Synopsis: Sometimes all it takes is a little help from your friends to get you out of a sticky, relic-induced mess. Or into one. Either way, Sebastian's friends mean well. (Probably.)
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 3461
Pairing: Sebastian Sallow x Male MC (Damien Evans)
Tags: POV Sebastian Sallow; Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; In the Shadow of the Relic Quest; Timeline Shenanigans; Bisexual Sebastian Sallow; Pining Sebastian Sallow; Sebastian Sallow Is Bad at Feelings; Crush at First Sight; Friendship; Developing Friendship; Humor; Banter; Short Sebastian Sallow (yeah, I made it a tag; you're welcome)
Author's Note: I wrote this one shot eons ago, and it has gone through a fair few iterations (LOL). Thank you to the HLMCU for their patience and for letting me borrow their MCs again. Y'all are the best. Love ya! ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜
@hogwartslegacyprideweek
Sebastian Sallow had gone quite barmy.
Not that he knew it.
Yet.
But the more he shook the damned relic in his hand, which didn't seem to be doing anything at all, the angrier he became.
Well, at least Anne was here. Although, to Sebastian's great frustration, so was Ominis, since he'd been lurking in the shadows, as he was so often wont to do. Never mind that Sebastian had to incapacitate them both. Cheers to Petrificus Totalus for that. At least something proved useful.
"So, did you have a plan here, Sebastian, or what?" That was Adelia, naturally. Sebastian and Adelia butted heads a lot. Today was no exception.
"Right?" said Jane, standing to the right of her. Jane and Adelia were, to put it kindly, the most unhinged of his friends, so, naturally, they tended to band together when it came to teasing him. "He clearly has no idea what that thing does."
Sebastian could clap back too, though. "Would you two shut it?" he snapped. He was trying to think. If only he had lost them before he reached the catacomb. But he hadn't. So, here they were.
And so was literally everyone else—because, of course, Alyn, Cal, Theo, Val, and Ale had also decided that sticking their noses in other peoples' business was a brilliant idea. Having so many friends was great and all, but it also had its downsides. Three heads were better than one, sure. But eight? Eight was just ridiculous.
Friends, ugh!
So much for being stealthy. So much for getting this done quickly and pulling the wool over everyone else's eyes. So much for all of Sebastian's sly planning.
Merlin's beard, the Sorting Hat must have been having a laugh when it placed him in Slytherin, for cunning, he was, apparently, not.
"Have you tried, I don't know, setting the relic on fire?" Cal suggested, ever so helpfully, with a casual shrug.
Sebastian glared. "As much as I enjoy the concept of fire, and all of the spells that conjure it, I'm not convinced that's the best method of approach."
"I was just throwing it out there." Cal sidled over to the cavern wall, then slid down it in a leisurely way, crossing his legs when he reached the bottom, looking far too relaxed.
Sebastian would have laughed if he hadn't been so damn frustrated. The relic was supposed to be the answer to curing Anne! So why did it seem so worthless?
It certainly looked powerful enough—its jagged triangular shape, ominous red glow, and human skeleton design practically screamed Dark Magic.
And yet here he was. In a dark, damp catacomb. Holding the blasted thing aloft in the air. And nothing.
Sebastian had had enough. With great aplomb, he chucked the relic at the ground.
There! The relic deserved it.
Val and Ale flinched at his sudden movement, while Alyn and Theo let out a pair of perfectly synchronized yelps.
"Whoa," Adelia said, stepping forward. "That was… dramatic of you. I suppose I'm not surprised."
Sebastian dropped to his knees in the dirt and groaned. "Not now, Adelia." Head in hands, he tugged at his hair. What next? Surely this wasn't his last option. Surely there was another way. Anne had to be well. She simply had to be. Sebastian would make it so.
"Everyone, look!" Theo whispered. He sounded oddly concerned.
Sebastian's head shot back up.
The relic was trembling. And glowing much brighter than before.
Jane, who had been closest to its new position on the ground, took a quick step back, then said, "Should we, erm, do something about that?"
Sebastian locked eyes with Adelia.
"What are you looking at me for?" she asked.
"You're the one who takes the most risks of all of us," Cal answered for Sebastian. He rose from the floor and strode toward the relic. He leaned down to peer at it, then leaped back when it let out a hiss reminiscent of a steaming teapot.
"Yeah, Adelia, I'm gonna let you sort that out," he said as he made his retreat.
But, as it turned out, there was no time, for a heartbeat later the relic exploded in a blinding flash of light.
//
Sebastian awoke to screaming. Lots and lots of screaming. So, uh, that wasn't ideal.
And what was that smell? An acrid heat snaked its way through his nostrils… Oh. Fire. He knew that scent all too well.
The air was too thick, choking. His eyes watered, blurring his vision, and he couldn't see anything past his own hands, which he had extended before him, fumbling for his wand. Ah—there. He clasped it like his very life depended on it. Which it probably did.
Sebastian's head throbbed, and something warm trickled down his face. Blood, mostly likely. But he had little time to dwell on it, too focused on steadying himself and reclaiming his bearings.
Someone was shouting in a different language. Hm, it sounded vaguely Latin-inspired. Italian, perhaps? Sebastian wasn't quite certain.
He staggered to his feet, his knees threatening to give way beneath him. Someone grabbed him by the shoulders, righting him. Sebastian swiveled around to find Val. Her blonde hair, tinged faintly pink, was a tangled snarl. Her face was covered in scratches, no doubt sliced by flying debris from the…
Explosion. There had been an explosion!
"Welcome back to the land of the living," Val said. "Though I might need to revise that statement."
Sebastian blinked. "Meaning what, exactly?"
Val didn't have a chance to respond. Before she could get a word in edgewise, an Inferius—of all the damned things!—lurched toward them, growling and hissing, its decaying arms outstretched, reaching for them, a menacing look in its beady black eyes.
"Incendio!" someone shouted from Sebastian's immediate left. The Inferius burst into flames, only for another to take its place.
Shit. Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dim, smoke-filled catacomb, he came to a deeply unfortunate realization: it was positively swarming with Inferi.
More shouting. More spells flying. Sebastian shook his head— ow —and dropped into his usual fighting stance: confident and assured, despite the incessant pounding of his heart and the sharp, needling ache in his skull. First priority: the Inferi. Then he could figure out what in Merlin's name was going on.
For the next few minutes, survival took precedence over curiosity. He and Val carved through horde after horde, until they finally managed to make a dent in the crowd of undead. Only then did Sebastian risk a glance around the room.
Half of the people here he did not recognize. At all.
Well. That was new.
Perhaps they were people from the nearby hamlet? Yes, that must be it. Until Sebastian noticed one of them—a girl with long, springy golden curls cascading down her back. She raised her wand, and in one fluid motion, she cast a spell. Except it was no ordinary spell.
Sebastian was familiar with that kind of magic, but he thought it was rare, to a certain extent that is. Not so rare among his friend group, but rare in the greater wizarding world. The unfamiliar girl was using ancient magic, and she pulled a move which Jane and Adelia, who were the two of his friends who used it most often, fondly called an "Ancient Magic Throw."
And then, another one of the strangers cast the exact same, wordless spell. A handful of Inferi burst into smithereens before Sebastian's very eyes, which were now somehow even wider than before.
Sebastian's palms grew slick. Was he imagining this? No. No, he wasn't. Val had gone still beside him. She was staring, agog, at the unexpected scene unfolding before them.
They weren't the only ones.
The fighting had all but stopped. At least for everyone but the newcomers. Jane and Adelia stood off to the side, backs pressed against the wall, panting. Across the room, Alyn and Theo had frozen, Theo holding a vial of Wiggenweld to his lips but not drinking. Cal leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, smirking like this was all some elaborate joke. Beside him, Ale looked as though he wanted to say something; his mouth gaped open until he noticed Sebastian was watching and he snapped it shut.
Val leaned in, whispering something in Sebastian's ear.
"What?" he said, completely missing what she said amidst his confusion and the spells being slung this way and that around them.
"Who are all these people?" she, allegedly, repeated.
"Haven't the foggiest."
Sebastian's eye snagged on a tall young man at the back of the room. His blond hair was drawn into a low, twisted bun, more akin to a woman's hairstyle than a man's. He was almost painfully thin for his height, as if he subsisted on nothing but air and water, yet his spellcasting was nothing short of masterful. His wrist-flicks were razor sharp, so precise it cut Sebastian to his core. He needed to duel whoever this stranger was, to see what more he could do.
But later. Obviously.
For now, Sebastian could only watch as the young man moved with such elegant grace that, for a moment, it didn't seem like combat at all. It was a dance—an unfamiliar one, sure, but swift and fluid, totally mesmerizing. Sweat poured down the stranger's forehead and into his eyes, but it didn't seem to bother him at all. Not one bit.
"Sebastian!"
"Sorry, I was…" He hesitated. No way in hell was he admitting that he was distracted.
Luckily, Val didn't press the issue.
And then Ominis was bellowing in his face. "What in Merlin's bloody name were you thinking, Sebastian?"
Ominis shoved him. Hard. Very hard. Sebastian nearly fell backward on his arse, but managed to catch himself. Somehow. Ominis was so much taller than him. Not that now was a great time to dwell on such an infuriating fact.
"Ow!"
"You fucking deserved that, and you know it." Ominis clenched his fists at his sides; his face turned a bright tomato red. "How could you? How could you do that to your sister? To me?"
"I was trying to help her," Sebastian shot back, an edge to his tone. Bitter, but also… apologetic? No, not that. Never that. He had nothing to apologize for, after all.
Speaking of Anne, where was she?
A spell sliced through the air from behind him. Expelliarmus.
His wand wrenched from his hand and flew across the room. Sebastian whipped around, his expression darkening.
Who dared strip him of his wand?
Oh.
It was Anne.
That… made a lot more sense than he cared to admit. But still. Still.
"Hey! In case you haven't noticed, I was using that." He gestured at the Inferi still swarming the room as another spell whizzed past him, striking down one that had been mere seconds away from pinning him to the ground.
"You're welcome for that," Adelia called over her shoulder as she bolted past him.
The tall blond boy was now casting alongside another young man with wavy black hair. Their movements were strikingly similar, almost as if they'd spent years dueling together, although Sebastian had the oddest feeling that wasn't actually the case. The dark-haired one was just as graceful, but for some reason, Sebastian couldn't tear his eyes away from the blond. It was utterly perplexing.
"Watch out!"
The warning came from a girl with short brunette hair, deep shadows under her eyes, and a prominent scar slicing through one of her eyebrows.
The warning was for him.
Sebastian yelped and ducked to the side, slamming straight into yet another strange girl, this one with dark brown hair and a pale complexion. To his immense surprise, she apologized to him.
How many girls were in this catacomb? If he were a different young man, there would be far too many girls to choose from. WHOA, don't get there, Sebastian. It wasn't as if they were prostrating themselves at his feet. Although… hm, there was an image.
But alas, yet another completely different girl snapped him out of his pleasant imaginings, shouting, "Vaffanculo!"
Oh yes. That was definitely Italian. And Sebastian knew a curse word when he heard one.
And then the Inferi were on them again. When would this end? And where had the Inferi even come from in the first place?
Everyone was fighting them now, which was a good thing. And when the last Inferius burst into flames and dissipated into ash at Sebastian's feet, they all paused, breathing hard, forming a giant lumpy oval, gawping at each other in stunned silence.
"Who are all of you?" Jane asked.
The curly-haired girl raised a perfectly contoured eyebrow. "I could ask the same of you." She turned her nose up, sniffing in indignation.
The girl with the scar spoke next, directing her words at Sebastian, her eyes narrowed. "Did someone cast a Shrinking Charm on you?"
"What?"
"You're positively miniscule. It suits you." She brought her free hand to her mouth, as if to stifle a laugh, but then seemed to change her mind, dropping her hand back down and letting out a loud, unladylike snort.
"I am not!" Sebastian shot back, extremely offended.
Ominis, who Sebastian hadn't realized was still standing nearby, muttered something under his breath. Anne must have heard him because she burst into laughter as well.
Was everyone out to get Sebastian today? Even his own sister?
The dark-haired girl with the kind eyes cut in: "I really don't think now's the time to be insulting people—"
"I wasn't insulting him! I was just making an observation. It's not my fault that it was funny."
Someone cleared their throat. At first, Sebastian thought it was the blond boy, but then he realized it was, in fact, the other one that had been fighting alongside him.
"She has a point. Do you not know who I am?" he asked Sebastian, his brow furrowed.
"Obviously not," Sebastian scoffed back.
As his dark-haired interrogator stepped back, seemingly affronted by Sebastian's attitude, an unreadable expression crossed the face of the blond boy standing next to him. And yet he still hadn't uttered a word. Sebastian wasn't sure why, but he really wanted to hear his voice. Why wasn't he speaking?
By then, of course, the Italian girl was muttering obscenities again. All of the strangers had spoken aloud except for the one Sebastian most wanted to speak. Typical.
You know what, he was going to have to say something, wasn't he?
"Kneazle got your tongue?" Sebastian said, narrowing his eyes at him.
The boy brought his hands to his chest, gesturing with a "Who, me?" look on his face.
"Yes, you! Are you mute or something?"
He shrugged.
Oh, for Merlin's sake!
"Fine, don't talk. There are enough people in this catacomb for me to have conversations with for days."
Well, maybe it turned out that wasn't true. For the moment the last word slipped out of Sebastian's lips, he realized that everyone had broken off into small groups and they were all chattering amongst themselves. He and the blond boy were the odd ones out.
He glared.
The blond boy glared back.
"Do you have a name?" Sebastian said, holding back a sigh.
"Evans. Damien."
"He speaks! I'm Sallow—"
"Sebastian," Damien cut in, rendering Sebastian speechless for once. "Sebastian Sallow. I know."
"How? I've never seen you before."
He nodded, frowning. "Yes, I realize that now. I think we might have a problem."
//
It soon became clear that Damien was correct. They had a rather large problem.
And it was looking like it might very possibly, extremely unfortunately, be Sebastian's fault. But, erm, playing the blame game wasn't ever productive, so it didn't really matter all that much. Or so Sebastian told himself.
If only the rest of the people in the room thought similarly.
"Sebastian! What is wrong with you?" That was Alyn. She didn't usually yell at Sebastian in such a manner, so it was a tad bit concerning.
"I didn't know that the relic was going to do whatever it did!" Sebastian yelled back.
In fact, no one was even sure what had happened. All they knew was that the strange new people had been fighting Inferi—and, to his horror, his uncle—alongside another Sebastian Sallow. Some tall, dark, and handsome imposter, apparently. Something had then yanked them all out of the battle and dumped them unceremoniously into the catacomb with him—the real Sebastian—and all of his fellow… schoolmates. Friends. Loads of them. So many that sometimes he wondered how he'd managed to make so many.
And hm. It seemed as if Sebastian might also make some new friends out of whatever this was. Some nicer ones even, like Jo. She appeared to be the most friendly of the lot, although it didn't go unnoticed by Sebastian that she stayed as far away from him as physically possible when introductions were being made.
Perhaps Matty? Although she was acting a bit awkward too, eyeing him quizzically.
Tori appeared annoyed, although she seemed to have found a friend in Val. They stood shoulder to shoulder whispering something or other to each other. He had a mind to shout at them to share whatever they were saying with the class, but he held his tongue.
"Sebastian…"
Sebastian shook himself back to awareness, wincing as he remembered his head still ached horribly. Damien blinked back at him.
"This is, erm, going to sound strange, seeing as, uh, everyone seems to be cross with you right now—"
"What's new?" Sebastian interrupted. Friends were allowed to be cross with each other. Better that than silence. "Get on with it."
Damien narrowed his eyes. "Forget it."
Sebastian sighed. Perhaps he should let him speak. At this point, there was nothing he could say that would surprise him any more than he'd already been surprised today.
"Sorry," he said, rubbing at the back of his neck. "It's been a day." He paused, then added, "As I'm sure you're very aware."
Damien laughed. It startled Sebastian entirely. Not just because he didn't expect it, but also because the timbre of it enchanted him. Too much. Damien's laugh was deep and low, throaty, but also sweet, like clotted cream spread across a piping hot scone, Sebastian's favorite.
Sebastian had a mind to slap himself. Now was not the time. And anyway, what even was this feeling? He wasn't entirely sure. Whatever it was, he hated it. It made him feel weak, vulnerable. His skin was even tingling! How positively revolting.
"You're different," Damien said, "than my Sebastian, that is. But you have his sense of humor."
Sebastian's eyebrows raised involuntarily. "Do I?" Why did his voice sound so high-pitched? He coughed, then repeated the question, lower this time. Yes, that was better. Much better.
"Mhm. Anyway, as I was saying, are you alright?"
Sebastian's jaw nearly dropped to the floor. "Did you hit your head when you fell from…"—DON'T SAY HEAVEN, SEBASTIAN. DON'T YOU DARE SAY IT—"...wherever you came from?" Phew, that was a close call.
Damien laughed. Again. "I did, actually. It hurts rather a lot."
"Oh," Sebastian mumbled, remembering he had a Wiggenweld in his robe. "Here!" Making contact with the vial and pulling it out of his pocket, he thrust it at Damien, shortly before recalling it was the only one he had, and his head hurt too. Oh well, Damien probably needed it more.
Damien's lips curled up into a shockingly genuine smile. Sebastian noticed he had a dimple. Just one.
Stop noticing things, Sebastian, he internally screamed at himself. This was stupid.
"Thanks," Damien said, his eyes sparkling. Golden-brown, deeply hypnotic, absolutely breathtaking. Quite literally. Sebastian was suddenly very light-headed.
Dammit.
"Are you two done?" Cal cut in. "Salazar's beard! You literally just met."
What was Cal insinuating? Never mind, Sebastian still needed to find a cure for Anne, assuming whatever nonsense that occurred with the relic didn't also miraculously heal her in the process. Wouldn't that be quite something though?
Speaking of the relic, where was it? It must be around here somewhere…
Anyway, Sebastian supposed the more pressing issue was that they needed to figure out what to do with all the new people. How were they going to get everyone back from their place of… origin? From where they… began? From… whence they came?
This was a fine mess they'd all landed themselves in. Well, there was nothing for it but to set to work. Whatever that entailed. But where to begin?
He supposed the first step was to gain their trust. Make some new friends. He was good at that for some reason. Friends, then. That was simple enough.
//
MC tag list: @accio-bagel @girl-named-matty @savingsallow @espressoristretto-patronum @leaping-toadstool-caps @freddiestheproblemchild @ravenwind-75 @ps-cactus
Warnings: mild violence, death, and bodily fluids.
Authors note:
People wanted Adelia to be set free. So I have done that for them. But they had to learn the consequences of the *madness* this girl has.
So I have included some of my friends who love Adelia’s characters in here. (With their permission btw)
@heylorrain Melione and Lorrain
@butternutt613 Diana
@anomalyaly Elsie
@morelikeravenbore Aurelie
@bookie-bookdust Lucia
@galaxiasgreen Gibby
Banner by @rypnami
She was beautiful with emerald eyes and soft blonde hair that flowed around her shoulders. She had to be the most beautiful girl in all of Hogwarts. All the boys loved her, her sweet smile, the sweeter smell of apples that clung to her skin like it was emanating from her pores. They tripped over themselves to serve her, her precious pets wrapped around her finger on an invisible leash.
Garreth was always sneaking out to get her ingredients from the forest, as he hated to see her cry when she complained how she feared the woods at night yet needed something for the new potion she was making. And she would always let him help and would help him with his brews out of her grateful heart.
Sebastian carried her books and helped her keep up on her notes, dark circles under his eyes. But his eyes were full of so much adoration that every girl in Hogwarts wished they were on her.
All the girls wanted to be her. Because with her walking the halls it was hopeless to find a boyfriend. Even Ominis caved her to every request, Amit made her his star, Duncan fetched her a leaf himself just because she glanced his way. She had the best clothes too,and her skin! Oh it was flawless.
Adelia Gray was the epitome of perfection but there was something off about her. Everyone she encountered seemed to vanish. But no one ever remembered. They just knew to be wary when she talked to them, not knowing if it was because of her beauty or because of the warning bells.
Her birthday was coming. She would be 17 on the 31st of October. Everyone loved Halloween and this year would be particularly special. She had requested a ball and the Headmaster agreed. Even he was infatuated with the girl, she got him to do things others could not.
“Everyone shall be invited,” she called sweetly, the gentle French accent making everyone sigh. “I consider all of you my friends here. It is rare we get such celebrations, and I want to make sure to see everyone before I go because once I am 17 I will be leaving you.”
A chorus of disappointed voices rose but was silenced when she raised a delicate hand.
“You all know I arrived later than all of you here, not even in September because of my birthday. It made it difficult for me to fit in, made it difficult for me to catch up but now, now I’ve made it. So we will have a last hurrah for me, so I can thank you all for your amazing hospitality.”
Everyone cheered, it would be a party to remember.
~~
Adelia sighed, sinking onto her bed pulling off another ruined dress, red dripping onto the floor.
A laugh came from the smoking orb sitting on her bedside table, a dark haired girl’s image swimming among the indigo light.
“You know you should really wear something more practical for this kind of thing,” she drawled. “You could die from tripping over your dress. It’s like a cape on a broom, slowing.”
“Why, you don’t trust my abilities?” Adelia snapped back.
“I don’t when you wear something like that! A pretty white dress for murdering wizards, very practical, very demure. Doesn’t make you stand out at all.” She said sarcastically.
“If you’re going to just mock me, go away before I poison your drink next time we meet.” Adelia threatened, turning her back to pull on her nightgown.
“I’d kill you first. But anyways, I just wanted to know how the plan was going.”
“What plan? I have a lot Mel,” Adelia said as she flipped through a book of potions.
“You know what plan!! The one where you murder everyone.” The girl in the orb played with some lightning in her hand as she waited for the blonde to respond.
“Oh that one I’m not so sure about.”
“You must be bloody mad not to go through with that now after all the work you’ve put in! They hurt you, mocked you, hell even tortured and nearly killed you. They broke you, you break them you coward!!”
Adelia glowered at her but a smirk turned up her lips. “Oh I’m going to, I was just playing with you.”
“You’re too good at lying.”
“Thanks, now here’s what’s going to happen….”
~~
Ominis didn’t usually like parties but this one he was looking forward to. Adelia had finally started to feel comfortable. Her first year was awful and their relationship was rocky. She’d done some questionable things, and he thought he had lost both his friends to the dark side forever.
But she’d come around. They both had.
She focused on her music and Sebastian was studying to be a healer. All was well.
The students no longer bribed her to do things for them, pushed her around and threatened her. No longer made fun of her from coming to the school months late. He no longer heard them throw jabs at her for her family, for her unordinary eyes, and how she was a freak being a seer.
This night would go well.
Or so he thought.
He greeted his friends one by one, Diana, Elsie, Aurelie, Lucia, as well as Gibby, Lorrain and then his girlfriend Johanna who took his arm. They were all major fans of Adelia, bending to her will but they didn't see it that way.
They didn’t see the gaslighting, the manipulation. And that was as planned, because Adelia had trained her boys to make them blind to it. Ominis’s anger seemed justified, and Sebastian’s excuses. So her tears, her sweet words, they seemed much less harmful. Just like their glasses of wine that she poured, saying it was just another one of her new recipes, the ones they loved.
“Cheers my darlings, to happy ever afters to you all. That you all experience the kindness you gave me, and never the pain and heart aches. May we dance all night long!”
Glasses clinked, a lovely sound to his ears and Ominis paused a moment to let it soak in.
Until his glass shattered on the floor when he heard the first scream.
~~
Golden and sweet like honey, the wine went down until everything burned. It was like a fire had spread across the room, as people were lit with a consuming desire for the thing they wanted most. And it didn’t matter what it took to get it, it didn’t matter if innocents were harmed.
Because Adelia wanted everyone who ever knew her to vanish. They had destroyed her, so now they would destroy themselves, and experience what it was like to have no control, and they’d kill for her. If they destroyed each other, she could for once wash her hands clean.
People were always willing to fight each other over the smallest thing if given the right initiative.
And that was struggling with the inability to breathe, throat slowly closing as they burned inside.
Diana, Gibby, Jo and Lorrain were fighting tooth and nail, magic and no magic for Ominis, their biggest desire. Gibby was on Diana’s shoulders dragging her nails down her cheeks leaving deep gouges as they tried to reach Ominis while Lorrain unleashed purple lightning at Johanna who was a small ball of terrifying flames, melting the ground around her as she stood between them and Ominis.
Elsie, Aurelie, and Lucia were a ball on the floor, ripping hair and clothing off each other and Sebastian as they fought like angry dogs, but sounded more like shrieking parrots as they cursed each other out. It was questionable whether they were more angry or more horny.
The whole great hall was full of screaming and cries of pain. Blood was shed, spells were cast, and the air filled with the smell of iron, burnt flesh, vomit, salty tears, and her acidic smoke. No one would escape in one piece, no one would escape at all. Break her heart, lose your head.
She danced by herself in the middle of the room, the green smoke emanating from the dying, wrapping around her as she twirled with an evil smile twitching her lips, fiery skulls in her eyes. The crown they made her of gardenias sat on her head, slowly turning black, as her tears stung her cheeks.
Why was she crying? We’ll never know, it could have been guilt, relief, or some sick mix of them both.
I just know that no one dared upset her ever again, because everyone knows Adelia, the Killer Queen’s name. Everyone knows her castle used to be Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and everyone knows the story of its tragic end and all but one of the students.
Everyone knows that if you break her heart you’ll meet your end.
Just letting you know this my last day on tumblr for a bit. There are going to be some queued posts that I finally unpaused that will be posting while I’m gone.
However I won’t be here to answer any asks, tags, or comments. I’m going away for the summer starting June 4th but have decided to leave today because I’m sick and I also have a lot of work, as well as my packing.
It’s going to be so weird not being here. I haven’t been too active of late since work picked up but not being active at all ( including on Discord ) will be super strange. Although I have only been on here a year it seems like it’s been forever.
I love you all and will miss you terribly while I’m away. Don’t burn it all down while I’m gone 😂
tag list: @butternutt613 @stein0806 @morelikeravenbore @galaxiasgreen @amethystandemma @whalesongsblog @heylorrain @polarisgreenley @smile-arigatou @baby-snakey @speedysart @stellarisnova713 @leaping-toadstool-capsand more likely.
Adelia couldn’t stand cowards. They were the worst breed of people in her book, especially when they made others do things for them and disguised their cowardice by bullying others to make themselves feel bigger. The worst kind of cowards she found were the purebreds, who had soft hands, pockets full of cash, and full bellies. Duncan Hobbhouse and Leander Prewett were exactly the kind of scum she hated. People who hadn’t had to fight to survive, who never had to be brave, who never had to fear anything because they always got what they wanted.
She had met them both during plant themed quests. What was it with cowards and plants? They wanted to be the ones to care for them and to seem like they were strong yet jumped backwards when the green “innocen”t seeming things had more bite to them then they thought. Adelia found she had the same qualities. You see, to them she was small, bendable and green on the outside. Inexperienced, a half blood weed, sweet voiced, tender and mild.
For now.
Adelia also hated herbology. Plants were just too much of a task. They were too unpredictable. Despite precise planning and hard work they could still die. Ridiculous really, weak. Which is why she preferred plants when they were dead. Much more useful, and easier to manipulate. People were also easy to manipulate, if you knew how . You just needed the right ingredients. Good thing she knew exactly how to obtain them, with the help of her favorite troublemaker.
Adelia looked up from her book as he entered the potions classroom. His red hair was a mess, his freckled face aflush as he panted, emptying his arms onto the workbench. Garreth Weasley was her closest friend and most loyal servant. A loyal little puppy dog,whether he knew it or not. The ingredients she used to tame him were simple, praise, reward, and some potion training.
She set her book down elegantly, marking the page of course, and then came around the table to gently brush dirt off the front of his vest. His cheeks flushed even more when she smiled sweetly up at him, before licking her thumb and rubbing a bit of dirt off of his hot cheek.
“Gar Bear, don’t tell me you ran all the way here?”
He grinned, straightening a little taller. “Of course I did, Addie. You said it was a Christmas emergency. I figured I should try for once to stop a problem instead of creating one. Besides, you know I would do anything for you. Afterall, you turned a disaster into a potions prodigy."
“I did, didn’t I? You could say I’m a miracle worker. Now what did you get me?”
He watched as she inspected his bundle, running her small pale hand across it, picking through to find what she could use. She smiled when she found the peppermint, bringing it to her nose to take a long delicious whiff. Spicy with a twinge of sweet, just how she was feeling right now.
“This will be perfect Garreth. Thank you, I have everything I need now for my surprise.”
She turned and headed towards the stairs, pausing when he didn’t follow. “I still need your help, you know. I’m not very good in the kitchen, despite how good I am with a cauldron.” With that she winked and in a flash of green floo flames she was gone, leaving Garreth behind.
He stood there stunned for a second, before laughing in delight and scrambling up the stairs.
“That girl is going to be the death of me!”
~~
The rest of the afternoon consisted of Garreth preventing Adelia from burning down Hogwarts kitchens as she left the fudge on for too long. A sugar fight that resulted in crystal freckled cheeks stained in chocolate lipstick marks. And ginger stained hair despite how tight she had tied up the golden blonde locks into a bun. She had her revenge by dumping butter in his curls.
As he left for the showers, despite protesting that he would be fine to continue helping, she finally had her moment to slip in the secret ingredients she had waited so long to finally use. Pulling a small vial from her bosom she held it delicately over the smooth brown mix and watched with sick delight as a few drops of purplish black liquid dripped, blending in effortlessly.
With a finishing touch of a little bit of salt, she handed the tray to the elves warning them not to touch it or dare have the tiniest bite with the reason that it was a special present for someone as well as a gentle threat on top that news of their crime would find its way to the Headmaster.
Adelia then found herself a bit tired. Something that she hated. Sleep was not her friend, it always brought visions of darkness, often consuming her, turning her into a monster she told herself she wasn’t. Adelia didn’t like death, the concept of it frightened her. Trapped forever in a world of peace that couldn’t possibly exist or one of eternal suffering. She’d suffered enough.
No, she couldn’t sleep. Not now.
Not when she was so close to making them pay.
There was one more treat she had to make and Christmas was tomorrow. If these weren’t done, put aside for their future consumers and she wasn’t far from the scene, she’d be suspected immediately. Which is why she’d sent Gar away.
“Feenky! Get me my favorite treat will you?”
A few seconds later a plate of apple cake was in front of her, as well as a shot glass of wideye potion, her regular drink.
She sighed as she took a bite, the sweet sour taste of the green apples they’d used melting over her tongue, then downed the potion grimacing at the taste wolfsbane left.
Another bite.
The taste was gone, so was sleep.
Perfect.
Now it was about time to brew some peppermint hot chocolate for a certain anxious little puffskein hater. Undone by the very thing he sent her after, only to stab her in the back later.
~~
The hall was bustling, decked from floor to ceiling with Christmas decorations. Matilda had managed to make it feel homey even though Black had wanted something more high class.
Silver and gold stars hung from the ceiling interwoven with mostly greenery and a splash of red here and there. Candles floated high in the ceiling, snow drifting gently down among them.
Despite the elegance, there were also homemade ornaments that students were allowed to carry up to the front and hang one by one on the giant main tree towering over the tables.
Adelia hung back, about the only one who didn’t have something to offer. Even Ominis had something. Next to Sebastian’s picture of himself and Anne, his silent Christmas wish, Ominis hung a poorly stitched fabric owl. Imelda, a broom, and slowly but surely the tree was filled.
A tap on the shoulder made her turn.
It was Garreth, and he was holding something.
A spider? He knew how much she liked them.
“Yes Gar? What is it?” She sighed, tucking a strand that had escaped her bun behind her ear.
“I uhh,” he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “I have something for you. A present.”
“Garreth you didn’t have to. I don’t have anything to give you in return.” Adelia couldn’t help but be slightly upset. Their relationship had always been mutual in that they each got something.
However, here he was giving her something without telling her in advance. And she was unprepared. As if he could tell what she was thinking, he simply laughed and just pressed it into her hand. It was a small woolen circle, and in the middle was a knitted purple thistle.
“Just take it, Adelia. Love isn’t transactional. I like you, not what you have to give.”
And then with that big stupid grin that made her traitorous heart flutter, he headed to his table.
~~
If Duncan Hobbhouse could sense the emerald eyes watching him closely it wasn’t obvious. Perhaps it was because his mind was preoccupied with the anonymous note he’d found tied to a terrifying furry puffskien sitting innocently on his chest this morning. He didn’t know which was more frightening, the way its tongue licked across his face or the sweetly veiled threat that he would be made to pay for hurting muggle borns.
He only looked up from nervously twitching his hands when Everett ploppped a big mug of steaming peppermint hot chocolate in front of him. Duncan gave a twitching smile as he wrapped his hands around it, sighing at the soothing warmth.
“How’d you know?”
His friend smiled, rubbing his glasses on his shirt to clear the water from the steam. “Easy, you always drink hot chocolate whenever you’re nervous. Just so happened the elves had some already ready. You really shouldn’t worry that much.”
“Easy for you to say. You didn’t get a note.”
Everett slapped him on the back. “Come on Dunc, it was probably just some dumb prank, let it go and enjoy Christmas. Christmas at Hogwarts is probably the best thing since…ever.”
“You’re right. It’s likely nothing, probably just Andrew doing Gaunt’s bidding per usual. The scrawny blood traitor has no actual bite to him. All words and no venom. Pathetic if you ask me.”
Raising the steaming mug to his lips, Duncan took a long swig, sighing as the taste of peppermint and chocolate soothed his frayed nerves just like it always did since he was little.
Across the hall at the Gryfinndor table Leander grinned as a house elf plopped a giant treacle fudge right in front of him with the news that he had a secret admirer, making the others groan.
He puffed up his chest as Natty frowned. “A secret admirer? Really? Who could like you?”
“Who wouldn’t? I’m practically the finest catch in Hogwarts. An excellent dueler, talented with caring for the most sensitive plants, charming, and if I do say so myself, very attractive. Besides, I come from one of the oldest pureblood families. What isn’t there to like?”
“Sure, sure.” Garreth said, patting his best friend on the back. “Go ahead, what are you waiting for?”
With a big grin on his face Leander lifted his knife in a dramatic manner, cut into the fudge, and brought a rather large piece to his mouth as Adelia watched with wicked glee.
~~~
Adelia knew it would take a little while for her plan to come to completion. She didn’t mind if she wasn’t there to witness every single second of her punishment, as long as they suffered. What she did want to do was enjoy every moment she never had back in her orphanage.
Apple pie and ice cream, warm cider, and laughter shared with friends she could almost call siblings. Ominis’s slight grin at Sebastian’s dramatic antics as he tried to balance a silver spoon on his nose to flicking cream at him only seconds later for an inappropriate joke that despite Adelia’s proper training made her cackle just like the witch she was, the witch that was still a girl.
Witches are simply just innocent girls who have more intelligence than most. The ones that can read the stars, connect with animals deeper than most. Girls who love to read, to write, to dream. Not that other girls don’t but witches pour themselves into it with passion, as it is in their blood. Magic isn’t just something that everyone has, it’s what the ones labeled crazy have. And if they become good it’s because there was love, if they become evil it’s because it was taken.
But there is a fine line between dark and light, and it’s called gray. When someone uses evil for love. Adelia loved deeply, but she hid it. Yet it didn’t stop her from hurting those who hurt others. Especially when those were the ones who accepted her when no one else did.
Those happened to be the young men sitting on both sides of her, a traitor and a halfblood.
You’re probably smart enough to make the connection.
They’d been hurt, how you’ll soon find out.
A shriek drew Ominis’s attention away from a delicious chocolate frog, which to his despair escaped. But the commotion happening at the Ravenclaw table was far more interesting to keep feeling around for the sugary amphibian. Turning towards Sebastian he asked sharply, “By Merlin, what is going on over there? I know it’s Duncan, but what exactly is happening?”
Sebastian chortled with laughter. “Why, Duncan’s turned purple!!”
Duncan Hobbhouse was running around screaming, “It burns, burns, it burns!!” but just like Sebastian had said, his skin had turned a deep purple color that despite his rubbing didn’t seem to make any difference. Professor Weasley hurried over only to hear other shouts of terror.
For Leander Prewett was stumbling around like drunk, pale and bumping into people as Garreth hurried after him trying to comfort him. “Aunt Matilda, help him please! I don’t know what’s wrong!!”
Let me give you a little peek into what he was seeing and you’ll see why Prewett peed himself.
~~~
It began with shakes, tremors, and then a sound. A terrible, snapping, sound. The fudge was moving, the table was moving. It was bubbling and there was a low thrumming like fists on wet soil just before a cabbage burst out from the plate biting at his face. He leapt back with a scream but it was no good.
The cabbages were coming and they were everywhere.
Swollen, overgrown reddish heads of leaf and sinew as big as a troll's head were rolling, no hopping towards him, their outer leaves peeling away to reveal jagged drooling jaws.
“Feed us, feed us, we’re hungry, so hungry!!” Each fibrous mouth chomped with a wet grinding sound as the serrated teeth rubbed against each other. Their rubbery roots were with them, weaving and twisting along the ground towards him. Their eyes- they had eyes?! - were pale and buried deep within their whorls and blinked at him angrily as they got closer as he fled.
“Thirst, we thirst, thirst for vengeance, thirst for blood, thirst for Prewett. Water’s not enough.”
Every time one landed, the air smelled more of crushed plants, of rot and dirt, and blood. And that my dear was not part of normal belladonna symptoms. No, that was purely Adelia.
But he didn’t know that. All he knew was that the chomping was louder, faster, and closer.
He fought them as the vines wrapped around him, fought as their mouths licked at his feverish forehead, and screamed trying to drown out the voices that tried to tell him it was okay.
Because the only voices he knew were the voices that promised to digest him slowly.
~~~
As I stand outside in the cold, letting the frigid air wrap around me in an almost comforting hug, I know that this won’t be the last time. Because just a little taste of revenge isn’t satisfying enough for me. Especially when it wasn’t against the real ones I want to punish. The anger still burns like white fire inside me, the tendrils of my illusion magic burning away with it.
I have to be more careful. Sebastian is far too clever to not make a connection to me, especially when he was the one to tell me venomous tentacula poison made one permanently purple. Ominis is far too aware of my every breath to have not noticed the satisfied sigh that left me as they were rushed to the hospital wing. But they could understand, as it wasn’t fatal.
The one thing I didn’t count on was Garreth’s eyes, though full of worry over Prewett, darting to mine with a look that told me he knew what I had done, and how I had used him to do it. Now that was a problem.
Personality: Sweet, kind, and quiet but when comfortable she is quick witted, sassy, stubborn and a chaotic gremlin.
Interests: magizoology, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. She also occasionally plays quidditch, loves reading and writing.
Blood Status: Muggleborn
Canon: Turned in Sebastian, with Ominis. In my WIP fic she is on the way to undo her mistake and save Seb.
HLMCU: although I haven’t figured out how her backstory will be different as I’m still working on her canon one, she is in a later happy relationship with @girl-named-matty Silas Evander who you can learn about in her fic “Sons of the Grave”
Interests: Quidditch, Crossed Wands, Defense against the dark arts, exploring ruins and collecting artifacts, fencing, horse back riding, swimming and spell experiments.
Blood status: Pureblood
Canon: in progress, but doesn’t turn Seb in.
Adelia Gray
House: Slytherin
Personality: Intelligent, reserved, strategic, graceful, manipulative, kind but rare, poetic, soft spoken and venomous.
