The 2024 edition of the Hogtober has finally been announced! And it's also a bit of a comeback for me on tumblr, after several weeks away due to my morale and commissions (don't worry, I'll share the commissions I've done).
And I wanted to thanks those who gave me support on the last post I did there. You can't imagine how you words were supportive for me, even f it was hard everyday for me. Thank you so much ❤️
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With @speedysart, we've decided to work together to bring you the new prompt list for last year's hugely popular challenge.
For those of you who don't remember the rules of the challenge: a theme is proposed each day during the month of October and you have to create something : Art, Video, Audio, Fanfiction, ...
The aim is to get everyone's take on the theme. So get creative!
Don't forget that it's for fun and it's not a problem if you can't make every day something ! ❤️
From 1st October, you can submit your entries by sharing them on all your social networks using the hashtag #hogtober or #hogtober2024 ! We are so excited to see your future contributions !
Sebastian looked down on to his right hand as if he could see something invisible so clearly. Terzia frowned as the warm candlelight gave enough light to see the deep darkness in his eyes… his soul.
“I have… also nightmares. About the catacombs and what.. happened there. Every time I close my eyes I’m back there- forced to watch- doing this mistake over and over again,” Sebastian said, his voice cracking. “The guilt is eating me alive. I lost everything and its all my fault-“
Terzia didnt let him finish the sentence and pulled him into an embrace, similar to what he done to her once before. “You still have me and Ominis…”
Poppy: My grandmother says that too, I think she would like you very much!
I am long overdue, but well... I'm trying to catch up. I took a some shots of my favourite Hufflepuff. Poppy really is one of my favourite characters and I know we would get along great.
Word Count: 1482
Characters/Relationship(s): Ambrose Varyn, Sebastian Sallow, Ominis Gaunt
Setting: 5th year, canon, Undercroft and Room of Requirement
Genre/Tags: Angst, the start of what I like to call the "Sebrose Divorce Arc"
“Now for the moment of truth,” Sebastian said. He was obviously nervous and Ambrose didn’t blame him. If this canvas didn’t fit into the Triptych…
“It has to fit,” Ambrose said.
He approached the triptych and lined up the canvas with the panel on the right side. As soon as he laid it out the canvas piece grew and mended itself until it fit the space so well it was like it had never left it. Ambrose heard Sebastian sigh in relief behind him.
The new view was a coastline, specifically a cliff face with trees lining the top. Ambrose had no idea where it was. He was incredibly lucky Sebastian grew up in the Hogwarts area or they would be completely lost.
“I don’t suppose you recognize the location in this bit of canvas?” Ambrose asked.
“The good news is, I do, in fact,” Sebastian answered.
“And the bad news?”
“We’re in for more trouble.”
Now it was Ambrose’s turn to sigh, though not in relief. Of course. Why could nothing be simple? Why did he have to blast his way through goblins and poachers to complete even simple tasks like retrieving a piece of a portrait?
“I know that coast,” Sebastian told him. There was an edge to his voice Ambrose didn’t like. “Ranrok has taken over a huge mine and the surrounding area. Marunweem has suffered for it. It’s as bad as Feldcroft’s become. Should we head there now?”
Ambrose’s impulse was to say yes and just go to get it over with. What was one more of Ranrok’s messes to clean up? After that he was sure there’d be another. Better to get on top of it and get the job done than whine about it.
Unless there was a better way. Maybe instead of cleaning up all of Ranrok’s messes Ambrose could stop him from making them at all. He already had another pair of eyes that would suit that exact purpose.
“We should wait,” Ambrose suggested.
“Why?” Sebastian demanded. Ambrose narrowed his eyes at the tone but he let it slide like he always did. Sebastian always got touchy around the subject of Ranrok and goblins, but Ambrose knew Sebastian well enough to know touchy was all it would be.
“We’ve been a step behind Ranrok this whole time,” Ambrose pointed out. “I may know someone who could help us get ahead.”
“Who is that?” Sebastian asked. See, he was already more on edge than angry, which was progress.
“A friendly goblin,” Ambrose said, completely thoughtlessly. Maybe the rest of the situation could have been avoided had he put a little more thought into his words and the boy in front of him. “He won’t-”
“A friendly goblin?” Sebastian exclaimed. “You know goblins cursed my sister to shut her up. Said she should be ‘seen and not heard’.”
Ambrose did know that. He bit back another sigh. Sighing seemed to be all he did nowadays.
“I do,” Ambrose replied patiently. “But not all goblins-”
“Not all goblins what?!” Sebastian cried. “Have you forgotten Feldcroft? Have you forgotten the mine we just went through?”
Ambrose felt his fingers clenching into a fist as he tried to control his frustration. Sometimes Sebastian reacted in anger in a way he didn’t mean. All Ambrose had to do was stay calm and the anger would pass. But with Sebastian continuing to interrupt him he wasn’t sure how long his patience would hold.
Ambrose hated being angry. It made him feel dirty and wrong. He especially hated acting on his anger. That made him feel like his mother. His patience was his virtue. It kept him calm, collected, and had saved multiple tense situations from escalating.
But over the last few months he hadn’t been able to wish away his anger. He pushed it away but it just stored itself in the back of his mind. His frustration, exhaustion, irritation, even the pure rage he felt when the Poachers attacked his brother. He was on the edge of snapping already and Sebastian was making it hard.
“No, Sebastian, I haven’t,” Ambrose assured him. “But you aren’t listening to me.”
“Why would I listen to someone so ignorant?!”
Ambrose swung.
His fist collided with Sebastian’s jaw, sending him stumbling into the wall behind him. Before he even realized what he was doing Ambrose swung again, hitting him in the temple and leaving him sprawled on the ground.
“How fucking dare you,” Ambrose growled. “Ignorant? Me?! After everything I’ve done for you? I was right there next yo uou through your tempter tantrums and outbursts and stupid decisions, having your back you ungrateful child. I ask you for this one thing, to have an open mind and be reasonable, and you called me ignorant?!”
“You are so full of spite and bitterness you don’t even see it. How your darkness infects everyone around you. How ignorant you are. I clung to you anyway, so sure I could help you. For once not because I thought it was my responsibility, but because I wanted to because for some reason I care about you. I wanted to be your light but now I’m not even sure you deserve it. You don’t deserve my patience. You don’t deserve my trust. And after that you don’t deserve my friendship.”
“Then keep it!” Sebastian shouted back. “I don’t want it anymore if you’re going to think like this! I don’t want to be saved! I don’t need saved! Anne does! And if you aren’t going to help me get justice for her or save her then stay out of my life.”
Ambrose wanted to stay. He wasn’t sure why. Maybe to apologize. Maybe to yell more. Maybe to try and reason with him. But none of those things happened. None of those things would matter. Sebastian would hear none of them. So he left Sebastian there on a floor with an already forming bruise on his jaw and Ambrose’s broken heart right next to him.
He didn’t really expect anyone to look for him. No one else knew what happened to him. He assumed he could spend the rest of the night right where he was and just gather himself in the morning. As always, he underestimated his boyfriend.
When Ominis found him the Room of Requirement had been completely torn apart. As soon as Ambrose had stormed in he’d sent Deek away so the house elf wouldn’t have to see it, then he started throwing things to the ground and casting every destructive curse he knew. By the time he’d sank to the ground on the staircase, broken and defeated, there was nothing left intact.
His desk was in charred pieces. The potions stations had been demolished, spilling ingredients, glass phials, and deformed cauldrons onto the floor. Dirt covered half the room after he cast bombarda at his plants. Most of them were on fire now. The banners and statues he used to decorate the room had been torn apart.
When the door opened Ambrose didn’t bother to move other than to turn his head. Ominis stood there, wand lit with red light. He seemed frozen, trying to take in however much of the damage his wand could pick up. Ambrose wanted to warn him to be careful since he wouldn’t be able to see things like embers and glass, but his voice didn’t seem to work.
“Reparo,” Ominis casted. The spell worked perfectly. He’d need new ingredients and seeds but everything else fixed itself right before his eyes, down to the Slytherin banners on the wall. He felt sick looking at them now. His brain kept going back to the Scriptorium, where he’d let Sebastian torture him only for everything to end like this.
“Ambrose?” Ominis called into the room, grip on his wand so tight Ambrose could see his white knuckles from across the room. Right, Ambrose probably blended into the chaos Ominis had fixed for him.
“Over here,” Ambrose muttered.
Ominis approached him, putting a hand out to feel the staircase. He slid down to sit next to Ambrose. For a few minutes nothing happened. Neither of them moved or spoke or even touched. Just being around Ominis helped him relax some. It was hard to be angry around him. Not that he had much anger left. Now he just felt lost. At least with Ominis he didn’t feel alone.
“What happened?” Ominis asked quietly.
“Sebastian Sallow,” Ambrose answered, but calling his mumbles speech may be a stretch.
“I see,” Ominis sighed.
He scooted closer and Ambrose turned to rest his head on Ominis’s shoulder. Ominis set down his wand to wrap his arms around Ambrose’s shoulders and just held him. Maybe Ambrose should have cried. He probably needed to. There was no better time to do it. But he didn’t have tears or rage left. All of it was gone along with Sebastian.
