saturday discoveries
The cold floor greeted my feet as I took my first steps of the day to get to my clothes. I had a slight headache from the lack of water I had drank with my two drinks the previous night. I put half of my long black hair into a ponytail and tied a green ribbon around the band. I looked into my mirror as I did some makeup for the day. No matter how hard I tried, I could never get a full night’s rest and my face always showed it. My nightmares were constantly waking me up.
After I got ready for the day, I made my way to the common room. Sebastian was sitting with Ominis on the couch massaging his temples.
“Rough night?” I asked Ominis.
“Yes, well, mostly for Sebastian. He spent the night puking. I spent the night away from him.” I chuckled remembering his reaction to when I got sick.
“Hmm. How about you, Seb?” I asked, wondering if he remembered what he had said.
“I don’t want to talk about it.” His face looked slightly green.
“I suppose you wouldn’t want to get some breakfast with me, then?” I said, knowing that Sebastian’s favorite hangover food was breakfast.
“Shut up,” Sebastian replied. Ominis and Sebastian walked behind me out of the Slytherin common room and into the hallway.
“Why does it have to be so bright everywhere?” asked Sebastian as he pinched his nose between his eyes. I chuckled at him. We walked quietly to the Great Hall for breakfast, and I pondered if he was not just hungover, but regretting his choice of conversation the previous night. His eyes kept wandering over to me as we walked. When we neared the entrance of the Great Hall, Ominis stopped in his tracks.
“I need you two to be clear about something,” Ominis said.
“Oh boy,” Sebastian said. That sealed it. He knew what he said and he was definitely regretting it.
“Shut it, Sallow. You two kissed in the Undercroft WEEKS ago and did not tell me?” Ominis questioned.
“It wasn’t a big deal, Ominis. Nothing has happened since,” Sebastian lied.
“You’re telling me that you two slept at the Sallow residence by yourselves and nothing happened?” Ominis was starting to get upset at this point.
“No. Nothing happened,” Sebastian answered.
“Well…” I said without thinking. I looked down at my hands when they both looked at me. “He and I ended up in the same bed because I had a panic attack in the middle of the night, and he was helping me calm down. That was it.” Ominis threw his hands up.
“Why is everyone keeping me out of things now?”
“Well, frankly, it had nothing to do with you,” Sebastian said. “We knew that you would react this way and it wasn’t a big enough deal for this.”
“This could potentially break apart our group. I love you both too much to see us separate again,” Ominis said. With that, Sebastian and I exchanged looks and hugged Ominis together.
“We love you too, Ominis,” I said, still holding him tightly to the side.
“Don’t think I won’t make fun of you two as much as I can from now on,” Ominis said, trying his best not to smile. I pulled away and we continued walking into the Great Hall. Sebastian looked nauseated immediately. We hurried to the table, and he attempted to eat some toast. He slowly looked better and better as he continued to eat. We sat in awkward silence after the discussion of the information that was unwillingly outed by Sebastian.
“I need to tell you both something,” I looked back and forth at both of them, mainly looking at Sebastian, wondering how he is going to take my upcoming date with Everett.
“More news? I am not sure I can take it,” Ominis said as he grabbed more toast for Sebastian to eat.
“I am sure it is something about Everett,” Sebastian said nonchalantly as he took a large bite from the toast he had just received.
“It actually does have something to do with Everett. It looks like we might be going on a date next weekend.” I took a sip of water from my cup and looked at Sebastian. He didn’t make eye contact with me, and, instead, grabbed more food and took another bite while shaking his head slightly.
“Well, congratulations, Willow. I didn’t know you had feelings for him, too,” Ominis said. My eyes went wide.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Sebastian was looking directly at me now. I avoided his burning gaze while waiting for Ominis’ response. It felt as if he was seeing directly into my soul.
“I meant that I know he has feelings for you, but I didn’t know that you liked him back,” Ominis clarified after giving me a heart attack. I quietly let out the breath I had been holding.
“Isn’t this all so great? Everett and Willow. Imelda and I,” Sebastian said. I could not help but let my face show my inner feelings. I was confused. I had never heard Sebastian say a good word about Imelda.
“You are not dating Imelda,” Ominis stated while chuckling.
“Not currently, but I am planning on asking her out. I told you,” Sebastian said as his face reddened.
“No, I do not recall that conversation. I do, however, recall you talking about wanting to revisit what happened in the Undercroft.” Ominis had a wide smile on his face. I chuckled but felt conflicted. Was Sebastian really going after someone after what he said yesterday? Do I have any place to judge him?
“You know what?” I said. “I think my headache is making me queasy, so I am done eating. I am going to go find Everett and see if he wants to go over some notes from Defence Against the Dark Arts today.”
“Yeah, go find your boyfriend,” Sebastian spat, obviously annoyed with how the conversation went. I rolled my eyes and then scanned the room. I walked toward the Gryffindor table, but Everett was nowhere to be found. I remembered he had told me he would be going to a family event, but I didn’t realize that he would be gone already. Without saying anything to my friends, I left the Great Hall and wandered, not wanting to admit defeat or have to speak to anyone.
Eventually, I would want to work on some of my homework, but for now, I wandered the halls and explored the castle quietly. Most people were out of the castle today or in the library. I wandered and wandered while deep in thought of the past year of my life. I felt like there was nowhere I could go to practice the spells that I wanted to for my own defence that would not kill the other person. I never wanted my instinct to be to kill ever again. I fought against the part of me that longed to feel that power coursing through my body another time.
I had not realized how far I had wandered until I looked around and saw a door I had never seen before. It was as if it had appeared out of nowhere. I instantly felt drawn to the room beyond it. I approached the door and slowly turned the handle quietly. As I walked in, my breath caught in my throat.
The space was expansive and the walls were blank. There was no one around. It seemed as if it was an empty space, just for me. Dueling dummies were sitting at the end of the room.
“Hello, Miss.” A voice came from the right corner of the room.
“Uh, h-hello? Where am I?” I asked the house elf who was approaching me now.
“You are in the Room of Requirement,” said the elf. I had heard of the Room of Requirement before but had never seen it in person before. It was more of a myth to the students at Hogwarts. I was not even sure that it existed. “I’m Deek. What is your name?”
“I’m Willow. Willow Starling. It’s nice to meet you, Deek,” I smiled before I offered my hand. Deek looked meekly at me and shook my hand.
“What do I do now that I’m here?”
“Well, the room must have felt that you needed it. It will continue to shift as you need. It looks like you might want to practice some spell casting.”
“Yes, I had just been thinking about it as I walked. That’s when this door appeared,” I gestured at the door.
“Focus on your needs. The room will continue to shift.” My needs. What did I need? I needed a place where I could go and study my books in peace without prying eyes. I needed a place where I could practice spells and potentially brew potions. I needed a place to relax. Just as I thought it, the room changed around me.
The dummies moved to one corner of the room and a desk appeared in another. Suddenly, windows that were streaming in the morning light appeared. Finally, a library, stretching the length of each wall around me, appeared. I gasped as I took it all in. It was cozier and looked like a place that I could spend a large amount of time in.
“Deek thinks the room looks very nice! Very nice. It reminds me of a friend Deek once had. I am so proud of my friend who left Hogwarts early. Very smart. Very brave.” Deek was talking about Sebastian’s friend. I had heard they were off on more adventures, working as an auror for the ministry, something unheard of in the wizarding community, until now. I realized that Deek had been in here already. Had he been in here since they had left?
“Deek, do you stay in the Room of Requirement?”
“Well, not always, but I do like to be here for the students who do find it,” Deek looked up at me. He looked so tired.
“I have an idea.” Before I could even finish the sentence, a door appeared inside the room. I motioned for Deek to go look at it. He made his way to the door and looked inside.
“Oh, Miss Willow, this is too much. Deek does not need this,” he said with wide eyes. Just inside the door was a bedroom, just for him so he could rest. His eyes started to well up with tears.
“It is only suitable that you have somewhere to rest when you need it. You deserve rest, just as much as I do.”
“Miss does look tired.”
“I don’t sleep well these days.” The room rumbled around us and a second door appeared. I walked over quickly to find another bedroom, but this one was fit for someone taller than Deek. The floor had a cozy rug. There was a warm fireplace that was already roaring, and a small teapot with the tea leaves that I always used back home to relax before bed, not that they always helped. The walls were filled with art. Finally, there was a big cozy bed right below a small window. It immediately looked inviting. I decided that I would lie down for a bit with the book I had borrowed from the library all those weeks ago. I had been so busy with life drama that I had not even given the book another thought until today.
Chapter One – Defensive Spells for Witches and Wizards, and When to Use Them
It is imperative that a witch or wizard know how to defend themselves when faced with every kind of foe. Not every foe can be taken down the same way, for instance, if a witch or wizard encounters a werewolf, he or she might…
I woke with a start as my book went flying off the bed.
“Oh, I hope I did not scare Willow. I was going to wake you soon, miss. It is almost time for lunch in the Great Hall.,” Deek said, just peeking into the room. I had slept for almost three hours. That was more than I got most nights.
“No, Deek, you did not startle me. Thank you for letting me know,” I said as I smiled at the house elf. I wanted to do more for him. I hoped that even with a headmaster like Headmaster Black, the house elves around the school were treated well. I got up and fixed my hair before leaving the Room of Requirement. I made my way to the Great Hall and sat down at the table across from the boys.
“Where have you been all morning?” asked Sebastian as he raised an eyebrow.
“Sleeping,” I said. “I was sleeping in the Room of Requirement.”