Venomous

Laurel

Laurel popped out of the floo flame, handbag strapped to her side. Sebastian had told her he’d meet her nearby, and as she swung her head around wildly looking for him, her eyes caught sight of a mop of chestnut hair atop the viewing platform. She quickly took to clambering up the wooden steps, slowing her pace as she reached the top before leaning on the railing beside him.

“Enjoying the view?” She looked out over the town, taking in the beauty of the small village. How she wished she’d grown up somewhere like this instead of in the cramped city of Edinburgh.

“Just keeping an eye on things. Feldcroft isn’t what it used to be.” The brunet beside her sighed deeply before turning his gaze to her. “No one’s felt safe here since Ranrok’s loyalists took a peculiar interest in that castle over there.” Sebastian pointed to a dilapidated castle on a hill overlooking the hamlet. “Rookwood Castle.”

“ Rookwood Castle? As in-” She didn't quite get to finish her sentence before Sebastian pushed off the railing.

“One and the same. You know, my uncle Solomon is a former auror, yet he refuses to look into it.” He threw his hands up in the air as he paced, his freckled features screwing up into a scowl. “Even after Anne was cursed by one of them. Possibly with a wand , no less.” He turned to her again, his hazel eyes staring into hers with a fire of rage lit behind them.

“Are goblins forbidden from carrying wands?” Laurel furrowed her brow, tilting her head to the side.

“I sometimes forget you weren’t raised in the wizarding world. Yes, they are forbidden from carrying them.” He walked back towards her, his hands gesticulating his words in front of him. “ That’s why I’m on the hunt for answers. If I’m to cure her, I need to understand what happened to her.” The brunet stuffed his hands into his pockets before rocking on his heels. “Anne was always the most mischievous of the three of us. Which is saying something knowing me and Ominis.” His eyebrows were raised into his hairline.

“Ominis doesn’t strike me as mischievous at all.” Laurel giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. “He seems more like a mother fretting over her children.”

“I can see that.” His face broke out in a smile at her reaction, his freckled cheeks pulling up with the action. “He’s been particularly bad about it since Anne’s accident. I’m hoping a surprise visit from me, and a new friend from Hogwarts will help lift her spirits.” He turned his gaze down, a melancholy look taking over his face before he looked back up at her. “Bring back the Anne I used to know. This way.”

He waved for her to follow him, the two of them descending from the structure and beginning their walk through the town. She noticed it was seemingly quiet and practically empty, most people holed up in their homes. It made her sad to see how scared the townspeople had become with the looming rebellion.

“Are there no other children in the town? Where is everybody?” Laurel found herself looking around at each of the houses, the windows either drawn or empty altogether. Sebastian simply sighed from his place beside her.

“No, there weren’t any other children. Anne and I really only had each other for company when we got here. As for the townsfolk, well…” He trailed off a bit before glancing down to her. “Feldcroft used to be a lot livelier. With Ranrok’s lot wandering about all the time, everyone either stays out of sight or has left the area altogether.”

“When you got here? Did you and Anne not grow up here?” She smiled when Sebastian smirked, only for it to drop from her face when she noticed the darkness that had appeared behind his eyes.

“No, we didn’t grow up here. We actually grew up in Edinburgh, believe it or not.” He looked sad all of a sudden. “But when we came to live with Solomon after… I’m sorry, Laurel. I’d really rather not talk about it right now if that’s alright.”

“Of course. I apologize, I didn’t mean to pry.” She pursed her lips, clasping her hands in front of her.

“No, you didn’t. It’s just a tough subject to discuss. Anyway…” He pulled her to the side as they approached a small house, a few different pots with flowers on either side of the door. “Here we are. My sister should be just inside.”

Sebastian opened the door, gently nudging her inside before closing it softly behind them, holding a finger to his lips to signify for her to keep quiet. Laurel watched him quietly sneak up behind the girl at the table, her own tied back hair the same chestnut color as his own. His hands shot out to grab at her sides, causing the girl in the chair to jump up in surprise before a look of excitement flashed across her hollowed face.

“Sebastian! Where did you-” The girl she presumed was Anne gasped when Sebastian pulled something from the inner pocket of his cloak, holding it out to her. “Is that… Is that what I think it is?” The thin, sickly looking girl reached slowly for the item her brother held out to her before it was snatched from her grasp.

“We’ve been over this, boy. Shrivelfigs can not reverse a curse.” The older man who had grabbed the purple fruit from the twins scowled, his aged features turning up in a scowl. Laurel observed him with a look of confusion and horror as he disintegrated the fruit in the palm of his hand. “Nothing can. The sooner you accept that reality, the better.”

“But we haven’t tried everything! ” The chestnut haired boy shouted the words at his uncle’s retreating back, anger beginning to settle over his features. The older man immediately turned back, quickly forcing his way into the much shorter teenage boy’s space and grabbing him by his shirt.

“There is. No. Cure! When will you accept that?” Solomon shouted the words directly into Sebastian’s face, the latter’s features twisting up into an angry scowl that matched him.

It was only now that the two men were face to face that she noticed the physical similarities between them, and she wondered if he looked this much like his uncle, how much did he resemble his father. Her attention was immediately drawn to where Anne was beginning to grab onto her side, her own features scrunching up in pain, baring her teeth behind the two arguing men.

“Never! I can never accept it!” Sebastian screamed the words back into his uncle’s face, his teeth showing like a dog threatening to bite its owner.

Both men whipped around when Anne screamed, her body doubling over on itself as her knees buckled under her. She turned slowly, her hand reaching for one of the chairs surrounding the small table she’d been sitting at as she cried out in pain. Solomon released Sebastian forcefully, rocking the brunet back as he moved to help the frail girl into a seat.

“Now look at what you’ve done.” Laurel wanted to hex the man for speaking to Sebastian that way. It hadn’t been his fault his sister was in pain, he was just trying to help.

“You can’t just blame him for that. You’re the one that refuses to allow him to give her even a glimmer of hope.” She found herself unable to hold her tongue, her hand gesturing toward the frail girl struggling to catch her breath.

“Laurel-”

“You keep your mouth shut, girl. I know what’s best for both of them. They are my stubborn brother’s children. Especially him.” Solomon shot the words back at her with as much venom as a viper from where he hovered over Anne, his own hazel eyes glaring hotly at her. “You two need to leave.”

“Anne-” Sebastian had retreated to an area closer to her near the door, his expression full of concern, and she swore he was on the verge of tears.

“Leave!” Solomon screamed the word at them, and Sebastian continued to back his way toward her, whirling around and rushing out of the door, grabbing Laurel by the wrist and pulling her with him. He dragged her further from the house, eventually coming to a slowed pace once they had gone a good ways out into the fields and sighing.

“I’m sorry you had to see that.” He released her wrist, dropping down into the grass on the side of a hill and propping his forearms up on his knees. “Why will he not listen to me? She’s my sister!”

Laurel lowered herself into the grass beside him, crossing her legs and clasping her hands together in her lap as she looked at him, her white-blonde braid falling over her shoulder. She tilted her head, watching as Sebastian ran his hands through his hair before turning to look at her, exasperated.

“You got a first-hand glance at what I’m dealing with.” He shook his head, moving his hands to press behind him and stretching his legs out. “I apologize for my uncle, Laurel.”

“I will admit, I didn’t expect him to be so angry.” Laurel pursed her lips, looking down briefly before meeting his eyes again.

“He’s always angry. He’s been angry since my parents died.” The seething rage behind his eyes was back, his hazel eyes darkening a shade. “After Anne was hurt, he only grew worse. It’s as though he blames me somehow.” Sebastian shifted his gaze out into the empty field, a light breeze causing his wavy locks to sway. “Calls me ‘my father’s son’ , as if that’s an insult.”

“Is there any reason he refers to your father in such a negative way?” She wrapped her fingers around a few blades of grass, pulling them up and twining them together as they spoke.

“Not all twins have similar personalities. Or get along for that matter.” Sebastian scoffed, his shoulders shaking a bit. “My father wouldn’t have wanted this for her. I’m the one trying to help her. He’s simply given up. This whole curse has changed her entirely.”

“I’m sorry, Sebastian.” Laurel moved one hand to his, wrapping her fingers around his comfortingly. “I can’t imagine this is an easy thing to deal with.”

“I miss my sister. And I’m going to get her back.” The brunet stood, pulling her up with him and starting to walk off toward a plateau. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”

Sebastian once again dragged her along with him up to what looked to have once been a loyalist camp, the tents empty and items scattered about. They walked towards the back of the camp, where the largest tents emptied out into a clearing overlooking the hamlet below. The two of them walked in slow circles, taking in the scene before them.

“This is where it happened. We smelled smoke in the middle of the night. When we looked outside, flames were shooting from the estate.” Sebastian pointed to the window of a stone house on the hill, the square hole where she assumed glass once sat surrounded in a thick black outline of soot. “Before my uncle and I could stop her, Anne rushed out - racing towards the fire. Worried someone might be hurt.”

He walked a bit closer to the ledge, peering over out into the highlands. “She came face to face with a horde of goblins desperately trying to stamp out the flames. Suddenly,” The brunet turned to her suddenly, locking his eyes with hers. “An icy voice drifted out from somewhere in the smoke.” Sebastian moved so that he was towering over her, lowering his face so that he just barely spoke in her ear, his breath hot on her skin. “ ‘Children should be seen and not heard.’ ”

She was whirled around quickly by his hands, facing the clearing again. “A blinding blast followed. They didn’t even give her a chance to run.” His voice was solemn again where he spoke against her ear. Sebastian steered her forward, toward the empty tents. “It may be grasping at billywigs, but I think there might be something here that could lead me to whoever cursed Anne.”

“There very well could be. Perhaps we should take a look around?” Laurel walked away from his grasp, pulling her wand out and glancing around for anything that may warrant a search.

“Might be the only way to learn what type of magic harmed her.” Sebastian shrugged, stepping toward her. “Which could help me find a cure.”

The two of them wandered the area, each taking mental note of everything they found strange. When Sebastian suggested they check the dilapidated stone house, Laurel found herself wandering through the small space, a strange feeling of familiarity that she couldn’t quite place washing over her. She headed towards the back of the house, finding a burned up portait leaned against the wall.

“Sebastian.” She waited till she was sure he was within hearing range before running her fingers along the scorched wood. “Do you think this was damaged by the fire the night Anne was cursed?”

“Could be. But it looks to me as though this was intentional.” He leaned in front of her, pointing out a particular spot that flared out from the middle. “This appears to be the source of whatever burned it.”

Laurel scrunched her eyebrows up, peering out the window, the view below catching her eye. She wandered toward the edge of the cliff again, her boots padding against the forgotten stone path there. Her heart thrummed loudly in her chest, the view all too familiar. She was so enthralled in the realization that she didn’t notice Sebastian walking up behind her.

“I’ve seen this before.” The words were just above a whisper, her voice so quiet that the brunet next to her leaned in with his brow furrowed. “The house, the well, the view… this house belonged to a Hogwarts professor. Hundreds of years ago.”

“What? How do you know that? Who was it? What-”

“Do you remember that day in the restricted section?” She waited till he nodded, turning her head towards him. “I found a pensieve, with a memory of this house. A-and a girl, a small girl… in the middle of a drought.” She began to pace back and forth. “The Keepers showed me other memories as well. That girl grew up to be Isadora Morganach, a Hogwarts professor. The last Keeper before me.”

“Keepers?” He quirked one eyebrow up, his eyes flicking up and down like he was certain she was going insane. “Like in Quidditch?”

“No. No, not like Quidditch. They call themselves Keepers because they’re protecting some type of… knowledge of some sort.” She gesticulated with her hands as she spoke, her feet continuing to move in small circles. “It has something to do with that Gringotts vault I told you about when I first came to Hogwarts.”

“Hold on, hold on.” Sebastian grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to stop moving. “Let me see if I’ve got this straight. You’ve got Ranrok and Rookwood after you because of something you found in a Gringotts vault - which you ended up at via a portkey” Suddenly he was pacing, his hands flailing as if he didn’t know what to do with them. “You can see traces of an ancient magic that you think Ranrok is trying to harness, and now you’ve been witnessing memories you think were left by some ‘Keepers’ of some special, hidden knowledge?” 

He stopped in front of her, his hands in his hair. “Oh, and this house belonged to a Hogwarts professor, who was one of these non-Quidditchkeepers, hundreds of years ago. Laurel…” His hazel eyes met hers again. “If I didn’t know you, I’d think you were pulling my leg in some elaborate prank.”

“Well, when you put it like that…” Laurel wrapped her arms around herself. “It does all sound a bit… fabricated. But we both have good reason to search this house. We might find the answers we’re each looking for here.”

Sebastian tilted his head past her, his own brows furrowing as he began walking back into the stone house. “Look at this.” He leaned down to touch some stones that were piled against the side of the house.

“Do you think someone piled these here for a reason?” She touched the stones herself before Sebastian began pulling her back, wand drawn.

“Only one way to find out.” He shoved her behind him a bit before taking aim, casting depulso against the stones, sending them flying. He crouched through the new opening, waving her through. “Hmm. A stairwell.”

They looked at each other before each lighting their wands with lumos and descending into the dark cellar that had been revealed. Sebastian chuckled when they ran across devil’s snare snaking across the walls of the small space, sticking his wand close to the black vines as they recoiled from the light. Laurel wandered over to a table, picking up a piece of parchment before glancing over it and stuffing it in her handbag. She cocked her head to the side when she noticed a light showing from between the abandoned furniture.

“Sebastian, help me move these.” She shoved some smaller pieces of furniture aside before grabbing one end of the bookcase, the freckled boy grabbing the other as they rotated it outward. The two of them approached what appeared to be a door-sized mirror made of black, glass-like stone. Laurel gasped when an image formed in the glass in front of her, similar to the wall that took her to Gringotts. “You’re not going to believe this. I can see the Undercroft. ”

Sebastian approached her with an incredulous look on his face. “What, a daydream? Because that happens to me, too.”

“Sebastian, I know it sounds strange, but-”

“Honestly, Laurel, nothing you say sounds strange to me anymore.” He smirked at her, causing her to laugh softly.

“Fair enough. But quite literally, I can see the Undercroft through this stone wall.” She watched as he pressed his hand flat to the stone. “As though it’s a window.” Their eyes met once more. “This has happened before. When I went to Gringotts. I think it’s to do with my ability to see traces of ancient magic. My ability allows me to travel through these windows I see - like portals.”

“Wait, we can get straight to the Undercroft from here?” Sebastian laughed then, the sound light. “Ominis will be floored. Probably best not to tell him.”

“I don’t know, Sebastian. I don’t feel right not telling him.” Laurel rubbed her arms, pursing her lips as she regarded the brunet. “He deserves to know, lest this cause more arguments and sow more distrust between us.”

“Alright, fine. But you’re the one telling him. I’m not taking the blame for these strange portals that are only activated by an ability you alone seem to have.” She took his hand before pressing one hand into the portal, pulling him through with her.

They stumbled, Laurel’s feet catching on the stone flooring before Sebastian caught her around the waist. Laurel felt herself blushing, a bit flustered with the amount of times he ended up in her personal space like this. He was looking at her with wide eyes, his fingers flexing around her midsection. She cleared her throat, prompting him to release her, his own freckled cheeks turning a bright red as he muttered an apology. They looked around at the familiar, cold space before their eyes fell upon something new - a wooden, three-piece frame protruding from one of the walls, two of its images missing and a small piece of parchment set in the middle.

“A note.” She furrowed her brow, taking the small paper from the triptych and searching it over. “A rune. I’ve seen similar symbols used by the Keepers.” She turned to Sebastian, who was leaning over her shoulder, examining the note himself.

“Laurel, I’ve been thinking. A Keeper lived in that house centuries ago, and Ranrok and his loyalists have been searching that location.” His eyes stayed glued to the parchment as he spoke. “You said that goblins may be wielding some form of this ancient magic .” His hazel eyes raised to hers, the golden flecks visible from how close they were. “Do you think it’s possible Anne was cursed by ancient magic?”

“I don’t think so, Sebastian.” Laurel shook her head lightly as she turned to face him more comfortably and took a step back. “I didn’t see any traces of it within or around your sister.”

“But that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not . There’s still so much we don’t know about it.” He wasn’t particularly tall, but with her short stature he had to tilt his head down to look at her.

“True.” She looked down at the parchment again. “Perhaps the triptych will lead us to the answers we seek.” When she looked back up, he was in her space again, taking small steps toward her as she slowly backed away.

“Did I mention that apparently …” There was something in his eyes Laurel didn’t quite recognize or understand as he looked down at her. “Salazar Slytherin had a secret scriptorium here in Hogwarts?”

“You did not…” She glanced behind her briefly before looking back up to the brunet in front of her. “It sounds intriguing… B-but any idea where in the castle?” Her back connected with the stone behind her.

“No idea. Ominis just learned of it.” He stepped closer to her, and she felt her breathing stutter. What is he doing? “You know, I had no idea our visit to see Anne would unfold into all of this.” He leaned on one hand to the side of her head, leaving her only way out under his arm. “My head’s an utter mess. But…” His hand was warm when he took her chin between his thumb and fingers, the dark look in his eyes becoming more intense as he licked his lips. “I’m glad you told me everything you did. I’m glad that you trust me with all of this.”

The last way she had expected to end her trip to Feldcroft was alone in the Undercroft with Sebastian, and her heart began pounding when she heard the gate open just as he pressed his lips to hers.