Chapter Text
╔═══*.·:·.☽☼ ★ ☼☾.·:·.*═══╗
☼SEBASTIAN☼
Greens turned to yellows and yellows to orange and crimson as the trees and various vegetation in the Scottish highlands began their yearly hibernations. Grass that was once supple and bouncy underfoot became brown and crunchy as the days ticked by. The air had a distinctly crisp scent to it, that of dead leaves and wet soil from the near-constant rainfall. Indoors, the aroma of spiced tea and pumpkin pie permeated the castle walls.
Sebastian loved the fall. It was his favorite season, just above summer. While he loved the sun’s heat, something about the quiet beauty of autumn comforted him. The colorful display leading into the starkness of winter reminded him that there was beauty in all things, even in death and decay.
This year, however, he found himself thoroughly distracted and unable to enjoy the changing seasons as much as he usually would. He’d been unable to relax properly ever since the party. Sebastian could not begin to comprehend the multitude and complexity of emotions he felt during that bloody spin-the-bottle game.
At first, when you’d joined the circle, he was paranoid. He feared the bottle would direct you to kiss someone else, worst of all, Weasley. He wasn’t sure what he would have done if that happened. The mere sight of the two of you flirting had made him behave like a Muggle, using his fists instead of his wand. Merlin only knew what Weasley putting his slimy mouth on you would have wrought.
However, mercifully, nothing of the sort had occurred.
But Sebastian was still afraid when it was his turn, and the bottle landed on you. He hid it well behind a cocky smirk and brazen comments, but he was. Inside, at that moment, he was every inch the soft-hearted fifth year that kissed you in the Undercroft long ago. What if you rejected him again?
It was only a game, he told himself. You couldn’t reject him, not really. It wasn’t like he was genuinely making a move on you. You had to kiss for the game, and that was it. It didn’t mean anything. It shouldn’t mean anything to him anyway because you were his friend, and that was it. The stupid game shouldn’t matter. You would play the part and move on, and so would he. He definitely didn’t even want to kiss you, either; it was all just for fun.
Just for fun.
Just for fun.
He wasn’t sure how many times those words repeated in his mind until his lips finally crashed against yours. Once they did, he could not help but give in to the pleasure of it. Later, he would blame this on the alcohol.
But at that moment, he was all in, and so were you. He could hardly believe it, but so were you. You had kissed him like he was your last tether to this earth - like he was breathing the very air into your lungs.
Fuck, that little sound you’d made… It had awakened something primal in him that he hadn’t even known existed. Sebastian thought for one fleeting second that he had been barking mad to be threatened by Weasley because, by the way you responded so keenly to his touch, it seemed no one else had ever stood a chance.
But then, it was over. You pulled away from each other. Two ships passed in the night. Then, he remembered himself and his role in your life.
Just for fun.
Then, the bottle pointed at Ominis.
Your expression changed. It was different from when you looked at Sebastian. It was softer.
Then, Ominis panicked. He was blushing an absurd amount for someone who claimed they did not want to kiss you.
This was when Sebastian’s emotions spiraled out of control into a hurricane of conflicting and confusing colors.
The most prominent color was green. Sebastian was envious again. But he couldn’t figure out precisely who he envied.
This was Ominis. His best friend. His Moonlight. Suddenly, all at once, Sebastian realized just how easy it would be for you to snatch Ominis away from him. Ominis always did whatever you asked, obeying you over Sebastian.
Regarding Slytherin’s Scriptorium, Sebastian had begged him for days to share the location. But Ominis hadn’t budged a single inch on the issue no matter what Sebastian did or said, and then one conversation with you, and suddenly he was willing.
Then in the Catacomb, Ominis was determined to stop the both of you. Sebastian thought there was nothing either of you could do to convince him to let you pass. But, turned out, all that Ominis had needed was a moment with you to change his mind.
Watching Ominis’ reaction to the bottle, Sebastian realized that Ominis must behave like a bloody servant for you because he fancied you. By your devastated expression at his rejection of a kiss with you, you must feel the same.
This was something he always suspected in the back of his mind and always feared. There were many times during the course of your friendship that between the three of you, he began to feel left out. However, he never fully believed it until that moment.
It was all so confusing. Sebastian had no idea who he was actually jealous of in this situation. He felt intensely territorial about both of you. How could he ever cope if you abandoned him for each other?
Sebastian had been looking in all the wrong places. He’d been paranoid that Ominis was hiding a secret relationship with Anne and wasting so much energy fighting off all your potential suitors when the real threat was Ominis.
It wasn’t that he wanted you for himself or anything… You were just friends and he was definitely completely fine with that. He just didn’t want to lose you, that’s all. He didn’t want to lose Ominis either. He didn’t want to be forgotten.
It was an odd sort of feeling, something entirely foreign to him. Usually, when he pictured you with another man, it drove him mad. It made him so angry, although he could never figure out why. At least the anger was familiar, expected.
But when he imagined you with Ominis, he felt nothing of the sort. Instead, when he imagined you with Ominis, he became… excited.
His mind would start to run away from him, down wild, untamed tracks he’d never dared to ride through. He’d imagine Ominis’ lips on yours, what sounds you might make, what sounds he might make. He tried to reign in these thoughts, feeling ashamed to think of the two of you in such a way, but he couldn’t control them. These thoughts would quickly evolve from mere kisses to intimate caresses to writhing bodies, bare and slick with sweat.
Sebastian had accepted that he was attracted to both witches and wizards long ago. He’d even had fleeting affairs with several of his male classmates, although he had to be far more discreet about these than he did with his dalliances with women. While reasonably progressive for its time, Hogwarts was still not always a welcoming place for deviant people. Snogging between two girls during a party game was one thing; two lads openly in a relationship together was another.
Sebastian wasn’t disgusted with himself for having inappropriate thoughts about Ominis because he was a boy. He was disgusted with himself because it was Ominis ... and you , and it all felt like a violation. He had broken two critical rules he had set for himself without intending to.
Rule number 1: Do not engage in any non-platonic thoughts or feelings about Ominis (rule set on September 30th, 1890)(broken several times a day since the spin-the-bottle incident)
Rule number 2: Do not ever try to kiss you again (rule set on February 10th, 1891)(broken during the spin-the-bottle incident)
───── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ─────
During one particular Charm’s lesson, Sebastian would no longer be able to deny his desire for either of you, at least in the physical sense. Professor Ronen had decided to teach outdoors, as he was often prone to do. He’d set up a new, advanced Summoner’s Court, and Leander and Grace were competing for the top spot with such intensity that one might have thought their lives were at stake.
It was a sweltering day for the season, considering it was mid-October. The sun was beating down, and there was not a single cloud in the sky. There was the pleasant aroma of dried grass and dirt, Jobberknolls chirping, and the occasional Hippogriff soaring overhead. Sebastian sat beside you and Ominis, who had mostly returned to normalcy after that night in the Undercroft. You were both as touchy as ever, if not more so, after clearing the air of the awkwardness from the party.
This was great for you and Ominis but spelled disaster for poor Sebastian, who was now subjected to watching the objects of his shameful fantasies fawn all over each other. It was particularly tough to watch today because you and Ominis had become somewhat disheveled in the sun’s heat.
Ominis had shed his outer robes long ago, now slumped in the grass in only his white button-down to cover his chest, which was half open, exposing the skin shining with a thin sheen of sweat underneath. He also had the sleeves of it pulled up to his elbows, revealing his shockingly toned forearms, which were dotted here and there with little black marks. His blonde hair, usually perfectly styled, had begun to fall apart due to whatever product he used breaking down in the heat. Several loose pieces that had broken free from the rest fell across his temple, framing his face.
You had also taken off your cloak, although you maintained the modesty of your chest by keeping your shirt buttoned. That didn’t stop the thin fabric from hugging your breasts, though. But the most scandalous thing about your appearance was that you’d stripped off your stockings, leaving your legs completely exposed where they poked out of your skirt. The way you sat made it hike up a bit, and Sebastian could see quite a bit of your thighs.
To make matters worse, you were leaning against Ominis for support, with your hand casually resting on his knee, and Ominis had his arm around your shoulder, tracing little circles there with his fingers.
It was casual, perhaps odd if you were anyone else, but this kind of affection was commonplace for all three of you. It was perfectly platonic and innocent.
However, Sebastian’s perverted mind couldn’t help but corrupt the image, driving your hand higher up Ominis’ leg, imagining what Ominis’ fingers could do to you if they began tracing circles on a much more sensitive part of the body.
“... alright?”
Sebastian vaguely noticed your mouth moving but didn’t really register the words coming out.
“Sebastian?”
“Hm?” he answered, pulled back into reality once he heard his name.
“I said, are you alright?” you repeated yourself with a small laugh, although your brow was creased slightly with concern.
“Course I am; why wouldn’t I be?” Sebastian deflected the question with a casual shrug.
“Because you look like you just saw a dementor.”
“Nah, I’d say he looks like he saw a Veela.” Grace giggled as she skipped victoriously over to the three of you, plopping on Sebastian’s other side.
Leander slumped onto the grass a few feet away with the other Gryffindors, defeated.
Ominis frowned and removed his arm from your shoulder.
“Shut up, Grace,” Sebastian hissed.
───── ⋆⋅☼⋅⋆ ─────
After that embarrassing incident, Sebastian began actively avoiding both of you. It was easy to steer clear of you, but it was more challenging with Ominis, with him being his roommate. Thankfully, though, Ominis was already quite used to Sebastian arriving after he’d fallen asleep and leaving before he woke up. It wasn’t so suspicious when every other night turned into every night.
If either of you was affected by Sebastian’s absence, he couldn’t tell. It would have been hurtful how perfectly content you seemed without him if it wasn’t so convenient. Now that he wasn’t under constant watch, it was much easier for him to go about his days doing what he needed to do without question. His plan to cure all your pain and nightmares might come to fruition sooner than he’d hoped with all this free time he had now.
Before he knew it, Hallowe’en was around the corner. The time of year when the veil between life and death was at its thinnest. It would be the perfect opportunity to begin applying his theories to practice.
However, the morning of, you and Ominis seemed to have already decided on his plans for the evening. The two of you approached him in the Great Hall during breakfast as if no time had passed, as if Sebastian hadn’t spent the better part of the last two weeks ignoring both of you.
“Have you already got a costume for tonight?” you asked him with an impish grin as you began loading your plate with pumpkin pancakes.
“What?” Sebastian asked a bit more sharply than he’d intended, making your smile crumple a little.
“It’s Hallowe’en…” said Ominis, frowning. “You know, only your favorite holiday?”
Sebastian hummed to acknowledge Ominis’ statement.
“I’ll take that as a no to the costume then,” you said.
Sebastian didn’t answer; he just sipped from his mug of black coffee. Ominis wrinkled his nose and poured himself a cup of tea.
“Good,” you continued, “because the Ravenclaws-”
“Ugh, I forgot they were hosting this year…” Sebastian groaned.
“What’s wrong with that?” you asked, slightly offended on behalf of your Ravenclaw friends.
“Whenever they host a party, they always have some sort of whimsical, borderline snooty theme to it, and if you don’t follow the rules, you’re not allowed in!” Sebastian huffed, tossing his fork onto his plate. He’s lost his appetite. “It’s Hallowe’en, we should be free to dress how we like, but no, the Ravenclaws have to control everything - even our bloody costumes.”
“I think it’s fun!” you smiled. “I think it’s creative, and I like seeing everyone in costumes that all go together. It sets a mood.”
“Oh yeah?” Sebastian quirked a brow. “What’s the theme this year, then?”
You were silent for a moment as if hesitant to answer. It was probably because you were trying to think of a way to express the theme without Sebastian being turned off and making fun of it.
“Celestial,” Ominis answered before you could.
“Ha!” Sebastian snorted and folded his arms. “Told you. Snooty. I mean, what does that even mean for costumes? Are we all meant to go as the bloody stars?”
You shifted a little in your seat, almost looking embarrassed.
Ominis, somehow feeling your reaction even though he couldn’t see your face, rested his hand on yours.
Sebastian’s blood boiled. He suddenly seemed to remember how to be angered at the sight of intimacy between you rather than aroused.
“No, Sebastian, we are not all meant to go as the stars,” Ominis answered, turning his head in Sebastian’s direction with an almost condescending frown. “She would like for herself to be the stars, for me to be the moon-”
Sebastian’s heart skipped a beat at that. The moon. Moonlight. How could you possibly know about that? Did Ominis remember? He studied both of you intently, feeling like he may faint from nerves. He gleaned nothing from your expressions, though. Ominis spoke like it was the most casual thing in the world to say. Sebastian wasn’t used to anything making him nervous like this; he was usually always confident in the face of anything. Apparently, not this.
“-and for you to be the sun.” Ominis finished.
Sebastian was momentarily silent, processing what Ominis had just said and attempting to conceal the fear that had surged through him. Then, finally, he answered with a barking laugh.
“What kind of a costume is that? We’re meant to dress like the sun, moon, and stars? So what, you want me to fashion a giant glowing ball to walk around in all night?” Sebastian chastised Ominis without looking your way. Despite his rude response, his ears had gone a bit pink at the knowledge that you associated him with the sun. He thought a black hole would be a more accurate comparison. “Besides, isn’t the sun also a star? Wouldn’t that mean we’d both be giant glowing balls?”
“No!” you spoke up. “Don’t be an idiot… The theme isn’t meant to be literal; more conceptual. I thought I might dress you in gold and do your makeup….”
Sebastian wanted to keep making fun of the idea, but you looked so earnest and proud of yourself that he couldn’t bring himself to do it. The anger he’d felt before when Ominis took your hand had quickly faded away. He wasn’t entirely sure what you meant by ‘makeup,’ but if it kept that adorable smile on your face, he would let you do absolutely anything to him.
“Alright, then.” Sebastian gave a defeated sigh, but the corner of his lips twitched from fighting back a smile. “I shall be your sun.”
╚═══*.·:·.☽☼ ★ ☼☾.·:·.*═══╝