis' hand that was sitting there. Ominis could feel Sebastian leaning forward and he took a slight gaspy breath in as Sebastian whispered to him.

“Maybe I should have asked properly, but I didn't want you to say no. I just couldn't take another day of not being able to touch you, to be able to link my hand with yours.”

Sebastian's free hand reached out and and gently cradled Ominis' chin in his hand. He shifted towards Ominis, and Ominis felt Sebastian lean forward until their lips met. Ominis closed his eyes as the sweet lips of Sebastian pressed against his own. It was gentle, soft like a wisp of air flowing by. Ominis could barely believe it was real.He suddenly sat up straight, pulling himself away from Sebastian and cleared his throat.

“That was unexpected.” Ominis stated.

“But was it unwelcomed? Sebastian asked.

“Oh no! Of course not. I love the cat. I want to be able to take care of het and take her back to the castle with me. With us. I've always wanted a pet.”

Sebastian pulled his hand away from Ominis. “I'm glad I could make you happy with it.” Sebastian said sadly.

Ominis took a deep breath. He knew he had to acknowledge that Sebastian had just kissed him but he didn't know how to do it. His heart was beating a thousand times a minute and while he was happy, his mind was panicking. What's to become of them? What if something goes wrong and they no longer have a friendship between each other? What if they break up and the cat has been so attuned to both of them? How could they ever deal with it? How would they ever decide where the cat would go once they left school? “Ominis,” Sebastian said quietly. “Are you only happy about the cat or…” his voice cut away.

“We should name it.”

“Right,” Sebastian replied, his voice clearly sounding defeated

“Sebastian. I'm sorry I just…I don't know how to process everything that's going on in my head right now.”

“You don't need to Ominis. I figured that if you had similar feelings, this would just be easy.”

“That's not true! If anything my feelings are overwhelmingly similar but I'm afraid. I'm afraid of what this will mean for us. I'm afraid of what this will mean for my and your family. I'm afraid of what this will mean to the public and I'm.” Sebastian cut them off.

“It doesn't matter what it means for all of that. Only what it means for you and I. And I want more with you.”

Ominis felt the cat crawl onto his lap, settling down, curling into a ball to take a bit of a nap. He looked down at her, touching her softly. Wishing he could see the softness of her fur.

“Ominis, please.” Sebastian whispered in his ear. “Just say anything. Say something?”

Ominis shook his head a few times before he looked back up and turned towards Sebastian He pressed his forehead against Sebastians. Their mouths close to each other to where Sebastian could feel Ominis lips move when he spoke.

“We need to pick a name for her, because she's ours and we will both be taking care of her, because that's what pet parents do. Together, like you want us to be.”

Ominis felt Sebastian's lips spread into a smile and with that indication Ominis leaned forward just the last bit of space between them. This time the kiss was slow, but their mouths quickly opened, an invitation to Sebastian to explore the mouth of his friend turned lover. Their focus was completely on each other. They spent what seemed like forever snogging, smiling and laughing. The world around them seemed to disappear until they heard a meow and then another meow and then another meow. They pulled apart, Ominis going to pet the cat on his lap as though she was upset.

Then he heard Sebastian. “Uh-oh.”

“What's uh-oh?” Ominis asked.

“Well, the food I put around us. You may have been right about other animals.”

“Oh Merlin, what do you mean Sebastian?”

“There's a few more cats.”

“How many is a few?” He heard Sebastian muttering through numbers.

“Don’t worry about the cats. I’d be more concerned about the Puffskeins. I'm pretty sure I also see a few nifflers and even some diricawls are coming around. Any of them will eat cat food huh? I didn't. I didn't realize.”

“Obviously you didn't realize. You can't possibly think we're taking all of these back to Hogwarts!”

“No. We can’t. Gods, this is a bit of a disaster.

“I'm not going to be responsible for all these animals Sebastian, so you better hope they eat this cat food and disappear.”

“Right? Well maybe it's time we pack up anyways, we've seemingly been here for a while. The sun is nearly setting and well…

“It's been wonderful.” Ominis finished.

Sebastian quickly packed up everything around them, pulling Ominis to his feet and pressing his lips against his again. Sebastian knelt down and picked up their cat, handing it to Ominis.

As they walked back through Hogsmeade, passing through on their way to Hogwarts, they spoke about the cat.

“What's her name?” Sebastian asked.

“You know I think we should name her Poppy. After our friend of course. She spends so much time dedicated to animals and it only seems right that when we're finally taking care of an animal, it's in honor of her.” Ominis lifted the cat once again, resettling her in his arms.

“I think that's a grand idea,” Sebastian responded.

He grabbed Ominis' hand and they continued their journey, now full of smiles and blushes. Poppy stayed happy and Ominis’ arms for the trip back. Once they made it inside the walls of Hogwarts, Ominis placed Poppy down and let her walk and follow them to the castle doors.

“Sebastian, today was wonderful, thank you. I'm quite happy with the outcome.”

Sebastian squeezed Ominis’ hand before stilling and letting out a confused laugh. “Yeah it was quite wonderful.”

They walked forward a bit more.

“We should keep moving, it's nearly curfew…we need to get inside.”

They picked up their pace. Sebastian, confirming to Ominis that Poppy was following them. As they neared the door they ran into Garreth who was also on his way quickly back to the dorms.

“Hey mates, what are you up to today? What's what's with the animals?” Garreth posed.

“Animals?” Ominis questioned. “It's just the cat. It's our cat.”

“Oh yeah the one who's near you but what about all the other ones?”

“Garreth, stop talking,” Sebastian whispered angrily.

“What other ones?” Ominis stated, his voice a bit annoyed as he turned to look towards Sebastian.

“So maybe all those other animals also followed us back to Hogwarts. We really should get inside and get to the dorm before we get in trouble for being so late. Okay? Bye Garreth!”

Sebastian pulled Ominis once again, running into the castle and closing the doors before the menagerie he created could follow.

#sebinispromptfest2024 #sebinis #sebastian x ominis #hogwarts legacy fanfiction #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #hogwarts legacy

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pr0serpinas · 7 months ago

Text

wait a million years

“Don’t you think you should have consulted me before deciding what I would and wouldn’t be able to forgive in a friend?” “Do you forgive me?” "I don't know, but I certainly don't hate you!" "You probably should.

On their last night at Hogwarts, Ominis and Sebastian finally clear the air. Written for the 2024 Sebinis Prompt Fest for @mm1997m , also available on ao3.

Ominis hears about the party well before he finds the notice tacked to his pillow. The clandestine graduation party at Hogwarts is legendary. His brother Cadmus once told him that three students had to be sent to St Mungo’s to have curses taken off them after drinking tainted brandy at his graduation party. Cadmus omitted the fact that he had been the one to do it. Marvolo had told him - shamelessly admitting his own role - that no fewer than four betrothals had been dissolved at his graduation party, including his own. Ominis hadn’t even seen Marvolo for a week after, and Marvolo hadn’t been able to sit down for a month without wincing. The night always ends with fireworks.

He’d rather have his fingernails yanked out than go.

“How can you say that?” Imelda exclaims when he tells her he has no intention of going.

“I’m surprised you want to go,” he says sternly. “You’ve always said the only thing you’ll miss is the steady stream of competition.”

“But it’s like kippers at breakfast, or having to take History of Magic,” Imelda says. “It’s an immutable fact of the Hogwarts experience. You make it through seven years; you get a party.”

“You get a party, maybe, but I’m not going.”

“What are you going to do instead, then, when the entire graduating class is there except you?” Imelda asks. “Hang out with underclassmen?”

“Maybe I’ll have a nice glass of wine and read in bed,” Ominis says, knowing that the comment will annoy her.

“Merlin’s teeth, Ominis, there’s time enough to act eighty years old when you get there,” Imelda replies in predictable irritation.

Ominis looks forward to his plans for a quiet evening, no matter how Imelda begs, cajoles, and insults him otherwise. He doesn’t waver from his resolve until the afternoon of the party.

Ominis hears Sebastian well before his wand tells him that Sebastian’s coming, and he ducks into an alcove. “Give me one good reason that I should go and rub elbows with a bunch of people I don’t even like,” Sebastian challenges.

“Because there’s always the possibility of rubbing elbows with the one person you do like,” Garreth Weasley says sagely.

“Not a chance. He’ll never come, and he wouldn’t talk to me if he was.”

“You let me worry about that, hm? I think I can cash in a favour that Reyes owes me and get her to convince him.”

Ominis’ heart pounds where nobody can see him. It’s impossible that they’re talking about him. Sebastian hasn’t given any indication that he’d care if Ominis vanished off the face of the earth for two years. But then again, he’s almost certain that he’s the only male friend Imelda’s got.

The pair of them clatter down the corridor, arguing all the while. They don’t see him.

By the time Imelda finds him for a last-ditch effort to get him to come, she finds she doesn’t have to do much convincing before Ominis agrees that he’ll make an appearance at the party.

⊹₊⟡⋆

Sebastian shows up half an hour late and three steps behind. The old classroom where the not-strictly-school-sanctioned party is taking place is full to bursting, and it’s about a hundred degrees in the little room. Amit Thakkar climbs on a table and points his wand at the ceiling, where a fan suddenly sprouts like an alien flower, and everyone cheers. It provides the illusion of moving air, if no actual relief.

Sebastian goes up on tiptoe to try to catch a glimpse of Ominis, who, annoyingly, is as far away as one can be without being in a different room. He sinks back to his heels with a sigh. It’ll take him ages to make his way over there, not because there are many people that he cares about catching up with, but because the novelty of him being in public is causing enough of a stir that people keep trying to catch up with him.

After half an hour of concerted effort and barely veiled dismissal, the best he can do is edge his way to a circle of conversation where people are reminiscing about their favorite places in Hogwarts and what they’ll miss most. Sebastian glances out a window at the sky. Merlin. It’s not even dark yet, and already they’ve moved to reminiscing, as if they’re all about to die. Then again, it could make things easier for him, since the speech he’s prepared for Ominis relies on pretending like two years of their lives were like reading an unfortunate newspaper article that happened to someone else.

Ominis keeps quiet, for how can he explain that his favourite places aren’t really places at all? He likes the corridor outside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, but only on sunny days in September and April, when the sun is warm without being stifling and it comes in at the right angle for him to stretch out on the sofa in the alcove and doze comfortably. He likes the top of the Astronomy tower, but only on May and June evenings, when the rest of the castle feels sticky with heat and the breeze over the crenellations feels as soothing as a lover’s touch. He likes the silence of the library on Saturday evenings and the damp stillness of the Undercroft; he likes the silk bed covers in the dorm and the lush custard in the dining hall. It’s not a place he’ll miss that he can visit one last time; it’s a million tiny sensations that can’t be captured anywhere except in his memory.

“What about you, Ominis?” Garreth asks because he’s never missed the opportunity to open his mouth.

Oninis feels Sebastian’s eyes on him; he’s never needed his wand for that. “I think,” Oninis says carefully, “that I can’t pick just one place or one moment. It can’t - it defies words.” He really doesn’t want to elaborate, to bare his soul to people he’s never opened up to over the past seven years, but he finds that in his deflection, he’s said something profound.

Several people nod, and even Prewett says, “Well said.” Ominis’ face twitches, and for a moment he worries he’ll laugh, but someone says something about the time that Duncan Hobhouse was chased by a Chinese chomping cabbage, and the conversation mercifully moves forward.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice that you didn’t say anything about what you’d miss most.” Garreth sidles up to Sebastian a while later with two drinks in his hands.

Sebastian laughs shortly and pictures the Undercroft circa five years ago, Anne launching a face full of Gobstone liquid onto Ominis. It’s not a place so much as a time - a time that he’d ruined two years ago, and a place that he’d hadn’t the heart to step foot in since. “Neither did you, but we all know you would’ve said Sharp’s Potions stores.”

“Shows what you know,” Garreth says archly. “It’s Aunt Tillie’s office, actually.”

Sebastian blinks. A lifetime wouldn’t be enough to get him used to Professor Weasley being called Aunt Tillie, or the idea that she was anybody’s aunt. “Really?”

“Sure, she always has the best tea and biscuits.” Garreth shrugs and holds out a cup. “Liquid luck?”

“Are you speaking literally or metaphorically?” Sebastian takes one and sniffs at it cautiously. He doesn’t think there’s anything in the cup but apple cider and Firewhiskey, but then again, he’s never smelled Felix Felicis.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Garreth grins and downs his drink like a shot.

Sebastian squints into his cup. “Ah, what the hell.” He follows suit, the whiskey scorching his throat all the way down.

He leans against a pillar as the alcohol - or the luck-giving potion - spreads through his veins. He spots Natty chatting animatedly with Amit, who doesn’t look sure if he wants to run or lean in closer, and chuckles. Adelaide is moving three paces to the left every so often, so that eventually she’ll end up squarely in front of Larson. It seems they’ve reached the “might as well shoot your shot with the person you’ve fancied before it’s too late” portion of the evening. Except, of course, for Reyes, who is loudly telling a somewhat scandalized-looking Northcott about what became of Zenobia Nokes’ most recent set of Gobstones.

Right on cue, he catches a waft of spicy-floral perfume and turns. Violet McDowell’s come up behind him, and his smile turns genuine, remembering a time a few years ago that he was sweet on her. “Is now the time you’re going to tell me you’re still carrying a torch for me?” he teases.

“What, and make your head any bigger than it already is?” she asks, raising her eyebrows.

“Haven’t you noticed that we’ve arrived at couples’ hour?” He gestures with his empty glass.

She laughs, a pretty tinkling sound, and shakes her dark hair out of her eyes. “We already did that; don’t you remember?” He grimaces slightly in years-old chagrin. They’d tried their hand at dating in their fourth year, and for half a season, it was all his dreams come true, for Violet was pretty and clever, and stepping out with a girl meant he didn’t have to reckon with the fact that he spent his spare time sneaking peeks at a certain roommate of his in the shower. But when he’d realized, painfully, that genuine like of a girl did nothing to detract from his infatuation with a boy, he’d felt, in his fifteen-year-old heart, that the only honorable thing to do was to break things off and let her date someone she could have a true relationship with. He hadn’t told her that he liked boys as well as girls, but she’d gone round-eyed and nodded solemnly and explained that her uncle was a Muggle minister and she understood all about not being able to get married.

“You can wipe the pained expression off your face,” Violet says gently, drawing his attention back to her warm hazel eyes. “I just wanted to tell you that as far as first dates and first kisses go, I’m glad you were mine.”

Sebastian’s eyebrows shoot up skeptically. “Really?” he says dryly.

“You were sweet. Even if you did like someone else.” She smiles knowingly.

“I liked you, too.” He feels the sudden compulsion to be truthful since he reckons he’ll probably never see her again. “I just…”

“Liked two people at once,” Violet supplies.

“Figured out I wasn’t going to be a minister?”

“Sebastian, you’d be a terrible minister.” Sebastian has no idea what a minister does, actually, but her tone is so serious that he laughs, and it’s genuine. “I mean it,” she says when they’ve both sobered up a bit, so to speak. “Did you ever tell that person that you like him, by the way?”

Her use of the present tense and the masculine gender doesn’t go unnoticed, and he wonders just how the hell she knows that. “No,” he says shortly, feeling his pulse thrum in his face. He hopes it doesn’t show in the dim light.

“Well…don’t you think you should? After all, everyone’s doing it.” She stands on tiptoe to brush a kiss against his stubbled cheek, and he jumps in surprise. She drifts away before he can think of a response, leaving her tinkling laugh in her wake.

“Ugh,” Imelda makes a disgusted sound next to Ominis where they lurk in their corner.

“What, did Hobhouse show up?” Ominis drawls.

“Worse: Violet McDowell’s gone and kissed Sallow. Doesn’t she know where he’s been? Oh, wait, now she’s making mooncalf eyes at Jenkins, the slag. I guess there’s no accounting for taste; but then again, I wouldn’t want to kiss Sallow, either, and would desperately need a palate cleanser afterwards.” Imelda narrates with the speed of a Quidditch commentator.

“Wait.” Ominis holds up a hand that he very much hopes isn’t trembling. “What?” His stomach constricts unpleasantly.

Imelda sighs. “McDowell kissed Sallow.”

Ominis’ stomach goes into free fall. He remembers, distantly, that Violet and Sebastian had seen quite a bit of each other in their fourth year. Is he so far estranged from Sebastian that he doesn’t even know the pair of them are courting? The thought nearly knocks him over. All the ideas he’s had about approaching Sebastian and laying the hulking wreck of their friendship to rest evaporate. “Why did Violet kiss Sebastian?” Ominis asks woodenly.

“How the hell should I know that?” Imelda exclaims. “Go and ask him yourself. Oh, wait, you can’t, because for reasons beyond all our understanding, you’re honestly and truly going to go all the way to graduation without speaking a word to each other.”

“Imelda…”

“I’m sorry,” Imelda says, in a tone that implies the opposite, “but you know how I feel. If tonight is the last chance you have to talk to him, I really think you should.”

The room seems to close around Ominis, hot and oppressive, and he’s struck by the sudden need to be anywhere else, now. “I’m going on a walk.”

Imelda snorts, unladylike.

Ominis spares a thought in gratitude for the fact that the disused classroom is so close to the front door. Even in the June warmth, the breeze feels like sheer relief against his irritated skin. He takes long, quick strides, letting his wand guide him down the hundred and seventeen steps to the boathouse. He’s not likely to come across anyone here, and the cooler wind off the lake works a considerable way towards soothing him.

The truth is, he’d like nothing more than to talk to Sebastian, but he doesn’t know how. He and Sebastian haven’t spoken in two years. It’s almost as much of a habit as their friendship ever was.

He’s planned it out, of course, tonight and a hundred other nights between now and a night in April two years ago. He often thinks things would be easier if they’d had some sort of fight. If only it could have been so simple.

Tonight’s script goes something like this: If we’re graduating tomorrow and parting ways forever, don’t you think we should clear the air? I’ve kept your secrets for you, just as you’ve kept mine for me, though I dare say yours is a heavier burden. But I’ve kept it all the same. I know why I never talked to you - but why didn’t you ever talk to me? Did our friendship truly mean nothing to you? No? Well, then. At least I know. Enjoy your future with Violet McDowell.

He would never say it was a good script.

At least down here, by the lake, he can pass the night in a solitude that doesn’t usually feel so stifling.

⊹₊⟡⋆

Sebastian’s spent enough time at the party to ascertain there was definitely no Felix Felicis in his drink, nor is any of the alcohol good enough that he’s enticed. “You lied to me,” he says to Garreth when they cross paths next.

Garreth actually deflates a little. “I heard that you can feel like you’ve had some Felix Felicis if you think you have.”

“Why would you want me to think I’d had any?”

“Reckoned you’d earned a bit of good luck.”

Sebastian’s lips stretch in what might pass for a smile in dim light. “Hardly matters now.” He’s never really gone in for that sort of thing. And he’d noticed at least fifteen minutes ago that Ominis had left, but he’d been trapped in a devilish conversation that he couldn’t find a way to exit quickly enough to give chase. The temperature in the room has turned muggy and stale-smelling with spilled alcohol and sweating bodies. “About time I go, anyhow.”

“Oh, not before dark!” Garreth says in genuine dismay. “There’ll be fireworks!”

Sebastian smiles crookedly. “Brilliant thing I’m going outside, then. I’ll have the best seats.”

The June air isn’t much better than inside, truth be told. It’s turned unseasonably sticky the past week or so, and only the thought of putting his feet in the lake keeps him from retreating to the relative cool of his dorm. He thinks idly to himself that he’ll have to find someone to levitate him back up the hundred-odd steps from the boathouse; no way is he climbing back up in this heat.

He doesn’t notice the figure hidden behind an upturned boat shell who’s beaten him to the same place and pastime until he nearly trips over the other person’s robes.

“Merlin’s beard,” splutters Ominis, reflexively gripping the dock to keep from falling in the lake.

Sebastian thinks this may well be one of the worst nights of his life.

“Sorry,” he says tersely. “I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Why else did you come down here, then?” Ominis snaps.

“Didn’t know you were down here, did I?” Irritation sparks at Sebastian’s gut. “I came to put my feet in, same as you.”

Ominis hesitates for a long moment. “I’m sorry,” he says at last, voice slightly muffled. “You can stay. If you want.”

Somehow, and simultaneously, Sebastian wants nothing more, yet he’d rather drink a bottle of Skele-Gro. They’ve officially exchanged more words than they’ve said in the past two years combined.

What the hell, he figures for the second time tonight. It’s not as if he’s likely to see Ominis for a very long time, if ever, after this.

He squats down and unlaces his boots, unfastens his socks, and tucks them inside his shucked shoes. The water is frigid, and it’s perfect. He sighs audibly in pleasure.

The silence stretches between them, tense and uncomfortable, but Sebastian isn’t going to be the one to break it. He might have been the one who did something wrong, but he isn’t the one who started avoiding the other so completely that it’s been like sharing a room with a ghost for two years. He’s just about made up his mind to go when Ominis says, “Won’t Violet be looking for you?”

Sebastian has avoided looking at Ominis, but now he turns and stares at the side of his head incredulously. “Why would Violet be looking for me?”

Ominis doesn’t turn his face. “Isn’t she your betrothed?”

“My - my betrothed?” Sebastian bursts into laughter. Merlin and Muggle Christ. “No; I’m fairly certain she’s being courted by Jenkins.”

Ominis’ brow creases. “But she kissed you.”

“On the cheek, yeah. To say goodbye. Because we’re friends.” Sebastian speaks slowly and deliberately, as if to a child. He’s not trying to be condescending, but no passage of time would be enough for him to forget that Ominis is extremely slow to change his mind.

“Why would she do that?”

“We did briefly date in fourth year.”

“Don’t remind me,” Ominis bristles, then sighs. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to snap at you. It’s nice that you’ve had a friend.”

That’s a fairly generous interpretation of the situation, but Sebastian allows it. “You, too. Saw you come with Reyes.”

“Oh, it’s not like that,” Ominis hastens to say, as if Sebastian cares or is somehow unaware that both Reyes and Ominis are queer as maypoles. “She’s just a good friend.”

Sebastian considers teasing, but that’s not the relationship they have. Not these days. He simply sits and takes full advantage of the low light and Ominis’ blindness to observe the changes in his erstwhile friend. He’s been careful to rarely look at Ominis in public, lest someone tell Ominis or Ominis somehow sensed it. But now, he can see the sharper lines of his jaw and throat, the slightly broader shoulders. He knows without standing that Ominis is the taller one now. It shouldn’t bother him. Everything bothers him. What else has he missed, and why does he care?

He finds the longer he sits here that he’s lost all resolve to speak to Ominis. He’s seen him; that’s enough. He reaches for his shoes at the same time that Ominis says softly, “Do you remember when I was learning to play Gobstones and Anne tricked us and said they were so old they didn’t have any stink left?”

Sebastian smiles reluctantly. “Tricked you, more like. You reeked for two weeks after.”

“Oh, come off it.” There’s no heat in Ominis’ voice, though. “You didn’t know any better than I.”

“But I won, which is all that matters.”

“She always got you with Exploding Snap, though.”

“Scorched my favorite scarf,” Sebastian grumbles. “Never was any good at cards.” His mind wanders too much for it, much like it does now. It feels like he’s slipped sideways into another realm to discuss their childhood like this. It makes his ribs ache to talk about his sister. He doesn’t even know if she’s alive, although he’d like to think he’d somehow feel it if she weren’t - despite all the times he’d told Ominis and countless others that twin telepathy wasn’t a thing. Though Anne had always seemed to know effortlessly where he was and what he needed, so maybe it was just that he was too dense and self-centered. “I can’t - I can’t talk about Anne,” he says at last, hating how faint his voice sounds to his own ears.

“I understand.”

Ominis falls completely silent, and Sebastian feels a prick of guilt. They listen to the waves lapping against the dock, and to ease his own mind, he says, “I wonder who will tell the first years that there are mermaids in the lake watching them now.”

Ominis smiles, and Sebastian’s chest hitches. He’s forgotten this, too, the simple way it transforms his entire face when he lets himself smile. “Alas, I don’t have a formal successor, I’m afraid. But I hope one of the cannier sixth-years who figured me out will take it on.”

“I’ll miss the common room,” Sebastian confesses. He’s tried his hand at enchanting windows to mimic the filtered green light he’s come to love, but it’s not quite the same.

“And the ginger biscuits.”

“You remembered I like them?” Sebastian’s eyebrows go up in surprise.

“How could I forget?” Ominis’ smile takes on a sad edge, as if he’d like to forget. Sebastian can hardly blame him.

“I never could convince Deek to give me the recipe,” Sebastian says wistfully.

Oninis snorts. “Not that you could make them if you knew it; you’re a terrible cook.”

“Actually, I’m quite good at it now.” Sebastian doesn’t mean to wound Ominis with this statement about a way that he’s changed without Ominis’ knowledge, but the sharp intake of breath tells him he clearly has done. “You know what I’ll never forget? The sweet sound of everyone laughing at Hobhouse’s humiliated face when we learned that he’s mortally afraid of puffskeins,” he says to assuage the hurt.

It backfires immediately. Ominis frowns. “I don’t remember that at all, and I’m sure I’d never forget the chance to embarrass him.”

Shit. Sebastian remembers a second too late that the fateful moment had happened in Herbology in sixth year, which Ominis had dropped. And he’d never told Ominis about it because it would have required talking to him. “Herbology last year,” he says shortly, picking the skin around his thumbnail in irritation with himself.

“Ah.”

The renewed silence only fuels Sebastian’s irritation. Who the hell does Ominis think he is, taking Sebastian down the primrose path of childhood memories and then getting his feelings hurt when he finds that Sebastian has changed and life has moved on in the years since Ominis stopped speaking to him, a decision in which Sebastian had no say at all? And what is he even doing here, when he knows it’s Sebastian’s spot? Part of Sebastian wonders if Ominis has come here on purpose; he hates traversing the winding stairs and would complain fiercely when Sebastian would drag him down here. But he dismisses the notion out of hand. He doubts quite seriously it’s anything other than a coincidence. Still, the reminiscing has emboldened Sebastian, loosened him up, made him feel like picking a fight.

“Why are you even talking to me?” Sebastian wonders aloud.

Ominis’ face undergoes the complicated maneuver it always makes when he’s trying hard not to show how he feels. “Because I didn’t know when I’d get the chance again,” he says quietly.

“What difference would that make?”

“I’ve…I’ve missed you.” Ominis ducks his head, angling his face down and away from Sebastian’s scrutiny.

It is both the best and the worst thing he could have said.

Sebastian’s on his feet before he knows how he got there. Blood roars in his ears. He’s hot and itchy from head to toe in an instant, the peculiar sensation that he doesn’t have enough skin to contain himself. “Whose fault is that?” he nearly shouts.

Ominis’ head snaps back as if Sebastian had struck him. “What do you mean, whose fault?”

“I understand that I -” Sebastian changes course at the last second. He still can’t utter those words aloud, he realises, his tongue sticking to the roof of his mouth as thoroughly as a hex. “I realise that my actions were abhorrent to you. I don’t excuse myself. But you’ve treated me like a ghost for two years, so forgive me if I find it a little hard to believe that you missed me.”

Twin spots of color appear on Ominis’ high cheekbones as he rises to his feet. “I was frightened, Sebastian!” Sebastian will go to his grave denying that the sound of Ominis’ crisp accent tripping over the syllables of his name has any effect on him whatsoever. “I was a child scared out of my mind by what you did and what it would mean for us all!”

“For you?” Sebastian laughs, harsh and ugly. “You’re not the one who did anything wrong.”

“But I’m the one who’s protected you and let you bloody get away with it!”

Shame and bile rise in Sebastian so quickly that the only thing that saves him from throwing up is the breeze that comes off the lake. He spins on his heel to go - go away, go to hell, go fling himself off the Astronomy Tower, go anywhere that isn’t here - when Oninis’ hand darts out to snare him by the wrist.

Sebastian freezes. The wind ruffles Ominis’ hair, and a sudden flash of colored light dances across his face as the dock shakes with the first explosions of the fireworks. “I didn’t mean that to sound like I’d ever hold it over you,” Ominis says desperately, gripping Sebastian’s wrist so tightly that the bones grind together. As if suddenly aware of it, he drops Sebastian’s wrist and wraps his arms around himself, warding off a chill that isn’t there. “I never…I couldn’t.”

Sebastian stares at Ominis as if he doesn’t recognize him. “Why?”

“How can you honestly ask me that? Sebastian, you…you saved my life.” Ominis makes an incredulous little sound in the back of his throat. “You showed me what it meant to be happy. To have a family. To imagine a future for myself. How could I turn you in?”

Sebastian hears Ominis’ words echo in his mind. It strikes him as supremely sad that he’s been responsible for saving anyone, least of all someone as capable as Ominis. “This is why I never tried to talk to you,” he says through numb lips.

“Because I didn’t turn you in?” Ominis’ voice goes shrill.

“Because you deserve better than the likes of me.”

“What?”

“Oh, come on.” Sebastian suddenly feels unspeakably tired. “Surely you can do better than a murderer for a friend.” There - it’s out now. The word tastes like acid.

Ominis drags his hand through his hair in a telltale sign of profound distress. “Don’t you think you should have consulted me before deciding what I would and wouldn’t be able to forgive in a friend?”

“Do you forgive me?”

“I don’t know,” Ominis exclaims, “but I certainly don’t hate you!”

“You probably should,” Sebastian says agreeably. The more worked up Ominis gets, the calmer Sebastian feels. Ominis’ outrage is the outcome he’s expected all along; it feels like something close to relief to have it realized at last.

Ominis sighs heavily through his nose. “I probably should have done or felt a great many things I have no intention of doing.” He pauses, a rare moment of hesitation showing in the tight lines of his face. “Were you honestly going to let us graduate and never speak to me again?”

“Well…not ever again, no,” Sebastian admits.

Ominis smiles mirthlessly. “You could have fooled me.”

Sebastian’s heart pounds. To his mind, it borders on dangerously naive to admit his half-baked, hare-brained plans for the future. He also senses he doesn’t have much of a choice. “I was going to write,” he says slowly.

“Write?” Ominis rears back, angrier than ever. “What, so that you could avoid having to see my face and deprive me of the joy of pushing you into the lake?”

“Not because I’m a coward, although I suppose I sort of am,” Sebastian says. “But because I wanted…” He sighs and takes a deep breath. He’d rather Ominis shove him into the lake and be done with it. “I wanted to be the kind of person you deserve when I did write.”

Sebastian watches the fury leech out of Ominis as if he were a candle that had been snuffed out. “How were you hoping to manage that, especially considering that I already think you’re deserving of my esteem?” he asks flatly.

“I’m trying to…” Sebastian shrinks. Words like ‘redeem myself’ sound too stupid to be spoken aloud. He’s not nearly melodramatic enough for them. “Look. I’m going to try to become a cursebreaker, okay? A real one, not one of those twats at Gringotts. The kind of person who could’ve helped my sister.”

“How–?”

“I’m going for a yearlong course at Uagadou. They specialise in nonverbal magic and medical curses.”

Ominis sways slightly. You’re - you’re leaving?”

“Just for a year,” Sebastian rushes to say.

“You’re leaving for a year?” Ominis repeats disbelievingly, voice faint.

“Just for a year,” Sebastian tries placing the emphasis on different words, to no effect. He’s not entirely sure why it matters so much; they’ve gone the past two years without speaking, even though they’ve shared two electives that had only half a dozen other people in them. Surely not speaking for only a year, or conversing via letter, would be a far easier burden to bear. But it evidently matters a great deal, for Ominis sinks bonelessly back to the dock, flinging himself backward to lay on the wood. Sebastian sits beside him. “I thought you’d be happy,” he says accusingly.

“Happy!” Ominis exclaims, brow creasing so sharply that Sebastian has a mad desire to tell him he’ll get stuck like that. “In what conceivable universe would I be happy about you walking out of my life?”

“I was going to walk back into it!” Sebastian flops backward, too. “Honestly, I thought you’d be glad that I’d decided to do something useful with my life!”

“What if your grand scheme didn’t work?” Ominis challenges. “What if I was in another country? What if I was married or something?”

“That would never happen!”

“How would you know? Maybe I’m already betrothed! It’s not like you’ve bothered to find out!”

“Because you’re supposed to be with me, that’s why!” Sebastian shouts. He realises immediately just what he’s said. He claps a hand over his mouth and groans into his palm. Idiot. He’s such an idiot. Maybe he’ll get very lucky when he throws himself into the lake and the squid will grab hold of him and hold him under until he drowns.

In a flash, Ominis grabs his wand to guide his way and flips over, pinning Sebastian in place. “You - what did you just say?” His hazy eyes blow wide.

Ominis’ wand is a little too close to the underside of Sebastian’s chin for comfort. Sebastian squirms a bit. “Something stupid.”

“Oh, no. You don’t get to say things like that and then pretend that you didn’t say them. What did you say, Sebastian?” Ominis demands.

Ominis’ hair, now disheveled, falls in his face. The firework lights play on his face, now green, now blue, now golden yellow. Pretty, Sebastian thinks absurdly. He’s so pretty like this. He’s only inches away; their noses are practically touching. It would be so easy to just -

Well, if he’s planning on drowning himself anyway, why not?

He reaches up with one hand to clasp Ominis’ wand so that Ominis doesn’t drop it in surprise - or hex him into next week - and uses his other hand to pull Ominis down by the back of his neck.

“Mmph!” Ominis makes a noise of shock against Sebastian’s lips. He remains frozen for just long enough that Sebastian moves up the timeline for his death before he’s kissing back with something approaching violence. “You insufferable bastard,” he hisses between fevered presses of lips. “We could’ve had years.”

“We’ll have them when we’re ready,” Sebastian gasps. He didn’t expect Ominis to respond so fiercely, but Ominis is making quick work shoving a long thigh between Sebastian’s legs. While part of him is very interested in the prospect of Ominis stripping him bare right here on the dock, he doesn’t much care for the thought of what it would do to him if they shared one night together before parting for a year. “When we’re ready,” he emphasizes, the word trailing off into a moan that makes him flush incandescent with embarrassment. He pushes at Ominis’ shoulders just as Ominis rolls his hips downward in a deliciously filthy slide.

Ominis flies backward as if Sebastian had thrown him off. “I’m sorry,” he pants as he lays on the dock, throwing up an arm to hide his face. “That was unforgivable.”

“I forgive you anyhow,” Sebastian quips.

Ominis snorts, and it’s all the permission they need to dissolve into laughter that borders on hysteria and lasts for several minutes, punctuated by the booms of the fireworks across the water.

Ominis wipes tears from the corners of his eyes as they both calm down. “I really am sorry,” he says, chastened. “I didn’t mean to - I just didn’t dream that you -”

“I know,” Sebastian replies. He can’t help but feel a bit haunted by what Ominis had said: they could’ve had years. “I wanted to wait until I was -”

“If you say anything about becoming the kind of man I deserve, I really will shove you in the lake, and I don’t care if you know how to swim or not,” Ominis snaps.

Sebastian holds up his hands in surrender, even though Ominis can’t see. “All right,” he says placatingly. “Listen, what’s done is done.” They can’t undo the last two years, though Sebastian has wished on more occasions than he can count that they could. He’s still going to Uagadou in two days’ time. Nothing changes. Except -

“Will you write?” Ominis asks.

Sebastian lets out a startled laugh. “If you want. If I have anything interesting to say.”

“Make something up. Write once a week.”

“Is this what I have to look forward to?” Sebastian shakes his head in amusement and mock disapproval. “You’re astonishingly bossy.”

“You knew that before,” Ominis sniffs dismissively. “It’s not like you ever listen to me.”

His comment, lighthearted as it is, sobers Sebastian. There’s a real chance that none of this will work. Oh, he’ll become a cursebreaker, or at least die trying. But there’s so much between them that there might well not be room for anything new. It’s not like he hasn’t considered it. But he’s never had to confront it.

Ominis seems to pluck the thought right out of Sebastian’s head. Sebastian wonders not for the first time if Ominis really is a Legilimens, although he’s always denied it. “I think that if we can go two years without acknowledging the other’s existence, we owe it to ourselves to try writing letters for a year,” Ominis says softly.

Sebastian opens his mouth to argue, to point out all the myriad reasons it’ll fail and they’ll hurt each other, but he forces himself to realise what a gift he’s been offered, if he’s brave enough to take it. “A year,” he says.

The corner of Ominis’ mouth lifts. Sebastian lets himself cling to it as firmly as the hand Ominis offers him.

Maybe it would work.

Stranger things have happened.

#sebinispromptfest2024 #sebastian sallow #ominis gaunt #sebinis #gauntlow #hl fanfiction #pina writes

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