Ashes and Dust

"Sorry I'm late."

Sebastian's words barely registered with Ash as she stared at him. Her wide eyes took in the damage and that infernal smirk spread across his busted lips.

"What happened?" Her voice was almost panicked as she looked him over.

"Don't worry about it." His words were unbothered and he stepped further into the room, up to Ominis side— who looked absolutely furious at the situation.

Ominis let out a scoff at his words, "You left him in the infirmary, Sebastian!"

She sucked in a breath and she felt her head spin with the words. She didn't hear Sebastian's snarky response to Ominis as her thoughts began to swim.

"-in the infirmary"

"You should keep your little attack dog on a shorter leash."

She snapped from her memories and stared at him.

"What did you do?"

Her words were breathless, barely a whisper as her eyes pierced into his. He huffed, rolling his eyes, "We came here to discuss something much more important than—"

"Who was it?"

She spoke rapidly, her question barely a whisper. Sebastian's jaw clenched and he just stared at her. The silence stretched for a heartbeat and she opened her mouth to ask again—

"It was Garreth." Ominis sighed the words out and Sebastian shot him a glare though Ominis couldn't see it. Ominis continued with a strained voice, "He was... saying some rather unsavory things about you in Charms this morning—"

"And I told you if I ever heard that from him, I'd wipe that stupid fucking grin from his face." His words were dark, which was a contrast to the smirk plastered across his own lips, "So I did."

She saw Ominis clench his jaw and she knew what he was thinking. Once again she had caused Sebastian trouble— the moment she's halfway back in their lives Sebastian was already being poisoned by her again. She didn't want this, Ominis had to realize that.

The room crackled with tension as Ash's voice broke through the heavy silence, her tone laced with a mix of anger and confusion. "In front of the entire class, Sebastian?" Her voice was strained as she spoke, "Why would you do that?"

Sebastian's jaw tightened, a flicker of irritation crossing his features. "Are you defending him right now?"

"No I'm not defending him!" She barked the words out and stepped closer to the two of them, Ominis backing up slowly as if he wanted no part of this, "But I can fight my own battles."

He scoffed at her words and crossed his arms, "Oh yeah? You were planning on telling him to stop? End your little trysts?" He stared at her with knowing eyes, a sneer plastered on his face.

She opened her mouth to respond but shut it, swallowing hard. Would she have? Probably not. She would've probably just pretended Garreth wasn't spreading their intimate details, would've pretended she never found out. She didn't want that kind of confrontation, and he was a vice she would be stranded without.

He raised an eyebrow at her silence and and shook his head. "That's what I thought."

Ominis sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "Can we get back to what we actually are here to discuss?"

She ignored Ominis, "Why didn't you take a Wiggenweld?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, "I've been in detention all day, and unlike you I don't just carry them around."

She huffed a sigh through her nose as she stared at his busted lip and then walked to the far wall of the room, towards the half-destroyed potions table. She bent down and pulled out the bottom drawer, reaching in the back until she felt the small bottle in her fingers.

She turned and walked back towards him, his eyes following her every move. She held it out to him, holding his piercing gaze. He took it, their fingers grazing slightly as he pulled it towards him. "Always prepared." He mumbled the words under his breath as he popped the cork out.

Ominis cleared his throat in annoyance and Sebastian shot him a glare, "Ominis if I hear you bristle one more time I swear to Merlin—"

She could've laughed at the way Ominis immediately bristled at his words. Could've if her mind wasn't still swimming with images of Garreth under Sebastian's fists. Sebastian tossed back the potion, barely grimacing at the bitter taste. He pocketed the empty vial and she watched as the dark bruise under his eye softened to his normal tan skin and his split lip began to stitch itself together.

If this was how Sebastian looked after the fight, she couldn’t imagine how Garreth looked.

She swallowed that thought as she looked between Sebastian and Ominis. For a moment the air between the three of them felt so... normal. As if she'd stepped back in time.

She saw Ominis' impatience plastered across his face, the uncomfortable stiffness of his body, and she sighed. Of course things weren't normal. She took a few steps away from Sebastian, putting some distance between herself and the two boys.

"Ominis is right, we need to talk about what you two came here for last week."

The silence stretched for a moment as she looked between them. Sebastian turned towards Ominis, who face was strained with nerves, before sighing. Sebastian faced her again and spoke in a low voice.

"Harlow has escaped from Azkaban."

The words hit her like a bludger and she felt her blood run cold. That was not possible. No one escapes from Azkaban. Her eyes darted between them. Ominis was stone-faced, his posture rigid and Sebastian was no better. Her eyes flicked to him and saw how tense he looked— his jaw was clenched and his eyes watched her, waiting for her reaction.

"How?"

Her voice was hushed as if the news had knocked the air from her lungs. The silence coated the air around them. She stared at Sebastian but it was Ominis' voice that broke the stillness.

"We don't know. The details surrounding his escape are being kept confidential by the Ministry, but my family has heard whispers of it." Ominis paused for a moment and she saw his features tighten, "Although we have not been... speaking, we thought it prudent to inform you considering your... ties to Harlow."

She heard Sebastian's grunt of annoyance at Ominis choice of wording, considering 'not speaking' was a relatively polite way to put it. If Ominis heard him, he ignored it.

She just stared at them. What was she supposed to say? Everything she had worked so hard for in fifth year meant very little if Harlow was going to pick up where Rookwood left off. The magic roiled in her veins at the thought. Maybe she should have gotten drunk for this conversation. Her eyes flickered to the empty glass on the floor by her armchair and lingered there.

"You think he's going to come after me." Her words were less of a question than a statement. Her eyes moved from the glass back to Sebastian and he worked his jaw before responding.

"You're the one who got him thrown in Azkaban, so it's likely."

Ash nodded, her eyes distant, lost in a sea of memories and regrets. Her gaze shifted between Sebastian's tensed face and Ominis' pinched eyebrows. Her expression was blank, as if the weight of the revelation had drained her of any visible emotion. She struggled to find the words to respond, to find a single feeling on the situation that wasn't a twisted knot of screaming memories.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time." She said, her voice low as if the words were a deadweight in her mouth.

Sebastian's eyebrows furrowed at her words, "What do you mean?"

She let out a breath and her eyes flickered around the Room between the scorched walls and dead vinery. She never thought Harlow would be a problem again, but she shouldn't have thought that she could outrun her past— not with the power flowing through her veins and not with the blood on her hands. 

"Nothing," her eyes fell back to Sebastian as she spoke, "I've handled Harlow before, I can do so again."

Ominis let out a sound of disagreement and her eyes darted to him but it was Sebastian's low voice that broke the silence—

"No offense Ash, but I don't think you're in fighting condition."

"What makes you think that?" Her words were quiet, though she let a sharp edge seep through.

He snorted and she watched as his eyes glance towards the empty glass, "Do you want me to say it?"

She clenched her jaw, "I could still put you on your ass, Sallow." The words were not at sharp as she intended and she knew he saw the hesitancy in her eyes. He was right and she knew it. It had been over a year since she'd let her magic flow freely. She only touched her wand for the rare times she attended class, and she felt herself slipping. There'd been a time, even before she'd found herself at Hogwarts, where there was no fight she feared. No battle she wouldn't throw herself headlong into. But now— she would be lucky if her body remembered how to fight, with or without magic.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow at her words, and he opened his mouth in disagreement. Ominis stepped forward as if to place himself between the two of them.

"Be that as it may, the warning was not so you could run off and finish the job on Harlow." Ominis' voice was laced with a different kind of warning and he ran a hand down his jacket, "It was simply so you could keep your guard up, nothing more."

His words were like a slap to the face and she knew what his tone meant— the same thing it meant the night she had stumbled into the Undercroft and he told her to stay away. There was no bridge to rebuild, no friendship to mend in his eyes. The warning was a courtesy, one offered most likely due to Sebastian's insistence despite his anger at her at the time they'd first come to deliver the message.

Ash didn't know how to respond to his words, his underlying warning. Her throat closed up— she thought maybe, just maybe, things could return to normal between the three of them. That if she repented, that if she felt sorry for what happened, she could have them in her life once more. Instead she was cast away at sea. A stray dog left on the street for biting one too many times.

Ominis receding figure brought her out of her spiraling thoughts. He was heading for the door when Sebastian's low voice broke through the silence.

"I don't think we're done here, Ominis." His voice was laced with a warning of its own whose meaning she was unaware of. Her eyes darted between Sebastian's tense face and Ominis' back as he stopped moving. "You owe Ash an apology."

The words caused her heart to leap into her throat. An apology? She definitely didn't want to do this, didn't want this—

Sebastian's jaw was clenched as he stared at Ominis, who slowly turned around. Ominis features were hard as he faced towards Sebastian's direction. "Sebastian can we not do this n—"

"You and I have already had it out Ominis," Sebastian stepped closer to Ominis, his arms crossed over his chest so tightly it looked as if the seams around his arms would burst, "but Ash hasn't received the same opportunity."

Ash just stared between them. Ominis looked mortified at Sebastian's request, trepidation written all across his features. He didn't want this— didn't want to be here and didn't want her to be in their lives again. But Sebastian— Sebastian was fighting for something. For her, it felt like. Ash felt the familiar burn in her veins and she leaned back against the railing of the Vivarium for support.

"I don't see why this is necessary Sebastian, Ash and I had an agreement—"

"Bullshit." Sebastian's voice was laced with a venom that made Ash flinch. She didn't want this— really didn't want to see this happen, didn't want another fight between them, because of her.She tried to speak up, to tell Sebastian this wasn't necessary but as she opened her mouth she felt the magic roil so violently she clenched her jaw shut. Fuck— please not this, not right now. Her hand clenched the railing of the banister so hard, her knuckles turned white, and her eyes fell to the floor as she tried to take in breaths.

One Breath

Two-

"It is not bullshit Sebastian, Ash agreed to stay away for your sake— and before you shout out that you didn't ask for that, I am aware." His voiced was laced with authority as he tried to take control of the situation.

Three breaths— it wasn't working.

It had been days since her last rupture, and she was due to succumb to the maelstrom.

"Please stop..."

Her whispered words were drowned out by their arguing. Their voices were growing louder in the echoing chamber and she couldn't breathe. She just heard Ominis' words over and over in her mind— you are poison. Visions of bodies, of bloodied hands danced in her mind, screams of the dead—

Her veins burned like wildfire and she couldn't catch her breath— couldn't push it down.

"I didn't ask for it!" Sebastian growled the words out, "What was your plan Ominis— you were just going to cut her out again after you walked out? I know you're blind but for fuck's sake she's killing herself!"

The air turned static at his words and it was like a detonation.

Ash let out a cry as the magic exploded from her, waves of blue and red energy tearing out of her like a shockwave as a scream erupted from her throat at the pure force of it. The room was blinding, the sound of burning wallpaper and glass breaking blocked out by the pounding in her head.

She wasn't in her body anymore, though she could feel herself shaking as she curled against the burnt banister railing. Her limbs were sluggish, her nerves flayed as she slumped against the charred wood.

She heard the sound of groaning from across the room.

Ash's breathing was erratic and she snapped her eyes open at the sound, and a sob nearly ripped from her raw throat. Sebastian and Ominis were thrown against the far wall, both of them clutching their heads as they tried to move.

She had done this. Had hurt them. She tried to move to them but the burning in her veins was still so violent she was scared it was going to erupt from her again. She huddled against the banister as she tried to calm the violent storm brewing within. She had hurt them. They had come to her with a warning and she had done this—

"S-Sebastian? Ominis?" She rasped their names out as she stared across the scorched room. Her eyes widened in horror at the sight before her. The walls were now marred with cracks and fissures, debris scattered across the floor.

"What... the fuck?"

She heard Sebastian low rumble and she let out a breath of relief, "Are- are you two okay?" She heard Ominis' heavy breathing as he pushed himself from the floor. His gray suit was covered in soot marks.

Sebastian tried to raise up, only making it as far as his elbows before he looked her way, his gaze searching Ash's face for answers. "What just happened? Are you okay?"

Her voice trembled as she whispered, "I..." What could she say? How do you apologize for something like this— how do you explain it? She felt herself spiraling again— the thoughts of them fearing and hating her, the thought of Sebastian hating her...

Ominis' hoarse voice cut through her thoughts and she saw the fear and confusion and... the anger written all over his features as he stood. "What in Merlin's name did you do?"

The anger and fear lacing his words caused her to flinch and she leaned further against the banister behind her— the destroyed wood cracked against her weight.

The silence enveloped them and it was all she could do to remember to breathe. Her eyes were glued to the scorched stone beneath her. She heard Sebastian suck in a breath as if to ask her again—

"I took it." she rasped the words out, so quietly she wasn't sure if they heard her across the room. She lifted her gaze, meeting Sebastian's.

"I took the magic from the repository."