Temper
It all started with a Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with banshees.
“For those of you taking potions with Professor Sharp, you should be fairly familiar with the laughing potion,” Professor Hecat said, ambling through the tables of her classroom that the students sat at, listening curiously. She pulled a small vial of yellow liquid from a pouch on her robe. “Which is what we will be using for today’s lesson.”
Sebastian and Ominis still weren’t speaking to each other, and Enoch felt like the awkward middle man. Ominis was starting to speak full sentences to him now, and he’d say the same for Sebastian, but Sebastian’s have all been snide remarks. Like this morning, when they got dressed for the day, Enoch had asked Sebastian to hand him a shoe that had been tossed too far away to reach, and Sebastian refused by saying, “Do I look like a house elf?”
Or, when they were eating breakfast, Enoch had asked if Sebastian finished his Arithmancy homework and he responded with, “I seem to have been interrupted while doing so. Maybe I’ll get detention for not completing it.”
So, Enoch decided maybe Sebastian was just having a bad day and he could try to wait it out. Regardless, he still had Ominis if he ever wanted to chat, but maybe that wasn’t such a good idea after all.
Professor Hecat handed out each student a vial of laughing potion, and Enoch leaned over to Ominis as she walked away. “Who’s to say we won’t take these ourselves and laugh and make fun of Prewett?” He snickered, hoping to lift Ominis’s spirits. Instead of a response from Ominis to his right, he got one from Sebastian to his left.
“Who’s to say I won’t take this and laugh at how stupid this lesson is?”
Enoch glanced at Sebastian, whose arms were crossed and face set in a deep scowl.
“You seemed pretty excited about banshees a few weeks ago,” Enoch said, crossing his arms to mimic his friend.
“I was mainly excited to get this lesson over with. Wish I could take a banshee on one-on-one with my wand instead of this stupid potion. I bet I could take it down faster than any of these dimwits in here.”
Enoch sighed. There he goes again. All Enoch could do was ignore him at this point, hopefully he’d just get over himself.
“You haven’t enough brains to solve any problems so you resort to brute force, as always.”
Enoch stared wide-eyed at Ominis, who he had least expected to speak to Sebastian, let alone insult him.
“Duelling is a solution to solving problems. I would say you would know, yet you seem to lack the necessary skills to do so.”
“Sebastian,” Enoch said, warning his friend to stop.
“When will you grow up and realise you don’t always need a stupid wand to solve everything?”
“Says the one who needs a stupid wand to see.”
“Stop,” Enoch whisper-yelled. “The both of you.”
“Boys.”
Professor Hecat stared at all three of them from the front of the class, causing everyone to look back and stare too.
“Sorry, Professor,” Enoch apologised, lowering his head and feeling a bit self-conscious from the unwanted attention.
Then, it was at dinner later that day in the Great Hall. While all the students were enjoying their food, Sebastian and Ominis seemed to be behaving themselves nicely. They hadn’t spoken to each other since Professor Hecat’s class in the morning, and where Enoch would feel sad about it any other day, today he was relieved.
Sebastian was nose deep in his Arithmancy textbook while absent-mindedly shoving spoonfuls of his food into his mouth, dropping bits onto the table here and there. But he stayed quiet, and Enoch enjoyed a pleasant conversation with Ominis about nonverbal spells that they were practising in Charms.
“You’d think he’d be good at that, Hobhouse,” Enoch said as he smashed his spoon around his potatoes. “Ronen was giving him a run for his money. I think he’s the last Ravenclaw that hasn’t been able to cast depulso nonverbally.”
“I think that goes to show Ravenclaws aren’t as sharp as they’re chalked up to be,” Ominis responded, chuckling. “But then again, it’s Hobhouse. What really are you expecting from him?” He reached his hand out to grab his goblet of pumpkin juice, but missed by an inch and knocked into it instead, toppling it over. The juice spilled all over Sebastian’s open textbook.
Enoch gasped and braced for another fight. Sebastian slowly looked up from writing and stared daggers at Ominis in front of him.
“Would it really kill you to not be so clumsy and ruin my homework?” Sebastian spat. “Because this is the second time I can’t complete this filthy assignment and I’m starting to believe I should just study far away from you two.”
“Do you have to act so insolent from just a simple accident?” Ominis said, fighting back.
“I bet it was just an accident too, keeping my sister away from me.”
“Oh, Merlin, can’t you get over that already?" Ominis dropped his fork onto his plate loudly. "You’re wearing my patience thin, Sebastian. I can’t believe you are so conceited enough you believe you’re entitled to another person so.”
“Maybe I should go toy with one of your siblings then, and see how you feel. Maybe I’ll just take your place in your family since they don’t need you.”
"When will you just leave well enough alone?" Ominis was yelling at this point.
Sebastian slammed his book shut, causing some pumpkin juice to splash towards Enoch and Ominis across the table, and jumped out of his seat. "When I can get some better friends that actually care what I think." And with that, he stormed out of the Great Hall with his sopping wet book in hand.
Ominis exhaled loudly, head lowered to his dinner plate. Enoch was completely flummoxed by the whole ordeal and couldn't help but feel like he was also targeted by his friend. He didn't think this was something they could just wait out anymore.
"I need to talk to him," Enoch announced after a moment of tense silence.
"You're playing a losing game." Ominis sounded dejected, yet hot under the collar. Enoch felt solemn seeing Ominis so down because Sebastian couldn't control his temper. He definitely needed to fix this.
"He has to listen to one of us eventually, right?"
Ominis snickered pitifully. "Right."
The grass, as not-green and dead as it had been for the past couple months, was covered in a thin layer of white as snow began to fall. So many more students than usual flooded the grounds outside, basking in the cold. Enoch sat on a bench in the Transfiguration courtyard with his robe pulled as close to him as possible.
Two days had passed since the fight between Sebastian and Ominis, and the tension between them could be cut with a knife. Enoch couldn't stand it anymore, but every time he tried to talk to Sebastian, Sebastian would ignore him and find a way to leave. He was starting to think Ominis was right. It was a losing game.
Enoch looked up when he heard the familiar wooden door open ahead of him. Coming from the Transfiguration classroom were a group of students, including Sebastian. As Sebastian looked ahead and locked eyes with Enoch, he sported a visible scowl and continued walking away. Enoch jumped to his feet and raced to catch up with his angry friend.
"Sebastian," he spoke, trying to get his friend's attention as he fell into step with him through the courtyard. Once Sebastian ignored him, he continued to talk. "I wondered if you'd like to walk together to Charms."
"No," was all Enoch got in return. He cleared his throat and decided to ignore it
"Well, I waited for you during my free period. It's actually a nice day out, despite the cold, y'know. I thought it'd be nice to meet you as we walked to class."
Sebastian stopped in his tracks, looking very agitated. "Are you trying to stalk me?"
Enoch stuttered, taken aback by the sudden accusation. "No, I just, I just thought-"
"Can't you get it through your thick skull? I want to be left alone," Sebastian spat. "Why don't you go see if Poppy wants to be walked to class?"
Enoch furrowed his brows in thought as Sebastian turned to walk away. "Poppy? What does Poppy have to do with this?" Enoch quickly caught back up to his friend, who began ignoring him again. "Poppy is my friend, yes, but you're my friend, Sebastian. I'm allowed to want to spend time with my friends."
They both walked up the stairs after entering the Defence Against the Dark Arts tower, Sebastian going at such a speed Enoch was having trouble keeping up with. But he was determined to get through to his friend.
"If you could just talk to me, Sebastian. I want to know why you're acting like this."
Sebastian stopped on the stairs and turned so abruptly Enoch almost bumped into him. "How could I possibly begin to explain to you when you're this dense and insensible?"
"I'm not trying to be insensible, I just want you to explain to me your recent actions towards Ominis and I."
"Explain to you? I don't see where I need to explain myself, Enoch. If only your skull wasn't so thick your brain had room to think." Sebastian turned back around and continued up the stairs again.
"Sebastian. Sebastian!"
They reached a landing atop the stairs and Sebastian turned around again, this time pulling his wand and pointing it close to Enoch's neck.
"Get away from me."
Enoch, shocked and confounded by his friend's sudden actions, stepped back and looked Sebastian in the eye, trying to be as serious as he could. "You wouldn't do that."
Sebastian lowered his voice, his expression going dark. "What if I would?"
The two boys glared at each other, Sebastian's wand still against Enoch's neck. It was like they were both waiting for the other to make a move.
"Put your wand down," Enoch warned quietly.
"Step away from me and I will."
"I'm not going to leave."
"Then I'll curse you."
"Do you really want to get us in trouble?"
"I want you to leave me alone."
"I already told you, I won't."
"Enoch," Sebastian spoke through his teeth. "I will give you three seconds."
Enoch slowly reached for his own wand, waiting for Sebastian to silently count his petty three seconds. And by the third second, Enoch jumped back at the same time and pointed his wand back at him.
"Expelliarmus!" They both shouted in unison. Their wands went flying in different directions, and the commotion caused a stir of students nearby to watch curiously. The boys stared back at each other, wide-eyed and unsure of what to do next. But before Enoch could do anything, Sebastian moved towards him and grabbed him by the collar.
"Why can't you just stay away from me when I ask you?" Sebastian spat, keeping Enoch in his grasp despite Enoch trying to push him away.
"I thought we were friends, Sebastian. Friends don't pull their wands out at each other."
"Says the one who pointed his wand back at me."
"What is going on here?!"
Both of the boys shot their heads up at the stairs next to them and watched Professor Ronen run down, pointing his finger at them. The students that were crowding around moved out of the way as he reached the landing.
"What is this fighting all about when you two should be in my class?"
Sebastian aggressively let go of Enoch's collar and stepped away.
"I'm sorry, sir," Enoch quickly apologised, straightening his clothes. "We just had a disagreement. It won't happen again."
"It certainly won't! I'm very sorry, boys, but this is cause for detention. Using unsafe magic like that out in the halls. You're very lucky I'm the one who caught you!" Professor Ronen made a tsk-tsk noise and shook his head. "Imagine the headmaster bearing witness to something like this! Detention would be a dream to you! Now, in my classroom. Go, go!"
He motioned for the boys to head up the stairs. Enoch glanced over to Sebastian, but Sebastian stared at the floor as he went on ahead, picking his wand up off the floor in the process. Enoch only sighed to himself at what a huge failure that was before following behind.
"Detention?" Ominis asked incredulously. "I thought your plan was to talk to him. What happened?"
Enoch dangled his feet over the ledge of the armrest and stared at the dank ceiling of the common room. He hadn't seen Sebastian since Charms just a few hours ago. His friend hadn't even shown up to dinner, either. But now Enoch was lounging, waiting for the time to go see Professor Sharp about his detention.
"Well, I tried," Enoch explained. "But I guess it didn't really work out the way I wanted it to. He pulled his wand on me."
"That egregious oaf," Ominis muttered, almost to himself. "He can never just use his words, can he?"
Enoch let out a loud sigh, absentmindedly counting the tiles that made the ceiling above him. "He'll come around. I'm sure of it."
"You put too much faith in Sebastian. I'm starting to think he's too much work for us to deal with. If he wants to act childish, then I'm willing to let him."
Enoch jumped up and sat in the chair correctly, swinging his legs off the armrest and feet planting to the floor. "You can't just say that. He's our friend."
"And look how much trouble he's given us. Is he really worth it?"
"Yes," Enoch answered without hesitation, but then paused in thought. "Don't you care about him?"
Ominis stayed quiet for a while, clutching the book he was reading in the chair adjacent to Enoch's. Enoch just stared until Ominis finally spoke again. "I do," he answered quietly. "I've been friends with him for six years, of course I do."
Somehow it sounded like Ominis didn't believe the words he was speaking himself, at least to Enoch. Enoch looked at the floor and bit the inside of his cheek in thought. He really, truly cared about Sebastian. Regardless of everything Sebastian does. And Enoch knew Ominis felt the same way, or at least wanted to feel the same way.
Enoch felt like he didn't ever really spend the time to think about how Ominis felt from Sebastian's brash treatment in the past year. Everyone has a limit, and maybe Ominis has reached his limit. Enoch desperately wanted to mend whatever rift this had become of them.
"Ominis," Enoch started. "I'm going to get through to him, I promise." He hoped Ominis understood just how serious and relentless he felt about his words.
A small twitch appeared on Ominis's lips, yet he stayed furrow-browed with his head still lowered. "Fine, I'm going to believe you."
Enoch smiled in return. "Thank you."
A few minutes went by and it was time for Enoch to serve his detention for the evening. He set off from the common room after wishing Ominis a good night and headed straight for Professor Sharp's classroom.
Once Enoch reached the room, he knocked on the heavy door and waited patiently before hearing a muffled "Come in!" He opened the door and entered the room, spotting his professor at the end of the room at his desk, talking to the Beauxbatons headmistress Auclair. The headmistress gave Enoch a charming smile before whispering something to Professor Sharp and walking towards the door. Enoch stood awkwardly in front of the doorway, giving room for her to pass as she exited the classroom.
Professor Sharp cleared his throat and stood up from his chair. "Come, over here."
Enoch obediently walked over to his professor.
"Where's Mr. Sallow?"
"Oh, I dunno, sir," Enoch awkwardly stuttered. Sebastian had been doing a good job at not being seen ever since their altercation on the staircase earlier that day. Enoch didn't make any effort to find him after that, as much as he wanted to. He just didn't want to anger him any more for the day, and give him some time to cool down.
Professor Sharp sighed loudly. "I'll give him another minute to arrive. If not then I'm sure another detention can fix that punctuality problem."
As if on cue, Sebastian walked in the open door, stone-faced and quiet, and also not looking anywhere near Enoch.
"How nice of you to join us, Mr. Sallow. Now, you boys are in charge of cleaning all the cauldrons inside my classroom. They're all in dire need of a good scrub, so don't be lazy. I've got a bucket of water and some rags over on that table. Spend as much time as you need. Get to it."
Enoch couldn't explain in proper words just how awkward the next hour was. After Professor Sharp had left, the classroom was left in pure silence, save for the constant sounds of water sloshing and cauldron scrubbing. Sebastian worked at a different table, and didn't look away from his cauldrons a single time. All while Enoch couldn't pay attention to cleaning from routinely looking over at the back of his friend's head, wondering what to say to him to break the silence. If he could even say anything at all. Would he get a response? Would Sebastian lose his temper again and land them in another detention?
Eventually Enoch couldn't take it anymore. The silent treatment was wearing him thin, and he was still determined to get through to his friend, whatever he was going through. In the middle of scrubbing one of his cauldrons he sighed and tossed the rag to the bottom of it, mentally working up the courage to speak up.
"Sebastian," he spoke quietly, although in the quiet classroom it echoed fairly loudly. Sebastian didn't break concentration at all, but there was no way he couldn't hear him. "Sebastian," Enoch said louder this time. "I'm really sorry how this ended up. I just wanted to have a chat with you about what's been going on between us three." Sebastian stayed silent, still mindlessly cleaning the cauldron he was working on. Enoch took it as a sign to continue talking.
"Ever since the tournament you've been completely different. I understand Ominis not telling you about Anne really hurt you, however we're not your enemies. Ominis had to make a decision regardless if you think it was wrong or not. And if I'm being honest with you, I think he should've told you after all. We're friends, and we need to have trust in each other. Just like we're helping Ominis in the competition, just like us helping each other last year. We need to be together."
Sebastian still scrubbed away at the cauldron. Enoch sighed in defeat, thinking of how else to persuade his friend to talk to him. He looked around helplessly. He wanted to at least make some progress before they finished their detention.
In a last ditch effort Enoch grabbed the handle to his cauldron and walked it over to the table Sebastian was working at. Going to the opposite side, he set the cauldron down and began cleaning it again. Sebastian had stopped his endless scrubbing, obviously dumbfounded by Enoch joining him. Which is exactly what Enoch wanted.
"Have you thought about what we're going to do for the second tournament?" Enoch asked as if nothing was wrong, continuing his work on the cauldron.
Sebastian worked slower, yet stayed quiet. It was expected.
"I mean, professor Weasley did try helping us, even if her words sounded cryptic. Maybe we can ask her again. Only this time can we take her more seriously."
Silent.
"D'you think all three tournaments are gonna be based on agility like the first one? If so, maybe we can take Ominis on runs outside the castle instead of duelling practice."
Still silent.
"Yule Ball's coming up, too. As far as I know Ominis hasn't gotten himself a date yet. Feel like we're gonna have to be matchmakers."
More silence.
"Have you got anyone you're going with yet? It's only in a couple weeks. Poppy asked me to go with her just the other day."
"Stop talking."
Enoch perked up at the sudden response, and couldn't help but smile a little. "Those are actual words. I'm glad. I mean, they're not kind words, but they're words."
"I meant it."
Even though Sebastian told him to shut up, Enoch couldn't help but feel elated, like he was making progress. With a smile and newfound joy he peered his head over to look at the cauldron Sebastian was cleaning.
"You've missed a spot, right there." Enoch outstretched his hand and pointed at a small stain.
"Don't care." Even so, Sebastian took his rag and began rubbing it over the stain Enoch had pointed out, which made him chuckle silently.
"Y'know, I'm glad we're friends, Sebastian." Enoch watched Sebastian's clumsy movements with the rag on the cauldron, almost entranced. "Out of anyone in this castle I'd enjoy spending my mornings, afternoons, and evenings with, you would be my first choice." He took in a comfortable breath. "Obviously Ominis would be my second. Don't tell him I said that, though." He chuckled and glanced up from Sebastian's hands to his face, and could've sworn he'd seen a smile.
"Are you going to finish cleaning or will you keep staring at me and elongating our detention?" Sebastian asked, sounding angry yet somehow calmer than he had been before.
Enoch smiled, picking his rag back up from the table and beginning to wipe away at the cauldron in front of him. It was silent between them again, yet somehow it felt comfortable. He was finally beginning to get through to his friend. He hoped this meant that tomorrow would be a new day, a better day, spent alongside his two best friends. Just like they always should.