❝ 𝐅𝐋𝐀𝐒𝐇 ❞ 𝘚𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘚𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘐𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴 - Chapter 2: Chapter 2

The dark hallways of Hogwarts' dungeons gave me an empty pit in the stomach feeling. It was mostly quiet. Cold. Most students would avoid coming down here unless it was absolutely necessary. Cobwebs hung in the deepest corners of the halls, no one to come around and be rid of it.
Here I stood, in front of Sebastian Sallow, desperate for answers to cure his twin sister's illness. Without his presence, it was rather lonely in the castle. With me arriving so late, everyone had already formed their group of friends. At times, I felt like it was rubbed in my face as I watched them stare at me, huddled into groups in the lounge area of the hallways, complaining about the headmaster for the fifth time that day.
I was looking forward to having a friend, and it seemed Sebastian was the only one willing to talk to me regularly, even though it mostly had to do with his sister. But here I was, deciding whether to cast the Cruciatus curse on him... or let it happen to me.
They say there should be some sort of intent when it comes to casting Unforgivable curses, that you have to really mean it. I was confident in myself that I didn't want to harm Sebastian.
"Hey fifth year. You alright over there?" he says, waving his hand in front of my face.
I look him in the eye, and then glance over at Ominis who had his back turned towards us, not wanting to witness a single thing.
I considered casting the Cruciatus curse on Sebastian, mainly because I feared it being casted on me. But I'd take pain for a friend any day, and at this point, I considered Sebastian a friend. But did he consider me as his friend?
"Yeah," I tell him, my heart pounding out of my chest. Perhaps if I took the pain, even for a moment, it'd grant me a friendship for the rest of my time at Hogwarts. "I won't cast it on you. You should cast it on me."
He nods, the both of us taking a step back as we prepare for the worst. "Ready?" he asks me. I can my muscles clenching as he spoke, my stomach turning inside out. The nauseous feeling that was slowly filling my body started to flood inside of me, I was almost positive it could come out through my mouth.
"I'm ready."
Sebastian raises his wand, the tip pointing right at me. Sparks of red ignited as he flicked his wand with the incantation. "Crucio!"
The pain was beyond of what I thought it would be. It was excruciating. The muscles in my abdomen contracted, and squeezed themselves in so hard, I almost thought it'd somehow tear me apart. Gravity pulled me down, disorienting me.
My knees hit the ground, and it felt like all the energy I'd have for the rest of the week was sucked out of me.
I gasped for air once the wave of pain slowly left my body, giving me full control once again.
I couldn't bring myself to get up. My knees felt weak. My hands were trembling. I looked up at Sebastian with tears blurring my vision. My hearing had momentarily gone out as I waited for the ringing to stop. "Are you alright?" was all I could make out from him.
I looked at the entrance of the Scriptorium, watching as it disappeared to the floor like molten lava.
I groaned from the pain, my muscles still tight.
Ominis ran to me, kneeling down beside me as he wrapped his arms around my body. I felt safe enough to let my pain out through my sobs. "It's alright... just breathe, I know it hurts," he whispered to me. He sounded utterly worried, a bit unusual from his normal self.
Sebastian approached us on the ground, placing a hand on my knee. "Y/n, it worked!" he said, pointing to the entrance.
"You can't be serious, Sebastian!" Ominis bellowed. "She's in pain, and all you care about was the fact that it worked?! Don't you think an apology would be appropriate right about now?!"
"She agreed to it," Sebastian said, trying to defend himself. Ominis scoffs. "Ominis, I'm fine, let's just get this over with an we can leave," I say, trying to diffuse the tension.
"It doesn't matter if she agreed to it! Telling her that it worked isn't the first fucking thing you say after you cast an Unforgivable curse on her!"
I used to think Ominis might have had mixed feeling about me, leaning more towards hatred, but I thought it was just because he was the type of guy to be closed off. But after this, I find that maybe he let his concealed feelings about me slip out a little.
Ominis slowly helped me up, making sure I was stable on my own two feet. "You're right, and Y/n, I'm sorry... I should have been considerate and insist that you cast it on me, after all, I am the one who wanted this."
Hearing Sebastian's words did help to ease the pain, but it seemed Ominis wasn't entirely convinced. "Can I talk to her? Alone?" he said to Ominis, who stood proudly behind me. Ominis entered the Scriptorium, wandering the place and looking for anything that had to do with his aunt, Noctua Gaunt.
Sebastian and I stood at the entrance, waiting for Ominis to be far enough. "Y/n... really, I owe you an apology. I'm sorry. I really should have been the one you casted it on, and I regret ever making you. Do you think you could ever forgive me?" he pleaded.
"Please, I can't lose you, you're a really good friend."
My eyes widened slightly at his words. "I'm... your friend?" I asked. Perhaps I heard him incorrectly. He shook his head in confusion, stepping closer to me. "Of course you are. Right now, it feels like you and Ominis are the only ones I have, actually. I can't lose either of you."
I would never admit it to him, but his words were exactly what I had been waiting to hear. Something that helped me feel wanted, and like I had always been around. I could tell from the look in Sebastian's eyes that he never meant to put me in pain out of his own ill feelings towards me.
"Please... forgive me?" he asked.
"Alright... I forgive you," I said. He pulled me by the arm and embraced me, my chin practically resting on his shoulder. "Thank you," he said softly.