Chapter 8
A quiet snicker escaped Anne’s lips, an unexpected sound in the otherwise still classroom, bouncing off the stone walls in an almost eerie echo. "Cannae have wee Gaunts runnin’ amok about Hogwarts..." She shook her head, an amused glint lighting up her stormy eyes, betraying the tempest of emotions roiling within her, as turbulent as a storm and as erratic as the ever-changing corridors and stairs of Hogwarts itself.
In the stillness of the empty classroom, every stone and corner seeming to hold its breath, her nervousness bubbled like the potion in her cauldron. A shiver, cold and distant, skittered down her spine, but she shelved it, focus drawn towards the task at hand.
Expert fingers moved with practiced grace, deftly measuring and mixing ingredients for the contraceptive potion. It was a brew she'd never used herself, but as a responsible student of Hogwarts, she had been taught its preparation, along with that of the suppressant potion. Gathering the ingredients, with their different aromas, textures, and colors, had been a walk in the park.
The need to find her brother, to confront him, to throttle him, was a thrumming undercurrent beneath her calm exterior.
Her ire simmered but the storm in her eyes receded and the stirring spoon in her hand slackened as a pang of guilt washed over her.
Was she truly any better than Sebastian?
It had been such a relief to escape Prim’s intoxicating pheromones and the looming responsibility of taking care of an Omega in heat that she hadn’t stopped to weigh the situation…
She’d abandoned Prim in the throes of her heat, practically thrown Prim to the hungry maws of an Alpha on the brink of rut...
No...
Ominis was different than most Alphas.
Ominis had a reputation of being a bit of an arse but he had a kind heart. Once he truly knew Prim his devotion would be unwavering. His infatuation with her was evident from the moment he pulled her into the undercroft where Anne waited. Though Ominis was sly and cunning as any Slytherin, he was honorable.
They were ideally matched, even if it wasn't what Anne had envisioned at first.
Even if Ominis wasn't able to restrain himself and bound Prim to him with a mating bite, their union would be met with approval on all fronts.
Prim’s Da would have a doting and well-connected son-in-law to protect his daughter, the Gaunts would be appeased with a wealthy pure-blooded Omega, and even the most difficult members of his family couldn’t protest the union….Ominis would be her stronghold, her constant. And Prim, Anne was certain, would shower him with the affection he so lacked from his own family. And as long as it was Ominis, who was as good as kin to the Sallows, Anne was content with the arrangement.
“Och, I should charge em’ for my matchmaking services…” She snickered.
The only problem…Sebastian.
A soft warm light danced across her face, highlighting her firm resolve. The flames beneath the cauldron flickered, casting long shadows that danced and twirled as she rhythmically stirred the potion. With each rotation, the color of the mixture changed, nearing the hue of completion.
“Thank Merlin, it’s no’ me in there,” she murmured, her mind momentarily straying to Prim. The confusion around their relationship was brushed aside, replaced by a comforting warmth that spread through her. A sister, a confidante. The mere thought of laying her hands on Prim in the way an Alpha would, of marking her, hearing her moan, made her stomach flip with discomfort.
Despite her Alpha instincts, mating Prim would shatter something within her. Her bond with Prim was too pure to be sullied in such a way…Incestuous, it would violate the sanctity of their sisterly bond.
"Aye, I owe that posh English nob a debt of gratitude," she mused to herself, the words tinged with a hint of dark amusement. The alternative, Prim choosing her out of mere familiarity, would have spelled catastrophe. So, yes, Anne had much to thank Ominis for, even if the mere notion of their potential activities in the undercroft made her recoil in mild revulsion. Bleh.
The vibrant hues of the potion danced together in the cauldron, a silent symphony of colors that was as mesmerizing as it was calming. Anne's gaze remained unwaveringly affixed to the spectacle, even as her thoughts raced with worry that had been her constant companion since befriending her wee Omega.
As the potion simmered, its soft fragrance filled the room. Anne's thoughts drifted to the imminent confrontation awaiting her. If only Ominis had provided a full account of what had transpired between Prim and Sebastian... His reaction alone spoke volumes.
Ominis was no ordinary alpha.
His demeanor remained calm and composed, his citrus scent a powerful presence without being overtly dominating, and his physique slender and unassuming. If not for his absence from class during his regular rut, many would mistake him for a beta—an irksome fact that grated on the man's nerves and proved an endless source of entertainment for Anne and her brother.
A pacifist at heart, Ominis would have stepped aside, allowing Sebastian to claim Prim without resistance. Such was the depth of his loyalty to his friends.
But the fact that he had spirited Prim away spoke volumes about what Sebastian might have done. It revealed the gravity of the situation, painting a vivid picture of the potential harm inflicted upon her.
"Cannae be much longer..." She muttered to herself, her eyes distant as they stared into the bubbling cauldron. The potion was nearly the perfect hue. This batch had to be flawless. Prim's, and Ominis’s, future depended on it.
The door creaked ominously behind her, and Anne braced herself, a half-formed apology on her lips as she turned to face the most probable intruder, Professor Sharp.
She was greeted by the one face she both craved and loathed to see.
"Sebastian..." Her voice, pitched low and dangerous, oozed with a venomous edge that sliced through the air, leaving no room for pleasantries. The simmering embers of her temper burst into an inferno of unrestrained fury, consuming her being with primal intensity. Her trembling form struggled to maintain control, each quiver a testament to the seething anger coursing through her veins.
Sebastian, his gaze flitting nervously around the room, stood with shoulders tense and jaw clenched, a portrait of readiness for the looming confrontation. He averted his eyes, steadfastly avoiding the searing heat of Anne's wrathful stare. "Where is she, Anne?" his voice, laced with an undercurrent of desperation, betrayed his inner turmoil.
"Who, brother?" Anne retorted, her voice dripping with acidic sarcasm. She knew all too well whom Sebastian sought. Yet, she relished in the power of making him utter the name aloud, to taste the bitterness of the truth on his lips.
Anne's piercing gaze assessed her brother's disheveled state, her grip on the stirring rod tightening in response. His once impeccable uniform now a disarray of wrinkles and creases, a visual reflection of the internal battle he waged against his own primal instincts. He stood before her, a pitiful spectacle that stirred within her a complex mix of pity and disdain.
“You ken who.” Sebastian spat, his voice barely a whisper but fraught with tension. "Tell me where you’ve put her, she needs me!" His plea was desperate, a veiled threat hanging in the silence between them.
With a spine of steel and a gaze as sharp as a dragon's, Anne responded, her voice filled with cold defiance that rivaled the biting Scottish winds. "You best leave no’, Seb. Or I'll make you wish you had."
Sebastian's intrusion into the potion room was as subtle as a storm. Raw aggression rolled off him in waves as he strode forward, his gaze zeroing in on the bubbling cauldron. "That’s no’ a contraceptive brew is it?" His voice dropped to a dangerous murmur, laced with disbelief as he recognized the concoction.
Anne pursed her lips, her eyes twinkling with a wicked glint as she let the question hang heavy in the silence, the tension between them as thick as molasses.
With a flick of her wand, the flames under the cauldron were doused, the hiss of extinguished fire a stark contrast to the charged tension in the room. She leaned against the table, nonchalantly tapping her wand against the edge of the cauldron as she turned to face her brother. “Oh, this?” A malicious grin curled her lips, “Indeed it is, brother. But it’s certainly no’ for me…”
A visible ripple of shock passed through Sebastian. "Anne, where is Prim?"
Turning her back to him, she focused on transferring the potion into the prepared vials. Her actions were deliberately slow, a minor rebellion against her brother's unchecked impatience.
"Dinnae fash, Sebastian. The wee lassie is safe…" Her words dripped with a mixture of reassurance and hidden intent. She allowed herself a moment of victory as she saw his tense shoulders relax. “She's havin’ her need’s well-tended about no’- hence the contraceptive.”
The sudden gasp from Sebastian had Anne muffling a malicious giggle. His shock quickly morphed into a seething rage that was nearly palpable.
“Stupify!”
“Protego!” she uttered, her wand already trained on him, her instinctive shield spell flickering to life just in time for white light to burst and sparkle harmlessly around her. Her lips curled into a smirk, the trademark Slytherin sneer lighting her face. “How predictable, brother. No’, kindly fuck off so I can top off these vials… Prim- and the worthy suitor entertainin’ her- will be needin’ them, you ken?”
Sebastian's reaction was as fierce as she'd expected. His face, usually handsome, twisted into an ugly mask of fury, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides.
The room thrummed with tension.
“What more worthy suitor could there be than your own brother, Anne?” He growled, his hand reaching out to grab her shoulder, his grip firm and unyielding. “What have you done-”
“Nae, Sebastian! What have you done?” She rounded on him, her anger erupting as she smacked his hand away. Her voice filled the room as she accused him, heartache for her friend cutting through every word. “You were meant to look out for the lassie and instead you took advantage of her!...You ken you did wrong, aye?...Are you even hearin’ me?”
"I’m her Alpha, Anne! It's my duty to protect her!" He argued, his voice laden with desperation.
"Listen, you arsehole!" Anne's retort was immediate, fierce. "Whatever you think you were to Prim, you are no'! Do you ken how dafty you're actin'?"
In an alarming burst of temper, Sebastian lashed out, pulling her around to confront him. He shook her, a beast uncaged. “I found her first, Anne! She’s mine!”
“I was the one who discovered her, no’ you!” Anne snarled back, jabbing her wand into his chest. The tension between them threatened to burst, a bomb ticking down to explosion. "I had hopes for Prim. I wanted her to be part of us, to be one of our family- a true Sallow by wizarding law. And you, you tarnished my plans by letting your wee tager get the better of you!"
“It’s no wee!”
“I care for her, Sebastian! I took responsibility for her! I gave my word to her Da that I would protect her! Why I thought I could rely on you is beyond me, but I did!” Anne spat, the rage boiling within her threatening to spill over. She pushed him away, her chest heaving with anger. “Then you catch a whiff of the lassie and believe you have a right to claim her because you’ve decided you want her?”
Anne’s heart hammered in her chest, adrenaline flooding her system.
“Prim is my responsibility, Anne! I’m her Alpha!” Sebastian's voice wavered with desperation.
“Nae! Why are you no’ listening to the words comin' out my mouth? It's like talkin' to a wall!”
“Because what your spoutin’ doenae matter!”
“OMINIS IS HER ALPHA NO' YOU!” Anne shot back, breaking through his temper tantrum. “You’ve hated hearing of her over summer and no’ she’s yours? You ken her five minutes, man!” She jabbed her wand into his chest, furious tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. “That’s no’ how this works! Did you bother speakin’ with her before pullin’ out your tager and tryin’ to claim the lassie? She's with Ominis! Prim could've easily sent for you, but she dinnae. She picked Ominis, brother!”
The room fell into an oppressive silence, their gasps filling the room.
“I-I dinnae pull out my…I dinnae mean- Anne, just tell me where she is, she’s been mine since I scented her-”
“Dinnae I say the lassie is spoken for.”
“I cannae believe you! Ominis would no’ permanently bind himself to a lassie he’s only known for an hour! No’ even at your request, Anne.”
“And you would bind yourself, bite her whether she wants you or no’?”
“Aye, I would!” He barked, “She’ll come to return my feelin’s, the bond wouldnae allow otherwise!”
“Beast! You have no’ feelin’s! You have lust, your mind is muddled by the Alpha hormones, that’s all! I’ll no’ allow-”
“No’ up to you, this is between my fuckin’ omega and me!”
“She’s no’ yours you selfish dafty bastard- though she’s almost certainly fuckin’ right no’. Doesnae matter if you believe me or no’, I'm no’ the only Alpha standin’ between you and Prim…Good luck pullin’ her from her Alpha’s arms after she’s round with Gaunt pups- seein’ as you're delaying’ my delivery and all…Even if it’s just Ominis, I doubt the house o’ Gaunt will take kindly to such a slight to one of their own...”
“Ominis wouldnae, he’s…he’s…”
“You’ve never crossed him, brother, you dinnae ken what he’d do.” She glared, violently stuffing a stopper into a glass vial. “Do you really wanna test your friendship over this?”
“I dinnae believe you!” Ugh! She’d had enough of his denial and delustions to last several lifetimes, they would keep going around in circles if something didn’t break.
“A duel!” she declared, her voice steady despite the tremor of adrenaline coursing through her veins.
“What?” Sebastian reeled back as if her words had physically struck him.
“I’ve heard enough, I challenge you to a duel!” Anne's eyes glinted with fierce determination as she aimed her wand directly at her brother. “For Prim’s honor and to knock some sense into that thick skull…”
Sebastian's eyes widened in shock. He looked at her as if he were seeing a stranger. His wand wavered in his grasp, the grim reality of facing off against his own sister sinking in.
She thought he would talk his way out of it, try to charm her into calming down as he normally would. But no, Sebastian was at the cusp of rut, volatile and aggressive. Unthinking and uncaring.
“Fine," he gritted out through clenched teeth. "I accept your challenge." He leveled his wand at her, his gaze cold and unforgiving. “When I win, you willnae stand between us.”
Well, fuck.
“No’ here, you fool!” Anne scoffed, collecting her still-warm vials, “Sort it out with Brattleby, I got places to be-”
“Och, I’m coming with you!”
Like hell you are. Anne snorted, shifting the potion vials to one arm and snatching some premade suppressant bottles off a nearby shelf to add to her pile. “Your welcome to follow if you're keen on keekin’ 'your omega’ gettin’ pumped by your best friend-”
“Bloody hell, woman! Can you no’?” Her wand rested comfortably in her free hand, she rotated her wrist, rubbing her thumb along the familiar grooves in its grain. “I’ll rip him off her if I must, she-”
“Petrificus Totalus!” She whispered, clocking Sebastian center mast with a perfectly executed spell.
He fell to the floor with a heavy thud. Smacking against the ground like a log, stiff and locked in place.
With a muttered “Flipendo.” he slid under the table at which she’d brewed over. He scooted past chairs as his unblinking face and prone body caught and bumped against wooden legs, they screeched aside as he was forced through. Once he was perfectly nestled under the table, Anne cast a practiced concealment charm.
“Dinnae fash, I’ll be back to release you before you ken I’m gone…Och, and I find it hard to believe you managed to find me in potions before findin’ Prim gettin’ poked by Ominis in the undercroft. Cannae tell if you have shite for luck or no’, brother.”