This Choice Will Have Consequences
Prequel one shot to Carry the Weight (2/???)
“To cast the Cruciatus Curse… you have to mean it.” Those words repeated over and over again in Anastasia’s head for days after Salazar Slytherin’s Scriptorium.
She stared at herself in the mirror. There were bruises all across her body from the blast and its residual effects. As she applied a healing salve that Ominis had given her she just stared. He didn’t mean it, right? Sebastian’s intentions were to save Anne, not hurt Anastasia. It was just a necessary action to not only get them the hell out of the scriptorium, but to gain information that might be able to save Anne. That’s the only reason he was able to not only successfully cast Crucio, but move on from it like nothing had happened. As if he hadn’t walking into the scriptorium without even checking on Anastasia. Ominis had to be the one to help her up on her feet. Ominis who was already upset that she convinced him to lead the towards the scriptorium, and then on top of that traumatized again by the curse being cast.
Anastasia shut her eyes trying to get herself together but that only brought forth the memory more.
“Anastasia, you’re okay. It’s going to be okay.” Ominis said as he frantically rushed to her side and held her as her body spasmed.
Though her vision was blurry from her tears, she was able to tell Sebastian barely gave her a second glance before walking into the scriptorium.
She opened her eyes and frantically splashed water from the sink onto her face. She then patted it dry with the towel next to her. She walked away without taking another glance in the mirror.
Her day went on business as usual, but Anastasia wasn’t really there. She was simply just moving through the routine without thinking. Change into robes, check; head to the Great Hall, check. As she sat down she instinctively pour herself a cup of pumpkin juice, grabbed a slice of toast and ate silently. The toast was really all she could stomach since there was still intense pain surging throughout her body.
“Stas, you alright? You’re unusually quiet.” Anora nudged Anastasia’s arm slightly. However, this action made her wince in pain.
Instead of addressing it Anastasia just stood up slowly, “I’m not feeling great. I think I’ll head to the infirmary.”
Anora glanced at Ominis and Sebastian suspiciously. She knew Anastasia had mentioned having plans with them the previous day and now Anastasia was practically a porcelain doll. “Would you like someone to accompany you?” Anora asked.
Anastasia just held up her hand, “No, I’ll be alright.” And with that she headed out the Great Hall.
Truthfully, Anastasia had no intention to head to the infirmary. She just needed to not be analyzed by her friends around her. She slowly but surely made it to the Room of Requirement. As she entered, Deek greeted her automatically before turning and realizing Anastasia was about to collapse on the nearby couch.
“Oh dear, Ms. Anastasia is there something Deek can do to help?” He asked concerningly as he walked over to where she was lying down.
“Unfortunately I don’t think so Deek. I just have to wait this one out.” She sighed.
Deek popped away for a moment and came back with her kneazle, Mara, and placed her near Anastasia. He then went back to working around the room. Anastasia was grateful he took notice of what things made her happy. Mara sat at the foot of the couch and Anastasia smiled just a little.
She rested on the couch for a majority of the day, Mara moving between sitting at Anastasia’s feet to laying on her chest. Though it hurt, she didn’t mind the love. She hadn’t really processed how badly the curse had affected her until she was slowly sitting up and was hit with a wave of dizziness.
Anastasia looked at the clock on the wall, lunch time. It would already be suspicious that she hadn’t shown up to any of her classes, but if her friends went to check on her in the infirmary and didn’t find Anastasia there she would have to come up with some reason she wasn’t there or in her classes which would be more of a headache than just sucking it up and going to lunch. She brought Mara back to the forest vivarium, handed her some treats, and then went on her way.
Anastasia was stopped on her way to the Great Hall by Garreth Weasley. “Anastasia, hey can we chat?” He asked as he jogged to catch up to her.
She kept walking, “Sure but can we chat on the way to lunch, I’m a bit hungry.”
He caught up and walked next to her. He was chatting about some new potion he was experimenting with. Anastasia was listening and nodding along but she was still distracted thinking about the night prior. Garreth opened the door to the Great Hall and continued talking. They stopped a little to the left of the door so that they would be out of the way of people walking into lunch. “So, do you think you would want to try it when I’m done?”
Anastasia tilted her head, “Hmm I’ll think about it. Your experiments tend to be a bit unpredictable Garreth.” She let out a soft laugh.
A faint blush appeared across his face, “I suppose you have a point. What if I make others try it first and then you?”
She smiled and held her hand out, “Deal.” The two shook on it and she walked toward her table.
“Stas! Are you feeling better?” Silas asked as he scooped food up onto his plate.
“Yeah, I still feel a bit off but I should be ok to survive the rest of the day.” She dished herself food as well.
Ominis sat next to her that day instead of Sebastian, she had a feeling that Ominis wasn’t going to let Sebastian talk his way into forgiveness today. Ominis had not said anything to her, but she appreciated the space between her and Sebastian he was giving her. Anora was still curious but she knew better than to push Anastasia, so instead she caught Anastasia up on all the happenings of the day so far.
When lunch was coming to an end, Anastasia grabbed her bag and got up, “I have to go talk with Fig but I’ll meet you all in Professor Sharp’s class.”
Before she could make it all the way out of the Great Hall, Sebastian got up and ran after her. “Stassie, can we talk?”
Anastasia looked down at her feet, “Now is not the best time Sebastian, I have to go talk to Fig.”
He tilted her chin up so he could look her in the face. “Stas, you have to believe that I did not want to hurt you. I offered to take the curse instead. I just want to make sure you’re okay.”
She looked in his eyes, if he was lying he was damn good at it. She thought for a moment, being mad at Sebastian was what she was supposed to do, but it was so hard to do so when he looked at her like this. She wanted to be mad, she really did, but her heart was not letting her. It was best to end this conversation now before she forgave him.
“Seb, I am not going to pretend like you didn’t hesitate to use that spell on me. I am also not going to pretend like it didn’t hurt when it was Ominis that helped me after, not you. I just need a few days to process this. Now I really have to go speak to my father.” And with that, she walked towards Fig’s classroom.
